There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 321 Dissolving the Huizhou Merchants
They chopped off thousands of heads at once; it was brutal, but the effect was immediate.

These rebel troops, who were flying the banner of the Han army, had committed all sorts of atrocities in Huizhou Prefecture, and the people of Huizhou hated them. As a result, the Han army was also resented.

Now, the Han army's leader first punished the rioting troops and helped them avenge themselves, then distributed land to them and led them to fight against local tyrants and bullies.

In this way, the people's hatred towards the Han army was quickly dispelled and erased.

Those who did many bad things and caused them great harm before were the fake Han army; the ones who are helping them now are the real Han army.

After appeasing and calming the grievances of the people of Huizhou, Yang Fang finally had time to have a detailed talk with the Huizhou merchants.

These Hui merchants had been so terrified by Yang Fang's brutal killings over the past few days that they dared not make any more trouble or try to bargain.

What they care about most now is the attitude of the Han Dynasty towards them, the Hui merchants.

The "New Laws of the Great Han Dynasty" that Chen Lin had shown them earlier did indeed mention the specific rules and regulations governing commerce in the Great Han Dynasty.

If we only look at the laws and policies on paper, the Han Dynasty not only did not suppress commercial activities in the slightest, but was quite tolerant and even provided some support.

You can believe this stuff, but you can't believe it completely.

Systems are rigid, but people are flexible. The Ming and Qing dynasties did not suppress commerce as much, but merchants in those dynasties still faced great difficulties.

It's not that making money is difficult, but that preserving wealth is extremely difficult.

What's the use of making money if you can't keep it? It's all nonsense.

Several wealthy salt merchants in Yangzhou were persecuted to death by the Qing government, who exploited them relentlessly.

When the Tartar emperor went south, the salt merchants had to spend money to build palaces and provide accommodations and meals. When the court was at war, the salt merchants and Huizhou merchants who could be named had to contribute money to support the war effort.

Historically, during the ten years of the White Lotus Rebellion, merchants from Huizhou and Yangzhou contributed tens of millions of taels of silver to support the uprising, almost squeezing the merchants on both sides dry.

Before Li Fenghan, the puppet Qing governor-general of Liangjiang who had already died in battle, went south, he extorted a large sum of money from Yangzhou salt merchants and Huizhou merchants under the guise of providing military aid.

Who told them that the Huizhou merchants had made a fortune in the past two years by relying on the "Han salt" of the Han people? In the eyes of the puppet Qing government, they were like pigs that had grown fat and were ready to be slaughtered.

Yang Fang didn't see anything wrong with the concerns about the Hui merchants. Even he thought that since the merchants didn't engage in production, they should be severely reprimanded.

Yang Fang said, "The Prince of Han has already decided on how to deal with you Huizhou merchants: the Huizhou merchants can be preserved, but the Huizhou merchants cannot be preserved."

After those two sentences were spoken, all the businessmen present were completely bewildered.

What do you mean by "can be saved" and "cannot be saved"? Don't they understand?

Unsure, Wang Xingye immediately asked Yang Fang, "What does it mean that Huizhou merchants can survive? And what does it mean that Huizhou merchants cannot survive?"

Yang Fang said, “Our Great Han is not a pseudo-Qing, and the King of Han has no intention of exploiting the Huizhou merchants to the bone or driving them to extinction. As long as the Huizhou merchants do not do evil and abide by the law, they can conduct business legitimately in our Great Han without worrying about the government’s unwarranted exploitation and suppression.”

Upon hearing this, the Huizhou merchants all breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, as long as the Han Dynasty could provide them with...

They were already incredibly grateful if they were given a way out.

As for exploitation and oppression, they are used to it. Since ancient times, no official has been without corruption. Isn't the purpose of being an official to embezzle the tribute money in their hands?

Yang Fang, being a scholar by birth and having worked his way up with Yang Yuchun, could easily see through what these people were thinking. He immediately said sternly, "Although our Great Han does not suppress normal business, you merchants must also know to abide by the law. From now on, smuggling and bribery are strictly prohibited within the territory of our Great Han. Anyone who violates this rule will be severely punished!"

