1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 781 Bargaining
Of course, Qian Tiandun understood what Dong Yanyun meant, and smiled and said: "Please allow me to ask bluntly, Master Xu is planning to step on us to gain a chance to be in the top position?"

Although Xu Xinsu was born as a businessman, and his main business in his early years was smuggling, which is an illegal business, but from the fact that he spent money to buy an official and went ashore after laundering, it can be seen that the goal of his life is not just money. , it is equally important for him to be able to obtain the fame of a glorious ancestor.And it took only six short years for Xu Xinsu to climb all the way from the chief of the navy bought with money to the current position of the general of the Fujian army. This kind of rocket-like promotion speed is enough to envy others.

Of course, a large part of the credit for this proud achievement has to be credited to Haihan. If it weren’t for the Haihan people’s continuous military assistance for several years, Xu Xinsu’s accumulated military achievements have been promoted all the way, probably as early as 1628. At that time, he died under the attack of Shibazhi as in the original history, and the person who replaced him as a high-ranking official in the Fujian military was none other than his big enemy Zheng Zhilong.

Compared with Li Dan, the Dutchman, and the official Daming that Xu Xinsu had played for in the past, Haihan's strong support is undoubtedly the most powerful pillar.Not only gave guns to guns, but also helped Xu Xinsu train the army and train officers, which played a great role in promoting the combat effectiveness of the Fujian Navy. Before 1627, the Fujian army faced the rampant attack of Shibazhi. Every time they fought, they would suffer more or less losses. Later, they could only choose to retreat and avoid fighting. The dignified Fujian navy did not even dare to make it public. Cruise in the Fujian Strait waters.

Since the key to life and death must rely on Haihan's military assistance, Xu Xinsu has always obeyed Haihan's words, and sometimes he can even describe his attitude as submissive.In the history of cooperation between the two parties, Xu Xinsu did not ask Haihan too much beyond military aid—at most, there were some exclusive clauses in the details of business cooperation.And Haihan will also arrange for Xu Xinsu and his army to take advantage of the opportunity to brush up their achievements, such as the battle of Nanri Island the previous year and the Battle of Penghu this year. All belonged to Xu Xinsu.

Dong Yanyun heard Qian Tiandun's bad tone, and immediately explained: "Master Xu has no such intentions, but I hope that the heads of your side can be more considerate. You often say that cooperation should pay attention to 'win-win', if you can push it again Give Master Xu a hand, and you will definitely get corresponding rewards in the future."

"Master Xu deserves credit, we will naturally make arrangements. But what should be given and what should not be given, our executive committee also has a clear attitude." After hearing this explanation, Qian Tiandun's tone was not too strong For the better: "If you don't give it, you can't grab it!"

"General Qian misunderstood, the villain has no such intentions!" Dong Yanyun's heart trembled when he heard it, and he quickly stood up and bowed to apologize: "It was the villain's slip of the tongue, General Qian is not to blame!"

Although it is important to help Xu Xinsu win the support of the Haihan people on the issue of the nominal ownership of Taiwan Island, if they offend the Haihan people, especially the Haihan generals stationed in Fujian, it will not be worth the candle.Dong Yanyun has dealt with Haihan people for several years, and he also knows that General Qian opened up the situation for Haihan to gain a foothold in Annan before he came to Fujian. Annan's various policies were almost all decided by him with one word, which also shows the trust of the Haihan Executive Committee in him.After Qian Tiandun was transferred to Fujian, in addition to commanding the Haihan militia, all of Haihan's organizations in Fujian were assigned to him for management. Don't expect the Haihan Executive Committee to make a decision to the contrary.

Qian Tiandun's perception and attitude towards Fujian officials and Xu Xinsu will largely affect the position of the Haihan Executive Committee.And this position will directly affect Haihan's support for Xu Xinsu in the future. Dong Yanyun knew the importance of it, so he immediately stood up and apologized.

