Chapter 964 - 803: Clarification

Chen Ji instructed Yuan Xi to once again inventory the cargo on each ship, for the amount of fine silver must be exact—neither too much nor too little.

Several ship owners were squatting on the deck, waiting eagerly. When tired from squatting, they would kneel for a while, and then continue squatting.

Chen Yu stood at the edge of the ship, lowering his head, musing quietly to himself: "I finally know where that feeling of déjà vu comes from."

When he analyzed things with logic and experience, someone suddenly broke out of all the norms and forged a path unexpected by everyone.

The salt permit trade was like this, dodging the maritime prohibition and substituting fine silver for customs duties was the same.

Currently, the court was unable to lift the maritime prohibition due to the obstruction from Jiangnan scholars, with Daning Law being the rule, no one could impose taxes. But fine silver wasn’t limited by this; Chen Ji was following Daning Law with "first offense treated leniently, forfeiting half of the family property."

As for how to handle repeated offenses after the first... ship owners could always claim it’s a first offense, just change the flag.

Chen Xu heard him muttering to himself as if possessed, walked over with concern and asked, "Young Master, what happened?"

Chen Yu ignored Chen Xu, merely turning his head to gaze at the mask in the black night, still muttering to himself: "Not only did I not think of this move, but I fear not many Jiangnan scholars did either. Just when everyone was guarding against the court’s nationwide land measurement, someone already used the sharpest righteousness to cut half of the largest pie and took it away... just took it away like this. Your Majesty uses the Grand Secretary as bait to have three families contest Jiangnan, but ultimately what His Majesty wants is silver, regardless of the land or salt tax, whoever can present silver to him becomes the Grand Secretary... Zhang Zhuo is going to win!"

He turned to Chen Xu, speaking in a daze: "Uncle Xu, previously I thought using over four thousand thief-level righteousness to target merchants and corrupt scholars like Xu Chuanyin and Xu Chongyi might be a waste of talent. Only now do I understand, he never considered the Xu Family worth his attention... I’m not as good as him."

Chen Xu frowned: "What is Young Master talking about?"

Chen Yu sighed: "Never mind, you wouldn’t understand."

Pausing for a moment, he leaned close to Chen Ji and whispered, "When our dynasty first opened the sea, at most only 20% customs duty was collected. Collecting 50% now, wouldn’t it be too much?"

Chen Ji glanced at him: "When the sea ban was lifted, everyone could do business, profits were thin, so naturally less was collected. Now marine trade is monopolized by these Jiangnan scholars as profiteering, even 50% seems too little to me. If there were laws to follow, I’d collect 70%... once more, this is fine silver."

Chen Yu chuckled helplessly: "Alright, alright, it’s fine silver, not customs duty."

At this moment, the ship owners exchanged glances, eyes filled with suspicion and heart silently calculating: In the past, a round trip to Manila yielded nearly ten thousand taels in net profit, now reduced to five thousand taels, can it be accepted?

Though it hurts, it’s undoubtedly better than losing one’s head or the entire family being conscripted, also better than 99% of other businesses out there.

Can it be done?

It can be done.

One ship owner squatted on the deck, bravely raising his head to look at Chen Ji’s mask: "This gentleman, all our silver coins have turned into cargo, what can we do if we don’t have silver to pay? Even half the silver is difficult to gather."

Chen Ji nodded: "No problem, the Yang family happened to bring foreign silver back, you can sign a loan contract with the Yang family, let them lend you silver."

The Yang family ship owners’ expressions changed.

Chen Yu remarked: "No wonder one must wait for the monsoon, turns out it was feared that ship owners might lack silver for the fine... too considerate."

Chen Ji ignored him, turned to Yuan Xi: "Point out a ship owner from the Yang family."

Yuan Xi checked the ledger: "Li Wang."

The ship owner named Li Wang reluctantly raised his hand: "I am Li Wang."

Yuan Xi looked at Chen Ji: "Brought back thirty thousand foreign silver coins, about equivalent to twenty thousand taels of silver."

As he spoke, he took out a silver coin from his sleeve and handed it to Chen Ji: "Foster father, this is the silver coin they brought back."

Chen Ji picked up the silver coin and flipped it between his fingers: "Manila doesn’t produce silver, where did these silver coins come from?"

Li Wang shifted to another squatting position and explained: "To the gentleman, they were transported back by the Franks from Molala Niga, said to be excavated from a silver mine named something like Bo. The mine is vast and silver is plentiful, so the Franks consider silver worthless, wanting to exchange silver for our silk, tea, porcelain."

Chen Ji knew that silver was the first world currency, and it became the world currency because the Han Family only recognized silver. People assumed that Jiangnan scholars engaged in marine trade to bring back spices and treasures, but in truth, they ventured out to bring back silver.

Chen Ji pondered for a moment: "The thirty thousand silver coins were acquired through your forbidden marine trade, of which fifteen thousand count as your capital, take out seven thousand five hundred, lend it to the ship owners going overseas to pay the fine. Someone, bring pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, to write loan notes for the ship owners."

Li Wang grew anxious: "Sir, it’s fortunate to preserve the capital, but doesn’t it mean my trip wouldn’t be worth it? How should I report to the Landlord?"

Yuan Xing angrily rebuked: "Are you getting greedy? Want me to confiscate all your silver on these ships?"

