New Shun 1730

Whether it is to return to Dashun to buy land, study, take the imperial examination, and become an official, or to set up industries and factories in Batavia and become a Kapitan, there is actually not much difference for individuals.

They are all the best choices for individuals.

At most, you need to pay a price when you transform.

But as long as you have money, everything will be easy.

But for the country, the difference is huge.

If buying land, studying, taking the imperial examination, becoming an official, collecting rent, and becoming a permanent gentry are still the best choices for Dashun, then Dashun may be very stable, but China is doomed.

Lian Fuguang and others don't know the difference, but they know that if they go back to be a gentry, buy land, and take the imperial examination, even if they have money, it will be quite troublesome. It will take at least three or five generations to achieve the current status and become a permanent master of a county.

Of course, they still hope that Dashun will not interfere too much in Nanyang.

Because if Dashun can't handle the market of the Dutch East India Company, it will not be able to eat meat.

If you can't eat meat, you can only think about drinking soup. The court can't spend money to go to Southeast Asia without even drinking soup, right?

Lian Fuguang and others were originally drinking soup in this system.

The court can't eat meat, so it can only grab soup to drink, so those who originally drank soup will have to lick the spoon.

Although Dashun's battleships have already arrived in Batavia, it is only three or five nautical miles away from Batavia.

However, it is still tens of thousands of miles away from the Persian market, the African market, the Western European market, and the American market.

Just like the sugar in Batavia. The Dutch East India Company is still the gold nugget of the Netherlands. Even if the price is slightly higher than that of the West Indies, it can still be sold by adjusting the tariff. You still have to take care of your own.

And what if the sugar in Batavia belongs to Dashun? Is the sugar in the West Indies and Caribbean not delicious? Or is the sugar in Dashun magical and tastes sweeter than the sugar in the Caribbean?

To a certain extent, the products of Nanyang and Dashun are competitive and not completely complementary. Still speaking of sugar, if the East India Company did not have tariff protection, the sugar from Fujian, Guangxi and Taiwan would have caused the Batavia Sugar Factory to close down thirty years ago, and the Black Shirt Party and No Pants Men would have been everywhere. How could it be now?

And it’s not just about sugar?

Batavia is also the "capital" of the East India Company. The people of any capital do not want to move the capital. This is an iron rule.

All kinds of uneasiness and anxiety must come to a final result in this matter of the imperial envoy comforting Nanyang, so that we can feel at ease.

This uneasiness became more and more anxious as the Dashun warships got closer to the port.

When the warships finally docked and saw that the fleet fired salutes instead of live ammunition, the first layer of anxiety finally dissipated.

The imperial envoy's guard of honor was played, the imperial edict was read, and Liu Yu finally set foot on the ground of Batavia. Under the leadership of Valkner, he inspected the Batavia garrison troops. All the people from Batavia present burst into thunderous applause: Finally, there was no war.

After the long welcome ceremony, Lian Fuguang still led the imperial envoy to his manor for temporary stay. It was the best Chinese manor in Batavia. After a little renovation, it was more suitable for receiving the imperial envoy.

After entering the manor, Lian Fuguang and others knelt down together. Liu Yu exempted them from the ceremony and expressed a friendly attitude.

"I heard that in the court of Batavia, all conflicts were referred to Kapitan and Lei Zhenlan. When the case was decided in court, the people only bowed and never knelt. They just said they were born later. You can still remember the etiquette of the Celestial Empire, which shows that you have not forgotten the Celestial Empire and deserves praise."

This sounded friendly, and Lian Fuguang carefully looked up to see what this general who was rumored to have commanded a battle of 10,000 people looked like.

After seeing it, he also felt kind and amiable, with a smile on his face all the time, without the solemnity of the legendary awe-inspiring in the opera.

He thought that this was Liu Yu's approachable nature, but in fact he didn't know that this smile was purely a playful mentality of watching the world like a play. The easiest way is over, and at worst there will be no more humiliation that lasts for a hundred years. The road behind is at a loss as to whether it can be passed, but this insignificant step in Nanyang is just a small step that does not help the overall situation. Being in Nanyang, you are naturally relaxed.

