There were not many beaches along the coast of the Red Sea. Most of the scenery was a mountain range composed of red rocks on both sides of the Red Sea. These mountains were not high, but they were absolutely barren. Port Sudan was built at a gap in the mountain range on the west bank of the Red Sea. Although it was a gap, it was only slightly lower than the mountain range, and the whole thing was on the hillside. Therefore, from the building at the top of the hillside, one could see the whole picture of Port Sudan from a high vantage point.
Wei Kun's office in Port Sudan was located on a high vantage point in the port. When he looked out, Wei Kun noticed a pure white cruise ship parked elegantly in the port's berth. This cruise ship was called the Rainbow Princess, and it was Wei Wenrui's favorite cruise ship when he went out. It had been parked there for several days. Wei Kun had no choice but to come to Port Sudan for his work in the three counties of Sudan. Initially, Wei Wenrui was said to have come to Port Sudan at Wei Kun's request to discuss cooperation in the sale of agricultural products. After that, Wei Kun was busy here, and Wei Wenrui was also very busy.
Thinking of this, Wei Kun sighed slightly. He lowered his head and continued to outline on the letter. As the governor of the three counties of Sudan, his work was much heavier than Wei Kun had imagined. It was as if he had no time to rest day and night. Just as Wei Kun was looking at the draft paper coldly and bending his head to bite off the end of the pencil, the guard came in and told him that the deputy mayor of Port Sudan had come to ask for a meeting.
Wei Kun invited the deputy mayor in. As soon as the deputy mayor came in, he immediately handed Wei Kun a resignation letter. Just as Wei Kun was reading the resignation letter, the deputy mayor said, "Secretary Wei, I've been in East Africa for several years. I've always wanted to go home, and now I've decided to go home to take care of my parents. Please approve it. "
"Sigh … It's human nature to take care of your parents. I can understand your thoughts. I agree, "Wei Kun said with a very open-minded expression.
The deputy mayor's expression changed slightly. He had not expected Wei Kun to agree to his resignation so easily. The deputy mayor felt as if he had been pardoned. After thanking Wei Kun, he hurriedly left Wei Kun's office.
The guard couldn't stand it anymore. He looked at the deputy mayor's back and muttered, "He's the fourth one to resign today. Secretary Wei, you're really able to let it go. "
Facing the guard's complaint, Wei Kun smiled and said, "It's useless even if I force you to stay. It's better to comfort myself by saying that the old doesn't go and the new doesn't go. "After that, Wei Kun sat back at his desk and continued to work.
Looking out from the porthole of the Rainbow Princess that was docked in the port, the Port Sudan port on the hillside was brightly lit. This was the first city in Africa to build a power supply system. Even though the power system's capacity was not large, it could still support street lamps and indoor lighting. There were stars in the sky and on the ground. It was quite interesting to look at the buildings on the hillside at night.
The mayor of Port Sudan and Wei Wenrui sat together in the hall of the Rainbow Princess, enjoying the wind brought by the electric fan. Perhaps the mayor had seen too much of Port Sudan's night view, so he did not look outside. Instead, he looked at Wei Wenrui and asked bluntly, "Princess, why did you let these people resign?"
"Didn't those people want to leave Africa and return to the country a long time ago? What's wrong with letting them get what they want? "Wei Wenrui did not withdraw her gaze. She just answered slowly.
This answer was clearly a perfunctory one, which the mayor could not accept. However, just as the mayor was about to think of a new way to ask, Wei Wenrui spoke again. "You must know how much you've taken from me all these years. Now, my uncle is bent on making a name for himself in Africa. As the saying goes, a new broom sweeps clean. What do you think he'll do if he wants to establish his authority? "
These words made the mayor's expression change slightly. Without waiting for the mayor to express his opinion, Wei Wenrui continued, "With the money they've received, it's not a loss for them to leave now. Moreover, after these people leave, Port Sudan will be understaffed. Unless he wants to vent his anger or completely disregard the results, my uncle Wei Kun will not make a move on the remaining comrades. "
At this moment, the mayor no longer felt like he was being deceived. He had to admit that he really did not think of such a way to advance by retreating. After figuring this out, the mayor could not help but ask a question. "Secretary Wei Kun won't hold on to the past, right?"
