1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 775 Lobbying the top
Of course, in addition to guessing Haihan's new trends through account information, the main purpose of checking the accounts is to understand the recent operating conditions.Since the branch in Sanya has always been regularly checked by Li Nai, the situation is relatively familiar, and you can find out if there is any abnormal situation by just looking around.And these shopkeepers and stewards all know that their third young master has a very close relationship with the Haihan people, and they can always check with the Haihan people if they find that the accounts are wrong, so they dare not play any tricks in the account books.

When looking at the records of goods entering and leaving the warehouse at his own dock, Li Nai noticed that the data seemed to be somewhat different from his previous impressions, so he asked, "Why are there more spices imported from Nanyang recently?"

The steward in charge of warehouse affairs at the wharf was called Li Bing, who was also a member of the Li clan, so he was Li Nai's peer in terms of seniority.However, he didn't dare to put on airs in front of Li Nai, he quickly bowed and said, "Third young master, the extra Nanyang spices are not from Xifan, but from Haihan."

"How come Haihan's goods are recorded under the entry of Nanyang?" Li Nai asked with some dissatisfaction.

"Third Young Master, the records of this spice have always only recorded the place of origin. As for the owner of the spice, it is recorded separately in the account of the warehouse, so the record of the wharf warehouse only states that it is from Nanyang." Li Bing reminded cautiously.

Li Nai patted his head lightly and said: "Looking at the account book for too long, my mind is confused, and I forgot this one."

Li Bing replied: "The third young master has a lot of affairs, so it is reasonable not to remember these trivial things."

"However, the spices sold by the Haihan people used to be grown by themselves, why are they still importing from Nanyang?" Li Naiqi said: "Could it be that they have received too many spice orders and there is no time to supply them?"

"No, no, they didn't buy this spice in Nanyang and resell it to us." Li Bing waved his hand and said, "This is a product from Jinlan Port."

"Oh? The spices in Cam Ranh Port have already started to be shipped?" Li Nai was a little surprised by this news.

"This year is the first year of production in the local plantation, and the volume is not too large. It is said that next year it will be at least twice as much as this year." Li Bing answered Li Nai's question in an affirmative tone.

The Cam Ranh Port on the south coast of Annan was assigned to Haihan as a concession area after the Annan Civil War. Although Li Nai has not been there in person, he has heard that the local port conditions are very good, and it is even far away. Above Sanya, Haihan intends to build the local area into a large comprehensive port.Of course, in the development of subsidiary projects in the surrounding areas, some of Haihan's top products are naturally indispensable, such as tropical cash crops with a very high return rate.

As an investor with a keen sense of smell, "Furuifeng" will naturally not easily let go of investment projects endorsed by the Haihan Executive Committee. Therefore, there are also "Furuifeng" and other investments in the local plantation parks in Cam Ranh Port. The merchant's shares are among them.The return method chosen when signing the agreement is to obtain a certain share in kind from the local output in the future.The Nanyang spices that have recently arrived at Sanya Port and sent to the warehouse of "Furuifeng" are exactly the share of "Furuifeng" in the local output of Cam Ranh Port.

"The Haihan people... are really fast!" Li Nai had nothing to comment on this except for admiration.

The speed at which Haihan develops overseas colonies is indeed astonishing. It has only been more than two years since the end of the Annan Civil War, but colonial areas like Cam Ranh Port, which have not been developed for too long, have begun to produce output. Li Nai believes that This was enough to make Haihan's competitors in the South China Sea feel ashamed.

Before Li Nai went south this time, he had already heard that the Dutch suffered a big defeat in Batavia, and almost even their own nest was taken over.And this battle is bound to affect the influence of the Dutch in the South China Sea. As the main opponent of Haihan in the South China Sea, it will be difficult for the Dutch to get out of the pit again. After all, the Haihan people are not soft-hearted masters. This kind of opportunity is definitely going to add insult to injury to the Dutchman.

