Located on the banks of the Kowloon River, about 4 kilometers from Tra Noc Airport, Can Tho Industrial Village covers an area of 9.45 square kilometers, which is somewhat smaller than Da Nang and Vung Tau Industrial Villages.

There are 3 checkpoints on the cement road leading from the city to the industrial village.

The Can Tho City Police Department was in charge of the first checkpoint, where more than a dozen police officers were loaded with guns and checked the passes of passing vehicles and pedestrians under bright lights. The second is the mobile checkpoint of the industrial village security team, two jeeps and three trucks parked in the middle of the road, with machine guns mounted on them, and the team members are holding big wolf dogs in their hands, and the headlights of the cars are so bright that people can't open their eyes.

The chief of staff of the garrison command traveled, and the convoy traveled unimpeded, without the need for inspection and cross-examination.

As the convoy approached the river, the dark road suddenly became exceptionally bright. There are street lamps on both sides, and as far as the eye can see, the industrial village is brightly lit. Many factories are working overtime, and infrastructure projects such as docks, factories, and warehouses are being constructed overnight, and there is a thriving scene.

When you get to the west gate, there are slow down signs on both sides one after another.

On the wide and flat cement road, more than a dozen rubber speed bumps are set up, followed by one after another half-person-high cement piers, each of which is separated by more than ten meters, and the vehicle must turn more than a dozen times in a row, and be inspected in a relatively open place in the middle before entering the main road of the industrial village.

With the help of the searchlight column, Hu Lian noticed that four barbed wire fences had been pulled outside the industrial village, and each barbed wire fence seemed to have fortifications such as hidden forts and trenches in the middle, and a high and strong reinforced concrete fence was built on the side of the industrial village.

The secretary sat in the passenger seat, looked around curiously, and the ghost made a miracle come up with a sentence: "It's like a concentration camp." ”

Chen Runwei glanced sideways. He explained with a smile: "There are guerrilla activities of the Southern Liberation Army on the riverside. There are their liberated areas. The situation in the city is also more complicated, and the overall security situation is far worse than that in other industrial villages, so there are more defense facilities and stricter security measures. ”

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears, Hu Lian wouldn't have believed that the Chinese could make such a big pattern in a foreign country, so he straightened his suit and asked curiously: "General Chen, the situation in Pingdong is more complicated." Why aren't the security measures so strict? ”

"Have you been?"

"I was fortunate to visit once, and Mr. Ma Guoxuan, the supervisor of the Xidi Chinese Charity Foundation, accompanied us."

In the eyes of the Southern National Liberation Front, he was a representative of the puppet government in Saigon from Taiwan. However, in the minds of the "Hua-Yun", he was a Kuomintang war criminal who donated blood with all his comrades-in-arms, and he was a target that had to be eradicated. On the assassination list, his position is higher than that of reactionary Chinese such as Li Weimin, Liu Jiachang, Han Shuo, and Zhang Wei.

Within a few days of taking office, the "Huayun" on the embankment carefully planned and carried out a "hoe rape" operation. He was presiding over a regular meeting in the embassy when the all-pervasive "China-Movement" elements detonated a bomb behind him, blasting the entire back wall open, and he was miraculously uninjured.

To say that the law and order situation is complicated. Saigon is much more complicated than that, and it's not surprising that he asked.

Chen Runwei took a cigarette. He explained: "Mr. Ambassador, Pingdong Industrial Village is close to the embankment business district, with a large flow of people and a high degree of attention. Therefore, the entire security measures can only be loosened on the outside and tightened on the inside, and I can only ask the brothers at the embankment police station to help me bother. ”

The prosperity of the embankment business district is staggering, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as "Little Hong Kong".

Pingdong Industrial Village is a miracle, in the case of such political turmoil and external and internal threats, the industrial output value can increase at a rate of more than 18% per year.

Every noon, tens of thousands of workers poured out to eat like a tidal wave. On the road leading to the terminal, trucks carry containers back and forth. Large cranes load the mountains of containers onto ships and sell the goods produced by the enterprises in the industrial park to the rest of the world......

That kind of scene in full swing cannot be seen in Taiwan.

Ironically, most Saigon citizens are still doing better than most Taiwanese people, although they are not as wealthy as the Chinese people on the embankment. The economy is so developed, but the government is so poor that government departments and military expenditures are heavily dependent on US aid.

The more Hu Lian thought about it, the more confused he became, and he couldn't help but smile and ask: "General Chen, South Vietnam is threatened by North Vietnam externally, and the internal political situation is turbulent, so in my opinion, it is not a good place to invest, how did your industrial village develop?" ”

The industrial village is the pride of South Vietnam, and it is also the pride of the Vietnamese Chinese.

