Yu Qian only smiled slightly. He was relatively familiar with Zhang Anshi, after all, he had been a clerk in the Changshi Mansion for so many days.
His Highness may not care much about other things, but money is the most important thing.
But now Yu Qian has changed his mind. Since he started working in the county prince's palace, he has become more and more aware of the importance of money.
There are so many officials in Taiping Mansion, all pointing at Taiping Mansion to distribute their salaries!
We all have families to support. If we don’t have money to support them, what will our wives, children, and children do?
What's more, there are so many projects in Taiping Mansion, and I don't know how many people are employed. Which part of it doesn't cost money?
It is true that the prince of Wuhu County loves money, but he is also a boy who scatters money. Countless money flows out of the prince's palace and then enters thousands of households.
He really saw the children of ordinary employees entering the school, and he also saw with his own eyes that women who were so destitute that they had to go to textile workshops would go to the store in groups to buy rouge.
When it's time for dinner, smoke rises from thousands of households, and you can actually smell the aroma of meat. Read a book
Perhaps these are nothing, and even for people like Yu Qian who have been officials for generations and come from a scholarly family, they are simply commonplace.
But Yu Qian is not an ordinary person, he still has some understanding of the folk.
It was precisely because I had seen the starving people all over the place, seen those starving people in ragged clothes, and seen the scrawny children who had been working in the fields and herding cattle since they were young, that I realized how terrifying Zhang Anshi was.
Naturally, he may not be used to some of the customs in Taiping Mansion, and he even criticizes some phenomena.
But for people like Yu Qian, they already know that if there is going to be a saint in the Ming Dynasty, nine times out of ten, it will be His Highness the Prince of Wuhu.
What is a saint? In addition to the name people used to call the emperor before the Song Dynasty.
More often it refers to people like Yao and Shun or Zhou Gong and Kong Sheng.
But people in this world also have different interpretations of saints. Some people believe that a saint is someone who has all their talents and virtues. That is why saints have great virtues, talents, and wisdom, and are praised by the world.
However, Yu Qian also has his own opinion. Saints may not all have perfect talents and virtues. They can make the people worry-free like Yao and Shun, and their holy names can be passed down to the world.
Seeing Zhang Anshi's hungry look, Yu Qian said: "Your Highness, I'd better report the situation at the customs first."
Zhang Anshi immediately said: "Speak quickly."
Yu Qian said: "Customs currently has a staff of 374 people, including 143 civil servants, and more than 200 customs inspectors. In addition, there are 19 treasurers. But... now the ship
The number of people entering Hong Kong is increasing day by day, and there are many lawless people trying to sneak into the customs. The official thinks that these manpower are far from enough, especially the number of people for inspection. "
Zhang Anshi frowned and said, "Isn't more than two hundred people enough?"
Yu Qian shook his head and said: "It's not just the manpower that's lacking. I think we need at least three to five hundred more posts. In addition...weapons. What's missing are both clippers and guns."
Guns, artillery, war horses, etc. should be equipped as standard in model camps."
Zhang Anshi was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, imitating Zhu Di.
After lowering his head and thinking for a while, he said, "Aren't you going to build a model camp?"
Yu Qian smiled and said: "The amount of customs duties is not small after all. That is why people will take desperate risks for this. Especially merchant ships. People who run ships are often bold. Your Highness should have heard of it. There are some
Merchant ships are good citizens on land, but on the sea, although they also carry goods, they also do a lot of shameful things."
“If there is no necessary precautions for such a matter involving huge profits, how can we collect all the taxes to make up for the additional levies imposed by the customs?”
Zhang Anshi nodded in agreement: "You have thought carefully. That being the case, it is not impossible. Do you still want to build a school?"
Yu Qian said calmly: "Exactly, what Xiaguan wanted to build was a customs specialist school. When he was planning to build the customs, because the people recruited were mixed, Xiaguan spent a lot of effort to sort it out. But continuing on like this is not the answer.
If there is no specialist college to replenish personnel at any time, if the affairs become more heavy in the future and we urgently recruit personnel, I am afraid it will be too late."
Zhang Anshi said: "This... is not non-negotiable. We can start the school and recruit a group of students. Of course, you can do this."
