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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 248: Customs Tariffs

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    The thought that Ronglu might also be a time traveler made Xiao Yungui feel like a thorn in his back. He felt huge threats and pressure.  Because he didn't know what the ability of this time traveler was, but from the rumors of King Taiping's killing to the Shanghai Xiaodao being wiped out in advance, to the Lijin strategy, all these told Xiao Yungui that this person was also familiar with this period of history.  The reason why there has not been any serious damage to the Taiping Army is that this person is most likely because he is young and has a humble official position, and does not yet have the power to do something bigger, or he is bound by the corrupt system of the Qing Dynasty and cannot use it.  , but this still made Xiao Yungui feel uncomfortable.

    Xiao Yungui looked solemn. After walking a few steps with his hands behind his hands, he ordered Li Xuanji: "I ordered someone to go back to Suzhou to pass the order and ask Queen Xi to come to Shanghai as soon as possible."

    Li Xuanji didn¡¯t know what the King of the West was thinking, but when she saw the King¡¯s face solemn, she knew something serious was going on, so she immediately turned around and went out to deliver the order.

    Xiao Yungui turned back to Qian Jiang and said: "Please sir, please stay in the camp temporarily. I will arrange for someone to set up a separate tent for you to live in, and provide six guards. In the next few days, we will resume business in Shanghai first.  Recruit more wealthy businessmen and households in Shanghai to discuss big plans, sir, you should make more suggestions." Qian Jiang stood up, thanked him, and then followed the west hall counselor to leave the tent.

    After Xiao Yungui was the only one left in the tent, he paced and murmured: "Who is this Ronglu? What does he want to do?"

    In the following days, Xiao Yungui kept thinking about this issue in his mind, but he had too many things on his hands and could not take care of them for the time being. Besides, except for Hong Yuner, Xiao Yungui could not find this matter in the world.  Others can only discuss it after Hong Yun'er comes to Shanghai.

    On the second day after conquering Shanghai, Chen Yucheng had cleared away the remaining Qing troops inside and outside Shanghai. Xiao Yungui ordered Chen Zhiming to guard Wusongkou, while Li Tianxi, Lu Shunde, and Zhao Shunping led 6,000 troops by land and water to attack Chongming Island.  Chongming Island once served as an important base for the Hechun tribe to move south.  After the defeat of Hechun, only more than 3,000 Qing troops, land and water troops were left to guard the place. The capture of Chongming was the only way for Shanghai to be completely peaceful.

    As for the captured Qing generals and officials such as He Chun, Lai Zhenhai, and Li Xinming, Xiao Yungui was not in the mood to kill them, and did not even think about interrogating them. He ordered people to escort them back to Suzhou and imprison them with Zhang Guoliang and others, waiting to be sacrificed to Tianjing.

    The Shanghai County government treasury was empty, and the money and food were extremely low. All the money and food were used by Wu Jianzhang to recruit soldiers. This guy actually used customs tariffs as collateral to borrow money from foreigners and hire foreign soldiers. Naturally, all countries would not pay attention to this bad debt.  Will relent.  Fortunately, Xiao Yungui raided the homes of dozens of officials in Shanghai, including Wu Jianzhang and Yuan Zude.  A total of no less than two million taels of money and food was taken out from these people's homes, which surprised Xiao Yungui.  Even a mere 80,000 taels of silver was seized from the home of a Shanghai garrison. This shows that Shanghai is really extremely rich and how far officials at all levels have enriched themselves.

    Wu Jianzhang owed a total of more than 700,000 taels of silver to foreigners, but Xiao Yungui originally planned to ignore it.  However, the ministers of various countries boycotted the matter and asked the King of the West to resolve the matter on the grounds that they would not pay customs duties and promised to the King of the West not to damage the immediate interests of each country.

    Xiao Yungui wanted to scold his mother.  These bastards in the Manchu and Qing dynasties caused some bad debts.  But he had to bear it himself, but thinking that it was a big deal to get the customs duties as soon as possible, Xiao Yungui endured this tone.

    After the West Palace Taiping Army captured Shanghai, through Xiao Yungui's efforts, it was not easy for the major powers to acquiesce to the Taiping Army's occupation. If they could also inherit the customs duties.  For the Taiping Army, it is of great benefit and no harm.  After all, among the five trading ports now, Shanghai has the largest share of trade, far surpassing Guangzhou, an old trading port, and its future is unlimited.  The reason why Xiao Yungui acquiesced to the interests of the great powers in China was.  The bigger factor is the customs tariff. If this money bag is in the hands of the West Palace Taiping Army, Xiao Yungui will be even more powerful in the future.

