In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 140 High Salary and Severe Penalty

This sounds unreasonable. After foreign businessmen came to Da Song, the Da Song officials forcibly bought all the things that Da Song considered precious.

Although Da Song’s bid is not low, as mentioned earlier, Pu Yali has 290 pieces of ivory and 35 rhino horns, which is not enough for a shipment. Da Song’s official bid is [-] guan, which is more expensive than later generations.

But after these goods arrived in the Song Dynasty, they were more expensive when sold by Song Dynasty merchants.

Especially spices, which would be even more expensive in the Southern Song Dynasty.

There are four grades of spices in the Southern Song Dynasty. The first is the more common basic spices (we call it seasoning in later generations) such as pepper, ginger, sucrose, etc. Some Southern Song Dynasty also produced them themselves, such as sugar and ginger. Therefore, it is also considered a luxury, and ordinary people cannot consume it every day. (Not to mention sugar, ginger in the Southern Song Dynasty was not available everywhere. Fuzhou was a major producer of ginger, and was responsible for paying [-] catties to the imperial court every year.) There is also a special ginger store in Lin'an, which only sells ginger. Just like food, ordinary people cannot afford to eat it every day.

The second type is cinnamon, white pepper, long pepper, and galangal. These are mainly imported, the price is more expensive, and it is not something ordinary people can consume.

The third is from farther overseas, mainly cloves and nutmeg from the Moluccas, and the fourth is the most expensive ambergris, camphor, saffron, etc.

Especially the latter two, basically in the Southern Song Dynasty, they were forcibly purchased by the government, and then sold to businessmen by the government, and the government made a fortune first.

After the merchants got their hands, they sold them on the market at a higher price, so the final price was very astonishing.

For example, the Baidulu (produced in Zhenla) in the Northern Song Dynasty, according to historical records: "Baidulu. Each tael is worth 20 yuan. Cai Jing puts two or three taels in a box and orders it to be burned."

It is said that when the incense of Bai Dulu was first sold in Kaifeng, it was sold for 20 yuan per tael. Based on the 800 Wenguan at that time, it was about 250 guan, 16 taels per catty, which was 4000 guan, which was a sky-high price.

Cai Jing invited the prime minister to dinner, burned two or three taels at a time, and even asked the maid to sit beside the prime minister, which is considered a big deal.

Therefore, with the right to "broad buy" of the Shibo Division, it is possible to forcibly buy precious commodities from foreign companies, and make a lot of money by reselling them. Not only can it make money, but it can also cause greater corruption.

Zhao Yurui thought that last year, the income of Guangzhou and Quanzhou's shipping companies turned over 200 million yuan to the imperial court, and their own income may be even more astonishing.

In fact, the location of Dinghai Shipping Company is not bad. It is the closest to Korea and Japan. As long as it operates, the income will definitely be astonishing. If it can attract some merchant ships from Guangzhou and Quanzhou, it will surpass Quanguang in just around the corner.

In the past, it can be said that Dinghai did not have much advantage to attract Quanguang and other places, but as long as white sugar can be produced, and silk, porcelain, and tea from Jiangnan are added, the attraction will definitely increase exponentially.

For example, at the end of Ming Dynasty, Daxuan became an extremely important port at that time because of its rich sugar production.

Zhao Yurui said at this time: "How much does our Shibo Department spend in a year now?"

After speaking, he turned his head to look at Wei Liaoweng, Hu Qi and others.

Some people looked at each other in blank dismay. After all, the Southern Song Dynasty never had the tradition of coordinating expenses and budgeting in advance like later generations.

But Zhao Yurui had already told Wei Liaoweng that after taking office, he would budget in advance.

Wei Liaoweng immediately said: "Back to the king of Wei, the subordinate officials have already done it with Yu Gan, and Zhong Shou has made a budget."