Yu Qian said: "Yes."
Sometimes, he felt that His Highness the County Prince was quite easy to talk to, which at least subverted many of his initial perceptions.
So later on, many of his suggestions and ideas were able to be expressed calmly.
At this time, Zhang Anshi said: "I have heard that you also seized the goods of Chengyang Marquis and ordered him to pay taxes?"
"There is such a thing." Yu Qian continued without being humble or arrogant: "It was found during the inspection down below. He is not timid. He has enough spices for a shipload, but what he reported was a shipload of useless iron ore. He wanted to borrow it.
Taking this opportunity, I paid less customs duties, went on inspections, boarded ships, and searched, and had conflicts with them, but later, the problem was resolved."
Seeing his calm and calm expression, Zhang Anshi asked curiously: "Are you willing to give in?"
"I didn't give in." Yu Qian said: "The owner of the ship was directly captured and imprisoned. The ship and cargo were detained. The trading firm involved in the ship directly sent people to question him. Didn't this solve the problem?
"
Zhang Anshi: "..."
It’s so straightforward and simple!
But he likes it!
Seeing that Zhang Anshi was speechless, Yu Qian thought that Zhang Anshi was afraid of causing trouble, so Yu Qian said: "Your Highness also knows that His Highness must be in trouble. After all, His Highness is worried about offending someone, but it doesn't matter. If anyone asks, His Highness will push the matter to the lower official.
Just stay on top of your head. I'm in the capital, and I don't have any relatives or friends anyway, so I'm open-minded and fearless."
Zhang Anshi smiled and said: "You are running errands for the county prince's palace, how can I put this on your head? If you do this well, the inspection officer who imprisoned the ship owner should be remembered and rewarded."
As he spoke, Zhang Anshi encouraged him: "It's not that things like favors cannot exist. They are all mortal bodies, so how can there be no exchanges of favors? But when money is involved, it's a different matter. Don't say it's a prince, it's the king of heaven.
Yes, if you don’t pay this tax, I, Zhang Anshi, will still fall out."
Yu Qian smiled and pretended not to hear the words.
Although his face remained calm, Zhang Anshi's support made him feel happy that even he himself was not aware of.
Zhang Anshi said: "I did not misjudge you, you are very courageous."
Well, he appreciates that!
Yu Qian said: "Xiaguan is not very courageous on weekdays. He does not dare to walk at night, and he can't help but feel angry when he encounters snakes, insects, rats, and ants. The reason why Xiaguan goes all out is that he believes that such things are beneficial.
It’s a thousand years, so we’re just going through fire and water.”
Zhang Anshi kept nodding: "Okay, okay, let me take a look at the accounts. I've been verbose for so long. If I don't look at the accounts, I won't feel at ease."
Yu Qian smiled again and gave Zhang Anshi a meaningful look.
When this account came into Zhang Anshi's hands, it used the recording method commonly used in Taiping Mansion, so Zhang Anshi didn't bother to look ahead and just turned to the table on the last page until a number came into view.
Zhang Anshi suddenly felt refreshed, his eyes widened slightly, and he said: "So much?"
Yu Qian, however, appeared calm: "They are all levied according to the amount of tariff set by His Highness. The carrying capacity of sea-going ships is large, and the current sea-going ships, in order to increase their profits, often carry more precious goods. This is enough for a ship's worth of goods.
, you may have to pay thousands or tens of thousands of taels of silver, so...the customs tax is naturally not small."
Zhang Anshi was a little worried, so he said: "If this is the case, will it place too heavy a burden on the maritime merchants?"
Yu Qian smiled and said: "Your Highness, there is no need to worry about this. The profit from sea goods is really too great. The worthless things from my Ming Dynasty will be worth several times the profit when they arrive at the outer vassal. The goods from the outer vassal will be doubled again when they arrive at the Ming Dynasty."
The above-mentioned interest rate difference, even... I have heard... that there are some methods of doing business, which are really unbelievable."
Zhang Anshi said: "What method?"
Yu Qian said: "Some maritime merchants came to Malacca, and together with the local Tianzhu, Dashi and other merchants, they actually brought out glass, colored glaze and other objects. These Dashi and Tianzhu merchants did not know what was going on and rushed to buy a piece of glass, especially a piece of glass.
