Chapter 304 The mysterious visitor

Although the layout of Yazhou's officialdom has not yet been fully realized, the influence of Chuanchuan Group in Yazhou area, especially within dozens of miles around Victory Port, has been extremely great. Military, political, and commercial affairs, Yazhou

The state government basically has no chance to intervene. Most of the time, it turns a blind eye and turns a blind eye to some of the cross-border activities of the group.

This kind of ostrich mentality is not entirely because the Yazhou government is afraid of trouble. The key is that they can't find any reason to intervene. The Haihan people did not rebel in Shengli Port, and secondly, they did not kill anyone or set fire. There is an inspection department stationed by the Yazhou government in the local area.

There are also border troops stationed in Yazhou Shuizhai, plus the Haihan people's own militia, and the public security situation is better than that in the capital. Although the local tax exemption policy is implemented for foreign merchants, the income obtained by Yazhou is much higher than in previous years.

The inmates of Yazhou Prison are "leased" to the Crossing Group to work as laborers. The expenses saved both inside and outside here and the labor fees earned are not a small amount.

If "Qiong Lianfa" wants to carry out large-scale development in Yazhou, it can be said that it will basically not encounter much resistance from the local government. One possibility that may happen is that the Yazhou government will provide support for "Qiong Lianfa"

The development project is protected by policy, because it means that the local government will receive a new amount of "policy subsidies" from Chuanchuan Group.

Starting from the application of land certificates for the Shengli Port area, the Yazhou government has often received various "subsidies" from Shengli Port. There must be festival subsidies for fixed annual festivals, and office subsidies for handling affairs. Among the various subsidies, for

The local policies supporting Shengli Port receive the most subsidies. For example, the Yazhou government announced three months ago that after local people move to Shengli Port, they will no longer bear separate taxes, but will be paid by the Crossing Group. This decree

This completely dispelled the concerns of some people and accelerated the immigration of Yazhou to Shengli Port. After announcing this decree, the Yazhou government immediately received one thousand taels of silver from the Yazhou Office as a "policy subsidy"

"——Of course, only the parties involved know how much of this money went into the official treasury and how much went into private pockets.

With subsidies like this, the Yazhou government has received at least more than ten thousand taels of silver in the past year. From the bottom government servants to the top magistrates, it can be said that everyone has received more or less time-traveling subsidies.

The benefits of the group. Most of the officials working in Yazhou have gradually formed a consensus - the more money the Haihan people make, the more benefits they can get. Whoever can't get along with the Haihan people will be the winner.

I'm having trouble with my own money.

A very small number of relatively clear-headed officials who were wary and hostile towards the Crossing Group were quickly wiped out by this one-sided money offensive. After nearly a year of purges in the entire Yazhou officialdom, it can be said that

Basically, there are not many people left who are willing to go against the Cross Travel Group. Even the two secret service agencies, Jinyiwei and Dongchang, and the personnel stationed in Yazhou have been bribed. Mr. Gong Qinian of Jinyiwei

When I was transferred to Qiongzhou Prefecture, the Yazhou Garrison Office specially sent me two hundred taels of silver as a congratulatory gift. These secret service personnel did not have much money to make in a remote place like Yazhou, and the wealthy Haihan people were simply gods of wealth to them.

Ordinary existences naturally have no need to be embarrassed.

Schneider's speech to the audience was not just bragging. In fact, if the area is limited to Yazhou, what "Qiong Lianfa" can do can even be described as "do whatever you want." And "Qiong Lianfa" can do whatever it wants.

Some of the projects that "Fa" will be implemented at the beginning of its establishment are basically concentrated in the Yazhou area. After Chuanchuan Group's control in Yazhou is relatively stable, it will gradually expand its business scope outwards.

Although Schneider's speech aroused the enthusiasm of some merchants to participate, there were also some cautious people in the audience who raised questions: "Mr. Shi, there is no doubt about your influence in Yazhou, but if the pressure in the future comes from Qiongzhou Prefecture or even Guangzhou

The government, how should we deal with it?"

