Chapter 263 Solution (Third update, please vote)
Seeing Fang Wanghai’s gaze, Su Ze first shook his head.
"Nowadays, both border merchants and domestic merchants are exhausted. The imperial court wants to make money from them by issuing salt seals, but I am afraid that few of them can take out the money."
Fang Wanghai fell silent.
Su Ze was right. The former northern border merchants had completely withered when he became emperor.
Many of the border merchant families that were once able to organize tens of thousands of merchants and villages on the border have gone bankrupt and become ordinary local tycoons.
Some have changed industries, such as smuggling tea and horses in border areas, and making money through more illegal smuggling trade.
The once brilliant domestic merchants, such as the Huaiyang salt merchants concentrated in Huai'an, Yangzhou, and Taizhou, have also been severely weakened. Many families still hoard large amounts of salt, but they have never been able to exchange it and can only treat it as waste paper. The same is passed on to future generations.
In short, Ye Qi's reforms have defeated the once prosperous salt merchant group.
Nowadays, those who can do salt business in the Huainan area are either eunuchs and relatives of the emperor, or nobles from Southern Zhili, or children of important ministers like Mr. Xu Ge.
Even if an ordinary businessman takes the salt lead, he will never be able to extract one tael of salt from the salt field.
But if there is no salt, there is no salt. Even the above-mentioned dignitaries will rush to grab the new salt produced in the salt field. Even if they arrive late, they will not be able to grab any extra salt.
Fang Wanghai was also scolding the court in his heart. Your court only distributes salt. How can you sell it without salt?
No one is a fool now. Even if the Nanjing Household Department sells salt directly, someone still has to buy it!
Su Ze said: "I have no way to revitalize Kaizhong France, but if it is just to sell the salt this time, my son-in-law still has a way." Fang Wanghai's eyes lit up, Su Ze really had a way
!
The two of them hurriedly said: "Rulin, hurry up! Don't tease me!"
Su Ze said slowly: "Father-in-law, the salt law of these two Huaihe Rivers is blocked, but not the salt law of all places in the world is blocked. Yes? The salt in Shandong, Fujian and Guangdong is not as in short supply as Jianghuai. Especially in Shandong, it has been out of reach for a long time. There are not many people picking up salt in Shandong." Fang Wanghai's eyes lit up, yes,
Su Ze is right!
The Nanjing Household Department is in charge of the world's salt administration. Fang Wanghai certainly knows that what Su Ze said is right.
This has to do with the issue of opening up China. The level of wealth and population density in the Ming Dynasty was different, so the salt in different places was completely different.
However, the Kaizhong Law also stipulates that salt from a region can only be sold in that region, which results in completely different salt prices in different places.
For example, Shandong is an old traditional production area of salt. Since the Warring States Period, Qi State has been cooking salt, so the salt output of Shandong is no less than that of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
But because of this, businessmen have been reluctant to open China in Shandong since the beginning of the People's Republic of China when the Opening of China Law was implemented.
Shandong has a small population and a lot of private salt. If a salt dealer succeeds in selling salt in Shandong, he may not make much money at all.
In the Jianghuai region, which is separated from Shandong, as long as it can get salt from the salt farm guards, it will be dozens or even hundreds of times the profit.
Su Ze mentioned that there is more salt in Shandong and less salt in Jianghuai. There is a surplus of salt in the Shandong salt field and there is not enough salt in the Jianghuai salt field. Fang Wanghai immediately understood what Su Ze meant.
But Fang Wanghai frowned again and said: "But it costs a lot to transport the salt from Shandong to Jianghuai, and there are many people in the water transport yamen who are lining their own pockets. I am afraid that only one out of ten salts can be transported to Yangzhou." Fang Wanghai was telling the truth
.
As mentioned before, the entire water transportation of the Grand Canal is actually divided into two parts. One is the warehouse minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, who is responsible for transportation and storage, and manages the docks and granaries along the way.
The other one is the Ministry of Industry, which is responsible for water transportation ships and water transportation troops. Now the person in charge of the Ministry of Industry is Yan Shifan, the son of Yan Song.
Fang Wanghai knew the overall degree of corruption in the Water Transport Yamen under the Ministry of Industry controlled by Yan Shifan.
Even the grain transported by water to the capital, these water transport bugs dared to steal grain from the ship, and some even cut through the ship to steal grain.
The last time the blunt Yuezhou Township Party collapsed, the entire Nanjing Household Department was bloodbathed, but not a single official from the Ministry of Works, which also provided water transport ships to the Yuezhou Township Party, was punished.
It’s no wonder that officials at all levels now love to defect to Party Yan. He can really protect people!
If it weren't for Yan Shifan's poor reputation, Fang Wanghai would have wanted to vote.
Instead of counting on water transportation, we might as well count on the Jianghuai Salt Farm to produce more grain.
Su Ze said: "Water transport is unreliable, but sea transport can be used."
"Sea transport?"
"My father-in-law forgot that last year there was a food shortage in Jiangnan. Didn't we rely on sea transport to mobilize food from Fujian, which alleviated the food shortage problem? ?"
Fang Wanghai certainly remembered that if Su Ze hadn't contacted Mr. Tao, the governor of Fuzhou Port, and asked the Fuzhou Shipping Company to transport food to the Shanghai Terminal, there would have been a shortage of food in Jiangnan last year and people would have starved to death.
During that maritime trade, Jiangnan paid some silk and received grain.
The Shibosi got the silk and sold some grain.
It can be said to be a win-win result.
Even now, stable trade has emerged. Ships transporting grain from Fujian regularly dock in Shanghai, where they are exchanged for silk and shipped back to Fujian.
