As an ancient Chinese foreign trade management agency, the Municipal Shipping Department was established from the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Ming Dynasty, witnessing the history of China's foreign trade for hundreds of years. The Ming Dynasty's city division also basically followed the setting of the previous dynasty, and the chief official was promoted from the fifth grade, and two people were promoted from the sixth grade. The candidates for promotion are generally promoted by the inspector or the salt section of the promotion department. In the Ming Dynasty, although there was still the establishment of the city, it had been changed to a fixed bonded system.

According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", the city ship division has the task of collecting taxes from the outside world, and the ships of Fanbang who came to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute to the goods carried by them must be taxed at a rate of 20%. However, in the late Ming Dynasty, due to the implementation of the fixed tax system, the collection of the municipal tax was started by the private tooth shop. However, the tooth bank, which has the right to operate foreign trade, commits fraud in the capacity of a representative of a shipping company, and the so-called municipal tax is mostly in the pockets of private individuals.

If the delivery place of the trade between the crossing group and "Fu Ruifeng" is set in Guangzhou, then the cargo ships sent to Guangzhou by the crossing group will undoubtedly be treated as "Fanbang maritime merchants", and the tax rate of 20% will be extracted, but this money has exceeded the freight costs between the two places, and merchants like Schneider and Li Nai must be unwilling to let their operating costs add this money for no reason.

Of course, this is not to say that local maritime merchants like "Fu Ruifeng" do not need to pay taxes to the city, in fact, the Ming Dynasty has a variety of maritime trade, and the tax system of levy is not uniform, which can be roughly divided into water salary, land salary and additional salary.

Water pay is an export tax based on the volume of cargo ships engaged in maritime trade, and in practical use, taxes are generally collected directly according to the width of the ship. For example, if the width of a ship is one zhang and six feet, the tax standard is five taels of silver per foot, and the trade tax of eighty taels of silver for a ship. For example, if the width of a ship is more than two feet and six feet, the tax must be collected according to the standard of ten taels of silver per foot, and a ship is at least two hundred and sixty taels of silver. Moreover, the tax system is different depending on the place where it runs, and the tax rate of merchant ships running in the East Ocean is 30% lower than that of running in the South China Sea.

In addition, there is also an import tax on land pay, which is levied on maritime merchants who bring goods back from overseas, such as "Fu Ruifeng". However, because of the wide variety of imported goods, it is difficult to unify the tax system. Some goods are taxed according to weight and quantity, while some goods are taxed according to the quality or actual value of the goods. （.）

The rate increase is a surcharge on imported goods that is borne by the shipowner. This was due to the fact that many maritime merchants went to Luzon and other places to trade and returned home with only Mexican silver dollars, so that there were no goods on board that could be taxed, which was an unprofitable result for the government that was taxed according to land salaries. In order to reduce the loss of commercial tax, a new tax was established to fill the loopholes in the tax system.

From the perspective of "Fu Ruifeng", whether it is export or import, if the Haihan people are allowed to undertake the freight process between Shengli Port and Guangzhou, because the relationship between taxation will greatly increase the operating cost of goods. Placing the delivery at Shengli Port is almost zero and is a way of dealing that both parties are happy to accept.

So Li Nai proposed that in the future, if there is no accident, the delivery location can be placed in Shengli Port. Tao Donglai and Schneider immediately agreed to this proposal, putting aside the operating costs of the goods, the capacity at sea alone helped the crossing group solve a big problem.

At present, there are a total of eight cargo ships that can be put into operation through the group on the route of Shengli Port in Heitu Port, two of which are still parked in Shengli Port and need to be put into operation after ship maintenance and personnel adjustment. In addition, the remaining pitiful capacity can only run the route between Yazhou and Shengli Port, transporting immigrants and various supplies back and forth. The voyage between Guangzhou and Shengli Port is about one-third farther than that of Heitu Port, and if you want to ensure the smooth operation of this route, you must have at least a few large ships to cross the group, which is obviously not something that can be done in a short time.

Li Nai already knew a thing or two about the capacity difficulties faced by his partners before he came to Shengli Port. If this were not the case, how could the Haihan people entrust "Fu Ruifeng" to buy ships and recruit crew members in Guangzhou? Therefore, after determining the place of delivery, Li Nai said very happily that the "Fu Ruifeng" fleet would be responsible for the task of transporting goods between the two places.

