I'm really not doing business

Chapter 750: Ming Dynasty Raises Taxes

Ivan Peterson was a little confused. Among all the strange rumors about the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the West, there was no rumor that the Ming Dynasty was particularly generous. It was reasonable for the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to ask for compensation for help. What confused Ivan was that he didn't know what kind of compensation he could pay.

The Ming Emperor has already paid for Artemisia selengensis, with exceptionally generous rewards and friendly treatment. This friendly treatment is not just lip service. For example, after receiving the friendly treatment, Russian merchants can obtain Ming goods in Lisbon, even if it is very difficult.

The conflict between Russia and the Ottoman Empire was not simply a war for the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire, but a huge struggle for interests. If Russia could obtain the throne and defeat the Ottoman Empire, it could start from the Black Sea and reach the Mediterranean through the Black Sea Strait.

The Black Sea Strait is the throat of the Russian Empire. In order to prevent the Ottoman Empire from strangling its destiny, war is inevitable.

Because of the conflict, Russia was unable to conduct maritime trade through the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

If Russia wants to engage in maritime trade, there is actually another way, which is the northern route to the Baltic Sea. Merchant ships departing from St. Petersburg can smoothly enter the Atlantic Ocean from the Baltic Sea as long as Denmark and Sweden agree. However, Russia has to face the "Baltic Wall" in the north. Sweden has set up many checkpoints in different places and levied heavy taxes.

This is what made Ivan IV very angry. Although he had a good port, he could not make any profit from maritime trade because the throat of the shipping route was controlled by others. Conflict was inevitable, but from beginning to end, he was unable to completely resolve these troubles.

In the 33rd year of the Jiajing reign, the English adventurer Chancellor set out from London and arrived at the White Sea in the north of Russia from the northeast, and arrived at the city of Arkhangelsk. In the same year, Chancellor arrived in Moscow and met with Ivan IV, who allowed Chancellor to trade freely in Russia.

In the 34th year of the Jiajing reign, the Moscow Merchant Venture Company was established in London. 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 Russia and took away honey, fish oil, furs, timber and a large amount of naval supplies from Russia.

The northern route was opened up and has been operating stably for more than 50 years, and the route is now fully mature.

Even if it is difficult, Russia can still benefit from friendly treatment. Ming Dynasty has already paid for Artemisia selengensis. Now if Ivan Peterson asks Ming Dynasty for help again, he must pay sufficient compensation.

"I don't know what I can bring to Your Majesty in return." Ivan answered the question very honestly. He was not clear about the needs of the Ming Dynasty, but he hoped to get its help.

"Let's be down-to-earth. Helping without any reason is like the moon in the mirror and the flowers in the water, which are illusory. I hope you can bring more crops like Artemisia selengensis to Ming Dynasty." Zhu Yijun talked about his conditions, more useful crops.

There is no need to mention the long-term future too early. The Ming Dynasty did not reopen the Western Regions, and there is no need to mention political and military cooperation too early. We should look back at the land under our feet and ensure that the people of the Ming Dynasty have enough food to eat.

Zhu Yijun looked at Ivan's confused expression and said, "Barley, wheat, oats, beets, and forage grass are all fine."

"Your great and wise Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, rich resources, and everything. These crops already exist in the Ming Dynasty." Ivan Peterson reminded His Majesty that these crops already existed in the Ming Dynasty.

"I want to breed seeds, just bring them to me. I have my own uses for them. As long as you can bring various kinds of seeds, it will be fine." Zhu Yijun answered this question. His goal was not only to have seeds, but also to have good ones.

Zhu Yijun did not want these without purpose. Crop breeding was very important to the Ming Dynasty. For example, due to the emergence of water and fertilizer, fertilization actually led to a decrease in wheat production. Because fertilization caused the plants to be too tall, wind and rain caused large-scale lodging in the wheat fields, resulting in a decrease in production. The Ming Dynasty needed to dwarf the wheat and increase its resistance to lodging.

For example, beets. The beets in the Ming Dynasty were of a single variety, with small tubers and low sugar content. The Compendium of Materia Medica compiled by Li Shizhen identified beets as a medicinal herb. If beets with higher sugar content could be artificially bred, then the north would be able to obtain sugar at a lower price.

Those who sell smiles 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, with even equal profits, only slightly inferior to opium. Sugarcane can be used to make sugar, but beets at present cannot be used to make sugar because the sugar content of the tubers is too low.

The origin of beets is Sweden in the Baltic Sea. Russia has various varieties of beets. These beets live in high latitudes and have strong cold resistance. The breeding in Ming Dynasty has been ongoing and has never stopped.

