Chapter 294 Prince Gong, Shanghai (please vote, please order)
Shanghai Beach, Huangpu River.
The bright morning sun is rising from the sky, passing through the clouds, emitting golden light, shining on the Huangpu River, making the earth-yellow river water glow with golden light, and also covering all the large and small ships passing by on the river. Layers of gold.
Prince Gong Yi? stood with a pale face on the deck of an old lock ship belonging to the Guangdong Navy, looking at the busy scene on a floating dock that extended from the Bund shore into the Huangpu River not far away.
A large wooden box painted black was being unloaded from a large Western sailing ship by dock workers, and then two people carried it on a pole toward a gate outside the dock.
The door was open, and two sheds, one large and one small, were built outside. There were two Western-style scales in the small shed. The wooden boxes had to be weighed once, and then weighed by several merchants guarding the shed. After the clerk-like people kept accounts, issued invoices, stamped, and put seals on the boxes, the wooden boxes were carried by the coolies and placed in the large shed next to them. Then the coolies went back to continue carrying the boxes. .
Outside the large wooden shed, there were several soldiers from the Shanghai New Army carrying foreign guns guarding them. They were in excellent military posture and stood motionless, like two statues.
"What's in those wooden boxes?"
Yi? asked.
"Looking at the shape of the box, there should be a foreign gun inside!"
Shengbao on the side replied: "There are at least thousands of boxes of foreign guns, at least five in each box, almost five thousand!"
"So many?" Yi? took a breath and muttered in a low voice: "What does Luo Xueyan want to do with so many foreign guns?"
Shengbao didn't know how to answer, so he could only keep silent.
At this time, the sound of rapid footsteps was heard, and then there was the sound of rolling sleeves: "Wu Jianzhang, the humble Taoist priest of Su Song and the supervisor of Jiang Customs, is here to see the prince!"
Wu Jianzhang came in a hurry.
He no longer cares about Su Songtai Road and Jianghaiguan. The territory of Su Songtai Road is under the direct jurisdiction of Luo Yaoguo, so Lao Wu has nothing to do with it.
As for Jiangguan Customs, it is now taken over by Huang Shijie's cousin Huang Shicheng in the name of Chief Master of the Customs.
Although he does not understand trade, Luo Xueyan, together with Wu Jianzhang and Wu Ruxiao, after discussing with the ministers of Britain, the United States and France, has drawn up a simple and easy-to-operate standard for collecting money. He only needs to bring a group of people who can read and write and can count. It is enough for the Xianghu boys from the tent to come in and go on errands with the Cantonese people in Jiangguan who can deal with foreigners.
According to the latest standards, Jiang Customs will charge twice based on the length of the ship and the weight of the goods unloaded from the ship, but these two payments are not collected directly by Jiang Customs.
People at Jiang Customs are only responsible for estimating the length of the ship and weighing the goods. Of course, if the incoming goods are not suitable for weighing, Huang Shicheng or other customs masters need to come forward to negotiate tax issues with the cargo owners.
After Jiang Customs personnel determine how much tax should be paid, they will issue a tax bill to the cargo owner and ship owner, and at the same time, officers and soldiers dispatched by the Shanghai New Army will temporarily seal the goods.
The owner of the cargo took the tax bill and went to the newly opened HSBC Bank on the Bund to pay. Then he got a receipt and a document for picking up the goods, and then he could go to the big shed and take away the sealed goods.
After the ship owner pays the money, he will also get a receipt, which he can present to the officials of the newly established Naval Port Office in the Governor's Office when leaving the port.
The inspector of the Military Justice Department of the Shanghai Governor's Yamen will be stationed at the HSBC Bank to conduct random inspections of goods passing through customs and ships entering the port. At the same time, there will be people stationed at Wusongkou to record the incoming and outgoing ships.
In addition, there is an anonymous reporting box in HSBC, where you can submit reporting letters in Chinese or English, which can go directly to Shanghai Governor Luo Xueyan himself!
Just a simple reform has closed all the loopholes in Jiangguan Customs and Administrative Office, and at the same time, it has greatly increased the cost of corruption.
Originally it was just a matter for the Customs Supervision Office, but now there are HSBC, Shanghai New Army, Inspector General of the Military Governor's Office, and the Naval Port Office, each of which is in charge of it. If one link cannot be handled properly, corruption cannot be carried out.
Moreover, the payment standards, procedures and complaint channels are all clear and transparent!
And the consequences of being exposed for defying the law are extremely serious! Even if the original Jiang Customs supervisor wanted to do his job properly, he had no power to arrest or execute the corrupt officials below.
But the Military Justice Department of the Shanghai Governor's Yamen has the right to kill people!
So in the past few months, Jianghai Customs has become a Qingshui Yamen with a high salary, and the efficiency of collecting money has doubled!
Similar reforms will be extended to various yamen under the jurisdiction of Luo Yaoguo (Luo Xueyan) in the future.
However, Wu Jianzhang, who lost his huge profits from corruption, is not at a loss. He was originally a "money-greedy executive", but now he is a "shareholder of the company", and he has a lot of shares!
