Chapter 531 The worst plan
Schneider obviously noticed Li Jifeng's mood and did not delve further into this issue. He changed the topic and said: "I can probably guess what Boss Li is worried about. The purpose of my coming here today is to invite Li Boss, don’t worry, we Haihan will not give up our partners easily. If Boss Li has safety concerns, we also welcome you to move your family to Qiongzhou Island, where you will definitely receive our full protection.”
Li Jifeng smiled dryly and said: "I have nothing to worry about. It's just that there have been a lot of rumors outside recently. I'm a little worried that these market rumors will affect your reputation."
Li Jifeng did not dare to show hesitation in front of Schneider. If the Haihan people became suspicious, the cooperative relationship that was finally established may not be able to save the Li family. Although the Li family's business is now very large, its status is not irreplaceable. In order to pursue more profits, their current main business has gradually shifted from traditional projects to cooperation with Haihan people, and Merchants who want to take advantage of Haihan have long queued up in Guangdong. I don’t know how many people are thinking about squeezing out the Li family. It won’t be too difficult for Haihan to find a substitute. Disaster.
Schneider smiled and said: "It's normal for there to be rumors outside. After all, the business we are talking about is a big business involving tens or millions of taels of silver. There will be many people who covet these wealth. But Boss Li can rest assured, only we Haihan Only recognized merchants are qualified to participate in the money-making scheme. No matter how hard others try, haha... Nowadays, Qiongzhou Island is not a place where anyone can get in!"
Li Jifeng responded: "I am naturally very reassured by the actions of the leaders of Haihan. I wonder if the leaders have any specific instructions at this press conference?"
"I can't talk about any specific instructions. I just hope that you can clearly understand your position and attitude, and be able to stand firmly on Haihan's side when the time comes." Schneider paused before continuing: "After all, we proposed this plan , there will definitely be a lot of doubts..."
Schneider protracted his tone when he said this, and Li Jifeng took over the conversation very wisely: "At that time, several business houses that I have good relations with will come forward together to support your new plan. As long as there is a lot of money, those who doubt Your voice will naturally dissipate.”
"I just like to deal with smart people like you, Boss Li. You are relaxed, happy and effortless. You can speak clearly and worry-free." Schneider praised without hesitation: "If all the businesses we deal with can have Boss Li, If I have the awareness, then I will be much less worried!”
Li Jifeng thought that if anyone could do what I did, then "Fu Ruifeng" would be such a jerk! But having said that, there were so many rumors outside this time that Li Jifeng's mind was already a little relaxed, let alone those peripheral cooperative merchants. If no one among them started to have other ideas, Li Jifeng would not believe it. The Haihan people must have been aware of this potential risk, so Schneider personally went out to visit the business inn where the Li family and his son stayed.
In a small place like Zhennan Port, when Haihan's big shopkeeper visits the most powerful merchant in Guangdong, he cannot avoid the eyes of interested people. I'm afraid that before Schneider walks out of the door of this business inn, at least some people in the port town will Half the people knew the news. Even if Li Jifeng didn't say anything, he would probably have confirmed the position of "Fu Ruifeng" and Haihan people wearing the same pants.
Even if Li Jifeng does not take the initiative to clarify certain rumors that are unfavorable to Haihan at the shareholders' meeting, people will think that this is because "Fu Ruifeng" has already received reassurance from Schneider. Maybe Li Jifeng is just trying to keep it all to himself. Only with more shares did the ambiguous attitude remain. Li Jifeng can think of this possibility himself, and of course he also knows that there will be other people thinking in this direction. If "Furuifeng" cannot make it out at the shareholders' meeting, the entire situation will still be under the control of the Haihan people. middle. What's more, Li Jifeng was not sure whether the Haihan people were secretly contacting other families as candidates after finding him. If he backed down, someone else might come out to grab "Fu Ruifeng". seat.
The father and son of the Li family sent Schneider off with low eyebrows. They returned to the study and closed the door. Li Jifeng immediately ordered: "Second brother, you will take a boat back to Guangzhou tomorrow to take inventory of the family property."
