Yunxi said: "Do you think it is enough to just set up a shipping department in Shanghai?"
"I heard that many businessmen from Nanyang countries are wondering why they didn't open the sea in Guangdong, Yong and Jian provinces. The Zhao, Song, Mongolian and Yuan dynasties all set up shipping companies in these two provinces."
Who doesn't understand the meaning of Yunxi's words? Zhang Yanfang immediately said: "Your Majesty, I think that Guangdong and Yongjian are close to Nanyang, and most of the Ming Dynasty's foreign countries are also in Nanyang. It is also appropriate to establish a municipal shipping department in these two provinces. ."
Yang Ren looked at Zhang Yanfang with a slightly contemptuous and surprised expression, and was very surprised that he was the first to say such a thing. However, although Zhang Yanfang was the first to express his approval, he was not completely flattering.
Zhang Yanfang has been promoted to the Shanghai Shipping Department two years ago. Because he is very hard-working, he often hangs around the Shanghai Shipping Department. Sometimes he also meets with some powerful foreign businessmen, knowing that they will indeed complain about why the Shanghai Shipping Department was established. The Municipal Shipping Department was not in Guangdong and Fujian provinces. He had also thought about setting up the Municipal Shipping Department in these two provinces, so he blurted out the idea naturally at this time.
But regardless of whether Zhang Yanfang was flattering him or not, everyone agreed with him and agreed with him.
Yunxi smiled and said: "Since all your dear friends think that the Municipal Shipping Department should be established in Guangdong or Xingjian, I have decided to establish an additional Municipal Shipping Department in Guangdong."
After that, Yunxi waved his hand, and Huang Lu brought up a map of Guangdong Province. Yunxi spread the map on the table, asked all the officials present to come over, picked up a short wooden stick in his right hand, and placed it at the mouth of the Pearl River. He drew a circle and said: "I have decided that the new Shipping Department will be located here."
"This is? Dongguan County, Guangdong?" Wang Gen, who is very familiar with the geography of the country, said with a puzzled tone.
"Yes, this place now belongs to Dongguan County, Guangdong. However, the area I allocated was Bao'an County in the Song Dynasty. I decided to divide this area from Dongguan and set up the Bao'an Shipping Department. And the Bao'an Shipping Department was drawn from Guangdong , is not under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province." Yunxi said.
This place is, of course, the famous Shenzhen in later generations! Specifically, it is the place where Shekou Industrial Zone was established when it was first restructured. Although Guangdong's shipping companies have been set up in Guangzhou in the past, Yunxi was not used to it, and Shenzhen This location is not bad, so Yunxi imitated a great man and drew a circle here.
"Your Majesty, the previous Municipal Shipping Department in Guangdong was located in Tongguo County, Guangzhou. Why would Your Majesty set up the Municipal Shipping Department here?" Yang Ren asked doubtfully.
"Dear dear friends, Guangzhou is the seat of many government offices in Guangdong Province. Whether it is land acquisition or other problems, there are too many intertwined problems. It is better to paint on a blank piece of paper in Bao'an."
"Secondly, Shenzhen, no, Bao'an is also geographically good. It is located at the mouth of the Pearl River, and it is very convenient to travel from north to south."
"Third, if the Shipping Department is set up in Guangzhou, how can I get it to be separated from Guangdong?"
The last reason is not very clear to Yunxi, but everyone understands it: if the shipping department is set up in Tongguo County, Guangzhou, there will inevitably be entanglements in the attribution of tariffs. The tariffs will be transferred from the county and prefecture to Guangdong Province and then to Guangdong Province. You don't know how much will be missed when you get to the central government; but now 70% of the customs duties of the Shanghai Shipping Department go directly to the royal treasury, and 30% goes to the national treasury, so there won't be a penny lost.
At this time, Wang Gen, who had just studied the map again, pointed to a place and said: "Your Majesty, in that case, why not set up the Shipping Department here? It is close to the South China Sea, and there is no need to cross the Lingding Ocean. Wouldn't it be more convenient? When Shang Fengchen was in his hometown, he once heard the folks here say that this place has a very good port and is suitable for the location of the city's shipping department. Moreover, this place was also part of Bao'an County in the Song Dynasty."
Yunxi followed his finger and saw that the place he was pointing to was Hong Kong Island and Kowloon in later generations.
Of course, the geographical location of Hong Kong Island is also very good, but because it is said that Victoria Harbor in later generations is one of the three great harbors, Yunxi feels that it is more suitable to be a military port rather than a place for sea trade, and has planned to move Nanhaiwei to it in the future. As this is an important military base overlooking the South China Sea, it would naturally not be chosen as the location of the Municipal Shipping Department.
"I have other uses for this place and will not set up a shipping department here." Yunxi said. After hearing Yunxi's words, Wang Gen stopped talking.
None of the others were from Guangdong, nor were they familiar with Guangdong's geography. Seeing the only person who knew Guangdong's geography relatively well, they stopped talking and would not express any objections.
Yunxi then said: "In this case, the Shipping Department will be located in Bao'an."
Yunxi felt the exhilaration of "a great man drew a circle on the South China Sea and changed the fate of the people in a place", so Huang Lu put the map away again and began to discuss the personnel composition and organizational structure.
"I have decided to change the current system of the Municipal Shipping Department. First, establish a new yamen of the third rank in the central court, named Haiwuyuan. The chief officer is called the Yuanshi, the adjutant is called the Major Envoy, and there is one person on each side, and another Other subordinate officials. Moreover, this yamen is not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but directly under the imperial court."
"Now the name of the Shanghai Shipping Department remains unchanged, and the official system remains unchanged, but it is under the jurisdiction of the Maritime Administration." The permission was equivalent to the establishment of an additional treaty port under the jurisdiction of the Central General Customs.
"And at the same time, Shanghu County was abolished, and the other places in Shanghu County except where the City Shipping Division was located were re-assigned to Songjiang Prefecture. However, the people where the City Shipping Division is located are under the jurisdiction of the Shanghai Shipping Division, and these are collected by the City Shipping Division Yamen. The commercial taxes of the common people and the settlement of disputes between the common people were also handled in this way when the Baoan Shipping Department was established."
Yunxi was equivalent to making the Municipal Shipping Department completely independent and not to be confused with the local yamen. Before, when there was only the Shanghai Shipping Department, he could also use the Shanghai County Zhili Capital to resolve the power struggle between the local government and the imperial court. Question, but after the establishment of Bao'an City Ship Division, it cannot be so vague. You can't set up Bao'an County to be directly under the capital, right? So Yunxi decided to abolish the local government where the City Ship Division is located, and even the common people will not be able to govern a few. Not even an acre of land.
As for whether the local government will boycott the shipping company because it cannot get the tariff? This is absolutely impossible. First of all, this has no impact on the tax of the local government. Anyway, there was no tariff before, and it won't matter if there is no tariff in the future; Second, aristocratic families from all over the country will welcome the establishment of a municipal shipping department in their province. Even some families who think that the municipal shipping department should be established in the county where my family is located are still worried about irritating the imperial court and having the city shipping department destroyed in a rage. We will definitely not dare to take any action on the issue of relocating to Linzhou.
Everyone also understood what Yunxi meant, so no one objected. Jin Shan recorded Yunxi's decision and prepared to draft an imperial edict at the appropriate time.