Chapter 452: Smooth beyond expectations
The last time He Xi came to Liu Qian to discuss the arms trade, the outcome was not expected. This was also expected. After all, Liu Qian could only play the role of a middleman, not the decision-maker on related matters. He Xi tried every means to win over Liu Qian, just hoping that he could be a matchmaker and do some auxiliary work for the agreement between Haihan and the Ming government.
Liu Qian's tone today was obviously much more proactive than during the previous discussion. He Xi speculated that this was because Liu Qian had gotten along with some big shots since he went back last time and had preliminary intentions.
He Xi was still very confident about whether the plan to promote Ming Dynasty to purchase high-end arms from Haihan would be successful. In the original history, the Ming Dynasty purchased weapons from the Portuguese and hired military advisors and artillery. This was also during this period. Today, the military situation of the Ming Dynasty is similar to that in history. Externally, it is facing strong pressure from the wild boar skin in the north. Internally, there are continuous peasant uprisings in the Central Plains. It is difficult to cope with the existing military power alone. The Ming Dynasty needs to obtain military assistance from the outside. objectively existing. After the Battle of Annan, the Portuguese consciously gave up their attempts to export weapons to the Ming Dynasty - they were now more willing to act as Haihan's agents and sell various weapons and armors produced by Haihan to Europe.
Liu Qian's next explanation was more explicit, directly pointing out to He Xi which yamen needed to be taken care of in this process. As He Xi listened, he secretly compared this with his work experience before time travel.
He Xi had worked as a police officer for several years before traveling through time. In the cases he handled, he had also witnessed many criminal acts in which managers took advantage of their authority to enrich themselves during the procurement process. In comparison, these two people, who are hundreds of years apart, There are many similarities between different societies in this regard. As the saying goes, there are as many crows as there are crows in the world. It is true that officials who use their power to seek personal gain are inevitable in every dynasty and generation. However, He Xi didn't care whether Ming officials were greedy or not. All he cared about was what price the other party would offer, and whether he could finish what he needed to do quickly and well after receiving the money.
Liu Qian's explanation lasted for more than an hour. During this period, He Xi also asked the servants to come in and order a few more hot dishes. He didn't drink much wine. He Xi was worried that he would overwhelm Mr. Liu, a frail old scholar, and that it would delay the business.
After Liu Qian had finished talking about these methods, he took a sip of hot tea and then asked He Xi: "All the yamen in Guangzhou may not be able to help you, but they must destroy you in the middle." It’s not difficult. Even though you, Haihan, are famous, no one would dare to provoke you, but you have to be careful when it comes to profit.”
"Master Liu is right, I will definitely remember these words." He Xi also knew the weight of what Liu Qian said today, and she had already put away some of her original plans to deal with Liu Qian.
"Before, you said half of it happened before and half of it didn't. Now let's talk about the remaining half!" Liu Qian has not forgotten what He Xi said before.
"There is indeed one more thing. I want to ask Master Liu's opinion." He Xi nodded and said, "Master Liu knows about Wanshan Port outside the Pearl River Estuary, right?"
"I've heard a little bit." Liu Qian responded.
But He Xi knew that Mr. Liu's brother was also engaged in short-distance water freight, specializing in the section from Guangzhou to Wanshan Port. Every five days, a ship loaded with goods from near Guangzhou was sent to Wanshan Port. The reason why He Xi knows this is very simple, because he was originally behind the scenes and handed over some business to Master Liu's younger brother. He can earn at least a few hundred taels of silver a month. Liu Qian must be very clear about the situation at Wanshan Port.
He Xi continued: "Let me tell you the truth. After all, Wanshan Port is a small place and there is not enough room for development as a commercial port. Therefore, we hope to build another port at the Pearl River Estuary to engage in commerce. Business.”
Liu Qian laughed when he heard this and said: "Why do you need to go through the government's approach to this kind of thing? When you built a port on Wanshan Island, didn't you report it to the government while you were working on it? As long as no one lives in the place you chose, It doesn’t involve land disputes, and generally no one will interfere with this kind of thing.”