Schneider smiled and asked: "How did we get our influence in Yazhou? Is it simply relying on money or strong ships and cannons? In fact, it is neither. The reason why we were able to settle in Yazhou within one year

The fact that Victory Port has been operated to its current level is due to our advanced system and structure."

"This advantage of ours not only applies to Yazhou, but will also apply to Qiongzhou and Guangzhou after a period of time. You can wait and see." Schneider paused and said: "I know some bosses still have doubts, so' Qiong

Lianfa' will implement a policy of "strict entry and wide exit", and everyone can join with confidence. The so-called "strict entry" means to raise the threshold for entry, and "lenient exit" means giving shareholders the freedom to withdraw. Any shareholder wants to withdraw at any time

"Qiong Lianfa" will not be embarrassed, and we will not ask you the real reason for quitting, but please remember that there is only one chance to join "Qiong Lianfa". Once you quit, you will never be able to enter again.

An opportunity in this circle!”

Some of the merchants present calculated that this circle basically covers 80% of the wealthy businessmen in the business district near Guangzhou. The organization "Qiong Lianfa" is actually a small circle of top wealthy businessmen. I don't know how many people are thinking about it.

Squeeze into this circle.

Schneider looked around at the crowd and saw that no one was asking any more questions, so he continued the process: "Then I will tell you about the company's articles of association. Please pay attention. The following contents are all related to your vital interests.

.”

Schneider personally drafted the "Articles of Association of Qiong Lianfa Company", which focuses on shareholders' investment methods, shareholders' rights and obligations, methods of transferring equity, company structure and its formation method, powers and rules of procedure, and most importantly

Important financial management, profit distribution methods and labor employment systems. This involves too much content. There will be more than 40 detailed rules alone, and each of them must be explained to shareholders individually. Schneider will start at 2 p.m.

When we talked about how dark the sky was, we were only halfway through.

Since most people had to rush back to Guangzhou, this course could only be continued the next day. Early the next morning, the wealthy businessmen rushed to the Guangdong Office to meet together. What made Schneider even more gratified was that all the people who attended the symposium on the first day

Not one of the wealthy businessmen is absent, which means that so far, no one among these big bosses has decided to quit the game.

Today, the wealthy businessmen obviously asked many more questions than the previous day, and they were often more targeted. It seems that these people also spent a lot of time thinking about the company's articles of association after going back last night. Maybe many of them stayed up all night

A think tank meeting was held to discuss the matter - this can be seen from the bloodshot red eyes of many people.

Due to the increase in questions, Schneider's explanation speed this morning was slower than the previous day. At noon, after eating the "secret seafood dinner" arranged by the General Office of the China General Affairs Office, everyone continued to discuss matters.

However, after the symposium on the second day, two merchants chose to withdraw, and the number of participants was reduced from the original fifteen to thirteen. However, Schneider was not discouraged at all. After fully understanding the company's articles of association, he was still willing to

The merchants who join are the partners that Cross Travel Group really needs. Those who are unwilling to accept the constraints of this charter for their own selfish interests are likely to become the company's operating hazards in the future.

By the third day of the symposium, all the merchants had basically reached an agreement on the business methods and direction of "Qiong Lianfa", but there were still many differences with Haihan on many details. Tao Donglai did not attend this day.

At the seminar, a visitor with a special status came from the General Office of the People's Republic of China, so he had to temporarily divert his attention from the affairs of "Qiong Lianfa".

When this visitor arrived at the Guangdong Office, he did not even get off the sedan he was riding in. Instead, he and the sedan entered the gate of the Office. The reason why he concealed his whereabouts was because the visitor did not

I don't want to show up at the Guangdong Office.

Accompanying this visitor was Li Nai, the third young master of "Fu Ruifeng" and now the boss of "Golden Shield Security". Tao Donglai immediately came to the study after receiving the news of the two people's visit.

