I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 190 Is this cake delicious?

"Okay, okay! Don't do it, I'll tell you right now! I'll tell you right now!" Zhu Houxun begged for mercy repeatedly.

Zhu Houzhao then put down his fist triumphantly.

Zhu Houxuan sorted out his thoughts and said slowly: "The salt industry in the Ming Dynasty is very strange now. This situation did not occur in the Tang and Song dynasties. During the An-Shi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, most of the country was in war, and the finances were in distress. There was no money to recruit soldiers. It was the salt tax in Lianghuai that saved the Tang Dynasty's finances and helped the Tang Dynasty gradually quell the rebellion. Although the people complained about the high salt prices, the Tang court gained actual benefits and saved the country."

"The territory and population of the Song Dynasty were far less than those of the Ming Dynasty, but the salt tax was the second largest tax after the agricultural tax, and the annual salt tax was as high as 1200 million strings of cash, which was also a situation of obtaining real benefits."

"As for the Ming Dynasty, the annual salt tax of 100 million taels of silver is not only much lower than that of the Tang and Song dynasties, but the price of salt is also higher than that of the Tang and Song dynasties. The court has been criticized and has not received any real benefits. The people have paid a lot of money but still cannot eat good salt. This is a completely lose-lose situation."

The more Zhu Houzhao listened, the gloomier his expression became. He slammed his fist on the table and said angrily, "What a bunch of termites!"

Then he looked at Zhu Houxun with anticipation, he knew that Zhu Houxun would definitely have his own way.

Zhu Houxuan changed the subject and asked, "Brother, do you know the taste of coarse salt?"

Zhu Houzhao shook his head in confusion, not understanding why Zhu Houxuan asked this.

"Then I happen to have some coarse salt here, my brother can try it." After saying this, Zhu Houxuan took out a small box from the table, opened it, and saw white translucent coarse salt inside.

Zhu Houzhao glanced at Zhu Houxun, and although he didn't understand his intention, he still picked up a grain of coarse salt and put it in his mouth.
As soon as the coarse salt grains entered his mouth, Zhu Houzhao frowned. It was not because of the saltiness, because coarse salt is not very salty, but because coarse salt has a lingering bitter taste.

Zhu Houzhao did not spit out the coarse salt grains, but waited for it to dissolve in his mouth, and then drank a few sips of tea, but a faint bitter taste still remained in his mouth.

"Is this salt for human consumption?" Zhu Houzhao said with a frown.

"Yes! This is the salt most consumed by the people of the Ming Dynasty! It is bitter and harmful to the body if consumed for a long time. Moreover, poor families cannot afford it. There is a saying among the people that 'a peck of rice can be exchanged for a pound of salt, and a pound of salt can be consumed for a year'," Zhu Houxun said in a deep voice.

Zhu Houzhao was touched and opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"My Royal Brother is the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and he carries the hopes of the people. Now that we have such a good salt field and salt-making technology, don't you plan to do something?"

Zhu Houzhao stared at Zhu Houxun closely, "You want to lower the price of salt? But how can we make money if the price of salt goes down?"

"My royal brother, aren't you going to calculate how much the salt produced by Nanbao Salt Field can be sold for in a year? Let me tell you the answer. If the cost of one catty of salt is one penny, and the annual output is calculated at the highest of 6 million catties, then if we set the shipping price at 5 pennies per catty, then the annual profit of Nanbao Salt Field is 240 million taels of silver (actually it will be higher, because the Ming Dynasty did not have a fixed exchange rate of 1000 pennies for 1 tael of silver, generally 130 to pennies could be exchanged for tael of silver, the author is here to make the calculation easier). This is just the Nanbao Salt Field. I am still looking for a suitable place to build a new salt field. After the new salt field is built, deducting the million taels of salt tax paid to the Ministry of Revenue, it is still easy for Changlu Salt Field to bring us an annual income of million taels of silver."

Zhu Houzhao was shocked by this series of figures, but he still couldn't make up his mind. Zhu Houxuan continued to strike while the iron was hot, "I know that my brother is considering the economic benefits. It is better to have enough silver to fight the Mongols, but while we are considering the economic and military aspects, shouldn't we also consider the political benefits?"

Zhu Houzhao suddenly raised his head and looked at Zhu Houxun, who changed his tone and continued, "With so much cheap sea salt entering the market, the price of salt in the capital will drop to less than 10 wen per catty, and the price of salt in the inland areas will drop to about 15 wen per catty. If we expand production and improve salt-making technology, the price of salt will be even lower, to a level never seen since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Qin Emperor and the Han Emperor, and the Tang Emperor and Song Emperor."

Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhu Houxun's calm face and his heart was in turmoil. With Zhu Houzhao's intelligence, some things did not need to be explained too clearly, and people would know what was going on with just a hint.

Zhu Houzhao immediately understood what Zhu Houxuan meant.

His previous actions at the imperial farm and the imperial store had caused panic among the people, and with the help of some people who fanned the flames, his reputation among the people was already not very good. He knew all this clearly, but he had no way to change it.

He also knew that he had been on the throne for nearly ten years, but not only did he have no outstanding political achievements, but he was constantly taking the blame, which made him want to give up.

Zhu Houxun's proposal really moved him. Lowering the price of salt to the lowest level in history would be an impeccable and impressive political achievement in every aspect!

Moreover, this political achievement was achieved by the Royal Group that he strongly advocated for establishing.

This incident will also benefit all the people of the Ming Dynasty, and will greatly reverse his reputation among the people.

If this thing can be accomplished, it will have immense political significance for him!

After realizing this, Zhu Houzhao was so excited that he couldn't speak. He stared at Zhu Houxun in a daze - this younger brother really thinks of him in everything!

Zhu Houxun's cake has not been finished yet.

He continued, "Lowering the price of salt is only the first step and the prerequisite for everything. Lowering the price of salt will deal a huge blow to the salt merchants, and it will also give us the opportunity to rectify the Ming Dynasty's salt administration. Now the Ming Dynasty's salt administration is a mess, so we can only use this method to break it down and then rebuild it!"

"At this step, we will squeeze the previous salt merchants out of the salt market, and then let the Ming Royal Group gradually take over the coastal salt fields, spread the technology of cheap salt production, and then use 5 to 10 years to rebuild the Ming salt industry. I am confident that the rebuilt Ming salt industry will pay more than 500 million taels of profit and tax every year!" Zhu Houxuan said confidently.

To be honest, it was quite normal for a country of the size of the Ming Dynasty to collect 1000 million taels of silver in salt tax every year. The reason why Zhu Houxun only reported 500 million taels was because he wanted to continue to give concessions to the people and continue to lower the price of salt.

Zhu Houzhao became even more excited by Zhu Houxun's words, but he couldn't help but pour a basin of cold water on them. He deliberately asked, "Those salt merchants are still very powerful, and there are countless forces standing behind them. They won't just sit there and wait for death. They will do their best to counterattack!"

Zhu Houxuan sneered, "Lowering the price of salt is in accordance with the will of heaven and the will of the people. We are doing the right thing. We stand behind the people of the Ming Dynasty and support them. In turn, they will become our strongest shield. I want to see who dares to stand against the people of the Ming Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)