Chapter 1724 Cheng Dapeng’s plan

On the way back to Dacheng Mihang, Qin Huacheng could clearly feel that his boss's mood was not depressed by the bad news brought by Welbeck. Instead, he seemed relaxed and happy, and even hummed a ditty with his hands behind his back, as if East India

The company's highly targeted measures will not affect the future operations of Dacheng Rice Store. Qin Huacheng was curious and asked Cheng Dapeng about the secret, but Cheng Dapeng just laughed and said that he would talk about it when he gets back.

Qin Huacheng also knew that it was not appropriate to talk about relevant secrets outside. At the moment, he could only suppress his curiosity and ask about it when he got back.

But Cheng Dapeng did not return to Dacheng Rice Shop in the end, but took Qin Huacheng to his residence in Batavia City. This was the first time Qin Huacheng followed Cheng Dapeng to his private residence, and immediately

I feel that the trust I have gained has improved a lot because of this incident.

During the siege of the city by the Mada Blue Army, quite a number of buildings in the city were seriously damaged, especially many of the houses on the north coast, which were smashed to pieces by the large stones thrown in by the Mada Blue Army with slings from outside the city.

Entire blocks were in ruins. When the city was being rebuilt after the war, Cheng Dapeng took advantage of this time when land prices hit rock bottom, purchased several scattered pieces of land in the city, and then built some houses on his own.

Some of these houses are used as residences, and some are used as shops or warehouses. Even if Dapeng has no other properties now, these houses in the city are enough to ensure that he can be a wealthy and idle man in Batavia in the next few years.

The apartment is occupied.

Of course, this possibility is not high. After all, Cheng Dapeng's main business not only requires him to have a widely social identity, but also needs to take the opportunity to establish benefit transfer relationships with people from all walks of life and all classes.

Without the identity cover of a businessman, it would not be so easy for Cheng Dapeng to complete this transfer of benefits without leaving a trace.

Although Batavia is a large city, the land purchased by Cheng Dapeng in the city was still limited, not enough for him to build a traditional Chinese courtyard. Moreover, after the war, there were few local architects who could build courtyards.

They could only find designers from the Netherlands, so the buildings Cheng Dapeng built in the city were somewhat nondescript. They were neither Chinese courtyards nor authentic European styles. Qin Huacheng even found some reflections of Spanish style here.

Cheng Dapeng himself is indifferent to this kind of architectural style that mixes multi-ethnic and Eastern and Western cultures. Although his residence looks ordinary from the outside, the decoration level inside is really not bad. Almost all the building materials and furniture are from Daming and Haihan.

Shipped across the sea, there are even complete sets of ceramic bathroom ware and hot water boilers made in Sanya.

Of course, this is not a rarity in Batavia at present. After many Dutch dignitaries secretly went to Ambrina Island to experience the Haihan-style gold-selling caves, most of them paid to install one in their own homes. Chengdu University

Peng himself has maintained an open business relationship with Haihan, so naturally no one will find this trivial matter inappropriate.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, the money Cheng Dapeng spent on his personal residence was not public funds, but income from his business in Batavia. Of course, it is difficult to distinguish between public and private money. The Ministry of Security has always been concerned about this.

Turn a blind eye, after all, if an intelligence officer like this needs to be on duty in a foreign country all year round, if there is no benefit at all, then who can stay? As long as the intelligence officer remains loyal enough to Haihan, the Ministry of Security does not mind a little

Relax a little and let them live more comfortably overseas.

Cheng Dapeng led Qin Huacheng to the study room and told him: "You wait here for a while, I will change clothes and come back. You can browse the books in the bookcase at will, without restraint."

After Cheng Dapeng left, Qin Huacheng looked at the layout of the study room. Apart from the Chinese bookcases, tables and chairs, the most attractive thing in the room was a map of the South China Sea on the wall.

Qin Huacheng had seen maps like this at the garrison headquarters when he was a security policeman in Manila. Of course, the precision was far better than the one hanging in Cheng Dapeng's study. There were no detailed place names on the map in front of him.

, but mapped out the area starting from Hainan Island in the north, Java Island in the south, Mindanao and Sulawesi Island in the east, and Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, at the western exit of the Strait of Malacca in the west.

