The Dutch left the governor's yamen in a rage, while Chen Kai did what he had to do, as he always did, in order to ensure that the situation in Canton continued to develop in the direction he had hoped.

The afternoon meeting of the Advisory Council was as usual, and Chen Kai did not have any proposals to be discussed or voted on, but the matters that the Advisory Council was discussing today needed him to reply on such an official occasion.

What needs to be discussed is the matter of the ban on navigation, not whether the ban is enforced, at this point, whether from the system or from the current reality, they have no right to interfere - Zheng Chenggong is the king of Fujian in the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming court has granted him full power to control the restoration of the two provinces of Fujian and Guangdong and the three provinces of Nanzhili, Jiangxi and Zhejiang, and the Guangdong Provincial Consultative Bureau is only a provincial-level unit; The no-sail order was issued by the leaders of the Zheng Group, and they had no right to interfere in the affairs of the Zheng Group.

On the same day that Chen Kai received the ban on navigation, he convened a special meeting of the Advisory Council and announced the decree that Guangdong merchant ships were prohibited from sailing to Manila. Naturally, the entire Consultative Council unanimously supported this. This is not only because their backstage Chen Kainai is the second person in the Zheng Group, but more importantly, from the heart, there are many Chinese in Nanyang who are from Guangdong, and their business contacts with Guangdong are very frequent.

The ban was unanimously supported, and the parliamentarians present said that they would immediately write letters to the alternate councillors, friends, relatives and friends in their hometowns, calling on them to respond to the ban on Manila and give the Spaniards a good look.

However, the impact of the ban still exists, especially since many of the maritime merchants who visit Manila all year round are from Guangdong, and their usual sources of goods and sales will be cut off as soon as the ban is issued. Among them, because many of the maritime merchants affected by this have such and such relationships with the Guangdong Commercial Alliance, and the weight of the Guangdong Commercial Alliance within the Advisory Bureau, this matter has to be discussed here.

"The people who have made the request are all good businessmen who pay taxes and salaries in accordance with the laws of the government, and this time they also resolutely support the decree of the lord of the country and the old man of the army. They were affected this time, and they didn't plan to trouble the government, but they didn't know how long the ban would last, so they hoped that the government would be considerate accordingly. ”

The so-called understanding, Chen Kai understands, obviously hopes to be reduced or exempted from taxes. Of course, in addition to the normal tax, there is also a matter of the license fee - the license is paid for one year at one time, and it will be replaced in the next year, and it is strictly forbidden to use the old card to offset the new salary. That is to say, this time the ban on sailing, even if the salary they paid for the sea trade was a waste of money, it was more than a thousand taels, as little as hundreds of taels of silver, and not counting this year's profits and the time and money spent on opening up the joints for the realization of profits, even the rich families who have been going to the sea trade all year round are not willing to bear such losses in vain.

A member of the Guangdong Business Alliance respectfully proposed this proposal to Chen Kai, if he was close, he could still see that there was already a little white sweat on his forehead, but he was nervous in order to propose to Chen Kai, whether the nervousness would have any bad impact on himself.

There were many people present who admired his courage, but like him, they still had to weigh it. In this regard, Chen Kai, who was sitting in front of him to be questioned, listened to his words solemnly, nodded very seriously, and immediately asked if there were any other parliamentarians who had relevant inquiries, and after waiting for the limited two echoes and the latecomers to explain their respective situations, they calmly answered.

"The ban on navigation is a move taken by the lord of the country to ensure the trade rights and interests of my Ming merchants in Nanyang. In order to ensure the rights and interests of trade, it is certain that those good merchants who pay taxes and royalties normally will be taken care of, because they obey the law and naturally have to be protected by the government. This is the principle, the principle that the national surname and the official have always firmly believed in and adhered to. ”

Lang Sheng made a decision on the no-sail order, and the meeting room of the Consultative Council immediately responded with applause. After the applause eased slightly, Chen Keke continued: "How long the ban will be implemented, the national surname and the official are still uncertain, maybe one day, maybe forever, it is possible. As for the impact on the good businessmen, the official has already negotiated with the national surname, that is, all the goods originally shipped to Manila will be purchased by the Fujian side at a reasonable price.

"However, there is a need for the trading company or ship owner to provide proof of the payment of taxes and royalties in previous years. To put it bluntly, the government is only responsible for good businessmen, and those who do not pay taxes and salaries will not be protected by the government if they suffer any losses. In addition, they will be punished accordingly. ”

Failure to pay taxes is punishable by imprisonment, non-payment of licence fees is the confiscation of ships, seizure of ships, helmsmen and sailors, and disobedience of the ban on navigation is even more punishable by imprisonment and death of the culprit. However, compared with the cold punishment, Chen Kai's guarantee is completely different, even if it is necessary to issue a certificate to distinguish it.

