Ten Dragons Take the Inheritance

Chapter 170 The English Envoy
In August of the 38th year of Kangxi, the last batch of sea-borne tank ships was put into use. So far, a total of more than [-] large-scale sea-going ships have traveled between the five major piers, completely replacing inland river transportation.The two governor's offices of river and water transportation were merged into one, and the Inland Water Conservancy Department was established, which was directly managed by the Ministry of Industry. The meaning of the importance of the Water Conservancy Department.More than [-] Cao Ding and [-] family members were diverted to sea transportation, more than [-] people were devoted to reclamation, and the remaining [-] were transferred to the water conservancy company.So far, Yinzuo's original maritime booklet has been basically completed, and only some finishing work is left. This project alone has saved the court more than one million taels of silver every year. The old man Kangxi issued an edict to reward Yinzuo and reward him with a jade screen , several pieces of jade ruyi, and some gold and silver.

In October of the 38th year of Kangxi, the new commercial law was produced under the cooperation of the General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Rites. After the approval of Mr. Kangxi, he issued an edict to implement it.The birth of the new commercial law marks the establishment of the legitimacy of overseas trade, but the customs still exist, and private individuals are still not allowed to engage in overseas trade without the imperial court's authorization. The eleventh tax for domestic trade is a lot higher, reaching the level of taking two out of every tenth.Although the profits of overseas trade are extremely high, considering the risks of shipping, this tax system is inevitably too high, which is not conducive to the long-term development of overseas trade-there are not many people engaged in overseas trade at the moment, and rare things are more expensive. The expansion of the scale and the reduction of profits are inevitable, and the high tax is really not conducive to the expansion of the scale of shipping.

Yinzuo knew in his heart that this tax system was unreasonable. He also knew that it was the work of Miao Tong and Mr. Miao, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites. Their intention was to use high taxes to suppress overseas trade, but Yinzuo did not immediately jump out to object. After all, the time has not yet come, and if he insists on his own opposition, he may not be able to get the old man's consent, but as long as the scale of shipping increases and there is a sufficient economic scale, the old man Kangxi will naturally see something strange in it.

In November of the 38th year of Kangxi, more than a hundred large sea-going ships under Yinzuo set sail from Qingdao, Shanghai, and Guangzhou in three routes. The goal was the same as last time. It is the North Korean route, starting from Qingdao, and the eight ships under the name of Lao Ba went to Nanyang with Yinzuo's large fleet. The three-way fleet has a total of 120 large sea-going ships. There are more than sixty boats.

At the end of April in the 39th year of Kangxi, the three-way fleet returned one after another, not counting private boats, but the fleet under the names of the three elder brothers, with a cumulative profit of nearly 5 taels of silver and nearly 400 million taels of tax paid. Although it was lower than the first time due to the large amount of goods, it was still scary high. After deducting the three large ships that sank due to the storm, the taxes paid and the dividends distributed to others, Yin Zuo alone made a profit Nearly 20 million taels, can be described as a windfall.The third elder brother Yinzhi earned 80 taels of silver, and the eighth elder brother Yinhu also earned a little over [-] taels. The dignitaries in the Ermen Road are busy opening their doors, making connections with each other. On the one hand, they are looking for a door to get Guan Feng, and on the other hand, they are looking for Yinzuo to buy a boat. The whole capital is busy, and it is really lively.

The tariff lijin for overseas trade is already close to the salt tax. Seeing that there is money in the treasury, Mr. Kangxi is also very happy. He allocated 300 million taels of silver and ordered the overhaul of the Chengde Palace.Chengde Li Palace was originally a royal summer resort. When it was hot in the early years, the old man went to Chengde to take refuge. However, since the Galdan rebellion, the treasury has become increasingly empty. It's in disrepair, and it's already in ruins. The old man hasn't gone there for summer vacation for several years. Now that he has money in his hands, he can spend a lot of money on it.With a swipe of the pen, the old man agreed to the memorials of those bannermen and dignitaries who asked to join overseas trade. If they wanted a boat, they all asked Yinzuo to go.

The old man was straightforward, and Yin Zuo was unambiguous, and everyone who came to ask for a boat agreed to let them go to the Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard to queue up and pay the money. Others can just buy a boat with money when they want it. Want to build a boat without spending money?There are no doors.

The fleet returning from Java not only brought back huge profits, but also brought two guests, namely Van Foster Green, the representative of the English East India Company, and Sean Brown, the captain of the English Far East Fleet. On behalf of King William III of England, the first batch of entourages came to China to submit credentials, requesting an audience with the Qing emperor and requesting friendly trade.After receiving the post report, the official department of the Ministry of Rites did not dare to neglect, and turned this to Yulan.