Chen Runwei pushed the car door and walked to the hotel lobby with everyone, while smiling proudly: "To sum up, there are about four points, one is that the Chinese capital is relatively strong, and most of them are engaged in industry and commerce; second, the sympathy of the international community, and the free world allies have provided a lot of help;

Third, the government and industrial investment companies have made great efforts to attract investment, and have provided a series of preferential treatment to merchants who come to invest; Then there are Mr. Li Weimin, chairman of the board of directors of the industrial investment company, Mr. Chen Shiguo, vice chairman of the board of directors and other people who are dedicated to doing business. ”

Sun Ningyu, the secretary of Boss Li, added with a smile: "General Hu, on the issue of economic development, we Vietnamese Chinese and some locals have an advantage over our compatriots under the rule of the Nationalist Government. After all, Vietnam was a French colony, and it had a very close relationship with the United States after independence.

Many people speak French, English and have many friends in Europe and the Americas. France and the United States, on the other hand, are more attentive to Vietnamese companies and businessmen based on historical ties and political factors. There is no obstacle to communication, visas are easy to handle, communication is easy, and the trade policy is so relaxed, it is easier to do import and export business than its Taiwanese counterparts. ”

I have to admit that the economic development of the areas that have been colonized is indeed better than that of other places. For example, Shanghai used to be big, and now Hong Kong and Macau.

Hu Lian nodded slightly, and then asked: "General Chen, the development of the industrial village is so good, it must be indispensable compared to taxes, why does the government still have no money and still need so much assistance?" ”

"Secretary Sun has more say on this issue."

Sun Ningyu took over the conversation and patiently explained: "General Hu, as you just said, our investment environment is indeed unsatisfactory. In order to develop industry, promote the economy, and drive employment. We had to introduce a low tax system. Although the progressive tax rate is applied to enterprises in industrial parks. However, the maximum tax rate does not exceed 20%. Businesses with a profit of less than $500,000 are subject to a corporate income tax of only 7%. And on this basis, enterprises can also enjoy a series of preferential policies such as three-year tax exemption, five-year halving and export tax rebates.

It is worth mentioning that the infrastructure construction of various industrial villages and Phu Quoc Special Zone is all invested by our company, except for the allocation of a part of the land, the government has not invested even a penny. Therefore, at the beginning of the establishment of our company, we reached an agreement with the government to return the upfront investment with taxes.

Originally, the tax collected was not much, and half of it was set aside to repay the industrial investment bonds issued in previous years. If a part is set aside as follow-up development funds, there will not be many that can be handed over to the Ministry of Finance in the end. ”

Sounds unassailable, but it's actually a different story.

The tax departments under the management committees of the industrial villages did not collect much tax. The income and expenditure of the industrial investment company are accounted for, audited every year, publicized every year, and there is a deficit every year, and the large and small shareholders have not been divided into dividends so far.

However, in addition to corporate income tax and individual income tax, the industrial village management committee collects various fees from enterprises, such as public security joint defense fees, national defense reserve construction fees, medical and health development funds, and education development funds. If such a low tax rate is really implemented, where will the military spending of the industrial village security team and the 4th Tactical Zone come from?

Hu Lian didn't know why. Didn't continue the question.

After calling in advance, the hotel manager directly invited everyone to the conference room on the third floor. After drinking tea for a while and waiting for about ten minutes, the main owner finally arrived.

"Li Weimin, Ambassador Hu, it's an honor to meet you."

"King Nanqi" is younger than imagined, with short hair, neat and neat, looking very energetic, Hu Lian, the "King of Kinmen", came with President Jiang's entrustment, and immediately got up and said: "Mr. Li is young and promising, and he has been admired for a long time." ”

"A businessman, what young and promising, let Ambassador Hu smile."

With one hand in charge of the economic lifeline of South Vietnam, and the other in charge of the 5th Infantry Division, which has strong combat effectiveness, and the newly formed 4th Army, if the industrial village security force, the industrial village reserve, and the militia self-defense units of the resettled villages are counted, he can mobilize more than one corps.

