Chapter 1549
Cooperation Form
Chapter 1549 Cooperation Form
Of course, there are many greedy officials in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise the southeast coast would not have been infiltrated by Haihan's money offensive in just a few years.Among the local officials that Shi Diwen met in Zhejiang, most of them would not refuse anyone, and when they received money, they would only think too little and not too much.
Of course, when officials reach a certain level, they will no longer ask for money in such a naked way. They will generally choose to conduct business cooperation with Haihan in certain fields, and use more advanced operation methods to obtain more stable income, rather than simply A rough one-shot deal.Local officials of the fourth and fifth ranks generally make full use of the power at hand to reach a long-term cooperative relationship with Haihan.For example, Qu Yutong, the prefect of Ningbo, is a model of such officials. Not only is he married to Haihan, but he can also allow Ningbo Prefecture, which is the closest to Zhoushan Island where Haihan people are entrenched, to enjoy the dividends brought about by import and export trade, and let the government The economic level of the lower regions can be improved with the help of Haihan's commercial system.
Before Shi Diwen came to Hangzhou this time, he had also imagined what kind of attitude Wang Ji would have, but he thought that since the other party was already a senior member of the party, he must have been speechless when talking about the conditions for the exchange of benefits. It will also be more cryptic, maybe it's a situation where both sides are going around and playing charades.But the actual situation is obviously different from his estimation. Wang Ji not only speaks bluntly, but also shows a very clear attitude. He doesn't seem to have much interest in common operations such as commodity franchises and plantations. interest, or the temptation of these things is not enough for him.
Since Wang Ji took the initiative to ask about other benefits, Shi Diwen didn't need to play Tai Chi with him anymore, and immediately said very bluntly: "Of course there are greater benefits, but it depends on Mr. Wang The level of cooperation has reached. Perhaps Mr. Wang can openly and honestly talk about what kind of benefits he wants."
Wang Ji had no expression on his face, his eyes were fixed on Shi Diwen's face, as if he wanted to figure out from his expression whether the words were for the occasion or a sincere suggestion.A person like Shi Diwen would naturally not be overwhelmed by a civil official like Wang Ji, but he just looked back with a smile and was not moved by him at all.
Wang Ji saw that Shi Diwen's official authority was not easy to use, so he could only give up this plan at the moment, and asked in a deep voice: "I heard that after the imperial court opens up business, your country will take action in Zhejiang? Shi Diwen Can the general explain it?"
Shi Diwen was not sure what Wang Ji meant, so he asked first: "Action? I don't know what action Master Wang heard about?"
Wang Jidao: "Your country is too underestimating me, Daming. Is it true that I am so blind that I can't see the small actions I have made in various businesses in the coastal state capital recently? You want so many industries to submit to your country's command Scheduling, what is the purpose of this?" After speaking, there was even a faint tone of asking questions.
The series of measures that Haihan has recently taken in the coastal states of Zhejiang Province is aimed at integrating various industries as much as possible, grasping the right to speak of these industries and the power to formulate standards, so as to achieve the goal of economically controlling these industries.When Haihan can control these basic industries that are related to the national economy and the people's livelihood, it will become easier to have an impact on the economy of the entire region, so that he will have more leverage to bargain with Daming on political issues.
It is not surprising that Wang Ji can understand these actions of Haihan. After all, the governor of a province has great authority, and he will have all kinds of strange intelligence resources in his hands. When it is time to share intelligence information with the Secretary for Political Affairs and Envoys.Although the methods Haihan did in the coastal prefecture of Zhejiang Province were fairly covert, there were many participants and there was not much secrecy at all. As long as you search carefully, it is not difficult to find Haihan's new talents in these industries. trend.
However, Haihan chose this way of doing things, so he naturally took into account the reaction of the Daming government after it was aware of it. It is difficult to come up with any effective countermeasures to stop it. The most likely thing is that an official at a certain level will come forward to make a verbal protest, but there will be no substantive means.After all, under the general trend of building and trading between the two countries, any behavior by the Ming government that undermines the relationship between the two countries may be regarded as an extremely serious provocation.
