Chapter 165: Life is like a play, it all depends on acting skills
In order to eliminate the bad influence caused by Shen Congxin, Qin Hao wrote a special announcement to let the soldiers know the military disciplines they must abide by after going to sea, as well as the benefits they can receive. There are literate soldiers in front of each bulletin board to preach. After all, With the illiteracy rate these days, it is almost impossible to expect soldiers to be literate.
This announcement immediately caused a sensation in the water village, and the veterans cheered.
"It must be the Marquis who feels sorry for us big-headed soldiers."
"Don't tell me, our life will be easier when the Marquis is here."
Some of the new recruits were a bit baffled.
"When did these officials count their words? I'm afraid it's just a waste of joy again."
"Yeah, how can anyone these days be so dissatisfied with having so much money that they would split up with the big guys like us?"
The veteran was unhappy when he heard this.
"Damn it, when did the Marquis ever break his promise?"
"That's right, I made a real fortune last time I went to sea. Otherwise, where would I get the money to marry my aunt?"
Some of the recruits were doubtful, and some were full of longing. Although men these days have three wives and four concubines, in fact it is difficult for ordinary people at the bottom to find a wife.
Qin Hao was not in a hurry to go to sea, but conducted a month of training first. Since returning from the last sea trip, Shen Congxin was transferred back to Bianjing. These soldiers have not received systematic training, and many new recruits have arrived. In order for these soldiers to develop effective combat effectiveness, intensive training is necessary.
Although the new recruits complained, under the leadership of the veterans, there was no trouble. In addition, the food was much better than before, so the soldiers were able to eat well, so they were naturally willing to work hard.
On the other hand, Sheng Changbai encountered a lot of trouble in setting up the maritime yamen, mainly due to resistance from Mingzhou maritime merchants. These maritime merchants were all extremely wealthy and paid many favors to local officials every year.
Collusion between officials and businessmen is a common phenomenon. Now that the imperial court is about to collect commercial taxes from maritime merchants, it will naturally affect the interests of local officials.
In other words, Sheng Changbai came down under the Holy Order, otherwise his body would probably be found in the sea one morning.
However, there is no way to do it on the surface, and local officials have many tricks to stumbling behind their backs. After Sheng Changbai established the shipping yamen, the first thing he did was to inventory ships with more than 3,000 pieces of materials.
However, these ships seemed to have disappeared from the world. Sheng Changbai had been busy for several days, and there were only two registered in the entire Mingzhou. They were still the kind of seagoing ships that were in disrepair and were about to be scrapped.
Sheng Changbai could only lead the investigation by himself. As a result, wherever he went, someone always leaked the news in advance, causing him to find nothing, which made Sheng Changbai very anxious.
On this day, Sheng Changbai came to Qin Hao's water village to complain to him.
Qin Hao secretly laughed in his heart, this is the gap between ideal and reality, Sheng Changbai's methods are still a bit naive.
"Has Zicheng ever thought about why these maritime merchants would rather use their money to bribe officials than pay commercial taxes?"
These words stopped Sheng Changbai. He bowed to Qin Haoshen and asked for advice: "Please teach me Zihan."
Qin Hao helped him up and said seriously: "Actually, it's very simple. The Maritime Yamen has just been established and has no credibility at all. In the eyes of these maritime merchants, the Maritime Yamen is here to steal money. Not only do they have to continue to bribe officials, but they also have to turn over the money.
Business tax, taking such a big risk, and in the end all the profits are given to others, if it were you, would you be willing?"
Sheng Changbai suddenly realized: "I see, Zihan, what should I do to convince them?"
Qin Hao smiled: "Actually, it's very simple. You just need to let them know that after paying the business tax, the local officials will not be able to exploit them. Over time, the credibility of the Maritime Yamen will be established, and naturally no maritime merchants will be willing to risk their homes.
I took the risk to bribe those officials.”
Sheng Changbai said thoughtfully: "It's just that this may be difficult to do."
Qin Hao shook his head: "It may be difficult for others, but Zicheng, don't forget that the officials standing behind you are the imperial court. As long as these people are not motivated by profit and want to rebel, they will not dare to follow you.
For a head-on confrontation, Gu Tingye's anti-smuggling office is also idle, so you can join forces with him to perform a show."
"play?"
.......
