1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3738

Shi Diwen said, "Just now I heard from Lao He that each of you has run a lot of businesses after retirement. Whether your purpose is to pave the way for your children and grandchildren, for your family, or to make contributions with your remaining energy, I think this is a good thing."

"The country is now in a stage of rapid expansion, with new territories being incorporated into our territory every year. What do these new colonies need most? In addition to population, they need infrastructure projects, maritime transport channels, and supporting institutions such as science, education, culture, and health."

"Directors, this is exactly what the country needs right now. If you can invest your resources overseas to support the country's colonization and construction, it will definitely play a great role in promoting our overseas expansion!"

Shi Diwen spoke for a while, but saw that the people present had a flat reaction, as if his words did not impress them. Obviously, if he just talked about these great principles, it would not be enough to persuade these old foxes who had seen the world.

Shi Diwen had no choice but to continue, "We are all family, and I don't want to talk nonsense like selfless dedication. If you expect any kind of reward or exchange conditions, please tell me directly, and I will try my best to meet them."

"The country is willing to invest huge sums of money in these overseas development projects. As long as you are willing to work hard, the rewards will definitely not disappoint you. The actual price is also negotiable."

Shi Diwen simply said it clearly and wanted to see whether these people would be interested in financial rewards.

You Yihan responded, "To be honest, at our age, even if we spend our days drinking and partying and travel around the world, how much money can we use? We run these businesses just to give our children and grandchildren more options. After all, we have reached the end of our official careers early, and we can't provide better conditions for our descendants."

Chen Tianqi also said: "Money is something you can't bring with you when you are born, and you can't take with you when you die. Even if you earn a lot, it's just a number. Do we need money? The dividends from the Crossing Group alone are enough to last for several lifetimes."

After hearing the two people's statements, Shi Diwen understood a little bit.

If making money is not their main purpose for running business projects after retirement, then they have already planned to use these projects to exchange for some long-term benefits at the right time.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see the shortcomings of Hai Han's overseas development process, not to mention that all of the people present had served as officials in various functional departments. For various reasons, they had no chance to move up in their official careers, but it was easy for them to use the resources they once had to operate business projects.

When the projects they run reach a certain scale, they may be able to influence official arrangements in some areas. The earlier measures to transfer civilian personnel in the south were not implemented well, and this may be the reason.

The two men denied any economic reasons, but did not explain another possibility previously raised by Shi Diwen, that is, everything they did was for their own descendants.

If this is the case, then Shi Diwen is easy to understand. He has spent a lot of time and resources on his two beloved sons over the years. Now his eldest son Shi Chengwu is the commander of the garrison in Nanjing, and his second son Shi Chengxin is in charge of the government affairs of the Donghai region in Hangzhou. They are both doing relatively well and have a bright future.

But not everyone can make such an arrangement for future generations. Shi Diwen became a local official very early due to his military exploits, and successfully squeezed into the Executive Committee with the resources accumulated by managing the East China Sea Region. Only with such power did his two sons rise to prominence.

Except for He Xi, the others present here have only achieved mediocre positions in officialdom and have basically no chance to move up. Retiring early and going into business may be a better way out for them.

Now that they are invited to sit here and discuss exchange conditions with Shi Diwen, who represents the Executive Committee, using their own businesses, it also shows that their way of "saving the country by taking a roundabout way" has really worked.

As long as he knew the other party's intentions, the situation would be simple for Shi Diwen. He said to everyone, "If you want to find a position for your descendants, you might as well tell me the situation of your children first, and then tell me what you want. I will report to the Executive Committee and arrange a suitable position as appropriate."

Cai Hongzhan said, "Old Shi, we are all retired officials. There is a huge difference between officials. Don't think you can just assign us a job and send us away." Shi Diwen replied calmly, "That's why I let you make your own requests. Even if there are any differences, we can slowly resolve them through negotiation."

"Can this really be negotiated?" Cai Hongzhan still had some doubts.

Shi Diwen nodded and replied in an affirmative tone: "It's true!"

Cai Hongzhan didn't say anything, but his eyes were looking at Ma Yu who had been doing nothing. The same went for Chen Tianqi and You Yihan.

When Shi Diwen saw this scene, he realized that Ma Yu should be the backbone among them. They were obviously following her lead. If Ma Yu didn't express her opinion, they probably couldn't make up their minds.

"Sister Ma, what do you say?" Shi Diwen simply took the initiative to make it clear.

Ma Yu then responded: "If the Executive Committee can solve the problems of future generations for us old people, then it is only natural for us old bones to contribute to the country."

When Shi Diwen heard this statement, a heavy stone in his heart was immediately put down.

What he was most worried about was that these people would not budge, and because of their status, the Executive Committee would not be able to punish them. But as long as the other party had something to ask for, no matter what conditions they put forward, at least there was room for negotiation.

About two hours later, Ma Yu and four others left He Xi's residence one after another.

Shi Diwen was not in a hurry to leave, he still had something to say to He Xi.

"Lao He, if you hadn't arranged this meeting today, I would have returned to Sanya and gained nothing."

Shi Diwen first thanked He Xi for the arrangement, then changed the subject and said, "But I have a feeling that you knew in advance that I would come to you to inquire about the news, and even the four of them might have been waiting for your call in advance. You won't tell me that it's just a coincidence that these four people came as soon as you called them, right?"

He Xi said: "Whether it is a coincidence or not is not important. What is important is whether your problem has been solved. My duty is to solve various problems for the Executive Committee, but generally I will not report to the Executive Committee in detail how I solved them."

Shi Diwen smiled and said, "I'm not trying to get to the bottom of this, I just think this is very interesting. If you don't want to talk about it, I certainly won't force you to ask."

He Xi said: "To be frank, it's worthless. Sometimes others owe me favors, and sometimes I owe others favors. I arranged this meeting today to give everyone a chance to repay the favor, including me."

Shi Diwen said: "You may have repaid your favor, but now I owe you another big favor."

He Xi said: "As long as we are alive, we should help each other. When we are gone, the next generation will not have so many favors to talk about."