Shi Diwen once considered that if the Ming side wanted to lodge a protest, it might be negotiated by a certain prefect, but he did not expect that this role would be played by Zhejiang Chief Minister Wang Jilai himself.And Shi Diwen was also a little uncertain, whether Wang Ji really planned to ask the crime, or whether he wanted to use this as a condition to bargain with himself on other matters.
Shi Diwen decided to respond to the other party's doubts with an official attitude first: "My lord Wang may have misunderstood something. Our country has always acted openly and aboveboard. Wherever there are big and small actions, they are all normal business methods. Our businessmen are active in Daming. During this period, I have always abided by the law, if there is something that violates the laws of the Ming Dynasty, then please ask Mr. Wang to point it out, or simply deal with it according to the law."
Shi Diwen would not admit to the other party's accusation, killing him was a normal measure in business operations. If Wang Ji really wanted to bring the relevant Haihan merchants to justice, then it might not be Haihan who couldn't stand it first, but those who were related to him. Haihan has in-depth cooperation with local officials at all levels.Even if Wang Ji has a high position and power in Zhejiang, it would still be a little too much for him to act as a stumbling block to the entire officialdom in this matter. When there is chaos in the coastal prefecture, he, the chief envoy, will probably have to take the blame for it .
Wang Ji probably didn't expect Shi Diwen's attitude to be so tough, and he didn't even counter-offer, but directly put on a posture of dying.Whether arresting the Haihan businessman will have any effect is hard to say, but Shi Diwen and the stakeholders of the local government will certainly not stand idly by.No matter what Wang Ji's intentions are, Shi Diwen doesn't want him to easily gain the upper hand.
Tough to tough, Shi Diwen's response really stepped on Wang Ji's rhythm.Wang Ji originally wanted to overwhelm Shi Diwen in this way so that he could take the initiative in the subsequent negotiations, but obviously he underestimated Shi Diwen's strength a bit, and this performance did not work in front of the other party at all. Some effects, but Shi Diwen fought back in the same way.He didn't even think about it, Shi Diwen, a general in the army who has fought many battles in the South and North, would be overwhelmed by a few words of intimidation, let alone Wang Ji, even if Emperor Chongzhen came here in person , the effect is the same.
If the words were deadlocked at the beginning, then the subsequent negotiations would not be able to continue. Although Wang Ji was a little unwilling, he took the initiative to give in half a step in consideration of the overall situation: "General Shi's words are serious, This official has never said that the actions of businessmen from your country are illegal. It’s just that this kind of behavior is not good for my Ming Dynasty, and this official still hopes that General Shi can give a reasonable explanation.”
Wang Ji's tone softened, and Shi Diwen naturally noticed it immediately.He didn't want to make the trouble too stiff for Wang Ji to step down, so he said with a smile, "The explanation I can give Mr. Wang is to make the participating operators earn more money. If the money only enters our country Merchants’ pockets, it’s impossible for merchants in your country to cooperate like this, right?”
Shi Diwen is sure that Wang Ji can't understand the far-reaching purpose behind these commercial operations, let alone Wang Ji, if Schneider hadn't explained the content of the whole plan in detail, Shi Diwen might not be able to understand these commercial methods purpose.At best, Wang Ji felt that Haihan's attempts to control these industries were not good, but it is unlikely that he understood Haihan's other purposes other than business.
What Shi Diwen wanted to figure out was exactly what Wang Ji's conditions were.He could feel that the other party's position was not purely hostile to Hai Han, but wanted to gain the upper hand in this meeting before throwing out conditions.It's a pity that Shi Diwen didn't intend to give in to Wang Ji, and it was basically hopeless to gain the upper hand.
Wang Jidao: "As a parent official in Zhejiang, since I know there is a problem with this matter, of course I can't just sit by and watch. You should tell me clearly what is going on here."
Shi Diwen couldn't help but feel a little puzzled by Wang Ji's insistence. Looking at the other party's attitude, could it be that there is some vital interest involved in it, so he has been holding on to this issue.Shi Diwen tentatively asked: "The situation of each industry is different, so I don't know which industry Mr. Wang wants to know?"
