Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 177 Pei Yuan's Boomerang
Captain Pei never expected that a mere courier girl would have such a transformation in less than half a year after entering the officialdom.

"You're finished." Pei Yuan shook his head regretfully.

Then he ignored her and wandered around Chanheji on his own.

Pei Yuan had been to several markets before.

I also have some understanding of the distribution of this kind of market.

Likewise, for bulk goods, not all items need to be stored on board, so there must be some trading places or storage warehouses near the dock.

For example, furs shipped from the north are best placed in a dry place, and some medicinal materials also need to be transported to the shore in time for storage.

However, these goods are not as good as high-quality commodities such as soybeans, which have high liquidity and a wide customer base.

You should know that during the Ming Dynasty, the tax revenue of Huai'an Customs once accounted for half of the country's commercial tax revenue.

The main source of tax revenue for Huai'an Customs comes from soybeans.

If the soybean problem could be solved, Han Qianhu would have to worry less.

Pei Yuan walked along the streets near the river, silently observing the places that seemed to be warehouses.

But he was a stranger and no one came up to greet him.

Pei Yuan tried to ask what goods were stored in the warehouse. The guards immediately became alert and said politely, "Someone has rented it here. Please come in."

Pei Yuan was not annoyed, and asked with a smile, "Doesn't your master do business?"

The guard replied, "Business is naturally done in the front street. How can you do business without looking for the owner and searching the warehouse first?"

Pei Yuan was speechless and could only leave in disappointment.

We walked around a few more streets.

Pei Yuan saw that many storage warehouses were not strictly guarded, and after a quick thought he understood the reason.

If you steal too little of these bulk materials, they won't be worth much and can easily lead to trouble.

If they steal a lot, the noise will be huge, and it will also be convenient for the guards to call for support.

So apart from the people guarding the door, it was quite quiet inside.

Pei Yuan turned around, glanced at Song Chunniang, and immediately had an idea.

He waved to Song Chunniang, motioning her to come over, and then ordered, "Go in and help me see what's in there."

"Isn't this bad?"

Song Chunniang, a county-level cadre, has become somewhat resistant to such sneaky behavior.

"Are you going or not?"

Captain Pei, who was of the fifth rank, exerted pressure on Song Chunniang, who was of the seventh rank.

The reason why Song Chunniang was able to earn the reputation of being a lecherous thief named "Shili Xiang" was because of her skill in stealing beautiful women.

After being bullied by Pei Qianhu in the workplace, he could only sneak into the room through the wall.

After a while, he came out with a handful of tea leaves in his hands, "It's all tea."

Pei Yuan silently noted the place and took Song Chunniang to another place.

Song Chunniang still went in stealthily. This time, she didn't take anything. She just said, "Cotton cloth."

"Let's go."

Seeing that this alley was quiet, Pei Yuan planned to check a few more houses.

Who would have thought that when they arrived at the third house, Song Chunniang came out and spilled a handful of yellow stuff, "Beans."

Pei Yuan was a little slow to react. After a while, he said in surprise, "Soybean?!"

Song Chunniang tilted her head, "What else?"

Pei Yuan was stunned. Why were there soybeans here?

He whitewashed his hand and took Song Chunniang to a nearby warehouse.

He first listened to the noise inside the wall, and then signaled to Song Chunniang.

on!
Song Chunniang didn't waste any time and quickly went in and took a look around. When she came out, she threw another handful of beans over.

“It’s still soybeans!”

Pei Yuan's heart suddenly became excited, and he couldn't help asking, "A lot?"

Song Chunniang looked around the yard and gestured, "Sacks and sacks of goods, all the warehouses are filled to the brim."

Pei Yuan's doubts grew, and his joy also increased.

He quickly asked Song Chunniang to search several large courtyards nearby that were suspected to be warehouses.

Seven out of ten households store soybeans.

Pei Yuan finally couldn't help being shocked, "How could it be soybeans?"

Song Chunniang also understood Pei Yuan's doubts. She asked in confusion, "Why can't it be soybeans?"

Pei Yuan took Song Chunniang's words for granted, then remembered Song Chunniang's job as a courier girl, and wondered if this girl knew the truth?

He immediately asked, "As far as I know, the soybean trade is very smooth, and because of the trouble of loading and unloading, it is sold by ship, and the goods are directly shipped away by the original ship. How come there are so many stored here?"

