January 10, 1688, Hue Port, sunny.

In the newly renovated Hue Grand Theatre, a musical performance is underway. This theatre is typical of the Baroque style, originally known as the Theatre of St. Martin, built during the Portuguese colonial era, and has a bit of history. After the East Coast took over Hue, they also took over the theater and renamed it the Hue Grand Theatre, which was managed and operated by the regional administration.

About half a year ago, because the theater was in disrepair and in poor condition, Ho Yuan, the commissioner of the Hue District Administration, approved a large-scale renovation of 10,000 yuan. Due to the rapid disbursement of funds, the renovation and renovation of the Hue Grand Theater was carried out very quickly, and it was completely completed in four months. Today, in order to test the effect of the Hue Grand Theater renovation project, the county government came forward and invited a famous music troupe to perform, which also enriched the daily life of the people by the way.

Now the stage is performing the famous song "Drinking Mania" during the Three Kingdoms period, which is performed by the famous musician Liu Yan on the East Coast using Zhongruan solo. Ho Yuan and his wife, commissioner of the Hue District Administration, Zhou Huimin, president of the Public Savings Bank, and his wife sat in the first row, and there were some other local businessmen who bought tickets and came in. There are not many people, after all, there are no microphones and stereos in this era, and you can't hear anything from afar, but they all enjoy it, after all, it is a famous performance.

At this time in the 17th century, there were not many types of entertainment in the upper grades, such as music, dance, drama, and opera. Taking the Hue Grand Theatre as an example, as the premier art performance hall in the entire Hue area, it also holds some music performances, dance performances, theatrical performances, etc. every now and then on weekdays to enrich the entertainment consumer market that has gradually grown in the local area mainly for the middle class and the wealthy.

Don't underestimate the spending power of East Coasters. The economic strength of the Hue region, which is dominated by the tropical plantation economy (which has gradually evolved into the deep processing of tropical products in recent years) and overseas trade, should not be underestimated, and many people have become rich by starting businesses and trading. Combined with the new middle class attached to them, such as business managers and high-level tradesman, the entire Hue region is enough to support a relatively large entertainment consumer market – as is the case with the music recitals held in the Hue Theatre today. Tickets were sold out a month ago, and the anticipation for this concert was nothing short of spectacular.

Tickets were bought by representatives of the Dutch West India Company and Italian investors, both to enjoy the performance and to have more contact with wealthy merchants. Wine tables, theaters, and teahouses were originally the main places for people on the East Coast to discuss business, and matters of principle were generally resolved on these occasions, and the remaining details of the negotiation would be put into serious and formal occasions for negotiation. Europeans were very unaccustomed to this at first, but after decades of contact, they gradually accepted it, especially these long-term business representatives on the East Coast, who often shuttled between theaters, teahouses and restaurants.

Liu's Zhongruan solo ended quickly, and a series of applause rang out from the seats. After He Yuan finished applauding, he motioned for the waiter to come over with a cup of tea, and then turned his head to Zhou Huimin, the president of the Public Savings Bank, who was sitting next to him, and said, "President Zhou, do you have any eyebrows about the loan of 600,000 yuan from your bank that I mentioned last time?" ”

Ho Yuan was transferred from the Ngaulan Son area to Hue as a commissioner. He had done a good job there before, and his achievements were outstanding, so he was transferred to Hue, an economic powerhouse, as a commissioner, and it was also the executive committee's new appointment and cultivation of him. He Yuan himself is of course quite satisfied with this arrangement, because this not only fulfills the wishes of his wife and children to live in a developed and prosperous area, but also lays a very good foundation for future career promotion.

When it comes to political achievements, for the Hue region, there are actually two things that are most likely to shine, one is to expand foreign trade volume and prosper the local economy, and the other is to develop inland areas in depth, expand the territory for the country, and increase the area under actual control. The former intends to focus on the development of agricultural products, especially tropical agricultural, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery products, deep processing, and build Hue into an important food, timber and marine industry center on the east coast; The latter is related to the creation of a series of new settlements in the interior, and the Hue region has also developed an impulse to develop the interior after a long period of silence.

According to their plan, they intended to establish ten settlements in the interior at once, some of which were originally in existence in Portuguese times, such as Taubat, which has now been renamed the Township of the Concubine; There were also settlements upgraded from army posts or post stations, such as Dading Township (located near the later city of San José do Campos in Brazil), Wuzhong Township (near the later Cruzeiro City), Yutian Township (near the later Balamansa Town), Fengrun Township (near the later Vasolas Town), Pinggu Township (near the later Tres Ríos City), Zunhua Township (near the later New Friburg City), Sanhe Township (near the later Itaucara Town), Shangcang Township (located near the small town of Itabéruna), Cuiping Township (near the later Muliae City), Bolu Township (near the later Juisi di Fora Town), Dachang Township (near the later Babasena Town) and Xiantian Township (near the later Pontinova Town), a total of 12 new townships, planned to house about 10,000 people, one-third of which were filled by native-born nationals, and two-thirds by exiled prisoners and converted non-nationals.

