Chapter 781 Bargaining
Of course Qian Tiandun understood what Dong Yanyun meant, and smiled and said: "Please allow me to ask you a blunt question, is Mr. Xu planning to step on our heads to gain the opportunity to rise to the top?"
Although Xu Xinsu was born as a businessman, and his main business in his early years was the illegal business of smuggling, it can be seen from his later steps to buy an official position and clear his name that the goal he pursued in life was not just money. , it is equally important to him to be able to obtain the honor of a glorious ancestor. And Xu Xinsu climbed all the way from the navy commander she bought with money to her current position as Fujian commander in just six years. This rocket-like promotion speed is enough to make others envious.
Of course, a large part of the credit for this impressive achievement must be attributed to Haihan. If it were not for the continuous military assistance from the Haihan people for several years, Xu Xinsu would not have been able to accumulate military exploits so smoothly and be promoted as early as 1628. At that time, he died under the offensive of Shibazhi just like in the original history, and the person who replaced him as a senior official of the Fujian military was no one else, but his great enemy Zheng Zhilong.
Compared with the maritime merchants Li Dan, Dutch and Ming Dynasty officials that Xu Xinsu has played for in the past, Haihan's strong support is undoubtedly the most powerful pillar. Not only did he provide guns and cannons, but he also helped Xu Xinsu train the army and train officers, which played a great role in improving the combat effectiveness of the Fujian Navy. Before 1627, the Fujian military faced the rampant Shibazhi. Every time they fought, they suffered more or less losses. In the end, they had no choice but to retreat to their strongholds to avoid fighting. The dignified Fujian navy did not even dare to make it public. Cruise in the Fujian Strait waters.
Since the key to life and death must rely on Haihan's military assistance, Xu Xinsu has always obeyed Haihan's advice, and sometimes his attitude can even be described as condescending. In the history of cooperation between the two parties, Xu Xinsu did not make too many requests to Haihan other than military assistance - at most, they were some exclusive terms on the details of commercial and trade cooperation. And Haihan will also arrange for Xu Xinsu and his troops to take the opportunity to brush up their achievements in a timely manner, such as the Battle of Nanri Island the previous year and the Battle of Penghu this year. In the final memorial submitted to the capital, this achievement can be credited. All of them were attributed to Xu Xinsu.
Dong Yanyun heard Qian Tiandun's unkind tone and quickly explained: "Sir Xu, I didn't mean this. I just hope that your leaders can think more carefully. You often say that cooperation should be 'win-win'. If you can recommend it again, Thank you, sir, and you will definitely receive corresponding rewards in the future.”
"We will naturally make arrangements for the credit that Mr. Xu deserves. But our executive committee also has a clear attitude on what should be given and what should not be given." Qian Tiandun's tone was not too loud after hearing this explanation. Improvement: "You can't take what's not given to you!"
"General Qian misunderstood, the villain did not mean this!" Dong Yanyun's heart trembled when he heard this, and he quickly stood up and bowed to apologize: "It was the villain who made a mistake for a moment, don't blame General Qian!"
Although it is important to help Xu Xinsu win the support of the Haihan people on the issue of nominal ownership of Taiwan Island, if this offends the Haihan people, especially the Haihan generals stationed in Fujian, it will really outweigh the gains and losses. Dong Yanyun has been dealing with the Haihan people for several years, and he also knows that General Qian opened the way for Haihan to gain a foothold in Annan before coming to Fujian. The country's military almost followed Qian Tiandun's lead, and Haihan was in Almost all policies implemented by Annan were decided by him, which shows the trust of the Haihan Executive Committee in him. After Qian Tiandun was transferred to Fujian, in addition to commanding Haihan's militia operations, all Haihan's institutions in Fujian were also put under his management. Dong Yanyun knew that as long as this man felt that something was inappropriate, it would basically Don’t expect the Haihan Executive Committee to make the opposite decision.
Qian Tiandun's perception and attitude towards Fujian officials and Xu Xinsu will greatly affect the position of the Haihan Executive Committee. This stance will directly affect Haihan's support for Xu Xinsu in the future. Dong Yanyun knew the importance of it, so he immediately stood up and apologized.
