Chapter 1687 Cooperation benefits both sides

When he met the Ding family at the opening ceremony of the Western Management Bureau today, Francis' emotions were relatively complicated. On the one hand, he hoped that the Ding family, as local Han wealthy businessmen and marriage partners, could help his father and son when they were in trouble.

On the one hand, he believed that the Ding family could not be trusted, and he would definitely try his best to estrange the relationship between the two families after he was imprisoned.

Of course, Francis does not intend to cut off contact with the Ding family because of unsubstantiated speculation, but he believes that at least at this time, he should not take the initiative to contact the Ding family, but should place his position higher and be more reserved. Even if it is just

The puppet leader of the Western Management Bureau, who was also an official of Haihanfeng, had no reason to be humble to the civilians. Moreover, Francis also wanted to see if the Ding family would take the initiative to maintain relations again after realizing the status gap.

Little Francis was not very understanding of these thoughts, but he also knew that his father was much better at dealing with such matters than himself. Although he was not happy with his father's idea of ​​preventing him from returning to Ding's house to meet his wife, in the end

I still followed my father's wishes and stayed at home honestly.

Facts have proved that Francis' persistence was effective. The Ding family took the initiative to visit the family that night, and it was Ding Feng who went out in person, giving them enough face.

The purpose of Ding Feng's visit is also very simple. He must now maintain a good marriage relationship with Francis and his son. If there was any misunderstanding before, then it is necessary to take this opportunity to explain it clearly. In addition to the considerations of developing business,

Ding Feng has also realized that Haihan actually has special regard for Francis and his son.

The father and son can be used by Haihan as prisoners of war, whether they are used as puppet tools or not, at least it means that they are of use to Haihan, at least the use is much greater than themselves - so far,

The Haihan people have never invited Ding Feng or any of the Ding family members to take up positions in the new government office.

From another perspective, since the father and son are now working as errands in Haihan Yamen, it means that they have chosen to compromise and obey to a certain extent. In this way, their position is no longer Haihan's.

Enemies, but collaborators in the same camp. This relationship is much closer than the relationship between the Ding family and the current government, and may even be enough to serve as a protective umbrella for the Ding family in the near future. There are people in the government who can compare

It is much safer to buy peace of mind with your own money.

Although Ding Feng is Han Chinese, he has lived in Manila for several decades and has long learned Spanish, so there is no obstacle to communicating with Francis and his son. The first thing he needs to explain to Francis is the Ding family's

manner.

Ever since little Francis was arrested by Haihan, the Ding family has not made any noise. They have neither tried to rescue Francis and his son, nor dared to stand up to the stage to express his attitude to Haihan officials. Ding Feng understands very well that going too far is not equal.

If he can't wait to jump out and sever the relationship between his family and the Spaniards, it will only appear too traceable, and the Haihan people may not be willing to trust such a double-dealing person. Therefore, Ding Feng has always kept the Ding family silent, even if he later came to

The Qin family helped to inquire about Francis and his son, but they also did so quietly and privately.

Ding Feng didn't know whether Francis and his son could learn about the outside world during their imprisonment, and he didn't know exactly when they negotiated the terms of cooperation with Haihan, so he could only assume the worst case scenario, that is, the other party knew about the Ding family.

During this period, no measures were taken to rescue them. As married in-laws, the Francis and his son had reason to be angry at the Ding family's silence. After all, the Ding family was most likely their only outside support during their imprisonment.

All Ding Feng can do now is to convince Francis and his son that the Ding family has secretly tried to rescue them, but they have never been able to get in.

"...It wasn't until seven days ago that the person entrusted by me finally confirmed your personal safety through a piece of paper, but I still don't know where the Haihan people are imprisoning you. I also really want to use money to bail you out, but I really want to pray to the Buddha.

I can't find the temple gate, and I'm afraid that making too much noise will attract the attention of the Haihan government, which will harm you..." Ding Feng rambled for a long time, describing how the Ding family tried to ask someone to find out their whereabouts.

