Volume 2: Chapter 12 - Prelude to Cooking a Sweet Potato Soup (Part 2)

  Moreover, the arrogance of the South Korean stick is something that Tang Yi has experienced. At present, the Republic has not yet established diplomatic relations with South Korea, and most people in the country do not know what kind of abnormal psychology the South Koreans, one of the Four Little Dragons, have. Since Yan Shan is close to North Korea and has a large number of ethnic Koreans, Tang Yi must think of ways to get some money from the South Korean stick to spend. It seems that with their mentality, if he builds an ancient civilization road in Yan Shan, Han Chengzi's cottage, those historians will make a big fuss about it, and Korean tourists will flock to it, not only Yan Shan, but also Yanqing City, and even the provincial capital city, which has the only airport in the province, will benefit from it.

  But Tang Yi wouldn't elaborate on these ideas with Li An, after all, even if the hope is great, it's not necessarily achievable, leaving some room for retreat is always good.

  Tang Yiyu thought for a moment, then said to Li An: "So, today is also somewhat exciting, what should be said and what shouldn't be said have all been told to you. It's just to let you prepare mentally, the Commercial Bureau must prepare Korean translators. Later I'll find a local historian to write an article in a Korean newspaper to create some momentum and see how Koreans react before proceeding."

  Li Anke couldn't sit still, thinking to himself that since he had joined Secretary Tang's side, he should be single-mindedly considering Secretary Tang's interests. Usually flattering and fawning wasn't a big deal, but on important matters he couldn't afford to give Secretary Tang any bad advice, even if it meant speaking an unpleasant truth. So he carefully said: "Secretary Tang, the Koreans, they won't read these things, will they? In recent years they've been criticizing us for taking the revisionist road, and our Korean-language newspaper is probably not something they'd be able to see."

  Tang Yi smiled and said: "I'm talking about the southern faction, not the northern faction's comrade."

  Li An was stunned and saw Tang Yi's mysterious and profound smile, and didn't dare to ask further. As long as Secretary Tang had a bottom line, it would be fine.

  Tang Yi patted Li An's shoulder and said with a smile: "Great, you're great. I just need someone to remind me. People, once they reach a high position, it's easy to become arrogant and forget one's origins, especially for young people like me." As he spoke, Tang Yi was only a few years older than Li An's son, but the way he patted Li An's shoulder with such warmth and sincerity made Li An feel not only unembarrassed but also thoroughly comfortable, moved to the point of tears. It was as if a thousand-mile horse had met its Bo Le, or Jiang Ziya had encountered Zhou Wu Wang - his heart was filled with indescribable excitement.

  Li An thought that was the end of it, but a few days later, the office of the county government received a call from South Korea. The caller claimed to be a descendant of Han Chengzi, the 63rd generation grandson of the Qingjiang Han family, and wanted to meet with the county magistrate to discuss the construction of Han Chengzi's hermitage. When Li An heard the report from Xiao Cao, he almost choked on his tea.

  He hastily picked up the phone, and the other party's voice was very old, but his Chinese was spoken with a strong accent, and his voice carried an air of dignity. Even through the phone, Li An could tell that this old man was no ordinary person. He immediately put aside his initial frivolous thoughts. The old man spoke directly: "Is this the external contact office of Yan Shan? I heard you're going to rebuild my ancestors' hut. I'm very pleased, but rebuilding the hut is a matter of great importance. Can't we wait until I fly to Yan Shan and discuss it with you in detail?"

  Li An didn't know how the phone call ended up at the reception office, probably it was Tang Secretary's doing. Regardless of whether the other party was genuine or not, he didn't dare to be slow and hastily smiled: "Yes, yes, may I ask where you are?"

  The old man's voice was full of authority: "I am Han Wancheng of Dasheng Electronics."

  Da Xing Electronics? Li An sucked in a breath of cold air. Although China and South Korea had not yet established diplomatic relations, Da Xing Electronics had been actively expanding into the Asian market in recent years. Li An had read reports about it in magazines, saying that the Da Xing Electronics Group was one of the top two conglomerates in Korea's electronics industry. But who was this Han Won-sung?

  But it seems that I am a relatively important person in Daxing Electronics, otherwise they wouldn't have reported my name as someone from Daxing Electronics. Li An hastily said: "I need to report this to our leader, can you please leave me with your contact information?"

  The old man said without thinking: "Go, you must tell your leader that the repair of the Lu's house should wait for our Daxing Electronics delegation to negotiate. If not, I will go to Yanshan personally."

  Li An hummed in response, and as soon as he hung up the phone, he immediately ordered someone to investigate whether there was an important figure named Han Wanting at Daxing Electronics. The Commerce Bureau was thrown into chaos for a while, until a clerk found an introduction to Daxing Electronics in an economic magazine. When Li An saw the words "Chairman Han Wanting of Daxing Electronics", his legs trembled and he grabbed the newspaper and rushed towards Tang Yi's office. As for whether the person on the phone was really Han Wanting, only Secretary Tang could verify it.

  On the other end of the phone was a skyscraper that pierced the clouds, and in the spacious office on the top floor, an old man with white hair wearing a Korean hanbok stood in front of the glass curtain, gazing at the people and cars flowing like ants in the streets of Seoul. He didn't know what he was thinking about, but he was Han Man-seong, the captain of Daeseong Electronics. In the past, every time he thought deeply about a problem, it meant that another storm was brewing in Korea's electronics industry. But this time, his wise eyes did not have even a hint of the fierce energy of war, only a faint sense of melancholy.