"I don't mean to blame you." Qian Tiandun's tone softened slightly at this time: "Everyone has to plan for themselves. Mr. Xu is self-motivated. I can understand this. Who doesn't want to have a great person?" What about your day? Our Haihan's support for Mr. Xu should be obvious to all, but we do not intend to use it as a bargaining condition for Mr. Xu to make contributions in the future. Opportunities. As you just said, what we consider is how to achieve a "win-win" result in cooperation. If the benefits outweigh the disadvantages for us, we will take it into consideration without Mr. Xu's request. .”
"Yes, yes, General Qian must have thought carefully before he acted rudely." Dong Yanyun hurriedly accused him.
Since the matter could not be discussed and Qian Tiandun also expressed his attitude, Dong Yanyun had to give up his plan to continue to persuade the other party on this topic and raised another topic: "Can Fujian business people enter your business in Taiwan?" Are the ports on the island engaged in business? ”
The so-called Fujian business people actually mainly refer to the Xu family and the interest groups they represent. Qian Tiandun understood what the other party meant as soon as he heard it, and he was already prepared for it: "Of course, for We have always welcomed normal commercial investment. We will build a large-scale comprehensive port city on the west coast of Taiwan Island no less than Zhangzhou Yuegang. The administrative and economic center. If businessmen in Fujian are interested, they can go visit the place now.”
"Could it be that you have already broken ground on Taiwan Island?" Dong Yanyun asked tentatively.
Qian Tiandun nodded slightly, answering Dong Yanyun's question.
Dong Yanyun was a little anxious now. The Haihan people did not leave any buffer time. It was obvious that they did not want the Fujian side to intervene in this matter from the beginning. It was not until the ground was broken on the island of Taiwan that the matter was revealed. If the Fujian side organized personnel and materials, it would definitely be unable to interfere with the local development process.
Dong Yanyun asked tentatively: "Are there businessmen from other places who have settled here?"
"Li Dou, please tell Mr. Dong about the commercial development situation." Qian Tiandun handed the matter over to Li Dou, who was in charge of civil affairs and business, in one sentence.
"Since part of the materials and personnel we need to develop Taiwan Island depart from Guangzhou, local merchants do get the news earlier than those in Fujian." Li Dou admitted this matter unabashedly. After all, concealing it is also important. It's useless. When people from Fujian go to Kaohsiung, they will naturally find that their counterparts from Guangdong have already circled the land and started building houses there. "This...this is Fujian waters after all. Isn't it unfair for you to do this?" Dong Yanyun couldn't help complaining.
"Mr. Dong may have forgotten that in the cooperation agreement signed by Mr. Xu and us two years ago, it was stated that after Penghu was recovered, the waters east of Penghu in the strait belonged to Haihan. We have the right to operate in this area We can exercise maritime jurisdiction in this area as long as it does not harm the rights and interests of the Fujian government. Moreover, Taiwan Island is not the territory of the Ming Dynasty. You have no reason to criticize our actions, whether it is public or private." Dou replied without giving in.
What Li Dou said was reasonable and well-founded. When Xu Xinsu asked Haihan for help, she had indeed signed a lot of "unequal agreements." Xu Xinsu, who could not clearly see the future situation at that time, naturally did not expect that Haihan would grow and expand so quickly and extend its tentacles to Fujian. At that time, Penghu was still in the hands of the powerful Shibazhi, and Xu Xinsu also expected that the Haihan people would be able to completely expel it from the Strait area in less than two years, and the various agreements signed before that would become a constraint The Fujian government officials tied up the ropes one after another.
Of course, if Xu Xinsu was strong enough, he could ignore the agreements signed at that time, but his partner was a force like Haihan that he could not afford to offend. Xu Xinsu would definitely not dare to unilaterally tear up the agreement at that time. Apart from sitting in silence and suffering this hidden loss, there seemed to be no other better way to deal with it.
Dong Yanyun's stunned expression at this time was a direct reflection of this feeling. He really didn't expect Haihan's attitude to change so quickly during this period. Li Dou's attitude at least showed one thing. Haihan did not want to see Xu Xinsu continue to maintain a dominant position in the region's trading system, so he took confidentiality measures against Fujian on the issue of Taiwan Island development, and took the lead. Businessmen from Guangdong were introduced. In this way, even if the Fujian side follows up, it will be difficult to completely eliminate the influence of the Guangdong counterparts in the local area.
