Chapter 2107: Taizong Chronicles 49: The Birth of the Magic City

In the summer of the tenth year of Yongxi, in the fifth month, Shanghai.

By the banks of the Song River, amidst a cluster of brick-and-wood hybrid buildings that were refreshing to the eye, a five-story "Han Building" of considerable size rose up. The new-style brick-and-wood hybrid structure, blended with traditional carved ornamentation, together formed this imposing and grand edifice.

Over the past two or three decades, every aspect of the Great Han Empire had been changing, and the construction industry, which concerned everyone's clothing, food, housing, and transportation, was naturally no exception. The greatest change lay largely in the shift from traditional wooden architecture to the brick-and-wood hybrid style.

Of course, aside from the winds blowing in from overseas, the more important reason for such changes lay in the great development of building materials. Throughout the country, brick kilns and tile kilns of all sizes sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain. Bricks and tiles of various materials and shapes were developed by the Great Han's merchants and craftsmen, greatly enriching the content of basic building materials.

The great development of new concepts and new materials brought about overall changes from design to construction. Coupled with the court's encouragement and support from behind, while one could not say so for rural areas, in the cities, more and more new buildings began to adopt the brick-and-wood hybrid structure that combined beauty and practicality, and the "brick content ratio" was getting higher and higher.

This new-style brick-and-wood architecture also had a new name. Some called it "foreign-style buildings," while foreign merchants who had crossed the seas called it "Han Buildings." The latter clearly had greater circulation and was easier for the proud officials and people of the Great Han to accept. Even official gazettes like the "Xuan Bao," in their occasional promotions of brick-and-wood architecture, explicitly mentioned terms such as "Han Buildings" and "New Buildings."

The five-story building standing by the banks of the Song River was a standard Han Building, and its architectural design was especially meticulous—grand in layout, exquisite in detail, projecting an air of splendor and majesty. One could tell at a glance that this was an "official building."

Several months had passed since construction began with the laying of the foundation. The completed building had long since been clearly visible to the gentry and commoners of Shanghai, and now only the final step remained.

On such a sunny, auspicious day, an unveiling ceremony was underway, quite grand in scale. Not only had the chief officials of the surrounding prefectures and counties arrived in person, but Great Han merchants and residents doing business at Shanghai Port, as well as resident envoys and foreign merchants, had all gathered here.

Especially those domestic and foreign merchants engaged in foreign trade and maritime commerce wore joyful expressions, their eyes gleaming, staring fixedly at the memorial archway covered in red silk before the main entrance. Their eagerness was almost overflowing from their eyes, and they wished they could tear it open with their own hands.

Clearly, what could stir the entire city of Shanghai into action was by no means merely the inauguration ceremony of an official building—more important was what lay behind it.

After a round of gongs and drums, a lion dance performance, and a burst of firecrackers, as the red silk fell, this Han Building finally revealed its long-awaited true face: the Great Han Maritime Customs, the Jianghai Tax and Customs Office.

This was a customs building!

Following an impassioned speech by Wang Qinruo, the Inspector-General of the Jianghai Customs, amid warm cheers, the Great Han Jianghai Customs Building was officially put into use, signifying that a brand-new chapter had been opened in the Great Han's history of foreign trade.

Regarding the question of the Great Han's customs system, there had in fact always been discussion. As early as the Kaibao era, people had already proposed it, but the vested interests were too powerful and obstinate, and the voices of reform were firmly suppressed.

However, the maritime trade bureau system, inherited from the Great Tang and developed and perfected under the Great Han Empire, having experienced decades of glory, had now completed its historical mission as the Great Han Empire actively ventured overseas amid the unpredictable changes of the world situation. With the abolition of the old system, a brand-new set of maritime, port, and tax management systems was born.

Compared to the maritime trade bureau system that had prevailed in the Great Han for decades, under the new customs system, the government no longer personally participated in foreign trade transactions. Instead, it fully liberalized and moved toward "specialization," with the court establishing dedicated offices focused on maritime and tax management. Such a change was nothing less than good news for all domestic and foreign merchants engaged in foreign trade and making their living from maritime commerce.

