this man is not calm

Chapter 390: Selecting a Successor

Over the years, Hong Renquan has managed CSSC Electrical and Mechanical well, and he has made an indispensable contribution to the company's survival through the long period of industry recession.

But this does not mean that this listed company has no problems. During the two financial reporting cycles, in addition to exercising the powers and responsibilities of the chairman, Jin Shang also took control of financial and personnel matters, and did not interfere much in technology, development, construction, and operations.

This large company with a total of about five to six thousand full-time, part-time and outsourced employees is almost a self-contained entity. An outsider who parachutes in there will have no chance of managing the place.

Xiao Jin is not very proficient in shipbuilding, but one thing is certain: an airborne manager who only knows how to read financial statements, manage personnel, and pressure production will not be able to handle the problem.

Not only is it difficult to manage directly, it is also extremely difficult to control remotely, and the company can only delegate to management to handle the situation. Therefore, the appointment of the general manager or executive CEO is very important. He must have sufficient ability and prestige to suppress the chaotic voices, manage the shipyard well, and maintain sufficient trust and loyalty to the parent company, major shareholders and chairman.

Hong Renquan is undoubtedly qualified as the general manager during the transition period. At his age, he is not so ambitious anymore. At most, he may promote a few close friends or make some money out of selfish motives. As long as he looks at the big picture and does not make any mistakes, he does not need to worry too much about the details.

However, in order to demonstrate the authority of the major shareholder and actual controller, Hong Renquan, a veteran, must definitely step down.

"Mr. Hong, my idea is to hold a board meeting at the end of the year to let you retire gracefully. As for the arrangements... come to the head office as a senior consultant and take a position in the strategic development department? I have always wanted to separate a comprehensive course from the secretary's office. Unfortunately, Jinxi Culture is too young and there is no one who can take the lead. When you come, just help me keep an eye on it and give those young people some advice."

"can!"

Being a hands-off boss who only talks a lot but takes no actual responsibility and doesn't care about specific matters is actually just a nominal position that is paid for.

As for Jin Shang's idea, Hong Renquan also understood it. In order to reduce the turmoil in CSSC Electromechanical caused by the resignation of senior executives, everyone must know that the chairman is not a person who will burn bridges after crossing the river. As long as they do their job well, at least some respect can be retained.

This is also what Jin Shang promised, the general manager will not be parachuted in, but will only be promoted from within CSSC Electromechanical, and Hong Renquan's recommendation will be an important reference.

The parent company is about to set up a comprehensive department. It’s not a big deal, but it is very important to Jin Shang.

Such a large enterprise is no longer the makeshift team it used to be. Even if Jin Shang has 48 hours a day, he cannot manage it all. He can only focus on the big things and let go of the small ones. Comprehensive courses are an important tool.

There is no doubt that, as the name suggests, the Comprehensive Course is a department that takes charge of a little bit of everything but is directly responsible for nothing. It is cumbersome, meticulous and does not generate direct benefits. However, it is like a tentacle extending from the brain, allowing the boss to directly understand the real situation at the grassroots level.

Its role in large companies is actually a bit like a weakened version of the Imperial City Bureau of the Song Dynasty or the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Ming Dynasty. It is an important tool for the actual controller to understand the situation to avoid being deceived and to punish those who disobey.

From this aspect, we can know that the comprehensive course is where the boss's truly trusted confidants are located. It is also an important training platform for placing friends and relatives, cultivating senior executives, training successors or sending out secretarial consultants.

Letting Hong Renquan help build the comprehensive course as the last stop before retirement is already a great honor.

With his presence, he can also serve as an important link between Jin Shang and the listed company of CSSC Electromechanical. After all, except Hong Renquan, Jin Shang is not familiar with other people and cannot say that he trusts them much.

After this conversation, Hong Renquan also understood that Jin Shang had no intention of making a big move against CSSC Electromechanical, and it would be better to maintain stable production and expand naturally with market changes.

"What does President Jin think about the successor?"

"What do you suggest?"

"It depends on what Mr. Jin values. If it is scientific research and development, then we need to consider the heads of the technical center. If the shipyard is regarded as a financing platform, then we need to start from the financial, legal or ship commercial trade aspects. If the goal is to become a production-oriented enterprise, it is best to promote senior executives who are former construction engineers..."

"That's it..."

After a little consideration, Jin Shang understood what Hong Renquan meant. The three directions correspond to asset-light design, financial operation and industrial manufacturing. Although CSSC is a long-established listed company, its imagination space is limited. Financialization means moving away from the real economy and turning to the virtual economy, which is not a very promising direction.

