Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 234: Maritime Affairs
In the main hall of the government office in Zhangzhou City, Zhu Lang sat at the top, with civil and military officials such as Lü Daqi and Jiao Lian sitting on his left and right.
After Zhu Lang's deliberate adjustments and emphasis, the officials in the Guangdong court had already begun to get used to the situation where military officials participated in court affairs.
On the left, in addition to Lu Daqi and other Guangdong officials, Fujian and Zhejiang Governor Zhang Kentang and Fujian Governor Zheng Chenggong, Shen Tingyang and Zhang Huangyan, two Lu vassal officials, were also sitting at the end of the left side.
At this time, it had been five days since the meeting between the two vassals of Gui and Lu. Although Shen Tingyang and his men were seconded to Gui on that day, they did not leave with Zhu Lang on the spot.

Zhu Lang's request for Shen Tingyang was too sudden. Not only was Lu Jianguo caught off guard, but even Shen Tingyang and Zhang Huangyan were somewhat at a loss. They instinctively followed Lu Jianguo back to Zhongzuosuo Island.
However, when Shen Tingyang and Zhang Huangyan followed Lu Fan and others back to Zhongzuosuo Island, they immediately felt something was wrong. The officials on the island all looked strange when they interacted with them, and tried to find out what kind of personal relationship they had with Gui Jianguo.

The two stayed on the island for two days, but they felt more and more uncomfortable. After some discussion, they decided to pack up and go to Gui Jianguo's court, and not stay on the island any longer.

At this time, Shen Tingyang and Zhang Huangyan had no other choice. The two regents personally decided on this matter, and even the Prince of Lu agreed to release the people. Whether Shen Tingyang and Zhang Huangyan were willing or not, they had no choice but to go to the Guifan court to serve.
When Shen Tingyang and Zhang Huangyan reported their departure, they thought they would be looked down upon by the court officials. However, when the court officials knew that they were leaving the island and entering Fujian, they were all very enthusiastic. Even some officials who were only nodding acquaintances with them in the past came to see them off in person.

The night before they left the island, Lu Jianguo, Xiong Rulin and Zheng Cai personally held a banquet to see them off. At this point, the two of them had no hesitation at all. Even Lu Jianguo was seeing them off, so what else could they do?
Shen Tingyang and his companions were sent off by the people of Lu Fan, and finally boarded the ship to Fujian Province. While on the ship, they gradually came to their senses and understood why the people of Lu Fan were so enthusiastic about them.

The reason why Xiong Rulin and Zheng Cai, the regents of Lu, were so enthusiastic about them was simple. When the two kings discussed the matter that day, they had already decided that in the future, all the food and wages provided by the court to the Lu vassal would be handled by the two of them.
In the foreseeable future, this will be the only stable source of food and wages for the Lu Jianguo side. How could Lu Jianguo Zheng Cai and others not be enthusiastic about them?

People always say that antiques are valuable in prosperous times and gold is valuable in troubled times. But that is not enough. When things are really in chaos, food and wages are the real hard currency in troubled times.
With food, we can support the army, and with the army, we can protect ourselves in troubled times. Given the current situation in the Lu Regent Court, this batch of food and salary from the court can even directly determine the direction of power in the Lu Regent Court.

As for why the officials of Lu Fan were so enthusiastic about Shen Tingyang and the others, it was even simpler.
Now that Lu Fan was forced to return to Zhoushan again, who knew what the situation would be like in the future? Gui Jianguo had won two great victories in one day, and had already shown some signs of revival. Compared with Lu Fan, it was obvious that Gui Fan's court had a brighter future.

If the officials of Lu Fan were not so closely tied to Lu Jianguo, I am afraid that most of them would have already joined the court of Gui Jianguo. It is good to enjoy the shade under a big tree. In troubled times, who would not want to follow the powerful military behind the court and enjoy the protection?

Shen Tingyang and his partner were personally asked to leave by Gui Jianguo. They will surely have a bright future in Gui Jianguo's court. At this time, the people of Lu Fan are on good terms with Shen Tingyang and his partner. If the situation changes in the future, they will at least have a place to go.

Under such circumstances, how could the officials of Lu Fan not be enthusiastic about Shen Tingyang and Zhang Huangyan?

At this time, Shen Tingyang and Zhang Huangyan, who were highly expected by the Lu clan, were sitting in the hall with nervous expressions.
As soon as they arrived at the Guifan court, they were immediately notified to come to the meeting. At this time, the most important civil and military officials in Fujian Province were all sitting in the hall, obviously to discuss important matters. How could they not be nervous when the two newly joined people were rashly summoned?

