When the courtyard door opened, the servant saw an official official outside and asked hurriedly: "What's the matter with the official?"
"To your master!"
The official handed over a notice and said: "In the counties around Guangzhou, every wealthy household must obey. The main town is afraid that the notice will be posted on the pavilion and you are blind and cannot see it, so I have to deliver it to the wealthy family's home in person. Hurry up and pick it up.
Stay, I have to go to the next one."
The domestic servant accepted the notice, but the official servant did not leave.
The slave had no choice but to go back with the notice, and soon a higher-ranking slave came. The senior slave took out a handful of copper coins and said with an apologetic smile: "Take this for tea."
"Easy to say!"
The official took the copper coin, put it into his arms with a smile, and left the house immediately.
Guangdong's expansion is too fast. Officials, missionaries and farmers' association cadres are only stationed in northern and western Guangdong. Moreover, the situation in those places is too complicated, and many things have to be done slowly.
As for Guangzhou Prefecture, Zhao Han has already deployed manpower and is arriving one after another. Guangzhou officials will temporarily use local people.
The senior domestic servant went in holding a notice: "Sir, King Zhao Tian has ordered that all firearms hidden by private citizens should be handed over to the Yamen. From now on, private manufacturing of firearms is not allowed."
"He said he would hand it in, right?"
Xie Shijun sneered: "There are many wealthy families in Guangzhou Prefecture, is it possible that he still searches each house?"
"My master is right," the senior servant said with a smile.
After a while, the servant came in and reported: "Master, Master Deng invites you to drink tea."
"Prepare the sedan!"
In fact, it was in Foshan Town, not far away, but Xie Shijun still went there in a sedan chair, and hundreds of people followed him.
The people sitting together today are all businessmen in the iron smelting industry.
In the past, the largest iron-smelting family in Foshan was called the "Xixiang Li Family", which was also the family of Li Daiwen, the Minister of Household Affairs.
The rapid expansion of the Li family was first due to official orders.
Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, imperial pots from the Imperial Guard, military pots from the Ministry of War, and official pots from the Ministry of Industry have been purchased in Foshan Town for a long time. Foshan pots are even exported to Mongolia, and they are not damaged when bumped on horseback. They are deeply loved by grassland herdsmen.
favorite.
Foshan hotpot first traveled north by water, then went to Jiangxi along the Meiling Ancient Road, passed through the Gan River and entered the Yangtze River, and was transported to Beijing.
After Li Daiwen became a high official, the court only bought pots from the Li family. Other merchants who wanted to sell pots had to go through the Li family, and the Li family naturally prospered.
Now, the Li family has been jointly killed, and the property in his name has been divided up by other merchants.
Even the goods of the Guangzhou Shipping Company were divided among these merchants, because Fei Ruhe was still far away in Huizhou at that time and had not yet come.
"Has everyone seen the notice from King Zhao Tian?" Deng Yunqiu asked.
Deng Yunzhan, the director of the Guangzhou Shipping Department appointed by Zhao Han, is a member of Deng Yunqiu's clan. However, the two sides should have been estranged for a long time. It was also Deng Yunzhan, a member of the Deng clan, who proposed banning private possession of firearms.
Huang Zhaoxiu said: "If your arms can't twist your thighs, just do it."
Although the arms business brings in money quickly, the number of orders is also small. If other businesses are delayed due to privately manufacturing arms, it is actually not worth the gain. Many merchants who do not make firearms, or rarely make firearms, are very willing to carry out Zhao Han's orders.
.
Foshan merchants can also be divided internally.
"No," Xie Shijun immediately objected, "This is not a question of money or firearms. It is a question of how we have worked so hard to seize the city. How can we count it as a meritorious service? This King Zhao killed people in front of us first, and now he
He wants to confiscate the firearms, but he hasn’t mentioned how to do business in the future. What does he want to do? I think he wants to burn down the bridge!"
Feng Yangdong reminded: "I heard from a businessman from Jiangxi that he is a good-looking person and likes to talk about rules. Anyone who abides by his rules will be easy to talk to. If anyone doesn't follow his rules, he will arrest them, or even confiscate their homes and exterminate their clans."
, at least they will be distributed to mines."
"He actually sets the rules!"
