I'm really not doing business

Chapter 752 The problem with the private market is not the private market itself

Zhang Juzheng believed that Felipe's approach worked because the industrial structure of the Ming Dynasty was like this after the Wanli period opened up the sea.

The Ming Dynasty is a practical example of a successful Western trade alliance framework.

The coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty were indeed wealthy, but this wealth belonged to the entire Ming Dynasty, not just to the coastal areas. That was why the imperial court had to build a highway to Jiayuguan. This was a distribution led by the imperial court.

The coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty became the most prosperous places because of convenient transportation, especially cheaper shipping. Workshops would never be set up in places with inconvenient transportation, so if you want to get rich, you must first build roads.

Taking cotton as an example, Shandong and Henan are both high-yield cotton areas, and the overseas raw materials mainly come from the Mongol Empire. The raw cotton is concentrated in Songjiang Prefecture and produced into cotton cloth in the cotton mills of Songjiang Prefecture.

The craftsmen in these workshops came from all over the world, and the labor force was also provided by the hinterland. These cotton cloths were distributed to the hinterland and overseas to make profits, and wealth gathered in the coastal areas.

Guangxi provides more than 70% of the sugarcane, while 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 Guangdong and Guangxi, not Guangzhou Prefecture alone.

The North provided a large amount of raw materials needed for production, such as coal, alkaline flour, and white clay, and even provided the population needed for production. The wealth should have belonged to the collective ownership of the Ming Dynasty. This point has been described in detail by Zhang Juzheng in his "On Public and Private Affairs" and "Distribution".

The industrial structure of the Ming Dynasty was actually similar to the framework proposed by Felipe. Some places provided silver, some places provided workshops, some places provided craftsmen, some places provided raw materials, and some places provided food, which ultimately allowed the Ming Dynasty to achieve absolute advantage in commodities.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng was worried that if Felipe really succeeded, it would be a bit tricky.

But the Ottoman Empire and England did not seem to want to see a united Spain, while Sweden and Poland directly rejected the Russian Empire, even though the Russian Empire could provide enough food.

This is good news for the Ming Dynasty.

Gao Qiyu frowned and said solemnly, "The way the English think is always a little unexpected. They would rather trade secretly in the port than withdraw the privateering license because they can make more money this way. Even if the pirates invaded the capital, they still refused to give up."

"Sir, I noticed a very strange phenomenon regarding maritime trade."

"Tell me in detail." Zhang Juzheng said seriously.

Maritime trade was one of the economic cornerstones of Zhang's party. Songjiang Prefecture had to ship 4 million dan of grain to the capital every year. The person in charge of the maritime trade was the Minister of Personnel Liang Menglong, while the Director of the Maritime Customs and the Inspector of the Ministry of Finance and the Associate Director of the Coastal Defense were all controlled by Zhang's party's honest officials.

Another cornerstone is agriculture and sericulture, which was the help the emperor gave to Zhang's party. The real owner of Baoqisi was the emperor himself, but most of the specific affairs were handled by Xu Zhenming, the director of the department. Xu Zhenming was a member of Zhang's party and the emperor's agronomy teacher. He had a badge from the Quan Chu Guild Hall.

Because of its complex personnel composition, the Zhang Party can no longer be called the Zhang Party. It is more appropriate to call it the Reform Party.

The economic cornerstone of the Labor Party is the state-owned factories and Dingjian Industrial Park.

"Sir, why does smuggling exist? It would be fine if smuggling could avoid tariffs, but the tariffs charged by private markets are at least more than 30%." Gao Qiyu pointed out the phenomenon he had observed. The taxes in private markets are higher, but some people still choose to go private.

The reason why Gao Qiyu wanted to talk about this was because the Ming Dynasty was increasing taxes.

Whether the tax increase will expand the scale of smuggling is a question that must be considered. Once the tax increase causes widespread resistance, the good situation that was established after fourteen years of the Wanli Reform will disappear.

