Chapter 1549 Form of Cooperation
Of course there were many officials who were greedy for money in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise the southeast coast would not have been riddled with holes by Haihan's money offensive in just a few years. Among the local officials that Shi Diwen came into contact with in Zhejiang, most of them accepted all comers and would only accept too little and not too much when collecting money.
Of course, after officials reach a certain level, they will no longer ask for money so nakedly. They will usually choose to cooperate with Haihan in certain fields and use more advanced operating methods to obtain more stable profits instead of simply A rough one-shot deal. Fourth- and fifth-grade local officials generally make full use of the power at hand to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with Haihan. For example, Qu Yutong, the prefect of Ningbo, is an example of this type of official. Not only did he marry Haihan, but he also allowed Ningbo Prefecture, which is closest to Zhoushan Island where the Haihan people are entrenched, to enjoy the dividends brought by the import and export trade, allowing the governor to The economic level of the lower regions can be improved with the help of Haihan's business system.
Before coming to Hangzhou this time, Shi Diwen had imagined what kind of attitude Wang Ji would have, but he thought that since the other party was already a high-ranking member of the party, when talking about the terms of exchange of interests, he must be very polite in terms of words. It will also be a little more obscure, maybe it will be a situation where you and I go around in circles and play charades. But the actual situation is obviously different from his estimate. Wang Ji not only speaks straightforwardly, but also has a clear attitude. He does not seem to have much concern for common operating projects such as commodity franchises and plantations. interest, or the temptation of these things is not enough for him.
Since Wang Ji took the initiative to ask if there were any other benefits, Shi Diwen no longer had to do Tai Chi with him, and immediately said straightforwardly: "Of course there are greater benefits, but that depends on Mr. Wang. The level of cooperation. Perhaps Mr. Wang can honestly say what kind of benefits he wants.”
Wang Ji's face was expressionless, his eyes fixed on Shi Diwen's face, as if trying to figure out from his expression whether these words were mere words or a sincere suggestion. Naturally, a person like Shi Diwen would not be suppressed by a civil servant like Wang Ji. He just looked back with a smile and was not moved at all.
Wang Ji saw that his official power was not easy to use on Shi Diwen, so he had to give up this plan at the moment, and asked in a deep voice: "I heard that after the imperial court opens trade, your country will take action in Zhejiang? Shi Diwen?" Can the general explain? ”
Shi Diwen was not sure what Wang Ji meant, so he asked first: "Action? I wonder what action Mr. Wang heard about?"
Wang Ji said: "Your country is too underestimating my Ming Dynasty. Do you really think that I am so blind that I can't see the small tricks I have done in various industries in the coastal states recently? I want so many industries to surrender to your country's command." Dispatch, what is the purpose of this?" After talking about it, there was a hint of an accusation.
The recent series of measures taken by Haihan in the coastal states of Zhejiang are aimed at integrating various industries as much as possible, and gaining control over these industries' voice and the power to set standards, so as to achieve the goal of economically controlling these industries. When Haihan can control these basic industries that are related to the national economy and people's livelihood, it will become easier to have an impact on the economy of the entire region, so that he will have more chips to bargain with Ming on political issues.
It is not surprising that Wang Ji can understand Haihan's actions. After all, the chief envoy of a province has great authority and will have all kinds of strange intelligence resources in his hands. Even intelligence agencies such as Jinyiwei and Dongchang will provide information when necessary. and share intelligence information with the Administrative Department. Although the actions taken by Haihan in the coastal state capital of Zhejiang are relatively covert, there are many participants and there is no strong confidentiality at all. As long as you are willing to investigate, it is not difficult to discover Haihan's new activities in these industries. trend.
However, Haihan chose this way of doing things, and naturally he had already taken into account the reaction of the Ming government after they became aware of it. Haihan's various relevant departments have unprecedentedly unanimous views on this issue, believing that even if the Ming government is aware of Haihan's intentions and It is difficult to come up with any effective countermeasures to stop it. The most likely thing is that an official at a certain level will come forward to make a verbal protest, but there will be no substantive means. After all, under the general trend of establishing communication and trade between the two countries, any behavior by the Ming government that undermines relations between the two countries may be regarded as an extremely serious provocation.
