Chapter 376 Annoying Negotiation
Liu Xiang and his group were reluctant to break up with Haihan, of course, not only because they were afraid of the two platoons of armed militiamen from the Guangdong Office. What's more important is that the Haihan people now have considerable influence in the Guangdong region. Not just anyone dares to reach out to them. Even lawless pirates have to be wary.
First of all, there is no doubt about the financial strength of the Haihan people. Haihan's goods sell well in Guangdong and Guangxi, making money every day. The "Haihan Bank" under his name is now the most famous bank in Guangzhou, and its cash circulation is also one of the highest. Almost all Trade and currency delivery related to Haihan are all carried out through Haihan Bank. And after this kind of economic power is projected to all levels of society, the influence it has is also huge. Whether they are dignitaries or traffickers, it is now common to talk about Haihan-related topics.
Secondly, the Haihan people now also have a certain influence in Guangzhou's officialdom. They have vigorously promoted cultural undertakings in Guangzhou, pacified the bandits in the First World War in Panyu, recruited a large number of victims to reclaim the border with work-for-relief, and showed goodwill to the new governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Various measures made people in Guangzhou official circles show courtesy to him. Moreover, because the government had previously issued official notices for Haihan's recruitment of disaster victims, Haihan also had a certain degree of credibility among the people. Some people even took some of the rules formulated by Haihan as the government's will. understand.
Finally, there is the military force that the Haihan people currently have. In addition to the Haihan militia stationed in the Guangzhou Liaison Office, there are nearly 300 armed personnel under the name of "Golden Shield Security" outside Guangzhou. Although these people are private armed forces under the name of the Li family, they are also available for deployment by the Guangzhou Garrison Office. Forty miles outside Guangzhou, the large-scale immigration camp built by the Haihan people in Lijiazhuang, Panyu County also had hundreds of militiamen stationed there, as well as more than a hundred people from Lijiazhuang's village protection team.
Just near Guangzhou, Haihan could mobilize more than 500 troops at any time. This manpower may seem small, but in the Battle of Panyu a few months ago, the Haihan people used a force of five to six hundred to severely injure thousands of bandits who besieged Lijiazhuang. Liu Xiangke was not arrogant enough to think that his men had landed. How much stronger can the final combat effectiveness be than the bandits on land. What's more, in addition to these manpower, Haihan also occupies a small island at the mouth of the Pearl River. Not only is there a fort on the island, there are militia soldiers stationed on the island, and there are even several warships equipped with artillery that patrol the surrounding waters every day. It's a sea fortress.
The Haihan people are rich and powerful, and they also have powerful private armed forces. Liu Xiang does not want to bite such hard bones unless he has to. As an envoy, Liu Xin naturally adhered to this concept. Although Malik of the General Office of the People's Republic of China kept talking in circles and did not give him a positive response on the arms trade issue, Liu Xin still swallowed his nerve and chose to continue the negotiation instead of "ten The threat of force used by "Bazhi" - of course he also knew very well that using force to threaten the Haihan people might not work, and it might even anger these guys and further intensify the conflict between the two parties.
However, continuing to delay like this is not a solution to the problem. Liu Xin was given half a month of activity time before departure. Now more than half of it has passed, but the negotiations between the two parties have not made substantial progress. If we continue to talk according to the current model, I am afraid that we will not be able to reach a decent result by the end of the year. How can Liu Xin go back to the mission and return to his life?
After waiting for another day in a restless mood, the heavy rain that lasted for many days finally stopped. Liu Xin quickly asked the innkeeper to call a carriage and rushed to the Guangdong Office outside Guangzhou. The negotiation had been suspended for two days due to weather, which had already made Liu Xin as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. If the Haihan people continued to shirk the situation and said that they had not thought about it well, Liu Xin would really be angry.
The heavy rain turned the roads throughout Guangzhou into mud. Some low-lying areas in the city even had knee-deep swamps due to poor drainage. Liu Xin was sitting on the carriage and saw many people sitting under the eaves on both sides of the road carrying packages and jars. It seemed that they were all victims of the heavy rain.
