Brocade clothing as the country

Chapter 245

In the middle of the night on April [-]th, we set up checkpoints on the canal to check the places entrained, four miles south.

This is the confluence of the Haihe River and the Canal. A few years ago, Shandong Denglai Bingbei Road reported the convenience of sea grain transportation. Many tank boats entered the canal here, but the policy was abandoned after less than a year. Recently, there have only been some military and official ships traveling between Tianjinwei and Weihaiwei.

There are a small number of ships going to Jinzhouwei in Liaozhen here in Tianjin, and they also go out to sea by this route. After the sea ban in Jiajing period, the seaports here gradually became deserted, and they gradually recovered when they opened the sea in Longqing period.

However, Ming's north-south transportation relies on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and its foreign trade is mainly concentrated in Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong. Tianjin's military significance is more important than economic, so it has always been quite deserted.

When Wang Tong was in the capital, he heard people talk about the water transport in the same way. After he came to Tianjin and saw the prosperity of the water transport outside the city, he thought the same way.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes tonight, Wang Tong would never have imagined that there would be such prosperity on the Haihe River.

Even though it was late at night, the lights here were brightly lit, and there were actually more ships moored on the Haihe River than on the canal during the day, and many large ships with thousands of dollars were moored there.

At the docks and berths, a large number of people can be seen in action. These people seem to be moving the goods on the sea boat to the river boat.

"It's dark under the lights. If Gu Zibin hadn't told me, how would I know there is such a lively scene here?"

Wang Tong looked at all this in surprise on the horse, and couldn't help sighing, Tan Jiang and others who were following him all had surprised expressions on their faces, and some of them who couldn't hold their breath were already stunned.

The locals may think that this is commonplace, and no one would take the initiative to tell Wang Tong and others when they first came here, and they would not have thought of this place either.

Combining various factors, these things here have become Wang Tong's blind spots. It's not that he didn't notice it, but he didn't think of it at all.

The Wang family warehouse in Guzibin redeemed the warehouse by spending an extra 100 taels of silver, but after checking the accounts, even if no one made troubles and deductions, the profits of the few transactions made by luck were extremely thin, not ten thousand dollars. It is a [-]% problem, but if you count labor and miscellaneous expenses, you will definitely lose money.

This ancient shopkeeper is also an old businessman in the capital, and he is proficient in business. Naturally, he would not fail to notice such small things, but he made it like this, no wonder he wanted to sell the shop in frustration.

If you want to put a nail in the other party's territory, you can't continue to lose money in such a weird way. The reason is very simple to find out. The same kind of porcelain, silk and other goods from the south on the market are almost cheaper than Wang's warehouse. If the price is more than [-]%, it is natural for this business to buy whoever is cheap. With such a price, how can there be customers coming to the door.

Everyone is doing business in the same way. Why are the prices of the same goods so different? I thought the reason was very complicated, but I didn't expect to find out after asking.

"The three big warehouses and merchants related to Chuantouxiang all import goods from the sea, while the small ones here are all picked up from the river, so the prices are naturally different."

In the vast empire of the Ming Dynasty, the collection of commercial taxes was extremely backward, but the tax and customs cards on this canal were quite complete. If you set off from Hangzhou to the capital, you would have to pass through seven large tax cards, not to mention the local levels. Withholding, 100 taels of goods, when they arrive in the capital, they will have to pay nearly 50 taels of tax alone.

However, it was entrained and bribed the tax collectors and officials along the way. The cost of 100 taels of goods was almost ten taels. The addition of these various expenses also led to the high price of southern goods in the north. Of course the profits are huge.

How to reduce the cost along the way, how to transport it to the capital at a cheaper cost, this is what every businessman is thinking about.

Almost since the reign of Xuande, there have been more and more entrainment, and the government has repeatedly banned them. If the investigation is stricter, the entrainment will be less, and if the investigation is looser, the amount of entrainment will increase immediately.

But as long as it is transported on the canal, a fixed fee is unavoidable. Each ship carries a certain amount of goods. In some places, it is necessary to use trackers and horses, and there must be regular money to pass the checkpoint. The boatmen on the ship need to give some extra money , food for the boatmen and sailors, these are all fixed expenses.

That is to say, no matter how it is compressed, it cannot be reduced to a certain extent, and businessmen are all pursuing greater profits.

"Master Wang, I'm afraid it's slower to take the sea route. Wouldn't it be a waste of time and money to do so!"

Tan Jiang was transparent and experienced in other matters, but he had to ask Wang Tong about the economic aspect. Wang Tong wanted to take a closer look, but no matter how he looked, he couldn't see any guards or sentries.

The cargo that came over by sea entered the Haihe River and began to be loaded and unloaded. It seemed to be a very fair thing, and there was no need to guard against it.

But Wang Tong was still careful and careful, this black light was blind, and he only had a few people come to watch, if something went wrong, he couldn't run away.

