Chapter 455: Inspection of Hong Kong Island
Although Haihan's current immigration policy is mainly to attract people from the bottom of society, the agents Haihan supported in Ming Dynasty are basically wealthy businessmen and literati from the upper class of society. Haihan used the social influence of these upper-class people to gradually shape the Haihan social system that was prosperous, stable, safe, and fair in the minds of the people of the Ming Dynasty. Such a social system would obviously be more attractive than the Ming Dynasty, which was in turmoil. The immigrants it could attract were no longer just disaster-stricken victims who could not find a way out, but also a large number of skilled craftsmen. He will also choose to accept Haihan's employment because of the generous treatment.
Haihan's strength has grown due to the continuous addition of immigrants, which will in turn affect those Ming Dynasty dignitaries whose attitudes are wavering, pulling them further towards Haihan's camp. After visiting Lijiazhuang, Wanshan Port and even Sanya, many wealthy businessmen saw the true strength of Haihan. They changed their previous wait-and-see attitude and began to actively participate in the trading system created by Haihan.
This business delegation organized by the General Office of the People's Republic of China came here in the name of investing in and developing Hong Kong Island. This team includes more than 30 merchants of various sizes from the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, which is unprecedented in Haihan's short economic and trade history.
Of course, these merchants also include more than ten major shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa". After all, they joined the Haihan camp much earlier. They are a group of people who have already tasted the sweetness and understand this better than other latecomers. The huge returns that such large-scale development projects can bring. As soon as these people heard that the General Office of the People's Republic of China was organizing a new development project, they eagerly signed up to participate, fearing that they would be excluded from participation due to quota restrictions or other things. When other merchants saw that these big players were so active, they didn't want to know that this matter must be beneficial and harmless, so they rushed to jump on Haihan's ship.
For ordinary businessmen, although they can maintain a certain degree of trade with Haihan, most of the time they watch the big business eat meat and can only drink soup. After all, most of Haihan's products with the highest profits are sold to them. A limited number of large households have monopolized the agency rights, and the things that ordinary merchants can buy from the Haihan people are almost all high-end products, and the profits are relatively not that impressive. But the problem is that in order to win the product agency rights, you need to have a deeper cooperation with Haihan, such as investing in projects in Sanya, purchasing real estate, sending family members, nephews, and descendants to study there, or even setting up a local company. The militia armed forces under the unified command of Haihan and so on.
However, for a considerable number of businessmen, these things either lack sufficient financial resources or are too scrupulous to blindly follow Haihan's arrangements. Not everyone can try it. The new development project organized by the Guangdong Office in Guangzhou has undoubtedly greatly lowered the threshold for entering the Haihan trade system - this place is located in Xin'an County, only one day's flight from Guangzhou, and is much more convenient than the distant Sanya. .
And compared with "Qiong Lianfa" which requires a high deposit to invest in, the deposit threshold for this project has also been lowered to a minimum of 1,000 taels, which is enough to make a large number of medium-strength merchants excited. Therefore, the number of merchants participating in this inspection team has doubled compared to when the "Qiong Lianfa" inspection team went to Sanya more than a year ago. It is no exaggeration to say that based on the economic strength of this inspection team, in ten It is not difficult to raise three to four hundred thousand taels of development funds within one day. When Haihan developed the Black Earth Port two years ago, the total capital invested in the first phase of the project was only 50,000 taels. Now with such sufficient financial guarantee, it can be said that there is no need to consider the funding gap when opening the port on Hong Kong Island. problem.
As for the official interests represented behind this wealthy inspection team, they far exceed the backing of the shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa". Compared with the situation where most of the shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa" are concentrated around Guangzhou, the wealthy members of this inspection team come from a wider area, and almost all the ten prefectures under the jurisdiction of Guangdong are involved. Although some of the merchants are only represented by staff stationed in Guangzhou, this will not affect the enthusiasm of the merchants for investment - in the past one or two years, all the businesses led by Haihan have never heard of any loss. , as long as you get on this ship, it is almost equivalent to making a lot of money.
This inspection team was personally led by Ma Like, the head of the General Office of the General Office of the People's Republic of China, which shows how seriously the General Office of the General Office of the People's Republic of China attaches great importance to this matter. Thirty or forty merchant representatives boarded four large ships, followed by several participants who set out on their own ships. A fleet of more than ten ships sailed into Aberdeen Harbor. However, due to the very limited scale of the dock here, there is no room for so many ships to dock at the same time. The fleet had to spend a long time to coordinate, let the big ship dock, the small ship docked with the big ship, and use a springboard to build a connection to the shore. channel.
As an old friend of Haihan and a steadfast partner, the Li family would naturally not miss such an event, and the third young master Li Nai who participated in this inspection on behalf of the Li family was none other than Li Nai, the third young master who liked to join in the fun the most.
In fact, when Li Nai learned about this incident, he had just returned to Guangzhou from Sanya. Hearing that the Guangzhou Liaison Office was preparing to organize a business group to develop the island, he immediately grabbed the job. For him, running the "Golden Shield Guarantee" business in Guangzhou is far less interesting than traveling to increase his knowledge, not to mention that this activity is still dominated by the Haihan people.
As for whether this project really has excellent development prospects as claimed by the Haihan people, Li Nai has no doubt about it. Ever since he met this group of people two years ago, Li Nai has never seen them make any misjudgments in the general direction of development. Especially in terms of project investment, the Haihan people have impeccable vision and operational skills. Almost every project has become a treasure trove. For example, the sugar cane industry, port construction, spice base and other projects in which the Li family has a stake in Qiongzhou Island have gradually produced better output since this year, and the return on investment is much better than that of opening a simple trading house to sell groceries.
