Chapter 3039
Tan Tianming has more information than Huo Dechuan, and he has figured out the key points.
The Portuguese Embassy bribed Fu Qiqiang and wrote an article to slander the military operations of Xingdao. Since this news was reported by Huo De and paid a lot of money and Fu Qiqiang personally acknowledged it, the credibility should be extremely high.
As for the motivation of the Portuguese Embassy in doing this, Huo Dechuan, as an outsider, may not be able to figure it out, but Tan Tianming grew up in Xingdao and was aware of the situation in the South China Sea, so he naturally understood what the Portuguese were trying to do.
Although Haihan and Portugal have been in alliance for many years, within the specific region of the Strait of Malacca, the two sides are both allies and competitors.
The city of Malacca, ruled by the Portuguese, was the first to bear the brunt of the rapid rise of Star Island. Its original position as a regional trade center is being gradually taken away by Star Island. Although it has not yet completely replaced it, anyone with a discerning eye can see that that day is not far away.
If only part of the trade share was taken away by Sing Tao, perhaps the Portuguese could tolerate it, but Sing Tao's development goal is not just to control local commerce. Control of the entire Malacca Strait is the long-term goal of the Sing Tao authorities.
This will undoubtedly shake the foundation of Portugal's local rule. If it completely loses control of the Straits area, Portugal will gradually become a vassal of Haihan in this area, and the colonial authorities in Malacca City obviously cannot sit back and watch this happen. , can only use some shady means to hinder this process.
The Portuguese are obviously very aware of the influence of newspapers as a special propaganda platform in Haihan. They bribed literati to write some propaganda articles that are beneficial to them, which can be seen by thousands of people, thus shaping the direction of public opinion.
Compared with using military means or trade wars to solve problems, the cost of doing so is quite low, and it is silent and difficult to detect.
If Tan Tianming had not accidentally read Fu Qiqiang's article and taken timely measures to save it, then I don't know how many people would have been affected by it and subconsciously believed the information published in the express and believed that Xingdao's military operations were just It wastes people and money and increases the diplomatic risks of Dahai.
Tan Tianming suddenly remembered something and asked Huo De: "Does the government have corresponding control measures for paying people to write articles like this?"
Hod preached: "As far as I know, there is no such thing. However, if the government feels that something is wrong, someone will naturally come forward to interview the person in charge of the newspaper. But how to grasp the standards of appropriateness and inappropriateness is probably that the secret of application lies in one's mind. ”
Tan Tianming continued to ask: "Brother Huo thinks that Fu Qiqiang is speaking out for the Portuguese. If the government finds out, how will they deal with this matter?"
Huo Dechuan didn't want to get too involved in this matter. He hesitated for a moment before answering: "The Portuguese are not our Haihan citizens, and the government may not be able to handle it well. As for Fu Qiqiang, if no one takes the initiative to report him, The government should not care about it. "
When Tan Tianming heard this, he couldn't help but snorted coldly.
Huo Dechuan knew what he was thinking, so he gritted his teeth and tried to persuade him: "Brother Tan, I have one more word to advise you not to come forward and accuse him. It will not be good for you."
Tan Tianming asked curiously: "Why is this?"
Huo Dechuan explained: "If you come forward to sue Fu Qiqiang and the news spreads, someone will definitely find out your identity and background. Then there will definitely be some rumors that are not conducive to Xingdao, which will only make the situation counterproductive."
After being reminded by him, Tan Tianming suddenly said: "Brother Huo is right, he was almost careless!"
If Tan Tianming comes forward to sue Fu Qiqiang for slandering the Sing Tao authorities, people will inevitably associate his identity with the lawsuit. At that time, Sing Tao's reputation, which was finally cleared up, will be questioned by the outside world because of this lawsuit. However, if this matter is not investigated, the anger in Tan Tianming's heart will be difficult to resolve.
But no matter what, Huo Dechuan has at least completed the task he entrusted, and the account still has to be settled for him. Although the cost was much higher than Tan Tianming expected, it still wouldn't cause him any pain.
Tan Tianming was also very happy. When he settled the tea money, he took Huo De to the nearby Haihan Bank and withdrew the money to pay off the remainder.
Huo Dechuan was naturally smiling. The business he usually received was a huge amount of money, with a single transaction earning 1,800 yuan, and it was rare to meet a sponsor who paid so readily. Although the deal was concluded, this network of contacts still had to be maintained. There was no telling when Tan Tianming would have another errand assigned to him.
Huo Dechuan immediately thanked Tan Tianming and invited him to sit in his shop when he was free.
After the two said goodbye outside the bank, Tan Tianming called a carriage and returned to the college. He was not in the mood to wander outside anymore at this time. He needed someone to answer his questions about Sanya Express and the Portuguese.
According to the college's teaching arrangement, this afternoon happened to be a course on cultural and educational publicity, and the person teaching this course was Ning Qi, who was in charge of cultural and publicity affairs on the executive committee.
For students who are interested in making a difference in the literary and propaganda positions, Ning Qi, the leader of civil servants in this dynasty, is their best role model. What Ning Qi taught in class was basically like a golden rule.
But Tan Tianming didn't listen much in this class. His mind was now filled with Fu Qiqiang's affairs. He really couldn't understand how a propaganda mouthpiece that should be under government supervision would allow people like Fu Qiqiang to talk nonsense.
After the course ended, Ning Qi was surrounded by a large group of students and spent a long time answering various questions from the students.
After the crowd gradually dispersed, Tan Tianming stepped forward and said that he also had questions that he wanted to ask for advice.
"Sir, I would like to know, what do you think of this kind of news report that ignores the facts and is inconsistent?"
After Tan Tianming finished speaking, he handed the latest two issues of Sanya Express to Ning Qi and pointed out to him where Fu Qiqiang's two articles were.
Ning Qi scanned it at a very fast speed and looked at Tan Tianming again. Instead of answering his question, he asked: "Are you Tan Tianming from Xingdao? If you have time, come with me outside. Go.”
Tan Tianming nodded, put away the newspaper, and followed Ning Qi out of the classroom.
Ning Qi said while walking: "Sanya Express was jointly funded by many people when it was first established. Later, after more than 20 years of changes, the capital behind it has become more complex and fragmented, and there are many people with different positions. , through various methods, publish articles that are beneficial to themselves in the express newspaper. ”
"The articles you see often represent private opinions rather than official attitudes. The content may be controversial, but this is normal. We also need to hear various voices from all sides and learn to distinguish which ones are Noise, what are the sounds worth listening to carefully? ”
(End of chapter)