As soon as the seal came out, Wang Chang bowed down, Tian Laosi bowed down, and all the people bowed down!
The torch is placed high to light up the salt field.
More than 4,000 kitchen households gathered around, most of them with their families, thin and dark, even some gray-haired elderly people came over shakily.
Liu Changge was very nervous. There were so many people surrounding him. Once the crowd got excited and it was not good for Zhu Yunwen, he and Tang Buping would not be able to stop many people.
Zhu Yunwen didn't care at all. The people of the Ming Dynasty were all good. They could endure hunger, cold and hardship, so why would they risk beheading and do something unfavorable?
Wan Wei, the ambassador of the Salt Class Department, urged Cai Fu to finally know who beat him. Cui San and Cheng Qi, the government servants, also knew who had followed him and been "charged as a kitchen household" by him. Wan Wei's psychology His endurance was a bit weak. Before Zhu Yunwen could investigate the responsibility, he found a beam and planned to hang himself. However, he was too heavy and the rope broke, so he did not die.
Cai Fu was obviously more experienced than Wan Wei. Regardless of his whiplash, he ran outside the mound and kowtowed for mercy. The soil was soft anyway, so even if he knelt down, he wouldn't kill anyone. Tang Buping was afraid that he would not be able to defeat Zhu Yunwen by kowtowing like this, so he helped him and kicked a fist-sized stone over, which happened to fall into the pit created by Cai Fu...
Cai Fu suddenly regretted coming here. He might as well find a tree and hang himself.
Cui San and Cheng Qi were very straightforward. They knelt down without saying a word or begging for mercy. They just pretended that they were so frightened that they lost their souls. If they didn't chop off their heads, they would summon the souls. If they chop off their heads, they would not have to say "The souls are back." ".
Zhu Yunwen asked the officials and government servants who were on duty to kneel down, and then shouted to the people who had gathered: "I govern the country and claim to love the people, but I have never thought that the suffering of kitchen households is ten times worse than that of farmers! This is what I have done It's my fault that I'm late!"
"This is the fault of our ministers for not noticing, and it has nothing to do with the Emperor!"
Xia Yuanji shouted immediately.
The emperor is not wrong, how can he say that he is wrong in front of so many people?
Zhu Yunwen waved his hand and said seriously: "Get up, you are in charge of the Household Department. This matter has nothing to do with you. I think the problem of the Lianghuai Salt Transfer Department is manipulating salt prices, levying salt taxes, and cutting off a few dollars in Yangzhou." It’s hard to imagine that the biggest problem is in this salt field!”
The salt farm was the production end and was completely monopolized by the imperial court. The imperial court took away all the output, but what did the imperial court give them?
Utensils for work, a simple stove, and enough food to eat!
In fact, in the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang paid attention to the lives of Zao households and set the rewards for Zao households:
One quotation can get one meter of work and one stone.
Based on the calculation that a kitchen household can produce 3,200 kilograms of salt per year, the total is eight kilos of rice, which is equivalent to four taels of silver. Forty taels a year, which is equivalent to a little more than ten cents a day.
Considering that ten cents a day was too little, Zhu Yuanzhang made another provision in the 17th year of Hongwu:
One Yin was given to Gongbenbao, two was worth 500 Wen.
This translates to a kitchen household earning twenty guan of work capital a year. According to the standards of the mid-Hongwu period, twenty taels of silver a year is considered good, but the problem is that Gongbenbao is not a silver tael, but a treasure banknote. The treasure banknotes are valuable at first, but they depreciate year by year, and they are still the same twenty taels of treasure banknotes. , by the thirty-first year of Hongwu, it had shrunk a lot, and it was only eleven or two taels when converted into silver taels.
A dozen taels of silver a year doesn't look bad. After all, some people say that five taels of silver is enough for ordinary people to live for a year. But the problem is, those who farm are afraid of natural disasters, and those who make salt are also afraid of weather changes. Sun-drying salt and frying salt all depend on the weather. If the weather is bad and the salt class this month is not up to standard, you will need to pay for it. Don't tell me I'll make up for it next month, no way.
As for why you were charged three or five taels for the salt course that was worth less than one tael, you don’t need to ask any more. After all, a trip to your door requires travel expenses, right? It’s a waste of time to scare you with words, and sometimes you have to grab it. Put down the money bag and wave the stick, how tiring it is.
There is also the problem of sea tides. Hundreds of people died, but the total amount of salt in the salt field cannot be reduced. What should I do? What can you say? Dead people can't work, but living people can work. You can work for a few more hours. Isn’t that enough?
If you don’t want to stay up late, fine, I won’t see you sleeping if I give you money. If you don’t pay me, I’ll continue working.
The money is yours, but it may not always be in your hands. This is the salt policy, this is the salt farm, and this is the kitchen household.
Over time, this group of kitchen households really became beggars. When they could no longer extract money and water, they only resorted to angry violence, such as whipping, and more and more people fled.
Every time there is one less person in the salt field, there is one more job for the people staying in the salt field. As for wages, they are still the same. After all, it is not appropriate for you to take money from a dead person.
Poverty, natural disasters, exploitation, flight.
More work, more fatigue, more escape.
To live more, to escape, to die.
The vicious cycle is like a chain that tightens the necks of countless people and makes people want to suffocate.
Zhu Yunwen learned too many issues from Zaohu's mouth that he never dared to think about, and he also understood what a difficult group of people Zaohu was.
"How many kitchen households are there here?"
Zhu Yunwen asked.
