The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is basically the coldest time.

Snowflakes drifted in the sky from time to time.

Zhu Yijun stopped the eunuch on the other side who was chipping away at the ice to catch fish.

He handed the fishing rod to Jiang Keqian, stood up and stretched.

I walked up to Chen Jingbang and took the fish he had grilled. It looked a little burnt, so I had to give it to Deng Yizan, who was following behind, and took the fish cooked by Zhang Hong.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and summoned several ministers to sit around the fire.

There was an oven in the middle and a windproof cloth around it, so it wasn't too cold.

"It's cold, let me get down to business." Zhu Yijun straightened his legs and approached the stove, "What do you think about the salt policy in Huaihe River?"

Originally he wanted to go to Wanshou Palace to discuss business, but it turned out that Zhang Juzheng was allergic to the copper chime on his desk and insisted on going to Wenhua Palace.

In the end, neither party was too lazy to leave, so they just sat around the fire next to Taiye Pond.

When it came to business, several ministers showed serious expressions.

Zhang Juzheng was the first to speak and reminded: "Since we are talking about Lianghuai, we might as well call Shi Lang Shen and the Ministry of Finance to come."

Zhu Yijun follows goodness like a stream.

He looked at Deng Yizan, the person in Zhongshushe, and said: "Deng Qing, go and call Wang Qing, the Minister of Hubu, and Shen Qing, the Minister of Officials."

Just as the latter was about to make a move, Zhu Yijun added: "Call Yu Qing from the Economic and Economic Affairs Bureau to wash horses."

Deng Yizan surrendered and went straight to the Sixth Ministry's official office.

Zhang Juzheng got straight to the point and asked: "What views is your Majesty referring to?"

As he spoke, he took off the cloak he was wearing, folded it on his lap, and stuffed his hands into the velvet of the cloak.

Zhu Yijun said frankly: "According to the memorial sent back by Yushi Hai, there are many tricks in the salt policy of Huaihe River."

"I'm confident that Yushi Hai can clean it up."

"However, the imperial envoy patrolling salt is just a gust of wind in the final analysis. I am afraid that the wind will pass without leaving a trace."

It is impossible for the central government to send an imperial envoy to patrol salt every year, and in the future the imperial envoy may not necessarily be Hai Rui, but may also be Yan Maoqing.

The imperial envoy's salt inspection only opened a hole in the Lianghuai Salt Administration that cannot be poured out.

If you want to keep your tax amount in hand every year in the future, you still have to rely on top-level design.

According to the report sent back by Nanzhili half a month ago, Hai Rui has already begun to take action, and the Central Committee must prepare for the entry as soon as possible.

Gao Yi declined Li Jin's grilled meat skewers and continued: "Your Majesty, do you want to customize the salt patrol?"

Zhu Yijun turned his head, looked at Gao Yi, and shook his head: "That's not what you meant, sir."

"The imperial envoy's salt inspection is just a temporary measure. I want to take advantage of this trend to reform the salt policy."

"However, I have little virtue and talent, and I am just a fool to worry about things. I have to ask your cabinet ministers for their opinions."

Zhang Juzheng automatically ignored the emperor's polite words and began to ponder.

He pointed directly to the core and slowly said: "Restructure the Lianghuai Salt Administration..."

"The cabinet has also read Hai Rui's report. It is estimated that Lianghuai can produce another 500,000 yuan of salt."

"It already accounts for 50% of the world's salt production."

"There are indeed some tails that are too big to fall off."

There are six salt transfer departments. The two Huaihe Rivers produce 700,000 tons of salt, the two Zhejiang provinces produce 400,000 tons of salt, and the remaining four places add up to only 700,000 tons.

If the Lianghuai River increases by 500,000 yuan, it can be said that half of the world's salt production will be produced.

Lu Tiaoyang's eyelids twitched and he couldn't help but remind him: "Your Majesty, Yuan Fu, Southern Zhili has a long history and the taxes are more complicated, not just the salt policy."

At the beginning, Yan Maoqing also initiated the salt policy in Huaihe and Huaihe on behalf of Emperor Shizong, but was blocked by Xu Jie. It was precisely because of the sentence "Yan Maoqing suddenly increased the salt class by 400,000 gold, and (Xu) Jiefeng Yushi requested to restore the old amount."

Only then did Xu Jie become a thorn in the emperor's side.

The salt policy is just a salt policy. Cutting off the flesh and bloodletting only hurts the people above, not counting the scraping of bones to treat poison in the entire South Zhili.

