"Tang Wenshan, the chief financial officer of Lanfang, was originally a financial officer of a Chinese mining company. A few years ago, there were more than 30 mining companies on the island of Borneo, most of which were run by Chinese. After Zhao Xuening's rise, he won the title of Mr. Governor With permission, they were all annexed with strong force.
After that, Zhao Xuening was forward-looking and gathered all the financial talents of these companies for interviews and tests, and selected a group of outstanding financial personnel. Tang Wenshan followed Zhao Xuening at that time. As for how he became Lanfang's chief financial officer ,I'm not too sure either. "
After Julian finished speaking, Conley looked at the plain-looking Tang Wenshan with curiosity on his face.
"Don't we know much about him?"
"Not really, there is one more thing."
"whats the matter?"
"He was once a staff member of the Thirteenth Bank of China in Guangzhou during the Qing Dynasty."
"Oh? From the Qing Dynasty? Born in the Qing Dynasty?"
"Yes."
Julian whispered: "I don't know if it's true. I just heard some rumors that he escaped here because he was involved in a corruption incident involving a Qing official. He didn't come here on his own initiative. To get here, I don’t know what wonderful journey there is.”
"That's it."
Cornley nodded slowly and said, "This is an interesting thing."
Yes, this matter is not only interesting to Conley, but also to Zhao Xuening himself.
Tang Wenshan is a bit interesting.
He is stingy, good at financial management, and careful calculation is his special skill.
According to his own words, he once had the experience of working as an accountant in Guangdong No. 13 Bank and had twenty years of experience in financial management. His life was quite comfortable.
Later, he was involved in the corruption case of a certain official in Guangzhou Prefecture and was forced to help him make false accounts. He thought it was nothing serious, but he did not expect that the official's backer in the capital fell because he offended the powerful officials in the court. He himself was dug out as well.
Tang Wenshan and his boss were like the bits of mud brought out from the radish that was pulled out, and they were about to be doomed.
So without saying a word, Tang Wenshan took the whole family and children, smeared the soles of their feet with oil, hid it in a black merchant ship, and went to Borneo to start a second life.
From his mouth, Zhao Xuening learned a lot of dirty information about local officials in Guangzhou, which sounded very interesting.
Later, Zhao Xuening discovered that this guy's financial management skills were real. Among the entire financial management team, he had the strongest ability, the most sensitivity, and the stingiest, and he would inquire into every use of money.
Before Tang Wenshan became the financial head of Lanfang, Zhao Xuening himself was in charge of the financial affairs of Lanfang Company.
However, Zhao Xuening is not too sensitive when it comes to this kind of issue, or his talents are not focused on financial management. Therefore, every time it comes to the annual review of Lanfang Company, Zhao Xuening has the most headache.
After Tang Wenshan became the head of finance, this situation was quickly reversed.
Tang Wenshan is not only good at traditional Chinese account books, but also because he has dealt with Europeans for many years in the Thirteenth Bank. He also understands the financial management methods of the British, Spanish, and Dutch. He can be said to be an expert in financial management. .
After he took over the financial affairs, he reorganized Lanfang Company's account books for several years in just one month, found 17 errors and omissions, held more than 200 people jointly and severally liable, and brought 19 to An employee of Lanfang Company was sent to Lanfang Prison on charges of corruption, giving everyone a slap in the face.
And from now on, anyone who wants to spend money from the Ministry of Finance must give a very clear reason and budget report. They need to write down in black and white what they need to do, how to do it, what the budget is, and they must also give a receipt.
He also set up an audit team to chase every expenditure, which made the Lanfang officials who were accustomed to spending a lot of money in the past miserable and had great opinions on him.
However, he withstood heavy pressure and established an auditing mechanism, which greatly improved Lanfang's financial situation and made up for Zhao Xuening's last shortcoming in establishing the country.
So after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Tang Wenshan naturally became the Chief Financial Officer of the Republic.
Of course, outsiders don’t fully understand these things. Even rumors about Lanfang’s internal affairs cannot tell the full story. What’s more, Tang Wenshan has always kept a low profile. Most of the things about him that are circulated in the public are hearsay. Something, not believable.
But there are some things that can be analyzed if you are serious about it.
Julian is a caring person.
"I don't know much about more things, but there is one thing I think is worth paying attention to."
Julian said slowly: "As long as we analyze the resumes of the subordinates who follow Zhao Xuening, we can easily find that Tang Wenshan can be said to be the person who has followed Zhao Xuening for the shortest time and has the least qualifications among the entire Lanfang senior management. Zhao Xuening was only four years old and was a member of the New Lanfang Sect.
But he was able to achieve such a high position in the Lanfang senior team, which is full of Endeavor and Lao Lanfang factions. I think this is enough to prove that he is a person with special talents and status, and Zhao Xuening should be inseparable from him. of. "
"Old Lanfang Sect and... New Lanfang Sect? What are these?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. These are also some rumors circulating. I don't know whether they are true or not, but I think it is very possible."
