A sudden voice sounded in the quiet Huangji Hall.
The shock of the ministers was interrupted.
The ministers followed the reputation and turned out to be Huang Yuting, the young minister of Taipu Temple.
Although the mutual market is under the management of the Tea and Horse Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs, since the main trade in the mutual market is horses, Taipusi, who is under the Ministry of War's horse herding policy, has a relatively clear understanding of the entire mutual market.
Bi Zi, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, said in a deep voice: "Sir Huang, what's the problem? But my calculation is wrong?"
Faced with Bi Ziyan's inquiry, Huang Yuting immediately handed him over and whispered: "Bi Shangshu, it's not that there is a problem with your calculations, but that there is a problem with the data said by the British minister.
The first one is the imperial court’s income. There were eleven mutual markets along the Great Wall defense line in the Ming Dynasty, and the annual tax revenue was less than 300,000 taels.
Even if the imperial court opened the door to Chinese merchants and allowed merchants to participate in the mutual trade, which reduced the court's consumption of tea and salt transportation, the average annual income from each mutual trade would be about 150,000 taels.
Your Ningyuan Mutual Market is... between 1.5 and 2.5 million. The difference between the two is between ten and eighteen times. It is really an exaggeration.
The second question is the number of caravans. According to the number of caravans entering each trade market over the years, Ningyuan has more caravans in half a month than other single trade markets in a year. If all the caravans from the Ming Dynasty go there, it is estimated that they can collect so many.
Even as Bi Shangshu just said, the prosperous age is coming, the Ming Dynasty is prosperous, and the number of merchants has increased,
But the caravans from Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Shaanxi and other places go more than three thousand miles to Ningyuan, and the round trip takes at least three to four months.
In other words, if you say that two hundred caravans trade every day, there will be at least six thousand caravans on the road. Is this possible?
Secondly, for such a long journey, the consumption on the road cannot be afforded. Even if it can be afforded, it will be included in the goods and let the people bear it. If the price has increased, can the people afford it?
Since he can't afford it, and he can't sell it, why would the businessman go to Ningyuan?
Without going to Ningyuan, how could there be so many caravans?
Without so many caravans, how could we collect so much business tax?
That's why the official felt that there was something wrong with this data. "
Listening to Huang Yuting's two questions, the officials all woke up from the shock of the two million silver income.
Indeed, the caravan is the main problem.
And more importantly, with the improvement of transportation, the price of goods has gone up, making it unaffordable for the people.
In the prosperous times, it was easier for people to earn money, but that was because wages had increased, and these had to be included in the commodities.
Overall, it's better than before, but not much better.
The number of caravans, their cost, and their affordability are three contradictory issues.
The British Duke frowned, but still explained aloud: "Sir Huang asked two questions, but in fact they were all about the number of caravans. The first question contains a misunderstanding, and the second question requires His Majesty's Holy Judgment!"
"My Lord, let me first talk about the first misunderstanding. Not all caravans need to go to Ningyuan City. For example, the caravans from Tongzhou only need to go to Ningyuan to trade and transport back to Tongzhou. This only takes six to seven hundred miles, which can take up to ten days. , as slow as half a month.
It will be convenient after arriving in Tongzhou, because Tongzhou is an important meeting point between the north and the south. The goods follow the canal all the way south to Linqing and Zhangqiu.
From the two places to Huai'an, and Huai'an to Yangzhou, there are countless docks on the canal, and the goods are scattered from here.
The caravans in each region are only responsible for hundreds or thousands of miles in a radius, which saves time and transportation consumption. In addition, the shipping volume is large, and the cost is reduced. "
"But, but, even so, after several turnovers, the price was two to three times, even six or seven times that of Ningyuan, and the people still can't afford it!"
Faced with Huang Yuting's rhetorical question, the British Duke sighed deeply. These people just wanted to eat minced meat and didn't understand business at all.
"You adults think so too, right?"
"The year before last, His Majesty asked you to clean the battlefield at Longjing Pass to let you experience the difficulty of the soldiers. Now it seems that we still have to let you work in the docks and fields for a month."
"Do you really think that the goods transported by the caravan are for ordinary people?"
"No, you are wrong. Those furs, medicinal materials, etc. are just a few taels of silver each.
For ordinary people who have this kind of money, it is better to buy some cotton cloth or to buy those nourishing ginseng and so on. It is better to buy hundreds of kilograms of rice to make them full.
Therefore, more than 99% of those goods are for the gentry and wealthy businessmen. What does it mean to them that they are more expensive? "
"Just like all of you, how many of you are from truly poor families?"
"It's cruel, but it's the truth."
The British Duke's calm words shocked most people.
"Don't feel sorry for the people. In this process, all parties are the beneficiaries.
The caravan's workshops need people, people's handicrafts are taken away, transportation requires people, the court collects customs duties and commercial taxes, and merchants make money.
Different divisions of labor will naturally lead to different earnings. As long as the court strengthens supervision and does not let businessmen overly exploit the people, it will definitely be much better than nothing. "
After saying this, the officials suddenly realized.
The officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs nodded repeatedly, their eyes twinkling, which really inspired them.
Seeing that the ministers had understood something, the British Duke continued: "Since the opening of the mutual market in the Ming Dynasty, it has been decided that the imperial court will be responsible for it, which means that transportation and other matters will be handled by the imperial court. In the middle and late stages, in order to alleviate the shortage of manpower, they opened up gave part to the businessmen.
But there is no difference between openness and no openness, because prices are still uniformly set by the imperial court. Have merchants made money?
I must have made money, but the effort was not proportional to the gain, because most of it was taken by the court.
Merchants transport 10% of the goods, 60% belongs to the merchants, and 40% goes to the court.
Over time, merchants took desperate measures and began smuggling, because as long as they avoided the court, the profits were too great. "
At this point, the British minister looked to Qiao Yunsheng, the Minister of Punishment: "Qiao Shangshu, you are in charge of the Ministry of Punishment. You know the criminal laws of the Ming Dynasty well. How should we deal with smuggling in the mutual market?"
"If you return to England, the "Da Ming Hui Dian" stipulates: Those who leave the country for private tea will be executed, and those who do not notice it at the pass will be sentenced to death;
Anyone who sells smuggled tea, lurks on the border, trades with the foreign barbarians, sells it secretly, and pays tribute to return the barbarian people, no matter how many pounds, even if they know the truth, they will leave their homes and teeth to protect themselves, and they will be sent to the army in the smoky ground! "
"is that useful?"
"No, it's not of much use!"
Listening to Qiao Yunsheng's answer, the British Duke sneered: "You are all in the court, so unless you have been to the mutual market in person, you naturally don't know the tricks inside.
But you must have heard about Wang Chengyin, the commander-in-chief of Xuanqian Prefecture, and the eight major locust merchants, right?
These are just found in the mutual market. How many fortresses are there in the defense line of the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty? Which fortress cannot be opened privately?
As long as they reach an agreement with the guard, is it difficult for a businessman to leave? "