Song Chunniang realized what Pei Yuan meant and couldn't help laughing, "Because this is Chaheji."

Pei Yuan looked at Song Chunniang, the riddle-maker, and waited for her to wake up.

Fortunately, Song Chunniang was a tactful person and explained quickly.

"There is more than one way to transport soybeans from the north to Huai'an. In addition to the north-bound Grand Canal, you can also take the Huai River from Henan, then pass through Hongze Lake, converge with the Grand Canal, and then enter Huai'an."

"But this waterway passes through Jianxi in Xuyi. The scoundrels there colluded with the county officials and people to block the waterway."

"After that, those people lured the cargo ships that were heading to Huai'an by water and changed to land transportation. They first transported the goods here, then passed through Chaheji, and used cargo ships to pass through Baoying Lake and then transported them to the south."

Pei Yuan was surprised to hear this, "Isn't there anyone doing anything about this lawlessness and blocking the waterway? Didn't those merchants report it to the court?"

Song Chunniang laughed and said, "The first time, most of them were forced. After tasting the sweetness, they rushed here. Otherwise, why is Chahe Market the largest market in Huai'an?"

Pei Yuan was puzzled. "To transport by water, to transport by land, and then to transport by water again, it is not only complicated but also very expensive. What are they trying to do?"

Song Chunniang revealed the secret, "Because this way, they can avoid the Huai'an customs. As long as the merchants go through it once and understand the tricks here, they will all be grinning from ear to ear. Who would go to the government to file a complaint?"

As soon as Song Chunniang mentioned the Huai'an Customs, Pei Yuan understood everything.

But this made him feel even more incredible. He wondered, "Such an obvious tax evasion, why doesn't the Huai'an Customs do anything about it?"

Seeing Pei Yuan asking such a nonsensical question, Song Chunniang couldn't help but chuckle and said, "How can they manage it? Why should they manage it? The court set up the Huai'an Customs to let them collect commercial taxes on the canal, not to let them collect taxes on land."

Pei Yuan was surprised and asked, "Didn't those goods enter Huai'an from the Huai River through Hongze Lake? Aren't these goods taxable?" Song Chunniang retorted sharply, "Then they haven't reached the Huai'an customs yet? If merchant ships on the river are taxed, why don't they collect taxes from the Yellow River and the Yangtze River?"

After listening to this, Pei Yuan understood the logic.

Unless Huai'an Customs dares to claim that it can collect taxes from all over the world, it can only collect taxes at Huai'an Customs. Even if cargo ships are clearly near the customs, transporting goods to land and then transferring them to the south, they cannot collect taxes.

Because that was the area of ​​tax collection that the emperor had not authorized it to collect.

I can only say “six”.

Pei Yuan was a little puzzled. "The court is not reasonable, right? These merchants are so reckless. Do they have to abide by the law?"

Song Chunniang was silent for a moment, then asked meaningfully, "What the captain means is that even if they don't enter the customs, they can just rob them?"

Pei Yuan was hit in the face by the boomerang and could only say awkwardly, "We do need to follow some rules."

Song Chunniang also decided to stop while she was ahead.

"Think about it, Captain. The money collected by Huai'an Customs either went to the Ministry of Revenue or to the Internal Transport Warehouse. It has nothing to do with Huai'an Prefecture."

"But if the cargo ships heading south from Hongze Lake were to take the land route and go south through Chaheji, the local government of Shanyang County could use this to collect taxes."

"In addition, the landless people in Xuyi County can also make a living by transporting goods."

"South of the customs, cargo ships from Baoying County can get a lot of business without having to go through the customs."

"As long as the cost is lower than the tax levied, merchants will be happy to cooperate with local governments to do these things."

"So, who's in charge?"

Pei Yuan thought about it.

In other words, this business chain has been lengthened, and the share of taxes originally paid has been used to directly revitalize the economies of the three counties along the way from Xuyi County to Baoying County.

And it sounds like the business model is healthier with more people participating in profit distribution.

But what about the national treasury that was originally supposed to be replenished with taxes?

The imperial court did not have enough military pay or money for disaster relief.

and then?
Make the farmers suffer more?
Pei Yuan sighed, seeing no solution.

Fortunately, not all problems are unsolvable.

At least Pei Yuan’s troubles are solved, right?
Pei Yuan asked Song Chunniang, "Do you know how long these soybeans will be stored here?"