This is something that Your Majesty will not allow, and it is also something that the Reform Party cannot accept in any way. Economic status determines political status. Once the economic status is lost, the Reform Party will be completely at a disadvantage in the delicate balance of the court.

The commission charged in the private market is much higher than that in the official market, but smuggling is still rampant.

Gao Qiyu continued, "I have looked into many cases of smuggling markets, and even personally wrote letters to inquire about them in detail. The Tianjin Prefecture Private Market, Sandu'ao Private Market, and Miyangang 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 cloth, and then gradually extended to bulk commodities such as cotton, tea, iron, etc.; red goods are luxury goods. The Ming Dynasty’s luxury goods have a special luxury tax (Chapter 604), and it is extremely high; black goods are contraband, such as opium. The transportation of silver, raw silk, and population abroad all fall into this category.

Blue goods refer to military equipment, including swords, spears, axes, halberds, hooks, forks, muskets, cannons, and gunpowder. These goods are all must-buys for armed merchant ships, and they are goods that the Maritime Customs does not allow to be traded. For example, the price of gunpowder in the private market can be three to five times more expensive than the price at the imperial court.

"According to common sense, red, black and blue should be the biggest categories of smuggling. After all, red goods have a high tax rate, black goods are illegal, and blue goods are even more likely to be killed." Gao Qiyu leaned forward and said, "Sir, the reality is not like this. The reality is that 90% of the smuggled white goods account for only 10% of the smuggled goods."

“The private market cannot survive by just smuggling red, blue and black goods.”

Even in the private market, bulk commodities are still bulk commodities. Without white goods, the private market will become difficult to operate and unsustainable. Since black and blue goods are illegal in themselves, fighting is as common as eating. The owner of the private market must have the largest armed force to be able to control the place.

Gao Qiyu handed a small account book that he had summarized to Zhang Juzheng, who flipped through it for a long time. The private markets in Tianjin Prefecture, Sanduao and Miyangang were major cases uncovered by the court, and were important cases that had to be brought to the Wenhua Hall for discussion. There were more than 60 smaller-scale private markets uncovered by the coastal defense inspectors.

Wildfires cannot be extinguished, and they will spring up again with the spring breeze. The tenacity of these private markets was beyond the court's expectations.

"That's true. If there is no white goods in the private market, that is, legal bulk commodities, and it simply operates red, black and blue goods, it will self-destruct in the fight between these desperate criminals." Zhang Juzheng put down the account book. The problem that Gao Qiyu was studying was a point that the wise officials in the court did not notice.

Gao Qiyu thought about the problem from the bottom up. Why did these maritime merchants choose private markets instead of official markets? The main idea of ​​the court was from top to bottom.

Gao Qiyu’s point of view is very clear. The private market is not without operating costs. Its operating costs are mainly supported by the commission from legal goods.

Zhang Juzheng put the account book away. The possibility that Gao Qiyu deliberately falsified the account was very low, but Zhang Juzheng wanted to verify it personally. Being cautious is the first principle in the officialdom, which is a place of fame and fortune.

Zhang Juzheng smiled and said, "Then we just need to figure out why the merchants who trade in white goods prefer to choose private markets instead of the Maritime Customs. The private markets themselves will be unable to maintain themselves due to operational difficulties, and this long-standing problem will be solved."

Gao Qiyu immediately said, "Maritime merchants are reluctant to go through customs at the Maritime Customs Office. The first reason is that the customs declaration process is too lengthy and complicated. Not to mention the many formalities, the main reason is that the process is slow. Bulk goods have to wait in line at the Maritime Customs Office. It only takes half a day to complete, but the goods often have to stay at the port for ten days, half a month, 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 trading companies can afford to wait, but small merchants simply cannot, so they simply smuggle directly.

There was something else behind Gao Qiyu's words, and Zhang Juzheng understood it very clearly. The reason for the long customs declaration time was not only because of the rigid customs declaration conditions, but also because there was no detailed customs declaration process. There were five different methods for the five Maritime Customs Offices, and the four major governor-general's offices had their own methods based on local conditions.