Then he tried to rescue them. These things were half-truths and half-falsehoods, but there were no loopholes in what he said.

As Ding Feng spoke, he carefully observed the faces of Francis and his son. Little Francis listened quite seriously, and his emotions were almost reflected on his face, while his father's face was as usual, with no hint of happiness or anger at all. The city government wanted

Much deeper than my son.

After Ding Feng finished speaking, Francis slowly said: "The Ding family has been worried about what happened before. But if the Ding family made too big a move at that time, it might make it impossible for us, father and son, to escape. This may not be a blessing in disguise."

Francis didn't say whether he blamed the Ding family, but Ding Feng heard from his tone that at least he didn't have much resentment, so he felt a little relieved. What he was most worried about was that Francis would hold a grudge and affect the long-term relationship between the two families in the future, but

Now it seems that the other party is relatively calm. Regardless of whether what Francis said is sincere or not, at least it seems that he does not intend to settle the previous matters with the Ding family.

Ding Feng felt a big stone put down in his heart, and it became much easier to talk about the following things. A large part of the reason for the marriage between the two families was also due to profit considerations, and the situation at that time was inexplicably similar to now. It was also led by Francis

Serving as the official protective umbrella of the Ding family, the Ding family took advantage of the various conveniences given by Francis to rapidly expand the boating business, and then gave back to his family in the form of financial gains through little Francis.

This interest transfer relationship established through marriage was running very smoothly before the arrival of the Haihan people, and both parties had a clear understanding of each other's needs. Now, although times have changed and Manila has changed its head, but for these two

As a family, there are still many things that have not changed. As long as they are willing to join forces again, there is still room for them to operate.

"After the war, there are still two to three thousand Hispanics who are unwilling to leave. From now on, affairs related to these people will be under the jurisdiction of the Western Management Bureau. Maybe we should think of ways to arrange for these people to work for us directly or indirectly.

." Since Francis is willing to communicate, Ding Feng no longer conceals his true intention.

The Ding family used to be mainly engaged in the boating business, but they were also involved in other land-based businesses, but the scale of the business was not large and would not attract attention. The local Hispanic people generally did not have a poor family background, and they were engaged in

In addition to the two main industries of navigation and commerce, there is also local agriculture and related processing industries. The Spaniards used to be the ruling class locally, and even when they were engaged in agriculture, they were not the kind of farmers who faced the loess and turned their backs to the sky.

, but farmers who only need to give orders to laborers and slaves. In terms of assets, the average wealth of the Hispanic ethnic group is obviously much higher than that of the Han ethnic group.

The Ding family had long wanted to do business among the Hispanic ethnic group, but because the rulers were Spanish, the Hispanics always had a condescending sense of superiority towards the Chinese. This made the Ding family's related attempts go very unsatisfactory, and they were later forced to

With no choice but to support little Francis to act as the middleman, he achieved some results.

But at that time, there was no Western Management Bureau in Manila. The Han Management Bureau was a specialized management agency set up for a certain ethnic group. Even with the secret support of the city defense commander, the Ding family's management of the Hispanic group was still only moderate.

The little money they made from the Spaniards was basically given to the Francis and his sons as benefits of cooperation, and not much ended up in their hands. The bulk of the real profits still came from the shipping industry, which was the main business.

However, after Haihan took over Manila, the business environment faced by the Ding family has also undergone some changes. The first is the impact from foreign counterparts. There are many Haihan private shipping companies who came to Manila with the Haihan army, including many like

The shipping capacity and shipping scope of industry giants like James Shipping Company are far beyond what Ding's Shipping Company can match, and there is also a clear gap in business capabilities.

Even if the Ding family is willing to spend money to build and purchase some new ships to expand its business scale, it is impossible to close this gap in the short term. The experience and professionalism of sailors, mature route operation strategies, and the ability to contact large-scale maritime shipping trade

, these large shipping companies from the Haihan Kingdom have too many advantages that the Ding family cannot match.

