Chapter 1508 Conveying Benefits
Mei Shengchuan had only heard about how big Haihan's business was in the past, but had no real exposure to this information. He is an official of the Ministry of War and is not that familiar with trade matters. However, when he had dinner with friends from the Ministry of Household Affairs, he had heard that the Ministry of Household Affairs was responsible for collecting salt tax, tea tax, market shipping tax, and passing tax every year in the Ming Dynasty. The total amount of tax, business tax and other taxes is only three to four million taels of silver. To put it bluntly, it is not as high as the value of goods handled in a year by Haihan operating a port in the north. Of course, this also shows from the side how big the scale of sea trade operated by Haihan is.
In the past, Mei Shengchuan's legal income a year was only three to four thousand taels of silver. Counting all kinds of gray income, it was only a fraction of the goods that came in and out of this place every month. Even though Mei Shengchuan holds great power, he has been working in an agency for a long time, and there are not that many ways to make money. In addition, in recent years, there have been frequent wars at home and abroad, and the situation has been tight. Even those who came to the capital to work as officials at the Ministry of War They are much less. In the past year or so, only Dongjiang Town has been sending money to him continuously.
Of course, Mei Shengchuan didn't know the source of the money at first, but later he gradually learned that Dongjiang Town was managing the joints between the government and the Central Government for the Haihan people. Moreover, he couldn't resist the temptation of real money, and later came forward to manage many people for Haihan. Therefore, Mei Shengchuan did not have any resistance to Haihan's use of non-public profit transfer methods. As long as there were reasonable and safe methods, why not accept the benefits? Only a fool would turn away the benefits.
Mei Shengchuan considered his words in his mind, and then responded: "I have a few relatives and friends who are doing business in the private sector, but I don't know if there is any suitable way here?"
What Hao Wanqing wanted was for Mei Shengchuan to open his mouth, and then he could use other methods. Haihan already has a relatively mature operating routine on how to transfer benefits to Ming officials through trade channels, and will prepare different business projects for different regions. He even has a complete set of methods on how to cover up others' eyes and how to ensure the safety of money delivery. Options are available. It is no exaggeration to say that Haihan takes this special transaction very seriously as an industry, and has dedicated institutions and personnel to follow up and take responsibility for everything from planning to operation.
Of course, the officials of Ming Dynasty who benefited from this will also be included under the supervision of Haihan Security Department and become pawns in Haihan's huge intelligence network. Umeikawa is not the first, but he will never be the last.
Compared with the tension in the previous negotiation process, the following conversation between the two was relatively relaxed and pleasant. Hao Wanqing introduced to Mei Shengchuan several business projects that were more suitable for Ming officials to operate. Of course, among them were the traditional and best-operated cash crop plantations.
"I dare not say that the plantation will make a huge profit, but at least in the next ten or twenty years, it will have stable income, and it can be completely entrusted to us for management. It is most suitable for long-term cooperation. To be honest, Mr. Mei, most of the local officials in the south will They all choose this type of project. If Mr. Mei has friends in the southern official circles, he will know the truth and falsehood after a little inquiry." Hao Wanqing enthusiastically introduced the advantages of the plantation project to Mei Shengchuan.
Long-term stable income, fully managed operations, and a solid agricultural economy, these conditions undoubtedly make Mei Shengchuan very excited, but there are still some concerns that need to be asked clearly: "Then how to ensure that the annual income can be enough?" Handover? Also, what will happen to this plantation if the official resigns in a few years, or even dies of illness, or a war breaks out between the two countries?”
Hao Wanqing explained: "Mr. Mei can appoint close associates to stay locally and supervise the operation throughout the entire process without worrying about secret operations. As for the plantations operated in areas controlled by our country, they are all private property protected by our country's laws. Even if Mr. Mei resigns, retires and returns to his hometown in the future, or even unfortunately dies of illness, it will not affect the income distribution of the plantation. Even if you are no longer alive, as long as the operation agreement we signed has not expired, the income can be transferred to your designation. As for the outbreak of war, as long as Mr. Mei can make his position clear to us and not do anything detrimental to Haihan's interests, it will not have any big impact."
