Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 748 Understanding Each Other's Hearts

Gao Yingqiu carefully pondered his godfather's words, his brows furrowing slightly. He seemed to understand somewhat, yet not quite.

Gao Shiming didn't explain further, but simply patted his godson's shoulder lightly before turning and walking to his seat. He lifted the hem of his plain official robe and sat down steadily: "If you can't figure it out, then don't think about it. You'll understand sooner or later."

"Yes, son will remember Godfather's teachings." Gao Yingqiu bowed. After a pause, seeing that Gao Shiming seemed unwilling to speak further, he asked, "If Godfather has no other instructions, son will take his leave now."

"No rush." ​​Gao Shiming leaned back in his chair, his deep gaze fixed on Gao Yingqiu's face. "Tell me again, what do you think of today's meeting?"

Gao Yingqiu felt that the meeting was really unremarkable, even somewhat superfluous—if it was just to inform the Western merchants of the news of the Minister of Revenue's arrival, it could have been stated directly in the letter sent yesterday, why bother getting up early to entertain them.

Gao Yingqiu certainly didn't dare to say these things directly, so he could only vaguely say, "It's very good. Those Western merchants are respectful and earnest, and they will definitely rely on Godfather even more in the future."

"Heh," Gao Shiming scoffed, a mocking smile curving his lips. His expression seemed to say, "That's it?"

Gao Yingqiu's heart skipped a beat when he was stung by Gao Shiming's gaze. He quickly bowed and asked, "Your son is dull-witted, please enlighten me, godfather."

“That foreign merchant surnamed Wu said that a journey from Zhangzhou to Tianjin by ship takes at least a month and costs a thousand taels of silver.” Gao Shiming tapped his fingertips lightly on the armrest of his chair. “Why do you think those profit-driven merchants would willingly make this trip?”

Gao Yingqiu was taken aback, only then realizing that this was what his godfather was asking. Without hesitation, he replied, "Merchants are profit-driven. The fact that they are willing to do this means that even after deducting the cost of one thousand taels, or even three thousand taels, it is still profitable!"

“Hmm, that’s right.” Gao Shiming nodded slightly, then asked, “If their ship wasn’t carrying grain or crude iron that they couldn’t sell in Yuegang, would they still be willing to travel for an extra month and spend an extra thousand taels of silver?”

"As long as it can make money, I think they would be willing, right?" Gao Yingqiu thought for a moment.

“Making less is a loss, and they won’t be willing to do that.” Gao Shiming chuckled and shook his head. “Time is money, and the sea route is dangerous. Why would they choose to travel thousands of miles to the north when they can easily make money right at their doorstep?”

Gao Yingqiu was not stupid after all. He quickly recalled the scene when his godfather asked Amato about the business in Yuegang. He asked thoughtfully, "Does Godfather mean that even if Tianjin opens as a treaty port, foreign merchants will still purchase silk, tea, porcelain and textiles in Yuegang, and only transport the grain and iron that they cannot sell locally to Tianjin?"

“That’s right!” Gao Shiming’s eyes gleamed. “Think about it, a fully loaded ship, sailing from Fujian to Tianjin, takes a month and costs a thousand taels of silver. Then it returns from Tianjin to Fujian, taking the same amount of time and costing the same amount. That round trip takes two months, and two thousand taels of silver are thrown in!” Gao Shiming paused slightly, leaning forward a little.
"If I were the ship owner, my hold wouldn't be filled with rice, iron, and other goods, but with a whole ship of silver that could be exchanged for silk and porcelain right there in Yuegang! Why would I waste two months and two thousand taels of silver, going all the way to Tianjin to do a deal that could have been done in Yuegang? I dare say that if they could exchange those Southeast Asian grains and ironware for silver in Yuegang and then buy the silk and porcelain there, they wouldn't even bother to ask which way the gates of Tianjin Port open!"

Gao Yingqiu nodded in deep agreement. But then he looked up, a hint of confusion in his eyes: "But it's not a big deal, is it? What Liaodong wants is their grain and crude iron, isn't it? They can continue their silk and porcelain business in the south, while we buy grain and iron here. It's a win-win situation, isn't it?"

"Foolish child!" Gao Shiming couldn't help but roll his eyes, his expression one of utter disappointment. "Do you think that His Majesty issued the decree to open the port of Tianjin, station officials, and strengthen coastal defenses just to buy a little bit of grain and crude iron, and then smuggle it to Liaodong?"

Gao Yingqiu was stumped by the question: "Then what else do we need to do?"

Gao Shiming did not answer directly, but instead asked, "I ask you, why does our bank want to open a branch in Tianjin, or rather, Tanggu?"

