Chapter 2522
Ning Zijing has been dealing with various businessmen for a long time in Qionglianfa and is used to all kinds of tricks, so he is more flexible than Tao Hongfang who works in the yamen. Although he had no ill feelings towards Peter, he always felt that this man was deliberately showing off his knowledge to win his favor.
Having just heard Pete talk about the planning plan of the Hangzhou-Nanjing Railway, Ning Zijing felt that this should not be something that a foreigner could think of. Even if Pete had a certain understanding of Haihan's transportation system, it seemed difficult to conceive it out of thin air. Such a big project.
This requires a considerable understanding of the situation in the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions and Haihan's future plans for Hangzhou before it is possible to make such a plan, and it is obviously unlikely for Peter to reach such a level.
Then Ning Zijing felt that the only other possibility left was that Pete noticed Haihan's traffic plan for this area from other channels, and then took this opportunity to speak out to show his extraordinary knowledge.
On a smaller scale, this is just a foreign businessman trying to be clever, but on a larger scale, it can also be classified as spying on state secrets. The nature of the latter is extremely serious, but it must be handed over to the Ministry of Security.
Tao Hongfang and others are all from high-ranking official families. They have been strictly educated by their parents since childhood and know the importance of keeping state secrets. At this time, Ning Zijing pointed out the problem, and Tao Hongfang immediately realized the seriousness of the matter, and his face immediately became serious.
Peter answered Ning Zijing's question calmly: "Mr. Ning listened carefully, and it is indeed true. After your country announced the relocation of its capital last year, I planned to buy some land on the south bank of the Qiantang River, closer to Hangzhou. I thought I thought it might come in handy in the future, but I never thought that almost all the land in the area had been banned from trading. I could only do the next best thing, thinking that as long as I was closer to Hangzhou, I would slowly look for land in the east and inquire about the price. , and then I discovered that the government had only banned land sales in some of these areas. The area they were located in happened to be a land passage to Ningbo. This reminded me of the time when Haihan built the Changhua-Danzhou project on the west coast of Hainan Island. Similar measures were taken during the construction of the railway, which led to speculation about the construction of the railway. ”
What Peter said was almost exactly the same as Ning Zijing's speculation, and he used the development of the Hainan Island Railway as an example to dispel the doubts of several young people. If he couldn't tell, then Ning Zijing would probably doubt his source of information.
"Shopkeeper Pi is really knowledgeable. He even knows the development process of the Qiongxi Railway Project!" Ning Zijing was still worried and continued to test Peter with words.
Peter responded: "When your country was building the Qiongxi Railway, I happened to visit Changhua and Danzhou with my father and walked back and forth along the construction site of the Qiongxi Railway, so I know a little bit about it."
Tao Hongfang and others exchanged glances, and they all believed that Peter's words were extremely credible. When the Qiongxi Railway was built, although the Dutch had been allowed to move freely on Hainan Island, they still had to report to the government in advance. Therefore, if any Dutch visited these places at that time, you would know the truth if you look back and find out if you want to come to Pitt. Don't dare to brag about this kind of thing.
Peter may also understand that these young people are testing him, so he turns the topic to the management of the Dutch Store. He told everyone that in the past, the East India Company was often troubled by settlement problems when purchasing goods in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, because there were differences in purity and measurement units between the silver shipped here by the Dutch and the official silver circulating in the Ming Dynasty, which led to trade Activities are difficult.
Later, the Dutch also noticed the special role of Haihan Bank in cross-border trade settlement, and thought about following this approach and setting up their own bank for trade settlement. But the problem was that the Dutch did not have enough capital and could not set up business outlets in various coastal states like Haihan Bank. Therefore, the plan came to an end soon after, and they had to rely on Haihan Bank to complete the settlement. Of course, during this process, Pete naturally praised Haihan without any effort and made no secret of his fondness for Haihan. If Tao Hongfang and others hadn't known about Haihan's past with the Dutch East India Company, they would have thought that the Dutch were as respectful to Haihan as Peter.
"If you are interested in cross-border trade or have any profitable business, we can try to cooperate. You may also know that our East India Company can traffic goods to the continent of Europa tens of thousands of miles away. The goods are very popular there and the profits are very lucrative. Although your country’s maritime industry is also very developed, I think my country is still in the leading position for the time being.”
When Peter talked about maritime trade, he finally couldn't help but show off the achievements of the Netherlands in this field. At the same time, he also wanted to use this topic to test the details of several young people again.
Tao Hongfang smiled and said: "This Mr. Ning works in Qiong Lianfa. You are colleagues, so you can get closer and closer."
Of course, Peter knew what kind of business giant Qiong Lianfa was. Hearing this, he was surprised and said: "It turns out that Mr. Ning is employed in Qiong Lianfa. So, when he came to Zhoushan this time, was he not here specifically for inspection?"
Ning Zijing was secretly amused, and quickly waved his hand and said: "I'm just running errands for the superiors. It's our servants' turn to do this kind of inspection!"
He said it modestly, but Peter didn't believe it. The way Ning Zijing dressed, talked and behaved, he was definitely not an errand boy. Even the local stewards, shopkeepers, and bosses that Peter dealt with on a daily basis were much worse in temperament than Ning Zijing. Moreover, when the subordinates came to report earlier, they mentioned that these four people came in groups of four carriages. This kind of pomp could not be the behavior of ordinary people.
Peter remembered that he also knew someone at Qiong Lianfa's office in Zhoushan, and thought that he would go back and find out who this young man named Ning was. If you can find out about his family background, you can take the right medicine and try to build a relationship.
Peter made up his mind and said that it was almost noon and wanted to invite Tao Hongfang and others to have lunch together at the store. However, Tao Hongfang and others were only planning to stop at Dinghaiport for a while. They did not want to spend their limited time here, so they politely declined Peter's invitation.
Peter was now basically sure that Tao Hongfang and others did not come to the store to discuss business, but just wanted to come in out of curiosity. However, this only strengthened Peter's view, thinking that these young people must have extraordinary status, otherwise how could they easily decline his invitation and not even want to have a meal together.
(End of chapter)