The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Industrial and commercial development can absorb refugees. This is good governance. Taxes are collected from factories and workshops, and you collect tariffs at the Shipping Department. Can there really be so many? One million taels?"

King Yu finally couldn't help but interjected and asked.

No wonder King Yu has doubts about how the open shipping department can earn millions of taels of silver. This is actually related to the current shipping department system.

The current Shibo Division actually inherits the model since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, and has not changed much.

In the sixth year of Emperor Xianqing's reign in the Tang Dynasty, the Municipal Shipping Envoy was established in Guangzhou to take charge of maritime diplomatic relations and foreign trade, and assigned specialized officials to serve. His main responsibilities were to manage the ships coming for trade, purchase a certain amount of imported goods on behalf of the palace, and manage the items that merchants paid tribute to the emperor. , supervise and manage the city’s ship trade and draw points.

The subsequent Song, Yuan, and even the current Ming Dynasty generally had the same responsibilities, but only increased or decreased the number of commercial shipping ports.

Of course, due to the policies of each dynasty, the responsibilities are slightly different.

For example, in the Ming Dynasty, due to the implementation of a maritime ban policy and only tribute trade, the Municipal Shipping Department was also responsible for welcoming foreign envoys, verifying authenticity, and prohibiting private citizens from going to sea.

In other words, the ancient Municipal Shipping Department not only assumed the functions of customs, but also assumed some diplomatic powers and was responsible for welcoming and sending overseas envoys.

Among them, the diplomatic function was more important, while the customs function was smaller. In other words, due to some private behaviors of officials of the Municipal Shipping Department, a large amount of customs duties that should have been returned to the court were lost.

In fact, this kind of thing is not uncommon, and similar problems also exist at major banknotes. However, because the tariffs paid every year remain stable and there are protections from ministers in the DPRK and China, the court does not pursue them.

After all, people with official status, as well as businessmen without family members or acquaintances from the hometown, would more or less lend famous posters to others for convenience.

Wei Guangde did not dare to explain the intrigues too clearly, so he could only say tactfully: "The benefits of this must be great, otherwise it would attract Japanese pirates.

Overseas people are extremely fond of our Chinese products. Since the Tang Dynasty, there has been an endless stream of Southeast Asian and Persian merchants. This is evident from their willingness to travel across oceans without fear of the risks involved.

It is said that when goods from China are shipped thousands of miles away, the price of the goods can increase several times, so I think it is okay to impose tariffs that are very high compared to the price of goods exported from the Ming Dynasty. "

Of course, Wei Guangde couldn't answer the question of how much Ming Dynasty goods could be sold for in Europe in this era, but he could make a simple judgment.

That is, businessmen cannot afford to be early without profit. Since they have traveled thousands of miles, it naturally represents huge benefits. That is, after deducting the purchase cost, transportation costs and necessary losses, this business still has huge profits. .

Wei Guangde doesn't know if there are any imitations of Ming Dynasty products in Europe at this time, but it doesn't matter. As long as the merchants are willing to come, it has nothing to do with him whether the merchants will offset the increased tax by cutting costs or increasing the selling price. nothing.

In my impression, it is a recognized fact that a large amount of silver from all over the world flowed into China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Such results were achieved even during this period when shipping technology was not perfect, which shows that the competitiveness of Ming Dynasty products in the international market is invincible. , Daming products will definitely not worry about sales.

"Although I don't know how much profit there is, the Yi people come to the vicinity of our country every year to buy our Ming products. I have also heard people say that these Yi people even directly purchase the looted Ming products from the Japanese pirates. , This is actually one of the important reasons why Japanese pirates are repeatedly banned."

Zhang Juzheng said at this time that he was from Huguang, so naturally he was not as familiar with maritime trade as those from coastal provinces, but he had heard some about it.

What Wei Guangde said at this time made sense, so he might as well tell some of the things he had heard.

"In this way, if the market is opened and the barbarians can directly purchase Ming products from the market, at least they can be prevented from trading with Japanese pirates."

Yin Shizhen reminded that for the Japanese pirates who wanted to make money, if the things they robbed could not be cashed in, what was the use of robbing them?

"At the beginning of the opening up, tariffs can be temporarily exempted, or it can be said to be preferential, and tariffs are temporarily exempted. At the same time, barbarians who have contact with Japanese pirates are resolutely refused to enter Hong Kong. This is to make money for the court on the one hand. At the same time, we must not be lenient in attacking and weakening Japanese pirates."

Wei Guangde answered.

