Chapter 616: T-shaped rolls turn chicken ribs into fat
Feng Ziying’s words caused everyone present to fall into silence.
Think about it, what kind of business can make a steady profit without losing money? Apart from the salt business controlled by the government's monopoly, what else can it be?
Hunter merchants don’t even touch salt in their lives, but just by virtue of their qualifications, they can make hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in their lifetime without any risk.
It comes so easily, who has the energy to do anything else? Just please some key people.
This is inherently an unfair business. Under the exchange of power and interests, some people will naturally be greedy and want to be even more unfair. In such a situation, how can a censor restrain it?
Feng Ziying’s words made everyone think deeply.
The group of salt merchants is inherently the most controversial. There are many who profit, and naturally there are even more haters and jealousy. Moreover, salt merchants love to show off, especially when the Emperor Liu went down to Jiangnan salt merchants to compete for luxury, which caused a sensation. It is still widely circulated.
How prestigious and powerful it was at that time, it can attract so much hatred and resentment now. Even now, there are still quite a large group of interested parties in the DPRK who dare not easily jump out to touch this edge.
Although Yangzhou salt merchants appear to be a special group of merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, they are also unpopular among the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River even though they have the most financial resources in the world because of their special nature and their origins. .
"This matter is not urgent for the time being. I believe that the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate will give me a satisfactory explanation. There is no need to rush to a conclusion on this matter. There is always a solution."
Emperor Yonglong broke the silence.
He has considered that moving the salt merchant group is indeed a risky move.
This group of salt merchants are inextricably linked to my father. Although my father seems to no longer care about this matter, he knows that some things and relationships are inexhaustible. If we really want to make a big move, we must It will cause a reaction, and that's not counting the boss making trouble inside.
But if he doesn't move, it will be difficult to highlight the prestige of the imperial court, that is, after he ascends the throne, especially in Jiangnan. He has realized that if he blindly shows weakness and compromises, he may not be able to avoid certain things, but will instead undermine his prestige. The damage should be put aside appropriately and let the people below deal with it, which will be beneficial to the next game, such as the issue of selecting the new Lianghuai Salt Patrol Censor.
It's just that he didn't expect that Feng Ziying was not only ruthless and decisive in his methods, but also able to leave some leeway, and his handling methods were also flawless. Even those in the court who were originally preparing to launch an attack could not find a better opportunity. Although Qi Yongtai, Qiao Yingjia and others were behind the plan, but it was quite rare to be able to play so smoothly.
When Emperor Yonglong said this, it was hard for others to say anything, and everyone felt that since the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate took over the matter, as long as the Zhongshu Department did not overstep its authority, there would be much more room for follow-up operations, which was acceptable. .
The topic finally returned to the big issue of reclamation in Dongpan, which was also the most interesting thing for several elders and Emperor Yonglong.
Whether it is the charter fee, the sea-opening bond, the subsequent opening of a bank, or even the crackdown on the salt merchants group, there will be some negative effects, but this is not the case with the eastward reclamation.
There are really only benefits in this matter, and there are no disadvantages, and the key is that the court does not need to pay anything at all.
This is so tempting.
When Feng Ziying forcibly added the Dongpan reclamation matter to the sea-opening strategy, everyone felt that it was meaningless. However, they did not expect that this seemingly insignificant piece of chicken has now become a piece of meat that everyone is chasing after.
In fact, before her first trip to Jiangnan, Feng Ziying mentioned this situation to Qi Yongtai, Qiao Yingjia, Guan Yingzhen and even everyone in the cabinet, and even mentioned it in front of Emperor Yonglong.
But even Qi Yongtai, who was the most attentive to him, was not very interested in this. Qiao Yingjia himself didn't care about these matters, so he didn't bother to ask more.
Other cabinet elders and Emperor Yonglong felt more that Feng Ziying was smuggled in for personal gain, especially after he recommended the veteran Shen Yourong to the cabinet ministers and Emperor Yonglong.
Feng Ziying once again mentioned the ins and outs of the Hong Mao Fan's invasion of Penghu with the intention of getting involved in the Dong Fan's forced expulsion by Shen Yourong. She half-truthfully and half-falsely connected the Butai Saltworks with Shen Yourong's trip to Penghu, and then introduced herself to understand After learning that there is vast land suitable for growing rice, sugar cane and other crops on Dongfan Island, there are gold and silver mines in the mountains, and the advantageous conditions of the Butai Salt Field, the enthusiasm of this group of people was completely ignited.
"Ziying, we have long heard about the Longyou merchants who travel all over the world. We have also heard about the Anfu merchants. They are the most active group of Jiangyou merchants. Their situation in Yunnan is quite special and cannot be generalized. But Dongfan is no better than Yunnan. This reclamation is not a trivial matter. Do they really not need the support of the court?" Li Tingji was the first to ask.
