Salt is related to the country.
But the relationship here is often from the perspective of salt administration and taxation. Many dynasties regarded salt tax as the only way to strengthen their finances and adopted the court monopoly system.
A dominant monopoly naturally brings considerable profits. But few people pay attention to the torture of Yan Ding behind the scenes. They take it for granted that these people live a comfortable life and have a good life. This is all fantasy that is divorced from reality.
What he saw and heard in the salt field made Zhu Yunwen completely aware of the gap between imagination and reality.
Yu Xin, Rujun, Xie Jin and other civil and military ministers set out from Yangzhou and arrived in Gaoyou with a group of people. Before they had settled in their accommodation, they received the order and all the accompanying officials went to Dingxi Salt Fields.
After walking for more than thirty miles, we finally arrived at Dingxi Salt Fields.
Xie Jin, Yu Xin and others looked around and found no Yang Shiqi, Xia Yuanji, or Zhu Yunwen.
"This is Dingxi Salt Farm?"
Xie Jin looked around and saw busy Yanding people.
Yu Xin nodded and looked back at the hanging sign. Yes, it was indeed Dingxi Salt Farm. But the problem is, the emperor asked everyone to come, where did he go?
"How about we wait, everyone will be tired."
Zheng Ci, Minister of Industry, spoke.
Jie Jin looked at Yu Xin and expressed his doubts: "It's okay if the emperor isn't here, why aren't there any officials?"
Yu Xin was suddenly startled and felt abnormal.
You must know that Yu Xin and others are not just one or two people who came here inconspicuously, but more than 300 officials, a huge group of people. No matter how blind the salt field officials are, they should have seen it.
Officials from the Salt Course Department did not come, nor did the general manager of the salt field. There was no trace of anyone from the Inspection Department. This is abnormal, so abnormal. Where can a salt field be undefended and unmanaged...
"Find someone to ask."
Yu Xin glanced at Lian Zining, the censor of Youdu.
Seeing this, Lian Zining walked not far away, stopped a middle-aged man who was carrying ashes with his upper body exposed, and shouted: "Hey, man, where is the official here?"
The guy turned around and glanced at him with sharp eyes. Lian Zining felt that all the blood in his body was frozen. He shivered immediately and took two steps back with a cry of "Oh my God". He pointed his finger at the man with a vague expression at the corner of his mouth. Qing's words: "You, you..."
Yu Xin, Xie Jin and others all frowned. How could you, Lian Zining, have seen the world? Why were you frightened by Yi Yanding? Everyone looked up and took a deep breath of cold air.
Why does this guy look so much like Liu Changge from the Security Bureau?
Liu Changge was barefoot and did not come over with the gray letter on his shoulders. He said coldly: "Liu is working and cannot salute. Since you are here, go to the shed over there."
After saying that, Liu Changge left without looking back.
"Is it really Liu Changge who just passed by?"
Lian Zining couldn't believe it.
Xie Jin, Yu Xin, Xu Huizu and others looked at Liu Changge's back and had a bad feeling in their hearts.
Outside the shed.
Xie Jin and others finished lining up and were waiting to salute.
Yu Xin went into the shed to ask for instructions. Soon, Yu Xin came out, looked at Xie Jin and others and said, "The emperor is not here."
When Xu Huizu, Xie Jin and others entered the shed, they could see at a glance that there were only a few shelves, a few boxes, some clothes, and nothing else.
All the ministers were confused.
At this moment, Xia Yuanji, who was barefoot and in short clothes, came over. After saluting Xie Jin and others, he said: "The emperor said, don't be stunned. Put your clothes and shoes in the shed. The seventh-rank officials will go with the following officials." The pastures are cut and wood is cut to prepare fuel. The fifth- and sixth-rank officials are responsible for carrying ash, scraping mud, and fetching sea water. The third- and fourth-rank officials are responsible for mixing salt ash and cooking, and other officials are building embankments and casting platforms..."
"this……"
After everyone heard this, they were dumbfounded. When they hesitated, Xia Yuanji pointed to the distance. A young man in short clothes was busy with bare feet. He stood up from time to time and wiped his sweat.
Isn’t that the majestic Emperor Zhu Yunwen of the Ming Dynasty?
The emperor is like this, why should a group of officials hesitate?
Zhu Yunwen watched a group of officials descending from the salt field and walking towards him in an orderly manner, then he stretched out his hand to stop: "Go ahead and do whatever you have to do. You are all salt workers today. Whoever doesn't make a hundred kilograms of salt doesn't have to leave." This is the salt field.”
Xiaoshuting app
One hundred pounds of salt is the amount of diced salt per day.
Zhu Yunwen hopes to tell officials in this way that behind every bite of delicious food you eat, there are a group of bitter and tired people. Although this kind of life experience may not be able to transform bureaucrats and make them worry about the people and salt, but To some extent, it can let them know what it will be like to move the family to the salt farm to make salt if they don't obey in the future.
Officials are pampered and work every day, and their bodies are very weak.
The thin common people carry something of 200 kilograms, and their legs are whistling in the wind. The officials carrying something of 100 kilograms have wind in their mouths, and they are whistling. Before they had worked for half an hour, some officials were already complaining endlessly. Their shoulders were in unbearable pain, their hands were blistered, and their feet were pricked by grass.
Zhu Yunwen's body gradually became unable to bear it. Although he exercised on weekdays and occasionally rode horses and exercised, the intensity was completely different from the intensity of work. The exercise was only for a short period of time. A sweat would be enough. , and the work is long and continuous, and you can't take a break even after sweating for several pounds.
