Chapter 338 Jia Qiang returns to Beijing and sees Charlie again
Leaving Qin Shi and Ban'er waiting in the house, Jia Lan took Wu Gui and they traveled lightly, and soon arrived at the place mentioned in Jia Qiang's letter, a shop located in an ordinary street.
Jia Qiang had just stopped him and the door was still closed. Jia Lan stepped forward and knocked on the door a few times. Soon the wooden door was pushed open and it was Jia Qiang who opened the door herself.
"Lang Ge'er! Haha, I finally see you."
"Brother Qiang, it's been a long time indeed."
The two people who had been separated for many days were overjoyed to meet again. Jia Qiang led Jia Lan into a small courtyard behind the store. Unexpectedly, the store Jia Qiang bought had quite a lot of space. Such a place
The shop with a small courtyard is considered to be a top-notch choice in Shenjing City.
While the two were talking, they walked into a wing in the inner courtyard. Charlie Lovexue had already changed into Han Chinese clothes and sat inside, looking around curiously.
Seeing Jialan, Charlie happily came over, shook hands with him, and greeted him in half-baked Chinese: "Dear Mr. Bachelor, I am very happy to see you again."
Although the scholar and the bachelor are two completely incomparable concepts, the missionary Matteo Ricci in the pre-Ming Dynasty related the two. In fact, in Matteo Ricci's eyes, he believed that "the academic degree of a scholar is not the same as our academic degree."
A bachelor's degree is equivalent." But from the perspective of Jia Lan's successor, the two are not the same concept at all.
"Mr. Luo's Chinese has really improved a lot." After shaking hands, Jia Lan praised with a smile.
When he first entered the room, he noticed that Charlie was the only one in the room, and there was not even a translator, which proved that Charlie was proficient in Chinese.
"Although Eastern languages are broad and profound, if you can find some tips, it's not difficult to get started."
Jia Lan laughed: "You can already use idioms. Obviously Mr. Luo's Chinese is much more than just getting started."
Charlie showed a somewhat proud smile when he heard the compliment. He is French and does not like to show off by nature. Naturally, he is not as modest as a Chinese. In his eyes, excellence should be praised. This is normal.
matter.
The three of them chatted for a while, and then Jia Qiang returned to the topic: "Brother Lan, when I return to Beijing this time, I mainly think it would be better to discuss some things with you in person."
Although the profits of maritime trade are huge, the competition is also very fierce. Most of them are basically controlled by several maritime trade groups. There are many people and complex relationships. From the capital to the localities, a huge network of relationships is woven into it. What's more
There were also people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs involved.
Jia Lan nodded slightly. He had already expected that people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs would be involved in maritime trade.
Under the Xia Chengming system, the Great Xia Dynasty almost copied all the systems of the previous Ming Dynasty. However, under the governance of several Ming monarchs, the court's ability to control local areas could still be maintained. The most important point is that the Great Xia Dynasty did not have the two-capital system. Jiangning
Although the city is still the leading important town in the entire south, it has lost its ability to compete with the imperial court politically.
In this alone, the imperial court took back a lot of financial and taxation power, and the palace's control over the two rivers was greatly strengthened through the three major weaving agencies dispatched. Under such a general background, if the Ministry of Internal Affairs had no power at all
Jialan would never believe that he was involved in Nanyang maritime trade.
Although the palace did not send weaving officers to Guangnan, it did send guarding officers.
The power of the internal officials of the Great Xia Dynasty was much weaker than that of the previous Ming Dynasty. In addition to the censors stationed in various military towns in the Four Kings and Nine Borders, there were no internal officials stationed there. However, in several places such as Guangnan, there were eunuchs stationed to guard them.
This is enough to show the philosophy of the Xia Dynasty emperor. The emperor can not restrict too much in the command of border towns, but the palace must have a certain degree of control over the financial power of a land with great wealth.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs came into being.
In the former Ming Dynasty, the imperial court regarded the eunuchs as the chief ceremonial officer as the most respected person. However, in the Great Xia Dynasty, the chief rites eunuchs lost their power to criticize the emperor, and were also deprived of their power to manage internal and external memorials and imperial affairs. They served as a channel for communication between the emperor and his cabinet ministers.
Although the Chief Supervisor of Ceremonies still has an important position, it is far inferior to the Internal Affairs Office of the 24 yamen of the Prime Minister's Inner Court.
