Today, Zhao Junchen is already a qualified politician. Telling vivid lies and pretending to be real have become so easy for Zhao Junchen that it is almost instinctive. △
However, this time, Zhao Junchen's speech to the Huizhou merchants was mostly Zhao Junchen's true thoughts.
After all, Huizhou merchants are all as cunning as foxes and as cunning as ghosts. Ordinary lies cannot deceive them. Zhao Junchen can only tell the truth and clearly analyze all the pros and cons to them.
Really convince them.
Prince Zhu Heyu's rectification of commercial taxes was all due to Zhao Junchen's secret push, but Zhao Junchen also knew that after Zhu Heyu rectified commercial taxes, although he would make a big mistake, the mess he left behind would still be needed after all.
Take care of it yourself.
If Zhao Junchen cannot properly clean up this mess, then the next person to fall into trouble will be Zhao Junchen himself!
Therefore, Zhao Junchen has already had his own perfect plan for rectifying business taxes and rectifying smuggling.
However, perhaps because he was born in a later generation, Zhao Junchen's plan was rather strange and even a little treacherous.
That is - since smuggling cannot be eradicated, and the profits from smuggling are extremely high, then the smuggling business should be monopolized by the imperial court!
In this way, at least a large part of the court's losses in commercial taxes can be made up through the smuggling business!
Therefore, Zhao Junchen proposed cooperation to the Huizhou merchants - the imperial court would provide preferential policies, and the Huizhou merchants would provide ships, manpower, and financial resources. The two parties would jointly form a large-scale shipping company. They would then rely on this shipping company to monopolize the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the
The river transport business of the Yangtze River Waterway!
Among them, the so-called "preferential policy" means that the imperial court exempts and exempts most of the taxes on this shipping company. As a result, this shipping company's transportation business is no different from smuggling. It has only obtained the permission of the imperial court and can operate openly.
It’s just “smuggling” of light!
To put it simply, the imperial court takes a stake and legalizes smuggling!
Before this, in order to facilitate smuggling, smuggling merchants always gave part of their profits to various officials to open up connections, bribe officials, and find backers! But according to Zhao Junchen's plan, from now on the court will
It is the only backer for these smugglers, so the smugglers only need to give their share dividends to the court!
In addition, as Zhao Junchen said, he will not cooperate with all smugglers. In this plan, Zhao Junchen adopted the strategy of winning over some smugglers and then suppressing others; only
Only those powerful and influential smugglers can gain Zhao Junchen's "friendship"!
As for those smugglers who are not strong enough, or those who are unwilling to cooperate with Zhao Junchen, they are Zhao Junchen's targets. Only after embezzling their market share can this joint shipping company significantly increase its profits. The real
Monopolizing the shipping business. By the way, it can also scare the monkeys and deter those forces that are ready to take action.
Moreover, after the imperial court confiscated the funds and ships of these smugglers, it could also invest these funds and ships in the United Shipping Company. This would increase the court's shares and voice in the United Shipping Company, further increasing the court's income!
According to Zhao Junchen's estimation, through this method, the imperial court's fiscal revenue will increase by at least tens of millions of taels of silver every year!
Of course, the court would not keep all of the money for itself. It would also distribute part of the money to local yamen along the way in the form of subsidies to make up for the losses of the local yamen and quell the dissatisfaction of the local yamen.
At that time, it can not only increase the income of the court, but also suppress the smuggling phenomenon that has been repeatedly banned, and can also reduce the current situation of arbitrary tax collection in various places. It can be said that it kills three birds with one stone!
The most important thing is that Zhao Junchen's move to rectify commercial taxes will not only not offend all stakeholders, but will also form a huge interest group, drawing all Huizhou merchant groups and local officials along the way to his side, allowing them to
Becoming Zhao Junchen's community of interests, by that time, Zhao Junchen's power will also expand to an astonishing level!
*****
Most of the Huizhou merchants were smart people. They quickly understood what Zhao Junchen meant and analyzed the pros and cons of Zhao Junchen's proposal.
Then, those Huizhou merchants who were interested in cooperating with Zhao Junchen raised their doubts and expected to receive detailed answers from Zhao Junchen.
As Zhao Junchen finished speaking, an Huizhou merchant couldn't wait to ask: "Mr. Zhao, how wide is the business scope of this shipping company? But can any goods be transported?"
Zhao Junchen already had a plan in mind and immediately replied: "Salt and iron in our court have always been government-run, so except for these two items, any goods are within the business scope of the shipyard... Of course, as long as you are willing to cooperate with the court,
Cooperate, then even if it is salt and iron, the court will provide appropriate convenience..."
What Zhao Junchen said is a naked hint - as long as you are willing to cooperate with the court, the court will not touch your profits from salt and iron smuggling - of course, you still have to collect the profit share!
After hearing Zhao Junchen's answer, many Huizhou merchants who were still wavering in their attitude suddenly became more interested.
Then, another Huizhou businessman asked: "Mr. Zhao, you said that the imperial court will provide preferential policies, so what are these preferential policies specifically? How strong will they be?"
Zhao Junchen still replied immediately: "Except for the most basic goods tax, ship tax and door stall tax, other complicated taxes, such as points, toll tax, temporary donations, etc., are all exempted! In addition,
Following the example in the early days of our dynasty, if it transports people's basic living supplies and farming equipment, even the most basic goods tax can be exempted! In addition, after this shipping company receives the support of the court, it can also avoid the private embarrassment of local government officials.
, withhold card fines, and reduce a lot of troubles and costs! I have already calculated it before. According to my proposal, merchants can reduce the cost of transporting goods through this shipping company by at least 70%, which is even higher than the cost of smuggling.