"Please rest assured that the businessmen who came down to inquire are all paying taxes and salaries normally, and they even bring relevant certificates and documents when they come to look for them, and they will not disappoint the Fujun boss and the country surnamed Ye."

Chen Kai clarified the attitude of the government, and then the parliamentarian who took the lead in making the inquiry also made a guarantee at the first time. Historically, the government was only responsible for collecting taxes, and merchants would not pay attention to their losses, even if they were due to government decrees. In this case, if Chen Kai hadn't explained at the beginning of the establishment of the Advisory Bureau that he wanted them to speak on behalf of the people and complain about the effect of "Huabiao", his friends would not have come to beg him, and he would not have mustered up the courage to inquire.

At the end of the inquiry meeting, Chen Kai took the lead in leaving the Advisory Bureau and returning to the governor's yamen office. And after receiving the applause of many councillors, the councillor also hurried to a restaurant not far from the Consultative Bureau, where they had made an appointment in advance to inform the results as soon as possible.

"Fortunately, the boss of the Fujun made a guarantee, as long as he can show the proof of paying taxes and salaries, the governor of Guangdong will issue a certificate, and take the certificate and the goods to Fuzhou for trading."

"And the purchase price?"

Thanksgiving, this is the least, these friends are very praised, but they soon asked about it, and they are most concerned.

Fortunately, Chen Kai asked this point clearly in advance, and he also asked clearly in the Consultative Bureau: "The price of shipping from Guangdong to Fuzhou will definitely not be the same as that of Zhujun to Manila, but there is still an appropriate increase in the purchase price." The old man of Fujun said that he and the country surnamed Ye would not let the good businessman Jia suffer losses. ”

Utilitarianly speaking, the existence of these normal tax-paying and royalty-paying merchants allowed the Zheng group to feed more troops, just like the Chinese community in Nanyang. Zheng Chenggong wanted to fight a trade war with the Spaniards, and his purpose was also to protect the commercial interests of the Chinese in Nanyang, and at the same time to ensure that the Zheng Group could receive more royalties and sea trade profits.

Naturally, we must crack down on those smugglers who refuse to pay taxes and salaries. But for these people, Chen Kai thinks that they should be treated equally, and Zheng Chenggong also feels that compensation should be made, and the result is that Zheng Tai is responsible for transforming them from simple payers to suppliers of goods, which is nothing more than taking out some more money than ordinary acquisitions and reducing some profits.

I can still make money, but it is less than expected, which is not a consolation, because I can't make a penny and lose money in vain. Fortunately, many mouths begged to come to the door, otherwise it would definitely be a public inaction, and the officials would not be held accountable.

"Please rest assured, as long as I am in the Consultative Bureau, I will definitely speak for you." Calmly accepted everyone's thanks, and then he said another thing, but it was not from the Advisory Bureau: "There is news to be revealed, our Guangdong Business Alliance is going to have a new move." When the payment is recovered, you can consider participating in the process, and it will definitely be a sure win. ”

………………

Returning to the governor's yamen, Chen Kai couldn't help laughing, and looked at Kuang Lu, who came to the official room with his front and back feet, inexplicable.

On the side of the Heaven and Earth Society, Chen Kai has always been in charge of the work, and Kuang Lu is mainly responsible for the propaganda work. This time, I also wanted to discuss cultural and propaganda affairs with Chen Kai, but as soon as I entered the door, I saw such a scene.

"Are you laughing at those red hairs?"

Kuang Lu has not yet received news about the affairs of the Advisory Bureau, or if he comes half an hour late, the members of the Heaven and Earth Society of the Advisory Council will pass the news to him, and there will be no misguessing at this moment.

However, it doesn't matter if you guess wrong or not, Chen Kai heard Kuang Lu mention this matter, and he also planned to talk to him. Immediately, they chatted on this topic: "The red hair is fishing in troubled waters, and in the final analysis, the existence of the Zheng family has greatly affected its interests. In other words, the Zheng family does have a cooperative relationship with it, but it is more of a competitor. ”

The Zheng Group's influence and influence in China Sea was extremely great, especially since Zheng Zhilong's establishment of a monopoly position, and Zheng Chenggong's reunification of the Zheng Group, especially since the establishment of the Shanhai Five Merchants, the Dutch were able to obtain a significant reduction in Chinese goods. Taking raw silk as an example, the monopoly position of the Zheng group made it impossible for the Dutch to get too much raw silk to ship to Japan, so they had to buy raw silk from Annam and Bangladesh and transport it over. Whether in terms of texture, price, or cost, this is very unfriendly to the Dutch.

