Chapter 336 Tom Wang’s true purpose

Li Jifeng's mind exploded in an instant. Lijiazhuang was rejecting tigers through the front door and letting in wolves through the back door. The bandits and bandits outside the village had not been completely beaten off yet. The Haihan militiamen who came to put out the fire had their own ideas. In the end,

What's annoying is that this Haihan militia group shamelessly begged others to come. It's just inviting the wolf into the house, and it's only the consequences for themselves.

Is there a secret bank in the Li family? Of course there is and it is not small. As Tom Wang said, part of the wealth earned by the Li family from running "Fu Ruifeng" is placed in Guangzhou city as "Fu Ruifeng"

The other part needed for daily operations was transported back to Lijiazhuang and stored in the village's secret bank. As for the specific amount, even Li Jifeng himself had not done a detailed statistical count, because the silver stored in the bank was not only

Just the income he earned after taking charge of the family, the oldest one can even be traced back to the inheritance of the ancestors of the Li family a hundred years ago.

Due to the age, many of the silver boxes that were put in earlier have become rotten, making it inconvenient to transport. Moreover, all the contents in the bank vault have to be moved out for inventory. The movement is too great, and Li Jifeng does not want to easily reveal his family fortune. In addition, "Fu Rui"

In the past year, the business of "Feng" has been going smoothly, with almost no entry or exit. A large amount of cash continued to fill the secret bank of Lijiazhuang. Just at the beginning of this month, the Li family and his son were still discussing

Should we expand the size of the bank? Because at the current rate of revenue, the secret bank in Lijiazhuang may be full within the year.

Although it cannot yet be called a mountain of gold and silver, the treasures here are already astronomical to ordinary people. The reason why Li Jifeng was willing to spend money to hire the Haihan militia to cross the sea to help in the war was because there was too much wealth collected here.

There is no room for error.

Li Jifeng was worried about offending Tom Wang and did not dare to directly deny his guess. He was also worried that admitting it would lead to further oppression from Tom Wang. He was unwilling to admit the wealth of Lijiazhuang. At the moment, he could only respond vaguely: "Captain Wang is really

I love joking, but there is no such thing as a treasury... But this time I have also prepared a small gift for all the officers, please don't dislike it!"

Li Jifeng winked, as if a servant had brought over several wooden trays, each of which contained ten shining golden ingots, which looked very tempting.

When Wang Tom saw this, he was stunned for a moment, waved his hand and said: "Boss Li, this is not necessary. The military expenses for our dispatch of the militia this time will naturally be settled by the Guangdong Office in Guangdong Province with you later. As for individuals, there is no need for remuneration.

You'd better keep this gold."

Li Jifeng said anxiously: "Captain Wang is too little? This is just a small thank you to the officers for taking the trouble to come across the sea. After this battle, I will have another reward!"

Wang Tom stared at Li Jifeng and suddenly laughed: "Boss Li, you don't think we are trying to set up Lijiazhuang, do you?"

Li Jifeng was startled and quickly denied: "No, no, I don't have such ridiculous thoughts."

Wang Tom smiled and said: "When I asked you about the money, I didn't mean that you would take advantage of it. I won't be able to use your gold and silver treasures even if I take them back to Victory Port..."

"There are also banknotes issued by Haihan Bank down here..."

"Listen to me first!" Wang Tom interrupted Li Jifeng who was eager to express his feelings and said: "How much money your Li family has is your family's business. The purpose of the Executive Committee sending our Haihan Militia here is to protect Lijiazhuang.

It’s about your safety, not coming here to steal your money, do you understand?”

"Yes, yes, I naturally understand the good intentions of the executive committee." Li Jifeng responded repeatedly.

"We will naturally help you fight off the bandits who came to make trouble in Lijiazhuang this time. But..." Wang Tom said in a more serious tone: "This cannot completely solve the problem of your Lijiazhuang being coveted. Once we leave, we will talk later.

There may be other bandits coming to attack Lijiazhuang. Even if we are willing to come to the rescue, it is hard to say whether we can arrive in time next time. If the sea conditions are bad or there are other reasons, then what will happen to the safety of Lijiazhuang?

Isn’t it in danger?”