Therefore, Ding Feng does not intend to compete head-on with foreign strong players in the field of shipping. He will first honestly guard his one-third of an acre. In addition, he will take advantage of the favorable location and people to strive to be the first.

Business related to the Hispanic people has been taken over. And the people who are most likely to help the Ding family implement this plan are naturally the Francis and his son who have just come back.

"With all due respect, although the Haihan people gave me the position of director, what I can do now is extremely limited. Most of the time, I can only play the role of a spectator in the Western Management Bureau." Francis did not try to cover up.

Instead, he told Ding Feng frankly about his dilemma. He knew that concealing the truth on this issue was of no use. As long as Ding Feng's request could not be realized, his status as a puppet in the Western Management Bureau would be exposed immediately.

.

Although Ding Feng had expected this, he was still a little disappointed when he heard Francis admit it personally. However, his views on Francis's position were similar to his son-in-law Francis: "It is not necessarily the case that the Haihan people have arranged this."

They are purely using you as a puppet. Perhaps they will slowly delegate power to you after you become familiar with the affairs of the Western Management Bureau. The top priority is to make the Haihan people aware of your influence on the local Hispanic people as much as possible.

He is familiar with the situation and can perform some outstanding performances in the official position of director."

Francis said: "This is not as easy as you think. The officials sent by Haihan to manage the Western Management Bureau are very capable. It is said that they are talented people specially transferred from the north of the Ming Dynasty. To be honest, I have heard his comments about the Western Management Bureau.

After the work arrangement, I feel that I am really a dispensable person in this organization. Even if Haihan people are willing to give me a chance to perform, I may not be able to do better than him."

Francis's tone was a little frustrated, but this was indeed the truth. The field of civil affairs management was relatively unfamiliar to him, and naturally it was far inferior to Ge Yong, who had received specialized training and had rich experience in practical work in this area. If he wanted to work as a professional

Taking ability as the criterion for competition, even if three or five Francis are tied together, they will not be as useful as one Ge Yong.

Ding Feng shook his head and said: "You are a fan of the authorities. Do the Haihan people use you because of your ability in this field? Then maybe they should ask you to lead troops. You should think about what you are good at, Haihan people

Whatever the Han people need from you, this should be the right direction for you to seek a breakthrough."

After hearing these words, Francis suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment. What he had always worried about was that his professional ability was inferior to others, but in fact, the reason why the Shanghai Han people used him had basically nothing to do with his professional ability. What they needed was a person who was in charge of the job.

Hispanic people think of people who have prestige and speak with weight, and I happen to meet this requirement. If you want to perform well in your current position, you probably have to work hard in this direction.

Whether the Ding family can control the trade share related to the Spanish people in the future depends largely on whether Francis can provide resources to the Ding family through official channels. To achieve this, Francis must work in the West.

Only when the management bureau is truly in charge can it have certain authority. Ding Feng is now actively offering suggestions and suggestions, hoping that Francis can quickly change the current situation so that he can help the Ding family implement this plan.

The two kept talking secretly late into the night. Little Francis listened with interest for a while at first, but soon fell into fatigue. He was not very interested in these political and business collusion matters, and he did not like to scheming with others.

Instead of taking the time to study these "conspiracies", he would rather go back to Ding's house early to see the wife he missed so much. But at this time, the curfew had already started, and neither Ding Feng nor little Francis could leave the city. They could only wait until

We’ll talk about it the next day when the city gates are opened.

Ding Feng and Francis were both in their fifties, and in the middle of the night, their spirits could no longer hold up. In the end, Francis took the initiative to propose a break, and the specific matter could be discussed tomorrow. Anyway, he is also a member of the Western Management Bureau now.

As a casualty, according to Ge Yong's arrangement, he only had to go to order a meal in the morning, sign in after lunch, and leave early in the afternoon if he had nothing to do. This would give him plenty of time to study the plan proposed by Ding Feng.
Chapter completed!