Liu Xin's carriage finally got out of the city in the chaotic traffic, but when he rushed to the Guangdong Office, he found that the traffic conditions here were far worse than in the city. When we were still one mile away from the Guangdong Office, the road was already blocked by flood victims. Looking around, at least two to three thousand people have gathered in the area outside the Guangdong Office. Now there is no need for government publicity at all. People near Guangzhou know that the Haihan people have been helping the victims. This disaster has naturally affected people from all directions. People flocked to the General Office of the People's Republic of China for help.
Seeing that the carriage could no longer pass, Liu Xin could only choose to get off the car and walk, struggling to squeeze through the crowd. From time to time, he would be ridiculed by the people around him: "Why are you so crowded? People in Haihan have to queue up to get food. Do you understand?" Rules!”
Liu Xin could only turn a deaf ear and finally squeezed to the door. Before he could speak, two militiamen in gray uniforms pushed him aside: "Queue in line! Queue in the back!"
Liu Xin quickly identified himself: "Liu Xin, I am not a victim of the disaster. I am here to work in the Guangdong Office. Please tell the two of you."
"Oh? What are you doing?" one of the militiamen asked. Today, a large number of victims flocked to the Guangdong Office. The higher-ups have ordered that irrelevant personnel are strictly prohibited from entering and exiting the Office at will, so interrogations are much stricter than usual.
Naturally, it was not convenient for Liu Xin to tell these grassroots personnel that he was here for negotiation, so he could only find an excuse: "Brother Yu brought him in last time I came here. You two just need to let Brother Yu come out."< br>
The "Brother Yu" that Liu Xin refers to is Yu Xiaobao, who was assigned to work in the General Office of the People's Republic of China last year and is now the director of the external reception affairs of the Office of the General Office of the People's Republic of China. Although the two militiamen were a little skeptical, they still reported the information.
After a while, Yu Xiaobao came out of the courtyard: "It's Mr. Liu! There are few visitors, please come inside!"
Liu Xinxin thought that except for the past two days, I had been here almost every day in the past few days. This is what kind of rare visitor I am. However, there were many people at the moment, so he did not argue with Yu Xiaobao, raised his hands and clasped his fists, and followed Yu Xiaobao into the courtyard.
"I wonder which minister Mr. Liu is here to meet today? Do you have an appointment?" Yu Xiaobao took Liu Xin to the reception room where he first entered the courtyard, and asked people to make tea and serve snacks, and then asked Liu Xin's purpose.
"When I came to visit me last time, I made an appointment with Boss Ma the day before yesterday. However, it rained too hard two days ago and I couldn't travel, so I delayed my visit until today. I wonder if Boss Ma is here now?" Liu Xin asked.
"That's it..." Yu Xiaobao nodded slowly: "Chief Ma is busy with work. If the agreed meeting time has passed, you need to make another appointment."
"But this is an urgent matter, we can't wait!" Liu Xin couldn't sit still immediately.
"It's useless to be anxious. Chief Ma has other arrangements today, and no one is in the Guangdong Office now." Yu Xiaobao said helplessly: "Because a large number of victims came to seek help early this morning, Chief Ma I am afraid that the grain storage of the Guangdong Office is not enough, so I have already taken people to Panyu to transport grain. I guess I won’t be able to make it back today. Mr. Liu can make an appointment for tomorrow.”
Liu Xinxin cursed secretly and asked persistently: "Then there is another boss named He?"
"Chief He is here, but he is currently busy dealing with the victims outside. I'm afraid he won't have time to see you for a while..."
"I'm willing to wait!" Liu Xin rushed to say before he could finish his words: "Can you please tell me, brother?" After saying that, he took out a piece of silver from his body and stuffed it towards Yu Xiaobao.
Yu Xiaobao skillfully pushed away Liu Xin's bribe and said with a smile: "This is not necessary. We Haihan are not interested in this. Then please sit here for a while, Mr. Liu, and I will go and get through it for you right away." Pass.”
So Liu Xin could only sit down and wait obediently. Fortunately, although the work of the Guangdong Office in Guangdong was tedious, his treatment of others was not ambiguous at all. There were four-color pastries and snacks on the table, as well as roasted seeds and nuts such as melon seeds and peanuts, and tea. It was also a good Tieguanyin, which gave Liu Xin time to replenish his energy when he went out on an empty stomach.
