Chapter 173 The Fan Family

Around six in the morning.

Su Tiannan and a group of inmates left Zha Island Prison, arrived in District One by boat to participate in community labor jointly organized by the prison and the local police system, and to give media interviews.

In District One, the various prisons hold community labor services from time to time, with the intention of establishing typical model prisoners within the prison, strengthening internal ideological management, and at the same time doing some legal publicity. Of course, the inmates who can be selected also have strict psychological evaluations; they must be people with good attitudes and good performance to be taken out.

If you beat up eight people a day in the cell, and you spit at the warden's face when he says something to you, that kind of person will definitely never have a chance to go out.

In fact, Su Tiannan being selected was definitely an exception, because although his case was not serious, he was the object of key concern, and in principle, he should not have been brought out. However, District One has a state legislative system, and each region is willing to listen to the higher-ups or not as they please. Local power is extremely important, so the old Chinese man in the prison was able to help him get out.

...

Hanoi time, a little after five in the evening.

Gui Mengjun stood in his office, looking helplessly at Mingming, and said in his hometown dialect, "Can you stop making trouble? I'm about to get engaged to her."

"Giggle, look at you, taking a joke seriously, how boring," Mingming chuckled, smoothing her hair and replying, "Even if we don't have a future together, we'll still be the best of friends."

Gui Mengjun looked at her and sighed, "Ah, I really don't know what to do with you."

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore, you're busy," Mingming looked down at her watch. "I'm going to attend a memorial service later."

Mingming's surname is Fan, and her Fan family was doing business in Vietnam before the Epoch Era, and can be considered original residents of the Hanoi capital. After the Epoch Era, the Triangle region integrated, and the Pu regime rose to power. The Fan family had several marriage alliances with the Pu family.

The most recent one was that Fan Mingming's brother married the daughter of a Pu family branch, so in terms of political relations, the Fan family is closer to the center of power than the Gui family.

What is a Pu family branch? Because Governor-General Pu Yuan had many brothers and many cousins, and although those of his generation are basically gone now, they still have descendants to carry on the family line.

About thirty years ago, Governor-General Pu Yuan had a cousin named Pu Ming, who once stirred up the entire battlefield with a regiment of soldiers in the Northwest War. Later, he was captured and executed by the Hua region. This man's youngest daughter married into the Fan family.

After Pu Ming died, his children were not very ambitious, and no top politicians emerged. The family's power declined somewhat, but even so, they are still royalty-level in the Old Triangle.

The Fan family's marriage alliance with them naturally makes them part of the royal in-law party, and it is because of this relationship that they can have a say in the arms business.

The Governor-General's death is not something that just anyone can attend the memorial service. The reason why Fan Mingming was invited is because of her brother.

In the office.

Gui Mengjun smiled at Fan Mingming and said, "Okay, you go, I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay, I'm off!" Fan Mingming waved to him and turned to leave.

Gui Mengjun glanced at her and immediately took his phone to notify his secretary to pick him up.

In the hallway, Fan Mingming walked out while picking up the phone and said in a low voice, "He can't change his mind."

...

About ten minutes later.

Gui Mengjun got into a business car in the company's underground parking lot, looked up at the driver, and instructed, "Go to the harbor."

"Okay!" The driver nodded.

As the car left the company, Gui Mengjun sat in the comfortable middle row seat and sent a few short messages to Xiao Qinglong, Xiang Jingyang's aide, about the current situation in Hanoi.

In fact, in this short period of one day, Gui Mengjun's mood was both heavy and a little uneasy.

What was heavy was that the spiritual leader of the Old Triangle was gone, and Gui Mengjun felt a genuine sadness from the bottom of his heart, because he had always regarded the Governor-General as his idol, an emotion that is obviously difficult for people of other ethnic groups to understand.

Besides the heaviness, what remained was unease!

In fact, in recent years, the Gui family's status in the Old Triangle's political and business circles has been declining, and the reason for this is not because the family patriarch made mistakes in grasping direction, but rather that time has dealt them a heavy blow.

In the early years, Old Man Gui had always clung to the Pu regime's thighs. During the Pu army's southern and northern expeditions, they provided materials, money, and food, and helped to assist in the management of the region, gradually becoming the top "aristocratic family" under the royal power.

But as Governor-General Pu's generation aged and passed away one after another, the Gui family's political connections at the upper levels gradually thinned out. Until a few years ago, Old Man Gui's brother-in-law also died, going ahead of the old Governor-General.

This brother-in-law had served in the General Staff Department of Governor-General Pu and was very prestigious in the military, but life is cruel, and people are soon forgotten, which cannot be reversed.

The brother-in-law had already retired for six or seven years before his death, and his say in the political world was decreasing at a rate visible to the naked eye, and when he closed his eyes, his family's influence became even lower.

Gui's father had considered other paths, but for a top family, re-establishing political relations is far from simply giving gifts or forming marriage alliances. Under each power, there are countless branches, and it's not like anyone can just make connections.

But fortunately, Gui's father's brother-in-law was always responsible for communicating with the Hua region, and had some connections with many old-school generals in the Southwest Theater of the Hua region, so the Gui family found a second path.

From a general perspective, the Old Triangle and the Hua region are iron-clad allies. The former is the little brother, and the latter is the big brother. For nearly forty years, the two sides have been in a state of close cooperation, regardless of political or military stance.

Therefore, a series of policies in the Hua region will affect this place, so making friends with the top dignitaries in the Hua region, re-establishing political connections, and using external influence to enhance the family's political standing, can also be considered a circuitous path to national salvation.

Through Gui's father's efforts in his later years, and Gui Mengjun's political wisdom, the Gui family's relationship with the Hua region has indeed become closer, and they have also used this force to completely take over the dominance of the arms business.

But during this period, the Gui family also had the opportunity to expand a second political route, which was to marry into the Fan family, stabilize their political relations in the local area, and enhance the family's influence again in the form of a family alliance.

Gui's father had also insisted on this route, but Gui Mengjun had different ideas. He felt that instead of hedging their bets, it would be better to cling tightly to the Hua region's thighs, maintain a firm stance, play the role of a political broker, and gamble on the future.

The father and son had several conversations, and in the end, Gui's father was persuaded by Gui Mengjun and followed his advice.

This is why Gui Mengjun wants to marry Third Sister, because the key to clinging tightly to the Hua region's thighs lies in Dragon City!

Of course, apart from political factors, Gui Mengjun also genuinely likes Miao Miao. She is very similar to his first love, but with differences in personality.

In this way, it is a win-win situation for Gui Mengjun, except that the relationship with the Fan family will become weaker.

But that's how politics and business are, every moment they may face completely incompatible choices.

In the car.

Gui Mengjun looked at the phone and whispered to his secretary, "Keep an eye on Fan Mingming, that woman... once she goes crazy, no one can stop her."

"Yes," the secretary nodded.

...

Around the Seaguard Hotel.

Four half-cut trucks were parked on the side of the road. A man spat a mouthful of yellow phlegm on the ground and asked in his hometown dialect, "Should we do it?!"