Prime Minister

Chapter 1162 Rebuke

Chapter 1162 Rebuke

After nightfall, the west hall of the Zhongshu was brightly lit.

The officials held tea and snacks and presented them to Zhang Yue, Xue Xiang, Cai Jing and others.

However, these people were in no mood. Some of them were thinking with their eyes closed or reading copies of official documents.

After learning that the Jieyan Salt Pond was flooded, several people stayed overnight and discussed countermeasures, but no good solution was found so far.

The officials took away the cold tea and snacks and replaced them with some food.

Zhang Yue said to Xue Xiang and Cai Jing, "Don't be in a hurry. Eat something first. After you are full, you may have a better idea."

Xue Xiang and Cai Jing agreed and started eating.

Zhang Yue saw that the two had almost finished their meal and said, "I have been thinking about countermeasures for half a day. If you have any plan, please tell us first. Don't hide it. Let's brainstorm together."

Xue Xiang picked up another piece of mung bean cake and chewed it, then said vaguely: "In a family of ten, ten people eat salt; in a family of a hundred, a hundred people eat salt."

"Salt affairs are of great importance to the country. This is why Fan Xiang established the Capital Salt Bureau and the Prime Minister established the Exchange Office. Now, in my opinion, the salt pond in Jiezhou has been flooded, so there will be no salt for next year."

"One problem is that there is less salt, and the other problem is that the anchor of salt is gone. Our salt notes are issued because of salt. Now we have notes but no salt. What should we do? In my opinion, haven't we negotiated peace with the Tanguts? We can import Qing salt from the Tanguts to make up for the shortage of salt."

That’s right, the specialty of the Dangxiang people is green salt, which costs 5 cents per pound. When sold privately to the Song Dynasty, it costs 15 cents per pound.

In the past, the price of a pound of salt was usually between thirty-five and forty cents.

At first, the Salt Bureau stopped purchasing salt notes when the salt price was lower than 35 coins per catty, and sold the salt notes when the salt price was higher than 40 coins.

One catty cost five cents, and one catty cost forty cents. To be honest, the people of the Song Dynasty lived far worse than the people of the Dangxiang.

Zhang Yue said: "Yes, the blue salt is beneficial to several states of the Tanguts, and it seems to be able to solve the urgent problem. However, the war and peace between our dynasty and the Tanguts are uncertain, so who knows if they will not take advantage of the flooding of the salt pond in Jiezhou to raise the price."

The most important thing is that Zhang Yue was unwilling to purchase a large amount of green salt to boost the national strength of the Dangxiang.

Xue Xiang said: "Prime Minister, the worst outcome is to immediately sell all the salt in the court on the market while the people are still unaware of it."

Zhang Yue couldn't help but be slightly touched when he heard this. Just like the last time when Jiaozi depreciated, it was also a good idea to dispose of all the salt notes in his hands. He could wait until the salt notes fell to the bottom and then purchase them to stabilize the currency value.

Zhang Yue thought, what will happen to the merchants and common people who bought the salt notes if this happens? They are using the common people as leeks to be harvested.

Coming and going, this is back to making the people suffer.

Xue Xiang said: "Prime Minister, if we don't use green salt, there is no other way. In the third year of Yuanfeng, the court estimated that the salt tax revenue would be 15 million guan (the actual historical data is 13 million guan, and this article adds the income from the salt and salt notes reformed by Zhang Yue), of which the income from the salt and salt notes accounted for 500 guan."

"Not to mention the millions of salt notes circulating in the market. Once these monies disappear, no one in the court can bear the responsibility!"

Zhang Yue knew that what Xue Xiang said was true, and he felt very embarrassed. The policy he had just proposed in front of the emperor was slapped in the face by himself.

Having said that, if anyone wants to make the people suffer, everyone would come up with a way to have the best of both worlds.

But what can you do in this position? No official would do this, damaging the credibility of the imperial salt currency and trying his best to protect the interests of the people.

Or importing Tangut blue salt, isn't that using the Song Dynasty's money to buy weapons, armor and food for the Tanguts?

