The establishment of the city office is a move that Zhu Youzhen and Xiong Rulin have planned long ago. When Xiong Rulin used a flying pigeon to pass on the book to the Beijing Division, because it did not involve troublesome issues such as the ancestral system, Zhu Youzhen hinted to Wen Tiren and others that the "Wen Party" cabinet ministers plus the centrist cabinet ministers, as well as Huang Zongxi and other Chinese scholars, all expressed support for Xiong Rulin's idea.

At this time, the Donglin Party members still focused all their energy on Zhou Yanru, who was "ineffective in supervising teachers", and did not have much interest in the affairs of a small remote county on the southeast coast. So soon the cabinet issued a vote and agreed to set up a city office in Nan'an County. Zhu Youzhen immediately approved the red and took effect, and he was overjoyed: This is an important "precedent" and can become the "old system" in the future.

After obtaining the approval of the imperial court, the Nan'an City Ship Office immediately began to operate. The office location is very simple, that is, a simple shed is built at the mouth of the Jinjiang River, the largest river in Nan'an, because many merchant ships set sail from the Jinjiang River.

However, despite the humble office location, the power of the market office is not small. Previously, although there were three major city divisions, the imperial court did not make unified regulations on the operation of each city shipping division, and each city shipping division did its own thing. This gave enough space to the Nan'an City Shipping Office, which Zhu Youzhen used as a pilot and introduced a policy that was different from other city shipping companies.

The basic rules of the city ship office are very simple: all the people in Nan'an County who want to go to sea for fishing or trade must register with the city ship as a unit. Only ships that have been registered and have a license issued by the city are allowed to go to sea, otherwise they are not allowed to go to sea, and if they are caught, they will be punished for smuggling, the ship will be confiscated, and the person will be imprisoned and convicted. As for the ships outside Nan'an County, they can also be registered in the city, as long as they come to Nan'an County, they will be treated the same as those in Nan'an County.

There are two types of vessels registered in accordance with the regulations: fishing vessels and merchant vessels, and different licenses are issued. Fishing boats were forbidden to engage in trade, but correspondingly, they collected very little tax silver, only a nominal tael of silver per month. As long as the fishermen are diligent enough and go out to sea to fish every day, this business is sure to make a profit.

As for merchant ships, they are divided into two classes according to the cargo capacity of the vessels. Ships of more than 200 materials shall be taxed on each ship of 150 taels of silver, or 1 of 30 of the goods carried, whichever is less. Ships below 200 are to be charged 100 taels of silver per ship, or 1 out of 40 of the goods carried, whichever is less. Regardless of export and import, the tax rate standard is unified.

This tax rate standard was tentatively set by Zhu Youzhen and Xiong Rulin after repeated discussions. In Zhu Youzhen's view, this tax rate is really not high. Not only is the tax rate much lower than that of the three major cities, but even compared with modern society, the average tariff of each country is much higher than this standard. Moreover, no matter what kind of goods, they are all levied at one tax rate, which is too simple.

However, Xiong Rulin believes that smuggling is common among the people, and there is no habit of paying taxes at all. If the tax rate is set very high, it will not be conducive to encouraging the people to trade through the market according to the regulations. If the tax is set low first, the cost to traders is smaller, and the market is more likely to be accepted. After most of the foreign trade is brought under the management of the municipal office, it will be easier to adjust the tax rate according to the actual situation. Including the detailed rules for the tax rates of various types of goods, it is not too late to formulate them slowly. In addition, the staff of the city office also need to be familiar with the work, and the single tax rate will help them get started as soon as possible.

On the other hand, if the city set such a low tax rate, and you still go to smuggle, it will be a toast and not eat and drink, and then don't blame the court for being polite.

Zhu Youzhen seriously considered Xiong Rulin's suggestion and felt that Xiong Rulin's idea was very good, that is, to make the benefits of abiding by the law as large as possible and the cost of breaking the law as high as possible, so as to cultivate a good atmosphere in which everyone abides by the law. It seems that not only foreign trade regulations, but also future revisions to the "Da Ming Law" should also follow this principle.

After the city office began to operate, the registration of fishing boats in Nan'an County was relatively smooth. This is because the market office not only collects money from fishermen, but also provides a range of services. Not to mention anything else, patrolling day and night to guard against pirates alone is worth a tael of silver a month. Xiong Rulin also promised to build a lighthouse on Foxtail Island off the coast of Nan'an in Jinjiang as soon as possible to guide the direction of ships. With a lighthouse, navigation is much safer.

In particular, a significant number of fishermen are egg farmers. The egg people belong to the "untouchables" and are not among the four people, and they have been discriminated against. In the Hokkien dialect, the egg people are referred to as "curved hooves", which is an insulting term that satirizes the egg people who are barefoot on the boat all day.

Not only is this kind of verbal insult, but the egg people have no land, no houses, no literacy, no intermarriage with the people on land, only boats as their home, and they are extremely exploited.

Previously, Zhang Huangyan and Zheng Sen had recruited some egg farmers in Haicheng County, Guangdong Province and joined the army on their way to Nanyang, and also encouraged them to go to sea to fish, process pickled fish meat, and increase their livelihood. However, this can only be considered a temporary measure.

This time, in accordance with Zhu Youzhen's instructions, Xiong Rulin is also exploring ways to let the egg people regain their lives and integrate into society while setting up the city. There are many uninhabited islands off the coast of Nan'an, and Xiong Rulin has adapted measures to local conditions, announcing that as long as the fishing boats of the egg people are registered in the city, the standard of taxation for them will be exactly the same as that of other fishermen, and no one is allowed to exploit them again; He also allowed his family to carve out a piece of land on the island, build a house, and make their home there.

This policy is too attractive to egg people, who wants to live without a fixed home? In the past, when the egg people saw the people in the government, their first reaction was to run away; This time, it was the other way around, almost all the egg farmers in Nan'an County came to register, and more than 100 fishing boats were registered in two or three days.

In fact, for Xiong Rulin, this move is a double win. Not only did a large number of egg people come under the management of the city, but it was also equivalent to stationing the small islands dotted on the sea without spending a single soldier. You know, these uninhabited islands were originally a natural stop for smuggling ships and pirates. Now that the egg farmers have made these small islands their home, they will work hard to manage them. Smuggling boats and pirates will harass them, and these egg farmers will not agree.

Of course, this policy is only the first step, and it will take quite a long time for egg farmers to integrate into society and even get rid of their lowly status. However, at least the income of egg farmers can be increased first, and the more money they have, the less discrimination they will suffer. Isn't the merchant a good example?

Compared with the boom in the registration of fishing vessels, the registration of merchant ships has encountered a cold spot. It's been five days since the establishment of the city's shipping division, and there is not a single registered merchant ship!