Tongshunhang's real estate and Qichanghang's foreign trade have been doing extremely well in the past few months! HSBC, which he has invested in and participated in the management of, has also made a lot of money. His precious grandson Wu Chaoyue has just been awarded the post of Consul General of the Qing Dynasty in the Straits Settlements. , these days, I am following another Mr. Luo and several other Luo Xueshuai's men to participate in a "diplomatic class" in charge of the former American consul Major Ma Hui.
It was about to be sent out to serve as the Consul General. According to Luo Xueyan, the Consul General of the Qing Dynasty in Nanyang was going to "sell his official position for heaven", and the "money career" was very bright!
So these days, Old Man Wu, Mr. Wu and his grandson are very energetic.
Shanghai New District, Tongshun Building.
"Wu Daotai, Wang Zhizhou, Zeng Tongzhi, and Cheng Zhixian came to Shanghai mainly to inspect Westernization and the New Deal."
The speaker is Yi?. Prince Gong, who has been floating on the water for many days and finally set foot on land again, is now sitting in the reception room of Wu Jianzhang's Tongshun Building. He is dressed in casual clothes, with his legs crossed and shaking a piece of paper. The fan didn't look like he was escaping from trouble at all.
His old father-in-law Guiliang, his confidants Shengbao, Wen Xiang, and Jin Aduo all put on full official uniforms, sitting or standing, all in high spirits. The master Hong Daquan was still dressed as a Taoist priest, with a profound expression on his face. I don't know what I'm thinking about?
The people in charge of receiving Prince Gong in Shanghai were Wu Jianzhang, Wang Kuiyi, Zeng Guohua, and Cheng Fujin. They were all on the same page. Obviously, Shanghai Beach was still the territory of the Qing Dynasty.
Just now, when Prince Gong was walking down the street in a large Western-style carriage, he saw many Chinese-looking men with no braids on the back of their heads. They had them cut off! Some of them were wearing Taiping Rebellion-style hoods.
Of course, there are also braids!
The styles are a bit mixed!
Of course Wu Jianzhang, Wang Kuiyi, Zeng Guohua, and Cheng Fupei had no seats in front of Prince Gong, so they all stood respectfully.
Upon hearing Prince Gong's question, Wu Jianzhang immediately replied with a smile: "You came to Shanghai to inspect Westernization and the New Deal, but you came to the right place. Shanghai is now doing very well because of the Westernization and the New Deal!"
"Well, I can see that!" Prince Gong nodded slightly and suddenly asked, "By the way, people here in Shanghai don't seem to worry about the long-haired attacks?"
"Your Majesty, I don't know. There is a ceasefire between Shanghai and Changmao."
Wang Kui took Prince Gong's question and answered with a smile: "Although the Shanghai New Army only has 8,000 people, they are all equipped with foreign guns and cannons. There is also French foreign general Pierre who is responsible for training with foreign instructors." Yang Cao is not an ordinary warrior! In the past few days, Chang Mao has beaten Anting several times, but all failed, so they can only negotiate with Xueshuai."
"Negotiation?" Guiliang raised his eyebrows, "What are you talking about? Luo Xueyan is an official of the imperial court, how can he negotiate with the rebels? Does he want to surrender to the enemy?"
"Shang Shu Gui, what you said is outrageous!" Cheng Fupei said coldly, "Now there is an avalanche in the southeast. All armies are heading north. Suzhou Fucheng and Changzhou Fucheng have both been lost. Only Xueshuai, with his mere eight The Qianxin Army won some small victories. Not only did they defend Anting Town and Jiading County, they also regained Chuanshating, Nanhui County, Fengxian County, Chongming County, including Shanghai, Baoshan, and Jiading County. Xueshuai had already secured six counties for the imperial court. The first hall of the county!
However, the land of six counties and one hall is still not impressive compared to Changmao, which has already taken over half of southern Jiangsu and half of northern Jiangsu. If Changmao really wants to send an army of one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand to attack, Xueshuai will not be able to withstand it. , For the current plan, we naturally have to resort to coercion, keep these six counties and one hall, and then bring back the 12,000 elite soldiers under Zuo Master to Shanghai, of which 2,000 are from the Shanghai New Army!"
"Why are you talking?" Shengbao frowned and looked at Cheng Fupei, who was still wearing filial piety, "Who are you? How dare you talk to Lord Gui like that?"
"Sir Sheng," Cheng Fupei said coldly, "Do you really want to know what I am? If you know it, there will be no steps forward!"
"That's enough!" Yi? He didn't dare to let Guiliang, Shengbao and Cheng Fupei go any further.
The current situation really forces Luo Xueyan to choose a side, and he will definitely vote for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!
"I believe in Xue Yan!" Yi? said, "Even Zhang Shicheng, King of Wu in the Great Yuan Dynasty, and Chen Youding, Pingzhang of the Great Yuan Dynasty, are also loyal ministers. Since Xue Yan is not in Shanghai, let's arrange for me to meet with the foreign envoys first! Last time I met with three foreign consuls in Yangzhou, but they were in a hurry and nothing was discussed. Now that I am here specifically for the New Deal and Westernization, I can talk about anything!"
Chapter completed!