What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 341 Attitude! Degree!
Unlicensed import and export trade can be broadly divided into two types:

One type involves legally entering and exiting the country through formal channels, but without complete customs declaration procedures; this is called being a middleman.

One method involves unofficial channels for entry and exit, with ridiculous procedures; this is called smuggling.

The entry barrier for resellers is low, and the profits are mostly not high, while smuggling is high-risk but also more profitable.

For fishermen in the north, fishing in public waters is a common occurrence, and they often encounter fishing boats from foreign countries.

Although they usually fight each other, they sometimes spontaneously exchange supplies, which can easily turn into tacit smuggling.

"Cui the Rat" was clearly one of them. He did fish, but he also took advantage of opportunities to travel by sea.

Generally speaking, such gray-area transactions are not easy to detect, and even if they are investigated, the investigations are not very strict.

However, this guy was incredibly audacious and ventured into the waters near South Korea, loading up with twenty cars and a bunch of high-tech electronic products.

The sheer number immediately alerted the South Korean marine police, who not only dispatched two patrol boats to ambush the enemy but also coordinated with a military helicopter to intercept them.

The Koreans thought this setup was a sure thing, but when they saw the size and shape of the Dongjiang-type fishing boat, they started to have doubts. They reluctantly intercepted it, and the military helicopter, claiming its identity, even tried to force a rappelling landing.

As it turned out, "Cui the Rat" had a stroke of luck at the crucial moment. He directly used a water cannon to shoot down the helicopter that was hovering at low altitude, and then rammed the water police on the bridge of the two patrol boats until they couldn't stand up. After a chaotic crash, he made his escape.

Midway through, a smaller patrol boat received a public radio call and sensed something was wrong. It tried to stop the patrol boat and fired a burst of bullets.

This certainly didn't cause any damage to the thousand-ton fishing boat, and according to "Cui the Rat's" confession:

It was pitch black at the time, and I accidentally bumped into it. "I don't remember what happened."

When the belatedly aware South Koreans received the embellished summary from their subordinates, along with the enormous loss of a helicopter, they immediately broke down their defenses and drew a conclusion:
The Dongda warship is now sailing!

According to the description given by the patrol boat crew at the time, and upon closer inspection of the "fishing boat" shape and the "cannon," it was clearly a warship!
When this conclusion came out of the South Korean media, it startled people in China as well. They thought there was a real problem and launched an investigation with extraordinary efficiency. The officer in the peaked cap drove thousands of miles overnight to arrest him.

Less than 30 hours after such a big incident, Tang Wen also received a call from Beijing.

After hearing the whole story, Tang Wencai quickly checked the locations of the rented fishing boats in his mind and immediately discovered that the north was the hardest-hit area, and at that very moment a fishing boat was conducting an obviously irregular transaction.

Moreover, even the other fishing boats that were operating normally had clearly gone out of the economic zone guaranteed by the contract. Even Tang Wen could tell with the naked eye that they were too close to other people's coastlines.

In this situation, his choice, of course, is... not to see.

Compared to the Spratly Islands and the trouble with Minister Johnson, this little matter was not enough to attract Tang Wen's attention.

……

Suwon.

"We have determined that this was an illegal water crossing committed by a fisherman, and the case has been handed over to the local authorities for legal processing."

Zhao Hande looked at the angry almond-eyed man in front of him with a headache; how could this matter have dragged him into it?

Of course, it was a bit of a coincidence. He originally came to South Korea with a business delegation hoping to introduce the local television industry and shipbuilding technology, but this happened instead.

After the incident, Bangzi was furious and kept questioning him.

"Mr. Zhao, are you also trying to make fun of us?!"

Choi Geon-ho pressed his advantage, directly presenting a photo:
"Whose fishing boat has a ram at the bow? Whose fishing boat has a cannon? Whose fishing boat is tougher than a coast guard patrol boat!"

Zhao Hande glanced at it and thought to himself that Tang Wen had done a lot of harm, but he still explained:
"That's not a cannon, it's a high-pressure water gun."

