Chapter 255: Business Starts
Zhao Yulin asked the gentlemen, apart from Chengdu, where else is the salt rush going on?
After listening to Zhao Yulin's words, these officials felt that what he said made sense, and they all remained silent.
He went on to say that the people of Jiading, Luzhou, Renhuai and Xinshi were the first to receive the news that the salt road to Jiangdong was cut off, but there was no rush to grab salt. Why?
This is because these places have sufficient salt. Not only did they meet the local salt demand, but they also urgently transported more than 100,000 kilograms of salt to us to help us out.
Where does their salt come from?
That’s because they have a supply and marketing cooperative established by our Shenwei Army, which brings together the daily necessities needed by the people and the supplies produced in various places.
What do the people need? The community knows.
How much do the people need? The community knows.
They know where the goods are. Let me ask, do our Canal Transport Bureau know?
Zhao Yulin's mouth was dry after talking so much, so he picked up the tea bowl and drank some tea.
Seeing that he was talking so eloquently, Mr. Ding obviously found a solution to the problem. He smiled and said, "Brother, don't keep us in suspense. Just tell me how to do it."
Zhao Yulin asked Xiao Yan to go out and invite his fourth mother to come in and sit down, and told everyone that they would establish a supply and marketing cooperative under the Sichuan-Shaanxi Administration Bureau, called the United Cooperative. He had already found the president, who was his fourth mother, Ms. Zhao Qiu Shuyun.
His mother immediately stood up and postponed it, saying that she was not up to the task, and walked out fearfully while waving her hands.
Xiao Yan hurried forward and helped her sit back down.
Zhao Yulin no longer called her Si Niang, but called her by her name. He said that Ms. Zhao Qiu Shuyun had been in charge of the Shenwei Army's cooperative for many years, and she was familiar with all the supply and marketing cooperatives that had been established.
Zhao Yulin loudly told everyone that it was Ms. Zhao Qiu Shuyun who proposed the large-scale transportation of salt to Chengdu . This shows that she can do this well and has a keen sense of judgment. He said that this is not for the sake of his family to fight for the position. Please support our production department for three years. When the matter is completed, everyone will work together to implement it for you.
This statement is very clear. The head office must be built, and Si Niang is here to help. The deadline is three years, and she will resign once the head office is completed.
Lao Cao is very familiar with the Shenwei Army's mechanism and knows the advantages of it.
He immediately supported it.
The gentlemen also whispered to each other and nodded.
Zhao Yulin said that he would add one more thing. Since we have invited Ms. Zhao Qiu Shuyun to do the job, she must have a position and authority.
We want to reorganize Changping Warehouse and incorporate the warehouse into the supply and marketing cooperative. How about appointing her as the deputy envoy of grain transport and specifically responsible for the preparation of the supply and marketing cooperative?
At first, Mr. Ding thought that he was going to pull his fourth daughter directly to sit on the position of the Grain Transport Commissioner, and his face looked very unhappy. But when he heard Zhao Yulin say that it was a deputy commissioner, and only a deputy commissioner in charge of building the society, he immediately agreed readily, and even imitated Zhao Yulin's way of addressing Ms. Shuyun and asked her to sit up.
Mu Bin immediately went over to move a chair for his mother, and Zhao Qiu Shuyun timidly sat down next to the Deputy Envoy of Transport.
Mr. Ding said with a smile that the grain transport operation was paralyzed at the moment, and that Deputy Envoy Shuyun was the only one who could perform the duties, and she might be overwhelmed. The gentlemen should discuss the matter together and recommend suitable persons.
Everyone nominated two deputy envoys, and no one had any objections, but the chief envoy could not find a suitable candidate for a while.
Zhao Yulin suggested that General Cao take over temporarily. First, the grain transport had just encountered such a big incident, and people must be panicking, so they needed to be stabilized. Second, the establishment of the society needed strong promotion, and it would be much easier with a general in charge.
Naturally, everyone had nothing to say.
Seeing that the meeting was about to end, Zhao Qiu Shuyun suddenly stood up and had something to say.
Zhao Yulin saw his fourth mother blushing and speaking awkwardly: Since she was asked to establish the supply and marketing cooperative, she thought that what you are most concerned about right now is how to solve the shortage of salt. If you trust her, she will try it with salt. First, unify the price of salt in the state, collect the salt tax at the time of entry, factory and workshop, and then add the transportation, storage and loss at the sales place to convert it into a price for sale.
Doing so will help the price of salt return to its actual price. Without the huge profits made from salt, who will smuggle salt?
The gentlemen immediately started discussing.
Salt is now a matter of many different kinds, with salt merchants from all over the country setting prices and selling them after completing the government's transportation tasks and paying taxes. This results in a wide variety of goods, with varying quality. It is difficult to determine the price, and even private salt dealers take advantage of the situation to make huge profits.
His mother's idea was to unify the price of salt, pay the government taxes, and pass on the profits to the people.
Zhao Yulin said that this was a reform, and that as long as it did not harm the interests of the country and was beneficial to the people, any approach could be tried. All localities must strictly investigate the illegal sale of salt, and officials and soldiers involved in the case would be punished more severely.
Mr. Ding nodded immediately, and the other gentlemen began to nod their heads.
Lao Cao looked at everyone and said, "Let's go, we've been busy for most of the day."
When he returned to the inn, his fourth mother followed him, and she was both excited and nervous and asked him if he couldn't do it well, wasn't she afraid that she would lose face for the Zhao family?
Zhao Yulin said that he was an abandoned child, and the Zhao family had no face. As long as we care about the people, we can do things with a clear conscience. He encouraged Si Niang and told her to do whatever she wanted, and no one could stop her.
