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Updated: 2O12-11-19

On February 19 of the first year of Ming Baokang, the streets not far from the former Qing Court Guangdong Customs and the current Zheng Fan Customs Yamen Guangdong Provincial Branch were crowded with people in the Wuxian Gate outside Guangzhou. Speaking of which, Wuxianmen was originally a key place for Guangdong officials to enter and exit the provincial capital, and it has always been prosperous, coupled with the reopening of the customs, the merchants who paid taxes and declared foreign business came and flocked again, so the market that had been depressed for a period of time because of the funeral of Bao Kangdi has prospered again.

At noon, the Xifushun restaurant on the street was already full of people who came to dine, but there was no one in the private hall of the inner courtyard, and the merchants (people) present were patiently waiting for something, and the tea had been drunk bowl after bowl, but today's guest of honor was delayed, which made a group of children who were waiting outside a little anxious.

The door finally opened, and when I saw the thin man walking in, a group of foreign merchants who had almost reached the critical point stood up one after another, bowed to the visitor, and said, "I've seen the sheep shopkeeper." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare." The sheep shopkeeper hurriedly returned a salute to everyone. "I've been bothering you for a long time, it's late to come down, wait a minute, punish yourself with three cups, and it can be regarded as making amends to the proprietors."

After listening to the words of the sheep shopkeeper, one of the foreign businessmen present immediately dissuaded: "Where is this, the sheep shopkeeper is the heart of the inner court of King Xia. ”

The sheep shopkeeper was humble and a few words, and then sat down on the table surrounded by everyone, and the shopkeepers who had been waiting for a long time began to serve the dishes in an endless stream, because it was not a formal banquet, so there was no pattern of the first offering and the second offering, but the dishes with full color and flavor still made the gluttonies present move their fingers.

Waiting for the wine to pass three rounds and the dishes to pass the five flavors, everyone's chopsticks invariably stopped, and they heard a middle-aged foreign businessman sitting opposite the sheep shopkeeper speak: "Sheep shopkeeper, now the Xia King has opened up the sea trade, not only the merchants of this dynasty can sail the trade of various countries, but also the Taixi Zhuyi can also import business, which was originally a good thing, but now the good and bad of foreign goods are uneven, bargaining with each other, making the market unbearable, and if this goes on for a long time, it is not only difficult to continue, but also afraid that it will affect taxes." ”

The sheep shopkeeper swept the people in front of him, and it could be seen that everyone present was very concerned about this issue, no wonder they were worried about this, you must know that the imperial businessmen, officials and businessmen who were attached to the Qing court were swept away after Zheng Fan entered Guangdong Province, and their family wealth was also used for military purposes. But this was a good thing at the time, but now in the face of merchants from all walks of life with similar strength rushing into this market, they are a little overwhelmed by their limited capital.

"This matter," the sheep shopkeeper's mind turned a thousand times, but his mouth was very calm. "I also wrote to ask the manager of the inner court in the north, and it is said that the manager has also asked the above, but King Xia is wise and martial, and the matter of Guangxing Maritime Trade is a matter of concern to King Xia, and the people below are not good at it." The faces of everyone at the table changed suddenly, and they heard that the sheep shopkeeper suddenly took a turn at this moment. "However, the Ministry of Salt and Iron and the Customs Yamen also have a script, and it is believed that there will be some changes."

"What a change." A few businessmen couldn't help but blurt out questions because they were too nervous, and only after the words came out that they knew that they were not stable enough, they couldn't help but smile, and then sat down and inquired again. "If there is any change, please let the sheep shopkeeper make it clear."

"Actually, it's nothing, it's just that the manager of the inner court wants to pass a hand." Shi Po said a shocking sentence, and before the stunned foreign businessmen came back to their senses, they listened to the sheep shopkeeper's explanation. "The Ministry of Salt and Iron means that the underwriters and underwriters will be divided into two parts, and all imported things in the future will be purchased at a unified bargain by the firm of the Inner Court Manager's Office, among which the royal palace and the imperial court, such as copper, grain, and wood, will be resold to the state treasury and the inner treasury at the original price, and the general people's livelihood, such as ivory, glassware, and spices, will be sold to other underwriters at the same price. As for the underwriters, the Ministry of Salt and Iron means to organize foreign companies, but this is not the thirteen lines of the Qing Dynasty, but only a place to negotiate the sales price. ”

"It's a good idea to set up a foreign bank, but is this a unified arrangement of Guangzhou, Fujian and Zhejiang, Zhili, and Jianghuai?"

In the face of the merchants' questions, the sheep shopkeeper replied calmly: "This is natural, all provinces and mouths must set up foreign banks, and the prices of all goods will be negotiated after the spring silk is listed." Once a year, the foreign banks of each province report the price to make the quotation within a certain range, so as to avoid the Yiren fleet from exploiting loopholes in the price difference. ”

"Then if our ship goes to the ocean and buys the things back, will we ask the manager of the inner court to deal with it?"

"The customs duties have already been paid, so naturally there is no need to go through the inner court firm," the words of the sheep shopkeeper dispelled the worries of some people. "But if there are things on the ship that the inner court and the court want, you must sell them to the inner court and the court, but this is not a low price and buying, King Xia has already made a will for this, and generally buys it at the price sold by Yiren to ensure your interests, of course, in this way, you must also sell other goods at the offtake price under the manager's office, and you are not allowed to reduce the price."

