Chapter 752 The problem of the private market is not the private market itself
Zhang Juzheng believes that Felipe's method was successful because the industrial structure of the Ming Dynasty was like this after the Wanli opened the sea.
The Ming Dynasty is a practical example of the successful Thai-Western Trade Alliance framework.
The coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty are indeed wealthy, but this wealth belongs to the entire Ming Dynasty as a collective, not just to the coastal areas. That is why the imperial court has to build a road to Jiayuguan. This is the distribution led by the imperial court.
Due to convenient transportation, especially cheaper shipping, the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty have become the most prosperous places. Workshops will never be set up in places with inconvenient transportation, so if you want to get rich, build roads first .
Take cotton as an example. Shandong and Henan are both high-producing areas of cotton, while overseas raw material countries mainly come from the Mughal Kingdom. Cotton raw materials are gathered in Songjiang Prefecture, and cotton cloth is produced in Songjiang Prefecture's cotton spinning.
The craftsmen in these workshops come from all over the world, and the labor force is also provided by the hinterland. These cotton cloths are distributed to the hinterland and overseas to make profits, and wealth is gathered in coastal areas.
Guangxi provides more than 70% of sugar cane, and the production of maltose, brown sugar, and white sugar is mainly concentrated in Guangzhou Prefecture. The profits generated by the Guangzhou Prefecture Sugar Factory belong to the two provinces, not Guangzhou Prefecture.
The north provided a large amount of coal, alkali noodles, clay and other raw materials needed for production, and even provided the population needed for production. The wealth should belong to the collective of the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Juzheng The Discourse on Public and Private Affairs and the Distribution Volume have been described in detail.
The industrial structure of the Ming Dynasty is actually similar to the framework proposed by Felipe. Some places provide silver, some places provide workshops, some places provide craftsmen, and some places provide raw materials. Some places provided food, which eventually allowed Ming Dynasty to realize its absolute advantage in commodities.
Therefore, Zhang Juzheng is worried that if Felipe really succeeds, it will be a bit tricky.
But the Ottomans and England seemed not to want to see a united West-West, and Sweden and Poland directly rejected the Russian state, even if the Russian state could provide enough food.
This is good news for Ming Dynasty.
Gao Qiyu frowned and said solemnly: "The English way of thinking is always a bit unexpected. They would rather trade in the port secretly than withdraw their privateering license. , because it is more profitable, even if the capital is invaded by pirates, it still refuses to give up."
"Sir, I noticed a very strange phenomenon about sea trade."
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"Tell me carefully." Zhang Juzheng said seriously.
Sea trade is one of the economic cornerstones of Zhang Dang. Songjiang Prefecture transports four million shi of grain to Beijing every year. The general person in charge of maritime trade is Liang Menglong, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and the municipal shipping secretary, The governor's office and coastal defense officials were all controlled by Zhang Dang's officials.
The other cornerstone is Nongsang, which is the emperor's help to Zhang Dang. The real owner of Baoqi Division is the emperor himself, but most of the specific affairs officers are headed by Secretary Zheng Xu Zhenming, who is Zhang Dang. He was the emperor's agriculture teacher, and he had the title of Quan Chu Guild Hall.
Due to the complex composition of Zhang Party, it can no longer be called Zhang Party. It is more appropriate to call it the Reform Party.
The economic cornerstone of the Labor Party is official factories and large-scale construction.
"Sir, why is there smuggling? It would be fine if smuggling can avoid tariffs, but the tariffs in the private market are at least 30% or more." Gao Qiyu pointed out the phenomenon he observed. The taxes in the private market are higher, but still Some people choose the private market.
The reason why Gao Qiyu wants to say this is because Ming Dynasty is increasing taxes.
Whether increasing taxes will expand the scale of smuggling is an issue that must be considered. Once the tax increase arouses widespread resistance, the good situation that the Wanli Reform took fourteen years to establish will disappear. .
This is not allowed by His Majesty, and it is also unacceptable to the Reform Party in any case. Economic status determines political status. Once the economic status is lost, the Reform Party will completely lose its balance in the delicate court balance. Fall into disadvantage.