“Of course, it’s for collecting cash and issuing banknotes,” Gao Yingqiu replied without hesitation, but he quickly lost confidence under Gao Shiming’s gaze. “Isn’t this the established procedure in the palace?”

“Yes. We collect cash and issue banknotes.” Gao Shiming looked at his godson’s bewildered expression. “Don’t you understand?”

"I understand." Gao Yingqiu tried to understand his godfather's words: "Godfather, are you saying that the bank's opening of a branch in Tanggu was actually a waste of effort?"

"Useless effort?" Gao Shiming was taken aback, then sighed with a hint of exasperation, "Hey! His Majesty is a man of great talent and strategy, with flawless plans. How could he possibly be doing something useless! Can't you think about it more carefully?"

Gao Yingqiu's mind seemed blocked, unable to process what he was hearing. He continued along his previous train of thought, "According to the rules set by the palace, foreigners who want to do business in Tianjin need to go to the bank and exchange their silver for banknotes. But you just said that if those merchants can do business in Yuegang, they won't transport their silver to Tianjin for trading. Isn't that just doing nothing?" He stopped abruptly, as if choked by the words he hadn't said. His eyes widened suddenly, and a look of sudden realization appeared on his face!

“It seems,” Gao Shiming smiled with satisfaction, “that you’ve finally come to your senses.”

"What does Godfather mean?" Gao Yingqiu stared at Gao Shiming, subconsciously lowering his voice, "that His Majesty will order the closure of Yuegang Port later?"

“That’s right.” Gao Shiming nodded. “What can be bought in the North, can also be bought in the South, and even better. If Yuegang is not shut down, the court will not be able to collect silver in Tianjin, and the Tanggu branch will really become, as you said, the eyes of a blind man and the ears of a deaf man—just for show. His Majesty is wise and insightful, and he will not fail to think of this, so he will inevitably shut down Yuegang and monopolize Tianjin.”

Following this line of thought, Gao Yingqiu pondered for a moment, then asked with a puzzled look, "But... if the imperial court wants to replenish the national treasury with silver, why not just set up an office in Yuegang to collect taxes, or have our bank open a branch there? Wouldn't that be more direct?"

"Set up a tax office in Yuegang? Hmph!" Gao Shiming sneered. "A while ago, I specifically went to the Imperial Archives to check the ship tax revenue that Yuegang has paid to the court since it opened as a port. Do you know how much it is?"

“I don’t know,” Gao Yingqiu shook his head blankly, “You didn’t take me with you.”

"In the first year of the Longqing reign, the year the port opened, Yuegang paid 6,000 taels of tax to the court," Gao Shiming said, a look of reminiscence on his face. "It kept increasing afterward, reaching over 29,000 taels by the 22nd year of the Wanli reign. Later, when Japanese pirates invaded Korea, Yuegang was temporarily closed to prevent them from invading from Fujian and Zhejiang. After the pirate raids, Yuegang reopened, and its annual revenue stabilized at around 25,000 taels, but it was all intercepted by Fujian for military support and defense against the pirates." "Intercepted by Fujian?" Gao Yingqiu said. "In other words, the court can't collect a single tael of tax now?"

“Even if they did receive it, it wouldn’t be much. Twenty or thirty thousand taels a year, to put it bluntly, is just the cost of sailing twenty or thirty large ships from Zhangzhou to Tianjin. This amount of silver probably doesn’t even cover the value of a single shipment! I don’t know exactly how much profit Yuegang generates or how much tax revenue it provides in a year, but I’m certain it’s far more than a mere twenty or thirty thousand. Isn’t that huge difference swallowed up by layers of exploitation and corruption by local wealthy merchants, officials, and clerks?” As Gao Shiming spoke, he picked up the inkstone and ink stick from his desk and began grinding ink. The ink stick swirled in the inkwell, making a soft rustling sound.

"Zhangzhou has been a port for a century, with mature trade routes and entrenched interests. Rather than trying every means and expending energy to snatch the meager tax revenue from the mouths of those local bullies in Fujian, thousands of miles away, it would be better to start afresh, open a port in another location, and trade and accumulate wealth in Tianjin, which is right under the emperor's nose!"

Seeing his godfather grinding ink himself, Gao Yingqiu quickly stepped forward and stretched out his hand: "Godfather, let your son do it."

Gao Shiming did not refuse, and handed the inkstone to Gao Yingqiu, pushing it in front of him. Then, he spread out a piece of plain paper in front of him, his fingertips unconsciously tapping lightly on the paper.

Gao Yingqiu took the ink stick and skillfully added some water to the inkstone: "What is Godfather going to write? Does he need his son to do it for him?"

