Mei Siyuan lived in the capital with his father in his early years, but never met King Yi. After the Mei Mansion fell, King Jaw arranged for him to perform his duties in Qingxi County. He had been away from the capital for more than ten years, and he and King Yi were only close friends. At this moment, being looked at by Xia Muren, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally, made Mei Siyuan feel quite uncomfortable.
What kind of vision does Xia Muchao have? He immediately noticed something fishy and asked King Yi, "Brother Yi Wang is here for the salt famine, and the two people around him must be related to it. Why don't you introduce him?"
Xia Muren stood up and said, "It should be so. This old gentleman is Duan Zeqing, who served as the staff of Anxian County from the ninth year of Yonghua to the twenty-second year of Yonghua." Upon hearing this, Xia Muchao and Mei Siyuan's eyes instantly burst out with an almost Visible light to the naked eye. Staff members, similar to "walkers", were official compilers who were naturalized but not classified in the current dynasty, and were dedicated to drawing and managing maps of various places. However, compared to walking, civil servants are rarely envied by others. When the official moved away from home, he drew pictures of each place he went to, measuring its "rate", arguing its "accurate outlook", measuring its "road", and recording its "highness", "sideliness" and "directness". "This is one of the few people who have traveled through mountains and rivers, slept in the open air, and been accompanied by natural disasters and wild beasts all year round. The second reason is that he is far away from government affairs and far away from his official career. There is no future and many dangers, so it is not what scholars expect. Therefore, although there are few staff staff, there are many vacancies all year round and it is difficult to fill them. This gray-haired old man named Duan Zeqing has been working in Anxian County for thirteen years. He is very rare. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the person who knows the geography of Anxian County best in the Great China Dynasty. He is very knowledgeable about the mining and transportation of salt in Fuzhou Salt Fields. He has helped a lot with many things and is really a key person.
Mei Siyuan hurriedly stood up from his seat and said with a sincere face, "Mr. Duan, I have been favored by the emperor to take up the post of Anxian Salt Movement. There are many difficulties here. I think the old man will be able to answer a lot of questions for me. I'll see you later." Don’t hesitate to give me advice!”
Xia Muren smiled after hearing this, "Mr. Duan has come with me today and has such plans. Master Mei, please sit down!" After speaking, he pointed to another old man in green clothes and said, "This Taoist priest Guanliu, "You are a distinguished guest in my residence." He paused before saying anything, "Taoist Master Guanliu is proficient in the art of painting and has superb skills in refining sand. He should be able to help you improve your method of refining salt." Without waiting for Xia Muchao and Mei Siyuan to speak, they continued, "Dahua has been short of salt for a long time, especially in the past three years. I have been paying attention to it for many years. Last month, news came about the Anxian incident, and I was about to ask for an order to deal with it." "Salt, I didn't expect that my father assigned this vacancy to Lord Mei. Haha, I'm so surprised." Seeing that Mei Siyuan's lips were about to speak, Xia Muren said again, "Since the decree has been given, no more mediation is pointless. Today I came here to recommend these two people and hope they can be of help."
Mei Siyuan was really overjoyed and was about to thank him. Suddenly he remembered his identity and turned to look at Xia Muchao. He saw him slowly nodding to her and said with a loud smile, "There is no better gift than Brother Yiwang!" Mei Siyuan then thanked him and said, "His Royal Highness Yi Wang generously recommended me. Siyuan is extremely grateful."
Xia Muren accepted the gift generously, "I came today to have two things. Let this be settled. Mr. Duan and Taoist Master Guanliu, please follow Master Mei in the future. Once arrangements are made, Master Mei will take good care of you." "He turned his head and spoke to these two people.
Xia Muren had already told the two of them about this matter, and he was already prepared, so he replied in unison, "Yes."
Xia Mu ordered towards the outside of the hall, "Introduce the two guests to Coke Hall to rest for a while!" After the two of them bowed and left, he smiled at Xia Muren and asked, "Brother Yiwang, what else do you want?"
