In China, salt is different in different places. Sea salt is eaten in seaside places, while sea salt and mineral salt are sold on the mainland. It is said that during the period of the three emperors and five emperors, salt began to be used in China. During the Zhou Dynasty, salt officials were also set up to manage salt. Over time, Chinese have developed a habit of relying on salt. It has become an indispensable item in life. Almost at the same time as salt, it is the suppression of private salt trafficking. From the Qin Dynasty to the Han Wu Emperor, China's resistance to private salt trafficking has officially taken shape. From banning private salt production to banning its sale, there is a very complete system.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a decree was issued. If someone privately minted an iron tool for salt, he would cut off his left foot and confiscate the tool for criminal purposes. Of course, the prohibition of smuggling salt did not only exist in the Qin and Han Dynasties. If they were involved in the process of selling private salt, the lightest would receive a spine stick, while the serious would be exiled or even sentenced directly to death. Qing, it is still under great pressure on private salt trafficking. So what does this harsh crackdown really mean?
First: Salt can bring in a lot of income
Beginning with the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, when Guan Zhong exercised a monopoly on salt and iron, the kings began to discover the huge benefits of salt. Because salt is a necessity for everyone's life, as long as the state monopolizes the sale of salt, it can get a lot of fiscal revenue from it. Also, because it's a sale, not a direct tax, it doesn't attract much resistance from ordinary people. This was also an important reason for the monopoly of salt and iron at that time.
Emperor Wu of han inherited this system and used it to achieve his own ambitious planned hegemony. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty turned salt into an official sale, which brought in a lot of financial revenue. Without the power of salt, the Han army could defeat the Huns in the north and calm the hundreds of mountains in the south. If you have salt, you have the income to support the army.
2: Must be in your own hands
It is also because of the importance of salt that ancient emperors chose to take the power to sell salt into their own hands. Not only could this bring in enough income for itself, but more importantly, if these huge incomes were in the hands of others, it could pose a threat to imperial power.
This was the late Tang Dynasty at that time, and the performance was very obvious. Tang, the Central Court often failed to collect taxes. The emperor could only support himself by the taxes of several states and counties near the capital. Life is very tough. In this case, not only can the right to sell salt not be controlled by oneself, but the salt pond also belongs to others. During the Tang Yizong period, the central government and this festival fought a battle for the salt pond, and the forbidden army and this festival caused this army to start fighting. In the end, the forbidden army failed, and the salt pond was owned by the festival.
Of course, this kind of situation in the late Tang Dynasty was basically more common chaos and division. In the fifth generation, in order to compete for the benefits of selling salt and support the army, there was no need for all parties to use it. However, during the period of national unification, private salt trafficking was the most common situation. Although it has been severely cracked down, it is difficult to ban it. The reason is that the official salt prices are mostly high.
Tao Shu, the governor of Qing Lianghe, once mentioned in his complaint to the Daoguang Emperor that the salt affairs were corrupt at that time. Due to the increase in the number of layers, the originally worthless salt came into the hands of people and became a high-priced luxury. Ordinary people often need to exhaust their wealth to buy salt. Even some people who can't eat salt for months have forgotten the taste of salt.
It is the high price and difficulty of official salt that has led to the spread of private salt. Due to the huge profits from the sale of salt, many powerful wealthy merchants have been produced. For the emperor, these people were actually some kind of potential threat. Zhang Shicheng of the Huangchao Yuan Dynasty of Tang was born as a private salt merchant. Their financial resources provided them with the strength to resist.
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