New Shun 1730

Lin Min's request, as well as the problems that the reform would inevitably bring about turmoil, made the emperor take this opportunity to ask: "Dear sirs, in your opinion, what is the reform of Yan Zheng, Huainan, Huaibei, and Sunan?" , how can it be considered a success?”

This question is quite difficult to answer.

Those who oppose reform really have nothing to say.

If it comes to things that are visible on the surface, such as taxes, wealth, and finance, they don't want to mention them. Bringing this up is no different than admitting defeat.

As for empty talk about principles, due to the changes and reflection and criticism at the end of the previous dynasty, it cannot be just empty talk. If you talk too much, you will be laughed at.

Liu Yu's ability to make money can be seen by everyone in the court. You can get money by using weird methods.

It would be difficult to expect him to make the people miserable. With the rise of maritime transport, the refugees in Jiangsu were first rescued and then dumped to Nanyang before they could start an uprising. They had no chance at all.

As long as there is money, the navy is obedient, Nanyang is in hand, and the naval guns can roar, and Jiangsu's shipping is so convenient, how can there be large-scale famine refugees?

Will the price of salt be reduced for people?

This cannot be mentioned anymore.

How does that count as success?

How is it considered a failure?

One of the main reasons for those who opposed the reform in the court was that they opposed Liu Yu's presiding over the reform.

Liu Yu's tactics were too dark.

He really dared to promote the tithe tax and inventory the fields.

Sunan has been tortured by him for a long time. If this spreads to the entire Jiangsu, I can't imagine it in the future.

What if the emperor really loses his mind, breaks his promise, and really wants to promote reforms across the country?

What makes me hate it so much is that once the canal is abandoned, the burden on the people will be greatly reduced, making it possible for many reforms.

Anyone in the court who is not a fool knows that if you want to control the river, you must abolish the canal.

Those who don’t know are just pretending not to know.

Those who know it know very well that the canal has been abolished, and expenditures on river management, private taxes, labor, etc. will be greatly reduced.

Everyone in the DPRK knows that the official state taxes imposed by the imperial court have never been the source of suffering among the people.

Those are miscellaneous taxes, miscellaneous labor, apportionment, and land rent from landlords.

If Liu Yuzhen were to do something dirty, given the current conditions, it would really be difficult for Jiangsu to cause major incidents.

There must be a standard for whether a reform is good or bad.

With standards, supporters say, reform will be better; opponents say, reform will be worse.

This is not empty talk.

But what are the standards?

No words are needed to support the reformists.

The anti-reformists don’t know what to say.

After a long silence, the emperor said: "That's all, the salt policy is of great concern. Although Duke Xingguo has always had many means in the economy, it is not a trivial matter after all."

“Since you think this salt policy reform is not possible in Jiangxi, it must be even less possible in Anhui and Jiangsu.”

"In that case, what about Hubei?"

"Hubei is far away and has a large population. If the people in Hubei can benefit and the country can get its taxes, then there is really no point in discussing and arguing about this matter."

"What do you think, sir?"

Liu Yu was self-confident, and even said in a weird way that if he decided to stay in Jiangsu or Anhui, he would still feel that he would not be able to win.

The emperor used retreat to advance, and now that he has retreated to this point, the other opponents of the reform really have nothing to say.

Among them, those who were truly informed, such as the emperor, knew that the reason for his false retreat was that he believed that Hubei would definitely win the battle.

Now take a step back. As long as Hubei wins the war, not only will the court no longer be able to object, but the original big salt merchants will also be severely damaged. By then, the entire Huainan salt reform will be a matter of course.

The emperor then looked at the other ministers. The ministers who opposed the salt reform could only agree at this time. They had all been ridiculed by Liu Yu to the point of "nothing can win without force". If they continue to fight, they will really be humiliating themselves. .

Although it seemed like he didn't answer what Lin Min just said, he actually made it very clear.

If the pilot reform in Hubei is successful, then the entire salt policy in Huainan will be overhauled. When the time comes, Liu Yu will naturally be asked to go out of town to take charge, Lin Min will take over his duties, and Liu Yu will take the responsibility.

If the reform in Hubei fails, then the salt reform in Huainan will also come to an end. After the Huaiyan salt reform was over, land reclamation and other things no longer existed at all. Then the things Lin Min was worried about wouldn't happen.

However, Lin Min, who had just been worried that the Huainan Salt Reform would be too drastic and cause a big mess, suddenly said again: "Your Majesty, I believe that important matters of running the country should not be left to one's will."

"I believe that the salt-to-water reclamation project will benefit the country and the people. I am just worried that the Duke's methods are rough and radical."

"But I objected and did not change it at all. I witnessed with my own eyes the art of producing salt in the Dashai Salt Farm, and also studied the land reclamation work of the previous dynasty Xu Guangqi..."

"I believe that even if Hubei fails, it should continue to reform..."

The emperor's face was expressionless. After listening to Lin Min's statement, he thought that this was really a useful person. But since you don’t know the secret, how do you know that Liu Yu has a chance to win in Hubei?

Do I not know the methods of salt merchants? No matter how high the method is, it will still be the same in the end.

It's nothing more than sinking ships, setting fire to positions, creating panic, soaring salt prices, and hoarding for subsequent purchases, etc.

Can there be other tricks?

Nothing to worry about.

"I am very relieved that Lin Qing cares about the country. But the matter has been decided and there is no need to discuss it further."