The scores in the private market are much higher than those in the official market, but smuggling is still common.
Gao Qiyu continued: "I have investigated many private market cases, and even personally wrote to inquire carefully. Tianjin Prefecture Private Market, Sanduao Private Market, and Miyan Port Private Market are the largest and most typical. The smuggled goods are generally Divided into white, red, black and blue. ”
White goods mainly refer to cotton. , and then gradually extended to bulk commodities, such as cotton, tea, iron and other bulk commodities; red goods are luxury goods, and luxury goods in the Ming Dynasty have a special luxury tax (Chapter 604), and it is extremely high; black goods are contraband , such as opium, external transportation of silver, raw silk, and population all fall within this scope.
Blue goods are armaments. Swords, guns, swords, halberds, axes, hooks and forks, firecrackers, artillery, and gunpowder are all blue goods. These goods must be purchased by armed merchant ships, and they are not purchased by the Municipal Shipping Department. For goods that are allowed to be traded, such as gunpowder, the price in the private market can be three to five times more expensive than the court price.
"According to common sense, red, black and blue should be the main smugglers. After all, red goods have high tax rates, black goods are illegal, and blue goods are decapitated." Gao Qiyu leaned forward and said: "Sir, the reality is not like this. The reality is that smuggling of white goods accounts for 90%, and only 10% is red, blue and black goods."
"The private market only relies on smuggling of red, blue and black goods. I can’t stand it.”
Even in the private market, bulk commodities are still bulk commodities. Even if the private market leaves the white goods, it will fall into an unsustainable situation. Black and blue goods are illegal in themselves, and fighting is as common as eating. , the owner of the private market must be the largest armed force in order to control the situation.
Gao Qiyu handed Zhang Juzheng a small ledger he had summarized. Zhang Juzheng flipped through it for a long time. Tianjin Prefecture, Sanduao, and Miyanggang Private Markets were major cases solved by the court, and they were to be brought to the Wenhua Palace. It is an important case discussed by the court, and the coastal defense patrols have uncovered more than 60 smaller-scale private markets.
The wildfires are endless, and the spring breeze blows again. The vitality of these private markets is tenacious, beyond the expectations of the court.
"Indeed, if the private market does not have white goods, that is, legal commodities, and simply deals in red, black, and blue goods, it will self-destruct in the fire of these desperadoes. "Zhang Juzheng put down his account book. The issue that Gao Qiyu was studying was something that the Duke of Chaotang did not notice.
Gao Qiyu thought about the problem from the bottom up. Why did these maritime merchants choose the private market instead of the official market? The main idea of the court was from the top down.
Gao Qiyu’s point of view is very clear. The private market is not without operating costs. Its operating costs are mainly supported by points drawn from legal products.
Zhang Juzheng kept the account books. The possibility that Gao Qiyu deliberately falsified it was very low, but Zhang Juzheng wanted to verify it himself. Being cautious and cautious is the first principle of the officialdom.
Zhang Juzheng said with a smile: "Then we only need to figure out why the merchants who traffic in white goods would rather choose the private market than the commercial shipping company. The private market itself will be unable to maintain due to operating difficulties. This long-standing problem has been solved.”
Gao Qiyu immediately said: “The first reason why maritime merchants are unwilling to pass customs clearance at the Municipal Shipping Department is that the customs declaration process is too lengthy. It is complicated and there are many procedures. The main reason is that the process is slow. Bulk commodities have to queue up to be assigned points at the city shipping department. It can obviously be completed in half a day, but the goods often have to stay at the port for ten days and a half, or even a month. However, In the private market, it only takes two days. "
This is also the biggest problem. The customs declaration time in the Ming Dynasty is too long. The five major ocean-going merchants can afford to wait, but the small maritime merchants simply cannot afford to wait, so they simply smuggle directly. .
There was something in Gao Qiyu's words, and Zhang Juzheng heard it very clearly. The reason for the long customs declaration time was not only the rigid customs declaration conditions, but also the lack of a detailed customs declaration process. respective methods.