However, Liu Xin was still tired of waiting. In the blink of an eye, it was noon. He urged him several times, but Yu Xiaobao deducted that He Xi was still outside busy with relief matters for the victims. There were seven or eight people waiting in the living room one after another. It seemed that this was not fake, so Liu Xin could only continue to wait honestly.
After eating a lunch provided by the Guangdong Office, Liu Xin couldn't help but feel sleepy. He had been so worried for the past two days that he couldn't fall asleep at all at night. Now as soon as his tense nerves relaxed, he sat on the wicker chair and dozed off.
When Liu Xin woke up, he found that it was already dark, and all the people waiting with him in the living room were gone. Liu Xin quickly got up, went to find Yu Xiaobao outside the house, and asked if He Xi had returned.
Yu Xiaobao nodded and said: "Chief He will be back in the afternoon, but seeing that Mr. Liu is sleeping soundly, I specially asked not to wake you up."
Liu Xin couldn't care less about being angry at this time, and quickly asked: "Then where is Boss He now? Take me to see him quickly."
"Director He is not in the Guangdong Office now..." Yu Xiaobao said slowly.
Liu Xin was almost crazy with anxiety: "Don't use excuses to prevaricate me. I know your two bosses are avoiding me on purpose! Take me to see them quickly!" "I'm really not here, why should I lie to you." Yu Xiaobao explained innocently: "In the afternoon, the Governor's Mansion sent someone over, saying that the Governor had something to announce about disaster relief, and asked Chief He to enter the city. At this time, he should be attending a banquet at the Governor's Mansion."
Liu Xin naturally had no way to go to Wang Zunde's house to check whether He Xi was there, so he could only give up his plan to wait any longer and return to the city first. Seeing that the deadline for negotiations set by Liu Xiang was one day closer, but this day was wasted sitting in the General Office of the People's Republic of China, Liu Xin felt that his spirit was about to collapse.
But there was something Liu Xin didn't know. Just when he accidentally fell into a coma in the Guangdong Office, the Haihan Executive Committee thousands of miles away had decided to take a tough attitude to deal with Liu Xiang's request.
Naturally, Maliko and He Xi didn't go out at all, and the excuses they made were just to delay the negotiation process. When Liu Xin left the General Office of the People's Republic of China with a feeling of grievance, they were in the telegram mailroom checking the latest messages sent from the base camp. instruct.
"It is necessary to mobilize troops to the Pearl River Estuary to strengthen the defense of the Pearl River Estuary. The Executive Committee is planning to go head-on." He Xi took the message and said with emotion: "It seems that the Executive Committee is not planning to Continue to take the low-key route.”
"That's hard to say!" Malik had a different view on this: "You saw it also said in the cable that active defense is allowed, but proactive attacks are not allowed. It took the Navy half a year to reach its current scale. The Executive Committee How could the Central Military Commission be willing to take risks with these treasures?”
He Xi frowned and said, "Then we have a showdown with Liu Xiang's people?"
"Why are you so anxious? I think this matter can be stable for a few more days." Malik analyzed: "The military is going to dispatch most of the navy this time. It will definitely take a few days to prepare, including their departure from Sanya and arrival at the Pearl River. I think it will take at least three to five to seven days.”
"You can't put medicine in the food to knock him out every day, right?" He Xi smiled and said: "I guess I can use it once at most. He will definitely not even get a sip of water when he comes to the house in the future."
Malico also smiled and said: "This kind of thing can't happen again, just once is enough. But it's not difficult to hold him back. Negotiation means negotiating while stumbling on the opponent, trying to slow down the pace of the negotiation. , it’s actually very easy, just pick up every word the other party says. I can’t do intelligence, and you can’t play dirty tricks. Just leave this matter to me.”
"Okay, okay, you have the final say if you cheat, I won't compete with you." After He Xi finished joking, he returned the topic to the matter at hand: "With this heavy rain, it is estimated that there will be three to four thousand more victims near Guangzhou. If the operation is good, we can bring another one or two thousand people back to the island.”
