1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 532 Surprise Release
Maritime merchants naturally understand that these are just beautiful words for their own group to say about safeguarding maritime interests.The current scope of activities of the Haihan Fleet is not limited to escort missions, it is even "protecting" the entire Qiongzhou Island.Last month, the Guangzhou Office issued a suspension notice to various merchants. In order to prevent pirates from fleeing abroad on Qiongzhou Island, all ports on the island are only allowed to enter and not to leave. Of course, this ban is only for ordinary people. Haihan’s own Ships are not covered by this ban.

With the existing sea power of the Haihan people, it is already enough to control the waterway from the mainland to Qiongzhou Island, and there is no other force in this sea area that can threaten the interests of Haihan. Will continue to build this formidable gigantic gunboat.If they're not bragging about it, it's something to think about.

Of course, no one dares to bring this kind of matter to the public to question the actions of the Haihan people. The government has turned a blind eye to this. Who is willing to jump out and offend the rich and powerful Haihan people?Besides, Haihan's intention of doing this is quite obvious, it is to let the people present know which side they should sit on. If you want to play tricks, you can weigh whether your own fleet is better than Haihan. Scary warship. .

After visiting the gunboats of the Haihan people, various businessmen returned to the venue with different thoughts, and started this year's general meeting of shareholders.After more than two years of operation, in addition to the original thirteen large shareholders, the current "Qiong Lianfa" has added more than 20 small shareholders who joined in later, and nearly a hundred people attended the meeting. many.

There are not many buildings in Zhennan Port that are suitable for use as a meeting place. In the end, Haihan managed to vacate a warehouse and arrange it as a meeting place.Considering that the space of the venue is relatively large, in order to allow participants who sit a little far away to hear speeches clearly, the conference organizers specially arranged loudspeakers at the four corners of the venue.

Although the venue is a bit shabby, the bosses and shopkeepers who came from all over the place don't mind this - the business discussed during the meeting is often a big deal worth tens of thousands of taels of silver. where is the most important.

Of course, in order to keep the content of the meeting confidential within a certain range of people, the meeting organizers still ordered the militia to impose martial law on the periphery, prohibiting idlers from walking around within 30 meters of the venue.And all the meeting supplies, meals and tea supply in the middle are also arranged for special personnel.

These things are naturally nothing special in the Haihan system with strict organization and clear division of labor. All things have corresponding systems and responsible persons, and the efficiency of operation is naturally much higher than the traditional employment system.But in the eyes of those new to Haihan's business system, they are amazed at this efficient work arrangement.Especially on occasions like this when discussing business, there are hundreds of soldiers standing guard outside with armed guns and live ammunition. This is completely the treatment of high-ranking officials in the imperial court. This is an unprecedented experience for many people.

The main content of the general meeting of shareholders is actually not much different from the time and space before the time traveler came here, and it is also focused on deliberating various proposals.First, the master of ceremonies announces the number of people attending the meeting, the main attendees, and the attendance ratio of major shareholders, so as to determine the effectiveness of the meeting.

Next came the complicated deliberation process. First, the work report proposal for the previous year, then the financial settlement proposal, the profit distribution proposal, the daily related transaction proposal, etc. There were more than ten proposals in total.After these proposals are read out by the drafters, the shareholders and representatives present will conduct an on-site vote, and then count the voting data to determine whether they are passed.And the proposal of each of these proposals will involve the interests of most of the people present, even everyone, so no one will doze off on such an important occasion, and all listen carefully to the speeches on the stage. People read out the content of the motion.

The Ministry of Commerce of Haihan is basically responsible for drafting these proposals, and the audit team composed of people sent by the major shareholders will conduct a special review on the content involving financial calculations. It can be said that the system is quite formal and rigorous.Shareholders can of course put forward their own proposals, but the starting point of shareholders is basically for their own interests, and it is difficult to propose any proposals that can satisfy other shareholders, so the number is not large.

Since the system and power structure framework of "Qiong Lianfa" was basically formulated by Haihan, it has extremely high control over the development direction of this joint-stock company from the very beginning. The content of the annual shareholders' meeting, Basically, it is proceeding according to the script prepared by the Ministry of Commerce.Although there are more than a dozen major shareholders, the actual control has always been in the hands of the Haihan Ministry of Commerce.

And the shareholders did not show any dissatisfaction with this situation. After all, Haihan's strength lies here. No matter whether it is more than money or more bold and ruthless, no one dares to challenge Haihan's authority.

The general meeting of shareholders this time also followed the trend of the previous two years, and the discussion and deliberation of the proposals went relatively smoothly.Of course, part of the reason for this is that the shareholders are paying attention to the surprise announcement that has become a common practice at the general meeting of shareholders, thinking that the previous boring deliberation process can be ended sooner.

The deliberation process on the first day was uneventful. Shareholders had nothing to criticize about the annual work report. The various commitments made by Haihan people on investment projects in advance have basically been fulfilled. Everyone is more concerned about how these projects will earn for themselves. How much money has been paid, and how and in what proportion the profits are distributed.

After the meeting that day, the meeting organizer also specially opened more than a dozen banquet tables to entertain the participants, and all kinds of exquisite glass tableware, cooking spices, drinks, and even some ingredients used in the banquet were specially prepared from the Sanya Games. over here.This is undoubtedly a very high enjoyment for the rich who have already regarded the Haihan lifestyle as a new trend.Moreover, each participant received a beautiful souvenir after the banquet - a glass paperweight engraved with the words "Commemoration of the General Meeting of Shareholders of Qiongzhou United Development Group Company in the third year of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty".Although this thing does not have high economic value, it is still a limited product produced by Sanya Glass Products Factory, and it can show the identity of the holder, so the collection value is quite high.

