Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 103 Three Elements of Governance

Seeing these detailed data, Zheng Guohui couldn't help but sigh that having a highly capable butler saved him a lot of trouble that he had to do personally.

The role of Chief of Staff Li Hezhang cannot be measured by money.

Organizing a large fleet of more than 2 people to sail to Southeast Asia was definitely a huge, complex and arduous challenge. From purchasing a wide range of goods to organizing the fleet and selecting personnel (note: referring to grassroots officials, soldiers, and skilled talents sent to Southeast Asia, such as private tutors, doctors, midwives, shop owners, legal advisors, etc.), it was definitely a big project.

From oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea to needles and thread, if all the materials needed for a normal society are not taken into account, famine will occur in Mindanao.

For example, if the soy sauce commonly used by Chinese people is not taken into consideration, the Chinese immigrants in Mindanao will not be able to taste it and will not be able to cook authentic Chinese-style meals.

Therefore, the government is also working hard to make up for the loss by mobilizing craftsmen who have the skills to brew soy sauce, vinegar, etc. to open local soy sauce and vinegar factories. Nanyang money houses will provide certain loan support in terms of funds.

The purpose is to enable local independent production and eliminate the need for imports.

Transporting soy sauce and vinegar all the way to Southeast Asia is not cost-effective even if the price doubles or triples.

Government's goals

Before the end of 1866, the goal of replacing imports of more than 17 items in 300 categories was achieved, realizing the goal of local production and local consumption.

The major items include tea, tobacco, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, needles and thread, bamboo baskets, bamboo chairs, bamboo hats and other bamboo products, poultry such as chickens, ducks and geese, as well as piglets, lambs, rice wine, yellow wine, white wine, etc., and local production will be gradually arranged.

These projects can not only greatly expand employment and prosper the world, but most importantly, they can replace imports and save valuable ocean shipping space.

Zheng Guohui flipped through the documents under the oil lamp and reviewed them carefully. At the end of some documents, he added detailed explanations, circles or rebuttals.

He possesses a historical understanding far beyond that of ordinary people. During the two years of colonial process, his vision of governing the people and managing the government has been greatly enriched, and he has a much deeper understanding of issues.

He can often see the shortcomings of various proposals submitted by subordinate bureaucrats at a glance from a high vantage point.

In fact, there is no secret. The first is to insist on "people-oriented". Of course, this person refers specifically to Chinese immigrants, not local indigenous people or other indigenous people of the East Indies.

Within the colony governed by Zheng Guohui, people were never equal, but rather faced a huge, insurmountable gap.

Only Chinese immigrants are individuals with full citizen rights. They have the right to do business and set up factories, the right to purchase land and houses, the right to purchase ships, the right to hunt and fish, the right to marry, have concubines and have children, the right to join the army and become officials. There is no doubt that their personal property and safety are protected at the government level.

Other populations, including whites, do not enjoy similar comprehensive rights and do not receive protection at the government level.

The starting point of all Zheng Guohui's policies is to encourage Chinese immigrants to use their intelligence and talents. Those who can produce soy sauce can produce soy sauce, those who can be blacksmiths can be blacksmiths, those who can hunt can hunt, and those who can raise chickens, ducks, and livestock can do so and live a more comfortable life.

When you have money, marry more wives and have more children. Three or five is not too few, and ten or twenty is not too many.

In some aspects, the government has given up the right to levy taxes. For example, it does not charge taxes when villagers build houses. The purpose is to give Chinese immigrants greater autonomy and live a better life.

Of course

The village has allocated free residential land of one mu (three acres) on which four large bungalows can be built, with front and back yards and livestock pens, which can normally accommodate a family of more than ten people.

If you think the place is not big enough and you have some money in your pocket, you can add some extra money and choose a residential plot of 5 cents, one mu or even two mu.

Of course, the larger the land, the more expensive it is, and it depends on the individual.

Each person's homestead is 3 mu, and the location is designated by the village, which complies with village and town planning requirements. Individuals have no right to object.

If you are unwilling, then you will lose the only chance for everyone to obtain a homestead for free.

If you want a homestead in the future, you will have to spend money to buy one.

A residential plot of 3 mu of land is free, but if it is a residential plot of 5 mu of land, an additional 6 taels of silver will need to be paid.

For a one-acre residential land, an additional 35 taels of silver are required, and for a two-acre residential land, an additional 99 taels of silver are required, not a single ounce less.

The larger the homestead, the more the price will double.

If someone makes a lot of money by opening a blacksmith shop or a soy sauce factory, he would be willing to build a big house. He would rather pay more and choose a two-acre homestead, where he can live with five or six concubines. It would be really spacious and comfortable.

There are always a few such wealthy families in every village.

There is no need to envy others for earning more, because we all came here on the same boat from Chongming Island. At the beginning, we were all clean and could be said to have no money.

There is no point being jealous of others who are capable of earning more and living a comfortable life.

The government's policies are open and transparent. If you are jealous, you can spend money to buy a large residential plot and choose any one within the village red line. It is indeed much more impressive to pay for it than to get it for free.

The government also gets a share of the tax revenue, but doesn't take it all.

For example, from the land transfer fee of selling homestead land, the village can get 10%, the prefecture or county can get 20%, and the remaining 70% is turned over to the treasury.