Three days later, Gu Tingye captured two ships in a small bay near Mingzhou Port. The ships were full of priceless spices shipped back from overseas.
Naturally, these two ships were not registered, so Gu Tingye led people to arrest the smuggling merchants overnight.
Gu Tingye interrogated him all night long. The merchant was so fat and courageous that he not only refused to explain, but also screamed.
"I am a relative of Liang Zhizhou, who dares to touch me?"
Gu Tingye smiled, very happily. Seeing that the guy in front of him succeeded in amusing himself, Gu Tingye decided to execute him himself.
"What rank of official is Zhizhou? Do you know what rank I live in? Don't say that you are just a relative of Liang Zhizhou. Even he himself, as long as he breaks the national law and falls into my hands, he will not be able to live or die!"
"Ah~~~" The fat man let out a heartbreaking scream, paying the price for his arrogance.
Seeing that the fat man fainted from the pain, Gu Tingye also stopped and asked someone to pour a basin of cold water on him to wake him up.
When the fat man saw Gu Tingye's evil smile, he was so frightened that he lost his previous arrogance and quickly begged for mercy.
"Master Marquis, please spare me. I'll pay the taxes. Isn't it enough to just pay the taxes?"
Gu Tingye held up the fat man's chin with his whip and smiled disdainfully: "Now you know you have to pay taxes? It's too late..."
Suddenly, a subordinate reported: "Master Marquis, Liang Zhizhou wants to see you."
Gu Tingye seemed a little surprised and patted the fat man's face: "It seems that you are really a relative of Liang Zhizhou. That's just right. Bring him here and let him see what happens if you disobey the imperial decree!"
Liang Zhizhou was soon taken to the prison. Looking at the beaten fat man, the sweat on Liang Zhizhou's forehead dropped.
"Gu...Gu Hou, can you show me a favor?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Gu Tingye smiled disdainfully: "Liang Zhizhou knew the law and broke the law. Do you think it is your kindness that is greater, or the court's laws?"
Liang Zhizhou's anger surged, but he was struck speechless.
"Brother-in-law, save me, quickly find a way to save me!"
Liang Zhizhou could only glare at him: "Shut up, I told you a long time ago not to break the national law..."
Gu Tingye looked very disappointed: "It's rare that Liang Zhizhou still knows the national law, so I won't send him away far away."
"Humph." Liang Zhizhou secretly resented that there was nothing he could do against Gu Tingye. He could give Sheng Changbai a stumbling block, but meeting someone as distinguished as Gu Tingye was like a scholar meeting a soldier.
After returning home, Liang Zhizhou's wife burst into tears when she saw that she hadn't brought him back. Liang Zhizhou's head was so big that he yelled.
"There's a mourning, I'm not dead yet!"
The wife stopped crying and begged: "Sir, my brother is the only male in my family. You must find a way to save him!"
Liang Zhizhou sighed: "Gu Tingye is the Marquis of Ningyuan and has the trust of officials. What can I do?"
At this time, the master beside him suddenly said: "Well, Sheng Changbai and Gu Tingye are close friends, why not go to him and find a solution?"
"Sheng Changbai? Aren't they the same species?" Liang Zhizhou asked suspiciously after hearing this.
The master gently shook the paper fan and smiled: "Otherwise, the shipping yamen and the anti-smuggling yamen seem to be established together, but they are not monolithic."
"The more commercial taxes collected by the shipping yamen, the greater the chance that Sheng Changbai will be promoted. The same goes for the anti-smuggling yamen. The more smuggling is seized and the richer the background of the maritime merchants inspected, the more Gu Tingye will be trusted by the officials. If everyone pays
Regarding commercial taxation, isn’t Gu Tingye, the leader of the anti-smuggling yamen, useless, and vice versa?”
Liang Zhizhou suddenly realized: "Sir, you are a great talent. Liang has learned a lesson."
Therefore, Liang Zhizhou went to find Sheng Changbai non-stop. Sheng Changbai naturally refused in every possible way at first. It was not until Liang Zhizhou presented the master's words that Sheng Changbai agreed to go.
Witnessed by Liang Zhizhou and Fatty Maritime, Sheng Changbai and Gu Tingye had a fierce conflict.