Zhao Qiu Shuyun has the full support of her third son, so she is full of confidence.
Five days later, Xiangyang received salt from Xining Prefecture.
The quality of the salt dug directly from this salt lake is slightly worse. After all, it is the salt that is deposited after the lake water evaporates naturally and dries up, so it is bound to have more impurities.
However, the price was super cheap. Yang Xingyun personally went to Xiangyang to preside over the distribution of salt. The price was less than half of the Jiangdong salt. Ordinary people were happy to buy salt at half price.
Previously, the Shenwei Army used military salt to help the people out of their difficulties. Today, the Shenwei Army delivered such cheap salt again. The crowd in Xiangyang City cheered, and the common people ran around to tell each other, everyone praising the Shenwei Army and thanking the Third Young Master for being so thoughtful for them.
The female gang was very happy. Yang Xingyun said with emotion that the third young master always had a way. In the future, the salt from Xining Prefecture would flow down the river continuously, and we really would not be short of salt.
Shi's son in Lin'an was still dreaming of getting rich from salt. He took whatever salt the merchants sent him, and the salt gradually piled up into a mountain in his warehouse.
He received a secret report from Xiangyang that the Shenwei Army was using military salt to send it to the homes of the people.
Everyone in the small court, from the young emperor to the generals guarding the gate, was celebrating and praising Prime Minister Shi for his ability. He had strangled Sichuan and Shu with just the trick of salt. Sooner or later, Zhao Qi'er would come to Jiangdong, kneel down and kowtow, recognize his ancestry, and pay homage to the emperor.
Shi Xiang strictly ordered that the checkpoints be strictly checked and guarded, and not even a grain of salt be allowed to flow into Sichuan.
Half a month later, the salt from Xining Prefecture entered Chengdu, and river boats continuously delivered 200,000 kilograms of salt. This was the result of Zhou Ping's organization of the navy brothers racing against time to rush to deliver the salt.
Zhao Qiu Shuyun became more confident when she saw the densely packed salt ships and immediately led people to make arrangements.
The next day, the newly opened branch of the cooperative posted the latest salt prices, which were as low as half of Jiangdong sea salt, and there was no limit on the quantity.
The people were immediately happy. Those who bought salt ran around to tell others that they would never have to worry about having no salt to eat again.
The discussion on the streets started again, Zhang San said proudly: See, I said that the Third Young Master has a way, and we have plenty of salt. Your kid is just an idiot, why buy so much salt, you can't have children?
Li Si was laughing at the side, haha, this salt looks a bit rough, it's cheap, only half the price, haha, haha...
In the Chengdu government office, Ding Gong was very angry and called everyone to the office to discuss the matter.
Zhao Yulin not only successfully stabilized the price of salt, but also fixed the civilian labor teams entering and leaving Chamdo Prefecture. By increasing income through salt transportation, he reduced the military expenditure of the Shenwei Army stationed in Kangyanchuan.
Mr. Ding was in a good mood. He smiled and asked Deputy Envoy Shu Yun to allocate a portion of the money from the sale of salt to Xining Prefecture to be used for road construction and post station expansion in the prefecture, in order to improve the food and accommodation conditions of the civilian workers.
Everyone agreed unanimously and said happily that they should, should.
He asked: The government office has collected all the dirty silver from corrupt officials, amounting to tens of millions of strings of cash. We will not be short of silver this year.
Zhao Yulin understood that the old man had an idea and wanted to spend some money. He didn't know the old man's specific plan yet, so he just smiled and drank his tea without saying anything.
A few days ago, it was decided to spend two million strings of cash on sewage ditch management and road repairs in the city. Now that excavations are going on everywhere in the city, Zhao Yulin really doesn't know how he is going to spend the money?
After a while, Lao Cao spoke.
He said that he had recently gone to the provincial school and saw the dilapidated walls and the old houses, and thought that they needed some repairs.
Zhao Yulin saw Lao Cao looking at him and Ding Gong squinting his eyes and nodding, and he knew that they had communicated. Haha, this old man is quite interesting.
Seeing that no one spoke, Zhao Yulin coughed twice and said that it was just a small matter like the repair and we would not discuss it here anymore. He believed that Lord Ding could make his own decisions on matters below 50,000 strings of cash.
Ding Gong immediately opened his eyes, looked at him in confusion and asked what he meant.
Even though Mr. Ding was the prefect and the governor, the money in the Song Dynasty was managed very strictly. Even if the government needed money but couldn't find it, it had to use the treasury, but had to get approval from the Ministry of Revenue.
So, when the old man heard Zhao Yulin say that he could spend money as he pleased, he became unhappy, thinking that he was being teased.
He smiled and said that you are now the helmsman of Sichuan. If you can't even make such a small matter as spending tens of thousands of strings of cash on your own, how can you be the head of the family?
Everyone immediately burst into laughter.
He said that from now on, if the various departments under the Office of Administration need to spend less than 30,000 strings of cash, Lord Ding's desire to spend 50,000 strings of cash will not be discussed, and he can just ask the aide to draw up a list of reasons for everyone to know.
Everyone was immediately happy and smiled.
Mr. Ding smiled like a Maitreya Buddha. He tapped the table gently and said that the matter should be handled according to his will. Each department should be allocated 10,000 strings of cash. He would just use 20,000 strings of cash.
Zhao Yulin said that he must listen to Mr. Ding, and then added: You all need to be frugal, we have just built a small home and started our business.
Everyone at the table nodded happily, saying, "That's right, that's right." They were extremely happy. Zhao Yulin's words made everyone stop discussing anything.
