The silence in the Qianqing Palace did not mean that the ministers agreed, but that they did not know how to respond to the emperor's words.
On the one hand, the emperor did not mention anything about buying or selling nests in the Salt Law. Everything finally fell on the four words "selling private salt".
The emperor has made a big opening.
If there are not even these four words, then this piece of eucalyptus will end in an anticlimax and end in nothing... In the end, it will be lightly uncovered, and nothing will change.
But these ministers also know the emperor well, so they have lightly revealed it? How can this be?
However, on the other hand, even just selling private salt involves a wide range of things!
In fact, the changes in the Salt Law really evolved step by step with the actual situation. By the early years of Zhengde, at least several restrictions had been broken.
The first is that in the past, there were some examples of granting money to the public during the Zhengtong and Chenghua years. At that time, restrictions were relaxed in order to solve a certain problem due to financial difficulties. Ye Qi, who was held in the fifth year of Hongzhi, Reforms also refer to precedents.
For Nayin Kaizhong, the money must be handed over to the Salt Transportation Department, and then the Transportation Department will dispose of the household department. In other words, the first step of how much the salt merchant pays and how much salt is opened is completed at the transportation department.
There are a lot of tricks here. There are many salt merchants who bribed and manipulated envoys.
Second, in the early years, Taizu stipulated that merchants who reported salt must go in person and could not find someone to do it for them.
But later, as the guarding problem worsens, a situation will arise, that is, the person who reported the hit may have died. What about the salt in his hand?
】
Reluctantly, in the first year of Hongzhi's reign, the court issued another decree, officially recognizing the possibility of payment on behalf of others.
In the era when payment on behalf of others was not allowed, merchants had to pay for the salt themselves, which physically restricted him from doing much.
Because the whole process is very complicated. Take the Lianghuai Salt Farm as an example. The transportation department is in Yangzhou and the batch inspection is in Huai'an. It takes time to run back and forth, right? And a person's time is limited.
But after allowing the salt payment, the person in the report may not necessarily be the person who paid the salt, so the powerful and powerful can use many people to do this.
In this way, the corruption of the Salt Law suddenly accelerated. If it continues to evolve, ordinary salt merchants with no background will basically be unable to benefit from it.
The third change was made out of desperation, but it was quite harmful.
That is, the imperial court allowed salt merchants to purchase surplus salt directly from kitchen households in the form of supplementary salt purchases. The reasons for this are also very practical:
After Chenghua, illicit salt sales became widespread. Because the lives of Zao households became more and more difficult, these people had no choice but to secretly sell the remaining salt.
But on the other hand, salt merchants are unable to sell salt because of insufficient salt production in salt farms.
Therefore, the imperial court simply admitted and allowed salt merchants to purchase surplus salt directly from kitchen households, thus alleviating the problem of keeping branches.
At the same time, some of the benefits were returned to the court.
However, allowing salt merchants to purchase salt directly from kitchen households basically opened the door for private salt to become popular.
The situation Zhu Houzhao is facing now,
A powerful person could obtain improper benefits through a series of methods, such as petitioning the emperor, asking relatives or servants to report, using his or her own status to pay salt over time, or directly selling private salt.
The situation has basically reached a point where illegal salt cannot be removed, and the more we suppress it, the more it will become.
Yang Tinghe considered it from a practical point of view and said: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has a territory of thousands of miles, and there are no less than 200 salt farms, and they belong to various provinces. Kitchen households are living in poverty, and if they have surplus salt, they sell it, and even those who have children will sell it. It is extremely difficult for the court to blindly prevent the flow of illegal salt. Moreover, the salt works are distributed in various places, so the court has to send a large number of officials to supervise them. But if the officials are guarding and stealing, how will the court know? The so-called investigation and handling of illegal salt must be done under the hood. !”
Zhu Houzhao asked: "How to remove the firepower?"
"I just want to give Zaohu a way to survive!"
"The remaining salt will no longer flow in, and at the same time, the court will severely crack down on smugglers. With this two-pronged approach, the situation may be eased slightly."
"He's got a good idea. It's a two-pronged approach."
Yang Tinghe's two-pronged approach did not reject his intention to strictly investigate the smugglers, it was even a supplement. Zhu Houzhao naturally did not hesitate to praise.
On the other side, Min Gui, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, said a practical problem, "If Your Majesty wants to attach importance to ministers who sell smuggled salt, I am afraid that the Ministry of Punishment will be overcrowded."
"I am already magnanimous, right?" Zhu Houzhao understood their concerns, "Min Shangshu, everyone knows that private salt is cheaper than official salt, but do you know why it is cheaper?"
If we want to make this issue clear, we must not look at the country’s official administration.
So it’s hard to talk about.
So Zhu Houzhao gave one of his answers, "Because private salt does not have to pay taxes!"
boom!
As his words fell, his fist hit Yu Gu hard.
"You are all people who have read poetry and books. When you meet such an honorable minister, official, and scholar, how can I spare him?!"
Everyone lowered their heads and knelt down.
Since they dare not speak,
Zhu Houzhao continued, "Yang Tinghe, draw up the decree!"
Yan Song and Xie Pi from the attendant room brought a small square table with pens and paper on it, which had been prepared previously.