Zhu Yijun is obsessed with Baoqisi, and this obsession is as deep-rooted as a person's need to have enough food.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Ivan Peterson had not read the theory of natural selection and the theory of anthropocentrism, so he could not deeply understand the purpose of Ming Dynasty for wanting seeds of various colors, but as long as Ming Dynasty had the need, it was fine.

The needs of the Ming Dynasty are really very easy to meet. They are just some seeds. When there is burning, killing and looting, just bring some for Your Majesty.

"Your Majesty, there is a kind of forage grass in my hometown called purple root grass. It is very strong and can thrive regardless of extreme heat or severe cold. It is also not very picky about the soil and can be harvested once a year. If you plant it, you can harvest it every year. I wonder if Your Majesty needs it?" Ivan Peterson's eyes suddenly lit up and he remembered something.

His serfs planted this stuff in large quantities just to feed their horses, and since it was planted 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 about the land.

The Ming Dynasty planted a lot of forage grasses in Suiyuan, but the loess on the Loess Plateau is very poor, and the trials of planting many forage grasses are somewhat difficult. Even some grasses that can be grown in saline-alkali lands are difficult to survive on loess. The bare Loess Plateau is not only due to deforestation caused by human activities.

The more pasture, the more attempts.

Not being picky about the land is great news for the Ming Dynasty. Only by planting grass first and then slowly planting trees and restoring the vegetation on the Loess Plateau can the Yellow River be completely controlled.

Suiyuan Governor Pan Jixun once said that using water to flush sand is only a temporary solution, but the fundamental solution is to control the soil erosion in the Yellow River basin.

"The yield depends on the fertilizer, Your Majesty. I can't really explain what the yield is, but it is very large anyway." Ivan Peterson said somewhat embarrassedly. The land was cultivated by serfs, and Ivan Peterson only knew that there was this crop. He didn't farm, so he didn't know the specific details.

"Just bring it here." Zhu Yijun then said solemnly: "For your sake, I can give you 200 bird guns, 20 flat guns, 20 tiger squat cannons, and 2,000 kilograms of gunpowder, which is 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 being exposed. The maximum number of people should not exceed 800."

Eight hundred is a number that has been repeatedly proven by history. If there are more than eight hundred people, it is no longer a scale that one person can directly command. A palace coup is not like Zhu Di conquering the country and plowing it again. So many people are not needed. All he needs to do is kill Boris and invite the king out. Those who are loyal to the king will naturally gather under the royal flag.

For example, the Battle of Duomen.

Zhu Yijun and Ivan Pedersen chatted for a long time, and Ivan Pedersen left Guanlong Pavilion.

In fact, the contradiction in Russia is very easy to understand. It is the contradiction between the new military aristocracy and the boyars (great nobles). The old nobles are unwilling to lose their own interests and power, while the new military aristocracy hopes to gain more benefits.

In the Battle of Molodi that broke out in the sixth year of Longqing, Ivan IV even lost the capital Moscow. The Ottomans burned Moscow down. In order to take revenge, Ivan IV could only recruit the more capable Cossacks and distribute more benefits to the army. This contradiction was not properly resolved when Ivan IV was still alive, leaving a huge hidden danger.

This kind of conflict is a life-and-death struggle that can only be ended by completely killing the other party.

If Ivan kills Boris, will the king be able to smoothly seize power? After Ivan and other new nobles kill the old nobles such as the boyars, they will become boyars themselves and continue to undermine the king.

This king was still a puppet. Zhu Yijun did not intend to interfere deeply in the internal affairs of Russia. He paid Ivan to bring more seeds to facilitate the breeding and cultivation of new crops in the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, the Grand Tutor and the Junior Tutor have arrived." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty that there were still ministers who needed to be met.

"Xuan."

"Your Majesty, we are here to greet you. May your Majesty be in good health." Wang Guoguang and Zhang Xueyan bowed their heads in greeting. They came here this time, of course, because they had something important to say.

"Sit down." Zhu Yijun took out a memorial from his sleeve and said solemnly, "Does the Ministry of Revenue suggest that we increase tariffs? Do we want to retaliate against Spain in kind?"

Pedro Fernandez, the special envoy of Felipe II, hoped to exchange market for technology on the condition of reducing the amount of silver in galleons, raising tariffs and prohibiting Ming cotton cloth from entering Spain. After being directly rejected by the Ming emperor, Pedro proposed another idea of ​​exchanging talents for prisoners. The cabinet is currently voting on it, and most people agree.

After all, losing a huge market would be detrimental to the Ming Dynasty's maritime cause.

The Ming Dynasty imposed tariffs on the tariffs that Spain did not impose, which saved Spain from complaining.

