Zhang Pu, who had been on the blood lock for more than ten years, finally failed to survive this year. Moreover, he did not die in the winter when old diseases often recurred, but died in the early summer when there was always no illness or disaster. After discussion by the Ministry of Rites, the emperor gave him a gift
Posthumous title "Wen Duan".
Seventy-five-year-old Luo Qianyi returned home after paying his condolences to Zhang Bo. His mood was quite complicated. Another old friend had passed away. He had been gone more and more in the past few years. He had friends and enemies, and he didn’t know how long he could live.
.
Qian Qianyi lamented his old age in Nanjing, but he didn't know that his son was already as anxious as an ant on a hot pot in Shanghai. In a large country house in Shanghai County.
Xie Sanbin said to the two partners, "The imperial court is going to thoroughly investigate the tariffs, and the imperial envoys to investigate the case are on their way. The first batch of ports to be investigated are Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, and Dengzhou. After these six ports are investigated,
There is also a second batch and a third batch." "Is there any problem with our account?" Xu Fan asked.
Xu Fan is the second son of Xu Xiake. As for his eldest son, Concubine Xu, she was killed by the Xu family slaves in an uprising when the Datong Army regained Jiangyin. Qian Qianyi, Xie Sanbin, and Xu Xiake originally opened a company in partnership. The Qian family and the Xu family were in charge.
The Xie family who supplies supplies is responsible for overseas trade. As Qian Qianyi went to Nanjing to become an official, and Xu Xiake stayed at home to recuperate all year round, it is now Xie Sanbin, Guo Ruyi and Xu Fan who are really taking care of the business.
Xie Sanbin said, "Our accounts are definitely fine, but I'm afraid... the official store's accounts won't be reconciled."
Official stores are not shops, but are commonly known as institutions that collect domestic trade taxes. Zhengde and Wanli established Huangzhuang Huangdian, among which Huangdian collected taxes and was not a royal store.
The central government store is called the Propaganda Department, and the local government store is called the Tongke Department.
In order to encourage commercial trade, Zhao Han no longer set up layers of cards to collect taxes, but only collected them once at the starting point (in special areas, there are tolls on the way, which are collected according to the size of the ship, and for land transportation, they are collected according to vehicles and livestock).
Take Shu brocade as an example. If it is to be shipped to Shanghai for export, the distributor must pay half of the tax when leaving Sichuan to obtain a commercial invoice. The commercial invoice states the type, quantity, and shipping location of the goods. This batch of Shu brocade will be shipped to Shanghai upon arrival.
After Shanghai, the inspection and tax payment must be made at the Shanghai General Affairs Department. If the inspection department finds that there is no commercial invoice, or the commercial invoice does not match the goods, the company license will be canceled immediately and a fine of ten times the amount of the smuggled goods will be imposed! The Qian family is here
Changshu and the Xu family are in Jiangyin. Although they are very close to Shanghai, the cotton produced by the two companies requires commercial receipts to be transported to Shanghai. These commercial receipts indicate the cargo information and are fully reported to the Shanghai General Affairs Department.
Coastal smuggling is easy to operate, but inland smuggling is not.
The General Affairs Department is located on a traffic thoroughfare. You can go around it quietly if you want, but the transportation cost will increase exponentially, and there is a high possibility of being investigated on the way. Bribing the General Affairs Department officials is even more nonsense. Each party pays half of the tax at the starting point.
, to transport goods from Jiangyin to Shanghai, you have to bribe officials in Jiangyin and Shanghai at the same time, and let the tax officials of the two counties work with you to make false accounts.
The longer the transportation distance, the smaller the possibility of tax evasion. If you can bribe officials in Sichuan and Shanghai at the same time, you are considered awesome.
What's more, the goods of these three companies not only come from Jiangyin and Changshu. They don't produce enough cotton themselves, and they also buy other products, such as tobacco, porcelain, and tea from Jiangxi. When Jiangxi merchants ship goods to Shanghai, they have to go to the Tongke Department
File and pay taxes!