Of course, "Fu Ruifeng" is not Lei Feng, this also requires the goods transported to Shengli Port plus the cost of transportation, in addition, Li Nai also got Li Jifeng's guidance before departure, since the goods of the Haihan people cannot be transported for the time being, it is a good opportunity for "Fu Ruifeng" to dominate the supply of goods, and you can take advantage of this period to make a lot of money first. In the future, Haihan people have the ability to transport goods to Guangzhou, so the source of goods will soon be exposed to the market, which means that "Furuifeng" will face more competitors, compared to now spend more capacity to transport goods to Shengli Port for trading is more secure.

After determining the volume and trading method, this second large order can be considered negotiated. At this time, the transaction amount between the two sides has exceeded 15,000 taels, and the real trade target of Li Nai's trip is glass products, which have not even entered the stage of looking at the goods. If this trend continues, Li Nai believes that it should only be a matter of time before the total amount of this transaction exceeds 20,000 taels of silver.

After lunch, the delegation returned to Victory Port by boat from the salt pans. In the conference room at Base 1, Li Nai saw two new items that Schneider had shown him. One is a small boxy yellow brick, and the other is a small paper box with small sticks in it, which is the latest research and development of the chemical department, soap and matches. However, it is not quite accurate to call this soap, because the sample used for this display is made according to the standard of soap, with a little refined flavor added to it.

Li Nai naturally couldn't understand what these two things were, but he knew that Schneider solemnly took them out to show him, and it was definitely not for jokes. Li Nai didn't rush to ask questions, and waited for Schneider to explain to him.

Schneider first picked up the soap and introduced it to Li Nai: "This is our latest soap, which can be used in the same way as soap, and it also has the effect of removing stains. Of course, its ingredients and methods are completely different from soap. ”

Soap has been widely used in the folk since the Song Dynasty, and it has become a very popular daily commodity in the Ming Dynasty. However, the soap used in China is made by boiling and mashing the seeds of the honey locust tree and then adding some other things, not by the method of saponification of oil, and the appearance is very different from the goods shown by Schneider.

Li Nai took it and looked at it, then leaned in front of his nose and sniffed it, and asked puzzledly: "The method of making zuò is secondary, can this thing have other functions besides decontamination?"

Schneider said: "After washing your face or bathing with this soap, there will be a fragrance on your body. ”

Li Nai frowned and said: "Soap with a little flavor can also have this effect, this thing is unlikely to be cheaper than the soap used by the people, right?"

"Not only will it not be cheaper than soap, but it will be much more expensive than soap. Schneider pointed to the piece of soap in Li Nai's hand and said, "You need five dimes to hold this piece of soap in your hand." ”

"That's five hundred wen?" Li Nai was already familiar with the exchange rate of circulating coupons at this time, and immediately reacted when he heard it: "But soap is generally only a few tens of wen a piece, and the best one is only about 100 wen, who will buy these five hundred wen?"

Schneider shook his head and said: "The idea of doing business can't be so rigid, if you follow Li Gongzi's meaning, then the function of glassware is the same as that of ceramic utensils, but why is the price of glassware several times more expensive than that of ceramics?

Li Nai's eyes lit up and said, "What does Mr. Shi mean to find a way from this sales technique?"

Schneider nodded: "First of all, you have to convince your customers that this is a good thing, and that this good thing is not something that can be bought with money." Only those who have status, status, and a certain economic strength are worthy of using such a good product. And as long as you have used this soap, it is easy to be distinguished. ”

"Oh? Li Nai wanted to know how to let others know if they had washed their faces with this soap.

"Smell it again, and think about it, and see if you've ever smelled something like it. Schneider pointed.

Li Nai sniffed it carefully again, and then handed it to He Qiang to smell it too, and the two thought about it for a long time, and finally shook their heads. Schneider smiled secretly in his heart, and said in his heart This is the flavor formula that the chemical department spent more than ten days concocting, and there is no such fragrance in nature, so you naturally can't think of a similar fragrance.

"This scent is our secret recipe, there is no other place in the world that can blend this scent, for those who are lucky enough to use this soap, this scent means unique! noble!" Schneider's finger lightly tapped the table: "We sell not only products, but more importantly, this unique sense of superiority, do you understand? Just like a royal tribute, only a very few people have the opportunity to enjoy it." ”

At this time, someone brought a basin of warm water and a clean towel according to the prior arrangement. Schneider encouraged: "Whether the thing is good or not, you will know if you have tried it yourself, please!"