1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3967

The last Frye Feng fleet to head to the Indian Ocean this year was scheduled to depart at the end of October. So before Li Yuande arrived in Sanya, more than a dozen groups from all over the south had already gathered at Shengli Port, waiting to join his fleet and head to the Indian Ocean together.

Among them were several merchant ships already loaded with cargo, as well as some adventurers planning to hitch a ride overseas to make a fortune.

But regardless of the purpose, anyone wishing to join this ocean-going fleet first needed Li Yuande's permission. In order to get this young businessman, who rarely appeared in Sanya, to agree, everyone had to submit a special written application to the Furuifeng branch in Sanya in advance.

Yes, the application was submitted to Furuifeng, not the Special Operations Division's office in Sanya, which demonstrates the extent of Qian Tiandun's trust in Li Yuande.

While a detailed written application is essential, some people prefer to meet with Li Yuande before receiving final notification in order to ensure the application is approved.

After all, in the past few years, not all applications to go to the Indian Ocean have been approved; almost every time, there have been some unlucky souls whose applications have been ruthlessly rejected by Li Yuande.

So as soon as Li Yuande arrived in Sanya, people were already waiting at the port to chat with him, and there were several carriages waiting to take him to a banquet.

Considering that such talks might involve Furuifeng's trade secrets, Chen Pingliao had no interest in participating and did not want to put Li Yuande in a difficult position. However, Li Yuande had no such concerns and insisted on inviting him along.

"Brother Chen, this is a good opportunity to learn about our business operations in the local area, and also to see who is ahead of the Executive Committee's policies."

Hearing this advice, Chen Pingliao no longer insisted on his own opinion and nodded in agreement.

However, Li Yuande did not accept these banquet invitations. Instead, he took Chen Pingliao and went to the Sanya branch of Furuifeng in his own carriage.

Although it is only a local branch, as one of the earliest businesses to enter the Sanya area, Fu Ruifeng's business now covers almost all aspects of people's livelihood, such as clothing, food, housing and transportation, and its business scale even exceeds that of its headquarters in Guangzhou.

Aside from the port's exclusive wharves and the trading fleets traveling to and from the South China Sea, Fu Rui Feng owns more than thirty prime shops on both sides of Shengli Avenue, all of which are operated under their own names and are never sublet to others.

“My family has been doing business here for thirty years. My third uncle told me that when he first came here, the whole of Sanya only had two or three thousand people. There wasn’t even a proper port. It was just a small seaside town at best. Nobody could have imagined that it would be so prosperous today. The speed of change is truly astonishing!”

Sitting in the carriage, looking out at the bustling Victory Avenue, Li Yuande couldn't help but feel a sense of感慨 (gan3kai3, a complex emotion encompassing both admiration and reflection). If thirty years had transformed Sanya from an obscure fishing port into a world-renowned trading hub, then what would Hanban Port, Fubo Port, and Zhenhai Port look like in thirty years? It was truly something to look forward to!
Chen Pingliao wondered to himself, is this really fast? If it were an unknown place, achieving this in thirty years would certainly be considered fast. However, before the capital was moved, Sanya had always been the capital of Haihan. This special status meant that resources from all over the country would continuously converge here, transforming into the numerous trading posts that sprang up around Victory Avenue and Victory Square, the countless goods entering and leaving the port, and the constant influx of gold and silver into the national treasury. If the northern region had so many resources available, it might not be much inferior to Sanya, would it?
Of course, such thoughts cannot even be spoken aloud. After all, Chen Pingliao is not an ordinary person. His statements in public may be misinterpreted by others and even used to create articles that are detrimental to his father.

Upon arriving at the Furuifeng Trading Company, a group of managers who had received word of Li Yuande's arrival were already waiting for him. As he walked, he instructed the managers behind him on various matters. His composed demeanor reminded Chen Pingliao, who was traveling with him, of a general commanding troops in battle.

Previously, the business of the Sanya branch was personally managed by Li Nai, the third son of the Li family. However, after Li Nai's daughter married Tao Hongfang, the son of Tao Donglai, Li Nai, who was reluctant to let his daughter marry so far away, also went to Nanjing with the young couple. Now he lives there and has no plans to return to the south for the time being.

As a result, the business of the Sanya branch was handed over to Li Nai's son, Li Yuande's cousin, Li Yuanbin. However, his cousin was not in Sanya at the time, but went to Danzhou to handle a few business matters. So after Li Yuande arrived, he temporarily became the highest-ranking person. According to the rules of Furuifeng, all the staff of the Sanya branch had to obey his command and dispatch.

This did provide Li Yuande with some conveniences. For example, for certain popular products in high demand in the market, Li Yuande could order his managers to immediately remove them from the local shops, pack them all up, and ship them to cargo ships in the port to prioritize the needs of overseas markets.

Of course, the related accounting will have to wait until Li Yuande returns from overseas next time. At that time, he will settle accounts based on the amount sold, and there is no such thing as cash on delivery.

As for whether doing so would conflict with the original business arrangements of the Sanya branch, Li Yuande didn't seem to care much.

“My cousin is very easy to talk to. He has never been competitive or competitive since we were little, and he always gives in to me. There’s no need to discuss such a small business matter with him.”

Li Yuande took full responsibility and smoothed things over with a few words. However, Chen Pingliao noticed that the managers didn't look too relaxed; some even had sweat beading on their foreheads, clearly unable to use Li Yuande's explanation to deal with their superior, Li Yuanbin.

Chen Pingliao chuckled inwardly. It seemed that the two cousins ​​might not have the harmonious relationship that Li Yuande had described. But this was a family matter for the Li family, and as an outsider, he certainly shouldn't interfere. He would just watch the show and enjoy the spectacle.

In Chen Pingliao's view, it would be almost impossible for a family as wealthy as the Li family to have no conflicts or disputes among its various branches. Li Yuande's decision not to stay in the South China Sea but to develop his business in the Indian Ocean may also be related to the internal competition within the Li family.

However, Chen Pingliao was certain that no matter who was in charge of the Li family, it would not affect the cooperative relationship between Furuifeng and the Special Forces Division. If Li Yuande could not continue in his position or made a serious mistake, the Li family would at most replace him with someone else in the Special Forces Division, but would never sever their relationship with Qian Tiandun.

Of course, whether Qian Tiandun acknowledges this debt or is willing to accept other members of the Li family to replace Li Yuande is another matter—this may also be one of the reasons why Li Yuande acts without any scruples.