Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

Updated: 2012-11-19

On February [-]th, the first year of Baokang in the Ming Dynasty, the street not far from the former Qing court Guangdong Customs and the current Zheng Fan Customs Yamen Guangdong Provincial Branch in Wuxianmen outside Guangzhou was crowded with people. www Speaking of it, Wuxianmen was originally the key point for Guangdong officials to enter and leave the provincial capital. The market, which had been depressed for a period of time, has flourished again.

At noon, the Xifushun restaurant facing the street was already full of people who came to dine, but there was no one in the private dining room in the inner courtyard. The (foreign) foreign (business) merchants ( People) are waiting patiently for something, and they have already drank bowl after bowl of tea, but today's guest of honor is late, which makes the boys who are waiting outside a little anxious.

The door finally opened, and seeing 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 person who came and said: "I have seen the sheep shopkeeper."

"Don't dare, dare not." Shopkeeper Yang hurriedly saluted everyone. "I've bothered everyone for waiting for a long time. It's because I came down late. I will punish myself with three cups later, and I will make an apology to the proprietors."

After hearing the words of Shopkeeper Yang, one of the foreign merchants present immediately dissuaded him: "Where is this? The shopkeeper Yang is the confidant of King Xia's inner court. Everything is complicated, and I will be idle when I am idle. How dare I let the shopkeeper punish me?" Wine apology."

The Yang shopkeeper humbly said a few more words, and then he sat down on the chief seat surrounded by the crowd, and the shop assistants who had been waiting for a long time began to serve dishes in an endless stream. , but the delicious dishes still made the gluttons present move their index fingers.

After waiting for three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, everyone's chopsticks stopped at the same time, and a middle-aged foreign businessman sitting opposite the sheep shopkeeper said: "Yang shopkeeper, now King Xia is opening up sea trade, not only merchants from this dynasty It is a good thing to be able to sail all over the world, and the barbarians of Thailand and the West can also import and do business. However, nowadays, the good and bad of foreign goods are mixed, and they are bargaining with each other. ah."

Shopkeeper Yang scanned the crowd in front of him, and he could see that everyone present was very concerned about this issue. It is no wonder that they were worried about this. You must know that the imperial merchants and official merchants who were attached to the Qing court were in Zheng Fan when they entered Guangdong Province. Afterwards, it was swept away, and the family wealth was also used for military purposes. The group of people present were all survivors after the catastrophe. Capital.But this was a good thing at the time, but now facing various businessmen with similar strengths rushing into this market, they are somewhat overwhelmed with limited capital.

"This matter," the shopkeeper Yang thought a lot in his mind, but he spoke calmly. "I also wrote to the manager of the inner court in the north. It is said that the manager also asked the higher-ups for instructions. It's just that King Xia is wise and powerful, and the matter of Guangxing Maritime Trade is something that King Xia is concerned about. It's not easy for the people below to resist . " The faces of the people at the table suddenly changed, and they heard that the shopkeeper Yang suddenly came to a turning point. "However, the Ministry of Salt and Iron and the customs office also have memorials, and it is believed that there will be some changes."

"What's the change?" A few businessmen couldn't help asking because they were too nervous, and they realized that they were not prudent enough after the words were spoken. "If there is any change, please tell the shopkeeper Yang."

"Actually, it's nothing. It's just that the manager of the inner court wants to have a hand." Shi Potian's shocking words, before the stunned foreign merchants recovered, he heard the explanation from the shopkeeper. "The Ministry of Salt and Iron means to divide the buyer and the underwriter into two parts. From now on, all the imported things will be purchased by the firm of the inner court manager at a unified price. Among them, the palace and the imperial court can use them, such as copper, Grain, lumber, etc. are resold at the original price to the state treasury and the internal treasury, and general livelihood items, such as ivory, glassware, and spices, are sold to other offtakers at an additional [-]%. As for the underwriter, the Ministry of Salt and Iron means to organize The foreign firm, but this is not the thirteen firms of the Qing Dynasty, it is just a place where the sales price is negotiated. Anyone who does not participate in the foreign firm will be chased away. Anyone who joins the foreign firm will wait to abide by the price set by the foreign firm, and is not allowed to lower it easily Sell ​​at a lower price, so as not to impact the market.”

"It's a good idea to form a foreign company, but is this a unified arrangement of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang, Zhili, and Jianghuai?"

Facing the questions from the merchants, the sheep shopkeeper replied calmly: "It is natural. All provinces and outlets must set up foreign firms, and the prices of all goods will be negotiated after the spring silk is on the market. Once a year, the prices will be communicated among foreign firms in various provinces. The quotation is within a certain range, so as to prevent the barbarian fleet from taking advantage of the price difference."

"Then if our ship goes overseas and buys back, will the manager of the inner court have to deal with it?"

"I have already paid the customs duties, so naturally I don't need to go through the inner court business," the words of the shopkeeper Yang dispelled some people's worries. "But if there are things on the ship that the inner court and the imperial court want, you have to sell them to the inner court and the imperial court, but this is not a low price and buy. King Xia has already made a decree for this, and generally buys at the price that the barbarians sell to ensure your interests. , Of course, if this is the case, you also have to sell other goods at the purchase price under the manager's presidency, and you are not allowed to lower the price and increase the price."