This was a dereliction of duty on the part of the imperial court.

Document review, inspection, taxation and release seem to be only four steps. However, for the inspection alone, a maritime merchant has to go through five or six government offices. He has to declare customs at the port, the Maritime Customs Office, the Songjiang Prefecture Government Office, and the Supervisory Office. Some goods even have to be declared at the Maritime Transport Office. After the establishment of the Insurance Regulatory Office, they have to declare customs at the Insurance Regulatory Office as well. Only after completing these processes can they reach the taxation stage.

Every step has to go through these government offices, which is very cumbersome.

Some commodities, such as silk, also require licensing, commodity inspection, quotas and other procedures, which is more troublesome.

A noble like Zhang Juzheng would not normally go to the yamen to do business. Even if he really needed to get something done, he would ask You Shouli to arrange people. Moreover, as a seventh-rank official in the prime minister's office, You Shouli would expedite the process wherever he went. Going to the yamen to do business was a pain that a noble could not 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 merchants, this is not a little time, they do not have that much time to wait.

Gao Qiyu looked around and shouted in a low voice: "The second reason is corruption. With so many government offices, every time someone passes through a hand, there is a lot of grease."

"It is true that the tariff before the Ming Dynasty was only 6%, but the actual tariff may be 20%, or even 30% to 50%. That's fine, it can still be settled with money. Some businesses can only be done by relatives of high-ranking officials, the Supervisor of the Maritime Customs, and the Supervisor of the Military Defence Office. If you do this business, you will be blocked and not allowed to do it."

Gao Qiyu lowered his voice a little, because the five supervisors of the Maritime Customs and the Associate Governors of the Coast Guard were almost all members of Zhang's party. Gao Qiyu didn't know whether these people had paid tribute to Zhang Juzheng after receiving the benefits.

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 in the development of maritime trade. In addition, there is also an invisible threshold in the implementation process of various customs offices for commodities for which the imperial court has not set explicit restrictions.

These invisible thresholds are the highest thresholds.

"I have a guess about the reason you mentioned." Zhang Juzheng answered the question directly. He didn't know the reason, but he guessed it. Those who hold power will find ways to cash in on it. This phenomenon is very common because power represents domination.

Wang Chonggu set up a trade union, but it caused so much trouble, and it was just a state-owned woolen factory.

It would be a great surprise if the Ming Dynasty Maritime Customs had such huge profits but did not breed corruption and profit chains.

Gao Qiyu said confidently: "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 give up my share of the money. I would rather the court confiscate the goods or collect less tariffs and drive the merchants to the private market than give up my own interests."

“That’s what’s so difficult about this problem.”

If we look at this issue from the perspective of public and private theory, it will become clearer. This is not an isolated case, but a common phenomenon. As long as I block you from passing through, I can get a share of the money, no matter how big the amount is. Moreover, with the expansion of the scale of maritime trade, the number of officials in the Maritime Customs has gradually increased, and the problem has become serious.

The three main reasons why maritime merchants choose private markets are that goods are delayed in the process, the actual tax rate is higher than the statutory tax rate, and there are artificial restrictions on commodity operators.

"The fourth reason why sea merchants are unwilling to pass through the Maritime Customs is the Cao Gangs at the docks. These Cao Gangs also want benefits and are under orders from others. They are almost the same as the owners of private markets. These Cao Gangs are responsible for negotiating prices for the poor and laboring people, but most of the benefits go to the Cao Gangs themselves." Gao Qiyu explained the fourth reason.

In the private market, they have to face the exploitation of the hostages. In the Ming Dynasty's official Maritime Customs, they also have to face exploitation. Therefore, choosing the faster private market has become the best choice for small merchants. It has a fast turnover and can also bring some other goods to increase profits. The Ming Dynasty's official Maritime Customs has an incomparable advantage, that is, safety. There is no need to worry about the loss of both the ship and the cargo. It is for this reason that the Maritime Customs is still the most important trading place in the Ming Dynasty.

