Qinzheng Hall.
Li Shimin looked at his grandson with complicated eyes. He originally wanted this guy to rest at home for a while, but who knew that he would produce such snow-white salt.
Li Shimin really understood the difficulties his father Li Yuan had faced back then. It is not a good thing to have a child who is too outstanding. It feels like he has no control over the child.
"You go back first. This matter concerns the lives of the people. I must consider it carefully. It is not just a matter of money."
Li Shimin had no idea what Li Xiang was trying to do. Although Li Xiang made it clear that all the money that should be paid to the court should be paid in full, and even a portion could be used as military expenses, Li Shimin took into account the national supply of salt, which was definitely not a small amount.
Before, selling wine had no impact on the lives of ordinary people. At most, it affected the lives of some powerful people. It had little impact on the entire Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin could let Li Xiang do whatever he wanted. But salt was different. Even if only the top part was sold, the quantity was much larger than that of liquor.
"Grandson, take your leave."
There was no expression on Li Xiang's face. He also felt that the relationship between him and Li Shimin was not strong. After experiencing this growth, Li Shimin regarded Li Xiang as an enemy. In fact, the emperor would be on guard against anyone who could threaten the imperial power, even if it was his own grandson. This was a very normal thing.
However, Li Xiang also believed that Li Shimin was a smart man, and the counselors around Li Shimin were also smart people. They would soon be able to find some business opportunities here. In addition, they could attack the Wang family of Taiyuan. As long as they had no problem with their brains, they should soon approve Li Xiang's salt for sale.
When Li Xiang left the hall, two people came out from beside him. One was Prime Minister Fang Xuanling, and the other was Minister of Revenue Tang Jian.
"You two have heard that this guy has started selling salt. Salt and iron are different from other things. They have always been controlled by the court. If it falls into his hands, will it be more difficult to control?"
These two people were Li Shimin's confidants and had followed him to build the empire, so there was no need to be cautious in what they said. These two people were in the side hall just now and they heard what Li Xiang said.
Fang Xuanling stood aside a little. The sale of salt was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue, so Lord Tang had more say in this matter.
"Your Majesty, I've just been thinking about this. Although His Royal Highness Changsun will gain more power and at least more money, the salt business has always been dominated by a few major families nationwide, especially the Taiyuan Wang family. Since His Royal Highness Changsun is so ambitious, why not let them..."
Lord Tang’s meaning is very clear. There are only so many salt permits available nowadays. If you give them to one side, you won’t be able to give them to the other side.
According to the rules of the Tang Dynasty, if you want to sell salt, you must have a salt permit issued by the court. If you don’t have it, then it is illegal to sell it. At that time, the court will not only arrest you, but also confiscate all the salt, and even put you in jail.
There is a fixed number of salt permits issued to each region. Unless local officials report that the local population has increased significantly, the court will increase the number of salt permits in that region.
Originally, the several major families were running their businesses well, and the imperial court, which managed a part of them on its own, could be said to be making considerable profits. If Li Xiang intervened, the imperial court would not give him its share, and would have to let him compete with the several major families.
Li Shimin also agreed very much with what Lord Tang said, especially when he heard the words "Taiyuan Wang Family", he clenched his fist. During the war with Tuyuhun, the Taiyuan Wang Family betrayed secrets several times. Fortunately, we won relatively quickly. If it was a protracted war, it would be hard to say who would win or lose. Li Shimin could be said to have tolerated this blatant act of treason to the limit.
"Xuanling?"
Li Shimin saw that Fang Xuanling was thinking about something. Could it be that the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty was distracted?
In fact, Fang Xuanling was not distracted. He had been thinking about the issue of issuing salt permits. In the past, this thing had a fixed price, but after the operation of Zhidaobao, Fang Xuanling suddenly thought of another thing. Can we auction the salt permits?
"Your Majesty, I have an immature idea. Since the Han Dynasty, all salt merchants have purchased salt permits from the imperial court, then mined their own salt, and then sold it on the market. This method has continued for hundreds of years. Why don't we make some changes?"
After Fang Xuanling said this, Li Shimin and Tang Jian exchanged a glance. They both knew Fang Xuanling was a smart guy, but how could he change this? This had been going on for hundreds of years. Moreover, the salt tax was the main source of revenue for the court, bringing in nearly three million strings of cash every year. If it were to falter, the court officials wouldn't even be able to receive their salaries, let alone fight outside.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, salt tax reforms have occurred many times throughout history, but they have all ended in failure. I understand that salt merchants are powerful, but without them, direct management by the imperial court would lead to all sorts of corruption, as has been done in previous dynasties."
Lord Tang was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, so he was naturally very clear about the sale of salt. In history, some dynasties saw that the salt merchants were making huge profits, so they immediately took over the sale of salt. In the beginning, it did improve the court's income a lot. After a while, due to the lack of effective supervision, officials began to take advantage of the money, and most of the money went into their own hands, while the money entering the national treasury became less and less.
The emperor of the time would definitely take measures to govern at this time, but the situation would still remain the same after a period of time. Therefore, after the Han Dynasty, they stipulated another sales method, that is, the court would issue a part of salt permits, and salt merchants would use money to purchase them. The court's income was guaranteed, and as for the money earned by the salt merchants, we should not be jealous.
After listening to this, Li Shimin nodded. If you want to take everything back to the court, it will indeed increase the court's income temporarily, but corruption is inevitable over time. Even if there are some powerful departments to supervise, it will be unavoidable in the end.
"Lord Tang, you have misunderstood. That is not my intention. I am thinking of auctioning the salt permits..."
With just one word from Fang Xuanling, the other two immediately understood the huge changes that had taken place...