He Xi shook her head and said: "The place we chose this time is a little different from Wanshan Island. There are people living there."
"Oh? Then tell me." Liu Qian became interested as soon as he heard it: "If I can help you with the details, you can also give me the boss's advice."
He Xi secretly thought to herself that you don't let go of the opportunity to make a fortune, but you thanked her profusely, then got up and went to the door and took the briefcase from the entourage.
"Master Liu, please look, this is the place." He Xi took out the map and pointed out the location of Hong Kong Island to Liu Qian.
"This place belongs to Xin'an County. If I remember correctly, our Daming Navy should be stationed here." Liu Qian is worthy of being a man from the government office, and he is relatively clear about the areas under Guangzhou Prefecture: "If you want To set up a port here, you must first say hello to the navy.”
"Yes, the northern end of this island is indeed the Ming Dynasty's navy station, but the place we chose is not there, but on the south shore of the island." He Xi moved his finger on the map a short distance: "The south side of the island Both sides are barren woodland, without residents, and there will be no disputes over land. ”
"That being the case, you shouldn't have any trouble if you want to build a port there." Liu Qian waved his hand and said: "The navy in Xin'an County rarely meddles in other people's business, as long as you don't let the cannons carry them. The warships are running back and forth at the entrance of the water village, so everything should be fine.”
He Xi couldn't believe that this matter could be so easy: "That means that if we break ground locally, no one will restrain or interfere with us?" "Who would meddle in this nosy matter!" Liu Qian sneered. : "You fought in Lijiazhuang last year, and then drove away Liu Xiang at sea. This record is on the table. As long as you don't take the initiative to cause trouble, who will easily provoke you?"
"It sounds very reasonable!" He Xi couldn't help but sigh.
When the Executive Committee decided to send troops to Guangdong to participate in the Lijiazhuang Defense War a year ago, probably no one thought that the impact of this military operation would be so far-reaching. When talking about it a year later, people in the government still would Fearful of the vigilante's performance. It can be seen that a timely display of force to the outside world can still have an excellent deterrent effect.
Of course, this does not mean that if Haihan had adopted this direct method to occupy the land on Hong Kong Island a year ago, he would have achieved the same results as now. At that time, the strength and reputation of Haihan's militia were far less than they are today. Not to mention the Ming army stationed nearby, Liu Xiang's pirate fleet was enough to give Haihan a headache. And without the stronghold of Wanshan Port, it would still be difficult for Haihan, who owns warships, to face off against the Liu Xiang pirate group, which has a certain advantage, in the Pearl River Estuary. Therefore, Wanshan Island, the springboard for Haihan to set foot on the mainland, is still indispensable. .
He Xi also played a little scheming at this time. He did not mention to Liu Qian the real purpose of Haihan's occupation of Hong Kong Island and his future development plans. Moreover, the map he presented was of limited scale. From the above It’s also hard to see the natural geographical advantages of the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter area in the south of Hong Kong Island.
After Yu Yao showed the map of Hong Kong Island and nearby waters a few days ago, He Xi later also called up the satellite map on the computer to carefully study the local geographical environment, and found that this place was indeed a perfect place for Haihan to establish a new base. but. Ap Lei Chau Island, where Yu Yao claimed that forts could be built to protect the harbor, did indeed have forts in its original history, but that was after the Qing Dynasty ceded Hong Kong to Britain.
In 1940, the British army built a large fort on Yuk Kwai Hill, the commanding heights of Ap Lei Chau, to guard the south coast of Hong Kong. Later, in World War II, in order to avoid being used by the Japanese army after occupation, the defenders destroyed the fort themselves. Obviously, the military use of this place was not only discovered by Yu Yao. Western soldiers in another time and space also believed that this place was an excellent defense platform.
He Xi knew that Liu Qian was a migrant and had not been in Guangzhou for too long. He had probably never been to Hong Kong Island, let alone knew much about the local geographical environment. What he needed was to guide Liu Qian to do something beneficial to Haihan under his vague understanding.