Light asset design is a high-intelligence intensive model, which leads CSSC to explore the field of high-tech, high value-added and ultra-high threshold special ships. This... is good if it succeeds, but it is not advisable to put all the resources into this area.

Production-oriented enterprises are what is needed for future economic development.

"Let's grow bigger first, then become stronger. To play the financial game of cutting leeks, a parent company is enough. No matter how hard CSSC Electromechanical tries, it can't beat the investment team led by me. Technical designers... the drafters always pay too much attention to the authority of the drawings, and fail to look at the big picture and think about problems from the perspective of production, construction and service cycle. In comparison, construction engineers are more in line with the future needs of CSSC Electromechanical..."

During a boom cycle, for ship repair and construction companies, accepting a large number of orders, building quickly, delivering ships in batches, and quickly recovering funds, repeating this cycle over and over again, is the only way to maximize the benefits of this big market trend that may last for many years.

The slipway and the dock are working in full swing, but the support from the rear says that there is no money, no drawings, and that spare parts, electromechanical equipment, and outfitting parts are not in place, so everyone is left waiting. How can this be tolerated?
How much money will be wasted if the construction is delayed for one day!

"It seems that President Jin is very optimistic about the future of the shipping market. In this case, I feel relieved. When I go back, I will go and investigate and pick a few good people for President Jin to choose."

"Please."

After discussing this important matter, the two talked about the company's future horizontal expansion.

In the Bohai Rim region, especially in the Jiaoao Peninsula and other places, there is a very long and deep underground bitter brine belt, the salt content of which is more than twice that of the surrounding seawater.

As we all know, in coastal areas, especially river bends, the salinity of groundwater and surface water is very high, and salinization is relatively serious, which is not conducive to agricultural development.

Currently, huge investments are being made in the research and development of seawater rice, which is not rice seeds grown in the sea or irrigated with seawater, but a special crop that can be grown on salinized land.

The soil is like a collection of capillaries. Part of the water in it flows downwards and becomes groundwater. Over time, it forms a bitter brine belt distributed along the coast. Part of the water comes to the surface through capillary phenomenon. After the water evaporates, the inorganic salts remain, accumulating more and more to form saline-alkali land.

This is also one of the reasons why the water content in coastal areas and desert areas is so scarce that the "lower layer" and "surface layer" are deeply salinized.

Seven out of ten droughts are accompanied by salinization of varying degrees of severity.

To control it, a large amount of fresh water is needed to flush away the salt and improve the soil, which is extremely costly and difficult to implement.

Developing marine chemical projects in Jiaoao and the coastal areas of Gyeonggi Province, making full use of the value of the brine belt, improving soil quality and maintaining ecological balance is a long and arduous task. It would be great if we could participate in it, make a little money and improve the local industrial layout.

"Mr. Jin's entry point is very good, that is... we need to master the degree and rhythm. Energy, fresh water, soda ash, fertilizers, cement, feed, and a series of basic chemicals can generate a variety of demands and accelerate the development of surrounding areas."

"As for sustainable development, the previous extensive model of first polluting and then treating it is definitely not feasible. Not only is the cost too high, but it will also leave all the trouble to future generations, which is likely to cause big problems."

Jin Shang smiled and nodded in response:
"Mr. Hong, do you think the 'South-to-North Water Diversion Project' that has been reported in the newspapers several times will be implemented?"

"Most likely! The Danjiangkou Reservoir has entered the substantive design stage. It can be used after the previous water-blocking dam and water conservancy facilities are modified. As for the eastern line..."

Hong Renquan said leisurely,

"In the restoration of the Grand Canal project, we have already laid the foundation for lifting water northward step by step, starting from Yangzhou. As for the western route... it's still early. It will probably take at least 20 years to plan. It's too difficult."

"Then... the role of shipping along the Han River will be greatly weakened."

"There has to be a trade-off! Yangtze River shipping is becoming more and more important. From Sichuan to the East China Sea is the key. The Han River Basin..."

Hong Renquan sighed slightly. In the traditional agricultural era, shipping on the Han River was naturally indispensable, but after the popularization of industrial modernization, with the supplement of cars, trains and airplanes, it is no longer so irreplaceable.

Once the South-to-North Water Diversion Project begins to transfer water, the hourly transport capacity of the Han River is estimated to drop to around 1,000 tons, and barely exceed 3,000 tons during the flood season. This condition is only up to the standard of a third-level waterway, and it is estimated that the water transportation conditions will not be as good as those of the Grand Canal after its restoration and repair.

It doesn’t matter if it’s far away, but the port cities along the Han River are not so happy.

"Indeed, after weighing the pros and cons, you have to choose one."

The northward water transfer is just icing on the cake for the Yangtze River and Han River basins, but for the vast north, it is undoubtedly a blessing after a long drought.

