this man is not calm

Chapter 530 Meeting someone
Everyone's life experiences are different, and the lessons they learn are also very different. Even when they are in the same position, Jiang Long and Wei Shuangping make different choices, even within the framework set by the big boss Jin Shang.

The results achieved were worlds apart.

In contrast, Wei Shuangping's understanding is closer to Jin Shang's, advocating for more humane and flexible management; Jiang Long, on the other hand, is gentle in attitude and communication, but ruthless in methods and results, enabling his subordinates to complete tasks more willingly, even if it offends his less core interests in the short term.

If a comparison must be made, the former is like Zhuge Liang or Xun Yu, a prime ministerial strategist, while the latter is more like Guan Yu or Zhang Liao, generals of their respective regions.

Whether to drive company growth through wisdom and hard work or to attract team members to strive through personal charisma is a trade-off that needs to be made at different times.

Jin Shang's decision to use Jiang Long, a general discovered from the ranks, at this time was not a rash one.

"The internet is no longer the wild frontier it was in 1995. We need to respond to the various challenges in the market much faster. Hidden behind the 'big fish eat little fish' rule is an even more brutal one: 'fast fish eat slow fish.' Nowadays, if you are even slightly slow or make a wrong move, you will be doomed. I need Jiang Long to lead the team to determine market trends and follow-up strategies, and then I will make the final decision."

Under Wei Shuangping's management, Jinxi Mall developed rapidly, but its fundamentals remained almost unchanged. It made only minor adjustments to the original structure and took advantage of the market's rapid growth to develop quickly.

Although it is already a large company, it is still a young company of less than five years, and it has already contracted a serious "big company disease". It is not that Wei Shuangping is incompetent, but that she is not suitable for making "drastic changes" to the system she built. There needs to be someone whose interests are not quite aligned with the original management, and who can still control the situation, to take action.

"The rapid development inevitably leads to some problems. The total number of full-time and part-time employees has long exceeded 10,000, and most of them are distributed in major cities across the country, so it is not very obvious yet. If they were concentrated in one place, it would be a bit scary."

The number of positions is in the tens of thousands and is still growing rapidly. It can be described as a giant company in the country and even the world.

It's normal for it to look a little bulky.

Adopting Wei Shuangping's "royal way" approach to the start is very suitable for emerging e-commerce companies like Jinxi Mall, which have many natural advantages. It avoids pitfalls, mitigates many risks, and allows for steady growth and development. However, on the other hand, being steady... also means being slow!
Those who have worked in the internet industry should know very well that if you choose the wrong direction, the harder you work, the more miserable your outcome will be. But if you appear "slow" because of hesitation, then you have even less of a future.

If you choose the wrong path, you can try another one. But if you lose your way because you're "slow," the cost of regaining control will be many times greater.

Meeting Li Xuan's concerned gaze, Jin Shang said with deep emotion:

"It's not just Jinxi Mall; the parent company, Jinxi Culture, is becoming increasingly slow and sluggish in its response to the outside world. This is not a good thing. When everyone is trying to get by in the 'big family' built by the parent company, the situation is becoming a bit worrying."

In short, the business "ecosystem" is very useful and powerful, but it is not a panacea, nor is it completely without side effects.

It is almost invincible to weak competitors, but in competition of the same level, it can only add icing on the cake and cannot play a decisive role.

In its previous life, the "small business" was unstoppable in the face of numerous startups and "new tracks," but even with massive traffic, it couldn't sustain itself in areas like e-commerce and search, and ultimately failed. It didn't achieve much even in the most relevant social networking sites, and even the later short videos always felt a bit lacking. Only payment, with its massive user base and years of continuous "blood transfusions," managed to gain a foothold.

Under the protection of the "patriarch" Jinxi Culture, its subsidiaries, sub-subsidiaries, holding companies, and affiliated enterprises can experience fewer storms, but they also lack many trials and tribulations and lose some valuable qualities.

As the head of the offline lifestyle business segment, Li Xuan was also very aware of the changes in the company over the past year. During their intermittent conversations, she shared many typical examples with Jin Shang, as well as some workplace anecdotes.

"It's time for a 'big clean-up,' to slim down a bit and slow down."

