The first assistant of the poor family

Chapter 433 A Sudden Surprise

Although the commercial tax paid by the opening port trade office did not go through the hands of the government office, but was directly collected by the Bureau of Maritime Economics and transported to the governor's office, and then the governor's office sent people to escort them to Beijing.

But after all, the opening of the port is in a specific prefecture and county, and it can barely be listed as part of the political achievements.

For example, there are vacancies in the official positions of one, four, and five ranks in Beijing, and they need to be filled.There is no suitable candidate in the temple of the Ministry, and the Ministry of Officials usually selects from the local area.

This is the time to compete for achievements.

There are only three ordinary achievements in government, and everyone is similar, and there is no reason for it.

If you want to stand out, you have to be better than others.

Yuyao County, Shaoxing Prefecture, and Fenghua County, Ningbo Prefecture are both places where commercial ports were opened. Whoever diverts more merchant ships and collects more taxes and money will naturally have good reputation and confidence in the local government and county officials, and the possibility of replacement is natural. Just higher.

Therefore, this is actually a hidden competition, and the competition is a hard power.

Xie Shen is a native of Yuyao, so he naturally hopes that more maritime merchants will contact and call Yuyao after the opening of Yuyao.But the problem is that Yuyao is not a port, and it is surrounded by tidal flats, which is not as suitable for merchant ships as Ningbo.

Although Fenghua is not close to the sea, Ningbo Prefecture has a large bay area, which is incomparable to Shaoxing Prefecture.

That is to say, if the maritime caravan arrives in Daming, if they want to conduct mutual trade through the Yuyao Maritime Economic Bureau, they have to find another port to call, which is a lot of trouble.

And if you choose Fenghua Haijing Bureau, you will avoid the trouble.

In addition, Ningbo and Shaoxing are not far away, and maritime merchants will naturally choose Ningbo, which is more convenient.

It has to be said that when Emperor Hongzhi ordered the five-port trade agreement, this decision was more or less problematic.

Xie Shen was also a little excited at the beginning, and didn't notice this.It now appears that this imperial decree directly caused the competition between the two governments.

Of course competition is not a bad thing, but vicious competition is different.

The officials of the Ming Dynasty would do anything for performance appraisal. If it turned into a farce in the end, it would be too contrary to the original intention of opening the port.

Xie Shen thought for a moment and said, "Has Prefect Pei thought about changing his mind?"

"Change your mind?"

Pei Yan was stunned for a moment and said, "Please tell the elder Xiaoge clearly."

"Ningbo Mansion has a good geographical location, which Shaoxing can't compare to. But Shaoxing also has Shaoxing's advantages. Among the six mansions in eastern Zhejiang, apart from Hangzhou Mansion, which place is better than Shaoxing's tea?"

Xie Shen's words awakened Pei Yan, he was ecstatic, and said brightly, "Xiaoge Lao means to use tea to attract sea merchants?"

Xie Shen nodded and said: "Not to mention anything else, this Yuyao Immortal Tea is second only to Longjing Green Tea. Those sea merchants who came to Daming from thousands of miles, besides porcelain and silk, what they want most is this tea. Bar."

Tea was already widely planted in Ming Dynasty, and the technique of frying tea was not much different from that of later generations, so green tea flourished in Ming Dynasty.

In Europe and other places, tea is an absolute luxury, and inferior tea that is cheap in Ming Dynasty can also sell for sky-high prices in Europe.

But because of the road blockage, there are not many caravans coming directly to Daming.

After the opening of the five-port trade, some people from Folangji gradually came to trade with each other. If you can sell tea to them, firstly, you can spread the tea culture;

"Absolutely, really absolutely. Why didn't the lower officials think of that."

At this moment, Pei Yan admires Xie Shen from the bottom of her heart.No wonder he became a cabinet scholar at a young age. How can this kind of strategic insight be compared to ordinary people.

"But." But when he thought about it carefully, Pei Yan was troubled again.

"However, I'm afraid it's not easy for the lower officials to arrange this matter directly. We still need to discuss it with the officials of the Bureau of Maritime Economics."

Xie Shen nodded slightly: "This is natural. The court has
Prefect Pei must not cross the line according to the rules of the imperial court. "

The Bureau of Maritime Economics was set up in the first place to prevent the local government from intervening in the opening of the port.Now it seems that this decision is still necessary.Otherwise, if everyone gets involved, there is no point in opening a port.

Although Prefect Pei can't directly handle this matter, he has privately explained his strong relationship with the officials of the Bureau of Economics and Economics, and it is still possible to play the trump card of tea.

After all, the officials of the Yuyao Sea Economic Bureau are also worried.If things go on like this, their performance appraisal will definitely not be as good as their colleagues once the three-year term comes to an end.

If the port opening tax is just icing on the cake for Pei Yan, it is a job for the officials of the Bureau of Maritime Economics.

Xie Shen believes that as long as Yuyao sells tea at an appropriate price, the decline will be reversed immediately.

Yuyao Xianming is by no means comparable to Xiangshan tea.

Of course, there is another point, that is the attitude of the governor of Zhejiang Province.

After all, the Bureau of Sea Economics is directly responsible to him, so it's better to let the governor know about it.

"For the specific matter, you should explain it to Governor Tan."

"Your Majesty understands."

Pei Lai is also an old fritter who has been in the officialdom for many years, and Xie Shen can understand what it means when he touches it lightly.

The most taboo thing in the officialdom is to deceive the superior and the inferior. It is basically difficult to be trusted if one is occupied.

Tan Daolun, the governor of Zhejiang Province, is a stubborn person. If Pei Xi hides it from him, he may end up being dealt with coldly.

Since Xie Shen is from Yuyao, he naturally hopes to do something for the elders in his hometown.This selfishness is really nothing.

Of course, that's not all.

Xie Shen will not care about what Pei Yan will do.

"By the way, some time ago, people from the Sea Economic Bureau sent something that looked very similar to a taro. It was brought by the Flangji businessman. Do you want to see it, Mr. Xiaoge?"

Pei Yan changed the subject and said in harmony.

Xie Shen said softly, "Let's take a look."

Pei Yan immediately opened a bag and took out a dark oval object, which really looked like a taro.

Xie Shen took it, peeled off the dirt on it, and was stunned.

Isn't this just potatoes!
In his impression, potatoes were first introduced to Ireland, and later in the Wanli period. How did they arrive so much earlier?

Could it be that these Frangji merchants came directly from South America to Daming, and brought potatoes along the way?
No one knows the value of potatoes better than Xie Shen, this is the trump card to solve the food problem of ordinary people!
Although potatoes were only introduced a few decades in advance, they were crucial decades.

Because it takes time to popularize a crop, it is impossible to popularize it nationwide in less than ten years.

If potatoes are introduced in the Wanli period, it is obvious that they will enter the Little Ice Age before they can be popularized.

And if potato planting was popularized in the early years of Zhengde, and it took more than ten years for the common people to accept it, it might be able to resist the impact of the small ice river.

(End of this chapter)