Chapter 408 407 Killing Three Birds with One Stone

"Industrial and commercial development can absorb refugees, which is a good policy. Collecting taxes from factories and workshops, and you are collecting customs duties at the Shibosi, can you really get so much? One million taels?"

Prince Yu finally couldn't help but interrupt and asked.

No wonder Prince Yu doubted that opening the Shibosi could earn one million taels of silver. It was really related to the current Shibosi system.

The current Shibosi actually inherited the model since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, and it has not changed much.

In the sixth year of Xianqing of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, the Shiboshi was established in Guangzhou to manage foreign trade by sea. Special officials were appointed to serve. Their main responsibilities were to manage the ships coming to trade, purchase a certain number of imported goods on behalf of the court, manage the items that merchants paid tribute to the emperor, and supervise and manage the Shibo trade and draw points.

The subsequent Song, Yuan and even the current Ming Dynasty generally had these responsibilities, but only increased or reduced Shibo ports.

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

For example, in the Ming Dynasty, because of the implementation of the maritime ban policy, only tribute trade was carried out, so the Shibosi also undertook the duties of welcoming foreign envoys, verifying the authenticity of the certificates, and prohibiting civilians from going out to sea.

In other words, the Shibosi in ancient times not only assumed the functions of the customs, but also assumed some diplomatic powers, responsible for welcoming and seeing off overseas envoys.

Among them, the diplomatic function was heavier, while the customs function was smaller, or because of some private behaviors of Shibosi officials, a large amount of tariffs that should have been collected by the court were lost.

In fact, such things are not uncommon, and the major banknotes also have similar problems, but because the annual tariffs paid remain stable and there are ministers in the court to maintain them, the court did not pursue them.

After all, people with official status, who don’t have family or fellow merchants who know each other, more or less have lent their name cards to people for convenience.

Wei Guangde did not dare to explain the tricks too much, and could only say in a more tactful way: "The benefits should be huge, otherwise why would it attract Japanese pirates.

People overseas like Chinese products very much. Since the Tang Dynasty, merchants from Southeast Asia and Persia have been coming in an endless stream. They are willing to travel across the ocean without fear of the risks involved.

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

Wei Guangde certainly could not answer the question of how much the Ming Dynasty's goods could be sold for in Europe at this time, but he could make a simple judgment.

That is, merchants will not get up early without profit. Since they have traveled thousands of miles to come, it naturally represents huge benefits. That is, after deducting the purchase cost, transportation cost and necessary losses, this business trip still has a huge profit.

Wei Guangde didn't know whether there were any counterfeit Ming Dynasty products in Europe at that time, but it didn't matter. As long as the merchants were willing to come, it would be fine. Whether the merchants offset the increased taxes by reducing costs or raising prices to cover them had nothing to do with him.

In his impression, it was a recognized fact that a large amount of silver from the world flowed into China during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Such results could be achieved during this period when the maritime transportation technology was not perfect, which showed that the competitiveness of Ming Dynasty products in the international market was invincible, and Ming Dynasty products would definitely not worry about sales.

"Although I don't know how much profit there is, I have heard that the barbarians come to the vicinity of my Ming Dynasty every year to buy my Ming Dynasty products. These barbarians even directly purchase the looted Ming Dynasty products from the Japanese pirates. This is actually one of the important reasons why the Japanese pirates are repeatedly banned."

Zhang Juzheng spoke at this time. He was from Huguang, so he was naturally not as familiar with maritime trade as those people in the coastal provinces, but he also heard some from hearsay.

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

"So, if the Maritime Customs is opened, and the foreigners can directly purchase Ming goods from the Maritime Customs, at least they can be prevented from trading with the Japanese pirates."

Yin Shizhen reminded that for the Japanese pirates who are looking for money, what is the point of robbing them if they can't turn them into cash?

"At the beginning of the opening, tariffs can be temporarily exempted, or in other words, they can be exempted temporarily. At the same time, the foreigners who have connections with the Japanese pirates are firmly refused to enter the port to trade. Earning money for the court is one aspect, and at the same time, we must not be soft in cracking down on and weakening the Japanese pirates."

Wei Guangde continued.

"I understand what you mean. If the Maritime Customs is opened, merchants among the foreigners will be allowed to participate in the transaction. The inspection will no longer be required. On the one hand, the court will trade the in-kind taxes collected in Jiangnan and convert them into silver. On the other hand, it can also collect taxes from them. Does that mean that merchants from our dynasty are also allowed to participate in it. Do they also need to be taxed?

Forget it, let's collect taxes. Since they are also profitable, it doesn't matter if they collect some taxes. However, from what you mean, opening the Maritime Customs seems to be very beneficial to combating Japanese pirates."

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

At this moment, the scale in Prince Yu's heart has tilted. Although he knows that the petition to open the Maritime Customs will most likely not be passed when Emperor Jiajing is in power, the benefits of opening the Maritime Customs are obvious.

The products of the Ming Dynasty are sold overseas through the Maritime Customs. Those workshops will inevitably expand production, which requires recruiting workers. The refugees in Jiangnan caused by Hu Zongxian's additional levies will have a place to settle.

The court can use the Maritime Customs to dispose of the accumulated goods in the official warehouse and turn them into silver and money for use. This is also a very important good policy. At least it can alleviate the dilemma of the court's financial tension.

Moreover, according to Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng, after the opening of the Maritime Customs, it can prevent foreign merchants from doing business with Japanese pirates. People along the coast have a way to make a living through sea trade, and they don't have to join the Japanese pirates to make a living. In the long run, the number of Japanese pirates will decrease, and the Japanese problem can be fundamentally solved.

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

At this time, what the others in the room don't know is that in the heart of the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Prince Yu, he has made up his mind to tentatively open the Maritime Customs after he takes power.

After all, it is a business that has been banned for more than a hundred years. Prince Yu doesn't dare to abolish the sea ban on a large scale as soon as he comes to power. He will choose a Maritime Customs Office to try it out and see what the effect will be after it is released.

Lifting the maritime ban, judging from what we have heard so far, will undoubtedly bring many benefits, but since the court has not lifted it, it means that there must be harms that they are not aware of.

Prince Yu thought so, and he also planned to ask Gao Gong if he had the chance to see what Mr. Gao's attitude towards the maritime ban and the maritime trade was.

This is not to say that Prince Yu does not trust Wei Guangde, Yin Shizhan and others, but because Gao Gong has always been his support. In Prince Yu's view, Gao Gong is a peerless national talent, and his talent and ability are second to none in the court. As long as he does not object, then it can be implemented.

Besides, according to the news from Xiyuan, Emperor Jiajing is in his prime, and it is unknown when it will be his turn to be the master. There is really no need to rush this matter.

Wei Guangde, Yin Shizhan and Zhang Juzheng were discussing one by one, and Prince Yu sat on the side, occasionally inserting a sentence, and the atmosphere was quite warm.

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

Seeing that everyone was in high spirits chatting, Prince Yu whispered.

Just as Li Fang bowed his head and agreed to turn around and leave, Prince Yu called him back, "Bring out a few jars of good wine from the cellar in the backyard."

Prince Yu was absolutely generous to the people in the palace, and often held dinners to invite them to stay.

Prince Yu thought that Wei Guangde's proposal to open the port market today was very interesting, so he held a banquet again. During the banquet, everyone had more time to talk, and he could also listen to the ideas of these lecturers.

Yin Shizan, Wei Guangde and others didn't care about Prince Yu's actions. It was not the first time they encountered such a situation, and the three of them were in high spirits and didn't want to leave.

However, there is no banquet that will not end. After the banquet at Prince Yu's mansion ended, the three of them got on their respective carriages and sedan chairs with the help of the eunuchs.

Wei Guangde and Yin Shizan were a little drunk at this time. After entering the carriage, they soon fell asleep. Although Zhang Juzheng was also a little drunk, he tried to stay sober.

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

In the past, when thinking about solving the numerous difficulties faced by the country, most of them looked for a good solution from themselves, and one of the sources he found now is to reform the tax system that has been implemented for a hundred years, especially those in-kind taxes.

In fact, when Zhang Juzheng was in Huguang, he had already noticed that the in-kind items received in the official warehouse were all taxes collected in the form of draws, but they were idle in the official warehouse for a long time and difficult to cash in.

Therefore, he had the idea of ​​cashing in all the in-kind taxes and services of the court except for grain, silk and other in-kind items. Only in this way can the resources that the court can call on be effectively utilized.

Reforming the tax system is to reduce the burden on the people, and the in-kind taxes and services are to integrate the court's resources so that the court has more fiscal revenue to use, rather than being wasted in the official warehouse.

At the same time, like Gao Gong, he believed that vigorously cracking down on corrupt officials could also save a lot of money, at least to get back the money that was embezzled by corrupt officials, which is a way to "save money".

Today, Wei Guangde's proposal to open the maritime trade seems to be a very meaningful "open source" strategy. It only requires the abolition of the so-called maritime ban, which can benefit the court and the people.

As mentioned at the banquet, shipyard workers in Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places will also benefit from it. Among the people who participated in the rebellion in Fujian this time, there are voices and shadows of boat people.

If the maritime trade is opened, the government will have to hire people to repair the port, repair ships and build ships, and load and unload goods. It can really increase the number of ways to resettle refugees.

It seems that I have to take time to visit the teacher's house tomorrow to see what the teacher's attitude is towards opening the maritime trade.

The teacher in Zhang Juzheng's mind is naturally Xu Jie, the second assistant of the current dynasty. Xu Jie's hometown is Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, which is also one of the coastal prefectures and counties. He should know something about maritime trade.

He saw the way Prince Yu listened sideways during the banquet today, so he believed that Prince Yu had kept this matter in mind.

Although everyone at the table was somewhat pessimistic about implementing this policy during the Jiajing period, wasn't there a future emperor sitting at the table?

As long as he could accept this suggestion, he could try it after ascending the throne in the future and it might be successful.

Because Zhang Juzheng couldn't find any harm in developing the maritime trade.

Banning the sea would directly ban a large number of Japanese pirates, making the Ming court exhausted in defense. In this case, it would be better to open it up and see if more Japanese pirates would come.

You know, anyone who is not prejudiced or has interests in the relationship can see what the Japanese pirates were like before the 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, lifting the sea ban is the only way to solve the Japanese problem.

I don't know whether Wei Guangde and his men didn't think of it or didn't dare to say it, but Zhang Juzheng noticed that when Wei Guangde said that opening the port city, he only said that it could weaken the strength of the Japanese pirates, but didn't say that it could eliminate the hidden dangers of the Japanese pirates.

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

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

The same rice feeds a hundred kinds of people. With such advanced technology in later generations, there are still pirates active on major busy routes in the world. It is said that hundreds of large and small ships are robbed by pirates every year, but they dare not easily land to commit crimes, so their existence is gradually unknown.

However, existence is existence.

In fact, in Wei Guangde's opinion, as long as the Japanese pirates in the Jiajing Dynasty can be weakened to the period of the previous emperors, the existence of the Japanese pirates can basically be ignored.

There are only a few major robbery cases in a year, and there are not as many cases as those committed by mountain bandits.

However, Zhang Juzheng didn't know this, and he was still thinking about why Wei Guangde said this and not that.

However, no matter what, the news of Fujian's defeat spread in the officialdom of the capital, and the officials of the Ministry of War had to give up their rest and continue to stay in the yamen to discuss what strategy to adopt.

Although Xiyuan did not urgently summon the Grand Marshal, what about tomorrow?

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

Therefore, they must come up with a charter tonight, otherwise it will appear that the Ministry of War is too inactive, and the officials of the Ministry of War are all charlatans, and if things go wrong, they will be caught and bitten by the mad dogs of the Censorate.

While other officials were still enjoying themselves or reading by lamplight at night, they were still discussing state affairs.

Unfortunately, they soon looked through the surrounding atlases and could not find many troops that could be recruited to participate in this war against bandits.

Fujian had already been defeated once, and it must not continue to lose, which would make the court lose face.

What should we do if we can't find a place to mobilize troops?

Continue to expand the scope.

Soon, the atlases of the entire south were turned out, and they were looking for any army that could be dispatched.