For a long period, foreign trade under the maritime trade bureau system had been under strict government control. The import and export of goods all had to pass through the hands of the various regional maritime trade bureaus, and with each transfer, the bureaus naturally took a cut as a handling fee. For domestic and foreign merchants alike, this was an additional cost on top of the regular taxes.

By the Yongxi era, decades later, as the Great Han's overseas expansion continued to deepen and bear fruit, the scale of maritime trade was still expanding. But almost everyone had noticed that the maritime trade bureau system had begun to impede foreign trade.

Of course, that maritime trade bureau system had already loosened in the late Kaibao period. The ever-expanding scale of foreign trade directly burst through the management capacity of the maritime trade bureaus, and the gluttons along the interest chain also tried every means to exploit loopholes to avoid being skimmed by the bureaus, which in turn led to problems such as smuggling and tax evasion.

But even with all these problems, abolishing the old maritime trade bureaus and establishing the new customs system still went through a relatively lengthy process. This was not only due to the desperate defense by those official merchants who depended on the maritime trade bureau system—the most important factor was that the upper echelons of the Great Han, or more precisely the Finance Commission, could not bear to part with the abundant revenues under the maritime trade bureau system. Monopoly business had always been the most profitable and the hardest to let go of.

Therefore, in the face of grievances from within and without, and the endless stream of problems, over the past years, the "maritime trade bureau faction" suppressed the voices of reform on one hand while patching up leaks and papering over problems on the other. However, this was ultimately nothing more than a struggle in vain, merely slowing the speed at which the maritime trade bureau system was heading toward collapse.

No matter how desperately the vested interests tried to maintain it, the fundamental problem was that the old maritime trade bureau system could not meet the ever-growing and flourishing demands of maritime trade management. Unless this fundamental contradiction was resolved or alleviated, new problems would only accumulate further. By the time it had developed to the point of affecting foreign trade, the problems were already deeply entrenched.

Reform was necessary—that had never been a question for Emperor Liu Yang, as long as there were sufficient reasons to convince him. But if it were only domestic maritime merchants and foreign visiting merchants, even if they shouted themselves hoarse, it would be very difficult to truly shake that deeply rooted system. After all, the vested interest bloc was too powerful—beside the Finance Commission, there was also the Court of the Imperial Treasury.

However, when the vassal kings of the South Seas continuously submitted their demands to the court and pointed out the problems, the impact became significant. Those vassal states clearly harbored deep resentment toward the old maritime trade bureau system. They needed trade with the Great Han to develop, and over the past decade or more of trading, they had naturally come to deeply appreciate the suffering of domestic and foreign maritime merchants being exploited.

As vassal states, submitting demands to the court was a habitual matter. As descendants of the Great Han imperial house, descendants of Emperor Shizu, they could also directly reach the ears of the throne.

Thus, when various voices of reform reached the ears of Emperor Liu Yang, and after extensive investigation and research on multiple fronts, the reform of the maritime trade bureau system was finally set in motion. This was still not a quick process—it was dragged out for several years back and forth, and only in the winter of the ninth year of Yongxi was the system officially announced and established.

To meet the management needs of foreign trade, ports, taxation, and smuggling suppression, to further promote the development of maritime trade, and to strengthen ties with vassal states and foreign countries, the Great Han promulgated the "Customs Management Regulations."

In the coastal regions, a total of five major customs offices were established. From south to north, they were the Yue Customs, the Min Customs, the Jiang Customs, the Donghai Customs, and the Bohai Customs. Each major customs office had an Inspector-General position, ranked at the third grade. Under each customs office, ports were established for comprehensive management. The customs offices were directly subordinate to the Finance Commission. The Inspector-General and the port chiefs under them were appointed by the court, and dedicated customs forces were assigned to carry out inspections, maintain public order, and suppress smuggling.

