It is well known that the flood of private salt and private tea in the Ming Dynasty.

It was precisely because the court monopolized these two industries and imposed high taxes that the prices of salt and tea exceeded the affordability of ordinary people. Because tea was widely planted and there were many kinds of leaves that could be used as substitutes, the situation was much better. However, salt was only produced in specific places. The Ming Dynasty implemented a policy of banning the sea, which made the people only pin their hopes of eating salt on private salt dealers.

The quality of private salt in the Ming Dynasty was uneven. The quality of the good is even more refined than that of the official salt. If it is poor, it is mixed with a lot of sand. The price of private salt ranges from twenty cents per catty to forty cents.

Although it is illegal to buy and sell private salt, the law of the Ming Dynasty did not punish the majority. In some areas, the mountains are high and the rivers are far away, and the people have eaten private salt for generations. In some areas, private salt is even higher than official salt.

Hearing Chen Xi say something about private salt and private salt dealers, Tang Yin took a deep breath and asked, "Don't Shen Zhongcheng want the people who sell private salt to buy salt and convert the private salt in their hands into official salt?"

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Isn't it possible?"

Tang Yin was so scared that he trembled all over: "This is not a joke. Shen Zhongcheng must think clearly. It is a must for the people to take salt and cannot mention salt and cook salt. However, if the private salt is directly legalized... the court probably wouldn't let Shen Zhongcheng go."

Chen Xi nodded and said, "Brother Bo Hu said very well. Since the salt course was determined, buying and selling private salt has been a serious crime. The rules of thousands of years have not been broken by me. This time, my official's purpose is not to turn private salt into formalities, but just to let the governor and the people in the salt field know that in addition to the salt field, my official can also transport a large number of sea salt from other places, and private salt is just one of the ways!"

With Tang Yin's wisdom, he could hear these words at first sound very strange and needed to be carefully considered.

Chen Xi not only proposed the existence of private salt, but also said that he did not intend to start from private salt. To put it bluntly, the key to the problem is to force the salt field to add salt.

Tang Yin was not sure about the specific details, but expected that he was just making some illusions that made the people of the governor think that Chen Xi had a way to transport a large amount of salt from other places and had to add salt.

Tang Yin thought to himself: "You are too presumptuous. The people in the vassal department, the magistrate department, the government office, the county office, the salt farm and other yamen are not vegetarians. Do you think you can deceive them easily?"

Although he felt that Chen Xi was too conceited, Tang Yin was unsure because what Chen Xi did in Guangzhou Prefecture for about a month was too targeted, and every step was very solid. He thought to himself, did Chen Xi really have a trick to make the local yamen believe it?

...

...

After noon, no big salt merchant went to the governor's office to buy salt intake, but a sensational news suddenly came from the city.

The Folang Jiren entered the city.

After the Folang Jiren arrived at Guangzhou Port, he was low-key. In addition to selling spices, medicinal materials, jewelry and jade, he mainly bought Ming Dynasty porcelain and silk. I heard that they wanted to buy a large amount of tea, but the Ming Dynasty tea needed tea. The Shibo Department's tea was not much, and the price was one to two times higher than the origin. The Folang Jiren was very dissatisfied.

This time, the Folang Ji people entered the city, allowing some smart businessmen to smell the business opportunities. The Folang Ji people should have to buy a large number of tea, and the businessmen with tea and a large number of private tea can make a big profit.

Just like the last time Folang Jiren entered the city, Folang Jiren recognized that the government agencies in charge of the Ming Dynasty were not the governors and the prefectures and county yamen, but the governors and governors' yamen.

The ferrymen were in line with neat lines, carrying their swords, and came to the official office that was used as the temporary governor's office. After entering, they stayed inside for more than an hour before they came out.

Judging from the excited expression of the Flang Jiren, the negotiation seemed to be effective, but there was no way to know what to discuss.

