After getting the sketch portraits that Ma San took photos, Emperor Chongzhen looked at them for a long time. If the sketch was accurate, this person who had ulterior motives and could even be said to be determined to provoke discord, his origin might not be simple. From the perspective of his appearance, he would not be a pirate, but more like a shopkeeper or a Shaoxing master.

Emperor Chongzhen was a little confused. Whose order did such a person do this? Who would not want the relationship between the Netherlands and the Ming Dynasty to ease so that the Netherlands could conduct normal transactions with the Ming Dynasty? Those who could take such a big risk must have great benefits or a great hatred, right?

Thinking about the Dutch envoys who returned halfway through land, although it seems that afterwards, these Dutch envoys themselves are suspicious, there may not be any unknown factors. If it is not a coincidence by land and sea, then the energy behind this is very large and it will definitely not be a private grudge or something.

Emperor Chongzhen thought of this and remembered the Xu Xiang incident. Judging from the situation reported by Sun Chuanting, there was also someone behind it. Thinking of this, he concluded that the resistance encountered by Kaihai began to appear.

The matter of opening the sea was not easy from the beginning. Otherwise, the profits of opening the sea were so great, why did emperors and ministers of all dynasties turn a blind eye? Has it really reached the point of treating money as dirt? This is obviously impossible, it can only be too difficult, which makes them have the will but not enough!

When Emperor Chongzhen thought about this, he couldn't help but further deepen his understanding of the difficulty of successfully opening the sea. For him, if he wants to truly revive the Ming Dynasty, catch up in this era of great navigation, and stand back to the highest point of the world, then opening the sea must be successful.

Thinking of this, he sent an order to the Chief Li Supervisor and brought all the archived memorials related to the sea, including the approval and the ones left behind, and prepared to read them again.

This time, Kaihai was proposed by He Qiaoyuan, led by Wen Tiren, and Sun Chuanting's specific operations. Logically speaking, these are all capable ministers and should be able to do things well. However, judging from the current actual situation, Emperor Chongzhen felt that he overestimated their abilities because he ignored a common disadvantage among them, that is, the limitations of the times and the limitations of vision.

For example, this time, Liu Guoneng treated the Dutch people, even though he was a thief before, he still had a mentality of being arrogant to the red and barbarians, and was not polite to them in his words and actions.

It’s not that we can’t do this. When the Dutch invaded the Ming Dynasty, we can do this without being polite. But when the Dutch came to do business, it would be bad if we were arrogant. After all, doing business is mutually beneficial. If you lose a business, the Ming Dynasty will also be harmed. You must be able to do this. At this time, you should fight for the Ming Dynasty as much as possible in the transaction with the Dutch, within the scope of the rules of the game. This is the most correct thing.

This sense of superiority to Western barbarians is not only available in Liu State, but also in Sun Chuanting, and even ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty. This is the limitation of the times and the limitation of vision.

Emperor Chongzhen continued to watch the memorial while thinking about the matter. He was holding a memorial to open the sea and collect taxes in his hand. The contents of this memorial were actually written based on the example of the brief opening of the sea during the Longqing period.

The Supervisor's Office, which is the customs of later generations, charges tariffs on imports and exports, including three parts, namely tax induction, water tax, and land tax.

The so-called tax induced is actually a ship. Far ocean ships, regardless of east and west, must draw six taels of tax induced by near-shore, such as going to a chicken cage in Taiwan, or two taels of silver per bow of freshwater ship.

The so-called water levy is a commercial tax levied on export goods and is paid by the ship merchant. Western ships are more than 1 meter and six feet wide, and each bow ship is levied for five taels of silver, each with an extra foot wide, and five cents of silver. The ships heading to the East are smaller, and only seven-tenths of Western ships are collected. The freshwater ship is smaller, and the water levy is collected for five cents of silver according to the width of the ship.

Lusheng is a commercial tax levied on Jinkou goods and is paid by the shop. It is mainly taxed according to the quantity and value of the goods. For example, if the value of pepper, suma, etc. is one or two cents of Lusheng silver.

Another special one is that most ships to Luzon are returned empty ships, without cargo, only silver. In this way, it is difficult to collect according to land taxes. Therefore, there is an additional one called additional taxes, and each ship pays 120 taels of silver.

This method of collection can only collect about 20,000 taels of silver in a year, just as He Qiaoyuan said in the memorial, which is far from the goal that Emperor Chongzhen expected. Of course, most of the reasons here are caused by tax evasion by officials and gentry. This is because Sun Chuanting was left there. Judging from his current performance, he should be able to solve this problem.

However, to be honest, Emperor Chongzhen was not satisfied with this taxation method during Longqing. However, everything was difficult at the beginning, so I just asked Fujian to start with this. Where Emperor Chongzhen intervened, the grain transported from special order was not taxed. In addition, a state-owned trading company was established to conduct trade, but this matter was not yet clear.

According to a general understanding of later generations, taxation must affect the import and export of commodities. Imports are encouraged if needed in China; exports are encouraged if not needed in China, etc. There are also various commodities that need to be collected according to their value. In fact, these are not in the Forbidden City, and you can get an ideal result by listening to what you say below.

Thinking of this, an idea suddenly emerged from Emperor Chongzhen's mind. And after this, it was like the temptation of a devil, and he could no longer abandon this idea.

At night, even when Concubine Tian was interacting with Concubine Tian, ​​Emperor Chongzhen was a little absent-minded. Concubine Tian was so smart that she was sensitive at this time, and immediately felt it. When she curled up on Emperor Chongzhen's chest, she touched Emperor Chongzhen's chest, and seemed a little aggrieved, and tears soaked her chest.

Emperor Chongzhen quickly felt it. He looked down and couldn't help but be surprised. He quickly wiped away her tears and asked in surprise: "What's wrong? Who bullies you? As far as I know, it seems that the queen has no longer been embarrassed by you, right?"

"Your Majesty, Sister Zhou is nice to me!" Concubine Tian raised her head and looked at Emperor Chongzhen. She cried in tears in her beautiful big eyes and said in a low voice, "Did Your Majesty fall in love with any younger sister? I rarely wait for Your Majesty once, but Your Majesty is so absent-minded!"

"..." Emperor Chongzhen was stunned for a while after hearing this, and came to his senses, and then understood what was going on. He couldn't help but reach out and lift Concubine Tian's chin, and said with a smile: "Do you want to know about the beloved concubine?"

Thank you for your reward for your specialty in having a young wife!
Chapter completed!