On the afternoon of August 5, the twelfth year of Tianwen (1543), a group of people originally planned to return to Junfu directly via the official road, but found that a grain transport team going to Hedong had requisitioned the official road. Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was visiting incognito privately, did not intend to reveal his identity and let the train team make way, so he took a detour south and passed the Xingjin Port of the Xingjin family.
"Wow, there are so many ships." Ginkgo looked at the busy port, her eyes suddenly lit up, "I don't know how many of them are transporting Jinping Candy."
Following Ginkgo's gaze, Imagawa Yoshimoto could not help but be surprised by the prosperity of the port. When Imagawa Yoshimoto first saw it 7 years ago, Xingjin Port was just a small, dilapidated military port - and it was burned down by Taiyuan Xuezhai as a cover-up. But now, it is already a large-scale giant port - naturally incomparable to the port of Sakai Town, but still vaguely half the size of Ishiyama Town Port.
More than a dozen piers stretch long piers into the deep blue waters of Suruga Bay. Merchant ships and cargo ships are parked beside the piers, and busy workers are racing against time to unload the goods from the ships and push them to the market on the shore. And the sea trade merchants who came and went rushed to the hotel near the port in groups. Looking further, the entire Xingjin Port is like a smoking pipe, constantly sucking in the ships with full sails, and then spitting them out one by one. On the sea outside Kotsu Port, two routes can be clearly seen - one running from west to east along the coast of Tokaido, and the other heading to Izu in the east. Looking further to the southwest, you can see another prosperous port-Ejiri Port. It is adjacent to Xingjin Port and is similar in size. It is also a commercial port that has been developed in recent years.
The reason why Suruga has such a prosperous maritime trade today is partly because of the Shimizu Navy and a large number of merchant ships that Imagawa Yoshimoto blackmailed from the Hojo family, and partly because of the laws that encourage maritime trade:
Article 24 of the "Kana Catalog": Shipping taxes at the ports of Suruga and Toe are abolished.
Article 26 of the "Kana Catalog": Ships in distress that drift to the shores of Suruga and Toe River must not be plundered, but must be returned to the ship's owner. If the owner of the ship is unknown, the wood on the ship should be donated as materials for destroying shrines, temples, and temples to build palaces.
Yes, this is the prosperity that a clever law can bring to the country and the people. The formulation and repair of the law must be paid attention to.
·
"Your Highness, why are you here?"
Just when Imagawa Yoshimoto was thinking seriously, he suddenly heard a call coming from his ear. Turning around, he saw that it was Anhara Tadayin, the head of the Anhara family, and Shohei Okitsu, the head of the Otsujin family.
Imagawa Yoshimoto naturally recognized the two of them. When the Hanakura Rebellion broke out, Imagawa Yoshimoto was desperate for a time. It was the two of them who accepted Taiyuan Xuezhai's persuasion, burned down the city, and followed Yoshimoto Imagawa with their whole family, and they became the earliest supporters of Yoshimoto Imagawa. How could Imagawa Yoshimoto forget this kindness?
Taiyuan Xuezhai himself comes from the Anhara family. His father is Anhara Masamori, the old head of the Anhara family. The current head, Anhara Tadayin, is Taiyuan Xuezhai's nephew. Taiyuan Xuezhai's mother is the daughter of Xingjin Zhengxin, the old head of the Xingjin family, and Xingjin Zhengping, the current head of the Xingjin family, is Taiyuan Xuezhai's cousin.
However, even with this support, the status of the Anhara family and the Kotsu family in the Imagawa family has never been high. Imagawa Yoshimoto may not have understood it before, but after talking with Asahina Taino, he still understood that this was Taiyuan Xuezai's attempt to avoid suspicion. He knew that he had a high position and monopoly in the Imagawa family, and was afraid of incurring criticism from others, so he did not dare to show any favoritism to his relatives, and he did not leave any heirs. I hope to treat the Imagawa family's position as head of the family from the standpoint of "I will not bring him alive, and I will not take him away after death", so as to dispel the suspicion of other retainers.
As a result, the Anhara family and the Kotsu family have naturally become neglected existences. The number of territories has not increased, and there are few opportunities to recruit them when they have the opportunity to gain military exploits. However, Taiyuan Xuezhai still trusted these two families in his heart, so he handed over the maritime trade, which was the lifeline of Suruga's economy, to the protection of these two families. The Kōtsu family is in charge of Kōtsu Port, while the Anhara family is in charge of Ejiri Port in the southwest. Although the Itami family is responsible for the daily operations of Ejiri Port, the security is in the hands of the Anhara family.
"Anfang Mamoru (Anwara Tadayin), Shimonoseki (Okitsu Shohei)." Imagawa Yoshimoto also greeted the two of them, "Are you here to patrol the port?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty the Governor, that's exactly what happened. I just finished inspecting Ejiri Port in the morning, and I'll come to Kotsu Port in the afternoon to have a look." Anhara Tadayin answered, cupping his hands to Imagawa Yoshimoto, "Your Highness the Governor must also be inspecting the territory, right? It's too hard. .”
