Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

Yunzhou.

It's time for the monthly ritual again.

Yunzhou government office, parliament hall.

The county magistrates sat in order, the hall filled with the aroma of freshly brewed tea and a subtle atmosphere of solemnity. Prefect Liu Yanzhi sat upright in his seat, his face solemn, his fingers unconsciously tapping a document on his desk.

After everyone arrived and exchanged pleasantries for a moment, Liu Yanzhi coughed lightly and got to the point, his tone heavy. "Everyone, at today's monthly meeting, there's a pressing matter that concerns both the national economy and our performance evaluations. Besides the regular grain tax, the court relies heavily on salt taxes for most of its annual revenue. However, this spring's salt tax reports, compiled by all counties, are less than 30% of the same period last year! This is an unprecedented crisis!"

He glanced at the county magistrates present and continued, "Salt merchants are in dire straits. Many businesses that once relied on salt profits for their livelihoods are now struggling to survive. Even the wealthy salt-hoarding families in Yunzhou, who have operated for generations and have built considerable wealth, are now on the verge of bankruptcy. Some, overwhelmed by the burden, have even committed suicide by swallowing salt! It's a tragic scene!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Magistrate Li of Hunyuan County couldn't wait to echo him, a look of sorrow on his face: "Your Majesty, be wise! Private salt trafficking is rampant, and it's particularly severe in Hunyuan County! Nowadays, almost every household can make their own salt. The law doesn't punish everyone, but I can't arrest and punish everyone in the county, can I? I'm truly helpless!"

Magistrate Du twirled his beard as he glanced at Zhang Jingwei, who sat quietly to the side, with a hint of confusion and inquiry. "It's strange. Private salt is rampant, official salt is unsold, and salt merchants everywhere are complaining bitterly. However, I remember that the 'Junhang' under the name of Zhang Xianren seems to be engaged in the salt business as well. Why don't I see Zhang Xianren complaining? Instead, he seems to be unaffected by it?"

In an instant, all eyes were focused on Zhang Jingwei.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingwei put down his teacup, a perfectly composed smile of shame on his face. He bowed and said, "County Magistrate Du is very observant. I'm truly ashamed. In the counties under your jurisdiction, have there been frequent purchases of homemade coarse salt from the people in recent months at prices above market value? Roughly three pounds of coarse salt can be exchanged for one pound of high-quality fine salt. This... was indeed the work of my 'Jun Xing'."

"What? You're the one buying it?" County Magistrate Li exclaimed in shock, then suddenly realized, "No wonder! No wonder the official salt in the hands of those salt merchants is becoming increasingly unsaleable! The source is actually you!"

County Magistrate Du's eyes widened in confusion. "Zhang County Man, what do you need so much coarse salt for? Could it be that... you're selling it privately? That would be competing with the state for profits!"

Zhang Jingwei shook his head and explained calmly, "No, no. Lord Du has misunderstood. I buy crude salt not to sell it, but to... refine it."

"Salt refining?" County Magistrate Du was even more confused. "Using coarse salt to refine fine salt? This... isn't this like taking off your pants to fart? It's a superfluous effort. It wastes manpower and resources. What's the point?"

"Lord Du, please listen to my detailed explanation." Zhang Jingwei said slowly, "The local salt refined by the people is mostly coarse salt with a lot of impurities. It is often obtained by simply boiling salt-containing soil and rocks. If this kind of salt is consumed for a long time, it will be harmful to the body. It may cause abdominal pain at the mildest and illness at the worst. I exchanged the harmful coarse salt in their hands with high-quality fine salt that can be eaten directly. In fact, it is to prevent the people from damaging their health by eating inferior salt. This is to benefit my hometown and ensure that the people of Yunzhou can 'eat everything with relish' and stay healthy!" (This is nonsense. His real purpose is to use fine salt to trade cattle and sheep with tribes outside the Great Wall).

Magistrate Du had a look on his face that said, "I don't believe you!" He sneered, "County Man Zhang, I've been an official for many years, I'm no child. How could you do such a poorly-funded, thankless charity? There must be something fishy going on!"

County Magistrate Li tried to smooth things over: "Master Du, please listen to what County Magistrate Zhang has to say."

Zhang Jingwei remained calm and continued his performance, his tone even tinged with compassion. "I'm hoarding this coarse salt for other reasons, but my original intention was to benefit the people. My Lords, why not be more open-minded? If the salt tax is insufficient, we can find other ways to supplement the national treasury. Why should we be so obsessed with salt?"

Magistrate Du persisted, "Master Zhang, that's easy to say! Finding another solution? How easy is that? Why not take away the salt merchants' accumulated official salt as well? Wouldn't that be even more helpful to the court?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingwei suddenly asked, "Master Du, my Lords, I have a question for you. The court's strict control over the salt industry: is its primary purpose to obtain the salt itself, or to collect the profits from the salt tax?"

County Magistrate Du thought without hesitation: "Of course it's to collect taxes! Salt tax, salt tax, the core is the tax!"

"No," Zhang Jingwei categorically denied. "In my opinion, the imperial court wants both! They control the salt industry, hoping to both control the source of this essential commodity and reap huge tax revenues through their monopoly. It's precisely because the official price of salt is high and often inferior salt is passed off as good quality, while privately produced salt is relatively cheap (comparatively), that the people are forced to take risks and legitimate salt merchants are left with no room for survival!"

