Yan Liqiang lived in modern society in his previous life. In modern society, if one were to choose the most important material, it would be oil. Oil is the blood of the modern economy, the source of wealth, and the foundation of industry. Without oil, the entire society would come to a standstill. In Yan Liqiang's previous life, the fate of the most powerful wealthy families and secret groups, the most powerful countries and economies, were all closely related to oil. Oil has generated a huge amount of wealth, but it has also generated countless wars and joys and sorrows. Oil is a battlefield for the struggle between major powers. Kissinger, the "old friend" of the Chinese people, once said a famous saying: Whoever controls oil controls all countries.
In the world where Yan Liqiang lives now, in the Silver Continent, if there is anything that can be compared to the oil in his previous life, it is undoubtedly salt. Therefore, the importance of oil can be expressed on salt, which is not an exaggeration. The importance of salt, to some extent, even exceeds that of oil, because a person can survive without oil, but a person cannot survive without salt. Salt is the absolute protagonist of the world's trade and the largest trade commodity. The stories surrounding salt are almost the same as those surrounding oil. The rise and fall of countless wealthy families and the wars between countless countries and tribes are almost all related to salt.
In this world, wherever salt can be produced is like wherever oil can be produced in the previous life. As long as there is salt, countless wealth will flock to it. In this world, in the Han Empire, the richest and most powerful families are closely related to salt, and the salt tax is the mainstay of the Han Empire's fiscal revenue.
In a world where force was paramount, the Han Empire did not have a policy of salt monopoly controlled by the government. The salt trade was open to everyone. In order to control the salt trade and obtain the huge financial funds needed by the empire from the salt trade, the Han Empire invented a very clever management method, which was to issue salt tickets.
Salt tickets have three functions: one is market access, two is tax receipt, and three is the nature of invoice.
All salt producers, if you have an annual salt production capacity of 10,000 kilograms, you must purchase 10,000 kilograms of salt tickets from the government before your salt can legally enter the market. Salt tickets are used from the production stage of salt, and they serve as tax collection and market access certificates. When people buy salt, for example, one kilogram of salt, they can ask the salt merchant for a salt ticket for one kilogram of salt. Then, people can take the salt ticket to the local salt administration office to "refund taxes". Finally, the salt ticket returns to the hands of the court.
Salt tickets are divided into four types according to the quality of salt: superior, medium, inferior and second-rate. Different grades and qualities of salt require the purchase of salt tickets of different grades and qualities. Under normal circumstances, the value of a pound of salt ticket accounts for about 50% of the market price of a pound of salt. Even so, the salt industry is still a highly profitable industry, because the profit margin between the selling price and cost is conservatively estimated to be 20 to 30 times. Even if the government takes half of the profit, there is still at least ten times the profit margin left for the seller.
If the salt merchant could not give the people a salt ticket when they bought salt, then the salt they bought was private salt. The Han Empire was very resolute and severe in its crackdown on private salt. If an ordinary citizen bought a pound of private salt without a salt ticket, he only had to take the salt to report and accuse it. Once the facts were verified, he would be immediately "rewarded with a thousand taels of gold" and become rich instantly. However, those who sold private salt would be guilty of a serious crime with their property confiscated and their heads beheaded.
Under such a complete control system, although there is private salt, it is only a minority and has not become rampant.
Yan Liqiang had not focused his attention on salt before, because money was not what he pursued. However, on the way back to Ganzhou this time, Yan Liqiang repeatedly asked himself how to gather a huge force around him in the shortest time. When he saw the caravans of wealthy salt merchants coming and going on the road, he suddenly remembered the history of the private salt dealer Zhang Shicheng and others fighting for supremacy with Zhu Yuanzhang in his previous life. Salt, something he ate every day without noticing, suddenly came into his mind and completely activated his thinking.