Xie Shijun slammed the table: "What should we do in this land and sea business from now on? Set up the rules as soon as possible. What are your plans for not saying anything for so long?"
Feng Yangdong said: "Confiscating firearms and prohibiting private manufacture are establishing rules."
Deng Yunqiu's heart moved and he suddenly woke up.
Yes, this is setting the rules.
And it depends on who obeys the rules and who doesn't. Punish those who don't obey the rules severely. King Zhao's true intention is probably to lure the snake out of its hole and then kill the chicken to scare the monkey!
Deng Yunqiu wanted to understand this, but did not say it out loud.
Because Zhao Han definitely wanted to kill his family, and he would not be able to establish his authority without killing the whole family. In this case, then wait for the fool to hit the knife edge, and the Taoist friend will be killed rather than the poor Taoist. Anyway, the Deng family can quietly hand over the firearm.
Xie Shijun suddenly asked: "That General Zhao Er..."
"My surname is Fei, and I have changed it back to my real name." Deng Yunqiu reminded.
"Yes, that's General Fei," Xie Shijun said. "At the dock a few days ago, this man didn't kneel down and had such an unruly attitude. In my opinion, General Fei must have some quarrel with King Zhao Tian. He didn't even have the dignity to show his face in front of everyone.
I did it. And I heard that this Zhao Tianwang used to be a slave of the Fei family, just like the Lu family to Liu Bang. Why not make more friends with the Fei family? Zhao Tianwang will definitely not stay in Guangzhou forever. Once he leaves, we will pay the fee.
Shit, don’t you have everything?”
(In the dock section, saying that Fei Ruhe didn’t kneel is disrespectful to Zhao Han, purely from the perspective of a businessman. Why do some readers say that the protagonist is hypocritical? Maybe the author didn’t write it clearly.)
Everyone, including Deng Yunqiu, suddenly became enlightened.
Yes, you can make friends with Fei, and then you can play whatever you want.
Just like what they did before, they surrendered to the court on the surface, bribed local officials, and then acted in secret, and prospered.
Why fight?
Only fools will fight against the government. Their usual approach is to corrupt the government!
Xie Shijun smiled and said: "Last month, I gave General Fei five hundred taels of silver, and General Fei accepted it all."
"I sent three hundred taels as a gift."
"I also gave a hundred taels to General Liu who he accepted."
"..."
After everyone reported the bribe figures, they burst out laughing and felt reassured.
So we discussed a countermeasure
During this period, they all cooperated fully with whatever Zhao Han asked him to do. Once Zhao Han left, they would use the power of the Fei family to continue to win over corrupt officials. In a year and a half at most, Guangzhou would be able to return to the way it was before.
They are very familiar with the routines. They have countless ways to corrupt officials.
Zhao Han's weapon is a knife, and their weapon is silver.
…
"Have all the firearms been handed in?" Zhao Han asked with a smile.
Fei Ruhe said: "They are very proactive and never hide it secretly. They don't dare to force it."
To deal with these Foshan merchants, Zhao Han did not need to use the knife at all. He had two ways to draw out the firepower.
First, there is no iron ore in Foshan, so we directly set up checkpoints in the river to prevent the iron ore from being sold to Foshan.
Second, in addition to iron pots, there are many other ironware in Foshan that need to be transported from Jiangxi to the north for sale. Zhao Han can order not to allow the ironware to go north!
These two methods can put Foshan merchants to death.
As for the bribe money, Fei Ruhe handed over all the money. Not only Fei Ruhe, but also other officers along the way, as well as missionaries in the army, many of them accepted the money.
After Fei Ruhe accepted the first amount of money, he called the military judge and missionary officer and said with a smile: "If anyone gives money, just accept it. The amount received must be recorded in the account, even if the merchants donated money to help pay."
There will definitely be people who will be corrupted, but it will definitely not be high-level officials like Fei Ruhe.
Especially Fei Ruhe, if he could do some business with Zhao Han, his family would be rich, so why should he be greedy for your few hundred taels?
Zhao Han sighed and said: "I'm a little worried about their cooperation. Especially for the City Shipping Department that is about to be established. I'm afraid people will give money every day, and I don't know how many officials can withstand it."