No matter how cautious Mei Shengchuan is, he has to admit that these arrangements of Haihan are really attractive. If he can manage several private properties with stable income overseas, the family may also be able to expand in Haihan country. If the imperial court wants to establish diplomatic relations with Haihan in the future, then he will be ahead of the curve, and there will definitely be many opportunities to take advantage of. If the two countries are at odds, then these assets are overseas, and there is no need to worry about being confiscated by the imperial court. No matter how you calculate it, this kind of business should be a guaranteed profit.
However, Mei Shengchuan still has a question that must be answered: "Then I invested money, but I only have the management rights of this land and cannot get the title deed. If there is a dispute over the ownership of this land in the future, what will happen? ”
Hao Wanqing said: "Don't worry about this. The plantations in the areas controlled by our country are all developed on state-owned land. This land is not private land, so there will be no ownership disputes. Of course, if you want to spend money to buy land, that's fine. But the price is not at the same level as running a plantation, and you must be naturalized in my country before you can apply for land purchase. Lord Mei has a bright career in the Ming Dynasty, so there is no need to prepare for his own fallout so early.”
Mei Shengchuan couldn't laugh or cry when he heard this. He didn't want to prepare a way out for himself. He was just being cautious and wanted to understand every detail before making a decision. However, he did not want to explain this misunderstanding. Since the Haihan people thought that he planned to find a way out overseas, let them misunderstand him, and perhaps he could use this to obtain more preferential conditions from them.
However, Hao Wanqing brazenly assigned all the land in the occupied area to the Haihan state, which still made Mei Shengchuan a little unhappy. However, there were many places that were still nominally owned by the Ming Dynasty. Haihan's approach did not give the Ming Dynasty any rights at all. In the eyes. Mei Shengchuan wanted to retort a few words, but after thinking about it, he gave up the idea - Haihan people suddenly wanted to send money to him, didn't they just want to take the initiative in this aspect during the negotiation process? If I do not admit that the ownership of these lands belongs to Haihan, then the cooperative management project just discussed will naturally cease to exist. For the sake of the large income that can be expected in the future, it is better to shut up and say less.
Haihan had already clearly calculated the pros and cons of this kind of transaction. The management rights of a few hundred acres of land could be exchanged for the cooperation of a high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty. This was a sure-profit deal for Haihan. Although part of the income from this land will be distributed to the other party in the next few years, in fact Haihan's operating costs will be recovered through personnel commissions, taxes, seed procurement, sales, etc., and even a small profit will be made. Moreover, the output of these farms is just raw materials. The real money can be made in the deep processing stage of raw materials. How do these ignorant Ming officials know the secret and think they have taken advantage of Haihan. Of course, compared with maritime trade, which requires a lot of investment in manpower, material and financial resources, a special project like a plantation is indeed much easier in the operation stage. The owner does not even need to visit the local area in person and can directly entrust it to the Haihan Ministry of Agriculture. After the harvest season every year, Haihan will settle the accounts and send the account books and checks from Haihan Bank directly to the owner's house. This kind of hand-off shopkeeper should not be too comfortable to do, and it is most suitable for Ming officials who are inconvenient to escape and have sensitive identities.
Merchants who really operate plantations as investment projects often have their own sales or deep processing methods, and even the transportation is also responsible for them. This can ensure that the plantation's output and income are maximized, and the income will be much higher than this full trusteeship method.
For example, southern businessmen who plan to invest and develop plantations in Liaodong will not only operate the planting projects themselves, but also build supporting processing facilities such as mills and oil mills locally to process raw materials such as wheat and oil crops that will be produced locally in the future. As for these agencies, officials with less contact with agricultural and commercial affairs have no knowledge of them at all, and Hao Wanqing will not mention these details prematurely.
In addition, regarding the stability and continuity of this cooperative business relationship, Hao Wanqing actually laid an ambush. If the other party gives up or betrays the cooperative relationship with Haihan at some point in the future, Haihan will definitely take back his name immediately. next industry. This kind of thing has not happened before, and Haihan will never be lenient in dealing with such incidents. In order to protect the industries they invested in the Haihan controlled area, Ming officials often had no choice but to compromise.