There are about 60 people in the Shipbuilding Department. The annual salary of various benefits is about [-] guan, official expenses are about [-] guan, anti-smuggling and other expenses are reserved for [-] guan, other expenses are about [-] guan, and the annual budget is [-] guan .

"So much?" Zhao Yurui was stunned when he heard this.

Wei Liaoweng immediately said: "Go back to King Wei, we came from Quanzhou Port."

"There are more than 200 people in Quanzhou Shipping Department, with an annual budget of 15."

The Bureau of Shipbuilding in Qingyuan Prefecture (actually called Liangzhe City Shipping Department) has about one-fourth of the number of officials in Quanzhou, and its annual budget is less than one-tenth, which is considered frugal.

At this time, Yu Dafu said again: "I report to the King of Wei that the Shibo Department will keep another [-] guan for purchasing and stocking."

Shibo needs a lot of cash, because after foreign businessmen come in, you have to buy precious things first, and you need money.

At this time, Zhao Yurui knew that in addition to buying precious goods, some goods that were relatively scarce in the Southern Song Dynasty also had to be bought.

After these goods are bought, they are directly given to the imperial court and cannot be traded, which means that the Shibo Department needs a lot of cash.

What needs to be purchased and handed over to the court?

At this time, the Southern Song Dynasty was most lacking, and the goods that needed to be imported included gunpowder, saltpeter, sulfur, beef tendon, and animal skins.

And Dinghai has always been an important port for the import of these goods.

Saltpeter, sulfur, gunpowder, etc. come from Japan, and beef tendon and animal hides come from Korea and the north.

"Gunpowder still needs to be imported?" Zhao Yurui couldn't believe it.

The Southern Song Dynasty already had firearms, and gunpowder was also used. The imperial court still attached great importance to gunpowder, but gunpowder was not enough. At this time, the official use of firearms was mainly for lighting fires. There were also firearms that could explode, but their power was not comparable to that of the Ming Dynasty. .

Folk gunpowder is mainly used to make fireworks and explosions, and fireworks can only be consumed by the rich, and there is only a market every year during the festivals. This leads to no market for gunpowder among the people, and naturally few businessmen are willing to do this.

Therefore, if the Shipbuilding Department encounters these items on the ships of foreign merchants, they will directly purchase them and hand them over to the imperial court.

In this case, the Shibo Secretary himself will have to reserve a lot of money.

Zhao and Rui applied to Ningzong for the re-opening of the Shipbuilding Department of Liangzhe City. Ningzong allocated [-] guan, which is quite generous, but it is probably not enough.

Wei Laoweng has been here for more than two months. Some of the local offices are rented out to others, and some have been useless for decades. It's not over yet.

"Okay, when can we open?" Zhao Yurui asked loudly at this time.

Wei Liaoweng thought for a while, nodded and said, "The beginning of next month."

Zhao Yurui said, then the official listing switch will be made early next month.

Then he said something, which roughly meant that all officials should be loyal to their duties and not be greedy for ink. At this time, the punishment for corruption in ink in the Southern Song Dynasty was far worse than that of Lao Zhu in the Ming Dynasty, and there was almost no precedent for beheading and killing civil officials.

Of course, the mutiny of Shi Miyuan killing Lao Han does not count.

But Zhao Yurui directly said that under the king's rule, Shibosi was more than consistent in corruption, killing and confiscating the family's property.

Several officials at the scene trembled, and some couldn't believe it.

The corner of Wei Liaoweng's mouth twitched, wanting to remind King Wei that you have no legal basis for killing people, you have to ask the Ministry of Punishments and Dali Temple.

But after thinking about it, he still didn't say anything.

"You work hard, this king will not treat you badly, the salary and treatment must be far more than that of Quanzhou and Guangzhou, but greedy ink, this king will not tolerate it."

Everyone immediately expressed their opinions that they would not be greedy for ink.

For example, Yu Dafu and Yan Kang, the two newcomers who do office work, are rich businessmen. They became officials for the family business, and rented a lot of warehouses in Dinghai Navy.