Meet them.

"Mr. Tao, this is the envoy of Fo Langji from Oyster Mirror." Li Nai introduced to Tao Donglai.

Oyster Mirror is the Macau of later generations, and at this time, Macau has become the main supply port for the trade between the Portuguese and China. It has been 70 years since the Portuguese obtained the right to reside in Macau in 1557, and now they are in Macau all year round.

There are thousands of Portuguese living there. However, for the people of Ming Dynasty, their understanding of the "Francis" is very vague, and they don't even understand the difference between these Portuguese in Macau and the Spanish in Manila.

This is recorded in "Foreign Biography" in "History of the Ming Dynasty": "Folangji was close to Manchuria. In Zhengde, he occupied the land of Manchuria and expelled its king." The official Ming Dynasty during this period regarded Folangji as

After conquering Malacca's neighboring country, Portugal suddenly changed its country from Europe to Malacca in South Asia. But in fact, Portugal had become an independent kingdom as early as 1143, but it was annexed by neighboring Spain a few decades ago and became

became a vassal state.

As a large local merchant in Guangzhou, "Furuifeng" has been dealing with the Portuguese in Macau for more than a day or two. As for the sudden appearance of Haihan products in the Guangzhou market, the Portuguese, who are good at trading, have naturally noticed it for a long time, but

Due to limited information channels, they have not been able to get in touch with Haihan. Until recently, through various channels, they finally got "Furuifeng" to agree to introduce the Haihan people for them - of course, "Furuifeng"'s attitude is actually the same as Haihan's.

Without the Guangdong Office's nod, this meeting would not have been possible.

"Dear Mr. Tao, please allow Joao Enrique Bardac Thomas to extend his most sincere greetings to you!" Standing in front of Tao Donglai was a standard European, wearing a baroque style glitz.

The clothing, collar, cuffs and trousers are all decorated with lace-like lace and ribbons, while the lower body is made of loose, fat, flowing and pleated culottes, which is in line with the "peacock" clothing style popular in Europe during this period.

However, this guy with a long and difficult-to-pronounce name speaks Chinese with a hint of Cantonese Mandarin. It seems that he has lived in Daming for a long time.

"Hello, Mr. Thomas." Tao Donglai nodded in greeting.

Originally, it would be more appropriate for Schneider to take part in this occasion. After all, he is a mixed-race man with a European face, and has long-term experience in living in Europe and the United States. There is no big communication barrier in terms of language. It is up to him to talk to the Portuguese.

It may be easier to communicate with envoys. However, since Schneider is busy dealing with matters related to the establishment of "Qiong Lianfa", and at this juncture, it is obvious that "Qiong Lianfa" is more important than the Portuguese's visit, so this time

During the meeting, only Tao Donglai appeared in person.

"If you can, please call me Enrique. My relatives and friends all call me that." This Portuguese man was a familiar person and immediately established a relationship with Tao Donglai.

"Okay Enrique." Tao Donglai responded and invited the two of them to take a seat.

This Enrique was obviously well versed in the ways of communicating with Akito. After he sat down, he was not in a hurry to express his intention. It was only after a servant brought hot tea that Enrique took the initiative to bring up the business: "I have the honor to work with you in a few months.

I saw some glassware made by Haihan before, and it can be said that the quality is no less than that of the craftsmen in Venice. With all due respect, could Mr. Tao tell me whether the craftsmanship of these glassware comes from Venice?"

"Of course not." Tao Donglai immediately categorically denied this statement: "This is our Haihan's unique craftsmanship. You may have noticed that our glassware is completely different in appearance and style from the products in Venice.

In addition, we also have many products that have never been made in Venice.”

"You are right. At least the Venetians never thought of using glass for the stationery used by the literati of the Ming Dynasty." Regarding Tao Donglai's denial, Enrique did not continue to delve deeper, as if the question just now was

From another person's mouth: "I also saw a seal carved from glass in Mr. Li's house. It is really a very exquisite work of art."

