After hearing Qi Jiguang's words, Sanniangzi instantly understood. She glanced at Qi Jiguang and smiled. She didn't expect this Daming General to have such a side to him. She smiled and said, "Don't worry, General Qi. I know what to do."
The Daming General's jaws dropped. Of course, they knew what Qi Jiguang wanted to do. He wanted to offer beauties to the emperor!
Was this the difference between her and Qi Shaobao?
No wonder he was always favored by the emperor!
She had to learn, she had to learn.
Yangzhou, Imperial Envoy Residence.
Zhang Jing looked at the reply in his hand and smiled. He said to the young eunuch beside him, "Go and invite Lord Cao and the Little Duke over!"
"Yes, godfather!" The young eunuch answered, turned around, and walked outside.
Not long after, Cao Yikui and Xu Xiti rushed over. These days, the relationship between the three of them had become a lot more distant. After all, the task was completed. The three of them basically had their own things to do, so there was no need to get closer.
After greeting each other, the three of them sat down. Zhang Jing smiled and took out the document. "Lord Cao, Little Duke, the imperial court has replied.
This is the imperial court's punishment of the Qi family and the other salt merchants. You can take a look. "
As Zhang Jing spoke, he handed the document to Cao Yikui and smiled as he drank tea.
In fact, ever since the task was completed, Xu Xiti didn't feel much about these things. Recently, he had been busy with the Xu family's business. In fact, he was involved in the new salt policy.
So far, progress had been slow. Li Zhonghang from the Ministry of Internal Affairs was a stubborn person.
Cao Yikui took the document and quickly looked at it. Then, he nodded. He wasn't very interested in this thing.
Those people weren't wronged, so it didn't matter how they were punished. He was only concerned about the imperial court's arrangements for the salt policy.
After reading the document, Cao Yikui handed the document to Xu Xiti.
Xu Xiti was even less interested. Who cared if these people lived or died?
Seeing that the two of them had finished reading, Zhang Jing smiled and took out an imperial edict. Then he said to Cao Yikui, "Lord Cao, this is an imperial edict from the Imperial Majesty. Accept it!" As he said that, he unfolded the imperial edict.
In reality, the content of the imperial edict was very simple. It was to appoint Cao Yikui as the Salt Patrol Imperial Censor and the Left Deputy Imperial Censor of the Imperial Censorate. He would be in charge of the salt policy reform in Yangzhou.
The promotion was a commendation to Cao Yikui and also meant to give him power.
The mission in Yangzhou was completed, Cao Yikui's imperial envoy was no longer useful, he needed a new one.
Putting the imperial edict in Cao Yikui's hand, Zhang Jing said with a smile, "Your Excellency Cao, I won't be involved in the salt administration. After supervising the execution of these people from the Qi family, I will go and preside over the sale of the seized salt business."
Farmland, shops, and houses, these things would not be hard to sell. He was not trying to cheat anyone, he just wanted to sell them according to the market price.
Zhang Jing believed that he would be able to sell them very soon, then he would return to the capital.
Cao Yikui nodded. Zhang Jing's words meant that he wanted to separate from him, and he understood that.
The three of them did not chat. After discussing business, they went their separate ways.
On that day, news spread in Yangzhou that the entire Qi Family was executed. The others were either beheaded or sent away.
The atmosphere in Yangzhou was much lower. The imperial court's execution still scared many people. They were really going to kill them!
After nightfall, Li Zhonghang's mansion was brightly lit. In the main hall, Li Zhonghang and Cao Yikui sat opposite each other.
Li Zhonghang smiled as he handed the tea to Cao Yikui and said, "Lord Cao, this is superior Longjing tea from Hangzhou. Since we are in Jiangnan, it is better to drink some Jiangnan tea."
Cao Yikui expressionlessly looked at the tea, then raised his head to look at Li Zhonghang.
In reality, Cao Yikui was very clear about what Li Zhonghang had been doing in Yangzhou. However, he did not have the authority to interfere in this matter before. Now that he had the authority, he could not wait to visit.
Li Zhonghang naturally knew Cao Yikui's goal.
Without beating around the bush, Li Zhonghang picked up a booklet and handed it to Cao Yikui. He smiled and said, "Lord Cao, this is all the regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding the reform of the salt industry." As he said this, he handed the booklet to Cao Yikui.
In reality, the most important point of the reform this time was the division of responsibilities. The yamen and the salt merchants were separated.
The officials of the imperial court were in charge of two things. The first was collecting taxes, which were salt taxes.
There were three main parts to the salt tax. The first was the salt tax, the second was the transportation tax, and the third was the sales tax.
There were three taxes for one salt, but the tax collector was different.
The salt tax was one out of 20, the transportation tax was one out of 30, and the sales tax was the highest, one out of 10.
The second responsibility of the yamen was allocation. According to the requirements of the imperial court, they allocated salt to various places and stabilized the price of salt.
According to the new regulations, there was a limit to the price of salt. The price of salt could not exceed this limit. Otherwise, it would be treated as hoarding.
However, the production, transportation, and sales were not the same people. This allowed the imperial court to easily control how much salt you had.
