Chapter 750 Ming Dynasty comes to raise taxes
Ivan Paterson is a little confused. Among all the strange rumors about the Ming Emperor in the West, there are no rumors that the Ming Dynasty was particularly generous. It is natural for the Ming Emperor to ask for compensation for his help. What Ivan is confused about is, He didn't know what kind of payment he could make.
The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has already paid for Artemisia, an extraordinarily generous reward and friendly treatment. This friendly treatment is not just lip service but real. For example, after receiving friendly treatment, Russian merchants can obtain Ming products in Lisbon, even if they are Very tough.
The conflict between the Russian state and the Ottomans is not simply a war for the emperorship of the Eastern Roman Empire, but a huge struggle for interests. If the Russian state can obtain this emperorship and defeat the Ottomans, then they can start from the Black Sea and pass through the Black Sea. Strait, reaching the Mediterranean Sea.
The Black Sea Strait is the throat of the Russian state. In order to prevent the Ottomans from grabbing the throat of fate, war is inevitable.
Due to the conflict, the Russian state is unable to conduct maritime trade through the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
If Russia wants sea trade, there is actually another way, which is the Baltic Sea on the northern route. Merchant ships departing from St. Petersburg. As long as Denmark and Sweden agree, the ships of Russia can smoothly enter the Atlantic from the Baltic Sea, but Russia has to face difficulties in the north. The 'Baltic Wall', Sweden has set up many checkpoints in different places and levied heavy taxes.
This is what makes Ivan IV very angry. He clearly has a good port, but because his throat on the route is being manipulated, he cannot make any profits from sea trade. Conflicts are inevitable, but from beginning to end, these troubles have not been completely solved.
In the thirty-third year of Jiajing, the English adventurer Chancellor set out from London and arrived at the White Sea in the north of Russia from the northeast, arriving at the city of Arkhangelsk. Chancellor arrived in Moscow in the same year and met with Ivan IV, Ivan IV allowed Chancellor to trade freely in the Russian state.
In the thirty-fourth year of Jiajing, the Moscow Merchant Venture Associates Company in London was established. With the permission of the Queen of England, a Moscow company of 160 people was established. These London merchants transported goods from the Atlantic to the Russian state, and from the Russian The country took away honey, fish oil, furs, timber and a large amount of naval munitions.
The northern route was opened and has been operating stably for more than fifty years, and the route is fully mature.
Even if it is difficult, the Russian state can still profit from the treatment of friendly countries. Daming has already paid for Artemisia, and now Ivan Patterson asks Daming for help, and he must pay enough remuneration.
"I don't know what return I can bring to His Majesty." Ivan answered this question very honestly. He didn't know what Daming's needs were, but he hoped to get Daming's help.
"We should all be more down-to-earth and help for no reason, just like flowers in the moonlight in the mirror. I hope you can bring more crops like Artemisia to Daming." Zhu Yijun said about his conditions, more Useful crops.
There is no need to mention those long-term futures prematurely. The Ming Dynasty did not reopen the Western Regions. It is unnecessary to mention political and military cooperation prematurely. It is better to look at the land under your feet and let the people of the Ming Dynasty have enough to eat.
Zhu Yijun looked at Ivan's somewhat confused look and said, "Barley, wheat, oats, sugar beets, and pasture are all fine."
"Your great and wise Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, abundant resources and natural treasures. These Ming Dynasties have already existed." Ivan Paterson reminded His Majesty that these crops have already existed in the Ming Dynasty.
"I want to breed, you can bring it. I have my own uses, as long as I can bring a variety of seeds." Zhu Yijun answered this question. His goal must not only be good, but also good.
Zhu Yijun's request for these is not without purpose. Crop breeding is very important to the Ming Dynasty. For example, due to the emergence of water and fertilizer, fertilization has led to a reduction in wheat production. Because fertilization has caused the plants to be too tall, wind and rain have caused wheat fields to collapse on a large scale, resulting in a reduction in production. The Ming Dynasty needs to dwarf wheat. , increase the resistance of wheat to lodging.
