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With another place as the center, the coastal area north of Quanzhou, no, it should be said that it is all the areas north of Fujian, and businessmen who participate in the export trade will generally trade their goods to Houyu Port. In addition to the local in Fujian, many merchants in Jiangxi and Zhejiang have traveled thousands of miles to transport the goods here, plus the freight, and there is still a lot of money to this side, and basically do not worry about the goods not being delivered. Most of these merchants came from all over the world, most of whom did not know each other, and every merchant who came from afar tried to sell the goods in their hands, so in this case, trading centers like the Four Seas Tea House appeared.

The main role of the trading center is not to make money for the port, in the original Moon Port, the Sihai Teahouse still has to pay a part of the money to the government, but here in Houyu Port, Geng Jingzhong in order to accelerate the development, these small shops did not levy more taxes, and it can even be said that the tax rate is extremely low. This situation will not last long, and it was originally planned that when the time is ripe, that is, when the development of Houyu Port is about the same, a special agency will be set up to be responsible for import and export trade. He also has a learning object, the customs system of later generations is very good, although he does not know much, but combined with the elite of this era, he can still negotiate a good system. Now Geng Jingzhong has helped the Sihai Tea House, in order to let the merchants who arrive at the port find the trading partner faster, and sell the goods in the shortest possible time, so that they can leave the port as much as possible, which is obviously conducive to improving the utilization rate of the port, and at the same time attracting more merchants to come.

Geng Jingzhong at the beginning of the time. I didn't think about the significance of a trading center for a port. It's just that the knowledge and experience of his previous life made him instinctively feel that there was something wrong with the operation model of Sihai Tea House. That's why I racked my brains and thought about it and helped Sihai Tea House. In the eyes of later generations, these ideas are actually very old-fashioned things, such as listing the transaction information publicly, and then letting all the people who need it choose by themselves, the most common is the stock of later generations, Geng Jingzhong is also the hand of learning, but this simple method is placed in the current era. But it seems extremely novel and advanced.

These ideas and ideas put forward by Geng Jingzhong, coupled with the improvement of the experienced Wu family master, led to the emergence of a plan for the comprehensive reform of the tea house. The speed of the Wu family master was also fast enough, and after a day of adjustment, it was immediately implemented. According to the estimation of the experienced businessman of the Wu family, the implementation of this measure will definitely increase the trading volume in the Sihai Tea Estate, thereby increasing the profits of the Sihai Tea Estate, and the cargo throughput in the port area that the prince wants will also increase significantly.

Geng Jingzhong's action on Luzon Island made the Nanyang goods shortage during this period of time, and there were merchants everywhere looking for a source of goods. In response to this problem, the Kunpeng caravan has begun to run the route of the South Seas with all its might, and has received a large number of orders. It's not a few days. The purchase list is several times more lively than the shipping list, and the overall daily trading volume is more than ten times that of the past. However, this is just taking this opportunity to explode all at once, and after this outbreak period, the daily trading volume will drop to the normal level, but even if it falls, the daily trading volume will be about ten times that of before. The transaction volume has increased several times, that is to say, a batch of goods from the arrival of the port to the completion of the transaction, the time required is shortened to a fraction of the original, and the merchants who need foreign goods can also quickly acquire the goods they need, so that the two-way choice of the businessman is very fast, the utilization rate of the port has naturally increased several times, and the number of times the merchant can run in the same time, so the profit is naturally greater than before.

Fuzhou, Geng Wangzhuang, Geng Jingzhong's palace. After finishing his work on Mawei's side, he helped the Wu family again, and then Geng Jingzhong returned to his home, often running outside, always feeling indebted to his family, this period of time is quiet, and he can accompany his family well. With the trade volume of Houyu Port increasing greatly, the merchants are busy in the port, but Geng Jingzhong has been at home with his son, who is less than four years old. For more than ten days in a row, Geng Jingzhong accompanied his son during the day and his wife at night, and he couldn't think about it, no, he couldn't think about the barracks!

After enough rest, Geng Jingzhong certainly remembered the right thing. For overseas trade, Geng Jingzhong has long been planning to set up an agency dedicated to managing maritime trade, but for various reasons it has not been revealed, and now the Mawei Navy is strong enough, and the Zheng family on the opposite side does not dare to support it, after Nanyang Manila is taken, it can be said that the East Asian coast is basically Geng Jingzhong's territory.

