prosperous age

Chapter 1077 1168 Distribution Dispute

"Lord Wei, we know the situation of the Ministry of Revenue. Even though we have controlled it very well, there are so many expenses up and down, and we can't keep the silver in the warehouse.

What's more, wars have broken out in several places right now. Even in Luzon, the Ministry of War's merit book has been checked, but there is no money to spend.

The cabinet previously said that it would increase revenue and reduce expenditure, but there is no hope of reducing expenditure at the moment, which means that the only option is to increase revenue.

I heard that Jiugang has always been an important trading port in Southeast Asia. Now that it has been restored to the court's jurisdiction, taxation here should be started immediately to prevent the loss of tax silver in the national treasury."

Wang Guoguang began to talk about the old port.

"I remember that when the cabinet discussed the Old Port, it was said that the Old Port tax was collected by the South China Sea Navy and used as an investment by the court to build new ships and pay military expenses. Why does the Ministry of Revenue want to collect taxes there again?"

Although he knew it, Wei Guangde pretended to be confused and raised his objections as if he was completely unaware of the Ministry of Revenue's earlier discussion.

"Well, Lord Wei, this matter was my fault at the time. Later when I returned to the Ministry of Revenue and talked about it, I felt that I handled it incorrectly.

After all, it is the land of the Ming Dynasty, so how can we not collect taxes from the imperial court?

As for the rewards that the South China Sea Navy deserves for recovering the territory, they should still be rewarded, but they cannot be confused with each other.

Moreover, if the South China Sea Navy is given the right to collect taxes, wouldn't Lord Wei be worried that it would lead to disasters for the vassal states?"

Wang Guoguang hesitated for a moment and then started talking.

The current Ming Dynasty implements a strategy of military and political decentralization, which is why governors and provincial governors emerged.

The governor is half a level higher than the governor-general, and the main consideration is military priority, but their actual powers will definitely be stated in the appointment decree.

That is, the governor is in charge of military affairs, and the governor is in charge of civil affairs, each performing their own duties.

Of course, this is the rule set by the court, but the actual implementation is another matter.

The governor and the governor-general hold higher positions and have higher-level connections with the court, so they have more say. With their presence, if a lawsuit is brought to the capital, the three local officials will only suffer losses.

Over time, the actual powers of the governor and the governor-general began to overlap. The governor and the governor-general were in charge of both military and civil affairs, becoming de facto frontier officials.

However, the imperial court did not think so. Because his powers and responsibilities were clearly defined, they believed that there would be no disaster from local military governors. If they were worried, they only needed to transfer officials.

The governor is in charge of local civil affairs and needs to go through the provincial administration. By simply mobilizing the provincial administration, any small ideas the governor may have can be thwarted, because the governor cannot directly issue orders to local authorities.

The situation is similar for the governor. If he wants to intervene in military affairs, he has to go through the general. If the general does not buy it, it will be useless.

In addition, since censors from various places are rotated to serve as inspectors every year, there is naturally no need to worry about local governments colluding with each other to form a vassal state.

Finally, Wang Guoguang said earnestly: "In any case, most of the navy is overseas, and the risks of going to sea are unpredictable. It is really difficult for the court to control it, so we have to be on guard.

It would be better if all expenses of the navy were borne by the imperial court to avoid any trouble."

"What does the Ministry of Revenue think? Please tell me in detail first. I also want to hear what the Ministry of Revenue's rules are."

Wei Guangde said.

“Lord Wei, the Ministry of Revenue believes that over the years, the Nanhai Navy has successively captured Dongfan Island and northern Luzon for the court, and restored the old port. Naturally, they have made great contributions. The court should support the Ministry of War in any way it decides on merits and rewards.

As for Dongfan Island and Luzon, the population of Dongfan Island is too small, so it is better to wait for the garrison to move there and temporarily implement military control, like Liaodong.

When there are more people in the future, we can consider whether to establish a government or a county and appoint officials to manage it.

The situation in Luzon is different. It is isolated overseas and adjacent to the Spaniards, so it actually places more emphasis on military affairs.

In addition, since the local people are newly naturalized citizens, the Ministry of Household Affairs will send people to guide the compilation of the Yellow Book.

But since it was isolated overseas, the taxes and labor service no longer had to be sent to the capital. According to the Yellow Book, the taxes and labor service could be directly offset against military pay, and the navy could collect the money for their own expenses.

However, this old port has a special status and has been successfully developed long ago. It has always been an important port in Southeast Asia, and its location is even more advantageous than Yuegang.

With the influence of our Ming Dynasty in Southeast Asia, the day when the Old Port will become the port for exporting all goods from Southeast Asia to the West is just around the corner.

Western goods entering Southeast Asia are also expected to be transferred from Malacca to Jiugang. In this way, the local cargo throughput will be extraordinary and it will become an important place for the court's finances and taxes. Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue plans to establish Jiugang Banknote Customs in Jiugang to collect customs duties.

"Stop, stop, stop."

