The tariff proposed by Zhou Lang at Huangpu Port is actually a new tariff that has been implemented in various ports in Fujian since this year.

Because of the one-size-fits-all entry and exit tax, many small ships do not dare to enter the port for trade, which leads to a port like Xiamen without land access, almost lost the supply of goods from the interior of Fujian, Zhangzhou, Fuzhou and other ports connected by land, can only be transported by land, the efficiency and cost have been greatly improved, and most importantly, the volume of imported goods has been affected.

Therefore, after communicating with the customs personnel many times, Zhou Lang proposed a method of taxing according to the number of masts.

One advantage of this method is that it almost limits the high entry and exit levy to the bows of maritime merchant ships, and the large number of masts is basically ocean-going vessels. Due to the restrictions imposed by the government, Chinese ships have not been built for a long time with more than two masts. Many of the inland rivers were sloops, or even small canopy boats propelled by rocking oars without masts.

After the implementation of the new tariff, the problem of insufficient import of goods in Xiamen and other ports was really improved, and a large number of dhows and even canopy ships sailed into Xiamen and other ports, and all kinds of goods from the inland river basin of Fujian were continuously sent into the port for trade.

As for ocean-going ships, not to mention those galleons in Europe, they are Chinese merchant ships that run in the South Seas, and they are not sensitive to the tax rate of 1,000 taels of silver charged for a mast. Even domestic trade, those brigs can afford it.

However, to Zhou Lang's disappointment, the Western merchant ships that came to trade in Fujian did not hide as he imagined, for the simple reason that Fujian did not have many goods that Guangzhou could provide. Only one tea is a bestseller, but the spring tea period has passed, and a large number of tea traders have left. Although summer is the best time for foreign merchant ships to arrive at the port, a large number of merchant ships are not willing to come to Fujian to dock at all because of the entry and exit tax, but choose Guangdong.

However, the severance of trade in Guangzhou left many merchant ships with no choice but to try their luck in Fujian. Although Fujian did not have as many goods as Guangzhou, summer tea was not very attractive to European merchant ships who pursued high quality. But they have a full half-year docking period, and they may be able to find Fujian goods worth purchasing.

As a result, a large number of foreign ships that could not go to Guangzhou began to come to the vicinity, docking at the three major ports of Xiamen, Quanzhou and Fujian, and the ships had to stop at the ports, but people did not have to stay, and they began to find that Fujian's tolerance for foreigners was surprising, and they were allowed to enter and leave the interior freely.

A large number of foreigners began to work in tandem and hire local guides to go deep into the mainland cities to inspect the market.

In just one month, Zhou Lang found that more than 20 foreign ships sailed into the Fujian port, each ship was a three-masted sailing ship, and paid 3,000 taels of entry tax, a total of only 60,000 taels.

It was also through these foreigners that Zhou Lang learned that they were forced to come by Guangzhou's ban on trade.

Zhou Lang found that his actions in Guangdong could actually transfer the trade opportunities of Guangzhou to Fujian, and he immediately began to pay attention to it.

Before, he just wanted to make some trouble for Zhu Jue, and then his political enemies defeated him, and he didn't want to pay too much cost, but now it seems that he can increase his investment.

Warships don't need to send more over, twenty warships are enough to block Humen, but Zhou Lang is a little uneasy about the control of Humen.

Qiu Tong was at the gate of Humen and only occupied one Nanshan fort, which was obviously not enough to control this estuary. So Zhou Lang immediately sent thirty warships, carrying an army and 10,000 people, to Guangzhou for reinforcements. The "army" is a new structure established after the expansion of the army, and an army is 10,000 people, led by a deputy general, and the entire army of Fujian is now reorganized into 12 armies.

In the past few months, Fujian has become more and more stable, and Zhou Lang can draw more troops, so he can calmly mobilize an army to go to Guangzhou.

These 10,000 people went to Guangzhou, not to fight the city of Guangzhou, but to control the Pearl River waterway, the main purpose was in line with Humen, as long as Humen was controlled, Guangzhou trade would be controlled by Zhou Lang.

Humen is the only place to enter and exit Guangzhou, and it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, there are mountains on both sides of the channel, and the whole channel can be blocked by arranging artillery, it is precisely because Guangzhou is the most convenient to control, so when a mouth is traded, Qianlong will choose Guangzhou, not Ningbo or other places.

Zhu Jue's trouble finally came, not only provoked Zhou Lang, but also the first powerful minister of the Qing Dynasty, He Shen, who had always been very jealous of him, finally pulled the trigger of the weapon that shot at Zhu Jue's background.

He Shen officially impeached the emperor for the three major crimes of cowardice, arson, and abuse of the people. The thieves came to Guangzhou City, and Zhu Jue had tens of thousands of troops, but he did not go out to fight to suppress the thieves, because he was cowardly; The bandits were rampant in the Pearl River, and Zhu Jue did not intercept the water divert, because he was a thief; On the contrary, he banned trade in Guangzhou, regardless of the lives of the small people, for the sake of abusing the people!

Impeaching Zhu Jue to the emperor is just a procedure, and He Shen knows very well that Qianlong, the emperor, has the right to decide on this matter, and he is confident that Qianlong will support him, because he has already reported to Qianlong first.