After flipping through it, Cao Yikui looked up at Li Zhonghang and asked, "Lord Li, how can we guarantee that the Honours will not participate?"
Li Zhonghang smiled and said, "Why not let the Honours participate?
As long as they pay taxes according to the law and pay for the salt works and shops, there is no reason to reject them.
The Emperor did not give any restrictions, so we do not have the authority to do so. "
In reality, Zhu Yijun had considered this matter very clearly. In this era, restricting the Honours and promoting the merchants was courting death.
In this era, the basis of governance was the Honours and the gentry. Supporting the Honours could resist the gentry, but supporting the merchants … Daming, were there any pure merchants?
Perhaps there were in the past, but in this era, most of them were gentry.
Cao Yikui froze and then fell into deep thought. In the end, he did not say anything.
In reality, Cao Yikui also knew that it was impossible to reject the Honours. He knew this very well.
Li Zhonghang mentioned the Emperor. This showed that this was also the Emperor's intention. He could not oppose it.
"Tomorrow is the day of the auction. Lord Cao can meet the salt merchants. In the future, you will have to deal with them often." Li Zhonghang saw that Cao Yikui did not speak, so he said with a smile.
Li Zhonghang knew that this Lord Cao was a salt official trained by the Emperor. In the future, all of Daming's salt affairs would be under his control.
Although he was only the Salt Patrol Censor, Li Zhonghang knew that once the Yangzhou trial was completed, it would be the time for Cao Yikui to enter the capital.
At that time, Cao Yikui would definitely be promoted. He would probably be promoted to an assistant minister.
"Okay!" Cao Yikui agreed and nodded. In fact, this was what he had to do.
The next day, many people got up early and rushed to Lovely Spring Courtyard. Different from before, the sign of Lovely Spring Courtyard had been taken down.
The new sign was' Yangzhou Ministry of Internal Affairs'. This place had become the Yangzhou Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Of course, it cost money. Li Zhonghang bought it from Zhang Jing.
More than 300 merchants gathered at the Yangzhou Ministry of Internal Affairs. Not only were there merchants from Yangzhou, but there were also many people from Nanjing. It could be said that the merchants from Jiangnan came after hearing the news. Some were even the foreign affairs stewards of noble relatives.
The entire Ministry of Internal Affairs was very lively. There were people everywhere.
Cao Yikui and Li Zhonghang stood on the second floor and looked at these people with smiles on their faces.
Cao Yikui looked at Li Zhonghang and said lightly, "The Zhang family, the Wang family, and the Fan family are also here. It seems that Lord Li has put in a lot of effort!"
"I didn't put in a lot of effort!"
Lin Zhonghang smiled and shook his head. "The Zhang family, the Wang family, and the Fan family rely on the salt trade to make a living. It's normal for them to want a share of the salt trade. I think they will want more!"
Cao Yikui could also think of this. These families controlled the salt trade from the two Huai rivers all year round. Now that they were only in charge of the salt field, they wouldn't be satisfied.
When almost everyone had arrived, Li Zhonghang and Cao Yikui came down from the second floor. Li Zhonghang first cupped his fist and saluted everyone, then said: "Everyone, let me introduce you. This is the Salt Patrol Imperial Censor Cao Yikui. I believe that everyone is familiar with his name, right?"
How could they be unfamiliar with Cao Yikui's name? Nobody had heard of Cao Yikui before. But when they thought about the pile of heads outside Yangzhou City, how could they not know?
"Greetings, Lord Cao!" Nobody dared to neglect Cao Yikui. They immediately saluted him.
Cao Yikui nodded and then said: "I'm here today to be a witness."
Seeing that Cao Yikui wasn't going to continue, Li Zhonghang smiled and said: "Everyone, I'm sure everyone has seen the rules of the salt administration. I've also looked at the documents that you have submitted. There are a total of one hundred and twelve families competing for the salt fields."
"There are a total of seventy-six families competing for the transportation, and there are a total of one hundred and thirty-nine families competing for the sales."
"I'm going to say this upfront. After the bidding, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will send people to verify your information. If there is any fraud, Imperial Censor Cao, you will have to bear the consequences." Li Zhonghang's words were very serious. He even mentioned Cao Yikui.
Among these people, most of them didn't care about this. What kind of status did they have? They didn't care about these things at all.
"Three of them have signed up. Thirty-six families!"
Li Zhonghang saw that nobody said anything, so he continued: "But I'm going to say this first, you can't do it twice. Each family can only participate in one. So please think carefully about what you want to bid for."
In fact, this wasn't a good way to prevent people from bidding too much. After all, they could just change the person in charge of the bidding. The Aristocrats and the Honours were very good at this.
The reason why they still did this was because they wanted to divide the bidding. They didn't want one family to take all the bids.
"Next, we'll bid for the salt fields. Three salt fields will form a group. The right to use the salt fields for ten years. After ten years, you will have the priority to renew the lease."
Li Zhonghang looked at the people and said: "Priority to renew the lease. I'm sure everyone knows what that means. I won't explain it."