No matter what, Wei Kun was the son of His Majesty Vézé. If this prince really wanted to throw a tantrum, the mayor felt that he would not be able to deal with such a situation. Other people left because they did not want to cooperate, but the mayor wanted to cooperate because he could do something more effectively that did not support Wei Kun.
Wei Wenrui glanced at the mayor coldly. "Hmph, if you're worried about such things, then do what I've asked you to do. My fourth grandpa is not a strict person, but he's not the kind of person who has to support the mud to the wall. If Uncle Wei Kun really doesn't have the ability to solve the problem in Africa, my fourth grandpa won't force Uncle Wei Kun to stay in Africa. "
After listening to such a straightforward speech, the mayor felt an inexplicable chill in his body. He did not expect that the mayor of a small port like him would get involved in the royal family's affairs. Getting into such trouble was the last thing the mayor wanted to happen.
In the next two days, two more people requested to resign, but Wei Kun still readily accepted them. To Wei Kun's surprise, Wei Wenrui left Port Sudan by ship after saying goodbye. Wei Wenrui told Wei Kun that she returned to China this time to handle a private matter and would return to Europe after she was done.
As soon as Wei Wenrui left, the mayor immediately felt a lot more relaxed. Although several middle-level cadres had left, the number of ships passing through the Red Sea had decreased significantly due to the recent war in Africa. Port Sudan was also not so busy, which made the entire port area more relaxed. More importantly, as Wei Wenrui said, Wei Kun did not fly into a rage out of humiliation, nor did he retaliate. He just inspected the port area every day, talked to the staff, and wrote what he had written in the rest of the time.
Wei Kun's weak performance made the mayor deeply impressed with Wei Wenrui's departure. For these people who worked hard in Africa, what they wanted most was to be able to return to China. However, this was a very difficult thing for these people. Seeing Wei Wenrui's ship leave the port and sail south, leaving a white track on the sea, the mayor found that he only had jealousy, a strong jealousy. This kind of royal child could leave and go home whenever he wanted. These journeys, which were extremely difficult for the mayor, were just a matter of time for Wei Wenrui.
Compared with this shocking and casual behavior, Wei Kun's actions were so ordinary that the mayor found it boring. However, just two days after Wei Wenrui left, Wei Kun's actions made the mayor understand one thing. Those big shots naturally had their own differences.
Wei Kun held a meeting and put forward his plan at the meeting. "I want to use East Africa's currency in East Africa. Although there are many advantages to using RMB, there are also many unsuitable places. The central government will never allow us to hold so much RMB in East Africa, so they will not loosen the financial constraints on East Africa. If we use East Africa's currency in East Africa, the central government will consider loosening the constraints on us. Moreover, we can actually use more flexible currency payment methods for many foreign trade … "
The mayor did not understand the part about the use of multiple currencies that Wei Kun proposed later, so he did not listen to it. When he heard that Wei Kun was going to use East Africa's own currency, he felt a huge impact on his nerves. Wei Kun's words were easy to understand, and the mayor also understood the main point of Wei Kun's words.
The reason why Wei Wenrui was able to have such a big influence in Africa was because she controlled the capital channels of Africa's export products. Selling more and selling less, giving late and early, everything was controlled by Wei Wenrui. This group of African cadres naturally came here to make money, so they did not dare to oppose Wei Wenrui. Even if some of them could not see the situation clearly, they would realize that opposing Wei Wenrui to a large extent was opposing the central government. Everyone was not stupid. Wei Wenrui was Vézé's grandniece and Wei Changrong's daughter. She was the person that the central government could truly trust to manage the money from thousands of miles away.