By the time Chen Kai established the Guangdong-Haihai Business Alliance, Guangdong's output of raw silk, silk, cotton, tinware, and porcelain was rising rapidly. The Dutch apparently hoped that the Zheng Group would split up, and Guangdong would become their source of goods, rather than a confinement for the Zheng Group. It's a pity that the revival of Guangdong is because of Chen Kai, and it is still Chen Kai who is the master of the house in Guangdong.

"This is the weakness of trade-oriented mercantilism?"

"Yes, there is no goods, where is the trade."

Kuang Lu mentioned this, but Chen Kai couldn't help but think of some materials he had read, about Zheng Chenggong's eldest son.

According to Chinese historical materials and the records of European colonizers, after Zheng Chenggong's death, the Zheng group was divided, and many generals of the Zheng group surrendered to the Qing Dynasty due to Zheng Jing's mishandling of Zheng Tai, including Zheng Tai's younger brother Zheng Mingjun and son Zheng Zhangxu with 500 warships and tens of thousands of Ming troops, as well as the Zheng Group's entire maritime trade system to the Qing court. What Zheng Jing inherited was only one Taiwan and not many troops.

However, the situation he faced at that time was very difficult. The relocation of the Qing court to the sea and the defection of Zheng Tai's bereaved family made the Zheng group have no source of goods and have experienced rapid degradation. While the military threat of the Qing army remained, the Dutch also returned and occupied the area in northern Taiwan that was once controlled by the Spaniards.

According to the evaluation of Zheng Jing by later generations, Zheng Jing should basically be finished at this time. However, not only did he not finish the game, he first managed to force back the Dutch and take control of the northern part of Taiwan, and then re-established the source and sales by bribing Qing court officials, and then lured the British into the game to fight against the Dutch, the inherent enemy. Until the rebellion of the three feudatories, he began to make a foolish move, not only did not succeed in the counterattack, but accelerated the fall of the three feudatories.

Zheng Mingjun and Zheng Zhangxu, Chen Kai both knew each other, and when he and Zheng Xiyuan got married, they both came to congratulate each other in person. Today, the two have long been the only figures in the internal business system of the Zheng Group, and they are very skilled in business. This time, the person responsible for protecting the good businessmen in Guangdong was Zheng Tai's son Zheng Zhangxu.

Chen Kai remembered these old things, to be precise, the old things that had not happened and might not happen, and the first thought was the collapse of the Zheng group back then—when the trade-based mercantilism had no source of goods, they were nothing. Historically, the Zheng group was not so much defeated by Shi Lang as by the Qing court's relocation of the border and forbidden sea. The reason why the Dutch fell from the altar is also because when the British and French evolved into industrial mercantilism, they were still spinning around with trade-based mercantilism and did not catch up with the east wind of the industrial revolution.

The industrial revolution is still far from now, because more technological accumulation is needed, which cannot be achieved with one mouth closed. It takes time, and it needs enough benefits, and Chen Kai believes that what he is doing now is exactly that.

"I plan to use the patent fee of one tael of silver to provide relevant technology to the people who are willing to engage in earthworm farming."

"A tael of silver?"

"Yes, otherwise no one would dare to use this technology, and the technology would only be limited to the farm outside the Chaozhou capital."

Kuang Lu has watched Chen Kai all the way to this day since the fourth year of Yongli, especially the earthworm farming, he was the first to know about it at that time. He knew very well that backed by the Zheng Group, the Guangdong Trading Company established by Chen Kai had earned him countless amounts of silver over the years, and he didn't care about money. And this patent fee is obviously not just about the word promotion.

"Actually, this is to try to get the craftsmen to develop more practical techniques?"

Being able to see this, Kuang Lu's intelligence should have been praised by Chen Kai. He is not a technocracy, and a lot of everything he can think of is already being done. Moreover, if you want to continue to go, what you need is the maturation of interests, rather than really building an industrial system with the power of one person.

Earthworms can raise chickens, chickens and eggs can provide more protein, and there is an industrial agricultural production model, which Chen Kai is happy to see. The only thing is that chicken and eggs were originally provided by the side business of the smallholder economy, that is, farmers raised chickens at home while growing grain and vegetables, and harvested eggs for sale. Originally limited to the farms in Chaozhou, the impact will not be too great, but if the technology is promoted, the sideline business of the smallholder economy will inevitably be affected.

"This era has become different from what it used to be, and I am not afraid to become more."

After letting go of the reverie, Chen Kai talked to Kuang Lu about the matter of Di Bao Wenxuan, and at the same time sent someone to find Wang Jiang and make an appointment to make the matter completely clear.

Originally, immersed in the road to the future, Chen Kaile was in it. It's a pity that Wang Jiang agreed to meet the next afternoon, and today hasn't passed, and with an urgent message delivered to the back house, Chen Kai couldn't help frowning.

"It's so punctual."