Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1170 Tea Salt
In response to the emperor's reminder, Mu Tianbo quickly agreed and said that he would be careful after returning to Yunnan and keep a close watch on the two men.

However, Zhu Shenzhui also saw that Mu Tianbo's real thoughts were somewhat disapproving. Although he did take precautions against the former, he thought that the information from the Jinyiwei was alarmist as to the latter. In addition, Mu Tianbo was confident in himself. Perhaps it was because the Mu family had guarded Yunnan for too long. Although rebellions had occurred from time to time in Yunnan over the past two hundred years, the Duke of Qian's Mansion had been able to suppress the rebellions every time. As a result, Mu Tianbo had absolute confidence in controlling Yunnan, and he looked down on the private actions of these mere chieftains. In his opinion, no matter how powerful the chieftains were, could they be stronger than the imperial army?
Seeing this, Zhu Shenzhui did not say much. After all, he had already reminded Mu Tianbo. It depended on his behavior what he would do next. Moreover, Mu Tianbo was not an ordinary nobleman. He was the Duke of Qian. The Duke of Qian ruled Yunnan for generations, which was a rule set during the reign of Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. After Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di won the world, he still recognized the superior status of the Duke of Qian in Yunnan and allowed it to continue to guard it.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the lineage of the Duke of Qian has always been stationed in Yunnan. In addition, Yunnan has special circumstances, and Yunnan cannot be without the Duke of Qian's Mansion. The influence of the Duke of Qian in Yunnan is unmatched. Zhu Shenzhui knows this very well. Moreover, Mu Tianbo's loyalty to the Ming Dynasty is beyond reproach. In addition, given his position, he cannot deal with the chieftains of Yunnan at will. The situation of the chieftains is complicated. If he does not do well, it will cause panic. Mu Tianbo is not convenient to make extreme actions without evidence. Zhu Shenzhui also understands this.

In addition, Zhu Shenzhui could not be completely sure of the situation in Sha Dingzhou. Although there was a secret report from the Jinyiwei, it did not mention that Sha Dingzhou really had any ulterior motives. Everything was still based on speculation. Judging a person's behavior based on speculation alone was not something Zhu Shenzhui could do even if he was the emperor!

Putting this matter aside for the moment, Zhu Shenzhui asked Mu Tianbo about the production in Yunnan. Although Yunnan has a good climate, it is mountainous and densely forested, and its production is indeed not as good as that in the Central Plains. Except for some special products, even the grain production is unsatisfactory.

But there is one good thing about Yunnan, that is, Yunnan produces tea. Apart from Jiangnan, the only tea producing area in the entire Ming Dynasty is Yunnan.

Yunnan's Pu'er tea became famous in later generations. There was a wave of Pu'er tea fever in the early 21st century. A mere piece of tea cake was sold at a sky-high price, which was really astonishing.

Yunnan Pu'er tea is not well-known now. Besides being consumed by local people in Yunnan, it is mostly sold to Tibet. Moreover, the tea drinking habit of the Ming Dynasty is green tea, that is, loose tea. This is due to the policy of Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang on tea. In order to change the tea drinking habit and the actual situation that making dragon balls consumed people's manpower at that time, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an order to stop making dragon balls and only collect tea buds. As a result, the dragon balls that had been popular for hundreds of years were gradually replaced by loose tea, thus forming the current way of drinking tea.

Under such circumstances, the Ming Dynasty had been drinking loose tea, especially green tea, for more than 200 years, and Pu'er tea and even other teas were no longer popular. These teas were not suitable for Ming Dynasty scholars because of their taste, and were mostly sold to foreigners and local people. As for black tea, it was not originally an industry of the Ming Dynasty. The so-called black tea appeared as export tea, that is, inferior tea sold to Europe. Because it often takes more than half a year or even longer for ships from the Ming Dynasty to Europe, the tea is stored in the cabin. After such a long transportation time, coupled with the high temperature generated by the sealed condition in the cabin and the humidity of the sea voyage, the original green tea is naturally fermented in this state. After being transported to Europe, these teas become black tea, thus becoming a new variety of tea.

Compared with black tea, Pu'er tea is closer, and the production process of Pu'er tea is more suitable for long-term storage. Moreover, whether it is made into tea cakes or tea bricks, it is much more convenient to transport.

Although Yunnan does not have many specialty products and its grain production is slightly insufficient, it has an advantage in tea. However, due to previous reasons, Yunnan's tea rarely circulates to the Central Plains, and is even less known, which is a pity.

In addition to tea, Yunnan has an advantage that other places do not have, and that is salt wells.

As early as the Han Dynasty, salt wells were mined in Yunnan. The most famous one was the Black Well. In addition, there was the Qiaohou in Jianchuan, the Baijing, the Langjing, etc. Together with the mining of some other salt wells, the reserves were extremely large.

How did Zhu Shenzhui make his fortune? Wasn't it because he accumulated wealth by smuggling salt with the people of Wangjia Village?
Naturally, he was extremely concerned about salt, and after he ascended the throne, he even revived the policy of Wanli. However, he abolished the method of sending eunuchs to local areas to set up mining supervisors. Instead, he adopted commercial means, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ming Royal Bank jointly implemented the sale and contracting of mining rights for the mining of minerals in various places, including salt mines.

In this way, the Qingliu's criticism of the court's mineral resources for "competing with the people for profits" was directly bypassed. At the same time, local aristocratic families including business groups were also attracted to participate. In this way, the court was able to smoothly gain benefits and collect taxes, and it was also able to reduce the proliferation of private salt and the impact on salt administration.