As expected, this question was on point, and after a little hesitation, Wang Ji gave the answer: "Food."
food?Shi Diwen just had talks with several well-known grain merchants in Ningbo a few days ago, and of course he knows the situation in this industry very well.Since Haihan's control area in Zhejiang is dominated by islands, the land area is limited, and it is impossible to carry out large-scale grain production, so it has always been purchased from nearby Zhejiang, and even the grain shipped to the two control areas in the north, Shandong and Liaodong, Most of them are also purchased from the prefectures of Zhejiang.
For Haihan's several control areas north of the Fujian Strait, grain purchases are just in demand, so they are extremely dependent on local grain merchants. Haihan wants to reverse control grain merchants through purchases, thereby affecting the In the food industry, this idea was found to be difficult to implement when it was actually implemented.Although Haihan can be regarded as a super big customer for local grain merchants, this does not mean that they are willing to cede the right to speak in this industry to customers.Although the Ministry of Commerce devised many plans to bind the interests of the grain merchants with Haihan, in the end they failed to make these grain merchants give up their resistance.So in the end Shi Diwen was forced to choose to give up. This was the only industry in which he failed to achieve any results in a series of talks in Ningbo during that time.
Haihan's judgment is that the grain merchants are unwilling to bind their own interests and future with Haihan, so everyone should maintain the previous pure business relationship.As long as Haihan does not attach other non-commercial conditions to the grain transaction, Daming grain merchants are still happy to do long-term business with this big customer.After this incident, Shi Diwen no longer plans to include the integration of the grain industry in the plan, at least there will be no major changes until Haihan develops a grain production area in the northern region.However, transporting grain from the south, such as Taiwan Island, to the north, after all, has to consider the freight and time issues, and it will probably only be a temporary expedient measure.
Shi Diwen did not expect that Wang Ji would mention the grain industry again on this occasion.But the problem is that Haihan has never done anything in the grain industry in Zhejiang from the beginning to the end. Since Wang Ji knows that Haihan is integrating certain industries, it is impossible for him to be ignorant of this and to take the grain industry alone. Speaking of which, for what purpose?
Shi Diwen went through the whole situation in his mind, and then responded to Wang Ji: "Master Wang may have misunderstood something. Although I had contact with some grain merchants last month, I didn't know anything about Zhejiang. What is the action of the grain industry? Even if I think about it, the grain merchants are not willing to cooperate!"
"The few grain merchants that General Shi met in Ningbo last month actually only had some influence in the local area. Shaoxing, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Hangzhou are the real grain-producing regions in Zhejiang. General Shi wants to talk It’s useful to come here to discuss with Daliang.” Wang Ji enthusiastically introduced the situation of Zhejiang’s grain industry to Shi Diwen.
Shi Diwen is not ignorant of this information, but what he needs to consider in the grain procurement process is not only the price issue, but also the considerations of the network and benefit transmission behind the grain transaction.Which of these big grain merchants has no official background behind them, and who should buy grain from whom and at what price, it will all be implemented after some calculations.There are also grain merchants from prefectures other than Ningbo to contact Haihan, but they have not reached an agreement on the terms of the transaction. So up to now, Haihan’s main source of grain purchases in Zhejiang is still Ningbo, which is the closest to Zhoushan.
But today, since Wang Ji took the initiative to mention the grain industry, and has already told Shi Diwenming, he obviously wants to use this to intervene in this industry.Shi Diwen quickly sorted out the cause and effect in his mind, but he still couldn't believe that Wang Ji, the chief minister of the province, would end up in person so easily.
"Master Wang is planning to introduce the grain merchant to me?" Shi Diwen responded with a smile: "If the grain merchant is Lord Wang's close relative, then there is no need to discuss this business in detail, I agree."
Although the grain merchants who maintained trade relations with Haihan earlier also had official backgrounds, they were obviously not as influential as Wang Ji, a great god.If this allows Wang Ji to stand on the side supporting Haihan, then it is not a big deal for Haihan to change a few grain suppliers. It is nothing more than subsidizing the new grain suppliers in terms of price. Let Wang Ji get actual economic benefits.
