That year the flowers bloomed 1981

Chapter 1663 What a coincidence!
Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang discussed for two hours, going over some details and reaching a preliminary consensus.

"Then it's settled. If you need to take up your post in the Southwest, Lao Lu, just ask for support in terms of manpower, financial resources, and everything else. We'll give you whatever we can."

"Hahaha, Li Ye, don't worry, I definitely won't be pretentious. But shouldn't we be a little too eager right now? You can't rush things!"

"Of course we can't rush things. It's just that some people might be in a lot of a hurry."

"Their anxiety is useless."

"Who knows! Anyway, I don't think it's useful, hehehehehe."

"Then I'm relieved, hehehehe~"

Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang exchanged a few glances and then chuckled.

The head office is in a hurry, but Li Ye absolutely cannot be in a hurry.

Because both Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang understood that Yi Mingzhao knew perfectly well that this act of mixing in outsiders would disgust Li Ye's side, but he still brazenly called Li Ye over, wanting him to accept a pre-prepared plan, which was actually a last resort.

The Beijing Automotive Group had just been established, and Yi Mingzhao was essentially parachuted in as the top leader. To quickly take control of the situation, he needed a group of loyal followers.

But you've just taken office, so how can you possibly gather a group of loyal subordinates who are devoted to protecting you?

We can't just make empty promises, can we?

Beijing Automotive Group isn't some small workshop run by a neighborhood committee. You can't expect people to work for you with just a few slogans. These people are very perceptive! You can't get anywhere with just empty talk.

You have to make these people eat meat!
Think about it, why is Li Ye so popular in the First Factory? Now the entire Jingnan Group knows that "Li Ye keeps his word," and 99% of the people will support any suggestion he makes.

Because Li Ye spent eight years bringing tangible benefits to everyone, and the management of the first factory received promotions.

Xiao Zhu used to be just an assistant engineer drawing blueprints in the technical department. He was initially assigned to do the most undesirable and arduous tasks with Li Ye.
Later, Xiao Zhu thought Li Ye was a good person, so he followed Li Ye to the No. 1 factory to reclaim wasteland. From then on, everything went smoothly for him, and now he is the head of the technical department of Jingnan Group.
In just eight years, Xiao Zhu achieved a leap from a clerk to a department head, making a bunch of people with connections and connections envious and jealous. Why wouldn't he be devoted to Li Ye?
Not to mention Lu Zhizhang, if it weren't for Li Ye, he probably would have only been able to rise from office director to deputy head of the light vehicle company by retirement, but what about now?

There's no end to it! There's no end in sight to promotions!
Therefore, a boss should not complain all day that his subordinates are not working hard for him. They are not working hard because they cannot see the benefits of working hard for him.

To put it bluntly, if Li Ye wanted to go against the head office now, the people in the first factory wouldn't necessarily rebel in a heartbeat! They could at least show him all sorts of tricks, like feigning compliance, disobeying orders, and disrupting equipment maintenance.

Yi Mingzhao was the same; if he wanted to cultivate a group of loyal followers, he had to offer them substantial financial incentives.

However, Li Ye was not short of money, and the development of the branch factory was never hindered by funding. It can be said that Li Ye cultivated his own people entirely with his own money.

Compared to Li Ye, Yi Mingzhao was penniless, so he could only resort to administrative means and play the "borrowing flowers to present to Buddha" game!
However, a successful opera needs a lead actor, supporting actors, and extras. If no one cooperates with you, it's a one-man show, and the difficulty of becoming famous is extremely high, to an unpredictable degree.

. . . . . . .

Three days after Li Ye finished discussing with Lu Zhizhang, Ma Zhaoxian, who had just returned from a business trip, was summoned to a meeting at the head office. Upon his return, he gave Li Ye a copy of the "Heavy Truck Expansion and Development Plan".

"This was conveyed to me during today's meeting, and we were asked to actively cooperate and implement it as soon as possible. I couldn't refuse on the spot, so I said I would take it back for collective discussion before making a decision. President Yi gave us a week."

Li Ye took the development plan and said with a smile, "You've given us a week? Didn't President Yi say what would happen to us if we couldn't implement it after a week?"