Wei Guangde interrupted Wang Guoguang and said, "I know what you mean, but this is just the Ministry of Revenue's wishful thinking.

Whether the old port can develop into that state or not, who can say for sure what will happen in the future.”

"Lord Wei, please don't underestimate yourself. Old Port has always been an important channel for goods to enter the West. According to the Jinyiwei's report, most of the specialties from Java, Borneo and other islands are first shipped to Old Port. Some are sold directly to Arab merchants, and the rest are sold to Malacca.

The returning merchant ships also mostly purchased Western goods in Malacca and then sold them to various places in Southeast Asia.

The imperial court only needs to strengthen it, there is no way it can't be done. Moreover, the navy can also transport part of Ming Dynasty's goods directly from Yuegang to Jiugang, and the freight alone is a considerable income.

We have exquisite products from the Ming Dynasty, special products from all over Nanyang, and a large Nanyang navy stationed here. Are we still worried about any accidents? Do those foreign nations still dare to make trouble?"

Wang Guoguang immediately refuted Wei Guangde's words.

"Wait, how do you calculate the tax on Yuegang when we use the South China Sea Navy to transport goods to Yuegang?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

You have to ask clearly. Yuegang imposes taxes based on export trade, and the tax rate is already not low after the tax increase.

If the taxed goods are shipped to the old port, their competitiveness may not be that strong.

Western merchants could simply sail directly to Yuegang to trade; there was no need to purchase in Jiugang for safety reasons.

"Jiugang is our Ming territory, so it is not considered foreign trade, and we should not be subject to such high taxes."

Wang Guoguang stroked his beard and said, "In this way, the Ming Dynasty products in Jiugang are no less attractive than those in Yuegang.

I heard that many Yi merchants doing business in Yuegang purchased goods from Yuegang to bring back to Southeast Asia, but after going out to sea they headed north to continue trading in Japan.

As a result, many Ming Dynasty products were shipped to Japan.

On their return journey, those foreign merchants would sell Japanese goods in Yuegang, and then purchase goods from our Ming Dynasty to bring back to Southeast Asia. The violence caused by this repeated cycle was unimaginable.

The imperial court banned trade with Japan, so those sea merchants who really wanted to purchase Ming goods to bring back to the West could trade in the old port and return directly, which would not affect the interests of the imperial court. "

Wei Guangde nodded slightly, but he nodded not because Wang Guoguang's suggestion was good, but because he understood the real plans of Wang Guoguang and those ministers.

“How are the Old Port tariffs distributed?”

Wei Guangde didn't want to hear anything else and asked directly.

"The Ministry of Revenue will take 70%, the Imperial Court will take 20%, and the remaining 10% will go to the South China Sea Navy."

Wang Guoguang did not hide anything and spoke frankly.

"Haha, have Minister Wang and Lord Zhang discussed this?"

Wei Guangde was delighted when he heard this. He could only say that the Ministry of Revenue had a lot of plans, but they only considered themselves and nothing else.

The local government gets 10%, this is the old rule, and the Fujian government takes 10% of Yuegang’s tax revenue.

However, Wang Guoguang mixed up the Xuanwei Division of Jiugang with the Nanhai Navy, which was naturally a fraud. The most important inner court directly reduced its share from 60% of Yuegang to 20%. When he mentioned that the goods transported to the West were transported to Jiugang for trading, the meaning was self-evident.

Well, the Ministry of Revenue has been jealous in the past two months because it has seen a lot of silver from Yuegang flowing into the inner court, while the Ministry of Revenue has only received a pitiful amount of silver.

Wang Guoguang and several other officials in the Ministry of Revenue kept in mind the idea of ​​utilizing the Old Port and sharing in the profits, and they never forgot to take a piece of the pie.

"The Prime Minister has already said so."

When Wang Guoguang heard what Wei Guangde said, he was shocked, but he still answered calmly.

He said he really said that, but as for the proportion of sharing, he only said that he was still considering it and didn't dare to explain it clearly.

Wang Guoguang knew the relationship between Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao in the inner court.

As for why he still wanted to take action, it was because there was too much money involved.

As long as a currency customs is set up in Jiugang, the amount of silver that passes through the customs every year will probably be no less than one million taels. As long as it is operated well, the profits will be quite lucrative.

As long as it is an official position with a lot of benefits, people will fight for it, and even overseas people will still flock to it.

  Anyway, officials travel back and forth on the South China Sea Navy’s warships, so what is there to be afraid of?

"Don't talk about me. Even if the cabinet agrees, do you think the Imperial Household Department will approve it after entering the inner court? Haha."

Wei Guangde sneered. Even if Feng Bao wanted to be an official, he could be a Shangshu.

If you can figure it out, Feng Bao can figure it out too. Who can you hide it from?

If Zhang Juzheng knew about this, he would probably scold Wang Guoguang to death.

By the way, maybe they won’t scold us, after all, we are all on the same level, all holding the title of Shangshu.

Cabinet ministers do not have the proper rank, although their status is high, their rank is there.

"Well, let me tell you my opinion. The Ministry of Revenue's plan is simply not feasible for you to discuss on your own."

