Chapter 1544: Unable to Resist
Wang Huan felt something was wrong after hearing this. As an official of the Ming Dynasty, why should I let my son go to other countries to serve as an official? The father and son are serving for two countries respectively. Does this situation sound reasonable? Even if his son becomes famous in Haihan from now on, will there be any good comments in this history book? He quickly shook his head and said: "Although Quanzi is not talented, there is no need to work for your country to make a living. This matter is just that, and you don't need to mention it again."
Yang Yun hit a wall but showed no sign of being discouraged. He continued: "It's not forced. As long as your master is willing to come, we welcome him at any time. The position in the salt field will always be reserved for him."
Wang Huan thought to himself that the salt farm matter had not been settled yet, so why did this man already look like the dust had settled? Did he really not take this magistrate's county seriously? Immediately, his face darkened and he said: "Your Excellency, you must have said it wrong. I did not promise you the salt farm!"
Yang Yun said sternly: "Master Wang has not agreed, but so what? I have said before that whether this salt farm can be run or not, Master Wang is only one of the links. If you cooperate, the salt farm will naturally open smoothly. Some, if you don’t want to cooperate, the salt farm will still open, but it will just take a lot of effort.”
Wang Huan's face became even more ugly after hearing this. Although he knew that the Haihan people did not have much fear towards him, when he really felt the other party's contempt, he still felt uncontrollable anger in his heart. But he also knew that getting angry at Yang Yun would not stop him from acting, and would even be counterproductive. This feeling of powerlessness was like a poisonous snake, biting Wang Huan's heart so hard that his breathing became rapid.
"What? Mr. Wang is angry?" Yang Yun was keenly aware of Wang Huan's mood swings, but there was still a mocking smile on his face: "I have just proposed a better solution, but Wang Huan Your Majesty doesn't agree! If you still feel that you can't swallow this, you can go to the prefect's Yamen, the Chief Envoy Si Yamen in Hangzhou, or even go to Beijing to file a complaint and see if any of the adults are willing to do it for a small boy in Zhejiang. Small salt farms came forward to undermine the plan of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.”
Wang Huan raised his finger and pointed at Yang Yun. His body was shaking with anger, but he could no longer speak. Yang Yun continued: "Compared with the safety of the northern border, as long as there is no major chaos in Zhejiang, the court will definitely not say anything about these small things. In the eyes of the people above, they may not think your behavior is patriotic. Loyalty’s actions may ultimately lead to no good outcome. ”
Wang Huan knew that what Yang Yun said was indeed true. If the Haihan people really bypassed him and chose to go it alone, what could he do to stop them? Nothing can be done, not even an appeal will be of any use. This is the cruel reality right now. He wants to be a loyal minister, but the court may not recognize it yet. This situation is both sad and ridiculous, and he has not been able to express the bitterness of it to outsiders.
Yang Yun secretly sneered in his heart. He had seen many Ming officials like Wang Huan who did nothing and were reluctant to give anything, but wanted to be loyal ministers and build memorial arches. He had seen many people in the past. These officials with Confucian backgrounds only care about their own honors, but ignore the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty and the living conditions of ordinary people. The starting point of fighting Haihan is not to safeguard the interests of the country, but just because they care about their own personal honors. . He seems to be honest and honest, but in fact he is pedantic and ignorant of practical matters. As long as Haihan fails to bribe him at the beginning, he will generally not pay attention to such officials who insist on saving face and suffering.
It would be fine if Wang Huan accepted Yang Yun's suggestion. Haihan spent one thousand taels of silver per month to secure the local magistrate. This expenditure was relatively cost-effective. Besides, this money is not for free. Wang Huan will have to cover up all the big and small things that Haihan does in Xiangshan, not just the planned salt farm.
But now Wang Huan refused to let go, and Yang Yun couldn't persuade him several times. After his patience was exhausted, he no longer had any expectations for this person. As he said, even if Haihan wanted to forcefully build this salt farm in Xiangshan County, he could get the official salt farm license by getting through the connections with the Daming Salt Yamen. He did not have to deal with the Xiangshan County Yamen. Haihan is not an ordinary private salt merchant. Even the prefect, let alone the county magistrate, will definitely not be able to investigate Haihan's private salt business.
