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In China, maritime trade during the Song Dynasty was very successful, especially during the Southern Song Dynasty. Every year, maritime trade contributed tens of millions of strings of cash in tax revenue to the Southern Song court.
Maritime trade continued to increase during the Ming Dynasty, but because the dynasty had long adopted a policy of seclusion, the huge trade volume did not bring much income to the Ming court, but only enriched the officials and smugglers along the coast.
The Sibo Si, which was in charge of maritime trade, was set up and abolished over and over again, and no effective and coherent management mechanism was formed at all.
Qin Mu stood on the top of Ningbo City, looking eastward to the sea, thinking about how to re-establish the Maritime Customs Office as soon as possible.
Cao Weijun, the prefect of Ningbo, said: "During the Ming Dynasty, the more we banned pirates, the more they appeared. By the Jiaqing period, the scourge was so severe that the whole country was in turmoil. In order to deal with the pirates, the Ming court deployed millions of troops and spent countless amounts of money. A war of this scale in the coastal areas was indeed unprecedented.
After the reign of Emperor Longqing, although Western trade was opened, Japan was prohibited from trading with China until the end of the Ming Dynasty. In the 21st year of the reign of Emperor Wanli, some officials requested the opening of the Ningbo port, but this was resisted by the Ningbo-born cabinet minister Shen Yiguan.
In the 27th year of Wanli, Zhejiang Maritime Customs was restored, but it was only a domestic trade taxation agency. Its functions were not comparable to those in the Southern Song Dynasty. Nevertheless, due to the strong demand for private trade, Ningbo's maritime trade was still very prosperous.
At present, our dynasty has not yet established a Maritime Customs Office to manage it. In addition, there is a conflict with the Zheng family in Fujian who control the sea routes. Ningbo's maritime trade has not only been greatly affected, but also lacks management. The situation is quite chaotic. I am preparing to write to the court to request the re-establishment of a Maritime Customs Office to manage it. "
In fact, it is not difficult for officials of the Qin Dynasty to guess Qin Mu's attitude towards maritime trade from his actions of building up the navy and changing it into a navy.
As Ningbo Prefecture was the most important foreign trade port in history, Cao Weijun paid more attention to it. He spent a lot of effort in this regard and talked about it in front of Qin Mu. He not only knew all kinds of commodities, but also had some unique research on the structure and management of the Maritime Customs.
The east wind was blowing hard over the city, making everyone's robes flutter. The golden dragon on Qin Mu's black royal robe was shaking as if it was about to fly. Looking back, he saw a moat of spring water, half of the city was covered with flowers, and thousands of houses were darkened by willows and smoke.
Boats are busy on the river. Fishermen are fishing leisurely on the shore, and the sound of "Ei Nai" makes the mountains and rivers green. Clouds chase each other on the rocks without intention. This is Ningbo, with flowers blooming, merchants like clouds, idle clouds and wild cranes, and the sound of hawking.
Qin Mu held the hilt of his sword and walked slowly along the city wall, saying, "The Maritime Customs Office of the Ming Dynasty did not play a good role. We, the Great Qin, must follow suit. We can only follow the experience of the Song Dynasty. I'm sure that Governor Cao also has some knowledge of the Maritime Customs Office of the Song Dynasty."
Cao Weijun immediately replied: "Please tell the King of Qin that I know a thing or two about this."
"Okay. Tell me."
"During the Song Dynasty, merchants were always encouraged to engage in overseas trade. Starting from the third year of Emperor Taizong's reign, the Song court began to set up Maritime Customs Offices in Ningbo and other places to manage and collect taxes on overseas trade.
All merchant ships going out to sea must have their goods inspected by the Maritime Customs, and after paying commercial taxes, they will be issued a certificate of clearance. If there is no certificate from the Maritime Customs, once it is seized, the goods will be confiscated and a heavy fine will be imposed.
There are clear regulations on which port the goods from other countries should land at and how to deal with the trafficked goods. All goods must be inspected and taxed by the Maritime Customs before they can be traded on land.
Qin Mu listened very carefully, because the Shibosi system of the Song Dynasty was very successful, and it brought considerable income to the Song court. Qin Mu was salivating over it. He then asked: "In terms of taxation, what are the regulations of the Shibosi system of the Song Dynasty?"
"Replying to King Qin, the tax collection system of the Song Dynasty was divided into three aspects: collection, prohibition, and purchase. The system provisions were specific and detailed. For example, in the process of collection, the goods were divided into coarse and fine, and two different tax rates were set accordingly. There were also detailed regulations on the entry of various goods into the port to regulate the number of various commodities entering the port. At the same time, some commodities were restricted from leaving the sea, such as copper coins, ironware, grain, and military supplies, etc."
Qin Mu was very interested. As far as he knew, tariffs, as one of the three major taxes, played an extremely important role in the later generations. It regulated import and export trade with the tax rate, thus affecting the direction, scale and speed of domestic economic development, and further affecting the degree of price stability.
