"This pattern of behavior cannot be treated as a rule, but can only be a special case. Moreover, we do not know the stomach of the Ming Empire at all now. "We don't know how much they want, and it's impossible to ask them about it. And I think even they don't know what they want. ”

In the surprised eyes of everyone, Ao Sayan patiently explained slowly, and put his ideas one by one: "Shi Kefa doesn't understand the navy, he only knows that we got a lot of ships this time, and we should give a part to Daming. And those people in the Ming Dynasty also don't understand, their requirements this time are closer to a battle of wills than a commercial transaction. ”

"That's what makes it troublesome!"

Feng Yufei said angrily, and Ao Sayang nodded in agreement: "Yes, it is precisely because laymen don't understand and can't use it, so it's easier to mess things up if we just give them a few old ships that are difficult to control" They will definitely not be able to really use it. When the time comes, it will inevitably be blamed on us again, saying that the ship we gave us is not good, not their own problems. Rather than that, it's better not to give it at all. ”

"If you don't give, you won't give! Do we still owe them anything? ”

Immediately, another cadre jumped up and said angrily, but Ao Sayan was not in a hurry and nodded: "That is a political issue~ Do we want to fall out with Daming because of this?" Judging from the telegram sent back by Chen Tao, "At present, the direction of public opinion in Beijing is very unfavorable to us. Even Qian Qianyi can't resist "If we insist on refusing to give in, then"

But as soon as Ao Sayan spoke, he was refuted by many people: "What are you afraid of in the fallout, this matter is originally our reason!" "The problem is that those ordinary people of the Ming Dynasty "Scholars, and their emperors don't want to be reasonable."

"Unreasonable and afraid of a bird! Our Joan Navy has guns and cannons, "Who is afraid of whom?" ”

For a while, there was a lot of quarrel in the conference room, and everyone was expressing their opinions, and Ozhayan couldn't even speak, so he had to smile bitterly and keep silent.

Seeing that the situation in the council hall was developing in a direction that was getting out of control, more than a dozen members of the management committee and a number of idlers who had come to observe the meeting quarreled into a pot of porridge, each talking about their own people, but no one listened to anyone. It stands to reason that at this time, Aunt Song, who is the chairman of the committee, should pick up the small hammer on the table and smash the table a few times, asking everyone to maintain order.

However, Aunt Song has always been a gentle person, and the small hammer has never played a role in her hands.

So after a while, someone went to pull Li Mingyuan and Old Man Li over.

After the old man came in, he first asked the people next to him in a low voice about the current situation and issues, and then went to talk to Lin Feng for a few words, and then he didn't rush to open. Instead, he sat silently in the auditorium.

It wasn't until the voices in the council chamber became quieter that everyone was exhausted from the noise before they stood up: "Let me say a few words." ”

As soon as the old man gave up, everyone shut up, "Dozens of pairs of eyes brushed towards Professor Li, and this is about the so-called prestige."

"This time the Ming Empire's demands violated the agreement between our two sides, there is no doubt about it.

The question is simply this: do we accept such a request? ”

"Can't ......"

There were still people in the crowd who whispered, his voice was a little low, not that his attitude was not resolute enough, but that he shouted too much just now and his voice was hoarse.

The old man smiled and pointed at Lin Feng: "Before making a decision, let's take a look at the communication between us and the Ming Empire, the county is mainly carried out by the Guò Trading Company's financial situation last year, can you give us a general introduction?" ”

"Okay."

Because Mr. Li reminded him just now, Lin Feng had already prepared in advance, and he was not in a hurry at this time, "Take out a few documents and introduce them: "The final settlement has not come out yet, so let's make a brief report to you here: Last year, our net income from silver was about one million, but this does not mean that the profit of our trading company is not high, because many commodities we have directly adopted the method of bartering."

For example, the trade with Vietnam required almost all of them to be paid for with coal and rice, and basically did not accept silver. The same is true of several other bulk trades, and if all commodities were converted into currency, our net profit last year was estimated to be more than 10 million yuan, and this was after deducting the military expenses we paid for the Shandong operation, and after absorbing the disaster victims, "we carried out a large amount of food aid and population resettlement." ”

There was a whisper in the conference room, obviously surprised by the high profits of the trading company, and sure enough, murder and arson were not as good as running merchants.