The difference is that no matter how big and deep-rooted an honorable official is, as long as he knows his name, he will not be able to cause trouble.

On the contrary, if it arouses hostility from the top and bottom of Southern Zhili, the Central Committee will not be able to resist it.

Lu Tiaoyang was afraid that the emperor and his chief assistant would be too aggressive, which would lead to an all-out counterattack by all the people in Nanzhili.

Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand and moved it back and forth next to the stove to warm it up.

After listening to Lu Tiaoyang's words, Zhu Yijun nodded in approval: "I can ignore what Lu Qing means. Today we will only discuss the salt policy."

Southern Zhili is not only a problem of salt administration, but also a series of problems such as tea tax, grain tax, official system, zoning, and culture.

As Lu Tiaoyang said, if it really provokes a counterattack, it is not that easy to calm down.

Now that the central power has failed to catch up, it would be good to launch a salt policy.

Yang Bo couldn't help but said: "Now just because of the salt tax, the autumn grain in Southern Zhili has been delayed for two months. Your Majesty, you have to be cautious."

Yang Bo cares more about food than taxes.

After all, places like Shanxi and Xuanda rely on food from the south.

If there really is a falling out, these places will bear the brunt.

Zhu Yijun was startled. He really didn't know about this matter. After all, he had left all the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue to the cabinet.

He asked: "It took two months? What's the reason?"

Yang Bo smiled bitterly and said, "There's no reason. At first, I said everything was done according to the rules, but it took a little longer and happened to miss the time when the autumn grains enter Beijing."

"It's the middle of winter again now, and the canal is covered with ice, so sailing is much slower."

Zhu Yijun sighed.

This is to use the overall situation to coerce the center.

The most uncomfortable thing is that there is often no culprit found for this kind of thing.

The backlash lurking within the system, both in terms of concealment and destructive power, is much stronger than the so-called Southern Zhili Pillar like Wei Guogong.

At present, the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty are the political center and the economic center respectively. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the middle is connected by blood.

It would be really difficult to handle if Southern Zhili always takes advantage of the overall situation.

This matter still has to fall to shipping.

Anyway, not everyone was here, so it was difficult to start the discussion. Zhu Yijun happened to ask about shipping.

He asked Gaoyi: "Sir, what do you think the Ministry of Industry has to say about shipbuilding?"

Gao Yi was breathing into his hands with his mouth when he was called upon by the emperor and hurriedly replied: "The country has not been able to transport by sea for 160 years, and many documents and files have been lost."

"The Ministry of Industry has offered a reward for the drawings in the hands of the craftsmen, and they have some clues."

"Right now, Zhu Heng is taking the lead. Together with the water transportation yamen, we will first improve the ships that were previously trialled. After the spring is over, we will try to trial sea transportation according to the original route."

Sea transport vessels are different from water transport.

Now that sea transportation has been impossible for more than a hundred years, the glory of Zheng He's voyages to the West has long been lost.

Nowadays, if we want to build large shipping ships, we have to conduct some archaeological research.

Just as he was talking, Wang Guoguang, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Shen Shixing, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Yu Youding, the Minister of Economics and Management, came hand in hand.

Seeing this, the eunuch took out three sets of chairs, a large cloak, and an oven to warm himself.

Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand to ask them to sit down and discuss the matter directly without saluting. Then he finished the topic with Gao Yi and said, "Sir, let me say a few words and pass them on to Zhu Qing for me."

"As for shipping, one end is with the Ministry of War and the other end is with the Ministry of Industry."

"I will solve the Japanese pirates issue sooner or later. I hope the Ministry of Industry can build a big ship before then."

"This is the long-cherished wish of our emperor to take the exam and settle on Amber. It is also a close concern of me and the cabinet. Please spend more time on it."

Gaoyi nodded in agreement.

When everyone arrived, Zhang Juzheng said a few words to Shen Shixing about the matters the emperor had summoned to discuss.

After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he concluded: "So, Your Majesty wants to reform the Lianghuai Salt Administration."

Finished.

He looked at the emperor again: "How are you going to change it, Your Majesty?"

Everyone looked towards the emperor.

Wang Guoguang was thoughtful.

Yu Youding didn't understand why he was called a member of the Economic Bureau.

When Zhu Yijun saw everyone gathered, he wanted to speak.

He subconsciously grabbed the microphone in front of him, but missed it. Then he rubbed his chin awkwardly and said slowly, "I heard what Hai Rui said."

"Today's Lianghuai Salt Course was packaged and sold by the Transportation Department to the Salt Merchants Chamber of Commerce,"
To be continued...