As Jin Shang said this, he thought of the financial crisis and crisis of confidence triggered by the collapse of internet technology stocks around the turn of the millennium in his previous life. Would the same thing happen again?

After pondering the development of the two lifetimes, Jin Shang had to regretfully admit that some patterns truly do not change according to human will.

If not this year, then next year.

Northern Union Online, the world's first comprehensive portal website, continues to make steady progress, maintaining its leading information volume and user scale. The world's largest portal website has been listed for almost three years, and its market value, converted into equivalent purchasing power, has exceeded 100 billion US dollars. The growth rate is truly terrifying.

Similar things are happening in the online shopping platform sector.

Since neither Jinxi Mall nor Northern United Online is listed on the stock exchange, the former is just approaching its Series B financing, and the latter is simply a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jinxi Culture, their businesses are not relatively independent.

In the past two years, countless people have tried to persuade Jinshang to package them up for listing and then cash out to make a fortune.

Jin Shang naturally enjoys making money, but having become so wealthy, he is no longer willing to sell his assets for so-called profits. Going public is no longer urgent, and the many wolves and tigers can no longer bluff and devour him. Naturally, they will seek support from similar companies to compete for the market, and then go public to raise money.

The capital market still needs to embrace integration, but Jinshang doesn't want to passively join; it wants to take the lead, which naturally leads to a contest.
-
On the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Jin Shang led Li Xuan to meet Huang Zhengkuo's old house. Old Huang was very generous to his great-granddaughter-in-law, handing her a bulging red envelope, which seemed to contain a lot of money.

Later, Li Xuan was taken around by the women in the house for a tour and chat, and Jin Shang also had a rare opportunity to say a few words to Lao Huang that were not for outsiders to know.

"How is your grandmother's health?"

"Not bad, I haven't had a headache or fever this winter, and I feel quite energetic."

"I'm relieved that your family is doing well. Your grandfather was wrong back then, and I also put too much pressure on you. In short... everyone was too concerned about their reputation, which put a lot of pressure on them. The outside world was also causing a series of unpleasant things."

So many years have passed, there's no need to try to mend things anymore. Jin Shang also knows that Lao Huang doesn't want to use a few words to bridge the gaps that have existed for decades.

It's just a way to get started on the topic.

"The Xian family was once a powerful local family; otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to travel thousands of miles to develop in the capital, where land is incredibly valuable. They once spent huge sums of money to acquire many high-quality assets, but unfortunately, they couldn't keep them during the subsequent turmoil and they were divided up and devoured by others."

After a pause, Huang Zhengkuo continued:

"Making money... has never been a problem for you and me. The key is how to preserve our gains and then use the money where we want it..."

Once assets leave one's own hands, how they are used and where they go is truly unpredictable. Ultimately, so-called commercial companies and enterprises are temporary communities of interest composed of individuals, existing within the constraints of modern society.

The strong only cooperate with the strong. When you are unable to stop others from breaking the rules or hold them accountable and make them pay the price, the risk increases dramatically.

Driven by the profit-seeking instinct of capital, people will never follow the rules as long as there are benefits to be had. The cost of breaching the contract is lower than the benefits, and dishonesty and breach of contract will become the best choice.

Similarly, when capable people can take money from other people's pockets and put it into their own, even with a legitimate reason, can you still expect humanity and morality from them?

"For ordinary people, being poor isn't scary; what's scary is not only being poor but also being too concerned about saving face..."

Huang Zhengkuo revealed a look of "you're teachable" and said with a smile:

"If I could, I would really like to introduce you to a good marriage, to safeguard your future career. Unfortunately... never mind, we can't repeat the mistake of your grandfather. I don't have another fifty years to wait."

"Which wealthy family's daughter is she that you value so much?"

"Stop grinning. If it weren't for your exceptional ability to cause trouble, I wouldn't be worried. I'm fine as long as I'm alive, but if I were gone, that would be..."

It's a common saying that once someone leaves, the tea cools down, which is a universal truth. Logically speaking, at Lao Huang's age, he should have retired from the front line many years ago and shouldn't have much influence anymore. Fortunately, he still has a lot of students, old friends, and relatives to deal with, so he can still keep things under control.

