Chapter 1581 Scam
When Xun Pengcheng woke up, it was already bright. Looking back on what happened yesterday, Xun Pengcheng suddenly felt a little funny. He indeed wanted to become an official, but he was not stupid enough to be fooled. Especially in the two years since he came to Haihan, he has been exposed to all aspects of society due to his work. He has been dealing with people from all walks of life almost every day. He is no longer the pedantic scholar who only knew a subset of classics and history.
After calming down, he only had to take a quick look at what Wang Hao said about the situation, and he would find that it was full of loopholes, such as the Department of Rites, the Embassy of the Ming Dynasty, and exceptional recruitment. If he thought about it carefully, none of what he said was reliable. Although Xun Pengcheng hasn't yet figured out what his tricks and purpose are, he is already sixty-seven percent sure that this person's origins are not legitimate. However, Xun Pengcheng also had to admit that the other party's words were also very skillful and provocative. In just a short conversation, he could grasp the things that mattered most to him, and he could use the topic to make himself stunned. This ability was indeed It was something he had never seen before.
Most of those who are good at using this kind of rhetoric are professional swindlers who aim to defraud money and sex. However, Xun Pengcheng knows some ways to expose the true face of such swindlers. After washing up, he went downstairs to eat something, and then walked unhurriedly to the dock where he met Wang Hao yesterday.
Xun Pengcheng remembered that Wang Hao had told him yesterday that he had just arrived in Sanya. He planned to go to the pier to inquire whether any passenger ships from Guangdong had arrived in Sanya in the past two days. You must know that before he went to the dock yesterday, the sea had been experiencing strong winds and waves for several consecutive days, and there were no ships entering or leaving Victory Port at all.
Xun Pengcheng came to the dock and inquired about it carefully, and found out that there was indeed something wrong with what Wang Hao said. After the storm subsided, the first passenger ship to enter the port arrived this morning. In the past few days, most of these passenger ships had docked at ports on the northern and east coast of Hainan Island to avoid the wind and waves. No boatman dared to carry two or three floors. High waves and overwhelming rain forced the sea out. Wang Hao could only have arrived in Sanya before the storm, and he might have been looking for targets on the dock these days.
"I hunted geese all day, and I was almost blinded by the geese." Xun Pengcheng gave an unceremonious evaluation of his performance yesterday. Although he is only a reporter, he has many sources of information and is rarely deceived. After talking with Wang Hao yesterday, I didn't catch the obvious loophole that appeared from the beginning. I was really confused.
However, perhaps due to reporters' habits, although Xun Pengcheng had discovered that Wang Hao had a problem, he did not plan to call the police immediately. He really wanted to find out what this guy was doing and why he was trying to get close to him.
According to yesterday's agreement, Xun Pengcheng came to the restaurant, directly ordered the seat where he sat yesterday, asked the waiter to serve a pot of Tieguanyin and two snacks, and then sat leisurely and waited for Wang Hao to show up.
Wang Hao showed up earlier than the time when the two of them came over for dinner yesterday. When he found out that Xun Pengcheng had arrived, he quickly came over and greeted him: "Brother Xun, I've been waiting for you for a long time! I wanted to come over earlier, but I had some official business to deal with, which delayed my time. , I hope Brother Xun will forgive me!”
Xun Pengcheng said generously that it didn't matter. He had already identified that Wang Hao had a problem. Now when he heard what he said about handling official business, Xun Pengcheng thought it was a routine and just continued to wait and see. He knew that since Wang Hao asked him to meet again today, he was probably going to talk about business.
Wang Hao said: "Yesterday I asked Brother Xun to be the host, and today it is my turn. Don't steal this payment from me!"
Xun Pengcheng responded with a smile: "Easy to say, easy to say." He wanted to see if Wang Hao was really willing to spend the money to treat him to a meal.
However, Wang Hao did not deliberately show off. The food he ordered was of the same quality as yesterday's meal. Finally, he ordered a bottle of Sanya special wine. However, Xun Pengcheng felt that he drank a little too much yesterday, and he decided early on that he would not drink more today, lest he be led astray by Wang Hao again when he was confused.
Sure enough, before the food was served, Wang Hao had already taken the initiative to mention what he was currently doing: "After saying goodbye to Brother Xun yesterday, I took my entourage to visit several places nearby, and there were some places with good conditions among them. , but the land price is very high and we couldn’t negotiate it yesterday.”
