Chapter 776 Negotiating Details
If they want to set up a newspaper in Guangzhou, there are still many things that need to be dealt with one by one, and the two of them cannot finalize all the details in a short time. Therefore, even if Ning Qi verbally agrees to Li Nai's proposal, it has only reached a rough agreement of intention. Ning Qi also had to report the matter to the executive committee, then coordinate with relevant agencies and deploy personnel to Guangzhou to prepare and implement the project. In addition, the equipment, paper, ink and other materials required for printing newspapers probably have to be transported from Sanya, and there are also many departments required for overall planning.
Lin Nai went to visit Fort Victory again the next day, but was told that the senior officials of the Executive Committee were meeting behind closed doors and no visitors would be allowed. After asking a familiar staff member, he said that the relevant meeting agenda was estimated to take two or three days to complete. Although Li Nai was eager to know Haihan's attitude towards the development of Taiyuan Island, he could not urge Haihan. He could only Continue to wait patiently for news.
Three more days later, Schneider finally sent someone to notify Li Nai and asked him to go to Fort Victory for an interview.
"The two things you mentioned this time have been approved in principle by the Executive Committee." After the meeting, Schneider gave Li Nai good news: "It can be implemented as soon as next month."
< br>
"Then what preparations do I need to make?" The unconcealed joy on Li Nai's face showed his current mood. If these two things can be implemented, it will definitely promote the future development of the Li family. In particular, being able to step on the springboard of Taiyuan Island will be of great help to the Li family in expanding their business to the north, and there is no need to worry about the near-monopoly of their counterparts in Fujian on the Strait waterways.
"Let's talk about the arrangements for the newspaper office first." Schneider responded: "It's best to place the newspaper office outside the city, close to our Guangdong Office. As for the location, a courtyard with three entrances is enough in the early stage, and the front to receive guests , working as the editorial department in the middle, and finally entering the yard as the printing workshop and warehouse. You have a lot of connections on the ground in Guangzhou, so you can put some effort into setting up the site, and we will send the people and materials there as soon as possible. "< br>
"This is easy to handle. I'll send a telegram later and ask my family to get the venue settled as soon as possible." Li Nai responded confidently: "We will finalize this matter within seven days at most."
< br>
Fort Victory is currently open to a very small number of partners to provide paid telegraph services. The information that needs to be conveyed can be transmitted to the Haihan Office in Guangzhou through the radio, and then the Guangdong Office will send personnel to the door to deliver the message to the recipient. Of course, the charges for this communication method, which is regarded as "magic" in the eyes of outsiders, are also quite considerable. Each word of the telegram costs two seas of Chinese yuan, which is equivalent to two taels of official silver. This is basically what a person at this time The average monthly income of ordinary Guangzhou citizens.
The price is not too expensive, because even if the average person is rich, they are not qualified to enjoy this kind of high-end service, and those who are qualified will not particularly care about this small amount of money. After all, the voyage from Sanya to Guangzhou takes several days, and the information transmission efficiency is extremely slow. However, Haihan's wireless telegraph service can deliver the message in place within half a day. For wealthy people like Li Nai, who can get in and out of hundreds or even thousands of taels every minute. For example, spending a hundred or so taels of silver can save several days of time. This deal is really a bargain.
"In addition to the venue, we also need to recruit a group of people from Guangzhou." Schneider carefully explained to Li Nai: "The people we have here are mainly responsible for collecting and editing news, organizing printing and distribution, but they are also responsible for typesetting and printing. , It is more convenient to recruit people from the local area to sell these manual jobs.”
"That's no problem." Li Nai nodded and said: "Lijiazhuang Academy has been running literacy classes in the past few years, and there are more literate people. It feels more secure to use our own people."
"I heard from Ning Qi that you will take care of official relations. You are more professional than me in this regard, so I won't do whatever you want." Schneider smiled.
Li Nai waved his hands repeatedly and said: "Mr. Shi's words really offend me. I didn't learn all these methods from the leaders of Haihan."
