1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3964

Chen Pingliao certainly wouldn't force Li Yuande to give a definitive answer, as that would be asking too much. However, he had already gained a general assessment of the Li family's financial resources in Guangzhou, which didn't require Li Yuande's direct confirmation.

Of course, the situation of the Li family of Furuifeng was very different from that of the Yangzhou salt merchants. The amount of wealth they were willing to invest overseas at this stage did not necessarily reflect their full strength.

For the past thirty years, the Li family has maintained a very close relationship with the top management of Haihan, far surpassing that of the Yangzhou salt merchants. Moreover, Furuifeng has extensive experience in overseas investment projects, and with Li Yuande overseeing the situation locally for a long time, even with a large investment, there is at least a relatively reliable guarantee.

For the Yangzhou salt merchants, this bond investment was entirely driven by the prestige of Shi Diwen and Qian Tiandun. They had virtually no idea where the money would go or how it would be used, making the risk extremely high. Under these circumstances, the fact that the salt merchants were willing to spend 20 million yuan to subscribe to the bonds was already considered a very enthusiastic show of support.

There were no salt merchants' sons present when the two had this conversation, otherwise Chen Pingliao would have been very interested to see what kind of expression the salt merchants' sons would have when they heard this question.

The fleet only stopped at Kowloon Port for two days to check the sailing arrangements with the newly joined ships, and then replenished some supplies before setting off again to continue south to Sanya Port, the southernmost point of the Haihan mainland.

After setting sail, Chen Pingliao posed a new question to Li Yuande: "Brother Li, the pier we're docking at in Kowloon Port must be one of yours, right? Do all the major ports in the south have your own private piers?"

Li Yuande hesitated slightly, seemingly considering whether to tell Chen Pingliao the truth. After a moment of thought, he replied, "Since Brother Chen asked, then to be honest, it is true that all major ports in the South China Sea region have our Furuifeng's exclusive wharves and dispatched agencies."

"So, other countries have this too?" Chen Pingliao followed up with a question.

Li Yuande nodded and said, "Annam, Champa, and a bunch of small countries in the Indochina Peninsula already have many ports that our country has leased for a long time. Some of these ports were even built with our aid in the early years. Fu Ruifeng invested a lot in their construction and development to expand its overseas business. We will stop at one or two of them on our way south. I will give Brother Chen a detailed introduction then."

Li Yuande ultimately cooperated with these probing questions about his financial situation and answered them frankly.

Whether the other party was simply curious or intentionally testing the strength of Furuifeng, Li Yuande couldn't tell for the time being. However, he believed that Chen Pingliao's base was in the far north, and he was unlikely to pose too much of a threat to Furuifeng.

Moreover, Fu Ruifeng is not without backing. Besides Qian Tiandun, a powerful patron, there are numerous high-ranking officials from the time-traveling world in Guangdong and Hainan who have inseparable interests with Fu Ruifeng.

Previously, Li Yuande had revealed that many founding fathers in Guangzhou were now involved in trade activities in the Pearl River Basin. In fact, the implication was to show Chen Pingliao the influence of Furuifeng. These retired or semi-retired elders did not have businesses that were entirely in competition with Furuifeng; they also had many cooperative projects.

If Chen Pingliao really had any ill intentions, these important figures wouldn't just stand by and watch. In fact, what Chen Pingliao was truly concerned about wasn't how much business Furuifeng controlled in the Pearl River Basin, nor the exclusive wharves in the major ports, but something else entirely.

During the fleet's previous stay in Kowloon Harbour, Chen Pingliao saw a constant stream of local officials visiting Li Yuande. Many of them clearly had the intention to curry favor with Li Yuande, and some even arrived in Hong Kong several days in advance to wait for his arrival.

Chen Pingliao had little interest in dealing with these local officials, so he instructed Li Yuande not to mention his identity, otherwise he would most likely replace Li Yuande and become the center of social activities.

If Li Yuande held an official position, such behavior would be perfectly normal. However, since Li Yuande had not yet officially entered officialdom, these officials were fawning over him, which Chen Pingliao found to be quite unusual.

Clearly, these people weren't currying favor with Li Yuande, but rather with the Furui Feng Li family behind him. Chen Pingliao then wanted to find out just how wealthy the Li family was that so many local officials were eager to curry favor with them.

Li Yuande's answer was in line with Chen Pingliao's expectations. It was precisely because he possessed such immense wealth that he deserved such extraordinary treatment from local officials.

As for whether there were any power-for-money transactions that exceeded the officials' authority, that's a private matter for the two major regions. As an outsider, he only needs to observe the details and doesn't need to interfere.

In fact, Li Yuande's treatment was not uncommon in the northern regions. For example, the Ma family of Dengzhou, due to their marriage alliance with Chen Yixin, now has a similar status to the Li family in the south. When some members of the Ma family go out, many local officials will greet them along the way and flatter them as important figures.

Chen Pingliao observed that Li Yuande did not become complacent despite these courtesies. He treated all officials present, regardless of their rank, with courtesy. This might be because he had been accustomed to such treatment since childhood, but it was certainly also influenced by his strict family traditions.

Of course, it's more likely that Li Yuande, having spent these past few years by Qian Tiandun's side, has learned about 70-80% of how to treat people. Chen Pingliao himself had been disciplined by Qian Tiandun quite a bit when he was young, and his father, Chen Yixin, never protected him in such situations, but would just watch with a smile as Qian Tiandun scolded him, as if he were seeing his younger self in him.

Although Li Yuande answered all questions, he didn't want Chen Pingliao to keep digging into the details, so he changed the subject: "Brother Qian once told me that in the frigid northern regions, especially Liaodong, there are only six months a year when troops can be trained. So in the past, every winter, the special operations division would send troops to the south for rotational training to avoid rusting their skills. But now that he's in the south all year round, he really misses the ice and snow of the north."

The "Brother Qian" that Li Yuande mentioned was Qian Shaobao, the son of Qian Tiandun. Li Yuande and Qian Shaobao had been working together for three years and had established a good personal relationship.

Qian Shaobao and Chen Pingliao were childhood friends who grew up together. After listening, Chen Pingliao laughed and said, "Every time he writes or sends a telegram, he only says that the South is warm and humid, and you only need to wear a single layer of clothing all year round. There are also all kinds of fruits that you can't finish eating. But I've never heard him mention going back to the North to see the ice and snow. When I get there, I'll ask him in person whether the South or the North is better."