Zhang Yue looked at Cai Jing and asked, "What do you think, Yuan Chang?"

Cai Jing said: "In my opinion, there is salt accumulation in various places. As long as we use this accumulated salt, we can make up for the shortage of salt."

Zhang Yue looked at Cai Jing and said, "It seems that Yuan Chang has a solution."

Cai Jing said: "I do have a little opinion."

"Tell me carefully."

Cai Jing said: "I have two strategies, one for the upper and one for the lower."

"The best strategy is to sell sea salt in the west. Now Henan, Hebei, the west of Cao and Pu, and the east of Qinfeng all use salt from Jie, Shuzhong uses well salt, Hedong uses soil salt, and the rest are sea salt. The salt from Jingdong and Hebei can be transported to the west or the west of Beijing. The official fee for a bag is only 6,000, and the cost of the bag is less than 1,000. The court can make a profit of 2 million strings of cash a year. It is better to sell it in Shaanxi. The distance is twice as long, and the profit is also doubled."

"The court can issue new banknotes to replace the old banknotes for salt, and require merchants to discount or exchange goods, and then exchange the old banknotes for new ones. Gradually abolish the old banknotes and replace them with new ones."

After hearing Cai Jing's suggestion, Zhang Yue fell into deep thought, while Xue Xiang clapped his hands and said, "Yuan Chang is truly a genius."

Zhang Yue glanced at Xue Xiang and agreed, "Yuan Chang's idea is indeed a good one."

Zhang Yue vaguely remembered that Cai Jing used this method in history to restore the credibility of salt notes.

But the problem was the abolition of the new banknotes and the replacement of them. Many merchants who had previously purchased salt notes were trapped by the court and were forced to spend a large amount of money to buy new notes, otherwise the old notes would become waste paper.

It was the exchange of notes for notes that eventually led to the collapse of the imperial court's credit, causing countless wealthy families to lose their fortunes and return to poverty overnight. Cai Jing's reform of the salt law had great results in the early stages, but later on, the rules changed every day without a fixed system.

In the end, the people were harmed.

Zhang Yue asked Cai Jing, "If merchants are asked to use cash to subsidize salt notes, won't this damage the court's credibility? If the court wants to change to new notes in the future, will merchants have to use old notes to subsidize the money to exchange for new notes?"

Cai Jing said, "Yes... yes... someone must bear the five million deficit of the court. The least harm will come to the merchants. Choose the lesser of two evils. Besides, they are just some merchants. If one group is gone, there will be another group. As long as the salt notes are profitable, there is no need to worry about the lack of merchants to earn the court's money. There are plenty of people to grab it."

Zhang Yue shook his head and said, "The court's reputation has been damaged not just for a moment, but for a lifetime!"

"Prime Minister!" Cai Jing was about to speak, but was interrupted by Zhang Yue, who said to Cai Jing: "Yuan Chang, raise your head and look at what is written on the plaque in this hall?"

Cai Jin raised his head and saw the words "People-oriented" written on the plaque.

Zhang Yue said to Cai Jing angrily, "Do you think I am saying these words for others to hear, or for myself to read? On the first day after I put it up, you encouraged me to destroy my own sign? Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me?"

Upon hearing this, Cai Jing bowed his head and apologized, "It's Jing's fault."

Zhang Yue said: "I think highly of you, Yuan Chang, but there is one thing I must tell you first: 'Don't use your petty wisdom to trap the people. To govern the world, loyalty, righteousness, benevolence and filial piety are the fundamental principles.'"

"Don't be too clever, or else no one will be able to save you if something goes wrong."

Cai Jing was so angry that he was sweating profusely after being scolded by Zhang Yue. He immediately said, "Yes, Prime Minister. Jing will remember what you said today and will never forget it for the rest of his life."

Xue Xiang watched from the sidelines, smiling without saying a word, then looked up at the sign with the words "People-oriented" written on it.

Zhang Yue smiled and said, "Okay, tell me your next move!"

(End of this chapter)