"Oh my God, what kind of army is this from the Ming Dynasty? Not to mention all the firearms and equipment, they are all equipped with flintlock guns?"

In the twenty-fifth year of Wanli, on the eighth day of winter, as Wang Bing led the Yulin Guards to station in Yuegang, all the Western Yi merchants were immediately shocked.

Especially when they discovered that the muskets carried by the Habayashi Guards did not have match ropes, these people were even more shocked.

You must know that flintlock muskets are not unavailable in Europe, but because they are still using revolving flintlock muskets, they not only have a high failure rate, but are also expensive to manufacture. Therefore, the armies of various European countries are now generally equipped with matchlocks.

, and it’s also a mix of hot and cold weapons.

"Haha, Brother Ma, have you seen the five-clawed golden dragon flag and the bright yellow jerseys on these soldiers? This is our First Army of the Ming Dynasty, the personal army trained by His Majesty the Emperor himself, the Yulin Guards!"

Seeing the shocked expressions of these Xiyi merchants, a Han merchant selling silk couldn't help but proudly introduced the Habayashi Guards to these people.

Speaking of which, these people have never seen the Habayashi Guard with their own eyes. However, the unique bright yellow jersey of the Habayashi Guard is so recognizable that even if they have not seen it with their own eyes, they will recognize it once they have heard it.

"Hu, my full name is Mario. You can call me Brother Mario, not Brother Ma. By the way, just now you said that this Yulin Guard is an army led by your emperor himself. Then the heroic general who just led the army

Is he your emperor?"

Hearing the businessman surnamed Hu say that the Yulin Guards were an army led by the emperor himself, the Xiyi merchant named Mario took it for granted that the leader of the army, Wang Bing, was the emperor.

"Brother Ma, don't say this nonsense! That is the champion, the uncle and consort of the country today..."

…

Yuegang, also known as Yuequangang, is located in Haicheng County, Zhangzhou Prefecture. Because the river here is open, 'the sea is connected to the outside and the mountain stream is connected to the inside. A cut in the water surrounds it like a crescent moon', so it was named Yuegang.

In the first year of Longqing, Mu Zong decided to implement the New Deal. Tu Zemin, the governor of Fujian, took advantage of the situation and requested to abolish the "law of barbarian trafficking" and open maritime trade.

Soon afterwards, the imperial court opened a "foreign market" in Yuegang to sell goods from the East and West. At this point, Yuegang became the only legal departure port for foreign trade in the Ming Dynasty.

Before Little Fatty established the Royal Trading Company at Wang Bing's suggestion, Moon Harbor was already an unprecedented event, with more than 200 ships entering the Moon Harbor every year. And after the establishment of the Royal Trading Company, this number soared.

More than a thousand ships arrived.

The commodities exported from the Ming Dynasty mainly included silk, porcelain, cloth, tea, sugar, mercury mirrors, paper, fruits, etc.

As for imported goods, they are mainly pepper, spices, ivory, ape skin and other overseas specialties, which is a typical surplus trade.

There is no way, in this era, the Ming Dynasty is the real world factory. Whether it is silk, porcelain, tea and other unique specialties of the Ming Dynasty, or ordinary commodities such as cloth and paper, they are all produced by the Ming Dynasty and must be high-quality products.

Seller's market.

Even the mercury mirror, one of the few flagship products of the Xiyi people, was sold back by the Ming Dynasty's "Princess Mirror" because they could not make large-sized glass.

Therefore, no matter how much silver these Westerners plundered from the United States and other places, they were just a passing god of wealth. In the end, the silver still flowed to the Ming Dynasty like running water, unstoppable!

It can be said that compared to the title of "Little Suzhou and Hangzhou" praised by those literati, Yuegang is more like a gold-swallowing beast that specializes in attracting money for the Ming Dynasty.

However, with the arrival of the Yulin Guards, this gold-swallowing beast that attracted money for the Ming Dynasty now has a bit more domineering murderous intent.

…

"Mr. Zhao, there are so many ships coming and going in the harbor this month, how little tax money is paid to the treasury every year?"

When the governor of Yuegang rang the hall and saw the account book sent by Zhao Xianyi, the payment officer, the amount of tax and silver paid was just over 200,000 taels in the 25th year of Wanli, Wang Bing couldn't help but turned cold.

As far as he knew, since the little fat man established the royal trading house, the annual volume of merchant ships entering and exiting Yuegang has been at least a thousand. The throughput of a thousand merchant ships is actually only a little over 200,000 taels of tax money. This is so ridiculous.

who?

You know, the merchant ships coming in and out of the port this month, and the goods traded are all "luxury goods" unique to the Ming Dynasty in this era. The annual tax of only two hundred thousand taels of silver, what is the difference between this and free?

"I am reporting to the Marquis that I have tried my best! If the Marquis doesn't believe it, you can check the taxes paid in previous years and you will know!"

Seeing Wang Bing's cold expression, Zhao Xianyi, who had just taken office for less than half a year, couldn't help but look helpless. Then he handed over the tax and money payment account of the Hong Kong Governor's Pay Office over the years since its establishment.

"Aren't these bastards afraid of being bankrupted to death?"

After seeing the ironic figures in the general account of the tax paid by the Yuegang Governor's Pay Office over the years, Wang Bing couldn't help but feel angry and jealous.

There was no way. From the opening of the Governor's Pay Office in the sixth year of Longqing to the fourth year of Wanli, the tax revenue barely exceeded 10,000 taels. And before the little fat man established the Royal Commercial Bank, Yuegang's annual tax revenue was only more than 20,000 taels.

That's all.

After the establishment of the Royal Commercial Bank, the tax money gradually increased to just over 100,000 taels. But that was all. Until the 24th year of Wanli, the tax money paid by Yuegang every year did not exceed 150,000 taels.

It was not until Zhao Xianyi, the promotion official who was transferred from Shaowu Mansion, took office that the tax revenue of Wanli's twenty-fifth year finally exceeded the 'mark' of 200,000 taels!

"Master Marquis, I don't know if they will be pushed to death by Xianguan. But if Xianguan continues to stay in this position of salary officer, Xiaguan will definitely..."

Shaking his head, Zhao Xianyi couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Needless to say, Zhao Xianyi, a foreign salary officer, blocked too many people's financial paths.

"Come here, ask Luo Sigong and Yang Rong to come see me immediately!"

Amidst Zhao Xianyi's bitter laughter, Wang Bing, who was filled with rage, roared outside the door.

"Hou, Lord Hou..."

Hearing Wang Bing's roar, Zhao Xianyi, who had been smiling bitterly just now, could not help but be so surprised that he was trembling when he spoke. There was no way, the two people Wang Bing called special meow were the handsome guard Jinyi and the governor of Dongchang.

!

"Haha, Mr. Zhao, don't worry, this matter has nothing to do with you. As long as I am here, I will never let anyone who works hard for the court be wronged!"

Seeing the surprised look on Zhao Xianyi's face, Wang Bing, who was misunderstood, quickly put on a smile and comforted him.

"Master Marquis, it is natural to be a low-ranking official. A low-ranking official is just a small salary officer. Who will be personally interrogated by the commander of the Jin Yiwei and the governor of the East Factory..."

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