I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 217 Imported Siam Rice

The first batch of the Ming Dynasty maritime trade fleet that went to sea came back within a week to half a month. There were not only the imperial merchants led by Kang Zifei, but also the maritime trade group (temporary) formed by private maritime merchants.

Of course, they still take the same route.Not only for the sake of teamwork, but also for testing.

After all, who knows whether the Ming emperor really decided to open the sea, or whether he just wanted to win people's hearts, show off, or simply cut a wave of leeks or something.

However, although everyone is not sure, and most of them are skeptical and tentative, there are still many fleets going to sea this time.

Among them, Fujian maritime merchants accounted for [-]%, and Zhejiang maritime merchants accounted for [-]%.

If you really want to be able to go overseas and do business normally, who would want to engage in smuggling?

Smuggling is indeed hugely profitable, but at the same time, the up-and-down management and getting through all the connections costs a lot of money.

Say so!

The former governors of Fujian and Zhejiang, Jueluo Manbao, and Yongzheng reported that smuggling was rampant along the coasts of Fujian and Guangdong.In the end, not only the officials from Fujian and Guangdong were involved, but also important officials in the court.

It was even rumored that Ma Qi, the bachelor of non-stick pans, was also involved. Even Yongzheng was extremely afraid of this and did not dare to deal with it. He could only pretend that he had not seen it.

Such a huge network of relationships and chains of interests not only cost a lot of money to maintain.If you are not careful, your whole family will die without a burial place.

As long as a normal maritime businessman is not really desperate, no one would be willing to risk smuggling every day.

At most tax evasion.

As soon as the royal merchant ship led by Kang Zifei returned, the Ningbo Shipping Secretary reported to the center immediately.

……

Nanjing, the Imperial Palace.

Side hall.

"Your Majesty, Kang Zifei, long live my emperor!" Kang Zifei, who was only shopkeeper Kang last year, knelt down and saluted Zhu Yijiong.

"Flat body, give me a seat!" Zhu Yijiong said with a smile.

Kang Zifei thanked him hurriedly, and then sat down, but he only sat half-assed, not daring to sit down completely.

He is now the emperor merchant of the Ming Dynasty, and he is also the only emperor merchant.Naturally, he has an official status, but it is just a casual job.

The grade is quite high, starting from the second grade.

Looking at the emperor in front of him, Kang Zifei sighed.

It had only been a year, and the rebel he once feared and looked down upon had now transformed into an emperor.

Of course, he only dared to say these words in his heart, but never dared to say them out loud.

The crime of disrespect is punishable by losing one's head.

In the current situation, the Ming Dynasty is booming and winning consecutive external battles.

On the other hand, the Manchu and Qing dynasties...haha.

Should I say that what our ancestors said is indeed right?

Hu has no luck for a hundred years.

It has only been 86 years since Emperor Taiji, the pseudo-Khan of the Jin Dynasty, assumed the title of emperor. Calculated carefully, it is shorter than the Yuan Dynasty.

Kang Zifei was wandering around here, and Zhu Yijiong also looked at the purchase list on the table for this trip and what he saw along the way.

This is also the order given by Zhu Yijiong.

In addition to doing business, Kang Zifei also wanted to collect as much local intelligence as possible when he went overseas, no matter whether it was useful or not.

After carefully looking through the memorial submitted by Kang Zifei, Zhu Yijiong realized that Vietnam in the 61st year of Kangxi was actually still divided.

The main part of Vietnam is now called Annan Kingdom (historically known as Hou Le Dynasty), and the south is Quang Nam Kingdom.

In fact, there was another Beihe Kingdom, which was the Zheng family's version of the shogunate of the Later Li Dynasty, that is, the territory of Lord Zheng. It is called Jiaozhi Kingdom in China.

Since Kang Zifei claimed to be the emperor's merchant of the Ming Dynasty, he also exaggeratedly boasted that the Ming Dynasty had occupied southern China. It would not be long before the puppet Qing Tatars were overthrown and a new dynasty was established.

Therefore, the Guangnan Kingdom that this route passed through, also commonly known as the Ruan Lord Ruan Fuwei (the Ruan Lord can be said to be surnamed Ruan or Ruan Fu), was very enthusiastic about Kang Zifei's arrival.

Yes, he really couldn't prove that what Kang Zifei said was true, but he also couldn't prove that what Kang Zifei said was false.

Not to mention that I would rather believe that this kind of thing exists than that it does not exist.

Furthermore, as early as 20 years ago, Kangxi rejected Nguyen Phuoc Wai's request to grant the King of Quang Nam a gold seal on the grounds that Quang Nam Kingdom was under the jurisdiction of the Later Le Dynasty.

It can be said that Ruan Fuwei did not have a good impression of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, but it was only because of the strength of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties that he did not dare to attack.

Now, you can get the other person's favor by just making good friends without having to pay anything.Kang Zifei said that he went to Siam to buy rice.

