Chapter 432 Lawlessness

In order to be on the safe side and avoid alerting the enemy, Li Nai followed He Xi's instructions and did not make any adjustments to the personnel on the merchant ship today, and only used people who did not know the inside story. Under Li Qingyang's active inquiry, the captain even enthusiastically asked them

Introduced about the host and the situation of this trip to Qiongzhou.

The company that hired Li Qingyang was called "Fu Sheng", which was actually one of the branches of "Fu Ruifeng". It specialized in foreign trade products such as tea, silk, and porcelain. In the past, these products were mainly sold to Westerners and required crossing the sea.

Shipping to distant Manila or Batavia for trade is lucrative, but the risk of long-distance voyages is not small. If you are not careful, you will lose both your life and money. However, since the emergence of Victory Port, a zero-tariff free trade port,

The trading location of these foreign trade commodities has gradually moved to Qiongzhou Island. "Fusheng" has four cargo ships every month that regularly travel between Guangzhou and Victory Port, and a business of the scale of "Fusheng" is at least still in Guangdong and Guangxi.

There are as many as thirty or forty companies, and almost all of them involved in maritime trade have some relationship with Haihan.

Li Qingyang comes from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas with convenient water transportation, and he can probably figure out how much trade volume so many trading houses will bring. However, the relevant information was not mentioned at all in the previous report delivered to Nanzhen Fusi. It seems like this

There are indeed some problems with the Jinyiwei organization in Qiongzhou. Either they are blind or they have been bribed by the Haihan people. However, what Li Qingyang found strange was that the ship departed from the Pearl River Pier almost empty. In addition to the necessary supplies on board,

There was almost no cargo shipped, so he couldn't help asking the captain this question.

The captain did not doubt that he was there, so he explained the trick to him. Since a trading company like "Fusheng" only engaged in pure export business, the return trip was almost empty. In order to collect taxes, the government often collected tax according to the rules before the ship left the port.

Charges are based on the value of the cargo on board.

Now some trading houses have found a way to circumvent this taxation method, which is to transport the goods by land to Panyu first, leave the empty ship from Guangzhou, and then load it at the local dock in Panyu and go out to sea. Although this is a bit troublesome.

, but after deducting the land freight of dozens of miles for a ship of goods, at least two to three hundred taels of silver can be saved, which is a large number over time. Correspondingly, the same is true for goods shipped into Guangdong from outside.

The goods are unloaded in Lijiazhuang first and then transported to various places in Guangdong by land. Adding up the incoming and outgoing goods, the taxes evaded by the goods smuggled out and out through Lijiazhuang are at least ten thousand taels of silver.

Of course, not all commercial banks have the conditions to do this. In fact, only "Furuifeng" and several related commercial banks can adopt this method of tax evasion. Because the only large freight terminal in Panyu County that directly connects to the Pearl River is in Lijiazhuang.

Within the scope, and since the battle of Lijiazhuang last year, the local militia group has designated a ten-mile radius as Lijiazhuang's private territory, controlling all traffic arteries. Even people from the Panyu County government office have to say hello first if they want to go in to do business.

, naturally no tax collectors will go to the dock next to Lijiazhuang to collect trade taxes.

When Li Qingyang heard this, he couldn't help but interjected and asked: "Don't the government care? Even if the county government can't take care of it, the state government can take charge of it, right? Panyu is only forty miles away from Guangzhou City, do the big men in the city turn a blind eye to this kind of thing?

"

The captain smiled and said: "You are not a local, how can you know how powerful the big boss of Lijiazhuang is! Last year, the bandit leader Liao Dabi led five to six thousand people to besiege Lijiazhuang. The defenders in Guangzhou City did not dare to dispatch easily, and the Panyu County Government also paid attention to this matter.

They ignored them. As a result, the Haihan people led the militia soldiers on Zhuangzi and fought for two days. They beat the bandits to death and fled. Now there are hundreds of militia soldiers stationed on Zhuangzi. Which one of them is not long?

Do you dare to provoke them easily? Besides, the officials in charge of the yamen do not miss red envelopes during the holidays. They have a lot of money in their pockets, so they don’t care whether they can collect the taxes."

"What a moth!" Li Qingyang clenched his fists, and this thought passed through his mind silently. Although the Dongchang fanzi should be responsible for the corruption and perversion of the law by the detective officials, he had already decided to report it to Nanzhen Fusi after the incident.

