Wei and Jin cooks

Zhao Ming picked up the glass and took a sip of wine, watching them leave quietly, with some curiosity in his eyes.

She was so short of money and without taxes, where was she going to get the money from?

When Zhao Hanzhang went out, he saw Zhao Hu's carriage, a two-horse carriage with tulle hanging on it. The gauze had become dirty along the way. The servants were taking off the pearls and jade hanging on it, and then removed the gauze and replaced it. new.

She couldn't help but stop and asked: "What is the use of the removed yarn?"

When the servants saw her, they immediately stood up and bowed, not daring to look at her. They respectfully replied: "Clean it up and replace it."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded. Fortunately, it was not so luxurious as to use it once and throw it away, but... it was still very luxurious. Can't the carriage cover be made of stain-resistant and cheap green cloth?

Zhao Hanzhang sighed, it is true that the rich will die rich and the poor will die poor.

Zhao Hanzhang turned around and left. Zhao Kuan, who was standing behind her, took in all her expressions. He endured it, but still couldn't hold it back. He whispered: "This white gauze cannot be washed. It can only be replaced once at most. The seventh uncle will do it once." I use as many as three cartloads of white gauze every year. I not only like to use it on the cart in summer and autumn, but also like to use it to surround the pavilion."

Zhao Hanzhang looked around and asked him quietly, "How much money do you think the seventh uncle has?"

Zhao Kuan pondered for a moment and then said: "In the past two years, because you have been fighting everywhere, the clan needs to pay military expenses from time to time, so he has spent a lot of money, but he has also made a lot of money with your power. I don't think so. My uncle’s share of the family fortune is large, but not much.”

Uncle refers to Zhao Changyu.

Zhao Hanzhang thought about the family property left by Zhao Changyu and felt very sad.

She handed the horse over to the bodyguard behind her and walked, while Zhao Kuan had no choice but to follow.

She walked forward until she reached the grocery store and asked, "Is there any salt?"

The shopkeeper of the grocery store recognized Zhao Hanzhang. She was a national star. Who didn't know Zhao Hanzhang among the people in the city? She had ridden into the city from outside so many times and returned in triumph.

He quickly walked out of the counter, saluted Zhao Hanzhang repeatedly, and then trotted to pick up the salt shaker.

He and his son took out the large salt shaker and carefully placed it on the ground for Zhao Hanzhang to see, "Your Majesty, you want to buy salt? I don't know how much you want to buy?"

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and asked, "How do you sell salt now?"

The shopkeeper said: "Eight cents a piece."

The first bowl is a special square wooden bowl with a large mouth and a small bottom. It is a very small square bowl. He filled it with a bowl of salt and then looked at Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang also looked at him silently. The shopkeeper immediately realized that she did not bring a container.

The shopkeeper immediately carefully put down the wooden bowl, rummaged around, and found a small earthen jar that looked good and gave it to Zhao Hanzhang. He smiled gently and said, "This jar is for the envoy."

Zhao Hanzhang thanked him and watched him pour the salt in but did not take it. Instead, he asked: "This is too little. I want to buy more, but there are too many two pieces. What should I do?"

The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment and then said: "This salt won't go bad, so you can buy more and keep it."

Zhao Hanzhang shook his head, "I just want to buy another Xiaohanhe."

This is not difficult. He turned around and took out a small spoon and said, "How about four more spoons?"

Zhao Hanzhang blinked, looked at the spoon he took out, and asked, "How much is this spoon?"

The shopkeeper smiled: "One penny."

"How many scoops per serving?"

Shopkeeper: "Ten spoons"

Zhao Hanzhang nodded thoughtfully and agreed, but sighed in his heart, what a profiteer.

Zhao Hanzhang took out twelve coins from his wallet and gave it to him and asked, "How much does it cost if I buy a piece of rock salt?"

The shopkeeper thought for a while and then said: "It costs about eight thousand yuan per stone to buy now. It may be cheaper in the future."