The content of the deliberation on the second day was the profit-related proposals that everyone was very concerned about. Dozens of shareholders got different returns according to their shareholding ratios and investment projects.Of course, the specific income figures for each shareholder will not be announced at the meeting. The only public data is the total income of each project and the corresponding profit distribution ratio.

However, it is not difficult for interested people to calculate the general operating scale and profitability of "Qiong Lianfa" from the data released at the meeting.And one thing in common of all business projects is that the profitability is not bad.Except for some crop projects with a long profit cycle, almost all other projects related to industrial manufacturing, shipping, commerce, culture, etc. have achieved good returns.Major shareholders like "Furuifeng" who have poured money into almost every project can get a profit distribution notice after the profit report of each project is read out, which is really the envy of many people.

Most of the deliberations on the third day were related to trading methods. After Haihan developed Wanshan Port and Zhennan Port successively, there were more options for delivery of goods with maritime merchants in various places. This process involved warehousing, Transshipment and other expenses, so the relevant departments have made moderate revisions to the previous transaction regulations.

After the agenda of the third day ended, the participants finally got their long-awaited "surprise presentation".Of course, there is nothing to be surprised about, because after the meeting, everyone's eyes have been locked on Schneider.As the big treasurer of Haihan's foreign trade, he is responsible for the task of announcing the published content every year.

Sure enough, Schneider stood up this year and walked to the podium in front of him with a document book.

Schneider raised his hand and raised the black leather document book in his hand and said, "I know it's actually what you've been waiting for, not me!"

There was a burst of good-natured laughter from the audience, and Schneider continued: "After the annual general meeting of shareholders, we will announce part of the development projects for the next year, but every year, it seems that there are no surprises. And I heard that This year everyone has already speculated about the next area we plan to spend money on, and many people probably already have their own answers in their hearts..."

Schneider looked around at the crowd and said slowly: "But what I'm going to read next may be beyond the expectations of most of you. Whether it's surprise or joy, the investment projects we've prepared are all different. It will continue to bring considerable economic benefits to everyone. The investment projects announced below will start to raise funds three days later, and will start to be implemented after 30 days. All projects, Haihan Department of Commerce occupy at least [-]% of the shares, public If the part on sale is not sold out, the difference will be made up by us."

Schneider opened the cover and began to read the first project: "North of Qiongzhou Fucheng, the new commercial port project at the mouth of the Nandu River, the total cost is 50 taels of silver, and the total construction period is eighteen months..."

Before Schneider finished reading the content, there was an uproar in the audience.Those present here have had many conjectures and speculations about the location of Haihan's next investment, but no one thought that this location would be located near the power center of Qiongzhou Island.

For maritime merchants, Haikou Port near Fucheng is naturally well-known. Before the two ports in Sanya appeared, this place was the largest and most prosperous port on Qiongzhou Island, and it was also the trade distribution center of Qiongzhou Island.However, due to the impact of Sanya in recent years, Haikou Port has gradually begun to decline. Its old port facilities and hydrological conditions of sedimentation are indeed inferior to the two large ports built by Haihan people in Sanya.If it weren't for the fact that there is such an important place as Fucheng next to it, with such a settled population of tens of thousands, maybe the speed of desertion would be even faster.

But whether this place is prosperous or deserted, it is a vital area under the eyes of the Ming government, guarding an important position in the Qiongzhou Strait in the north of Qiongzhou Island. How could the government hand it over to a group of businessmen?What's more, this group of people is not from the Ming Dynasty, but the survivors of the Han people who drifted from overseas.

Looking at the history of the Haihan people's prosperity, it seems that they did not have such radical behavior before. Almost all investment projects are implemented in their sphere of influence, such as the Sanya area in Qiongnan.In this kind of place, the Ming government is often out of reach, and the Haihan people can implement their set of public land ownership in the local area, concentrate all the land in their own hands, and then carry out large-scale development.And if this kind of practice is moved to Fucheng, will the government still pretend to be deaf and dumb?
There are probably only two reasons for this uncharacteristic behavior of the Haihan people. One is that their brains are burned out due to fever, which is obviously not in line with their usual rational behavior.The second possibility is that they have been able to control the situation in the surrounding areas of Fucheng, but this means that the Ming government has lost the ability to control the strength of this area.

Of course, there have been similar situations before. The Yacheng government office near Sanya has long been evacuated by the Haihan people. What an influence.However, the Qiongnan area is vast and sparsely populated after all, with a population of only a few tens of thousands even including the Li and Miao natives. The Ming rule in the area is not particularly stable at all.Besides, the Haihan people have not done anything excessive after taking control of the local area, let alone rebellious actions. what a threat.

It wasn't until recently that the Haihan people sent troops to Qiongbei to recover several cities captured by the pirate army for the government. Most people realized that Haihan's power was far more than just controlling Qiongnan. It doesn't seem to be a problem to expand the territory of the country several times outward.

However, before the meeting, most people were still very optimistic, thinking that Haihan would rationally control his sphere of influence within the Qiongnan-dominated area.But now the Haihan people have publicly placed the investment and development site of "Qiong Lianfa" next year near the capital city of Qiongzhou, which seems to prove that this disturbing development direction is becoming a reality.

Schneider read something later, the venue was noisy, at least half of the people didn't hear it very clearly.After Schneider finished reading this paragraph, he put down the document book and asked the participants with a smile: "Everyone, are you interested in participating in our new plan?"

(End of this chapter)