Yang Tinghe climbed up, holding the pen in his hand, waiting for the order.
What Zhu Houzhao did will appear drastic. Once the order is given, many families will be broken up. But he had already thought about this clearly since he was still the prince in the eleventh year of Hongzhi.
If he wants to be the Zhongxing Saint King, the great things he does must be based on the righteousness that is beneficial to the country, he must be upright and rule the country with justice.
Just like inspecting illegal salt and arresting criminals, this is a measure that is tenable in any dynasty or generation.
"...I have inherited the inheritance from my ancestors and am responsible for the country, the country, the country, and the people. I dare not forget it for a moment. However, the salt law has been corrupted to this extent. Especially those who smuggle salt and smuggle it at the expense of the country and mistakenly store it in the border areas are the most hateful! It is appropriate to declare its prohibition today. , increase the number of officers and soldiers, and strictly supervise the patrols. All salt smugglers, and those who harbor and re-sell, will be captured. The leader will be the leader as usual, and the rest of the party will also ask for surrender. The common law is strict and people are afraid!"
As usual, the first person is the owl!
Just want to behead!
The so-called emperor is angry and lays down millions of corpses, just like now!
After Yang Tinghe finished writing, he submitted it for sealing.
After finishing, Zhu Houzhao took it in his hand and said to the ministers: "Everyone is level."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"I always act with reason. You are either the ninth minister of the imperial court or a noble family. There are disadvantages in the Salt Law of Ming Dynasty. Do you think it should be cured?"
Still no one spoke.
How could Zhu Houzhao let them go, "Mr. British, you speak first!"
The British Duke thought to himself, the imperial edict has been written and sealed, is there any point in asking this question now?
"Hui Sheng, since it is a malpractice of the imperial court, it should be cured!"
"Dong Chengguo, Duke Dingguo?"
"It should be treated."
"What about you?" The emperor faced the six ministers.
The result was naturally no surprise, but Zhu Houzhao wanted them to say all these things.
Speak up and things will be easier to do next.
"That's it, Liu Jin."
"The slave is here!"
"You represent the Supervisor of Ceremonies, the three Dukes represent the Governor-General of the Five Armies and the honorable ministers of the imperial court, and the six ministers, plus the ministers of Dali Temple, the General Affairs Department, and the Imperial Procuratorate draft an official document to act in accordance with my imperial edict! Yes! The official seal of the yamen does not have the signature of the yamen to which it belongs! Then it was spread all over the world, so that people all over the world could see it!"
Everyone was shocked, they did not expect that the emperor would use such a move!
To be honest, this is not the first time Zhu Houzhao has done this.
This method is useful when encountering something more important and difficult.
Because after all, the power of the Ming Dynasty was still pyramid-shaped. Zhu Houzhao had managed these dozen people, and it would not be easy for the rest of the people to oppose him.
To put it more realistically, even if those people want to rely on connections, they don’t know who to rely on.
And if there is a 'traitor' among these dozen people, it will be easy to deal with. You said it and signed it, but you failed to do it. Who do you blame?
In addition, this form can also show the unity between the emperor and his ministers in the court.
In the end, this is not the emperor's personal nonsense, but the result of the joint deliberations of so many people.
Although this was the result of Zhu Houzhao's semi-force,
But when you express your position in front of the emperor, do you only speak and don't sign?
There is no such good thing in the world that does not require responsibility.
Zhang Fuhua, the censor of Zuodu, who had not spoken much, sighed slightly in his heart. The emperor's methods were too sharp, and he had the same demeanor as Emperor Taizong. If this continued, the imperial court would inevitably lose the hearts of the world if it continued to impose heavy orders.
But the emperor seemed to know this, so he firmly grasped the personal guards of Shanzhi regardless of the obstruction.
This is actually about using a steel knife to open the way...
Although what you do cannot be wrong, it is still intense.
And for these people, the emperor actually cares about your attitude. If you really don't sign, you may not lose your life, but you will definitely lose your official position.
It is still the first year of Zhengde. In a few years, these senior officials in the imperial court who are in charge of one department will all be the emperor's people.
In the Palace of Qianqing,
Zhu Houzhao watched them draft the text, watched the Supervisor of Ceremonies seal it, and watched the six ministries send their respective seals.
In this case, it is equivalent to the imperial decree being issued first, and then all the main yamen in the court supporting it.
Of course, having a big seal does not mean that there are no principals, censors and other officials in the court to object, but their official positions are small after all. As long as these dozen people do not take the lead, what will happen to the rest of them?
Zhu Houzhao came to Han Wen, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and handed the imperial edict in his hand, "The salt class is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue, and you also submitted the memorial. Han Shangshu, now I will hand over this imperial edict. In your hands, this is also my explanation to you! From now on, from the royal family and nobles to the common people, anyone who sells private salt and misuses the country can be convicted according to the decree! I will order the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of War , Dali Temple assisted from the side, and sent orders to the Chief Ceremony Supervisor and the Royal Horse Supervisor to transfer Dongchang and Jinyi Guards to scare Xiaoxiao!"
Han Wen has rarely done such a drastic thing in his life, but fortunately he met such a wise man.
So he took a step back very formally, knelt down and bowed, then raised his head and shouted,
"The Minister of Household Affairs, Han Wen, accepts the order!
"