"What about the other two? The Tibetan water flows into Xinjiang, and the Beihai River flows southward..."

"The former is not very promising. Even though the Snowy Plateau is the third-class water tower in the world, the water shortage is still a bit serious. Several large lakes are basically saltwater lakes. Once a large-scale war breaks out, the impact on the ecology will be too great. Moreover, building a super project at such a high altitude will be too difficult and costly to accept..."

"Oh!"

If this one doesn’t work, then the other one is really possible?
Yes, directly drawing water from the North Sea will have a huge impact on the surrounding environment, but drawing water from the upper reaches of the Lena River or the Yenisei River is much more convenient.

Anyway, after flowing out of the national border, it will end up in the uninhabited Arctic glacier permafrost zone for thousands of miles. It is such a waste that so much precious water resources flow into the Arctic Ocean in vain.

As for whether the old neighbor in the north has any opinions, who cares? They are not good people either. In order to grow cotton in the Central Asian steppes, they have built canals to divert water, and the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea are almost drying up.

"North Sea enters Xinjiang, and creates Jiangnan on the Great Wall again!"

Jin Shang was about to ask another question while muttering to himself when the phone on the table rang. Jin Shang immediately put aside his thoughts and picked up the receiver.

"Mr. Zhang is here? Let him come directly to my office..."

After hanging up the call from his secretary's office, Hong Renquan looked at the time.

"We've been chatting for so long, I should probably go now."

"No need to trouble you. My second uncle is here. He has important connections with the construction of the Beichuan Electromechanical Chemical Plant. We can be considered partners. We will talk about it later. President Hong can also listen and take it as a reference. In the future... we will always work together."

"Well!"

In just three minutes, there was a knock on the office door. After the door opened, my second uncle Zhang Hua walked in, and the secretary closed the door from the outside.

"How come?"

"There's a traffic jam on the road. The traffic here is getting worse and worse..."

“There are more people than before!”

After the other party found a chair and sat down, Jin Shang asked,

"How did things go?"

"Two farms, a pasture, and a freshwater fishery breeding base. They are not particularly large, but together they are still quite large."

"Tang Hai is quite generous."

There is some land suitable for agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery around Gyeonggi Province, but not much. In addition, there are many wetland protection areas and hills, making development difficult.

Tanghai is already a rare good place with convenient transportation, fertile land, flat terrain, and early development. It can be considered an excellent cultivated land.

"anything else?"

"Island fishery farming? Forget about it..."

Zhang Hua waved his hands and responded helplessly,

"Even a powerful dragon may not be able to defeat a local snake, let alone a local like me who is not very powerful. Bottom-seeding farming around the islands looks beautiful, but I am not a local and cannot do it. Just pay for the products honestly to avoid being ripped off."

"The scallops ran away, or was there an invasion of cold water or something?"

"Huh? Even a native of Beijing like you knows the tricks over there?"

Zhang Hua was a little surprised, but not particularly surprised, and complained,

"How many big bosses wanted to make money, but were cheated out of all their money, and went to the secondary market to raise money, which made many stock investors lose money. It's too cruel."

The key point is that this thing cannot be checked. The situation on the seabed tens of meters, hundreds of meters, or even deeper is left for others to say, right?
"What's worse is that the locals have too strong a sense of 'ownership'. The management is not strict and scientific. They are all familiar faces from the same village, and we can't rely on outsiders, so... you know."

Earn money locally and spend it locally, and take some home with you.

Of course, the premise is that you are lucky enough to make money.

"So, we can just do it on the shore, and we can't go into the sea?"

"It's definitely not possible now. As long as we can guarantee the supply, it's okay to spend a little more on purchasing, and it can also save a lot of trouble. When the goods arrive, Ah Shang, you can stock more, and your father's fresh food supermarket and hot pot restaurant can also have more seafood..."

"We want to expand, but we are too busy recently because the clothing retail business is so good."

"Fine!"

Zhang Hua is also very envious of his brother-in-law's business. It is too difficult to run a terminal retail brand. Not to mention new faces, even the old brands are not doing well.
"Having said that, marine aquaculture is not without its rewards. I found a deep-sea aquaculture operation that built a large iron cage that looked like a ship and put in fish fry and feed..."

"For this kind of fish, we need fish with high profits. Ordinary ones won't work."

"Yes, raise tuna or salmon!"

When talking about this, my second uncle Zhang Hua felt that it was very interesting.

"I've heard that there is a similar aquaculture industry in Northern Europe, but it's not on a large scale. I plan to ask professionals. The environment here... in the North Pacific is similar to that there, so maybe we can raise some..."

(End of this chapter)