Sheng Changbai accused Gu Tingye: "You are punishing me without teaching me. The Maritime Yamen has just been established and has not had time to register merchant ships, so naturally you cannot pay taxes."
The fat man burst into tears when he heard this: "People from Shanda are right. These two ships went to sea a few months ago. I just didn't have time to register. I will make up for the tax!"
Liang Zhizhou looked at Gu Tingye being choked and speechless, and suddenly felt very good, thinking: You have this day too!
The fat man was finally released, so Liang Zhizhou naturally wanted to entertain Sheng Changbai at the most popular brothel in the area.
What Sheng Changbai wanted was this effect. After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, he said loudly.
"When I came out of Bianjing, the officials said that the function of the Maritime Yamen is not only to collect taxes, but also to create a better business environment for the vast number of maritime merchants. Everyone in the Jinghai Navy has heard about it, right? As long as it is about transportation
After paying the tax, if you encounter pirates or some native robbers at sea in the future, you can get the protection of the Jinghai Navy, and there is a high chance that the lost goods can be recovered."
"In addition, after our shipping office raises taxes, it will also be responsible for the repair and expansion of the terminal. In the future, it is expected to expand the Mingzhou Terminal to more than ten times its current size."
Mingzhou has been an area where maritime trade has been very prosperous since ancient times, and the main customers of brothels are precisely these maritime merchants. When Sheng Changbai said this, the merchants all looked thoughtful.
Sheng Changbai burped and continued: "Moreover, as long as maritime merchants pay taxes at the shipping yamen, they can obtain a tax payment certificate. From then on, no matter where the returned goods are sold, they no longer have to pay any exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. This is official
The grace of home!”
As soon as this statement came out, all the maritime merchants present were moved by it.
Why are the maritime merchants unwilling to pay taxes? Because they transported some cheap porcelain and cloth from the Song Dynasty overseas in exchange for spices, gold, ivory and other products from the local natives. After returning, they still had to sell them in various places. Not only did they need to deal with local officials,
The areas where they are sold also need to be managed, which directly leads to the high prices of various products.
But if you only need to pay tax once, although the 20% tax is a bit heavy, it is not unacceptable. After all, the amount they usually pay far exceeds this ratio.
The most important thing is that there are legal ways, and who is willing to take the risk of having their home raided? We have finally accumulated a certain amount of wealth. If we are caught, we will return to liberation overnight, not to mention going to jail. The risk is not the same as the benefit.
In the case of direct proportion, businessmen also have to think about trade-offs.
That night, many maritime merchants came to the Maritime Yamen to inquire about the specific policy situation. Sheng Changbai also personally received some larger maritime merchants and posted notices at each of them.
Not to mention that this trick really worked, some maritime merchants soon registered their ships, and Sheng Changbai also gave him a month. If he didn't register the ship and pay taxes after one month, he would be caught by the anti-smuggling yamen, and he would have to wait.
His house was confiscated and he was sent to jail.
After a busy month, more than 60% of the ships in Mingzhou have been registered. Of course, there are still many maritime merchants who are lucky.
At this time, it was Gu Tingye's turn to take action. Gu Tingye personally led the team to catch several typical cases and dealt with them severely.
Naturally, there were many memorials in the court impeaching Gu Tingye and Sheng Changbai for their excessive taxation. However, with the large amount of taxes and seized gold and silver, these impeachments did not waver Zhao Zongquan, but instead made him see clearly the faces of many high-sounding civil servants in the court.
A month later, Qin Hao's fleet finally set sail, followed by more than 30 mighty ships. These were the merchant ships of nobles. Since he had received the money, Qin Hao naturally had to fulfill his promise.
, and make a fortune together with these nobles.
The process of this trip was not smooth. Less than a month after setting sail, they encountered a storm at sea. Fortunately, Qin Hao's fleet was all experienced sailors, and he led the fleet to avoid the most violent area of the storm and go around the edge.
, even so, two merchant ships were lost.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Afterwards, it was a smooth journey to Siam. The nobles were instantly dazzled. They did not expect that there was such a paradise outside the Song Dynasty, with various subtropical
The fruits are so huge that the wheat ears in the field are so heavy that the wheat stalks can't stand up straight. Of course, what they care most about are all kinds of gems, pearls, agate, and gold.