Thus

Both the village and the county government encourage large households to purchase residential land exceeding the quota, which allows them to save money for various expenses and improve their financial situation. Zheng Guohui's second policy focus is to "unleash the people's enthusiasm for production and create a favorable business environment." This includes strict restrictions on arbitrary interference by officials at all levels, prohibiting arbitrary levies and extortion.

He attached great importance to this point. No matter what kind of business it was, as long as it paid taxes according to regulations, it would not have to worry about being harassed by the government. The government specially set up inspectors for this purpose, whose role was to accept reports and inspect officials.

During the six months of colonizing Mindanao, the inspector general impeached 37 officials, many of whom were low-level officials. After review, 35 people were investigated and prosecuted, and another two were falsely accused.

The government immediately dismissed these 35 people and made a note in their files that they would never be able to eat government food, join the army, or do business. Their future was destined to be bleak.

Several businessmen who framed officials had their property confiscated and were thrown into hard labor camps, from which they would never be able to escape.

Indigenous wives will be allocated separately. The government will never tolerate such acts of throwing dirty water and framing officials. Once verified, they will be immediately punished with the most severe punishment.

The above measures

This has led to a general good custom among the immigrant society in Mindanao. Merchants are encouraged to use their abilities and craftsmen are encouraged to make money. This has allowed some people to quickly become successful and wealthy.

The government has repeatedly issued clear prohibitions on any behavior of taking advantage of others, and the atmosphere is clean and upright from top to bottom, which is also what Zheng Guohui is most proud of.

Don't do evil, no matter how small it is.

Bureaucratic corruption always starts from small things. If grassroots officials’ misappropriation of money is not severely punished, it will slowly spread upwards, corroding middle-level and even high-level officials, and finally forming collective corruption.

The consequence is that the business environment has deteriorated greatly. The official-oriented system that has lasted for thousands of years has formed the traditional concept that businessmen have a low status, which is definitely not the situation Zheng Guohui wants to see.

The third point of Zheng Guohui’s administration is “governing the country according to law” and he puts it into practice.

The government needs money to operate, and wars also need money. The money extracted from the land is far from enough to cover the cost of colonization.

What Zheng Guohui values ​​most is commercial tax, which is a constant source of living funds. The more prosperous the business, the bigger the pie, and the more commercial tax the government can collect.

Since the merchant has paid, why not protect his interests?

Unlike the practices of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the taxes levied on merchants were minimal, and more money was exploited by local officials and eventually flowed into personal pockets.

The colonial government founded by Zheng Guohui implemented a different approach, which was to simplify the size of the government, reduce the scope of government management, and leave it to market regulation as much as possible.

For example, a soy sauce factory owner can sell the soy sauce in Zamboanga, or transport it to Pagadian Town, Manucan or Oroquieta, or even to Davao to sell it, as long as he pays taxes on the soy sauce according to regulations. He can present the tax receipt and no fees are allowed to be charged in any village or town along the way.

As long as the sauce factory owner is willing, it can be transported to any place for sale.

When you encounter an audit by the government, you just need to show your tax receipt.

All products are subject to the principle of "tax paid at the place of origin". As for where to sell them, it is entirely up to the merchants to decide. The government has no right to interfere and does not need to ask.

Merchants feel that it is not cost-effective, so they will naturally not bother with the trouble and labor of long-distance transportation in the future. Doesn’t hiring a car and hiring people cost money?

The government generally collected a "tithing tax" from handicraft workshops, which meant a tax of four cents for every pound sold at 20 cents.

The more you sell, the more you pay, and the tax rate remains the same.

This tax rate is still relatively high, but because there are fewer layers of exploitation by government officials along the way, the overall price increase from raw materials to products is not much, and it is actually cheaper than that sold in the Shenzhou mainland.

Let’s take the example of a sauce factory.

The main raw materials needed for the sauce factory are soybeans, as well as various bitter melons, winter melons, zucchini, eggplants, green peppers, spinach, sweet potatoes, cassava, etc. Soybeans are fermented to make sauce, and other vegetables are pickled to make pickles.

When these agricultural products are sold, taxes are paid according to regulations.

After arriving at the soy sauce factory, you only need to pay the "twelve-dollar tax" once to produce soy sauce and various pickles, and you can sell them reasonably and legally. There are no other intermediary fees, and you don't have to deal with extortion from officials and petty officials.

Merchants can make money cleanly and save time and worry. It is better than doing business in mainland China, where they have to deal with exploitation from gangsters to government officials, and they have to pay respects to the government officials in other places, which invisibly increases the cost.

Zheng Guohui's ideas on governing the people and managing the government were deeply influenced by later generations. Conceptually, they were many times more brilliant than those of the current leaders of various countries.

Once introduced, all the policy measures were naturally very popular.

The people were able to freely create wealth, the government received tax revenue, had more money and less work to do. Zheng Guohui implemented his ideas on governing the people and managing the government, and they were verified one by one in practice.

The only ones whose interests are harmed are probably corrupt officials and various dark forces.

Fortunately,

All the people on Mindanao Island started out in the same way as immigrants. Most of them are focused on making money, either by working hard, reclaiming wasteland, engaging in diversified businesses, or fishing and hunting to add some income to their families.

There is no dirt left by history on the island. Everything is brand new and changeable, allowing Zheng Guohui to govern freely and express his own ideas.

This feeling of being unconstrained is really great.

(End of this chapter)