However, Li Nai's judgment is that Haihan probably won't go south immediately. After all, it's been less than half a year since Annbuna Island was in his hands, and the scale of local development probably won't be able to support the supplies needed by the Hainan Fleet to go south.Therefore, Li Nai's judgment is that Haihan will find trouble for the Dutch elsewhere—for example, Dayuan, who is across the sea from Fujian.The local Dutch are lonely overseas, weak and weak, and Batavia is also in trouble, so it must not be able to reach such a far place. If the Haihan people who are close to Dayuan Port have not Taking this opportunity to suppress the Dutch, Li Nai would actually look down on them.Li Nai's previous speculation on the changes in the situation in the Strait is also partly due to considerations in this regard.

Of course, no matter what, Jinlan Port is now producing, which must be a good thing for investors like the Li family to celebrate.Li Nai re-read the warehousing statistics of the spices, silently estimated the corresponding market price in Guangzhou, and already had a rough idea of ​​the return on this investment in his mind.Although it is not an astronomical figure, it should be reasonable to transport it back to Guangzhou and sell it for a few thousand taels of silver.

Li Nai can't accuse Li Bing of not reporting enough details because of his previous negligence. Although he has the authority to check the accounts here, the spice business is indeed not within the scope of his responsibility, and Li Bing has no obligation to report this to him. Variety.

Only half of the accounts were checked, and it was already noon, so Li Nai took advantage of the opportunity to keep these shopkeepers and managers for lunch.It took another two hours in the afternoon before I finally finished the work in a daze.

After dismissing his employees, Li Nai washed his face, and then ordered his followers to prepare sedan chairs and go to the station.He planned to go to Victory Fort again today, continue to brief Schneider, and casually ask whether it is feasible to jointly run a newspaper in Guangzhou.

But Li Nai's luck today seems to be not very good. When he arrived in Victory Fort, he learned that Schneider had made a temporary trip today to inspect the work in Yinggehai—it was said that he was cutting the ribbon for the fourth phase of the expansion project of the salt field that had just been completed in the local area. up.

Originally, it should be Tao Donglai's turn to go on this job. After all, he is the head of the Ministry of Construction. Unfortunately, the Xingang reconstruction project outside Haikou city was also completed today. Let Schneider do the nearest one, and he himself went to Haikou City in the north one day in advance.

The two visiting targets were not in Fort Victory, so Li Nai had no choice but to make a third choice, to talk to Ning Qi.After all, he knows that besides education and civil affairs, Ning Qi is also supervising cultural and publicity affairs. It is also possible to talk to him about running a newspaper.

Ning Qi was in his office, but when Li Nai found him, there were still four or five visitors lined up outside. Seeing that they were all dressed as naturalized officials, he was the only one who stood out in his scholarly attire.

However, Li Nai would not foolishly wait at the end of the line. After all, he often travels to and from the offices of various high-level personnel in Haihan, and the staff around these big shots have also become acquainted.

Ning Qi's secretary was an unjustly imprisoned scholar recruited from Yazhou two years ago. After being rescued by Hai Han, he became naturalized with all his heart, and has been working under Ning Qi's staff ever since.Li Nai used to visit Ning Qi often, so he knew this secretary.After taking the initiative to say hello, the secretary asked him to wait for a while, and went into the room to report to Ning Qi.

It has to be said that people are familiar and easy to handle. After a while, the secretary came out and invited Li Nai to meet Ning Qi first.Li Naichao had to continue queuing up with these few archers, so he went in by himself.

Ning Qi was leaning over the desk and writing quickly, seeing him coming in, he just nodded slightly to signal, Li Nai didn't rush, and sat down on the chair next to him first.After Ning Qi spent a few minutes writing the instructions, he handed over the documents to his subordinates who were waiting beside him, indicating that he could leave.

"Boss Li is in such a hurry to find me, what's the matter?" Ning Qi and Li Nai are also very familiar with each other, and they don't need to exchange polite greetings, and directly cut to the point.

"Come to Shengli Port for business, let's take a look at old friends!" Li Nai put the small pot in his hand on Ningqi's table: "I know you like to drink tea, this is Fenghuang Dancong from Chaozhou. Try it, if you like it, I will get you some more in the future."

"Boss Li, you're being courteous for nothing!" Ning Qi picked up the jar and weighed it in his hands, looked at Li Nai with a smile and joked, "Tell me, what can I do for you?"

Li Nai said sternly: "Mr. Ning's words are off the mark, you and I are good friends, how could I tempt you with small profits?"

