I have to say that this is a tragedy for a minister with overwhelming power! But there is nothing we can do about it, traitors are disliked by everyone!
After this matter came to an end, Emperor Wanli brought up a new topic! He said: "Sir, these salt merchants have been entrenched in the Ming Dynasty and have been sucking people's fat for many years! Now the evidence is conclusive. I want to punish them all. What do you think, sir?"
Zhang Juzheng's eyes lit up when he heard this! Okay, search your house, I like it! Zhang Juzheng may not be so interested in copying other people's homes, but it's different when copying a salt merchant's home! These salt merchants have accumulated two hundred years of wealth, which is absolutely an astronomical figure! If you copy one, it will definitely make you fat! .
Now, the national treasury can generate an extra year or two of tax revenue out of thin air! With this money in hand, I wonder how many great things can be done! So he also nodded and said: "I also thought that I needed to be punished! I actually gathered these reckless people to fight against the army. I will never let these people stay!"
Emperor Wanli immediately said: "Why don't we leave this matter to the Jinyiwei! The reason why those salt merchants are able to become powerful is because the local officials are colluding with them, so these officials must also be investigated and punished! The Jinyiwei has hundreds of supervisors. This is exactly what they should do!"
Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but smile when he heard this! Lao Zhu's family is famous for being greedy for money. He can guarantee that if Jin Yiwei goes to inspect these businesses, not even a tael of silver will be handed over to the national treasury. It will probably all go into the inner treasury!
So Zhang Juzheng twirled his beard and said: "Your Majesty, I once said that relying on the Jin Yiwei is not the right way! Naturally, these salt merchants and the officials who colluded with them should be punished, but some of these officials were also forced to participate, and even There are also some people who are just collecting evidence and waiting for the right moment! If Jinyiwei takes action, they will all be destroyed! Therefore, it is better for the cabinet to send special personnel to identify them one by one and then deal with them separately! This will not only clean up the corrupt officials, but also It allows some loyal and honest officials to be promoted! This is the safe way!"
To put it bluntly, Zhang Juzheng just refused to give up this huge benefit from super-inspection of the salt merchants! At the same time, he also planned to use this opportunity to sort out local officials. If the crime was extremely heinous, of course there would be nothing to say and the matter would be cut off! If there is room for maneuver, of course the board is raised high and dropped gently!
Then, he would clean up the wings of other pavilion elders in order to ensure that he was the only one in the court! These are common tactics used in official circles, and it is understandable that Zhang Juzheng would use them!
After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he was still waiting for Emperor Wanli to come and argue with him. He had even organized his words to persuade Emperor Wanli! But Emperor Wanli nodded and said: "Sir, what you are worried about is very true! Then let the cabinet handle it according to what you said! But I have a request here, that is, I can't unjustly accuse a good official, but I can't let him go either. Get rid of a dirty official!"
Zhang Juzheng was almost stunned when he heard his words! He didn't expect the emperor's student to react like this, as if he hadn't seen the tens of millions of silver in the salt merchants at all!
But that's a good thing for him. Although he was sure that Emperor Wanli had other demands later on, he wanted to get the right to deal with the salt merchants and officials first! So he nodded and said, "Since Your Majesty has given permission, I will arrange these things as soon as possible."
Emperor Wanli said: "There is one more thing I hope you will pay attention to! That is, when dealing with salt merchants and local officials, do not use the power of the local government! Because I am worried that those salt merchants are too entrenched in the local area! Once the local government knows It means they know about it. I'm afraid they won't even be able to find the person, let alone the stolen goods! I hope that Xu Guogong will come forward to do this. But sir, don't worry, I will take care of Xu Guogong and let him Take orders from the cabinet!"
When Zhang Juzheng heard Emperor Wanli say this, he knew that Emperor Wanli was showing him his relationship with the nobles, which was considered a demonstration! In fact, Zhang Juzheng also has this concern! He also knew that the salt merchants had probably bribed the local government a long time ago. I was afraid that if he moved here, those people would run away! So using your honor is a good idea!
Especially since the emperor promised to take care of Duke Xu to obey his orders, which means that he will not share the credit and money! He just takes people according to the list and searches their homes, and at most he pays some travel expenses! So he nodded and agreed!
At this time, Emperor Wanli continued: "One more thing, that is, the salt fields in the hands of these salt merchants are related to the livelihood of the people of the Ming Dynasty! So I decided to let Jin Yiwei take over these salt fields! And we will supervise them when we arrest the salt merchants and others! "
Zhang Juzheng thought that Emperor Wanli's greed for money had not changed, and he wanted to incorporate these salt fields into the Huangzhuang system! So he said: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that these salt fields cannot be left to the control of the inner court! If this is the case, the price of salt may return to the original price! The eunuchs of the inner court are too greedy!"
Unexpectedly, Emperor Wanli shook his head and said, "Sir, you think you are wrong! These salt plants will not be placed in the hands of the inner court, but will be transformed by Wu Ninghou, and they will be sold after the transformation! According to Wu Ninghou, in the future, Except for a small number of salt fields under the control of the imperial court and the inner court, the rest of the salt fields must be run by officials and supervised by merchants!"
Zhang Juzheng already understood what it meant as soon as he heard the words "official supervision and commercial management"! He couldn't help but nodded and said: "Official supervision of commercial affairs, this is a way! It not only prevents officials from interfering in it and causes delay and waste, but also allows merchants to produce salt to the maximum extent! But how to collect the salt tax? You must know that the salt tax is a tax collected by the court. An important pillar must not be compromised!"
Emperor Wanli said: "Wu Ninghou also planned this very clearly, that is, to calculate the production costs of the salt field every year! Under the condition of ensuring that the salt merchants have a certain profit, directly add the salt merchants! In other words, outsiders When the merchant buys salt, he pays the salt merchant directly!"
Zhang Juzheng said: "If this is the case, will those businessmen work hard to produce salt, causing a huge backlog in ten years? If this is the case, it will not be beautiful!"
Emperor Wanli shook his head and said: "Probably not! Wu Ninghou said that the amount of salt used by the people in the Ming Dynasty is far from reaching its peak because the price of salt is too expensive! If we bring down the price of salt, the people will use enough salt. If it does, it will increase the sales of salt! Therefore, what must be strictly controlled is the profit of merchants and the amount of salt tax, and we must not squander everything!"
