Chapter 2796 Chapter 2798 [Salt and Iron Discussion]
In the evening, Xiang Nan rested in Cheng''en Hall again, but did not go to Zhao Sese.
Firstly, he was displeased by Zhao Sese''s scheming; secondly, in the process of seizing the heir, although the Zhao family was an ally in name, they actually did not help him at all.
Because of this, Xiang Nan wanted to ignore her for a few days to prevent her from having unwanted thoughts.
In the play, Li Chengyin pretends to love her so much that he even stayed at her Qingluan Palace on their wedding day. Therefore, she mistakenly thought that she was the only woman Li Chengyin loved.
She also developed a desire to possess Li Chengyin, and plotted against Qu Xiaofeng and Xu Baolin successively.
Xiang Nan didn’t want her to have such delusions. After all, in the future, he will definitely want three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines. If Zhao Sese is too aggressive, it will be greatly detrimental to the stability of the harem.
“Li Chengyin, tell me quickly, how can Sun Wukong get out from under Wuzhi Mountain?” Qu Xiaofeng asked Xiang Nandao.
“Aren’t you going to drive me away?” Xiang Nan asked with a smile.
Qu Xiaofeng blushed, "You can stay if you want, and leave if you want. This is your east palace, can I still drive you away?"
Xiang Nan smiled and said, "Okay, then I will tell you. It is said that the Monkey King, the Monkey King, was trapped under the Five Elements Mountain. He was hungry for iron pills and thirsty for copper juice. It was extremely painful. I don''t know how many cold and heat have passed. , on this day, I suddenly heard someone shouting on the mountain..."
…
By telling Qu Xiaofeng stories, Xiang Nan once again successfully eased her relationship.
?Two days later, he took Qu Xiaofeng and A''Du out of the palace to pay homage in front of King Tiedal''s tomb.
?Although King Tiedal was defeated and hanged himself, the Toyo Dynasty did not mess with his body, but gave him a generous burial. The specifications are completely in accordance with the prince-level standards.
??Moreover, all Danchi nobles who came to the capital with King Tiedal were appointed as tomb keepers. A mausoleum-shou village was built around the tomb of King Tiedal, and 5,000 acres of fertile land were designated for their living and memorial use.
?Seeing King Tiedal''s tomb, Qu Xiaofeng and A''du both cried uncontrollably.
As for those old friends of Dan Chi, they also shed a thousand lines of tears after seeing Qu Xiaofeng and A Du.
"Ninth Princess, Feng Chao is tolerant to us and doesn''t do anything difficult for us. He also built us a house and divided the fields. We are very satisfied."
“I think back then, we kidnapped the people of Fengchao as slaves, but now Fengchao treats us so well. We are really ashamed of ourselves and regret it!”
"Ninth Princess, please remember that you alone are responsible for the safety of the Western Territory and the Central Plains, so please proceed with caution. We have all experienced the pain of war, and we never want to have a war again."
?The Danchi people gave instructions to Qu Xiaofeng and A''du.
Qu Xiaofeng and A''du nodded their heads after hearing this.
Xiang Nan secretly glanced at Pei Zhao.
?These Danchi people were quite well-behaved and did not talk nonsense.
?It turns out that before Xiang Nan brought Qu Xiaofeng to pay homage, he had ordered Pei Zhao to greet these Danchi people. Remind them what to say and what not to say.
?Although the people of Danchi have strong folk customs, they are now a subjugated people and have completely lost their confidence. Moreover, they are still convicted and can only stay in Shouling Village and cannot go anywhere else. It is like being under house arrest.
Having been imprisoned for a year, even if she had any temper, it has all been worn away now. So let him say whatever he wants, and he can even teach him better than Xiang Nan.
?Seeing that the Feng Dynasty buried King Tiedal generously and treated Danchi''s survivors well, Qu Xiaofeng wiped away the little resentment he had in his heart, and his relationship with Xiang Nan was greatly improved.
Even A''Du''s eyes when looking at Xiang Nan are no longer so cold.