This is the court's dereliction of duty.
It seems that there are only these four steps of document review, inspection, taxation and release, but in this step of inspection alone, a maritime businessman has to go through five or six yamen, and go to the port and market Department, Songjiang Prefecture Yamen, and the Governor's Rate Office declare customs, and even some goods have to go to Haicao Yamen for customs declaration. After having the Insurance Regulatory Department, you still have to go to the Insurance Regulatory Department Yamen for customs declaration. After completing these processes, you can go to the tax collection stage. .
Every step has to be completed in these yamen, which is very cumbersome.
Some products, such as silk, also require licensing, commodity inspection, quotas and other procedures, which is even more troublesome.
Ming dukes like Zhang Juzheng usually don't go to the yamen to do things. Even if they really need to do something, they ask You Shouli to arrange the people. Moreover, as a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister, You Shouli will expedite the processing wherever he goes. Working in the yamen is a pain that Ming Gong cannot understand.
The cumbersome and lengthy customs declaration procedures have become the reason for the long-term detention of goods. The detention of goods at the port has seriously affected the speed of cargo turnover. For businessmen, this is not a little time. They have no time. So long to wait.
Gao Qiyu looked around and whispered: "The second reason is corruption. There are so many government offices, and every time you pass a hand, it is a hand of oil."
“It is true that the tariff before Ming Dynasty was only 6%, but the actual tariff may be 20%, or even 30% to 50%. That’s it, it can still use money. To settle things, some businesses can only be done by the relatives of senior officials, city port officials, and governors of coastal defense. If you do this business, you will be blocked and not allowed to do it. "
Gao Qiyu's voice was lowered, because almost all of the promotions and coastal defense colleagues in the five municipal shipping departments were from the Zhang Party. These people had received benefits, but did they show any filial piety to Zhang Juzheng? Gao Qiyu didn't know.
But he still said it, not to test, but to analyze the problem thoroughly.
The difference between the nominal tax rate and the actual tax rate is a new contradiction encountered by the development of maritime trade to this day, and there is also a commodity that has not been explicitly restricted by the court. In the process of implementation by various municipal shipping departments , in fact, there is an invisible threshold.
These invisible thresholds are the highest thresholds.
“I have a guess about the reason you mentioned.” Zhang Juzheng answered the question head-on. He didn’t know clearly, but he guessed that it is very common to find ways to realize power when you have it, because power represents Dominate.
Wang Chonggu set up a trade union, which caused so many troubles, but it was still just an official woolen factory.
It would be a big surprise that such huge interests of the Ming Shipping Company did not breed corruption and interest chains.
Gao Qiyu said with great certainty: "Anyway, the lost tariffs are also public money. If I don't get my share, I will be losing money. Therefore, I would rather let the goods stay at the port than leave them." After getting my share of the money, I would rather the court confiscate it, charge less tariffs, and drive the maritime merchants to the private market, rather than give up my own interests."
"This. That’s what makes this problem difficult to solve.”
Looking at this problem from the perspective of public and private theory, it will become clearer. This is not an exception, but a common phenomenon. As long as I am stuck and don’t let you. If I pass the customs, I will get a share of the money, no matter how much I want, and as the scale of maritime trade expands, the number of officials in the Municipal Shipping Department gradually increases, and the problem begins to become serious.
Goods are detained due to the process, the actual tax rate is higher than the statutory tax rate, and artificial restrictions on commodity operators are the three main reasons why maritime merchants choose the private market.
"The fourth reason why maritime merchants are unwilling to go through the municipal shipping department is the gangs on the docks. These gangs also want benefits, and they also take orders from others. They are almost the same as those in the private market. These gangs The Caobang was responsible for negotiating prices for the poor coolies, but most of the benefits were taken by the Caobang itself." Gao Qiyu explained the fourth reason.