Li Nai's words were not deliberately modest. When he first came into contact with the Haihan people a few years ago, he was still a dabbler who had just abandoned literature and started doing business. He was also ignorant about the world's sophistication and interest entanglements. However, later he often hung out in the Guangdong Office and became very familiar with Schneider, He Xi, Maliko and others. All of these people were veterans who had worked hard in shopping malls and officialdom for many years. Various tricks emerged in an endless stream. Li Nai and Li Nai They have been hanging out together for a long time, so they naturally learn from each other, and gradually learn a lot of tricks.
Schneider said sternly: "Director Malikoma, who is now in charge of Guangdong affairs, is an old acquaintance of you. Although he is not a publicist, he is still relatively stable in policy matters. If there is anything wrong with the operation of the newspaper, If you understand something, you can also ask him for advice nearby. ”
Li Nai responded: "I have put this matter in my mind. When I return to Guangzhou, the first thing I will do is send a message to Director Ma to invite him to dinner."
Schneider smiled and changed the subject: "Let's stop talking about running the newspaper here. Next, let's talk about Taiwan. Well, Taiyuan Island has always been marked as Taiwan on our maps, and you know this."
"I know, I know, it doesn't matter what the name is, the key is who holds the place." Li Nai responded with a smile.
What Li Nai said was quite essential. The first Western colonists to arrive on the island of Taiwan called it Formosa, which means "Beautiful Island". However, the Ming Dynasty across the sea did not use this name. Folks called the northern part of Taiwan Island "Chicken Coop", the west coast as "Beigang", and the southern part as "Da Yuan", "Tai Yuan", "Taiwan Wan", etc. Etc., the official also calls it "Taiwan" or "Dongfan". But it was actually during the Qing Dynasty that the mainland regime took over the island and officially named it "Taiwan." At this time, there is no recognized name for this large island across the sea from Fujian, either officially or privately.
Li Nai has done so much research on Taiwan Island, and naturally knows that the Haihan people's name for this place is different from the more common public perception, just like they call Qiongzhou Island Hainan Island. However, the changes in place names by the Haihan people are often accompanied by the expansion of the scope of their control. Only areas that have been or are being included under their rule will be renamed. As for the naming of the local area by the Westerners, probably only they themselves can use it, and the Haihan people will definitely not buy it. When the Haihan people take actual control of the island of Taiwan in the future, whether they want to call it Taiwan or Taiwan will be a matter for the Executive Committee to issue an official document.
"You are one of our own, and I won't deliberately hide some situations from you. However, you also know our confidentiality system, so the news you heard from me is best not to spread. After all, it involves future investment promotion. Planning, you also know that it will not be good for your family if this spreads." Schneider slowed down his speech so that Li Nai could have enough time to digest the meaning of his words.
Li Nai naturally understood it and nodded repeatedly: "I understand the rules. You can rest assured, Mr. Shi. Even if it is for future business, I will definitely keep my mouth shut."
Schneider nodded, stood up and walked to the wall at the back. On the wall was a large map of two meters by two meters, with the island of Taiwan located in the upper right corner. "The west coast of Taiwan Island is basically a coastal plain, and there are not many natural ports. We have visited several alternative locations in the early inspections, and now we have basically finalized the first choice." Schneider pointed his finger at I poked at the coastline of Tainan, but didn’t point out the specific location. However, Li Nai also wisely did not ask for such details. Since Schneider is now willing to discuss the local development plan in detail, it is only a matter of time before he gets specific information.
"Our biggest concern when we landed on Taiwan Island was the Dutch. But before that, we had already dealt with the Dutch and told them to shut up and not interfere with our colonial plan." Schneider said proudly: "As long as the Dutch If we don’t get in the way, we will transport immigrants to the local area and build preliminary projects, so there won’t be any big problems.”
"Why don't you just drive them away? Letting the Dutch stay there won't be of any benefit to your future plans, right?" Li Nai asked in confusion, but seeing Schneider smiling and saying nothing, Li Nai suddenly came to his senses. Come: "No! With how shrewd you are, how can you only ask the Dutch to stay hands-off? I'm afraid there must be some kind of dirty deal hidden behind this!"