Chen Ji raised his hand to stop Yuan Xing, gently saying to Li Wang: "The seventy-five thousand silver coins you earned aren’t disappearing, they’re simply being loaned to others who aren’t leaving you unpaid. Also, I’m not aiming to disadvantage you; according to Daning law, the monthly interest on loans can’t exceed 3%, let me calculate you the highest rate of 3%."

Li Wang was stunned; the court’s law was the court’s law, when did private loans adhere to court laws, weren’t they all usurious?

But glancing at the crowding ruffians and then at Chen Ji’s mask, he cautiously spoke: "Sir, what about the remaining seven thousand five hundred silver coins?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said sincerely, "Silly child, those are foster father’s 7,500 silver coins."

Li Wang fell silent.

Chen Yu watched as 15,000 silver coins all fell into the Anti-Japanese Army’s pockets. As for whether the ship owners who went to sea could repay Li Wang’s silver, that was their business and had nothing to do with the Anti-Japanese Army.

He sighed and said, "No wonder we have to wait for the trade winds... We must wait for the trade winds to bring back the silver."

At this moment, Jiang Chai brought pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and Yuan Xi faced the ledger and one by one cleared the accounts for the ship owners, paying the fine silver where due, and writing promissory notes where necessary.

In just two hours, everything was clarified. The Anti-Japanese Army collected 219,000 taels of silver, while the ship owners were left in debt.

Chen Yu leaned over beside Yuan Xi, watching the other tally up, and drew a breath: "This is just one day; how much will there be in a year?"

Chen Ji, on the side, said, "It’s not always a good time to sail; there are only a few months in the year, mostly during the four or five flood seasons for departure and return, and it’s not like there’s silver to earn every day."

Chen Yu calculated for quite a while but couldn’t figure it out, holding back for a long time: "That’s still several million taels of silver, at least three million taels. A seventh-rank county magistrate earns forty-five taels a year, a first-grade official one hundred and fifty taels a year. This silver would take a first-grade official thousands of years without eating or drinking to accumulate."

This time, Chen Ji did not refute.

Chen Yu kept talking to himself: "Three million taels, enough to sustain sixty thousand elite troops. You’re not in the Ministry of Revenue, so you don’t know; last year our court collected just over four million taels in regular taxes."

Chen Ji glanced at him, then turned away: "Suffering from hysteria."

Jin Zhu patted Chen Yu’s shoulder, sighing: "This shows the court’s deep-seated corruption; rotten flesh must be excised, bad bones removed."

...

...

On the Berth Pier, Xu Chuanyin gazed at the black "fortress" at sea, had Chen Zhang fetch the thousand-mile mirror from the carriage, but still couldn’t see clearly.

Xu Chuanyin tossed the mirror to Chen Zhang: "Folangji stuff isn’t that impressive."

Chen Zhang fiddled with the mirror, looking left and right: "So this is what Heavenly Vision feels like?"

Xu Chuanyin paced back and forth on the Berth Pier, occasionally glancing at the sea: "Why is there no activity at all? Could the Anti-Japanese Army have killed them all?"

At that moment, large ships began to move in the distance. The sailors untied the Anti-Japanese Army’s ropes from the railing, set sail, and gradually headed east.

Xu Chuanyin was startled: "Huh, why are they leaving? Did the Anti-Japanese Army set them free?"

He snatched the mirror back from Chen Zhang, looked through it, and saw the second three-masted Fuchuan slowly moving, sailing eastward. Following were the third, fourth, fifth, up to the twenty-second ship.

In a short time, more than half of the ships at sea were gone.

Xu Chuanyin was desperately anxious, wishing he could board a ship to ask what was happening. The next moment, another large ship moved, but this time it sailed towards Dinghai Port.

He raised his coat and ran towards the pier, with Chen Zhang leading Xu Family guards after him: "Protect the master."

When the seventeen large ships entered the harbor, before they could dock at the pier, Xu Chuanyin loudly asked, "Who is on the ship? People of the Yang family or the Anti-Japanese Army?"

A ship owner poked his head from the ship’s edge: "Me, Li Wang."

Xu Chuanyin asked suspiciously: "Why did the Anti-Japanese Army release you?"

Li Wang sighed: "Wait for me to dock the ship."

Once the ship was securely docked, the sailors tied the ropes to the General Pillars at the pier, and Li Wang disembarked, expression difficult to describe.

Xu Chuanyin was sweating with anxiety: "Damn it, speak up already!"

Li Wang told what happened just now detail by detail, Xu Chuanyin listened, face turning pale: "This is bad, bad. These bastards are going to take away what belongs to me! I’ve never dared to collect taxes at Dinghai Port, but they dare, and dare to collect such high taxes! I spent so many years building Dinghai Port, only to let them take advantage of it!"

Xu Chuanyin grabbed Li Wang by the collar and lowered his voice: "Go back and tell your family elder to send Yang family’s Death Soldiers. If the Anti-Japanese Army isn’t removed, no business can be done!"

After saying this, he pushed Li Wang away, panting heavily on the spot.

Chen Zhang reminded softly: "Master, you need to go to Jinling, or you’ll miss the agreement."

Xu Chuanyin was furious: "What is a lousy Clan Leader compared to my business? Let Xu Chongyi wait; I’ll deal with the Anti-Japanese Army and then talk!"