Wang Chang from the Inspection Department replied: "Your Majesty, I don't know how many kitchen households there are in the Huaihe River, but I know that there are more than 5,600 kitchen households in the ten salt fields belonging to the Taizhou Branch such as the Dingxi Salt Farm, and one Zao Ding is registered. There are more than 20,000, and there are even more Zao Ding who are not on the list, more than 20,000."
small book booth
"In the register, not in the register?"
Zhu Yunwen was once again shocked by the inside story of the salt farm.
The so-called registered people are those who can receive wages, and those not registered are naturally the women, children and the elderly. Even though they help men with work every day, they still have no income at all!
The whole family worked, but they were only paid according to the amount of salt, never caring how many people participated in the labor and how much they paid.
"Xia Yuanji, tell me, what should we do about this?"
Zhu Yunwen asked with a cold face.
Xia Yuanji was a little helpless. He could not control the Lianghuai River Salt Envoy Department. If he had to think of a solution, he could only say it from the perspective of the Ministry of Household Affairs: "I think that the kitchen households have worked countless hard, but their gains are extremely insufficient. They have no clothes to cover their bodies. If the food is not full and the house is not protected from the cold, the court should improve the salt production and living environment of the kitchen households, at least to make them eat well, wear warm clothes, and live comfortably."
Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly and directly issued an order: "Then the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Works and the Salt Transfer Department of the Huaihe River are jointly responsible. The Ministry of Households is responsible for allocating grain, and the Ministry of Works is responsible for building residences. The residences and kitchens must be separated. Who dares to If they open a pool in their house, I will push anyone into the pool!"
When the people heard this, they cheered for joy. A group of people knelt down and shouted, "Long live the mountain."
Zhu Yunwen shouted several times before everyone got up and asked the cook: "How much salt can you make in a month?"
"Bayin."
"If the weather is good, ten citations are possible. If the weather is not good, just six citations. Normally, it is usually eight citations." Zhu Yunwen calculated it and said: "Six citations, you can prepare six citations every month in the future. If you encounter The special weather makes it impossible to produce salt, so you can make up for it next month without deducting a penny!"
"Your Majesty, please think twice."
Yang Shiqi and Xia Yuanji became anxious, and Zhu Yunwen was too slapped on the head.
At present, the number of salt imports is relatively stable. Once the number of salt imports in the Lianghuai Salt Farm is reduced from eight to six imports per month, the total number of salt imports in the Lianghuai Salt Farm will drop significantly, and 350,000 imports should be provided throughout the year. , it is impossible to say that next year there will be less than 300,000 yin, and other salt farms will not be able to make up for the 50,000 yin gap!
The kitchen servants and kitchen households also couldn't believe it. The emperor actually took the initiative to reduce the amount of salt to make the salt class easier?
However, the ministers are all opposed to this, and I'm afraid this won't work.
The people did not say anything. Yang Shiqi persuaded Zhu Yunwen to consider the stability of the salt policy. After all, once the Lianghuai Salt Fields reduce production, the price of salt in many places may increase. By then, the court's idea of maintaining low salt prices will be in vain.
Zhu Yunwen waved his hand and did not listen to the persuasion of Yang Shiqi and Xia Yuanji. He promised everyone: "I have made a decree that six quotations per month will be handed over to the Salt Division."
Yang Shiqi and Xia Yuanji were worried when they saw this.
But there is another part of Zhu Yunwen's words: "The six citations were only taken away by the Salt Division. However, if you are diligent and achieve eight or ten citations in a month, the extra two and four citations of salt will not be taken away." The coins are all your own. You can exchange them for salt and sell them to local merchants, or you can take the salt to the Royal Central Bank to exchange for silver! If you pay enough salt coins, the rest is yours! Understand. No?"
Xia Yuanji was extremely surprised, and Yang Shiqi was even more stunned. Almost at the same time, both of them exclaimed: "Wonderful!"
The people also understood that the court prescribed only six exercises in a month. After completing it, you can do it if you want to do it, and if you don't want to do it, you can lie down. If you want to do it, the extra salt is your own, and you can directly take it out and exchange it for money.
They are all poor people, and they are the people who contribute their efforts. Who is willing to lie down?
Since the rest is all yours, who wouldn’t want to work harder, even to the point of death?
Looking at the cheering people, Yang Shiqi knew how popular this policy was and how crazy it was! It is conceivable that the salt production in Lianghuai River will rise rapidly in the future!
Zhu Yunwen is not a reckless person, he has found a suitable path.
Xia Yuanji breathed a sigh of relief, shook his head repeatedly, and bowed deeply to Zhu Yunwen: "Your Majesty is as wise as the sea, and if you have strategies to calm the people, the world will surely prosper."
Yang Shiqi also echoed: "Such a wonderful plan should be implemented in all salt fields. Kitchen households all over the world will be grateful and repay God's kindness."
Zhu Yunwen felt very comfortable listening to this, but when he saw this group of ragged kitchen households, he couldn't help but smile: "It's enough that salt is bitter, and life can't be too bitter. Take appropriate measures, you guys." We will discuss with the officials who arrived later and come up with strategies for transferring household registrations from kitchen households and setting up social schools in salt farms as soon as possible. We are all citizens of the Ming Dynasty, and they are no worse than others."
"I will receive the order."
Xia Yuanji and Yang Shiqi quickly agreed.
There are still many problems in the saltworks. How to manage kitchen households, how to regulate and restrain officials in the saltworks, how to avoid cutting, how to prevent sea tides, and how to provide pensions all require a series of rules and regulations and wisdom.
Fortunately, Zhu Yunwen's ministers are not bad. They are sophisticated, intelligent and knowledgeable, so it is not difficult to solve these problems.
