Ji Heng's expression was dull.
He didn't think there was anything extraordinary about this move.
It is just a practice of uniting the majority and attacking a small group.
Hu Hai looked at the calm Ji Heng, then at the horrified Fusu, and said, "I can barely understand the general operation, but how to operate it specifically? Why should I reduce the burden on the people?" ?”
"Why don't I see any reduction in burden?"
Hu Hai looked at Ji Heng very frankly and straightforwardly.
He actually didn't understand.
I am even more confused about the twists and turns.
He used to stay in the palace and rarely leave the palace. Even if he did, he would be accompanied by a large number of followers. He had very little life experience and did not even understand some common sense.
After listening to the explanations several times, I felt more and more inexperienced.
Compared to Fusu.
He is now more focused on seeking knowledge.
Ji Heng glanced at Hu Hai indifferently, and did not choose to ignore it anymore. He said: "Because Longxi produces salt, the price of salt in Guanzhong is not high, only 100 yuan per stone. I don't know the cost of one stone of salt. After deducting The wages of salt workers, ministers and others, as well as other losses and losses, are tentatively counted as fifteen yuan per stone."
"The imperial court sold it to merchants at a price of twenty yuan."
"After that, the official price of a piece of rock salt was set at fifty, and the merchants could not sell it for more than one hundred."
"In this way, with a tax of 100 yuan per stone and a tax of more than half, and then subtracting the price of 20 yuan, the merchant can earn about ten yuan per stone salt. After deducting the freight and losses, the net profit per stone salt is at least seven or eight yuan. "
"The imperial court controls pricing power and determines the profits of merchants."
"I know you have doubts."
"The imperial court sells cheap salt for fifty yuan per stone. Who will buy the high-priced salt from merchants?"
"And it's a case-by-case basis."
Said.
Ji Heng pointed to the two wine bottles under him.
He pointed to the jug on the left and said: "Now you regard the jug on the left as a stone of salt and the jug on the right as a stone of sand. Now I grab a handful of salt from the left and a handful of sand from the right."
"right after"
"Put the salt in your left hand into the pot of sand, and the sand in your right hand into the pot of salt."
"And this is the difference between official salt and commercial salt."
"Official salt is salt sand, and there is salt in the sand."
"Shanghai salt is sand salt, and there is sand in the salt."
"Faced with these two salts in front of you, how would you choose?"
Fusu looked at the two empty wine bottles in front of him, with a rare trace of entanglement and hesitation in his eyes.
If what Ji Heng said is true, Guanyan is really a scam.
Not worth fifty bucks at all.
If you have the conditions, you will definitely choose Shangyan first.
As soon as this thought came to his mind, he instantly understood that this was Ji Heng's purpose.
subconsciously.
He thought of what Ji Heng said about the significance of the country to the people.
What Da Qin should protect is the bottom line.
What is the bottom line?
Stay alive!
Official salt exists only to make people eat salt.
This is by no means an act of concession for democracy.
It is simply impossible for the people to live a good and prosperous life relying on the imperial court, and the imperial court cannot do it. The only thing the imperial court can do, the only thing it can guarantee, is to make the world as salty as possible. Affordable to use iron tools.
But that's all.
If you want to eat good quality salt and use hard iron, you can only buy it from merchants.
Fusu also completely understood.
In Ji Heng's eyes, what is the function of the imperial court in supervising salt and iron?
Priority business tax.
The second is to protect the production and life of the grassroots.
Hu Hai didn't think much about it. After thinking for a while, he blurted out: "Is there any need to think about it? I must choose merchant salt. I don't know how much I can get if I replace this rock salt with official salt."
Ji Heng smiled and said, "Do you understand now?"
"Whenever life allows, I will give priority to commercial salt, because the salt in official salt is too little. Unless I can't make a living, I will spend several feet and inches of cloth to exchange for some official salt."
"And today the world is tough."
"Many people can't afford salt."
"And the official salt introduced by the government is used to save these people."
"This is also the responsibility of the government."
"Protect people's livelihood."
"Let the people not be unable to afford salt."
"What the government guarantees is not whether the people are living well, but whether the people can survive."
"As long as people can survive, that's enough."
"As for the merchants who are now learning and selling salt, imitating the government to concoct a large amount of low-quality salt and making huge profits, this will test the wisdom of the salt official."
"The price of commercial salt is destined to be higher than official salt."
"Maintaining the price of merchant salt at a relatively high price also forces merchants not to manufacture low-quality salt at will. As long as the quality of official salt is just at a stage where it is neither good nor low, merchants will suffer losses if they are indiscriminately manufacturing it. It’s an uncomfortable situation where you can only make less money while improving quality.”
"This then forces the salt dealers to improve quality and sell at higher prices."
Hear the words.
Fusu was also frightened.
Ji Heng took great precautions against merchants.
Merchants were not given any chance to speculate.
Fusu exclaimed: "Mr. Ji is really wise. Once this method comes out, the current situation of merchants with thousands of slaves and millions of money will probably be gone forever."
“There is lower-cost official salt, and if you want people to buy commercial salt, merchants can only choose to improve quality and quantity.”
"Forcing merchants to use refined salt to drive out the government's bad salt."