After the Folang Jiren left Guangzhou City, he did not even bring the porcelain and silk they bought, and drove away directly, which made the merchants and people in the city incredible.

Is Folang Jiren crazy? Even if he has not reached a business with the governor's office, he should at least take away the things he bought.

There is no airtight wall in this world. In the yamen of the governor, Zhang Yuanying, the right governor, got a news from the Guangzhou Maritime Bureau. Because the news was too shocking, he had to ask someone to prepare an official sedan chair immediately and go to the yamen of the Censorate to consult Lin Tingxuan.

After Lin Tingxuan learned the news, he came back to his senses after a while: "Folang Jiren and the Governor's Office proposed to purchase large quantities of Ming tea, while the Governor Chen Xi suggested to the Folang Jiren that he would not accept the transaction and asked the Folang Jiren to exchange tea with sea salt."

There are two channels for the source of the news. One is the detailed work arranged by the Provincial Commission for Administration and the Inn. After all, the Inn is placed under the jurisdiction of the county government. The Inn and the Inn will spread the news from time to time; the second source of the news is the translation of the Guangzhou Maritime Warehouse, and the dialogue between Chen Xi and Almeida was copied.

Zhang Yuanying and Lin Tingxuan quickly convened officials from the Administrative Office and the Censorate Office to discuss the matter. In fact, the main purpose was to prove the authenticity of this matter and the legal basis for Chen Xi to do this matter.

Logically speaking, the governor's office has no right to ask about salt quotations, nor does it have the right to ask about tea quotations.

At the beginning of the discussion, Lin Tingxuan asked: "Where did this Folang Jiman get a large amount of sea salt?"

One problem stumped the people present.

Although the Ming Dynasty fought a war with the Folang Jiren and made two large-scale trades, the people of the Ming Dynasty were very unfamiliar with the Folang Jiren, and even the officials present could not tell where these Folang Jiren came from.

How far is the country of Folangji from the Ming Dynasty, what kind of goods are produced, how many populations are produced, etc., let alone local officials in Guangdong, even the entire Ming Dynasty, no one knows anything except Chenxi.

Zhang Yuanying said with a dark face: "I heard that the country of Folang Ji is tens of thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty. This is mostly a conspiracy designed by the children of Chenxi and the people of Folang Ji colluded with each other!"

Many people present nodded and agreed.

After more than a month of getting along, everyone knows that the governor Chen Xi is a good player who plays conspiracy and tricks. Even the Guangdong Salt Class Testimonials were caught and were beaten up by Chen Xi.

Now Shen Xi meets Folang Jiren for no reason. The incident is too coincidental. Most of the smoke emitted by Chen Xi is to make the local governments and salt fields believe that Chen Xi can get a large amount of sea salt from Folang Jiren.

Lin Tingxuan thought about it over and over again and asked again: "Even if the Folang Jiren has a large amount of sea salt, how can it be transported? Even if it arrives, it is private salt. To buy and sell, it must go through the Maritime Bureau. There is no tea in the governor's yamen. Why exchange tea with the Folang Jiren for salt in exchange for salt intake?"

After some words, more people echoed.

The governor's yamen did not have the qualifications to do business with Folang Jiren, but now they have to use tea specialized in the court to exchange sea salt that is also specialized in the court with Folang Jiren.

The double-door things Chen Xi did were illegal, and local governments could immediately impeach the court.

At this time, a man in his thirties and elegant appearance hesitated for a while, and finally stood up from the remote corner where he was and said, "Sir, I have some simple opinions below. Do you know whether to talk about it or not?"

Zhang Yuanying and Lin Tingxuan both looked at the man. The man's name was Xia Kuan, whose courtesy name was Tingsu, and he had no fame. He liked to wear blue shirts on weekdays and was called "Mr. Qingshan". Among his disciples, there were many scholars and juren who passed the exam, but his name was unknown.

