It has to be said that Shen Yi, the Minister of Household Affairs, is still very qualified.
In particular, he looked at this matter from the perspective of a civil servant. Therefore, it was easy to deduce several points that would be easily debated at the court meeting.
The most critical thing is definitely whether it will lead to the rapid rise of the Mongolian tribe, thus threatening the safety of the Ming Dynasty.
But the emperor has already made this clear.
Since Mongolia is in a state of division, mutual trade is a catalyst to maintain their internal strife. If used well, peace can be achieved on the border without the need for troops.
What's more, the Ming Dynasty did not deliver supplies to Mongolia for nothing, but required them to exchange them for equally important supplies such as good horses, cattle, sheep, leather, etc.
Overall, the mutual market is actually beneficial to Ming Dynasty.
With this major premise, the rest is a matter of actual operation.
First, there is the issue of status in the mutual market.
The Ming Dynasty implemented a tribute system, which was an ancestral system established by Taizu. If a mutual market was to be opened, people would inevitably use the ancestral system as an excuse to oppose it.
Tuo Tuo Bu Hua, after all, is a descendant of the old Yuan Dynasty. His identity determines that he can at most live in peace with the Ming Dynasty, and it is impossible to surrender.
Otherwise, the appeal of the Golden Family in the grassland will be shaken.
Zhu Qiyu had already prepared for this, he said.
"Don't worry, Qing Shen, Tuotuo Buhua and I have reached a consensus on this. The object of this mutual trade is not Tuotuo Buhua's Khan Court, but the five major tribes under his account. These tribes will pay tribute in the form of In the name of starting trade with the Ming Dynasty."
Historically, when the imperial court wanted to implement policies, it was the shackles of ancestral system that could not be avoided.
Zhu Qiyu's move copied the Anda Feng Gong during the Longqing period.
In name, the Mongolian tribes surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and then the Ming Dynasty gave them materials. However, in fact, the Ming Dynasty had no control over them. The essence was mutual trade.
Tuotuo Buhua was limited to the status of the Golden Family and could not trade with the Ming Dynasty in this way.
However, the organizational peculiarity of the Mongolian tribe determines that as long as he agrees, this title process can be completed by his tribal leaders on his behalf.
In fact, this is not uncommon in the grasslands. The four tribes of Oara that were also under the leadership of Xian were nominally ministers of the Khan Court, but at the same time they paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty.
The key to this matter lies in whether Tuotuo Buhua turns a blind eye to the behavior of his tribe.
But now, he is the driving force behind it, so naturally this problem does not exist.
Chen Yi nodded and continued.
"So, then the next step is how to ensure the safety of the mutual market, how to ensure the royal court's tax revenue, and prohibit smuggling. If this can be solved, the mutual trade issue will truly have the capital to pass the court."
In the final analysis, the purpose of opening up mutual markets is to gain benefits from it.
The reason why the Ming Dynasty court was not interested in the mutual market was largely because, most of the time, the court lost money in the mutual market.
The Mongolian tribes are prone to plundering. When doing business, it is very likely that even people and materials will be robbed, and all the money lost will be lost.
The merchants couldn't make money, so the court naturally couldn't collect taxes.
In addition, after the opening of the mutual market, a large number of smugglers appeared. Behind them, there were often shadows of powerful people, which seriously affected the court's tax revenue in the mutual market.
As a result, the supplies fell into the hands of the Mongolian tribes, and the money fell into the hands of the powerful. The court, which maintained the mutual trade, was the least profitable.
Because these small profits will also bring about border friction and foreign infiltration, the gains outweigh the losses, so mutual markets cannot be opened.
Regarding Shen Yi's doubts, Zhu Qiyu said.
"The fundamental reason why this problem occurs is because the merchants who trade with each other do not have enough power to protect themselves."
"So this time for mutual trading, I will stipulate the time and place of mutual trading, twice a month. Initially, three mutual trading locations will be temporarily set up. The principle of selection is outside the city that is about fifty miles away from important towns such as Datong and Xuanfu."
"When the other party comes to trade with each other, they are not allowed to bring weapons, and they are not allowed to go within fifty miles of the border town, otherwise it will be regarded as an invasion."
"Our personnel participating in the mutual trade will dispatch a large army of officers and soldiers to protect them throughout the process. Once they find that the other party is carrying weapons without authorization, they will use beacon smoke to warn. The border troops in the surrounding important towns will receive the alarm and allow troops to be dispatched to eliminate them on the spot."
The emperor said it with murderous intent, but Chen Yi was used to it. After thinking for a moment, he nodded.
At a distance of fifty miles, the frontier cavalry could reach it in less than half a quarter of an hour at full speed.
Since the other party is plundering, even if it can succeed, it will be difficult to go far with a lot of supplies.
As long as the troops sent to protect the mutual market can survive for a short period of time, when the large group of troops arrives, the only ones who suffer will be the opponent who wants to plunder.
But in this case, I'm afraid it will easily lead to border conflicts.
But after tasting Emperor Pin's tough tone, Chen Yi felt that even if there was a real quarrel, the Emperor might not care too much.
These bandits just deserve to be beaten.
If the border troops were not afraid of causing war and really gave a hard lesson to the bandits who dared to come to trade and plunder, they would be honest.
