Chapter 1548: Bribing senior officials
When it comes to making money, no one, from the traffickers to the court officials, would think there is anything wrong with making more money. Especially when large amounts of money can automatically flow into their pockets, and the source is legal, even fewer people can resist this temptation. I remember that Wang Yuan, the judge, was once an aspiring young man who was passionate about being an iron-faced judge in the Ming Dynasty. However, under the polish of social reality, the edges and corners gradually disappeared in the process of becoming an official.
Nowadays, the business cooperation between Wang Yuan and Haihan is booming, money is constantly flowing into his name through various channels, and the scale of the industry directly or indirectly operated by him is also getting larger and larger. This sense of achievement in business operations is different from being an official. In Wang Yuan's view, there is an upper limit to being an official. Background, strength, and opportunities are all indispensable. He wants to move up to his current position. It was very difficult to move. Even with Haihan's support and support, it would be difficult for him to reach a higher level position for a while.
But doing business is different. As long as it is done properly, the scale of business can continue to expand, and the scope of business will not even be restricted by national borders. This is really a novel experience for Wang Yuan, who has been in officialdom for half his life, and even makes him feel uncomfortable. He felt the long-lost excitement. If Wang Yuan resigns now, the business experience he has learned from his interactions with the Haihan people will be enough to make him a successful businessman.
Shi Diwen wanted to use him to drag down Zhejiang Chief Minister Wang Ji. This seemed to Wang Yuan to be a logical thing. If the Haihan people did not take this action for a long time, Wang Yuan would think it was unreasonable. Shi Diwen had mentioned to him more than once before that Haihan would definitely not openly invade the Ming Dynasty, but would try to win over local senior officials when necessary to ensure the stability and security of Haihan's various industries and income in the Ming Dynasty.
With Wang Yuan's position, he can naturally be regarded as a high-ranking local official. In the time when the time traveler originally lived, he would be equivalent to the executive deputy mayor in charge of specific work in certain fields. In Hangzhou, Wang Yuan still had considerable influence, and even the prefect He Guanzhi did not dare to provoke him easily. However, for Haihan, just controlling officials at the state level is not enough to achieve long-term planning. The chief envoys in charge of administrative affairs in each province naturally become the first choice.
Zhejiang Chief Minister Wang Ji was able to establish a connection through Wang Yuan's network. Naturally, Shi Diwen would not let him go. No matter whether he could eventually negotiate a cooperation with Wang Ji, he should at least work hard in this direction. If it doesn't work, we should leave a hole here, and then let Schneider or Ning Qi, an executive committee member who is good at negotiation, go to Zhejiang to contact Wang Ji in person.
Of course, before that, Shi Diwen also sent a telegram back to Sanya to apply to the Executive Committee for various special conditions required for negotiations. To bribe senior provincial officials, you have to offer some benefits that can impress them. The Executive Committee has also given Shi Diwen relatively large authority in this regard. There is almost no upper limit on the economic aspect, as long as Shi Diwen feels it is worth it. Unless the conditions proposed by the other party involve Haihan's future political stance, other conditions can basically be decided by Shi Diwen.
After obtaining enough authority from the executive committee, Shi Diwen came to Hangzhou and asked Wang Yuan to arrange a meeting for him with the chief envoy Wang Ji. Wang Yuan's work efficiency was quite good. Shi Diwen only waited for one day in Hangzhou before he heard back. Wang Ji agreed to meet Shi Diwen at a house at the foot of Tianmu Mountain north of Hangzhou City.
This meeting place was proposed by Wang Ji. Shi Diwen took a closer look and felt that this person really had some skills. First of all, the other party did not want to meet in an official capacity in Hangzhou, but arranged to meet in a private place outside the city. This shows that Wang Ji has deep intentions. Regardless of the terms of cooperation and cooperation on Haihan's side, it is of a private nature. Wang Ji Anything Ji said does not represent the official Ming Dynasty. Secondly, this place is arranged in the north of the city, far away from Haihan and along the Qiantang River, which is relatively easier to control. It may be that there is no need to be prepared for Shi Diwen. If there were any emergencies, the Haihan people involved in the negotiations would have to go around half of Hangzhou before they could return to the water they were familiar with. In this way, Wang Ji gave himself sufficient time to react.
