Lingnan Sanzhong obviously stayed out of the matter, showing the attitude that everything is up to himself, which made Zhao Youheng feel a little more relieved. Zhao Youheng has been carefully scrutinizing the diplomatic documents left by Sanyu for the past two days, hoping to truly and thoroughly understand all the obvious and potential intentions of the other party.

Different from the business letters of the Oriental Union Group, the words of Huamei's diplomatic documents are straightforward and rigid, and the content is obscure, and the novel words are endless, which is very difficult to understand.

A day later, with the arrival of his brother-in-law Liu Yaoyu, two unexpected guests also arrived in Guangzhou, they were Wang Fuzhi and Gu Jikun, who were eager to recruit last year, so that Zhao Youheng, who was anxious, seemed to see more light to solve his doubts.

Gu Jikun and Wang Fuzhi defected to Zheng Chenggong, Zhao Youheng has long known about it, and now these two people have come to contact Zheng Chenggong as Zheng Chenggong's personal representatives to jointly resist the Qing Dynasty, which has made Zhao Youheng's good impression of Zheng Chenggong rise a lot. However, the biggest use of Wang Gu's arrival at the moment is their knowledge of studying in Huamei for three years.

Zheng Chenggong was the promoter of actively running to find assistance from China and the United States, and strictly speaking, Zhao Youheng belonged to the same position as the national salvation line. Wang Gu and the others are the descendants of the famous talents in Jiangnan, and after swearing secrets, Zhao Youheng did not intend to hide this matter from Wang Gu and the others.

At night, the candlelight in the large study of the Guangzhou governor's yamen was bright, except for Zhao Youheng, a sixty-year-old man, all the others were middle-aged and young.

"All the terms and conditions are clear, and the judicial citation is within the limits of the laws of the United States of China. However, when it comes to many business matters, I am afraid that it is not what I am good at, and I have to think about it a lot. ”

After carefully reading the relevant content of the diplomatic documents, Gu Jikun, who studied law in Huamei, couldn't help but nod lightly. seemed to have mastered all the contents, but he still pushed the document in front of Wang Fuzhi again, because the other party majored in financial management in Huamei and was more familiar with economics and business.

Unlike Gu Jikun, after Wang Fuzhi looked at it several times, he actually showed a smile, and seemed to see some other doorways.

"Your Excellency, if you sign this trade service agreement, it will relieve your lordship of some worries about money and food, and it will also have some benefits. But. The long-term profit or the beauty are all taken up, but the merchant cannot ask for it......"

As soon as he heard the first half of the sentence, Zhao Youheng was still a little overjoyed, but Wang Fuzhi's turn made people a little panicked.

He knew that Huamei people would never do any loss-making business, and even if they gave you some sweetness, they would double it from deeper places. No wonder his brother-in-law Liu Yaoyu said vigorously after reading the content of the document, it seems that this kind of trade agreement is no problem. It's all about the merchant's profit.

glanced sideways at Liu Yaoyu's face, and saw that the other party's face was slightly red, and it seemed that Wang Fuzhi had also been righteous.

"I'm not busy, I'll re-translate it and write it down. So that adults can understand better. The transaction contract mentioned in the agreement is a 'order transaction' commonly used in China and the United States, and the quantity needs to be purchased, and the delivery is ......"

said. Wang Fuzhi pulled a pen and paper, and wrote the terms and conditions in the Sino-American diplomatic documents into words that Zhao Youheng could understand.

……

Nowadays, the relevant Chinese and American import and export commodities in Hong Kong or Qiongzhou are all "hypermarket" models: no matter what the commodity. They are all transported to the destination warehouse first, and then they are listed to attract customers and delivered on the spot.

When the variety and quantity of commodities are small, this model is simple, but with the expansion of the scale of transactions, coupled with the large changes in the price and quantity of commodities caused by the current situation, it is inevitable that there will be contradictions and conflicts such as abandoning the transaction or changing the willingness to trade.