Deng Yunzhan suddenly interjected: "This must be strictly investigated. For more than two hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, merchants have been using money to bribe officials. To bribe one by one, 90% of the officials cannot resist the temptation. The remaining 10% are honest and selfless, or they pretend to be
If you are a deaf-mute official and become a confused official, you will either enforce the law impartially and be transferred away by buying an official position."
"Call them here."
The person who was called was an official who had just arrived.
Fang Shengchang, the prefect of Guangzhou, and his brothers raised an army and took the territory of two counties to join Zhao Han.
Guo Shunyu, the admiral of the Guangdong Shipping Department, was a son of the gentry who took refuge in the Three Counties period. He previously served as Jiangxi's transshipment envoy and was responsible for the transportation of money and grain throughout Jiangxi.
Zou Guangdi, the head of the Guangdong Branch of the Integrity Department, is a poor scholar from Anfu County and has been Xiao Huan's deputy before.
Tu Tingying, the magistrate of Nanhai County, was born in Juren, and tied up the commander-in-chief Yang Jiamo to join Zhao Han.
Fei Yu, the magistrate of Panyu, was Fei Yuanjian's book boy.
Gan Dashou, the magistrate of Xiangshan County, was born in Juren, and tied up the commander-in-chief Yang Jiamo to join Zhao Han.
"Greetings to the main town!"
Six people came together to meet him.
Zhao Han said: "You have been in Guangzhou for three days. Have you sorted out the various official documents and files?"
"It's a complete mess." Fang Shengchang replied.
Xiangshan County governed Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Macao and Gan Dashou who later took over the post. Instead, they worked together in Guangzhou to clean up Guangdong archives.
Zhao Han asked again: "What are the tariffs of the Guangdong Shipping Department?"
Guo Shunyu replied: "There are four major issues in Guangdong. One is in Nanxiong, with a tax amount of 43,000 taels; the second is in Chaozhou, with a tax amount of 58,000 taels; the third is in Zhaoqing, with a tax amount of 41,000 taels; the fourth is the city
Shipping department, 40,000 taels per year, and often cannot collect the full amount."
At Nanxiong's Chaoguan, the tax collection trade route is "Guangdong-Jiangxi".
Zhaoqing's Chaoguan and taxation trade routes are "Guangdong-Guangxi".
Chaozhou's Chaoguan and tax collection trade routes are "Guangdong-Fujian".
These three are all inland river customs, and the tariffs levied are higher than the customs tariffs of the Municipal Shipping Department!
What’s even more ridiculous is that the customs duties are so low that they cannot be collected in full every year.
Zhao Han sneered and said: "Give them a surrender. How do Guangzhou merchants win over and corrupt officials?"
Deng Yunzhan cupped his hands and said to the six people: "Whenever a high-ranking official comes to take office, the merchants will definitely give him a banquet. If the high-ranking official does not come to the banquet, he will inquire about his preferences. If he likes to recite poems and compose poems, the merchants will pay for local celebrities to hold cultural gatherings.
.For those who like glamor and beauty, merchants will recruit famous prostitutes, or even send beautiful women as concubines... If a high-ranking official does not have enough money and salt, the merchants will start with the high-ranking official's entourage and start with the high-ranking official's family. Four
Words are pervasive!"
"Did you hear that?" Zhao Han asked.
Zou Guangdi straightened his back: "The Integrity Department will never be lenient!"
"I believe in the Independent Commission Against Corruption." Zhao Han said with a smile.
Officials of the Department of Integrity are promoted very quickly. At this stage, they do not need to go through seniority qualifications. They can accumulate political achievements by catching those who are corrupt.
Guo Shunyu reminded: "Be careful of local officials."
For cross-provincial expansion, it is impossible to appoint all officials from Jiangxi. Otherwise, it will be impossible to start work in Guangdong and even communicate with local people. Mandarin is not popular these days.
Zhao Han instructed: "Local officials should let bygones be bygones whatever happened in the past. Once corruption and bribery are discovered in the future, their old accounts will also be dug up and dealt with!"
"Yes!" Zou Guangdi said, cupping his fists.
"Report!!!"
"Headquarters, Fujian coastal defense guerrilla Zheng Zhilong has led his fleet to Guangzhou!"
