1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 545 Kill the chicken to warn the monkey

The atmosphere in today's venue was not much better than the previous few times. Qiu Yuan sat on the main seat, and first looked at the expressions of the gentry present. Most of them had calm faces and did not look at For Qiu Yuan, it is conceivable that this group of people's attitude towards today's meeting should be mostly perfunctory.

"I invite everyone to come here today. I want to discuss with you. Recently, the wharf of Haikou Port in this prefecture will undergo a renovation and expansion project. If you have any opinions, you may wish to share them and discuss them together." Qiu Yuan didn't go around in circles, and came up immediately Straight to the point, he explained the theme of today's meeting.

However, there was obviously a lack of supporters like Fatty Yuan from Danzhou at the scene. After Qiu Yuan finished speaking, there was silence in the venue, and no one answered the question.This situation was actually within Qiu Yuan's expectations. After all, in the previous meetings with similar themes, cold situations also frequently occurred.

However, today is different from the past few meetings. Qiu Yuan has made full preparations for this in advance.Seeing these people's deliberate indifference gestures, Qiu Yuan smiled coldly and continued: "Considering that Haikou Port has always been an important gateway for entering and exiting Fucheng, we will conduct qualification certification for merchant ships using this port in the future. Qualified ships are not allowed to enter the port at will in the future!"

As soon as Qiu Yuan said these words, the faces of some people present changed slightly.As the most important port in the north of Qiongzhou Island, Haikou Port originally assumed about [-]% of the cargo throughput of Qiongzhou Island’s shipping industry. Although this proportion has declined year by year after the rise of Sanya in the south, it is now at most about [-]%. Most merchants rely on shipping to survive. If ships cannot enter Haikou Port, it will undoubtedly greatly affect their business channels.

On the left side of Qiu Yuan, someone asked, "Excuse me, Director Qiu, who should certify this qualification to enter Hong Kong? And how should it be certified?"

What Qiu Yuan wanted was for someone to ask a question, and he immediately responded: "Before answering this question, let me explain why this threshold was set up. Everyone should know that the previous pirates landed and attacked the city from Danzhou, but Why did Danzhou and other prefectures and counties fail to warn in time, so that the entire Qiongbei government could not organize an effective counterattack? I can tell you the answer here, because the pirates sent a large number of They went ashore in Danzhou Bay, lurking in various places inside and outside the city and mobilized at the same time, snatching a city gate and letting the pirate army enter the city. If it weren't for their limited strength and manpower, the same thing would probably happen again in Fucheng..."

Qiu Yuan paused, and then said: "The reason is that the guards in Danzhou usually neglected to guard against attacks from the sea, and did not conduct strict checks on the ships and personnel entering and leaving the port, which caused bad consequences. The most effective way to prevent similar vicious incidents from happening again is to conduct qualification certification for ships entering and leaving the port. As for who will do the certification... Originally, this matter should be done by the government, but in the current situation, everyone You all know that since the Governor has entrusted us Haihan to temporarily manage the affairs here, of course it is up to us to conduct the audit and certification."

"The standard is very simple. As long as you cooperate with us and are willing to abide by and implement the various systems we promulgated, and have no record of bad behavior, you only need to submit a written application to us and deposit a certain amount of security deposit in Haihan Bank. Then you can obtain the permission to enter and exit Haikou Port.” Qiu Yuan especially emphasized: “We will not charge any additional fees during this process, and the deposit in Haihan Bank can be refunded at any time, as long as the entry and exit permit is cancelled.”

After Qiu Yuan finished speaking, the businessmen present could no longer keep calm.The reason why they kept silent at the meeting was that they were unwilling to cooperate with Haihan, and the so-called "certification standard" announced by Qiu Yuan was obviously that the Haihan people planned to come according to their own preferences. The sea trade merchants that Han cooperates with will obviously be excluded by this certification threshold, and only those who are willing to humbly hug Haihan's thigh will have the opportunity to continue playing in this game.

As for depositing a certain amount of security deposit in Haihan Bank, this condition is a disguised threat in everyone's eyes - if you don't obey, then there is probably no chance to get the money back from the Haihan people , which is obviously another harsh condition that is unacceptable.