Li Po's eyes widened and he responded in confusion: "What does father mean by this?"
Li Jifeng said: "If the Haihan people use the land in Qiongbei to openly invite investment, this matter will definitely be spread to the ears of the government. By then, it will be easy to agree on the terms between the two parties. If they cannot agree, then war will have to start. Think about it. , If Ming Dynasty goes to war with Haihan, who will be the first to be unlucky? ”
There is no good solution for a group of pirates who invaded Qiongzhou Island. Naturally, Ming Dynasty does not have the ability to start a full-scale war with the Haihan people. At most, it will just declare war. But even if war is declared, in order to show the majesty of the Ming court, some heads must still be chopped off - for example, some of the comprador classes who have been making a fortune by sticking to the Haihan people, such as "Fu Ruifeng", a well-known business name, I'm afraid they are the first targets of attack.
Previously, Li Jifeng was not very sure about Haihan's attitude on the Qiongzhou Island incident, so he only asked his two sons not to talk about it outside. But after talking face to face with Schneider just now, Li Jifeng has already realized from what he said. Obscure message - Haihan will gradually disclose his control of the situation on Qiongzhou Island, and will use various methods to force the Guangdong government to accept this status quo.
If it succeeds, then everyone will continue to make money with the Haihan people. As for who Qiongzhou Island should belong to, businessmen who are qualified to participate in this matter will probably choose the party that is more beneficial to them, rather than focusing on loyalty to the court and the emperor. . If this effort fails, then the group of people who are most active with Haihan will be in bad luck, and they may be treated as scapegoats by the government - every family of this group is a big fat sheep. The money obtained from the house confiscation might be used by the Guangdong officials to deal with the impact of the Haihan invasion of Qiongzhou Island.
Even if Li Jifeng believed that the strength of the Haihan people could withstand the punishment of the Ming Dynasty, he, a businessman, could not withstand the anger of the government, so it was necessary to make contingency preparations early. Li Nai's reaction was faster than that of his second brother, and he had already come to his senses: "What does father mean, after counting the family property, transfer part of it first?"
Li Jifeng nodded and said: "First count out the cash, keep the share that needs to be turned over, and deposit the rest in Haihan Bank!" "But if the government causes trouble for the Haihan people, they will definitely seal up Haihan Bank as well." Ah!" Li Po asked in confusion.
Li Nai explained: "Second brother, you have little dealings with Haihan Bank, so you don't know anything about it. No matter where the money we deposit goes, as long as we take the banknotes and passbooks issued by Haihan Bank to us, The Haihan people will admit their debt. Even if the money has been confiscated by the government, we can still take it out elsewhere. The government can't go to Sanya to seize the Haihan people's bank, right?"
"What if Haihan refuses to admit his debt?" Li Po was still a little worried about the safety of his money.
Li Jifeng waved his hand and said: "No need to worry, the Haihan people value reputation more than money. How can their reputation and reputation be something that our money can buy? If they don't admit it, then they will implement it in Guangdong and Fujian." The currency notes and banking system that have been in circulation for a few years have all been abolished. The Haihan people will see more clearly than us."
Li Po hesitated and said: "The silver in Lijiazhuang's silver cellar alone is probably as much as four to five hundred thousand taels..."
"Don't worry about how much, all the money you can't use now will be deposited in Haihan Bank!" Li Jifeng interrupted Li Po before he could finish his words: "Even if there is a need to ask Qiongzhou Island again at the shareholders' meeting, We don’t need cash to put money in, we can just transfer the money directly from the account to the Haihan people!”
Li Jifeng's determination was quite strong, indeed because the current situation no longer allowed him to continue to look around. Now he has no choice but to go to Mingting's side. He can only choose to board the Haihan ship and prepare for the worst in advance. If Ming Dynasty and Haihan really turned against each other and declared war, the only thing the Li family could do was to pack up and run away overnight, otherwise they might not be able to escape the consequences of having their homes raided.