"I understand what you mean. Open the market and allow merchants among the barbarians to participate in the transaction. There will no longer be inspections and surveys. On the one hand, the imperial court will trade the physical taxes collected in Jiangnan and convert them into silver. On the other hand, it can also use them to Taxation, does that also allow businessmen to participate in it? Do they also have to tax?

Forget it, let's collect taxes. Since they are also profitable, it doesn't hurt to collect some taxes. However, from what you said, opening up the market seems to be very beneficial to combating Japanese pirates. "

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, King Yu nodded and said.

At this moment, the balance in King Yu's heart had tilted. Although he knew that when Emperor Jiajing was in power, the memorial to open the market would most likely not be passed, the benefits of opening up were obvious.

The products of the Ming Dynasty were sold overseas through commercial ships. Those factories and workshops were bound to expand production, which required the recruitment of workers. The refugees in Jiangnan caused by Hu Zongxian's faction had a place to resettle.

The imperial court could dispose of the backlog of goods in the official warehouses through commercial ships and turn them into money for use. This was also a very important good governance, and at the very least it could alleviate the imperial court's financial dilemma.

What's more, according to what Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng said, after the shipping market is opened, barbarian merchants can be prevented from doing business with Japanese pirates. People along the coast have a way of survival through sea trade, and they do not have to join Japanese pirates in order to make a living. In the long run, Japanese pirates Only by reducing the number of people can we fundamentally solve the Japanese problem.

It seems that this is killing three birds with one stone, no matter how you look at it, it is not a loss.

At this time, what others in the room didn't know was that the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty, King Yu, had already made up his mind to tentatively open up the shipping market after he came to power.

After all, it is a trade that has been banned for more than a hundred years. King Yu does not dare to abolish the maritime ban on a large scale as soon as he comes to power. He will choose a shipping company to try it and see what the effect will be after liberalization.

Judging from what I have heard so far, there are undoubtedly many benefits to relaxing the maritime ban. However, since the court has not relaxed it, this means that there should be dangers that they are not aware of.

King Yu thought so, and planned to ask Gao Gong if he had the opportunity to see what Mr. Gao's attitude was towards maritime bans and commercial shipping.

This is not to say that King Yu does not believe in Wei Guangde and Yin Shizhen, but because Gao Gong has always been his support. In King Yu's view, Gao Gong is unparalleled in the country. His talents and abilities are second to none in the dynasty. As long as he does not object , then it can be executed.

Besides, the news coming out from Xiyuan is that Emperor Jiajing is in his prime, and he doesn't know when it will be his turn to take charge. There is really no need to worry about this matter.

Wei Guangde, Yin Shizhen, and Zhang Juzheng were discussing each other word by word. King Yu sat aside and interjected from time to time, and the atmosphere was quite lively.

"Li Fang, ask someone to hold a banquet in the back garden. I want to entertain a few gentlemen."

Seeing that everyone was very interested in chatting, King Yu gave instructions in a low voice.

Just when Li Fang lowered her head and agreed to turn around to leave, King Yu stopped him again and said, "Bring out some jars of good wine from the cellar in the backyard."

King Yu was absolutely not stingy with the people in the palace, and often held dinner parties to invite them to stay with him.

King Yu felt that Wei Guangde's proposal to open the market to shipping today was very interesting, so he held another banquet to entertain everyone. During the banquet, everyone had more time to talk, and he could also listen to the ideas of these officials.

Yin Shizhen, Wei Guangde and others did not take it seriously for King Yu's actions. This was not the first time they encountered this situation. Moreover, the three of them were in a lively conversation and did not want to leave.

However, all banquets in the world must come to an end. After the banquet at Prince Yu's Mansion ended, the three of them got into their respective carriages and sedan chairs with the help of the chamberlain.

Wei Guangde and Yin Shizhen were both a little drunk now. They fell asleep quickly after entering the car. Although Zhang Juzheng was also a little drunk, he tried hard to stay awake.

Wei Guangde's proposal today greatly touched him in some aspects.

In the past, when thinking about solving the numerous difficulties faced by the country, most of them looked for ways to relieve their difficulties from themselves. But one of the sources he found now was to reform the centuries-old taxation system, especially those in kind. tax.

In fact, when Zhang Juzheng was in Huguang, he had already noticed that the physical objects received in the official warehouse were taxes collected in the form of points, but they were left idle in the official warehouse for a long time and were difficult to cash out.