Xia Muren took a sip of tea and said, "After the vacancy of the Anxian Salt Transportation Secretary, I detailed the salt control strategy to my father, which was highly praised by him. I thought that my father would entrust me with the salt control matter, but I didn't want to This vacancy actually recommended to you Mr. Mei, who is farthest from the capital, has the lowest position, and is the youngest. You are good at planning and have your own reasons. I won't ask. But I want to know how you plan to solve this problem. Salt crisis?”
Xia Mu smiled and clapped his hands and said to Xia Muren, the attendant and Mei Siyuan, "Haha, it's as expected.", "Come on, let's serve the wine!", "Siyuan, don't be reserved for a while, there is no distinction between the three of us today. Why don't you come and argue about this salt crisis!"
"That's just right!" Xia Muren smiled and said, "Mu Chao, you are the master today, so it started with you! Where do you think the salt crisis in Great China originated from? How to solve it?"
Xia Muchao stood up from the main seat, walked to the room between the two guests, and said in a cold voice, "Today's salt crisis is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster. There are 80 million people in Dahua, and this year's sea salt production is 480,000 stones. The production of salt is 1.4 million shi, which is enough to meet the monthly needs of a family of five. But now, there is no salt to sell in salt markets everywhere, but salt merchants are hoarding it and taking the opportunity to drive up the price of salt more than ten times. The unified purchasing law is in name only. . A pound of sea salt in the capital costs three taels of silver, and sand salt is even more expensive. Rich families cannot yet use enough. What is the situation of ordinary people? Therefore, to solve the danger of salt, the first step is to control its source and start from the salt field. The transportation of salt to the salt market for sale is strictly controlled so that it does not flow to wealthy merchants. People go to the salt market with their registration certificates to buy limited amounts of salt. In this way, the danger of salt shortage can be solved." After saying this, Xia Muchao's face showed a trace of emotion. Hidden worries that are hard to detect.
"Severe illnesses cannot be treated with care," Xia Muren stood up and said, "The crisis of the salt shortage must be solved quickly. According to you, even if it is accomplished, it will only take two or three years. Dahua has two registered soldiers and government officials. 1.2 million, less than 300,000 can be deployed, and nearly 200,000 are available for large and small salt markets. This amount of deployment is really a drop in the bucket. What I am planning is also to control the source. First, send more prospecting manpower and build additional salt fields. Increase the amount of salt refining and speed up the salt preparation. Secondly, collect the sources from the people for my own use. I treat the rich salt merchants in the market like a knife and ax and lure them with heavy profits, forcing them to increase the amount of salt and sell it at a lower price. The followers use heavy profits. Those who resist will be rewarded with great honors!”
After hearing this, Xia Muchao nodded slowly, and then shook his head slightly, "If there are insufficient personnel, we can help the most important ones first. Today, the salt shortage in Dahua spreads all over the major prefectures and counties. It is by no means a short-term solution. It can be done in three years." It is considered a quick effect. Most of the rich salt merchants in various places are in collusion with local officials. Many of them are supported by the emperor and the public, as well as relatives and nobles of the emperors of Jue and Xianma. Acting rashly may lead to war. In addition, support the salt merchants The backers are not only Huangfu and Gongyang, but also the always loyal Bailishi and Zhugeshi. There are also many people involved in this matter. If they are threatened with swords and axes, what will the two old princes think?"
"Salt merchants should be treated differently and not equally," Xia Muren replied.
"This must not be the case!" Xia Muchao said in a deep voice, "The situation is unstable now, and it is not appropriate to give people leverage and stir up conflicts. The imperial government is already walking on thin ice to check and balance all parties, and Brother Wang's move is no different from throwing a stone. Once the ice cracks, the consequences will be Is it conceivable? This danger is far worse than the danger of salt shortage!"
"To deal with salt merchant areas is not so much to intensify contradictions as to create internal contradictions. The way of checks and balances is to destroy the balance and establish another balance. If the danger of salt shortage cannot be relieved immediately, civil unrest will inevitably arise. Governance Salt shortage is like removing rotten meat. As long as the knife is applied with precise force and precise position, the rotten meat can be removed. If the meat cannot be cut quickly and allowed to develop, the disease will spread throughout the body and become incurable!" Xia Muren argued.