(End of this chapter)
Of course, there are many greedy officials in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise the southeast coast would not have been infiltrated by Haihan's money offensive in just a few years.Among the local officials that Shi Diwen met in Zhejiang, most of them would not refuse anyone, and when they received money, they would only think too little and not too much.
Of course, when officials reach a certain level, they will no longer ask for money in such a naked way. They will generally choose to conduct business cooperation with Haihan in certain fields, and use more advanced operation methods to obtain more stable income, rather than simply A rough one-shot deal.Local officials of the fourth and fifth ranks generally make full use of the power at hand to reach a long-term cooperative relationship with Haihan.For example, Qu Yutong, the prefect of Ningbo, is a model of such officials. Not only is he married to Haihan, but he can also allow Ningbo Prefecture, which is the closest to Zhoushan Island where Haihan people are entrenched, to enjoy the dividends brought about by import and export trade, and let the government The economic level of the lower regions can be improved with the help of Haihan's commercial system.
Before Shi Diwen came to Hangzhou this time, he had also imagined what kind of attitude Wang Ji would have, but he thought that since the other party was already a senior member of the party, he must have been speechless when talking about the conditions for the exchange of benefits. It will also be more cryptic, maybe it's a situation where both sides are going around and playing charades.But the actual situation is obviously different from his estimation. Wang Ji not only speaks bluntly, but also shows a very clear attitude. He doesn't seem to have much interest in common operations such as commodity franchises and plantations. interest, or the temptation of these things is not enough for him.
Since Wang Ji took the initiative to ask about other benefits, Shi Diwen didn't need to play Tai Chi with him anymore, and immediately said very bluntly: "Of course there are greater benefits, but it depends on Mr. Wang The level of cooperation has reached. Perhaps Mr. Wang can openly and honestly talk about what kind of benefits he wants."
Wang Ji had no expression on his face, his eyes were fixed on Shi Diwen's face, as if he wanted to figure out from his expression whether the words were for the occasion or a sincere suggestion.A person like Shi Diwen would naturally not be overwhelmed by a civil official like Wang Ji, but he just looked back with a smile and was not moved by him at all.
Wang Ji saw that Shi Diwen's official authority was not easy to use, so he could only give up this plan at the moment, and asked in a deep voice: "I heard that after the imperial court opens up business, your country will take action in Zhejiang? Shi Diwen Can the general explain it?"
Shi Diwen was not sure what Wang Ji meant, so he asked first: "Action? I don't know what action Master Wang heard about?"
Wang Jidao: "Your country is too underestimating me, Daming. Is it true that I am so blind that I can't see the small actions I have made in various businesses in the coastal state capital recently? You want so many industries to submit to your country's command Scheduling, what is the purpose of this?" After speaking, there was even a faint tone of asking questions.
The series of measures that Haihan has recently taken in the coastal states of Zhejiang Province is aimed at integrating various industries as much as possible, grasping the right to speak of these industries and the power to formulate standards, so as to achieve the goal of economically controlling these industries.When Haihan can control these basic industries that are related to the national economy and the people's livelihood, it will become easier to have an impact on the economy of the entire region, so that he will have more leverage to bargain with Daming on political issues.
It is not surprising that Wang Ji can understand these actions of Haihan. After all, the governor of a province has great authority, and he will have all kinds of strange intelligence resources in his hands. When it is time to share intelligence information with the Secretary for Political Affairs and Envoys.Although the methods Haihan did in the coastal prefecture of Zhejiang Province were fairly covert, there were many participants and there was not much secrecy at all. As long as you search carefully, it is not difficult to find Haihan's new talents in these industries. trend.
However, Haihan chose this way of doing things, so he naturally took into account the reaction of the Daming government after it was aware of it. It is difficult to come up with any effective countermeasures to stop it. The most likely thing is that an official at a certain level will come forward to make a verbal protest, but there will be no substantive means.After all, under the general trend of building and trading between the two countries, any behavior by the Ming government that undermines the relationship between the two countries may be regarded as an extremely serious provocation.