"Your Excellency, the Imperial Envoy has worked hard on the journey. Although my humble home is not pleasing to your eyes, we have also put in some effort. Please do not be offended."

When saying these polite words, Lian Fuguang's heart was beating wildly. He hesitated several times, and finally said what he really wanted to say when he looked at Liu Yu's smiling face.

"Your Excellency, you came to comfort us this time. We are grateful for the court's kindness. However, we heard that the court also approves of going abroad to make a living. Now the court has abolished the capitation tax, and the people are moving around but the officials do not stop them. After all, people move but the land does not move. There will still be many people going to Southeast Asia in the future... Is this comfort for today and yesterday? Is it for today and tomorrow?"

"What's the difference?"

"To answer your Excellency's question. If it is for today and yesterday, we only need to take care of the Tang people today and yesterday. If it is for today and tomorrow, we will have to take care of the Tang people tomorrow. Batavia does not allow the Tang people to come today, but tomorrow it may ask for more Tang people to come."

Liu Yu thought that at most three to five years, Batavia would be renamed the Chinese name of Coconut Grove City, so what would today and tomorrow be?

He didn't know that Lian Fuguang and others had their own little calculations, and just thought that Valknir sent them to test him.

So he asked a nonsense question.

"I came here to comfort the people, and I want to ask if the Dutch have treated the Chinese unfairly. If so, I will discuss this with the local governor and make it a law in the future."

This sentence itself is not nonsense, but the problem is that all kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are tax-packaged, and the ones in front of me are tax-packaged.

Asking a tax collector whether it is good to pay heavy taxes and miscellaneous taxes is no different from asking a landlord whether it is good to collect land rent.

Sure enough, Lian Fuguang said hurriedly: "The Dutch have their own laws, and the system is very different from that of the Central Plains. But it can be considered impartial, and there is not much injustice. There is no hindrance to us worshiping our ancestors. The people of the Tang Dynasty also have autonomy. According to the "Great Shun Law", the Dutch rarely interfered."

"Only one thing seems unfair."

Liu Yu was shocked and thought, you can actually feel the injustice?

Aren’t you paying for the head tax? What exactly makes you feel unfair?

Curiosity aroused, and I thought that it would make even tax collectors feel unfair. What kind of bad government would it be? He quickly asked: "Tell me about it! I will definitely argue with you."

Lian Fuguang hurriedly bowed to express his gratitude and said: "Fifty years ago, Kapitan Guojunguan established [weeskamer]. This is the Dutch word for orphans and widowers. It is just like the Salesian Church, nursery school, and nursery school in China. Yes. It's called the Almshouse."

"If someone dies without a will, the assets are inventoried, sold into silver, and deposited into it. His heirs receive an annuity with interest, and when they reach adulthood, the principal is returned. The assets of the almshouse are usually managed by dedicated personnel to make money make money. ”

"On weekdays, I am setting up a charity school, providing relief for epilepsy, or raising orphans."

Liu Yu nodded and said: "This is a good thing. What's the problem? If Guo Junguan were in the heaven, he could be enshrined."

Lian Fuguang said: "Nowadays, the almshouses are short of funds, so the Dutch forcefully require that after death, the family property must be inspected and five thousandths of it must be donated for charity."

"Donating is a good thing, helping the poor is also a good thing, and helping widows and widowers is also a good deed. If we donate, we will feel better and be considered good deeds. But how can anyone force people to donate money? Besides, how can anyone accept money from dead people? "

"Thirty years ago, Qiu Zuguan, a native of Fujian, was appointed as the asset management committee member of this workhouse. Seeing that the assets were dwindling, he introduced a policy: Anyone who has slaves, slaves, and slaves at home must not bury them privately after their slaves die, but must go to help the poor. You have to buy a ticket at the hospital and pay 25 cents before you can be buried.”

"After his death, the whole city was filled with hatred, and no one carried the coffin."

"As an act of charity, donating money is fine. But donating money after death is really irritating. Anyone who has servants or slaves at home is short of these 25 cents? It's just that I can't swallow this breath."

