The imperial court's tax collection was only one million taels of silver per year. When Liu Jin opened a salt farm, he actually said that he would pay two million taels of silver to the imperial court, and the most important thing was that there was still profit.

Give Zhu Houzhao an annual dividend of no less than two million taels of silver.

"How much do you plan to sell this salt for per pound?"

After thinking about it, Emperor Hongzhi asked coldly, after paying so much tax and silver, and still making money, apart from the high price of selling salt, Emperor Hongzhi really couldn't figure out how Liu Jin could sustain himself.

"Your Majesty, my salt is not only at least 30% lower than the market price, but the quality is definitely better than other salts on the market. This is another benefit I mentioned. It is also good for the people of Li. You can

Let people eat cheaper and better salt.”

Liu Jin replied confidently.

"Do you treat me like a three-year-old?"

"You have to make a lot of money and have a low price. How can such a good thing be possible in the world?"

When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately said sharply.

"Grass people don't dare~"

Liu Jin quickly pretended to be frightened and said.

"Hmph, what are you afraid of? Salt and iron are an industry exclusively owned by the imperial court. You dare to get involved in it. What else are you afraid of?"

Emperor Hongzhi snorted coldly.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being bold. How much salt tax can this court collect in a year?"

"I wonder if Your Majesty knows how much a pound of salt can be purchased on the market? And does he know how much a pound of salt costs when it comes out of the salt field?"

Liu Jin was a little confused about today's Emperor Hongzhi. He felt like he had changed into a different person. He was less approachable than before and more domineering and domineering, making him feel like he was accompanying the emperor like a tiger.

If the former Emperor Hongzhi was a good old man, the current Emperor Hongzhi is more like what an emperor should be.

"The imperial court can levy a salt tax of one million taels every year."

"The salt in this market only sells for thirty or forty cents a pound. As for the salt from this salt farm..."

Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and said, when it came to how much a pound of salt from the salt field was, he was speechless because he had no idea how much a pound of salt from the salt field was.

"Your Majesty, this salt merchant's cost of getting salt from the salt field is actually almost zero."

Liu Jin thought for a while and asked Emperor Hongzhi to finish his words.

"The cost is zero?"

When Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao heard this, their eyes widened immediately. This was really shocking.

"Your Majesty, since the fifth year of Hongzhi, the tax payment for grain has been changed to the payment for silver. I wonder if your Majesty has discovered that the salt tax collected is getting less and less year by year, while the military expenditures of the border army are increasing year by year.

More than a year?"

Liu Jin nodded, thought for a while and asked again.

When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, his eyes were a little dazed. As an emperor educated in Confucianism, he always paid attention to governing the country with benevolence and virtue. For things like financial data, he just listened to Zhou Jing's recitations and did not take a closer look at them.

Various data changes, of course, are not clear about these things.

"So what?"

Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and said.

"Your Majesty, why does the salt tax get smaller every year?"

"With so many salt fields in the imperial court, why can it only receive a salt tax of one million taels a year?"

"Your Majesty is wise and wise. I think your Majesty is very clear about many of these things."

"I wonder if your majesty has ever been to the salt field? Take a look at the situation in the kitchen households? I think as long as your majesty goes and takes a look, you will understand why I said that the cost of salt taken by these salt merchants from the salt field is almost zero."

Liu Jin had a lot of things to say in his mind, but he couldn't say them after thinking about them. Although he knew some things, he couldn't say them. Why couldn't this good grain payment plan be implemented? In fact, the main reason was the emperor.

Whether it was Emperor Hongzhi or the previous Ming Xianzong.

Salt is often given as a reward to the royal family, nobles, ministers, etc. This is tantamount to a disguised form of nest-occupying behavior. The merchants who work hard to transport grain to the border cannot get the salt, but those who have made no contribution can get it.

Salt.

If the reward of salt is too much, the system of grain payment cannot be implemented anymore, because the merchants who transport grain to the border have no salt but cannot get the salt, because the salt output of the salt field is limited, and it must be limited to satisfy those who want it.

The salt guide of powerful officials.

But can you say that the emperor is wrong? Obviously not, even though the Emperor Hongzhi in front of him is famously good-tempered.

The salt merchants who can get salt from the salt field are all very knowledgeable people. These people have many tricks to evade taxes. This is why the salt tax received is getting less and less.

It was fine during the Hongzhi Dynasty, but in the late Ming Dynasty, the salt tax was even more pitiful. Not only the salt tax, but all other taxes were pitiful. Even a county in the Jiangnan region could not collect much.

Ten taels of silver is incredible when you think about it.

This is the drawback of Nayin Kaizhong, tax evasion and tax evasion are too serious.

The previous grain payment system was different. This grain was related to the border army. The border army would only give salt after receiving the grain. There was no place to evade taxes. After all, everything related to the border army was

event.

If the border troops have no food to eat, they will cause trouble. Since ancient times, military mutinies have been a major event, and they will be reported to heaven immediately.

After hearing Liu Jin's words, Emperor Hongzhi frowned and pondered. Salt and food were matters of great importance and involved huge interests. Of course he knew how serious the corruption was.

It's just that he didn't know much about salt, because the officials in the court below would not let Emperor Hongzhi know too much about salt.

The impression given to Emperor Hongzhi was that after changing the tax rate, it was a good thing for the country and the people. The court increased the salt tax, and the salt merchants no longer had to work hard to transport grain to border towns, and the common people seemed to be able to eat it.

Cheaper salt.

Because of this illusion, Emperor Hongzhi knew that salt, like grain, was rampant in corruption, but he never carried out any rectification and reform. Of course, Emperor Hongzhi himself had limited wisdom and relied more on the officials below him.

, no matter how many changes are made, there is actually no way to touch the interests of those people.

"Father, ordinary people's wages for a day's work are about thirty or forty cents. A pound of salt costs dozens of cents. It is really too expensive. The current salt and iron system is of little benefit to the court and not to the common people.

Even more so, ordinary people often cannot afford salt at all."

"The biggest beneficiaries of this system are the salt merchants and the officials in the salt fields. Each of them is as rich as the country, and extremely rich."

At this time, Zhu Houzhao also spoke. He either didn't do something, but was very serious when he did something. He had people investigate the salt merchant's affairs beforehand, and collected what he knew when he was outside. He also acted out of his feelings.

After hearing Zhu Houzhao's words, Emperor Hongzhi's face became even more ugly. Originally, in his opinion, the tens of dollars per pound of salt were not very expensive, but when Zhu Houzhao said that ordinary people could only buy one pound of salt after working for a day.

At that time, he knew that this salt was really expensive, very expensive.

Ordinary people don't have many opportunities to work, and it's difficult to make money. They really can't afford the salt worth tens of yuan per kilogram. This is just like if salt in later generations sells for hundreds of yuan per kilogram, ordinary people will not be able to afford it.
Chapter completed!