1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3952

Having spent years by Qian Tiandun's side, Li Yuande's familiarity with the special operations division and its jurisdiction was unparalleled in the country. The information he could provide was clearly far more detailed than that of Chen Pingliao, whom the salt merchants' sons had previously encountered.

Even though the sons of salt merchants did not know Li Yuande before, they quickly realized this and, after Li Yuande finished speaking, they rushed to ask him the questions they were concerned about.

The sons of salt merchants were mostly concerned with the local cultural environment, which was closely related to the difficulty of governing after taking office. To develop commerce in their jurisdiction, they first needed to fully understand the local situation in order to formulate appropriate policy plans.

As for these areas, which have always been under military control and where the military has the final say, they don't see it as a problem—isn't the East China Sea region always under the control of Commander Shi? Going to Commander Qian's territory in the future is simply a change of location and a change of allegiance.

Li Yuande soon discovered that the thoughts of these salt merchants' sons were very similar to his own when he had just joined the special operations division four years ago.

After all, they come from business families and tend to consider issues from a commercial perspective, subconsciously prioritizing money as the primary solution.

Once the ports, roads, plantations, and mines are built, the area will inevitably become a link in the Haihan trade chain. The Special Operations Division's jurisdiction currently seems to lack manpower, transportation capacity, and supplies, but ultimately it lacks money, and the main advantage of Yangzhou salt merchants is their abundant wealth.

Li Yuande tentatively inquired about the amount these salt merchants' sons planned to invest in the region; even the most conservative estimate started at one million yuan. Some even planned to bring in family investment after becoming familiar with the local situation, demonstrating how much their salt merchant tycoons valued this opportunity for overseas development.

The enthusiastic attitude of the salt merchants' sons greatly excited Li Yuande. He knew that the special operations division's jurisdiction was far from the mainland of Haihan, making it difficult to attract investment from within the country; otherwise, it would not have such an inseparable and heavy dependence on the Xingdao region.

Now that we have the Yangzhou salt merchants as major investors, we can directly open up commercial channels in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, bringing considerable commercial investment and other resources, including manpower, to the special operations division's jurisdiction.

This move could be said to be even more significant to the special operations division than the conquest of territory along the Indian Ocean coast.

However, Li Yuande also understood that these sons of salt merchants were not truly in charge, and the salt merchant groups behind them still had many concerns about cooperation. To achieve the desired results, he would have to do more work.

In the following days, Li Yuande visited various salt merchants without stopping, and even made a special trip to Yangzhou to meet with the heads of the seven major salt merchant families to discuss the details of cooperation.

Li Yuande had to convince the salt merchants that their investments in the Special Forces Division's territory would be properly protected and generate long-term, stable profits, and would secure a bright future for their families' descendants.

Of course, the most convincing example is Li Yuande's personal experience over the past four years. How he rose from a relatively unknown third-generation member of the Guangdong Furuifeng Trading Company to become the most powerful Han Chinese maritime merchant west of the Strait of Malacca through cooperation with a special forces division is an absolutely perfect example of success for those who come after him.

However, some people are uneasy about Li Yuande's success. Dai Yingda, the head of the Dai family, bluntly pointed out that after the introduction of Yangzhou salt merchants' capital into the area, it would inevitably create a business competition relationship with Furuifeng, represented by Li Yuande. It seems hard to say whether the children of salt merchants will be treated fairly at that time.

Li Yuande could certainly make some promises, but he also understood that he was not a general of a special operations division, and the promises he made would probably not carry much weight in the eyes of the other party.

However, he was the only representative of the Special Forces Division to come to Hangzhou this time; no high-ranking officers accompanied him. Moreover, Qian Tiandun had appointed him as the Special Forces Division's plenipotentiary representative, leaving him no one to shirk responsibility. Li Yuande had no choice but to bite the bullet and guarantee that all commercial cooperation projects between the Salt Merchants Group and the Special Forces Division could be drafted into formal written contracts, which would be personally approved and signed by Qian Tiandun.

As for the future career paths of the salt merchants' sons, that will depend on their actual performance and achievements after they take office. Li Yuande stated that he did not hold an official position and therefore could not interfere in these matters.

As a fellow businessman, Li Yuande's lack of interference was already an excellent outcome for the Yangzhou salt merchants, who were eager to send their sons into officialdom. Although verbal promises might not be effective, there seemed to be no other more binding means at the moment.

Li Yuande was not worried about competition or even business conflicts arising from the introduction of the salt merchants' sons. He was well aware of his special position in the special operations division system, which could not be easily imitated or replaced by later generations.

As expected, Dai Yingda was not very satisfied with the promise, but he eventually nodded in agreement, indicating that he was willing to trust Li Yuande.

After all, this cooperation plan was not a transaction between him and Li Yuande, but involved an exchange of interests between Shi Diwen and Qian Tiandun, and between the East China Sea Region and the Special Forces Division. Whether it was the sons of salt merchants or the big bosses behind the scenes, they were all just pawns on the chessboard.

The bigwigs at the top have already agreed on the intention to cooperate. No matter what the specific conditions at the implementation level are, they will still have to work together in the end.

Moreover, the sons of salt merchants still needed Li Yuande's escort to get to the special operations division's territory.

After the cooperation plan was roughly finalized, Li Yuande revealed to Dai Yingda that the special forces division hoped to raise a certain amount of military funds domestically through war bonds.

This matter has been approved by the Executive Committee, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Finance. The Special Operations Division will use the future revenue within its jurisdiction as collateral for the bonds. However, these bonds will be issued privately, meaning that only a very small number of financially strong large businesses will have the opportunity to subscribe. Currently, some large businesses in the south, including Fu Ruifeng, have already subscribed to a portion of them.

Dai Yingda was not completely unaware of how overseas troops operated. From the information revealed by Li Yuande, he immediately deduced that the special forces division must want to launch a large-scale military operation as soon as possible, and the advance military funds allocated by the Ministry of National Defense were obviously insufficient to meet the requirements, so they could only raise military funds quickly through this method.

Money is not a problem for the Salt Merchants Group, but Dai Yingda will not hand over the money so readily. He hopes that Li Yuande can reveal more information, and most importantly, what other practical benefits the Salt Merchants Group can obtain besides the interest income from purchasing bonds.

Li Yuande hesitated for a moment before replying, "Due to the need for secrecy, it is difficult for me to describe the entire plan to you in detail. However, I can tell you that if this military operation is successful, our country will have the opportunity to seize a very important key position, which will be enough to change the world's maritime landscape for the next few hundred years."

Dai Yingda's eyes lit up, and he pressed on, "How does it compare to the Strait of Malacca?"

Li Yuande replied decisively, "That place is where three continents meet, an absolutely first-rate natural barrier, far more important than the Strait of Malacca. From now on, all ships passing through that place will have to pay tolls to our country, and its development prospects are limitless!"

(End of this chapter)