The person who asked the question earlier retorted: "Director Qiu's words are wrong. The pirate invasion is indeed the negligence of the guards, but it is not the fault of us and other merchants. It is a good thing to strictly check the port, but why should it be done?" Set up this so-called certification qualification to embarrass me?"

Immediately, four or five people followed suit, expressing their dissatisfaction with Qiu Yuan's unilateral announcement of such deceitful policies.Qiu Yuan was not in a hurry, he picked up the teacup and took a sip of the tea. After those people had finished their fuss, he slowly put down the teacup and asked coldly: "It's all over? Who else has dissatisfaction? You can stand up."

Perhaps this cold tone played a certain deterrent effect, but now no one is in a hurry to refute him.Then Qiu Yuan said slowly: "The person who asked the question just now, if I remember correctly, should be Zhang Fucheng, the owner of the local 'Fucheng Boat Company'?"

"That's right, Director Qiu has a good memory." The man slightly raised his hand and clasped his fist as a signal.

"Boss Zhang, can you explain to me, seven days before the pirate army attacked Fucheng, what kind of cargo was shipped out by the sailboat numbered 'Bingqi' under the name of your shipping company? Who was the person who received the cargo?"

"I don't really remember what happened... a few months ago." Zhang Fucheng shook his head, and did not answer Qiu Yuan's question directly.

"It doesn't matter if you don't remember, I remember!" Qiu Yuan sneered: "That day your ship sailed from Haikou Port to Danzhou, and the cargo it transported was a batch of arms, a total of [-] boxes of matchlock guns, [-] rounds Lead bullets, six hundred catties of gunpowder, and two small cannons. The person who received the goods was a man named Huang Ting, do you remember now?"

Zhang Fucheng's face changed and he said: "I don't remember this incident, Director Qiu may have made a mistake, right?"

Qiu Yuan didn't pay attention to his defense, and continued on his own: "This man named Huang Ting was captured by our militia army during the battle to regain Danzhou two months ago. His real identity, In fact, he was one of the pirates who invaded Qiongzhou Island last time, and the weapons he bought from Boss Zhang were used to arm the pirate army. These little-known pirates were able to sweep Qiong Bei, Boss Zhang also contributed a lot!"

"You...you are slandering a good person!" Zhang Fucheng got up anxiously and retorted: "These weapons are owned by someone else, and I didn't sell them to him..."

"Then you are admitting that these weapons were indeed transported to Danzhou for trade?" Qiu Yuan immediately caught the loophole in his words.

"I..." Zhang Fucheng lost his words for a moment, and he could only explain in a helpless way: "I'm just transporting the goods, and I don't know what is packed in those boxes. This matter has nothing to do with me!"

"Boss Zhang, you don't give up if you don't see the Yellow River!" Qiu Yuan shook his head helplessly and said, "Bring the evidence!"

Immediately, someone presented evidence, and Qiu Yuan showed everyone a piece of written evidence: "This is the shipping document issued by the 'Fucheng Shipping Company' at that time, which clearly stated the contents of the goods, and your Zhang Mou The most important thing is that there is no amount stated in the freight column. If you are helping someone else deliver the goods, don’t you need to charge freight?”

"It's because the consignor has prepaid the freight in full in advance, so the amount of the freight is not stated on the waybill..." Zhang Fucheng was talking, and suddenly found that the people around him looked at him with obvious eyesight. Variety.

Qiu Yuan shook his head and said, "Boss Zhang, why bother with your futile excuses? As I said just now, the person who handed over this batch of goods to you has been caught by us before. Don't you want to wait for us to come back from here?" Danzhou sent people here to confront you face-to-face before pleading guilty?"

Zhang Fucheng was also impatient: "What crime do I plead guilty to? I didn't collude with pirates..."

"Oh, you said you didn't collude with the pirates? Then tell me who entrusted you with the transfer of these weapons? Who is colluding with the pirates? If you can find out the culprit, then maybe everyone can still believe your defense." The way Qiu Yuan looked at him now was like a fox staring at its prey under its claws.

