Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1178: Clear Stream
"What does Shi Dewei say? How can a mere thousand households like him be able to take care of this matter?" Nie Chi couldn't help but ask curiously.

"You only know one side of the story." Ma Yuan knew more about officialdom because his uncle was Ma Shiying, so he immediately explained it to everyone.

Ma Yuan told everyone that Shi Dewei himself was nothing special. He was a fifth-rank officer, a thousand households. Although such an official position was not low, it was just an ordinary position in Nanjing. Nanjing was one of the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty. There were six departments in Nanjing, and there were many people with higher official positions than Shi Dewei.

But the problem is that Shi Dewei is not an ordinary person, he is the adopted son of Shi Kefa. Although Shi Kefa is capable and famous, he is actually not very kind, especially he always claims to be a clean official and has many connections with local gentry and big families.

Although Shi Kefa was not a member of the Donglin Party, his political inclination was towards the Donglin Party. At that time, the Jiangnan case broke out in the court, and Qian Qianyi and others were ordered to go south and rectify the Jiangnan officialdom with a thunderous force. Among them, many Donglin Party members were dismissed.

Shi Kefa was only a governor at that time, and he rarely went south, so he had nothing to do with this case. Therefore, after the Jiangnan case, Shi Kefa was not only not harmed, but was promoted instead. He first became the assistant minister of the Nanjing Ministry of War, and later became the current Nanjing Ministry of Justice Minister.

Because of the Jiangnan case, the Donglin Party in Jiangnan suffered a heavy blow, and a group of gentry families were also implicated, which was a heavy loss. Afterwards, the influence of the case on the Qingliu in Jiangnan gradually faded, and they gradually recovered and began to stick together to find a suitable leader, and the person they chose was none other than Shi Kefa.

From this point of view, Shi Kefa has now become a representative of the Jiangnan Qingliu. Although his power is not as strong as that of the Donglin Party, it should not be underestimated. In addition, Shi Kefa's official position is not low. He is currently the Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Justice. Although the six ministries in Nanjing have lower powers than the six ministries in the capital, the position of the Minister is real. Once Shi Kefa is transferred to Beijing one day, he will inevitably become the mainstay of the Qingliu and their representative.

While Shi Kefa was trying to win over the nobles and the gentry, he was also preparing for his own promotion. However, in addition to official affairs, Shi Kefa was also doing other things in private, such as intervening in commerce and making profits from foreign trade. These things were not only done by Shi Kefa, but also by other people in Jiangnan. In fact, it was not uncommon.

The imperial court wanted to open five additional trading ports in the Ming Dynasty. Its purpose was to use the Zongli Yamen to regulate and standardize commerce, especially maritime trade imports and exports. The trading ports were selected after careful consideration. Whether it was Qingdao in the north, Shanghai (Songjiang Prefecture) in the south of the Yangtze River, Ningbo, Quanzhou in Fujian, or Guangzhou in Guangdong, their geographical locations were all excellent. However, compared with Ningbo, Quanzhou and Guangzhou, Qingdao and Shanghai were two relatively special places.

Qingdao is located in Shandong. It was not well-known before. It belonged to Laizhou Prefecture and was just a garrison. Taking Qingdao as a trading port is equivalent to dividing the business flow between Leiden and Laizhou. However, from the perspective of geographical location, Qingdao is more advantageous as a trading port. The court’s choice of opening Qingdao is not bad. In addition, the Beiyang Navy is currently stationed in Leiden, so it is also a suitable choice to separate the military and business.

But Shanghai is different. Although Songjiang Prefecture is famous, it has always been famous only for its silk and textile industry. In addition, Songjiang Prefecture is close to Suzhou Prefecture, and Suzhou Prefecture belongs to Nanzhili. Although Songjiang Prefecture is rich, its political status is not high. It is not only overshadowed by Suzhou Prefecture, but also under the jurisdiction of Nanjing.

Songjiang Prefecture was like this, not to mention Shanghai County under Songjiang Prefecture. If you were not a local, you might not have even heard of the place name Shanghai. For most people, where exactly Shanghai belonged, where it was, and what it looked like, many people probably didn't know before the court determined it as a trading port.

But the situation is different now. Once Shanghai becomes a trading port, its status will inevitably be promoted. In addition, Shanghai's geographical location is right at the mouth of the Yangtze River, at the junction of Nanzhili and Zhejiang. Once Shanghai is built, its special advantages will undoubtedly be revealed.

At this point, Ma Yuan couldn't help but sigh at the sharp vision of the imperial court, which immediately discovered the importance of Shanghai and listed it as one of the trading ports. In his opinion, Shanghai became a trading port, gathering the north-south trade routes, and its future achievements were immeasurable. But also for this reason, the establishment of Shanghai as a trading port directly affected the entire Jiangnan region. If Ningbo in Zhejiang to the south is added, almost half of Jiangnan is included.

"Isn't this a good thing?" Wei Anding couldn't help but ask.

"This is naturally a good thing for the court and for the local areas as well, but it is not a good thing for some people." Ma Yuan said this meaningfully.

Nie Chi was the first to react. After all, his family was in business. Although he was a scholar, he was not completely ignorant of the family business. Sometimes, because of his status, he often helped his family deal with the government, so he was more familiar with business.

But Wei Anding was different. Although the Wei family was a prominent family in Songjiang and their businesses and shops were of considerable size, they were a noble family after all. Wei Anding was a pure scholar and did not usually participate in the buying and selling of their family businesses. Naturally, he did not know as much as Nie Chi.

Nie Chi understood what Ma Yuan meant, and asked tentatively, "Brother Ma, are you saying that the court's establishment of trading ports has affected some people's financial resources?"