But if the person is gone, how many people will recognize Jin Shi, and how many people will still support Jin Shang?
Shrugging, Kim Sang replied nonchalantly:
"Then I pray that you live to be a hundred years old... no, I wish you could live to be a hundred and twenty! Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to step in and rally the power of capital to counterbalance those covetous eyes outside."

"That's not the case! Our family is quite large and wealthy. Even if we squander our money, we can still support three generations of wealth."

"It's your home, not mine!"

"It's all the same! As long as you send a few revitalized items back to the family treasury every year, your descendants will always be blessed by fate again in the future."

"How many? One or two would be good enough. My 'golden broom' isn't that powerful; it's not as potent as your candlestick. Lately, company management has been a bit off, and even my 'golden finger' can't turn things around. I have to resort to some other methods. It's driving me crazy!"

"The consequences of expanding too fast without sufficient foundation are that we need to slow down, rest well, and recharge before continuing our journey."

Upon hearing this, Kim Sang didn't realize it at first, but then suddenly remembered something.

"Is there some 'noise' coming from up there?"

Huang Zhengkuo's gaunt face revealed a mysterious smile as he said:
"The inherent monopolistic trend in the IT field has become very apparent in recent years. In social networking, information distribution, news, entertainment, and cultural media, the 80/20 split is too blatant, causing some people to overreact."

"I knew it! Why did Fetion suddenly become so smart? They're doing integration and packaging, concentrating their strengths, introducing a third-party management responsibility system, and implementing shareholding reforms. Their actions are really too big."

Why has instant messaging experienced sluggish growth and faced immense pressure in recent months?
Just like around 2006 in the previous life, when the three major telecom operators were connected, and China Railcom, China Broadcasting Network, and a number of small local wireless service providers were also united to unify the number range and provide unlimited uninterrupted connectivity, faced with such a terrifying "monster" - Fetion, was Pony Ma (Ma Huateng) afraid with QQ in his hand?
To put it simply, without the internal support of the local telecommunications company in the "small fishing village" at the beginning, it's questionable whether the little penguin could have been successfully launched.

Therefore, the vast majority of early IT entrepreneurs, let alone starting from scratch, definitely had some kind of opportunity come their way, were seized, and then gained momentum.

Without the support of local and basic operators, the IT industry, whether in software or hardware, is like a tree without roots or water without a source.

"All I can say is... I guarantee they won't take sides."

"This is enough!"

Kim Sang was very confident that he had a great chance of winning.

Although one's own children seem dear, they are not up to par. While one's adopted children are a bit unsettling, they are very filial and "show respect" to others every now and then, so it's not too bad.

You can't hit someone who's smiling at you!

"The main reason is that you have too deep a partnership with the operators. The technology alliance was a very good move. Some things... have different effects in different hands."

For example, technologies like Perrin, near-field communication, wireless LAN hardware and software, multi-touch screens, fingerprint locks, and QR codes, if promoted solely by Jinxi Culture, would take many years to become widespread. By then, the technology would have evolved several generations and the technology might already be outdated.

The benefits of the cooperation between the two parties have long surpassed the contradictions of direct competition in the "small" instant messaging field.

Relying solely on SP (Service Provider) services to survive, instant messaging has not yet reached its golden age; it is currently only in the early stages of growth and will only truly flourish with the advent of the mobile internet era.

After chatting about trivial matters for a while, Kim Sang couldn't help but ask:

"Old man, you know that's not what I want to know today..."

"Don't worry! The cargo airport is actually easy to arrange. Your choice of a location near the old Wuchang city is not bad. Although the location is good, it's a bit remote, and no one has shown interest yet. There shouldn't be any competition. I'll have the Huang family's connections at their old residence inquire. We'll get a reply soon. It shouldn't be a big problem..."

The old city of Wuchang, located next to Ezhou, is where Sun Quan (Sun Zhongmou) built a tall tower to observe the river and the enemy situation on the opposite bank. It is a beautiful place.

"The issue of blending hydrogen into natural gas is a bit complicated, as it involves too many interests and too many stakeholders."

(End of this chapter)