Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 609
Governor Van der Lang held a grand welcome banquet for Wei An and others. At the banquet, it was proposed to allocate a large piece of land by the canal outside the city for Wei An to build an embassy.

"Bacheng is every inch of gold, and the canal is even more precious. It's not easy for us to occupy such a precious land." Wei An held a wine glass in his hand, and he couldn't drink the rum in the glass, so he held it in his hand Pretentiously, "I have an unfeeling request. I want to ask Governor Fan to designate a wasteland outside the city for us. As long as it is by the bay, it doesn't matter if it is far away from Bacheng."

"We can hire craftsmen to build an embassy ourselves."

Fan der Lang's face was flushed, the land he gave to Daming was not big, but it was indeed a prosperous location in the city, but he didn't expect Ming people to be ungrateful.

After thinking about it for a while, for the sake of the six shipments, especially the raw silk, he finally nodded in agreement.

After the banquet, Wei An directly asked Yang Kun to help him find a piece of land. Yang Kun was also very flattered by the new ambassador to Pakistan, so he quickly found a piece of land.

That piece of land is adjacent to Batavia City and across the river. It can not only repair docks to moor merchant ships, but also have a large area of ​​open space for development.

Don't talk about building an embassy, ​​but building a business hall in the future, or even building a castle or a big town is no problem.

Of course, this land is also adjacent to Yang Kun's own land. If the river side is developed, he will naturally benefit a lot.

At the banquet just now, Yang Kun was specially called to sit next to him by Wei An. During the banquet, he talked with him about his mission during this trip, and even the location of the embassy in the future.In short, Wei An will serve as the official representative of the Ming Dynasty and the emperor's special envoy stationed in Bacheng. He is mainly responsible for communicating with the Dutch and also responsible for matters related to overseas Chinese, but he will not intervene in specific matters.

Kapitan is still the leader of the Chinese, and their privileges such as tax collection are still the same.

The real influence of the embassy on them may be the consular rights requested by Emperor Shaotian.This power is in Batavia. If there are disputes among the Chinese, the embassy can handle disputes among merchants in the country according to the laws of Ming Dynasty.

When there are disputes involving Chinese and foreigners such as the Netherlands, although the laws and regulations of Bacheng must be abided by, cases involving Chinese must be notified to the embassy. The embassy not only has the right to know about the case, but also has the right to supervise the trial.

In other aspects, the embassy is mainly responsible for liaison with the two countries, trade cooperation and other affairs.

For example, Dutch people in Bacheng who want to go to Daming must first go to the embassy to obtain a visa, and merchant ships going to Daming also need to register.

Chinese in Pakistan have to register to return to China. If they want to bring their wives, concubines, children or even servants and friends back to China, they need to obtain registration approval and issue visas.

Generally speaking, Wei An will be permanently stationed in Batavia in the future, and there will be no conflict of interest with Kapitan Yang Kun, and he will even protect the interests of the Chinese, which is a good thing for them.

Because of this guarantee, Yang Kun now treats Wei An very politely and respectfully.

After all, Wei An also said that in the future, more merchant ships from Daming will come directly to Bacheng for trade. When the ships and goods arrive, they will directly contact local Chinese merchants like Yang Kun, and use them as an intermediary to buy and sell.

Daming also expressed respect and support for the Ba Guogongtang, a Chinese business organization.

Even the imperial court authorized him to confer official titles on big Chinese businessmen like Yang Kun.

In fact, it is to give them a special opportunity to allow them to donate money to buy officials.

It is equivalent to paying money to buy an official, but it is not really buying an official job, it is just a title, buying a loose official.This title can enjoy corresponding level treatment, such as wearing official robes of corresponding level, and even the specifications of clothes, carriages, houses, and even tombs are different.

In addition, after donating officials and money, you are a bureaucratic class. Even if you don’t have a position, you have a rank, so you also have the power to write letters to the government and the court. They will be directly arrested and tortured, unless they are convicted.

Even now, the Shaotian Dynasty promotes land quotas according to grades, so if businessmen donate officials, they still have a lot of appeal.

Those who are capable can also enter official careers with donations.

However, although the Shaotian Dynasty allowed donations to appoint officials, all the awards were false titles, that is, only an official rank was awarded but not a real position, and it was only limited to five ranks and below, and each had a clearly marked price.

In addition to donating officials, you can also donate prisons, that is, to pay to go to the Imperial College for further studies, which is equivalent to the Imperial College, a well-known university in the country, which offers several special training classes, and you can enter with money.

In fact, this thing has been around since the Han Dynasty, and even the sale of officials in the Han Dynasty was the actual official title for sale, not only in China, but also in foreigners.

For example, the French even sell judges with judicial power and military officers with command power, as long as they can be sold for money. It is said that at this time, the income from selling officials accounted for 50.00% of French fiscal revenue, which can be called the pillar of the French economy. .

It is even worse than my Qing Dynasty in history.

In contrast, Zhu Yihai only sells some loose officials and false ranks, and gives those people some insignificant privileges, which is already very rare.

After all, even if it was a donation, Zhu Yihai would still need 500 taels of silver.

It's definitely not cheap.

But for some people who are rich but have no political status, it is worthwhile to buy themselves or their sons the qualifications of the Imperial College for 500 taels.

After all, the Imperial College is gilded, and even if one can really study hard, one can still be successful.

Donate from Jiupin, 1000 taels.

Donate five products, 5 taels.

The minimum supervisor is 500 taels, and the highest is 5 taels for the fifth grade.

Prices vary greatly, but Zhengwu can wear scarlet robes, and even his children have the right to benevolent, and he can also enshrine his wife as a gift to his ancestors, which has more privileges.

