Chapter 878 Zhoushan Investment Promotion Conference (3)
“Friends with the No. 17 brand, please go to the B counter to complete the formalities!”
When Wu Huanzhi heard the summons, he quickly put down his tea cup, hugged his fists to the people chatting, and went to go through the registration procedures with his number plate. During the time he was waiting here, he had already seen the process clearly. There are three counters, A, B, and C, under the temporary bamboo shed at the pier. There are dedicated people who call the number according to the turn. You can go through the formalities with the number plate you got when you entered. I heard that a few days ago, there were people who came in specifically to occupy seats and resell rounds of number plates. However, they were discovered by the Haihan soldiers who were maintaining security nearby before they made a few transactions, and they were tied up and taken away.
"This is number seventeen." Wu Huanzhi said as he reached out and handed the number plate to the young man sitting behind the counter.
The other party took the number plate and put it aside, dipped his pen in ink, and asked: "Please state your name, age, where you are from, and what kind of business you run."
"I am Wu Huanzhi. I am not confused this year. I come from Taicang, Suzhou and run the silk business." Wu Huanzhi responded honestly.
The other party continued to ask: "How many ships will go to Zhoushan Island by then? How many crew members will there be?"
Wu Huanzhi responded: "It's just one boat with a crew of twenty-two, plus myself and four attendants, a total of twenty-seven people."
The other party was writing in a book while asking. After asking seven or eight more questions, he stopped writing and said: "After arriving at the port, we will check it again based on your registered information. Ships docked at the designated seaport are not allowed to carry weapons on board. The crew members You are not allowed to leave the designated activity area at will. If there is any violation, the boat owner or employer will bear relevant responsibilities.”
"You must obey." Wu Huanzhi also knew that the Haihan people were worried that people from Donghai would sneak in and cause trouble, so he had no objection to such an arrangement.
"When the time comes, you will need to show this number plate when entering the port for identity verification and staying in a local hotel. Keep it."
Wu Huanzhi then got another number plate, a bamboo plate two fingers wide and three inches long, with a ribbon punched through one end for easy carrying. It's just that I don't know if the words or symbols engraved on this number plate are twists and turns like earthworms rolling sand, but I don't recognize any of them. Wu Huanzhi thought that this was probably the writing of the Haihan people, and it was indeed difficult for outsiders to imitate it.
When the person handling the formalities saw that Wu Huanzhi was sitting still, he urged: "You can leave as soon as you finish the process."
"Is this the end?" Wu Huanzhi hesitated for a moment before saying: "What fees do I need to pay?"
"There is no need to pay fees for the Investment Promotion Association. If someone asks you to collect money, please report it to us in time. If you bring too much cash and it is inconvenient to carry it, you can exchange it for a banknote issued by us at Dinghaiwan Pier and redeem it when you leave. Cash money is.”
Wu Huanzhi agreed repeatedly, stood up and left, thinking that this Haihan man was quite meticulous and considerate in his work. No wonder he was able to prosper in the south. He was even more looking forward to the investment fair two days later.
After Wu Huanzhi came out, Zhou Hai, who was waiting on the pier, came over and asked him proactively: "Boss Wu, is everything going smoothly?"
Wu Huanzhi nodded and responded: "The people of Haihan are quick to do things, which is much easier than the Yamen of Ming Dynasty. After you go back, follow my instructions and buy more supplies. You don't have to go to sea for two days, but I paid the ship's price, so it's for you. A reward. Please don’t cause trouble when you arrive at Zhoushan Island, otherwise my employer will take the blame!”
"Yes, yes, I have remembered it, thank you very much, Boss Wu, for the reward!" Zhou Hai happily thanked him.
On April 20th, the sixth year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty, the day before the Zhoushan Investment Promotion Conference, the Yongjiang River in Ningbo Prefecture was bustling with activity. Many merchants who were going to participate in the investment promotion conference chose to go to Zhoushan Island in advance on this day to avoid missing the meeting tomorrow. Many local merchants also loaded a large amount of goods onto the ship, hoping to reach a deal with the Haihan people, so that even if they did not get the franchise, they would still have other business to do, and this trip would not be in vain.
The ship hired by Wu Huanzhi was also among them. He actually wanted to set off early because he just learned yesterday that several colleagues he knew were going to Zhoushan Island, so he planned to go and occupy the pit early and find a way to get to the Haihan people first. While looking familiar, I loaded the various silk samples I brought on the ship one day in advance. But he didn't expect that 90% of the ships on the pier were going to Zhoushan Island. However, the ship he hired was blocked by several other ships that were loading cargo. As a result, it was delayed until noon before departure. , half a day wasted in vain.