As for whether doing so violates the imperial court's no-sea policy?
The people who presided over this trade were Fang Wanghai, the minister of household affairs in Nanjing who had just succeeded, and Eunuch Tao, the great eunuch who was favored in the palace. No matter whether they were the officials of the Northern and Southern Zhili Kedao, no one wanted to impeach them with open eyes.
The Shanghai-Fuzhou trade, which is somewhere between legal and illegal, solved the last food shortage in Jiangnan. Su Ze also reminded Fang Wanghai that there is a coastline in Shandong, and there are also docks.
For example, the port in Dengzhou, Shandong Province was the port designated by the imperial court as the port where North Korea paid tribute.
In the early days of the Republic of China, North Korea paid tribute to the capital by land.
However, there are frequent turmoils in Liaodong and the tribute roads on land are cut off, so it was changed to enter the capital from Dengzhou Port in Shandong and then through the canal from Jinan.
So Su Ze said that it is technically feasible to go out to sea from Shanghai, go north to the dock in Dengzhou, and then transfer salt from the salt fields in Shandong to Jianghuai.
Nowadays, there are many ships coming and going at the Shanghai pier, and only a few need to be mobilized to transport the salt back.
Fang Wanghai's eyes lit up, Su Ze's method was really feasible!
Now Jianghuai Salt Yin cannot be sold. The main reason is that there is no salt in the salt field, so rich people are not willing to spend money to buy salt Yin.
As long as salt can be provided, people will naturally be willing to buy salt. After all, most people know that selling salt is a business that is sure to make a profit.
But Fang Wanghai frowned again and said, "Is there really enough salt in Shandong?"
Su Ze said with a smile, "The salt law is congested. If we need to sell salt quotations, we must fairly deal with the old quotations that have not been exchanged."
Su Ze's heart There was a plan, but he didn't tell all of his plans.
He continued: "So the top priority is to check out the remaining old salt yin on the market. First, we have to know how much salt is needed to sell the new salt yin." Fang Wanghai stroked his beard and said, "
This It's simple, whether it's the salt currency rewarded by the imperial court or the salt currency obtained by Kaizhong and Zheyin, the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs has records, and you only need to check it to roughly calculate how many old coins have not been exchanged."
Su Ze shook his head and said: "This is definitely not accurate. After so many years of imperial dynasty, there are always some bad debts that cannot be settled by the Ministry of Revenue. If I want to really find out how many old people there are, my son-in-law still wants to go to Yangzhou and A trip to Huai'an."
Although salt Yin is theoretically not tradable, in fact, just like the warehouse notes before the first abolition of the Kaizhong Law, Yan Yin is actually used as a general equivalent in the Jianghuai area. Transactions flow.
For example, some families were in debt, so they used the salt at home to pay off the debt.
Or if some families want to withdraw from the salt merchant business, they will also transfer the remaining salt in their hands.
Of course, the bigger reason is actually very simple. As more and more salt is imported, it becomes more and more difficult to extract salt. The salt business that ordinary businessmen could still participate in has gradually turned into a game for the powerful.
Only powerful families can participate. Ordinary small salt merchants are out of business one after another. They will naturally transfer the salt in their hands.
Huai'an is the city where the Jianghuai Salt Transportation Department is located and is an important salt industry town in the north of the Yangtze River.
Yangzhou is the distribution center for the entire Jianghuai salt merchants and the water transport hub for the entire South Zhili. Yangzhou is also a place where salt merchants gather.
Therefore, Su Ze wanted to visit these two places to understand the current flow of salt pipelines. This was also to find out the details of the existing salt pipelines and prepare for the next plan.
Fang Wanghai was completely moved when he heard that Su Ze had a solution and also volunteered to go to Jiangbei.
Fang Wanghai only felt that the most correct decision in his life was to marry his daughter to Su Ze!
If it weren't for Su Ze's help, the banknote pass law would not be implemented at all! I will never even think of being promoted to a position like the Minister of Household Affairs in my entire life!
If things go well this time, maybe there will be hope for Nanjing's Minister of Household Affairs!
Fang Wanghai's success in reaching this position was not entirely due to Su Ze alone. His own vision and emotional intelligence were also good.
Fang Wanghai keenly felt that what was lacking in the court today was ministers like him who were "good at managing money".
This was not because Fang Wanghai felt good about himself, but because of the real needs of the court.
As the country's finances become further strained, what the emperor needs is no longer the traditional financial minister who can "restrict expenditures", but financial ministers who can "increase revenue".
Moreover, Fang Wanghai has another advantage over Yan Shifan, the master of money-making in power today, that is, his method of making money basically does not offend the poor and common people, and the gentry and landlords who are offended cannot find fault, which means that he has a better reputation. Financial expert.
Obviously the emperor did not have any psychological pressure on Fang Wanghai, which is why he was quickly promoted to the position of Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing after passing the banknote and tax laws.
What's next? Will it be possible to become a regular employee?
Fang Wanghai looked at Su Ze with fiery eyes.
More updates have arrived!
This paragraph was very enjoyable to write! I don’t know what you think?
The issue of salt has basically been explained clearly. Fat Bird can be proud to say that no one on the entire Internet who writes novels about the Ming Dynasty has explained the issue of the salt industry of the Ming Dynasty as clearly as I have!
When we look at historical issues, we often fail to see the complexity of an issue.
This is the problem of the Ming Dynasty Salt Industry. It involves a wide range of interests and has complicated interest relationships. Fat Bird can be said to have made it clear here!
To solve this problem, there will be a battle plot immediately. The main plot of this volume is this plot, so stay tuned!
Seeking determination!
(End of chapter)