"Of the converted profits, 75 percent came from the Ming Dynasty, 15 percent came from the trade with Japan with the Zheng family, and most of the silver we earned came from it, and the trading volume with Vietnam accounted for about 7 percent, and the remaining 3 percent came from miscellaneous sources, mainly with some scattered European smuggling merchants.

Europeans are actually very interested in our goods......"

The old man coughed beside him" Lin Feng remembered the purpose of his introduction, and waved his hand a little embarrassed to return to the topic: "I'm sorry, it's far away...... At present, our main export commodities include grain, sugar, cotton, glassware and ironware, and there is also a large sales volume of salt, but it is a contraband, although it is semi-public at the moment, but it is difficult to keep accounts open. Imports consist of various basic raw materials, coal, ore, and large quantities of raw silk and porcelain, which are re-exported to Japan and Europe...... Frankly speaking, the interest rate difference between imports and exports is very large, or take Vietnam as an example,

The iron tools we export there account for only 5 to 10 percent of the total export value of this category, but the coal and rice that the Vietnamese exchange can account for more than 80 percent of our own consumption. Recently, everyone has eaten Vietnamese rice, which tastes good, "Although the yield of hybrid rice and sweet potato and yam we grow ourselves is high, the taste is not very good, and it is basically only used as a reserve and disaster relief food...... And, of course, for servo production. ”

There was a burst of laughter from the crowd, and the old man saw that Lin Feng was talking and talking about being crooked again, obviously out of his topic, so he had to make a gesture to signal Lin Feng to end the introduction, and pull the topic back: "Now, everyone must know." Our dealings with the Ming Empire are of great benefit to us. After all, we are too far from the development of the Ming Empire, which is not only reflected in the technical level, but also in the concept of business management. It can be seen from the previous treaties and agreements signed by the two sides that we are completely different from the Ming Dynasty's concerns, even if we have deliberately made concessions in many places, the Ming Empire is still on the weak side. In all the transactions with the Ming Empire, we have taken a big advantage. ”

"This is only one aspect of commercial trade, and our cooperation and exchange with the Ming Empire is far less than that. On the civilian and military fronts, we are cooperating more closely. Militarily, we fought a war for each other, but what did we ourselves obtain from the Ming Empire, as many as tens of thousands of mainland immigrants; a large seaside military base; and a number of trading depots and communication points along the coastline; In addition, there are also comprehensive and smooth trade routes: the goodwill and attention of the upper class figures of the Ming Dynasty: and the good reputation among the people at the bottom~

These are invisible, but they are tangible benefits. You might as well imagine that if we had adopted the strategy of hostility to the Ming Dynasty and attacked the Ming Dynasty itself with the same scale of troops as in this Shandong operation, would the results obtained be comparable to those now? ”

As he said this, Professor Li looked at the previous opponents with a smile. The chamber became quieter and quieter, and after a while, someone added: "Indeed, if it weren't for the fact that the direction of the mainland has been completely stabilized, this time we would not have been able to transfer all our ships to Luzon with all our might, and do our best to deal with the invading enemy."

"So ......"

Professor Lao Ji concluded: "Before making a decision, everyone should be clear about one thing: the communication with the Ming Dynasty is very beneficial to us. Of course, this does not mean that we will not be able to develop without Daming, but if this communication is interrupted, or even if it is slowed down due to various factors, it will cause great losses to our development speed. There is such a continental empire of the same language and species behind it, this is where our natural advantage lies, and we must always try to make good use of it. ”

No one can deny the old man's judgment, and the cadres have been silent for a long time" before hearing Ye Mengyan say indignantly: "According to this, no matter how they blackmail in the future, we have to admit it?" ”

The old man smiled lightly and shook his head: "Do you see this as a blackmail?" Let's change our position and look at the relationship with us from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, if we change to another group and do business with us, but they can always get the lion's share, although our side can also get some profits, but it is very ...... worse than the other party.

......, what would everyone think? ”

There was silence in the conference room again, "The point made by the old man is not difficult to understand. Isn't that the place of sweatshops in modern society?

After a certain moment, some people said: "If you want to develop the economy, you must go through such a process...... In the seventies and eighties, when our country had just changed its grass and opened up, it did not suffer less. Besides, we have signed an agreement! ”

"And what about our perception of those collaborators? United States, Western Europe, Japan......

After we developed with their money and technology, "how many people are grateful to them?" The old man smiled lightly, "A few years later, will the people of the Ming Dynasty look at us all with the same eyes, and are they willing to accept such a result?" ”