"What do you mean by Captain Wang?" Li Jifeng was a little hesitant now. From what Wang Tom meant in his words, it seemed that he was not simply trying to squeeze a fortune from Lijiazhuang.

"If we want to protect the personal and property safety of the people in Lijiazhuang, I think the defense function of Lijiazhuang should be further strengthened and a normalized defense force should be maintained." After Wang Tom finished speaking, he saw that the Li family and his son were all confused.

He quickly explained: "The purpose is to have armed personnel stationed here for a long time!"

Li Jifeng said: "But the Li family's vigilante group has now been incorporated into the 'Golden Shield Security', and our village has a limited population, how can we train more vigilante groups?"

Wang Tom pointed at himself and said: "You don't have soldiers, but we do! We can station a certain number of militia groups to Lijiazhuang, so that you don't have to go all the way to rescue soldiers every time something happens."

"But banditry doesn't happen all the time. Banditry has been going on around Guangzhou Prefecture for several years. This is the first time Lijiazhuang has been harassed by bandits. Your troops are stationed here. The cost will outweigh the gain!" Li Jifeng did not dare to refuse outright.

Wang Tom's proposal can only be made in circles trying to find some objective reasons to make the other party give up this plan. The Haihan militia has good food, clothing and housing. It costs more to raise such a group of uncles than to raise your own militia.

What's more, our own militia can still work to earn money to subsidize expenses. If the Haihan militia were stationed in Lijiazhuang, who would dare to order them to do things? Thank God if they don't subsidize military expenses.

Wang Tom said: "The banditry in Guangdong has been going on for several years, and there are a lot of victims who have fled, right? I remember that when I went to Guangzhou last time, I saw groups of people taking refuge in Guangzhou outside the city gate."

"That's quite a lot. In Qingyuan, Conghua, Zengcheng, Longmen and other counties in the north, as well as some counties and districts in Huizhou Prefecture, Shaozhou Prefecture, and Zhaoqing Prefecture, victims have fled to Guangzhou to make a living. These places were first hit by natural disasters, and then

When it comes to man-made disasters, the government can't control it, so it's hard not to think about it!" When talking about this topic, Li Jifeng couldn't help but sigh.

In fact, the surrounding areas of Guangzhou Prefecture have suffered successive disasters in recent years, and Lijiazhuang has also encountered two droughts, resulting in food shortages. If the Li family had not had strong financial resources and purchased a large amount of food to ensure local supply, Lijiazhuang might have suffered a long time ago.

It is already in chaos. So far, there are still many long-term workers in the village who owe Li Jifeng at least one or two years of rent and have not been able to pay back. However, Li Jifeng has now focused mainly on the cooperation project with Haihan people.

The land rent in Lijiazhuang is not particularly important. Although there have been arrears of rent for many years, there are no calls for payment against these locals who have the same roots and clan.

"With so many refugees pouring into Guangzhou, they will not be able to find food for a while. If they only eat relief food, the government cannot afford to feed so many mouths. Rather than letting these people become beggars and die on the roadside, it would be better

Let them go to Qiongzhou Island to open up wasteland and use their labor force in exchange for a chance to survive. Boss Li, what do you think?" As he spoke, Wang Tom changed the topic, from the defense of Lijiazhuang to immigration.

Li Jifeng didn't take it seriously at all. Since Wang Tom asked, he answered honestly: "In fact, the charity hall opened in Guangzhou has been sending people to Qiongzhou, and all the affairs are handled by your office in Guangzhou.

Captain Wang will know about it as soon as he asks."

"Too few, too slow, and too inefficient." Wang Tom shook his head and said: "When there were few, only 180 people were transported a month. What can be done by transporting such a small number of people to Qiongzhou Island? 'Qiong Lianfa' is in Yazhou

More than 100,000 acres of land have been enclosed. Boss Li can calculate how many immigrants are needed to cultivate this much land."

"After all, the government pays close attention to people's migration. If the move is too big, it will inevitably attract attention. Captain Wang, forgive me!" Li Jifeng was also helpless about this. In fact, the matter of Haihan Shantang's absorption of immigrants has always been handled by the Office in Guangdong

The Haihan people should also be very aware of the difficulties involved. If a large-scale immigration is organized outside Guangzhou, it will not take two or three days to be targeted by several secret agents in the city.

