Dan Ju, who was on the side, blushed after hearing this, and quickly pushed Ming Lan, telling her to pay attention to what she said.

Minglan also woke up, turned away with a blushing face, and covered herself with the quilt.

Yu Yanran smiled and lifted the quilt and pinched her face: "There is nothing to be ashamed of. We are all married women now, and we are no longer a little girl waiting to be married."

Minglan was made sleepless by Yu Yanran, so she could only yawn and get up to dress up.

Yu Yanran looked at Minglan's charming and beautiful face and couldn't help but secretly envy: "Gu Hou is so lucky to marry such a charming and beautiful girl like Minglan."

Minglan said angrily: "Sister Yanran is really becoming more and more arrogant in her speech. You should be disciplined by Marquis Qin."

While the two were laughing and joking, Qin Hao and Gu Tingye also came over. They had just walked around Chengyuan. The scenery here was more elegant than the Jinghai Marquis Mansion. It was not as luxurious, but it had a unique flavor. It was worthy of being

The former residence of my father-in-law.

Minglan suddenly asked out of curiosity: "Why didn't Sister Yanran bring Brother Ming and Sister Lan today?"

Yu Yanran explained with a smile: "My mother-in-law said she wanted to have a child, so she took her back to the Dongchang Marquis Mansion to take care of her for a few days, and we were able to have some peace and quiet."

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! While eating, Gu Tingye suddenly said to Qin Hao: "The government will reform the salt tax in the near future. Does Zihan think this method is feasible?"

Qin Hao paused while picking up the food. The Song Dynasty was a dynasty with an extremely developed monopoly system. Many things were exclusive, which was actually a monopoly.

Among them, salt and mines accounted for the bulk, and they also accounted for the main source of tax revenue. According to the Renzong period, the annual salt tax revenue was 3.4 million yuan.

However, the monopoly also led to a very bad phenomenon, that is, tax evasion. The salt tax in the Song Dynasty exceeded 33%. In addition, salt must be purchased through connections.

Over time, salt merchants began to have a wrong idea. They wanted to bribe officials anyway, so they simply bribed more. As long as the tax rate did not exceed 33%, they would make a profit. A large amount of private salt turned into official salt for sale with great fanfare, resulting in salt

Tax returns are greatly affected.

Zhao Zongquan did not dare to touch the salt tax before, because the salt tax accounted for about 6% of the entire Song Dynasty's finance. If the salt tax reform was not done well, it might shake his dominance.

Now with the existence of the Maritime Yamen, the annual income from overseas commercial taxes alone is no less than 10 million yuan, so Zhao Zongquan naturally has the confidence to lift the lid.

Of course, the salt tax reform involves all aspects, and the relationships are intricate. It is certainly not easy to reform.

Qin Hao thought for a while and said in a low voice: "Actually, the focus of the salt tax reform is not on matters, but on people. Are the officials going to break up with the Queen Mother?"

The Queen Mother's maiden name was Cao, and she was born into a general. Her grandfather was the famous general Cao Bin, who rose to the rank of privy envoy. The Cao family was extremely powerful. This was why Emperor Renzong originally arranged for her to join Han Da Xianggong and others to restrain King Yong. There was not enough

It is undoubtedly a foolish dream to limit an emperor's strength.

Gu Tingye's expression changed, and he nodded heavily: "I can't say I'm going to break up, but the Queen Mother will definitely not let go easily."

Zhao Zongquan was actually very smart. The first reform he chose was coinage, which did not involve the interests of Empress Dowager Cao, so as long as he got the support of the current minister, it could basically be done. Zhao Zongquan did indeed gain extremely high profits by relying on the coinage reform.

Fame.

Qin Hao's donation of the white tiger this time further consolidated Zhao Zongquan's position, so Zhao Zongquan had the confidence to challenge Empress Dowager Cao. The reason why those salt merchants dared to be so lawless must have something to do with the Cao family.

Qin Hao does not intend to get involved in the dispute between Zhao Zongquan and Empress Cao. With his current status, there is no need to get involved. No matter who wins between Zhao Zongquan and Empress Cao in the future, they will be unable to do without the huge profits brought by overseas.

"You have to think carefully about this matter, and push it forward if you can. The Cao family is not a soft persimmon who can be manipulated by others!" Qin Hao warned.

Minglan also stopped her chopsticks when she heard this and looked at Gu Tingye worriedly.

Gu Tingye shook his head at Minglan, and then said with a smile: "I shouldn't be needed for this matter. There is a high probability that General Duan will be sent, not to mention that the Anti-Smuggling Yamen can't do without me."

At a court meeting two days later, a little-known censor indeed proposed a proposal to reform the salt tax.

In an instant, the atmosphere in the court became strange. No one among the ministers spoke, that is, no one objected or agreed.

Everyone is not stupid. This censor is obviously cannon fodder who was pushed out. Like Sheng Hong, he is trembling there, praying that the gods will not accidentally injure him, a mortal.

Sure enough, an angry shout came from behind the curtain: "Bold, the salt tax is the foundation of the country, how can we change it at any time!"

Soon, people from the Empress Dowager Cao's faction came forward to reprimand the censor for his whims, and all said that the censor should be taken down and punished.

At this time, Zhao Zongquan spoke up: "Why are you doing this, gentlemen? The original intention of the imperial court in setting up a censor was to open up the world for speech. I don't think there has ever been a precedent in the Song Dynasty where people were punished for speech."

Now the originally noisy court became dead silent again.

Although the salt tax reform bill was not passed, all North Korean and Chinese officials knew that a storm was coming.

The confrontation between Zhao Zongquan and Empress Dowager Cao will also intensify.

－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Chapter completed!