Qin Official

As the governor of Jiaodong County, Heifu was arranging the itinerary in front, while Qin Shihuang's large army was twenty miles away. Just when Zhang Cang was sighing at the sea he saw for the first time, Qin Shihuang was at the last pavilion on the seashore. , eating the food temporarily prepared by the imperial chef.

Qin Shihuang was not a foodie like Duke Huan of Qi, which may have something to do with his poor gastrointestinal condition. There were so many things going on in the world. Qin Shihuang was very nervous every day. He was used to eating and working at the same time. In the end, because he was so absorbed in reviewing, the soup and vegetables were all cold, but he didn't take a few bites. In addition, as people reach middle age, their gastrointestinal function gradually fails, so they only eat a small amount at each meal, and they do not seek luxury and complete food. They are not even interested in the various fancy foods that have become popular in Guanzhong in recent years. They still maintain the traditional, simple six-course meat dish. Vegetarian rice is enough.

After the visitor's attendant tested the poison twice with a silver needle and his own life, Qin Shihuang held up his chopsticks and picked up a cooked fish to enter his mouth, but he frowned again.

"It's too salty."

The Yong people who were in charge of the imperial cuisine fell to their knees as if they were facing a serious disaster. The cook was also brought to apologize, saying that although the tableware, tripods, and gui were all brought from Xianyang, they used local sea fish, and sea fish meat has its own salt content. , so it is slightly heavier.

Qin Shihuang did not get angry and asked the chef to get up and ask him: "Is the salt used Shaofu salt or local salt?"

"It's the salt from the young master's house." The chef cherishes his own life, how dare he use salt of unknown origin!

He added: "The Shaofu has two kinds of salt, Huamachi green salt in the North, and Anyi white salt. The Shaofu personally sent people to obtain it locally and transported it back to Xianyang for storage..."

"One third of the world's salt comes from Qi, and two from Qi. But why don't you use the salt from Qi? Do you know?" Qin Shihuang tilted his head and asked the officials this sharp question.

The ministers looked at each other in confusion, but Zhao Gao, the commander of the CRRC Mansion who was used to a hard life when he was a child, smiled and said: "Your Majesty, Huamachi green salt comes from the frontier, with the best color and the most authentic taste. And Anyi was called Daxia in ancient times, and Daxia Salt is the beauty of harmony. These two are the most suitable seasonings for kings. Although there is a lot of salt produced in Qi, most of it tastes astringent. If it is not cooked properly, it will have a burnt and bitter taste. This is the salt of common people in Guizhou. How can it be used? From His Majesty’s mouth?”

"Although it is food for the head of Guizhou, it is a huge benefit to the world."

Qin Shihuang looked around: "Where is Zhang Cang from the Young Master? Isn't he knowledgeable? He is also in charge of the imperial government. Come and talk to me about the world's salt administration."

"Your Majesty, Zhang Cang went to the seaside with the Jiaodong County Sheriff first." Ting Wei Ye Teng stood up and said with cupped hands. Li Si was left in Linzi by Qin Shihuang to preside over the collection and repair of books in Qi. Ye Teng became the leader of the accompanying courtiers. Some people say, This is because Prime Minister Li deliberately did not come to Jiaodong to observe politics.

"He's not there when you need him, but he's very loud when you don't need him."

Qin Shihuang was a little displeased and looked at Ye Teng: "I once heard you say that when you were a junior official, you were also in charge of salt and grain. Then I will tell you a little about it."

He didn't pick on anyone. He waved his hand and asked Ye Teng to tell the story while he was eating.

Ye Teng smiled and said: "Your Majesty, this salt seems ordinary and you eat it every day. But in fact, it is enough to determine a person's life or death, and the strength of a country!"

"Oh?" Qin Shihuang became interested and asked Ye Teng to elaborate.

Ye Teng started his career in practical politics and knew the conditions at the bottom very well, so he started from what he saw in his daily life. This man eats salt every day. Nobles are accustomed to it, and sometimes they feel that the salt is heavy. But for the poor Qian Shou, whether he eats salt or not is a matter of life and death!

"Without salt, one is powerless. Not to mention working in the fields, even walking feels weak. I can't live without salt."

In addition to daily needs, preserving vegetables, meat, fish, etc. also relies on salt for pickling. Li Si used the two most common foods in Qin, "sauce" and "jing", as an analogy.