Take beets for example. There are only one variety of beets in the Ming Dynasty, with small tubers and low sugar content. The Compendium of Materia Medica compiled by Li Shizhen identifies beets as a kind of medicinal herb. If beets with higher sugar content can be artificially bred, then beets with higher sugar content can be produced in the north. Get sugar at a lower price.
Those who sell laughter are not as good as those who sell medicine, and those who sell medicine are not as good as those who sell sugar. Selling sugar is a very profitable business, and even the profit of equal weight is only slightly less than that of opium. Sugar cane can be used to make sugar, but sugar beets cannot be made right now. , because the sugar content of tubers is too low.
The origin of sugar beets is Sweden on the Baltic Sea. There are various varieties of sugar beets in Russia. These sugar beets live in high latitudes and have strong cold resistance. The breeding of Ming Dynasty has been going on and has never stopped.
Zhu Yijun is obsessed with Baoqisi. This obsession is as deep-rooted as a person's need to have enough to eat.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Ivan Paterson has not read the theory of natural selection and the theory of anthropic selection. He does not have a deep understanding of the purpose of Ming Dynasty in wanting various seeds, but as long as Ming Dynasty needs them, it will be fine.
Ming's needs are really easy to meet. It's just some seeds. When burning, killing and looting, just bring some to His Majesty.
"Your Majesty, there is a kind of grass in my hometown called purple root grass. It is very strong and can grow vigorously no matter it is extremely hot or cold. It is not very difficult to pick the land. You can cut it once a year and harvest it every year. I wonder if Your Majesty needs it?" Ivan Paterson's eyes suddenly lit up, and he remembered something.
His serfs grew this stuff in large quantities just to feed the horses. Since it was grown everywhere, it naturally had some advantages.
"Oh? How is the yield?" Zhu Yijun said with great interest. He keenly grasped the key information. This thing called purple root grass is not picky.
The Ming Dynasty planted a lot of pasture in Suiyuan, but the loess on the high loess slopes was very barren. It was difficult to plant many pastures on trial. Even grass that can be grown in some saline-alkali lands had difficulty growing on the loess and was bare. The high loess slopes are not only caused by deforestation due to human activities.
The more forage, the more trials.
Regardless of the land, this is excellent news for the Ming Dynasty. Only by planting grass first, and then slowly planting trees and restoring the vegetation on the high loess slopes can the Yellow River be completely controlled.
Pan Jixun, the governor of Suiyuan, said that water-reinforcement and sand flushing are only a temporary solution, while the fundamental solution is to control soil erosion in the Yellow River Basin.
"The yield depends on fertilization. Your Majesty, I can't tell you what the yield is. In short, the yield is very large." Ivan Paterson said with some embarrassment. The land was cultivated by serfs. Ivan Paterson Sen only knows that this kind of crop exists, but he doesn’t farm, so he doesn’t know the specific details.
"Bring it here." Zhu Yijun said solemnly: "For the sake of Artemisia, I can give you two hundred bird blunderbuss, twenty flat blunderbuss, twenty tiger squat cannons, and two thousand kilograms of gunpowder , enough for you to launch a palace coup and kill your political enemy Boris.”
"In a palace coup, the more people there are, the greater the possibility of exposure. The maximum number of people should not exceed 800."
Eight hundred is a number that history has proven time and again. If there are more than eight hundred people, it is not a scale that one person can directly command. A palace coup is not about Zhu Di conquering the country and plowing the country again. It does not require so many people. It only needs to kill Boris. , invite the king out, and those who are loyal to the king will naturally gather under the king's flag.
For example, the change of seizing the door.
Zhu Yijun and Ivan Pedersen chatted for a long time, and Ivan Pedersen left Guanlong Pavilion.
In fact, the contradiction in the country of Russia is very easy to understand. It is the contradiction between the new military aristocracy and the boyars (big aristocrats). The old aristocracy is not willing to lose their interests and power, while the new military aristocracy hopes to gain more. interests.
The Battle of Morodi broke out in the sixth year of Longqing. Ivan IV even lost the capital Moscow. The Ottomans burned Moscow to the ground. In order to take revenge, Ivan IV could only use more capable Cossacks to fight more. Much of the benefits were allocated to the army. This contradiction was not properly resolved while Ivan IV was still alive, leaving great hidden dangers.