“I’m going to write down what I just said in a memorial.” Gao Shiming turned his head to look at the inkstone, his gaze following the ink stick. “A memorial requesting the closure of Yuegang and its relocation as a port.”

"Godfather, didn't you just say that His Majesty would definitely order the closure of Yuegang?" Gao Yingqiu asked with some doubt, but his hands, which were grinding ink, did not stop. "Since His Majesty has made up his mind, we only need to wait for the decree. Why do we still need to submit a memorial to request it?"

“Foolish child. If we merely passively obey orders, how will the Emperor see us and know that we are of one mind with him?” Gao Shiming smiled gently and took a writing brush from the brush holder.

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Gao Yingqiu came down from the manager's office on the third floor, walking briskly through the lobby, lifting the curtain leading to the back courtyard, and slipping inside. Those Western merchants had come to visit early in the morning, delaying his routine tasks like checking the inventory and settling accounts; he needed to catch up quickly.

In the lobby, He Xiaokui, with his head down, kept secretly glancing at Gao Yingqiu's figure until the curtain fell, at which point he finally snapped out of his reverie.

Gao Yingqiu's continued disregard caused He Xiaokui's recently calmed anxiety to surge again. He couldn't help but think: The foreign merchants left so calmly, and neither Eunuch Gao nor Gao Yingqiu came looking for me... It seems the foreign merchants didn't even mention the two taels of silver notes? Then... then does that mean I... don't have to hand them over?
He subconsciously touched his chest, and the silver notes in his arms seemed to have cooled down.

The idea grew wildly in He Xiaokui's mind like weeds, making him both excited and apprehensive.

Just as He Xiaokui was wavering and hesitant, the curtain was suddenly lifted again. Gao Yingqiu reappeared in the hall. He glanced around and finally fixed his gaze on He Xiaokui: "He Xiaokui."

This call was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky for He Xiaokui! He shuddered violently, as if struck by lightning! His heart leaped into his throat, and his limbs went numb. He hurriedly responded, "Yes! Yes!" He shuffled to Gao Yingqiu almost simultaneously, bowing deeply, and asked in a dry voice, "Young...Young Master, what...what are your orders?"

"Tsk." Gao Yingqiu frowned. "Didn't I say that the bank is a business of the palace? Don't call him Young Master, call him Vice President."

"Oh! Please forgive me, Vice President," He Xiaokui hurriedly nodded and corrected himself, "What are your instructions, Vice President?"

"Nothing else to tell me." Gao Yingqiu, seeing his overly nervous appearance, thought he had frightened him, so he softened his tone slightly. "I just want to ask you something."

He Xiaokui's heart eased a little, but he dared not relax his breath at all. He kept his head down, swallowed hard, and said respectfully, "Please ask, Vice President. I... I will answer whatever I know."

Gao Yingqiu opened his mouth, but then suddenly felt it was a bit foolish—what could a lowly messenger possibly know? But then he thought, since he was already there, it wouldn't hurt to ask casually: "A-Kui, when you delivered a letter to the merchant guild yesterday, did you see that interpreter named—" Gao Yingqiu paused and thought for a moment, "...Wang Zheng?"

He Xiaokui was stunned for a moment, his mind racing: Wang Zheng? That schoolteacher? Why was he suddenly asked about him? Was it related to the silver notes? That's right! It was Wang Zheng who whispered a few words in Wu Dongzhu's ear yesterday, and that's why Wu Dongzhu gave him two silver notes.

He Xiaokui was terrified, and his breathing became more and more rapid, but he dared not lie. In the end, he forced out two words: "I...I've seen you."

Gao Yingqiu was somewhat surprised: "Oh? You went into the trading house?" In his mind, someone like He Xiaokui, who was just a gofer, would have completed his task by handing the letter to the gatekeeper.

“They’ve gone in, sir…” He Xiaokui nodded woodenly, instinctively telling a lie, “They invited me in.”

Gao Yingqiu didn't think too much about it, assuming it was just that the foreign merchants valued the bank and were being polite. "Do you know what that Wang Zheng does?"

"He should be a teacher," He Xiaokui thought for a moment.

"A teacher?" Gao Yingqiu was taken aback. "Teach what? Are there foreign kids in the trading post?"

“Well… I don’t know if there are any foreign children in the trading post. When I went there, the gatekeeper told me that his master and servants were listening to a teacher’s lesson and asked me to wait a moment.” He Xiaokui paused abruptly, then changed his story and lied, “I sat for a while, and then the foreign merchants brought out that Wang Zheng. After that, when I spoke to the foreign merchants, he would first listen to their foreign language and then translate it into Chinese for me. So I think this Wang Zheng must be the teacher the foreigners invited to teach Chinese.”

(End of this chapter)