The new customs system might not have been entirely perfect, and more new problems might surface during implementation, but this reform, which responded to the times and followed the trend, had its important significance. It was also a manifestation of the positive, progressive, and change-seeking spirit of the entire Yongxi era.

And at this moment, in Shanghai in the summer of the tenth year of Yongxi, along the banks of the Song River, one only needed to look at the joyful expressions of the domestic and foreign merchants watching the unveiling ceremony of the Jianghai Customs Building, and hear the thunderous applause, to know how much "popular support" this reform had won. Shanghai in the tenth year of Yongxi was even more prosperous than before. Rapid changes continued unabated, the population had further increased, and it was already a great metropolis of over three hundred thousand people, attracting merchants from every place the rivers and seas reached, with no upper limit yet in sight.

Of course, the greatest change lay in the elevation of its administrative status. Now, even within the Great Han Empire, Shanghai could legitimately be called "Shanghai Municipality." It was also in the ninth year of Yongxi that this once-unknown rural fishing village became the Great Han's first "specially designated municipality."

The realization of this matter was due to the vigorous promotion of Wang Xuanzhen, the Administration Commissioner of the Jiangnan Circuit. Before taking office, he had received personal instructions from the Emperor. After assuming his post, Wang Xuanzhen conducted a thorough and in-depth investigation into the situation among Shanghai and the two prefectures of Su and Xiu.

Eventually, through his submission to the central government, it was decided that Shanghai, this port city that had risen to prominence through foreign trade, would be separately listed as a "municipality" directly under the administration of the Jiangnan Circuit's government. "Mayor" also became a new title in the Great Han's local administrative system, directly ranked at the third grade. Tax revenue was shared between the central government and the Jiangnan Circuit, following the principle of an "80-20 split."

At this point, the two prefectures of Su and Xiu, which had fought tooth and nail, red-faced and bloodied, over the benefits of the Song River and port trade, ended up with nothing at all.

Not only did they fail to get anything into their mouths, but they also had to fork over what they had been guarding on their plates. The new Shanghai, combining economic strength with political status, had a very stiff backbone, after all, it had the endorsement of the central government and the circuit government.

Thus, with Wang Xuanzhen's support, another adjustment was made to Shanghai Municipality's jurisdiction, essentially encompassing the entire lower Song River region east of the two prefectures of Su and Xiu, all becoming Shanghai's territory. What the two prefectures had once fought over was swallowed whole by Shanghai in one gulp.

Such an outcome was clearly unacceptable to the two prefectures. During the process of promotion, voices of opposition and complaint reached the ears of the throne, but to no avail. With the central authority at its peak, if local governments dared to openly resist, they would truly lose their heads. Although Emperor Liu Yang had been promoting the construction of rule of law, the empire's fundamental governance remained rule by men. Even tax reform and official reform could be vigorously promoted—a local administrative division had very little room to resist, and its resistance was too feeble.

Moreover, there was the Jiangnan Circuit government represented by Wang Xuanzhen, as well as a series of new interest groups connected to Shanghai. He was clearly also happy to see the "establishment of Shanghai Municipality."

Thus, the lower Yangtze River Delta region welcomed a new pattern, as an eastern star city facing the sea and embracing the future rose steadily.

In this process, the most injured party was undoubtedly Xiu Prefecture. Losing "Shanghai County," this cornucopia, was almost like having an arm cut off. Although it still had the cotton textile industry as its pillar, the faint sadness of being castrated lingered in the hearts of Xiu Prefecture's officials.

By comparison, Suzhou, which suffered a similar loss, fared much better. Compared to Xiu Prefecture, Suzhou's family foundation was clearly much more substantial. Without Shanghai, it still had the benefits of the Yangtze, and within its borders it had Lake Tai and Yangcheng Lake, as well as waterways like Changshu Canal, Zhihe Canal, Baimao Creek, and Qiya Creek that could be utilized. Rather than fighting over Shanghai, developing its own superior conditions seemed to be the proper path.