    Then Xiao Yungui sent Zhu Changlin and Wei Helin to negotiate the bad debt with the foreigners on behalf of the West Palace Taiping Army.  Zhu Changlin and Wei Helin came from Shanghai. As early as the day when He Chunbu was defeated, Xiao Yungui ordered someone to send them to Shanghai. He knew that in Shanghai, many foreign-related business negotiations required them.

    After a fierce quarrel, the two sides finally decided to pay 570,000 taels of silver to foreign banks for loans from various countries, and obtained the guarantees from the consuls of various countries to transfer customs tariff rights to the Taiping Army.  In order to smoothly start collecting customs duties, Xiao Yungui gritted his teeth and paid the loan from the seized silver, which was regarded as settling the old debt.

    But only half a day later, notes from various countries were sent to the King of the West's base camp. The note was initiated by the British consul Ali Guo. It detailed the requirements of various chambers of commerce and foreign companies, and requested the Taiping Army to clarify customs tariff rules and procedures.  .  Since the war started in Shanghai and the Taiping Army besieged the city, the Manchu customs operations in Shanghai have come to a standstill. For two months, no one has collected customs duties. Tax evasion by large and small merchant ships is extremely serious. No one is in charge of it anyway.

     But after the Taiping Army captured Shanghai, if Xiao Yungui wanted to resume customs operations and collect customs duties, the consuls and merchants of the great powers would definitely not give in easily.  Although the consuls of various countries promised to pay customs duties to the Taiping Army in the future, a note came half a day later. The meaning of the consuls and merchants of various countries was very clear. The Taiping Army wanted to collect customs duties from the customs. Please clarify the details of customs duties and how to declare customs.  , how to pay taxes, etc. What are the regulations? At the same time, since the taxation of foreign trade merchant ships is restored, then ask the Taiping Army to set up an anti-smuggling fleet to crack down on smuggling ships. If there are too many smuggling ships, it will harm the interests of merchants who pay taxes legally, or  Just don¡¯t charge tariffs. If you want to charge them, you have to charge them all. Only in this way can everyone be treated equally.

    Xiao Yungui was also angry. What a bunch of damn wolves, they want to do business on my territory without paying taxes?  This is definitely not possible!  Do you want customs tariff details?  I'll draft it again!  Do I need customs duties procedures?  I will formulate it again!

    Speaking of Manchu and Qing Dynasty customs tariffs, they have a long history. Before the Opium War, foreign merchant ships arriving in Guangzhou were required to invest in banks for insurance, and all import and export taxes were paid by insurance merchants (i.e. merchants).  After the war, the trading system was abolished.  In the 23rd year of Daoguang's reign, the Sino-British "Five Ports of Trade Charter" stipulates that "if the sponsor is abolished, the imported cargo ship will be guaranteed by the British (consular) officer"; it also stipulates the specific regulations and methods of the consular customs declaration system: after the British merchant ship is imported, it will be  The ship's license plate, hatch list, and declaration are submitted to the British consul at the port. The consul will notify the customs based on these documents of the size of the ship, type of cargo shipped, etc.; when British merchant ships unload and load cargo, they should also notify the consul in advance, "by  The British (consular) officer's self-employed officer forwarded it to the customs for public inspection." After the British merchant ship paid the tax notes, the customs issued a red bill of payment.  The merchant will submit the red bill to the consul for verification before the ship's license plate can be returned and the ship can be exported.  The Sino-British "Five Ports of Commerce Charter" also stipulates that if foreign businessmen fail to comply with the consular customs declaration system, or engage in cheating behavior such as submitting false manifests or opening cabins without obtaining a license, the consul will impose a fine on China's behalf.  Paragraph 12 of the Sino-British Humen Treaty also stipulates that smuggling cases should also be reported to local officials by the consul "so that they can be captured by the local officials."  The "Wangxia Treaty" between China and the United States in the 24th year of Daoguang's reign and the "Huangpu Treaty" between China and France both made similar provisions on the consular declaration system and anti-smuggling issues.

    According to the above provisions, not only was the Manchu and Qing government¡¯s right to approve foreign ships entering and leaving Chinese ports deprived of its consular authority.  Moreover, the rights to handle procedures for foreign ships entering the port and the power of customs to detect smuggling were also stolen by foreign consuls.  As a result of the implementation of the consular declaration system, the smuggling trade, especially the smuggling of opium, "thrives like a green laurel tree", and illegal foreign businessmen "seize every opportunity without hesitation. Instead of evading tariffs completely,  That is to use false declarations or settlement methods. Tens of millions of people pay less than the amount stipulated in the agreed tax rules.