Song Chunniang said, "It's hard to say. When Xuyi first started to develop this route, they asked the brokers to buy everything and promised that if they couldn't find a buyer, they would take it all."

Song Chunniang explained, "Generally, the guarantors and the powerful people in the county work together to buy the goods and then sell them to others."

"But the brokers in Xuyi are different from the powerful. They take over the goods directly and pay the owner only after they sell them."

Pei Yuan heard this and said instinctively, "There is a way to do this."

Song Chunniang smiled and said, "Yes. For example, there is no need to talk about the situation of using new money to pay off old debts. Sometimes, if you encounter a traitor, there is even a possibility that the money will be absconded. Unfortunately, many merchants are from other places. When they encounter such a situation, they have no one to turn to and can only blame themselves for their bad luck."

Pei Yuan said disapprovingly, "Then why not just not let those brokers do it?"

Song Chunniang had heard the customers complain more than once while escorting goods, and she knew all about the situation. "As long as they can control the pace of the cargo ships heading south, who can do anything about it? Those who can afford to delay can just store the goods for a while. Those who can't afford to delay can only sell the goods to the brokers."

Pei Yuan was speechless. It was a flow limit, right?

Then another question came to mind, "If that's the case, why do those merchants still come here? Can't they just go through the Huai'an Customs? Even if they have to pay a tax, they can avoid so many troubles."

Song Chunniang shrugged. "What can we do? These brokers collude with the powerful to cheat the sellers, but they don't cheat the buyers. And the goods here are really cheap. After they got the system up and running, a large number of buyers came to Chaheji."

"Think about it. If we go through Huai'an Customs, we will have to compete with the goods coming from Shandong on the Grand Canal. In this way, not only will we have to pay taxes, but we will also have to face more sellers and fewer buyers. It's better to try your luck at Chaheji."

Well, Pei Yuan was really convinced.

It is worthy of being the most prosperous place in Ming Dynasty, and it has mastered the platforms and channels very well.

This actually answered Pei Yuan's doubts.

In order to limit the flow, fewer cargo ships will be allowed to transport goods to the south.

In this way, merchants from afar have to rent warehouses here, and their businessmen have to stay here to eat, drink, defecate and urinate, and leave part of their profits here.

Those who cannot bear the time or the cost will pawn their goods to local brokers or powerful people to sell them.

First retain the guests and form a market.

Then control the buyers and sellers to form a complete trading ecosystem.

This also means that there is a sufficient amount of material and capital accumulation flowing in Chanhe, which is enough for Han Qianhu to come in with the 100,000 taels of silver and take it all.

As for whether those thugs and villains will take advantage of the opportunity to do something, haha.

Pei Yuan looked at the sky and decided to take Song Chunniang for a walk while there was still some time, exploring several streets near the pier.

A statistics was also made of the materials stored in the warehouses.

While eating dinner, Pei Yuan picked a restaurant, asked for a room, and asked Song Chunniang to get paper and pen from the counter.

First, I roughly drew the terrain of Chanheji, and then focused on marking the materials stored in the warehouses.

Pei Yuan's map was annotated in great detail. Not only were the items classified, but the quantities and approximate values ​​estimated based on current market prices were also specifically marked.

With this map, Captain Han can see the situation here clearly.

Pei Yuan rolled up the map and put it away. He felt very happy and had a good appetite.

Song Chunniang was not a polite person either. She wielded chopsticks like the wind and competed with Pei Yuan for the food.

In a short while, the two of them had eaten and drunk their fill.

After leaving the restaurant, Song Chunniang suggested, "This kind of place is full of all kinds of people, and even if you stay in an inn, it's not safe. My escort agency worships the mountain of Sanyuan Palace, and I know some places. Do you want to stay there for a night?"

"Uh-huh?"

Pei Yuan turned his head to look at Song Chunniang, and his gaze shifted to the gloomy night sky as the background.

It’s getting late.

Then his gaze shifted back to Song Chunniang.

Strange environment, familiar woman.

Chen Toutie and Cheng Leixiang, the two annoying idiots, were not around either.

With the right timing, right location and right people, why not have a good chat with your best friend?
Pei Yuan's eyes moved, he coughed lightly, and took the initiative to suggest, "Live outside. You are now a Jinyiwei, it is not easy to deal with the underworld forces."

As he spoke, his fingers crawled and finally wrapped around her slender waist.

Song Chunniang rolled her eyes and gave the man a look. "What are you thinking about?"

(End of this chapter)