Zhu Lang did not notice the nervous Zhang Huangyan and the other man below. Seeing that all the ministers had gathered in the hall, he spoke

"Everything in Fujian Province has been basically settled. I will lead the army back to the court in two days, but there is still one matter that I need to discuss with you."

"Fujian and Guangdong suffered from wars one after another. Although Fujian Province was finally recovered by the imperial court, the several wars have left the people displaced and their livelihoods difficult."

"I have decided to abolish the three taxes and reduce all new levies imposed since the Chongzhen period to ease the people's suffering. What do you think?"

Lu Daqi, Su Guansheng and others in the hall frowned when they heard this. Zhu Lang had discussed this matter with them privately several times, but to no avail. Now that His Highness the Regent had called everyone together and formally raised the matter, I'm afraid he had made up his mind.

Zhang Huangyan and the other two were also shocked when they heard this, thinking that what they were discussing today was indeed a big deal. At the same time, they also felt that the Gui Regent court was different.

There was no such thing as tax reduction or exemption during the reign of Lu Jianguo. When Lu Jianguo occupied Zhejiang Province, the taxes of each prefecture were divided among military officials such as Fang Guoan. The Ministry of Revenue of the court could not collect any tax silver, so there was no such thing as tax reduction.
His Highness Gui Jianguo proposed to reduce taxes at this time, which means that the real power of Fujian and Guangdong is now firmly in the hands of the court and His Highness. This is a very rare thing after Jiashen.
Seeing that no one in the hall was speaking, Lu Daqi thought for a moment and then spoke.

"I still hold the same opinion as before. Minyue has just experienced a chaotic war and needs to rest its people. However, the imperial court is also in urgent need of money and food as it is preparing for war."

"I think it is too hasty to cancel the three taxes all at once. At this time, the Shun rebels have surrendered and the Western rebels have retreated. It is better to cancel the suppression tax first, but still collect the Liao and training taxes."

Among the three taxes, the imperial court announced the abolition of the training tax at the end of the Chongzhen period, but at that time the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, and local governments acted on their own, so the three taxes were still levied in various places.

The ministers in the hall all nodded slightly after hearing what Lu Daqi said. The suppression fund was set up to eliminate Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other bandits. At this time, these two bandits were no longer roaming in the area actually controlled by the court, so it was appropriate to cut the suppression fund.

In fact, if Zhu Lang had not proposed this matter, Lu Daqi and others would not even cut the suppression pay. At this time, the territory actually controlled by the court was greatly reduced, and every part of the court needed money. Not increasing the levy was already a benevolent policy, so how could they cut the tax silver?

However, Zhu Lang, Lu Daqi and others had the exact opposite idea. Although the court needed money and food to support the army, the people of the two provinces had been exploited to the extreme.

In the past, Zheng Chenggong and his people also won many battles in the south, but why were they often recaptured by the Qing Dynasty not long after they occupied them?
The most fundamental reason was that Zheng Chenggong and his men were short of food and money. Once they conquered a place, they would immediately collect grain and silver, making the locals miserable.
To put it nicely, this behavior is collecting taxes, but to put it bluntly, it is plundering. Therefore, when the Qing government launched a counterattack, local people would often take the initiative to assist the Qing government and drive away Zheng Chenggong and other pro-Ming troops.
Although the land of Minyue had not been exploited to this extent at this time, it was almost there. Fujian and Guangdong provinces had experienced war and a large number of people were having difficulty making a living. At this time, taxes should be reduced or exempted to let the people breathe a sigh of relief. This would not only quickly stabilize the hearts of the people in the two provinces, but also recuperate the people's strength, so that the court could collect more grain taxes in the future.
The abolition of the three taxes would certainly reduce the court's income, making it more difficult for Lu Daqi and other cabinet ministers to deal with state affairs, but this was not a bad thing for Zhu Lang.

The people of the world have long been resentful of the Three Taxes. If Zhu Lang could abolish them, he would immediately become a benevolent ruler in the eyes of the people, greatly increasing his own prestige.

Zhu Lang nodded to Li Chengzhi below. Li Chengzhi took out a stack of papers from his sleeve and distributed them to the ministers in the hall.

"This is the intelligence that the Jinyiwei gathered in the capital, Jiangnan and other places. The Qing invaders have issued an imperial decree to abolish the three taxes and various miscellaneous taxes since the Chongzhen period. When the people in various places heard about the abolition of the three taxes, they were all very happy and enthusiastic, and they were quite calm and compliant. It can be seen that the three taxes have caused great suffering to the people."

