After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but smile and asked: "Why not?"
"Your Majesty, salt and iron have been sold by the government since ancient times.
Only in this way can it be controlled by the government."
Wen Tiren explained in a hurry, speaking very quickly, "If it is out of the control of the government, the money from the salt tax will Could it be that the imperial court doesn’t want it anymore?
His Majesty said that he wants to give the people a big gift.
Could it be that he doesn’t want the salt tax?”
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he was a little speechless.
Wen Tiren seemed to be concerned but confused.
He hadn't even finished his words yet.
No matter how generous he was, there was no way he would not collect taxes.
Thinking this, he immediately stretched out his hand and shook it and said to Wen Tiren: "Wen Qing, please be patient and wait until I finish speaking."
When Wen Tiren heard this, he realized that he seemed to be in a hurry and was being impolite.
So he quickly apologized again.
Naturally, Emperor Chongzhen would not take it seriously.
He waved his hand and got down to business and said: "My new salt policy is called an on-the-spot taxation system.
The general content is that from now on, if the people of the Ming Dynasty are allowed to break their promises when buying and selling, the government will not make any restrictions , In this way, this promise will not become an exclusive monopoly.
Under full competition, not only the price will be lowered, but the quality of the promise will also be improved.
All the people of the Ming Dynasty will benefit from this, while the court will only tax the salt production areas. ” In the original history, this method was proposed by Xiyi Dingen when he served as the Salt Affairs Consultant of the Beiyang Government and was responsible for managing the salt affairs.
During the Republic of China, in May 1931, the Nationalist Government promulgated the New Salt Law, which adopted this on-the-spot taxation system.
This is a major event in the ideological history of China's salt policy reform and an important symbol of the implementation of the on-site taxation system.
At this time, in the Wenhua Hall, Wen Tiren seriously thought about the on-the-spot taxation system that the emperor had just mentioned.
At first, he was a little disapproving, but the more he thought about it, the more benefits he suddenly found.
As for the policy of benefiting the people mentioned by the emperor, it is obvious that once it is implemented in this way, the people of the Ming Dynasty will definitely not buy salt for a pound of 300 coins, or even less than the 50 coins for a pound in the former Song Dynasty.
And salt is a necessity for the people.
The expenditure on salt occupies a large part of ordinary people's households.
Being able to reduce this cost is really a great gift to the people of Ming Dynasty.
Thinking a little deeper, in this way, Ming Dynasty said that all salt produced will be taxed, and management is simple.
The higher the output, the greater the salt tax, and the cheaper the salt price will be.
Both the court and the people will benefit from it.
Great benefit.
When Wen Tiren thought of this, an idea suddenly flashed in his mind, and he truly understood why Emperor Chongzhen was so cautious, delaying the reform of the salt policy until today.
Because most of the emperor's new salt policy has benefited, but the interests of the old salt merchants and those who benefited from it, such as local officials, private salt dealers, etc., will be greatly damaged, and even private salt dealers will have their interests greatly damaged.
The salt will be struck to extinction.
These people will definitely not be happy with the implementation of the on-the-spot taxation system, and will definitely find ways to obstruct it.
In this way, the prerequisite for implementing the on-the-spot taxation system is that the court must be strong and have sufficient control.
Only in this way can we resolutely implement the on-the-spot taxation system.
The obstruction caused by salt merchants and private salt dealers is like a mantis trying to block the traffic.
If it was in the past, all the energy, manpower and material resources were used up to establish the imperial court, how could it be possible to have the ability to enforce it.
But now, or starting from next year, it will be different.
The elite of the Ming Dynasty's army has been proved by the destruction of Jianlu.
And this army is absolutely loyal to the emperor and the court; the Ming Dynasty's treasury is rich, and it does not care whether the initial salt tax will be lost due to the interference of vested interests; the activities of Dongchang and Jinyiwei in the southeast and northwest of the Ming Dynasty are also very powerful of deterrence.
In addition, there are other aspects, such as the Metropolitan Procuratorate setting up subordinate yamen in various places, all civil servants being converted into officials, senior officials in the bureau yamen being demoted to hard-working places, etc., etc., all of which are also to various extents Strengthened the court's control over the Ming Dynasty.
Thinking of this, Wen Tiren couldn't help but admire him.
