Chapter 137 Civil and Military Ministers Quarrel with Each Other, Wei Yuan Offers Salt Incentives

The grand meeting is about to begin.

Since Sheng Hong performed well after coming to Beijing, he has been promoted to the rank of Yuanwailang of the Ministry of Industry, from the fifth rank.

But he was still not qualified to enter the palace to participate in the court meeting.

He could only stand outside the hall with some colleagues.

After a while, with the roar of the mountains, the court meeting began.

Zhao Zhen originally wanted to finalize the formation of a new army at this court meeting.

Unexpectedly, Han Zhang took the lead in attacking.

"Your Majesty, the salt tax on Jinghu South Road is less than 30% of previous years. The situation on Liangzhe Road and Jiangnan Road is also quite serious."

"In previous years, the salt tax was basically between 7 million and 8 million guan, but this year, my preliminary guess is that it is only about 2 to 3 million guan."

As soon as these words came out, they instantly became the focus of heated discussion among officials.

During the Zhenzong period, the annual salt tax was as low as three million guan.

At that time, the dynasty had just been established, and it was understandable that countless people had not yet recovered from the war.

But now, in the prosperous times, the salt tax has plummeted, which is not a good sign.

It also reflects a phenomenon: the imperial court is out of money.

In the past few years, there have been either natural disasters or man-made disasters, and the court's various expenditures have also been very large. Once it cannot make ends meet, big troubles will occur.

Ouyang Yongshu, who was involved in political affairs and was also the Minister of Household Affairs, bowed and said:

"Salt tax is the foundation of our country's dynasty and economy, and it must be carefully monitored. I would like to reduce the issuance of salt banknotes and postpone several major expenditures this year to next year to recuperate."

Hearing this, Wei Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

Forming a new army must be a huge expense.

Push it to next year?

Then what reason can be used to postpone it to the year after next year?

If this happens repeatedly, can a new army still be formed?

Wei Yuan frowned secretly. Could it be that Han Zhang, an old man, just didn't want him to form a new army, so he found some excuse to refuse the matter?

Reducing the issuance of salt banknotes means that salt banknotes can no longer be exchanged for grain.

Without food and pay, how can we talk about forming a new army?

Who knows, this is just the beginning.

Tong Zhongshu's disciple Ping Zhangshi Fu Yanguo said:

"Your Majesty, if the issuance of salt banknotes is not reduced, the price of salt may change in the coming year and the salt tax will be difficult to collect."

"If food shortages are repeated and the issuance of salt banknotes is increased to solve the problem, then sooner or later, the salt law will collapse."

The so-called smooth affairs under Tong Zhongshu's family can be understood as the deputy prime minister.

That is, Han Zhang's helper.

Several civil servants stood up and continued to attack Zhao Zhen.

On the surface, it is talking about the salt tax.

Wei Yuan always felt that this was to stop forming a new army.

If the salt tax problem is not solved, the court will have no money, and if there is no money, there will be no food. If there is no food, it can only continue to sell salt banknotes, then the salt tax problem will become increasingly serious.

It's almost an endless cycle.

If the issuance of salt banknotes is not controlled, resulting in the proliferation of salt banknotes, it will be difficult for local salt prices to remain stable. This will affect all aspects, not just the salt tax.

Zhao Zhen pretended to cough twice and slowly said:

"I have been discussing the issue of salt tax with the ministers for a long time, but we have never been able to come up with a charter."

"The issue of salt tax needs to be solved, and the salt law needs to be reformed, but I believe that the top priority right now is to form a new army."

"As for the salt tax, after the dynasty is dismissed, Han Qing, Fu Qing, etc. can come to the Xuanzheng Hall to discuss it in detail with me."

Han Zhang couldn't talk about it at all. He bowed again and said:

"Your Majesty, the salt tax cannot be delayed any longer."

"It is not yet known how much food it will cost to form a new army. Even if it can be done, the salt banknotes may not be worth anything."

"I propose disarmament!"

disarmament?

Hearing this, the officials were in an uproar again.

Good guy, Your Majesty is going to form a new army, but your side is going to disarm?

The imperial army, local garrison, etc. added up, the army of Zhou Dynasty was about 1.2 million.

This does not include some unrecorded civilian husbands.

It can be seen that the problem of redundant troops in the Great Zhou Dynasty is really difficult.

But disarmament is definitely not the solution!

Han Zhang proposed disarmament at this time, just to ease the economic pressure on the country and North Korea.

Prime Minister Zhang Fu said coldly: "Disarmament? I wonder how many soldiers will be laid off to fill the hole in the Ministry of Household Affairs?"