Therefore, he came up with the idea of ​​​​discounting all the taxes and servitude in kind such as grain, silk and silk by the imperial court. Only in this way can the resources that the imperial court can mobilize be effectively utilized.

The purpose of reforming the tax and servitude system is to reduce the burden on the people, while the purpose of reforming the tax and servitude system is to integrate the court's resources so that the court has more fiscal revenue available for use instead of wasting it in official warehouses.

At the same time, like Gao Gong, he believes that vigorously cracking down on corrupt officials can save a lot of money. At least getting back the money that has been embezzled by corrupt officials is a way to "save expenditures."

Today, Wei Guangde's proposal to open up the shipping market seems to be a very meaningful "open source" strategy. It only needs to abolish the so-called maritime ban, which is an ancestral system. Both the court and the people can benefit from this.

As mentioned at the banquet, shipyard workers in South Zhili, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places will also benefit from this. Among the people participating in the Fujian rebellion this time, there are boat people.

When the market is opened to shipping, the government needs to hire people to repair the port, people are needed to repair and build ships, and people are needed to load and disembark goods. It can really add too many ways to resettle the refugees.

It seems that I will take time to visit the teacher at his house tomorrow to see what his attitude is towards opening up the market.

The teacher in Zhang Juzheng's heart was naturally Xu Jie, the second assistant of the dynasty. Xu Jie's native place was Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, which was also one of the coastal counties. He should have some knowledge of sea trade.

He could see the way King Yu looked sideways and listened during the dinner today, so he believed that King Yu had already kept this in mind.

Although everyone at the banquet felt a little pessimistic about implementing this policy in the Jiajing Dynasty, wasn't there a future emperor sitting at the banquet?

As long as he can accept this suggestion, he may succeed if he tries it after he ascends the throne in the future.

Because Zhang Juzheng couldn't find it despite all his efforts, what harm would it do to develop commercial ships?

The forbidden sea directly banned a large number of Japanese pirates, which made the Ming Dynasty tired of defense. In this case, it is better to open it and try to see if more Japanese pirates will come.

You should know that anyone who is not biased or interested can see what the Japanese pirates were like on the coast before Emperor Jiajing banned the sea, and what they were like after the ban.

It is clear who is strong and who is weak. After tonight's discussion, Zhang Juzheng has realized that perhaps the only way to solve the Japanese problem is to impose a sea ban.

I don't know if Wei Guangde and the others didn't think of it or didn't dare to say it, but Zhang Juzheng noticed that when Wei Guangde talked about opening up the market, he only said that it could weaken the strength of Japanese pirates, but did not say that it could eliminate the hidden dangers of Japanese pirates.

Zhang Juzheng naturally didn't know why Wei Guangde used words like this, but Wei Guangde knew it very well.

The so-called Japanese pirates are actually pirates. They may rob passing ships at sea, and sometimes they may land and plunder. Is this a profession that can be eliminated?

The same rice feeds all kinds of people, and the technology of later generations is so advanced that pirates are still active on the world's busy shipping routes. It is said that hundreds of large and small ships are robbed by pirates every year, but they do not dare to easily land to commit crimes. , so their existence gradually became unknown.

But existence is existence.

In fact, in Wei Guangde's view, as long as the Japanese pirates in the Jiajing Dynasty can be weakened to the time when the previous emperors were in power, the existence of Japanese pirates can basically be ignored.

There are only a few major robberies in a year, and there are not as many cases as bandits and robbers.

But Zhang Juzheng didn't know this. He was still thinking about why Wei Guangde said this and not that.

However, in any case, the news of Fujian's defeat spread among the official circles in the capital, and the officials of the Ministry of War had no choice but to give up their rest and continue to stay in the Yamen to discuss what strategy to adopt.

Although Xiyuan did not urgently summon Da Sima, but what about tomorrow?

Tomorrow, Emperor Jiajing will definitely ask about this matter. No emperor will take a major case like rebellion lightly.

Therefore, they must come up with a charter tonight, otherwise it will appear that the Ministry of War is too inactive. The officials of the Ministry of War are all in the corpse position, and they might be caught and bitten by the mad dogs of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

While other officials were still having fun or reading at night, they were still discussing state affairs very hard.

It's a pity that they quickly searched through the surrounding albums and couldn't find many troops that could be recruited to participate in this battle against thieves.

Fujian has already been defeated once and must not continue to lose. This will bring disgrace to the court.

What should I do if I can't find a place to mobilize troops when I increase my troops?

Continue to expand the scope.

Soon, the atlas of the entire South was turned out, and they were looking for any army that could be mobilized.