These are the four reasons Gao Qiyu came up with after conducting a comprehensive investigation into dozens of private market cases.

"Good." Zhang Juzheng only said one word. He looked at Gao Qiyu for a moment and said, "You haven't finished what you want to say."

"Teacher really understands his students." Gao Qiyu let out a breath. 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 also a fifth reason, that is, someone is forcing the sea merchants to smuggle."

"If the merchants declare customs normally, the extent to which officials can manipulate the government will be restricted by laws and regulations and supervision. After all, the Jinyiwei Tax Inspection Office is not there to do nothing. Manipulating the government in the government office is equivalent to committing a crime in broad daylight and in full view of the public."

“This is really too dangerous.”

"However, by artificially setting limits, the merchants were forced to avoid government offices and go to the smuggling market, and the officials of the imperial court protected the proceeds from the smuggling market, which neither violated the law nor circumvented supervision. It was like bypassing the imperial government's supervision office and setting up a private supervision office."

Zhang Juzheng did not hide anything and told Gao Qiyu his guess. Of course, he was also thinking about why the private market was still rampant despite repeated bans.

"It is indeed true." Gao Qiyu bowed his head and said. Zhang Juzheng had to say this himself. Gao Qiyu could not say it. If he wrote this in his memorial, it would be an attack on Zhang Juzheng for not being able to judge people well. But if Zhang Juzheng said it himself, it would mean the elimination of officials related to maritime trade.

Zhang Juzheng said calmly, "The coastal defense inspectors are also human beings, and they have their moments of rest. These private markets have been banned repeatedly but continue to exist. What Gao Si Ke said today is very insightful. Gao Si Ke should write a memorial and send it to the Ministry of Public Administration for review."

"Yes." Gao Qiyu went to see Zhang Juzheng, firstly to maintain the relationship, secondly to explain his foreign policy to the Prime Minister, and thirdly to determine whether his memorial should be submitted.

He had already written it, but if Zhang Juzheng, the leader of the Zhang Party, did not want to change the status quo, then his memorial would be rejected when sent to the Ministry of Public Administration. In addition to being rejected, Zhang Juzheng would also hold a grudge against him.

However, Zhang Juzheng did not say any clichés like "this matter is of great importance", "exaggerating too hastily", "tolerance for the sake of the country", etc. He approved of his memorial and even added a fifth reason on the floating ticket, which was that he took action against his own base and took the initiative to eliminate them.

Every organization must find ways to carry out self-metabolism and maintain vitality in order to last long. This is the core concept of Zhang Juzheng's administration of officials. All his new policies for the administration of officials are based on this core concept.

After Gao Qiyu finished talking about the affairs of state, he was silent for a moment and could only bow his head and leave. He actually had a private matter, which was that his second son was going to have his coming-of-age ceremony at the age of twenty this year, and he had to be given a name for the ceremony. He came this time hoping that the teacher could give the child a name, but in the end he did not say it out loud.

Because Zhang Juzheng had clearly stated that the teacher-student relationship had ended and that they would only be dealing with official business from now on.

"Oh." Gao Qiyu picked up his seven ingredients, stood in front of the door, sighed, and chose to leave.

On the second day of June in the fourteenth year of the Wanli reign, the Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun came to the Wenhua Hall and presided over the court meetings as usual. The Ming Emperor was diligent in his work, which was a blessing for the entire Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Juzheng explained the problems in Gao Qiyu's memorial, and the court officials finally understood that the problem with the private market was not in the private market itself.

Zhang Juzheng paused and said, "So Gao Qiyu's solution is to build a government hall in the Xingang Maritime Customs Office in Songjiang Prefecture, and stuff all these messy government offices into this government hall, so that merchants don't have to run back and forth to the government offices, and try to complete the procedures within one day."

"This method greatly speeds up the circulation between government offices, and they can supervise each other. We can also set up a government office to inspect the taxes of a thousand households to specialize in supervision."

