Salt, for modern people, is nothing more than an essential condiment with a low price. Except for the Japanese nuclear leak, which was rumored to be hoarded once, most of the rest of the time did not have any waves, so quietly stayed in the kitchen. But in ancient times, the status of salt was very high, not only condiments, which contained a trace element called "sodium", which was also essential for the human body, and long-term deficiency would lead to a series of diseases. In the trade between ethnic minorities and the Central Plains, salt and iron are indispensable materials.
For the imperial court, the official camp of salt was also an important part of the tax revenue of the imperial court. Salt and iron monopoly, from the Spring and Autumn Qi state, the system was set in the Han WuDidi period, in order to fight against the Xiongnu, The Han Wudi is trying to increase the state income, not only selling officials, crime to get money, salt and iron are also returned to the state camp. In the long run, successive dynasties have regarded the salt tax as an important tax. But the imperial court wants to make money, the officials who collect taxes at all levels want to make money, and the salt merchants in charge of selling also want to make money, and when the layers are superimposed, the price of salt remains high, which is not a small economic burden for the people.
As a result, private salt came into being, and the process of making table salt was not complicated. And private salt is not only of high quality, the price is much lower than that of official salt, and it is a necessity, the sellers of salt can not worry about selling, the people are happy to save some money, and this industry is slowly flourishing. But this is digging the corners of the imperial court, and how can it be indulged, and the punishments set are very heavy, ranging from being tortured in a big prison to losing one's life. So the question is, since it is so difficult to eat salt, then so many pickled products in China's cuisine need to use a lot of salt, and they are all ordinary people's homes, what is going on?
For example, if you pickle ten pounds of fish, the salt should be at least one pound, but the fish is from the sea or the river, in addition to the low labor cost, there may be not enough money for a pound of salt, this is not a loss-making transaction? The government is not so inactive, for fishermen who specialize in fishing for a living, special approval can not buy official salt to pickle fish, and prepared a special salt for salting fish, also called fishing salt. This kind of salt, the process is simple, and the purity is low, and because there are not so many lawbreakers to get involved, so the price is very low, the people are affordable, in order to distinguish from the official salt, but also dyed red with olive vegetables, after drying it becomes red fishing salt, effectively preventing private salt dealers from imitating.
In the beginning, there was no limit to the number, and the fishermen often took more and then sold it to earn the difference. After the government found out, it resolutely formulated a measure, that is, when you come back from fishing, you must truthfully report how much fish you have caught and how much salt you need, and then the government will send someone to verify that it is accurate before you can receive salt. This still does not work, and the fishermen will put the fish back and forth together to receive more salt, and then continue to sell. The government quickly thought of a trick, according to the survey of fishermen every time they go to sea, roughly the number of fish they can catch, how many pounds of fish below the tax, more fish above the tax, to solve this problem.
Conclusion: In the ancient imperial court, because of institutional reasons, the taxes were not high. The relatives of the emperor and the state do not pay taxes, the readers do not pay taxes, the officials do not pay taxes, and the people who pay taxes are the lowest people, so in this context, they can only find another way, open a salt and iron monopoly to increase income, and consolidate their own rule. Unfortunately, in the end, it is still the common people who bear it.