"If it's convenient, can we apply for Master Liu to handle the registration procedures at the Guangzhou government on our behalf?" He Xi promptly took out a few checks issued by Haihan Bank from his briefcase and put them in Liu Qian's hands. On the table in front of him: "Here is one thousand taels of hard work. Master Liu, please don't despise it. When the work is completed, I will give you another thank you!"
"How dare you charge Boss He such a large amount of remuneration for such trivial things!" Liu Qian kept saying polite words and glanced at the Haihan check on the table.
This Haihan check has a denomination of 500 taels. It has the letterhead of Haihan Bank on the top, the personal signature of bank president Schneider on the bottom, and a unique Haihan number in the middle. He had seen this thing before in an official's study. It was said that as long as he took this to the Guangdong Office outside Guangdong City, he could exchange it for high-quality cash at any time.
In the past, when dealing with people from the government, you had to prepare heavy silver boxes or use jewelry. However, recently, as the economic influence of Haihan Bank in Guangzhou has deepened, many large families and even the government have slowly begun to do so. Use a fixed amount check printed by Haihan Bank in the transaction. Once they realized the convenience, this method quickly spread among the upper echelons of society, and gradually caused the middle class and even the lower class people to follow suit. Haihan Bank has suggested to the Executive Committee some time ago to print a batch of vouchers with smaller denominations and put them into trial operation specifically for the private market in Guangzhou. If this can be promoted, it will be given to Haihan at least every year. The Han Bank absorbed millions of gold and silver.
Under He Xi's constant persuasion, Liu Qian finally "reluctantly" took the check of one thousand taels into his arms. Of course he also understood that the money was not only the answer to the question He Xi had just asked, but should also include the arms business that Haihan was trying to promote. Applying for a right of residence in no man's land, Liu Qian really didn't regard it as a big deal.
To be honest, there is no need for Liu Qian to apply specifically to the prefect for this kind of matter. It can be directly entered into the general local official documents. When the time comes, the prefect has no objection after reading it, and it will be considered passed. If you bother the prefect with something as trivial as this, not only will you not gain merit, but you may be reprimanded for it.
As for whether the Haihan people actually built a port or did something else after settling there, and whether the port they built was for commercial use or other purposes, Liu Qian didn't care. In fact, he had also heard that the port built by Haihan on the small island at the mouth of the Pearl River had a large fort, and a certain size of armed personnel were stationed there all year round. But so what? The Haihan people were not pirates, and they had never had any conflict with the Ming army. One of the military operations they took in the Ming Dynasty was to annihilate the Guangdong bandits who were helpless by the government, and the other was to drive away the party causing trouble. pirate gang.
People use their own money and effort to help the government fight the war. No matter how you look at it, this is actually enough to meet the standards of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. Now he has to take the initiative to sell advanced weapons to the Ming Dynasty. In Liu Qian's view, this kind of behavior is actually a manifestation of foreigners' desire for the Celestial Empire. In addition, there is a lot of extra remuneration to be received, so Liu Qian is naturally willing to continue this matter.
The two discussed it behind closed doors for several hours, and after roughly finalizing the matter, they left happily. He Xi asked Li Sanniang to arrange for a girl to stay with Liu Qian, and she was not idle either. Then she was so excited after the success that she spent most of the night on Qiu Ju's bed.
Early the next morning, as soon as the city gates of Guangzhou City opened, the black carriage He Xi was riding in was the first to leave the city. He wanted to go back in a hurry, inform Malik of the progress made the night before, sort out the corresponding information as soon as possible, and send it back to Victory Port to apply for instructions on the next step. If the situation is really as Liu Qian said, then the plan to establish a stronghold on Hong Kong Island must be launched as soon as possible. If this kind of thing is delayed for a long time, there will inevitably be variables. If possible, He Xi would even like to let Panyu know it right away. A group of immigrants first moved to the southern tip of Hong Kong Island to settle.
After listening to He Xi's narration, Malico was no less excited than He Xi. Both of them temporarily put down their respective affairs at hand and began to draft a report to the base camp.
(End of chapter)