Emperor Jiaqing also knew very well who had the right to decide on this matter, because Qianlong had made a decree before his abdication, and the appointment and dismissal of officials above the government level was still handled under the guidance of Emperor Taishang, and Zhu Jue was a governor, and Jiaqing had no right to decide. Although he wanted to dismiss He Shen's impeachment on the spot, because Zhu Jue was his mentor, he didn't dare, he only said that he needed to ask the Emperor Taishang for instructions, and his posture was very low.

The result of Jiaqing's request for instructions from Qianlong was that Qianlong hoped to transfer Zhu Qi from Liangguang and demote him to the post of governor of Anhui. Jiaqing felt very painful in his heart, but he didn't dare to refute, so he could only praise the Emperor Taishang for his wisdom, and then personally drafted the holy decree to his master, and there were a lot of tears on the holy decree.

He Shen won. In history, He Shen also succeeded in demoting Zhu Jue, but the crime of impeachment at that time was inaction, due to the perennial pirates in the waters of Fujian and Zhejiang, He Shen attributed it to Zhu Ju's refusal to stop the pirates in Guangdong, which is really unwarranted.

But at this time, He Shen really didn't think about fighting Zhu Jue, because He Shen has been doing too much recently, Fujian and Zhejiang are advocating chaos, Qianlong is angry, and He Shen is in charge of supervising the transportation of grain and grass, and raising military salaries.

In addition, He Shen also knew about the affairs in Guangzhou, and did not like Zhou Lang thought, as long as he went to make trouble for Zhu Jue, He Shen would seize the opportunity to attack Zhu Jue. On the contrary, when he learned that the Fujian rebel Zhou Lang had fled to Guangzhou, He Shen wished that Zhu Qi would stay in Guangzhou.

Zhou Lang went to Guangzhou, and Guangzhou became a hot place, and at this time, Zhu Jue was defeated, and no one was willing to be the governor of Liangguang. Of course, no one is willing to give gifts to Lord He, seeking this official vacancy, for He Shen, it is very wasteful to give such an important position to someone according to the normal procedure. So he didn't think about taking the opportunity to drive Zhu Jue away because of the trouble Zhu Jue encountered in Guangzhou.

But Zhu Jue touched He Shen's forbidden belly, so he couldn't help but have to do it with Shen in his busy schedule.

Where Zhu Jue offended Heshen, it was he who banned the trade in Guangzhou, and Qianlong decided to demote him for this reason.

The war in Fujian and Zhejiang has been stalemate, and more than 10 million taels of silver have been spent before and after, and the armies in the Liangjiang and Huguang areas have all gathered in Zhejiang, and the total strength has always been maintained at about 300,000, spending the silver like going out to the sea every day.

Even He Shen was a little overwhelmed.

He Shen didn't dare to complain to Qianlong, but he had a way to let Qianlong know his difficulties, and his difficulties were his loyalty, through the eunuchs around Qianlong that he was thin, through some powerful people around the emperor that He Shen had passed the house, and so on.

The reason why Qianlong favored He Shen was because He Shen was smart enough and capable. Before He Shen became the secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Households, Qianlong, who spent a lot of money, had already emptied the treasury, and the private treasury of the Internal Affairs Office had been unable to make ends meet for many years, which made Qianlong very distressed, he was rich in the world, but he had no money to spend.

After appointing He Shen, Qianlong never worried about the silver again, he thought He Shen well. But he also knew that fighting was too expensive, but He Shen didn't complain to him for more than half a point.

Until He Shen came to cry to Qianlong, saying that Zhu Jue's behavior in Guangdong greatly affected his progress in raising military salaries.

Guangdong Customs is the southern treasury of the Son of Heaven, with an annual tariff income of nearly one million taels, and most of this money has entered the accounts of the household department except for a part of the Guangdong treasury. In addition to paying money to the state treasury, the Guangdong Customs also handed over one million taels of silver to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I don't know how much money was handed over to the Heshen family.

This public and private, two are two million taels of silver, all of which can be used to fight the war at present, but Zhu Jue has banned trade, and this year's tax revenue will inevitably be greatly affected, and He Shen certainly has a reason to sue Zhu Jue to Qianlong.

Qianlong also believed that Zhu Jue's behavior was inappropriate, and at this critical time, he did not know the general situation, how could he cause trouble for the imperial court's thieves in Zhejiang because of the Guangzhou incident.

Under the strong persuasion of He Shen, Qianlong decided to transfer Zhu Jue.

It's just that Zhu Jue is gone, who will go to Guangdong to be the governor, where is there now also a sea invader, or occupy Fujian's sea Kou Zhou Lang, if you don't send a powerful and capable official, don't let the sea invaders drill Confucius, and as a result, the loss of Guangdong will outweigh the losses.

Zhu Jue's ability Qianlong recognized, if it wasn't for He Shen's insistence, he really didn't want to transfer Zhu Jue away.

But Qianlong couldn't think of a candidate for a while, he was old, his brain reaction became sluggish, and he was more willing to listen to He Shen's suggestions, because He Shen could always put forward the most satisfactory suggestions.

He Shen recommended a person to Qianlong, Changlin!

Let Changlin go to Guangdong, Qianlong immediately praised it as a good way.

Why?

Because Changlin has experience, Qianlong vaguely remembered that this Zhou Lang besieged Guangzhou City a few years ago, when Changlin was the governor of Liangguang, and finally drove Zhou Lang away without danger, and killed the leader of the Yiren who Zhou Lang colluded with.

It's just that Qianlong remembered that Changlin now seems to be wearing a guilty body!