Sail across the sea

Chapter 433 The Watermelon Season

In June 1985, just as watermelons were hitting the market, the people of Maolin Province's chemical industry were treated to a dazzling array of large watermelons.

First, the Provincial Chemical Industry Department was dissolved, and the Provincial Chemical Industry Association was established. The energetic and capable cadres in the Chemical Industry Department went their separate ways. Some went to other agencies in the province, some went to subordinate enterprises, and a few simply took the opportunity to go into business.

There are still more than 30 people left, all of whom are old hands who usually lie down and let others trample on. They have neither ability nor lofty ambitions. The Chemical Industry Association is a retirement home tailored for them.

The dozen or so enterprises formerly under the Provincial Department of Chemical Industry have also found their respective fates. Some enterprises were transferred to the direct jurisdiction of the Provincial Economic Commission, while others were assigned to the jurisdiction of the cities and counties below. Unexpectedly, the Provincial Pesticide Factory and the Provincial Chemical Machinery Factory were transferred to the Provincial Fertilizer Industry Company, which had only been established a year earlier, and became its subsidiaries.

Also under the management of the fertilizer company are Canghai Fertilizer Plant and four other nitrogen fertilizer plants currently undergoing ammonium-to-urea conversion projects. A quick calculation reveals that the fertilizer company's assets have already exceeded 100 million yuan. In Maolin, an economically underdeveloped province, assets exceeding 100 million yuan means that the company's leaders are now qualified to converse with leaders of the provincial economic commission.

Gao Yiping was envied and resented by everyone as the biggest winner of this reform.

The ripples caused by the abolition of the Chemical Industry Bureau have not yet subsided, and another piece of news has made onlookers fall overboard.

The former Canghai Fertilizer Plant Labor Service Company, also known as Canghua Science and Trade, announced its separation from Canghai Fertilizer Plant. Gao Fan, the general manager of Canghua Science and Trade, purchased 60% of the shares held by Canghai Fertilizer Plant for 2 million yuan, thus transforming Canghua Science and Trade into a purely private enterprise with no state-owned shares. More than 80% of the shares belong to Gao Fan personally.

Canghua Science and Trade Co., Ltd. exports $40 million worth of vitamin products and over $10 million worth of chemical cleaning agents annually. Based on profitability, the company's value could easily be estimated at over 100 million yuan. However, during the equity transfer, the valuation was based solely on Canghai Fertilizer Plant's previous investment in Canghua Science and Trade.

Everyone knew perfectly well that the truly valuable assets of Canghua Science and Trade were created by Gao Fan. The vitamin factory was built because Gao Fan, through his charisma, secured a loan from the American Hatch Group. The chemical cleaning agents were able to penetrate the Japanese market because Gao Fan contributed the invaluable core formula.

Now that Gao Fan wants to repurchase the equity of Canghua Science and Trade, Canghai Fertilizer Plant naturally cannot include Gao Fan's value in the company's value. Otherwise, it would be Gao Fan paying for something he contributed for free, which is unreasonable and illogical.

In this era, there are no rigorous methods for valuing businesses, and concepts such as land value, brand value, and intangible asset value are very unfamiliar to government departments at all levels.

Out of consideration for supporting a model private enterprise, the Provincial Economic Commission strongly promoted the separation of Canghua Science and Trade from the government, and the equity transfer was just a formality.

After being decoupled from the government, Canghua Science and Trade Company was renamed Maolin Canghai Chemical Group Company, which has two industrial entities and a chemical experimental base. The two industrial entities are Canghai Chemical Cleaning Company and Canghai Biochemical Company. The latter's main business is currently only vitamin C and vitamin E, and it is owned by the US-based Hatch Investment Group with a 10% stake.

Canghai Chemical Group Company is still referred to as Canghua Company for short. Gao Fan serves as the chairman of the board, and Gu Kunquan serves as the general manager.

The company's chief engineer is Liao Derong, finance director is Feng Shiyu, and office director is Xu Dan. Among them, Feng Shiyu was originally the deputy head of the finance department of Canghai Fertilizer Plant. He was a subordinate that Gao Yiping trusted very much and had a very good personal relationship with Ran Yuying. Therefore, he was sent to help Gao Fan manage the company's money.

Given the existing concerns about private enterprises, Gu Kunquan, Liao Derong, Feng Shiyu, and others worked at Canghua Company on unpaid leave.

In response, Liao Derong once said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, that as a middle-aged man with elderly parents and young children, he dared not risk everything like young people and retain his status within the system. That way, if the policy changed and Canghua Company closed down, he wouldn't become a drifter.

Gao Fan didn't care about this matter. He knew that the policies would only become more and more lenient, and these people, after staying in the company for a few years, would definitely not want to go back to their secure jobs.

In the current situation, taking unpaid leave as a temporary measure is acceptable. The Chinese people will only truly accept private enterprises after the country proposes a comprehensive market economy. Entering the 90s, the private economy will develop rapidly, while many state-owned enterprises will face precarious situations. At that time, people will no longer be so concerned about the "iron rice bowl" (guaranteed job).

The manager of the chemical cleaning company was Meng Hai, the former head of the technical department of Canghai Fertilizer Plant. The reason was that the cleaning company was full of unemployed young people, and a mature and prudent person was needed to take the lead.

After Canghai Fertilizer Plant completed its ammonium-to-urine conversion project, the equipment was upgraded and the technology changed. Meng Hai was relatively old and slow to learn new things, making him unable to continue serving as the head of the technical department. Gao Yiping simply had him resign and arranged for him to become the manager of the chemical cleaning company, where he would await retirement.

Under Meng Hai are a group of young managers, including Deputy Manager Xue Chujiang, Production Director Xie Qin, and Business Director Ning Mo. After two or three years of training, they have all gained some experience. Meng Hai doesn't usually handle any specific tasks; his main responsibility is to keep an eye on these young people and prevent them from doing anything rash or impulsive.

The biochemical company was originally comprised of the Yanxiu Fertilizer Plant and the Wuyuan Fertilizer Plant. After being acquired by Canghua Company, the two plants became production plants for Vitamin C and Vitamin E, respectively. Since Gao Fan had no suitable personnel, he could only retain the original plant managers. Yin Baowen, the plant manager of Yanxiu Fertilizer Plant, became the company manager, and Pang Zhongmin, the plant manager of Wuyuan Fertilizer Plant, became the deputy manager.

About half of the original middle-level managers from the two fertilizer plants were selected and placed in various management positions within the company. Among them, some young managers with strong work abilities and a proactive attitude have already entered Gao Fan's scope of consideration.

Yin Baowen and Pang Zhongmin are both approaching sixty and will retire in a few years. At that time, outstanding young people will take their place, and I believe these successors will have a stronger pioneering spirit than they have.

Within the management of the biochemical company, there was a peculiar figure whose title was Assistant Manager, but whose job was to act as a liaison between the company and its American investor, Hatch Group. Or to put it more bluntly, he was a foreign agent specifically tasked with monitoring the company's operations on behalf of Hatch Group.

His name is Tan Jianjun.

(End of this chapter)