Chapter 231 This is a two-pronged approach! (Second update)
Zhu Yuanzhang’s face remained as usual, with no expression of joy or anger.
It is impossible to see the change in expression.
He sat high on it and listened to Mei Sizu's words indifferently. After a long time, he nodded, seeming to be somewhat moved by Mei Sizu's words.
See this.
Mei Sizu said quickly: "As for what Xia Zhibai said, many of them are pointless. Is it really that easy to relocate the population? Have you asked the local kitchen households? If they are unwilling, wouldn't it arouse public resentment even more? "
"The ancients said that governing a big country is like cooking a small one, and you should not make big moves."
"How can Xia Zhibai not understand this?"
Mei Sizu looked at Xia Zhibai coldly, with deep disdain and sarcasm.
Xia Zhibai glanced at Mei Sizu and sneered: "How dare you ask Lord Mei, how should the imperial court stabilize the south?"
Mei Sizu smiled and stroked his beard, a hint of pride flashed at the corner of his mouth, and said with a smile: "Since you have no choice, let me tell you what I think. First of all, the salt policy is not easy to make drastic changes. The place is inherently unstable, and in Chaotic efforts in the salt administration will only be counterproductive."
"Therefore, the court should provide timely assistance to calm people's hearts and stabilize the local situation."
"The imperial court should order local governments to actively absorb unemployed households, free up certain fields for them, or give them a certain place to make a living, so that they can have a chance to make a living. Only by taking a two-pronged approach can the unrest caused by this time in the south be completely quelled."
“Only in this way can the South be stable.”
"When governing a place, you can't do it too hastily, let alone go too far."
"It's easy to break if it's too strong, but it's easy to be too soft."
"It needs to be just right to calm down the excitement in the place, and to Give local people a certain amount of comfort and at the same time seek a certain way of life for them. Only in this case will the people have hope and be grateful to the court."
"The Ming Dynasty will last forever."
< br>Mei Sizu saluted Zhu Yuanzhang with a smile on his face.
He believed that the solution he gave was the best solution at the moment. It could not only properly resolve the local chaos, but also stabilize the local people, and the price paid by the court was extremely small.
He believed that His Majesty would make a wise choice.
Li Shan smiled and stroked his beard.
The worry on his face completely disappeared at this time and turned into calmness.
Mei Sizu is a quick-witted person. Although Tian Jing and Xia Zhibai suddenly found themselves in trouble, they quickly stabilized their positions in a short period of confusion and quickly thought of countermeasures. , and these disposal strategies are obviously more in line with the 'idea' and more practical.
Li Shanchang raised his eyebrows and glanced at Tian Jing, and finally moved his eyes to Xia Zhibai.
He knew it very well.
Tian Jing does not have the courage.
The one who really instigated all of this could only be Xia Zhibai.
He wanted to take a look.
What else can this Xia Zhibai do?
Xia Zhibai chuckled, shook his head, and said sarcastically: "How dare you, Lord Mei, really use your brain?"
"What are you talking about?!" Mei Sizu was stunned. , then he looked annoyed and glared at Xia Zhibai. Xia Zhibai dared to call him stupid in public!
Xia Zhibai said: "Since Mr. Mei has used his brain, it is impossible not to discover the loopholes in his words. These people are Zao households, and they are listed in a single household registration. Under the strict household registration system of the imperial court, Zao households Households can only make salt and cannot do other things.”
“If we don’t abolish the kitchen household system, then let the kitchen households do other things. Wouldn’t it be a waste of time?”
"I dare to ask where is the basis, where is the truth, where is the king's law?"
"You are messing with the law!"
Mei Sizu's face changed slightly, and he glared at Xia Zhibai fiercely, He said coldly: "In emergency situations, you should do extraordinary things. Sometimes it's okay to do things cheaply?"
Xia Zhibai said indifferently: "But they are still kitchen households, and their descendants can also only be kitchen households."
“Does the imperial court still want to open the door for kitchen households?”
Mei Sizu was speechless for a moment.
Of course this cannot be done.
But if this is not the case, then the kitchen household system must be abolished. Once this is abolished, too many people and money will be involved. Mei Sizu fell silent and looked at him with a bit of prayer. The surrounding officials, but other officials, couldn't help but look at the sky, as if they didn't want to involve themselves.
Xia Zhibai looked around and said calmly: "From any point of view, the kitchen household system is no longer suitable."
"It will only be a burden to the court."< br>
"The longer the kitchen household system exists, the heavier the burden will be on the court."
"And Lord Mei's idea seems to be for the country and the people, but in fact it is not, because the cost is borne by the court, and The actual problem has not been solved at all, but it has been a hasty cover-up of what happened now, trying to delay the matter, but will the problem be postponed? "
"That is to say, the court. Hundreds of thousands of silver taels were spent just to postpone the matter, just to prevent the matter from getting bigger now. But delaying can't solve the problem. Sooner or later, it will break out again, and then the court will have to spend hundreds of thousands of silver taels to appease it. , time and time again, how much money does the court have to invest in this bad salt policy? "
"Mr. Mei, are you really thinking about the court?"