"It is a general increase in tariffs, not a reciprocal retaliation against Spain. Whether Spain wants to increase taxes on Ming or not, Ming has its own pace." Wang Guoguang hurriedly explained: "The Western envoys this time are not the main reason for the Ministry of Revenue to form a ministerial decision, of course, this is part of the reason."

"Increasing the tariff from 6% to 13% is for the long-term stability of the Ming Dynasty."

The Ming Dynasty had a comprehensive understanding of the so-called "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets" by Spain. It occupied some ports, and the colonies mainly focused on robbery were not real counties, but at most vassal states. If the definition was lowered a little, the Ming Dynasty was also the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets". After all, Antonio was indeed the king appointed by the Ming Dynasty.

The decisions of the British Empire have some weight on the decisions of the Ming Dynasty, but it is not high.

The Ming Dynasty became great again by taking its own steps instead of waiting for the West to set the questions and for the Ming Dynasty to answer them. The Ming Dynasty was the Celestial Empire in the world today and the world's center of science and technology, culture, economy, and trade.

Zhang Xueyan took out a list and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, please allow me to report that this tax increase is a general tax increase, that is, the tax will be increased on the commodities that the Ming Dynasty has already obtained a monopoly. Currently, the four major items of ironware, cotton cloth, tea, and porcelain will all be taxed to 13%. For some luxurious items, such as silk, jewelry, jade, etc., the tax will be increased to 30%. This is the decision of the Ministry of Revenue."

"Correspondingly, we will reduce taxes on imported grain, fish oil, sugar, copper, wood and other materials. These raw materials are in great demand in the Ming Dynasty. The tax rate will be reduced from 6% to 3%. The tax rate on imported grain will even be reduced to zero to prevent various unrest problems caused by food shortages in the Ming Dynasty."

Zhang Xueyan explained the policy details of the Ministry of Revenue in detail. It was not about raising tariffs directly, but about increasing and decreasing them. There would be a general tax reduction on the precious metals and grains needed by the Ming Dynasty to encourage imports, and tariffs would be increased on commodities that the Ming Dynasty had an exclusive monopoly in order to increase profits.

"Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty set tariffs too low in order to encourage going out to sea." Wang Guoguang emphasized again that the Ming Dynasty did not distinguish between noble and humble goods, and all goods were subject to a tariff of 6% of the value, which was extremely low. The main purpose was 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 the opening of the sea. The pigs are fattened and ready to be slaughtered. Zhu Yijun opened the memorial and said, "It is very clear in the memorial, and I naturally understand it."

"Since the opening of the sea fourteen years ago, the various shipping routes of the Ming Dynasty have been developed and matured. They have successfully occupied the market and gained a dominant position. However, due to vicious competition in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, profits are lower than expected. Therefore, the tax increase is to reduce vicious competition."

"The Ming Dynasty is the world's tariff depression. This low tariff is in line with the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty at that time. After all, the sea ban has been in place for nearly two hundred years. Fully opening the sea needs encouragement. Now, low tariffs are actually subsidizing the barbarians. Raising taxes is in line with the current national conditions of the Ming Dynasty."

Low tariffs encourage the maturity of foreign trade industrial chains and increase manufacturing. The manufacturing industry produces various commodities and exports them overseas, which actually stimulates external demand. The court’s low tariffs did not result in the receipt of silver, which was actually given overseas, reducing the purchase cost for overseas consumers and stimulating the maturity of overseas markets.

The purpose of normalizing tariffs is to allow more goods to flow into the Ming Dynasty, reduce prices through competition, stimulate domestic demand, and increase internal distribution. The Ministry of Revenue’s memorial explained this very clearly.

"There is actually another reason for raising tariffs. That is that female workers have appeared in some iron smelters in the Ming Dynasty. The appearance of female workers in these heavy labor jobs has shown that there are not enough craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty, and it is difficult to make significant improvements in the short term." Wang Guoguang explained the logic in detail.

There are not enough industrial population.

The appearance of female workers in iron smelters and coal mines meant that the number of craftsmen was insufficient to support the disorderly expansion of Ming Dynasty's manufacturing industry. Tariffs had to be raised to limit the expansion of the manufacturing industry and prevent problems in agriculture from arising because the manual manufacturing industry absorbed too many craftsmen.

"Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has a dominant position in the overseas market. Increasing tariffs and increasing the price of goods will not affect the scale of exports." Wang Guoguang said very solemnly: "The Ming Dynasty needs the inflow of silver from overseas to alleviate the shortage of money in the Ming Dynasty. The goods that have increased taxes are mainly because of the dominant position of commodity advantages."