Now, what Wei Kun needed to do was not only to take away the financial power from Wei Wenrui's hands, but also to fight for the financial power of the East Africa administrative region from the central government. When Wei Wenrui held the financial power, the cadres in East Africa had to listen to Wei Wenrui. When Wei Kun held the administrative power of the East Africa administrative region, it went without saying who the cadres in East Africa would listen to.
"This is really a group of people that can't be provoked." The mayor sighed in his heart and became even more anxious. This dispute between a fierce dragon and a hungry tiger was far beyond his level. Wei Kun was still okay. He did not intend to force this group of people to fight. Wei Wenrui, on the other hand, made it clear that he was trying to prevent Wei Kun from seizing the power of East Africa. When Wei Wenrui returned, what kind of fight would break out? And what would the mayor be driven to do in this fight?
"… For such a job, Port Sudan, as the most important channel for the export of Sudan's alfalfa, has to take responsibility. I now ask the comrades to make their own reports based on the idea of East Africa adopting its own currency. After sorting out the reports, I will submit a report to the capital of the East Africa administrative region. "Wei Kun finally expressed his work requirements for the comrades.
Seeing that Wei Kun was serious, the only thing left in the mayor's mind was to find an opportunity to escape. Then the mayor saw the section chief in charge of finance raise his hand and ask to speak. After getting permission, the section chief stood up and asked in a confused tone, "Secretary Wei, if we do this, doesn't that mean that the central government can't make money from the alfalfa business?"
Wei Kun smiled and said, "East Africa's currency is printed by the central bank. They buy alfalfa from us and give us East Africa's currency. What they print is banknotes, and what they exchange for are products. How can they not make money?"
This answer made everyone at the meeting speechless. Everyone felt that all kinds of ideas were flying in their minds, and they could not agree or disagree with Wei Kun's opinion. Then they heard Wei Kun say, "Don't worry, everyone. I will carefully discuss the work with everyone in the next few days and try to communicate things as well as possible."
On April 24th, Wei Kun's draft was sent to the central government. Regardless of whether the comrades in East Africa understood it or not, the comrades in the central government quickly understood what Wei Kun meant. Any independence would probably be marked by military independence and economic independence. Military Governor Vaize had never advocated for Africa to be incorporated into China's territory, and the central government's view on this matter was very consistent. It was too difficult to civilize the barbarians, and there were especially many barbarians in Africa. In order to save trouble, it was a good thing that the East African administrative region was independent of China.
However, this kind of independence decided by the central government was different from Wei Kun's purposeful achievement of independence. Although a considerable number of members of the Politburo had not been able to consider a clear reason, they all felt a sense of offense. Since the one who offended the central government's authority was Vézé's son, and he was also the son Vézé had agreed to send to East Africa, everyone's eyes fell on Vézé's face.
Vézé did not avoid it. He said, "Comrades, are you willing to incorporate East Africa into China's territory?"
In the face of this principled question, everyone's expressions became ambiguous. No one expressed their willingness to incorporate East Africa into China's territory, let alone turn their black brothers into China citizens.
"Has anyone heard the rumor that Wang Mingshan had an affair with a European banking woman?" Vézé continued to ask.
More than half of the Politburo knew about this news, so a small number of people who did not know about it had a confused expression on their faces. Vézé showed some documents to everyone to browse, then asked, "Does anyone think we should pursue this matter?"
Just like last time, no one answered. If this matter had happened in China and been exposed publicly, it would have been the Disciplinary Committee's turn to intervene. However, this matter happened in faraway Africa. It was really strange to arrest Wang Mingshan from Africa and bring him back to Asia for investigation.
Finally, a comrade from the Supervisory Department asked a question, "Will Comrade Wang Mingshan not take up another position in China?"
"Yes!" Vézé answered firmly.
After getting a clear answer from Vézé, the comrade from the Supervisory Department returned to silence. Everyone also understood what Vézé meant, and no one came out to speak.