Then, only the issue of smuggling remains.
This is the most stubborn cancer. If smuggling cannot be curbed, the impact on tax revenue will be secondary. The resulting border infiltration by foreigners is a major matter that needs to be taken seriously.
Faced with Shen Yi's question, Zhu Qiyu tilted his head and said mysteriously.
"Didn't Shen Qing just ask why I want the Imperial Store to stock up on so many supplies? This is the answer!"
Chen Yi opened his mouth and vaguely understood what the emperor meant.
A smile appeared on the corner of Zhu Qiyu's mouth and he said lightly.
"In this mutual trade, I do not plan to open it to private merchants. All transactions with the Mongolian tribes will be completed by the imperial store."
"Except for the imperial merchants, all private merchants who dare to step out of the border and trade with foreigners without authorization will be regarded as smugglers and severely punished!"
This is how he deals with smuggling.
Once the mutual market opened, a large number of smugglers emerged, simply because private merchants were dispersed and management was difficult.
Smugglers were mixed in with ordinary businessmen, making it difficult for the court to distinguish them.
So in this case, we simply maintain the status quo and still prohibit private transactions. Once the transaction is completed, it is completed by the official.
Without private trading channels, smuggling will naturally have nowhere to hide.
The yamen in the imperial court did not do business.
Because the court itself is in the position of supervising the market, if it is done personally, it is equivalent to supervising itself, which is not advisable.
Therefore, Zhu Qiyu finally set his sights on Huangdian.
The court does not do business, but the royal family can.
Although the emperor is the Son of Heaven, in name he is rich all over the world.
But in fact, the royal family and the court were two separate parts, and the only connection between them was the emperor himself.
The royal family is the emperor's royal family, and the imperial court is also the emperor's court. However, the royal family's property, the imperial store, is also subject to the supervision of the imperial court.
In the previous life, there were many examples of remonstrators in the imperial court impeaching the emperor for illegal things.
Therefore, it is most appropriate for the Huangdian to take charge of the mutual trade.
With the emperor in charge, the imperial store has enough capital and manpower, and it will not be as difficult to organize and have messy sources as ordinary businessmen.
As the emperor's private property, there is a Dongchang. In the imperial store, everything from manpower to goods can be traced to clear sources. It is almost no different from the official operation.
In this way, the smuggling behavior that exists in the mutual market can be prohibited to the greatest extent.
As for private smuggling outside the mutual market.
Since only imperial stores are allowed to participate in the mutual market, anyone who does not have this level of identity permission will be arrested directly if they dare to trade with foreigners.
Strict entry and exit systems will still be maintained at the border.
The most important thing is that the special status of Huangdian allows Dongchang and Jinyiwei to jointly supervise, preventing foreigners from infiltrating through the mutual market to the greatest extent. Even if they infiltrate into each other through the mutual market, it may not be possible. possible.
After hearing this, Chen Yi's heart dropped at first, and then he felt a little uneasy.
At this time, he was no longer worried about smuggling.
As the emperor said, the imperial shop is here to do this. Even if the mutual market is open, as long as the border army investigates strictly enough, smuggling will still be undetectable.
He originally thought that the emperor just wanted to get involved in the mutual market, but he didn't expect that this emperor had such a big appetite and wanted to monopolize everything.
There is no harm in this. The Imperial Store is the emperor's property, and it is definitely much easier to organize and manage than a large number of merchants of all kinds.
but……
As it related to his own interests, Shen Yi felt that he had to ask clearly no matter what, so he bit the bullet and Shen Shangshu tried his best to speak confidently.
"Your Majesty said that smuggling can indeed be curbed, but I have a question. Since the Imperial Store relies on the imperial court's mutual market policy, how should the proceeds be distributed?"
Zhu Qiyu looked at Chen Yi with a smile, blinked and said.
"Since it's a business, it's natural who pays and who gets the profit. Is it possible that Shen Qing wants to rob the emperor's shop of money?"
Seeing that Chen Yi's face turned dark and he was about to burst into anger, Zhu Qiyu stopped joking and said seriously.
"Shen Qing actually wants to ask whether the transactions conducted by the imperial store will be the same as private merchants paying commercial taxes in the previous mutual transactions, right?"
Don't you understand this...
Shen Shangshu said with a dark face.
"Your Majesty is clear."
Zhu Qiyu sat upright and looked at Shen Yi cautiously to show that he was not joking, he said.
"Don't worry, Qing Shen. Although the Imperial Store is a royal property, it is still under the control of the imperial court. Taxation is certain. I will not show favoritism just because it is a royal property."
"Not only that, as Shen Qing said, Huangdian's trade at the border, in a sense, relies on the imperial court's mutual trade policy."
"Therefore, my quasi-husbandry department has imposed heavy taxes on Huangdian's trade at the border."
Shen Yi asked tentatively: "The heavy tax your Majesty refers to..."
"Clothes, spices, jewelry and other items for daily use are taxed 10%."
"Grain, ironware, tea, and salt are four goods that are in short supply, and they are subject to eight taxes and one tax."
Shen Shangshu was a little dizzy.
If he remembered correctly, the normal commercial tax in the Ming Dynasty should be...
Thirty tax one?