"What does Wang Ci Fu say? He is now the leader of the Labour Party. We must fully consider the opinions of the Labour Party. We cannot harm the collective interests of craftsmen just for the sake of accumulation." Zhu Yijun agreed to increase taxes, but he also wanted to ask the Labour Party's attitude. As the leader of the Labour Party, Wang Chonggu had to integrate the opinions of all parties.

Zhang Xueyan said with a very strange expression: "Wang Cifu said that some people always pretend to be ignorant when they know the truth. All the goods on the merchant ships in the ocean come from the Ming Dynasty. It has come to this point, but they are still engaged in vicious competition. They don't make the money they should make, but try their best to make the money they shouldn't make. It's time to knock down these evildoers."

Not making the money that should be made refers to the constant and malicious price-cutting in maritime trade, which is more obvious in the five major customs offices. In order to seize the market, they lower the price to the foreigners as much as possible because they can get silver directly.

Trying to make money that shouldn't be earned means that the Ming Dynasty was unwilling to pay enough labor remuneration to the Ming Dynasty craftsmen, and allocated very little, in order to compress labor costs to gain profits.

The "traitors within the door" refers to the workshop owners and sea merchants of the Ming Dynasty who, behind closed doors, flaunt their power and dominance in the heartland of the Ming Dynasty while being cruel and tolerant abroad.

"Adjusting tariffs on various commodities is the tool used by the 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 requires the formulation of basic laws, and there must be a reference condition. It cannot be abused like the Ming Baochao during the Hongwu period.

"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. The Ministry of Revenue has also drafted a temporary charter and will make adjustments as practice permits." Wang Guoguang took out a memorial. The Ministry of Revenue naturally did not want this tool to be abused. Once abused, it would mean that this tool would become completely ineffective, which would mean the loss of power for the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Revenue has lost the right to mint coins. Now coinage is firmly controlled by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works. The Ministry of Revenue can only pick up some leftovers, that is, issuing treasure notes overseas, which is a thorn in the side of the Ministry of Revenue.

The design of the tariff adjustment standard is relatively simple. Generally speaking, if Ming Dynasty accounts for more than 70% of the world's total trade in a certain commodity, the tax will be increased; when Ming Dynasty accounts for less than 50% of the total trade in a certain commodity, the tax will be reduced.

If it is less than 50%, it means that the Ming Dynasty does not have a dominant advantage in this commodity, and tax reduction will increase competitiveness;

If more than 70% of the respondents believe that the goods have already gained a dominant advantage, increasing taxes will increase profits.

The total volume of world trade for a particular commodity is estimated based on import and export data from five customs offices, four overseas governor-general's offices, and Lisbon. If data from London and Seville can be obtained, the data will be more accurate.

Zhu Yijun and the Minister of Revenue talked carefully for a long time and decided to increase the tax.

"I am rather worried. If we don't care, there will be chaos; if we care, there will be death. The Ming Dynasty has suddenly raised tariffs. I am afraid that our Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants will complain again." Zhu Yijun talked about his worries. If the Ming Dynasty increased tariffs, some people would cry again.

Zhang Xueyan said confidently: "Your Majesty, this is easy to do. If they just talk about it, it's fine. But if they insist on putting it into practice and defy the imperial decree, it's actually easy to do. Simply don't give private ships licenses. All goods will be in the Maritime Customs, which will have a unified price and unified purchase, and then the five major ocean-going trading companies controlled by the Ming Dynasty will ship them out to sea."

"It saves them from having to take risks at sea."

On that day, maritime merchants will recall the fear of being dominated by the maritime ban and will learn to cherish the current open atmosphere.

Most of the Ming Dynasty officials were extreme conservatives, and they did not agree with some of the current government orders. Since someone wanted to disobey the order, they would just overthrow it. They turned from opening the sea to the monopoly of the Yongle period, with completely official ships and government-run ships.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "I still don't want to go to that step. I will send a letter to Wang Yi'e, Shen Shixing, Wang Jiaping and others, telling them to make it clear to the merchants why the tax should be increased. At the same time, the various customs offices should negotiate the prices of various goods to ensure profits."

In the 13th year of Wanli, the Ming Dynasty ended the -year-long low tariffs and increased the tariffs to %. Zhu Yijun originally thought that there would be overwhelming opposition, scolding the Grand Tutor and the Junior Tutor as corrupt officials, and opposing the government order.

However, Zhu Yijun did not receive a single memorial of opposition, and there was not even any discussion in the private newspapers.

In his memorial, Shen Shixing summarized the opinions of various business leaders and told His Majesty the Emperor why no one objected.