Dong Yanyun shook his head and said: "What you are doing...is inappropriate! Trade along the coast of Fujian has always been handled by the chambers of commerce of the four coastal states and one prefecture. Even our counterparts from Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang follow Fujian's rules. If you act this way, you may lead to a negative attitude.”
The four states and one prefecture mentioned by Dong Yanyun refer to the five seaside prefectures of Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Funing Prefecture and Xinghua Prefecture. More than 90% of Fujian maritime merchants come from these areas, and in the long-term operation, Commercial alliances at all levels with a strong local flavor have gradually been formed. Foreign merchants entering Fujian waters to do business will indeed be restricted by many unofficial systems. Haihan's approach undoubtedly directly abandoned the entire Fujian business district, which will naturally cause dissatisfaction among relevant people.
Li Dou responded: "We recognize and respect the rules of the Fujian Local Chamber of Commerce in the four states and one prefecture area along the Fujian coast. However, the ports on Taiwan Island are not considered as the Fujian coast. This area belongs to Haihan, so we will follow Haihan's usual rules. How Sanya Port, Danzhou Port, and Shengli Port operate, the same will apply to the ports on Taiwan Island in the future.”
The ports mentioned by Li Dou all implement Haihan's free trade policy, that is, any person or ship that abides by Haihan regulations can enter the port to engage in trade activities after obtaining permission. Even enemies such as the Netherlands and Portugal, which had fought against Haihan on the battlefield, their merchants could also obtain the right to trade in Haihan port through legal channels. As for the exclusive clauses that Fujian hopes for, they do not exist in these places. Unless the Haihan people want to exclude a certain party from their own trading system, it is basically impossible for others to let the Haihan people set exclusive terms according to their own wishes.
Dong Yanyun said anxiously: "By doing this, your friends in Guangdong have the upper hand. When the businessmen from Fujian arrive there, I'm afraid they won't even have a dock to dock!"
Li Dou smiled and said, "Mr. Dong doesn't have to worry about this matter. The place we selected has dozens of miles of coastline that can be used to build a dock, and the terrain is much better than Zhangzhou Yuegang. Mr. Dong knew it after he went to see it on site.”
"Is this true?" Dong Yanyun's anxious mood eased a little after hearing this description. If all the ports built by the Haihan people in Taiwan were occupied by the Cantonese, it would be difficult for him to bear Xu Xinsu's anger after he returns. If you can build your own exclusive terminal and trading institution, then everyone can play according to their own abilities.
"If Mr. Dong feels it is necessary, I can immediately arrange a boat to take you to the local area to have a look. Seeing is believing." Li Dou responded calmly. It has been a week since the construction of the Kaohsiung Port began, and the first phase of the port project has basically completed the land enclosure. It would not hurt to let Dong Yanyun go over and take a look.
"Okay, okay, then we have Director Lao Li!" Dong Yanyun hurriedly stood up and bowed deeply towards Li Dou. Although this young Haihan official was probably the same age as his children, Dong Yanyun still showed enough respect for him. After all, Haihan is known to like to appoint young officials. The Haihan people stationed in Fuzhou and Guangzhou are relatively young. No one dares to say whether these young people will enter Haihan's highest authority in the future. Therefore, Dong Yanyun is also very careful in his attitude towards others.
The straight-line voyage from Magong Port to Kaohsiung Port in Taiwan is only sixty or seventy nautical miles. It only takes half a day for Haihan's express boat to arrive. You can go back and forth between the two places on the same day, so it won't waste too much time. However, Dong Yanyun did not intend to wait until he returned from Taiwan Island before reporting to his superiors. Instead, he immediately wrote a letter and gave it to his subordinates, ordering him to immediately send it back to Zhangzhou and hand it over to Xu Xinsu.
One step is slow, each step is slow. With the Guangdong counterparts already setting off early to take the lead, no matter how much the Fujian side complains, it will not help. The top priority is to quickly organize personnel and materials and head to Haihan New Port on Taiwan Island as soon as possible. Before the gap between the two sides widens, they can make up for the lost time.
(End of chapter)