In a certain year, there was a bumper harvest of sugarcane in Qiongzhou, and the Nanhai Company brought 10,000 quintals of raw sugar, but the Huamei buyers thought that the quality was not good enough or the price was too expensive, and even some buyers did not come to Hong Kong at all, and the Nanhai Company only sold 5,000 quintals, and the raw sugar business was very unhappy.

In other words, the Oriental Union Union Group shipped 100 boxes of grapeseed oil from North America in short supply in China and the United States, but the people of Daming have no awareness of healthy consumption at all, and they cannot afford this expensive health edible oil, resulting in tens of thousands of nautical miles of goods piled up in the warehouse in vain.

Fearless ramp-and-go and waste in transactions occurred from time to time, which was not a good thing for both the Huamei merchants and the Daming maritime merchants. Therefore, in order to standardize bulk commodity transactions and provide a better trading service platform for buyers and sellers, a local trade service agreement with the nature of official supervision was brewed and promulgated under the suggestion and lobbying of the Oriental Union Group.

The Governor's Office of Hong Kong and the Yamen of Guangdong of the Ming Dynasty jointly established a set of local trade cooperation and service mechanisms to encourage all Ming maritime merchants in the southeastern provinces, and even all Ming maritime merchants who have been active in the East China Sea and the South Sea, to use Hong Kong or Guangzhou as a distribution center for import and export goods, so that the two places will become the largest trade centers in the Far East, and the governments of both places can obtain a lot of tax revenue from them.

The concept of the "Hong Kong-Guangdong Trade Services Agreement" (hereinafter referred to as the agreement) can be said to be an adjustment made by Huamei to further build an international business hub in the Far East, and it is also a legal weapon to continue to deepen the cohesion of maritime businessmen in the southeastern provinces of the Ming Dynasty and the emerging landlord comprador groups in Guangdong.

All groups or individuals engaged in the import and export trade of Guangdong or Hong Kong, regardless of nationality, may voluntarily apply for the services specified in the agreement. The relevant transactions must be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the agreement, that is, the "order contract system", which is the most common in China and the United States.

The model contract is provided and implemented by Huamei, and the commodity transaction is signed in the form of an order, stipulating the type, quality, quantity, amount, and delivery time and place of the import and export commodities of both parties each year. Contracts are on a year-by-year basis, and orders for one item can be signed for up to five years.

In this way, both buyers and sellers can estimate their needs in advance, set prices in advance, and protect their trading interests.

The local governments in Guangzhou or Hong Kong specialize in providing contract supervision services as defined by the agreement. Guangzhou Panyu City Bosi and Hong Kong Customs are the legal supervision agencies stipulated in the agreement, and the purchaser of the order contract has the first priority to specify which supervision agency to choose.

Once the application for supervision, both parties must pay a supervision fee equivalent to 3% of the contract amount and a 20% breach of contract bond, and the default bond will be returned after the contract is performed. The supervision agency has the final right to determine the liability for breach of contract, and the transaction behavior of the supervision agency is not subject to official protection.

For the determination of contract performance, a tax payment certificate must also be issued from the Guangzhou Panyu City Shipping Company or the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department, so that the transaction activities can be on track and legalized.

There is another benefit to having the two authorities provide contract supervision services. That is, both parties to the contract are eligible to purchase contract breach insurance at the Hong Kong office of the Far East Branch of Huamei Oriental Union Group, and can purchase up to 80% of the default insurance money, and receive the insurance money with the default certificate issued by the supervision agency.

In addition, to apply for supervision services, you can also apply for low-interest commercial loans at the Hong Kong branch of Oriental Bank of Oriental Union of Oriental Union Corporation with contract orders to facilitate capital turnover. It's just that at present, it is only open unconditionally to Chinese and American merchants, and Daming maritime merchants need to accumulate a certain amount of credit in order to obtain this kind of treatment.