In the private market, you have to face exploitation by the landlords, and in the Ming Dynasty government office, you also have to face exploitation, so choosing the faster private market has become the best choice for small businessmen. It’s fast, and you can also bring in other goods to increase profits. The Shipping Department of the Ming Dynasty has an unparalleled advantage, that is, safety, and there is no need to worry about losing the cargo. It is for this reason that the Shipping Department is still the most important trading place in the Ming Dynasty.
These are the four reasons Gao Qiyu got after conducting a comprehensive investigation on dozens of private market cases.
"Good." Zhang Juzheng only gave one word. He looked at Gao Qiyu for a moment and said, "You still have something to say."
"It's better that you understand the students, sir." Gao Qiyu exhaled. As a former direct disciple of Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Juzheng noticed it immediately before he finished speaking.
Zhang Juzheng took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "There is a fifth reason, that is, someone is forcing the maritime merchants to smuggle into the market."
"If the maritime merchants declare normally, , because of the existence of law and discipline and supervision, there are officials, and the scale of their actions is subject to law and discipline and supervision. After all, Jinyiwei’s Taxation Institute is not just a free man. To take action in the government office is equivalent to talking to the public in broad daylight. It is a crime to commit crime in plain sight.”
“This is really too dangerous.”
“However, artificial restrictions are used to force maritime traders not to go through government offices and smuggle. City, forcing the sea The merchants smuggled the money and the imperial officials gained it by sheltering the private market. This did not violate the law and could also circumvent supervision. It was equivalent to bypassing the imperial government's pay office and setting up a private governor's office. "
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Zhang Juzheng did not hide it and told Gao Qiyu his guess. Of course, he was also considering the reasons why the private market was repeatedly banned.
"It's true." Gao Qiyu bowed his head and said. Zhang Juzheng had to say this himself. Gao Qiyu couldn't say it. He wrote these in the memorial, which was to criticize Zhang Juzheng for not knowing people well, but Zhang Juzheng said it himself, It is the elimination of officials related to maritime trade.
Zhang Juzheng said quite calmly: "Coastal defense patrols are also human beings, and they have time to take a nap. These private markets have been banned repeatedly. Today, as Gao Sike said, the whip is in, then Gao Sike Just write it as a memorial , Send it to the General Secretary for a meeting."
"Yes." Gao Qiyu came to Zhang Juzheng firstly to maintain relations, secondly to explain his foreign policy to the chief minister, and thirdly to judge his character. Should memorials be submitted?
He has already written it, but if Zhang Juzheng, the leader of the Zhang Party, does not want to change the status quo, then his memorial was sent to the Department of General Affairs and was rejected. In addition to being rejected, Zhang Juzheng was even more resented. .
However, Zhang Juzheng did not say any clichés such as "the matter is too big", "excessive claims", "bearing each other for the sake of the country", etc. That is, he recognized his memorial and even added a fifth reason to the memorial, which was that he felt sorry for himself. Basically move the knife and take the initiative to eliminate them.
Every organization must find ways to metabolize itself and maintain vitality in order to last long. This is the core concept of Zhang Juzheng's official administration. All his new official administration policies are based on this core concept.
After Gao Qiyu finished talking about national events, he was silent for a while, and could only bow his head and leave. He actually had a private matter, that is, his second son, who is twenty years old this year, will be crowned, and the crowning ceremony must be taken. He came here hoping that his husband could give the child a name, but in the end he didn't say it.
Because Zhang Juzheng has made it clear that the friendship between teachers and students has been severed, and there will only be official business in the future.
"Hey." Gao Qiyu picked up his seven-flavor ingredients, stood in front of the door, sighed again, and chose to leave.
On the second day of June in the fourteenth year of Wanli, Emperor Zhu Yijun of the Ming Dynasty came to the Wenhua Hall and presided over the court discussions as always. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was diligent in his work, which was the luck of the entire Ming Dynasty.
Zhang Juzheng explained the problem of Gao Qiyu's memorial, and then the courtiers understood that the problem of the private market was not actually the private market itself.
