Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1212 Smuggling Spices
"They are merchants from the Ottoman Empire, in collusion with the rulers of Seram, and transporting spices to their ocean-going ships in native canoes by the coast we don't know about, trying to evade our customs duties. But they are very unlucky , just encountered the storm these days, the strong wind blew their merchant ships to the nearby waters, and they were intercepted by us while patrolling." The captain of the Nanyang Fleet replied.

"Spice smuggling..." A strange look flashed in the civil affairs officer's eyes.

Before the production of large-scale rubber plantations and oil palm plantations, spices were the most profitable commodity in the province he was in charge of, and the source of his political achievements was the high spice tax.Most of the spice tax in the Nanyang Province went to the national treasury, and then the finance allocated funds to the Nanyang Fleet and the No.12 Corps.

In other words, the spice tax is the most critical item for the provincial yamen, and no accidents are allowed, otherwise he, the provincial civil affairs officer, will also be dismissed!
"No matter which country's businessmen want to smuggle spices here, it is a provocation to our Nanyang Province and Nanyang Fleet, and must be severely punished!" The Civil Affairs Officer said sharply.

Under the signal of the civil affairs officer, the soldiers of the customs housed the Ottoman merchants and sailors who had disembarked from the merchant ships, as well as the natives of Seran Island.

Huang Degong and Lihua Zhongmao didn't react much when they saw the provincial yamen arresting the smuggling businessman.

This kind of trivial matter can be handed over to the customs, and they still have their own mission.

After some preparations, Huang Degong and Tachibana Tadamo led a No. 12 infantry regiment and 1000 samurai mercenaries boarded the ship and left Batavia, sailing to the north of Sumatra Island.

The other 1000 samurai mercenaries took troop carriers to other islands, and only 1000 samurai mercenaries remained in Batavia.

"There is no need to use troops against the Mataram Kingdom in Java. These warriors are hired by businessmen from various plantations, and they will be summoned when war breaks out." The civil affairs officer saw that there were 1000 warriors gathered in Batavia , and handed them over to merchants for free employment.

These samurai need to be called together to deal with the natives when a war breaks out, and they are usually hired by ordinary businessmen to protect the safety of the plantation, or act as bodyguards on board the ship, passing through the dangerous rainforest.

The tropical plants here grow extremely fast due to the good water and heat conditions. After the grass and trees on the ordinary roads are cleared, they will soon grow overgrown within a few weeks.These vegetation provided the best cover for the local tribes, and the danger between the plantation and the city was very dangerous.

The samurai, who used to be aloof, have now become commodities to be selected.They had their own numbers, and the government issued them the seized Japanese long swords and waist swords, and they were selected by the Batavian plantation owners according to their physical fitness and combat ability like commodities.

Spending a few hundred taels of silver to hire a group of warriors to guard the plantation and prevent the aborigines from setting fire to the plantation worth tens of thousands of taels of silver, such a deal is still very cost-effective.

"A few of you are sheltering from the rain at my house, do you want to be the rangers of our rubber forest?"

Otomo Nobutada, an Japanese businessman living in Batavia, saw several rogue warriors from Miyamoto Musashi, so he came over to ask.

Miyamoto Musashi wants to become an imperial soldier, but the situation seems to be different from what he imagined.

The most valiant and aggressive warriors were taken by Tadamo Tachibana and Huang Degong's No.12 Corps to attack Queen Alan in the north of Sumatra.

However, Miyamoto Musashi was left in Batavia because of his old age, and he took on the task of hiring ordinary plantation owners.

The ronin looked at each other in blank dismay, and many of them happily agreed.

In any case, they are all just eating a living. The work of a plantation ranger is not as dangerous as a soldier on the battlefield, and it is a little more dignified than a porter who just sells his strength.

The most important thing is that it is far away from Japan, and they can still retain a little bit of the dignity of the samurai.

"I am willing to be a forest ranger." Miyamoto Musashi saw that all the samurai around him were hired by Chinese businessmen, Japanese businessmen, Netherlands businessmen, and Javanese businessmen, so he no longer insisted, as long as he became a rubber plantation ranger.

"So what's the commission amount in this number?" The Dongying businessman gestured a number.

The ronin who had no income knew that the commission offered by the other party was satisfactory to them, so they all agreed.

Several samurai, including Miyamoto Musashi, signed a contract with the plantation owner at the government and registered the number.

With this register in place, if something happened to the plantation, they would be inseparable.

After registration, Miyamoto Musashi received a samurai sword and a Japanese long sword.This is a cold weapon he is familiar with, but he is a little tired of this kind of cold weapon.His purpose is to become an honorable musketeer.

"My lord, we found [-] catties of cloves and nutmeg, [-] catties of pepper, and some Mughal cotton cloth on the smuggling ship of the Ottoman merchants. We suspect that they bought cotton cloth from the Mughals to exchange here Spices, while smuggling pepper in Sumatra and cloves and nutmeg in Maluku. They underpay the import tax of the cotton cloth tax, and the export tax of pepper, cloves and nutmeg.”

Customs officials seized a large amount of spices and a small amount of Indian cotton cloth from captured Ottoman merchant ships.

This kind of Indian cotton cloth is welcomed by various island tribes and indigenous kingdoms in the Spice Islands. Western businessmen often buy homespun cloth from Mughal and other kingdoms on the Indian Peninsula first, and then exchange it for spices to expand profits.

"The quantity is so large. If they are not severely punished, businessmen from other countries may follow suit." The civil affairs officer learned from the customs officials that the scale of the smuggling was huge, and the spices totaled [-] catties. He was a little dissatisfied.And proposed severe punishment for Ottoman merchants.

The spice tax was the most important income that the Nanyang Province relied on before the rise of the plantation economy, and it must be firmly controlled by the government.

"My lord, I heard that the Ottoman Empire is a large empire with a population of 3000 million and has great influence in the West. Should we be more relaxed with them? According to the regulations, these Ottoman businessmen who lead the team will all be executed. If we do this, it may affect our country's trade in the West, please think twice." An official from Nanyang Province reminded.

After popularizing the general population and territory of Western countries among the officials, many officials are already familiar with several of the big countries.

Some of the largest behemoths are the Ottoman Empire, the Spanish Empire, and the Mughal Empire.

"Smuggling has violated our laws, so the death penalty must be imposed according to the law. The Western side is the Western side's business!" The civil affairs officer of the Nanyang Province said gloomily.

(End of this chapter)