Of course, Zhu Yihai also deliberately set it higher. If there is such a person who is taken advantage of, then it is only one to catch one.

"If President Yang wants to donate, this envoy can report to the imperial court."

Yang Kun was a little surprised at the price of the donated official reported by Wei Anbao, thinking it was too expensive, but he did not refuse, because it would be very beneficial to have an official status, for example, he was in Batavia, since he was a Kapitan, who was appointed by the Dutch, is also the chairman of the Baguo Court. This dual identity made him a leader of Chinese businessmen, and his career prospered as a result.

At the age of 15, Su Minggang went to Nanyang from Fujian to make a living. This Fujian boy who had studied in some private schools was good at literature and martial arts. He managed to make his way in the West Java Sultanate and became the leader of the local Chinese.

Later, he also moved to Batavia, and together with Tongan Li Dan in Hirado, Japan, Zhang Jingquan and Ou Huayu in Zhangzhou in Nagasaki, Japan, Xu Xinsu in Zhangzhou in Xiamen, Li Jin in Siam Dani, and Huang Mingzuo in Zhangzhou in Manila These maritime merchants have formed an Asian trade network composed of Fujian fellowship networks.

In the eastern trade circle, Li Dan, Ou Huayu, Xu Xinsu and others are not only partners, but also sworn brothers.

In the Nanyang route, Su Minggang, Mao Ge, Lin Liu Ge, Yang Kun, etc. are not only from the same hometown in Fujian, but also related by marriage.

However, during the reign of Chongzhen, the sea trade network that Su Minggang participated in also broke down. First, Li Dan encountered Spanish Tuhua in Manila in his early years. His ship and cargo were seized, and he himself was arrested and worked as a hard worker on a Spanish ship for several years. , and finally fled to Japan.

Later, Zhang Jingquan, Ou Huayu, and Li Dan passed away one after another, and this was the rise of Zheng Zhilong.

The alliance between the Dutch East India Company and Zheng Zhilong finally had a great impact on the traditional business model of these Chinese businessmen in Bacheng, even because Su Minggang neither helped the Dutch nor the Sudan during the Sudanese attack on Batavia In addition, after the war, the governor who had a close relationship with him left office, so Su Minggang finally had to resign and return to Fujian, but found that the situation had changed drastically, and finally stayed in Taiwan for three years, but returned to Bacheng.

Now the Dutch are starting to trade directly with Daming. For these Chinese businessmen in Bacheng, it is both an opportunity and a crisis.

"Donate a seventh grade, how much money?"

"Five thousand dragon silver."

"Then I have to report to the imperial court, Mr. Wei." Yang Kun planned to donate a seventh grade, spending 5000 taels of silver, and another 1000 taels of silver to Mr. Wei.

The 1000 taels was his personal gift, and Ba Guogong gave 4000 taels to Mr. Wei.

Wei An smiled.

"This envoy is an official of the imperial court, and the emperor is an imperial envoy. Even if he is overseas, he cannot accept gifts. But now it will cost money to build an embassy. If you overseas volunteers are willing to fund some, this envoy will accept it on behalf of the embassy and will truthfully report it to the imperial court. , will also record the monument and announce it.”

Private gifts cannot be accepted, but public donations can be accepted.

Yang Kun thought to himself that this is still a gift. What kind of private gifts and public funds are in your hands. How to use them is not your business. Of course, he thinks this kind of thing is normal, and there is no need to point it out. He smiled and agreed.

The six ships that Wei An brought, the goods on each ship were worth at least hundreds of thousands of silver dollars, and the total value was several million.

Of course the Dutch are willing to ask for these goods.

However, Wei An didn't give the Dutchman directly, but asked Yang Kun to introduce him and give him a corresponding commission.

"My lord Xie trusts me so much, I will definitely find a suitable buyer with all my heart, build a bridge to facilitate the transaction, and never let my lord suffer."

Wei An nodded and gave him another task, "The construction of the embassy will also be contracted by President Yang. I will pay you one thousand in advance for the expenses. Silver dollars."

"In addition, I would like to ask Chairman Yang to help me register all the Chinese in Bacheng as soon as possible and grant them passports. This will serve as my Ming people's overseas identity certificates. In the future, I will be able to get ambassadors with passports. shelter and help from the pavilion.”

The millions of goods on the six ships, except for the goods consigned by some Chinese businessmen who often travel to Bacheng, Nanyang, most of them are handed over to Yang Kun and the others to be responsible for the intermediary shipment. In case of two, what's more, the actual benefits don't stop there.

With such a big benefit, Yang Kun was very sensible, and even directly told Wei An that he would give a kickback.

Wei An declined.

"When this batch of goods is sold, the fleet will also prepare the goods to go back. At that time, rice and sugar will be used to ballast the cabin. In addition, cotton, cotton yarn, and spices will be purchased to return. Chairman Lao Yang will also need to find the goods for us. , Involvement in building bridges and intermediary commissions will also be given to you according to the rules, and you will not be treated badly."

Yang Kun was overjoyed, and felt that the 5000 taels of silver donated to a seventh-rank Sanguan was really worth it.

"Thank you for your kindness, my lord. The few things that my lord told me will be taken care of by me, and I will definitely do it well. The embassy, ​​now recruit craftsmen for my lord, buy materials and prepare to start work.

For the goods on board, sights can also be organized immediately, and the owner of the needed goods can be found immediately. "

Wei An is very satisfied with Yang Kun's efficiency in handling affairs. As expected of a person who can get mixed up in a foreign land overseas, this ability to handle affairs is really strong.

(End of this chapter)