After settling this matter, Vézé continued to push his idea. "I heard a saying that whoever controls the right to issue the currency controls a country. I think in Wei Kun's plan, the East African administrative region has its own currency, but the right to issue the currency is in our hands. This means that East Africa cannot be truly independent. So, personally, I am more inclined to support his idea. "
"Wasn't the previous policy good?" The successor of the Central Bank, Zhou Dahe, felt that he had to speak up. It was not easy to control an area, especially an area with an area of millions and a population of tens of millions like East Africa. Therefore, Zhou Dahe's attitude was more conservative.
"There were two problems with the previous policy. First, our management of the European financial units was not effective. Second, the European financial units were sucking blood from East Africa, so that East Africa had no further development momentum. Now that the comrades in East Africa have changed their plans, we might as well support them. "Vézé continued to push his idea.
As soon as this was said, Wei Changrong's expression was still a little calmer. As long as they knew that Wei Changrong's daughter, Wei Wenrui, was the head of the European financial units, the faces of the Politburo members did not look good. Vézé was clearly expressing his distrust of the European financial units. No one wanted to think about what would happen to those who were publicly distrusted by the Military Governor Vaize. At the very least, they could understand the result by associating it.
Vézé continued, "Comrades, the authority in East Africa can be used as a test. After temporarily agreeing to East Africa's request, we can see the effect. If the effect is good, of course, we can continue to do it. If the effect is not good, we can terminate it and restore the previous system. There is no need to kill the young people with a stick. We need to give them a chance to play. "
As soon as this was said, many people looked a little better. Just when those who thought more about it thought that Wei Ze was adjusting his words just now to give Wei Wenrui another guarantee, Wei Wenrui's expression suddenly changed. They heard Vézé continue to say, "After the policy adjustment in East Africa, our control over East Africa has increased. Based on this increase, I think it is also time to remove the control of the European financial units over East Africa. It is also best to have a system for the management of the personnel of the European financial units. The mission of the pioneer is now almost over, and we should enter the development stage. "
The people who thought that Wei Wenrui was still valued by Vézé changed their expressions greatly. These words were just short of asking Wei Wenrui to step down. Of course, there were also people who didn't care about Wei Wenrui's personnel appointment. From their thinking expressions, these people were probably thinking about who Wei Wenrui's successor would be. The European financial units were in charge of a lot of funds. No matter who could take over this position, it would be a very big thing.
As soon as the memories faded, Wei Changrong found Vézé. In front of Vézé, Wei Changrong showed a somewhat uneasy expression, "Uncle, what happened to Wenrui?"
"It is still within the acceptable range for now, but I think it may not be acceptable in the future." Although Vézé didn't explain in detail, it was very clear.
Wei Changrong couldn't help but reveal a pained expression on his face, but after all, he had been through many hardships for so many years. After a moment, this pain turned into determination. "Fourth Uncle, tell me what she did."
"Wen Rui spread the news about Wang Mingshan and that woman. There's also a Crown Prince's clique that revolves around her. It's probably because Wen Rui has such a huge amount of money that they want to take advantage of him."
When Vézé stopped, Wei Changrong asked, "That's all?"
"There are still things she hasn't done for the time being, but I'm not going to give her a chance to finish them. If I let her finish those things, I won't be able to cover up for her even if I want to. If Wenrui reaches the point where she can't even cover up for him, I probably won't be able to let the small group of people centered around Wenrui go. Maybe I'm too soft-hearted, and I don't want things to go to this point. "After saying that, Vézé couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Just as Vézé expressed this, Wei Changrong said something, "Uncle, when did you start investigating Wenrui?"
"Huh?" Vézé didn't expect Wei Changrong to ask this, and he was stunned.
"Uncle, if you weren't worried about Wenrui, you probably wouldn't have investigated so thoroughly." Wei Changrong had to explain.
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