Even if it was increased to 13%, it was an indisputable fact that Ming Dynasty was still the world's tariff low point.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants were always in the wind and waves, and they were very familiar with the tariffs of the major governor-general's offices in the West.

These governors-general's offices only charge an overt tariff of at least 30%. The bribes they ask for in private depend on your military strength. If your military strength is not enough, they will directly rob you of your people and ships.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has collected tariffs for fourteen years, and the navy has expanded to 130,000 troops. However, the Ming Dynasty has been slow to increase tariffs, which has made the maritime merchants a little nervous. What is the Emperor up to?

Many maritime merchants were unsure and thought that the imperial court intended to slaughter the pigs as soon as they were fattened.

The tax rate on dominant commodities was only increased to 13%, and there were corresponding tax cuts on some raw materials. This was completely acceptable to maritime merchants. At least the emperor was prepared to sustainably drain the pond to catch all the fish instead of eating alone or directly slaughtering the pigs. This was good news.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants were also caught in a dilemma. No one dared to raise prices first. Once they raised prices and their competitors did not, they would lose the market and be defeated in the competition. Therefore, they would rather have lower profits than lose market share. Everyone wanted to raise prices, but no one dared to think about it.

Now, the imperial court has come out to preside over the price negotiations, and this has brought a turning point in the situation. The imperial court and the emperor are the guarantors of the price negotiations. Once someone violates the negotiated price, it means that he is not giving face to the emperor, and he will be in trouble.

By raising prices, everyone will get higher profits.

"Wow, it turned out that the Guangzhou Shipyard was the first to build a copper-clad wooden 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 with a main mast and a secondary mast for controlling the direction. It is also equipped with various sextants, compasses, quadrants, and protractors for navigation. These instruments are integrated on a workbench, and there is also a wheel for controlling the stern rudder.

The most surprising thing about this hydrofoil sailboat is that it is made of copper-clad wood.

The technology of the copper-clad plywood ship is not the difficulty; the establishment of supporting industries is the difficulty. Copper is mainly used to cast Wanli Tongbao coins, so copper-clad wood is very luxurious.

The Longjiang Shipyard in Nan Ya, the Xingang Shipyard in Songjiang Prefecture, and the Fuzhou Shipyard were all working on it, but for various reasons, they were unable to complete it. In the Ming Dynasty, copper was too expensive, and the cost of using copper to cover wooden ships was too huge, so copper plywood was not popular. Everyone knew it was good, but no one was willing to do it.

In the end, Guangzhou Shipyard took the lead and is now capable of producing some small ships, including hydrofoil sailboats, battleships, and two-masted cargo ships.

After Nan Ya received heavy investment from the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, good news came at the end of May that Nan Ya had built the largest winery in the entire Ming Dynasty. The entire industrial chain from smoking, fermentation, processing, brewing, steaming, barrel storage, etc. has been successfully put into production and is expected to produce more than 2,000 barrels of wine annually.

A large barrel weighs 1700 kilograms, and 340 million kilograms of Guojiao can be produced per year. The sweet potato pulp is used to make maltose, and Guojiao is brewed with the sweet potato residue and sugarcane residue left over from making maltose. The resulting liquor is distilled and is not good to drink, but it is very useful.

"This doesn't seem like much." Zhu Yijun did a simple calculation and it was only about two thousand tons. In later generations, it could only be considered a medium-sized liquor company. Only a winery with an annual output of more than 50,000 tons could be called an extra-large liquor company.

"Your Majesty, according to the Ministry of Revenue's calculations on the distribution of goods in Lisbon, only 300 million kilograms of wine are brewed in the West in a whole year, and this is brewed by a winery in the Ming Dynasty." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty that these 340 million kilograms may not seem like a lot, but that is in the Ming Dynasty. If it were placed in the West, it would be equal to the entire West's output.

The output of distilled liquor 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 output is used for trade, and only 20% is used by England and local merchant sailors.

Strong liquor is a necessity at sea. One unit of distilled liquor should be mixed with two units of water to avoid getting sick.

The wine used for sailing is generally distilled twice, with an alcohol concentration of over 60%. It has no taste other than the smell of wine, as all the flavoring substances have been distilled. The wine sold locally is generally distilled once, with an alcohol content generally below 50%, retaining better flavor.

Nanya Longjiang Distillery only does secondary distillation.

"Japan has sent another 30,000 troops to Korea, led by Hashiba Hideyoshi." Zhu Yijun said solemnly as he looked at the newspaper in front of him.

The place where the reinforcements were sent this time was Incheon. After the navy landed, they deployed defenses in Incheon. Now there are 60,000 Japanese pirates deployed in the entire Incheon.

(End of this chapter)