Ma Zhaoxian rolled his eyes and said bluntly, "What right does he have to punish us? Did we embezzle or break the law? Or did we fail to perform our duties effectively?"
They haven't offered a single penny of support, yet they've made seventeen or eighteen demands. Do they really think we're like donkeys that you can just flatter? They think a few kind words will make us work ourselves to the bone? They've forgotten that donkeys not only pull the millstone, they also kick up their heels.

Li Ye blinked, somewhat surprised by Ma Zhaoxian's attitude, because Ma Zhaoxian was a rather traditional bureaucrat who rarely lashed out at his superiors in front of others like this.

If this gets back to Yi Mingzhao through the walls, it would be a very basic mistake in the workplace.

But after Li Ye opened the plan and looked at it, he understood why Ma Zhaoxian was so angry.

According to the "instructions" in this plan, the head office not only placed a large portion of the "receiving personnel" in the process of annexing Southwest Heavy Truck, but also took over almost all of Southwest Heavy Truck's burdens.

Doesn't the head office know how heavy the burden is for a company that has been losing money for many years?
Bank debts are accumulating interest, redundant employees are drawing salaries without working, outdated equipment is being sold at exorbitant prices, and corrupt management is being promoted. If these problems are not thoroughly resolved during the merger, then we are just throwing money into a bottomless pit!

It can be said that this plan was made by some people who were in a hurry to arrange a promotion opportunity for their subordinates, completely disregarding the interests of Jingnan Group. It was practically throwing money down the drain. No wonder Ma Zhaoxian was furious after seeing it.

Li Ye didn't get angry; he simply tossed the proposal onto the table and said lazily, "Then what should we do? Let's have a meeting to discuss it and hear everyone's opinions?"

Ma Zhaoxian said with a deep gaze, "We should definitely listen to everyone's opinions. In addition, shouldn't we also listen to the opinions of the Asset Management Bureau?"

"Hmm? This...hehehe~"

Li Ye smiled knowingly, because Ma Zhaoxian's performance today was truly "bold" and intriguing.

After the establishment of Beijing Automotive Group, almost all units in Beijing's automotive industry were brought under their management, but they were also under the supervision of the Asset Management Bureau above them!
What kind of organization is the Asset Management Bureau? It's a top-level government office where a mere stomp of the feet at the top can send shivers down your spine.

However, according to the conventions in mainland China, "asking for instructions outside one's level" is quite taboo, and most people would not do it unless absolutely necessary.

However, this problem is somewhat different for Li Ye.

Because his brother-in-law, Wen Guohua, after being transferred back to Beijing from another province, first went through the procedures in his original department and then was transferred to work at the State Assets Management Bureau in Beijing.

So what Ma Zhaoxian just said was clearly an attempt to get Li Ye to whisper in his ear and get his father-in-law's family to lend a hand!

Li Ye didn't give a direct answer, but just smiled and said, "Let's have an internal meeting first, and then we can talk about other things!"

Ma Zhaoxian immediately nodded: "Okay, this is a good opportunity to see if we are united."

Even if you're very dissatisfied with the task assigned by your superiors, you still have to go through the motions and keep meticulous meeting minutes so that no one can find fault with them.

[Look, I've diligently followed your instructions, but everyone's opposition is strong. We can't go against the collective will, can we?]

As for how to make everyone strongly oppose it, isn't that just a matter of Ma Zhaoxian giving a single glance?

This time, Ma Zhaoxian didn't even need to give a signal; everyone was blown away as soon as they saw the plan.

The hot-tempered accountant, Old Yang, yelled, "What do they take us for? Money-giving boys? Saviors? Do they think we have so much money we don't know what to do with it?"

Xiao Zhu, who was in charge of technology, frowned: "This plan looks impressive, but I don't think it's very practical. Southwest Heavy Truck's management model is completely different from ours. If we just take it over without any real understanding, things will remain the same, and we won't be able to save it at all!"

Even the tactful and diplomatic Vice President Meng shook his head repeatedly: "The burden is too heavy. Besides, their false advertising recently harmed many users. If we don't handle it well after taking over, it will affect the good reputation of our Beijing brand."