Hu Qi and Wei Liaoweng are upright officials, and they are not such people.

The most likely to be greedy is Lu Song, who had a good relationship with Qin Zhuo. Qin Zhuo bribed Lu Song in order to do business, and had a good relationship with him. Later, some members of the Qin family married Lu Song as a concubine.

So Zhao Yurui was tantamount to warning Lu Song directly.

As for the more than 50 officials below, eight of them are teenagers from Zhao Yurui's house. These officials may be greedy for ink.

Zhao Yurui went on to say that Hu Qi and Yu Dafu were in charge of "checking the facts", that is, boarding the ship to inspect the goods, and collecting taxes at prices.

If the price of each shipment is less than [-] guan, it must be reported to Wei Liaoweng. (Prevent clerks from setting high prices and setting low prices, and take advantage.)
The production department (Zhao Yurui) will send people out every day to randomly check the pricing of each ship. Once they find that the pricing is outrageous, high prices and low prices will benefit, and low prices and high prices will bully merchants. He said directly: "Kill."

Qi Qi took a breath of air.

Zhao Yurui went on to say: "This king knows that everyone thinks that the laws of the Song Dynasty cannot be lightly killed."

"This king insists on it himself. I just hope that everyone and the officials below will not try it lightly."

Then he said that Lu Song and Li Pingshan (the first general of the right army of the Dinghai Navy) lead the Dinghai Navy to be responsible for anti-smuggling and inspection.

Taking this opportunity, Zhao Yurui took Feng Deshan out of more than 300 people in the Jiangdong Zhai Youjun, and rowed two boats with more than 400 people to Li Pingshan, who was responsible for anti-smuggling and prohibition.

In addition, Qin Chen is responsible for the monopoly and purchase matters.

Qin Xiaopang usually runs between Lin'an and Dinghai, and is also responsible for the income, transportation, and liaison with Ji Hu'er of Zhao Yurui's property in Lin'an City.

But buying monopoly is very important, Zhao Yurui could only let him take charge, and at the same time sent his deputy Du Chengdong (a member of the Shibo Department official, a boy from the Wei Palace) to follow him.

When Qin Chen was in Lin'an, if he came across a monopoly, Du Chengdong and Qin Chen's younger brother Qin Tao (an official of the city ship department) would go together.

Whenever they encounter precious goods, they will report them to Zhao and Rui, and then buy them at a fixed price, and then store them in the Dinghai County Navy Warehouse. Zhao and Rui will decide which goods to send to the capital and which goods to the Exchange Institute for trading.

This monopoly system is very profitable, and Zhao Yurui must be in the hands of his own people.

He also asked Yan Kang to be in charge of imports from Korea and Japan.

After some instructions, Zhao Yurui re-examined the matter of embezzlement and ink corruption, and everyone said again that they would not.

When leaving the Shibo Department, brother-in-law Qin Chen, Qin Xiaopang and Steward Quan followed behind.

Everyone walked not far away, and they all rode on the horses led by the guards.

Even though Qin Chen looked fat, he also followed his father on horseback riding. Only Quan Butler had just learned in the Wei Palace, and he was not as good at riding as Zhao Yurui.

Qin Chen stood side by side with Zhao Yurui, looked left and right at the guards in the distance, and said, "Since ancient times, there have been no officials who are not greedy. What can the King of Wei do to deal with corruption? I'm afraid it will not be easy to deal with the Feishui Yamen of Shibo Division?"

"High salary, heavy punishment."

Zhao Yurui said in a deep voice: "Anyone who is greedy for ink, kill and search his home."

The corners of Qin Chen's mouth twitched slightly, and he brought up what Wei Liaoweng hadn't said just now: "The imperial court has a law, murder must be reported to Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment, and it goes without saying that the house was ransacked--" This is not something you can do if you want.

(End of this chapter)