Shi Diwen once considered that if the Ming side wanted to lodge a protest, it might be negotiated by a certain prefect, but he did not expect that this role would be played by Zhejiang Chief Minister Wang Jilai himself.And Shi Diwen was also a little uncertain, whether Wang Ji really planned to ask the crime, or whether he wanted to use this as a condition to bargain with himself on other matters.
Shi Diwen decided to respond to the other party's doubts with an official attitude first: "My lord Wang may have misunderstood something. Our country has always acted openly and aboveboard. Wherever there are big and small actions, they are all normal business methods. Our businessmen are active in Daming. During this period, I have always abided by the law, if there is something that violates the laws of the Ming Dynasty, then please ask Mr. Wang to point it out, or simply deal with it according to the law."
Shi Diwen would not admit to the other party's accusation, killing him was a normal measure in business operations. If Wang Ji really wanted to bring the relevant Haihan merchants to justice, then it might not be Haihan who couldn't stand it first, but those who were related to him. Haihan has in-depth cooperation with local officials at all levels.Even if Wang Ji has a high position and power in Zhejiang, it would still be a little too much for him to act as a stumbling block to the entire officialdom in this matter. When there is chaos in the coastal prefecture, he, the chief envoy, will probably have to take the blame for it .
Wang Ji probably didn't expect Shi Diwen's attitude to be so tough, and he didn't even counter-offer, but directly put on a posture of dying.Whether arresting the Haihan businessman will have any effect is hard to say, but Shi Diwen and the stakeholders of the local government will certainly not stand idly by.No matter what Wang Ji's intentions are, Shi Diwen doesn't want him to easily gain the upper hand.
Tough to tough, Shi Diwen's response really stepped on Wang Ji's rhythm.Wang Ji originally wanted to overwhelm Shi Diwen in this way so that he could take the initiative in the subsequent negotiations, but obviously he underestimated Shi Diwen's strength a bit, and this performance did not work in front of the other party at all. Some effects, but Shi Diwen fought back in the same way.He didn't even think about it, Shi Diwen, a general in the army who has fought many battles in the South and North, would be overwhelmed by a few words of intimidation, let alone Wang Ji, even if Emperor Chongzhen came here in person , the effect is the same.
If the words were deadlocked at the beginning, then the subsequent negotiations would not be able to continue. Although Wang Ji was a little unwilling, he took the initiative to give in half a step in consideration of the overall situation: "General Shi's words are serious, This official has never said that the actions of businessmen from your country are illegal. It’s just that this kind of behavior is not good for my Ming Dynasty, and this official still hopes that General Shi can give a reasonable explanation.”
Wang Ji's tone softened, and Shi Diwen naturally noticed it immediately.He didn't want to make the trouble too stiff for Wang Ji to step down, so he said with a smile, "The explanation I can give Mr. Wang is to make the participating operators earn more money. If the money only enters our country Merchants’ pockets, it’s impossible for merchants in your country to cooperate like this, right?”
Shi Diwen is sure that Wang Ji can't understand the far-reaching purpose behind these commercial operations, let alone Wang Ji, if Schneider hadn't explained the content of the whole plan in detail, Shi Diwen might not be able to understand these commercial methods purpose.At best, Wang Ji felt that Haihan's attempts to control these industries were not good, but it is unlikely that he understood Haihan's other purposes other than business.
What Shi Diwen wanted to figure out was exactly what Wang Ji's conditions were.He could feel that the other party's position was not purely hostile to Hai Han, but wanted to gain the upper hand in this meeting before throwing out conditions.It's a pity that Shi Diwen didn't intend to give in to Wang Ji, and it was basically hopeless to gain the upper hand.
Wang Jidao: "As a parent official in Zhejiang, since I know there is a problem with this matter, of course I can't just sit by and watch. You should tell me clearly what is going on here."
Shi Diwen couldn't help but feel a little puzzled by Wang Ji's insistence. Looking at the other party's attitude, could it be that there is some vital interest involved in it, so he has been holding on to this issue.Shi Diwen tentatively asked: "The situation of each industry is different, so I don't know which industry Mr. Wang wants to know?"
