I

In the Ming Dynasty, the city of Guangzhou was expanded three times, basically comparable to the old city of Guangzhou in later generations.

However, the Pearl River in the late Ming Dynasty was very wide, and its banks were in the Taipingsha area. The river in the south of Guangzhou is as wide as 700 meters, but only 150 meters (the old city) remains after hundreds of years, which is the result of continuous accumulation of sediment.

Zhao Han changed ships halfway and arrived in Guangzhou. Countless merchants were already waiting at the pier.

These merchants all want to know what Zhao Han thinks of Haimao!

It doesn't matter whether you open the sea or not. Because they are the ones who oppose the opening of the sea, and they are also the ones who oppose the ban on the sea. This statement seems to be contradictory.

Opposition to opening up the sea is for fear of losing the monopoly on trade.

To oppose the sea ban is to oppose the sea ban being too strict, which makes it difficult for them to smuggle.

While implementing the sea ban, while condoning smuggling, this is the situation that merchants most hope to see.

"Meet Mr. Zhao!"

Hundreds of merchants, big and small, knelt down in unison to welcome Zhao Han off the boat at the pier.

The business travelers and common people who came and went looked around curiously.

The people looked at Zhao Han with no resentment at all. Of course, Fei Ruhe did something.

Zhao Han smiled all over his face: "Haha, everyone, please rise up. You have made great contributions to the city, and you should be rewarded greatly!"

"Don't dare, dare not."

The merchants stood up one after another and declined one after another, feeling uneasy.

Zhao Han was amiable and seemed to be easy to talk to. But these merchants are old and cunning guys, how could they believe that Zhao Han is easy to talk?

Countless landlords in Jiangxi had their homes ransacked!

All the landlords in Jiangxi were divided into fields!

Is this easy to talk about?

The incident in Jiangxi had spread to Guangzhou long ago, and at the same time there was also news that Zhao Han seemed to be very friendly to merchants.

Guan Jialun took the lead and said: "The land administration of the general town is well known to the people of Guangzhou. This is a great thing to benefit the people. We have reached a consensus with the merchants in Guangzhou and are willing to fully cooperate with the general town to divide the land!"

"Everyone understands righteousness, this country is fortunate, and the people are also fortunate!" Zhao Han hastily bowed and saluted.

It seems that the atmosphere is harmonious, but in fact it is all nonsense.

You must cooperate with the division of fields, and you must cooperate if you do not cooperate. The focus of both parties' attention is the specific trade policy, but Zhao Han didn't mention it at all.

"Meet the general town!"

Fei Ruhe led the soldiers with one arm clenched and his chest crossed, he did not kneel down. Compared with the kneeling of merchants, it seems too disrespectful.

Zhao Han walked a few steps forward and saw many people tied up at the pier, he asked, "What are these?"

Fei Ruhe replied: "They are all traitors and criminals, they deserve to be killed for their crimes, please give me your instructions."

"If it's time to kill, then kill him. What are you waiting for me to do? Execute on the spot!" Zhao Han said.

These are gangsters, and if they were replaced by other rebels, they would definitely be rewarded, because they participated in the seizure of the city.

But here at Zhao Han, taking advantage of the chaos to burn and kill the looters, all beheaded without discussion.

Fei Ruhe had already killed a group of heinous criminals, and kept them for Zhao Han's prestige. Immediately shouted: "Execution!"

On the pier, in front of merchants and common people, more than forty people lined up to be beheaded.

"good!"

The people of Guangzhou cheered loudly, they were victimized before, and it was the evil done by these gangsters in front of them.

There must be fish that slipped through the net.

For example, the crutches had already dispersed to the countryside, and Fei Ruhe didn't have the energy to investigate and arrest them.

For example, the guards of house slaves hid in rich merchants, Fei Ruhe didn't dare to do it lightly for the time being.

The faces of all the merchants changed drastically. These gangsters were all hired by them to seize the city. Now in front of them, all of them are killed at once. What does this mean?