This conflict is a life-and-death struggle that can only be ended by killing the other party completely.
If Ivan kills Boris, can the king successfully take power? After new nobles like Ivan kill the old nobles like Boyars, they will become boyars and continue to antagonize the king.
This king is still the puppet on strings. Zhu Yijun does not intend to interfere deeply in the internal affairs of the Russian state. He pays Ivan to bring more seeds to facilitate the breeding and cultivation of new crops in the Ming Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, the Great Situ and the Young Situ have arrived." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty that there are still ministers who need to be received.
"Xuan."
"I pay homage to Your Majesty. Your Majesty pays you your respects." Wang Guangguang and Zhang Xueyan bowed their heads in greeting. Naturally, they had important things to talk about when they came this time.
"Sit down." Zhu Yijun took out a memorial from his sleeve and said solemnly: "The Ministry of Revenue's opinion is to increase tariffs? Is it to retaliate against Spain?"
Pedro Fernandez, the special envoy of Felipe II, hoped to trade the market for technology on the conditions of reducing the quantity of silver in galleons, increasing tariffs, and banning Ming cotton from entering Spain. After being directly rejected by the Ming emperor, Pedro proposed The idea of replacing prisoners with another person is currently in favor of the majority of cabinet votes.
After all, losing a huge market would be detrimental to Ming Dynasty's great cause of opening up the sea.
If Spain does not impose tariffs, Ming Dynasty will impose them! Also the province of Spain called.
"It is a general increase in tariffs, not reciprocal retaliation against Spain. Regardless of whether Spain wants to increase taxes on the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty has its own pace." Wang Guoguang hurriedly explained: "The envoy from Taixi this time is not caused by the Ministry of Household Affairs. The main reason for the ministerial meeting is of course this part of the reason.”
"The increase of the 6% tariff to 13% is for the long-term stability of the Ming Dynasty."
The Ming Dynasty already had a comprehensive understanding of Spain's so-called empire on which the sun never sets. It occupied some ports and the colonies that mainly focused on robbery were not considered to be solid counties. At most, they could be regarded as places of control. If the definition is slightly loosened, Lower, the Ming Dynasty is also an empire on which the sun never sets. After all, Antonio is indeed the king canonized by the Ming Dynasty.
The decision-making of the Sun Never Sets Empire had a little weight on the decisions of the Ming Dynasty, but it was not high.
The Ming Dynasty was great again and had its own pace. Instead of waiting for the West to come up with the problem, the Ming Dynasty did the problem. The Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Kingdom of the current world, and it is the world's science and technology center, cultural center, economic center and trade center.
Zhang Xueyan took out a list and said very solemnly: "Your Majesty, this tax increase is a general tax increase. It is an increase in taxes on commodities that Ming Dynasty has achieved a monopoly on. Currently, ironware, cotton cloth, tea, and porcelain are the four Taxes on all major items will be increased to 13%, and on some luxury items, such as silk, jewelry, jade, etc., the tax will be increased to 30%. This is the decision of the Ministry of Household Affairs.”
"Correspondingly, tax reductions will be implemented on imported grains, fish oil, sugar, copper materials, wood, etc. These raw materials are in great demand during the Ming Dynasty. The tax rate is reduced from 6% to 3%. The imported grains will even be reduced to zero to prevent the Ming Dynasty's food Insufficiency leads to various turbulent problems. ”
Zhang Xueyan explained in detail the policy details of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. It does not mean to directly raise the tariffs all at once, but to increase and decrease them. It will generally reduce taxes on precious metals and grains needed by the Ming Dynasty, encourage imports, and have an exclusive monopoly on the Ming Dynasty. status of goods, increase tariffs to increase profits.
"Your Majesty, in order to encourage the Ming Dynasty to go to sea, the tariffs were set too low." Wang Guoguang emphasized again that the Ming Dynasty did not distinguish between high and low. All goods were priced at 6%, which is a 6% tariff, which is extremely low. Mainly The purpose is to expand the scale of maritime trade.