Even the boats carrying immigrants at the Pearl River pier were detained.

"You are right. There are too many people watching around Guangzhou City, and it is not convenient to organize immigration." Wang Tom affirmed Li Jifeng's statement, and then said the real purpose: "But if all the refugees are

If we organize people to board the ship here in Panyu, there shouldn't be so much trouble."

Li Jifeng said in astonishment: "What do you mean... turn Lijiazhuang into a gathering place for immigrants?"

Wang Tom nodded and said: "This place is very close to the Pearl River Estuary. The waterway is smooth and sea ships can enter. There are no government agencies nearby, so you don't have to worry about government officials interfering in local affairs. And there is such a big village.

It is also easier to expand some temporary residences. As for public security, Boss Li doesn’t need to worry. Didn’t I just say that we will send a militia group to station here, and by the way, we can also help maintain local public security order."

When Li Jifeng heard this, he understood in his heart, and secretly murmured to himself that this was not a coincidence. He had obviously already made a comprehensive plan, and was only going to implement it in Lijiazhuang after beating away these bandits.

What Li Jifeng expected was roughly correct. The plan Wang Tom mentioned was not his own personal idea, but an action plan that had been passed by the executive committee. However, this time several senior officials had no time to go out to participate in this military operation.

Action, so this persuasion work can only be done reluctantly by Tom Wang. And Tom Wang’s ability to talk is indeed far behind compared with famous talkers such as Tao Donglai, so he wants to use a more tactful way to achieve his goal.

Expressed it, but after going in two circles, Li Jifeng's heart disease was almost brought out.

At present, the main source of immigrants in Sanya has gradually changed from the Han people of the Ming Dynasty to North Vietnamese immigrants, who account for a considerable proportion. The number of North Vietnamese immigrants arriving in Victory Port every month has increased from several hundred per month in the second half of last year to now every month.

The number of people per month ranges from 1,200 to 2,000. Although most of the North Vietnamese immigrants are fluent in the vernacular of Guangdong and Guangxi, and there are no particularly big obstacles in communication, the Executive Committee believes that in the long run, it is still necessary to make the structure of naturalized people mainly composed of Ming people.

, ensuring the stability of the entire population structure.

The immigration introduction work in the mainland has not made much progress. The reason is that the civil affairs department believes that the agencies in Guangzhou have no way to recruit and organize the transportation of immigrants on a large scale due to security concerns. They can only

Take the route of focusing on quality rather than quantity, mainly introducing technicians, down-and-out scholars and careless orphans. As for the solution, the easiest thing to achieve at present is to find a transportation place not too far away from Guangzhou city.

For convenience, build a special resettlement transfer base.

The executive committee's idea for this transfer point is that it can not only take on the task of collecting refugees near Guangzhou, but also echo the two strongholds of the Guangzhou Office in Guangzhou City and Dawanshan Island at the Pearl River Estuary to form a transportation center using the Pearl River.

The embryonic form of the Hai-Han area of ​​influence that links Lijiazhuang. While the Executive Committee was discussing this issue, it happened to receive a request for help from the Guangdong Office. After comparing the location of Lijiazhuang and its surrounding environment, the Executive Committee all believed that

Lijiazhuang is a pretty good choice.

Lijiazhuang is located only 40 to 50 miles away from Guangzhou City. The distance is very suitable for the needs of the immigration transfer station. It is outside the monitoring range of Guangzhou City and is not too far away from Guangzhou City, which requires immigrants to travel long distances.

Reached. And there is a waterway of the Pearl River tributary passing through here, sea-going ships can dock directly, and the conditions for water transportation are not bad. Although it cannot be developed as a large commercial port due to the width limit of the waterway, it is necessary to park several ships with a displacement of 200

There is no difficulty at all in transporting immigrants by sea vessels weighing around 1,000 tons.

Of course, the most important point is that this area is currently controlled by the partner Li family, and the Li family now needs the Crossing Group. It is definitely more difficult to establish a resettlement and transfer base in the area controlled by the Li family than in other areas without support.

The place of helplessness is much smaller. And with the identity of the Li family, a wealthy businessman in Guangzhou Prefecture, as a cover, they have a more reasonable excuse to organize refugees from the vicinity of Guangzhou City to Panyu - after all, Lijiazhuang has tens of thousands of acres of cultivated land in the local area, and the land

Assets are still increasing year by year, and the number of long-term workers and farm laborers required is not small.