Julian said: "Lanfang is generally united under the leadership of Zhao Xuening, but there are also some internal differences such as party divisions within the British Parliament, and some interest disputes. I think this is the same for any national government.
Lanfang has too many people of different ethnic groups and origins mixed together. Although they can generally obey Zhao Xuening's orders, there are also many different factions. The simplest ones are Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, and British. , Portuguese, etc. This is the simplest and most direct way to divide.
In addition, there are also theories that divide factions according to the length of time they have followed Zhao Xuening. For example, the crew members of the "Endeavour" who started their career with Zhao Xuening. They are Zhao Xuening's closest confidants and Lan Fang's most powerful group of people. They Known privately as the Endeavors.
Then the group of people who founded Lanfang Company with Zhao Xuening were called the Lanfang Sect because they contributed to the establishment of Lanfang Company and did not have the senior qualifications of the Endeavor Sect. However, the Lanfang Sect was not a whole. It started as a company, and later many talents joined and gradually grew to a national level.
Therefore, there is a saying that those outside the Endeavor faction who followed Zhao Xuening before founding the company are called the Old Lanfang faction, while those who followed Zhao Xuening after founding the company are called the New Lanfang faction, as a distinction between the two. distinction.
Now, there are some statements saying that those who decided to follow Lan Fang after the establishment of the Republic cannot be regarded as the new Lan Fang faction because they did not contribute to the establishment of the Republic. So I think this way of classification may be different from Lan Fang. There is something to do with the power structure within Fang. "
"That's an interesting statement. You may be right."
Cornley nodded: "The division of factions according to ethnic origin may only be superficial, but the unspoken rules that Lan Fang really cares about may be this way of determining factions based on the length of time they have followed Zhao Xuening, and this may really matter to Lan Fang. Fang’s power structure.”
“It would be great if I could help you.”
Julian pushed up his glasses proudly and looked at the two Europeans who were talking together.
"Those two, the taller, younger and more handsome one, is Lanfang's chief commerce and trade chief Maurice Spencer, a Scotsman, and the middle-aged man is Lanfang's chief health officer Matthew Titus. , being Spanish, the experiences of these two people are quite interesting.”
"How is it interesting?"
"Both of these men were ex-convicts."
"Prisoner?"
Cornley asked in confusion: "Convicts from Scotland and Spain? And then he became a high-ranking official in Lanfang? Is Lanfang a country of prisoners?"
"Not really, but almost."
Julian nodded and said: "Do you think that if you can survive here and survive so well, you can be a good citizen who abides by the law?"
"Hmm...that's true."
"Matthew was a doctor in Madrid, and Maurice was the youngest son of a baron family in Scotland. It is said that Matthew became a prisoner because of a medical accident, while Maurice became a prisoner because he offended a great nobleman. Kill the prisoner."
"Why does it sound a little unusual?"
"Probably, I don't know the specific inside story. Anyway, these two people are prisoners who escaped here to survive, and they both served in Zhao Xuening's hostile forces, and then were defeated and captured by Zhao Xuening, and then took refuge in Zhao Xuening. "
"Then they all became high-ranking officials of the Lanfang regime? Does Zhao Xuening like to use his former enemies as subordinates so much? Is he actually so tolerant of his former enemies?"
"That can't be said. In the battle of Batavia, he beheaded more than five hundred Dutch prisoners."
"emmmmmmmmmmm..."
"There is only one reason why such a strong military man, who shows no mercy to the defeated, pays special attention to these two people, is that they are very capable, and this is also true."
Julian said slowly: "Matthew under Zhao Xuening is not like a quack doctor who caused a medical accident at all. Instead, he is a very capable doctor. He is the president of Lanfang Hospital. He is responsible for both government departments and hospitals." He can balance these two aspects well at work, do you think he is mediocre?"
"I think if someone is willing to look up his medical accident in Madrid, they should be able to find out something very interesting."
"As for Maurice, it's the same. It seems that a woman had a conflict with the son of an earl, and then she became a prisoner."
"Oh, love, hahahahahaha..."
Cornley smiled and shook his head: "These two should be very grateful to Zhao Xuening, right?"
"Yes, and there is a saying that Zhao Xuening admires and trusts these two people, and these two people are also quite loyal to Zhao Xuening, and they are also one of the few people who can freely enter and leave Zhao Xuening's private residence."
"I guess so, and I have an interesting idea."
"Please say."
"If Zhao Xuening is willing to help them take revenge, I think they will be loyal to Zhao Xuening for the rest of their lives."
"Maybe, it's not a good feeling to be forced to leave your hometown."
There was a trace of sadness on Julian's face.
Cornley did not notice Julian's momentary sadness.
