Liu Zhao, who was lying on the ground, looked carefully left and right, and found that the emotions of the merchants around him had been stirred up by the emperor, and they fell into a certain kind of resentment towards the people in Jiangnan.

For this situation, Liu Zhao could only give up the insistence that was not firm in his heart. As a cloth merchant, he had many connections with the Qin Palace.

Zhu Yiluo, the Ziyang King who managed the Qin Palace, used the privileges of the palace to earn a lot of commercial benefits, and was naturally opposed to Chongzhen's idea of levying commercial taxes.

But although Zhu Yiluo has a strong personality, he also knows that his bloodline is very distant from the main branch, and there is no family affection between him and Chongzhen.

Naturally, he did not dare to openly oppose Chongzhen's idea of collecting taxes, so he asked Liu Zhao, who was not very close to the royal government, to come forward and contact the merchant representatives of Shaanxi and northern Shaanxi to oppose the idea of levying commercial taxes at the meeting.

Although Liu Zhao really wanted to fulfill Zhu Yiluo's entrustment, but now seeing the expressions of the other businessmen around him, he also understood that his mission had failed.

Before these Shaanxi merchants came to Beijing, they all thought that they were one of the merchants, and they naturally stood against the tax.

However, after the emperor's speech, these merchant representatives suddenly felt that the biggest benefit from opposing the levy of commercial taxes was not themselves, but the richest merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, and this recognition suddenly made them lose the motivation to oppose the levy of commercial taxes.

However, many businessmen with more flexible brains are keenly aware that if the imperial court can really use the commercial taxes it receives to build water conservancy and roads in Shaanxi, it will undoubtedly increase a lot of business opportunities for them.

Zhu Youzhen felt that these businessmen no longer seemed to be so resistant to him, so he continued.

In the long run, Shaanxi is barren land, but densely populated, and if you want to solve the problem of eating for the people of Shaanxi, you also need to find a way outside agriculture.

The so-called relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, relying on the water to eat the water. Shaanxi is located in a border area, and the solution to economic problems is to develop border trade.

Of course, the so-called border trade is not only the tea and horse trade, but we also cannot only focus on the surrounding Mongolian tribes. The Silk Road to the Western Regions during the Han and Tang dynasties made Chang'an the most prosperous capital in the world.

If we can reopen the Silk Road and cross the areas occupied by these Mongol tribes, we will be able to reach the rich Transoxiana, Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and even Europe.

Shaanxi will be able to regain the glory of the Han and Tang dynasties, and you will become a wealthy merchant with the same importance as Shanxi and Huizhou merchants. ”

Tian Changhao's eyes suddenly lit up, but soon dimmed again, and he said cautiously: "Your Majesty probably doesn't know that there is tension between the Weitra Mongols and Gushi Khan of the Shuote tribe at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and the Khalkha tribe of the Khalkha tribe of the Khalkha tribe who occupies Qinghai, and there is a suspicion of a major war.

At the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, the Mongolian Jungar tribe was the most powerful, but the year before last, the son of the leader of the Dzungar tribe, Halakula, died, and the other sons of the Mongolian leader had a large-scale infighting in order to rob the dead brother's property.

This infighting was not only within the Dzungar tribe, but also involved the Turghut and Dulbert tribes, cutting off the trade routes to the Western Regions.

Moreover, as far as the villain knows, the alliance of the Mongol tribes of Vetra was not only at war with the Russians to the west, but also with the Yarkand Khanate, which occupied the southern part of the Tien Shan Mountains and the areas east and south of Lake Balkhash.

The Turpan and Hami regions leading from Hezhou to the Dzungar tribe are now in the hands of the Yarkand Khanate, and within the Yarkand Khanate, there is also a war between brothers for the throne. ”

Zhu Youzhen subconsciously said: "In other words, the trade route from Hezhou to the Western Regions has been cut off?" ”

Tian Changhao lowered his head and replied, "That's right, Your Majesty." ”

After Zhu Youzhen was silent for a while, he laughed a few times before he said: "If you use your personal strength, this war-filled business route will naturally be cut off.

But have you ever thought that if you can join forces, with the support of Da Ming behind you, this trade route may not be cut off.

Although I am now in a difficult situation at home and abroad, there are still three catties of nails in the rotten ship. With the past reputation of the Ming Dynasty, the countries of the Western Regions would never openly rob the caravans with the Ming Mission. ”

Tian Changhao couldn't laugh or cry, he had to explain again: "But Your Majesty, the soldiers are in chaos, and those chaotic soldiers and horse thieves will not admit that the caravan is the mission of the Ming Dynasty." ”

Zhu Youzhen said indifferently: "I want to rectify the Ming army recently, and the Shaanxi border army may also have to adjust a lot of personnel." These border soldiers served in the border fortress, and they were all veterans who had seen the battle formation.

I can organize these retired veterans into guards to protect the caravan, as long as the countries of the Western Regions do not openly send troops to attack the caravan, they must always be able to protect the caravan's safety. ”

Tian Changhao, who had no hope of reopening the Silk Road, was stunned. If there are these sergeants from the border army as the escorts of the caravan, even if the entire Silk Road cannot be opened, there is still a great opportunity to pass through the areas of the Yarkand Khanate and the alliance of the Weitra Mongol tribes.