The Thousand Tax Inspectors were responsible for tax inspection. If anyone deliberately made things difficult for others or asked for benefits, it would fall within the scope of the Thousand Tax Inspectors' duties. The Southern Treasury of the Imperial Household was waiting to collect tax from the merchants, but these local officials were making things difficult for the merchants. They were clearly making things difficult for the emperor!
"Does the Prime Minister really not consider letting Gao Qiyu return to the Quan Chu Guild Hall? If the Prime Minister does not want to, I will do it reluctantly." Wang Chonggu was still thinking of a solution, but after hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, he immediately started to ask for people.

"He's a troublemaker, what are you going to do?" Zhang Juzheng frowned. Wang Chonggu was really good at taking advantage of every opportunity.

"What trouble can he cause? No problem." Wang Chonggu pointed at himself and said calmly. He was a big traitor, so why should he be afraid of Gao Qiyu, who was not a traitor but just didn't know how to avoid taboos? The things Gao Qiyu did were just that, not even transgressing the law.

Zhang Juzheng picked up the memorial and continued, "The problem of the goods being held up in the process will be greatly alleviated by the Maritime Customs Office. The second problem is that the actual tax rate is higher than the statutory tax rate. This is actually difficult to avoid, but it still needs to be actively monitored. There is a large iron box outside the Office so that anyone can report it."

Gao Qiyu copied the emperor's method. There were many iron boxes in the palace, and every day someone would take out the letters of accusation from these boxes and sort them out.

"Who will be responsible for organizing the large iron boxes in the Maritime Customs Office?" Hai Rui asked immediately.

"Inspect taxes from thousands of households." Zhang Juzheng replied immediately.

Li Youzi frowned and said, "This is the duty of the censor."

"The censor is unable to perform his duties." Zhang Juzheng answered quickly, obviously prepared for how to respond to the Censorate's inquiries.

Hai Rui shook his head and said, "This cannot convince the Censorate. It doesn't make sense. Supervision is the duty of the Censor. I can send the Censor in plain clothes to go."

The Plain-clothed Censors were a group of lunatics, true Qingliu who were even more fanatical than the fanatics in the West. Hai Rui had been searching for them for fourteen years, and under his command, he only had seven Plain-clothed Censors.

"Corruption also requires taxation." Zhang Juzheng said calmly: "Officials have included the illegal income of merchants in the profit tax, so this is also within the scope of tax inspection."

"Zhang Juzheng!" Hai Rui said sternly, "Tax inspection is not a basket that can hold anything! Corruption means confiscating all illegal gains, and it cannot be put into the basket of tax inspection!"

"The Prime Minister is the president of the Ming Dynasty Code. Why did he compile the Ming Dynasty Code and revise the official records? It is to clarify the powers of each government office. He cannot interfere in other people's affairs!"

Hai Rui was very angry and called him by his name, because Zhang Juzheng had gone too far. Tax inspection was just a tax inspection, but he turned it into a widespread crime. In a few years, everything would be considered a tax inspection, and by then, the Tax Inspection Office would close down amid widespread opposition.

Once power is distributed, it is extremely difficult to take it back.

This is why Zhang Juzheng didn't want to bring Hai Rui back. This man was too stubborn, even though he was now very good at adapting.

Zhu Yijun coughed lightly, and when he saw that all the court officials were looking at him, he spoke up, "General Hai, calm down. The Prime Minister came to the Tonghe Palace yesterday to have an audience with me. The Prime Minister and I have discussed this for a long time. You have no other choice. We have to fight corruption, but we can't rely on the censors. You are in a dilemma."

"How about this, as a compromise, the Tax Inspector of the Maritime Affairs Office and the Marine Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate work together to deal with the letters of denunciation in the denunciation box?"

Zhang Juzheng did not take power into his own hands. He made up a reason that even corruption should be subject to taxation just to fool people. His only purpose was to concentrate power in the hands of the emperor. If power is not concentrated, it is easy to learn from the West. If power is too concentrated, it is easy to double the enforcement. Hai Rui's worries were not unreasonable.