"And the existence of official salt is like a sharp blade that pierces the merchants' chests, making them feel like they are stuck in their throats, but there is nothing they can do about it. The salt merchants and iron merchants have been shackled since then, and they will never be able to return to their past glory."
"I can only look up to the imperial court."
"Fusu was impressed."
Ji Heng's expression remained as usual.
Fusu looked too superficially. He only saw the merchants and not the fundamentals.
The reason why merchants were allowed to be slaughtered was not because the imperial court was strong, but because the imperial court was now able to control the means of production of salt and iron.
Merchants who do not control the means of production are just one or two dealers who can be replaced at any time, but merchants who control the means of production will be very different, and can even threaten the court in turn.
The means of production are fundamental.
Be it merchants or Kanto forces.
These are just conflicts caused by the change of ownership of the means of production.
In Ji Heng's vision, the yoke placed on merchants is to control the means of production.
Let merchants become replaceable second-tier dealers!
Ji Heng said: "As for the specific operation, this is a matter for the Qin court."
"I won't get involved."
"I took the wine for the lecture, and I just told stories."
"The rest has nothing to do with me."
"If you ask me to do everything, what else do you want the Qin court to do? What do you want the officials below?"
"In his position, he will seek his own government!"
Hu Hai smiled awkwardly, but he didn't dare to answer the question at all.
aside.
Fusu said: "Young brother is just in a hurry, Mr. Ji must not take it too seriously."
"I just thought about it carefully. The imperial court in Guanzhong can still supervise, but what about Guandong? If the officials in Guandong deceive the superiors and deceive others, hoard them, or even sell them privately, wouldn't the imperial court be helpless?"
"May I ask, sir, are there any means of supervision?"
Ji Heng glanced at Fusu with a strange expression and sneered: "Does Great Qin have such strong control over Guandong now?"
Fusu shook his head.
"Since Da Qin can't control Guandong, then just pretend it doesn't know." Ji Heng said calmly.
Fusu was stunned, "Do you think you don't know?"
Ji Heng raised his forehead slightly and said with a normal expression, "I just pretend I don't know."
"You may find it a bit ridiculous. Da Qin promotes centralization of power. Why do I say that I want to ignore Guandong?"
Fusu nodded.
Ji Heng sneered and said calmly: "People must learn to keep their feet on the ground and not overestimate their abilities. Da Qin's control over Guandong is obviously insufficient now. Even Xiang Liang, the remnant of Chu, has difficulty in arresting him. Do you think the imperial court can still control Guandong? Officials?"
“Don’t force yourself to do things when your abilities are insufficient.”
"Even if you are reasonable."
Fusu's face turned pale.
Ji Heng glanced at Fusu coldly and continued: "I know what you are thinking. You are worried that some turmoil and conflicts will break out in Guandong because of this incident, which will make the already unpopular Guandong even more at odds with the imperial court. Departure.”
"I can understand your concerns."
"But you think too highly of yourself."
"What did Da Qin do this time?"
"It's about competing with businessmen for profit!"
“As long as the goal is achieved, the process is not important.”
"Although there is a lot of turmoil in the Kanto Society, the imperial court can't take care of it at the moment. Why bother with things that it can't take care of in the first place?"
"What will happen to the specific situation in Guandong? It is a battle between the nobles, officials, and merchants of Guandong. The final result will be determined internally in Guandong."
"It has nothing to do with the court!"
"Kuandong is Guandong, and Guanzhong is Guanzhong."
"Sometimes you need to be apart."
"The Kanto incident is unlikely to cause an uproar."
"The interests involved in salt and iron are huge. No one wants to lure the wolf in. If it really attracts the attention of the court, the court will definitely kill the chickens and scare the monkeys to deter the local area. And salt and iron are different from people. The court only needs to find out the salt ponds, salt wells, and mines. The location is dead, check it out and find out for sure."
"When the imperial court knows about the production of salt and iron, it becomes difficult for many local governments to do anything."
"The imperial court understands this, and the local government also knows it."
"People in Kanto know very well that once the imperial court intervenes, a lot of benefits will inevitably be taken away."
"This is not what they want to see."
"Therefore, things in Guandong will only rot in the local area, and it will not be so easy to break through the sky."
"As long as the matter doesn't get serious, the court will pretend it doesn't know about it."
"And your focus now should not be on governing the world, but on solidifying the pass."
"Guanzhong is the most important thing."
"People are divided into relatives and friends, and things are divided into priorities."
"You need to know the difference now."
"The imperial court's current requirements for Guandong are very clear."
"Want money!"
"As long as Kanto can give me more money, I will turn a blind eye."
"Right now, the First Emperor is still here, and his power is still enough to intimidate the local area. The officials and nobles of Guandong don't dare to rebel blatantly. Let's tolerate them for a while and watch the dogs eat dogs in Guandong."
"It won't be too late to clean up the house when the situation calms down a bit."
"When Guanzhong is completely stabilized, we can then find an excuse to intervene in Guandong Salt and Iron, and it will not be too late to correct the chaos."
"The way to do things is to plan before you act!"
"Governing a big country is like cooking a small dish, it needs to be done step by step."
“Haste makes waste!”
(End of chapter)