"Now that even the Qing government has stopped collecting the three taxes, then our Ming Dynasty should also stop collecting the three taxes to ease the burden on the people. This is a battle for the people's hearts."

In fact, after the Qing Dynasty entered the Pass, although it issued an imperial decree to stop collecting the three taxes in various places, in practice, the three taxes were not abolished at all.
Some prefectures and counties changed the names of the three taxes and continued to collect them, while others did not even change the names. In any case, the common people in the countryside could not understand the imperial edicts. After the money was collected, the gentry's money was naturally returned in full, and the common people's money was divided into 30% and 70%.
Lü Daqi, Jiao Lian and others looked at the Qing imperial edicts collected by Jinyiwei in their hands, and their brows were slightly frowned. The court had already established a firm foothold in Fujian and Guangdong at this time, and had a little spare energy to think about other things.
The Qing court had already announced to the world that it would stop collecting the three taxes. If they continued to collect them, it would indeed put the court in a passive position.
Although Lu Daqi and others knew the importance of taxation, they also knew that the reputation of the Three Taxes among the people was really enough to influence people's hearts.
In the lobby, before Lu Daqi and others could figure out the pros and cons of this matter, Zhu Lang above spoke again.

"The court will not only abolish the three taxes this time, but also change the collection of silver for the capitation."

"From now on, the silver tax for farmers in each prefecture and county will no longer be converted into silver. Instead, the silver tax for farmers will be converted into rice and collected together with the land tax. As for the remaining mulberry and hemp weaving households, they will still be collected in silver."

The Yitiaobian system replaced all kinds of taxes with silver, which was convenient for collection, but there were also huge problems. Not to mention the fire consumption, the fact that the people had to pay silver was enough to put a heavy burden on the people. The Ming Dynasty had always been short of silver, and it was rare for ordinary farmers to have a few strings of copper coins at home. How could they get silver?
Almost all the silver in the Ming Dynasty was concentrated in the hands of the gentry. The imperial court forced the people to pay silver. With this system, the gentry of the Ming Dynasty did not even have to do anything illegal. They could easily use the silver in their hands to plunder a large amount of rice from the people at a low price.

The Single Whip Law actually had many disadvantages, and many people in the Ming court knew about these disadvantages, but the Ming court had no way to deal with it.

Although compulsory collection of money has many disadvantages, it can at least allow the central government to collect some taxes from remote areas. If it does not collect money, the taxes from remote areas will not be collected at all.
If the imperial court did not force the collection of money, but still collected in kind, the rice and other in kind collected from remote areas would not even be enough to pay for the transportation to the capital.

Although the Ming court has lost half of its territory, its small territory has its advantages. At least if the court collects rice and other physical goods, it does not need to transport them thousands of miles and can directly supply the front line.

And if Zhu Lang's memory is correct, the Little Ice Age climate at the end of the Ming Dynasty will continue in the next few years, and will develop from north to south, eventually affecting Fujian and Guangdong.

If the government changes its collection of grain to rice now, it is possible that the court will be able to earn back the money from the gentry with the grain reserves.

Zhu Lang thought of this, and a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes. He looked at Zhang Kentang below and said

"Lord Zhang, you have to pay attention to this matter. I have abolished the three taxes and collected the money directly in cash in order to give the people a rest, not to allow those corrupt officials to take advantage of the opportunity to make up excuses and exploit the people again."

"You secretly arrange for people to go to various prefectures and counties in advance. Before collecting the summer tax, find a few people who don't know how to restrain themselves, and kill or arrest a group of them. This will serve as a warning to officials in Fujian Province not to be afraid of causing trouble. If anyone dares to take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble, you go find Li Mingzhong and kill a group of these people, and they will probably behave themselves."

Zhang Huangyan and the other man below were also terrified when they heard the murderous words of His Highness the Regent. They felt that His Highness Gui was indeed a man who could lead the army to defeat the Qing invaders. His actions were really cruel and overbearing, which was completely different from the atmosphere in the court of His Highness the Regent Lu.
However, in this solemn atmosphere, Zhang Huangyan and his companions clearly felt an extremely strong force. This novel feeling made Zhang Huangyan and his companions feel extremely
Zhang Kentang, who was below, immediately stood up and responded. After Zhang Kentang sat down, Lu Daqi frowned and said

"If this is the case, then the tax revenue of the imperial court will certainly be greatly reduced this year. Regardless of the officials in the imperial court, how will Your Highness plan to solve the problem of military pay?"

