Can salt permits still be used for auction?
Li Shimin was initially skeptical, but then he thought of Li Xiang's treasure hunt. Anything could be auctioned there, so why not salt permits? The original price was extremely fixed, but if it were to cause a fight among all parties, the final price would be hard to predict. On the one hand, it would increase the court's revenue, and on the other hand, it would break the existing sales structure. For the court, there were only benefits and no harm. Of course, for the major families involved in selling salt, this might be a devastating disaster.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, is truly brilliant. Why haven't I thought of this solution? If we implement this, it will definitely increase the court's revenue. Most importantly, it won't be controlled by others. There's a large force in society right now that's extremely dissatisfied with the Five Surnames and Seven Families, but they lack a way to fight back, or perhaps they're afraid to fight alone. If we put the salt permits up for auction and allow everyone to compete fairly, things might be different."
Lord Tang's words also made the other two nod their heads. After so many years of development in the Tang Dynasty, including the new nobles within the court, they could only make money in some marginal industries. The truly profitable industries have always been controlled by a few major families. This has long caused their dissatisfaction. If there is such an opportunity, everyone can slowly participate in it.
Although the economic strength of the new nobles is not strong enough to take over the sales of salt on a large scale, we can slowly infiltrate them and only take a part of it at the beginning. As long as we can make a profit from it, do we still have to worry that these people will not invest in the future?
"That's a good idea indeed. If salt permits are obtained at the same price, whoever has better quality salt will be more successful, and this brat can get ahead of the others."
Li Shimin instantly thought of Li Xiang's salt, which was still thrown nearby. He had never seen this kind of salt before. When it was taken out, Li Shimin was also very surprised. He even took a little and put it in his mouth. It was indeed completely different from the salt he had eaten before.
"Your Highness's refined salt is absolutely the best. As Your Highness just said, at 500 coins per jin, Your Highness will definitely dominate the high-end market. Once Your Highness controls the high-end market everywhere, the rest of the people will also be able to make a profit. However, auctioning salt permits has already cost a huge amount of money, so their profits will not be that much."
Fang Xuanling also thought about Li Xiang's business. In the past, most of the profits from salt sales were in the hands of salt merchants, and the court could only receive a small part of it. Although the price was acceptable in the early years of this dynasty, at this time, due to the increase in population, we have long been somewhat dissatisfied.
"You will be in charge of this reform. If you encounter any problems, go and discuss it with that brat. If he is unwilling to contribute, tell him that I have said that I can give him ten yin in each prefecture first."
Li Shimin also knew Li Xiang's character. Nowadays, one salt permit can sell 300 kilograms of salt. If he could be given ten in various prefectures across the world, then Li Xiang basically would not need to buy any more. After all, all he sold was refined salt.
"We should wait a bit and do it after the grassland auction. If we do it before the grassland auction, many people might return. If they return with a large amount of funds, our grassland strategy will be..."
After listening to Fang Xuanling's words, Li Shimin nodded repeatedly. Lord Tang standing next to him was confused. He didn't quite know what was going on on the grassland. He also sent some merchants from his family to ask them to buy as much land as possible on the grassland.
However, Lord Tang has nothing to worry about. He also knows that Li Shimin is definitely trying to deal with the major families. Li Shimin has been supporting the new nobles in the court over the years, but the major families are too powerful, so they have no chance to come to the fore. However, after these two heavy blows, the major families will surely suffer heavy losses, and then the day for the new nobles to come to the fore will come. It depends on whether you can seize the opportunity.
East Palace.
"You are so bold! You dare to touch the profits of salt merchants. Do you know who are the best merchants in the world? They are the salt merchants."
After Li Xiang came back, he told Li Chengqian about his plan. Li Chengqian walked back and forth helplessly. Although there was no salt gang in this era, the salt merchants had already formed an organization. If their profits were affected, who knows what trouble these people would cause.
"Father, what are you talking about? I'm just offering a suggestion. Grandfather is the one who actually does the work. Even if someone wants to find someone, they should find someone taller. I'm just following Grandfather's lead to make a fortune, but it won't reach us."
Li Xiang had already defined his position from the beginning, which was to only produce high-end refined salt, selling it for five hundred coins per catty, which ordinary people simply could not afford.
"That's what I said, but there's no such thing as a wall that's impenetrable. Sooner or later, this news will get out. If everyone knows it was your idea, even more people will hate you. What's more, the Taiyuan Wang family is the largest family here, and they don't do things as gently as the Cui family."
Li Chengqian said with some concern.
"So what if I'm not gentle? The worst that can happen is they'll find someone to assassinate me. The eldest prince of Tuyuhun is still there. No matter how powerful the Taiyuan Wang family is, can it be more difficult than a country?"
After Li Xiang finished speaking, Li Chengqian also nodded. Everyone in the world knows that Li Xiang is a ruthless person. If you really send someone to assassinate him, even if you are a prince of another country, this guy will come to kill you. The Taiyuan Wang family should learn from this lesson. Although they have been passed down for over a hundred years, they still cannot compare with Zatlk in terms of political power.
“So how much money can we make from this?”
Li Chengqian was now interested again. After learning that his son was not in great danger, he immediately took out his abacus. Now he almost never puts it down. Some people have given him a nickname, that is, the Abacus Prince. At first, Li Chengqian was not happy about it, but later he thought that this nickname was very good...