Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 507
The spring breeze brought warmth, the earth returned to spring, and the canal began to operate on a large scale.

Chaoguan is the most important kind of Guanguan in Ming Dynasty.

Ming Gao Linghan's "Chaoguan Zhenglu Preface" begins with the words: "Why is the Chaoguan established? It is also to collect business taxes!"

Beixinguan is located in Hangzhou, where the Yuhangtang River, the Xiaohe River, and the Grand Canal meet. It enjoys a favorable geographical location. As one of the seven canal passes and the first pass northward, a large number of tank boats gather here.

Before dawn, the tank boats assembled in front of the pass early in accordance with the usual practice, and would load a large amount of southern goods, such as silk and tea, and head north on a large scale.

However, although the canal is safe, it has nothing to do with convenience. From Beijing to Yangzhou, it takes at least more than a month, and the daily journey does not exceed a hundred miles.

Historically, the Cao Gang was established during the Yongzheng period. This was because the water transport was transformed from an official to a democratic movement, just like outsourcing. However, the main force of the water transport was gradually replaced by the democratic movement.

For convenience and speed, many tributes were also outsourced to civilian ships by local officials in order to send them northward as soon as possible.

Among the seven passes of the canal, Beixin Pass is the most different, because it is a triple water confluence area, with a large number of private paths.

According to the statistics recorded in the third volume of "Beixinguan Zhi" "Prohibition", there are more than 30 private trails, and this does not include the unnamed forest trails and mountain roads that are difficult to count.

The profit of money makes people crazy, and the private tank boats are looking for a way early, trying to steal through the checkpoint.

"Hey, Brother Nian, let's hurry up, isn't Shitingzikou here yet?"

A large number of smuggling tank boats, as if with navigation, smoothly passed through the bank and came to the familiar mouth.

Come in an orderly manner, greet each other, polite and quiet.

Zhang Qinian was rowing the boat, when he heard the voice of his friend, he didn't take it seriously, and said: "This road is too familiar, so don't rush."

As a result, many tank boats passed by, causing friends to be upset.

"Don't worry, you need to be calm when doing business..."

Nagging all the way, but Zhang Qinian swiped faster, and soon he found something abnormal.

As time went by, he couldn't see the passing tank boat. When he reached a boundary, he was suddenly stunned:

I saw that at the original gap, a small bridge appeared out of thin air, and several tax soldiers with knives were staring at the river.

In front of him, dozens of tank boats were intercepted.

"Why don't you let us pass?"

"There's no cash gate here—"

For a while, many tank boats were filled with righteous indignation, wearing single gowns and waving straw hats, shouting plausibly.

The tax soldiers watched with cold eyes, and waited until their voices gradually calmed down before shouting: "Although this is not Beixinguan, it is also a part of the canal. It is a vain attempt to evade taxes. Even if the king of heaven comes, it will not work..."

"Why, why?"

"With the knife at my waist, whoever dares to break through the barrier will be killed—"

Once the murderous words were fired, the boatmen were instantly speechless.

"This bad brother, my master is a man!"

"I belong to the magistrate's family..."

"Bah—" the tax soldier cursed, "Even if it belongs to the cabinet minister, it's useless."

As he spoke, he raised his head proudly, patted his chest and said, "I am Jin Yiwei, who dares to be presumptuous?"

As he said that, a Jin Yiwei flicked his waist badge, which surprised everyone.

"Jin Yiwei came to Hangzhou to collect taxes?"

"Where's your flying fish suit? How could it be Jinyiwei..."

Many people don't believe it.

"Chaoguan is domestic money, it's normal for us Jinyiwei to come to Chaoguan—"

"Go back quickly, you can only pass through Beixin Pass."

Now, everyone is stunned.

Jin Yiwei is the emperor's henchman, he should serve his master, and it's normal to come to collect taxes.

Many people don't believe in evil, and there are so many trails in Beixinguan. They tried one by one, and the result was no surprise, they were all full of tax soldiers.

Even in order to block the tank boats, many trails were directly cut off in the middle and blocked with wooden fences. Only small fish and shrimps could pass through, and the boats had no possibility.

Zhang Qinian had no choice but to come to Xinbeiguan together with everyone, and there was already a long queue here.

A large number of tank boats were moored, waiting to pass, and the entire canal was blocked at this moment, stretching for more than ten miles, attracting attention.

Sun Changzhou watched all this from the gate, and nodded with satisfaction: "It's better for you Jinyiwei, two or three people can control it, and few dare to trespass."

"Although Jin Yiwei has been abolished a lot, its reputation has not diminished. Although there are many trails, as long as they are willing to use their strength, few will dare to escape."

Wu Bangfu showed a smile, quite confident and flattering.

Sun Changzhou, the governor of water transportation, was the commander of Jinyiwei before, but now he still treats him with respect.

Therefore, the emperor asked Jinyiwei to cooperate, and Wu Bangfu instantly transferred 300 people to Xinbeiguan for support. Although the number of people was small, he still controlled the situation by virtue of Jinyiwei's illustrious reputation.

"I will ask His Majesty for your credit."

Sun Changzhou nodded: "Switch it!"

Beixinguan collects taxes and releases customs twice a day. The early customs are closed at Sike, and the late customs are closed at Weike.

Merchants and ships traveling to and from Beixinguan must first submit customs declaration forms.

The businessman's bill must write down the place of origin, name, what the goods are, where they come from, where they pass, and where they are going.

After paying the taxes, the voucher issued by the customs office to the merchant is a stamp, and the voucher issued to the boat owner is a wooden chip whose size is equal to the beam head of the boat.

Of course, in order to facilitate trade and the convenience of villagers and hawkers, Beixinguan once set up a "convenience small ticket": "Anyone whose tax payment is less than two renminbi is allowed to go to Dazha to cast a small ticket, and report it as soon as it is received.

There are also "pig and sheep list book", "convenience silk list", etc., which are similar to "convenience ticket".

As the bulk of the tank ships, they are naturally favored and put into the main force.

However, what is surprising is that this tax payment has been widely publicized.

Namely, singing taxes.

One boat per line, check the order, and then sing the tax loudly:
Five hundred materials for the boat, five yuan of silver for receiving silver, one hundred pieces of Hangzhou silk, two cents of silver for each piece of silver, totaling 20 yuan of silver yuan...

It is clearly and clearly announced, crisp and loud, which makes people feel at ease.

Tariffs are generally divided into ship tax and goods tax. The ship tax is collected according to the material, which is one silver dollar per hundred materials, while the goods tax is one cent or two cents, ranging from one cent to two cents.

One person sings taxes, one person prosecutes, and one person takes money. The speed is extremely fast.

After a while, the pass was passed.

This surprised many people. There was no delay, let alone extortion or extortion. Is this still a matter of money?
Zhang Qinian handed over the money, but was rejected.

In a daze, he paid the tax and was about to leave with the wooden chip, when the tax collector said kindly:
"From now on, if you come across extortion, bribery, blackmail, etc., you can tell Jin Yiwei, no one dares to embezzle the emperor's internal money."

When did the tax customs get so easy?
(End of this chapter)