Xun Pengcheng wondered why he had seen this number before, and then followed his words and continued: "Oh? I wonder where the place Brother Wang is looking for is, and how much is the land price?"
Wang Hao said: "It's on the hillside northwest of Fort Victory, not far from the guest house built by Haihan. There is a mountain stream flowing down there, and the surrounding environment is quite quiet. If we can purchase and build the embassy, it will be an excellent place. When the time comes, the envoy will come and look at it and we will be rewarded. But the price offered for the land is quite high, and to be honest with Brother Xun, the money I brought here is not enough."
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Xun Pengcheng secretly thought, "Here we come." Wang Hao took the initiative to talk about money-related topics, and he must have used the topic again. However, it can be seen that Wang Hao has indeed done some homework and went to the Guest House to check the environment. It is very likely that he actually went to explore the land prices there. However, Xun Pengcheng was basically certain that Wang Hao would not be able to ask anyone for the price, because the large area of land near the Guest House, including the embassies of other countries, had been nationalized at least before Xun Pengcheng became a reporter. Will be resold to private individuals. Even if Ming Dynasty wanted to build an embassy there, it could only submit an application to the Haihan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Executive Committee through official channels. It was impossible to buy the land there through private channels.
However, ordinary people don't know about this kind of thing, and only a few special professions who have access to the diplomatic department understand the rules. Xun Pengcheng has been a reporter for two years, which is just such a profession. Although the newspaper he works for is not an official broadsheet, it still has various special channels to gain access to areas unknown to ordinary people. Xun Pengcheng may not be able to tell you all about Haihan's major policies in the diplomatic field, but as long as it is related to local information in Sanya, there is very little that he does not know.
If Wang Hao was not facing Xun Pengcheng, this rhetoric might have had its intended effect, but to Xun Pengcheng, who was already wary, it actually confirmed Wang Hao's evil intentions.
Xun Pengcheng had some concerns in his mind, but his mood relaxed. Now that he was aware of the other party's methods, he was not afraid to turn against the guest and set the pace for the master. Xun Pengcheng slowly put down the chopsticks in his hand and asked Wang Hao: "How high is the price? I also know some people in Sanya. Do you need to ask someone to come forward to lower the price?"
How could Wang Hao dare to agree to this? Not to mention that he didn't know who the real owner of that land was. Even if he knew, he wouldn't dare to create extraneous matters to involve more people in this situation.
"This... don't bother me. If word gets out in the future that the Ming envoys are using their power to suppress others, how unpleasant is that? You didn't disclose your identity after coming to Sanya because of this issue." Wang Hao is flexible. , and immediately avoided the topic.
Xun Pengcheng suddenly realized and said: "So, Brother Wang has thought carefully. This proposal is really abrupt, and I hope Brother Wang can forgive me. But if the number is not large, there are other ways to solve it."
When Wang Hao heard this, he immediately expressed interest: "I wonder if Brother Xun has any other ideas?"
Seeing that Wang Hao was so active, Xun Pengcheng was even more convinced of the opponent's approach. However, he had already prepared a routine and would not follow Wang Hao's thoughts. He pretended to be mysterious and said: "If the difference is not big, , then you can borrow money from Haihan Bank. I happen to know someone in the bank. Brother Wang only needs to show them the official documents of the court, and it is certainly easy to get a loan of one or two hundred thousand. And the bank is no better than other places, even if you have an extraordinary status. They will also keep it a secret for you." Xun Pengcheng clearly saw the corners of Wang Hao's mouth twitch slightly, thinking it was due to mood swings. He knew that since the other party had done this to deal with him, there was no way he would try to attack the bank again. He asked Wang Hao to go to the bank to borrow money, just to amuse the other party and take a look at this guy. What other reasons can you think of to refuse?
Wang Hao was really speechless for a while this time, and then finally said: "If we follow the method suggested by Brother Xun, and our boss later finds out that we borrowed money from Haihan, we will definitely be punished! Think about it, before Ming Dynasty and Haihan established diplomatic relations, The symbol actually needs to borrow money from Haihan officials to build it. Isn’t this a great mockery of our Ming Dynasty? ”
Xun Pengcheng was secretly amused, and on the surface he immediately agreed with Wang Hao's statement: "Brother Wang's words are reasonable, so in Brother Wang's opinion, how should we solve it at this time?"