Lower! With such an advantage, this shipping company can completely monopolize the business of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River Waterway in the shortest possible time!"
After getting Zhao Junchen's answer, all the Huizhou merchants were in commotion again!
The discount Zhao Junchen gave them seems to be greater than imagined!
However, even with these discounts, a large number of Huizhou businessmen are still hesitant.
Finally, Lin Yunpu, president of the Salt Merchants Association, asked an extremely critical question: "Mr. Zhao, your proposal is naturally beneficial to the country and the people, and it is also profitable for us. However, once this joint shipping company is established,
The scale must be extremely large, but because of this, no matter how many ships, manpower and funds we merchants provide, I am afraid that each of us will not be able to hold many shares. In this case, wouldn't we become insignificant shareholders?
Completely losing the decision-making power of the shipyard? As a result, I and other businessmen contributed money and efforts, but in the end we ended up in a situation where we were controlled by others..."
Before Lin Yunpu finished asking, he was interrupted by Zhao Junchen: "Boss Lin is overthinking it. In the final analysis, this joint shipping company is just a way of forming an alliance. It is not a complete integration of your shipping companies.
In name, the shipping company will become a branch of this joint shipping company. Normally, they have the same interests and act together, but in fact, everyone is still the decision-maker of their own shipping company. They just formed an alliance with other shipping companies and used the same name.
And it just got the imperial court to participate in the stock! In addition, this United Shipping Company will elect seven executive shareholders every three years to manage the affairs of the United Shipping Company and formulate the business direction of the United Shipping Company. Among these seven executive shareholders, they are also
There will be only one deacon shareholder representing the court! To put it simply, the court is only responsible for providing preferential policies and collecting dividends. You are still responsible for the management!"
After hearing Zhao Junchen's answer, most Huizhou merchants further let go of their worries.
Before that, their biggest worry was that after the establishment of United Shipping Lines, they would completely lose their autonomy and become only an insignificant shareholder.
Then Bai Mingyu asked another key question: "After we merchants and the imperial court jointly established a shipping company, how will the profits be divided? After all, the imperial court only provided preferential policies, and we had to provide ships, manpower and
Funds, if the shares held by merchants like us are too low, it will be more than worth the gain..."
Zhao Junchen smiled slightly and explained in detail: "The distribution of share income depends on the specific situation! The more ships, manpower and funds you provide, the higher the shares you will hold! Theoretically, the imperial court will control each shipyard
The shareholding will not exceed 40%! In addition, if you have extra merit, the court will also give you additional discounts to further increase your share dividends!"
Bai Mingyu's eyes flashed and he asked again: "Oh? But I don't know what the extra credit you are talking about specifically?"
Zhao Junchen smiled lightly and explained: "After the establishment of the United Shipping Company, the court will naturally punish those smugglers who did not join the United Shipping Company, and you are all experts in the smuggling industry. As for the current situation of your colleagues,
Of course, they know everything! If the court can provide evidence of their crimes so that the court can easily catch them all, then you will naturally have done your service to the court, and the court will also make concessions in terms of profit sharing! "
Zhao Junchen's words were calm, but they had the greatest effect!
Peers are often competitors, they understand each other best, and they are the most cruel to compete with!
Many Huizhou businessmen who were already willing to cooperate had their eyes gleaming after hearing Zhao Junchen's words, and they were full of energy and were ready to collect evidence of their colleagues' crimes to increase their future interests!
Those Hui merchants who were originally unwilling to cooperate broke out in cold sweat after hearing Zhao Junchen's words - now, the imperial court is about to crack down on smuggling, and they are unwilling to cooperate with Zhao Junchen. They are just taking a chance, thinking that the imperial court may not be able to.
They were traced to themselves, but after what Zhao Junchen said, they knew that if they did not participate in cooperation, there would be no way they could escape punishment from the court! After all, the court might not be able to collect evidence of their smuggling crimes, but
The other smugglers knew everything about them! With the help of other smugglers, if he resisted blindly, he would definitely not survive!
For a time, these Huizhou merchants who were originally unwilling to cooperate also changed their minds and planned to accept Zhao Junchen's "friendship" and become part of the United Shipping Company!
Looking at the changes in the expressions of the Huizhou merchants, Zhao Junchen smiled slightly, knowing that his goal had been achieved. After his words, the Huizhou merchants had completely lost their resistance, and now they only had to cooperate with the court.
This is the way to go!
In fact, Zhao Junchen's strategy of "driving away wolves and devouring tigers" has another purpose, which is to collect evidence of crimes against smugglers and take the opportunity to obtain evidence of crimes against smugglers who bribed various officials!
By that time, many officials' corruption and bribery will inevitably fall into Zhao Junchen's hands. After Zhao Junchen obtains these evidences, he can naturally "those who follow me will prosper and those who go against me will perish"!
Zhao Junchen has been planning for a long time to rectify the business tax!
Therefore, when Zhao Junchen obtained the authority to rectify business taxes, Zhao Junchen was destined to soar into the sky!
…
ps: Thank you to several new and old readers for your concern. Recently, I have seen some of you tipping and voting, so that this book can maintain a certain popularity, and I am very touched!
To be honest, this book is difficult to write and requires a lot of time and energy; the income is very low, and the royalties are not even enough for pocket money...
Because of frequent interruptions in updates, Chongzi was too embarrassed to ask everyone to subscribe to the official version, reward and vote, so he could only taste the bitter consequences. He devoted all his free time and tried his best to restore the popularity. Unfortunately, Qidian has given up on this book, so the results are not very good...
…
However, the motivation for bugs to persist has always existed, and that is you!
Therefore, this book will not be a eunuch, nor will it be unfinished. The bug will continue to write it calmly.