Shi Diwen had considered that if the Ming Dynasty wanted to lodge a protest, a certain prefect might intervene, but he did not expect that this role would actually be played by Wang Jilai, the Zhejiang chief envoy. And Shi Diwen was a little unsure, whether Wang Ji really planned to ask for guilt, or whether he wanted to use this as a condition to bargain with him on other matters.
Shi Diwen decided to respond to the other party's doubts with an official attitude first: "I'm afraid Mr. Wang may have misunderstood. Our country has always acted openly and aboveboard. Wherever there are big or small actions, they are just normal business methods. Chinese businessmen are active in the Ming Dynasty. During this period, I have always abided by the law. If there is anything that violates the laws of the Ming Dynasty, please ask Mr. Wang to point it out, or simply deal with it according to the law."
Shi Diwen will not admit the accusations of the other party. Killing him to death is a normal measure in business operations. If Wang Ji really wants to punish the relevant Haihan businessmen, then I am afraid that the first ones who cannot bear it will not be Haihan, but those who are related to him. Haihan has deep cooperation with local officials at all levels. Even if Wang Ji holds a high position in Zhejiang, it would still be a stretch to try to act as a stumbling block to the entire officialdom in this matter. When chaos breaks out in the coastal state capital, he, the chief minister, may have to take the blame for this. .
Wang Ji probably didn't expect Shi Diwen's attitude to be so tough. He didn't even counteroffer, but just put on a fight-or-die attitude. It’s hard to say whether arresting the Haihan merchants will be effective, but Shi Diwen and the local government stakeholders will certainly not sit idly by. No matter what Wang Ji's intentions were, Shi Diwen didn't want him to gain the upper hand easily.
With toughness against toughness, Shi Diwen's response really hit Wang Ji's rhythm. Wang Ji wanted to use this method to overwhelm Shi Diwen in terms of momentum, so that he could take the initiative in subsequent negotiations, but obviously he underestimated Shi Diwen's strength, and this performance did not work in front of the other party. It had some effects, but Shi Diwen fought back in the same way. He also didn't think about how a general like Shi Diwen, who had fought many battles in the north and south, could be suppressed by just a few words of threats, let alone Wang Ji, even if Emperor Chongzhen came in person. , the effect is the same.
If the talks were deadlocked at the beginning, then the subsequent negotiations would not be able to continue. Although Wang Ji was a little unwilling, he still took the initiative to give in half a step in consideration of the overall situation: "General Shi's words are serious. I have never said that the behavior of your businessmen is illegal, but this behavior is not good for our country. I still hope that General Shi can give a reasonable explanation."
Wang Ji's tone softened, and Shi Diwen naturally noticed it immediately. He didn't want to cause too much trouble for Wang Ji to step down, so he smiled and said: "The explanation I can give Mr. Wang is to allow the participating operators to make more money. If the money just enters our country It's impossible for businessmen from your country to be so cooperative, right?" Shi Diwen was right that Wang Ji couldn't understand the far-reaching purpose behind these business operations, let alone Wang Ji, if it hadn't been for Schneider's detailed explanation. After looking at the entire plan, Shi Diwen may not be able to understand the purpose of these business methods. At most, Wang Ji intuitively sensed Haihan's bad intentions to control these industries, but it is unlikely that he understood the purpose of Haihan's methods outside of business.
What Shi Diwen wants to understand is what Wang Ji's conditions are. He could feel that the other party's position was not simply hostile to Haihan, but that he wanted to gain the upper hand in this meeting before imposing conditions. It's a pity that Shi Diwen didn't intend to give way to Wang Ji, so it was basically hopeless to gain the upper hand.
Wang Ji said: "As a parent official of Zhejiang Province, since I know that there are problems with this matter, of course I cannot just sit idly by and watch. Please tell me clearly what is going on here."
Wang Ji's insistence made Shi Diwen a little confused. Looking at the other party's attitude, there must be some vital interests involved in it, so he kept asking this question. Shi Diwen asked tentatively: "The conditions in each industry are different. So which industry does Mr. Wang want to know about?"