"I didn't mean to blame you." Qian Tiandun's tone softened a little at this time: "Everyone has to plan for themselves. Master Xu is self-motivated, and I can understand that. Who doesn't want to have an extreme person?" What about the minister's day? Our Haihan's support for Master Xu should be obvious to all, but we do not intend to use it as a bargaining condition in Taiwan Island. If Master Xu wants to make contributions, there will be others in the future opportunities. As you said just now, what we consider is how to achieve a 'win-win' result in the cooperation. If the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for us, we don't need to make a request from Mr. Xu, we will also consider it .”

"Yes, yes, it's because General Qian thought carefully, and the villain was the one who was abrupt." Dong Yanyun apologized hastily.

Since this matter could not be negotiated, and Qian Tiandun also expressed his attitude, Dong Yanyun had no choice but to give up his plan to continue persuading the other party on this topic, and instead raised another issue: "Then, can Fujian business people enter your business in Taiwan?" Is the port on the island operating business?"

The so-called Fujian business people mainly refer to the Xu family and the interest groups they represent. Qian Tiandun understood the meaning of the other party as soon as he heard it, and he was already prepared for this: "Of course, for We have always welcomed normal commercial investment. We will build a large-scale comprehensive port city on the west coast of Taiwan Island that is no less than Zhangzhou Yuegang. The administrative and economic center of Fujian. If businessmen and friends in Fujian are interested, they can go to the local inspection now.”

"Could it be that your side has already broken ground on Taiwan Island?" Dong Yanyun asked tentatively.

Qian Tiandun nodded slightly, answering Dong Yanyun's question.

Dong Yanyun was a little anxious now, and the Haihan people didn't allow any buffer time. Obviously, they didn't want Fujian to intervene in this matter from the very beginning.The matter was not exposed until the ground was broken on Taiwan Island. If the Fujian side organizes personnel and materials, it will definitely not be able to interfere with the local development process.

Dong Yanyun tentatively asked: "Then are there any merchants from other places who have settled here?"

"Li Dou, you can tell Mr. Dong about the business development situation." Qian Tiandun handed over the matter to Li Dou, who is in charge of civil affairs and business affairs, with a single sentence.

"Because some of the materials and personnel we need to develop Taiwan Island depart from Guangzhou, so the local merchants did get the news earlier than those here in Fujian." Li Dou admitted this without any concealment. It’s useless. After the Fujianese go to Kaohsiung, they will naturally find that their counterparts from Guangdong have already started building houses there.

"This... After all, this is the sea area of ​​Fujian. Isn't it unfair for you to do this?" Dong Yanyun couldn't help complaining.

"Mr. Dong probably forgot that in the cooperation agreement signed by Mr. Xu and us two years ago, it was stated that after Penghu was taken back, the waters east of Penghu in the strait belonged to Haihan. We have the right to In exercising maritime jurisdiction, as long as it does not harm the rights and interests of the Fujian government, we can carry it out in this area. Moreover, Taiwan Island is not the territory of Ming Dynasty, and you have no reason to criticize our actions for public or private purposes." Li Li Dou replied without giving an inch.

Li Dou's words are well-founded. When Xu Xin asked Hai Han for help, he indeed signed a lot of "unequal agreements".And Xu Xinsu, who still couldn't see the future situation clearly at that time, naturally didn't expect Haihan to develop and grow so quickly, extending its tentacles to Fujian.Penghu was still in the hands of the powerful Shibazhi at that time, and Xu Xinsu did not expect that the Haihan people would directly drive him out of the Strait area in two years, and the various agreements signed before that became a bondage The Fujian government has tied the ropes one after another.

Of course, if Xu Xinsu was strong enough, he could also ignore the agreements signed at that time, but his partner was such a powerful force as Hai Han.To unilaterally tear up the agreement at that time, Xu Xinsu must not have dared to do such a thing, and there seems to be no other better way to deal with it than to suffer this dark loss with a dull head.

Dong Yanyun's jaw-dropping expression at this time is a direct reflection of this feeling. He really did not expect Haihan's attitude to change so quickly during this period.Li Dou's attitude at least shows one thing. Haihan doesn't want to see Xu Xinsu continue to maintain a dominant position in the region's trade system, so he has taken confidentiality measures for Fujian on the development of Taiwan Island. Merchants from Guangdong were introduced.In this way, even if Fujian follows up later, it will be difficult to completely eliminate the local influence of Guangdong counterparts.