There are also some Ming people recruited from Guangdong and other places who have adapted to the reclamation of hot areas, but the number is not very large, and it can only be used as a small supplement. However, it is said that the regional administration has applied to the Ministry of Immigration to give priority to immigrants who can adapt to life in hot areas. Of course, this is somewhat unreliable in He Yuan's opinion, because the Brazilian region has not been the top priority development area in recent years, and the immigration quota is limited, so no one can guarantee that a few people will come over in the end.

And if the number of immigrants is not guaranteed, then it is impossible to expect much money and money to be allocated for the establishment of these new settlements. In fact, the bulk of these expenses still have to be found by the regional administration and the other three counties under their jurisdiction. And there is a problem in this, these three counties originally relied on the sea to develop, and their small lives were quite good, why did the regional administration give an order, and I want to smash the pot and sell iron to support you in developing the inland? It is not surprising that this kind of pioneering project will not yield any benefits in twenty years, so why should I bleed to support the construction of areas that may not be under my jurisdiction at all in the future?

He Yuan also did it step by step from the grassroots level, so it was naturally impossible not to understand the thoughts of the people below. He did not force these people, which was unrealistic, but through patient persuasion and persuasion, he finally got each of the three counties to give 30,000 or 40,000 yuan worth of money and goods, together with the 100,000 yuan in cash taken out by the regional administrative office, as the start-up capital for the completion of the settlement in the inland areas.

Of course, the above-mentioned money and materials alone are not enough, and it can even be said that they are far from enough, so He Yuan must also start from other aspects, such as borrowing from banks. As for why they chose to target such a non-powerful bank as Public Savings Bank, it is mainly because they are based in Brazil and focus on developing their business in this area.

Formerly known as Banco de la Plata and the Brazilian Rural Finance Cooperative, the Bank of Public Savings is headquartered in the port of Qingdao with its main business as international trade settlement and rural microfinance in Brazil. However, in the fierce market competition in recent years, they have lost a lot of points in the international clearing business, and their market share has been eroded step by step by Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank, and now it has become a chicken rib. After internal discussions, the Public Savings Bank made a difficult decision, that is, to completely abandon the international trade clearing business, move its headquarters to the port of Hue in the north, and concentrate on deepening the business in Brazil.

To be honest, the positioning of the Public Savings Bank is actually quite reliable. Brazil is a region with abundant resources, an advantageous location, and a fairly developed economy along the coast. Although it seems that due to the current national policy, it is not possible to obtain a large number of national investment and immigration quotas, and the economic development rate is relatively slow, but how do we know that there will be no changes in the policy in the future? Not to mention, even if there is no change in policy in the future, Brazil's current development alone is enough to raise their public savings bank strong, so it is very important for the public savings bank to firmly grasp this basic market.

A few years ago, when Liu Houfei was still working in Bac Ninh, the bank had established close ties with the local government, so the business developed extremely rapidly. Not only did the local government agencies and state-owned enterprises pay wages, purchase materials, sell commodities, and the funds for investment projects went to the public savings bank, but even a considerable amount of people's money was deposited in the bank's account, so the amount of funds was extremely abundant for a time, and the business entered a period of rapid development.

Now the bank wants to replicate Bac Ninh's successful experience in Hue and develop the PBC into the top spot in Hue's financial market, so it is naturally impossible to bypass the local government. For this point, both Zhou Huimin and He Yuan himself are very clear, so the conversation between the two is also very frank, and there is basically no nonsense.

"Commissioner Ho, the board of directors has agreed in principle to the loan. But they wanted to change the collateral and add some of the land in the docklands, because the original collateral seemed to be too low. We also want to control the risk, and we hope you understand. Seeing that the staff were moving pianos, guzheng and other musical instruments to the stage, and the performers were also on stage in turn, Zhou Huimin hurried up and responded: "Actually, this is not a big problem for you. We at the Public Savings Bank still really enjoy working with your region, we are a company that has grown up in Brazil, and it is natural that we want to give back to the Brazilian people. What do you think? ”

"Compared with some other financial companies, our Hue District Administration is naturally more willing to cooperate with local enterprises. We also have the feelings of Sberbank for Brazil in our hearts, and we are willing to carry out some more in-depth cooperation with your bank. Don't worry, President Zhou, as long as the loan is approved, everything is easy to say, and I will let the Finance Bureau of the Administration and the Bank connect with your bank, which is not a problem. He Yuan was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately said.

In fact, Zhou Huimin is right, the public savings bank is rooted in Brazil, and if it wants to develop and grow, it is naturally inseparable from the support of the local regions and county governments in Brazil, so it is not necessary to respond to their needs, at least it is very supportive. Therefore, He Yuan didn't consider other banks at all at the beginning (those obviously the interest rate will be higher, and the amount will not be fully satisfied), but directly negotiated with Zhou Huimin, and now he has really got a good result.

And if the source of funds is solved, then the follow-up construction of those newly set settlements will be settled, and it will not become an unfinished project. He Yuan is very sure that as long as these settlements are operating normally and the volume of foreign trade increases, his performance evaluation will definitely be very good, which is undoubtedly extremely important for the development of his career in the future.