  Behind him stood a middle-aged man wearing glasses, dressed in a crisp black suit, with a slightly bald head. Although he looked unassuming, he was actually a formidable figure - Kim Won, the director of the market development department at Dae Star Electronics. Like all successful Korean entrepreneurs, he was pragmatic, ruthless and extremely loyal, which earned him great respect from Han Man-seong. His efforts also contributed to the recent rapid expansion of Dae Star Electronics.

  "Chairman, are you really going to Yan Shan?" Jin Yuan didn't agree with rebuilding the ancestral home from the bottom of his heart, but he also knew that although the Korean clan's power was declining, they still looked down on the new rich, and Da Xing Electronics was the biggest upstart in their eyes. The younger generation wouldn't care about these clans who were gradually being eliminated, clinging to their rotten signs and passing the days, but the chairman with traditional thinking, although wise and profound, couldn't see through this one thing, and had always been troubled by his humble origins. A few years ago, Han Wancheng announced the repair of the family tree, inexplicably becoming the legitimate descendant of Qinghe Han's clan, also to join the "noble" class in the eyes of these clans. As for him teaching his granddaughter classical Korean education, it was a delightful story that Da Xing Electronics loved to talk about.

  Han Wan-cheng was overjoyed when he read in a newspaper that Han Seong-jae, the ancestor of the Korean clan, was the first person to introduce Confucian culture to Korea.

  It's good to have a prominent ancestor, but it's not worth going all the way to Yan Mountain in person. At most, just spend some money to repair the thatched cottage and let people know that the old ancestor of Qinghe Han is a master of Korean culture, which is enough. Jin Yuan muttered to himself, but didn't dare say it out loud.

  Han Wan-cheng seemed to see through his mind, smiled and sat on the sofa, saying: "Director Jin, do you think I'm doing this just to raise the status of Qinghe Han's family, just for my face? So you think I've got my priorities backwards, ignoring the billions of dollars in business, and spending these days thinking about these trivial matters."

  Jin Yuan was shocked and bowed his head in fear: "No, the chairman naturally has the chairman's ideas."

  Han Wancheng smiled: "This thing is well planned, and improving the reputation of Qinghe Han's family is just one aspect. What I value is the mainland market. These days, I've been thinking about how to make Yanshan our entry point for opening up the mainland market!"

  Opening up the mainland market? Wanting to enter the mainland, even if not choosing southern Guangzhou Shenzhen, there's still Qingdao Dalian in the north. Why choose a small Yanshan? Jin Yuan was very puzzled and didn't let it show on his face, Han Wancheng slowly narrowed his eyes and said faintly: "You'll know in a few days!"

  Jin Yuan didn't dare ask again, in front of Han Wancheng he was always a low-key executor. Just as he thought about leaving, the phone rang, Han Wancheng picked it up, listened for a few sentences, his face immediately turned iron-green, slammed down the phone and said to Jin Yuan: "Hua Ji has been bullied again, you go to the police station to bail her out and bring her back here!"

  Jin Yuan's face turned sour, his biggest headache was this eccentric and unpredictable young lady. It seemed that she had been educated in classical ways since childhood, but she was rebellious to the extreme. Except for pretending to be a virtuous and gentle lady in front of her grandfather, once outside the Han family home, she immediately became a troublemaker. These past two years, who knows how much trouble she had caused.

  I don't know who got beaten up and taken to the police station today, but somehow the wisest Chairman Han always believes her words. Every time she gets into trouble, she talks her way out of it with a few clever sentences, and the ones who get bullied become the villains, becoming the objects of Chairman Han's endless complaints. Only in front of Hua Ji does the chairman seem like a real old man.

  "Besides, Huajie said that this time we won't tell the other party, this child is kind, just listen to her." Before going out, the old chairman sighed and instructed with a loving face, Jinyuan stumbled and almost fell flat on his face.

  ……

  The old chairman's blind doting on Hana was one thing, but his pure mastery of using political and economic leverage was another. More than a dozen days later, Kim Won finally understood the intention behind using Yeonsan as a breakthrough, and he couldn't help but deeply admire the old chairman's mysterious and cunning business skills once again.

  These days, Korean newspapers and magazines have been enthusiastically discussing the upcoming construction of a memorial hall for Yanshan in Korea, exaggerating its significance to an infinite degree. Some say "this is proof that Korean Confucianism, although originating from China, has developed independently since the beginning of our era", while others claim "Korean Confucianism surpasses even the Chinese original and is now the best Confucianism in the world". Others have gone further to propose a viewpoint: "the territory of the Korean Peninsula had already expanded to the three eastern provinces by the beginning of our era, otherwise why would the founder of our Confucianism build his hermitage in a foreign land?" Patriotic youths and scholars are writing articles in newspapers and magazines to commemorate this major event.

  Jin Yuan knew that this wave of momentum was definitely stirred up by the old chairman, but what's even more shocking is yet to come. Han Wanting has been visiting key figures in politics, economy and culture in Seoul for days, finally confirming that South Korea will take this incident as an opportunity to expand its influence on the mainland, engage in all-round cultural and economic exchanges with the mainland, and score points for future diplomatic relations. The breakthrough point is Yanshan, because there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries, so it's up to Dasheng Electronics to take the lead, of course, this is a secret agreement. When Jin Yuan heard this news, he was shocked and couldn't close his mouth. Isn't this the government spending money to pave the way for Dasheng Electronics? At that moment, Jin Yuan admired the old chairman with all his heart.

  Kim Won-seong also entrusted Kim Won with a heavy responsibility, as the first decision-maker to contact Yeonsan. Kim Won flew to Yeonsan with low-interest government loans, Daesung Electronics' factory application, several TV dramas that showcase Korean culture and must be broadcast on the mainland as announced by the Ministry of Culture, and the ardent hopes of the people.