However, it is foreseeable that Nanhai Company and Guangfu Company will definitely be included in the commercial credit system of Dongfang Bank and can enjoy this kind of commercial lending service in advance.

At last. As long as such standardized transactions are carried out in Hong Kong, they can also enjoy some preferential tax rates according to the types of imported and exported commodities.

……

When Zhao Youheng finished reading the last line, he suddenly fell into deep thought.

If this agreement is signed, not only will the conflicts of interest that often occur between merchants be reduced, but the legitimate transactions of merchants will also be protected.

The terms of applying for a supervision agency to ensure the performance of the contract by the official and the payment of liquidated damages by the official will make many Daming maritime merchants feel confident. What's more, there is also a default insurance that can be purchased. It's simply a big killer for businessmen without any worries.

Once you apply for contract supervision services, you are destined to be unable to evade taxes, and you must know which Southeast China merchants who trade in the East China Sea and the South China Sea all year round are almost synonymous with smugglers. The Ming commercial tax is in vain. Just a transaction of both parties to pay 3% of the contract amount supervision fee, which is nearly twice as high as the traditional 30 taxes of the Ming Dynasty!

In addition, if the supervision agency chooses the Daming Panyu City Bo Division, it must pay taxes normally in order to obtain the tax payment certificate. This is another legal tax, no matter how you look at it, it is beneficial to the Ming official.

No, no. If this Ming businessman applies for contract supervision services and can't escape taxes, how can he still feel good for himself? Looking at the secretly excited expression of his wife and brother Liu Yaoyu, Zhao Youheng was a little confused again.

Looking at Wang Fuzhi and Gu Jikun again, they both looked at the ground at this time, and it seemed that they had concealed or were inconvenient to say it on this issue.

"Ninth brother, can you tell me what other benefits this trade agreement has for the South China Sea Company?"

Zhao Youheng deliberately picked up the teacup and threw the problem to his nearest and dearest.

"Brother-in-law, such an agreement, my Nanhai Company will agree to buy and sell with others in Hong Kong in the future, with contract supervision and insurance as a shield, when there is no future, and the tax can be reduced ......"

Liu Yaoyu thought for a while, and then said half a sentence.

"Why don't you choose Panyu City? I have heard that Hong Kong's taxes are divided by category. Ten to take one is light, five to take one common, and more appalling three to take one, the weight of commercial taxes is far greater than that of the Ming Dynasty. Now that the supervision fee has been increased, even if the tax burden can be reduced and the profit can be reduced, what is the joy? Zhao Youheng frowned, and the teacup in his hand was heavily placed on the table, "I, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, have decreed that the world's commercial taxes will be taken from thirty and will never be increased. Ridiculous! ”

Seeing that his brother-in-law asked knowingly, Liu Yaoyu could only bow his head and answer: "If it is really one out of thirty, do we still have to go to Hong Kong to trade?" Eat and take cards, set up customs on the road, and donate miscellaneous classes, not to mention two or three out of ten...... If this is not the case, why would a businessman join the family of a scholar to seek tax exemption? If not, why bother with the precarious trade of smuggling at sea......"

Liu Yaoyu said this kind of thing, in fact, he usually said a lot on the side, Zhao Youheng has also suppressed some unhealthy trends in order to win over various businesses in Qiongzhou over the years, and he has presided over the new policy, but the actual situation is far from being able to be fully controlled by Zhao Youheng, a person who sits in the yamen all day long.

Not to mention other Daming maritime merchants, even the South China Sea Company, most of their business is tax evasion, and they would rather give part of the tax as red envelopes or shares to local officials than pass the tax on the surface.

What if there is a relative of Zhao Youheng? Yin and yang violate this kind of thing, the emperor has it under his nose, not to mention a governor of Guangzhou. And if the water is clear, there are no fish, didn't Zhao Youheng also "respect" this unspoken rule in the management methods of his subordinates?