As expected, this question was on point, and after a little hesitation, Wang Ji gave the answer: "Food."
food?Shi Diwen just had talks with several well-known grain merchants in Ningbo a few days ago, and of course he knows the situation in this industry very well.Since Haihan's control area in Zhejiang is dominated by islands, the land area is limited, and it is impossible to carry out large-scale grain production, so it has always been purchased from nearby Zhejiang, and even the grain shipped to the two control areas in the north, Shandong and Liaodong, Most of them are also purchased from the prefectures of Zhejiang.
For Haihan's several control areas north of the Fujian Strait, grain purchases are just in demand, so they are extremely dependent on local grain merchants. Haihan wants to reverse control grain merchants through purchases, thereby affecting the In the food industry, this idea was found to be difficult to implement when it was actually implemented.Although Haihan can be regarded as a super big customer for local grain merchants, this does not mean that they are willing to cede the right to speak in this industry to customers.Although the Ministry of Commerce devised many plans to bind the interests of the grain merchants with Haihan, in the end they failed to make these grain merchants give up their resistance.So in the end Shi Diwen was forced to choose to give up. This was the only industry in which he failed to achieve any results in a series of talks in Ningbo during that time.
Haihan's judgment is that the grain merchants are unwilling to bind their own interests and future with Haihan, so everyone should maintain the previous pure business relationship.As long as Haihan does not attach other non-commercial conditions to the grain transaction, Daming grain merchants are still happy to do long-term business with this big customer.After this incident, Shi Diwen no longer plans to include the integration of the grain industry in the plan, at least there will be no major changes until Haihan develops a grain production area in the northern region.However, transporting grain from the south, such as Taiwan Island, to the north, after all, has to consider the freight and time issues, and it will probably only be a temporary expedient measure.
Shi Diwen did not expect that Wang Ji would mention the grain industry again on this occasion.But the problem is that Haihan has never done anything in the grain industry in Zhejiang from the beginning to the end. Since Wang Ji knows that Haihan is integrating certain industries, it is impossible for him to be ignorant of this and to take the grain industry alone. Speaking of which, for what purpose?
Shi Diwen went through the whole situation in his mind, and then responded to Wang Ji: "Master Wang may have misunderstood something. Although I had contact with some grain merchants last month, I didn't know anything about Zhejiang. What is the action of the grain industry? Even if I think about it, the grain merchants are not willing to cooperate!"
"The few grain merchants that General Shi met in Ningbo last month actually only had some influence in the local area. Shaoxing, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Hangzhou are the real grain-producing regions in Zhejiang. General Shi wants to talk It’s useful to come here to discuss with Daliang.” Wang Ji enthusiastically introduced the situation of Zhejiang’s grain industry to Shi Diwen.
Shi Diwen is not ignorant of this information, but what he needs to consider in the grain procurement process is not only the price issue, but also the considerations of the network and benefit transmission behind the grain transaction.Which of these big grain merchants has no official background behind them, and who should buy grain from whom and at what price, it will all be implemented after some calculations.There are also grain merchants from prefectures other than Ningbo to contact Haihan, but they have not reached an agreement on the terms of the transaction. So up to now, Haihan’s main source of grain purchases in Zhejiang is still Ningbo, which is the closest to Zhoushan.
But today, since Wang Ji took the initiative to mention the grain industry, and has already told Shi Diwenming, he obviously wants to use this to intervene in this industry.Shi Diwen quickly sorted out the cause and effect in his mind, but he still couldn't believe that Wang Ji, the chief minister of the province, would end up in person so easily.
"Master Wang is planning to introduce the grain merchant to me?" Shi Diwen responded with a smile: "If the grain merchant is Lord Wang's close relative, then there is no need to discuss this business in detail, I agree."
Although the grain merchants who maintained trade relations with Haihan earlier also had official backgrounds, they were obviously not as influential as Wang Ji, a great god.If this allows Wang Ji to stand on the side supporting Haihan, then it is not a big deal for Haihan to change a few grain suppliers. It is nothing more than subsidizing the new grain suppliers in terms of price. Let Wang Ji get actual economic benefits.
(End of this chapter)