"Mr. Yao, this king wants to set up an agency dedicated to managing maritime trade, that is, the former trade envoy, what do you think?" Yao Qisheng received Geng Jingzhong's order, and came to the palace non-stop, not long after sitting down, Geng Jingzhong said straight to the point.

"The subordinates agree with the prince's move, now Fujian's port trade seems to be prosperous, but there are many drawbacks, there is no strong agency unified management, and it will become more and more chaotic in the future. Since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the ban along the sea has been implemented for more than 200 years, and it has always been the established national policy of the imperial court. When Yao Qisheng heard that this was the case, he couldn't help but smile on his face, the prince was really thoughtful.

The policy of prohibiting private individuals from going abroad to manage overseas trade is also known as the "foreign ban". It began in the early Ming Dynasty, and although it was relaxed in the Ming Dynasty, it was never revoked until the end of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, out of political needs, in foreign trade, except for the "Huairou Yuanren", which allowed some countries or tribes to trade through guò "tribute", other private overseas trade was prohibited. During the Hongwu period, he repeatedly applied the "ban on all passes", stipulating that "coastal residents are not allowed to trade with foreign people", and promulgated strict laws such as "those who leave the country and go to the sea with weapons and weapons, hanging". In addition, coastal defense fortifications were built in the coastal areas from Shandong to Guangdong, and a strict "inspection" system was established.

After becoming an ancestor, the Ming court still repeatedly affirmed the "strict prohibition of fornication". But it was far less severe than during the Hongwu period, and the scope of the ban gradually narrowed. The ban on tributary trade during the Yongle period, and the trade incident of the official fornication of the Fanguo during the Chenghua period. All adopt a more tolerant attitude. During the Zhengde and Jiajing periods. Increasingly, Western colonialists looked for colonies in the East. Thirty-two years of Jiajing. The Portuguese colonists forcibly borrowed Macao on the pretext of drying water-stained goods. They entrenched themselves in Macao, refused to accept the "lottery of points", sold slaves, endangered the sovereignty of the Ming Dynasty, and turned to the coastal areas of Fujian and Zhejiang to manage illegal trade activities. At that time, the management of maritime trade was very profitable, so the bureaucratic landlords often colluded with the merchants, relying on their power and wealth. colluding with the government, evading bans, and luring bankrupt poor people to go to sea. Or it is forbidden to "privately build a two-masted boat to go to the sea", and some are "privately filling the tooth line, accumulating goods, thinking that the nest is the owner".

Some of the shipowners changed their names to "traders, and they robbed from time to time", and they were both smugglers and pirates. Some wealthy families, profiteers, and owners are hungry for profit. Not only did it engage in illegal trade with the Portuguese colonists, but it also colluded with the Japanese to plunder and kill the Chinese along the southeast coast. It constituted the "plague of the Japanese invaders" of the Ariake generation. In the first year of Jiajing, Xia Yan believed that the Japanese invaders started from the city (that is, the tribute ship), built yì to strike the city ship, and strictly imposed a ban on the sea. The imperial court accepted the construction of yì, blockaded the coastal ports, destroyed the ships going to sea, forbade fishing and shrimp in the sea, and cut off sea traffic. Whoever violates the prohibition shall be punished with capital punishment according to law.

The Ming court's strict maritime ban policy could not stop the development of private overseas trade, on the contrary, more and more people participated in foreign trade, and the imperial court could not stop it. At the same time, the maritime ban policy during the Zhengde and Jiajing periods was different from that in the Hongwu period, when there were still restrictions on tribute trade, while all foreign trade was prohibited during the Zhengde and Jiajing periods. This was actually a form of closed-mindedness, which hindered the exchange of goods between China and its neighbors and the development of domestic industry and commerce, so local officials in Guangdong and Fujian advocated an open sea ban. At the beginning of the Longqing Dynasty, the old policy of banning the sea was no longer maintainable, and the troubles on the southeast coast had largely subsided, so the imperial court, under the influence of public opinion, approved the construction of Tu Zemin, the governor of Fujian, to open the sea ban and "allow the sale of the east and west oceans" in order to collect commercial taxes and increase fiscal revenue.