Zhang Fucheng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly shouted: "It's you! Yes, it's you Haihan people! I remembered that the person who came to consign this batch of goods was the person from your Haihan office in Fucheng! I He didn't want to take business from you Haihan people, so he specially added 100 taels of silver to the price!"

Qiu Yuan couldn't help laughing: "You mean, we paid you to transport a batch of weapons to Danzhou and hand them over to the people sent by the pirates, and then the pirates used these weapons to attack Qiongzhou Island. Now we have captured The pirate's witness, seized the transaction evidence, and revealed your true face in front of so many local gentry. The final purpose is to prove to everyone that we, Haihan, are the real mastermind behind the scenes? Is our brain broken? Or are you not telling the truth?"

Zhang Fucheng only felt a chill on his back. He knew that he was not lying. The person who came to the shipping company to haul the goods was indeed a staff member of the Haihan office. The Haihan people often sell some sporadic arms to the local wealthy landlords for private arming. At that time, they didn't take it seriously, and reluctantly accepted the sale for the sake of money.After the goods arrived at the place, the handover was completed smoothly, and Zhang Fucheng forgot about it.Unexpectedly, after a few months, this matter would be revealed by Qiu Yuan on this occasion, and he would be nailed to death on the big crime of "collaborating with pirates".

But now obviously no one will believe the truth he said. The series of reasoning that Qiu Yuan just said is indeed an unsolvable paradox. There is no reason for the Haihan people to spend such a lot of trouble to buckle themselves as "colluding with pirates". Bystanders will only think that Zhang Fucheng is lying and trying to blame Hai Han.Unless he still has a way to confront the person who negotiated the deal with him in the first place, but the Haihan people dug such a deep hole early, how could they keep this person in Fucheng?
Qiu Yuan looked at the dumb Zhang Fucheng with a sarcasm, and felt a faint pleasure in his heart after abusing others.This Zhang Fucheng is a well-known anti-Haihan faction in Fucheng. He is quite disgusted with the pervasive development of Haihan in the Daming area. In the past year, he has done many things that have caused headaches for the Fucheng office. won.

After the Liaoyuan Project was settled, the Ministry of Security formulated a series of solutions to certain local instability factors, and it was not a stupid method with extremely low technical content such as kidnapping and assassination, but there were many scruples in execution.Adhering to the principle of maximizing benefits, the plan formulated by the Ministry of Security is relatively complicated, but the effect obtained is by no means comparable to simple and crude methods.

The plan against Zhang Fucheng was planned and implemented by the Ministry of Security. The ship of Fucheng Shipping Co. was hired with a higher salary, and a batch of old arms eliminated by the military were transported to Danzhou.As for the party receiving the goods, it is naturally also a member of the security department. If it is really necessary, the security department can even cooperate with Qiu Yuan to "escort" the handling personnel to Fucheng to stage a complete good show.When planning this plan back then, Zhang Fucheng didn't leave any chance for a comeback. All the details were considered very carefully. dead end.

If Zhang Fucheng could change his face and embrace Shanghai Han's thigh after the war, he would probably be able to continue to be the owner of his shipping company, and he should make a fortune. It's okay to be a small rich man.But after Haihan took over Fucheng, this guy was unwilling to be lonely as always. He jumped out from time to time to sing against the temporary management committee led by Qiu Yuan, and encouraged other local businessmen not to cooperate with Haihan, and even tried to challenge Haihan's no-sail order. It's no wonder that Qiu Yuan wanted to attack him harshly.

Looking at Zhang Fucheng, who was ashen-faced, Qiu Yuan said coldly, "Boss Zhang, do you have anything else to say?"

Zhang Fucheng murmured: "It wasn't me, I was really wronged..."

"At this point, you still refuse to plead guilty, you seem really stubborn!" Qiu Yuan pretended to be heartbroken and shook his head: "Everyone, you have all seen it, it's not that I don't give Boss Zhang a chance to reform himself. , but he refuses to obey the law at all. If anyone still thinks he is innocent, they might as well raise their hands."

(End of this chapter)