In this field of negotiation, Haihan's experience far exceeds that of Mei Shengchuan. Even if he thinks he is cautious, he still cannot avoid the tricks carefully prepared by Haihan people. The two of them talked about the tea after they left the table. The nature of the tea was still very strong. Mei Shengchuan only felt that he had really not had a good opportunity in the past few years. There was such a simple way to make money in the world.
The negotiation tasks he shouldered did not actually conflict much with the current demands of the Haihan people. The imperial court had no plans to forcibly take back Haihan's various industries in the Shandong occupied area, nor did it even plan to adopt them. The Haihan people were driven out of Shandong by forceful means. As for the ownership of the land, both parties have a tacit agreement not to actively discuss this issue, which is equivalent to acquiescing to the ownership and control rights of the other party. As for the trade and immigration that the Haihan people were most concerned about, they actually existed in fact, and the Ming Dynasty had never issued a ban on these activities, which was regarded as acquiescing to their existence. Since the Haihan people did not continue to cause trouble in the Shandong area, it would not be too difficult to report to the court later and give them a formal trade permission.
In this way, there is nothing really troublesome about the content of the negotiation, but in order to achieve such a result, the Haihan people took out the long-term profit project of the plantation as a personal benefit to him. Although it requires some initial investment, but thinking about the huge returns that can be expected in the future, Mei Shengchuan believes that this is a very cost-effective deal, and it can also be used to build a good relationship with the Haihan people.
The most important thing is that since many people in government offices across the south are enjoying the same benefits, he feels that he has nothing to worry about and is just doing as the Romans do. If the court wants to investigate his words and deeds during the negotiations in the future, there will be no clue. After all, he did not receive any gold, silver or jewelry from Haihan. When investing in overseas projects, the Haihan people will have special means to cover up the public. His identity will not be exposed.
The two reached a unified view on the situation in Shandong that day, believing that maintaining a peaceful situation is the top priority at the moment. As for other details, they can be put aside for the time being and can be slowly resolved through negotiation after the situation becomes clear. The Ming court could allow Haihan to engage in commercial activities in Shandong, but he had to accept the management of local officials - at least in theory. Haihan must also promise not to use force first in Shandong, not to continue to expand the existing control area, and to recognize that Ming Dynasty has absolute sovereignty over the area.
These conditions are basically within the expectations of both parties, and there is nothing out of the ordinary. However, Shandong was not originally the key target of Mei Shengchuan's trip. According to the itinerary, he first went to Shandong to determine the attitude of the Haihan people, and then went to Liaodong to investigate the local situation.
After staying in Zhifu Port for two days, Mei Shengchuan and his party set off again. However, he did not sign any written agreement on Zhifu Island before leaving, and the meeting with Hao Wanqing only reached a tentative agreement on some basic issues. If the Liaodong side cannot reach an agreement, then even if the Shandong side signs a written agreement, it will have to be invalidated. Therefore, Mei Shengchuan planned to deal with the affairs of Shandong after finishing the affairs of Liaodong.
Haihan sent an exploration-class warship as the pilot ship to accompany Mei Shengchuan's fleet to Liaodong. The Discovery-class warship is the second largest warship in terms of tonnage in the Haihan Navy, but it is already much larger than the Dafu Ship of the Daming Navy, and the firepower configuration on the ship is far beyond that of the Fu Ship. Although Umeikawa was not a general leading troops, as the Minister of War, he was naturally a knowledgeable person and could see the obvious advantages of the Haihan warship in terms of weapons and equipment, speed, and seaworthiness.
"The fact that the Haihan people were able to advance from the south to Shandong was definitely not due to luck!" Mei Shengchuan had heard many stories about the Haihan Navy before, and was also very curious about this invincible maritime force that fought all over the South China Sea. Although from Zhifu Island There was only one warship that set out together, but in the eyes of an expert, a lot of things could be seen. The battle report in Dongjiang Town stated that the Haihan Navy had completely wiped out Hou Jin's maritime armed forces. It seemed that he was not bragging.
(End of chapter)