When the news from Fujian reached Zhejiang, Wang Hao felt relieved. Lan
When the sea was opened to this extent, people died, lost their honors, and were imprisoned. But looking back, what did he, the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian, do?
He couldn't make the final decision on major events in Zhejiang, so he still relied on the emperor's decree. Wang Shouren took the lead in suppressing bandits in Fujian. He thought it would take some time, but as the time limit increased, the speed of Fujian's switch suddenly accelerated.
Wang Hao did not dare to relax at all, and personally took charge of it every day, arranging specific trade matters. Opening the sea is just a slogan. The emperor will not make particularly detailed arrangements on how to open the sea. This is a matter of implementation.
Fortunately, Zhejiang also has Wang Qiong who is very capable of execution.
In December of the 18th year of Hongzhi's reign, the Governor of Zhejiang and Fujian, together with the governments of Zhejiang and Fujian, as well as the shipping departments of Ningbo, Fuzhou and Quanzhou, jointly promulgated measures for the management of overseas trade.
specific.
For merchants within the Ming Dynasty who want to go to sea, they need to submit an application to the Municipal Shipping Department to go to sea. The content includes the type and quantity of the goods, the ship number, the names of all people on the ship, and the place where they want to go. Lan
After receiving the application, the Municipal Shipping Department must inspect the goods and personnel. The inspection of the goods is of course to avoid exporting some prohibited items, such as grain and horses, which are generally lacking in the Ming Dynasty.
In addition, the goods cannot contain people.
If it took a long time to open the sea and sell the people of Ming Dynasty as cattle and horses, then Zhu Houzhao would not be merciless and would kill people. Especially young girls are being sold.
The inspection of people on board is mainly to prevent some people who have committed crimes from fleeing overseas to avoid being pursued by the court.
】
After the inspection by the Municipal Shipping Department is completed, the tax will be levied according to the proportion of one in ten for fine colors (precious goods) and one out of fifteen for coarse colors (general goods), and then a public certificate will be issued. The popular understanding is a sea-going license.
This is for businessmen in this country.
This is half of the work of the Shipping Department, and the other half is for overseas businessmen. Lan
Wang Qiong carefully studied the shipping companies of the Song and Yuan dynasties, and then worked with Wang Hao to determine the three main procedures of reviewing the goods, extracting them, and issuing official certificates.
The so-called inspection of goods means that officials from the municipal shipping department are required to inspect the goods carried by incoming ships, as well as foreign personnel. They are not allowed to carry prohibited items without permission. If they are caught, there must be a way to deal with it. This is another piece of content that needs to be improved. ,
If the regulations are met, the tax will be deducted according to the same tax ratio.
After all is completed, a voucher will be issued, allowing you to enter Ningbo, Fuzhou, and Quanzhou for trade. But if you need to go beyond the scope of these three places, you need to continue to apply to the government and inform your destination.
If the application is not allowed, the opinions of the destination government must be sought. That is to say, this side agrees to release people and deliver goods, and the other side agrees to pick up people and goods, so that they are allowed to leave.
This article was reported to the palace, and Zhu Houzhao agreed for four reasons.
1. The so-called opening of the sea does not mean opening up all the places in the Ming Dynasty into a free market. This is a step-by-step process. Lan
2. For mainland businessmen, because most overseas goods are in these three places, people will gather, which will actually promote the prosperity of the port city.
Third, it is more convenient for Daming's current management capabilities to be limited to one place. Even if something happens, it will be a problem for one city and one place and will not spread too widely.
4. In the future, when businessmen at home and abroad feel that this article is too restrictive, they will naturally raise objections. At that time, we can provide reasons for adding more ports.
At the local level, it was Wang Qiong who proposed this point, and he was thinking about one thing, the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.
That is to say, other provinces will be resistant to such opening, so adding this article gives local officials most of the decision-making power. If you really feel that the entry of foreigners is not conducive to your management, then you can disagree.
In this way, Wang Qiong has turned things upside down in Zhejiang. It has nothing to do with provinces such as Jiangxi and Huguang, so they will not regard Wang Qiong as a thorn in their side or a thorn in their flesh.
With such an arrangement, there will definitely be various methods such as smuggling, smuggling, entrainment, hiding goods, etc. to avoid the court's taxes. Lan
Preventive and punitive measures have also been implemented in this area. For example, after your internal and external merchants have established contact, they will want to put aside the 'intermediary' of the Ming Dynasty government and find a place to trade secretly on their own, so that both parties can save taxes.
In response to this kind of thing, on the one hand, the Municipal Shipping Department will constantly trace whether the incoming goods have customs entry certificates. On the other hand, once found out, the person will be arrested and fined.
This article was changed by Zhu Houzhao.
The emperor wanted to arrest people not just his own people. If you violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, I don’t care which country you are from, you will be arrested and imprisoned.
Wang Hao and Wang Qiong read it and could only follow the rules.
Since ancient times, every powerful monarch has been somewhat domineering. In fact, the king of the world is very domineering. The values behind the word "Celestial Dynasty" are even more domineering, because it denies other countries and other countries in an unreasonable way. The Celestial Empire is the legality of equality.