However, Shi Diwen is not worried about what kind of tricks Wang Ji will play with him. Officials at Wang Ji's level must have received news of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ming Dynasty and Haihan. At this juncture, they have a conflict with Haihan, and there is no way to follow him. The court made an explanation. Therefore, Shi Diwen readily agreed to Wang Ji's conditions and met at the place designated by Wang Ji two days later.
Haihan actually had a lot of work to do for this meeting. The field team from the Security Department made two trips back and forth to determine the route to and from the location and how to escort Shi Diwen safely if something happened along the way. Emergency routes for evacuation. In addition, other departments must also be prepared in advance to deal with emergencies. Especially after Shi Diwen left Zhoushan, the relevant work was almost all delegated to the naturalized officials. In case they were unable to contact the people in Hangzhou, Shi Diwen, all departments must continue to operate as usual.
Shi Diwen only has two days to arrange these things, and since he can't go back to Hangzhou now, most of the work can only be arranged remotely. Fortunately, he had already arranged most of the work in advance before setting off from Zhoushan, and now he only needed to make minor adjustments. During this period, he even took the time to meet with several groups of local businessmen who had trade dealings with Haihan, and negotiated several large-volume transactions.
Shi Diwen met local businessmen calmly at the Haihan Commercial Inn on the bank of the Qiantang River. Naturally, someone reported these situations to Wang Ji. Regarding Shi Diwen's calmness, Wang Ji relaxed a little. He thought that the Haihan people's appointment with him might be related to the establishment of diplomatic relations and to re-evaluate the trade matters in Zhejiang. But since the other party didn't show that eagerness, He said that he had agreed to meet again in two days, so Wang Ji was happy to have a little more time to prepare for this meeting.
Two days later, a train of horses and horses drove out from the business inn on the bank of the Qiantang River. There were three carriages and more than 20 riders. The more than 200 Ming troops sent by the Hangzhou government to station near the merchant house in the name of protection had received the order in advance and did not follow them. This was also Shi Diwen's request. He believed that there was no need to use this kind of formation to protect himself near the city of Hangzhou, where public security was good. It was enough to have his own personal guard.
Of course, Shi Diwen still had unspoken subtext. He actually believed that these Ming troops sent by the Hangzhou government were useless except to get in the way, and their combat effectiveness was definitely not as good as the guard platoon he brought with him. Without these Ming troops following them, the team could move more freely.
This team did not choose to pass through the city, but chose a low-key route that detoured from the east of the city. This is also the recommendation of the field team of the Ministry of Security. Because of the large population and complex environment in the city, it is difficult for the guards to effectively control the city. It would be better to go directly outside the city. The terrain is open and it is not easy to be ambushed secretly. Although the route is a bit detoured, it is relatively safer and more reliable.
Although the purpose of arranging this route outside the city was to travel in a low-key manner, the fact that this team was walking outside was really eye-catching. After all, it is difficult to see so many knights guarding the carriage convoy on the official road. And this is exactly what happened. When the pedestrians, carriages and horses on the official road saw the formation of this team, they all took the initiative to avoid it, fearing that they would collide with some important person.
The origin of the name Tianmu Mountain is related to its topography. "Yuanhe County Chronicles" records: "There are two peaks, with a pool on each peak, commensurate on the left and right, named Tianmu." Due to the geographical environment, this place has an average annual average The temperature is always stable at 14 to 5 degrees Celsius, which can be said to be warm in winter and cool in summer.
A famous mountain like this is naturally indispensable for the historical and cultural heritage left by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. There are more than fifty monasteries and nunneries in the mountain with thousands of monks. Zhang Daoling, the great Taoist master of the Western Han Dynasty, practiced Taoism here, and Ge Hong, the Taoist master, once made elixirs here. The "Dongyuan Collection" of the Eastern Han Dynasty even called Tianmu Mountain the "Thirty-Four Cave Heavens". Since the Ming Dynasty alone, hundreds of literati have climbed Tianmu Mountain and left hundreds of poems and essays to record the beautiful scenery here.
But the place Wang Ji agreed on was not actually in the mountainous area of Tianmu Mountain. At most, it was just at the foot of the mountain that could be regarded as the remaining range of Tianmu Mountain. This is the place called Dongming Mountain. This house is located in a metasequoia forest. From the outside, it is difficult to see the buildings inside through the dense forest. If it were not for the four-foot-wide gravel carriageway leading into the forest, it would be easy for people to mistakenly think that the forest is actually inside. It's an abandoned mansion.