If the Supervisory Office cannot find out the problems with customs and maritime trade, it will investigate the company that has been shipping goods to Shanghai for a long time. Company A, you ship goods to Shanghai every year, who do you sell the goods to? Oh, it turns out to be Company B.
Company B, who did you sell it to? Finally, we found Company C, which is engaged in foreign trade. The trade accounts of the three companies do not match up, so someone must be evading taxes or smuggling.
Qian Ruyi inherited his father's good qualities. At this moment, he was scared and said anxiously: "How about we surrender to the Inspectorate? Our trading company has only evaded taxes for four years and has not been involved in smuggling. Plus surrendering, most of us will
Can be dealt with lightly."
Xu Fan was a little moved. His father, Xu Xiake, was acquainted with the emperor. Qian Ruyi's biological father, Qian Qianyi, was also a popular figure in front of the emperor. With the respect of two elders, and the act of surrendering, most of it was just a fine, and the worst was nothing more.
Revoke company license.
"We cannot surrender," Xie Sanbin frowned, "We also bribed officials from the Municipal Shipping Department (Customs), and our sea trade license will definitely be revoked. - Zhang's sea trade license is like a white mountain of silver. We have a criminal record. From now on
Don't even think about getting the license again." After hearing this, Xu Fan hesitated again. He was really reluctant to give up the money.
Qian Ruyi said, "You have forgotten that in the past few years when the country's land administration was cleaned up, how many powerful officials were beheaded and exiled to the current emperor. There is no sand in their eyes. The Shanghai Shipping Department will definitely be found out. How can we escape then?"
Xie Sanbin still took a chance, "If any maritime merchant does not evade taxes or bribe officials, if they are all investigated and punished according to the regulations, all their licenses will be revoked, and sea trade will not be possible in the future. Without sea trade tax revenue, the court will lose tens of millions in tax every year."
Yin. So, even if the emperor wants to conduct a thorough investigation, he will only deal with those officials. As maritime merchants, we can only accept the punishment." "That's true." Xu Fan nodded.
Qian Ruyi said, "Since you have to accept the punishment, why can you get a lighter punishment if you don't surrender yourself voluntarily?"
Xie Sanbin shook his head and said, "We are the first to jump out. If we are not treated as a model, we will be dealt with severely. With so many maritime merchants involved, we may not be traced. If we are lucky enough not to be traced, then we will save money."
"A lot of fines." "That makes sense." Xu Fan was convinced and didn't even want to pay the fine.
Xie Sanbin is an old fool. He is bold when facing the government, but as timid as a mouse when facing the enemy.
He was originally the Minister of Taipusi in the Ming Dynasty, and was transferred to Shandong as an official during the Chongzhen period. It coincided with the White Lotus Rebellion, and he had been hiding in the city to passively avoid the war. He waited for the friendly forces to win the battle before rushing out to seize the victory and rely on suppression.
The White Lotus Sect made millions of taels of silver.
Historically, when the Manchu and Qing armies went south, old ministers of the Ming Dynasty negotiated to form a rebel army. Because Xie Sanbin had annihilated the White Lotus Sect in Shandong and must know more about fighting than ordinary scholars, Xie Sanbin was publicly recommended as the commander of the rebel army.
"Don't be afraid of death" (The Qing army's attack on the rebels is like stepping on eggs, aren't you afraid of death)
Only when a knife is held to the neck of such a person will he truly confess his crime and submit to the law.
Xie Sanbin and Xu Fan quickly reached a consensus. During the court's customs investigation, they paid taxes and went about their business obediently. If they were caught, they would accept the punishment. If not, they would escape. As for what will happen in the future, they will take it step by step and investigate strictly.
He was operating a legal business, but if the investigation was not strict, he continued to evade taxes. When Qian Ruyi returned to his hometown in Changshu, the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. He tossed and turned and couldn't sleep, always feeling that something big was going to happen.
The guy got up the next day and called his son and said, "Quietly prepare the ship because my father is going to Nanjing. If relatives and friends visit, tell them that I have contracted a serious illness and cannot see the guests." Qian Ruyi took the ship all the way to Nanjing and met Qian Qianyi.