Hu Lian looked at Li Weimin, held his hand tightly and said: "Mr. Li is too modest, if the Nationalist Government has a few businessmen like Mr. Li to counterattack the mainland and return to Nanjing, it will be just around the corner." ”

His identity was too sensitive, Li Weimin didn't want to go around in circles, and he was not interested in the counteroffensive, so he asked bluntly: "Mr. Ambassador, I don't know why I made a special trip to Can Tho?" ”

"To tell the truth, Hu was entrusted by President Chiang and President Diem to discuss the situation with Mr. Li and discuss the plan to eradicate the Southern National Liberation Front and resist North Vietnam."

actually helped Wu Tingyan to be a lobbyist, Li Weimin was surprised.

Hu Lian also felt that this incident was ridiculous, and said with embarrassment: "Mr. Li, on the issue of opposing G, the position of the Nationalist Government and Saigon is the same. President Chiang sincerely hoped that the Chinese compatriots living in Vietnam would be able to put the overall situation first. If you can, make as many concessions as possible on some issues. ”

The position of the Nationalist Government sounds a little incredible, but it is normal when you think about it.

Because for Lao Jiang, anti-G is the overall situation, overseas Chinese are just a chess piece, and countries and regions with many Chinese are just a battlefield. BJ's attitude towards overseas Chinese is similar, ideology is more important than anything else, if you really think about what blood is thicker than water, there will be no civil war at all, let alone so many deaths.

As for why Ngo Dinh Diem exerted pressure through the Nationalist government, it is also not difficult to understand.

He once thought that he could control the Chinese in Vietnam, so at the beginning of his administration, he tried every means to cut off the connection between Taiwan and overseas Chinese on the embankment, and resolutely supported Li Weimin to promote the naturalization of overseas Chinese.

However, it backfired.

Under the leadership of Li Weimin, the Vietnamese Chinese grew bigger and bigger, so much so that they developed out of control. The "industrial investment system" has money, people, guns, and the support of the US government, but it cannot be solved by force, and can only be sideways.

Li Weimin could imagine that Ngo Dinh Diem must have reached some secret agreement with President Chiang on the anti-G issue, and President Chiang reciprocated by using the influence of the Nationalist Government to exert pressure.

It's just that time has passed, and the current Vietnam is not the Vietnam of eight years ago, and the Nationalist Government has almost no appeal to the Vietnamese Chinese, so Li Weimin is not worried that they will divide and disintegrate the internal unity of the Chinese.

"Mr. Ambassador, my company is more resolute than the government in its position on the issue of the National Liberation Front of the South and North Vietnam. This can be seen from the public security in the industrial villages and the lower six provinces. As for the concessions you are talking about, we are already very concerned about the big picture. It not only undertakes the defense of the six provinces, but also bears nearly 30% of the government and military expenditures.

More importantly, the Industrial Estate Program is an important part of the University of Michigan Group Program. The company has U.S. advisers, the U.S. Command military advisory corps in Tactical Assistance Sector 4, and U.S. consulates in Can Tho and Phu Quoc, and the opinions of U.S. allies are taken into account by the board of directors, regardless of the major decisions made by the board. ”

The "Department of Industry and Investment" has trade contacts with Taiwan, and some officers of the Reserve Officer Training Team of the Phu Quoc University of Technology have received training in Taiwan.

A graduate of Michigan State University, he served for a time as an advisor to Michigan State's Government Research Agency, where he was founded by MSU's independent non-executive director, Professor Wesley Fisher, who was responsible for developing the Allied Aid Program, and now as Chief Advisor to CIIC.

Hu Lian is very aware of this, and even knows that the "US Aid Management Group" is still giving tens of millions of dollars in exchange quota to the industrial investment company every year at the official price of 1 to 35 piasters through the "commodity import plan."

From this point of view, he really wants to respect the opinion of the US government, but Hu Lian absolutely does not believe that he has no autonomy, after all, where is his relationship with US President Kennedy, Vice President Johnson, Secretary of Defense McNamara, Senator Mansfield, and other Washington dignitaries.

There is no doubt that he will not give up power, and perhaps intends to really become the "king of Nanqi".

The ones promised by Ngo Dinh Diem are purely flowers in the mirror. With North Vietnam on the outside, the PLA and the opposition on the inside, and the "new warlord" in front of him, it is already very good to be able to keep half of the country, and there is no need to offend the Chinese Vietnamese compatriots who have helped the Nationalist Government.

Before coming to Taipei, politicians analyzed and gave two sets of plans.

Hu Lian retreated and took a handwritten letter from Xiao Jiang from his secretary: "Mr. Li, you have your difficulties, and this is an internal affair of Vietnam, President Chiang just suggested that what kind of decision your company should make, and what should the millions of compatriots living in Vietnam do, it is ultimately up to your company and compatriots to decide." (To be continued.) )