Chapter 2764
Zhu Zian took a sip of hot tea and continued to read the newspaper. He soon found a follow-up report on the second page about his visit to North Korea and Japan. However, his name was not mentioned in this report. The main content was to explain the gains from the visit.
During the visit of the Haihan delegation, some agreements were reached with each of the two countries. There are not only new cooperation projects, but also some adjustments in trade policies, such as tariff collection standards and methods, all of which have made subtle changes that are beneficial to Haihan.
The most noteworthy thing is that Haihan will build exclusive economic zones at the two trading ports of Busan Port in North Korea and Nagasaki Port in Japan. Haihan merchants settling in the zones will be able to enjoy more preferential treatment trade policy.
The nature of this so-called exclusive economic zone is actually the same as the concessions Haihan obtained in various countries in the South China Sea. It allows Haihan to exercise independent administrative and judicial systems in the area. It is not an exaggeration to call it a small colonial colony. The report gave a very high evaluation to this harvest and believed that in the long term, it will greatly help Haihan establish a stronger influence in these areas.
As a party involved in the entire process from planning to negotiation, Zhu Zian knew the inside story very well. Although his name was not mentioned in the report, he could not help but feel a sense of pride.
However, the following content surprised Zhu Zian a little, because the newspaper actually broke the news that Haihan and the shogunate were negotiating on arms trade. As far as he knows, although the two parties have reached an intention to cooperate on this, the specific transaction content, settlement method, delivery cycle, etc. have not reached an agreement. Follow-up negotiations are still needed to resolve the differences. The shogunate sent an envoy to Hangzhou. Just for this matter.
Haihan has been selling arms and equipment to foreign countries all year round. For Haihan, this transaction does not matter whether it is kept secret or not, but the Japanese shogunate may not be willing to let the matter be made public prematurely. Because the shogunate's purpose of purchasing arms from Haihan was very clear. One was to try to maintain the same level of armaments as neighboring Korea, and the other was to frighten the restless local vassals in the country. Once the news leaks out, competitors will also take countermeasures, and the shogunate's plan to spend a small amount of money to achieve big things may come to nothing.
But then he thought about it, this operation may not be a mistake by the Times editor, but may be intentional. Both Shi Chengwu and Tao Hongfang once said that selling arms to the shogunate is not the ultimate goal. It is to create an atmosphere of arms race in the East China Sea region and let more potential buyers who are still waiting to see the situation also spend money to participate in this competition. This is the most ideal situation.
The more Zhu Zian thought about it, the more it made sense. If the news was revealed in such a publicly distributed newspaper, whether it was North Korea, which had close ties with Haihan, or the Satsuma clan, which secretly maintained trade relations with Haihan, they should have quickly noticed this. information. From their respective standpoints, the shogunate's arms purchase plan will be a big stimulus, and they probably will not turn a blind eye to it.
Zhu Zian was so curious that he almost wanted to drop the newspaper and go find Tao Hongfang and others to find out the inside story and confirm whether his guess was correct.
However, it was the first day of the new official's appointment. He had just met with his immediate boss and immediately asked for leave, which was definitely not appropriate. Zhu Zian quickly calmed down, put the newspaper aside, decided to calm down and turn his attention to work.
Zhu Zian looked at the pile of files on the table and picked up the top one.
I opened the file and glanced at it twice. The content recorded the conversation between the two people, and also noted some details of the conversation. The conversation took place two days ago at a teahouse on Hanlin Street in the east of the city. There were only two participants, one was an employee of the Special Liaison Office named Bi Xingsheng, and the person he was talking to was named Cao Kun, who was a grain director in Suzhou Prefecture.
The identity of grain chief is rare, but Zhu Zian knows a thing or two about it. The so-called grain chief is a position specially appointed during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty in order to meet the manpower needs of private people for collecting and transporting grain. Generally, an area with a grain payment of about 10,000 shi is divided into an area, and then a local big family is assigned to serve as the grain chief, responsible for collecting and distributing grain. Later, even tasks such as urging grain delivery, reporting tax evasion, and declaring disasters and damages were all handed over to the grain director.
Although the position of grain chief was only a semi-official position, because of its considerable authority and the fact that it could be passed down from generation to generation, it was also a popular position among the people in the early days. As long as a big business owner takes this job, he can use his power to oppress the villagers and line his own pockets. There are many people who take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune.
However, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the court changed the rules of grain collection. Multiple grain chiefs were appointed in a district, the authority was reduced, and hereditary inheritance was no longer allowed. As a result, the benefits of being a grain chief are not that much, and the big households naturally have no motivation, so they forcibly transfer this position to the powerless poor households, and they control it behind the scenes. All the benefits belong to you, and if something goes wrong, let others take care of it.
In the late Ming Dynasty, internal and external troubles continued, and the Liao, Lian, and Suppression taxes imposed by the court increased the burden of taxes and servitude on the people. Even in many areas not affected by war, tax residents will choose to flee because they cannot afford to pay the taxes they need to pay. As a result, the position of grain chief has become even more of a chore. There are also many grain chiefs who have been arrested and imprisoned because they failed to complete their tasks, or have chosen to abandon their homes and property to flee.
By the time Chongzhen came to power, the grain collection work in many places was in a mess, and the position of grain director had become a symbol of taking the blame. When Zhu Zian was still in Prince De's Mansion, he often heard that a certain county in a certain government had several grain chiefs arrested for failing to collect grain. But this approach was of no use at all and could not change the predicament that Ming was in at the time.
Zhu Zian once thought that Jiangsu and Zhejiang were a land of plenty and affluence, and the work of collecting grain and tax would not be as difficult as in the north where natural and man-made disasters were constant. However, after reading this file, he found that the south was actually not much better. The process of collecting food was also very difficult.
Cao Kun, the grain chief, said that although the grain harvest in his area was pretty good, it was also difficult to complete the grain collection task. The reason is also very simple. The imperial court has lost control of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Large households no longer want to pay grain taxes to the imperial court. They either collect grain and wait for the situation to change, or they simply sell it secretly to grain merchants working for Haihan.
If big households don’t take the lead, small households will naturally not be willing to cooperate with the government. As for the grain manager, everyone knows that this is a scapegoat job, who will give him face? During the period before Haihan took over Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it was thankful that Cao Kun could complete one-tenth of the food collection task.
But this was not the only difficulty Cao Kun encountered in the process of collecting food. After all, in addition to collecting food, his responsibilities also included transporting luck.
(End of chapter)