Shen Shangshu is a smart man, so he rarely confronts the emperor. At most, he only complains a few times.
But even if you complain, you are showing your merits to the emperor in disguise.
However, this time, Shen Shangshu really felt that he could not agree to the emperor's request.
"Your Majesty, it's not that I don't believe in your Majesty. It's just that salt and tea are one of the lifeblood of the country. If it is sent to the imperial store today, relatives, ministers, and clan members in the court will flock to it in the future."
"Your Majesty is wise and wise, and can restrain the eunuchs and pay taxes on time. However, once this case is started, the system will inevitably be abolished, and the salt law will be disrupted, which will definitely cause turmoil in the court."
"Moreover, our government implemented the Salt Law of the Central Plains. Merchants transported grain to the border in exchange for salt. The daily expenses of grain and grass on the border were maintained with private efforts, which greatly saved the court's waste."
"If the Salt Law is disrupted, border expenditures will inevitably increase. This is a major matter involving the national economy and people's livelihood. I should guard against the slightest delay and dare not agree to your majesty without permission."
Shen Shangshu spoke rather tactfully, which was enough to give the emperor face. He did not say that the imperial store would affect the salt tax, but only said that other ministers would follow suit.
The implication is that Your Majesty, you can control the eunuchs, but you may not be able to control the greedy relatives and clan families.
It should be said that Shen Yi was indeed the great Situ in charge of the household department, and he immediately sensed the risks involved.
The salt introduction system of the Ming Dynasty is closely related to the Kaizhong method.
The so-called Kaizhong method is the method used by merchants to obtain salt.
If private merchants want to obtain salt, they need to transport grain to granaries on the border.
Depending on the amount of grain transported, salt can be exchanged from the court, and then used to transport salt to the corresponding salt farm to make a profit.
The implementation of the Open China Law, as Shen Yi said, is to reduce the court's expenditure on border military expenditures through the power of the people.
In fact, in the late Ming Dynasty, a large amount of silver was spent on military expenditures every year because of the abolition of the Kaizhong Law.
Without the support of Kaizhongfa, the border armies could only rely entirely on blood transfusions from the imperial court, which would naturally consume a large amount of military expenditures every year.
However, the core basic requirement for the Kaizhong Law to work was the court's strict control over salt introduction.
Businessmen pursue profit and will always use the minimum cost to obtain the maximum profit.
The reason why they were willing to transport grain to the border was because there was no other way to obtain salt.
Without salt, selling salt, a business that is sure to make a profit, becomes a beheading business.
Shen Yi's meaning was very clear.
The 20,000 yuan of salt is nothing in itself (cross it out). Although it is a sum of money that makes Shen Shangshu feel distressed, it is not enough for him to fight against the emperor.
But once this hole is opened.
Then relatives, clan members, and even other ministers of the imperial court would follow suit and not resort to the method of opening the center, but would follow the emperor's path to obtain salt.
Even if the emperor can hold it for a while, he cannot hold it forever.
After all, as long as it is profitable, it will be easy for the people below to find legitimate reasons.
For example, the imperial court has recently implemented the policy of reducing the salary of peppercorns. Since peppercorns can offset the salary, can salt and tea be used as well?
Shen Shangshu knew without thinking that there must be a censor who was so knowledgeable.
Once these people obtain salt in a legitimate and reasonable manner, the salt tax will be affected. The most important thing is that the opening of the Chinese Dharma Conference will be destroyed, which will directly affect the stability of the border.
The best way is to stick to the opening method and not open any holes at all.
Shen Shangshu looked at the emperor sincerely, hoping that this ancestor would stop causing trouble to him.
Wouldn't it be better to stay in peace and contentment for two years and recuperate?
Zhu Qiyu tapped the table with his fingers and frowned slightly.
The reason why he asked Shen Yi for salt and tea was not just for profit, he had his own considerations.
But it has to be said that Shen Yi's concerns are justified.
Zhu Qiyu had the foresight to understand the dangers of indiscriminate distribution of salt.
In the early years of Chenghua, in order to increase the revenue of the treasury, Ye Qi, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, abolished the Kaizhong Law, so that private merchants could obtain salt by paying money and grain directly to the Ministry of Revenue instead of transporting grain to the border.
This move quickly enriched the national treasury at that time, but it also laid the foundation for the corruption of the Salt Law and accelerated the erosion of the border.
Without the support of the Kaizhong Law, the distribution of salt citations became more flexible, and it was often used as rewards, or even as ministers' salaries, by the emperor and the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The result was massive over-distribution of salt.
There was a limit to the imperial court's annual salt production, and the amount of salt introduced should have corresponded to the amount of salt produced.
However, because the Kaizhong Law was abolished, salt quotations were issued excessively and indiscriminately, resulting in a backlog.
The backlog will lead to the bankruptcy of salt merchants.
This is a truth that is easy to understand. If the clan, relatives, ministers and ordinary businessmen all have salt in their hands.
Then the first three must be able to receive the salt first. As for the ordinary salt merchants, they can only wait in line. It is common for them to wait for three to five years before they can get the salt.
This will cause two serious consequences.
If private merchants could not afford salt, they would naturally be unwilling to send grain to the court in exchange for salt. Naturally, the court's salt tax would be greatly affected.
The formal channels for merchants to obtain salt through salt guides were completely blocked, and the proliferation of illegal salt can be imagined.
Although Ye Qi's reform of the Salt Law achieved temporary results during the Chenghua Dynasty and enriched the national treasury, it led to the proliferation of salt and private salt at the expense of long-term interests.
Not to mention, after the Open China Law was repealed, the border lost an important way to supply food and grass.
When the Open China Law was implemented, exchanges between the border and the mainland were extremely frequent.
Although the imperial court repeatedly banned the sale of salt, merchants gradually divided into border merchants and internal merchants in order to obtain salt.
Border merchants have been stationed at the border for a long time, reclaiming a large amount of farmland, growing food, and forming merchant villages.
After harvesting, they sent it to the local granary in exchange for salt, and then used the salt to trade with internal merchants in exchange for other materials, and then sold these materials to the local people.
This resulted in the formation of a solid trading system at the border.
However, after the Kaichu Law was abolished, domestic merchants were no longer willing to go to the border. Merchants on the border gradually moved inland, the merchant villages were depleted, and the border economy was in depression. It had to rely entirely on blood transfusions from the imperial court to maintain.
Therefore, the opening method must be maintained.
Zhu Qiyu himself recognized this. After thinking for a moment, he spoke.
"Don't worry, Qing Qing. I naturally understand what you are worried about. Opening the Central Law is the cornerstone of the Salt Law and the foundation for border stability."
"I have never thought of making salt and tea private to the emperor, otherwise I would not discuss this matter with Shen Qing here."
In fact, the indiscriminate distribution of Yanyin only started in the Chenghua Dynasty. Before that, the only way to obtain Yanyin was through Kaizhongfa.
Theoretically speaking, Zhu Qiyu could just give the salt as a reward to Huangdian, just like one of his eldest nephews.
But he didn't, because he knew the harm to the Salt Law.
The fact that he was willing to sit down and discuss with Shen Yi today instead of issuing an order directly showed his attitude.
Shen Shangshu made up his mind, gritted his teeth, and continued.
"I thank your Majesty for your consideration. I know that as the New Year is approaching, a large number of royal families will come to the capital. The ceremonies and banquets in the palace will be very complicated and a lot of money will be spent. If your Majesty will not give up, I would like to hand over the banquet for foreign ministers to Honglu Temple. Responsible."
