When Fang Xuanling mentioned gifts, Li Xiang's expression became a little strange. "You're just like that old fox in the palace. You've only ever put things into your own pocket. When will you ever give me a gift? Even if you do, I have to know the price."
There are 358 states in the world, and the court will make a big move this time. Each state will give Li Xiang ten salt permits, and each salt permit can sell 300 kilograms of salt.
According to Li Xiang's original calculations, he only needed to sell 500,000 kilograms per year. Unexpectedly, the sales volume doubled all of a sudden, and he didn't have to spend a penny. Li Xiang was a little nervous about the olive branch extended by the court.
"Prime Minister, isn't this a bit too much?"
As the saying goes, no reward without merit. I haven't done anything yet, but people are already giving me gifts. I feel a little guilty.
"The Emperor has ordered Your Highness to assist me in the auction of salt permits."
Only after Fang Xuanling presented an imperial edict did Li Xiang understand what was going on. The emperor really could not resist the temptation. Under such circumstances, the emperor was going to take action against the aristocratic families.
"There's one more thing the court must know. After the salt permits are auctioned, the price of salt everywhere will definitely rise. According to my estimate, the increase may be around 60 to 70 percent. Of course, it depends on the auction price. If the auction price is higher, then the price of salt will also be higher."
This matter is also risky. The court must set a price limit. The current price of salt is not very high, about ten cents per catty. But if the price of salt permits auctioned by the court is high, then the salt merchants from all over the country will not lose money. They will definitely continue to raise the price, and then the common people will suffer.
"We've considered this. Compared to the early years of this dynasty, tax rates haven't increased, and ordinary people are much better off than they were then. If the price of salt were to rise slightly, society would be able to accept it if it could increase the court's revenue."
After listening to Fang Xuanling's words, Li Xiang understood the court's intention. It could not only strike a blow against the aristocratic families, but also exploit the common people and increase the court's income. For the court, it was killing three birds with one stone. Of course, Li Xiang had no ability to stop it. He thought it was a blow to the aristocratic families, but he didn't expect that the common people would also be exploited.
"Besides, isn't a salt price increase a good thing? Your Highness's salt is only 500 coins per catty. I think this price is still a bit cheap. You know, the salt you make has never appeared before. Even if it is the same price as your liquor, I think there will be people who buy it."
The Emperor and Fang Xuanling speculated about this for a long time, feeling that Li Xiang was a vampire in business. How could he have priced the product at only 500 wen per catty? If someone else had priced it that way, it would make sense. Li Xiang was a luxury goods dealer, so how could he have passed up such a great opportunity to make money?
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, a gentleman loves money but earns it in a proper way. I've already raised the price of liquor a lot, but liquor isn't essential for everyone. Some people don't drink at all. But salt is different. Everyone needs salt. If I raise the price too high, the people will ultimately pay for it, which will be detrimental to the people of the Tang Dynasty."
Li Xiang said very seriously that others did not know how much profit Li Xiang had given up, but Fang Xuanling knew it very well. As the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, if Li Xiang kept the price of salt and wine equal, then Li Xiang could earn millions of coins every year. Now he could only earn hundreds of thousands of coins, and the profit had dropped by more than ten times.
In the past, Fang Xuanling's impression of Li Xiang was just that he was a relatively smart royal family member, but today his opinion has indeed changed. While making money, he can also care about the people of the world. If Li Xiang can ascend to the throne, it will also be a happy event for the people of the world.
"Your Highness's realm truly impresses this old man. Looking at all the young talents in the world, it is truly rare for someone to make the same choice as Your Highness. Your Highness will always keep the people in mind, which is already far superior to others."
Fang Xuanling said these words from the bottom of his heart. If Li Xiang pursued profits, the price of salt for people all over the world would definitely be higher in five or ten years. According to the history that Li Xiang knew, when there was no salt and iron monopoly, the price of salt was ten cents per catty, but later it rose to one hundred and ten cents per catty, which was more than ten times the current price. But the people had no choice but to buy the high-priced official salt.
Ordinary people had no choice. Emperors of all dynasties defined the sale of private salt as a serious crime. Even if you only sold one kilogram of private salt, you would be imprisoned for several years, and even after you were released, you would be tattooed on your face. The cost of committing a crime was so high that even though everyone knew that official salt was expensive, they still had to continue spending money to buy it.
Li Xiang priced his refined salt at five hundred coins, so that everyone below could see that no matter how much you want to raise the price, I will be waiting for you here. If you raise the price too much, I don't mind attacking you with a dimensionality reduction attack.
Looking back at the lives of ordinary people over the past hundreds of years, the price of salt has always been a concern for them. The imperial court has also relied on this to suck the blood of the people all over the world. Li Xiang is ready to change it from the source. The imperial court can suck blood, but there must be a limit. All people must have access to salt.
Li Shimin was a wise ruler. He had ideas about the profits from the salt and iron monopoly, let alone those foolish rulers. Once a foolish ruler faced a financial crisis, he would impose everything on the people, and the price of salt and iron would be the easiest to manipulate.
Therefore, before those incompetent rulers appeared, Li Xiang tried his best to limit the price of salt to a certain area, and also to find a large number of salt wells across the country. As long as all the people knew about this, even if you wanted to raise the price in the future, it would be impossible. Of course, the ultimate goal was to abolish the state-run salt and iron industry.
Li Xiang's ultimate goal was to make salt a common commodity, a cheap one. Of course, Li Xiang couldn't say it out loud at the moment. If he did, Fang Xuanling would probably be the first to stand up and oppose it. Salt tax was extremely important to the court, and without other taxes to replace it, there could be no room for hesitation...