Zhao Han explained to the merchants with a smile: "Don't worry, I, Mr. Zhao, have always been rewarded for meritorious deeds and punished for demerits. They were beheaded because they burned, killed and looted wantonly in the city after they captured the city. Be safe, everyone." Obeying the law is of course meritorious.”

"The chief town is wise."

Guan Jialun quickly agreed, the hairs all over his body stood on end, and he felt more and more that Zhao Han was difficult to speak.

Zhao Han entered the city with a smile. Accompanied by merchants, he came to the former residence of the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.

There were only two people left in the house.

Zhao Han asked, "How is Guangzhou?"

Fei Ruhe said: "The crutches are rampant, and people are often abducted. They are either sold to Nanyang or Hongyi."

"What are you talking about about these minutiae, forgetting what I taught you to sort out the primary and secondary contradictions?" Zhao Han said angrily.

Fei Ruhe thought for a while: "The main conflict is that we want to open the sea to collect customs duties, and merchants want to continue smuggling."

"Wrong, wrong!" Zhao Han shook his head again and again.

Fei Ruhe asked confusedly, "Isn't that so?"

Zhao Han sighed: "If you can do business in an aboveboard manner, who the hell is willing to smuggle it secretly?"

"Because there is no need to pay taxes for smuggling," Fei Ruhe said.

Zhao Han analyzed: "How much money do these merchants have to spend every year to bribe the governor, chief envoy, inspector, capital department, city shipping department, inspection department, and seaside guards. The money used for bribes is no more than the normal tax payment. What they are really afraid of is that they will have to pay customs duties and pay bribes to officials.”

"That's right." Fei Ruhe scratched his head and said.

Zhao Han continued: "If the sea trade is legal, these merchants will help us fight against smuggling. Because the smugglers are also stealing their business, and there is no tariff cost. What should really be watched is that they are doing business seriously. , while secretly engaging in smuggling, and attacking other smugglers by the way.”

"Then how to prevent it?" Fei Ruhe asked.

"Smuggling is impossible to ban, it can only be controlled to the greatest extent," Zhao Han said, "I have read all the things you wrote. There are two urgent tasks: first, establish an offshore navy dedicated to search Smuggling; second, bring several smuggling ports under government management, especially Macau. Call your scholar!"

The official names are Haojing, Haojingao and Xiangshanao, but the local fishermen call it Macau.

As for the scholar, the one who put up the big-character poster has now been hired by Fei Ruhe as a consultant.

This person's name is Deng Yunzhan, who was born in a collateral line of the Deng family. His family owned a small shop in Guangzhou, and they managed to get by.

"Meet the general town!" Deng Yunzhan cupped his hands.

"Please sit down," Zhao Han said straight to the point, "Is it easy to take back Macau?"

Deng Yunzhan said with a smile: "Easy, if there is no food for three months, and food is not allowed to go to sea, all the Hongyi in Haojing will starve to death."

Zhao Han laughed loudly: "It's really easy."

In fact, Macau is not considered a Portuguese colony, because the Ming court did not give up any sovereignty.

Ming has always allowed the Portuguese to occupy Macau, purely for the purpose of importing silver, and both sides get what they need.

There is a checkpoint in Macau, which is opened once every five days, and is specially used for Portuguese people to purchase food.

During the reign of Emperor Tianqi, He Shijin, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, learned that the Portuguese built earthen cities, bunkers and forts in Macau, and immediately ordered the Portuguese-Macau Parliament to dismantle them.

The governor of Portugal and Macao refused to implement it, and Guangdong immediately cut off the supply of grain and timber. As a result, the Portuguese did not have enough to eat, and the ships had no wood for repairs. The Portuguese residents, who were starving, went directly to the governor of Portugal and Macau. In the end, the governor obediently demolished the bunkers and forts.

