Chapter 2552
Shi Diwen seemed to be very satisfied with everyone's response. Perhaps he didn't want to make the atmosphere at the banquet too serious, so he took the initiative to switch to a lighter topic and asked whether the dishes prepared for the banquet were in line with everyone's taste. Everyone was relieved and praised the food for being exactly the same as the local ones in Sanya.
This comment is not entirely flattering to Shi Diwen. Haihan cuisine pays more attention to the use of seasonings and spices, and most of these things are produced in the Haihan area and are not so common in the areas ruled by the former Ming Dynasty. Although these condiments are now available on the market, it is difficult to master the taste and heat without formal training. The chefs at Shi Diwen's house are obviously well-known, and the taste of these dishes is indeed very authentic.
Tao Hongfang was thinking about other things in his mind. Shi Diwen had previously refused to let his wife, concubines, and young children attend the banquet. This probably had to do with the fact that he wanted to discuss serious topics during the banquet. Tao Hongfang vaguely felt that Shi Diwen should have more to say, but the current situation was still not suitable for elaborating, so he just touched on it and did not talk about specific things.
Tao Hongfang actually wanted to talk to Shi Diwen about his experience at the Ministry of Commerce Office in Hangzhou today and ask him some questions. However, Shi Diwen did not take the initiative to mention official matters. As juniors, it was naturally not easy for them to be there. Lead the conversation at the wine table.
Seeing that the banquet was coming to an end, Shi Diwen spoke again: "It's getting late today, and the city gate should be closed at this time. If you want to go back to your residence in the east of the city, you have to go around the city. It's not convenient to travel at night. Tonight Let me rest here!”
If you want to go around the city and return to your residence in the east of the city, you have to walk about twenty miles at night, even if you take a carriage, it will take several hours. Everyone had already made such preparations when they came, so they would not object to Shi Diwen's arrangement.
Shi Diwen said again: "Everything is fine, how about you follow me to the study for a while?"
Of course Tao Hongfang and others agreed. However, they can also imagine that the topic Shi Diwen will talk about next will probably actually involve his mission to Hangzhou.
Although Shi Diwen was a military general, the study room at home was surprisingly large, more than twice the size of the banquet hall where everyone ate. Tao Hongfang suspected that he had specially used a hall to decorate it as a study room. .
And such a large space is not vacant. There are about twenty large bookshelves that are seven feet high and one foot wide in the study, and there is not much empty space on them. There is also a huge map of the East China Sea region hanging on the wall, which covers a vast area including the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and the western end of the Japanese archipelago.
Of course, there are also some details on the map that attract young officers to stop, such as the location of the garrison base marked with red markers.
The two bases located in Jeju Island, North Korea and Sasebo Bay, Japan, respectively control the southward sea lanes of the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan. They form a dichotomy with Zhoushan Dinghai Port located outside Hangzhou Bay, placing most of the East China Sea under the control of the Haihan Army. Within the control range, it also provides safety guarantee for the waterway leading to the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea in the north.
A separate area was set up in the study room, where several wooden chairs and coffee tables were placed for receiving guests. After everyone briefly visited the study room furnishings, they took their seats and waited for Shi Diwen to introduce the main topic.
Shi Chengwu did not sit down with everyone, but went to get a tea set and operated it himself to make hot tea for everyone.
Of course, he, the young master, did not need to do this kind of thing. This arrangement could only mean one thing, that is, Shi Diwen did not want other people to appear in the study at this time.
"You guys went out on business today, did anything go wrong?" Shi Diwen seemed to know what Tao Hongfang and others were thinking, and took the initiative to mention their mission in Hangzhou.
Tao Hongfang responded: "There is nothing that went wrong, but there are some situations that I don't quite understand. I hope Uncle Shi can help us clear up the confusion." Shi Diwen nodded and said, "Then let's talk about it. ”
Everyone exchanged glances, and Tao Hongfang took the lead: "After I came out of the Yamen today, I went to the office of the Ministry of Commerce in Hangzhou to learn from the person in charge there about the Ministry of Commerce's supervision of bulk trade in the region. But according to what he said Said that the official supervision effect is not ideal, and there are many transactions that cannot be included in the scope of supervision for various reasons. I would like to know whether this situation can be improved in the future. ”
Shi Diwen pondered: "The person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce stationed in Hangzhou...is Wan Yan, right?"
Tao Hongfang responded: "It's this person."
Shi Diwen said: "Wan Yan's father made great contributions to the country back then, and the Wan family's loyalty to the executive committee is unquestionable. Wan Yan is a relatively stable person and handles many things in a conservative way, so he may The situation you mentioned occurs.”
Tao Hongfang said: "But after listening to what he said, this junior, some things seem to be beyond the scope of the Ministry of Commerce. It is inconvenient for him to intervene, and the coordination with the security intelligence department does not seem to be very smooth."
Shi Diwen nodded slightly and said: "I understand what you are talking about. It is true that some large transactions will be outside the supervision of functional departments. Even the Ministry of Security and the Military Intelligence Bureau may not be able to intervene. But these The executive committee is basically aware of the secret transaction projects, and the reason why other departments are not allowed to intervene is to avoid unnecessary trouble. ”
"Will the executive committee directly supervise these projects?" Tao Hongfang still refused to give up and continued to ask.
Shi Diwen smiled and said: "Let me put it more bluntly. Some trade projects are directly planned and directed by the Executive Committee. These projects may not necessarily comply with our country's laws, and may even cause harm to our country's interests from a certain perspective. Damage, but for the sake of larger and longer-term goals, we still have to promote these projects, and at the same time, we must avoid unnecessary internal friction due to our own regulatory measures.”
Tao Hongfang understood every word, but together, he still didn't seem to understand.
Shi Diwen seemed to know that this explanation was not easy to understand, and then gave an example to illustrate the reason.
Usually these special goods that are out of supervision are things that Haihan prohibits from being sold publicly on the market, such as various weapons and equipment produced by Haihan Ordnance Industry. However, for certain purposes, Haihan will also provide military assistance, including weapons and equipment, to certain forces. Once this kind of assistance is made public, it will have a negative impact on Haihan's reputation, so it can only be done secretly.
In the past few years, Haihan had widely used this method to bribe the commanders of the garrisons in various places in the Ming Dynasty, which caused the garrisons in many places to form separatist forces, making it difficult for the Ming court to order military orders smoothly and make it difficult to mobilize command.
Of course, there are some who buy weapons and then confront Haihan, but compared with the results achieved, such overturning situations are actually only a few, and they are often far away from Haihan's actual control area, making it difficult to attack Haihan. Han posed a real threat.
(End of chapter)