If the destination is further away, the half-day delay is okay. Anyway, if you catch up on the journey on the way, there is still a chance to catch up. However, the total voyage from the Yongjiang River to Dinghai Port in Zhoushan is only half a day. This delay will completely destroy Wu Huanzhi’s plans. It was a waste, which made him very angry. Fortunately, the hired ship, from the boss to the sailors below, was very familiar with this waterway. After leaving the river mouth, it turned eastward along the ocean current, passing between Ejiao and the Big and Little Huangbo Islands, to Daxie Island. By that time, we had already passed many boats going to Zhoushan along the way.
Wu Huanzhi's ship arrived in the waters near Panzhi Island and saw several sailboats flying the Haihan flag on patrol. Without his instructions, the ship's boss Zhou Hai asked the sailors to maintain a relatively safe relationship with these Haihan ships. distance. After slowly approaching Dinghai Port, you can see that there are many wooden trestles on the seaside pier that are obviously newly built. At this time, forty or fifty ships have been docked, and many ships are unloading to the shore. It seems that the transportation There is no intention to take the goods back. A huge warship can be seen in the distance docked on the coast. Wu Huanzhi guessed that it was the "Haihan Giant Ship" that had been talked about the most in Ningbo these days. It is said that this battleship is equipped with dozens of artillery pieces. Ordinary ships will be blown into pieces if they encounter it. It is so powerful.
After Wu Huanzhi's boat docked, the gangplank was set up and someone boarded the boat, asking the owner to show his registration certificate. Wu Huanzhi quickly took off the number plate from his waist and handed it over together with a piece of broken silver: "Thank you!"
The man only took the number plate, but pushed the money back: "Don't harm me. If I accept your money, I will lose this job! The people on the boat will wait for me to verify the number plate." You can disembark after that." After that, he took the number plate and went down to the shore again. Wu Huanzhi guessed that he probably took the number plate to check his registration information from the previous two days. Sure enough, after a while, the man came back and asked Wu Huanzhi the same questions.
Wu Huanzhi answered one by one according to what he said during registration. The man also asked all the people on the ship to gather on the deck and count the heads. At this time, two more Haihan soldiers wearing gray military uniforms came up, making everyone on the ship, including Wu Huanzhi, nervous. Fortunately, nothing happened. After counting the number of people, the man returned the number plate to him and announced that Wu Huanzhi and several of his entourages could disembark and check in.
"You guys will stay on the boat for the next few days. Don't cause trouble. When I come back after finishing my work, I will give you a reward!" Before Wu Huan got off the boat, he did not forget to warn Zhou Hai again.
After disembarking from the ship, it is not difficult to see conspicuous text signs erected at intervals on the roadside, allowing those attending the investment fair to proceed in the directed direction. Of course, if you are illiterate, you can see Haihan soldiers in gray clothes everywhere in the dock area. Those who are brave can also come up and ask.
After walking about half a mile, Wu Huanzhi saw a huge sign in front of him with the words "Check-in" written on it. Wu Huanshang stepped forward and showed his number plate, and completed the formalities in a few seconds.
This Dinghaiport was originally one of the most prosperous maritime ports in the Zhoushan area, with many hotels and restaurants, but its operators were all insiders of the Zhoushan Boat Gang, so after the place changed hands, these service facilities were also used by the new owner. Taken over together. After Haihan took over this place, he naturally put it under unified management first. After the investment promotion meeting was completed, he would see whether it should be contracted to other people for management.
The few people had just settled down when they heard noises outside. Wu Huanzhi sent someone out to investigate and said that the Haihan people had posted a notice about tomorrow's investment meeting on the street. However, the entourage was not very literate and did not know the notice. What is specifically written on it. Wu Huanzhi couldn't sit still after hearing this, and quickly dressed up again and went out to read the notice.
There are already many people on the street reading the notice. Most of the people who appear here are wealthy businessmen with some wealth. Their education level is not bad. They can understand the contents of the notice without the need for explanation.
The content on the notice is mainly about the schedule of the investment promotion meeting for the next three days, and it is filled with three large sheets of paper. Wu Huanzhi read through it first and found that he really couldn't remember it. He quickly asked someone to go back to the room to get pen and paper, intending to copy down the contents of the notice.