The Executive Committee believed that it would be difficult to find such a reasonable opportunity to send troops to the local area to take over military control. Although it was a bit hasty and there were many omissions in setting up the immigration station, the Executive Committee decided to seize the opportunity to put this issue first.

The intention is to carry it out. As for the possible resistance from the Li family, the executive committee has also anticipated it, but everyone believes that doing this will ultimately do more good than harm to the Li family. As long as Li Jifeng is not confused, he should eventually

Will you still choose to cooperate with the Executive Committee to implement the plan?

"Boss Li, our plan can effectively alleviate the refugee flow in Guangzhou City, give these people who have left their homes a chance to survive, and reduce the possibility of them joining bandits for their livelihood. It is also a good thing that benefits the country and the people.

Besides, after a large number of refugees moved to the surrounding areas of Lijiazhuang, the population here became larger. Bandits who dared to take advantage of Lijiazhuang would naturally not dare to come again easily. As for the resettlement and living expenses of immigrants, Lijiazhuang does not have to bear this. We will do it here.

There is a specialized agency to take charge." After telling his true purpose, Wang Tom finally breathed a sigh of relief, and when he tried to persuade Li Jifeng again, his words became much smoother.

Li Jifeng coughed dryly and said: "According to what Captain Wang just said, your militia will be stationed here. I dare to ask, who has the final say in the future of Lijiazhuang?"

This issue is one of the things that Li Jifeng is most worried about at present. Although Wang Tom has made it clear that he will not take advantage of the Li family's money, if the Haihan militia stationed in Lijiazhuang and took over all local affairs, wouldn't it mean that the Li family, old and young, would not

All became subjects of the Haihan people? Although the Haihan people were famous for their good governance in civil affairs, Li Jifeng did not intend to let all the family members become naturalized citizens of the Haihan people.

Wang Tom responded: "Then let me explain our principles on this matter to Boss Li. First of all, the distribution of property in Lijiazhuang and the resettlement of the Li clan are matters within your Li family. We will never

Intervene; secondly, the land belonging to the Li family nearby will continue to belong to you. As for the area set aside for the construction of the immigration station, we can negotiate and resolve the costs; finally, the immigration station's management authority over civil affairs is limited to

The immigrants recruited do not include residents of Lijiazhuang."

Li Jifeng then asked: "How can Lijiazhuang cooperate with you?"

"Provide labor, allocate land, and cooperate with us in the preliminary construction of the immigration station. Of course, we will also settle the wages of the personnel involved in the construction at market prices, so that the people's efforts will not be in vain." The conditions proposed by Wang Tom were very simple and simple.

Even Li Jifeng found it a bit unbelievable - the Haihan people had gone through such a big circle and finally made these two conditions. Isn't this too easy to dismiss?

In Li Jifeng's opinion, demarcating land, starting work, and building an immigration station is not a big deal. Besides, the Haihan people also made it clear that they would pay for it, so there is no loss to Lijiazhuang.

Two to three hundred acres of land were given to the Haihan people, enough to accommodate thousands of immigrants. However, the local land price was certainly not as good as that of Shengli Port. Li Jifeng was not very comfortable opening his mouth to tell the Haihan people a big figure. He was already thinking about simply repaying the land.

This is a symbolic amount, which can be regarded as a favor to the Haihan people. After all, they have also done a great favor to Lijiazhuang this time.

As for whether the Haihan people are really so easy to get rid of, Wang Tom knows better than anyone else. The immigration station built here is basically like a nail stuck in the Pearl River. Unless it is encircled and suppressed by the Ming Dynasty's army, this nail

It is unlikely that it will be pulled out in the future. The military can also take this opportunity and let the Executive Committee pass a resolution to further increase military strength in the Guangzhou area and lay the foundation for future mainland strategies. With this stronghold and the Pearl River

The Dawanshan Island in the sea outside the mouth echoes each other inside and outside, and it will become much easier to control the Pearl River waterway in the future. The strategic significance of this is not something that Ming businessmen like Li Jifeng can understand now.
Chapter completed!