After Yang Yun had said all his good things, seeing that Wang Huan still refused to make a statement, he didn't want to waste time here anymore, so he took the initiative to leave. Although Wang Huan was dissatisfied with Haihan, he still treated them politely and sent Yang Yun and Gu Qufei out of the study. However, after the two left, Wang Huan couldn't help but murmur to himself: "What should we do? What should I do?”
In the county government office, Gu Qufei witnessed with his own eyes how Yang Yun took the initiative in the negotiations and suppressed the county magistrate to the point that he did not dare to speak. He admired Haihan even more in his heart. As soon as he left the county government office, he bowed and asked: "Yang Sir, what are the arrangements next?”
"Let's meet up with the friends waiting outside first, and report the progress just now." Yang Yun responded smoothly.
"Progress?" Gu Qufei repeated in astonishment. It was clear that the talks with Wang Zhixian had collapsed just now, so how could there be any progress?
Yang Yun smiled when he saw this and said: "What? Do you think there will be no progress in this matter if Wangzhi County was not captured just now?"
Gu Qufei quickly said he didn't dare. Yang Yun continued: "What is the purpose of my going to the county government? It is to find out the true attitude of the county magistrate, not to capture him. If he refuses to cooperate with us, then don't cooperate. The small Xiangshan County Government can't hinder our affairs. As long as Wang Zhixian's attitude is clear, our goal will be achieved. ”
Gu Qufei suddenly realized that Yang Yun had been prepared to break up the negotiation before going to the county government. This kind of sophistication is not what a wealthy man like him can possess. I don't know how many officials he has dealt with before he can sum up such operational experience.
After reuniting with several other wealthy people waiting in the county town, Yang Yun then reported the meeting with Wang Zhixian just now. Everyone was stunned as they never expected that the negotiations Yang Yun mentioned would go this way. Some of them inevitably started to worry. After all, the Haihan people had offended the magistrate and left, and no one could do anything to them. But they were all locals. If the magistrate Wang pursued the case afterwards, this would There is no way for the gang to spend all their money and leave Xiangshan County for this reason.
After someone expressed this doubt, Yang Yun comforted him and said: "Don't worry, everyone, our Haihan always has a beginning and an end to our work. Now that we have started, we will not give up because of a little resistance. After I go back this time, I will We will report the situation to Chief Shi of Zhoushan, and the matter of rebuilding the salt farm in Xiangshan County will definitely continue to move forward. A decision will be made within a few days, or within ten and a half months at the latest." Gu Qufei has no idea at this time. Doubting Yang Yun's ability, he took the initiative to ask: "Then we went to see that wasteland before, do we need to take stock of it in advance?"
Yang Yun thought for a while and said: "You can make preparations first. After the seawater I brought back has been tested and it is determined that the local environment is suitable for building a salt farm, I will notify you to come forward to get the land. As for the price of these lands, how to convert it into a salt farm We can discuss the shares slowly when the time comes, and I promise not to let you do it.”
After chatting briefly for a while, Yang Yun asked Gu Qufei to lead the way to the former official salt field. The official salt farm in Xiangshan County is actually not far from the wasteland they visited earlier, and the straight-line distance is only a few miles. Although this salt farm also uses a sun-dried salt method similar to Haihan's salt production method, its operational details are still relatively primitive and are far from reaching the technical level of Haihan, which sets quantitative standards for each production link. As for the production capacity, it was even worse by several blocks, which is why it quickly declared bankruptcy due to the large influx of private salt from the south.
The salt farmers in the salt field had no source of income, and most of them had to find other ways to make a living. Many of them even went to the nearby Shipu Port and accepted Haihan's employment to work on the dock. The people stationed here by the Salt Class Tiju Division have already withdrawn to Hangzhou, and they have completely given up on this place.
Yang Yun took a general look at the production facilities here. Compared with the salt farm in Haihan, it is indeed relatively primitive. If this site is to be used, it still needs to be completely transformed. It is better to open up another piece of land, at least the land ownership can be Let those wealthy people convert it into equity and invest it in the operation of the salt farm, so that there will be no big problems in the future.