There are as few as two or three, as many as eight or nine, ministers in charge of the internal affairs office. Firstly, because the affairs of the inner court are indeed complex, secondly, the chief minister of the internal affairs office is also given as a false title to meritorious ministers, and thirdly, the twelve supervisors of the inner palace can also be appointed.
to checks and balances.
The system of the Great Xia Dynasty reached its current situation through constant differentiation and checks and balances.
There are three weaving factories in Liangjiang, and there is a guarding palace in Guangnan to coordinate and handle various affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Jia Qiang mentioned that the relationships behind Nanyang trade are complicated. This is because after generations of management, many maritime merchants have direct or indirect relationships with the imperial court in one way or another. Some maritime merchants may be directly affiliated with the imperial merchants of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
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Through the vast network of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the authority when the new dynasty was first founded, the emperor gained a large amount of wealth by strengthening his control over local areas. At the same time, the imperial court also won the game with the localities and was able to recover considerable taxes and form the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
, the three-legged structure of the imperial court and the local government. The establishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs allowed civil servants to enter the inner court, while the internal officials who lost their power could only choose to unite to deal with the outside world, with the emperor mediating in the middle, achieving a delicate balance.
The essence of this balance is actually a balance in the division of power.
A hundred years after the founding of the country, although many long-term shortcomings have emerged in the Great Xia Dynasty, after experiencing the cruel baptism in the late Ming Dynasty, the society as a whole has recovered and improved. In layman's terms, the cake is still getting bigger. Although the speed is slow, it is indeed getting bigger.
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In Guangnan, in addition to the responsibility of guarding the Central Palace to appease the barbarians and calm the people, they also had a special mission, which was to supervise the taxation of Guangnan Customs. The strengthening and intervention of the imperial power directly enabled the Ministry of Internal Affairs to earn a lot of wealth from Guangnan.
, unlike the previous Ming Dynasty Emperor Wanli who had a heated argument with his ministers over customs duties of less than 30,000 taels of silver. At the same time, the intervention of the Ministry of Internal Affairs improved the efficiency of trade to a certain extent. Therefore, Guangnan Customs is known as the "Emperor's Southern Treasury".
called.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The problem that Jia Qiang faces now is that in Guangnan, where the power has been divided, it is okay to build a few ships to make small fuss, but if it continues to expand, it will inevitably
There was a direct conflict with local forces.
Another thing is that even if you want to increase the output of goods, there are only so many French ships in Luzon. Increasing the supply of goods will only lower the price of goods in the end.
The Francois were not taken advantage of. In addition to coming to Guangnan to understand the market in person, they also hired local people to mediate. Some Han Chinese who immigrated to Nanyang also participated in the maritime trade. As some people thought, they only needed to pull a string.
It is impossible for a ship to land in Luzon and sell whatever goods it wants for a huge sum. Westerners also know the market.
Those who can really control maritime trade are the huge maritime trading groups. They not only own fleets, industries, channels, and countless relationships. Therefore, when Jialan's trading company appeared, there was basically no wave.
The merchants, the nobles, and the imperial court paid little attention to it, thinking that this was just a game played by the young master.
You have a boat, but can you enjoy sea trade if you have a boat?
Where are the people? Where are the goods? Where are the factories that produce goods?
If the Xue family of Ziwei family is still the prosperous Xue family in the past, then Jia Lan may still pose some threat to them, but now the Xue family is struggling to maintain itself, what is there to be afraid of? Jia Lan really wants to
Let him hit the wall when he goes to sea.
The sea is not that safe!
Later, although there was a superb captain like Hedram, Jialan's trading company successfully made two or three trips to Luzon, but Jialan's trading company was still in the stage of small business.
"In order to raise goods for overseas shipment, in addition to signing supply agreements with local trading houses in Guangnan, I also bought several porcelain workshops locally and in Jiangyou to enrich and improve the trading company's system. Next, I plan to visit and purchase some porcelain in the Jiangnan area.
tea garden."
Jia Lan fully agreed with Jia Qiang's idea: "Don't be too eager to expand. First stabilize the basics and cultivate your own fleet. By the way, what about the people I sent to the south now?"
Years ago, Jia Lan, at the suggestion of Jiao Da, selected a group of people from Beizhuang who knew some water skills and sent them to Guangnan to learn how to operate sea ships.
"When they first met Mr. He, they were a little scared, thinking that they had met a white-haired ghost. After seeing many Westerners, they became accustomed to it. Mr. He said that these people are very disciplined and have good water skills.
, and willing to learn, he is an excellent seedling." After Jia Qiang finished speaking, Charlie on the side burst into laughter.