"All the township officials enter the palace!" A loud voice from the West Hall interrupted Chen Tian's thoughts, and like the rest of the township officials, Chen Tian hurriedly got up and sorted out his clothes and hats, and walked to the main hall of the West Palace, following the queue of more than 100 township officials.

Chen Tian lowered his head in the main hall of the West Palace, his heart was pounding, he had never seen the West King, and he heard from the mouth of the defeated general of the Qing Demon Remnant that the West King had a copper forehead and iron face, a green face and fangs, and could tear the enemy soldiers on the battlefield. Listening to the veterans of the Taiping Army, the king of the West is majestic, majestic and awe-inspiring, and loves soldiers like a son. I also heard some people in Suzhou say that the king of the west is amiable and kind like his eldest nephew.

Chen Tian lowered his head and followed the township officials to make a big salute, Chen Tian was still wondering why the West Hall Praise didn't let them kneel and salute, only to hear a loud shout of broken gongs: "Hehe, everyone has worked hard from afar, sit down and talk." ”

This voice was so loud that Chen Tian was taken aback, and almost forgot to follow everyone to return the salute and thank you. Fortunately, Chen Tian was also the patriarch of hundreds of people, and he had seen some of the world, so he hurriedly followed everyone and bent down to take a seat, and then sat down on the pestle beside him.

After sitting down, Chen Tian raised his head slightly, only to see that above the treasure steps of the main hall, under the plaque of "Han Feng is the same", a fierce man in his thirties was sitting there with a smile on his face, wearing a dragon and yellow robe, wearing a dragon and phoenix hood, and the word "King of the West" was written on it. Although this West King was smiling, it gave people a sense of depression that was not angry and self-threatening, Chen Tian just glanced at it, and then hurriedly turned his gaze away.

"Your intention is already known, who is the township official Luo Cheng of Xiwan Town, Yanghu County, Changzhou County?" The king of the west said loudly in his broken voice, and the loud and majestic sound echoed in the hall.

On the third place on Chen Tian's left, an old man in his sixties stood up tremblingly and responded, Chen Tian was a little jealous of this Luo Cheng, so old that he could still be the first to be named by the King of the West.

I only heard a slender man in his thirties beside him whisper: "This Luo Cheng is the patriarch of the Luo family in Xiwan, and he has worked in Cao to make a living. This time I came mainly for the sake of Cao Yun, the King of the West let go of the river shipping everywhere, and their Luo family's Cao Yun was almost out of food. ”

Chen Tian didn't know the slender man either, and he didn't expect him to talk to him, but seeing this person with a sharp mouth and a goatee under his chin, he looked like a talkative master. Chen Tian didn't dare to say much in this hall, but nodded slightly.

Who knew that the thin man slightly clenched his fists and whispered: "Brother Li Dingzhao of Mochiyue Township, Tenghua Town, Wuxi, is the patriarch of the Mochizuki Li clan. ”

Chen Tian hated Li Dingzhao who talked a lot, but he had already introduced himself. I had to return the salute slightly and lowered my voice: "In Chen Tian, Dahe Township, Zuowang Town, Hangzhou, the patriarch of the Chen clan. ”

That Li Dingzhao sighed, said for a long time, and before the words fell, a West Hall Leader shouted at the bottom of the steps: "Above the main hall." Don't talk to each other! ”

Chen Tian was startled, only to see that everyone was looking at his side. I couldn't help but blush. hurriedly sat upright, secretly hating Li Dingzhao in his heart, causing himself to lose his ugly appearance in public.

Unexpectedly, on the treasure steps, the king of Naxi stood up and said: "The township officials are used to dealing with the people in the countryside, and I think that the village affairs are all in the ancestral hall, and the people in the countryside are standing or sitting, and there are no rules to say anything." Today, in the main hall of this king, it is time for everyone to be restrained. Don't hide it from the big guy, this king is also very annoyed by the rules of this Laoshizi, and this king's surname is Xiao. In the past, he was also born with mud legs, and when the head of the Xiao family held a meeting, this king was also a master who made trouble below! ”

When all the township officials heard this, they laughed together, and the solemn and coercive atmosphere in the hall couldn't help but weaken a little, and Chen Tian also laughed, only feeling that this king of the West was really as the people said, he had no arrogance and was amiable.

He paced a few steps with the king of Naxi and said: "But this king is now the king of the west, and if you want to govern all the people, you must set an example for all the people, and these rules still have to be observed." And everyone, they are also the township officials of my Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the rules that should be observed must be observed, and everyone has to govern the population of hundreds of households, so they can't sit here, they don't have a look. Let the Qing Demon know, and he will laugh at us wearing a dragon robe and not like the prince. What's more, everyone represents the face of a big surname, so don't be passed on as a joke. ”

Hearing this, all the township officials put away their smiles and sat up one by one, not wanting to be looked down upon and losing the face of their own surname. Chen Tian sat up straight, and couldn't help but glance at Li Dingzhao beside him, this kid actually sat like a human, which couldn't help but make Chen Tian secretly amused.

