Chapter 545: Kill the chicken to scare the monkey
The atmosphere of today's venue was not much better than the previous few times. Qiu Yuan sat on the main seat and first looked at the faces and expressions of the gentry present. Most of them had a calm face and did not look anywhere. Qiu Yuan's attitude towards today's meeting was conceivable.
"I invite you all to come here today to discuss with you that the wharf of Haikou Port in Fucheng will be renovated and expanded in the near future. If you have any opinions, you might as well speak up and discuss them together." Qiu Yuan did not talk in circles and just came up. Let’s get straight to the point and explain the purpose of today’s meeting.
However, there was obviously a lack of people like Danzhou Fatty Yuan who could support him. After Qiu Yuan finished speaking, the venue was silent and no one spoke to him. This situation was actually expected by Qiu Yuan. After all, in the previous meetings with similar themes, silences often occurred.
However, today was different from the past meetings. Every step of the way gained wisdom, and Qiu Yuan was fully prepared for this in advance. Seeing the deliberately indifferent gestures of these people, Qiu Yuan smiled coldly and continued: "Considering that Haikou Port has always been an important gateway to and from Fucheng, in the future we will conduct qualification certification for merchant ships using this port. Those who are not qualified to enter the port will Qualified ships will not be allowed to dock at will in the future!”
As soon as Qiu Yuan said these words, the expressions of some people present changed slightly. As the most important port in the northern part of Qiongzhou Island, Haikou Port was originally responsible for about 80% of the cargo throughput of Qiongzhou Island's shipping industry. Although this proportion has declined year by year since the rise of Sanya in the south, and is now only about 30% at most, there is still a large number of local cargoes. merchants rely on shipping for their survival. If ships cannot enter Haikou Port, it will undoubtedly greatly affect their business channels.
Someone on the left side of Qiu Yuan asked: "Director Qiu, who should certify this Hong Kong entry qualification? And how should it be certified?"
What Qiu Yuan wanted was for someone to ask a question, so he immediately responded: "Before answering this question, let me first explain why this threshold is set up. Everyone should know that the previous pirates' land siege was launched from Danzhou, but Why did Danzhou and other prefectures and counties fail to warn in time, so that the entire Qiongbei government was unable to organize an effective counterattack? The answer I can tell you here is because the pirates sent a large number of troops a few days before launching the attack? The men landed in Danzhou Bay, lurked in various places inside and outside the city, and seized a city gate to let the pirate army enter the city. If their troops and manpower were not limited, the same thing would probably happen again in Fucheng..."
Qiu Yuan paused and then said: "The reason is that the guard army in Danzhou usually neglects to guard against attacks from the sea and does not conduct strict checks on ships and people entering and leaving the port, which has caused bad consequences. . The most effective way to prevent similar vicious incidents from happening again is to certify the qualifications of ships entering and leaving the port. As for who should do the certification... Originally, this matter should be done by the government, but in the current situation, everyone has to do it. Everyone knows that since the Governor has entrusted the affairs here to us, Haihan, we will of course be responsible for the review and certification.”
"The standards are very simple. As long as you cooperate with us in our work, are willing to abide by and implement the various systems we promulgate, and have no bad behavior records, you only need to submit a written application to us and deposit a certain amount of deposit in Haihan Bank. You can obtain the permission to enter and exit Haikou Port. " Qiu Yuan emphasized: "We will not charge any additional fees during this process, and the deposit deposited in Haihan Bank can be refunded at any time, as long as the entry and exit permit is cancelled. "< br>
After Qiu Yuan finished speaking, the businessmen present could no longer remain calm. The reason why they kept silent at the meeting was that they did not want to cooperate with Haihan. The so-called "certification standards" announced by Qiu Yuan clearly meant that the Haihan people planned to come according to their own preferences. Anyone who did not want to cooperate with Haihan The maritime trade merchants that cooperate with Haihan will obviously be excluded by this certification threshold, and only those who are willing to humbly embrace Haihan's lap will have the opportunity to continue playing in this game.
As for depositing a certain amount of deposit in Haihan Bank, this condition is viewed by everyone as a disguised threat - if you are disobedient, there will probably be no chance of getting the money back from the Haihan people. , which is obviously another harsh condition that is difficult to accept.