Ningbo Shipping Company’s first batch of overseas goods came from the government. Lan
After the opening of the sea, Mei Kejia and Mei Ji can be legitimated and legalized, and the emperor can place them under Hangzhou Weaving with a single order.
Under the leadership of Mei Kejia, several large businessmen from many places in Zhejiang shipped goods to Ningbo, and then went through the procedures in accordance with the procedures stipulated by the Municipal Shipping Department to prepare for shipping.
For a time, there were thousands of sails in Ningbo Port, which made Wang Hao suddenly understand a problem.
"No wonder His Majesty asked Mei Ji and Shaofu to set up large shipbuilding workshops respectively."
When Wang Qiong saw this scene, he saw another problem, "Butang, according to this trend, Ningbo, Fuzhou and Quanzhou all need to expand their berths and build cities."
Because there are so many people and boats, the current facilities are definitely not enough.
And if outsiders are allowed to live outside the city at will, how can the government control them? He left whenever he wanted in the middle of the night and came whenever he wanted. Lan
Wang Hao thought it made sense. When he recommended Wang Qiong to the emperor, it was because he was a practical official. Now that he can plan these things in advance, it really shows that he is good at executing them.
"His Majesty has often said over the years that we need to give the people a means to make a living. The expansion of berths and the construction of cities require manpower. Zhejiang and Fujian are both lands with little land. Recruit more of these people so that the people can live in peace and the place can be well managed."
Wang Hao did not hesitate, "In that case, you and I will go to His Majesty to request money."
"good!"
December 26, the eighteenth year of Hongzhi.
It snowed heavily in the capital.
The red Forbidden City is mixed with the white first snow, and suddenly there is an indescribable beauty. Lan
There was a charcoal fire in the Qianqing Palace, and the emperor sat on the edge and read the report from Wang Hao, the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian.
The eighteenth year of Hongzhi is about to pass, and in a few days it will officially enter the era of Zhengde.
Before that, he was satisfied with being able to achieve this level of opening up the sea ban.
Although it's still a bit chaotic right now, that's always the case during periods of change.
As a time traveler, he can point a direction. But once the direction is set, how far it can go depends on execution. Officials of the Ming Dynasty had never done anything similar before, so it was impossible for them to be perfect.
Officials also need some time to accumulate experience and correct loopholes and mistakes in previous regulations.
This is a matter of the perfection stage. Lan
At this time, Zhu Houzhao summoned Han Ziren.
In the past few days, there has been a festive atmosphere in the palace, but the Qianqing Palace is still brightly lit. Han Ziren was called into the palace in the evening.
"I am here to see you, Your Majesty."
The emperor said to Liu Jin: "Bring a charcoal basin to Han Aiqing."
Han Ziren said he didn't dare.
But Zhu Houzhao did not care about these details, but asked: "Do you still remember that I said that Fusi in North Town is responsible for inquiring outside the country, while Fusi in South Town is responsible for inquiring inside the country?"
Han Ziren's heart moved, "Wei Chen remembers." Lan
"Now is the time." The emperor gave him a piece of paper with a plan on it. "When you go back, according to what is written on it, secretly establish an organization called the Military Intelligence Department. I will give you the initial personnel. They are all related to I have been playing with you for many years, and you will have to figure out how to select and train enough talents and place them where the court needs them."
Han Ziren thought to himself, isn't this also the emperor's minion? And it was established secretly.
"This matter is very important. I hope you have a clear mind."
Han Ziren did not dare to be careless, "Weichen understands! Weichen listened carefully to every word of His Majesty."
"Okay. The first task is that the imperial court has established municipal shipping departments in Ningbo, Fuzhou, and Quanzhou. It can be said with certainty that the scale of the municipal shipping departments in the three places will be expanded. The Ministry of Personnel is already selecting officials to dispatch in batches. I will The people who are ordered to be placed in Nanzhen Fusi are under your control. After arriving at the place, submit a status report to Nanzhen Fusi every year. I want to see it."
It's not that Zhu Houzhao doesn't distrust officials like Wang Hao, but in many cases, senior officials like them may not know about things at the lowest level.
"When the Jinyiwei was reorganized, many people told me that Beizhen Fusi had too much power. I don't know what you think. But in my opinion, the Ming Dynasty is a huge empire. No matter how powerful the Mongols are, I am not afraid, because they are An enemy on the surface. But I am worried about causing trouble to Xiao Qiang. Sometimes the foundation of the Ming Dynasty is dug up by our own people." Lan
Han Ziren understood, "Wei Chen has never felt that Nanzhen Fusi is unimportant. Whether it is important or not is not what Wei Chen considers. It is Wei Chen who should consider doing the things assigned by His Majesty well."
"Okay. You go down."
"Yes, Wei Chen is resigning."
When he was halfway there, Zhu Houzhao suddenly called him, "Wait a minute."
Han Ziren turned around and knelt down again.
"You are a person who has been famous for raising people. You should have read a lot of history. You can guess the emperor's thoughts more accurately than others. So, remember to pay more attention."
Han Ziren nodded naturally, but he didn't understand who the other people the emperor was referring to were. Lan
Never talk about the ministers in the court. Those people are better than him.
