Political Hall.
"The purpose of calling everyone here today is to discuss the Salt Law."
As he spoke, Ding Wei stretched out his hand and pointed at some pieces of paper placed in front of him.
"These few notes in front of me are the most popular methods."
"Among them, the prime minister believes that the banknote trigger proposed by Dr. Zhang is the most appropriate."
After several days of collection, countless essays were submitted to Zhongshu. Among them, some insisted on the system of entering the middle school, while others insisted on the system of discount and expenditure.
At the same time, some people suggested implementing a distribution system and a contracting system like the Tea Law.
What's more, some people have proposed a free trade system, which would liberalize official sales, and all salt would be sold by merchants, and the official would only need to collect taxes.
That is to say, the current speech is relatively loose. If it is placed in certain political dynasties, just relying on this kind of speech will easily lead to official disgrace.
Among the complicated reforms, what Ding Wei admired the most was the banknote introduction method proposed by Zhang Dexiang, a doctor in the temple department and the magistrate of Quandu branch.
What is a banknote?
That’s Shiohiki!
The specific method is to set up or use the original organization as the main body to be responsible for the management of salt banknotes. Whether it is printing or selling, this organization is responsible.
If a merchant wants to buy salt, he can either pay in cash, trade in gold and silver, or buy grain and grass along the border.
In short, no matter what method is used, what the merchant finally gets is the salt guide, and then uses the salt guide to buy salt from the two ponds.
The salt field only recognizes the salt and not the people.
In this way, Shiohiki has become a valuable certificate.
In fact, the reason why Zhang Dexiang proposed the Chao Yin method was also influenced by Jiaozi in Shuzhong.
What is the reason for Jiaozi's appearance?
convenient!
It solves the problem of difficulty in carrying money during bulk trade.
What can Jiaozi do?
Shiohiki can do it too!
Moreover, Yanyin is more authoritative, because Yanyin is the official printed certificate of the Song Dynasty and was registered by the imperial court!
Another point is that Yanyin is not only a voucher, it can also be exchanged for the corresponding salt!
As we all know, salt is very beneficial!
With salt as an endorsement, merchants' acceptance of salt will definitely be very high.
certainly.
Zhang Dexiang also realized the shortcomings of the chao yin system, and they were major shortcomings.
This thing should not be distributed indiscriminately or excessively!
Once the amount of salt quota issued exceeds the actual output, it will inevitably trigger a wave of runs. If that happens, the salt quota system will probably become a policy that will harm the country.
Regarding this point, Zhang Dexiang also wrote about this in his memorial, and described it emphatically.
However, the above are only the superficial reasons for Ding Wei's appreciation. What he really values is the value of 'Yo Yin'.
If the banknote system can really be implemented, then in a sense, 'salt currency' is approximately equal to money.
Money is the foundation of the country.
But making money is not an easy task. Mining, smelting, forging, etc. Only through a series of steps can copper and iron be turned into money.
However, compared with minting money, the difficulty of printing and issuing "salt coins" is much lower.
Twenty or thirty craftsmen can print a million-dollar "salt guide" in one day.
In this way, there is room for maneuver.
It is difficult for businessmen to calculate how much salt the imperial court produces every year. Only the imperial court knows this number.
How much salt is issued is also in the hands of the court.
As long as "Yo Yin" can be widely recognized, if the court is short of money, it can issue a small amount of "Yo Yin" to solve the problem of financial shortage.
For example, this time, if there is a "salt guide" and the businessmen agree, the three divisions will not have to reduce the salaries of the officials at all.
Just ask the agency responsible for issuing salt seals to print an extra portion of the salt seal.
Zhang Dexiang understands the dangers of overeating, and Ding Wei naturally understands it too.
However, in his opinion, there is no problem with proper over-hairing.
Nowadays, in the Jiaoyin shop in the capital, I don’t know how many Jiaoyin have not been replaced with real objects. These are the spaces for super hair.
(ps: 'Jiaoyin' and 'Yanyin' are essentially the same thing. Crossing citation is the prototype of Yanyin. The difference is that there is no independent agency responsible for it)
On the other hand, Lu Yijian also felt that the Qiao Yin system was very good.
Although he and Ding Wei reached a partial consensus, cooperation is cooperation, and things that should be competed for should still be competed for.
Such as financial power.
Nowadays, many of the key positions in the Sansi Yamen are Ding Wei's people.
If the banknote system can be recognized by the officials, he can take the opportunity to remove the department responsible for banknotes from the three departments.
Everyone here knows how rich the salt profit is.
Moreover, Yanyin is similar to Jiaozi in some aspects. It is foreseeable that once the Chaoyin system is officially implemented, the weight of this organization will definitely increase significantly.
Taking into account the temperament of the emperors of the past dynasties, it is also in line with the laws of the ancestors to remove these key departments from the three departments.
limit!
Decentralization!
At that time, if this idea is proposed, the officials will definitely not refuse.
"I think this method is not suitable enough."
Not long after, Zhang Shixun stood up and expressed his clear opposition to the Chao Yin Law.
“Plenty of things makes them cheap, but few things make them expensive!”
"The fundamental reason for the high price of salt is that there is less salt on the market. Only if there is more salt on the market can the price of salt become cheaper."
"When goods are expensive, merchants are expensive. The salt in the salt pool must be transported to the hands of the people as soon as possible. Only then can the salt be valuable and merchants can benefit from it."
"What's the problem now?"
"It's because of the poor flow of goods!"
“In the final analysis, it’s still a matter of administration!”
"Of course, with Chao Yinfa, is there any question of reforming the administration of officials?"
"No!"
"It's just changing the soup without changing the medicine."
"The purpose of today's discussion is only to seize the benefits of merchants and return it to the public and exclusively. How should merchants deal with it?"
"Of course, as discussed by the public, ten tenths of the power can be attributed to the public, and the loss will be very small. However, this ten tenths is not more than three-thirds of the original."
"If you don't share it with the merchants, the merchants will get the middle profit, and the public will get the big profit. This three-cent profit will be changed into a five-cent profit."
Zhang Shixun said so much, and his core meaning is to make profits.
After all, the output of pond salt is not low. The reason why the price of salt is high is that the circulation is not smooth, the efficiency is too low, and the system is too complicated.
Government administration has been a major problem for rulers since ancient times.
If there are fewer people, we worry about insufficient supervision. If there are more people, efficiency will inevitably decrease.
For rulers, they would rather lose some efficiency to ensure the stability of the regime.
Therefore, the management of officialdom is an eternal problem.
How to solve?
Zhang Shixun thought he didn't have that ability. All he could think of was giving away profits. In this way, he could not only mobilize the enthusiasm of businessmen, but also benefit the common people.
After all, as circulation speeds up, there are more goods on the market, and with more salt, the price will naturally come down.
At the same time, there was more salt, and the court could also benefit.
In other words, only by making the cake bigger can the court, merchants, and people benefit from each other.
