The Ming Dynasty was wrested from the hands of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang implemented a severe economic blockade policy against the remaining Mongolian troops who fled outside the Great Wall in order to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang said:
Mutual trading is no longer possible.
No more trading.
If he can't outrun them, he will be sealed.
Many people sneered at Ming Dynasty's economic blockade and thought it was of little use.
People with this view usually think like this:
As for the Mongolian tribe, they have pure milk when they are thirsty, beef and mutton when they are hungry, and pure natural sheepskin coats when they are cold. They drink milk in large gulps and eat meat in large gulps. They are carefree and facing the wind. They are carefree and happy. They have no worries about food and clothing. There is no need to be afraid. Ming’s economic blockade?
This is true. No matter how blocked the Ming Dynasty was, it could not stop the Mongolian tribes from raising cattle and horses, nor could it stop people from making babies.
But no matter how you eat beef and mutton, you still have to use salt, right?
Without salt, there is no taste at all, so that’s it. At most, it only affects the taste, but not the stomach.
But once you don't take in salt for a long time, your body's functions will be damaged and your whole body will become weak. At that time, let alone leading sheep to herd, even if you are given a rope, you will only be dragged by cows and horses.
Mongolia is either a grassland or a desert. Where does the salt come from?
Even if you are lucky and find a salt marsh, it will probably only be enough to feed your family. Don't even think about supplying the huge Mongolian tribe.
In addition to salt, there is also iron.
Although Mongolia has a lot of grasslands and occasionally a few mountains, there are not many iron ores to be found. Besides, even if you dig out iron ore, you still need craftsmen, right?
You can't just light a small fire and burn rocks to play with. The knives and iron pots will be burned...
Unfortunately, the Mongolian tribes were very large, but salt and iron were in short supply.
Looking at the Central Plains dynasties again, many dynasties used salt and iron as a sharp weapon in the hands of the court, saying:
Iron salt monopoly.
In fact, the salt and iron monopoly was not formed all at once, nor was it a monopoly in every dynasty.
The Xia, Shang, Zhou and other dynasties did not have special salt industry policies. They only set up officials to manage the collection and production of salt, and allowed the people to mine it freely. You can make it and eat it yourself.
Some princes also presented salt as tribute to the Emperor of Zhou.
This period can be said to be a completely open market, and salt is positioned as a souvenir that everyone needs.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, things changed.
Duke Huan of Qi thought for a while,
This is a troubled world. Rather than being killed by others, it is better to kill others. To kill others, you need money. Only with money can you engage in an arms race. The question is who can make money for yourself.
Duke Huan of Qi found Bao Shuya. Bao Shuya shook his head and said he couldn't do it, so he recommended economist Guan Zhong.
After Guan Zhong came up, he implemented the "official mountains and seas" policy, which means that all the mountains, forests and seas in Qi belong to the government, and of course the salt and minerals also belong to the government.
The salt government created by Guan Zhong can be said to be a "partial monopoly system". The government can mine salt, and the private sector can also mine it. However, there is one thing. You cannot take the salt mined by the private sector to the door and just set up a street stall to sell it. It must be sold. Give it to the government, and the government will sell it uniformly.
The advantage of developing salt and iron made Qi the first overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Looking at the Qin Dynasty again, in fact, the rise and fall of the Qin Dynasty was influenced by the monopoly of salt and iron from beginning to end, although sometimes local governments were allowed to mine salt and the government was responsible for taxing it.
The country is running out of money, so why not increase the tax on salt and iron by three to five times? How can that be enough? It starts at ten times and is not capped at twenty times.
During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in order to deal with the Xiongnu, they fought for years. Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were heroes at this time. However, wars required money. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty saw that he had no money, so he took care of the salt administration.
A tube of salt and the country has money.
A large part of the money that supported the war came from the salt monopoly.
During the period of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, the "salt and iron monopoly" was questioned, so the famous "Salt and Iron Conference" appeared in history. Everyone sat at a table to discuss whether to continue to monopolize salt and iron. In the end, Sang Hongyang won the debate. The salt and iron monopoly system continues to be used.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, the son of the plane, abolished the salt monopoly law and allowed free mining and trading, and the government only levied taxes.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, a complete monopoly system was adopted to extract salt profits, and the same was true in the Western Jin Dynasty.
But in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, this became a bit chaotic. Today, they engage in monopoly sales, and when they have money, they will change to a taxation system tomorrow. They are capricious, erratic, and like a villain.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, a miracle occurred.
The salt and iron monopoly or taxation system that lasted for more than a thousand years from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Sui and Tang Dynasties disappeared during the Sui and early Tang Dynasties.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were no monopolies and no salt tax. This was absolutely "unique" in the history of China's feudal dynasties.
In the third year of Kaihuang's reign, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty abolished the monopoly on salt, iron, and wine, and did not impose any taxes.
From the third year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign to the last year of Tang Jingyun, in one hundred and twenty-eight years, there was no existence at all.
Now it's about the salt tax.
To say that Cheng Yaojin was a private salt dealer is just a fabrication by a later family.
In this period, there was no distinction between public salt and private salt, and there was no salt tax. Who cares whether Cheng Yaojin sells salt? Even if you, Cheng Yaojin, were in good physical condition and sold 300 kilograms of salt at the intersection, no one would catch him.
The Tang Dynasty levied a salt tax during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji. He probably bought too much rouge and gouache for Concubine Yang and had no money to support his wife, so in the tenth year of Kaiyuan, a salt tax was imposed.
The salt tax in the Tang Dynasty was very heavy, and its revenue once became the mainstay of the national treasury. For example, in the last year of the Dali calendar, the annual fiscal revenue was 12 million guan, and the salt tax was 6 million guan, which can be said to support half the world.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, a "compromise method" emerged, allowing merchants to be responsible for transporting grain to the frontiers, and then issuing "cross references" to the merchants. The merchants would take this "cross references" back to the capital, issue a certificate, and then collect them at the salt field. salt and then sell it.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, Cai Jing, one of the "Six Thieves", pioneered the salt quotation method, which was made in two copies, one is the stub and the other is the voucher. The merchants used money to buy salt, and then went to collect the salt to sell.
The salt introduction method strengthened the control of salt merchants and was beneficial to the court, so subsequent dynasties basically used it.
Meng Yuan also used salt yin, but these people didn’t know what to think. They probably ate too much salt, so they tried their best to raise the price. At the beginning, one salt yin was worth nine guan. After thirty years, , one pound of salt increased to one hundred and fifty guan, and a pound of salt cost three to four hundred guan.
In the late Yuan Dynasty, although Chen Youliang was a fisherman and Zhu Yuanzhang was a farmer, they, like Zhang Shicheng, sold salt.
For example, Zhu Yuanzhang, although he did not carry sacks to sell salt, he had the support of a large number of salt merchants. Otherwise, how would you think he would get so much money to fight the war...
Zhu Yuanzhang insisted on the salt system, but when it came to Zhu Yunwen, it was still the salt system.
Merchants who want to sell salt need to follow the "Kai Zhong Law" and "Salt Yin System". The imperial court draws a circle on the map. As long as the merchant transports a certain amount of grain to the circle, the official will give you salt Yin, and you use salt to lead. After getting salt, remember not to run around or squat at the intersection. Go to the place designated by the government to sell salt.
Therefore, it was absolutely impossible for the Mongolian tribes in this period to engage in normal trade and obtain the salt and iron from the Central Plains.
Unless, smuggling!
The merchants Song Sheng mentioned were actually smugglers.
Zhu Yunwen was thinking about whether it would be feasible to use these people who were supposed to be beheaded to collect information about the Mongolian tribes...
