1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 452

It was expected that He Xi had come to Liu Qian to discuss the arms trade the previous time and failed to reach a result. After all, Liu Qian could only play the role of a middleman, not a decision-maker for related matters.He Xi tried to win over Liu Qian, but the only purpose was to help him connect and do some auxiliary work for the agreement between Haihan and the Ming government.

However, Liu Qian's tone of speech today was obviously more active than in the previous discussion. He Xi speculated that this should be because Liu Qian had already communicated with some important figures after he went back last time, and had a preliminary intention.

He Xi still has a lot of confidence in whether the plan to push Daming to buy high-end munitions from Haihan will be successful.In the original history, Ming bought weapons from the Portuguese and hired military advisers and artillery, which also happened during this period.Today, the military situation of Ming Dynasty is almost the same as in history. Externally, it faces strong pressure from wild boar skins in the north. Internally, there are continuous peasant uprisings in the Central Plains. Relying on the existing military strength alone is already stretched. Objective existence.After the Annan battle, the Portuguese also consciously gave up their attempt to export weapons to Daming—they are now more willing to act as Haihan's agents and sell all kinds of weapons and armor produced by Haihan to Europe.

Liu Qian's next explanation was more explicit, and he directly pointed out to He Xi which yamen needed to be dealt with in this process.While listening, He Xi secretly compared this with his work experience before time travel.

He Xi had worked as an economic policeman for several years before crossing over, and in the cases he handled, he had also seen many criminal behaviors in which management personnel used their powers to enrich their own pockets in the procurement process. There are many similarities between different societies in this regard.As the saying goes, the world is as black as crows, and it is indeed unavoidable for any dynasty or generation that officials use their power to seek personal gain.However, He Xi didn't care whether the officials of Ming Dynasty were greedy or not. All he cared about was what price the other party would offer, and whether he could finish the work quickly and well after receiving the money.

Liu Qian's explanation lasted for more than an hour, during which He Xi asked the servants to come in and ordered some hot dishes.The wine didn't move much, and He Xi was worried that if he poured Master Liu, a weak old scholar, in a few moments, it would delay the business.

After Liu Qian had finished talking about these methods, he took a sip of hot tea, and then asked He Xi: "Not all the yamen in Guangzhou can help you, but they want to hurt you in the middle." The matter is not difficult. Although you Haihan are famous, generally no one dares to provoke you, but the word is the first, and you have to be careful yourself."

"Master Liu is right, I will definitely remember these words." He Xi also knew how important these things Liu Qian said today, and he had put away some of his original plans to deal with Liu Qian in his heart.

"Earlier you said half of it happened before, and the other half didn't, so let's talk about the remaining half now!" Liu Qian has not forgotten what He Xi said before.

"There is indeed one more thing. I want to ask Master Liu for his opinion." He Xi nodded and said, "Master Liu knows about Wanshan Port outside the Pearl River Estuary, right?"

"I heard it a little bit." Liu Qian responded.

But He Xi knew that the younger brother of Mr. Liu was also engaged in short-distance water freight, specifically traveling from Guangzhou to Wanshan Port. Every five days, a ship loaded with goods from near Guangzhou was sent to Wanshan Port.The reason why He Xi is so clear is also very simple, because this job was originally directed by him behind the scenes, and some business was handed over to Master Liu's younger brother, and he could earn hundreds of taels of silver a month at least.Liu Qian must be very clear about the situation in Wanshan Port.

He Xi went on to say: "Then let me just say that Wanshan Port is a bit small after all, and there is not enough room for development as a commercial port, so we hope to build another port at the mouth of the Pearl River to engage in commercial and trade activities." operate."

Liu Qian said with a smile: "Why do you have to go the way of the government for this kind of thing? You built the port on Wanshan Island before, didn't you report it to the government while you were building it? As long as the place you choose is unoccupied, It doesn’t involve land property disputes, and generally no one would interfere with such matters.”