Even the other merchant representatives began to discuss the possibility of the emperor imagining a realization.

Zhu Youzhen seemed to have found a way of thinking, and continued to say openly: "The Mongolian tribes in southern Mongolia, like Shaanxi, have also been affected by disasters year after year.

Instead of waiting for these Mongolian tribes to break through the barrier with hunger and cold, the people of Shaanxi will be even worse. It is better for us to take the initiative and hire these Mongol tribes to escort the caravan of the Ming Dynasty.

What's more, as the saying goes, the Yellow River is only rich in one set of harms. The land in the Houtao Plain is fertile, and there is water from the Yellow River to irrigate, but the Mongols do not know how to farm, and can only use it for grazing, which can be described as a tyrannical thing.

If we can establish trade relations with these Mongol tribes, what could be more cost-effective than renting land for farming? In the past, these Mongolian tribes were able to support themselves through grazing, but now natural disasters are frequent, and they are even more severely affected than our Ming Dynasty. I believe that the current Mongols should not be so backbone. ”

Zhu Youzhen's words made the minds of these Shaanxi businessmen begin to liven. Chongzhen painted a wonderful blueprint for them, as if they could pick the sweet fruit with just one stretch of their hand.

However, the strict control of the border trade in the past by the Ming Dynasty made these merchants worry whether the emperor's idea would soon be overturned by those civil officials.

After all, the current tea and horse trade is basically in the pockets of the frontier marshals and royal nobles. Even if they have the support of the emperor, they may not be able to snatch food from the tiger's mouth.

Tian Changhao thought about it, and finally wanted to give it a go. He is a big tea merchant in Hanzhong, and the scale of the tea and horse trade has become smaller and smaller over the years, if it continues like this, those tea trees on his tea mountain will really have to be cut down for firewood.

"Xiaomin wants to ask Your Majesty, what kind of charter is this joint organization of a caravan?" Tian Changhao mustered up the courage to ask.

Seeing that someone finally answered his words, Zhu Youzhen's heart suddenly became relieved, and he immediately said: "I think that we can establish a border trading company according to shares. I have one share, the guard company has one share, and the court has one share.

The personnel, weapons and equipment of the guards were provided by the imperial court, and the border trade companies could use the names of me and the Ming Dynasty when dealing with the Mongolian ministries or the countries of the Western Regions. ”

The merchants thought about it for a while, thinking that if the imperial court could really provide so many conveniences, it would not be too much to share 30% of the profits.

Liu Zhao was also a little moved, he rolled his eyes, and suddenly asked, "Then Your Majesty, how should the taxes of the trading company here be calculated?" ”

Liu Zhao's question also attracted many businessmen, and they all turned their eyes to Chongzhen, expecting his answer.

Zhu Youzhen touched his nose and said: "Formulating taxes, this is the task of the conference, since I have summoned you to the meeting, I will not forget my promise."

However, in my opinion, different goods should be taxed differently. The tax on luxury goods is higher, and the ordinary livelihood goods are naturally lower.

Moreover, what the merchant representative said before also has some truth, if some profiteers are allowed to harm people with fake and shoddy goods, this will continue to damage the reputation of our Ming Dynasty, and may also affect our relations with those border tribes.

I believe that the number of border trade companies should be strictly controlled, and the quality of the goods of these companies should be checked from time to time, and the border trade qualifications of companies that have ruined our reputation with counterfeit and shoddy goods should be revoked.

We will reform the Tea and Horse Division and rebuild a national agency to regulate export trade. Every company that carries out outbound trade must be registered and provided with an account of the company's cash flows..."

Chongzhen succeeded in convincing 40 merchant delegates representing Shaanxi and northern Shaanxi to support the emperor's proposed commercial tax reform measures at the following merchants' congress.

In March, the Shandong Peninsula is inland, and the inland is a warm sunny spring season, and a verdant mountain forest comes into view. However, the coastal areas are still cold and cold, like winter.

In a fishermen's village outside Penglai Harbor, a subordinate of a river mooring office is gathering the fishermen in the village to read out the new fishery management regulations issued by the imperial court.

“… Those who join the fishing company are exempted from paying 036 taels of silver per year. and no longer undertake other additional conscriptions, settlements, and tributes..."

Although this subordinate was wearing a cotton robe, he still felt that his hands and feet were about to go numb under the sea breeze, and his nose was so cold that his snot ran down.

When he finally finished reading the proclamation, he wanted to hide in the village chief's house to warm up, but the nearly 100 fishermen below were unwilling to let him go, and they asked about many contents of the proclamation.

In the past, the officials of the river anchorage came to the village, either to collect taxes or to ask for benefits, but today they have changed their temperament and want to give benefits to these fishermen, which makes the fishermen a little unbelievable.

After answering more than a dozen questions from the fishermen, the official finally couldn't help it, beckoned the village chief into the house, and asked the fishermen to send representatives into the house to inquire.