Chapter 545 Killing the chicken to scare the monkey

The atmosphere of today's venue was not much better than the previous few times. Qiu Yuan sat down at the main seat and first looked at the faces and expressions of the gentry present. Most of them had a sullen face and did not look anywhere.

Qiu Yuan's attitude towards today's meeting is conceivable.

"I invite you all to come here today to discuss with you that the wharf of Haikou Port in Fucheng will be renovated and expanded in the near future. If you have any opinions, you might as well speak up and discuss them together." Qiu Yuan did not talk in circles and just came up.

Let’s get straight to the point and explain the purpose of today’s meeting.

However, there was obviously a lack of people like Danzhou Fatty Yuan who could support him at the scene. After Qiu Yuan finished speaking, the venue was silent, and no one spoke to him. This situation was actually expected by Qiu Yuan, after all, he was there before

In several meetings with similar themes, cold spots also frequently occurred.

However, today is different from the past few meetings. Qiu Yuan has made full preparations for this in advance. Seeing these people deliberately showing indifference, Qiu Yuan smiled coldly and continued.

: "Considering that Haikou Port has always been an important gateway to and from Fucheng, we will conduct qualification certification for merchant ships using this port in the future. Ships that are not qualified to enter the port will not be allowed to dock at will in the future!"

As soon as Qiu Yuan said these words, the expressions of some people present changed slightly. As the most important port in the northern part of Qiongzhou Island, Haikou Port was originally responsible for about 80% of the cargo throughput of Qiongzhou Island's shipping industry, although this proportion is higher in the south.

After the rise of Sanya, it has been declining year by year, and now it is only about 30% at most. However, there are still a large number of local merchants who rely on shipping to survive. If ships cannot enter Haikou Port, it will undoubtedly greatly affect their business channels.

Someone on the left side of Qiu Yuan asked, "Director Qiu, who should certify this Hong Kong entry qualification? And how should it be certified?"

What Qiu Yuan wanted was for someone to ask a question, so he immediately responded: "Before answering this question, let me first explain why this threshold is set up. Everyone should know that the previous pirate attacks on land were launched from Danzhou, but

Why did Danzhou and other prefectures and counties fail to warn in time, so that the entire Qiongbei government was unable to organize an effective counterattack? The answer I can tell you here is because the pirates sent a large number of pirates a few days before launching the attack.

The men landed in Danzhou Bay, lurking in various places inside and outside the city and launched simultaneous attacks, seizing a city gate and letting the pirate army enter the city. If their troops and manpower were not limited, the same thing would probably happen again in Fucheng..."

Qiu Yuan paused and then said: "The reason is that the guard army in Danzhou usually neglects to guard against attacks from the sea and does not conduct strict checks on ships and people entering and leaving the port, which has caused bad consequences.

.To prevent similar vicious incidents from happening again, the most effective way is to certify the qualifications of ships entering and leaving the port. As for who will certify...Originally, this matter should be done by the government, but in the current situation, everyone also

Everyone knows that since the Governor has entrusted us, Haihan, with the temporary management of the affairs here, of course we will be responsible for the review and certification."

"The standard is very simple. As long as you cooperate with us in our work, are willing to abide by and implement the various systems we promulgate, and have no bad behavior records, you only need to submit a written application to us and deposit a certain amount of deposit in Haihan Bank.

You can obtain permission to enter and exit Haikou Port." Qiu Yuan emphasized: "We will not charge any additional fees during this process, and the deposit deposited in Haihan Bank can be refunded at any time, as long as the entry and exit permit is cancelled."

After Qiu Yuan finished speaking, the businessmen present could no longer remain calm. The reason why they remained silent at the meeting was because they were unwilling to cooperate with Haihan, and the so-called "

"Certification standard" obviously means that Haihan people intend to come based on their own preferences. All sea trade merchants who are unwilling to cooperate with Haihan will obviously be excluded by this certification threshold, and only those who are willing to humbly embrace Haihan's lap will

, so that you can have the opportunity to continue playing in this game.

As for depositing a certain amount of deposit in Haihan Bank, this condition is viewed by everyone as a disguised threat - if you are disobedient, there will probably be no chance of getting the money back from the Haihan people.