The person who asked the previous question retorted: "Director Qiu's words are wrong. The pirate invasion is indeed the dereliction of duty of the guards, but it is not the fault of our merchants. Strict port inspections are a good thing, but why? Are you setting up this so-called certification qualification to embarrass us?”
Immediately, four or five people started shouting, expressing their dissatisfaction with Qiu Yuan's unilateral announcement of this deceptive policy. Qiu Yuan was not in a hurry. He picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. After all the people had finished making noise, he slowly put down the teacup and asked coldly: "Has it all been said? Is there anyone else who is dissatisfied? You can stand up.”
Perhaps this cold tone had a certain deterrent effect, but now no one was eager to speak out to refute him. Qiu Yuan then said slowly: "The person who asked just now, if I remember correctly, should be Zhang Fucheng, the owner of the local Fucheng Shipbuilding Company?"
"That's right, Director Qiu has a good memory." The man raised his hand slightly and fisted it to indicate.
"Boss Zhang, can you explain to me that seven days before the pirate army attacked Fucheng, the sailing ship numbered 'Bingqi' in your shipping company's name transported a shipload of what kind of goods? Who was the person who received the goods?"
"This... what happened a few months ago, I don't remember much about it." Zhang Fucheng shook his head and did not answer Qiu Yuan's question directly.
"It doesn't matter if you don't remember, I remember!" Qiu Yuan sneered: "That day, your ship sailed from Haikou Port to Danzhou. The cargo it transported was a batch of arms, a total of twenty boxes of matchlock guns and five thousand rounds. Lead bullets, six hundred pounds of gunpowder, and two small cannons were delivered by a man named Huang Ting. Do you remember it now?”
Zhang Fucheng's expression changed and he said, "I don't remember this happening. I'm afraid Director Qiu made a mistake, right?"
Qiu Yuan ignored his excuse and continued: "This man named Huang Ting was captured by our militia army during the battle to regain Danzhou two months ago. His true identity is In fact, he was one of the pirates who invaded Qiongzhou Island last time, and the weapons he purchased from Boss Zhang were later used to arm the pirate army. This group of little-known pirates was able to sweep across Qiongzhou Island like a torrent. Bei, Boss Zhang also contributed a lot!”
"You... you are slandering good people!" Zhang Fucheng stood up in a hurry and retorted: "The owner of these weapons is someone else, and I did not sell them to him..." "Then you are admitting that you did transport these weapons. Danzhou transaction?" Qiu Yuan immediately caught the loophole in his words.
"I..." Zhang Fucheng made a mistake and could only defend at a loss: "I am just transporting goods, and I don't know what is in those boxes. This matter really has nothing to do with me!"
"Boss Zhang, why don't you give up without seeing the Yellow River!" Qiu Yuan shook his head helplessly and said: "Bring me the evidence!"
Someone immediately presented the evidence, and Qiu Yuan showed everyone a piece of paper: "This is the shipping document issued by Fucheng Shipping Company at that time. It clearly states the contents of the goods, and it has you Zhang." The person’s signature, and most importantly, there is no amount stated in the freight column. If you are shipping goods for others, don’t you need to charge freight?”
"This is because the consignor has prepaid the freight in full in advance, so the freight amount is not stated on the waybill..." As Zhang Fucheng said, he suddenly found that the people around him were looking at him obviously. change.
Qiu Yuan shook his head and said: "Boss Zhang, why are you making such futile excuses? As I said just now, the person who handed over this batch of goods to you has been caught by us before. Do you still want to wait for us to leave?" Danzhou escorts people here and confronts you before they agree to plead guilty?”
Zhang Fucheng was also anxious now: "What crime do I plead guilty to? I did not collude with pirates..."
"Oh, you said you didn't collude with the pirates? Then tell me who entrusted you with the transfer of these weapons? Who is colluding with the pirates? If you can find the culprit, then maybe everyone can still believe your excuse." The way Qiu Yuan looked at him now was like a fox looking at the prey pinned under his paws.
