When Emperor Yang of Sui and Zhang Yi were talking, no one dared to disturb them, and the officials of the household department and the people under him could only wait there honestly and dare not come out!

Until it was almost dark, those officials did not dare to leave, and at this time they had been in this corner of the palace for several hours, and they almost fainted from hunger!

Only then did the little eunuch remind Li Shan that those people had arrived, and Emperor Yang of Sui remembered this stubble.

"Let them come in quickly......"

Yang Guang looked at the sky, there was still a period of time before he had dinner, and he could just summon them and ask about Yanjing by the way.

The leader is the Shangshu of the household department, Yang Guang looks a little familiar, as if this person is a distant nephew of Yang Su or something, long black and fat.

Behind him, there were two trembling people, but he didn't know them.

Fortunately, when they knelt, they all introduced themselves.

The head of the household is called Yang Fu, and there is a small pipe in charge of the salt industry called Wang Chaogui, and the name of the little official in Yanjing is Li Li, and Emperor Yang of Sui didn't hear it very clearly.

Waving their hands, the three of them respectfully lowered their heads and bowed their hands and waited on the side, and the whole process was spoken by the Hubu Shangshu.

He said that the discovery of the salt well this time was due to His Majesty's blessing to the sky, and the auspicious rain from heaven blessed the Great Sui Dynasty, so that the imperial court could add another salt well, all of which were official tones without nutrition.

When this household Shangshu was in the last dynasty, Yang Guang saw it once, and he didn't open his mouth or speak the whole time, but he didn't expect to pat himself and sing praises of virtue, which was very smooth.

"Okay, I just want to know, how much can a pound of official salt be sold for now, and how many salt wells do we have in Dasui?"

As soon as Yang Guang spoke, the head of the household was not good, and immediately pushed up a squire in charge of the salt industry, who was called Wang Chaogui was not only in charge of the salt industry, but also in charge of the iron and copper mines of the Great Sui Dynasty.

is a practical person, and he answered Emperor Yang of Sui's questions very smoothly.

"Your Majesty, one stone is equal to two hundred catties, and one catty of high-grade official salt can reach ten taels of silver, and there are a total of twenty salt wells in the Great Sui Dynasty, and the branches are in three places......"

knew that salt was very expensive, but Yang Guang didn't expect it to be so expensive.

A pound of salt is ten taels of silver, which is enough to catch up with the income of an ordinary family for a year, no, no, this family earns a pound of salt a year, so what should the family do to eat and drink?

"Presumptuous, ten taels of silver for a pound of salt? Then the common people can't afford to eat at all......"

"Your Majesty, the common people eat low-grade salt, one catty and one tael of silver, and these high-grade official salts are all tributed to the palace or sold at a high price......"

Wang Chaogui explained to Yang Guang with great trepidation.

I see, but it seems that a family of five, one pound of salt a year is not enough to eat, but a pound of the lowest inferior salt also needs one or two silver.

The price is not low, for ordinary people, salt is more important than anything else, but they have to buy it.

"Yang Shangshu, can you lower the price of salt, so that ordinary people can buy three or five catties of salt for one or two pounds of silver?"

Yang Guang frowned, only feeling that this salt was too expensive.

Yang Guang's fluttering words made Yang Fu instantly dumbfounded, and the price of salt was reduced?

It's not like your ears are misheard!

One of the taxes of the Great Sui was in the fields, and a large part of it came from the salt industry, because the salt was controlled by the imperial court and in the hands of the households.

How much salt is produced in that salt well every year, what price is set, and how much tax is paid, these are all fixed numbers, and the household department will settle the accounts every year.

Your Majesty wants to reduce the price of salt, then a large part of the price of salt is taxes, and if the price is really reduced, who will go to those taxes?

This household is short of money, how can the military department operate, so that those soldiers can fight on an empty stomach?

Let the officials of the imperial court not take the money?

This, how is it possible, the lack of money in the household department will lead to the emptiness of the treasury, and if the country continues for a long time, the country will not be a country, and the world of the Great Sui will really die.

So Yang Fu knelt on the ground with a puff and began to complain.

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable, now the output of salt looks higher than when the emperor was there, but the supply exceeds demand, and the household is still dependent on the salt tax, if the price of salt is reduced, it will shake the foundation of the country, and it will be impossible to ......"

Yang Fu kept kowtowing at this time, but that appearance made Wang Chaogui who followed him and the little official who had never seen anything of the world scared to death.

Yang Fu is the head of the household department, in charge of the money bag of the Great Sui, he walks there casually, and he has to shake three times without stomping his feet.

Usually in the household department, it is also the object of everyone's pursuit and flattery, and it is like now, kneeling in front of His Majesty and crying bitterly and trembling.

This made Wang Chaogui and the little official also kneel down in a hurry, and tried to hide in the corner, for fear that His Majesty's eyes would see them.

At this time, His Majesty should be unhappy, if that sentence is wrong, maybe it will make His Majesty angry, and he will not even be able to save his life.

The little official entered the palace for the first time, and he was already timid, but at this time, he was even more scared and wanted to faint, and he didn't dare to look up at Yang Guang at all.

I was so frightened that I didn't even dare to get out of the atmosphere, and I couldn't help but ask the Bodhisattva to bless him from the bottom of my heart, so that he could come to the palace safely and return to the palace safely.

"You two can't help it, can't you? I didn't say anything about lowering taxes, but I wonder if we can increase the output of the salt industry. And the taxes of the imperial court will not be less......"

Yang Guang was a little disappointed, this Yang Fu said it was high-sounding, but it couldn't solve the problem at all.

The household department should not only collect taxes, but also think of ways to solve the suffering of the common people, as long as life can go on, there is food and a place to live, no one will rebel desperately.

As long as these problems were solved, then there would be no existence, and a few years later the Great Sui was replaced by Li Tang.

"The output, the output of the salt wells is fixed every year, and there is really no way to increase it......"

Wang Chaogui has seen the salt production in the past few years, it seems that it has been fixed, the annual increase is limited, and the salt wells are scarce, otherwise the salt wells found this time will not be reported as auspicious.

"Your Majesty, there is really no way, the output of every salt well, we have a record, there is really no way to increase, the salt workers below are working day and night every day, but there is no way to increase the output, the price of salt is naturally not cheap......"

Wang Chaogui was also very anxious when he said this, but the stomach of the little official beside him rumbled, the sound was too loud, and everyone heard it.

Emperor Yang of Sui was naturally no exception, and when he raised his eyes to see the little official's strange appearance, he saw that the little official's hands were full of calluses, and the back of his hands were cracked.

These people have been in the palace since noon, although there are refreshments in the palace, but because of the restraints, no one dares to eat, and they have been hungry until now.

At this time, it is a great crime of dereliction.