Uncle Ouyang Yong frowned and said: "British sir, you must be responsible for what you say. What do you mean by mending the holes in our household department?"

Gu Yankai asked: "If there is a problem with the salt tax, isn't it the responsibility of your Ministry of Revenue?"

Cao Yaoheng, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, said: "That is also because we have to support the battle of Daizhou and spend countless money and food."

He is a civil servant, not a military commander.

Pan Yi, the Korean public servant, frowned and said, "What do you mean? The Battle of Daizhou should not be fought. We should wait until the Liao and Xia countries cross Yanmen and cross the Great Wall before you are satisfied?"

Tomihiko said: "This is wrong. The battle in Daizhou was led by the British Duke. The British Duke did not go out to meet the enemy. Instead, he used the strategy of defending the city to fight a protracted war with the enemy. Therefore, he spent countless money and food."

"In the past two years, we have experienced constant natural and man-made disasters during the Great Zhou Dynasty. Money and food are everywhere. In order to support the Daizhou War, the imperial court has been unable to make ends meet."

Duke Qin Ye said: "How much do you know about marching and fighting? Do you think that with a wave of your hand in this court, you can conclude that the soldiers will win when they go out to fight?"

"Do you know how many soldiers will be killed or injured if the battle outside the border is defeated?"

Big bosses from the civil and military parties began to quarrel with each other.

Some humble officials subconsciously took a few steps back.

Because they know that they cannot participate in the battle between the big guys.

Otherwise, just the spittle they spurt out can drown you.

Wei Yuan pretended to be watching a play, watching the scene quietly.

After all, this scene doesn't happen often.

Maybe they quarreled too fiercely.

Han Zhang saw that Zhao Zhen's face was not right, and immediately said:

"Okay, we have gone too far, now let's discuss how to change the salt tax system."

After this, the whole Zichen Hall was a little quiet.

Zhao Zhen said: "Disarmament is not feasible, after all, Liao and Xia are still eyeing us covetously."

"I have discussed the reform of the salt tax with Han Qing and others for several days. Originally, we wanted to use salt permits to replace salt notes."

"Han Qing proposed that long permits and short permits can be issued to control the price of salt."

"The long permit period is one year, and the short permit period is half a year. If the salt permit law is implemented, the salt tax issue may be resolved."

"But the quantity regulation of salt permits should be regulated. I wonder if you have any ideas, please tell me."

Zhao Zhen also found that if the salt tax issue is not resolved, it will be difficult to form a new army.

The so-called salt note method means that merchants need to pay cash in exchange for salt notes, and then receive the corresponding notes according to the output of the salt field.

The court used this to control the price of salt.

However, if there are too many salt notes, the price of salt will fall, and it will be difficult to collect salt taxes, and the court will lose a large part of its profits.

The salt ticket method proposed by Han Zhang replaces quantity with time.

For example, if a merchant buys a lot of long notes, then within a year, he does not need to buy long notes again, and he can use long notes to collect salt for sale.

Within the specified time, only a specified amount of salt can be collected.

There will be no sharp drop in the price of salt.

However, Han Zhang's proposal is not comprehensive and has obvious loopholes.

If the difference between long notes and short notes is only a matter of time, then everyone will buy long notes.

With a lot of time, merchants will sell salt to some salt-deficient areas outside.

In this way, it is difficult to curb the stability of salt prices.

These days, Han Zhang and others are worried about this matter.

But listening to their discussion here.

Wei Yuan has come up with a complete salt ticket method in his mind.

He had to admire Han Zhang's ability to manage the economy, and he almost brought the salt permit law forward by several decades.

Just when all the civil and military officials looked at each other, unable to come up with any ideas or solutions.

In order to form a new army, Wei Yuan decided to offer the complete salt permit law,

"Your Majesty, I have an idea that can regulate the quantity and regulations of salt transportation and sales."

Wei Yuan said so.

Many civil officials actually discussed with disdain,

"It seems that this loyal and brave earl really wants to form a new army, and I don't know what he is thinking."

"Yes, he is a military general, what does he know about governing the country?"

"This is not leading troops to fight."

"."

Wei Yuan was unmoved when he heard these voices, and his eyes kept looking at Zhao Zhen.

At this time, even Han Zhang did not believe that he would really come up with a solution.

"We have been thinking about it for several days, but we have not come up with a solution."

"What? Zhongyong Bo, a military commander, can come up with a plan just by listening to a few words?"

"If he deceives the emperor, does Zhongyong Bo know what crime he will commit?"