"Aish...you're lying through your teeth."

"Uh, Minister Cui, you believe in Cui too? Maybe you're even related to Cui the Rat. Why don't you forget about this? Besides, I'm not in charge of this matter, so I have no say in it."

However, as a token of my apology, I'll buy another LCD screen production line.

Zhao Hande sincerely apologized, but Cui Jianhao was completely unmoved.
"Are you disrespecting our self-respect? I will not agree to let you buy anything until you give me a satisfactory explanation!"
Furthermore, effective immediately, all your shipbuilding equipment and technology will be frozen! As someone who can speak with Zhao Hande on equal terms, Cui Jianhao certainly has that kind of power.

Moreover, his saying these things now probably represents the official stance.

Zhao Hande:
What constitutes a sufficient explanation?

Cui Jianhao:
"First, compensate all our victims with $20 million, and compensate the helicopters and patrol boats with $30 million!"

Second, all parties involved must come here in person to apologize and accept punishment;
Third, since Mr. Zhao claims it's a fishing boat, then let the boat owner from the shipyard come here and explain!

Zhao Hande: "Compensation for economic losses is inevitable, but these amounts are too outrageous. In addition, the latter two demands are impossible to meet. I think we can negotiate a more reasonable figure."

Rejected, Cui Jianhao looked as if he had suffered a great humiliation. His face flushed red, he remained silent, slammed his hand on the table, and strode away.

"Team Leader Zhao!"

The others who came with Zhao Hande couldn't hold back any longer; this behavior was undoubtedly a great disrespect.

He couldn't help but say angrily:

"This Gaijin company has no consideration for the big picture. It's always causing trouble, and it's even brought up this international dispute. It must be severely punished!"

I know you're on good terms with that kid surnamed Tang, but if you don't do something about it... sigh!

Their anxiety stemmed from a simple reason: if this negotiation failed, the import of color TVs and other electromechanical equipment would be disastrous!

Currently, top-tier products are made in Japan, but Japan has strict technology controls and exorbitant prices. In comparison, Korean products offer great value for money, and missing out on this opportunity would undoubtedly be a huge loss for them.

Zhao Dehan also had a headache, not about how to appease Cui Jianhao, but about how to keep Tang Wen under control.

If dozens of U-boats were to sail into the Yellow Sea one day, no one would be able to live in peace anymore.

Not many people know Tang Wen's background, and now that he's not around, we must make sure no one does anything foolish again.

……

"Me? Gaijin? In charge?"

Tang Wen looked at the anxious-looking person who had come to the scene. She was supposedly the person in charge of handling this emergency. She was a middle-aged woman, but she was dressed very fashionably.

Upon meeting her, he rattled off a long list of conditions, none of which Tang Wenquan remembered; he simply didn't want to listen.

"Mr. Tang, you may be rich and powerful, but you need to consider the bigger picture at this time. They're not asking for much; they just need an apology from you!"

The last sentence jolted Tang Wen awake, triggering his PTSD. He looked left and right, then grabbed Hu Li, who was passing by:
"How should this kind of breach of contract be punished?"

Hu Li was stunned for a moment:
"The contract doesn't address crossing the boundary. If a penalty is insisted upon... for using the vessel for purposes other than fishing, the contract should be terminated, a penalty of 100,000 yuan should be imposed, and the economic losses caused by improper use should be investigated."

Tang Wen nodded, then immediately turned and said:

"Look, we have dealt with this severely, and we will not tolerate it!"

The woman got anxious:

"Isn't this still punishing that Choi Rat? The Koreans specifically named Gai Jin and demanded that you, Gai Jin, show some attitude! You spend hundreds of millions in the US, so this matter can be settled for a few million or tens of millions of dollars!"

"I'll help you make it so you don't have to fly over to apologize, but publishing an apology in the newspaper and paying some compensation isn't a big deal."

Tang Wen narrowed his eyes, his tone as if millions of dollars were nothing.

Of course, he was thinking that the older woman wouldn't pay the money.

(End of this chapter)