Wang Tong knew in his heart that he was not a popular character on the ground of Tianjin Wei. If he appeared like this, if he violated the other party's taboo, it would not be impossible for him to attack him in groups.

Hearing General Tan's inquiry beside him, Wang Tong pondered for a while and said:
"The largest tank boat is no more than [-] shi, but when I went to Guangdong from the capital, I know that it is not uncommon for a large ship on the sea to carry a few thousand shi, but the number of sailors and boatmen that can be maneuvered is about the same, which saves manpower. How much money is spent on the canal, how much is on the sea, how much money is saved by going here and there, no wonder it is so much cheaper than Wang's warehouse, people of any era can't underestimate it!"

Tan Jiang didn't understand Wang Tong's last sentence, but after hearing what Wang Tong said, he shook his head and said:
"Walking on the sea, how many Japanese pirates there are on the sea are almost wiped out on the land. I don't know how many there are on the sea. Walking on the sea with a ship full of goods, isn't it very risky?"

Wang Tong sneered, picked up the whip and pointed in front of him and said:

"What risks are they afraid of? Do you think that besides Japanese pirates, anyone else can send goods here from Jiangnan? How long has the Ming Dynasty not built seagoing ships? Do you think that there are so many civilian ships built by the government?"

Before and after the sea embargo, Ming Dynasty did not allow civilian ships to go to sea except for warships, and even the manufacture of civilian ships was strictly prohibited, but shipbuilding and selling ships, and even seaborne trade, were all profitable or even huge profits. The large ships on the sea are all privately built by the people, and the government cannot ban them.

However, some irony is that privately built sea ships are illegal, but the Ming court and the government also have a lot to rely on. From north to south, officials often take private sea ships. Everyone knows that the sea ships are called by private ships It's illegal, but it doesn't have to be.

Ma Sanbiao stared at it for a while, then said with interest:
"I want to tell you this, my lord, it is much more convenient to take this sea transportation than water transportation, and the people in the capital and the north can also use cheap things, which is a good thing!"

Wang Tong turned his horse uninterestedly, and replied coldly:
"It is indeed a good thing for the citizens who can afford these things, but it is a very bad thing for Da Ming and the common people who farm and eat food in this world. There are so many businesses that do not pass tax cards and customs, and all the money falls into the hands of merchants and officials. Pocket, can Daming get a penny from it?"

The people who said something were stunned, not in shock, but because they didn't understand at all. Wang Tong rode a few steps, sighed on the horse and said to himself:
"Da Ming is not my Da Ming, why worry about it!"

Everyone didn't hear these words, the moonlight was bright, and they could see clearly on the road. Tan Jian, who followed out, reined in his horse and said to General Tan in a low voice:
"Brother, our master is not yet 16 years old, why does he speak and act like the old Shangshu?"

Tan Jiang smiled and said in a low voice:

"Why don't we do something about our master? This is a skill!"

The amount of grain transported on the canal is about 800 million shi every year, and the silver for water transport costs more than 3000 million yuan. Most of the maintenance costs are land taxes and taxes collected by tax cards.

Shipping goods by sea is tantamount to tax evasion, and the amount of silver that can be transported by water is still so much. The larger the amount of sea transportation, the more private individuals earn, and the greater the proportion of silver spent on water transportation, they have to be paid from the farmland tax. The pressure on farmers will become heavier and heavier, which is a vicious circle.

Wang Tong's prosperity, wealth, and life's future are all related to the Wanli Emperor, and in a sense, it is also related to the Ming Empire. It is no wonder that he has put so much thought into it.

The speed of the horses was not too fast. At this time, the city gate was closed, and it was too late to return to the city. They could only stay in the Xingcai Inn outside the city. Everyone ran silently on the way, and Wang Tong suddenly said immediately:

"Let Qiao Da come to me tomorrow and tell him something important!"

The people on the side quickly agreed, and a group of people quickly agreed, and continued on their way.

*******
"It's just two broken ribs and a splint. These medicines are fried and eaten. It's really unlucky. How can I get this job?"

Zou Yi, who was lying on the bed, looked at the roof with a blank expression. The imperial doctor who saw him gave him some impatient instructions, and then slammed the door and left.

Eunuch Zou, who was originally flattered by everyone, has now become "Little Zou" who is neither loved by his parents nor loved by his mother. There is a strange smell.

He was supposed to be sent to the Clothes Bureau, but he was stopped for some reason, and he was not assigned any errands and let him stay in this small room to recuperate.

Zou Yi suddenly felt a lot about the coldness of human feelings and the coldness of the world.

"Eunuch Zou, I brought you white porridge, pancakes, and some side dishes from the delicious restaurant."

The wooden door was opened, and Zhao Jinliang was seen walking in carrying a food box with difficulty.

Zou Yi suddenly felt his nose sore, and quickly covered his eyes with his hands.——
thank you all
(End of this chapter)