Zhang Yuanying went to Guangdong to be the right governor. In order to accumulate fame, he visited famous scholars and finally invited Xia Kuan to serve as a staff member in the governor's governor's office.

Xia Kuan doesn't speak much on weekdays, but Zhang Yuan's occasional opinions are appreciated, so Zhang Yuan likes to invite Xia Kuan to take care of it when discussing things.

Zhang Yuanying nodded, showing a look of praise: "Tingsu, you said that."

Xia Kuan first saluted respectfully to the officials present in turn, and then stood up and stood up and spoke as a sign of respect. After performing the salutation, Xia Kuan said: "I think that the Folang Ji people have salt, and the governor's yamen and Folang Ji people exchanged tea for salt, which is in line with the laws of the court!"

"You say it again!"

Zhang Yuanying listened to Xia Kuan's choice of opposites with him and Lin Ting, and immediately turned against him.

Xia Kuan's face was full of embarrassment: "Mr. Zhang, even if I repeat it again, it will be the same."

Zhang Yuanying was older than Xia Kuan, and as a provincial governor, he was in a high position and powerful position. He was about to yell at this crazy remark, but was stopped by Lin Tingxuan. Lin Tingxuan asked anxiously: "Let's talk about it, why?"

Xia Kuan felt like he was unable to get off the tiger at this time, but he still said with a thorn in his mouth: "As far as I know, the governor of the three provinces, Mr. Chen Xi, had talked with His Majesty before leaving Beijing. Lord Shen, and Lord Shen, was responsible for the mission of communicating with Folang Jiren. Tea and salt must be sold in the Ming Dynasty. There must be tea and salt entries, and they can be negotiated with Folang Jiren, but there is no explicit regulation. This is also what the court mentioned before when discussing the trade details with Folang Jiren."

Some words were reasonable, but the people present were full of doubts.

Chen Xi interviewed the emperor. He had indeed heard of this from Chen Xi's mouth, but no one believed it was true.

As for Chen Xi's authority to do business with Folang Jiren, everyone present knew this. For this reason, the court also issued official documents to the local government, and did not allow interference with Chen Xi's contact with Folang Jiren, but in fact the main purpose was to facilitate Chen Xi's exchange of grain crops with Folang Jiren.

The trade terms between the Ming Dynasty and the Folang Jiren were roughly the content of whether the two countries had mutual exchanges and allowed business, but they needed to go through the Maritime Bureau and could not be traded privately. But the problem is that the trade terms signed by the two countries were put on the ritual office of the Ministry of Rites, and the people below did not have the chance to see them. How do you know if there is any transaction of salt? The details of the need for salt to attract tea?

Lin Tingxuan looked suspicious and asked, "Then how did you know that the Folang Jiren has salt?"

Xia Kuan hesitated for a while, and seemed not to want to say it, but when everyone looked at it, he could not be careless. He could only reply respectfully: "I heard that after the Florians occupied Manlacia, they later opened colonial sites along the coast of Zhenla, Cham, Siam, Boni, Luzon and other places. The South China Sea has always been a sea salt production area. Previously, Nanyang merchant ships had private salt into the port. How many adults should have an impression?"

The "South Ocean" mentioned by Xia Kuan includes later Southeast Asia.

After the Florians occupied the Strait of Malacca, in order to ensure the safety of the route, it was appropriate to go north to open up reclamation sites along the Ming Dynasty. However, there are many islands in the South China Sea, and they can easily occupy a piece of land, and then use swords and guns to force those uncivilized natives to boil salt. It can be said that salt is the easiest commodity to obtain.

It was only because the Ming Dynasty did not allow the purchase and sale of tea, salt and other imperial courts to specialize in goods, so the sea salt in Nanyang was not trafficked to the Ming Dynasty.

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ps: The third update is here!

The monthly ticket price has not risen well recently, but the emperor asked himself that he had worked very hard and had a clear conscience, so he still shamelessly requested subscription and monthly ticket support!

Thank you! (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!