"I didn't expect you to be a person with such a strong sense of justice. I misunderstood you." Ning Qi would not believe his words, and continued to joke: "Then if you have nothing urgent, I can only see off the guests first. You also see When we arrived, there were still a bunch of people outside waiting to find me to do business."

"Wait a minute!" Seeing that Ning Qi was really planning to bring tea to see off the guests, Li Nai quickly gave up the plan to continue bickering, and expressed his intention of coming: "I really came to ask you something, you answer my question first, and finish speaking Just withdraw, without delaying your time for too long."

"Let's listen first." Ning Qi nodded in response.

"Yesterday, when I was reading the newspapers at home, I suddenly thought that this kind of practice should not be limited to the areas under your jurisdiction. For example, Guangzhou government can also operate according to the gourd painting and open one or two newspaper offices. What does Ning think?" Li Nai asked tentatively.

Ning Qi glanced at Li Nai: "Are you going to pay for a newspaper?"

Li Nai said seriously: "If Hai Han thinks it's okay, I'm really willing to pay for it."

"Newspapers don't make money as fast as doing sea trade." Ning Qi reminded.

"I understand that." Li Nai nodded and replied, "I didn't bring this up to you for the sake of making money. Even if this business is not profitable, I'm still interested in testing the waters."

"It seems that you have considered the cause and effect very clearly." Ning Qi said with a smile, "Then you think your old Li family's influence in Guangzhou is not big enough?"

"Isn't the influence of Lao Li's family equal to Haihan's influence?" Li Nai responded, "After all, this newspaper cannot be done without your help."

Li Nai had already considered this matter clearly last night. To run a newspaper in Guangzhou, the Li family's connections and financial resources are not too big of a problem. If you are a layman, you will be damned if you can run the newspaper well.If this matter is done, it is indeed as Ning Qi mentioned, the influence and voice of the Li family in the Guangzhou government will definitely increase again, but the corresponding benefits will definitely not be exclusive to the Li family , Haihan will definitely get a lot of benefits from it along the way.Ning Qi must have thought of things that Li Nai could think of even with his toes.

Li Nai also doesn't intend to go back and forth with Ning Qi on this matter, because this matter is not too urgent for both parties, but if it is done, they will both receive benefits, he knows Ning Qi will definitely not refuse his proposal, the only thing he is not sure about is what kind of request Ning Qi will make for this kind of cooperation.

"I personally have no objection to your proposal." Sure enough, Ning Qi's answer was within Li Nai's expectations: "If you can handle the government's emotions on your behalf, I think this is indeed a feasible project."

It would be a lie to say that Hai Han never thought about publishing newspapers in Guangzhou.But this kind of thing is indeed very sensitive. As long as the local government is not stupid enough to explode, it will naturally be aware of how much damage this kind of propaganda has done to the ruling authority of Ming Dynasty.If the Guangzhou Office took the lead in doing this, [-]% would be banned by the government.Even if they dare not offend Haihan too much, they will definitely try to prevent the publication of this kind of publication in Guangzhou.

But if the subject who handles this matter changes roles, the effect may be somewhat different.Even though everyone in Guangzhou knew that the Li family had a close relationship with Hai Han, none of the people in charge of the Li family openly defected to Hai Han, they were still citizens of Daming.And the Li family's connections in the local area are enough to make the government turn a blind eye, as long as they don't make the remarks too extreme.

"As far as the government is concerned, I can come forward to lobby, so don't worry." Li Nai said confidently: "The prefects, notices, judges, and officials of the Guangzhou government, the commanders, co-prefects, and officials who defended the city are all in charge. It's not a problem, we can also bear all the expenses of opening up the joints."

"So generous? Boss Li really impresses me!" Ning Qi praised.

Li Nai waved his hand and said, "If you don't want to do this, you have to burn incense in your yamen every year. Anyway, you have to burn incense, so it's not too late to ask them to do something. The money spent will be spent later It’s earned through revenue from advertising and the like.”

"It's quite thoughtful!" Ning Qi gave a thumbs up this time, he could see that Li Nai had even considered the way of making money in the future, and it was indeed not a joke.

(End of this chapter)