He Xi shook her head and said, "The place we chose this time is a little different from Wanshan Island. There are people living there."

"Oh? Let's hear it." Liu Qian became interested as soon as he heard it: "If I can give you some advice, I can also give advice to the boss."

He Xi thought to himself that you would never let go of a chance to make a fortune, but thanked you repeatedly, then got up and went to the door, and took the briefcase from the attendant.

"Master Liu, please take a look, this is the place." He Xi took out the map and pointed out to Liu Qian the location of Hong Kong Island.

"This place belongs to Xin'an County. If I remember correctly, there should be my Daming navy stationed here." Liu Qian is worthy of being a man from the government office, and he is quite clear about the areas under the Guangzhou government: "If you want to To set up a port here, you must first greet the people in the navy."

"That's right, the northern end of this island is indeed the naval station of Daming, but the place we chose is not there, but on the south coast of the island." He Xi moved his fingers a short distance on the map: "The south of the island All sides are barren forest land, there are no residents, and there will be no disputes over land property.”

"Since that's the case, you shouldn't have any trouble if you want to build a port locally." Liu Qian waved his hand and said, "The navy in Xin'an County is very seldom meddling, as long as you don't let the cannons The warships are running back and forth at the gate of the water village, so everything should be fine."

He Xi couldn't believe it was so easy: "That means we will break ground locally, and no one will restrain or interfere with us?"

"Who will meddle in this nosy business!" Liu Qian sneered and said, "You fought a battle in Lijiazhuang last year, and you turned around and drove Liu Xiang away at sea. This record is on the table, as long as you don't take the initiative to cause trouble , who would easily provoke you?"

"It sounds very reasonable!" He Xi couldn't help sighing.

A year ago when the executive committee decided to send troops to Guangdong to participate in the defense of Lijiazhuang, probably no one thought that the impact of this military operation would be so far-reaching. When talking about this matter a year later, people in the government would still Terrified by the performance of the militia.It can be seen that timely display of force to the outside world can still play an excellent deterrent effect.

Of course, this does not mean that if Haihan had used this direct method to occupy the land on Hong Kong Island a year ago, he would have had the same effect as he does now.At that time, the strength and reputation of the Haihan militia were far inferior to today's. Not to mention the Ming army stationed nearby, Liu Xiang's pirate fleet was enough to give Haihan a headache.Moreover, without the stronghold of Wanshan Port, it would still be difficult for Haihan, who owns warships, to confront the Liuxiang pirate group at the mouth of the Pearl River, which has a certain advantage. Therefore, Wanshan Island, the springboard for Haihan to set foot on the mainland, is still indispensable. .

He Xi also played a little scheming at this time. He did not mention to Liu Qian the real purpose of Haihan's land in Hong Kong and its future development plans, and the map he showed was limited in scale. From the above It is also difficult to see the natural geographical advantages of the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter area in the southern part of Hong Kong Island.

After Yu Yao showed the map of Hong Kong Island and the nearby waters a few days ago, He Xi later called up the satellite map on the computer to study the local geographical environment carefully, and found that this place is indeed suitable for Haihan to set up a new base but.Ap Lei Chau Island, where Yu Yao claimed to build a fort to protect the harbor, did have a fort in the original history, but that was after the Qing Dynasty ceded Hong Kong to the British.

In 1940, the British army built a large fort on Mount Yugui, the commanding height of Ap Lei Chau, to guard the south coast of Hong Kong.Later, in order to avoid being used by the Japanese army during World War II, the defenders destroyed the fort by themselves.Obviously, the military use of this place was not only discovered by Yu Yao, but the Western soldiers in another time and space also believed that this place was an excellent defense platform.

He Xi knew that Liu Qian was an outsider, and he had not settled in Guangzhou for too long. He had probably never been to Hong Kong Island, let alone knew much about the local geographical environment.And what he needs is to guide Liu Qian to do something that is beneficial to Hai Han under Liu Qian's rather vague understanding.

