I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 414 Shocking Tariff Revenue

"Of course. Why don't the Imperial Envoy follow me to the Taxation Office? There will be documents and files there, and everything the Imperial Envoy wants to know will be clear at a glance."

Seeing Sun Chuanting respond with neither humility nor arrogance, Sun Yuanhua also nodded and said:

"This is natural, then please ask Mr. Sun to lead the way."

"Your Majesty, please come first."

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting immediately turned sideways and waved his hand, asking Sun Yuanhua to invite him first.Then he followed Sun Yuanhua, slowly introducing him to the ports in Shanghai County as he walked.

"Your Majesty, the maritime trade in South Zhili has always been developed. As far as ports are concerned, the most famous ones are Liuhe, Liujiaxiang, Haimen and other places. These places are close to the sea, and it is extremely convenient for merchant ships to travel.

But since Haigang Peak dredged the Huangpu River, Shanghai's water transportation conditions are not bad, especially since it is the Songjiang Mansion, close to Suzhou Mansion, and not far from Hangzhou Mansion. "

Sun Chuanting paused as he spoke, then looked at the Shanghai port beside him and continued:
"Therefore, if maritime merchant ships go up the Huangpu River, they can stop in Shanghai County and be protected from the sea breeze. There are many merchant ships in Shanghai County now, and its prosperity is not comparable to Liuhe, Liujiaxiang, Haimen and other places. "

Sun Yuanhua nodded when he heard this. He had just come from the Huangpu River, so he naturally knew the advantages.

And after listening to Sun Chuanting's analysis, he also understood why Sun Chuanting wanted to set up the Customs Department in Shanghai County.

It's just that compared with ports such as Liuhe, Shanghai County has better water transportation and geographical location conditions.This is still a new port, and everything is done first, which is more conducive to the implementation of the new system.

"Dr. Sun is right, but since the Customs Department is located here, I also see that there are many tax collectors in the port, so the new tariff has been implemented here."

Seeing Sun Yuanhua directly asking about the new tariff, Sun Chuanting was not surprised. He immediately cupped his hands, looked at the tax collector at the port and said:

"What the Imperial Envoy said is true. The new tariff has indeed been implemented in Shanghai County. As for other major ports, people have also been sent to prepare for implementation. It's just that the Customs Department is new and doesn't have many manpower. If it wants to be fully rolled out, it may take some time. day."

According to the regulations of the imperial court, the Customs Department of the Ministry of Revenue is responsible for the collection of all port tariffs.It's just that the manpower, systems, etc. involved are complicated and cannot be solved in a short time.

Recently, Sun Chuanting has also been troubled by this matter. He is responsible for assigning tasks and piloting in Shanghai County.

It really made him a little busy, so when Sun Yuanhua asked about it, he couldn't help but complain.

"Tariff reform is a matter of great importance, and there are countless interests involved. Therefore, this kind of matter cannot be rushed, so slow is fast, and we have to plan it slowly, as long as nothing goes wrong."

Sun Yuanhua naturally knew the complexity. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but admire Bi Ziyan and Yuan Keli.To actually entrust such an important task to this young man who is not even [-] years old, it takes a lot of determination, but this also shows that Sun Chuanting's ability is very strong.

"What the Imperial Envoy said is that fortunately, the port in Shanghai County is still newly established, and there is much less resistance to the implementation of the new tariff. It has been two months since its implementation, and the results can be said to be remarkable."

The two led a group of people as they walked out of the port, along a long strip of stone and bluestone paved, about one foot wide, with complete open drainage ditches on both sides for the street to go straight.

After a while, I came to a yamen. There was a huge plaque hanging on the main entrance of the yamen, with the eight characters "General Department of Customs of the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty" written on it.

The place doesn't look big, but judging from the inscription on the plaque, you know how important this location is.As he spoke, Sun Chuanting invited Sun Yuanhua in. At the same time, he invited Sun Yuanhua to sit in the main hall and asked people to quickly bring over the account books. He wanted to report to Sun Yuanhua in person.

"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, as of now, there are 85 tax collectors and 320 seven tax collectors in the Customs Department of Shanghai County. The tax collected so far is 19 and a half taels. I would like to ask your Majesty the Imperial Envoy to take a look."

Upon hearing this, Sun Yuanhua immediately looked at Sun Chuanting in surprise, his eyes full of surprise and disbelief.

"Dr. Sun, please don't lie to me. Although I know that sea trade is profitable, it has only been two months since Shanghai County implemented new tariffs. How can there be so much tax money?"

Sun Chuanting had already guessed that Sun Yuanhua would be so surprised, so he handed the account book to Sun Yuanhua and slowly explained.

"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, this is definitely not Shanghai County's tax money for the past two months, but Shanghai County's tax money for one year since it opened to the sea last year. However, more than 12 taels of it were collected in these two months."

Sun Yuanhua was even more unbelievable when he heard this. What Sun Chuanting said was too exaggerated. Could it be that the new tariffs were so powerful that they could actually add so much money to Shanghai County in two months?

After thinking about it, he took the account book and looked at it carefully.

In order to let Sun Yuanhua see more clearly, Sun Chuanting stepped forward and explained to him in detail.

"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, of the 12 taels, more than [-] taels are ship guides bought by maritime merchants. Therefore, after the implementation of the new tariff, there are no restrictions or requirements for purchasing ship guides. Everyone can buy them as long as they only have ten taels of silver.

Therefore, as soon as the news came out, merchants gathered to buy it.Within two months, the Shanghai Customs Department sold more than [-] quotations.Some people don't even own boats, but they still want to buy them, just to prevent the government from selling them later. "

Sun Yuanhua sent Sun Chuanting's explanation and looked through the account books. Sure enough, he saw that Chuanyin had sold a total of [-] copies, so he had an income of more than [-] taels.

"This is just Shanghai County, other ports must be the same."

Seeing that there was such an income from just ship navigation, Sun Yuanhua couldn't help but ask about the situation in other ports. Unexpectedly, Sun Chuanting shook his head after hearing this.

"It's almost the same, but it's only more than [-] taels at most. Because the imperial court does not currently sell ship guides in every port, people who want to buy them can only buy them in Nanjing, Shanghai, Yuegang, Guangzhou and other places.

According to humble estimates, the maritime ban has just been lifted, so there is a huge demand for ship guides. In the future, maritime merchants will have ship guides, so they will naturally not come to the court to buy them. Therefore, it is more than enough to sell more than 1 copies. "

Sun Chuanting's meaning is very simple. This is a one-time deal, not a long-term business.

But even this surprised Sun Yuanhua. He never expected that the demand for sea trade among the people would be so great.

But at the same time, he also became more curious. In addition to the more than 10 taels earned from the ship, what was the reason why Shanghai County was able to collect the remaining [-] taels in tariffs within two months.

Upon seeing this, Sun Chuanting did not dissuade Sun Yuanhua and immediately explained.

"In the past two months, the bulk of Shanghai County's customs revenue came from the remaining three items, namely: shipping tax, cargo tax, and tax on transporting special goods."

(End of this chapter)