Dong Yanyun shook his head and said: "Your move... is inappropriate! The trade along the coast of Fujian has always been in charge of the chamber of commerce in the four coastal states and one prefecture. Even the counterparts from Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang all follow Fujian's rules. Acting, if you do this, it may be out of style!"

The four prefectures and one prefecture mentioned by Dong Yanyun refer to Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Funing prefecture and Xinghua prefecture, which are five prefectures near the sea. More than [-]% of Fujian's maritime merchants come from these areas. Gradually formed business alliances at all levels with a strong local flavor. Foreign maritime merchants entering Fujian waters to do business would indeed be restricted by many unofficial systems.However, Haihan's approach is undoubtedly directly abandoning the entire Fujian business district, which will naturally cause dissatisfaction among relevant people.

Li Dou responded: "We recognize and respect the rules of the Fujian Local Chamber of Commerce in the four states and one prefecture along the coast of Fujian, but the port of Taiwan Island is not considered the coast of Fujian. This area belongs to Haihan, so we will follow Haihan's usual rules. The operation method is used to operate. Sanya Port, Danzhou Port, Shengli Port, how these places operate, and the ports on Taiwan Island will be the same in the future.”

These ports that Li Dou mentioned all implement Haihan’s free trade policy, that is, any personnel and ships that abide by Haihan’s regulations can enter the port to engage in trading activities after obtaining permission.Even for enemies like the Netherlands and Portugal who have fought against Haihan on the battlefield, their merchants can also obtain the right to trade in Haihan's port through legal channels.As for the exclusive terms that the Fujian side is counting on, they do not exist in these places.Unless the Haihan people want to exclude a certain party from their own trading system, it is basically impossible for others to let the Haihan people set exclusivity clauses according to their own wishes.

Dong Yanyun said anxiously: "Your operation has allowed the friends in Guangdong to take the lead. When the businessmen from Fujian go to the local area, I'm afraid there will be no docks to berth!"

Li Dou smiled and said, "Mr. Dong doesn't have to worry about this matter. The place we have chosen has a coastline that can be used to build a wharf. The coastline is tens of miles long, and the terrain is much better than Zhangzhou Yuegang. Mr. Dong knew it after he went to see it on the spot.”

"Is this true?" Dong Yanyun's anxiety eased a little after hearing such a description.If all the ports built by the Haihan people in Taiwan were occupied by the Cantonese, it would be difficult for him to bear Xu Xinsu's anger after he returned.If you can build your own exclusive terminal and trading organization, then everyone can play according to their own abilities.

"If Mr. Dong thinks it's necessary, I can arrange a boat to take you to the place to have a look right away. Seeing is believing." Li Dou responded calmly.At present, it has been a week since the construction of Kaohsiung Port started, and the first phase of the port project has basically completed the enclosure, so it doesn't hurt to let Dong Yanyun go and have a look.

"Okay, okay, then there's Director Lao Li!" Dong Yanyun hurriedly stood up, and gave Li Dou a deep bow.Although this young Haihan official was estimated to be about the same age as his children, Dong Yanyun still showed enough respect for him.After all, Haihan is famous for appointing young officials. The Haihan people stationed in Fuguang and Guangxi provinces are relatively young. No one dares to say whether these young people will enter the highest authority of Haihan in the future, so Dong Yanyun is also very careful in his attitude towards people.

The straight-line distance from Magong Port to Kaohsiung Port in Taiwan is only [-] to [-] nautical miles. Haihan's clippers only take half a day to get there, and they can go back and forth between the two places on the same day, so there will be no delay.However, Dong Yanyun didn't intend to wait until he came back from Taiwan before reporting to his superiors. Instead, he immediately wrote a letter and handed it to his subordinates, ordering him to send him back to Zhangzhou and hand it over to Xu Xinsu.

One step at a time, one step at a time, under the condition that the counterparts in Guangdong have already set off early and took the lead, no matter how much the Fujian side complains, it will not help. When the gap between the two sides has not widened, make up for the lost time.

(End of this chapter)