Even if the contract is signed, with the official supervision agency, it is estimated that most Ming businessmen would rather trust the Hong Kong Customs than choose the Guangzhou Panyu City Bosi. God knows which party colluded with the officials of the city department to determine that one party was in breach of contract or defrauded of insurance money.

This shameless thing, Ding Chukui has done too much before. Didn't the Nanhai Company take advantage of its relationship with Zhao Youheng to often collude with local officials to do something unreasonably competitive?

Does anyone have the audacity to collude with the officials of the Customs and Excise Department to commit fraud? At least for now, Huamei's law is ruthlessly rigid, and once it is sued, it is basically impossible to conceal it.

After the signing of this trade service agreement, there may not be many Daming maritime merchants willing to choose to trade in Panyu City, Guangzhou. The Ming government is deeply governed, and local corruption cannot be prevented, so it is clear that this side is unreliable.

Hong Kong's taxation is heavy, even as a free and low-tax port, except for some goods with obvious trade barriers, most goods are taxed between 10% and 15%, much higher than the theoretical level of commercial tax in the Ming Dynasty. But compared to Batavia under the control of the Dutch East India Company, or Luzon Manila by the Spaniards, it is a heavenly existence.

It is well known that the Chinese ran the Nanyang business in the South Seas, and in the European colonial ports in Southeast Asia, they did not pay taxes as high as 20% or more, and sometimes even miscellaneous things added up to 40%, but they were still profitable, and they still ran overseas in groups regardless of life and death.

Those who can do business with peace of mind and can really obtain more secure business profits than before, at present, there are only two overseas territories of Huamei Pearl Island and Hong Kong Concession, and there is no other semicolon.

If such a trade service agreement can be reached, it will certainly attract a large number of southeastern Daming maritime merchants to carry out various businesses with Hong Kong as the center. Daming maritime businessmen are more determined to run to Hong Kong to do business, that is, to vote for the Daming government with their heels.

And if Zhao Youheng's Guangzhou governor Yamen really wants to reap the actual benefits after signing the agreement, he must really get rid of the old diseases and ills in order to reap the rewards of his work.

"Lord Zhao, what Brother Liu said is painful, and his good words are bitter. In the world, the tax law is related to prices, and prices are related to people's livelihood. ”

After a long time, Wang Fuzhi sighed softly.

"The old man already knows...... Today's paper agreement, my Ming businessman Jia is overjoyed, this is not Huamei greedy for the East China Sea and the South Sea's business tax profits, in fact, my Ming people's law is not clear, plainly pushed out the world's profits, squeezed out extortion, and even the officials and businessmen are separated, and the people's hearts are scattered when the country is in danger...... I have long heard that the annual income of the American warehouse merchant tax is more than 10 million, and now I have seen the real chapter. ”

"Brother-in-law, if this agreement can be signed, other businesses in Guangdong dare not say that my Nanhai Company must have at least half of the contracts every year, and it can be set in Panyu City!"

Liu Yaoyu saw Zhao Youheng's sad face, and made a decision as soon as he gritted his teeth, which can be regarded as supporting his family.

"Lord Zhao, the surname of the country is dedicated to saving the country, although each has its own master, but the emperor and the Ming society are one, if the old evils can be eliminated, in the future, the companies hired by the Fujian New Army can buy commercial goods, and they can also fall in Panyu City!"

Wang Fuzhi also stood up, which can be regarded as an attitude to further the relationship between the two families. As long as there is such a relationship of mutual assistance, it will be much easier to obtain grain, grass and ordnance from Guangdong in the future.

"The depth of this agreement is much more than that!"

Gu Jikun stood up suddenly, as if he had finally figured out some of the most critical points: "Treat me so kindly, if everyone gets used to it in the future, this Hong Kong concession, a country within a country, I am afraid there will be no reason to return it!" ”

As soon as the words fell, all the people in the room were dumbfounded.

Suddenly, there was a spring thunder outside the window, followed by a pouring rain. (To be continued......)