Gu Yanxi loved seeing A Zhi like this most—so confident she seemed to glow, making him feel things weren't so difficult after all, even though he knew they truly were.
"And the second method?"
"The bulk naturally still falls to the state." Hua Zhi spoke while organizing her thoughts. "The seven daily necessities are firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea. The most crucial among them are rice, salt, and tea. Let's start with tea—tea prices have always been high, and there are nomadic tribes who cannot live without it. At the Yinshan Pass black market, tea bricks are worth their weight in gold. You must know how many tea bricks are smuggled to the grasslands each year. If we can block this channel and control the trade ourselves, the silver we could earn would be substantial. This is one revenue stream. Moreover, you've tasted my tea and know it would find a market. This is a business targeting only the wealthy, so the silver flowing in and out won't be small."
After taking a sip of tea, Hua Zhi continued, "Next is salt. Salt is actually a low-cost business, yet official salt sells for eighty wen per jin, once even reaching one hundred twenty wen at its peak. Private salt sells for about fifty wen, so naturally, the people buy the cheaper private salt. I haven't inquired how much salt tax the court collects yearly, but I imagine it's not much. Any official in charge of salt administration you investigate will be filthy rich because they own the private salt operations—selling public salt privately is the norm."
Gu Yanxi nodded silently. The Seven Constellation Bureau had once taken direct control, but it was impossible to eradicate. At best, things improved temporarily during their crackdown, but the Bureau couldn't monitor this single matter constantly, so it eventually faded away.
"Does A Zhi have a solution?"
"I have a method of producing salt far more efficient than the current boiling process. Higher output solves half the problem, and the price will drop. As for the other half..." Hua Zhi tapped the table with her knuckles. "Naturally, ban private salt."
"How to ban it?"
"If the court opens a new salt field with output exceeding all private salt combined and sets a low price—say, ten wen for now—what room would remain for private salt?"
Gu Yanxi frowned. "Isn't ten wen too low?"
"Not at all. Commoners earn about ten wen for a day's labor. A jin of salt costing a day's income—what more could they ask? Salt is a daily necessity. If all this revenue went to the court, it would be an astounding sum."
"What if others learn your salt-making method and also sell at low prices?"
Hua Zhi smiled. "Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys! They'd be new to the method and wouldn't coordinate to seize the market. As long as they act sequentially, showing them the court's resolve will make them realize whether their heads or silver matter more."
Gu Yanxi had fully grasped A Zhi's reasoning. He mentally reviewed the plan from start to finish and nodded slowly. "It's feasible."
"The person managing the salt field must be chosen carefully."
"The Seven Constellation Bureau will take it over."
Hua Zhi raised an eyebrow. "The Bureau can handle this too?"
"I believe the Emperor will agree."
True—as long as it raised funds for the canal project, he would certainly pave the way. Hua Zhi scoffed. "Old but not dead, that's a thief"—exactly describing an emperor like him."Next is the issue of grain. Whether it's Great Qing, the Chao Li Tribe, or other small nations, all face grain shortages. Only the Flame Country can use their grain to exchange for things useful to them, solely because they have the geographical advantage of being able to harvest three crops a year."
"Indeed, only they can. The late emperor once attempted to learn from them, specifically testing it on estates in the capital. But they couldn't even achieve two harvests, let alone three."
"The location was wrong. It shouldn't have been in the capital; they should have gone south—to Jiaozhou or Jingzhou. Yangzhou could also be tried. It gets cold later there, the ground doesn't freeze as severely, and it thaws earlier in spring." Hua Zhi lightly tapped the table with her fingers. "Find a way to coax some commoners from the Flame Country to go there. They have ample experience and naturally know what to do."
"Excellent." Gu Yanxi's expression finally relaxed from its earlier tension. "With sufficient grain, we can accomplish much more."
"Yes, we can ensure the soldiers at the border are well-fed, have the strength to train, and can wield their weapons against the enemy. We can also prevent the commoners digging the canal from going hungry." Hua Zhi looked outside. "It's a pity it's too late for this year."
"Just in time." Gu Yanxi said firmly, "I think it's just in time."
Hua Zhi thought about it and realized he was right—they needed time to gather manpower. By the start of the new year, they could put them to use.
"Then there's water and land transport. A while ago, I shipped a load of seafood from Zhenyang to the capital. After passing through numerous checkpoints, it cost nearly eighty taels. Normally, a single trip shouldn't exceed ten taels. That means seventy taels were never handed over. As for the remaining ten taels, Yanxi, why don't you ask the Ministry of Revenue how much actually made it into the treasury? Land transport is even worse—there are only more checkpoints. That's why everyone grits their teeth and uses water transport instead. Even though they still have to pay, it's more cost-effective since they can ship more goods at once."
Gu Yanxi had heard about this but didn't realize it was so severe. He immediately frowned. "If a shipment of goods is only worth a hundred taels, do they still have to pay seventy?"
"Not exactly. They charge based on the cargo—the more valuable the goods, the higher the fee. For a shipment of tangerines from Yangzhou to the capital, it would only be around ten taels." Hua Zhi thought of modern highway tolls, which could collect billions in a year. Wasn't it the same principle in ancient times? It was just easier to manipulate here. If there were an effective method to restrain them, this silver would end up in the Ministry of Revenue's coffers, and the national treasury would be enriched, wouldn't it?
Her head began to ache faintly. Hua Zhi paused and lowered her head to drink tea. It wasn't that there were no other ways to make money—there were many. If done under official authority, it would be even more convenient, such as in logistics. But one must eat bite by bite and walk step by step. She couldn't reveal all her cards at once, making the emperor think it was easy and neither crediting her nor burdening her with more tasks.
One by one, Gu Yanxi had already decided where to start. But they still faced a more critical challenge. "We have hope of solving the financial issue, but what about manpower? We can earn silver, but there are only so many people—we can't create more out of thin air."
"For now, I can only think of using silver to hire them to work." This was the problem that troubled Hua Zhi the most. She could produce silver, but she truly couldn't produce people. "Otherwise, should we have local yamens drive all the convicts there?""It's feasible, but we're still far short on numbers." Gu Yanxi pushed his tea in front of A Zhi, then picked up the empty cup and handed it to Shaoyao. Shaoyao obediently stood up to have Liu Xiang brew more tea.
"If we employ Black Powder, it could compensate for our lack of personnel."
Hua Zhi was taken aback, instinctively wanting to reject the idea, yet it seemed this was truly the only solution at hand.
Gu Yanxi grasped her hand, "I know you've always been reluctant to use this substance, but A Zhi, you must understand it's unavoidable. Yinshan Pass is already utilizing it—we need it for self-preservation."
"I just fear that one day our descendants will be utterly defeated by this very thing we've created ourselves."
Yet, they had no choice but to use it. Hua Zhi felt utterly helpless; she had to secure her own survival first before she could concern herself with future generations.
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