After Deng Yunzhan told these stories, Zhao Han asked, "Should Hongyi's crimes be handed over to the county magistrate of Xiangshan?"

"Hong Yi admits to handing over the criminals, but every time he finds excuses to shirk," Deng Yunzhan sighed, "In the end, there was still no food, forcing Hong Yi to hand over the murderer."

Zhao Han suddenly asked, "Can't Hongyi go to Annan (Vietnam) to buy grain?"

"I can't buy it," Deng Yunzhan explained in detail, fearing that Zhao Han would not understand, "there are also several countries in Hongyi. The Hongyi in Macau are from the big Franji people (Portugal); the Hongyi in Luzon are from the small Franji people." People (Spain); the Hongyi of the big man, I don’t know where he came from, and he is called the Hongfan ghost (Netherlands). This big Frenchman seems to have a feud with the Hongfan ghost..."

Through Deng Yunzhan's dictation, Zhao Han had a general understanding of the situation in Nanyang.

Today's Vietnam is divided into two, North Vietnam is under the regime of Zheng, and South Vietnam is under the regime of Nguyen.

After Japan closed the country, Han Chinese merchants controlled South Vietnamese trade, and Dutch merchants controlled North Vietnamese trade.

Han merchants control three trade lines——

First, China-South Vietnam-Japan.

Second, China-South Vietnam-Cambodia-Japan.

Third, China-South Vietnam-Philippines.

The Portuguese bought grain from North Vietnam recently, but the Dutch made a hindrance, and Portuguese merchant ships could not approach at all.

As for South Vietnam, not to mention the Portuguese, the Dutch can't go there. Because of the Nguyen regime, Western religions were banned every now and then, and white people were robbed and killed. It was too difficult for Europeans to do business there.

Portuguese can only buy food in Guangzhou!

Deng Yunzhan also reminded: "The general town must pay attention to the fact that Guangdong does not produce much grain. Once there is a natural disaster year, if we continue to transport grain to Hongyi, the price of grain in Guangdong will inevitably rise sharply, and the people in Guangzhou will definitely be hungry. No. It is said that grain is prohibited from going to sea, but merchants must be selected to specialize in it, and it is stipulated that only how much grain can be sold each month."

"This is a good reminder." Zhao Han nodded.

Deng Yunzhan also said: "We can let Han merchants go to Ruanzhu (South Vietnam) to buy grain, and only charge a small amount of tax when transporting it back to Guangdong. Only in this way can it be profitable, and only merchants are willing to buy grain back to Guangdong, so that Guangdong Grain has become richer. It was not possible before, because of the Daming sea ban, officials were required to be bribed when traveling, making it unprofitable to buy grain from Annan."

"You are a great talent," Zhao Han praised, "Any other suggestions? Feel free to speak up."

Deng Yunzhan said: "Macao can be taken back for management, but the Hongyi must not be expelled. These Hongyi can bring a lot of silver. Today's Haojing is monopolized by Dafraji (Portugal). You can send someone to contact the Hongfan ghost ( Holland), let the Hongfan ghosts also come to Macao for trade. In this way, the barbarians can control the barbarians, so that one family does not dominate, and it will be easier to manage in the future.”

"Great kindness!" Zhao Han thought it was a good idea.

Deng Yunzhan suddenly looked serious: "Businessmen in Foshan, who privately manufacture firearms, must be confiscated. Moreover, private merchants cannot intervene in the manufacture of firearms in the future!"

"I have planned this for a long time," Zhao Han asked, "Would you like to be the head of the Guangzhou Shipping Department?"

"Don't dare to say goodbye!" Deng Yunzhan was quite excited.

The prefect of Guangzhou, the magistrate of Xiangshan County, the admiral of Guangzhou Shipping Department, Zhao Han has other appointments, and they are all on their way here now.

(Guangzhou Fucheng, Panyu County, and Nanhai County are all Guangzhou City. I made a mistake before, so I hereby correct it.)