This question was indeed on point. Wang Ji hesitated for a moment and then gave the answer: "Grain."
food? Shi Diwen had just had talks with several well-known grain merchants in Ningbo a few days ago, and of course he knew the situation in this industry very well. Since Haihan's control areas in Zhejiang are mainly islands and have limited land area, they cannot produce large quantities of grains. Therefore, they have always purchased grains from nearby Zhejiang, even the grains shipped to the two control areas in Shandong and Liaodong in the north. Most of the products are also purchased from state governments in Zhejiang.
For Haihan's control areas north of the Fujian Strait, grain procurement is a critical need, so they are extremely dependent on local grain merchants. Haihan wants to reversely control grain merchants through purchasing volume, thereby affecting In the grain industry, this idea was found to be difficult to implement when it was actually implemented. Although Haihan is considered a super-large customer for local grain merchants, this does not mean that they are willing to give up the say in this industry to their customers. Although the Ministry of Commerce designed many plans to tie the interests of grain merchants to Haihan, it ultimately failed to get these grain merchants to give up their resistance. So in the end Shi Diwen was forced to give up. This was the only industry in which he did not achieve any results in a series of talks in Ningbo during that time.
Haihan's judgment is that the grain merchants are unwilling to tie their own interests and futures to Haihan, so everyone should maintain the previous purely business relationship. As long as Haihan does not attach other non-commercial conditions to the grain transaction, Ming grain merchants will still be happy to do long-term business with this large customer. After this incident, Shi Diwen no longer planned to integrate the grain industry into his plan. At least there would be no big changes until Haihan developed a grain-producing area in the north. However, transporting grain from the south, such as Taiwan Island, to the north, after all, freight and time issues have to be taken into consideration, and it will probably only be a temporary expedient.
Shi Diwen did not expect that on today's occasion, Wang Ji would mention the grain industry again. But the problem is that Haihan has never done anything in the grain industry in Zhejiang from the beginning to the end. Since Wang Ji knows that Haihan is integrating certain industries, it is impossible for him to know nothing about it and separate the grain industry. What is the purpose of bringing it up?
Shi Diwen went through the whole story in his mind, and then responded to Wang Ji: "I'm afraid Mr. Wang has misunderstood. Although I had contact with some grain merchants last month, I didn't know anything about Zhejiang." The grain industry is not willing to cooperate even if I want to!”
"The grain merchants General Shi met in Ningbo last month actually only have some influence in the local area. Shaoxing, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Hangzhou are the real grain-producing areas in Zhejiang. General Shi wants to talk about It would be useful to discuss it with Daliang here." Wang Ji actually enthusiastically introduced the situation of Zhejiang's grain industry to Shi Diwen.
Shi Diwen was not completely ignorant of this information, but what he needed to consider during the grain procurement process was not only the price issue, but also the connections and benefits transfer considerations behind the grain transaction. Which of these big grain merchants has no government background, and who should buy grain from and at what price all require some calculation before implementation. There are also grain merchants from state capitals outside Ningbo who have come to contact Haihan, but they have not been able to reach an agreement on transaction terms. Therefore, as of now, Haihan's main source of grain purchases in Zhejiang is still Ningbo, which is closest to Zhoushan.
But today, since Wang Ji took the initiative to mention the grain industry and gave Shi Diming instructions, he obviously wanted to use this to get involved in this industry. Shi Diwen quickly sorted out the cause and effect in his mind, but he still couldn't believe that Wang Ji, the provincial chief envoy, could end up personally so easily.
"Master Wang, are you planning to introduce the grain merchant to me?" Shi Diwen responded with a smile: "If the grain merchant is a close relative of Master Wang, then there is no need to discuss the transaction in detail, I agree."
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Although the grain merchants who had maintained trade relations with Haihan in the early days also had official backgrounds, they were obviously not as influential as the great god Wang Ji. If this can make Wang Ji stand on the side of supporting Haihan, then changing a few grain suppliers is not a big deal for Haihan. It is nothing more than subsidizing the new grain suppliers more in terms of price. In this way Let Wang Ji get actual economic benefits.
(End of chapter)