Zhang Fucheng was stunned for a moment and suddenly shouted: "It's you! Yes, it's you Haihan people! I remembered that the person who came to consign this batch of goods was the person from your Haihan office in Fucheng! I was He didn’t want to take business from you Haihan people, so he even added an extra one hundred taels of silver to the price!”
Qiu Yuan couldn't help laughing: "You mean, we paid you to transport a batch of weapons to Danzhou and handed them over to the people sent by the pirates, and then the pirates used these weapons to attack Qiongzhou Island. Now we have caught The witness of the pirates, the evidence of the transaction was seized, and your true face was revealed in front of so many local gentry. The final purpose is to prove in front of everyone that we Haihan are the real masterminds behind the scenes? Or are you not telling the truth?”
Zhang Fucheng felt a chill running down his back. He knew that he was not lying. The person who came to the shipping company to haul the goods was indeed a staff member of the Haihan office. He saw that the shipping fee paid by the other party was high, and he knew The Haihan people often sold some scattered arms to local rich people to build private armies. They did not take this seriously at the time and reluctantly accepted the deal for the sake of money. After the goods arrived, the handover was completed smoothly, and Zhang Fucheng put the matter behind him. Unexpectedly, after a few months, Qiu Yuan would reveal this matter on this occasion, and he would be nailed to the crime of "colluding with pirates".
But now it is obvious that no one will believe the truth he said. The series of reasoning Qiu Yuan just said is indeed an unsolvable paradox. There is no reason for the Haihan people to spend so much trouble to give themselves a "collusion with pirates" Onlookers would only think that Zhang Fucheng was telling lies and trying to pin the blame on Haihan. Unless he still has a way to confront the person who negotiated this deal with him, but the Haihan people dug the hole so deep long ago, how can they keep this person in Fucheng?
Qiu Yuan looked at the silent Zhang Fucheng with a mocking look on his face, feeling a faint sense of pleasure after torturing someone. This Zhang Fucheng is a well-known local anti-Haihan faction in Fucheng. He is very disgusted with the all-pervasive development of Haihan in the Ming Dynasty. In the past year, he has done many things that have caused headaches for the Fucheng office. The relevant departments have long wanted to put him Got it.
After the plan to start a prairie fire was finalized, the Ministry of Security formulated a series of solutions to deal with certain local unrest, and it was not stupid methods such as kidnapping and assassination that had extremely low technical content and had many concerns about execution. Adhering to the principle of maximizing benefits, the plan formulated by the Ministry of Security is relatively complicated, but the results obtained are by no means comparable to simple and crude methods.
The plan against Zhang Fucheng was planned and implemented by the Ministry of Security. They used the higher remuneration to hire a ship from Fucheng Shipping Company to transport a batch of old arms retired by the military to Danzhou. As for the party receiving the goods, they are naturally from the Security Department. If it is really necessary, the Security Department can even cooperate with Qiu Yuan and "escort" the handling personnel to Fucheng to put on a complete show. When he was planning this plan, he did not leave any chance for Zhang Fucheng to make a comeback. All the details were carefully considered. Even if he wanted to clear his name, he would only find that he had walked into an unsolvable trap. dead end.
If Zhang Fucheng could change his appearance after the war and embrace Shanghai Han's lap, then he could probably continue to be the owner of his boat shop. If he should make a fortune, he would still be fine as a small rich man. But after Haihan took over Fucheng, this guy was as unwilling to be left alone as ever. From time to time he would come out to speak against the interim management committee led by Qiu Yuan. He also encouraged other local businessmen not to cooperate with Haihan, and even tried to challenge Haihan's ban on navigation. No wonder Qiu Yuan wanted to be cruel to him.
Looking at the ashen-faced Zhang Fucheng, Qiu Yuan said coldly: "Boss Zhang, is there anything else you want to say now?"
Zhang Fucheng murmured: "It wasn't me, I was really wronged..."
"At this point, you still refuse to plead guilty. It seems you are really stubborn!" Qiu Yuan pretended to be sad and shook his head: "Everyone, you have all seen that it's not that I don't give Boss Zhang a chance to change his ways. , but he simply refuses to submit to the law. If anyone still thinks he is innocent, you might as well raise your hand."
(End of chapter)