Explain the situation.
Qian Qianyi was horrified, "I didn't receive any news in Nanjing. How did Xie Sanbin know that the Inspectorate was going to investigate the case?" "I don't know, maybe there is someone in the court named Xie." Qian Ruyi said.
"There is an idiot in his court," Qian Qianyi said, trembling with fear. "If Xie Sanbin got the news in advance, I am afraid that many officials and businessmen in Shanghai would know about it. The emperor would be furious about this. This would be worse than tax evasion by maritime merchants." Serious!' Qian Ruyi was even more afraid, "Then... what should we do?"
"I have already told you who the current emperor is and told you to operate legally. Why are you coveting those few tariffs?" Qian Qianyi asked. Qian Ruyi said, "Father, there are more than just a few tariffs. Our business is getting better and better." It can save four to five thousand taels of silver every year."
"Four to five thousand taels." Qian Qianyi was almost going crazy. He picked up his cane and started beating him. "Just for four to five thousand taels, we have to divide it among three families. One family can only get less than two thousand taels. For two thousand taels of silver every year." , do you even care about your own father's official position? I'll beat you to death, you bastard. "Dad, dad, don't fight..." Qian Ruyi ran away with his head in his arms, saying as he ran, "Think of a way quickly, it's too late to fight again." !
Qian Qianyi did not hurt his son from the beating, but he was so tired that he felt dizzy. He held on to the table and calmed down for a while. "Come, follow me into the palace immediately, surrender to the emperor in person, and tell everything you know."
Qian Ruyi asked, "Do you want to send someone to inform Xie Sanbin and Xu Fan?" Qian Qianyi was furious, "I'll inform his ancestors and let them die" in the Forbidden City.
"Qian Qianyi brought his son to see him"
Zhao Han didn't understand for a while, thinking that Qian Qianyi was already old and wanted to find an official position for his son in the Hanlin Academy. After leaving the Qian family and his son in the dark for a while, Zhao Han took care of the matters at hand and then ordered them to be summoned for an audience.
The moment Qian Qianyi entered the palace, he knelt down and kowtowed. While kowtowing, he climbed in and said in a tearful voice, "Your Majesty, forgive me. I have no way to teach my son..."
Zhao Han didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Get up and say what you have to say."
Qian Ruyi also knelt down and said with a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I have only evaded taxes for four years. According to the shares of the trading company, the tax I evade every year is only more than a thousand taels. It's all... It's all Xie Sanbin's idea. He said goodbye All trading companies are evading taxes. If we don't evade taxes, we will suffer big losses. "Tax evasion" The smile on Zhao Han's face disappeared, "Shanghai Shipping Department's tariffs" Qian Ruyi said, "Exactly, your majesty, please forgive me."
Zhao Han said with a cold expression: "Counting the time, the people from the Supervisory Office, Ministry of Finance and Bank have probably just arrived in Shanghai right now. How did you know the news?"
Qian Ruyi said, "Xie Sanbin told me." "Very good, great." Zhao Han gritted his teeth.
Just as Qian Qianyi guessed, the emperor was more angry about the leaks than the customs corruption. This was because there was a spy among the court's case investigators! Zhao Han suppressed his anger and said, "Tell me everything you know."
Qian Ruyi quickly poured the beans into the bamboo tube, spitting out some of the beans. Not much was known about this guy. He was mainly responsible for supplying goods in the company, and Xie Sanbin was responsible for evading customs duties.
Well, he reported the second-in-command of the Shanghai Police Department. He said that this man's son was very flamboyant in Shanghai, and his carriage was extremely luxurious. It was rumored that there was an orchid in his family worth five thousand taels of silver.
Zhao Han found that he could not learn important inside information, so he said, "You go to the National Security Agency to explain the case." Qian Ruyi opened his mouth and said, "National... National Security Agency" Who doesn't know, the National Security Agency is the Jin Yiwei.