Qin Huacheng was able to identify the areas drawn on the map so quickly not only because he had seen similar maps before, but also because during this voyage to Batavia, a special person had brought them from Star Island.

The interns who came out took the class, and the content was to identify nautical charts, and they memorized a lot of place names. So even though 90% of the areas on the map had never been, Qin Huacheng could still quickly identify the places drawn on the map.

.

As a multinational businessman, it is not surprising that Cheng Dapeng has such a chart in his study. However, Qin Huacheng believes that Cheng Dapeng must have more accurate charts that can be truly used in navigation.

The map in the study is just a decorative painting.

Qin Huacheng turned to Cheng Dapeng's bookcase again to see what books his boss was reading. The doors of Cheng Dapeng's bookcase were all inlaid with palm-sized plate glass. In comparison, this

The mahogany material of the bookcase seems ordinary.

Qin Huacheng opened the cabinet door and looked at the books placed in the bookcase. He was slightly disappointed. There were no important documents as he had imagined. They were almost all miscellaneous engraved books from the Wanli period. "Commentaries on the Thirteen Classics" and "Collected Commentary on the Book of Rites"

", "Shi Wen Lei Gathering", "Confucian Notes Interpreting the True Treasures of Ancient Prose"... Qin Huacheng flipped through a few books at random, but couldn't read them at all. He was not a scholar in the first place, and he had no interest in these literary things.

"These books are used to decorate the appearance. In fact, I rarely read them." At some point, Cheng Dapeng came to the study room and took the initiative to wake up Qin Huacheng who was standing in front of the bookcase: "I usually read it here.

I don’t live there much. Unless I want to stay overnight in the city, I always go back to the manor outside the city to live, and the air is better than in this city.”

Qin Huacheng's mood had relaxed a lot at this time. Hearing this, he also answered: "The big shopkeeper is quite carefree. He has residences both inside and outside the city. He is really enviable to me!"

Cheng Dapeng said: "You don't have to envy anything. As long as you work well according to the arrangements given to you, are you worried about not having a house or land in the future? If you work in our yamen, you will not be short of money for anything you need. Remember this sentence

Got it!"

Cheng Dapeng said this very grandly, and Qin Huacheng could only sigh inwardly that it was great to be rich. Qin Huacheng had not yet intuitively felt how rich the Haihan Security Department, an intelligence agency, was, but Cheng Dapeng had no idea how rich it was.

His wealth was actually before him.

Soon a servant brought hot tea and snacks, and Cheng Dapeng said: "People like us who work outside must make ourselves more comfortable. Only when we do things like this can we have enough energy. Even if one day

If you die for your country, then at least you can enjoy a good life, which is not a loss at all."

Qin Huacheng's face tightened slightly when he heard the words "sacrifice for the country". Cheng Dapeng smiled and said, "You don't have to worry. In our line of work, there are very few times when we need to fight with our opponents. Then

This kind of work requires hard work and there is a dedicated person in charge, we just need to use our brains."

Although Qin Hua Chengxin did not need to risk his life, it was not as safe as Cheng Dapeng said. Before this, an unlucky man had his hands chopped off due to a small amount of corruption. Now he does not know whether he is alive or dead. Cheng

If Dapeng could be so cruel to "his own people", let alone foreign enemies, Qin Huacheng had no doubt that Cheng Dapeng would decisively get rid of the opponents who threatened him.

Cheng Dapeng did not continue to develop on this topic, but brought the conversation back to the current business: "What do you think about Welbeck?"

Qin Huacheng didn't expect that the topic would change so quickly. He quickly put the teacup he had just picked up back on the table and responded honestly: "I thought that this Dutchman was greedy for money and afraid of trouble, and he had an inexplicable feeling towards the big shopkeeper.

trust, you can make use of it.”

Cheng Dapeng nodded and said: "Your views are basically the same as mine. I have been observing Welbeck for several years, and I am just waiting for such an opportunity for him to take the initiative to switch to our side. What he told me alone before

The information is not much different from the situation I have, and the credibility is very high. I think he has settled down and relied on this method in exchange for help."