There was too much content in the investment fairs these days, and there were many projects that Wu Huanzhi didn't understand or was not interested in. He didn't plan to participate in the whole process. He mainly wanted to find an opportunity to interview the Haihan people and sell his products to them. The mentality of the businessmen present was generally similar to that of Wu Huanzhi. They were all foreign businessmen who had not received the invitation and came to attend the investment conference on their own. They did not know much about the process arrangement of the investment conference and had not come into contact with the content until now. .
Although there is no charge for coming to Zhoushan Island to participate in the investment fair, you must pay a certain amount of deposit to the organizer to participate in the Haihan product franchise competition at the investment fair. This is because the competition for franchises uses quotation bidding to determine the winner. In order to prevent malicious bidders, the organization has just set up this method, and also excludes those who have no intention of participating and those who intend to cause trouble.
In order to prevent some wealthy companies from monopolizing the franchise rights of multiple projects, the organizers also set a cap on the number of franchise rights that each merchant can obtain. Of course, this kind of measure cannot completely prevent those who are interested in playing tricks. For example, there are five or six merchants represented by Qu Yutong, the prefect of Ningbo. Each of them has the strength to compete for franchise rights. In addition, Haihan intends to Taking care of it, the end result is definitely above average.
In the evening, people from the Haihan official came to the inn to help the merchants handle the procedures for cashing out banknotes. The amount of large-scale transactions often amounts to thousands or tens of thousands of taels. It is really inconvenient to use cash for all transactions, so Haihan Bank specially prepared a batch of unnamed fixed-amount checks for this investment promotion meeting. By the way, it also took this opportunity to Promote Haihan's bank business projects among businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Although some people still lack trust in the services provided by Haihan, there are also businessmen who have been to the south and tried the convenience and benefits of Haihan's check transactions. They immediately went through the payment procedures and exchanged boxes of silver for thin ones. A few pieces of paper. Anyway, you can exchange it for real money when you leave the island, and there is no need to pay any additional fees.
Wu Huanzhi also brought two thousand taels of cash to the island this time. After hearing the explanation, he was a little moved, so he asked his entourage to withdraw half of the cash and exchange it for ten checks of one hundred taels. Once this thin stack is put into an envelope, it is very convenient to carry.
The next morning, the Zhoushan Investment Promotion Association held an opening ceremony in the square outside Dinghai Fort. This so-called square is actually the area that was forcibly demolished outside the city in order to deploy artillery when the Haihan Army attacked Dinghai Fort a few days ago. After the battle, it was impossible to restore the demolished buildings. Several people from the headquarters After discussion, we simply cleaned up the area and created a small square here, imitating the model of Victory Square outside Sanya Victory Fort. Of course, due to the rush of time, the Dinghai Square can only be paved with loess for the time being, which is completely incomparable with the smooth floor paved with marble tiles in Victory Square.
Wu Huanzhi also participated in the opening ceremony, but because he belonged to a group that did not have an invitation, he sat relatively far back, at least thirty or forty meters away from where the Haihan people were sitting, but he finally saw the legendary Haihan people. The two senior officials from Haihan who attended the opening ceremony were both soldiers. Wu Huanzhi listened to the comments from others and said that the two men, one named Qian and the other named Shi, were both commanders who defeated the pirate Shibazhi in Fujian the previous year.
The two people said a few words briefly, but Wu Huanzhi sat too far away and couldn't hear clearly. However, the dragon and lion dance that followed was so lively that the spectators couldn't help but cheer loudly.
After the brief opening ceremony, the two senior Haihan officials left the venue first, and then someone came out with a tin trumpet to shout, asking the merchants participating in the first franchise bidding to come to venue No. 1 and wait.
The so-called venue No. 1 is actually just a bamboo shed surrounded by four sides. It can be seen that it is also a temporary facility. There are four venues like this in total, and investment activities for different projects are held in different categories. Although Wu Huanzhi was not very interested in the Haihan glass franchise in the first competition, in order to understand the process of the franchise, he still paid a deposit of 500 taels in advance and changed his admission qualification.
After Wu Huanzhi entered the venue, he found that the venue was quite simple. Each participant only had two wicker chairs, and the numbers they received after paying the deposit were affixed to the backs of the chairs. The seat numbers are arranged according to the heavenly stem. Wu Huanzhi's seat number is "Jiqi" and he is already in the sixth row. He took a rough look and saw that each row of seats contained eight households with a total of sixteen seats. His place was already the fortieth household, and there were actually two rows of seats at the back. Calculating, if the seats were full, there would be more than sixty merchants. Participating in competition is indeed a bit fierce.
(End of chapter)