"Shengming has no more than the Xia King." Several foreign businessmen hurriedly said. "We will receive the grace of the King of Xia, and we dare not act in accordance with the laws of the King of Xia." With that, one of the merchants asked again. "I'm afraid I have to come forward with the sheep shopkeeper for this foreign talk."

"It doesn't have to be." The sheep shopkeeper waved his hand. "This number can be organized on behalf of the inner court manager, but it doesn't matter if it's a matter of words, or a commentary, and it is necessary for all peers to choose together, but the ugly words are said in front first, even if the numbers love and recommend this number, they can't agree to it, and they can't be a supervisor." The merchants were puzzled, not knowing why the sheep shopkeeper wanted to push down this good opportunity to grasp the pricing power, but saw the sheep shopkeeper pointing to the top of his head. "The Summer King is not allowed"

"My lord, it's not good." While the well-fed sheep shopkeeper was chatting with a group of foreign merchants, a low-ranking military attache who was out of breath quickly rushed into the Yamen of Hoi An Town's Guard--As a countermeasure to deal with the raid of Hoi An by Zheng Jun's sailors, the Nguyen regime not only built forts and other buildings at the mouth of Hoi An, but also set up a barracks and a town guard yamen in Hoi An.

"Palm!" The third Hoi An town guard was Nguyen Phuc Tao, a cousin of the current Nguyen lord Nguyen Phuc Thu. "What's wrong with adults, adults are very good." After the little military attache reluctantly slapped himself a few times, Ruan Futao asked. "Say, what's wrong, the fuss is so big that I can't even speak."

The little military attache reported in a pitch-shifting voice with a swollen face: "My lord, the gunboats of the Ming Dynasty have arrived again. ”

"What!" Ruan Phuc Tao suddenly rushed to the little military attaché. "Bastard, why didn't you say it earlier." After that, he kicked the other party down, and then gave an order to his own soldiers. "Prepare the horse, the official has to check it with his own eyes"

When Ruan Futao hurriedly came to the coastal defense fort and ascended to the heights, he saw several soft sailing ships in the style of Taixi moored on the sea in the distance, and the two-color flag of Zheng Fan was faintly fluttering in the white sail shadow, but the distance was too far to see the details of the other party, so Ruan Futao took out the telescope given by the Portuguese missionary and looked at it carefully, but the Zheng army fleet now moored in the open sea was composed of two large ships and four small boats, and the big ships were comparable to the largest armed merchant ships of the Portuguese. The boat was also much larger than the Chinese pirate ship that Lord Nguyen had once hired.

"I heard that the Northern Dynasty has declared itself a vassal to the Ming Dynasty, and the Zheng Lord has also called the Xia King a nephew, could it be that the Ming Dynasty is here to help the Zheng Lord?" Before Nguyen Phuc Tao could speak, the lieutenant general on the side had already started whispering with the captain of Hoi An. "Such a disaster is coming, even if the Ming army does not attack, as long as the foreign ocean is blocked, I am afraid that Hoi An will be in a catastrophe."

"What nonsense!" Ruan Phuc Tao shouted angrily, and the frightened Hoi An Gong Si swallowed the words that came to his mouth. "Does anyone know why Daming's fleet came to Hui'an?" Everyone shook their heads in unison, and Ruan Futao squinted his eyes and thought about it. "Come on, make the ship go over and ask, there is a way that a great country does not raise a nameless soldier, I want to hear when we are offended again."

Offended? The civil and military on the side had a bitter face, since Zheng Jun broke Hoi An and forced Lord Ruan to sign the "Wuchen Treaty", Hoi An did not dare to care about Zheng Fan's merchant ships at all, but only collected some taxes and commercial taxes according to the rules, and usually did not even dare to say a word of seriousness. However, this situation changed when Zheng Fan reclaimed Macau and the Portuguese in Macau were deported to Hoi An. The Portuguese did not dare to confront Zheng Fan directly, so they had to fight against the Chinese expatriates living here, and there were many conflicts between the two sides, and many Chinese businessmen suffered losses, and once complained to the Ruan lord's side, but the Portuguese were the financiers and supporters of the Ruan lord, how could the Ruan lord offend the other party, so they ignored it, and finally attracted the Zheng military ships.

After a long wait, an oared boat returned to the coast with Lord Nguyen's patrol boat, the cruiser docked first, and the captain came to Nguyen Phuc Tao and reported: "The Ming envoy is on the small boat, and they demand compensation for the loss of the merchants, and set up an ambassador in Hoi An, and in the future, cases involving the Ming merchants will need to be tried by the ambassador himself." ”

The essence of this requirement is extraterritoriality, although Ruan Phuc Tao did not know this term, he subconsciously felt that there was a problem: "This will depend on what the law of my Dali court is, it is simply too deceitful." ”

However, even if the deception was too great, Nguyen Phuc Tao could not leave the envoy at sea, otherwise a small problem would become a big problem: "Go, ask the envoy of the Ming Dynasty to go ashore, and in addition, go and tell the envoy that the Portuguese are involved at this time, and this dynasty is powerless to force them to compensate." ”

"The matter of compensation is easy to handle," said Zhang Jiwen of the Governor's Yamen for the affairs of the foreign countries to Ruan Chen, who greeted him, after he came ashore. "If you go and sue the Portuguese, if you don't pay compensation, the feudal domain will immediately ban the import and trade of the Portuguese, and if you dare to resist, even the Jesuits who are allowed to stay in Macao will be expelled." Ruan Chen was submissive, but Zhang Jiwen did not let go of the other party. "As for the right to protect the common people of our court, if you don't give it, I believe that Lord Zheng will be happy to cede it to this domain."

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