…
After taking care of Qu Xiaofeng, Xiang Nan stayed with Zhao Sese for another two days. He will not only favor Qu Xiaofeng, nor will he evenly serve a bowl of water. In short, he will get even rain and dew, but he will favor Qu Xiaofeng more.
Apart from matters in the harem, Xiang Nan focused more on the former dynasty.
In the play, Li Chengyin pretends to be a pig and eats the tiger, deliberately pretending to be uneducated, careless, and lazy, in order to paralyze Zhang Meiniang and Gao Ming. I thought he was easy to manipulate, so I lost confidence in him.
??But Xiang Nan doesn’t want to be so troublesome at all.
Because he knew that Li Yu''s strength was unfathomable.
?In the play, Li Chengyin has always underestimated his father''s strength, thinking that he is just a faint king who is influenced by treacherous ministers.
That''s why he was afraid of Gao Ming and Zhang Meiniang, and he never dared to show his talents, lest he be killed by the two of them.
But in fact, Li Yu was scheming and arbitrary. The prime minister and the queen are just pawns in his hands.
Today, Li Hao still has three sons. Li Chengwen and Li Chengyuan have been eliminated early and are not qualified to be emperor at all. Therefore, Xiang Nan is the only heir, and Li Hao naturally has high hopes for him.
?In order for the throne to be passed down smoothly, he would not let Xiang Nan be harmed.
??If Zhang Meiniang and Gao Ming dare to attack him, they will definitely die first.
In the play, after Zhang Meiniang sent Rong Shuang to assassinate Li Chengyin, Li Hao immediately deposed her as queen; Gao Minggang noticed Li Chengyin''s movements and was about to take action against him, but Li Hao captured him first. imprison.
?There is no need for Xiang Nan to pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger.
On the contrary, the more capable he was, the more satisfied Li Zu was with him.
As long as he doesn''t seek death like Li Chengye and raises an army to rebel, that''s fine.
…
“Your Highness, the topic we discussed with Your Highness today is the discussion of salt and iron.” Li Shaoqing, the prince’s young master, bowed and said, “Currently, salt and iron are our official business.
Let''s take ironware as an example. It is contracted to the ironware workshop designated by the government and only focuses on output. The quality is poor, the price is high, and most of the farm tools produced are large and impractical.
??There is also salt. Some local officials did not act in accordance with the court''s laws, which caused a lot of abuses and led to the deterioration of folk customs. The minister believes that we should consider the sufferings of the people and open up iron and salt production. "
Xiang Nan laughed when he heard this.
Salt and iron monopoly is a system that has been continued since the Spring and Autumn Period. Even in modern society, salt is an extremely important strategic material, and sales across regions are also not allowed.
The reason why this is so is that, first, salt and iron are strategic materials. People cannot live without salt. If they do not eat salt, they will have no strength. If they do not eat salt for ten days, they will suffer from shock and sudden death.
Livestock such as cattle, horses, and sheep also need salt. Without salt, farm work cannot be continued, and there are no horses to ride in battles.
Furthermore, in addition to being eaten, salt is also used as a preservative. In ancient times, there were no refrigerators, so pickling with salt was one of the best ways to preserve food. This is true for pickles, bacon, ham, salted fish, salted eggs, etc.
People''s production and life are also inseparable from iron. Iron is not only used to make farm tools and daily necessities, but also war is inseparable from iron. Weapons such as swords, guns, swords and halberds are all made of iron.
?In the Ming Dynasty, iron weapons were banned from flowing into Mongolia. As a result, the Mongols could only use wood and stone to make arrow clusters, which had extremely limited lethality and could not even penetrate armor.
Not to mention ancient times, even in modern times, steel output still represents a country''s industrial level and economic strength.
The second is the tax on salt and iron, which has always been the bulk of the court''s taxes. In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, salt tax accounted for half of the world''s tax revenue. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the contribution of salt tax to the finance reached more than 30%.
?Hence what Li Shaoqing said, it is absolutely not advisable to open up salt and iron production.
(End of this chapter)