"The sage has never surpassed the king of Xia." Several foreign merchants hurriedly expressed their opinions. "I am waiting for the grace of King Xia, and I dare not disobey the laws of King Xia." After speaking, one of the merchants asked again. "I'm afraid the shopkeeper Yang has to come forward to talk about foreign trade."

"That's unnecessary." The sheep shopkeeper waved his hand. "This account can organize on behalf of the Inner Court Manager's Office, but it doesn't matter whether it's about talking or judging, all colleagues in the same industry must choose together, but let's talk about the ugly words first, even if each account loves and recommends this account, I can't agree. It’s more like being a supervisor.” The merchants were puzzled, wondering why Shopkeeper Yang refused this good opportunity to grasp the pricing power, but Shopkeeper Yang pointed at his head. "King Xia doesn't allow it"

"My lord, it's not good." While the shopkeeper, who was full of wine and food, was chatting with a group of foreign businessmen, a panting low-level military officer rushed into the yamen of Hoi An Township - as a response to Zheng Jun's navy. As a response to the looting of Hoi An, the Nguyen regime not only built forts and other buildings at the mouth of Hoi An, but also set up military camps and guarding envoys in Hoi An.

"Slap your mouth!" Ruan Phuc Tao, the cousin of the current Ruan Lord Nguyen Phuc Hoi, served as the third governor of Hoi An. "What's wrong, my lord? My lord is very good." Ruan Futao asked after the little military officer slapped himself a few times reluctantly. "Say, what happened, made a fuss, and can't even speak."

With a swollen face, the little military officer reported in a distorted voice: "My lord, the gunboats of the Ming Dynasty have arrived again."

"What!" Ruan Futao rushed to the little military officer. "Bastard, why didn't you say it earlier." After saying that, he kicked the opponent down, and then ordered to the soldiers. "Prepare the horse, I want to check it with my own eyes"

When Ruan Futao came to the Haiphong Fort in a hurry and climbed to the high place, he saw a few Taixi-style soft sailing boats moored on the sea in the distance. Not knowing the details of the other party, Ruan Futao took out the binoculars presented by the Portuguese missionaries, looked carefully, and found that the fleet of the Zheng army moored in the open sea was composed of two large ships and four small ships. The large ships were comparable to the largest of the Portuguese. The armed merchant ships, and the small boats are much larger than the Chinese pirates that Lord Ruan once hired.

"I heard that the Northern Dynasty has proclaimed a minister to Daming, and Lord Zheng has also proclaimed his nephew to King Xia. Could it be that Daming came here to help Lord Zheng?" Ruan Futao hadn't spoken yet, and the deputy general beside him had already started whispering with Hui'an's warlord . "With such a calamity coming, even if the Ming army does not attack, as long as the foreign countries are blocked, I am afraid that Hoi An will be doomed."

"What nonsense!" Ruan Futao yelled angrily, and the governor in Hoi An was so frightened that he swallowed his words. "Does anyone know why Daming's fleet came to Hoi An?" Everyone shook their heads unanimously, Ruan Futao narrowed his eyes and thought for a while. "Come here, let the boat go over and ask. There is a saying that a big country will not prosper with unknown soldiers. I would like to know when we will be offended again."

excuse me?Wen Wu next to him had a bitter expression on his face. Ever since Zheng Jun broke Hoi An and forced Lord Ruan to sign the "Treaty of Boshin", the Hoi An side didn't dare to control Zheng Fan's merchant ships at all. They just collected some taxes and commercial taxes according to the rules. That's it, usually I dare not even say a serious word.However, this situation changed after Zheng Fan took back Macau and the Portuguese in Macau were expelled to Hoi An.The Portuguese did not dare to confront Zheng Fan directly, so they had to confront the Chinese expats who lived here for a long time. There were many conflicts between the two sides, and many Chinese businessmen suffered losses. They once complained to Lord Ruan, but the Portuguese were Lord Ruan's gold Lord Ruan and his supporters, how could Lord Ruan offend each other, so he ignored it, and finally attracted Zheng Jun's ships.

After waiting for a long time, a paddle boat returned to the coast with Lord Ruan's cruise ship. The cruise ship docked first, and the captain came to Ruan Futao and reported: "The envoys of the Ming Dynasty are on the boat. They demand compensation for the losses of the merchants. Ann has set up an ambassador, and in the future, cases involving Ming merchants will have to be tried by the ambassador himself."

The essence of this requirement is extraterritoriality. Although Ruan Futao did not know the term, he subconsciously felt that there was a problem: "This will be based on the laws of my Dali court. It is simply too deceiving."

But even if he is too deceitful, Ruan Futao can't leave the envoy at sea, otherwise the small problem will become a big problem: "Go, ask the envoy of the Ming Dynasty to go ashore. In addition, go and tell the envoy that the Portuguese are involved at this time. North Korea is also powerless to force it to pay compensation."

"The matter of compensation is easy to handle," Zhang Jiwen, the governor of the Foreign Countries Affairs Yamen, said to Ruan Chen who greeted him after he landed. "You go and tell the Portuguese that if you don't pay, our domain will immediately ban the import and trade of the Portuguese. If you dare to resist, even the Jesuits who are licensed to stay in Macau will also be expelled." Ruan Chen promised, but Zhang Jiwen did not let go other side. "As for the right to protect the common people of our dynasty, if you don't give it to me, I believe Lord Zheng will be happy to transfer it to this fan."