1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 167 Wei Ping's Small Abacus
Hearing the sound, Li Nai looked up to the line next to him, and unexpectedly saw a few acquaintances——Wei Ping and his little friends who met at the inspection department yesterday were also waiting in line here for breakfast.Seeing that no one was paying attention to the left and right, Li Nai forced He to wink, and the two silently changed the queue to the back of Wei Ping and the others.They had a lot of questions about the Inspection Department yesterday, but Schneider was always watching, and it was not convenient for them to communicate with Wei Ping alone.

Li Nai and He Qiang once thought that these people from the inspection department had been put under house arrest by the Haihan people, but now it seems that it is not that serious. These people can still enter and leave the small courtyard freely, and there is no one around them to monitor them.

"Morning inspector Wei!" Li Nai pretended to greet Wei Ping.

Wei Ping saw that it was the two businessmen who came to the inspection department yesterday to give gifts, and nodded in response.He doesn't have much interest in dealing with these foreign businessmen now, all he thinks about is how to let the Haihan people give him a higher degree of freedom of movement, at least to break through the existing range of activities of "within a distance of [-] feet around the inspection department" .

On the first day Wei Ping and his subordinates arrived at Shengli Port, they were put under house arrest by the Haihan people in the small courtyard of the inspection department. Not only were there guards on duty 24 hours around the small courtyard, but even three meals were brought in from outside. , There is no chance to go out for activities at all.Wei Ping didn't know that his brother-in-law had found a bad job for him until this time.

Fortunately, the Haihan people are kind, and they don't skimp on living conditions. Although the three meals are not very delicious, they are at least enough to fill them up, and they can eat a meaty meal the next day.The housing was quickly changed from a tent to a log cabin. Although the outside still looks a bit crude, seeing that the Haihan people actually installed glass windows in this log cabin, Wei Ping felt that he really had nothing to complain about—Brother-in-law The two sets of glassware at home were all sent by Haihan people, and they are usually collected like treasures. My two young nephews are not even allowed to touch them. If I let him know that I live here I don't know what kind of expression I will have when I see a house with glass windows.

Of course, in addition to this, the economic remuneration promised by the Haihan people is the focus of Wei Ping's attention. Everyone can get double the original salary, and there is a full 50 taels of "Yulin Inspection Department Special Office" every month. Funds", this amount of money alone is as much as 600 taels a year!After a brief discussion, everyone decided that Wei Ping would get half of the money, and the remaining half would be shared equally among the other twelve subordinates.

However, although the plan was good, it still couldn't keep up with the changes. In the middle of the night on the fifth day in Victory Port, a guy tried to escape from the small courtyard, but was caught by the night watch team with a big black dog.The next morning, a leader named Ren Haihan came from the labor camp, and asked people to take this unlucky ghost away. He will complete three months of hard labor in the labor camp—of course, during this period of time, he will not There is any reward available.The leader of Haihan, surnamed Ren, also said that because the inspection department made such a blunder, half of the "special office expenses" for the first month will be directly deducted, and if similar situations occur again, all will be deducted.

Someone asked a lot, what if there is a third incident?The leader of the office replied with a sullen smile that if this happened a third time, everyone in the inspection department would be sent directly to a labor camp without explanation.

So for the sake of everyone's interests, the remaining people will be much safer from now on.Wei Ping found that many people would even remind each other that the current living conditions are nothing to complain about, don't have any deviant thoughts, stay here for two or three years, and then you can buy a house and land when you return to Yazhou.This group of people stayed in the yard every day, watching the Haihan people directing the common people to build roads and houses continuously.

Of course, when a group of new immigrants arrive at the port, this group of people will stand behind the fence of the small courtyard and watch, and bet that some of these new immigrants will be arrested and sent to the labor camp for disobedience on the pier. go.Wei Ping's vision is higher than that of these subordinates. With the arrival of immigrants in batches, his heart is sinking bit by bit-the more population here, it shows the strength of Haihan people The more it grows, the less likely it is that this place will return to the rule of Ming Dynasty.

And the name of the inspection department has no influence at all in this place. As far as the locals Wei Ping and the others can come into contact with, whether it is the militiamen on duty or the ordinary laborers who deliver meals, they all say "" Executive Committee", no one cared about the official attitude of Yazhou officials towards this place, and this was a scene that Wei Ping had never seen in other places in Yazhou.Under such circumstances, it would be very unrealistic for them to use these locals to deliver news to Yazhou. If they had to do this, it would be more likely that the news would reach the Haihan people directly.