A glass mirror can be exchanged for hundreds of taels of gold and silver, and a piece of colored glass can be exchanged for a hundred taels of gold and silver. But in this country, the wealthy merchants regard it as a rare treasure."
"The gold and silver they exchanged for glass mirrors and colored glazes, and then purchased a large amount of cotton from Tianzhu, fabrics from Dashi, and wool, etc., returned to our country in the Ming Dynasty, and the profit margin was huge. This glass mirror, in
My Ming Dynasty is nothing but worthless things, but just dozens or even hundreds of taels of mirrors and glass can be exchanged for a boatload of wool and cotton worth tens of thousands of gold..."
Zhang Anshi couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.
Thinking about it carefully, glass, apart from the fact that Zhang Anshi could produce it on a large scale, really looked more precious than ordinary pearls and other jewelry. But he didn't expect that these maritime merchants would actually play with it like this.
The most ridiculous thing is that in Malacca, there are probably many people who know about glass mirrors, not just the local royal palace and Han guards, but also so many merchants.
In this way, such a thing can be exchanged for a large amount of gold and silver. The only possibility is that everyone knows what is going on, and everyone is as clear as a mirror, but everyone just doesn't say it and maintains a certain tacit understanding.
Don't look at it in the Ming Dynasty, these scholars, peasants, industrialists and merchants were very lively and verbally attacking each other.
But once you go overseas, especially when there are so many people in a relatively dangerous environment, it is easy for people to unite unconsciously in such a dangerous environment.
Zhang Anshi said: "In this way, with these 32 million taels of silver... we only got a small head, but these sea merchants have all become fat and big ears?"
"Not necessarily." Yu Qian said: "The risks of maritime trade are not small. Of course, making money is really making money."
What is the concept of thirty-two million taels of silver?
Zhang Anshi himself couldn't imagine it.
It is roughly equivalent to the fact that the customs tax alone almost exceeds the local money and grain tax. No wonder in later generations, a country's customs is almost the lifeblood of many countries.
Zhang Anshi said enthusiastically: "Has the money been put into the treasury?"
"It has been put into the treasury." Yu Qian said: "However, the silver flowing in from other vassals... is not much, but the gold is more."
Zhang Anshi said with a hearty smile: "It doesn't matter, gold and silver are not separated. With this, I can sit back and relax."
"What do you mean, Your Highness?" Yu Qian looked at Zhang Anshi and seemed to think there was something in Zhang Anshi's words.
Zhang Anshi said: "Anything you do must be justified, but no matter how great your reputation is, it cannot be worth real money. With such a large amount of income, it is time for me to do something big."
After a pause, he said with a serious expression: "For now, please keep quiet about the customs matters and just do your own thing."
Yu Qian said: "Yes."
After Yu Qian said goodbye and left, Zhang Anshi sat alone, drinking tea slowly. His face looked calm as usual, but in fact he had begun to think.
If you have money, you will have confidence!
But having confidence alone is not enough. Now he is like a rich man who needs to give some people a little shock.
After pondering for a moment, Zhang Anshi gave an order and asked for Chen Li to come, and then asked for Zhu Jinren and others.
A hasty discussion was made.
Arrived the next day.
Lists of articles suddenly began to be posted all over Taiping Mansion.
In this article list, there is a notice about relocation.
Encourage people from all over the world to move to Taiping Prefecture. Once settled, all people will be exempted from primary school tuition for one year, and each household will be given three taels of silver to cover their needs for settling down.
In the past, Taiping Prefecture almost adopted a silent method of absorbing the population.
Do you want to come or not?
But now, it's so naked, it's shocking.
After all, throughout the ages, the whole world has never seen such a waste of money.
Another day later, another notice came out, but it was a notice to help the people.
Taiping Prefecture has set up Jiminyuan in various places, which can provide three meals a day if necessary. Of course, these meals mainly consist of steamed cakes.
But even steamed cakes are considered a fine food in this era.
Therefore, some people couldn't help but start talking about it again.
Such measures can indeed solve the current problem of insufficient manpower in Taiping Prefecture.