The opening of the ban on foreign trade meant that the Ming government allowed the legal existence of private overseas trade, which greatly increased the number of small and medium-sized businessmen participating in overseas trade. They pooled their money, built ships at sea, loaded them with local products, and sent them to the east and west to trade with overseas nations. As a result, the imperial court's commercial taxes continued to grow. The Zhangzhou government collected a tax of 6,000 taels of silver in the third year of Wanli; In the 22nd year of Wanli, about 30,000 taels of silver were collected, an increase of five times. The development of overseas trade promoted the prosperity of commodity agriculture and handicrafts in the southeastern coastal areas, and provided favorable conditions for the growth of the budding capitalism.

There are also restrictions on the opening of the sea ban, and 50 "citation tickets" were issued in the early days of the relaxation, which increased to 80 in the Wanli period, and 40 in the East and 40 in the West. Those who go to sea to trade must be approved by the Haiphong Tongzhi, receive a "quotation ticket", trade in the designated area, and return to Hong Kong within the specified time limit. There are also certain restrictions on countries and regions that can be used for trade, and Japan is one of the prohibited countries and regions. In addition, there are restrictions on the variety of goods to be exported. Such regulations still severely constrain the normal development of overseas trade.

"Lord Wang, if we set up a trade envoy like the former Ming, there will definitely be great progress in maritime trade, and it will be more beneficial and convenient for our future management. Moreover, now the East and West Oceans are basically in the hands of our Mawei Navy, and after the establishment of the Trade Mission, if anyone dares to disobey, the Navy can immediately strike a severe blow, and it is even more necessary to take strict precautions against smuggling at sea, but his subordinates think that at least in the last ten years, everyone dares to commit it. In this way, the more standardized our maritime trade in Fujian will be, and more people will participate in maritime trade. When the time comes, this trade envoy will be our source of wealth! Yao Qisheng smiled and talked eloquently.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were two crazy centuries, and the two hundred years of the emerging maritime powers of the West launched a global colonial plunder, although the impact on the ancient China that was still sleeping was not very great, but a large part of the Ming Dynasty still promoted the Ming Dynasty's "foreign ban" policy, such as the slave trade, although his number was far less than that of African blacks, but on the one hand, it also prompted the attention of the Ming court, and decisively implemented the "foreign ban" policy to protect the coastal people, and there were the Japanese pirates, who colluded with pirates from various countries, There are even Chinese themselves, frantically invading coastal areas, burning, killing and looting, and doing all kinds of evil, which is also an important reason for the "foreign ban", so that later, after the troubles on the southeast coast have largely subsided, after the imperial court opened some foreign bans in Fujian and Guangzhou, Japan is still a country that the Ming court explicitly prohibits and does not allow trade.

"Haha, our heroes see the same thing! The court is stupid. Although the ban on the sea protects the coastal people from foreign enemies. But it also made the pirates have no scruples. Because the imperial court could not go to sea to fight them, as well as the smuggling in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, in the face of such high profits in the maritime trade, it was no wonder that the merchants did not take risks. If it weren't for the fact that my Mawei Navy tossed for more than a year and wiped out many pirates, I don't know how much the coastal people would have suffered! Now, if we set up a special trade envoy, then the trade of the whole Fujian will be on the right track, and the development speed of Fujian will more than double on the current basis! Geng Jingzhong said wistfully.

Saying that, Geng Jingzhong was still sighing in his heart. At this time, how can the Chinese realize the importance of the ocean, they value the land more, the land is the greatest wealth, do not know that the wealth contained in the sea is much higher than the land, even if Geng Jingzhong is all over the street at the moment, there will still be the vast majority of Chinese will not believe his words, only a few people will be inspired, but in addition to blindly worshipping him, I am afraid that there are only a few people who really believe.

It's no wonder, hundreds of years later. There are also Chinese who believe that sea power is subordinate to land power, and give up some maritime interests to win the favor of neighbors. This kind of traitorous behavior is simply the continuation of the most shameful and lowly behavior, and there is no doubt that the people of this time and space will not understand this, a country that has always been immersed in etiquette. It is precisely because China, which is sleeping in a dream of complacency among the great powers, has almost completely given up its maritime power that it has won the status of a declining mountain today.