After seeing the condition of the old salt field, it was already getting late. Yang Yun politely declined Gu Qufei's invitation to stay at his home for one night. Instead, he immediately boarded the ship and returned to Zhoushan, hoping to bring the news back as soon as possible so that he could Start early to make the various preparations required to develop a salt farm.
That night, Yang Yun reported to Shi Diwen face to face what he had seen and heard in Xiangshan County, and suggested that a salt farm be opened there immediately. At the same time, he tried to contact the salt industry yamen in Zhejiang to try to get the official identity of the salt farm certified as soon as possible. In this way, the private salt produced locally can be openly marketed as official salt in various places.
Shi Diwen greatly appreciated Yang Yun's performance in Xiangshan. He originally sent Yang Yun to Xiangshan without thinking of such a big business plan. He just asked Yang Yun to pay attention to any local production projects that could be operated. I didn't expect Yang Yun to be so serious about it and actually run such a big project out of thin air.
According to Yang Yun's estimate, the available local coastal beach area exceeds 2,000 acres. If a salt farm is built, at least four to five hundred laborers will be needed. This is already a relatively large-scale project in Shi Diwen's recent industrial landing plan. . The number of weavers employed in the newly built weaving workshops in Hangzhou, which has gone a long way, is only at this level.
For a project like salt production, which has already been industrialized in Haihan, its operation mechanism and average profit have always been very stable, and it is not difficult to develop. It is just that the construction of various salt ponds in the early stage will require a relatively large amount of work. . Shi Diwen was very supportive of this kind of project that had stable income and could promote the implementation of Haihan industrialization in Ming Dynasty. He immediately allocated a sum of money from local financial funds to Yang Yun and asked him to put the project into operation as soon as possible. We will also report this matter to Sanya and strive to apply for special start-up funds from the Ministry of Industry to fill the hole in the advance payment.
The results of the laboratory tests on several seawater samples brought back came out that night. The salt content of the seawater fully met the standards required for salt farm production. So Yang Yun went to Xiangshan County again early the next morning, found Gu Qufei and others, and asked them to put the land in place as soon as possible, and then hire manpower to start construction.
Gu Qufei and others had no idea that Yang Yun would come back just one night later and had already decided to build a new salt farm here. They, a group of wealthy people, had never participated in such a major project in their lives, and they couldn't help but feel excited and nervous at the same time. I am excited because I have finally established a relationship with the Haihan people, and I will not worry about making big money in the future. I am nervous because the salt industry is a state monopoly after all, and making and selling private salt is a serious crime. I don’t know if the Haihan people can really handle it. Salt industry yamen in Zhejiang.
In order to reassure these people, Yang Yun revealed to them a little about the arrangement that he had just heard from Shi Diwen yesterday. In order to give this salt field an official status, it is necessary to establish a salt class promotion department in Hangzhou, and Shi Diwen plans to use Wang Yuan in Hangzhou to interview the officials of the salt class promotion department, and then use The money came out by smashing a sign.
Although this method seems a bit simple and crude and lacks technical content, for wealthy people like Xiangshan, it is easy to understand and easier to understand. Since Yang Yun said that he could get the official name, this group of people also believed that he could do it, and they immediately divided their work and started preparations for the construction of the salt farm.
The unemployed people in the closed salt field suddenly became fragrant steamed buns again. Haihan offered skilled workers a high salary of five taels of silver per month. Ordinary workers who could only sell their labor also received two taels of silver per month. Silver is already a pretty good income for these unemployed people. You must know that Haihan provides benefits including food and accommodation, so the salary is basically pure income.
Of course, these recruited salt-making workers cannot be put to work immediately. Before that, they must also serve as laborers to join the infrastructure project of salt farm construction, and must receive training in salt-making technology provided by Haihan. Qualified salt workers working in the Haihan Salt Farm only know physical labor, but it is far from enough. Each position has certain professional and technical requirements. This is one of the secrets of the Haihan Salt Farm's ability to maintain high output and low costs.
Three days after Yang Yun met with Wang Huan, the magistrate of Xiangshan, Yang Yun, as the representative of Haihan, held a simple groundbreaking ceremony on the wasteland by the sea. Then more than 300 migrant workers entered the wasteland carrying shovels and hoes. , under the command of foreman Haihan, the salt field construction project began.
(End of chapter)