He paused, his voice rising a few notches. "Why don't you all be more open-minded? Why must the common people be prohibited from making salt? If you were Master Du, would you rather spend two hundred coins on the government's sandy, hardened salt blocks, or would you rather eat the clean, reliable, and carefully brewed salt from your wife?"

"This...this cannot be confused with each other!" County Magistrate Du refuted, but his tone was not as tough as before.

"That's exactly the same thing!" Zhang Jingwei emphasized, "If ordinary people could easily obtain cheap and safe salt, who would risk death to sell contraband salt? Who would risk exile thousands of miles away to buy contraband salt? The source of the demand is the high price and low quality of official salt!"

At this point, Liu Yanzhi interrupted, pointing out the core problem: "What Jingwei said makes sense. But if the policy is liberalized, the salt tax will plummet, leaving the treasury empty. What will become of us? Border wars, disaster relief, river repairs, city construction—where wouldn't vast sums of silver be needed? This money couldn't just come out of nowhere, right?"

Zhang Jingwei swept his gaze across the room and made a startling statement: "If the court truly needed money, it would be easy. Confiscating the homes of a few corrupt officials would provide enough to cover many expenses." He looked at everyone present meaningfully, "Take us for example. Most of us are predecessors who have come to take over. Who here doesn't know how greedy our 'predecessors' were? Their homes are filled with mountains of gold and silver, and countless antiques, calligraphy and paintings. If all the property confiscated recently in the counties of Yunzhou alone were confiscated, it would probably be enough for Your Majesty to build another magnificent palace!"

County Magistrate Li broke out in a cold sweat and quickly interrupted, "Zhang County Man, this is... this is very true, but that's for later, later..."

Zhang Jingwei decided to quit while he was ahead and returned to the main topic: "Therefore, I believe that if the imperial court truly wants to effectively control the salt industry, it should not target the salt farmers who make a living by producing salt, but should focus on controlling the middle link - the salt merchants!"

Liu Yanzhi leaned forward, showing great interest: "Oh? How do we do it specifically? Please tell me in detail."

Zhang Jingwei had a clear plan in mind and analyzed it in detail: "First, control the source. Forbid salt farmers from directly supplying salt materials to any salt merchant. Instead, local governments should set up outlets to purchase salt materials in a unified and standardized manner. Also, allow salt farmers to use a certain percentage of their own high-quality fine salt to offset part of the tax, thus benefiting the people. This is the best policy, which will both appease the salt farmers and initially control the raw materials."

"Secondly, we must standardize the distribution channels. All salt merchants must only sell salt from government-designated salt fields or channels approved by the Salt Inspection Office. They must use official seals to obtain and sell salt, completely eliminating the possibility of privately purchasing salt or passing inferior salt off as good quality. This is a moderate measure to ensure legal and compliant distribution."

"Secondly, use merchants to control private salt. Establish a salt merchant qualification certification and rating system. Grant certain market inspection powers to high-ranking salt merchants with strong financial resources and good reputations, allowing them to use a certain percentage of the confiscated private salt as a reward. Deeply tying their interests to the court's salt tax interests will make them actively fight against private salt. This is a bad strategy, cleverly exploiting the merchants' desire for profit."

"Finally, we must strictly evaluate officials. Incorporate the sales of official salt within the jurisdiction and the effectiveness of crackdowns on illicit salt into the core performance evaluation indicators of local officials! This way, officials will have a natural incentive to manage the salt business. If illicit salt can be brought under the official salt management system, instead of blocking it, wouldn't that be more beneficial to the people and the long-term stability of the court?"

When this systematic reform strategy was put forward, the conference hall fell into silence.

After a long pause, County Magistrate Du suddenly slapped his thigh. His face was no longer filled with doubt, but with admiration. "Brilliant! Brilliant! I've studied so hard for twenty years, boasting my understanding of economics and people's livelihoods. But after listening to your words today, I realize I'm nothing but a frog in a well! The young are truly formidable! The young are truly formidable!"

Zhang Jingwei smiled modestly, "Master Du, you're too kind. The waves behind push the waves ahead. This is the universal law of the world. Otherwise, how could civilization progress?"

County Magistrate Li stood up excitedly and bowed solemnly to Zhang Jingwei: "County Master Zhang! If this plan works, it will be a blessing for the people of Hunyuan County! On behalf of the people of this county, I thank you!"

Zhang Jingwei quickly stood up and returned the greeting: "Brother Li, absolutely not! This is our duty as officials!"

Liu Yanzhi, sitting in the upper seat, had unknowingly wiped the sweat from his forehead. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Zhang Jingwei, his tone filled with emotion and excitement: "This... this is no simple countermeasure, this is clearly a reform of the salt administration! Jingwei... I must immediately write a letter and report everything you said today to the court in detail! Allowing you to serve as an official is probably the best thing I have ever done in my life!"

Despite his superior's praise, Zhang Jingwei remained humble, deflecting the credit. "Your Excellency is too kind! This is all thanks to your teachings. Since becoming an official, I have never forgotten my duty to 'serve the people's interests and relieve the emperor's worries.'"

Liu Yanzhi cursed and laughed, waving his hands in a cheerful mood. "Stop flattering me! Your abilities are your abilities, no need to flatter me. Today's proposal is excellent! Excellent!"

The atmosphere of the monthly meeting, initially solemn and pessimistic, suddenly became excited and full of hope due to Zhang Jingwei's speech. A storm of reform that could sweep across the salt industry of the Qing Dynasty seemed to be quietly brewing in the meeting hall of the Yunzhou government office.