Later generations often stated that he died in Wanli, while others stated that he died in Jiajing. In fact, regardless of the inherent bad roots of the Ming Dynasty's ancestral system and feudal society, from a political and practical level, the first domino that led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty was knocked over by Ye Qi.
When the Salt Law first broke down, if Emperor Hongzhi had been clear-headed and understood the significance of the Kaizhong method to the Ming Dynasty's border defense, he would not have been deceived by Ye Qi into using the Salt method, but should have solved the Kaizhong method in the opposite direction. problems arise.
After changing the color of salt, there were three direct destructive consequences: First, although the court gained a short-term profit of one million taels of silver per year; the Kaizhong Law completely collapsed a few years later, which caused the Jiubian grain and grass to be transferred The cost skyrocketed, eventually increasing to more than tens of millions of taels. When he arrived at Chongzhen, although he increased his salary wildly, it was still a drop in the bucket.
Second, commercial reclamation has been abandoned, resulting in high grain prices in border areas, forming a vicious cycle. The rising food prices in the Nine Borders led to financial depletion, and the imperial court, overwhelmed by financial depletion, continued to plunder the people, and finally it was difficult to return.
Third, corruption in border defense and inland administration continues to aggravate. After the Yan Yin discoloration, since Emperor Hongzhi, the emperor has rewarded Yan Yin indiscriminately. In addition, civil servants and military generals from all over the world have secretly sold Yan Yin, and the Ministry of Revenue has been asked to entrust Yan Yin before it was issued. As a result, a large number of Yan Yin is concentrated in the homes of powerful merchants and the inner court. With big hands, they all regard it as normal to make profits. The serious salt merchants introduced by Kaizhong remained in business for many years, and thousands of people went bankrupt. The imperial court paid the double price of loss of salt profits and self-transport of border defense grain and grass, which only enriched these rentier classes.
Therefore, it is not surprising that knowledgeable ministers such as Wang Guoguang in the early Wanli years shouted to Zhu Yijun, "The Ming Dynasty is in danger!"
After Zhu Yijun listened to several people explain in detail the dangers of the collapse of Kaizhongfa, he knew that the sooner the Salt Policy was launched, the sooner the imperial court's financial hemorrhage would be improved. It would be of great benefit to future reforms and should not be ignored.
After sorting out his thoughts, Zhu Yijun asked: "Now that the disadvantages are known, how can we start a revolution?" After speaking, he looked at Zhang Juzheng to see what good ideas this capable minister had. Zhang Juzheng signaled to Wang Guangguang and asked him to play back.
Wang Guoguang said: "I have discussed it, and there are two methods: forward and backward. Going forward is a step further than Ye Qi's reform. It uses the method of 'nesting the base' to digest the unfunded salt quotas year by year and revive the salt merchants." In the future, we will take advantage of this year's salt season and the large amount of salt production to cash in all the unpaid salt and return it to Kaizhong!" After that, he explained in detail what the "nesting" method is.
The nesting method was proposed by Yuan Shizhen in the 45th year of Wanli in the original time and space, but the court had discussed it for many years before. With Wang Guoguang's ability, he had previously known that the emperor was going to reform the salt policy. As soon as his brain started to bubble up, he came up with the same method as Yuan Shizhen:
Divide all salt yin (unbranched) and new yin in the world into ten categories. One category every year is the old yin, and the other nine categories are new yin, which are called nest books. Jiugang Xinyin had merchants directly purchase and sell salt from the salt farm. From then on, the court did not accept salt. The right to purchase and sell goods belonged to the salt merchants, and the salt merchants' nests could have been hereditary.
This method is aimed at the accumulation of salt in the imperial salt field - the inevitable result of the increase in sun salt and the current situation of salt merchants being conservative. It solves the problem of official salt sales and salt import backlog in one fell swoop. As long as the intensity of crackdown on illegal salt is increased, in addition to the nine Except for the unresolved border grain and grass issue, the existing problems have been basically solved.
Another advantage is that the backlog of salt distribution can be digested for many years, and the rich and powerful businessmen will not rebound - which can be regarded as legalizing the gray distribution of salt profits at this time.
Wang Guoguang explained the method of nesting in detail. After Zhu Yijun understood it, he asked: "I have a few questions."
"First, how many kilograms of total salt production is there in the world? How many households and people are there? This year all salt will be dried. How many kilograms of additional output is expected? How much salt is left unspent?"
Wang Guoguang and others knew that this question was unavoidable, and they had already prepared for it. At this time, they replied: "Your Majesty, in the first year of Wanli, the country produced more than 490,000,000 kilograms of salt, and there were 1,268,000 stoves. .”