This tax increase is not so much a tax increase as it is the end of the policy of encouraging sea opening, and the fattened pigs will be slaughtered. Zhu Yijun opened the memorial and said: "The memorial is very clear, and I naturally understand it."
"In the fourteen years since the opening of the sea, various routes in Ming Dynasty have been developed and matured, and they have successfully occupied the market and achieved a dominant position. However, due to vicious competition, profits in the hinterland of Ming Dynasty have been lower than expected, so the tax increase is to reduce vicious competition. .”
"The Ming Dynasty is a tariff depression in the entire world. This low tariff is in line with the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty at that time. After all, the sea has been banned for almost two hundred years. The full opening of the sea needs encouragement. But now, the low tariff actually subsidizes the barbarians. The tax increase is in line with the current national conditions of the Ming Dynasty. ”
Low tariffs encourage the maturity of the foreign trade industrial chain and increase manufacturing. The manufacturing industry produces various goods and exports overseas, which actually stimulates foreign demand. The court's low tariffs mean that the money not received is actually given overseas, reducing the Reduce the purchasing costs of overseas consumers and stimulate the maturity of overseas markets.
The normalization of tariffs was to allow more goods to flow into the Ming Dynasty, reduce prices in competition, stimulate domestic demand, and increase domestic distribution. The Ministry of Revenue's memorial explained it very clearly.
"In fact, there is another reason for raising tariffs, and that is that there have been female workers in some iron smelting plants in the Ming Dynasty. The emergence of female workers in these labor-intensive types of work has shown that there are not enough craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty, and in the short term, it will be difficult to have more Big improvement." Wang Guangguang explained the logic in detail.
There is not enough industrial population.
The emergence of female workers in iron smelters and coal kilns means that the number of craftsmen is not enough to support the disorderly expansion of the manufacturing industry in the Ming Dynasty. Increase tariffs and limit the expansion speed of the manufacturing industry to prevent the handicraft manufacturing industry from absorbing too much of craftsmen, causing problems in agriculture.
"Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty occupies a dominant position in the overseas market. Increased tariffs and increased prices of goods will not affect the scale of exports." Wang Guoguang said very solemnly: "The Ming Dynasty needs the inflow of overseas silver to alleviate the Ming Dynasty's money shortage and increase the price of goods." Taxes on goods are mainly due to the dominance of commodity advantages.”
"What did Wang Cifu say? He is now the leader of the Labor Party. He must fully consider the opinions of the Labor Party and not harm the collective interests of craftsmen just because of aggregation." Zhu Yijun agreed with the tax increase, but he also wanted to ask about the Labor Party's attitude. As the leader of the Labor Party, Wang Chonggu, It is necessary to consider the opinions of all parties.
Zhang Xueyan said with a very strange expression: "Wang Cifu said that some people always pretend to be confused while pretending to understand. All the goods on the merchant ships on the ocean come from the Ming Dynasty. It has reached this point and there is still vicious competition. What should be earned If you don’t make money and you keep making money that you shouldn’t make, it’s time to knock on these evildoers.”
The money that should be made is not being made. What we are talking about is that in maritime trade, prices are constantly and maliciously lowered. This is more obvious in the five major shipping companies. In order to seize the market, they will try their best to lower the prices for the foreigners because they can directly obtain silver.
Instead of earning money that should not be earned, it means that the Ming Dynasty was unwilling to give the Ming Dynasty craftsmen adequate labor remuneration, and the distribution was very small, but they tried their best to reduce labor costs to obtain profits.
The ghosts behind the door refer to the workshop owners and maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty who closed their doors and showed off their power in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, and were cruel internally and cruel externally.
"Tariff adjustment for various commodities was a tool used by the imperial court to adjust exports and industries. It is a good knife, but the knife of tariff adjustment cannot be abused." Zhu Yijun agreed with the Ministry of Revenue's idea, but how to use this knife? When formulating basic laws, there must be a reference condition, and they cannot be abused like the Ming Dynasty treasure notes during the Hongwu period.
