With the departure of Pei Weisheng, the governor of water transportation, and others, the rumor that Lin Ruhai, the Yangzhou Salt Patrol Censor, was seriously ill became more and more intense, and it spread throughout Yangzhou city in just one night.
I don't know how many people in salt merchants, big and small, are praying secretly, hoping that the disease will be defeated soon, so that they can go back to a few years ago and continue to exploit those untouchables.
In contrast, ordinary people in Yangzhou City spontaneously prayed for Lin Ruhai's incense. Since Lin Yushang took office, he has repeatedly defeated the conspiracy of salt merchants to hoard salt and drive up salt prices.
Although the price of salt is still a bit high, at least the people can have a taste of salt. Living is the only luxury that ordinary people want. And salt is an indispensable part of the matter of survival.
"If you don't eat salt, your whole body will be weak. What do the people want? Not delicacies from the mountains and seas, but a mouthful of salt!"
In the study, Lin Ruhai taught his future son-in-law earnestly and instilled in Jia Cong the experience gained from his more than ten years as an official.
He found that his nephew was extremely smart, but he was a bit naughty and had a restless temper.
So Lin Ruhai asked Daiyu to teach Jia Cong the basics of the Four Books and Five Classics. In his spare time, he went into battle himself and compiled stories about his experiences as an official to convey his experience as an official.
Lin Ruhai not only has experience as a Beijing official, but also has experienced local affairs, and has extremely rich experience as a people-friendly official. Jia Cong was fascinated by the short stories that incorporated Lin Ruhai's political style.
Sometimes I clapped my hands and applauded, sometimes I was extremely angry, sometimes I fell into deep thought...
Seeing her nephew's expression change, Lin Ruhai stroked his beard and smiled. This child has a pure heart and is a rare piece of jade. If he calms down his temper, he will definitely become his most suitable successor.
Jia Cong recalled the memories of his past life that were about to be blurred. He hesitated and asked in a low voice: "Uncle and Daddy, what is the reason for the high price of salt? Why can't the court lower the price of salt so that the people don't have to bear the heavy burden of salt?"
Lin Ruhai sighed, stood up, took a book from the bookshelf, and handed it to Jia Cong.
"Take a look first, can you understand it?"
Jia Cong took it and took a look. It was the income and expenditure ledger of the major salt farms in Yangzhou. After flipping through a few pages, he finally understood the reason why the price of salt could never be lowered.
Currently, salt production basically uses the method of boiling salt. The consumption of firewood alone is an astronomical figure, not to mention the time consumed in making table salt. Coupled with the cost of transportation, the court was unable to bring down the price of salt.
Of course, behind these reasons, there is another reason that cannot be ignored, that is, there are a large number of officials in the DPRK who are reluctant to bear the huge benefits brought by the salt tax.
Salt and iron have been run by the government for thousands of years. With the solidification of the tax structure, salt tax has become an important way to supplement the imperial court's deficit.
When Jia Cong turned over the salt tax records sent to the capital every year by the Yangzhou Salt Patrol Censor's Office, he murmured to himself: "That is to propose the salt-drying method. It is estimated that the court will find it difficult to give up the annual salt tax of millions of taels... …”
Um?
Lin Ruhai asked in confusion: "What is the salt-drying method?"
To be honest, Jia Cong only remembered the specific process of the salt drying method. He scratched the back of his head, organized his words and said: "This requires selecting large flat seaside tidal flats in areas with a mild climate and sufficient sunlight to build salt fields. First, Seawater is introduced into the evaporation pond, and when the water is evaporated by the sun to a certain extent, it is then poured into the crystallization pond and continued to be exposed to the sun... That’s pretty much it, you can produce edible salt from the seawater.”
Lin Ruhai was a little confused. Jia Cong talked a lot. There were many words in his words that he had never heard before, but he still had a rough idea with his rich salt field experience.
He seems to have seen this method of making salt somewhere. It seems to be quite interesting. You can give it a try!
Lin Ruhai rubbed Jia Cong's head with his big hands, tapping it lightly with his fingers from time to time.
Boom boom...
When Daiyu pushed open the door with a medicine bowl in hand, Lin Ruhai was still meditating, making loud banging sounds one after another.
Looking at Jia Cong who looked helpless, Daiyu burst out laughing: "Daddy, the melon is ripe!"
Jia Cong looked at Daiyu in fear and said quickly: "Uncle and Daddy, my brain is not a cold melon, you can't eat it!"
"Ha ha……"
Lin Ruhai smiled and patted Jia Cong's head gently, retracted his big hand, took the soup from Daiyu and drank it in one gulp.
After rinsing his mouth, he said to Jia Cong: "Brother Cong, maybe you can try this salt-drying method, but this matter needs to be kept confidential and must not be mentioned in front of others."
"Why?"
Lin Ruhai's face became solemn and he warned: "The benefits of the salt class are so great that they can kill people! If the method of drying salt you proposed is successful, those who make a fortune from Jin salt, Shu salt, and Jianghuai salt will definitely go crazy. I'm going to stop you and my son-in-law. Brother Cong, remember not to spread the word!"
hiss!
He almost forgot what Mr. Ma said in his previous life: If there is 10% profit, it is guaranteed to be used everywhere; if there is 20% profit, it will become active; if there is 50% profit, it will be used everywhere. For profit, it will take desperate risks; for 100% profit, it will dare to trample all human laws; for 300% profit, it will dare to commit any crime and even risk hanging.
The benefits of the salt class could be multiplied dozens of times. Those people would dig holes and bury all the Lin and Jia families, and even step on the soil.
"My child has taken note of it. Please rest assured, uncle and father!"
Although the sound of father-in-law and son-in-law made Daiyu blush with embarrassment, and the salt-drying method baffled her, the solemn look in her father's eyes still made Daiyu alert.
She looked at her father worriedly. Lin Ruhai gave Daiyu a reassuring look and asked Jia Cong carefully about the salt drying method again.
After he wrote down the method of drying salt, he once again told the little children in front of him and waved them to go out and play.
After watching his little son and daughter go out, who kept whispering, Lin Ruhai hesitated for a long time, spread out a blank memorial, gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and picked up a pen to write.
"I asked Lin Hai, the censor of the Yangzhou Salt Patrol, to report that most of the salt production in our dynasty relied on boiling, which cost a lot of money. People all over the world could not afford the high price of salt. Now I have a new method, which is to lift water from the sea and dry it. Get salt..."
"This method was accidentally proposed by Jia Cong, the son of the first-class general Jia She of the Rongguo Mansion and a member of the Longjing Guard Qianhu. According to my opinion, the manufacturing method is a bit rough. After many attempts, I am 50% sure..."
"I would like to try it as soon as possible. If this method is successful, it can relieve the plight of all the people. The official government can replace the tax on salt and alleviate the shortage of taxation by the court..."
Lin Ruhai wrote thousands of words in the memorial, from the disadvantages of the decoction method to the advantages of the sun-salted method.
After drying the ink, he sealed the memorial into a wooden box.
"It's really a little lucky star. Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, this salt-drying method is a rare opportunity. Whether the Lin family can completely pull out of the whirlpool in Jiangnan depends on this memorial!"
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