Although what Cao Weijun said was not very specific, it is obvious that the tariffs in the Song Dynasty had initially acquired the function of regulating import and export trade, which was a remarkable progress.
Qin Mu then asked, "Prefect Cao, please tell us in detail how the Maritime Customs Office was managed in the Song Dynasty."
"In terms of administrative management, the Song court set up positions such as the Supervisor of Maritime Customs, the Judge, and the Supervisor. The first two were either full-time or part-time, while the latter was full-time.
Since the officials of the Shibosi were involved in a large amount of money and goods transactions every day, the Song court was also very careful in the appointment of Shibosi officials, usually selecting those who were upright and honest and capable;
It also stipulated that officials who concurrently served as the Maritime Customs Commissioner must be of the rank of Shaoqing or above, and that the supervisors of the Maritime Customs Depot must be civil and military officials who have not committed crimes of corruption. It was not allowed to make exceptions to the restrictions such as appointing junior officials, avoiding relatives, avoiding the original place, and avoiding the Sizhou.
Those who engage in corruption, dereliction of duty, and extortion will be severely punished, such as demotion, expulsion, suspension, replacement, dismissal from office, and extension of the probation period.
In addition, the Song court also established a strict assessment system, requiring officials of the Maritime Customs to serve in the capital for a certain period of time for assessment, and only after passing the assessment could they be appointed to positions in the Maritime Customs.
If an official has served in the Maritime Customs for three years and is truly honest and prudent, and has not violated any relevant regulations, he will be rewarded after being verified by the Inspector-General and recommended by the Deputy Envoy of the Route. After the official completes his term of office, he must hand in the tax books collected during his tenure for assessment purposes.
In order to encourage the officials of the Maritime Customs and promote the development of overseas trade, it was also stipulated that officials who fulfilled the customs duties revenue requirements during their tenure would be rewarded, and those who exceeded the requirements would be rewarded handsomely.
For example, in the fourth year of Emperor Zhenzong's Tianxi reign, it was stipulated that if the officials of the Maritime Customs Office could collect and pay taxes and fees every year, they could be promoted to a higher position and given preferential appointments. In the fifth year of Emperor Huizong's Zhenghe reign, it was stipulated that if the number of merchants, goods and treasures purchased increased significantly, they could be promoted to a higher position. In the sixth year of Emperor Gaozong's Shaoxing reign, it was ordered that if the number of merchants, goods and fees collected and paid for increased, they could be promoted to a higher position and given rewards.
Qin Mu nodded repeatedly. These experiences are very worth learning from. He immediately said to Cao Weijun, "Please organize these and submit a detailed proposal to me as soon as possible."
Cao Weijun couldn't hide his joy on his face, and he bowed deeply and said, "Your Majesty, I obey your order."
Maritime trade is the main source of income for the Zheng family. Although there is a conflict between the two sides, overseas trade is inevitably affected, but the Zheng family has not completely cut off the maritime trade route. Therefore, it is very important to establish the Maritime Customs Office as soon as possible.
The Sibo Si can not only be used to manage overseas trade, but can also be used to influence the financial resources of the Zheng family. If the Zheng family cannot be subdued quickly, the Sibo Si can be used as a means to suppress the Zheng family.
Setting up the Maritime Customs Office as soon as possible will not only not conflict with dealing with the Zheng family, but will also play a significant auxiliary role.
Afterwards, Qin Mu and the accompanying officials had lunch at a restaurant in Dongmen, and then boarded a warship and went out to sea without stopping. Although Gu Rong's naval admiral's office was located in Ningbo City, the home port named "East China Sea Fleet" by Qin Mu was actually Shuangyu Port in Zhoushan Islands.
There is a Liuheng Island in Zhoushan, which is divided into two major islands, Shangzhuang and Xiazhuang. Shuangyu Port is located in the middle of it. It has a very advantageous geographical location, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Zhi, a maritime smuggler, teamed up with Japanese pirates to occupy this place, smuggling goods or robbing merchant and fishing boats. At that time, the Ming court implemented a sea ban policy, and Shuangyu Port, under the management of Wang Zhi and others, became the largest smuggling trade base in Southeast Asia.
On April 7th of the 27th year of the Jiajing reign, Governor Zhu Wan dispatched the commander-in-chief Lu Tong, the deputy envoy of the sea route Wei Yigong and others, with 380 warships and more than 6,000 soldiers, to attack Shuangyu Port, burning 35 boats and 42 ships, capturing the maritime merchant leaders Li Guangtou, Xu Liu, Yao Da and others, and destroying the barracks they had built. Only then was Shuangyu Port abolished.
Qin Mu had good intentions in order to quickly enhance the combat capability of the East China Sea Fleet. Choosing Shuangyu Port as the home port of the fleet would inevitably increase the difficulty of military supplies, but in order for the fleet to adapt to sea operations more quickly, Qin Mu would rather spend more.
If the fleet continues to choose inland ports as its home ports, can the navy still be called a navy
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.(To be continued..)
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