Wang Hao was waiting for Xun Pengcheng to ask this question, and immediately said: "If it is convenient, Wang can borrow some money from private hands for turnover. After the government funds are in place, it doesn't matter if you pay a little more interest..."< br>
Wang Hao saw that Xun Pengcheng was absentmindedly playing with the steamed grouper on the plate with chopsticks. He seemed not to have listened to what he said at all. He was a little anxious at the moment. He gritted his teeth and said, "I think Brother Xun is also a wealthy man. If you have more money, Can I borrow the money for a few days next week? This is a business matter and I will not treat Brother Xun badly. In addition to paying the interest on a daily basis, I will also recommend Brother Xun to serve in the embassy after the envoy comes to Sanya." br>
Xun Pengcheng secretly thought that the fox's tail was finally revealed. You, a Ming Dynasty official, wanted to build an embassy in Sanya, but you actually borrowed money from me, a Haihan commoner. How could this make sense? However, after watching the play and reading the whole story, he didn’t want to rush to expose the other party at this time, so he pretended to be hesitant and said: “Well... I still have some money on hand, but not much. I don’t know what Brother Wang’s money is. How much more is left? ”
Wang Hao responded quickly: "I talked with the landlord yesterday. He asked for 100,000 yuan, and finally talked about 80,000 yuan. But I came in a hurry this time, so I brought a cash check of 40,000 yuan. Speaking of which, there was still a difference of 40,000 yuan." Ten thousand. If Brother Xun can help, he can lend the forty thousand and the repayment will be calculated as fifty thousand when the government funds arrive in half a month."
Xun Pengcheng said hypocritically: "It's not good to receive a profit of 10,000 yuan in half a month, isn't it? This is the court's public funds!"
Wang Hao waved his tactics and said: "The imperial court has allocated one million taels of silver for the construction of this embassy. Now it is being calculated in Guangzhou and needs to be converted into Haihan coins to facilitate the operation. Because of the large number, it has been delayed. As for the specific amount of money spent here, , it’s not a matter of my words at that time. This benefit can be regarded as my gratitude to Brother Xun for saving me!”
Xun Pengcheng still refused to let go and continued to ask: "Is it okay to recommend a position to the envoy?"
"This matter is all my responsibility!" Wang Hao patted his chest and said, "Your Excellency specifically said that you want me to carefully select people who are committed to the Ming Dynasty and are knowledgeable and reasonable. Isn't this Brother Xun? When Your Excellency hears Brother Xun's deeds, he will definitely I’m very happy, Brother Xun, don’t refuse anymore!”
"If I want to believe you, I'm just a fool!" Xun Pengcheng was very wary. How could he believe Wang Hao as blindly as he did yesterday. Giving money and officials again and again just for 40,000 yuan, I am afraid that I would do such an unbelievable thing because of my brain damage. Although Xun Pengcheng wanted to become an official and went crazy, he also knew that he would never become an official in this way. At this time, looking at Wang Hao across from him, I felt that this person looked disgusting and completely lost the intimacy of meeting old friends yesterday.
"But, I also have a little problem..." Xun Pengcheng didn't want to just let it go. He felt that if he didn't tease Wang Hao, he couldn't get rid of the anger in his heart.
Sure enough, Wang Hao asked: "Brother Xun, what other problems do you have? Is it difficult to come up with this amount?"
Xun Pengcheng said: "I can take this money, but it is still a large sum of money. Brother Wang, don't you plan to give me a certificate or something?"
Wang Hao suddenly said: "Yes, yes, I almost forgot. Of course I have to write a copy of this IOU. I will borrow pen and ink from the store later and write the note in front of Brother Xun."
Xun Pengcheng smiled and nodded in agreement, thinking that if I can't kill you this time, I will change my name to Wang. At that moment, both of them felt that their goals had been achieved, so they toasted to celebrate.
After finishing the meal, Wang Hao paid the bill happily, then borrowed pen and ink from the store, wrote an IOU in front of Xun Pengcheng, and wrote down the contents as previously agreed. However, Wang Hao was not stupid. He only wrote the contents of the IOU without signing it.
After finishing writing, Wang Hao said to Xun Pengcheng: "When I get the money, I will add my signature. What do you think, brother Xun?"
Xun Pengcheng responded with a smile: "It should be so."
Even if Wang Hao didn't sign the IOU at the moment, Xun Pengcheng thought it was enough. Of course, he didn't want to extort money from the other party, but wanted to send this hateful guy to jail. This IOU was the best. Physical evidence. Even if Wang Hao didn't defraud him of the money, he couldn't escape just by pretending to be a Ming official.
(End of chapter)