Su Guansheng, Jiao Lian and others in the hall frowned when they heard this. At this time, the imperial army was nearly 100,000, and the monthly salary of these people alone was more than 100,000 taels. At this time, abolishing the three salaries and changing the salary to a discount would certainly give the people a sigh of relief, but what would the imperial court do?

Zhu Lang's heart sank when he heard this, but he remained unmoved. In addition to taking back the city, the court also seized a large amount of gold and silver.

Although there is no specific statistics yet, according to the figures reported by various armies, it should be no less than 2 to 3 million taels.
These gold and silver were all looted from the people of Zhejiang Province by Zhang Cunren and other Qing troops when they conquered Fujian Province. Now that the Qing army was defeated, these things naturally belonged to Zhu Lang.

Zhu Lang dared to abolish the three taxes at this time because he had this unexpected fortune in his hands. If the court army did not increase, this money would be enough to cover the military expenses of the court army for more than a year.

Zhu Lang thought of this and said

"Don't worry, Lord Lu. If the military pay in the court is insufficient, we can transfer it from the inner treasury of the palace. Even if I have to eat vegetarian meals every day, I will definitely ensure the military pay expenses in the court."

Jiao Lian, Ma Bao and others above also relaxed their expressions when they heard this. Nowadays, the imperial guards in the court train almost every day, and they are basically training in the direction of the elite soldiers in the court.

With such high-intensity training, if the army's food and wages cannot be guaranteed, the soldiers in the army will really cause trouble.

Zhu Lang looked at the ministers below and spoke again

"Although I still have some money in my inner treasury, it costs a lot to maintain a large army. Relying solely on the inner treasury is not a long-term solution. This is the second reason why I came to you today."

"I want to re-establish the Maritime Customs Office, and use it to collect silver taxes to supply the court and the military pay."

This was Zhu Lang's plan. By increasing the collection of grain in the two provinces, he could solve the problem of military food supply in the two provinces. At the same time, he opened a customs office to solve the problem of military pay for the army.
When Lu Daqi heard this, there was no joy on his face. Instead, his brows furrowed even more and he said

"Your Highness, please allow me to report. The Maritime Customs Office is an old system of the country. When the previous emperor was alive, he also set up a Maritime Customs Office in Fujian Province to collect taxes. However, as far as I know, the annual income of this Maritime Customs Office is at least 40,000 to 50,000 taels, and at most 50,000 to 60,000 taels."

"Fujian and Guangdong provinces have developed maritime trade, but even if Your Highness strictly regulates it, I am afraid that the silver earned from the Maritime Customs Office in a year will not exceed 200,000. This amount of silver is probably difficult to support the needs of the army in the court."

Zhu Lang's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, and he spoke directly

"What Elder Lu said makes sense, so I have decided to completely lift the maritime ban and remove the restrictions on ship guides."

Since the outbreak of the Japanese invasion, the Ming Dynasty has implemented extremely strict maritime bans. At the most severe time, some places even did not allow any ships to go to sea. It was not until the opening of the port in the Longqing period that the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban was gradually relaxed.
Although the opening of the Longqing Port lifted the maritime ban, it was not completely lifted. All civilians who wanted to engage in maritime trade had to obtain a ship permit from the court before they could engage in maritime trade.
If you don't have a boat guide, once you are caught by the court, your property will be confiscated and you will be sentenced to death.

The Ming Dynasty actually used ships as a guide to intentionally control the scale of maritime trade to prevent the recurrence of maritime unrest.

The Ming court issued very few ship licenses every year, which was far from meeting the needs of the people. Moreover, it was almost impossible for ordinary merchants to obtain these ship licenses. As for who these ship licenses would eventually fall into the hands of, it was also a foregone conclusion.
Although the risks of maritime trade at this time are huge, the benefits are also extremely huge. The benefits of maritime trade at this time are not one or two times, but five times, ten times, or even a hundred times.
Such lucrative profits are enough to make people take risks, so smuggling is extremely rampant in Fujian and Guangdong. Fujian Province has a small area and a large population, and in some places every family is engaged in maritime trade. The government has no way to control it.

The Ming Dynasty's half-hidden maritime ban policy ultimately failed to provide the court with sufficient maritime trade tax revenue, nor could it maintain the stability of the coastal areas, allowing smuggling to flourish in the coastal areas.

Zheng Zhilong took advantage of the chaotic situation in the coastal areas and started his business by smuggling. In just a few decades, he went from being a pirate to the king of Nanyang, dominating the entire Nanyang sea.
(End of this chapter)