It was obvious that the emperor had already considered it and was implementing it step by step.
Most of the things I do come naturally, and I don’t have the recklessness that young people have to do things without hesitation.
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So, he bowed to Emperor Chongzhen and said sincerely: "I agree with this on-the-spot taxation method."
In the original history, the control of the Republic of China government was simply not enough.
Therefore, although the new salt law was promulgated, it was strongly opposed by the old salt merchants.
In addition, not long after, the Anti-Japanese War broke out and the current situation was turbulent.
Free transportation and sales were hindered, and the on-the-spot taxation system was suppressed and eventually became obsolete, and the previous monopoly system was revived.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was not surprised to hear Wen Tiren's approval.
After all, Wen Tiren was on his side, and it would be strange not to agree to something that would benefit both the court and the people.
As for those old salt merchants, they were so fat in the past.
If they dared to interfere, I wouldn't mind slaughtering them as fat sheep.
Everything must have rules and things must be done according to the rules With this in mind, Emperor Chongzhen picked up a memorial from the imperial case and asked his chamberlain to pass it on to his chief assistant.
At the same time, he said: "This is the basic idea for implementing the on-the-spot taxation system after my consideration.
Wen Qing is familiar with local affairs.
Just this idea of mine, come up with it I will also send Jin Yiwei commander Liu Qing and Dongchang Admiral Wang Banpan to cooperate with me to come up with a rough outline before the New Year.
After all, I promised to give my people a New Year gift. of, how?”
Wen Tiren did not reply immediately, but opened the memorial carefully and found that it was actually written in great detail, including the original salt field, salt cubes, and the disposal of the salt class.
After reading it, he knew what he was doing, so he bowed and accepted the order and said: "I obey the order."
Emperor Chongzhen saw it and nodded.
Neither the souls from later generations nor the original Chongzhen Emperor knew much about local affairs.
Wen Tiren is a veteran in the political arena.
He has worked his way up from the bottom to the position of chief minister.
He is naturally familiar with officialdom.
It will be up to him to complete the work.
I believe the specific plan will be more complete.
Wen Tiren indeed lived up to Emperor Chongzhen's trust.
After returning, he left all other matters to others, and he himself specially worked with several cabinet ministers, the eunuch Bingbi of the Supervisor of Liturgical Affairs, and two factories Chief Wei, we will discuss in retreat and improve the on-the-spot taxation method.
Two days later, on the 29th day of the New Year, a complete memorial of the new tax law was finally presented to the emperor.
Emperor Chongzhen read it carefully and felt very satisfied.
The first assistant indeed added a lot of details.
He closed the memorial and looked at Wen Tiren, who looked tired but high-spirited.
He nodded and said: "Good, let this be announced to the world." , after the New Year, please focus on this matter."
"I obey the order."
Wen Tiren was filled with a sense of accomplishment and quickly agreed.
In future history books, it is estimated that it will be impossible to avoid my name in the salt administration.
In the streets of the capital, many people gathered in the casino.
Looking at the long list of gifts, many people could not hold their breath.
"It's already the 29th of the Lunar New Year, and the New Year will be celebrated tomorrow.
Why is there no new news?
Could it be that what happened before was the great gift that the emperor mentioned?"
"No, that's just a big gift to ordinary people."
"You are all naive.
In the eyes of the imperial court, we, the common people, are not the so-called common people.
The so-called subjects are actually those scholars and those who are officials.
Do you understand?"
"" In other words, the expectations for the great gifts that Emperor Chongzhen mentioned before were too high.
When the people in the capital learned that the so-called great gifts were most likely to increase bonuses for officials and change officials into officials, disappointment was inevitable. .
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After all, many people are very short-sighted and cannot see how big the indirect benefits these things will bring to them.
However, in contrast, those who have benefited, such as officials whose family background is not very good, as well as those staff, are grateful to the emperor, and they all admit that this is a great gift.
"The Emperor is a famous emperor through the ages.
He knew that it was not easy for us, so he made this change.
His grace is so great."
"Haha, some people are not satisfied.
If the emperor really has to consider all the people, including cats and dogs, even the emperor would not be able to give such great gifts."
"That's right, those fools really think that the emperor is the God of Wealth, has countless money, and gives everyone a New Year's gift." "" On New Year's Eve, these two views are basically circulating on the streets.