Zhang Juzheng paused and said: "So, Gao Qiyu's solution is to build a political hall at the Shipping Department of Xingang City, Songjiang Prefecture, and stuff all the messy government offices into this political hall so that merchants don't have to Go back and forth to the Yamen and try to complete the procedures within one day."
"This method greatly speeds up the Yamen. The transfer between the sects can be supervised by each other, and a yamen for taxing thousands of households can be set up to specialize in supervision." , it was within the scope of duty to collect taxes from thousands of households, and the Emperor Nanku of the Municipal Shipping Department was waiting to collect the tax goods. These local officials actually made things difficult for them. Was it the maritime merchants who made things difficult? He was clearly trying to make things difficult for the emperor!
"Does Yuan Fu really not consider letting Gao Qiyu return to the Quanchu Guild Hall? If Yuan Fu doesn't want it, I will reluctantly do it." Wang Chonggu was still thinking about a way, but after hearing Zhang Juzheng's words, he immediately started asking for people.
"He is such a troublemaker, what are you going to do?" Zhang Juzheng frowned, Wang Chonggu was really good at finding opportunities to find opportunities.
"What kind of trouble can he cause? No problem." Wang Chonggu pointed at himself, and the old god said calmly. He is a big rebel, but he is still afraid of Gao Qiyu, who is not a rebel but just doesn't know how to avoid taboos? What Gao Qiyu did was nothing short of extraordinary, and he didn't even touch on arrogance.
Zhang Juzheng picked up the memorial and continued: "The problem of goods being held up due to the process will be greatly alleviated by the Municipal Ship Bureau. The second problem is that the actual tax rate is higher than the statutory tax rate. This A little bit, it’s actually hard to avoid , but we still need to actively monitor. There is a big iron box outside the political hall, and anyone can report it. "
Gao Qiyu is copying the emperor's method. There are many iron boxes in the palace, and people will put these in every day. I took out the complaint letters from the iron box and sorted them out.
"Who will be responsible for sorting out the big iron boxes in the Shibo Si Zhengsi Hall?" Hai Rui asked immediately.
“Thousands of households are taxed.” Zhang Juzheng replied immediately.
Li Youzi frowned and said: "This is the duty of the censor."
"The censor cannot perform his duties." Zhang Juzheng answered quickly, obviously prepared how to respond. Inquiry from the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Hai Rui shook his head and said: "This cannot convince the Metropolitan Procuratorate. It makes no sense. Supervision is the duty of the censor. I can send the censor in plain clothes."
The Suyi censors are a group of lunatics, Zhen Qingliu who is more fanatical than the fanatic believers in Taixi. Hai Rui has been looking for him for fourteen years, and he has a total of seven Suyi censors under his command.
“Corruption also requires taxation.” Zhang Juzheng said calmly: “There are officials who make things difficult for merchants and their illegal gains are included in the profits tax, so this is also the scope of taxation.”
"Zhang Juzheng!" Hai Rui said sternly: "Tax is not a basket, anything can be put in it! Corruption requires the confiscation of all illegal income, and it must not be put into the tax basket!"
"Yuan Fu is the president of the "Da Ming Huidian". Why do we need to compile the Ming Dynasty Huidian? Why do we need to compile the official records? It is to clarify the power of each yamen and not to overstep the authority! "
Hai Rui was very angry and directly said! Let’s call him by his name, because Zhang Juzheng went too far. He just taxed the tax and turned it into a crime. In a few years, everything can be considered a tax. Amid opposition, it closed its doors.
Once power is distributed, it is extremely difficult to take it back.
This is the reason why Zhang Juzheng doesn't want to get Hai Rui back. This man is too accepting of death, even though he is now very good at adapting.
Zhu Yijun coughed slightly, and after seeing all the courtiers looking at him, he said: "Hai Zongxian calmed down, Yuan Fu went to Tonghe Palace yesterday to meet him. Yuan Fu and I discussed it for a long time. There is nothing you can do about it. It is not possible to fight against corruption, but the censor cannot count on it, so you are in a dilemma."