"If it's convenient, can we apply for Master Liu to go through the registration procedures at the Guangzhou government?" He Xi took out a few checks issued by Haihan Bank from his briefcase in good time and put them in Liu Qian On the table in front of him: "There are 1000 taels of hard work here, Mr. Liu, please don't dislike it. After the matter is completed, I will give you another thank you!"

"How dare you charge Boss He so much for these trivial things!" Liu Qian said politely, and glanced at the Haihan check on the table.

This Haihan check is a double denomination of 500, with Haihan Bank's letterhead on it, the private signature of the bank's president Schneider underneath, and the unique Haihan number in the middle.He had seen this thing in the study of a certain official before, and it was said that as long as he took it to the Guangzhou Office outside the city of Guangdong, he could exchange it for fine cash at any time.

In the past, when He Xi dealt with officials, he had to prepare a heavy silver box or use jewelry, but recently, with the deepening economic influence of Haihan Bank in Guangzhou, many wealthy families and even the officials began to slowly Use the fixed amount check printed by Haihan Bank in the transaction.And once they realized the convenience, this method quickly spread among the upper echelons of society, and gradually aroused the emulation of the middle class and even the bottom class people.Some time ago, Haihan Bank suggested to the executive committee to print a batch of vouchers with small denominations, and put them on a trial run specifically for the private market in the Guangzhou area. The Bank of Han absorbed millions of taels of gold and silver.

Under He Xi's constant persuasion, Liu Qian finally "reluctantly" took the 1000 tael check into his arms.Of course, he also understands that the money is not only an answer to He Xi's question just now, it should also include the arms business that Haihan is trying to promote. Liu Qian really didn't take it as a big deal to apply for a right of abode in no man's land.

To be honest, there is no need for Liu Qian to apply for this kind of thing from the magistrate, and it will be directly entered into the general local official documents. When the magistrate has a look at it and has no objection, it will be considered a pass.Troubling the magistrate with such a trivial matter, not only will not be of any merit, but may be reprimanded for it.

As for whether the Haihan people really built the port or did other things after they settled in the local area, and whether the built port was for commercial or other purposes, Liu Qian didn't care.In fact, he also heard that the port built by Haihan on the small island at the mouth of the Pearl River has a large fort built, and a certain scale of armed personnel is stationed all year round.so what?The Haihan people are not pirates, and they have never had any conflicts with the Ming army. The military operations they took in the territory of the Ming Dynasty were once to wipe out the Guangdong bandits that the government could not do anything about, and the other time they drove away the party that caused the disaster. gang of pirates.

People spend their own money and effort to send people to help the government fight the war. No matter from which point of view, this is actually enough to meet the standard of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.Now they have to take the initiative to sell advanced weapons to Daming. In Liu Qian's view, this kind of behavior is actually a manifestation of the foreigner's heart towards the heavenly dynasty.Coupled with the extra money to be paid, Liu Qian was naturally happy to push this matter forward.

The two discussed behind closed doors for several hours, and after roughly finalizing the matter, they parted happily.He Xi asked Li Sanniang to arrange a girl for Liu Qian to stay with him, and he was not idle, and then the excitement after the completion of the work, spent most of the night on Qiu Ju's bed.

Early the next morning, as soon as the gates of Guangzhou city opened, He Xi's black carriage left the city first.He wanted to hurry back, inform Maliko of the progress made the night before, sort out the corresponding information as soon as possible, and send it back to Victory Port to apply for instructions on the next step.If the situation is as Liu Qian said, then the plan to establish a stronghold on Hong Kong Island must be approved as soon as possible. If this kind of thing is delayed for a long time, there will inevitably be changes. Bian first moved a group of immigrants to settle at the southern tip of Hong Kong Island.

After listening to He Xi's narration, Maliko was no less excited than He Xi. Both of them temporarily put aside their respective affairs and began to draft a report to the base camp.

(End of this chapter)