"What your Majesty said makes sense. The Ministry of Revenue has also drafted a provisional charter and will make adjustments according to practice." Wang Guoguang took out a memorandum. Naturally, the Ministry of Household Council did not want this knife to be abused. Once abused, this tool will Complete failure means the loss of the power of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The Ministry of Household Affairs has lost the right to mint coins. Now the minting is firmly controlled by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry. The Ministry of Household Affairs can only pick up some leftovers to eat, which is to issue treasure banknotes overseas. This makes the Ministry of Household Affairs feel like it is stuck in its throat.
The design of the tariff adjustment standard is relatively simple. Generally speaking, if the goods account for more than 70% of the total world trade, the tax will be increased; if the goods account for less than 50% of the total trade, the tax will be reduced.
Less than 50% means that Ming Dynasty does not have a dominant advantage in this product, and tax reductions will increase competitiveness;
If it exceeds 70%, the product is considered to have a dominant advantage, and taxes will be increased to increase profits.
To estimate the total volume of world trade goods for a certain commodity, it is calculated based on the import and export data of five municipal shipping departments, four overseas government shipping departments, and Lisbon. If the two cities of London and Seville can be obtained, Local data will be more accurate.
Zhu Yijun and the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue talked carefully for a long time and decided on this tax increase.
"As for me, I'm just worried. If we don't care, there will be chaos. If we don't control it, we will die. If Ming Dynasty suddenly raises tariffs, I'm afraid our maritime merchants in Ming Dynasty will chatter endlessly again." Zhu Yijun talked about his worries, Ming Dynasty increased tariffs, and some people wanted to mourn again.
Zhang Xueyan said with great certainty: "Your Majesty, this is easy to handle. If they just talk about it, that's all. If they have to put it into practice and resist the imperial decree, it is actually easier to handle. They just don't guide private ships and all the goods , all in the Municipal Shipping Department, which will price and purchase them uniformly, and be transported to the sea by the five major ocean-going trading houses controlled by the Ming Dynasty. ”
"They went to the sea for adventure."
On that day, maritime merchants will recall the fear of being dominated by the maritime ban, and will know how to cherish the current open atmosphere.
Most of the Ming Dynasty officials were ultra-conservatives, and they didn’t really agree with some of the current decrees of the imperial court. Since some people wanted to disobey orders, they should just do it twice as hard. From opening the sea to eating alone during the Yongle period, it was completely Official ship and official camp.
Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said: "I still don't want to get to that point. In the next chapter, Wang Yi'e, Shen Shixing, Wang Jiaping and others will tell them that they must explain the key points to the maritime merchants and explain why they need to increase the number of ships. At the same time, shipping companies in various cities must negotiate the prices of various goods to ensure profits.”
In the 14th year of Wanli, the Ming Dynasty ended the 20-year low tariff and increased the tariff to 13%. Zhu Yijun originally thought that there would be objections like a raging wave, scolding the great and young Situ for recruiting sycophants, etc., and opposed the decree. .
However, Zhu Yijun did not receive a memorial against it, and there was no discussion even in the folk newspapers.
Shen Shixing summarized the opinions of various merchants in his memorial and told the emperor why there was no objection.
Even if it is increased to 13%, Ming Dynasty is still the tariff depression of the entire world. This is an indisputable fact.
The maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty were in the wind and waves all day long, and they were very clear about the tariffs of the major governor's offices in Western Europe.
These governor's palaces only have official tariffs, which are at least 30% or more. The bribes you have to give in private depend on your force value. If the force is not enough, it is 100% direct, and even the people and the ship will be robbed by you.
The Ming Emperor collected tariffs for fourteen years, and the navy expanded to 130,000 troops. The Ming Dynasty has yet to increase tariffs, which makes the maritime merchants feel worried. What kind of medicine is sold in this gourd by His Majesty the Emperor?
Many maritime merchants were unsure, thinking that the imperial court planned to fatten the pigs and slaughter them directly.
Dominant commodities have only been increased to 13%, and there are corresponding tax cuts on some raw materials. This is completely acceptable to maritime merchants. At least the emperor is prepared to continue to fish from the lake instead of eating alone. It’s not about directly killing pigs, which is good news.