A month later, there was no further trouble with the inspection department, and the Executive Committee distributed half of the "special office funds" to them as promised—of course, this money was also distributed in the form of negotiable notes.They were told that only when they left Victory Port in the future could they exchange these currency notes for silver of equivalent value.

But this is actually insignificant, because they don't need to spend money at all in this place. The Haihan people are responsible for all the food, clothing and housing.The Haihan people only sell salt and glassware, and even these two things are only sold to merchants, not retail investors at all-even if they buy them, they can't ship them out.

In view of the good performance of the inspection department and the group, the executive committee finally agreed to give them more room for movement, but still limited the scope to "within a distance of [-] feet around the inspection department."As for the things that can be done within the distance of [-] feet, basically the only thing is to go to the cafeteria stall outside the gate of the No. [-] base to pick up the meals during the three meals a day.

Although the scope of activities is pitifully small, the inspection department cherishes this hard-won opportunity. Even Wei Ping, who always likes to send his subordinates to do things, has changed his habit and queues up to get three meals every day. So is this meal.Wei Ping went out to eat breakfast every day, and then went back to the small courtyard of the inspection department to continue to sleep.

Of course, this is also one of the management methods of the Executive Committee. Let these people go around the area outside the courtyard every day and talk to other people, at least to make them feel that they are not prisoners of this place.After gradually reducing their sense of hostility and resistance, it will be much easier to brainwash their consciousness and culture through various details of life.In this regard, there are already examples of Luo Shengdong and others, and the executive committee believes that these people in the inspection department will not be more ethical than the Ming army navy.

This kind of subtle effect still has a certain effect, at least Wei Ping's hostility towards the Haihan people has weakened a lot compared to the beginning.He found that these Haihan people did not have the usual faces of those in high positions. Everyone seemed very peaceful and could get along with ordinary people on an equal footing. This was absolutely impossible for the gentry or wealthy businessmen of Ming Dynasty to do.Moreover, these Haihan people did not show obvious hostility towards the outsiders like the inspection department. Occasionally, someone would even ask him "how long can I eat a meal of meat when I was in Yazhou", or "how many times do Ming people usually marry?" A wife" and other questions that made him laugh and cry.

Wei Ping was not at all surprised that a merchant from Guangzhou finally appeared in Shengli Port.He knew that with the business skills of the Haihan people, it was only a matter of time before the glass products and refined salt were transported to the mainland.What's more, the Haihan people have been constantly expanding the docks by the sea, certainly not just to dock their few limited sea ships.After living here for a long time, Wei Ping has gradually realized that the Haihan people have many long-term plans for this place, and they don't just plan to use this place as a foothold.

The ever-expanding seaport wharf is only one aspect. Wei Ping noticed that the Haihan people spent a lot of energy repairing the not-too-long road from the port to the No. [-] base. Sidewalk trees were also planted, and flower beds and seats were arranged.And that's not all. On both sides of the road, laborers have already started to level the ground under the command of the Haihan people. It seems that there is still some work to be done.

Some people in the inspection department think that the Haihan people are building private houses to accommodate the increasing number of immigrants.But Wei Ping has a different view on this. Newly arrived immigrants will be arranged to live in a camp at the foot of the mountain in the west for a few days, and then most of them will be transferred to other places and stay in Shengli. There are not many people here in Hong Kong, and the Haihan people do not need to build large-scale houses near the port to resettle immigrants.

Regarding the projects that the Haihan people will carry out next, Wei Ping believes that it is very likely that they will be warehouses, shops, restaurants and other facilities.Because this road is in an excellent location in Victory Port, if it really becomes a prosperous port in the future, a large number of foreign merchants and sailors will definitely need places to eat, stay, and shop, and from the port to a This section of the road at the gate of the base will undoubtedly be the most prosperous area in the entire port area.Wei Ping, who was quicker in thinking, had already sensed a business opportunity from it.

Wei Ping thought that if his guess was true, if he could open a restaurant or restaurant in this place, he would definitely not have to worry about no business in the future, and the money of the sea merchants was much better than that of the poor ghosts in Yazhou.However, to do this, Wei Ping still has two problems that must be overcome. One is to find out whether his guess is true, and the other is to persuade the Haihan people to allow him to invest in the project. Running a business here.

Wei Ping recovered from his contemplation, looked at Li Nai who was staring at him eagerly, and suddenly had an idea in his heart.

(End of this chapter)