From that night on, the business inn where the Li family and his son stayed suddenly became a social hotspot in Zhennangang, with bosses from various businesses lining up to visit. Needless to say, these people all came to Li Jifeng, a "well-informed person", to find out the inside story after receiving the news. After all, Schneider closed its doors and refused to accept customers, and the only official information channel was the Li family.
Li Jifeng didn't know whether to laugh or cry about this situation. He knew that he was being taken advantage of by the Haihan people again, but he couldn't show any dissatisfaction yet. He couldn't reveal too much about the Haihan people's next plans, so he had to persuade everyone who came to visit him to let them go back and wait for the news. Of course, just saying irrelevant words will definitely not be enough to appease people. Li Jifeng had to beat his chest again and again to assure everyone that as long as the Haihan people continue to launch investment projects, "Furuifeng" will definitely be the first One will keep up with the support, and the funds invested will not be less than any previous shareholder investment meeting.
After making such vows, Li Jifeng finally calmed down batches of uneasy businessmen. This situation lasted for two days in a row, and Li Jifeng almost collapsed in the store from exhaustion.
On November 15, the shareholders' meeting was finally held officially after being postponed for several days. The reason why the event had to be postponed for a few days from the original date was because the Executive Committee was worried that Schneider's presence alone would not be able to suppress this group of businessmen who were not firm in their stance, so they specially temporarily deployed the "Prestige Signal" battleship to go north to the Pearl River Estuary. Stationed at Zhennan Port for some time, these people can take a close look at the strength of the Haihan Navy and help them build up enough confidence - of course it is also a disguised threat.
This measure obviously had good results. When the businessmen heard the news that Haihan's new warship had arrived at Zhennan Port, they all rushed to the dock to watch. Most businessmen have heard of the huge warships owned by the Haihan people, but only a handful of people have ever seen this strange warship that occasionally emitted black smoke passing quickly across the sea near Victory Port. The opportunity to see it up close now was something that never existed before.
"Wei Signal" very "considerately" opened all the side gun windows, exposing the black muzzles to the public's sight. And this naked show of force undoubtedly calmed the crowd watching at the port. This visible level of armament is obviously more than one level higher than that of the Ming Dynasty Navy stationed in the north of Hong Kong Island. Anyone with a little knowledge will know that there are no such real naval guns on the old warships in Shuizhai, they are just a few small-caliber Folan cannons.
In order to take care of the emotions of the curious audience, Schneider enthusiastically invited ten public representatives to come on board to visit. Of course, only those who have a very close relationship with Haihan have such qualifications to be selected as representatives, such as Li Jifeng of "Furuifeng", Zhan Gui of Zhan's Shipping Company, etc.
This kind of visit naturally does not allow the audience to enter the core area of the lower deck, that is, just turn around on the top deck. However, several artillery pieces were also arranged on both sides of the ship on the top deck, and the sail system on the mast and the steering wheel control system on the rear half of the deck were still very new to Ming Dynasty merchants. As for the two waist-thick chimneys at the rear of the hull that extended far beyond the deck, the crew did not explain their true purpose. Instead, they claimed that they were the galleys on the ship and that the chimneys were only for the convenience of discharging soot.
Although this kind of lie is a bit incredible, for visitors who have never seen the secrets below the deck, it seems that they can't think of other possibilities. Only Li Nai, who had been to Victory Port many times and knew a lot about Haihan Technology, could vaguely feel that this strange chimney was somehow related to the chimneys on the steam locomotives roaring forward on the land of Sanya.
The crew member in charge of the tour guide very reservedly explained some general data of the ship to the visitors, such as displacement, theoretical ship speed, firepower configuration, etc. Any of these data would be enough to make the hearts of these maritime merchants beat loudly. for acceleration. All in all, this warship is not only large, but also fast. The most terrible thing is that its firepower is very powerful. There is absolutely no warship of the same level in the current Ming Dynasty that can match it. The tour guide finally proudly declared that the Haihan Militia already owned more than one warship like this and would continue to build it to safeguard Haihan's maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.
(End of chapter)