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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 249: Customs Consultant

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    After hearing what Hong Yuner said in the big tent, Xiao Yungui asked with some confusion: "Li Taitai? British? Who is he?"

    Hong Yuner smiled slightly and said: "Li Taitai, whose English name is Horatianelsonlay, is British. His father served as the first British consul in Guangzhou. Li Taitai came to China when he was 10 years old and became a "China expert" under his father's training.  He has successively served as translation secretary, acting deputy consul and other positions in the British consulates in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Historically, 22-year-old Li Taitai served as the British tax collector of the Jiangsu Customs Management Committee in June 1855. After he took office,  Drastic reforms were carried out, and manifests must be submitted in detail for the entry and exit of overseas ships. Otherwise, they will be punished or confiscated. All taxes must be paid according to the levy and tax receipts. The "Articles for Full Payment of Taxes on Merchant Ships Entering and Unloading Goods from Various Countries" were formulated.  and other rules and regulations. Wu Xu of Shanghai Road reported to the court that since the collection of barbarian taxes by Li Taitai, tax money has improved greatly, and the amount of silver has doubled year-on-year. In 1859, the revenue from Jiang and Customs tax was as high as 2.63 million taels.  60 times the ministry's quota, Li Taitai thus won the trust of the Qing government."

    Xiao Yungui stroked his beard and said, "Well, it sounds like he has some skills. Where is he now?"

    Hong Yun Eryu crossed her arms and said, "He is now the translation secretary of the British Consulate."

    Xiao Yungui slapped his thigh and said: "I remember, when Wen Han, Midile and others came here to make a noise a few days ago, they were accompanied by a young British man who seemed to be a translator. His name was Li Taitai.  , I just didn¡¯t pay attention at the time.¡± Xiao Yungui then frowned and said, ¡°But is it really appropriate to use foreigners to handle customs?¡±

    Hong Yun'er smiled and said: "Although the old customs system of the Qing Dynasty was independent, its structure was backward and its officials were incompetent. It was difficult to manage the growing import and export trade after the Opium War. The new customs system created after Li Taitai took over. In  It was further improved and perfected in the hands of the Englishman Hurd who succeeded him. The Chinese Customs under Hurd adopted the advanced Western administrative management system at that time and implemented vertical unified leadership for local customs branches. Import and export goods are taxed and declared according to regulations.  , inspection, tax assessment, review, tax collection, payment, and all aspects of inspection and release, etc., have institutional guarantees to strictly prevent fraud. The customs industry ethics of "honesty, efficiency, and enthusiastic public service" proposed by Li Taitai, Hurd succeeded  It was widely publicized later. The efficiency and cleanliness of the customs during this period were in sharp contrast to the indiscretion of the Qing government."

    Hong Yun'er paused and continued: "Hard attaches great importance to the quality and conduct assessment of customs personnel, and has improved many systems such as personnel, finance, statistics, auditing, anti-smuggling, and employee management. Hart has specially set up a Chinese customs office in London.  . Recruiting foreign personnel for the customs. Under Hart's rule, all senior management positions in the customs were filled by foreigners. Historically, by 1875, there were 408 foreign personnel and 1,417 Chinese employees in the customs. Ten years later, they had increased to 524 respectively.  and 2,075 people. An objective reason for hiring more foreign workers was the lack of Chinese workers who were proficient in foreign languages ??at that time. This was also the reason why Hurd later founded a specialized taxation school. But Hurd did not trust the Chinese workers. Until Anglian (  After f.a.aglen (1869-1932) succeeded the General Taxation Department, Chinese officials began to hold senior management positions. Due to the sound system and tight organization of the customs under Hart, it withstood many violent turbulences in the domestic political situation. This set of institutions and systems was  All the governments of the Republic of China inherited it and ran it until 1949. To put it bluntly, our country¡¯s modern customs was established by foreigners with help from us. Our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a start-up, with not many talents and an incomplete structure. Customs was even more inexperienced.  , you and I are not trained in tax law, so it is difficult to formulate an effective management system. Not that I am unfounded, I am worried that we will send our own people to formulate the system and manage the customs. Firstly, we cannot defeat those treacherous foreign businessmen, and secondly  It is also very likely that we will follow the old path of fraud and corruption that the Manchus followed. So I think it is very effective for foreigners to establish a customs system for us, or even help us manage customs."

    Xiao Yungui was silent and asked slowly: "I am worried that doing so will put the customs power into the hands of foreigners, and the foreigners will interfere with customs taxation and lose national sovereignty."