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and asked: "Why is this?"

The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes and said: "Your Majesty, you have recovered the lost land in the north and defeated the Xiongnu. There are fewer robbers on the road. The salt transportation will be safer and more and more people will mine salt. This salt Prices will naturally fall."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, picked up the small jar of salt and was about to leave. At this moment, a half-year-old child came in with a small jar. Without looking at Zhao Hanzhang, he walked directly to the shopkeeper and said, "I want a spoonful of salt."

The shopkeeper took the money from his hand and said, "The five members of your family only eat a spoonful of salt every half a month, so be careful of getting big neck disease."

"Then it's cheaper for you. If it's cheaper, my family will buy one more spoon a month."

Zhao Hanzhang paused slightly and walked away as he listened to the conversation inside. Zhao Kuan followed her confused.

Zhao Hanzhang: "Did you see it?"

Zhao Kuan shook his head in confusion, what could he see?

Zhao Hanzhang said: "This is all money."

Zhao Kuan was stunned for a moment, and then he was surprised, "Do you really want the salt and iron monopoly?"

Zhao Hanzhang gave him an approving look and said: "The national treasury is short of money now. We need a lot of money and wealthy gentry to buy grain from the wealthy merchants in the south. Salt and iron are extremely profitable and the money comes quickly."

Zhao Kuan's heart was pounding and he objected in a low voice, "Iron is enough, salt... Salt is a monopoly, and the price will soar. Shouldn't we pass the pressure on to the people?"

Zhao Hanzhang shook his head and said: "Illegal salt is rampant now, but what do you think of the price? One stone of salt costs 8,000 yuan."

Zhao Kuan is not an official who knows nothing. He has worked at the grassroots level. He said: "Three years ago, the price of salt was only 1,200 yuan per stone. When Yuzhou was stable, the price even reached 900 yuan per stone. Now it has soared. , one is because of the war, and the other is because of the severe drought and locusts in the north, which has caused the people to be displaced."

"As the shopkeeper said, now that the world's major events have been decided, and you are tolerant, the price of salt will gradually drop." Zhao Kuan did not think it would be better for the government to get involved at this time.

Zhao Hanzhang said: "I want money, and I can guarantee that the price of salt will drop under my control."

Zhao Kuan said helplessly: "I'm afraid this matter needs to be discussed by the courtiers."

Zhao Hanzhang raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said, "Really?"

Zhao Kuan lowered his head in fear and said nothing more.

Zhao Hanzhang slowed down his voice and said to him: "I asked Sun Linghui to go to Guangzhou. I originally wanted to take care of it slowly, but the treasury is empty, so there is no time for us to take our time. You Qingzhou, please start moving together."

"Huh?" Zhao Kuan finally understood, "You mean salt comes from Qingzhou and Guangzhou?"

Zhao Hanzhang said: "The salt that will be used to change the salt policy in the future will come from your two states, but at this time, I will take back the salt fields in each state."

In fact, the current national policy is also a salt monopoly. This is a policy inherited from Cao Wei, who inherited it from the Han Dynasty and modified it to supervise the salt trade for the government.

When the Jin State was first established, it could maintain this situation, but then the world was in chaos and order collapsed. This policy had long existed in name only. Most of the salt on the market now is private salt, or the official salt became private salt and was sold in various shops. Sold here.

There are also people who sell private salt in government offices, and the money they get is divided between themselves and local officials.

The situation in Yuzhou is not bad. She made rectifications when she was the governor of Yuzhou. Now there are more official salts than private salts on the market, but outside Yuzhou, there is basically no trace of official salt.

Although there is no shadow of official salt, from Zhao Kuan's point of view, although the price fluctuation is large, it is the most beneficial to the people, because before this, the salt sold by official salt was not only high in price but also in small quantity.

The imperial court used this to make money, filling the national treasury and various private treasury, and it was the people who suffered in the end.

See you tomorrow