"Since I can't come up with a reason to oppose the reform, and the opponents of the reform camp don't recognize the benefits such as national taxation, I have no choice."

"What are you arguing about after all this? What is right and what is wrong? This kind of argument should be held in the academy, not in the court."

"You said that increasing the treasury's revenue is right; but he said that benevolence, righteousness and morality are right, and increasing the treasury's revenue cannot be used as a standard for governing the country."

"Then how can we talk about this?"

"Since we can't talk about it, why don't we each take a step back and follow the example of the calendar dispute between Western missionaries and the scholars of this dynasty. If everyone agrees, then we should accept the loss."

"Dismiss the court!"

The emperor announced the dismissal of the court angrily, as if he was holding back a fire.

But in fact, as soon as he turned around, the expression on his face that seemed to be holding back a fire disappeared.

Then he made a very strange request to the attendant.

"Go find a gambling tool like dice."

Although the attendant was very puzzled, he went to do it immediately.

Soon, a set of exquisite and expensive gambling tools appeared on the table in the emperor's office.

The emperor did not review the memorials, but played with the dice cup for a while, waiting for someone to see him.

He did not put away the gambling tools, but just left them on the table.

After Shi Shiyong came to see the emperor, he did not dare to look up at the emperor, so he naturally did not know about the gambling tools in front of the emperor.

He was summoned by the emperor, and he knew that he must be asking about salt.

"What's the situation in Hubei? Have you figured it out?"

Shi Shiyong hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I have basically figured it out. Half of Hubei's private salt comes from copper ships."

"The copper ships are smuggled and sold along the river in various places in Hubei."

"In addition to the copper ships, the well salt in various places in Kuizhou can only be strictly investigated by the government. But local officials believe that strict investigation will lead to people not being able to work, and secondly, there are many benefits, so the investigation is not very strict."

"Duke Xingguo asked us to find private salt dealers, and we found many. These private salt dealers can reach all parts of Hubei. The roads are unobstructed and there are no obstacles."

"The price of salt in Hubei is quite expensive, and smuggling is rampant. Although the current salt permits can sell 70% to 80%. But the children's army has conducted secret investigations in many places, the permits may not be Really. If all the official salt is counted, I am afraid that only 60% of it is sold. "

The emperor calculated for a while and asked: "You have also seen the Huaibei Salt Field with your own eyes. What do you think?"

"Your Majesty, it is really shocking and hard to describe. A salt field has no less than 15 or 16 supporting pools. This is indeed not something that a small household can afford. But the salt it produces is really a lot. Whether it is cost or output, it is really not comparable to the Huainan salt households."

"Moreover, as long as additional investment is made, production will be increased soon. Those investors are also looking forward to increasing production. The court controls the purchase, and the number of pools and how much salt can be produced are also well documented. "

Speaking of the experience of the Huaibei Salt Field, Shi Shiyong had to talk about some things about the Huainan Salt Field.

"I sent people to Huainan to investigate secretly, and only then did I know about the chaos of private salt."

"The merchants who rented the land sent people to stand guard along the way, lighting cigarettes during the day and setting fires at night to pass signals."

"If the patrol came, they would have known about it just after leaving the city, and they would have made preparations early. The patrol people also turned a blind eye, but after all, there was no private salt on the surface, so it was fine."

"To avoid the salt tax in the market, even if this salt is much more expensive than the Huaibei drying method, it is still cheaper than the official salt in the Huainan market."

"Small salt households are suffering It is said that some people sold themselves to join the big salt merchants, while others wanted to flee because of loaning wages. The ones who benefited were the salt merchants who had the capital to buy firewood and the market to sell salt privately. "

"I also went to secretly investigate some salt households and asked them if they were willing to reclaim wasteland. They were all willing, but they suffered from the court's ban on reclamation and the special patrol of grass and forests. "

The emperor needed to understand the situation from various channels. Shi Shiyong's answer was basically the same as that from other channels, so he nodded with satisfaction.

Today, he just put down a big bait and waited for others to take the bait.

He even dared to abolish the canal and rejected all opinions. Why didn't he dare to make a decision on this matter?

It was nothing more than giving those big salt merchants a glimmer of hope.

Now that it has become like this, Hubei has become a casino that is directly related to whether the salt administration will be fully reformed in the future.

Both sides will be invested with all their capital.

The more capital the other side puts in, the more the emperor will earn.

Otherwise, it will be a bad reputation to confiscate the property. Liu Yu wanted to win all the money those people bet on, and save the emperor from the reputation of a tyrant who confiscated his property.

This seemingly hopeful hope, the emperor was sure that the other party had no chance at all.

Besides... he had the power to overturn the table and stop betting when he saw that he was about to lose.

Thinking of this, the emperor picked up the dice cup, shook it a few times, and asked complacently: "Since you are often in the market, you must be good at gambling. Let me ask you, if you want to win, what is the most important thing?"

Shi Shiyong was stunned for a moment and replied: "I think there are only two things."

"First, the means must be high. This goes without saying."

"Second, the capital must be sufficient. If the capital is not enough, the courage is not enough. Before you gamble, you have lost three points."

Unexpectedly, the emperor laughed and said: "You are wrong! If you want to win, the most important thing is to be the banker."

In the laughter, the emperor thought, no matter how great your ability and capital are, you bet everything and throw the biggest. I'm the banker. After you open the rules, I'll change the rules and stipulate the maximum loss. How can you win?