Hong Kong Island is no stranger to Li Nai. He had already been here when he was a teenager. However, when he returned to the place more than ten years later, it seemed that this place had not changed at all. There are still several dilapidated trestle-style docks on the shore. The road on the shore is muddy due to the heavy rain in the past two days, and the smell of excrement can still be faintly smelled in the air. The situation here is similar to that of most small fishing villages near the sea in this era, but Li Nai has become accustomed to the tidy appearance of the port area under Haihan's rule, and he couldn't help but frown before he even got off the ship.
"Third Young Master, don't look at the desolation of this place. In a year or two, this place will be a prosperous port again." Seeing Li Nai's displeasure, Maliko took the initiative to come over and talk to him: "What are we talking about?" The local area has comprehensive planning. In the next few years, it will be built as the largest commercial port and cargo distribution center on the southern coast of Ming Dynasty. The construction and operation model here will apply our successful experience in the Sanya area. Wait for you to come again next year. Here, you will definitely see a completely different scene.”
"I naturally believe what Director Ma said." Li Nai responded with a smile: "My father sent me as a representative because I want to participate in your development plan as soon as possible. As long as it is your opinion, Li Nai Everyone obeys. "What the Third Young Master said is too outrageous!" Maliko responded enthusiastically: "We have been working together for such a long time and we trust each other. We must share good things together."
After the two landed ashore, they soon met the team representing the executive committee who had come from Sanya for an on-site inspection. Perhaps in order to quell the opposition's doubts about the Hong Kong Island project, the leader of the inspection team sent by the Executive Committee this time was actually Gu Kai. However, he probably did not expect that the Guangdong Office would act so quickly. He just reported to the Executive Committee Within a few days of the written report, a large business inspection team had been organized to conduct on-the-spot research.
After Gu Kai arrived here, he first confirmed one thing - there is no doubt that there are obvious loopholes in the military's description of the situation on Hong Kong Island. The permanent population here is obviously not uninhabited as the military previously claimed. District, there are still hundreds of people.
Is this loophole intentionally operated by the military or left inadvertently? The doorway in between should have been one of the missions of the expedition team. But after arriving here, Gu Kai quickly gave up this unrealistic idea. Although there are some residents here, after hearing that they would have the opportunity to enter the Haihan social system without having to leave their hometown, the vast majority of people chose to obey the arrangements - as for the very few who refused to cooperate to make room Of course, someone will be responsible for using some unconventional means to solve the problem.
When Gu Kai, Maliko and others met on the shore, Gu Kai suddenly felt that his trip seemed a bit unnecessary. The active participation of dozens of merchants has shown how much preliminary work the Guangdong Office has done on this matter, and that so many upper-class people are willing to actively participate in Haihan's trading system, which is definitely something the Executive Committee is happy to hear. things.
This time, the Guangdong Office wisely chose to invite investment in advance. So many businessmen formed a group to inspect the environment, which already indicates that the future development situation here is very good. Even if Gu Kai can find some faults with the actual situation here and write a report to question whether the timing of the opening of Hong Kong Island is reasonable, he can't stop the impact that this large-scale investment promotion activity will have on the Executive Committee. At that time, the executive committee will naturally ignore the details that the military's description is inconsistent with the facts, and focus on the actual benefits that can be brought to Haihan after successful investment.
There is no doubt that the executive committee, which puts profit first, will definitely stand on the side of the military, because this project has avoided the possibility of failure from the beginning - so many businessmen from the Ming Dynasty have participated, not to mention the private sector. Even the Ming Dynasty officials find it difficult to voice any open opposition. Even when the situation was favorable, Gu Kai did not want to act like a reckless man who did not understand the charm. Not only would that not leave a good impression on the other executive committee members, but he might also attract resentment due to such a delaying behavior.
Therefore, when Gu Kai met the business delegation from Guangzhou, his role became a propaganda machine for Haihan policy. When the merchant representatives who participated for the first time learned that this Haihan man was one of the nine principals of the famous Haihan Executive Committee, they immediately gathered around and started asking endless questions. For them, there are many details in the Haihan policy that need to be explained by authoritative people to help them understand its meaning. For some content involving money transactions, they even hope to get the endorsement and commitment of Haihan's leading figure.
Because there were so many people asking questions, Gu Kai had to suspend his original mission and instead play the role of a business representative. Malico directed his men to build a large awning in the open space on the shore, and then held an impromptu policy conference, with Gu Kailai answering questions of concern to business representatives from all walks of life.
Most of the questions focus on local investment projects and the future planned development direction of this area. Although Gu Kai has not done any relevant preparation work before, with his sharp tongue, he has to temporarily It's not too difficult to fool the scene.
To be honest, the executive committee has not even made a final decision on whether to develop this area immediately, and there is no talk of any development projects or specific development plans at all. However, referring to his past experience in developing ports in other places, Gu Kai could talk about a long paragraph casually.
Gu Kai spent more than two hours answering various questions raised by people from all walks of life, and did not stop until lunch time. At this time, Gu Kai felt his throat dry and hoarse for the first time in a long time, and then realized that it had been a long time since he had said so many words at once.
While eating, Gu Kai and Malik had another discussion to communicate their specific views on the Hong Kong Island project. Compared with Gu Kai’s hypocritical answers to questions, Malik’s views on the Hong Kong Island project appear to be much more realistic: “After this place is won, on the one hand, we can expand the existing trade volume and allow more merchants from Ming Dynasty to participate. . On the other hand, the military also needs a large-scale military port in the waters near the Pearl River Estuary as a springboard for future expansion into the mainland. We can give them certain preferential treatment in the future, for example. These people don't care how much money they have to pay, or the priority for loading and unloading goods. What will we use it for? They simply care about returns, so we only need to tell them what proportion of economic returns they can get after investing here. ”
(End of chapter)