Wang Xingye quickly took the lead in guaranteeing, "General, rest assured, we merchants will certainly abide by the law!" "Yes, yes, smuggling and bribery are definitely unacceptable."

"..."

The group of merchants behind them followed suit, bowing in response.

After saying that, he secretly pondered to himself, if smuggling is not allowed within the territory of the Han Dynasty, then it should be allowed outside the territory of the Han Dynasty, right?
Not only within China, but also in provinces and territories not yet controlled by the Han Dynasty, there are trade channels with foreign lands. No matter how wide the Han Emperor's jurisdiction is, he cannot control these places.

Nie Yu has drafted a new law to control smuggling, but it is unlikely to be very effective in the short term.

On the one hand, smuggling is profitable, and Nie Yu's prohibition of smuggling is cutting off people's source of income.

On the other hand, many ordinary people, including those living on the coast, relied on smuggling to support their families.

He's now banning smuggling, which is tantamount to cutting off their livelihoods. It's a miracle these people haven't rebelled against him.

If the Han Dynasty truly wants to crack down on smuggling by merchants, the first priority is to solve the livelihood problems of the people involved in smuggling, and to make the merchants who lead the smuggling operations realize that they can make a profit even without smuggling.

Smuggling wasn't purely about making money; merchants also needed to cultivate relationships with superiors and subordinates. Moreover, during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods of complete isolation, the amount of money smugglers spent on bribes alone might have exceeded the daily customs taxes they had to pay.

Smugglers are happy to do it, partly because smuggling is profitable, and partly because they are afraid of having to pay customs taxes and continue to spend money to bribe officials.

It's much more straightforward to smuggle directly; you only need to bribe the authorities once.

Nie Yu already had ideas on how to control smuggling, which boiled down to three points: establishing a navy, opening up customs, and clarifying the tax system.

Yang Fang continued, "Although the King of Han has no problem with the Huizhou merchants, he does have a lot of problems with them. In this uprising in Huizhou Prefecture, you Huizhou merchants gathered a crowd and captured this city for our Great Han, and even captured the false Qing prefect and the provincial inspector alive. Your contributions are invaluable. However, the rebel army you gathered is too disorganized, has poor discipline, and has been abusing the banner of our Great Han to harm the people."

"The King of Han is furious and has ordered me, General, to come to Huizhou City to take charge of the situation. Moreover, the Huizhou merchants must be disbanded!"

After holding back for a long time, they finally got to the point: the King of Han wanted to demolish the Huizhou merchants' property, and he did it right away, giving them no time to react.

Of course, even if they were given time, they couldn't do anything. The Han Dynasty was too powerful. They couldn't just rebel to do business!
A middle-aged businessman suddenly raised his hand and asked, "If the Huizhou merchants are dissolved, how will we Huizhou merchants do business in the future?"

“Abide by the law and conduct business normally,” Yang Fang said.

The merchant continued, "After the Huizhou merchants disbanded, can they re-establish a chamber of commerce to cooperate in doing business?"

Although the Hui merchants were a merchant group organized by geographical connections, many of them also formed close-knit cliques and communities of interest in private.

If the cord is severed, death is not guaranteed, but massive bleeding is certain.

“Yes,” Yang Fang gave a clear reply, which was also the situation that the King of Han had anticipated. “Although the Huizhou merchants have disbanded, if you merchants want to cooperate in business, you can naturally go to the government to register the chamber of commerce again.”

After saying that, Yang Fang continued with a cold laugh: "Of course, you don't need to think about finding any loopholes. My Great Han is not ignorant of you Huizhou merchants. Whether you are reorganizing the Chamber of Commerce to do business, or using the reorganization of the Chamber of Commerce as a pretext to rebuild the Huizhou merchant group and engage in business monopoly, my Great Han can still see it."

"Of course! Of course!" The middle-aged businessman nodded repeatedly, then sat down with a slightly guilty look on his face.

More businessmen got up one after another, all asking how to legally do business in the new dynasty.

Yang Fang patiently answered all the questions, and by the time she finished, it was almost evening.

(End of this chapter)