When reporting, be sure to file a complaint against these local officials who did nothing! There is no doubt that this part of the tax revenue that should have entered the national treasury ended up in the pockets of Ming profiteers, Haihan people and corrupt officials. He really

We cannot sit back and watch as this illegal behavior becomes legitimate in Guangdong and Guangxi.

Although he knew that the captain was not his boss, Li Qingyang still couldn't help but said: "As a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, it's okay not to report it to the government for such an illegal thing, so why are we still involved? The Haihan people colluded with unscrupulous businessmen to evade taxes.

Fu, it’s really abominable!”

"Illegal? Hey, young man, you don't know how people who abide by the law can die!" the captain said with a hint of ridicule: "Do you know how many people died in various states and counties due to the famine in Guangdong and civil unrest in the past few years?

The government could not provide food for relief, and it did not allow people to flee, and it was unable to quell the banditry. At that time, the people who died of starvation, illness, and murder by bandits were all good and law-abiding citizens!"

"The number of victims is so large that it is difficult for the government to take care of everything at the moment. It is inevitable..." From the perspective of Jin Yiwei, Li Qingyang naturally wanted to speak for the government. The disaster situation in Guangdong in recent years is not a secret. The Guangzhou government sent a request to Nanjing for food and grass.

There are also a lot of official documents for monetary assistance, but the numbers on the official documents cannot be taken seriously as to the specific situation of civilian casualties. However, the situation mentioned by the captain is more credible.

"The government couldn't save him, but the Haihan people did!" The captain interrupted Li Qingyang and said, "I, Song San, escaped from Zhaoqing Prefecture last year. If I hadn't encountered a relief center run by the Haihan people on the way,

I probably won’t survive until now! There are at least thousands of people like me who rely on the help of the Haihan people to save their lives. I don’t know if they did anything illegal, but I will definitely remember that my life belongs to them.

Saved!"

"In that case, why didn't you go and join the Haihan people as immigrants?" Li Qingyang continued to ask.

"I had a fever at that time, and the Haihan people said it was easy to infect others. Although they gave me medicine, they refused to accept me as an immigrant." Song San laughed at himself: "After I recovered from the illness, I joined my current employer and went to Sanya with the ship.

, only then did I realize that I am really unlucky... This is because I have a bad fate and cannot blame others."

"Haihan people have recruited so many immigrants from Guangdong and Guangxi, are they all settled in Yazhou?" Li Qingyang asked with a frown. He previously thought that the Haihan people might traffic immigrants overseas and sell them as labor force, but now it seems that this is not the case.

.

Song Sandao: "That's not true. The territory controlled by the Haihan people is no longer limited to Yazhou. It's just that the people settled in Sanya are the most concentrated. According to my observation, there are at least 30,000 to 50,000 people there."

Li Qingyang asked: "I heard that there are only a few hundred people in Haihan. How can they feed such a large number of people? If they don't have enough to eat or wear or keep warm after they go, how is it any different from being a disaster victim in Guangdong?"

"The situation in Guangdong cannot be compared with Sanya." Song San shook his head disdainfully and said: "The two seaports under the rule of the Haihan people are more prosperous than Guangzhou, and there are no idle people there. As long as those who can move, they can

You can find things to do locally, and the income is much higher than in Guangzhou.”

"Better prosperous than Guangzhou?" This was the first time Li Qingyang heard such a specific evaluation from someone who had been to Sanya, and he immediately became interested: "Song Sange, can you tell me in detail how Sanya can prosper?"

Song Sandao: "There are two seaports in Sanya, one is Victory Port and the other is Sanya Port. Victory Port specializes in all kinds of exquisite utensils and specialties produced by Haihan, while Sanya Port is the local trading place for foreign merchants. Haihan people are very interested in

There are no transaction taxes on goods shipped by foreign merchants, so many merchants use Sanya as a cargo distribution center. Both ports have wide waters and deep water, which can accommodate hundreds of large ships to berth. The docks are equipped with various cargo shipping facilities, and goods can be loaded and unloaded locally.

At least twice as fast as the Pearl River Wharf! People in Haihan are honest and trustworthy in doing business and have sufficient capital. There is no need to carry cash to the local area. You can exchange the banknotes in Guangzhou, and after the transaction is completed, return to Guangzhou and exchange them for cash. That's it.

It’s convenient, and which business house wouldn’t like to deal with them?”

As Song San spoke, he took out a stack of circulation coupons from his arms and handed it to Li Qingyang: "I don't have large-denomination banknotes, but I still have some circulation coupons. These circulation coupons are issued by Haihan Bank and can be exchanged for one yuan.