Of these two things, one is mashed and pickled beans, which are indispensable foods for the Qin army on expeditions. They are extremely salty, but you only need a small plate of dry corn rice to eat them. It can also supplement the salt needed by Qin soldiers, allowing them to carry spears and halberds. The same goes for "Jing", which is pickled vegetables, mainly mallow vegetables, which are a common side dish in farmers' homes. There are even sea fish that reach the ground, which are salted nearby so that they can be widely sold in the mainland. It has become the only meat that many people can eat all year round...

Salt is so important that everyone cannot live without it, but the biggest problem is that not every region produces salt.

Most farmers are self-sufficient. They can grow their own food and eat it. They can grow their own brown linen and women can twist and weave it. They can make food and clothing on their own, but not salt! This kind of thing cannot be grown in the ground, which makes salt the only commodity that the people need to buy and exchange.

The earliest merchants in the world were salt merchants! Transport salt from the Great Salt Pond near Anyi to other places.

Ye Teng said: "Therefore, grain, salt, cloth, iron, copper and livestock are the most important commodities in the world!"

He ranked salt second, even more important than cloth!

"So this whole land relies on sea salt to become rich?" Qin Shihuang stopped his chopsticks.

Ye Teng said: "Of course, the Yingqiu area in Qidi was mostly a land of salt and brine eight hundred years ago, with a vast area and sparsely populated areas. However, Taigong Qi's trade and industry benefited from fish and salt, and many people returned to Qi. Then it became a great country. By the time of Duke Huan of Qi, the people had already gathered in large numbers, and they also used Guan Zhong's policy to control the mountains and seas, making the government specialize in salt and iron. Therefore, Qi crowned and clothed the world, gathered his sleeves between Haidai and went to the court."

He also followed the emperor's wishes and ignored the key point of "mercantilism" that was important in the prosperity of Qi State, and only emphasized the official business of salt and iron.

Ye Teng believed that Qi Huangong obtained a large amount of salt by cutting firewood and boiling salt, and then sold it to the salt-free Central Plains princes at a high price, thus making huge profits.

"Guan Yi and I said, you cut down the firewood and boiled the water, so that it can be used by the world! This means that by boiling the sea and selling salt, everyone in the world will pay salt taxes to Qi, and Qi will become rich."

Only with sufficient financial revenue can Qi become one of the five hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the nine princes can unite the world. Without the financial support provided by the trade system brought by salt, how could Duke Huan of Qi have the money to organize a multinational peacekeeping force, how could he have the money to hold princes summits every year, how to maintain peace in the world, and how to establish a new international order in the Spring and Autumn Period?

When the Tian family came to the head of the family, Qi had always been famous for its extravagance. The palace was several times better than that of Qin. It not only supported the growing fields, but also spent huge sums of money to build huge defenses and the Qi Great Wall, and used a large number of foreign troops. They often spend money to hire people to fight. In this case, they only collect 10% tax from farmers, and the people in the country are living a good life...

All of these are the dividends brought by the external sales of Haiyan!

But now, the sky has changed, Qi has been destroyed, and the Qin Dynasty controls the seaside salt field. This cornucopia is in the hands of Qin officials.

"Governing a big country is like cooking a small delicacy, this is a true saying."

Qin Shihuang looked at the unfinished plate of fish and said with enlightenment: "In addition to adding some grain, the most indispensable thing in this little dish is salt. The prosperity of the country is high, and the people are low. With this food, the world can be harmonious!"

…

The reason why Qin Shihuang took the time to come here to take a look is very simple: now the imperial finances are already stretched thin, both the emperor's private treasury and the Shaofu, as well as the national finance and affairs, are extremely poor. In the past six years, there has been almost no money. If you don’t fight for a long time, you will visit the Lishan Mausoleum, the Palace, the Straight Road, the Chi Road, the Five-foot Road, the Great Wall, the farming outside the Great Wall, the hunting tours, and the Zen...

In short, there are so many places where money is needed! The imperial court was already in such difficulty that it had to add oral taxes several times, which caused widespread complaints among the people. The tax had already reached 1.5 dan per mu, and it was impossible to increase it. Therefore, the emperor, who had spent money lavishly in the past few years, had to start looking around with his eyes wide open. , and see where they can open up new sources of wealth to maintain their ambitions and huge empire.

Since the Qi State created a huge amount of wealth by relying on sea salt, why can't Qin do the same?

In the eyes of the emperor, salt is no longer salt, but white gold!