Wei Guangde did not wait for Wang Guoguang to speak and continued, "The taxes and duties of Jiugang will be divided equally between the Xuanwei Division and the Nanhai Navy, and the Nanhai Navy's share can be deducted from the military pay.

As for setting up the Jiugang Customs, I have no objection, but the customs duties, the Jiugang Xuanwei Office and the South China Sea Navy are two different government offices and cannot be confused.

In this way, the Jiugang Xuanwei Office should get 10% according to the rules, and the remaining 30% will be divided between the South China Sea Navy, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Inner Court.

The share of the South China Sea Navy was naturally used for shipbuilding.

You mentioned earlier that the coastal provinces should reduce the amount of money they pay to the navy, and I have no objection to that.

However, there are rules for reducing this batch of silver and money, which is to reduce it by 20% every year over five years.

As far as I remember, the 20% is shared by the Ministry of Revenue and local governments, so half of it flows back to the Ministry of Revenue every year.”

Regarding the funding of the South China Sea Navy, Wei Guangde had actually heard complaints from his subordinates more than once, saying that too much money was allocated to the South China Sea Navy every year.

In fact, not only the Ministry of Revenue, but also the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works had opinions.

When the South China Sea Navy was first established, it naturally required a large amount of funds.

Now that the navy is complete, the court no longer needs to invest large sums of money in it. The main thing is to find a channel for a continuous influx of money into the navy.

If the South China Sea Navy was not there during this period, it would have captured Dongfan Island and obtained the land in northern Luzon, but would have just been hiding along the coast of the Ming Dynasty.

After the Japanese pirates are completely wiped out, local governments will cut these expenditures, reduce the size of each province's navy to the extreme, and may even sell those warships to maritime merchants.

It is imperative to make the South China Sea Navy independent and sever its earlier ties with the local authorities.

After all, the South China Sea Navy is actually a merger of the navies of Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces.

If they are not separated, it will be troublesome for the provinces to transfer their navies back in the future.

Think about it, there were four major fleets in the Qing Dynasty, namely the Beiyang, Nanyang, Fujian and Guangdong fleets, but they fought independently.

In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Beiyang Fleet was completely wiped out, while the other three navies just watched the show from the sidelines as if they had nothing to do with it.

Wei Guangde naturally would not allow such a thing to happen in the Ming Dynasty, so he directly drew navy from various provinces to form a new navy, which was commanded by the court, thus cutting off the idea of ​​local intervention.

"In addition, the Ministry of Revenue must also fully allocate the military pay that the Ministry of War should give, and the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War should also participate in this matter and set a permanent rule for the annual funding of the navy."

Wei Guangde continued, "In this way, the navy's military pay will be fixed, and there will be a fixed amount of money to replace new ships every year, so the navy can ensure its military strength in Southeast Asia.

Only when the status of the old port is stable can the imperial court continue to gain income from it."

"No, 30% of it is not possible."

As soon as Wei Guangde finished speaking, Wang Guoguang, who had long been unable to bear it, immediately responded, "30% of the share is given to the South China Sea Navy. That's too much. The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War have to allocate silver every year. What does the South China Sea Navy need so much silver for?"

Wang Guoguang had already figured it out in his mind. Excluding the transfer from the Ministry of Revenue to the Ministry of War, the actual amount of money received by the Ministry of Revenue was too little, and the South China Sea Navy seemed to have accounted for the majority.

However, Wei Guangde's next words made Wang Guoguang a little uneasy again.

“There are mountains of gold and silver overseas, but without a navy, no one can get them back.”

"hiss"

After hearing Wei Guangde's words, Wang Guoguang naturally guessed what Wei Guangde meant.

"Mr. Wei, what do you mean?"

“That’s not my point, it depends on whether they give an excuse or not.

Our Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette and will naturally not resort to force. However, if foreign countries are disobedient, we can still teach them a lesson appropriately.

It’s a pity that those overseas countries are too far away from our Ming Dynasty. Without the navy, it is impossible to reach them.

Take Japan for example. A tiny country dares to send pirates to run rampant in China. The imperial court should teach them a lesson."

Wei Guangde said slowly.

"Yes, yes, yes, I heard that the King of Japan called himself the Emperor, how hateful."

Next, Wang Guoguang launched a verbal and written attack on Japan.

Wang Guoguang had collected information about Yuegang and naturally heard about the gold-silver ratio in Japan.

Others might not notice it, but the Minister of Revenue, who dealt with gold and silver all year round, was very sensitive and realized something, although Wang Guoguang did not catch it at the time.

However, when the news that Japan had mountains of gold and silver spread in the court, he realized what he had overlooked.

"The Ministry of Revenue has not considered this matter carefully. I will go back and recruit someone to discuss it."

Wang Guoguang said goodbye and left quickly. He had to be anxious because opening a mine was the Ministry of Revenue's business.

However, when Wei Guangde saw Wang Guoguang's leaving back, a sneer appeared on his face.

You are too greedy and some people will not tolerate you.