I only heard the satisfied hum of the king of Naxi, and looked at Na Luo and said: "Old man Luo, this king knows that your Luo family eats by water, and the ancestors have been doing Cao Yun trading since the Kang Yong period, after my Taiping Army came, the road to the north was cut off, and the Cao Yun was changed to inland shipping in the new policy, and your old Luo family's jobs were robbed, right." ”

Na Luo bowed down tremblingly, and said weakly in an old voice: "Little old man doesn't dare." ”

King Naxi waved his hand and smiled: "It's not your fault, it's that this king and the ministers of the heavenly kingdom have not thought it through, and there are many people sitting here who are doing good luck." As the saying goes, relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, relying on the water to eat the water, without Cao Yun, the way out for tens of thousands of Cao Ding in the south of the Yangtze River who rely on this for a living is indeed a problem. Today, the king will tell the big guys where this way out is! ”

Speaking of this, King Xi clapped his hands, and a Taiping officer turned into the hall, and King Xi pointed to the man: "This is Tang Zhengcai, the squire of the Ship Department of the Ministry of Engineering of our West Palace, he was also born in dry shipping in his early years, and he will tell the township officials who are related to Cao Yun, where is the way out for everyone in the future." ”

Chen Tian was happy in his heart, although the king of the west never mentioned the resolution to change the new policy, but listening to his tone, there would be other arrangements, since the livelihood problem of tens of thousands of Caoding in Jiangnan Caoyun can be solved by the king of the west, and the trivial matter of dividing the clan field should also be solved.

I saw that Tang Zhengcai saluted to the township officials, and the township officials hurriedly returned the salute, and then only listened to Tang Zhengcai: "Our ship division will open the sea ban, form an ocean-going trade fleet, go north to Dongying, south to Siam, and open my Taiping Tianhai foreign ocean trade!" Everyone who used to be Cao Ding can be organized into fleet sailors. A big family with strength can also build a sea ship and follow the fleet to the north and south. Family sea vessels can carry their own goods for sale, and can also undertake merchant freight and passenger transportation. We can also undertake inland waterway shipping, but we must set up as an inland waterway shipping company, go to the shipping department for shipping registration, and our shipping department collects a certain amount of tax every year according to the number of registered ships! ”

As soon as these words came out, the village officials in the palace were like fried oil pots, no longer disregarding any rules, and began to discuss with each other.

Because the Qing court in order to maintain its rule, the Han people were extremely strict in their precautions, which was reflected more obviously in the sea ban, Kangxi 59 years of the stipulation that when the merchant ships were first built, the customs supervision and the local palace were first reported. At the end of the day, the magistrate personally inspected that the beam head was not excessive, and the rudder water was not too much, and the boat was not allowed to be rented and the bandits were willing to tie up, and the hull was branded and published, and then the license was issued. The photo will be analyzed and filled in with the age and place of origin of the person on the ship. When the ship's owner is opened, the customs supervision will verify the original hull and ruler, and take the rudder and water to interconnect. Officials and businessmen must carry capital goods, and the rudder water must inquire about the origin of the family, and only then will they be allowed to be on the ship. After the superintendent verifies, the ship's hull, the name and number of merchants, the reason for carrying the goods to a certain place and the date of departure are filled in the ship's license.

In the ninth year of Yongzheng, in order to make "no one fake the bandits", it was also stipulated: "After that, the merchants and fishermen of the ships will be inspected according to the names of the helmsmen and sailors according to the tickets of each year, and they will be inspected according to the name when they are imported and exported, and if there is any discrepancy, they will be investigated." The reason why the Qing court was so strict was that it was afraid that the Han people would gather overseas to oppose the Qing. Therefore, in the fifty-ninth year of Kangxi, when Kangxi learned that "there are more than 1,000 shipbuilders and seagoing traders every year." Only five or six out of ten returned, and the rest were sold overseas and returned with money", he ordered that "no trade should be allowed in Luzon, Karapa, and other places in the South Seas." In fact, in the overseas trade activities with capitalist overtones at that time, it was common for maritime merchants to stay and do business in Nanyang, and there was no need to be nervous.

For example, in the sixth year of Qianlong, the Dutch massacred overseas Chinese businessmen and overseas Chinese in Madavia (now Jakarta) on the island of Java.

For example, in the early 17th century, the Dutch killed some British merchants in Ambona in the South Seas, and the British government immediately declared war on the Netherlands, appealed to the merchants, and forced the Netherlands to pay 85,000 pounds in reparations and cede an island. However, in the face of an incident of the same nature, the Qing government deliberately showed the murderers "leniency" and did not even express a minimum of "punishment". Under this policy of restricting Chinese merchants to the sea, and preferably not to do so, the doom of China's seafaring trade was inevitable.

Subsequent Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong dynasties, the sea ban step by step reached the peak, to the Jiaqing years, the Qing court will be popular overseas tea as one of the prohibited export goods, the order of Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian three provinces governors, "Yan belonging, widely show the edict, all the merchants who sell tea to Guangdong, are still the same as the old practice, order by the inland river to cross the ridge, forever forbidden to go to the sea traffic, pay for the illegal illegal sea mouth, once caught, the merchant will be punished, and the tea into the official." If it is not forbidden by strength, it is still smuggled out of the sea, and it is not discovered that it is smuggled from Haikou, and in addition to strictly participating in the guard, the governor will be punished. ”

In addition, such as grain, ironware, sulfur, gold and silver, etc., are also prohibited from export. In particular, the Qing court controlled food very strictly, and even the crew was not allowed to bring more food, and each ship could only take one liter of rice per person a day according to the number of people and the round-trip voyage period.

But the world understands the huge profits of the sea trade, when they heard that the Taiping government will open the sea ban and give priority to the original Cao Ding households to join the sea trade, Luo Cheng and other Cao Ding households are all happy and cheer loudly. (To be continued......)