With one tael of official silver, you don’t have to carry cumbersome money when you go out in the local area.”

"What if someone refuses to accept it?" Li Qingyang took the two and looked at them carefully. He had heard similar rumors when he was communicating with the local person in charge the day before, but he did not expect that this rumor was true.

"You can only use circulation coupons in Sanya, and no one accepts cash!" Song San smiled and said: "There is no need to worry about this thing becoming invalid. Even if you return to Guangzhou, you can exchange it for silver at the Haihan Office in Guangzhou."

"Issuing treasure banknotes privately is equivalent to casting private money, which is a capital crime!" Li Qingyang added another crime to the Haihan people in his heart.

Of course, Li Qingyang only said this in his heart, and would not say it to a guy like Song San whose political attitude was obviously leaning towards the Haihan people. Who knows if there is any reason for his words, and it would be troublesome if it leaked out.

"Haihan people are issuing this kind of...this kind of circulation coupons locally, and the Yazhou government doesn't care?" Although he knew that there might be some problems with the local government in Yazhou, Li Qingyang still wanted to confirm it from an insider.

once.

"Yazhou government?" Song San sneered and said: "Yazhou government also depends on the faces of the Haihan people. The officials in Yacheng are all supported by the Haihan people. Who wouldn't know how to promote them?"

What's wrong? All their own money is stored in Haihan Bank!"

"Sure enough, they are colluding with the Haihan people!" Song San's words have undoubtedly confirmed Li Qingyang's previous suspicion, and the situation seems to be more serious than he expected. The local government has gone beyond cooperating with the Haihan people and directly obeys orders.

With the other party! Although this kind of thing sounds incredible, judging from the various information obtained now, Li Qingyang believes that the possibility of what Song San said is true is still very high.

"Since there is no one to control the Haihan people in the area, doesn't the area become lawless?" Li Qingyang continued to ask.

Song San shook his head and said: "Then you are just wrong! The laws enacted by the Haihan people are far stricter than those in the Ming Dynasty! If you commit an offense in the Ming Dynasty, you still have the opportunity to file a lawsuit. If you commit an offense in Sanya, as long as there is confirmed evidence, you will be prosecuted.

You will be arrested and sent to hard labor immediately! Under Haihan’s rule, no one dares to commit any crime easily!"

"What? They actually legislated on their own and set up private courts? This is simply..." Li Qingyang was shocked and speechless for a moment, not knowing how to evaluate the Haihan people's behavior that exceeded the rules.

Li Qingyang discovered that from what he had learned so far, the Haihan people had done almost all other illegal things except raising flags to rebel, sealing off borders and tearing up the soil. They illegally organized population migration, issued private coins and set up their own banks, and evaded taxes.

Smuggling goods, bribing officials to prey on the common people, ignoring the king's laws and setting up private courts... Li Qingyang didn't even need to use his brain. With the information he now had, he could easily list ten or eight major crimes for the Haihan people.

Of course, Li Qingyang is not a newbie. He also understands that the laws of this world are to see who has a big fist and whether he breaks the law or not. This matter is not the one he, a small member of the Imperial Guard, has the final say on. Even if he is finally convicted,

Whether these rampant Haihan people can be punished is not something he can control. Since they have the ability to control a state and even develop their power to Guangzhou, it means that this group of people is by no means easy to deal with. Here we go

In Sanya, the difficulties to complete the task may be much more than expected.

Fortunately, the first step was a safe one. He chose such an appropriate way to conceal his identity and met such a talkative captain. Li Qingyang secretly made a good idea to take advantage of these days on the road to take advantage of Song San's mouth.

Some useful information came out. After I have lived in Sanya for a few months and collected comprehensive information, I will try to report it to the court and ask for troops to wipe out these Hai-Han rebellious parties.

Li Qingyang was silently planning his next course of action when he suddenly noticed that the boat had slowed down and slowly turned towards a fork in the river. Li Qingyang asked in astonishment: "Brother Song, why do you want to stop the boat here?"

"Loading!" Song San pointed to the pier by the river ahead and said, "That's the Lijiazhuang pier. Our ship will load the goods here before going to Sanya."

Only then did Li Qingyang come to his senses. Song San had indeed mentioned this before. After the empty ship departed from Guangzhou and was loaded in Panyu, it could avoid the court's tax collection. Thinking of this, Li Qingyang couldn't help but walk over.

Standing on the side of the ship, I looked at the cargo terminal that was said to have been built by the Haihan people.
Chapter completed!