"Thank you for the compliment, but I think we will meet here today. It's not that you plan to buy glass products from us, right?" Tao Donglai saw this guy going around and around without getting to the point, so he took the initiative.

.

Enrique smiled and said: "If possible, I would prefer to hire Haihan craftsmen directly, but I know that this wish is probably impossible to realize."

Tao Donglai smiled when he heard this and did not answer. The European glassmakers of the same era were completely hidden treasures by various chambers of commerce. There was no chance of contact with outsiders. This Enrique probably thought that Haihan was like this.

Bian is in the same situation. Although the Chuan Chuan Group also has technical confidentiality measures, it does not physically imprison the craftsmen like the Europeans do, because for the Chuan Chuan Group, the glass production process does not have a high technical content.

Haihan is not the only one with technology, so keeping it a secret is of little practical significance.

The advantage of Chuanchuan Group in this industry does not lie in the high level of technology, but in the combination of industrialized production methods and market-oriented product research and development methods. Compared with the differences in production technology, this operating mechanism is ahead of its contemporary competitors.

After several centuries, even if the Chuanchuan Group publishes all the manufacturing processes of glass products, it will be difficult for anyone else in Asia to organize an industrialized production method and pose a real competitive threat to Haihan Glass Products. And this advantage is often

It is something that outsiders cannot appreciate. All they see is the popularity of Haihan products, but they do not understand the real reasons behind it. Although Enrique has some knowledge, with his limited vision of this era, he still

Failure to recognize the true advantages of crossing groups.

Enrique continued: "As far as I know, Haihan has a wide variety of products, and glass products are just one of them. Our merchants are very interested in other products, such as matches, soap, and ceramic toilets that can flush water.

, even the guns and cannons you make, if you are willing to sell them, our merchants will be happy to buy them."

The first half of what Tao Donglai heard was nothing. When he heard "guns", he couldn't help but turn his eyes to Li Nai - although it was no secret that the Cross-Travel Group could manufacture its own guns, it was exporting guns to other countries.

But there are only a few two or three customers. In order to eliminate the possibility of buying arms from rivals, Xu Xinsu of Fujian is eager to hide the secret of the arms supply as deeply as possible. The North Vietnamese regime and the Nguyen regime in the south are most likely to be supported by the Portuguese.

They were beaten to death, and it was even more impossible to take the initiative to leak this secret to the outside world. Among these limited customers, the only one who had the closest contact with the Portuguese was the "Fu Ruifeng" family.

Of course, Li Nai felt the doubt in Tao Donglai's eyes, and quickly coughed and said: "Mr. Enrique, where did you hear this talk about guns and cannons?"

Enrique said: "This is not a secret. Last month, our merchants transported wood from Hue in Annan to Oyster. They heard that the Zheng army in the north was equipped with a large number of muskets and artillery, and those who cooperated with them in combat

It is the Hai Han Militia. Obviously, there cannot be craftsmen who make muskets and artillery in the territory controlled by the Zheng family, and the ingenious Hai Han craftsmen are probably the real makers. There is news about the new North Vietnamese army that appeared on the battlefield.

, it was trained by you for Zheng."

Tao Donglai sighed secretly. He originally thought that these things could be kept hidden for a while, but he obviously underestimated the speed of information transmission in this era. It is an open matter for the Haihan Militia to participate in the war in Vietnam, and interested people only need to inquire a little.

It is not difficult to get accurate information at once. After all, there are thousands of South Vietnamese coolies imprisoned in Victory Port, which cannot be covered up at all. The South Vietnamese regime, which suffered a severe blow, probably learned the real reason for its failure soon afterwards, and supported the

These Western forces in the South Vietnamese regime will of course turn their attention to Hai Han, who provides military support to North Vietnam.

I wish you all a happy new year and all the best!
Chapter completed!