"Mr. Li, you are wrong. They just don't need the court's support in terms of money, but they definitely need support in terms of policies, such as bank loans, and the court's establishment of regulations and systems to establish prefectures and counties in Dongpan. On the government side, We must fully support it. In addition, Dongfan Island is currently dominated by mountain people. Their production and lifestyle are primitive. They urgently need to relocate people from the narrow and densely populated areas in our Dazhou area for development. This also requires coordination with the local government. Yes, there are still many places that need support from the imperial court..."
Li Tingji waved his hand indifferently, "Ziying, you don't understand what I mean. I mean that the imperial court of Yin and Liang will definitely not be able to support it. If it is a policy, it will be supported by local governments after the establishment of prefectures and counties in the future. That is what it should be. Needless to say, what I mean is that if the land is reclaimed, it cannot directly become the land of these businessmen, right? Should there be some specific explanations with the court? Well, the policy also It can’t be unilateral, right?”
Feng Ziying was disdainful. This guy was already making up his mind before he had even written his horoscope. So how do you mobilize the enthusiasm of businessmen to cultivate land?
"Master Li, I don't quite agree with your point of view." At this time, Feng Ziying knew that she had to make her attitude clear, otherwise once the greedy desires of these old guys were brought out, the inherent old mentality would resurface. Come on, I'm afraid that the land reclamation in the east will be troublesome again.
"Oh?" Fang Congzhe glanced at Li Tingji and interjected, "It seems that Ziying has already made up his mind, so please tell us about it with the emperor."
"Master Li said that Dongfan is the land of the Great Zhou Dynasty. I agree very much. The land of Dongfan also needs to be measured, registered and registered, and the government will issue land deeds. However, the court cannot locate it arbitrarily. The public land is then sold at a certain price, and the Longyou merchants and Anfu merchants will not accept such conditions at all..."
"Dongfan seems to be very close to Fujian, but why it has not been substantially developed in the past hundreds of years is because it has many obstacles. In addition to the maritime ban policy, the most important reason is the local epidemic miasma. Many people are simply unable to adapt. The mortality rate from illness and disease in the early stages of reclamation will be very high. This is a trade-off for people's lives. Otherwise, why would many people rather go further to Nanyang than to Dongfan... In addition, there is the threat of mountain people. It is also a big problem. Once the reclamation is really opened, conflicts with the mountain people in Dongfan Mountain are inevitable, and this will require huge casualties. In the early stage, the court will probably not invest many troops into Dongfan..."
"Except for these factors, there is nothing on Dongfan Island, including roads, water conservancy facilities, houses, and even docks, warehouses, etc. Everything has to be started from scratch, and it requires a lot of labor to do it. It can be said that Longyou merchants If He'anfu merchants want to truly make real profits, it will be at least ten years later. In the first ten years, they have no hope of making money. Even the salt farm, which everyone thinks is the most lucrative, is unlikely to see profits in the first five years. , it is for this reason that if we want to persuade these businessmen to expand their land and reap the benefits for the court, then at least the court must give them a certain period of buffering period for development..."
Feng Ziying’s patient and meticulous explanation made everyone understand that they should not kill the goose that lays the goose to lay eggs in a hurry for success.
In particular, they were introduced to them item by item on the dangers, risks and difficulties they would face when visiting them. Many of them should have been provided by the court, but now they need to be burdened on these businessmen. Even if the bank can provide support, the bank cannot. The banker is a loan, and must be repaid with interest. It is impossible for the merchants to ignore this account.
Ye Xianggao and the others are all human beings. After a little reflection, they realize that this kind of business purely for land reclamation is really not very profitable. At least within ten years, the land in Dongpan will not be worth much, and more It declared the sovereignty of the imperial court, but this sovereignty was not simple. After all, the imperial court did not need to contribute money, and the salt affairs could still make a fortune.
After Feng Ziying talked about the importance of controlling Dongfan to safeguard trade between Japan, Korea, Western Yi and Nanyang, the cabinet ministers basically agreed with Feng Ziying's opinion, that is, the court should keep the profits from the salt affairs, but Reclamation can be done without considering other matters for a long period of time, but the imperial court requires that the progress of merchants in reclamation should be seen in stages.
This opinion is quite fair. After all, you can't just sit in the manhole and monopolize the land reclamation rights but delay in doing so. That would be unreasonable.
It's just that the princes of the court are more interested in how much money Dongfan Salt Affairs has, how much they can get immediately, and how much they can get every year in the future. This is their biggest interest.
The imperial court's treasury has completely bottomed out. If no more money comes in, there will really be trouble.
I haven't been in good health, and I'm afraid I can only do this for the past ten and a half days. I'll wait for a while for my body to recover, and then I'll find a way to make up for it. I apologize, and I won't ask for votes. Brothers, please give it to others.
(End of this chapter)