, this is obviously another harsh condition that is difficult to accept.

The person who asked the previous question retorted: "Director Qiu's words are wrong. The pirate invasion is indeed the dereliction of duty of the guards, but it is not the fault of our merchants. Strict port inspections are a good thing, but why?

Are you setting up this so-called certification qualification to embarrass me?"

Immediately, four or five people started shouting, expressing their dissatisfaction with Qiu Yuan's unilateral announcement of this deceptive policy. Qiu Yuan was not in a hurry, picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea. He waited until those people had finished making trouble.

He slowly put down the teacup and asked coldly: "Have we finished talking? Anyone else who is dissatisfied can also come forward."

Perhaps this cold tone had a certain deterrent effect, but now no one was eager to speak out to refute him. Qiu Yuan then slowly said: "The person who just asked the question, if I remember correctly,

It should be Zhang Fucheng, the owner of the local Fucheng Shipbuilding Company?"

"That's right, Director Qiu has a good memory." The man slightly raised his hand and fisted it to indicate.

"Boss Zhang, can you explain to me, seven days before the pirate army attacked Fucheng, what kind of goods did the sailboat numbered 'Bingqi' in your shipping company transport? Who was the person who received the goods?"

"This... what happened a few months ago, I don't remember much about it." Zhang Fucheng shook his head and did not answer Qiu Yuan's question directly.

"It doesn't matter if you don't remember, I remember!" Qiu Yuan sneered: "That day, your ship sailed from Haikou Port to Danzhou. The cargo it transported was a batch of arms, a total of twenty boxes of matchlock guns and five thousand rounds.

Lead bullets, six hundred kilograms of gunpowder, and two small cannons. The person who received the goods was a man named Huang Ting, do you remember it now?"

Zhang Fucheng's expression changed and he said, "I don't remember this happening. I'm afraid Director Qiu made a mistake, right?"

Qiu Yuan ignored his excuse and continued: "This man named Huang Ting was captured by our militia army during the battle to regain Danzhou two months ago. His true identity is

In fact, he was one of the pirates who invaded Qiongzhou Island last time, and the weapons he purchased from Boss Zhang were later used to arm the pirate army. This group of little-known pirates was able to sweep through Qiongzhou Island like a torrent.

Bei, Boss Zhang also contributed a lot!"

"You... you are slandering a good person!" Zhang Fucheng stood up in a hurry and retorted: "There is another owner of these weapons, and I did not sell them to him..."

"Then you are admitting that you did transport this batch of weapons to Danzhou for trade?" Qiu Yuan immediately caught the loophole in his words.

"I..." Zhang Fucheng made a mistake and could only defend at a loss: "I am just transporting goods, and I don't know what is in those boxes. This matter really has nothing to do with me!"

"Boss Zhang, why don't you give up without seeing the Yellow River!" Qiu Yuan shook his head helplessly and said, "Bring me the evidence!"

Someone immediately presented the evidence, and Qiu Yuan showed everyone a piece of paper: "This is the shipping document issued by Fucheng Shipping Company at that time. It clearly states the contents of the goods, and it has your name Zhang."

The signature of the person, and most importantly, there is no amount stated in the freight column. If you are transporting goods for others, don’t you need to charge freight?”

"This is because the consignor has prepaid the freight in full in advance, so the freight amount is not stated on the waybill..." As Zhang Fucheng said, he suddenly found that the people around him were looking at him obviously.

change.

Qiu Yuan shook his head and said: "Boss Zhang, why are you making such futile excuses? As I said just now, the person who handed over this batch of goods to you has been caught by us before. Do you still have to wait for us to leave?

Danzhou escorts people here and confronts you face to face before they agree to plead guilty?"

Zhang Fucheng was also anxious now: "What crime do I plead guilty to? I did not collude with pirates..."

"Oh, you said you didn't collude with the pirates? Then tell me who entrusted you with the transfer of these weapons? Who is colluding with the pirates? If you can find the culprit, then maybe everyone can still believe your excuse."

The way Qiu Yuan looked at him now was like a fox looking at the prey pinned under its paws.

Zhang Fucheng was stunned for a moment and suddenly shouted: "It's you! Yes, it's you Haihan people! I remembered that the person who came to consign this batch of goods was the person from your Haihan office in Fucheng! I was

He didn’t want to take business from you Haihan people, so he even added an extra one hundred taels of silver to the price!”