Ma Yuan nodded slightly and said, "In fact, it's not just the trading ports. There were many opponents when the court decided to open up sea trade, but they were all suppressed by the current emperor and the court. In addition, the Ming Dynasty had financial problems at that time. The treasury was empty, there were rebellions inside, and the Jiannu were threatening outside. If we don't find a way to open up the flow to ease the financial situation, the Ming Dynasty will inevitably be in danger!"

"Since the opening of maritime and border trade, the Ming Dynasty's finances have gradually recovered, and the court's income has continued to increase in recent years due to the adjustment of commercial taxes. The country is prosperous and people's livelihood is stable. But this will affect the interests of some people. Do you remember the sensational Jiangnan case back then? These people were blinded by greed and actually transported supplies to the Jiannu to make a profit. In fact, the principle is the same." "Could it be that someone dares to risk the world's condemnation and do what they did back then?" Wei Anding exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course this is impossible." Ma Yuan shook his head and said, "How long has it been since the Jiangnan case? The emperor is a wise and intelligent emperor who will not tolerate any injustice. These people are not fools either. Of course they will not be so bold as to do this."

"If that's the case, then why did Brother Ma say...?" Wei Anding asked somewhat confused.

"Brother Wei, Brother Ma means that these people secretly bypass the court to engage in smuggling, avoid the court's increase in commercial taxes, and privately conduct maritime trade to profit from it." Nie Chi explained on the side.

When these words came out, Wei Anding was stunned for a moment, then he reacted.

"Is there anything else going on?"

Seeing Wei Anding's surprise, Nie Chi smiled bitterly and nodded. In fact, these things were not a secret. Basically, any family that had some business dealings with trade knew about it. The Wei family must also know about it, but Wei Anding didn't pay attention to these things on a daily basis, so it was understandable that he didn't know about it.

Now that the matter had been brought up, Ma Yuan did not hide it and told them that this matter had existed for a long time and was not even a secret.

Not to mention Jiangnan, even Fujian and Guangdong had similar situations. This kind of thing had been going on in secret long before the imperial court opened up maritime trade. After the imperial court opened up maritime trade, similar situations were everywhere.

However, compared with the more mature maritime trade in the north, maritime trade in Jiangnan and other places in the south is usually carried out bypassing the government, and private sea voyages can be seen everywhere. In particular, maritime trade is very profitable. In addition, more and more Westerners have come from Europe in recent years. Merchants transport a ship of goods from Jiangnan, and as long as they go down the coast to Macau or somewhere in the South China Sea for trading, they can make several times or even more profit with one transaction. Is there any business in the world that is more lucrative than this?

Relying on these, local gentry, big families and some officials have made a lot of money and eaten a lot of food for so many years. But since the court decided to set up trading ports, set up customs and rectify maritime trade, they naturally felt the crisis.

In fact, the commercial tax in the Ming Dynasty was not high. It used to be 30% tax, but now it is only 10%. Even if it has tripled, it is still very low compared to the 30% or 40% tax in later generations. Moreover, the profits from maritime trade, including import and export trade, are extremely lucrative. It is easy to get several times the profit from a trade. However, even so, many people are unwilling to hand over the silver they have earned to the court. They would rather take the risk of bypassing the court and smuggling privately to get more profits.

Previously, it was not a big problem. When officials and businessmen colluded to smuggle privately, local governments could turn a blind eye. However, once the trading ports were opened and customs were established, the situation was completely different. Moreover, according to the court's settings, the five major trading ports were not under the jurisdiction of local governments, but directly managed by the Zongli Yamen, which was directly responsible to the emperor. This made it impossible for local governments to intervene, which would affect their interests.

"A few days ago, I heard that Shi Dewei was quite dissatisfied with the imperial court's policy of setting up trading ports when he was drinking with others. He even said shamelessly that there are countermeasures for every policy, and even promised others that even if trading ports and customs were set up, he would be able to circumvent them."

"There is such a thing?" Nie Chi and others were greatly surprised and looked at each other in bewilderment. Shi Dewei, a mere military officer of a thousand households, actually said such a thing. Of course, it was not because of his status as a thousand households. After all, a thousand households have limited power, even if they have some power. But everyone knows who is behind Shi Dewei. When thinking about Shi Kefa's status in the officialdom and his connection with the local gentry, the answer is naturally revealed.

With a "bang", Wei Anding could not help but slapped his palm heavily and cursed angrily: "A dignified second-rank official of the court, a minister of integrity, is so despicable! Shi Kefa is a scholar who reads the books of sages, but he does such a dirty thing. Is he going against the court?"

"Haha, I won't go against him. Lord Shi is very smart. Besides, these words were said by Shi Dewei. Who can guarantee that they were Lord Shi's intentions? Moreover, this matter is different from the Jiangnan case. It is not aiding the enemy. Moreover, the private maritime trade has existed for a long time. Even if it is finally traced out, it is nothing more than the responsibility of lax supervision. Moreover, Lord Shi is the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Don't forget that the Nanjing Ministry of Justice is in charge of the power to arrest criminals in Jiangnan. Whether there is guilt or not is still up to the Ministry of Justice."

"This..." Wei Anding was stunned, with anger revealed on his face, but before he could curse again, Ma Yuan spoke up to persuade him, saying that he had only heard about this matter, and the details were not certain yet, not to mention that it involved high-ranking officials of the court and they could not comment on it privately. This matter was forgotten after they had heard about it, and the court had its own laws. Setting up trading ports and customs was a major event for the court, and it was under the charge of the Zongli Yamen. Don't forget that the Prime Minister was Zhang Xijun. Everyone knew who Zhang Xijun was. He was the main figure in the Jiangnan case back then, and he was in the emperor's favor, so he was definitely not someone who could be fooled so easily.

(End of this chapter)