"What a dirty deal! Don't keep talking about the slang you learned from He Xi all day long." Schneider responded with a smile: "Actually, it's nothing, it's just that the Dutch are willing to trade people in exchange for Just a period of peaceful coexistence.”
"Using immigration to buy peace?" Li Nai immediately understood Schneider's meaning: "They have a good sense of the pulse and know that you have always had a gap in population demand. But where will they get people for you? The local area of Taiyuan Port is only One or two thousand people?”
"Introducing immigrants from Japan and North Korea. The Dutch have their own channels. Since they are willing to offer such conditions, let's see how they are implemented. If they can only talk, they can't meet the promised conditions. , then it will not be too late to consider the plan of expelling them by force." Schneider did not try to hide this matter, because these two countries are not within the reach of the Li family's business empire, and the Dutch's trade with these two countries has nothing to do with the Li family. There is no competitive relationship whatsoever.
"But if the Dutch do this, isn't it equivalent to delivering supplies to the enemy on the battlefield, making you stronger?" Li Nai shook his head and was incomprehensible to the Dutch's strategy.
"They have no choice. The blood transfusion can at least ensure that we will not take drastic measures for a period of time. If we don't do this, they may not have the chance to stay in Taimuang Port until the end of next year." Schneider made no secret of it. boasted.
The military has indeed proposed to pull out the nail of Taimu Port many times before to ensure the safety of the Strait waterway. The staff has even formulated several combat plans to attack Taimuang Port for this purpose. If the Dutch show hostility to Haihan's presence on Taiwan Island, then the militia troops stationed in Penghu may take some more radical measures to deal with the Dutch in Taiyuan Port.
Of course, the conditions offered by the well-informed and knowledgeable Dutch were indeed unacceptable to Haihan's senior management. After weighing the pros and cons, they reached an agreement with the Dutch to continue to live in peace. Although both sides know very well that the binding force and timeliness of this agreement are quite limited, one side is unwilling to waste military power in a meaningless battle, and the other side hopes to survive as long as it lasts. , so there was such a strange agreement as the "Penghu Supplementary Terms".
Although they knew that drinking poison was a way to quench their thirst, the Dutch could only pretend not to know and continue the business. As for whether the East India Company headquarters in Batavia would be furious at Hans's foolish move after learning that Hans had signed the agreement, that was not a problem that Haihan needed to worry about. Of course, judging from what we know so far, the damage suffered by Batavia City due to this year's war is extremely serious, and it is estimated that it will not be able to take care of a place as far away as Taiyuan Port for a while.
However, Li Nai is not particularly concerned about the future of the Dutch. As long as the Haihan Militia is stationed in the area, he feels reassured enough. What he is concerned about is another question: "Will the local development still be carried out according to the previous investment model?"
Schneider did not directly respond to his question, but continued to explain the situation: "The port we inspected locally is very large, and the coastline that can be used to build terminals is longer than the existing large ports in Hainan Island combined. Therefore, in terms of civil terminals, We will leave enough space for investment.”
Li Nai asked tentatively: "That means that even if my family competes with the one from Fujian at the same time, there will still be enough space for us?"
Schneider smiled and said: "No more than ten or eight families can be accommodated."
"Is there anything that needs to be prepared in advance?" Li Nai continued to ask.
"This is not the first time your family has participated in a colonial area construction project. Can you please stop pretending to be a novice and make excuses?" Schneider revealed Li Nai's purpose without mercy.
Li Nai didn't take it seriously at all, and said with a smile: "If you can understand more about the situation, you can be better prepared. But the planned port is so large, I'm afraid it won't be completed in one or two years, right?"
"If it doesn't work in two years, it will be five years. If it doesn't work in five years, it will be ten years. Infrastructure construction can only be completed slowly." Schneider sees this very clearly: "The main reason for the slowness now is that there are too few available labor forces. In the future, we The greater the population under the control, the faster the infrastructure construction will be. It took more than a year to complete the construction of the Victory Fort in the middle of this year, but it only took a month or two to put it into use. It’s progress.”
(End of chapter)