And among the various customs ports under the Jiang Customs, Suzhou alone occupied three locations, showing Suzhou's "strength."

No matter how many twists and turns occurred, or how much jockeying for interests was triggered, the establishment of Shanghai Municipality was an indisputable fact. And this was also a historic landmark event for the Great Han's urban development. It was a completely new model, involving a new kind of central-local relationship, with no precedent to reference, yet in fact representing a development trend of a new era—a stroke worthy of heavy ink in the history of the Great Han's urban development.

From the establishment of the municipality to the establishment of the five major customs offices, Shanghai, possessing both, naturally became the Great Han's most unique city. Among all the circuits and prefectures in the country, it was the only such case.

Regarding the Shanghai model, there was naturally no avoiding discussion at court, after all, it was too novel, and novel things were often not so easily accepted. Moreover, it was something concocted by a "hound" like Wang Xuanzhen.

Once a hound, always a hound. Although he had already demonstrated sufficiently outstanding administrative management ability, Wang Xuanzhen was still not accepted by the political mainstream. Of course, the current Wang Xuanzhen had already given up on integrating into that group of meritorious officials, nobles, and literati bureaucrats. As long as he was recognized by the Emperor, being a capable official of the Yongxi era was enough.

The five major customs offices basically covered all foreign trade management in the coastal regions of the empire's heartland. When they were first established, some officials had suggested that, like Shanghai, they should all be separately designated as municipalities.

But this matter ultimately did not come to pass. Shanghai's specialness lay in its reliance on the already sufficiently wealthy and highly developed Yangtze River Delta region. The commodity resources of all circuits, prefectures, and counties reachable by the Yangtze and the canal could converge here—a condition that other customs cities did not possess. And separately establishing municipalities, besides strengthening management, was essentially about the court wanting to participate in profit-sharing to a greater degree. If the court took more and grabbed more, the localities would naturally lose out.

Take Quanzhou, where the Min Customs was located, for example. Zhou Yinquan, the Administration Commissioner of Fujian, had once submitted a memorial to the court, saying that the people of Fujian lived in hardship and could only barely get by through maritime trade. Fuzhou and Quanzhou were the two legs of Fujian's development—lose either one, and one would have to walk with a limp. This litany of grievances was in essence the Fujian Circuit government's resistance to Quanzhou being separately designated as a municipality.

The Min Customs was a golden egg sown by the court and hatched by the Fujian Circuit. The court already took the lion's share—if it also wanted to take away the hen that laid the eggs, that would be going too far. Not every place was the Jiangnan Circuit, and not every Administration Commissioner was named Wang Xuanzhen.

Similar to Quanzhou was naturally Guangzhou Prefecture, the seat of the Yue Customs. Without a doubt, over the past decades, Guangzhou had gradually developed into one of the Great Han's top-ranked large cities, a port of trade for ten thousand nations. At least in the tenth year of Yongxi, its scale was several times that of Shanghai.

However, a key problem was that in the entire Lingnan region, besides Guangzhou Prefecture, what other city could be offered up? After careful calculation, there really was nothing that could hold its own. Therefore, the existence of Guangzhou Prefecture also played the role that Chengdu Prefecture played in the southwest region—it needed to support its poorer neighbors, "drive prosperity for those behind," and contribute to the stability of the entire region.

As for the Donghai and Bohai customs in the north, they mainly targeted the northeast region and the two countries of Goryeo and Japan. First of all, there were limitations in scale—many merchants from those two countries would rather sail the long distance to trade in Shanghai. On the other hand, the conservative atmosphere was also stronger there, and there was currently no need to promote separate municipal designation.

Therefore, at least in the tenth year of Yongxi, Shanghai had become the most special city in the entire Great Han Empire. From architectural style to ideological concepts, from the business environment to management models, it was pioneering in history. Even within the Great Han Empire, this city was becoming increasingly magical and dazzling, making it difficult to predict where it would ultimately go.