Therefore, Zhu Yijun's plan was to compromise and satisfy all parties.

Hai Rui and Li Youzi looked at each other, then bowed their heads and said, "We obey your order."

"The third question is about artificially setting limits on commodities. This is actually very simple. Just send down a decree to local authorities to strictly prohibit it. As long as it can be done within the criminal law of the Ming Dynasty, just do it boldly." Zhang Juzheng explained the third question.

Artificially imposing limits on high-profit commodities can actually be solved together with the second problem, as they both fall within the scope of using public power for personal gain.

"As for the Cao Gangs in various maritime offices, I think we should look at them with caution and observe further, because this involves bargaining between poor coolies and ship owners. The work at the docks is all heavy physical work, and the coolies at the docks do not have the laws of the government factories to go and appeal for justice." Zhang Juzheng expressed his caution about the Cao Gang issue.

Gao Qiyu's opinion was to fight. In Gao Qiyu's view, these canal gangs were factors of instability in the Maritime Customs, and they should be eliminated directly with severe measures.

"Your Majesty, I agree with Yuan Fu's opinion. We can wait and see. There is more than one Cao Gang at this dock. We should call the leaders of these Cao Gangs to the yamen regularly to give them a lecture, ask them to give more to the coolies, and admonish them not to fight too much." Wang Chonggu expressed his agreement. As there has been no serious incident so far, we can wait and see.

The boat gangs at the docks are mainly based in the region, and the boat trackers at the docks are all brought to the Maritime Customs by groups of people. If we really wipe them all out, I'm afraid we won't even be able to find people to work. This is a realistic concern.

"Your Majesty, the five major customs offices and the four governor-general's offices all have naval garrisons. This means that these grain transport gang leaders will definitely not dare to go too far, otherwise the navy is right before their eyes." The Minister of War Zeng Shengwu also agreed with Zhang Juzheng's suggestion to wait and see.

The reason is that the Ming army is the biggest ballast. If it really starts to become too powerful, just destroy it.

"Let's wait and see." Zhu Yijun thought about it and agreed with this proposal. He actually tended to agree with Gao Qiyu's opinion, to fight and directly eliminate these unstable factors.

But what several ministers said makes sense. We can take a closer look at whether these vibrant grassroots associations are doing more good than harm to the poor and laboring people.

“As for sheltering private markets, the Northern and Southern Pacification Offices will investigate thoroughly and will never tolerate it.” Zhu Yijun naturally knew the fifth reason. Those who dared to steal the emperor’s money and put their hands into the emperor’s purse are no longer ordinary traitors. There is only one word to describe them: kill. Whoever is found out will be killed.

"Zhang Wei, the chief academician of the Imperial College, was impeached by the six secretaries of the six departments." Zhang Juzheng said in a low voice, "The censors of the Censorate followed Lian Zhang and submitted a memorial to impeach Zhang Wei, the chief academician of the Imperial College. Wenyuan Pavilion has received more than 210 memorials, most of which say that Zhang Wei is disrespectful to society."

"Two hundred and ten, tut tut." Zhu Yijun exhaled a foul breath and said with a bad look on his face, "Back then, Yang Shen, the son of Yang Tinghe, gathered two hundred and twenty-nine people to the Zuo Shun Gate to force the emperor to abdicate. Zhang Wei asked the students of the Imperial College to cultivate the land, which led to two hundred and ten people impeaching him for being disrespectful to society."

"Prince Lu's method is still the best. Send them to the abandoned mines of Xishan Coal Bureau to dig for minerals, and they will behave themselves."

"Your Majesty, please don't send any more. They have caused a lot of trouble to the mine. I don't want them." Wang Chonggu rejected the emperor's suggestion very clearly. The Xishan Coal Bureau was not a garbage dump. If these cheap scholars came, they would be useless except causing trouble and delaying production.

(End of this chapter)