What's more, as soon as these two notices came out, Zhang Anshi began to stand on the moral high ground.
Therefore, Gao Xiang began to get busy, summoning county magistrates to implement matters of population absorption and relief for the people.
The government's expenditures are abundant. With money, manpower is needed to implement it. In addition, various detailed rules are formulated.
Fortunately, the entire Taiping Mansion has been transformed, so it is not difficult to deal with this.
…………
Chief Envoy of Henan Province, Shangqiu County.
This small county government office was very lively with many people coming in one after another at this time.
Those who came were mostly local gentry.
The county magistrate Chen Jian, however, hid in the mansion in the back office and refused to come out for a long time.
It was not until the signing room that the gentry had not left for a long time, and they even became anxious, so he hurriedly came out and greeted everyone.
One of the gentry said with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, there are so many people running away from home, you have to think of a way! In the past, there were only sporadic escapes, but now... on the official road, it is... but..."
Chen Jianjian calmed down and said, "Didn't we send some officers to stop it?"
A gentry smiled bitterly, beat his chest and said: "Don't you know, the county magistrate? Half of the officers in our county have fled. Then the Taiping Prefecture has also drawn up some kind of regulations, saying that all prefectures and counties
If the officer moves to Taiping Mansion, he will be given an additional five taels of silver as resettlement fee."
"In addition, there is also a grinding mill in Taiping Prefecture, where the migrating people are specially allowed to complain about their grievances. If the migrating people encounter difficulties with local officials along the way, they can file a complaint. Although they cannot
They punished them severely, but they said they would put these people on the list. Nowadays, none of the county officials care about it, and they are all afraid of being sued, lest they lose their way out when the time comes."
After hearing this, Chen Jian's eyes showed a look of surprise, and he was stunned and said: "Your Majesty has granted a vassal status. This Taiping Mansion is like a country within a country, but I never expected that they would be so rampant."
Then someone else said sadly and angrily: "My sedan bearers, several nursing homes, and some tenants have all moved away. Alas... I can't live my life anymore!"
Chen Jian frowned and said: "Where did this Anshi get so much money? They... they..."
"This...it's hard to say." The gentry all talked: "This man is the most greedy. He takes money for everything he does in Taiping Mansion. He has a lot of money, but he would rather scatter the family wealth than deal with me and others.
.”
"This is encouraging people to flee their households."
The more people talked, the angrier they became.
Chen Jian pondered for a moment and said, "Don't panic, gentlemen. I will report this matter to the Ming court myself."
He calmed down and pondered, seeming to have some concerns in his heart.
In fact, it's nothing to escape from one's household. What's scary is that most of the people who go to Taiping Mansion are young and strong.
Now that land rent has plummeted, land prices have also plummeted, and many gentry and country sages can no longer support themselves.
If this continues, what will happen?
Chen Jian couldn't help but groan, "Where did this Taiping Mansion get so much money?"
So, he pondered for a while, then began to repair the book, and then ordered people to rush to the capital.
Inside the capital city, it seemed as though it was still peaceful.
But privately, there was already an undercurrent surging.
Memorials and letters from all the prefectures and counties in the world were sent to the imperial court and each family's mansion like snowflakes.
No one expected that the two notices in Taiping Mansion would produce such huge results overnight.
Many people couldn't sleep after seeing the letter.
These letters come from students, former officials who are serving as officials abroad, and from their own hometowns. However, no matter who the letters come from, they always give people a feeling of suffocating oppression.
A few days later, the weather was getting hotter and hotter. It was a scorching summer day, but there were fast horses rushing to the military headquarters.
Then, Jin Zhong, the Minister of War, did not dare to neglect, and immediately took a memorial and paid an urgent audience.
Zhu Di ascended his seat and stared at Jin Zhong. Jin Zhong bowed down and saluted: "Your Majesty, the Chief Envoy of Zhejiang Province has sent me an urgent report for your Majesty's review."
Yi Shiha received the memorial and forwarded it to Zhu Di.
Zhu Di only glanced at it, and then opened his eyes. His eyes were as cold as frost for a moment, and then he stood up and shouted uncontrollably: "You are so audacious that you don't know whether to live or die!"