In fact, the maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty were also in a dilemma. No one dared to take the lead in raising prices. Once they raised prices and their opponents did not raise prices, they would lose the market and lose in the competition. Therefore, they would rather Even when profits are low, we still need to maintain a good market share. We all want to raise prices, but no one dares to think of raising prices.
Now, the imperial court has come out to preside over the price negotiation, which has turned things around. The imperial court and the emperor are the guarantors of the price negotiation. Once someone violates the negotiated price, they will not give the emperor face and wait for him to suffer misfortune.
With the price increase, everyone will get higher profits.
"Hey, it was the Guangzhou Shipyard that was the first to build a copper-clad wood ship." Zhu Yijun looked at the model on the table and marveled.
The model in front of Zhu Yijun is a two-masted hydrofoil sailboat. The two masts have a main mast and an auxiliary mast to control the direction. It is also equipped with various sextants, compasses, quadrants, and indexes for navigation. These instruments are integrated on a workbench, as well as a wheel for controlling the tail rudder.
The most surprising thing about this hydrofoil sailboat is that it is made of copper-clad wood.
The technology of copper plywood boats is not the difficulty, but the implementation of supporting industries is the difficulty. Copper materials are mainly used to cast Wanli Tongbao, so copper-clad wood is very luxurious.
Longjiang Shipyard in Nanya, Songjiangfu Xingang Shipyard, and Fuzhou Shipyard are all working on it, but they have not been able to complete it due to various reasons. In Daming, copper was too expensive, and the cost of using copper-clad wooden ships was too high. It's so huge that the copper plywood is popular or not. Everyone knows it's good, but they're reluctant to make it.
In the end, Guangzhou Shipyard took the lead and is now capable of producing some small ships, such as hydrofoil sailboats, battleships, and two-masted cargo ships.
After Nanya received heavy investment from the Ming Emperor, good news came at the end of May. Nanya had built the largest winery in the entire Ming Dynasty, building a full industry chain from smoking, fermentation, brewing, brewing, steaming, barreling and cellaring. , has been successfully put into production, and it is expected that more than 2,000 barrels of wine will be brewed annually.
A large barrel weighs 1,700 kilograms, and Guojiao can produce 3.4 million kilograms a year. The sweet potato pulp is used to make caramel. Guojiao is brewed from the sweet potato dregs and sugarcane bagasse left over from making caramel. The spirit obtained after distillation is not delicious, but it has Very useful.
"This doesn't seem to be much." Zhu Yijun simply calculated that it is only two thousand tons. In future generations, it can only be regarded as a medium-sized wine company. Only wineries with an annual output of more than 50,000 tons can be called special. Large alcohol companies.
"Your Majesty, according to the Ministry of Revenue's calculations on the distribution of goods in Lisbon, Taixi only brews 3 million jins of wine in a whole year, and only one winery in the Ming Dynasty produced it." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty that these 3.4 million jins do not seem to be much. In the Ming Dynasty, it was equal to the output of the whole of Western Europe.
The distilled liquor production in the West is very easy to calculate. Currently, only the Netherlands has a complete distilled liquor industry in the West. Most of the annual production is used for trade, and only 20% is used by English and local merchant sailors.
Spirits are a necessity at sea. One unit of distilled alcohol must be mixed with two units of water to avoid getting sick.
Liquor used for navigation is usually twice distilled, with an alcohol concentration of more than 60%. It has no other taste except the wine, and all the flavor substances have been distilled; while the wine sold locally is usually single distilled. , the alcohol content is generally below 50%, retaining better flavor.
Nanya Longjiang Distillery only does secondary distillation.
"The Japanese army once again sent 30,000 troops to North Korea, led by Hideyoshi Hashiba." Zhu Yijun looked at the Tang newspaper in front of him and said with a solemn expression.
The place where the additional troops were added this time was in Incheon. After the navy came ashore, it deployed defenses in Incheon. Now there are 60,000 Japanese pirates deployed in Incheon.
(End of chapter)