The natives did not pay much attention to these things, and some even used gems to build stone houses, which made the nobles sigh: they are prodigal, and then they exchanged these gems for cloth and porcelain.
"Haha, as expected, as the Marquis said, this overseas country is really a blessed land!"
"Alas, these natives are too lazy to sleep there all day long and don't want to move. Otherwise, they could collect a lot more jewelry."
When they returned, Qin Hao did not go with them, but went to farther seas to explore the waterway. This time Qin Hao's destination was the East Indies, known as the Spice Islands.
This route has actually been explored by many maritime merchants, including Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. However, with the navigation technology of the Song Dynasty, this route was too risky, and these islands were rich in spices.
It can also be obtained in places like Siam and Chenla, so few maritime merchants are willing to take risks.
But Qin Hao knew that places like Siam and Chenla would be plundered by the Song Dynasty merchants sooner or later, so he had to explore further waterways in advance and take precautions.
Almost half a year later, Qin Hao came to the East Indies, known as the Spice Islands. As the name suggests, the islands are full of various spices.
In the Song Dynasty, spices were used not only for cooking, but also for incense.
People in ancient times did not bathe every day. For this reason, there was a special holiday for bathing, called "bathing". In this way, the body would inevitably smell, so incense became a good product to mask the smell, just like the French who invented perfume.
is a motive.
Many times, incense is also used on the clothes of honorable families. Almost every honorable family has its own unique incense recipe. Naturally, the more unique the incense smell, the more it can show the family's heritage.
The consumption of spices is huge, but the inland production is very small and can only be obtained through maritime trade. This makes the spices extremely expensive, and good spices are comparable to their weight in gold.
And these spices can be found almost everywhere in the Spice Islands.
In addition to spices, Qin Hao also caught three rare white tigers on a small island in the Bay of Bengal when he returned. These three white tigers were also naive. When they saw a group of people approaching, they did not run away, but pounced on them.
He was tied up by his limbs and carried to the boat with a bamboo pole.
In ancient times, white tigers were considered auspicious, and they were perfect gifts to Zhao Zongquan. In order to prevent these white tigers from dying, Qin Hao specially arranged a largest cabin for them and fed them live food every day.
But even so, after half a year of sailing, only one survived in the end. When he arrived at Mingzhou Pier, Qin Hao quickly surrounded the white tiger in a forest to let it recover.
Gu Tingye came over after hearing the news. When he saw the white tiger, he thought it had been dyed by Qin Hao with something. He insisted on doing it himself. This guy was really born with supernatural power. Facing the white tiger that rushed towards him, he pinned it to the ground and couldn't move.
.
Qin Hao quickly pulled this guy away. If the white tiger he finally got back was killed by him, it would be useless.
"It's really a white tiger?" Gu Tingye still held a bunch of hair in his hand and found that it was all white from the inside to the outside, so he believed that it was not dyeing.
Returning to Shuizhai, Qin Hao asked about Gu Tingye's situation in the past year.
Gu Tingye proudly recounted what had happened over the past year. At the beginning, many maritime merchants paid taxes, but corrupt officials were still extorting money. These merchants came to Sheng Changbai for help, and Sheng Changbai also fulfilled his promise.
After collecting the evidence, these officials were reported to Zhao Zongquan.
Zhao Zongquan also knew that in order to establish the prestige of the Maritime Yamen, he must punish them severely, so he dismissed these officials, investigated them, and finally sentenced them to exile on Salmon Island. Basically, it is unlikely that these people will come back alive. Although they cannot be punished as high as doctors,
But if he dies in exile, it has nothing to do with him!
Sheng Changbai also gained the trust of maritime merchants through this matter. Gradually, most maritime merchants chose to pay taxes honestly. As for those who dared to evade taxes, it was Gu Tingye's turn to take action.
Gu Tingye's style was much simpler and more brutal than Sheng Changbai's. He arrested people, tortured them, put them in jail, and ransacked their homes all at once. He was also nicknamed "Gu Yanluo".
Qin Hao suddenly felt something in his heart: "Cousin, your three-year period of filial piety should be coming soon, right? When are you going to marry Minglan?"
Gu Tingye chuckled: "Actually, I've already sent a letter to the official's house, and the date has been set. It's the sixth day of June. I was worried that my cousin wouldn't be able to make it out. Now it's time to come and drink my wedding wine."