Even though his body couldn't bear it, Zhu Yunwen still persisted with his tenacious willpower. As long as he was still working, no official could say to take a rest.
Working from morning to night, Zhu Yunwen felt like he had only one breath left to hang on, and had no time to rest because he needed to fry salt in the evening.
The main tool for frying salt is a pan iron. This thing is just a pot, but it is a bit big, with a diameter of nearly one foot, almost three meters. It is completely made of iron leaves, with pins riveted between each piece, and the seams are sealed with marinade. , forming an iron pot. This thing is very heavy, weighing more than three thousand kilograms, and is expensive to make.
Frying salt is not a matter for one kitchen household, but is used by 20 kitchen households in groups, so this method is also called the group frying method.
The method is simple, just pour brine, burn it, boil out the water, and the remaining crystals are salt. But if you want to boil a large pot of brine into salt, someone needs to guard it, watch the fire and add firewood.
Zhu Yunwen looked at the big pot in front of him and was speechless. This was not a big pot of rice or hot pot. How much firewood would be wasted to make such a big mouthful? In addition, this thing is too bulky and the thermal efficiency is too low. I don’t understand why these people can’t just make something smaller. Isn’t it good for the whole family to have one pot?
Tian Laosi and other salt men admired Zhu Yunwen very much. Some of the ministers had fallen asleep on the ground, but Zhu Yunwen still persisted.
"Your Majesty, can you also solve the problem of this iron plate?"
Tian Laosi asked with a smile.
Zhu Yunwen woke up from his trance and asked, "What's wrong with Pantie?"
Tian Laosi pointed at the iron plate and sighed: "This thing is made of pure iron. It uses a lot of materials and is expensive. Once it is burned out, it is difficult to repair. In the past two years, several iron plates were broken, and salt was transferred from both Huaihe Rivers. The officials in the envoy department insisted on asking us to pay for the repairs, and if they didn't have the money, they would deduct our salt."
Zhu Yunwen frowned. It was only a matter of time before the iron pan fried salt had problems. Seawater erosion was not weak, so it would be strange if it remained intact for many years. However, this part of the cost could not be passed on to the kitchen salt cook.
Zhu Yunwen thought for a while and asked: "Why do we have to use such a large pan for frying salt? Is it not possible to make some small, lightweight pots for frying salt?"
Tian Laosi looked at Zhu Yunwen in astonishment, a little unbelievable. The emperor didn't know why he had to use a big plate of iron?
An old salt man laughed and explained: "Your Majesty, this method of frying with iron balls was a thing of the Yuan Dynasty. It was for easy management. After all, it is clear at a glance how much salt is produced by dozens of households with one iron pan. , people in the court can also record it and put it away, but if every household runs a small stove, the court will not know how much salt the salt cubes have made. By then, there will be more private salt..."
Zhu Yunwen suddenly realized.
In order to control the existence of private salt, the emotional government specially made a large plate of iron. For the purpose of management, dozens of households are brought together, and if there is a problem, everyone is jointly responsible.
Zhu Yunwen sighed and watched Yan Ding add a pile of firewood to the plate. The fire made a sound. He couldn't help but look at Zheng Ci, the minister of the Ministry of Industry. And lightweight frying salt pans were distributed to every household. The court did not need to care about how much salt the salt cubes produced, nor did they need to ask."
"It's okay to be private..."
Zheng Ci was a little worried.
Zhu Yunwen waved his hand: "I allow Yanding to keep private salt, but if you want to sell this private salt and transport it out of the salt field, you need to exchange it for salt. As for whether this part of salt is sold to domestic merchants or to central banks, The court doesn’t need to worry about it.”
Yu Xin pondered and asked a key question: "Your Majesty, if this is the case, I'm afraid there will be a flood of salt in the future..."
Once a small stove is formed, the quantity of salt production will probably increase greatly. How will the salt be disposed of at that time?
Zhu Yunwen smiled peacefully and said: "Salt can be exported. The Yunnan Tea Horse Road and the replacement of war horses in the northwest require a lot of salt. Even if there is too much salt in the future, it doesn't matter. I will just take the extra."
"..."
All the officials looked at each other with big eyes.
The Ming Dynasty only had coarse salt and crushed coarse salt, but no refined salt...
Zhu Yunwen didn't mind collecting some coarse salt cheaply and turning it into fine snowflake salt when he went back to sell it to wealthy households, officials, and gentry. He might even make a fortune.
Zhu Yunwen stayed at the Dingxi Salt Field for five days. During this period, many officials in the Salt Transfer Department, Salt Class Department, and Inspection Department in the Huaihe River were arrested. They were all corrupt, oppressed kitchen households, and concealed the situation of the tide disaster. ,unambiguous evidence.
In addition to beheading the most heinous crimes and publicly displaying them in public, the relevant officials received a hundred large plates and had their property confiscated. They were then sent to Beizhili without waiting to recover from their injuries.
Zhu Yunwen acted vigorously and resolutely, reorganized the order of the salt field, and determined the new rules and regulations of the salt field. He promoted Wang Chang of the Inspection Department to the Tongzhi of the Department of Salt Transfer to Huaidu and was responsible for the rectification of the Tongzhou Salt Field. He promoted Tian Laosi to General Cui, responsible for Ding. Xi salt field salt management, and at the same time required the Metropolitan Procuratorate to recruit people to serve as salt patrol censors, responsible for the promotion of the new salt policy in Huaihe and Huaihe, corruption investigation and questioning...