For this reason, when he was in Xianyang, Qin Shihuang specifically asked the Shaofu to check the salt output of Jibei, Linzi, Jiaodong, and Langya counties in Qi, and he almost lost his temper!

During the Tian Qi period, more than 100,000 bells of salt were obtained from boiling the sea every year.

But when the Qin Dynasty managed these salt fields, the output had shrunk by half, to only 50,000 to 60,000 bells!

The reasons for this are very complicated and cannot be explained clearly in a few words. In short, the Qin Dynasty's salt tax was far from what the emperor expected. Since last year, Qin Shihuang has ordered the coastal counties to make corrections several times, but the results have been unsatisfactory. He sent Heifu to Jiaodong. In addition to this being the only way for him to patrol eastward, it was also one of the purposes for Heifu to find a way to manage the local salt administration.

Today is the time for the emperor to check the results. Although he has heard some rumors, Heifu also mentioned that the results are impressive and the output will double next year, but some things are better to be seen to be believed.

With this in mind, Qin Shihuang also finished the imperial meal and was about to let the motorcade set off again to go to the salt field at the mouth of Weishui River. Heifu had already arranged everything and was just waiting for his inspection...

However, before boarding the car, Zhao Cheng, the man in charge of the guard, who was Zhao Gao's younger brother, came to report that he found Jiaodong County soldiers arguing with several people a few miles away from Tingyi.

Zhao Cheng knelt down and said: "When I saw those people acting suspiciously, I thought they were assassins, so I went over to ask. After interrogation, they said that they were magicians from Jiaodong County and had grievances to report to Your Majesty..."

"If you have any grievances, they can be dealt with by local magistrates and prime ministers. What's the use of coming to me?"

Qin Shihuang glanced at Zhao Cheng coldly. In the Qin Dynasty, cases were tried step by step. Unless the criminal was begging for help, he could not report it beyond the level! The emperor reviewed important cases and only occasionally interfered with the administration of justice. For example, Qin Shihuang released Zhao Gao without killing him...

Zhao Cheng said quickly: "But those group of alchemists said that they wanted to offer their alchemy skills to help His Majesty live forever, but they were blocked by the Jiaodong County Sheriff!"

"oh?"

To live forever, this was a knot in Qin Shihuang's heart. After hearing this, he frowned, but still did not come forward, but looked at Tingwei Ye Teng.

"Tingwei, you, the county magistrate, and the Prime Minister should go and have a listen, and then give the love letter to me for review."

Ye Teng solemnly accepted the order and left. After a while, he and the Prime Minister of Xiami County returned the love letter.

However, Qin Shihuang did not open it and asked, "What did those alchemists tell you?"

Ye Teng smiled helplessly: "Three alchemists told Jiaodong County Governor to falsely convey His Majesty's will and deceive them."

"They said that Heifu, the governor of Jiaodong County, posted notices in various counties in the past few months, saying that he wanted to recruit Jiaodong magicians to practice strange alchemy and offer them to His Majesty. He hoped that the alchemists would come to the county to report."

"All the alchemists believed it and went to Jimo. Unexpectedly, the governor of Jiaodong County treated them as prisoners and served as ministers. They were either sent to the mountain col to search for minerals and veins, or they were sent to the seaside to be exposed to the wind and sun all day long and do some things. Hard labor... It was not until a few days ago that these alchemists were released, and a layer of their skin had been peeled off by the sun. They felt that they had been deceived by the Jiaodong County Sheriff. They heard that the Holy Emperor was patrolling the east, so they came to complain... "

The ministers looked at each other in confusion. Zhao Cheng was a little proud. If he hadn't asked more questions, the three Jiaodong soldiers would have been blocked by the county soldiers. They wanted to wink at their brother Zhao Gao to take credit, but Zhao Gao glared at them fiercely. one time!

"Stupid!" This was what Zhao Gao was thinking.

Lu Sheng, Han Zhong and other alchemists looked at each other. A few alchemists who didn't know the truth wanted to speak, but Lu Sheng shook his head to stop him...

Qin Shihuang was stunned at first, and then burst out laughing. Hei Fu had mentioned this matter a few days ago, but Qin Shihuang didn't pay much attention to it at the time. He didn't expect that it would turn out like this in the mouths of those alchemists.

"Okay, my Jiaodong County Sheriff actually did such an act, and arrested those alchemists and took them to the seaside. Let's see what 'strange alchemy' Heifu asked them to tinker with! "