"For the trade envoy who is about to be established, by the way, this king calls it the General Administration of Customs! What do you think? Geng Jingzhong asked out loud, he copied this name, but he listened to it very well. In later generations, China Customs was the national entry and exit supervision and management authority, and it was a vertical leadership system. The basic tasks are entry and exit supervision, taxation, anti-smuggling, statistics, and external tax collection and management, customs clearance supervision, bonded supervision, import and export statistics, customs inspection, customs protection of intellectual property rights, anti-smuggling, port management and other major responsibilities.

"Subordinates agree!" Yao Qisheng will not argue with Geng Jingzhong about the name, there is no need at all, he will only bring it up bluntly when he finds something really wrong.

Among them, the king also thought of a few. The most important thing is that the General Administration of Customs is responsible for the issuance of "citations", regardless of official or private, as long as they have maritime trade qualifications, they can issue "citations", and there are no restrictions; In addition, in addition to the customs yamen inspection and tax payment, foreign goods must have a "quotation" from the trade envoy yamen before they can be sold in Fujian; Then, in the future, the General Administration of Customs will also be responsible for formulating trade tariffs for various commodities, and formulate different tariffs according to different commodities, the principle is to protect the similar commodities produced by Fujian merchants from infringement; Well, all foreign trade needs to be handled at the General Administration of Customs; The last one, transfer a fleet from the navy, specifically responsible for combating smuggling at sea and cooperating with the navy to suppress pirates, the above is the king of the temporary idea, sir also want to help the king perfect! ”

"Oh, good!" Yao Qisheng was a little stupid when he heard it, how did His Royal Highness the prince's head grow, he was ready to mention yì to him before, but it was not as comprehensive as what he came up with at will, it was really bewitching!

"Come, let's discuss and improve it carefully!" Geng Jingzhong said, beckoned to Yao Qisheng, and asked him to come to the table. Geng Jingzhong took out a stack of papers from his special desk, took out two pencils, threw one to Yao Qisheng, and then began to enumerate.

His head was running at high speed, recalling the little basic knowledge of customs in later generations, he didn't remember much about this, but he still had some understanding of watching the news often. The General Administration of Customs is mainly to supervise the inbound and outbound means of transport, goods and articles; collection of customs duties and other taxes and fees; investigation of smuggling; Compile customs statistics and handle other customs operations. According to these tasks, it mainly performs seven duties, including customs clearance supervision, tax collection and management, processing trade and bonded supervision, customs statistics, customs inspection, anti-smuggling, and port management.

With so many tasks, the number of customs agencies will increase accordingly. In later generations, China's customs implemented a customs rank system, and the customs rank was set up at five grades and thirteen levels. They are the first class: the director of customs, the deputy director of customs; Second Class: Customs Supervision (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3); Third class: Customs Inspector (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3); Fourth-class: customs supervision (first-level, second-level, third-level); Fifth class: customs clerk (level 1, level 2). China Customs continues to optimize the customs clearance mode, supervision system, management mechanism and team quality. In terms of customs clearance mode, the implementation of classified customs clearance based on the law-abiding management of enterprises to further improve the efficiency of customs clearance; In terms of the supervision system, we will focus on improving the overall efficiency of customs supervision and management, straighten out the three-level powers, give full play to the role of front-line supervision, follow-up management, anti-smuggling and other forces, strengthen communication and cooperation with the outside world, and establish a comprehensive and holistic customs supervision system that is compatible with the "customs clearance"; In terms of management mechanism, it has established a standardized, orderly, smooth operation and effective supervision mechanism, and improved the management system of customs decision-making and command, organization and coordination, supervision and implementation, assessment and evaluation, supervision and inspection, and accountability; In terms of team elements, improve the ability of leading cadres at all levels to control complex situations, control and manage risks and solve practical problems, and strengthen the sense of responsibility, work skills and ability to resist risks of the majority of customs officers.

For these, Yao Qisheng, who has some experience in customs management, and Geng Jingzhong, who has experience in later generations, discussed that except for a general idea, the basic functions of the General Administration of Customs in later generations are very different. (To be continued......)