Grandpa Kangxi has read history books thoroughly, and has also learned Western learning from Litoma, Tang Ruowang, Nan Huairen and others. He also has a certain understanding of European history and knows that there is a country like England. It is also quite helpful for England to submit credentials Interested, agreed to wait for the English envoy in Shanghai to come to Beijing to have an audience.The envoys came, and the credentials were handed in, but there was trouble in the audience—the English envoys did not agree to kneel down and salute, claiming that England did not have such etiquette, and insisted on bowing to the king in England, and the etiquette department failed to coordinate several times , the matter was put on hold, and Mr. Kangxi no longer asked about it, and he didn't even bother to pick up the letter of credence.

William III, son of King William II of the Netherlands and Princess Mary, daughter of King Charles I of England. In November 1688, the Glorious Revolution took place in England, and the Free Parliament invited William III to land in England. In January 11, the British Parliament announced the abdication of King James II, established James II's daughter and son-in-law Mary II and William III as kings, and passed the "Declaration of Rights". In April, William III and Mary II were jointly crowned King of England. In October, Parliament passed the "Bill of Rights", and Britain gradually established a constitutional monarchy and the political principle that Parliament is above the royal power.Since then, the British king is only a nominal monarch, and no longer has actual power. The power of the whole of Britain is in the hands of Parliament.

Yinzuo had expected the result of the neglect of the British mission. This is not only a matter of cultural differences between the two countries, but also a matter of differences in the political systems of the two countries. England in this era is already a democratic country, although the monarchy has not been completely lost. , but its influence among the British nationals is already insignificant.If you want a British citizen to kneel, there are only two possibilities: you are God and he has to kneel, or you conquer the whole of England and kill all those who don’t kneel, or you want a citizen who thinks he is a big country to submit to the emperor of another country Kneeling is basically impossible.

Yinzuo is also very clear about the purpose of the English envoys - in the 37th year of Kangxi, the Dutch East India Company made the first transaction with Yinzuo. In the middle of the 38th year of Kangxi, the Dutch fleet was fully loaded with Chinese specialties: silk, When tea, pottery and other goods returned to Europe, they immediately caused a huge sensation.Although there were some products from China every year at that time, the quantity and quality were never as high as this time. At that time, there was a wave of Chinese style in Europe, and it was fashionable for everyone to be able to buy things from China, especially The perfume produced in Yin Zuo's factory was even pushed up to a terrible high price. If the noble ladies didn't have a bottle of mysterious perfume from China in their hands, they wouldn't dare to show their faces in the upper-class social circle.As a result, the Dutch East India Company made a huge fortune, and European countries suddenly set off a wave of plans to go to China for gold mining. However, among the European powers at this time, only the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, etc. could have such strength. Among the limited number of countries, England was the fastest and sent envoys first. As for envoys from other countries, they are still on their way to China.

Envoys from various countries came to China to ask for business, which in Yinzuo’s view was a good thing and a bad thing—the good thing was that the country’s gate was finally opened, and China’s first step towards the world was to go out. The bad thing is that the door of the country is opened, and there are many things that follow, and there are many "dangerous" things in it. The "dangerous" is naturally those ideas of equality and freedom. If Yinzuo himself It's all right to be the emperor, he has plenty of ways to deal with these thoughts, but the problem is that the old man Kangxi is in power at the moment, if the old man is made aware of the thoughts that are not conducive to the ruling class, all Yinzuo's efforts will be in vain Not to mention, the possibility of ascending to a high position in the future is pitifully low.

During the two or three months when the English mission came to Beijing and was left out in the cold, Yin Zuo always watched with cold eyes, seemingly not interfering in this matter, but he kept thinking about how to deal with it—doing business with England was originally Yin Zuo's dominance in Asia One part of the plan, business is to be done, the key is how to do it, it will never be the method of setting up a stronghold in China proposed by England, let alone the way of concessions in later generations, which is not in line with Yin Zuo's cultivation The idea of ​​national marine awareness is also not in line with the current situation.It’s true that if you want to make money, you have to make a lot of money, and the British feel sorry for it. Only when the British feel sorry, can Yin Zuo have a chance to gain power. This time will definitely not be too long, that is, two or three years.

The English mission was left out for a month or two, and I couldn't help but feel a little anxious. I was afraid that the envoys from other countries would also come. At the joint, he took out a lot of strange European gadgets to open the way, and after busying around for a long time, he finally found the mansion of Yi County Wang Yinzuo...

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Xiao Liu is going to fool the British guys, brothers, will you support Xiao Liucheng with a monthly ticket?
(End of this chapter)