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and casinos will be closed.
Many casinos even thought that there would be no new news and began to close.
Those people who are short of money are particularly disappointed with the so-called gift, and most of them have given up thinking about it and are busy with celebrating the New Year tomorrow.
The discussion about Dali finally slowly faded away.
However, in the afternoon, after Emperor Chongzhen's decision was made, at least the people in the capital could know it immediately.
The new Salt Law became an imperial edict.
In the most formal form, the cabinet, the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and the Sixth Section all had the decree made public with seals.
Corresponding notices also began to be posted in the streets and alleys.
The yamen officials who were responsible for posting the notices were all very excited.
They rushed out of the yamen with the notices in hand.
Even before the notices were posted on the wall, they were already loudly publicizing: "Good news, good news, a gift from the emperor."
Come out, the Emperor has given New Year gifts to all our people."
There were quite a few people who were not willing to give the gift.
They were just hanging out at the yamen gate.
When they heard the shouts of the yamen servants and saw the joy of the yamen servants, they all felt as if they had been given a shot of blood.
They had been hiding because of the severe cold weather.
They were in the shelter from the wind and immediately jumped up and rushed over through the snow.
At the same time, they shouted loudly: "What a big gift!
Your Majesty, I have a big gift for you."
"I knew it, I knew the emperor would not say anything nonsense.
If he said he would give a big gift to all the people, he would definitely get a big gift."
"Haha, my mother-in-law insists on fighting with me.
Tell me what kind of gift it is.
Go back and explain it to her.
Let's see how she still fights with me." "" Looking at the crowd rushing past, the government servant was also very happy.
He clapped the notice in his hand and announced loudly with a smile: "The emperor has decreed that from now on anyone can buy and sell salt.
We ordinary people can do it, as long as we have the capital."
If we make money, everyone can make money, and we can be sure that in the future, the price of table salt we eat will definitely be greatly reduced."
Before he could finish his words, he was surrounded by a swarm of people, all making surprised noises, which immediately interrupted the yamen servant's speech.
"Anyone can buy and sell salt, are you lying?"
"Yes, since ancient times, salt has always been sold by the government.
This salt is for the common people."
"If it were possible to trade like this, I would buy a dozen or a hundred pounds and not sell it.
I would just keep it at home and eat it.
I believe it's cheap enough." "" Faced with many doubts, the Yamen servant was not unhappy at all.
Instead, he straightened his chest, clapped the notice in his hand, and loudly announced again: "How can there be false edicts in this matter?
What a sin it is.
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I It’s all written in black and red on red paper.”
Hearing this, the people who were still doubting could not help but stare at the notices in the hands of the government officials with their eyes shining brightly.
One of the common people stretched out his hand to grab it, but said in his mouth: "My lord, it's so hard for you to post this notice in such heavy snow.
I'll help you, I'll help you post it."
With him taking the lead, other people followed suit, regardless of whether they knew the words or not.
They wanted to see the content of the notice as soon as possible, so they all stretched out their hands to grab the notice.
The yamen servant didn't expect this, and without paying attention, the notice was snatched away.
The onlookers immediately rushed over and pushed the yamen servant outside.
"Quick, quick, give me one, give me one" "I want it too, little brother, I want it too" "Don't move, don't grab it, be careful not to tear the notice." "" The government officials on the periphery looked speechless.
People who didn't know it saw it and thought it was a money grab.
After working as a cadre for so many years, how could anyone who had seen the notice be so popular?
A young man moved quickly and grabbed a copy of the notice.
He took the lead in getting out of the crowd.
After getting space, he immediately opened it and read it.
However, he knew the big characters, but the big characters did not recognize him.
Suddenly, he became anxious again and shouted loudly: "Someone who is literate should read out what is written on it."
The people on the side who didn't catch the notice were happy when they saw his situation.
They laughed and said: "Look, you are still so active with your eyes open.
Let's go to some literacy training class another day.
At least you can learn some words.
Those trainings now There are many people in each class, and the fees are very cheap.
If you listen carefully, you can still read."
"Yes, the fees are low.
It is necessary to spend some money, otherwise it would be very uncomfortable to be blind." "" Listening to their teasing, the young man suddenly jumped up and ran away with the notice.
The New Year's gift given by the Emperor spread like this, with an unprecedented speed: