Chapter 391 The C-character Scroll, King Front Kyogen (Part 2)

  Feng Ziying's words made Emperor Yonglong's heart suddenly clear, and he couldn't help shaking his hands with excitement. The problem that had troubled him for so long was immediately solved.

  For the imperial court, or for him and the officials in the court, one of the biggest problems is how to avoid the infamy of competing with the people for profit.

  No matter what kind of new tax, in everyone's opinion, it will undoubtedly increase the burden on the people.

For example, the salt tax, all the people eat salt, if you increase the tax, it will fall on everyone's head, for example, the tax inspectors sent by themselves set up taxes at the water and land checkpoints, and that will eventually be added to the goods, whether it is food This is true for things such as ironware, cloth, and dried fruit specialties.

  So this problem cannot be solved. Emperor Yonglong knew very well that the imperial court would always bear moral and moral pressure. If there was little trouble, someone would jump out and complain wildly, which would affect the advancement of the New Deal.

  But what Feng Ziying mentioned just now solved this problem perfectly.

  Yes, when silk, porcelain and tea are exported overseas, new customs taxes are added. That is also the business of those barbarians overseas, and has nothing to do with the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

  The same things that were imported from overseas to the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Central Plains Shangguo of the Great Zhou Dynasty, what is there?

   There are needs, such as the spices, big wood, copper, and silver mentioned by Feng Ziying just now, are they affordable by ordinary people?

   Spices and big wood, except those rich merchants and officials, who can afford it for ordinary people?

   In addition to the needs of the imperial household department for copper and silver, only those private minters dared to buy them.

  These smuggling activities were originally intended to be severely investigated and arrested by the imperial court, and ordinary people dare not even touch them.

  Seeing that Emperor Yonglong couldn't help standing up and walking around before returning to the throne, Feng Ziying watched his eyes, nose, nose and heart, sitting still and turning a blind eye.

  He knew very well how significant the release of this shackle was to Emperor Yonglong, who was determined to win the reputation of Shilin among the people.

  Emperor Yonglong also realized that he had lost his composure, but when he saw Feng Ziying sitting upright like a Bodhisattva with closed eyes, he felt relieved.

  This son really has the style of a general. No wonder Zhang Jingqiu and Chai Ke have praised this son, and Qi Yongtai and Qiao Yingjia are also proud of this son.

   "What Feng Qing said is very true. He doesn't compete with the people for profit, but merchants, as the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty, should indeed serve the court, which is very much in line with my wishes." Emperor Yonglong said with a satisfied smile.

  After solving this problem, what remains is the income from the establishment of the Shibo Company and the most important issue of borrowing as collateral.

If the problem of competing for profits with the people is solved, the issue of quality is the primary issue, then the annual income of the Shibo Department and the amount of debts borrowed from businessmen in the future will be a matter of quantity. If the amount is too small, such as two to three hundred thousand taels, or even three 500,000 taels, then the weight of meaning will be much lighter.

"Feng Qing, in your opinion, how should the establishment of a shipping department be done, for example, should there be only one location or three or five locations? In addition, does Feng Qing have an assessment of the annual income of this shipping company?" Yong Long Emperor stared at Feng Ziying with burning eyes.

"Reporting to the emperor, this kind of assessment can only be obtained by conducting a survey of the sea trade in the entire coastal area first, but looking at the sea trade situation in Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Southern Zhili, I think it will not be too bad." Feng Ziying didn't dare to jump to conclusions lightly, if she said something too outrageous, it would really damage her reputation.

  Emperor Yonglong was a little disappointed.

  He also knew that he was a little eager for success. It was too difficult for the other party to suddenly ask the other party to come up with a specific amount for such a matter that had no foundation, but he was really not reconciled.

   "Can Feng Qing make a general assessment, that is, the private conversation between me and Feng Qing, no outsiders need to know."

  Feng Ziying was also taken aback, this treatment is not low, this remark does not appeal to the ears of the three people, it can be called a long encounter, and the other party's heart cannot be chilled.

After thinking for a while, Feng Ziying said seriously: "Your Majesty, I really dare not make light judgments, especially since the income from the sea tax is uncertain every year, but I think that if I am the first to receive the franchise fee, it can be used as a reward." A rough estimate."

   "Oh?" Emperor Yonglong was disappointed at first, and then his eyes lit up again, "Feng Qing said quickly."

At this time, he remembered that the sea tax and franchise fee were also mentioned in the memorial to Chai Ke, and he also gave a simple explanation. The franchise fee is a one-time fee that merchants who want to engage in maritime trade have to pay to the court, which is equivalent to obtaining Without the threshold qualification, others are not allowed to participate in maritime trade.

"Weichen has a rough idea. Given that the maritime trade in Fujian and Zhejiang is well developed, the maritime trade licenses can be issued according to the scale of large, medium and small. The third class is 20,000 taels, and it is allowed to engage in maritime trade for a limit of ten years. ... Fujian Province can issue three to five first-class licenses, five to ten second-class licenses, ten to twenty third-class licenses, ..., the same reason Zhejiang, Nanzhi, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Shandong can also be appropriately reduced according to these specifications,…”

"...The number of such licenses is only a preliminary estimate of the Minister. In actual operation, it can be appropriately reduced. Wait until the maritime trade develops in the next year or two, and then increase appropriately. ... In addition, these licenses are also available within the license period. Negotiable,…”

Seeing the ecstasy on Emperor Yonglong's face, Feng Ziying couldn't bear to discourage the other party's enthusiasm, but lowered her eyelids and said: "But if this kind of charter is really to be accepted by maritime merchants, the imperial court also needs to do it. Some measures, . . . "

   "Oh?" Emperor Yonglong finally calmed down, he also thought that there is such a good thing in the world, these merchants are not fools, how can the imperial court introduce such a system and obey it, and obediently offer money? "Feng Qing, tell me."

"First, the number of licenses needs to be controlled. If it is to be increased, it must be approved by the merchants who have already obtained the licenses. There must be a negotiation mechanism. Otherwise, the imperial court will issue ten licenses this year and one hundred licenses next year. The charter would be meaningless and worthless, . . . "

  Emperor Yonglong nodded. This is indeed reasonable. If the imperial court acts like this, it will be no different from robbing and cheating.

"Secondly, the local government should be ordered to strictly investigate the smuggling behavior that did not obtain the license and did not enter the market to pay the customs tax, and even record it in the assessment of local officials by the Ministry of Officials and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Severe penalties must be imposed, otherwise, if the smugglers are the same as the marine merchants who have obtained chartered licenses to enter Hong Kong and pay taxes according to the law, then this system will lose its meaning.”

  Emperor Yonglong also nodded, which is what it should mean. If the smuggling is not strictly cracked down, and those smugglers will not enter the port to pay taxes to the Shipping Department, then where does the sea tax come from?

"Thirdly, the imperial court must form a navy fleet. On the one hand, it must deter Japanese pirates, and on the other hand, it must **** the normal maritime trade of maritime merchants. You can't just collect money and ignore everything else. Not only will the prestige of the court be wiped out, but it will also greatly dampen the enthusiasm of maritime merchants,..."

  Feng Ziying's eloquent talk also made Emperor Yonglong both happy and satisfied but also a little shocked.

This is not what Chai Ke mentioned in the memorial, but it should be Feng Ziying's way of thinking. Although everyone sat together and discussed carefully, they might come up with such clauses in the end, but Feng Ziying can consider this. Thoughtful, it means that the person has considered this issue for a long time.

   "Feng Qing, you have considered it very carefully, but I am afraid that you need to be cautious when building a naval fleet..." Emperor Yonglong pondered for a while, "Are you worried about Japanese pirates and pirates destroying these maritime merchant fleets?"

"Your majesty, you should be clear that those smugglers are more or less related to those Japanese pirates. If the court introduces such a strategy, their interests will definitely be damaged. Naturally, they will not give up so easily. It is inevitable It is necessary to make insidious tricks. Of course, some smugglers may consider the long-term and are willing to turn darkness into light and accept the regulation of the court. After all, this can avoid many unexpected risks, but there must be some people who are used to this bad habit and are unwilling. If you change your ways and return to the right, then the imperial court must adopt a countermeasure,..."

  Emperor Yonglong frowned.

It is not a simple matter to build a navy fleet. The imperial court originally had a navy, but they were basically accepted from the pre-Ming Dynasty. They were stationed scattered in various places, such as Dengzhou, Laizhou, Ningbo, Guangzhou, etc. The land is basically to guard the port, and it is not a climate.

  The navy fleet mentioned by Feng Ziying is obviously aimed at going out to sea to fight Japanese pirates and pirates. The scale and cost are difficult to control.

"Furthermore, Your Majesty, the Jurchens are aggressive now, not only putting a lot of pressure on Liaodong Town, but also directly threatening North Korea. Once North Korea is forced to surrender to the Jurchens, our situation in Liaodong will deteriorate further, especially in western Liaoning. After the predicament, if we want to keep Liaodong, I am afraid that we will urgently need to become a decisive force in the naval fleet,..."

Feng Ziying observed the expression of Emperor Yonglong, but it was obvious that Emperor Yonglong had no concept of this point of view, or the transport force of the navy fleet and the mobile strike effect of the landing operation. He was just thinking about how much it might cost. Feng Ziying also sighed secretly.

This big week has basically continued the strategic thinking mode of the former Ming Dynasty, and has no awareness of the changes in transport capacity and maneuverability brought about by changes in ocean transportation modes. Of course, this may have a lot to do with the long-standing sea ban. I am afraid this step will have to be done. Go slowly.

"Feng Qing, I know about this matter, um, then what else do you have to say about Kaihai's debt?" Emperor Yonglong still had something to say, and he was unwilling to discourage the other party's enthusiasm on what he regarded as trivial issues, so asked around the topic.

"Your majesty may also know that many people don't accept the issue of opening the sea and raising debts. Apart from the reasons mentioned by the minister, the issue of how to spend the proceeds of the debts will probably cause a lot of trouble. dispute,…"

  (end of this chapter)