    Although at this time, there has not been anyone or anything like Hurd, the General Taxation Department of the Qing Dynasty Customs, who harmed the interests of China's customs.  But Xiao Yungui also knew what kind of confusing regulations were implemented by the Shanghai Customs of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. In the fourth year of Jiaqing, the customs duties stipulated by the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Qing Dynasty were 855,000 taels for Guangdong Customs, 113,000 taels for Fujian Customs, and 39,000 taels for Zhejiang Customs.  , Jiang Customs (ie Shanghai Customs) 42,000 taels.  This amount is based on declarations made by various customs officials.  It was only equivalent to four-tenths of the total amount of lessons collected, and usually it was good for the Qing government to receive one-tenth. Most of it was embezzled by local officials of the Qing Dynasty.  This group includes patrol officers, customs officials, and soldiers.  From customs officials, supervisors, prefectures and counties, governors, their relatives, friends, subordinates, and even officials from the DPRK and China, they took advantage of the institutional flaws of the Qing Dynasty's customs and colluded with other countries to falsely declare ship cargo, evade taxes, and create new paths for themselves.  Liyuan.

    Now that the largest group in the country has been wiped out by the Taiping Army, Xiao Yungui can just reorganize the customs and establish the Taiping Army's own customs agency.  The right to declare customs must be taken back. How can there be such a weird thing like asking businessmen from other countries to declare customs at the consul of another country when your own country collects customs duties?

    Xiao Yungui convened Qian Jiang, Zhu Changlin, Wei Helin, and more than ten Chinese compradors recommended by Shanghai Wang Libin to discuss and formulate two institutional documents, "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Shanghai Customs Tariff Rules" and "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Shanghai Customs Administration Regulations."

    For two days, everyone discussed and discussed endlessly, and stipulated it item by item. Xiao Yungui perfected the detailed rules and regulations based on some experience of tax evasion and tax evasion in his own business in later generations.

    Hong Yun'er rushed back to Shanghai with Wang Libin that day. She saw Xiao Yungui in the camp. This guy was shirtless and buried behind stacks of thick copywriting with a group of literati and Chinese compradors from foreign companies.  Hong Yun'er was a little amused. She stepped forward and picked up a book to read. It was a detailed record of the Qing Dynasty's Shanghai Customs' registration and declaration last year, as well as tax payment records, inspection records, etc.  Seeing this, Hong Yun'er understood that Xiao Yungui wanted to formulate his own tariff details, and couldn't help laughing.

    Hearing this familiar laughter, Xiao Yungui looked up and saw Hong Yun'er's pretty face.Standing at the door of the camp, I was overjoyed and walked a few steps forward: "Xuanjiao, you're here. I'm so busy that I'm dizzy."

    Hong Yun'er smiled and walked over, picked up Xiao Yungui's coat and put it on him, and whispered in a low voice: "You fool, why do you need to handle this kind of thing personally? If you have to handle this kind of thing personally, you can forget it  Three heads and six arms are not enough."

    Xiao Yungui's eyes widened and he said: "I am leading everyone to formulate customs tariff rules and regulations. Once they are completed, we will need to negotiate with foreigners. If we don't make them more rigorous, those foreigners will find faults again."

    Hong Yun'er covered her mouth and smiled and said: "I can find faults in even the most rigorous things, but you didn't understand the key point. Look at the people you found, Zhu Changlin and Wei Helin are all domestic businessmen, and they are familiar with it.  Are they like foreigners?"

    Xiao Yungui frowned and said, "I also found a dozen Chinese compradors in foreign companies to help based on the list recommended by Wang Libin."

    Hong Yun'er smiled faintly and said: "They work as compradors in a foreign company. To put it bluntly, they are just doing errands. Customs tariffs are related to national tax revenue. It is a comprehensive and systematic thing. How can they mess with it?"

    Xiao Yungui scratched his head. No wonder he felt more and more dizzy after doing it for the past two days. It seemed that he was so disorganized that he couldn't find a clue.

    Hong Yun'er pulled Xiao Yungui to sit aside and whispered: "You are the King of the West. You only need to use the right people to do the right things. You don't have to do everything yourself. The power of one person is limited, and the power of the team is  The biggest one. In fact, neither you nor I are good at this matter of customs duties. There are almost no people in our army who are good at it. I suggest that we hire foreigners to handle it."

    Xiao Yungui sighed and said, "Isn't this okay? Foreigners actually have to decide the tariff details of our country?"

    Hong Yun'er smiled softly and said: "You are wrong. After we ask foreigners to sort out the tariff details, it is up to us to decide whether to use them or not. They have hundreds of years of experience in customs taxation, so the things they have drawn up must be comprehensive.  Please foreigners, please figure it out. Wouldn¡¯t it be more convenient for us to delete the clauses that are unfavorable to us, or add the clauses that are beneficial to us, and then proceed with the enactment? I recommend a person to you. Look for him. If you can find this person,  The customs tariff details he formulates will definitely be comprehensive."

    Xiao Yungui asked: "Who is it?"

    Hong Yun'er said slowly: "His name is Li Taitai, he is an Englishman." (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!
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