In addition to the current finance and military facilities of the imperial court, with Guangdong's acquisition and Macau's recovery, the amount of Daming's maritime trade began to increase sharply. In the past two months alone, the total amount of Daming's maritime trade increased by 50% compared with the previous quarter, and this range is still rising.

This is certainly due to the fact that the Ming Dynasty directly opened Macau to a free trade city after the revocation of Macau, it was also because after the Ming Navy won the Battle of the South China Sea, businessmen from Western countries came to hear the news. In addition, Europe is now in a war, the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade merchants took this opportunity to take the initiative to voyage with the power of the South China Sea, which further stimulated the expansion of maritime trade.

Before, the Ming Dynasty had only one port to the outside world, that is, Ningbo Port. After taking over Fujian, Quanzhou was added as an export port. Now there are Guangzhou and Macau. In addition, the ports in Shanghai have been built. In the future, Shanghai will become a sea trade port equivalent to Ningbo.

The opening of these port cities further affected the development of maritime trade, which was extremely beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. The profits of maritime trade were extremely rich, which not only brought great wealth to the Ming Dynasty, but also promoted the progress of the Ming Dynasty's handicrafts and other industries through maritime trade, and at the same time, it transformed the Ming Dynasty from a simple agricultural country to an industrial country.

The development of maritime trade is rapid, and relatively speaking, some responses are slightly slower, which is mainly reflected in the local customs settings for import and export, customs duties, commercial tax collection, commercial planning, etc. In fact, there were still some preliminary work in the Ming Dynasty, and the demand for maritime trade was also taken into account. However, no one expected that with the opening of the port, the development speed of maritime trade would be so rapid, which made the previous arrangements a little uneasy.

As the chief military minister and the Minister of Personnel, Liao Huanzhi expressed concerns about this.

"Weichen has verified the data reported by the Ministry of Revenue, which has indeed affected the progress of maritime trade. There are three main reasons: one is the slow speed of trade customs clearance, the second is the increase in tax evasion, and the third is the lack of local manpower, which leads to the loss of one thing and the other."

"Does Liao Aiqing have any suggestions on this?" Zhu Yicheng asked.

Liao Huanzhi immediately said: "Returning to the emperor, in the final analysis, this is due to the lack of manpower. The departments under the Ministry of Personnel have tried their best to mobilize personnel to increase the equipment of each customs, but due to the large staff gap, they cannot be satisfied for a while. I think that this matter can only be alleviated after the imperial examination is again."

Zhu Yicheng shook his head slowly. Liao Huanzhi said that there were indeed difficulties. In the early Ming Dynasty, there were serious shortages of officials at all levels in the court. This was also an important reason why Zhu Yicheng held the imperial examinations at the beginning of the restoration of the country. However, with the expansion of territory and the gradual improvement of various departments of the court, there has always been a shortage of manpower issues.

There is another issue to be discussed at the court meeting today, that is, the issue of the imperial examination. Another imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty will be held soon. This imperial examination will take longer and be larger than the first imperial examination. However, the imperial examination is not a panacea, and even those who can pass the imperial examination may not be suitable for officials immediately.

After all, the imperial examination is a talent reserve. The scholars who pass the imperial examination can not be used immediately. There is no such thing as a step to reach the sky without a certain ability. However, the local area is still good now, although there is a shortage of manpower, because some areas implement military control, there is no problem in operation. I just wait until the subsequent officials of the Ministry of Personnel will be in place one after another, and then the political affairs will be returned to the local area.

But the customs is imminent. Due to the shortage of manpower and the rapid development of maritime trade, it needs to be resolved and dealt with as soon as possible, but people cannot change it. It all takes time, but it is precisely because of time that the court suffered losses because of this.

Especially with the increase in tax evasion, Chinese people have always been smart. The so-called businessman is not a nonsense. There are naturally law-abiding people among businessmen, but there are also many greedy people. In fact, not only the business world, but also the political world. Even an ordinary rural old farmer has the "crawling peasant".

Due to the manpower problem, there are naturally many loopholes. In the case of benefits that are within your reach, it is natural for people to have bad ideas. Didn’t Lao Ma say that if there is 100% profit, capitalists will stand up and take risks; if there is 200% profit, capitalists will despise the law; if there is 300% profit, then capitalists will trample on everything in the world!

"The manpower problem is the main task of the Ministry of Personnel. I only look at the results. Now the situation of each customs must be resolved as soon as possible. If you have any suggestions, please tell me directly." Zhu Yicheng said.

Liao Huanzhi subconsciously glanced at Wang Fan, and Wang Fan looked helpless. The rest of the people couldn't think of a good idea for a while. Liao Huanzhi hesitated and said, "In my opinion, there are two strategies that can be feasible now, but..."

"But it's okay." Zhu Yicheng replied directly.

Liao Huanzhi said: "First, restrict customs and temporarily shrink sea trade, but doing so will inevitably shrink sea trade, which will not only cause local instability, but also reduce the income of the court. More importantly, once the contraction is reduced, it will also cause people to have concerns about the court. Therefore, this policy will not be recommended unless it is absolutely necessary."

Seeing Zhu Yicheng nodding slightly, Liao Huanzhi continued: "Secondly, I have carefully inquired about the situation of the personnel of each department, including the operating mechanism of the Ministry of Revenue in the customs. I think the key at present is insufficient staff, but in addition to the staff, this staff is mainly reflected in inspections, releases, tax proofs, etc., and these work may be solved in another way."

"What's the specific, let me know carefully." Zhu Yicheng asked with interest.

Liao Huanzhi smiled slightly and said, "I think there can be a separate yamen to assist the customs in handling these matters to solve the current problems."

"Mr. Liao, if you set up a separate yamen, then will you face a shortage of manpower? Since someone has set up a yamen, why do you need to do this more than that?" Wang Fan couldn't help but ask.

Liao Huanzhi smiled and said, "Of course not, because this yamen is only to assist the customs in handling some affairs, and the customs personnel will also participate in it during the process, but they only serve as the leading role. In fact, this matter has something to do with Wang Shuai, and it also needs to be approved by the emperor."

Wang Dong, who had been talking all the time, was a little puzzled. He didn't understand why he suddenly touched him. Instead, Zhu Yicheng understood a little and immediately thoughtful.

When Liao Huanzhi said his plans in detail, everyone understood what was going on. Liao Huanzhi meant to set up a new yamen, and the members of this yamen could be separated from the navy and some army to form a semi-militarized institution, which mainly carried out patrols, releases and partial tax calculating work, and also undertakes inspection tasks. But in fact, the yamen will be under the customs and are directly commanded by the court, responsible to the emperor and the court. In the specific work, customs personnel will be allocated and guided, which can not only meet the needs of insufficient staff, but also enable customs civil servants to escape from some heavy practical work to meet the current needs.

To put it bluntly, this yamen was similar to the customs inspection team and maritime police in later generations, but it was the first to be founded in this era. In fact, the customs also had its own security personnel, but these security personnel generally belong to maintaining customs order and ensuring customs security.

For example, the grain soldiers under the Qing Dynasty's governor's water transportation, the other governor's commanders, etc., but it is a good idea to determine their responsibilities in this way, if you think about it carefully, it is a good idea.

In response, Zhu Yicheng expressed his approval and decided to conduct a trial in Ningbo first. If the trial is feasible, then it will be implemented in various port cities. More importantly, Liao Huanzhi's suggestion reminded Zhu Yicheng of the policy of separation of military and police. Perhaps after the yamen is officially established, he will see the effect, and then gradually use this as a basis to establish various police agencies to gradually replace the current yamen runner structure.
Chapter completed!