"Instead of just wanting to settle the matter as soon as possible!"
"If the ministers of the Ming Dynasty all do these things of 'losing money and making a fuss', then my Ming Dynasty will be completely ruined. If it is a little worse today, it will be worse tomorrow. One day, sooner or later, everything in the Ming Dynasty will be ruined. When the court can't provide so much silver, won't the place be completely in chaos? "
"How can we neglect small matters and lose our righteousness!"
"If we don't do our best to consider the court and the world, how can we just rely on local officials? Solve it yourself? Just wait for the matter to disappear on its own? As court officials, our most important function is to solve the world's affairs, and we must solve them effectively, rather than deceiving ourselves."
"It is imperative to abolish the old salt policy."
"The kitchen household system has obviously failed to keep up with the situation of the Ming Dynasty."
"As officials of the imperial court, we focus on the salt policy. In addition to When considering people's livelihood, we must also consider 'taxation'."
"In the past, salt and iron were major sources of tax revenue. However, under the current chaos in the south, the government's tax revenue on salt is obviously unclear, although it can still be collected at a high rate. tax, but how much salt is produced in the south and how much salt tax is paid, have the local governments really reviewed and implemented it? "
"All of this requires our efforts for the country."
"The current salt policy is not good for the country, bad for the kitchen households, and bad for the local area. It has become an obvious chaotic and bad government. Why not change the government?"
"I think it is not only necessary to change, but also Big changes are needed.”
Xia Zhibai stood tall.
His voice echoed in the hall for a long time.
No one else spoke, everyone remained silent.
Mei Sizu looked embarrassed, but he didn't dare to speak out casually anymore.
He has noticed that Xia Zhibai is determined to change the salt policy, and it is very likely that he is the one who promoted this court incident. Although he is extremely resentful in his heart, he is determined not to do so in full view of the public. If you dare to have an attack, you can only hold in your breath.
The smile on Zhu Yuanzhang's lips could no longer be suppressed.
He coughed lightly, drew his attention back to himself, and said calmly: "We don't want to hear these big principles from you. We just want to know. Since you keep talking about our Ming Dynasty's salt policy, If you want to change it, then tell the salt policy in your mind, whether it is right or wrong, and the officials will understand after listening."
Xia Zhibai nodded.
He held up his hands and said: "I do have some thoughts on the salt policy."
"The first is to abolish the kitchen household system and liberate the extra 'surplus' population due to increased productivity, so that these kitchen households can engage in other industries , allowing them to maintain a certain livelihood, the south is no longer suitable, so relocating the population is what everyone wants."
"This is one"
"Second, the Ming Dynasty. The production share of salt is actually limited. ”
“The method of restriction is often to limit the production of salt in various places by calculating the population and then stipulating the salt rationing system.” br>
"Take the current salt wells in Sichuan as an example. There are more than 1,500 salt wells in Sichuan, and about 400 are being mined. The remaining salt wells were not opened after the Ministry of Household Calculation calculated the population, but directly ordered Close the remaining salt wells."
"This pay-as-you-go mining model is more reasonable."
"But under the impact of steam-driven salt production, most of the salt wells in the world have been destroyed. "
"And with the joint efforts of Chen and the King of Zhou, the steam engine has been successfully improved. In the future, the efficiency of the steam engine will only be higher, and more salt will be produced. , given the current situation, one steam engine can often equal the output of a dozen or even dozens of salt wells."
"It is inevitable that a large number of salt wells will be closed."
"The establishment of large-scale salt enterprises is also visible to the naked eye."
"Because the population of the Ming Dynasty is fixed, if the steam engines in various places are really fully activated, I am afraid that only the salt produced in the south will be It will be enough to supply the world for a long time, and the Ming Dynasty cannot really mine it for a period of time, so it will be closed for a period of time. Therefore."
"I will come up with new drawings and promote them in the south, and at the same time integrate the salt enterprises in the south. ."
"Consolidate small salt factories in the south into one large factory."
"Unify salt production.
"One advantage of large salt factories is that it is easy for the court to check various data. Whether it is the amount of salt produced, the amount of salt produced, or the amount of tax paid, these courts can easily conduct inspections."
" People can run away, but factories can’t run away.”
“Since then, it has been easier for the court to collect taxes and audit taxes, and because of the abolition of the kitchen household system, the burden has been reduced, and because the steam-driven salt industry has squeezed the market, the kitchen industry has become more vulnerable. The private output of each household has been unable to have much impact on the salt market, but in order to avoid smuggling and affecting the court's tax revenue, the minister firmly suggested that the court relocate the population. "
"The Zao households will be moved away, even in the south. If you want to smuggle it, you can’t find anyone who makes it.”
“Unless you rely on machines.”
"Therefore, under the salt war reform, the next step is to legally manage salt companies. Only salt companies recognized by the government can get the salt production allocated by the court. Others that are not recognized will be considered illegal, and local governments have the right to Responsible for cleaning up and punishing them."
"This is a two-pronged approach!"
(End of this chapter)