1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3639

Establishing a relationship of mutual trust between Fujian and Luzon in politics is far more complicated than cooperation in the economic and military fields.

Xu Yuzhuo's official position is the governor of Fujian. Although he is a local official of the same level as Qiu Yuan in administration, his background and growth experience are very different from those of Qiu Yuan, Xiao Liang and other high-ranking officials who have traveled through time. It can be said that they are born to belong to different camps and their values ​​are also very different.

Qiu Yuan could understand that Xu Yuzhuo and the local interest groups behind him would have some political demands, but he had no way of judging whether their goals were in line with Hai Han’s national development plans. Therefore, he certainly could not agree to this matter casually. He had to let the other party tell him more details before weighing the pros and cons.

However, in Dong Shangyi's view, this was already an obvious sign of a softening of his attitude, and he immediately told Qiu Yuan everything that had been agreed upon with Xu Yuzhuo beforehand.

Xu Yuzhuo's proposal includes that Fujian and Luzon jointly formulate topics related to the expansion and protection of overseas interests and submit them to the Executive Committee for deliberation; in the future, the two places should try to maintain a consistent attitude on policies related to overseas development; and in the future, both places should try their best to provide support to each other for personnel appointments, dismissals and transfers involving the two places.

These suggestions were not complicated and were very practical, not just empty slogans. Qiu Yuan could roughly understand Dong Shangyi's purpose without him explaining it in detail.

Xu Yuzhuo believes that the relationship between the two sides is based on overseas interests, so jointly formulating policy issues on this topic and maintaining consistency in relevant fields are also in line with the tone of cooperation between the two sides.

As for the appointments and transfers of personnel between the two places, it depends on how Qiu Yuan understands it.

Xu Yuzhuo participated in the executive committee election last year, which is actually an activity related to personnel appointments and dismissals. So when the next executive committee election comes and new blood is needed, the two sides can discuss nominating one or more people to run for election, concentrating the resources and influence of the two places to achieve the goal.

In addition, both sides can arrange for their trusted followers and young men to serve in the other side's jurisdiction for training, which is also a very common practice in Hai Han officialdom. For example, Qiu Yuan's eldest son Qiu Zhiguo is no longer working in Luzon, but is now a civil affairs officer in Cam Ranh Port, Annan, on the other side of the South China Sea.

This kind of gilding operation can provide young people who have just entered the official career with an excellent starting platform and resume, which will greatly help their long-term development in the future.

However, before this, due to invisible restrictions in Fujian, it was difficult for the Xu family and its affiliated forces to get opportunities to serve in other regions.

At present, the Executive Committee does not have any strict regulations on this. There is neither an explicit ban nor any talk of lifting the ban. But if Luzon can open this loophole for Fujian, then perhaps this unwritten rule will be resolved quietly.

Of course, this kind of personnel arrangement also requires a high level of mutual trust between the two parties. Otherwise, if the other party's people are unreliable and make some mistakes after taking office in your jurisdiction, you will have to spend time and effort to help clean up the mess.

Dong Shangyi also knew the key point. Seeing that Qiu Yuan did not speak for a long time, he added cautiously: "If Lord Qiu has any concerns, don't worry. Lord Xu will not immediately ask Luzon to appoint officials from Fujian. On the contrary, there are still many official positions waiting for us in Fujian. It depends on whether Lord Qiu is interested."

Qiu Yuan laughed and said, "You are trying to bribe me with benefits!"

Dong Shangyi said solemnly: "Lord Xu has always been eager to seek talents. If Lord Qiu can recommend talents from Luzon to Fujian to take up an official position, the treatment will definitely not be bad." If Qiu Yuan said that he was not tempted by this, he would definitely be lying.

One of the most important aspects of Hai Han's official promotion system is the experience of having served in other places. If one is born in Luzon and has been serving in Luzon, then the ceiling above one's head is not high and will soon reach its limit.

This restriction is to prevent local class solidification and the control of power by a few family forces. Qiu Yuan certainly has ways to bypass these restrictions, but if there is one more option, it would be great.

Considering that the scope and intensity of cooperation between the two places will be expanded in the future, Luzon's interests in Fujian must be protected by someone. If there are some officials with Luzon backgrounds in Fujian officialdom, their influence cannot be replaced by the dispatched offices.

Qiu Yuan finally spoke: "I believe you also know that Luzon has just ended the war with the Spaniards recently and seized a large area of ​​territory in the south. As for official positions, Luzon is in need of people, and there are many vacant positions, but most of these positions are in uncivilized areas, which are not idle positions that can be enjoyed without doing anything. I wonder if Lord Xu is willing to send some talented people to help Luzon develop these places?"

Qiu Yuan deliberately stated the difficulties to test the other party's sincerity. If Dong Shangyi thought that this arrangement was not worth it and rejected Qiu Yuan's proposal, then Qiu Yuan would just pretend that he had not said the previous words.

Unexpectedly, Dong Shangyi agreed quite readily, and almost without thinking, he said, "Don't worry, Master Qiu. We Fujianese are the most hardworking and obedient people. We will not let you down!"

Before setting off on this trip, Xu Yuzhuo told him that as long as Luzon agreed to cooperate, then other requirements and conditions could be agreed to first.

Especially regarding personnel appointments, Xu Yuzhuo specifically reminded him that even if Luzon agreed to exchange personnel, there was no reason for it to provide Fujian with positions in powerful departments, and most of the time it would only provide some official positions in remote areas.

But what Fujian needs is to use this opportunity to lift the restrictions. So no matter how high or low the position offered by Luzon is, or whether it is equal to the position prepared by Fujian for the other party, Dong Shangyi should not be picky. In short, an agreement should be reached first.

His approach of not bargaining at all made it difficult for Qiu Yuan to add any additional conditions.

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Since they had only reached a preliminary agreement and did not involve operational details, the negotiations between the two men progressed very quickly and they had already discussed most of the issues in less than an hour.

Qiu Yuan was obviously very satisfied with the attitude shown by Fujian, and warmly hosted a banquet to entertain Dong Shangyi who came from afar.

Dong Shangyi, who had been a little uneasy before the meeting, finally felt relieved and accomplished most of the mission of this trip.

Although Xiao Liang, another head of Luzon, has not returned to Manila yet, since Qiu Yuan has expressed his support for the cooperation plan, there will probably not be too many changes.

Regarding the shipbuilding arrangement that Qiu Yuan was most concerned about, Dong Shangyi patted his chest and assured Qiu Yuan at the banquet that within a month, Fujian would send another special person to negotiate shipbuilding cooperation matters with Luzon.