It has to be said that Zhu Shenzhui himself smuggled salt in the past, but now that he has become emperor, he is doing his best to crack down on smuggled salt and using various means to make up for the loopholes in the salt administration. Such behavior confirms the truth that the head follows the butt.

Different positions naturally lead to different ideas. As an emperor, he must consider the development of the entire Ming Dynasty. This principle has been the case for thousands of years, and Zhu Shenzhu is no exception. "I plan to implement a new tea and salt policy in Yunnan." Zhu Shenzhu said.

"New tea and salt policy?" Mu Tianbo was a little surprised. To be honest, Mu Tianbo didn't expect the emperor to talk about this. Moreover, because the Duke of Qian's Mansion had been in Yunnan for generations, the tea and salt in Yunnan were basically controlled by the Duke of Qian. This was a policy set during the Taizu period. Its main purpose was to allow the Duke of Qian to solve military expenses and financial subsidies in view of Yunnan's actual situation. Although part of the profits would be turned over to the central government, over the years, there was no such thing as turning over to the central government. The emperor was far away and it was impossible to say exactly how much the tea and salt income was. The capital would not send people to Yunnan to investigate this matter and risk offending the Duke of Qian and angering the Mu family.

"The court's policy is naturally good. Since Your Majesty intends to implement the new tea and salt policy in Yunnan, I will naturally support it. But Your Majesty, Yunnan is different from other places and the situation is rather special. I am just worried that the court has failed to consider the actual situation and has forcefully implemented this policy. If it triggers local unrest, I..." Mu Tianbo didn't continue talking here, but his attitude was obvious.

Seeing this, Zhu Shenzhui smiled and said, "You don't have to worry. Yunnan's new tea and salt policy will not affect the Qianguo Mansion. Even if this new policy is implemented, I still need to rely on you. I naturally understand the situation in Yunnan. This policy is called a new policy, but it is slightly different from the other salt and tea policies of our Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Shenzhui immediately explained the content of Yunnan's new tea and salt policy, saying that although the Qianguo Mansion had controlled Yunnan's tea and salt for so many years, the actual revenue was not satisfactory. Moreover, Yunnan is located in the southwest, with complex local conditions, inconvenient transportation, and not very good people's livelihood. In addition to the problems of local chieftains and ethnic minorities, the problem is lack of money.

If you want to develop Yunnan and make it rich, the key is money. But the imperial court cannot come up with that much money. In addition, Yunnan's situation is special. Even if the imperial court wants to invest in Yunnan, it is not so easy. Because of the chieftains and ethnic minorities, many things cannot be implemented by the imperial court.

So Zhu Shenzhui thought about it and decided to start with tea and salt in Yunnan. If the tea and salt production in Yunnan increased greatly, he would naturally make more profits. By then, not only would Yunnan be rich, but it would also have the ability to do many things. Moreover, by making Yunnan rich, it would also better stabilize the local chieftains and ethnic minorities, making them more identified with the court. This could be done through Mu Tianbo. Once it was done, not only would the Ming Dynasty benefit, but Mu Tianbo's Qianguo Mansion would also benefit a lot.

You should know that although the Qianguo Mansion has great power in Yunnan and is in charge of Yunnan's tea and salt trade, it has always been extensive in its management of these trades. Even the local chieftains and ethnic minorities are the same. They can be said to be begging for food while guarding a gold mountain. Over the years, this situation in Yunnan has always existed. If it can be changed and guided, the results will naturally be different.

According to Zhu Shenzui's plan, he wanted to let the Royal Bank of the Ming Dynasty and the Ministry of Internal Affairs intervene, and then use both commercial and administrative means to adopt a mineral contracting system similar to that of the inland Ming Dynasty and cooperate with the local Yunnan region to carry out large-scale salt mining and tea planting, thereby increasing its output.

The management was carried out by the Duke of Qian's Mansion and all products were purchased and sold by the Ming Royal Bank and the Imperial Household Department. The profits generated from the unified purchase and sale were divided into three parts. One part was the income of the Duke of Qian's Mansion according to convention, another part was distributed proportionally among local governments, local chieftains and ethnic minorities, and the other part went to the Imperial Household Department.

In this way, everyone can benefit from it, and it can also promote the development of Yunnan. Of course, this move cannot be completed all at once. If Mu Tianbo has no problems, he can first choose a suitable place for trial implementation, and then gradually promote it after the trial is good. In this way, it will take decades to gradually change the situation in Yunnan.

After listening to Zhu Shenzhu's explanation, Mu Tianbo couldn't help but be tempted. If it was such a new policy, it wouldn't be wrong. After all, it didn't harm his interests, and he did get more benefits. Family members know their own business. Mu Tianbo actually knew that although the Qian State Mansion in Yunnan had this privilege, it didn't actually benefit much from it. In addition, due to the chieftains and local ethnic minorities, even if the Qian State Mansion was powerful, it couldn't make the final decision.

If the new policy of the court is followed, the Duke of Qian can strengthen cooperation with local chieftains including ethnic minorities, and can also take this opportunity to gain greater benefits. Although he is in Yunnan, Mu Tianbo knows some of the court's policies in recent years, especially the court's policies on minerals including tea and salt. Which of the merchants and aristocratic families who have contracted minerals, tea and salt with the court in recent years has not made a lot of money? Although Mu Tianbo is in a high position and has great power, in terms of wealth, the Duke of Qian may not be as good as the big salt merchants in Jiangnan.

(End of this chapter)