Regardless of whether it was Liu Hao or He Shen, the thing that they feared the least was that their business activities were backed by the Internal Affairs Bureau.
The Imperial Household Department was the Emperor's little treasury.
In history, He Shen had also used the Internal Affairs Bureau to do many business activities for himself. He had opened a large number of banks, boat companies, and horse companies, establishing a national financial and logistics network. Just around the capital, He Shen had directly invested in more than a hundred banks and pawnshops, providing credit guarantees in the name of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
For the merchants of this era, using the Heshen bank to settle accounts and entrusting the Heshen transport company to transport goods over long distances could first avoid the heavy exploitation of the bureaucrats along the way, and second, greatly increase the efficiency of business operations.
In fact, after the middle of Qianlong, the trading activities of the entire Thirteen Branches of Lingnan were very frequent. A large amount of silver flowed into the Qing Dynasty. In fact, by the end of Qianlong, this financial and logistics network could bring more than two million taels of income to the Ministry of Internal Affairs every year.
He Shen's business empire earned almost half of the entire foreign trade surplus, more than a million taels of silver a year. Under such circumstances, Emperor Qianlong completely lifted the restrictions on foreign trade in Guangdong and Guangxi. Foreign trade companies in Heshen purchased a large number of porcelain, silk, and tea, which were then sold to Europe, island countries, and Southeast Asian countries through the Lingnan Thirteen Lines. In order to produce nearby, many textile factories and ceramic factories were established in the area next to Guangzhou. Shiwan Porcelain developed into an export-oriented regional ceramic brand and was passed down until 2020.
Now, Liu Hao had strengthened the system.
With the reputation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as an endorsement, on the one hand, it could save him from trouble and the heavy exploitation of the bureaucrats along the way. He could do many things.
Earning tens of millions of taels of silver a year was definitely not a problem.
The highest annual tax in the Qianlong period was 70 million taels of silver, which was 31.5 billion yuan.
It was worth mentioning that by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the tax could reach 120 million taels of silver, or even 140 million taels of silver.
One of the main reasons was the Westernization Movement, and the other was foreign trade.
The corruption of the officials in the late Qing Dynasty was even worse than that in the Qianlong period. Miraculously, under such a big environment, the Qing government had the first incorruptible yamen in history, which was the customs.
The clean customs in the late Qing Dynasty was considered one of the miracles in the history of world administration. It had never happened in China for two thousand years, and this miracle was created by a foreigner.
After the Opium War, with the opening of trading ports, there was naturally a need to set up checkpoints. The British proposed that they manage the merchants coming and going, and the taxes collected would be used to pay war reparations. In the end, the Qing government had no choice but to build a shed and set up a sign called Jianghai North Pass, which was specially used to handle the import and export taxes of foreign merchants. The most ridiculous thing about the Qing customs was that the customs was nominally under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's Yamen, but in fact, from personnel to operation and management, it was all in the hands of foreigners.
In 1861, Hurd, who was only 26 years old, was appointed as the acting chief of customs due to his excellent work. He officially took office two years later, starting his nearly 50-year term. He established a set of scientific, strict, and efficient management systems, making the customs the only department in the Qing Dynasty that was free from corruption. Under Hurd's management, by 1899, the customs tax had reached 30 million taels of silver, five times more than the six million taels he had when he took over the customs.
Ironically, this tax became the most stable and reliable source of income for the Qing court.
Liu Hao was confident that if he was given a mansion, he would definitely be able to create wealth that was several times more than the tax revenue of the Qing Dynasty. Now, it was just a small test.
Liu Hao thought highly of Wang Wei.
This fellow was good at bookkeeping. Most importantly, he was honest and straightforward. Even if he found a small mistake, this fellow would investigate it thoroughly.
"This fellow can be put in an important position in the future!”
Of course, Liu Hao didn't know that this guy was Wang Jie, who had a problem with He Shen in the imperial court. He was also the direct planner of this Tong County Farm. He originally wanted to see He Shen make a fool of himself and use this opportunity to impeach He Shen. He also wanted Qianlong to recognize that He Shen was just a jester.
In fact, Liu Hao knew that he could rely on He Shen to get promoted and make a fortune, but the person he wanted to use had to be someone like Wang Jie, honest and stubborn.
In fact, Wang Jie suddenly realized that he had fallen in love with this kind of life.
Every day, he would calculate the accounts. If there was a problem, he would immediately verify it with Liu Hao. Then, Liu Hao would quickly deal with it. At night, he would teach and educate people.
This kind of life was very fulfilling.
Even though Wang Jie was the censor of the Right Capital, would Qianlong listen to his words? Every day in court, what Qianlong heard the most was nothing more than the sound of flattery.
Even if it was the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs, what could they do all day long? It was nothing more than chatting.
The so-called busy work was all nonsense.
Qianlong was already a seventy-year-old man. He had long lost his youthful spirit. In his middle age, he was steady. Now, he was an old man who was greedy for pleasure.
On the other hand, Wang Jie found that he could display all his talents with Liu Hao.
He could calculate and manage the people. Only when he was with these refugees did he know what they wanted and what they didn't want. Being with them again actually gave him a fulfilling feeling.
It was ridiculous. This identity was not even worth mentioning to his identity in the imperial court.
However, Wang Jie found that he actually liked this kind of life. He learned a lot from Liu Hao.
……
Liu Hao naturally didn't know that Wang Wei was Wang Jie, nor did he know that this second-grade official of the Qing Dynasty was in his farm.
At this moment, Liu Hao was sitting in a sedan chair, rushing towards the Imperial Academy.
As a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, he had never been to the Hanlin Academy many times. Occasionally, he would go there as a token of appreciation. There was no benefit in staying there every day to deal with official business.
In any case, He Shen had spoken up, so naturally no one rushed over to find trouble with Liu Hao.
Who the f * ck had nothing better to do and dared to lay a hand on His Excellency's money-making machine?
Just as Liu Hao was closing his eyes and concentrating, suddenly, a loud noise came from outside. Then, the palanquin shook. Before Liu Hao could come back to his senses, he saw a red shadow suddenly enter his palanquin.
Before Liu Hao could come back to his senses, someone covered his mouth."Shh, keep your voice down. Don't talk!”
The woman in front of him had a pair of bright eyes.
Liu Hao's heart skipped a beat. To be honest, it was a little tempting.
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