    Hong Yun'er asked: "Does it count as sovereign if we pay hundreds of thousands taels of customs tax every year like the Manchus did? We manage the customs ourselves, so foreigners won't interfere? In 1851, signed by foreign businessmen in Shanghai collectively  A post was sent to the Shanghai Daotai Yamen, strongly requesting that Shanghai Dao appoint foreigners to serve as customs port directors. In September, the foreign consuls in Shanghai announced that Englishman Nicholas Bayliss had been appointed by Shanghai Dao to serve in this position.  As expected, Bellis took office. Under his auspices, Jiang Customs promulgated a set of port regulations for the management of ships and crews. History books say this was a serious incident, and it not only recognized that foreign consuls have the privilege to interfere with Chinese customs collection of taxes.  , and it has set a precedent for China¡¯s customs to appoint foreigners. I do not deny that it is a great shame for a country¡¯s customs to appoint foreigners, but from the actual effect, it is better than managing it by one¡¯s own people.¡±

    Xiao Yungui was speechless, Hong Yungui? Then he continued: "I don't know if you noticed when I came to Shanghai last time. After our troops surrounded Shanghai, the consuls of Britain, the United States, France and other countries who had been eyeing China's customs power immediately declared the Qing Dynasty on the grounds that the concession strictly maintained neutrality.  Customs officers were not allowed to work at the same location on the Bund. Therefore, the operation of Jiang Customs came to a standstill. During the period when we were doing business with foreign merchants, Aliguo used the excuse that the local customs agencies and legal authorities were still lacking.  In order to fulfill the solemn treaty and protect the collection of Chinese tariffs, the United States Deputy Consul in Shanghai Jin Nengheng independently announced the "Interim Regulations on Ship Clearance During the Customs Administrative Suspension Period", which stipulates that the customs clearance procedures for British and American ship cargo exports shall be handled by the British and American consulates.  Process; allow freight carriers, importers and shipping companies to use bill guarantees instead of the method of stipulating cash payment of taxes; the bills issued must be paid to the Manchuria Customs Supervision in Shanghai within 40 days; as long as such procedures are completed, the ship will  You can leave the mouth. This is actually interfering with customs matters. I asked the foreign merchants who traded with us that they preferred this practical method of doing things, and I dare say that none of them went to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.  The customs supervisor pays the tax there, but we can recover the money as long as we continue to use foreigners to manage the customs.¡±

    After Xiao Yungui was silent for a long time, he said slowly: "Yun'er, you are right. There are indeed many problems in managing the customs by ourselves. We don't have the time or energy to waste time on this matter."

    Hong Yun'er nodded and said: "That's true. Even if we have settled the customs tariff details, foreigners can still raise objections. Tariff negotiations are inherently lawsuits, and the Manchus and Qing Dynasties had a five-port trade charter with other countries before. They can definitely  Use these to suppress us. Since we recognize the vested interests of various countries, they will definitely hold on to these. You said that you want to work out the tariff details yourself, and it is abnormal for the consuls of various countries not to object vocally. They just want you to spend money.  Time is spent on finalizing the charter and subsequent negotiations. They want Shanghai Customs to continue in this unmanaged and chaotic state. Once smuggling becomes common, we will have to spend a hundred times more effort to end this state, which is extremely costly.  "

    Xiao Yungui slowly closed his eyes and said: "Yun'er, we can ask foreigners like Li Taitai to help us sort out the customs regulations, or even hire foreigners to serve as customs officials, but the power of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Shanghai Customs must be in our own hands.  It¡¯s not that I¡¯m pragmatic or that I don¡¯t have dignity, nor am I afraid that future generations will say that I¡¯ve betrayed my sovereignty. I¡¯m just a rebel leader now, so how can I talk about national sovereignty? I just remembered a proverb, if you give a wolf a bone, it will be dead tomorrow.  I want a piece of meat from you! When dealing with foreign powers, we cannot let them lead us by the nose, otherwise we will become more and more passive in the future!"

    Hong Yun'er looked at the man in front of her with some surprise. He seemed to be getting more and more mature, and he was deeper than she thought. Maybe this was what attracted her to this man.

    After the two were silent for a moment, Xiao Yungui suddenly opened his eyes and stood up and said happily: "I thought of a way. You are right. Foreigners can help us formulate and manage customs, but we can use another method. We can hire various countries to  Elite businessmen form a customs legislative advisory group and a customs management advisory group. Note that they all participate in customs affairs in the form of consultants and only have the right to make suggestions but not to make decisions. Foreigners can be hired for some middle and lower-level positions in our customs.  But the upper levels are completely managed by us, do you think this is okay?¡±

    Hong Yun'er muttered a few words, snapped her fingers and said with a smile: "You really have a lot of tricks. This can not only satisfy the desire of those foreigners to interfere with the customs, but also solve our current predicament, and the customs will always have the power."  In our hands, we can actually let foreigners form a customs supervision advisory group and let them supervise the integrity of the customs. If they find corruption and fraud, they can directly report it to us for processing, so that the customs problems can be solved to the greatest extent."

    Xiao Yungui chuckled, took Hong Yun'er's hand and said, "As the old saying goes, we call it a husband and wife who are of the same mind, and their strength is as strong as gold."

    Hong Yun'er's pretty face turned red, she lowered her head and said, "Who is married to you?" But she did not retract her hand and let Xiao Yungui hold it.

    The two of them were whispering in the big tent, causing everyone in the tent to look over from time to time. Xiao Yungui pulled Hong Yuner out and said, "Let's go for a walk. I have something to tell you."

    The two people left the big tent, with personal guards guarding them more than ten steps behind. The two people climbed up to the watchtower in the camp and looked out at the entire Shanghai city. The smoke in Shanghai city had dissipated. Under the sunshine, this emerging old city was unfolding.  Restore her former prosperity.

    Xiao Yungui sighed softly and said: "Yun'er, I suspect that Ronglu who ruined our good deeds and eradicated the knife skills is also a person who came from time to time. He is most likely one of Si Xuan or Qing Yun!"  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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