The name of this house is also taken from the environment here, called "Qiu Shan Ju", which means that the best scenery here is in autumn when the leaves in the entire forest turn yellow. Although the property rights of this place are not in Wang Ji's hands, the owner has actually handed over the house to him. Wang Ji can use this place to do whatever he wants at any time, including meeting some guests with special identities who are difficult to appear in public, such as Shi Diwen. There were Ming troops on duty outside the metasequoia forest. When Haihan's group arrived, soldiers stood in the middle of the road and stopped them, requiring that only one carriage could enter, and the others had to wait outside. Shi Diwen knew that this was a sign that the other party was afraid of him, so he did as they wanted without saying anything immediately.
After a while, Wang Ji and Shi Diwen finally met in a flower hall in Qiu Shan Residence. Wang Ji expressed admiration for Shi Diwen's youth: "It turns out that the local person in charge of your country is so young. I have heard about General Shi's deeds, but I didn't expect that he is a very low-key person in private." ! ”
Shi Diwen was actually in his thirties at this time, but because he had lived in Zhoushan for a long time, his appearance had always maintained the same level as when he first joined the time-travel operation. More than eight years later, there was no obvious change.
Shi Diwen smiled and cupped his hands and responded: "Thank you, Mr. Wang! If you have the opportunity, please invite Mr. Wang to live on Zhoushan Island for a while. Aging will naturally slow down."
Wang Ji said: "In the past two years, I have often heard people talk about Zhoushan Island, but I have never seen it. After the imperial edict to establish diplomatic relations is issued, I must go there to see what your country has turned that island into. ”
"You are welcome to come at any time." Shi Diwen said this truthfully. Anyone who has been to Zhoushan Island is surprised by the level of development and construction on the island. Even though Wang Ji is a high-ranking official in Zhejiang, Shi Diwen is sure that he will be surprised when he sees a seaport with the scale of Dinghai Port.
After the two sat down, they chatted for a while, and then Wang Ji brought the topic to the right track: "General Shi's visit to Hangzhou this time can be regarded as a visit to the Three Treasures Hall. Since he specially made an appointment with me, then General Shi must be more than just a general. Come here for a cup of tea and a chat?”
Shi Diwen said: "You can drink tea anytime and anywhere. I am asking for a chance to meet with you this time. In fact, I have important matters to discuss."
Wang Ji's vision and level are much higher than those of Wang Yuan, He Guan and others. When he heard this, he took the initiative to answer for him: "Since you are not here to drink tea, you must be here to discuss business. Tell me, your Excellency, what you plan to do How to do it.”
Shi Diwen said: "Sir Wang must have known that the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries is imminent. In the future, all coastal states in Zhejiang will release Haihan merchants and goods. I wonder if Mr. Wang is interested in participating?"
Wang Ji just looked at him but did not respond. Seeing this, Shi Diwen understood that the other party was probably waiting for him to offer more specific conditions, and immediately said: "If Mr. Wang has any business firm under his name, you can sign up with us, and you will also have the opportunity to get some products." Exclusive marketing rights.”
Wang Ji still said nothing and began to drink tea with a calm look. It seemed that the conditions offered by Shi Diwen did not satisfy him immediately.
Shi Diwen thought for a while and then asked: "Is Mr. Wang interested in investing overseas? Find out more about the plantation project. In recent years, it has been one of the key projects for Ming businessmen to invest in our country."
Wang Ji responded slowly: "How profitable is this plantation?"
"Generally, the capital is recovered in about three years, and the profit period can be more than twenty years. The short-term profit may not be as good as that of ordinary commodities, but the long-term income is stable..." Seeing that Wang Ji finally asked a question, Shi Diwen quickly responded and explained. : "For situations like Mr. Wang who is unable to take care of the plantation himself due to busy official duties, our country also provides comprehensive custody services."
After hearing this, Wang Ji asked: "Besides plantations and exclusive sales of goods, is there anything else?"
Listening to his tone, Shi Diwen obviously didn't take fancy to the conditions he just offered. He couldn't help but mutter in his heart that Wang Ji was very thoughtful. Ordinary officials would usually be satisfied with these two conditions. This was the first time. When I met Wang Ji for the first time, he even asked if he had any other projects.
(End of chapter)