After a pause, he said: "At this time, the household department cannot grasp all the salt imports. Statistics from the first year of Jiajing show that there are 4.2 million small imports and more than 850,000 kilograms."
After hearing Wang Guoguang say that the output could actually reach nearly 500 million catties, Zhu Yijun had an idea and motioned for him to continue.
Wang Guoguang continued: "According to the emperor's decree last year, the salt companies in Huaihe, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong should build salt flats at this time; in Shandong, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places, by June this year, If conditions permit, we will switch from frying salt to sun-dried salt. If the supervision is effective, I estimate that the production may be doubled. By the end of next year, it may reach 150,000 catties."
Zhu Yijun nodded after hearing this and asked: "What are the difficulties in the construction of the salt drying field?"
Wang Guoguang replied: "Back to the emperor, the emperor has sent middle officials and craftsmen who have learned how to dry salt last year to guide the salt drying fields in various places. There is no problem in selecting flat beaches and setting up sluices to divert water. The only problem is that the projects are complicated and the salt departments in various places If there is no money, rice or labor materials to support, or if there are difficulties, we may not be able to complete the project as scheduled."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun said to Zhang Juzheng: "The construction of the salt field is the number one project in the second year of Wanli. The old gentleman will then issue my order and ask the local officials to go all out to ensure support. In addition, the imperial court will immediately send an imperial envoy to inspect it. Urge all localities to step up construction, and if anyone is slacking off, he will be severely punished!" Zhang Juzheng responded.
Zhu Yijun asked Wang Guangdao again: "The annual output is nearly 50 million catties. What is the price of salt at this time?"
Wang Guoguang said: "Back to the emperor, the price of salt is determined by the quotation price, the quotation price is determined by the rice price, and the rice price is determined by the distance of the border defense. In the first year of Wanli, the quotation price of Jiubianhuai salt was roughly two hundred and a half kilograms per one quotation. Two silvers, according to the official calculation, is about seven cents for four pounds of salt. This is the basis for salt merchants to obtain salt."
Zhang Juzheng took over the conversation at this time and said: "But after the salt dealer collects the salt, plus the freight, the customs fee and the extra payment, when it is sold in the capital, the salt price is about thirty official yuan per catty. In other places, Shili Salt farms vary in distance, with the lowest being twenty official coins, and the high being two or three hundred official coins per kilogram.”
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun exclaimed: "The highest value is close to half a pound?" Zhang Juzheng nodded in agreement.
Zhu Yijun didn't know where to look, and he was scratching his head and wanted to hit someone. He sneered and asked: "Even if it's thirty cents per catty, can the people afford it?!"
Zhang Juzheng and other ministers were all silent. Zhu Yijun calmed down for a while and then asked: "Half a liang and a yin, how much is the salt tax?"
Seeing that the emperor's questions were gradually deepening, Wang Guangguang looked at Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng replied: "Back to the emperor, two taels of salt from the price of every small tael are tax. Last year, we paid 2.45 million taels. Adding up Zese and Kaizhong, the court collected a total of 1.1 million taels, which is about Less than half of Taicang silver."
Zhu Yijun nodded after hearing this, and then asked: "How much does it cost per kilogram of salt produced in the salt farm?"
Zhang Juzheng said: "Your Majesty, the production of salt in the salt field is required by the kitchen households. The imperial court has not calculated the cost of frying salt for the kitchen households."
Wang Guoguang answered: "Your Majesty, I have done some calculations myself because I am interested. Although the cost of labor and firewood varies from salt field to salt farm, the average calculation is about six cents of silver, and about one penny per catty." .”
Zhu Yijun calculated in his mind and asked: "The salt merchant took four kilograms and seven cents of salt from the salt field. Where did the remaining half a cent go? In terms of fifty million catties, that's three hundred and fifty thousand taels a year!" The ministers were silent again. Chen Zan, the left minister, wanted to talk about the salt-raising officers and soldiers, but when he looked back, he thought that these people had salaries and wages, so he swallowed his words again.
Zhu Yijun listened for a long time and gradually made a decision in his heart. But before making a decision, he still asked Zhang Juzheng: "What does the old gentleman think?"
Zhang Juzheng pondered and said: "If you use the nest, it is a good idea. However, the burden of the nine sides will last forever; if you still open the center, the old leads will be exhausted, the price of salt will drop sharply, and the salt merchants will not be able to make a profit, so they still cannot open the market." Zhongya. Difficult!"