Qiu Yuan couldn't help laughing: "You mean, we paid you to transport a batch of weapons to Danzhou and handed them over to the people sent by the pirates, and then the pirates used these weapons to attack Qiongzhou Island. Now we have caught

The witness of the pirates, the evidence of the transaction was seized, and your true face was revealed in front of so many local gentry. The final purpose is to prove in front of everyone that we Haihan are the real masterminds behind the scenes? Is it because we are out of our minds?

Or are you not telling the truth?"

Zhang Fucheng felt a chill running down his back. He knew that he was not lying. The person who came to the shipping company to haul the goods was indeed a staff member of the Haihan office. He saw that the shipping fee paid by the other party was high, and he knew

The Haihan people often sold some scattered arms to local rich people to build private armies. They did not take it seriously at the time and reluctantly accepted the deal for the sake of money. After the goods arrived at the place, the handover was completed smoothly.

Zhang Fucheng put the matter behind him. Unexpectedly, after a few months, Qiu Yuan would reveal the matter on this occasion, and he would soon be nailed to the line of "colluding with pirates"

On a serious charge.

But now it is obvious that no one will believe the truth he said. The series of reasoning Qiu Yuan just said is indeed an unsolvable paradox. There is no reason for the Haihan people to spend so much trouble to give themselves a "collusion with pirates"

Onlookers would only think that Zhang Fucheng was telling lies and trying to pin the blame on Haihan. Unless he still had a way to confront the person who negotiated the deal with him, however, the Haihan people had long since laid the blame on Haihan.

How could this person be left in Fucheng after digging so deep?

Qiu Yuan looked at the silent Zhang Fucheng with a mocking look on his face, feeling a hint of pleasure from torturing people. This Zhang Fucheng was a well-known local anti-Haihan faction in Fucheng, and was quite disgusted with the all-pervasive development of Haihan in the Ming Dynasty.

In the past year, he has done many things that caused headaches for the Fucheng office, and the relevant departments have long wanted to take them down.

After the plan to start a prairie fire was finalized, the Ministry of Security formulated a series of solutions to some local unrest, and it was not stupid methods such as kidnapping and assassination that had extremely low technical content and had many scruples in execution. Adhering to the principle of combining interests

Based on the principle of maximization, the plan formulated by the Ministry of Security is relatively complicated, but the results obtained are by no means comparable to simple and crude methods.

The plan against Zhang Fucheng was planned and implemented by the Ministry of Security. They used the higher remuneration to hire a ship from Fucheng Shipping Company to transport a batch of old arms that had been phased out by the military to Danzhou. As for the party receiving the goods, they were naturally safe.

If it is really necessary, the Ministry of Security can even cooperate with Qiu Yuan to "escort" the handling personnel to Fucheng to put on a complete show. But when this plan was planned, Zhang was not given the opportunity.

Fu Cheng left no chance for a comeback and considered all the details very carefully. Even if he wanted to clear his name, he would only find that he had entered an unsolvable dead end.

If Zhang Fucheng could change his appearance after the war and embrace Hai Han's lap, he could probably continue to be the boss of his boat shop. It would be okay to be a small rich man when he should make a fortune. But after Hai Han took over Fucheng, this guy remained the same as before.

Unwilling to be left alone, the local government often jumped out to speak against the interim management committee led by Qiu Yuan. He also encouraged other local businessmen not to cooperate with Haihan, and even tried to challenge Haihan's ban on sailing. No wonder Qiu Yuan wanted to deal with him harshly.

Hands on.

Looking at the ashen-faced Zhang Fucheng, Qiu Yuan said coldly: "Boss Zhang, is there anything else you want to say now?"

Zhang Fucheng murmured: "It wasn't me, I was really wronged..."

"At this point, you still refuse to plead guilty. It seems you are really stubborn!" Qiu Yuan pretended to be sad and shook his head: "Everyone, you have all seen that it is not that I don't give Boss Zhang a chance to change his ways.

, but he simply refuses to submit to the law. If anyone still thinks he is innocent, you might as well raise your hand."
Chapter completed!