"Can your Excellency negotiate with the Governor to avoid the policy of donating a percentage of assets after death?"

Liu Yu snorted and thought to himself: Outside Batavia, 50,000 to 60,000 Chinese people were almost revolted by the poll tax and unemployment. Tens of thousands of them wanted to cross the sea to Ceylon to seek a living. At least one-third of them mortality rate.

I'm fucking asking you if the Dutch are unfair to the Chinese so that I can talk to the Dutch in Batavia. Is that all you're talking about?

Lian Fuguang saw Liu Yu snorting strangely, and he didn't quite understand where Liu Yu's strange sound came from.

The huge differences caused by different perspectives make some things that Lian Fuguang takes for granted not so natural for Liu Yu.

For example, if a slave or a slave dies and buys a ticket for burial, isn’t this making money from the dead person?

Making money from dead people is unacceptable.

Has anyone in the past dynasties made money from dead people? Even Wang Mang and Sui Yang have never made money from dead people, right?

Lian Fuguang and others felt that this was a matter of course to be angry, so it was really difficult to understand Liu Yu's strange voice.

But even though he didn't understand where Qihe was, he still carefully said what he really wanted to say.

“It’s not that we don’t have a compassionate heart, but we think this tax law that levies taxes based on a percentage of family property is bad government.”

"Your Excellency, you don't know. There is also an inheritance tax here in the Netherlands. It is also levied based on the percentage of the family property. This inheritance tax does not go to the workhouse, but is paid directly to the governor. And the five thousandths is in addition to the inheritance tax. Additional donations.”

"Whenever there is a deceased person, the first thing to do is not to come to express condolences, but to inventory the family property and collect inheritance tax in proportion."

"The dead are the most important. Who is still collecting taxes after death?"

"It's not just us who are dissatisfied. All the Chinese in Batavia are dissatisfied."

"First, the dead are the most important. To collect taxes after people die is really unconscionable."

"Secondly, if the almshouse takes care of widows and widowers, where can we go to the clan hall? The clan hall is meant to do this kind of thing. If this is an official operation and the clan is loose, how can people respect their ancestors?"

"Thirdly, in this almshouse, the sick, epilepsy, leprosy, widows, orphans, etc. are saved. Why should anyone in the city help? Strong men cannot enjoy such benefits, but are often forced to donate money. To treat the sick, widows and orphans, why should I use my money to treat them?”

"When the people in the city are old, they will have someone to take care of them until they die, and the welfare of the workhouse has nothing to do with me. When the people in the city are sick, they pay for medical treatment at their own expense, and there are also slaves and family members to serve them. When the people in the city die, their wives and daughters will have inheritance. Why do we need almshouses to support widows?”

"I'll wait for the people in the city to pay, but I won't be able to enjoy any welfare at all. Who would be willing to do that? Since ancient times, there has been no compulsion to pay money for doing good deeds. The inheritance is as tyrannical as Sui Yang's, and no inheritance tax has been collected."

"There are so many poor people outside the city who need relief, but how can they have the money to donate to the workhouse? Besides, there are so many poor people outside the city. When will this workhouse be opened? There is no money today, so we are asked to give a thousand percent of our property Five thousandths; if there is no money tomorrow, another five thousandths will be paid... endlessly."

"It's thanks to the court that the poor people outside the city were emigrated to Ceylon. Otherwise, I'm afraid that the poorhouse would have to use our money to support those people outside the city."

Hearing this, Liu Yu finally laughed, thinking that you thought too much, the Dutch would never have such an idea, it would be much easier to just kill them all.

"Sir, those who can live in the city can afford the head tax and don't need relief. Those who need relief can't even pay the head tax, so there is no inheritance tax, and they can't be expected to donate money."

"The money we pay is not used for us, who can't complain in their hearts?"

Hearing this, Liu Yu slowly raised a thumb and praised: "It's really reasonable!"

But in his heart, he thought, head tax, rice tax, fish tax... all these 21 kinds of heavy taxes, how much of them are used for you? Do you complain?"