met free Chapter 283 Old Deng wants to trick the monkeys and the Koreans?
Chapter 283 Old Deng wants to trick the monkeys and the Koreans?
The eighth day of the twelfth month of the second year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty.
Magistrate Yang was hosting a banquet for Zhu Biao, who had suddenly arrived, to drink Laba porridge.
Legend has it that Laba porridge originated from the story of Emperor Zhu, who, as a child, herded cattle for a landlord. One time, a cow broke its leg and was locked in a room. When Emperor Zhu was starving, he accidentally discovered a mouse hole with rice, beans, dates, and other ingredients inside. He cooked these ingredients together into a porridge. Later, when he became emperor, he ordered the imperial chefs to cook a pot of mixed grain porridge on Laba Festival, which he named "Laba porridge".
This rumor was heard by Magistrate Yang in Nanjing.
Regarding these rumors, Magistrate Yang could only remark that the people of the Ming Dynasty were truly wild, daring to spread such absurd rumors right under the nose of Emperor Zhu.
After finishing a bowl of hot Laba porridge, Zhu Biao put down the bowl and said to Magistrate Yang, "Brother-in-law, my father asked me to ask you how to best manage the border market."
Upon hearing Zhu Biao's question, Magistrate Yang was completely bewildered.
No, does that old man really think of me as a brick to be moved wherever needed?
I had just finished signing treaties with Annam and Goryeo for him, and now this old tyrant wants me to worry about the border markets again. No wonder he is Zhu Chongba, the legendary emperor who treats officials like livestock!
After silently complaining to himself, Magistrate Yang simply snorted and said, "The so-called border market is nothing more than letting those barbarians bring their own goods to sell, and our Great Ming buys a little bit as a token, and then they use money to buy goods from our Great Ming to take back."
"As long as we understand the process, we can manage the border markets with the principle of benefiting the Ming Dynasty."
"For example, silk, porcelain, and paper. Neither Korea nor Annam could produce these things, and even if they could, the quality was far from satisfactory."
"Therefore, the main products sold to them in the border markets were silk and porcelain, which were neither edible nor drinkable."
"As for things like ironware and books, some can be sold to them, while others cannot."
"For example, items like iron pots and swords can be sold, but items like rakes, shovels, and pickaxes cannot be sold."
"Don't be fooled by the fact that swords and knives can hurt people. Rakes, shovels, and the like can increase their grain production, and the harm they cause is far more serious than swords and knives."
"The same goes for books. Books like various storybooks can be sold freely, and books like the Four Books and Five Classics can also be sold in small quantities. But books like the Agricultural Book must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the barbarians."
But as he spoke, Magistrate Yang's voice gradually faded.
Not right.
The concept of border markets didn't actually appear after the Ming Dynasty; it existed as early as the Song and Liao Dynasties.
Therefore, what Zhu Chongba, that old man, really wanted to ask was how to manage the border markets, and how to swindle the monkeys and the sticks.
To put it more bluntly, Emperor Zhu wanted the opportunity to open border markets and use paper money to take the gold, silver, and copper coins from the monkeys and sticks back to the Ming Dynasty's treasury.
This is a very difficult problem to solve.
Because right now, the Ming Dynasty's need for Koreans and monkeys is actually greater than the Koreans and monkeys' need for the Ming Dynasty.
What the Ming Dynasty needed were things like grain and warhorses.
The monkey and the stick needed things like silk, books, ironware, and porcelain from the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty had an enormous demand for grain.
Besides ironware, monkeys and sticks have varying needs for silk, books, porcelain, and other items.
In other words, if the monkeys and sticks spend more money at the border market than they earn, then the Ming Dynasty can make money and exchange its paper money for large amounts of gold and silver.
But if the monkey and the stick earn more money at the border market than they spend, then the Ming Dynasty might have to spend a large sum of gold and silver.
Thinking of this, Magistrate Yang's face gradually darkened.
Is there anything that monkeys and sticks absolutely must buy, and must buy in large quantities, and that has no other alternatives?
Harvesters won't work. Regardless of whether monkeys and Koreans know their value or not, we can't sell these things if they can't fetch a good price.
After all, this is a good thing that can improve the harvest efficiency of the people. Not to mention that he is only the son-in-law of his adopted daughter, even if Zhu Biao dared to suggest selling this thing, he might be hung up and beaten by Emperor Zhu.
After considering it for a moment, Magistrate Yang said, "How about selling salt? Isn't Councilor Wang of Shandong Province managing salt fields in Hongzhou? We can have him refine the sea salt, label it as tribute salt, and sell it."
But as soon as he finished speaking, Magistrate Yang shook his head again.
"No, the tribute salt should be less and sold at a higher price. We should also get another batch of coarse salt, mix in a small amount of ash and soil, and sell it at a lower price. After all, the poor people in Annam and Jiaozhi also need salt. We can't just think about making money."
"Besides salt, we can also have more storybooks printed and sold, but try to sell fewer iron pots, hoes, and the like, just enough to get the gist of it."
After a slight pause, Magistrate Yang hesitated before saying, "It's about the salt... I wonder how much salt the salt fields over there can produce. If it's too little, it might not be enough."
Faced with Magistrate Yang's question, Zhu Biao couldn't help but smile and said, "Brother-in-law, don't worry, there will definitely be enough salt. You can rest assured."
Magistrate Yang was slightly taken aback and asked, "Enough?"
Zhu Biao nodded slightly. "Brother-in-law, you may not know this, but my father and Prime Minister Li have decided to designate the entire Hongzhou area as salt fields."
"According to the plan given by the Ministry of Revenue, Hongzhou should reach an average daily salt production of 5,000 catties by the end of next year, and an average daily salt production of 10,000 catties by the end of the fourth year of Hongwu."
"Besides the Hongzhou Saltworks, the other saltworks in our Great Ming also need to increase their salt production. After all, the price of salt was too high during the Yuan Dynasty, and our Great Ming needs to lower the price of salt."
Hearing Zhu Biao say this, Magistrate Yang gradually felt relieved.
Salt is a consumable, and can be considered a fast-moving consumer good.
But the profit margin on this stuff is by no means small.
Especially for those who intend to use tribute salt as a gimmick, the price will be ridiculously high. Not to mention exchanging one pound of salt for one pound of silver, it should be able to exchange it for at least three to five ounces of silver.
However, this means that Zhu Chongba, that old man, will likely face a whole host of messy problems.
For example, Hongzhou is very close to those short and ugly Japanese. Sometimes those short and ugly Japanese would run to the Shandong area to become pirates. Emperor Zhu might have a headache because of this.
For example, salt production in salt fields is not done piece by piece, but rather a large area of beach is designated as a salt field. The locations that can be used as salt fields are usually places that are convenient for going out to sea.
Would those gentry who made their fortunes through maritime trade be happy about this?