Even if what Kang Zifei said is false, as long as Ruan Fuwei denies it, the mighty Qing Dynasty will not bully him, a small country in Guangnan, right?
Moreover, he, Nguyen Phuc Wei, was only a small minister of Shizhen under the Hou Le Dynasty.

Using his own business skills, although it was Kang Zifei's first trip to Nanyang, he still managed to get a lot of useful information out of Ruan Fuwei's few close ministers.

It turns out that the current Guangnan Kingdom is at war with the Chenla Kingdom (Cambodia) in the south.Nguyen Phu Huy invaded Chenla eight years ago, supported the royal family Nie Pheyan as king, and fought against the king of Chenla Nie Pheshe.

The Ayutthaya dynasty of Siam also sent troops into Chenla to support Nie Fang Shen against Nguyen Phuc Wei.

Nguyen Phu Hui initially won several battles and even reached the southwest of Chenla Kingdom (Kampot).

Until the 56th year of Kangxi's reign, due to the resistance of the Chenla people and the interference of the Siamese, Nguyen Phuc Wei began to be unable to defeat him.

By now, the Guangnan army has been trapped in the quagmire of the Chenla War.

This war actually lasted until Nguyen Phu Hui's grandson was finally resolved.

The leader of Guangnan also quelled the Champa rebellion southward and formally occupied Bintong Long, the last territory of the Champa people, two years ago. The Champa people seemed very dissatisfied with this.

Because this violates the armistice agreement 25 years ago.

At the same time, Nguyen Phuc Wei seems to dislike Western missionaries. Western believers there have to pay taxes three times higher than civilians.

Also, Nguyen Phuc Wei is 48 years old this year.

There are not many records of Kang Zifei of the Later Li Dynasty in the north, mainly because he did not pass through there, but it is said that a powerful official named Zheng was in power there.

The two sides were still in a state of hostility. It wasn't until a war broke out decades ago that the two sides demarcated the river as a boundary and there was no fighting between them.

However, this later Li Dynasty received the seal of King Annan given by Kangxi.

When Ruan Fuwei entertained Kang Zifei, his hostility towards the Later Li Dynasty and his respect for the Ming Emperor in Kang Zifei's words were revealed in every word.

But from beginning to end, not even a word was mentioned about asking the Ming Emperor to grant King Annan the golden seal.

"Ha, that's interesting." Zhu Yijiong smiled unconsciously when he saw this.

"Your Majesty!" Kang Zifei stood up quickly.

"It's okay, Kang Qing, please sit down."

Zhu Yijiong said: "Kang Qing did a good job on this trip to sea. The price of Siamese rice is indeed cheap. Kang Qing's wandering overseas is very hard, so he will take a rest in the capital first."

Kang Zifei quickly stood up and spoke, expressing his loyalty: "Your Majesty, I can leave at any time."

Zhu Yijiong smiled and said: "It's okay, I'm not in a hurry for a few days. Moreover, I have to discuss the purchase of rice from Siam with the cabinet ministries first. Just wait and have a good rest. You will be busy later. when."

Kang Zifei had nothing to say: "I obey your order."

The price of Siamese rice in this era is indeed cheap.

Far inferior to the Thai fragrant rice of later generations.

According to Kang Zifei's actual records, Siamese rice was sold for only two or three coins per stone.

what is this concept?

Not to mention the pseudo-Qing Dynasty, the current price of rice in the Ming Dynasty is one tael of silver per stone (in the same period, the Qing Dynasty had one tael, two three yen per stone in good years, and one tael, eighty-nine yen in droughts and floods). This is due to government control.

With such cheap and delicious rice, Zhu Yijiong naturally has to increase his purchasing efforts.Not only that, we also have to find ways to involve private maritime merchants.

After Kang Zifei left, Zhu Yijiong immediately held a temporary cabinet meeting to discuss Siamese rice procurement.

After some discussions and suggestions, it was finally decided that the Ministry of Household Affairs would fund the import of large quantities of rice overseas to Siam in the name of the imperial court.

Moreover, any private maritime merchants who purchase rice from Siam will be exempted from tax.

Including merchant ships that go to sea or return to Hong Kong within one month, as long as they have Siamese rice, they are also exempted from tax.

Anyway, Zhu Yijiong does not lack such a small amount of rice tax. It is better to use it to let private maritime merchants traffic more Siamese rice back to the country.

It can not only alleviate the food shortage in Jiangnan, but also earn fame.

After all, opening up the sea and adding tax exemptions are something few emperors have been able to accomplish throughout the ages.

　The Qing Dynasty purchased Siamese rice as a tribute from the King of Siam in June of the 61st year of Kangxi's reign. Kangxi realized that Siamese rice was cheap, so he made a purchase agreement.

　　However, this is just a purchase discussion. If the sale is really going to happen, it will have to wait until the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign to officially start. This was forced by the lack of food along the coast and in the south of the Yangtze River.

　　Moreover, these imported Siamese rice are not eaten by the dignitaries because they are too cheap.

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)