"Maybe there are more." Maliko was obviously more optimistic about this matter: "Today, the number of victims who came to the Guangdong Office for help alone should have exceeded 2,000, but the news from Panyu said that the victims in the south were affected by the disaster. The situation seems to be more serious, so many victims went to Panyu, which is closer, and did not come to Guangzhou City.”
"The robbery must be done now!" He Xi was also moved by Maliko's emotions and sighed: "This year and the next two years are critical periods for the population explosion. If the population of our ruling area exceeds 100,000, the southeastern region will basically No one can touch us anymore.”
Maliko responded: "Let's take the Pearl River Estuary first. As long as we control the waterway here, the population and wealth will be continuously transported to Sanya. No matter how powerful the 'Eighteen Zhi' is in Fujian, they have arrived This is also an away game, so there is not much advantage at all. In comparison, we at least have the maritime base of Wanshan Port that we can use. ”
Liu Xin had no idea about the Haihan people's sinister plan behind the scenes, but he could also vaguely feel that the Haihan people were consciously delaying time. But even though he was aware of this, he was still unable to change the pace of the negotiations. The negotiations in the next few days still gave him a splitting headache.
"Mr. Liu, you ask us to ban the sale of weapons and equipment. Are you referring to Fujian alone or the whole of Fujian and Guangzhou?" Malik asked.
"Of course it refers to the direction of Fujian."
"So, it's okay for us to sell weapons to businessmen in Guangdong?" Maliko asked with a sarcastic face.
"This...your subordinates are not allowed to resell weapons to Fujian!" Liu Xin didn't know why, but felt something was wrong.
"How can we control how the next family handles the weapons they buy? Do we have to worry about how each family cooks the salt we sell after buying it?"
"This... you are using strong words to make sense!" Liu Xin felt that he was a little short of words.
"I am clearly telling you the facts and reasoning, but where is the rhetoric? If you think what I said is wrong, you can point it out and let's discuss it."
Liu Xin calmed down and then argued: "If you can't restrain your family's behavior, then please stop selling weapons in the Fuguang area."
Maliko waved his hands and said: "You mean we are not allowed to engage in arms trade in the Fu-Guang area?"
"Yes, that's what it means!" Liu Xin said fiercely. He felt that he should have been as tough as he was now a few days ago, and maybe he would have made the other party surrender long ago.
"Then our selling weapons on Qiongzhou Island will not affect your safety, right?" Malik sneered and said, "Or do you think that Qiongzhou Island now also belongs to your sphere of influence?"
Liu Xin was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to fight back against Malik. Although the "Eighteen Zhi" has unparalleled strength on the southeast coast, it is mainly concentrated in the Fuguang area, but it has not extended its tentacles as far as Qiongzhou Island - after all, if it can even control Yazhou, How could it be possible to just sit back and watch the Haihan people take root and flourish locally and grow stronger?
And Liu Xin also knew that the Haihan people had great influence in Yazhou, and even the government was clearly on their side. The sea area near Yazhou is also completely controlled by the Haihan people. Liu Xin would not dare to talk nonsense like adding Qiongzhou Island to his own sphere of influence under any circumstances, otherwise it would just be a laughing stock.
But if you admit that you can't influence Qiongzhou Island, doesn't that mean you admit that the Haihan people have the right to sell weapons on their own in Qiongzhou? If Xu Xinsu can't be bought in Guangzhou, wouldn't he send a ship to the Haihan people's territory to buy it? If so, what's the point of banning the sale in mainland China?
"No, no, that's not the case." Liu Xin quickly sorted out his confused thoughts, waved his hands and defended: "We have no control over your business on Qiongzhou Island. Our requirement is that you cannot do business on Qiongzhou Island." Anywhere and in any form sell weapons to the Fujian Ming army.”
"Oh... So that's it." Maliko said with a look of realization: "It's okay if we don't sell it to them?"
"Yes..." Liu Xin suddenly felt something was wrong as soon as he said the words, but before he could react, he heard Maliko continue to say: "Then we have nothing to do with others selling to them!"
This bastard took things back again! At this moment, Liu Xin just wanted to get up and beat up the hateful Haihan man in front of him.
(End of chapter)