The next day.
Li Jie summoned all the ministers and attendants of the two governments to Chongzheng Hall.
Daqing Hall, Wende Hall, Chui Gong Hall, Zichen Hall, Chongzheng Hall, and Yanhe Hall are all places where court meetings and political affairs are heard.
Among them, the Chongzheng Hall is also known as the Bian Hall and the Back Hall. Since the last years of Zhenzong, Zhenzong has often used the double-day imperial hall to listen to government affairs.
Occasionally, this hall is also used as a banquet place.
However, since Li Jie succeeded to the throne, he rarely summoned ministers to the Chongzheng Palace, but he often visited the Yiying Pavilion next to the Chongzheng Palace.
Because, there is a place for listening to books and lectures.
Inside the palace.
Li Jie sat expressionlessly on the imperial stage, his eyes scanning the faces of the ministers one by one.
"Gentlemen, what is the price of salt in Beijing?"
As soon as these words came out, the ministers in the audience finally understood the reason why the officials summoned them.
Generally speaking, unless there is an emergency, the ministers will be informed of the matters discussed in the court in advance before the meeting.
Today, Li Jie did not notify them in advance.
As a result, the ministers who were summoned thought something had happened at the border.
As a result, the officials summoned them just to ask about the price of salt?
This must be impossible!
Salt price?
The salt administration is the one!
In fact, if the first question Li Jie asked was the salt policy, then all the ministers present could answer a few sentences.
After all, who can stand at the scene and not be a person who has read poetry and books?
Even Cao Lili, who was born as a military official, is not the kind of person who is ignorant and has no skills. After seeing many people, he can always have a few words.
However, what Li Jie is asking now is the price of salt.
This stumped all the ministers present.
After officials have achieved this level, their income can beat 99% of the people based on the salary from the court alone.
If additional income is included, it must be even more.
To use a more modern description, they are all price-insensitive people.
Not to mention a pound of salt costing 44 cents, but even a pound of salt costing one hundred cents, it made no difference to them.
"Back to Your Majesty, as far as I know, the price of salt in Beijing should be around forty cents."
After a while, Lu Yijian took a half step forward. In fact, the reason why Lu Yijian paid attention to the price of salt was not because he cared about the suffering of the people.
It just has to do with his resume.
During the Xianping period, Lu Yijian passed the imperial examination. His first appointment as an official was to be an official in Jiangzhou. However, he was soon transferred to Yancheng as a supervisor and judge.
Yancheng, named after salt, as its name suggests, is an important producing area of salt.
Later, Lu Yijian took over Xixi Salt Officer as the official of Dali Temple Cheng.
Putting aside his short career as an official in Jiangzhou, Lu Yijian basically dealt with salt matters when he first entered the officialdom.
Although he has now become an official and participates in politics, he is still concerned about salt matters.
(ps: I don’t know since when, the term "Xixi Three Prime Ministers" came into being, that is, there were three prime ministers in Xixi Yanguan, namely Yan Shu, Lu Yijian, and Fan Zhongyan.
Lu Yijian and Fan Zhongyan do have this experience, but Yan Shu should not have it. Whether it is research on Yan Shu, Yan Shu's poems, or Yan Shu's chronology, there is no experience of Yan Shu as a salt officer.
Moreover, until the age of 36, Yan Shu was an official in Beijing. Even if Yan Shu was demoted, he would not go to Xixi to serve as a miscellaneous official such as salt supervisor.
To give an inappropriate example, a department-level cadre cannot be beaten to the bottom and sent to a remote area to become a section-level cadre, right?
If such a thing really happened, how could it not be recorded in historical materials? )
Forty papers?
As soon as this number came out, the courtiers present were shocked.
Although they don't pay much attention to the price of salt, they still know what the price represents.
Expensive!
We are almost reaching the warning line!
"To be precise, it's 44 cents per pound."
Li Jie took a deep look at Lu Yijian. It was not unreasonable for this guy to become a powerful prime minister in the future.
Originally, he thought that the first person to answer would be Zu Shiheng, the envoy of Quan Sansi.
After all, the Third Secretary was in charge of the world's money, and if Zu Shiheng didn't understand the prices of forbidden materials such as salt and tea, then he would be doomed as the Third Secretary.
Who would have thought that Zu Shiheng just looked like he was thinking hard, but Lu Yijian responded instead.
Uh-huh!
As soon as these words came out, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Zu Shiheng's forehead.
44 articles!
44 articles!
He kept thinking about this number in his mind.
It’s over!
Immediately afterwards, a feeling of impending disaster emerged in his heart.
The price of salt has reached such a high level. However, he, the "accurate strategist" in charge of the Third Division, has no idea.
This is a serious dereliction of duty!
"Ancestral Envoy, the price of salt has reached such a high level, do you have any internal response plan within the third department?"
Sure enough, after announcing the salt price, the officials turned the topic to themselves.
what to do?
In an instant, Zu Shiheng was speechless when asked.
Recently, he has never had time to observe the price of salt. Even for matters involving salt settlement, he only looks at the plan.
He really didn't pay attention to the specific numbers.
Right now, all his energy is focused on how to raise money.
Food and grass on the border, and building forts along the border, which do not require money?
After a few breaths, Zu Shiheng suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
yes!
Can you refer to the tea method?
He was so nervous just now that he couldn't remember it for a while.
"Reporting to the official family, I think we can refer to the Tea Law and use the Tea Law as an example to carry out some pilot projects on the salt policy."
"How to pilot it?"
"Are there any specific regulations?"
'This this……'
'broken! '
At this time, Zu Shiheng suddenly remembered what Ding Xiang had said before.
Officials don't like perfunctory answers, they must be meaningful. In short, officials don't like those who are rhetorical. Pragmatism is the key point.
Before, he only wanted to deal with the officials as soon as possible, but in the end, he focused on one thing and lost the other.
"How do you think the salt policy should be changed?"
Fortunately, Li Jie did not continue to exert pressure. Although Zu Shiheng was unworthy of his moral integrity, Li Jie would not directly dismiss him until his mission was over.
Someone has to take the blame, right?
"I believe that we should abandon the small and aspire to the big, be anxious first and then slow down."
This time, Lu Yijian stood up again.
Although he had just learned that the government was going to discuss the salt policy and had not made any preparations earlier, the gap between people is sometimes bigger than that between people and dogs.
Regarding the salt policy, Zu Shiheng had no idea at all.
But Lu Yijian was different. Thanks to his early experience as an official, he had a say in the salt administration.
Hearing this, Li Jie glanced at Lu Yijian and asked one after another.
"What is big?"
"What is small?"
"Why the rush?"
"What is slowness?"
Lu Yijian gave a slight salute, his tone was neither urgent nor slow, and he seemed to have a mastery of wisdom.
"The bigger the salt policy is, the smaller the salt price is. The higher the price is, the more urgent the salt policy is."
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ps: I feel so uncomfortable after having Yang, although I don’t have much fever anymore.