Of course, Cheng Dapeng's intelligence sources are not limited to Welbeck. Because he has been engaged in grain trade in the past few years, he has many opportunities to contact relevant personnel of the East India Company. Even if Welbeck wants to keep some information confidential, Cheng Dapeng can

I had already learned about part of it through other channels. The several requests I made to Welbeck earlier were just to get him to produce a letter of surrender to prove his sincerity.

Qin Huacheng asked: "There is one thing that I haven't figured out yet. Why is Welbeck so sure that the big shopkeeper can help him keep his position?"

Cheng Dapeng said: "This is because the things I have been responsible for have never gone wrong in the past. He should have certain expectations for my ability to do things. Secondly, he has no better choice in his current situation. If

No one within the East India Company is willing to stand up for him, so I am probably the only life-saving straw he can grasp."

Qin Huacheng continued to ask: "But it is the Batavia Council that decides whether he should stay or go. Will these Dutch people really listen to the opinion of the big shopkeeper?"

"How is that possible?" Cheng Dapeng shook his head and said: "Although I also know a few senior officials and have dealt with Governor Van Diemen, it is still impossible for them to listen to me. We must protect Welbeck.

, we can only find ways to highlight his role so that the council has to continue to appoint him to be in charge of agriculture and food procurement matters."

"Where should we start?" Qin Huacheng frowned and said, "Do we have to disrupt the local grain market first?"

“First of all, it cuts off the East India Company’s possibility to purchase grain from other places and does not give them the opportunity to bypass the Dacheng Rice Company to complete the purchase. Secondly, it raises local farmland prices and grain prices, making it more expensive for others to enter the industry.

Finally, if it still doesn't work, then we must try to deal with Welbeck's potential competitors." Cheng Dapeng gave three measures in one breath, and it seemed that he already had some ideas about this.

Qin Huacheng said: "Big shopkeeper, why do I think this third one is more likely to work?"

"It is easy to work, but it is also too dangerous. If we use this method, it is likely to make the Batavia Council wary, which will be detrimental to our future actions." Cheng Dapeng explained: "So it needs to be prioritized.

Consider using the first two methods to solve the problem."

Qin Huacheng said: "Then if we can accomplish this and save him, how will we use him in the future?"

Cheng Dapeng responded: "On the one hand, obtaining the internal information of the East India Company from him is on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is to open a hole through him and let him come forward to help us obtain more sensitive information, such as military information.

The Dutch ordered a batch of warships from Sanya last year, and they will start to deliver them one after another this year. I think they will not let these warships bought at a high price sit idle in Batavia Port for too long."

At this time, Qin Huacheng had the ability to draw inferences from one instance, and then Cheng Dapeng said: "If the Dutch want to launch a war, they will move the stored grain first before their troops and horses move."

Cheng Dapeng nodded and said: "Yes, we have the opportunity to collect more information through Welbeck. This person must be protected, but it may take some troubles in the process."

That night, after Cheng Dapeng returned to his residence outside the city, he used the radio station hidden here to send a message to the north. After receiving and forwarding it via Ambona Island, the External Liaison Office of the Ministry of Security in Sanya received the message before midnight.

When the news arrived, since Cheng Dapeng who sent the telegram classified it as a first-level incident, the External Liaison Office immediately sent it to He Xi after translating the telegram.

He Xi got up from bed and read the contents of the message but was not in a hurry. He thought that Cheng Dapeng was making a fuss by classifying this as a first-level incident and requiring urgent processing. The deployment of the Security Department in Batavia did not happen overnight.

After all, the control of the grain market is only one aspect of it, and He Xi had long expected that the Dutch would not sit back and watch Dacheng Rice Company's semi-monopoly on the local grain market for a long time, and would sooner or later make adjustments.

In the message, Cheng Dapeng expressed the hope that Sanya could provide assistance, firstly to prevent the Dutch from purchasing grain from Champa, and secondly, to delegate power to him to take some measures in Batavia to retain Welbeck's official position.

This first point is not troublesome. As long as he waits for dawn, He Xi will go to Victory Fort and explain the situation to the Executive Committee. Then the Executive Committee will delegate the matter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and send a telegram to Champa City to inform them.

Just negotiate with the local embassy and its officials. But regarding the second item, He Xi was a little hesitant.
Chapter completed!