"You are the ones who have worked hard." Imagawa Yoshimoto naturally knew that his rare private visit, which was just for fun, was incomparable to the two retainers who personally inspected the territory every day.
"It's not as hard as my uncle... How is your uncle lately?" Anhara Zhongyin was still thinking about Taiyuan Xue Zhai, so he took the initiative to ask: "The last time I saw my uncle was when I went to Imagawa Hall to attend the evaluation meeting during the Chinese New Year, and My uncle chatted for a while in the corridor. He used to send letters home from time to time, but since he became a housekeeper, he has never sent a letter home, and he has never returned home once. I am afraid he is too busy. Let’s make love…”
"An Fang, Master Xue Zhai has his own reasons, don't ask too much." Xingjin Zhengping obviously understood Taiyuan Xue Zhai's intention to avoid suspicion, and changed the topic with a smile.
"It's very good. Don't worry. Teacher, he eats so much every day, and he even goes to the Land of Love and Moon from time to time." Imagawa Yoshimoto felt a little sad in his heart, but he still squeezed out a smile, "He just I'm just too lazy to write, so don't worry about me."
·
On the way back to Imagawakan, Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly had another sudden thought:
"After the abolition of the shipping tax, the maritime trade between Suruga and Toe has become a hundred times more prosperous than before, and the income has been far higher than before. In this case, can I abolish the customs duty between Suruga and Toe, and allow merchants to travel freely and only need to pay business tax? ?」
"Abolish tariffs?" After hearing this suggestion, Sena Ujitoshi frowned slightly and began to admonish: "Your Highness, the policy of abolishing customs offices was enacted in Yuanjiang during the old master's period. At that time, it was because of Yuanjiang After years of war, it was finally calmed down. In order to restore its vitality, merchants were allowed to pass freely, but this was stopped after the vitality of the castle town was restored."
"Yes, land trade is no better than sea trade. In sea trade, basically all transactions occur near the port, and it is easy to collect taxes and audits. If it were a merchant traveling by land, you would have no idea where he had done business. It's so easy to falsify accounts, how do you pay taxes?" Yutaka Furuno also poured cold water on it.
"Hmm..." Imagawa Yoshimoto also backed down after being told by the two of them. He just roughly remembered that one of the policies left by Imagawa Yoshima was "abolition of customs offices", so he wanted to give it a try. He nodded slightly, intending to leave it at that, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Hayasaka Nao seemed to want to say something. However, Hayasaka Nao knew that she had no culture or ability, and had only been engaged in personal daily life and bodyguard work for Imagawa Yoshimoto, so she did not dare to interrupt in front of Sena Ujitoshi and Na Furuno Ujitaka.
"Koichiro, do you have any suggestions?" Imagawa Yoshimoto then looked at Hayasaka Nao.
"Don't dare." Hayasaka Nao shook her head after hearing this, "Do you have any suggestions..."
"It's clear, no matter what it is, I want to hear it." Imagawa Yoshimoto continued to encourage him kindly.
"Hmm... then I'll be brave." Hayasaka Nao hesitated for a moment, frowned, quickly glanced at Sena Jijun and Na Furunoji Yutaka, and then said in a low voice: "Actually, not all businessmen are so prosperous. , many small traders are hungry and hungry. Business is difficult to do in troubled times, so it is not easy to survive. I didn’t have much money to begin with, but after paying customs duties and business taxes, there was nothing left..."
"What you mean is..." Imagawa Yoshimoto thought for a moment, and then he understood what Hayasaka Nao said - he was thinking of the days when he was a small vendor without enough to eat, "If taxes are reduced, you can The territory has gathered many businessmen who are struggling to survive. Although the tax revenue is less, the population is more prosperous. When they get through the most difficult time and start to expand their business, we can not only rely on the prosperous business to absorb With a larger population, can we still collect taxes logically?"
"Your Highness Mingjian." Hayasaka Nao nodded gratefully.
"It's equivalent to the Imagawa family using part of the customs tax money to provide relief to these poor merchants. When they recover, they will naturally have no less tax revenue. Even if there are still tax evasion cases, as long as there are enough merchants in the territory and the business is prosperous enough , depending on your size, you can earn more than those families who pluck their hair from taxes." Sena Ujitoshi also understood the meaning of Hayasaka Nao and Imagawa Yoshimoto, "I think I might as well give it a try. Anyway, my family's current financial situation It is very good and can withstand His Highness’s trial and error.”
"It doesn't matter to me. I used to do business on my own. Even if there are strict tariffs and business taxes, there are thousands of ways to evade taxes." Najiro Furuno shrugged aside, "Just don't think of businessmen. Great, there is no business without treachery. Maybe after they get bigger, they will think of more ways to avoid paying taxes."
"It's okay, let's give it a try." Imagawa Yoshimoto had quite a sense of "I don't feel bad if I sell my land." "Add a law to abolish the customs tolls in Suruga and Toe. Go back and show it to the teacher, no. I don’t know whether he agrees or not.”
We provide you with the fastest update of "Crossing the Warring States Period: The Endless River" by the master Fuyao Weiying. In order that you can check the fastest update of this book next time, please be sure to save the bookmarks!
Chapter 245 Table of Contents (5) Free reading.