In his previous life, Yan Liqiang was curious about how a few people selling private salt could influence history and compete with heroes like Zhu Yuanzhang for supremacy in troubled times, so he bought several related books. After reading those books, Yan Liqiang suddenly realized that salt played such an important role in ancient times. According to legend, the war between Huangdi and Yandi broke out because of the fight for Jie Chi, which was a salt-producing area. Huangdi eventually controlled the salt from Jie Chi and became the overlord of the tribes at that time. Before Zhang Shicheng, Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi, who almost destroyed the Tang Dynasty, were also private salt dealers. Cheng Yaojin, a devil in the world, was also a private salt dealer. It was this group of private salt dealers who deeply participated in and influenced the historical direction of several important dynasties in ancient China.
Ganzhou also produces salt. Earth salt is a type of brine salt. Due to the generally low level of brine salt processing technology at that time, the quality of earth salt produced in Ganzhou is generally not high and cannot be sold at a high price. Compared with other high-quality green salt and pond salt, it is several grades lower.
Fortunately, in the books that Yan Liqiang had read in his previous life, there were introductions to salt processing technology. Relying on the knowledge in his head, Yan Liqiang only spent one night in his own room in the manufacturing bureau. He prepared some simple tools, materials and utensils, and easily made the low-quality earth salt produced in Ganzhou undergo a gorgeous transformation into snow-white refined salt.
The salt business is too lucrative and involves too many things. Compared with this business, the four-wheeled carriage is just a small business that can make money. To get involved in the salt business, Yan Liqiang still lacks a little strength and local influence. If time permits, in a few years he may be able to intervene completely with his own abilities and not be afraid of anyone. But time waits for no one. What Yan Liqiang needs most now is time. Therefore, finding a strong partner and backer in Ganzhou is a shortcut, and in the whole of Ganzhou, naturally no one is more suitable than Lei Sitong.
Lei Sitong was not only the governor of Ganzhou, but also had a very high opinion of him by Sun Bingchen. In terms of both ability and character, he was the most suitable person Yan Liqiang could find now. Naturally, Yan Liqiang wanted to pull Lei Sitong onto his chariot.
Both parties hit it off on the issue of making big money.
The production of local salt in Ganzhou is very loose and has not been scaled up. The forces that control those salt fields include local tyrants and forces outside Ganzhou. The situation is a bit complicated. In Yuntao County of Pingxi County, there are several small-scale brine salt mines, but those brine salt mines are owned by others. Yan Liqiang and Lei Sitong had a preliminary discussion on the intention of cooperation.
The first step of this cooperation is that Lei Sitong is responsible for getting the salt mines in Yuntao County, whether they are existing or newly discovered, and then Yan Liqiang will take over the production with manpower, funds and equipment. Lei Sitong is responsible for the safety of the salt field and provides some convenience and assistance for the sales of the salt field. Yan Liqiang is responsible for sales, and the final profit is divided equally between the two parties...
It would take more than two or three days to deal with the salt mines in Yuntao County. There were many connections behind it. Even Lei Sitong could not really take troops and rob the salt fields in Yuntao County like a bandit and hand them over to Yan Liqiang. As a governor of a state, there were rules to follow and he could not do things recklessly. Yan Liqiang was not in a hurry. To get involved in such a big business comparable to oil trade, it was normal for the preliminary preparations to take half a year or a year. After the two sides reached an agreement on the initial cooperation intention, Yan Liqiang said goodbye as it was late at night. Lei Sitong, under the attention of officials and gentry of Pingxi County, enthusiastically sent Yan Liqiang to the gate of Guanyuan...
"Uncle Lei, please stay. There's no need to see me off..." After some discussion, Yan Liqiang became more comfortable calling him Uncle Lei.
“If Li Qiang has any problems in the future, he can go directly to Jianbei and Yucheng. Whoever dares to cause trouble for you is causing trouble for me, Lei Sitong. Whoever wants to make you unhappy is making me, Lei Sitong, unhappy. The guillotine in my hand, Lei Sitong, is prepared for these people…” Lei Sitong smiled and pointed at the new county magistrate and military governor of Pingxi County. He spoke in an extremely domineering tone as if he was speaking at home, and the content of his words made the heartbeats of countless people around him accelerate.
"Okay, I understand. I'm afraid I will have to trouble Uncle Lei and the two adults in the future..."
(End of this chapter)