"Let's make a compromise, Shibo Si Zheng Shi Tang. How about the tax collectors and the Haicao censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate deal with the complaint letters in the complaint box? "
Zhang Juzheng did not seize power from his own people, and he had to pay taxes even if he committed corruption? The reason is to fool people, but to concentrate power in the hands of the emperor. If power is not concentrated, it is easy to imitate Taixi. If power is too concentrated, it is easy to double the execution. Hai Rui's worries are not unreasonable.
Therefore, it is Zhu Yijun's plan to compromise and satisfy all parties.
Hai Rui and Li Youzi glanced at each other before bowing their heads together and saying, "I obey the order."
"The third question is to set artificial limits on goods. This is actually very simple. In the next chapter, we will strictly prohibit it at the local level. As long as we can live with the criminal laws of the Ming Dynasty, we can do it boldly." Zhang Juzheng explained the third question.
In fact, setting artificial limits on hugely profitable commodities can be solved together with the second problem, both of which are within the scope of seeking public benefit for private gain.
“As for the shipping gangs of various municipal shipping companies, I believe that they should be treated with caution and further observation, because it involves bargaining between poor coolies and shipowners, and the work at the docks is all heavy manual work. , The coolies at the wharf don’t have the legal tools to complain about injustice.” Zhang Juzheng expressed his caution about the issue of gangs.
Gao Qiyu's opinion is to fight. In Gao Qiyu's view, these gangs are factors that destabilize the shipping company, so they can just use heavy means to eliminate them.
"Your Majesty, I agree with Yuan Fu's opinion. You can take a closer look. This wharf is not just a Cao gang. The leaders of these Cao gangs are regularly called to the Yamen to give instructions and ask them to pay more. Divide the coolies and tell them not to be overly aggressive." Wang Chonggu expressed his agreement. There has been no serious incident so far. Let's wait and see.
The ferry gangs at the wharf are mainly based on geographical areas, and the trackers at the wharf are all brought to the shipping department. They are really all eliminated. I am afraid that even the people who work can't be found. This is a practical concern.
“Your Majesty, the five major shipping departments and the four major governor-general offices have naval garrisons. This means that the leaders of these gangs are determined not to go too far, otherwise the navy will be right in front of them. Zeng Shengwu, Minister of the Ministry of War, also agreed with Zhang Juzheng's suggestion to take another look.
The reason is that the Ming Army is the biggest ballast stone. If it really floats, just destroy it.
"Then let's see for now." Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and agreed with the proposal. He actually preferred Gao Qiyu's statement to directly eliminate these unstable factors.
But what the ministers said is reasonable. Let’s take a look at whether these vibrant private associations do more good than harm to the poor coolies.
"As for shielding the private market, the Northern and Southern Town Fusi will investigate to the end and will never tolerate it." Zhu Yijun naturally knew the fifth reason and dared to steal the emperor's money, so he put his hand into the emperor's money bag. It is no longer an ordinary rebel thief. There is only one word, kill. Kill whoever you find out.
"The Imperial Academy's wine-offering Zhang was jointly impeached by the Six Sections of the Six Sections." Zhang Juzheng said in a low voice: "The Imperial Censor of the Imperial Procuratorate followed a series of chapters to impeach the Imperial Academy's wine-offering Zhang, Wen Yuan Ge has received more than 210 memorials. Most of them are about Zhang Wei, which is an insult to elegance. "
< br>"Two hundred and ten books, tsk tsk." Zhu Yijun exhaled and said with a bad look on his face: "Back then, Yang Tinghe's son Yang Shen gathered 229 people to Zuoshunmen to force the palace. Zhang As a supervisor of the Imperial College, 210 people impeached him for his humiliation. ”
"It's better to use King Lu's method. Send them to the abandoned mines of Xishan Coal Bureau to dig."
"Your Majesty, we can't send them any more. It will cause a lot of trouble for the mine, sir." No." Wang Chonggu rejected the emperor's suggestion very clearly. Xishan Coal Bureau is not a garbage dump. When these cheap Confucians arrive, they will do nothing but cause trouble and delay production.
(End of this chapter)