Nobody's stupid. If Yi Mingzhao wants to use the expansion opportunity to cultivate his own loyalists, then what about the management of Jingnan Group? Don't they have their own loyalists? Under a general, there are division commanders; under a platoon leader, there are squad leaders. Everyone wants to fight for the interests of their cronies, okay?

Therefore, unless Ma Zhaoxian reaches a consensus in advance and forcibly pushes the plan forward, it is destined that no result will be reached in this situation.

For some reason, Yi Mingzhao seemed certain that Ma Zhaoxian would disregard personal gains and losses and resolutely carry out the head office's instructions, which is why he issued such an outrageous plan.

Regardless, Ma Zhaoxian strictly followed the procedures for discussion, and when Yi Mingzhao asked about it a few days later, he would use this result to evade the question.

However, a week later, instead of inquiring about the results of Ma Zhaoxian's discussion, Yi Mingzhao issued a notice to Jingnan Group that the newly appointed Deputy Director Wen would be coming down to inspect the work.

Upon receiving the news, Ma Zhaoxian came over with a smile to discuss the reception arrangements with Li Ye, but Li Ye looked completely bewildered.

Because he hadn't even spoken to his brother-in-law yet! How could he have come down to inspect the place?

Li Ye quickly called Wen Guohua: "Brother, you're coming to inspect our unit? What a coincidence!"

Wen Guohua chuckled and said, "That's right! I've just taken office, so I definitely need to get a feel for the state-owned enterprises under my jurisdiction. Among the Beijing Automobile Group, your unit has the best performance, which is why I was assigned to your unit."

Li Ye smacked his lips and asked doubtfully, "So, according to you, this is the normal arrangement?"

Wen Guohua said calmly, "It's normal in some ways, and it's not normal in others. You've been working for seven or eight years, don't you understand this?"

"I understand, I understand, I just didn't expect it to be such a coincidence, hahaha~"

Of course Li Ye understands!

The larger an organization is, the more complex its operating rules become. For a large organization like Wen Guohua's, which manages hundreds of thousands or even millions of workers, there are countless things to deal with every day.

Surely we can't send every single one of these things to Wen Guohua for his review?

Therefore, some people will select matters based on their importance and urgency, identifying those that must be handled by Wen Guohua or other leaders.
In this screening and classification process, any seemingly insignificant staff member may play a role, whether big or small. Although it is not like the old society where "a seventh-rank official stands before the prime minister's door," the specific influence is undeniable.

That's why Wen Guohua said that choosing Jingnan Group as the inspection target this time might be a coincidence, or it might be a deliberate arrangement by someone.

Whether it was a coincidence or an arrangement, it was so coincidental that Li Ye burst out laughing.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Although Wen Guohua is related to Li Ye and is also acquainted with Ma Zhaoxian, since he is coming down to inspect as a superior, a formal reception ceremony is still necessary, and it should be grand.

Fortunately, these young people were used to receiving inspections and visits from leaders at the car company, so they were familiar with the process and made the arrangements easily.

But when Yi Mingzhao and the others accompanied Wen Guohua to the entrance of the light vehicle company, Wen Guohua had just gotten out of the car when he found out the problem.

"Didn't you report that Jingnan Group was doing very well? Why is this gate so unique?"

"."

Although Li Ye's company is now called Jingnan Group, its office building is still borrowed from a ministry, and the only notable project under the group for visitors is the light vehicle company.

The gate of the Keqing Automobile Company was built in the 1960s, which is quite unique in the 1990s, an era when "those with money build gates first".

As the top leader, Ma Zhaoxian quickly replied with a smile, "Director Wen, as you may know, our unit used to living a frugal life, so we have developed a habit of saving money."
We always use our resources wisely, saving where we can and spending where we can. The gate may be a bit old, but it doesn't affect production or business.

Wen Guohua nodded and said approvingly, "Saving where you should and spending where you should—that's a good habit. No wonder you've developed so well over the years."

"Hehehe, Director Wen, you flatter me. Our unit has a weak foundation and many shortcomings."

Ma Zhaoxian was habitually modest; after all, that's the tradition in mainland China—the more a leader praises you, the more you should be humble.

However, just as Ma Zhaoxian expressed humility, Yi Mingzhao, who was standing next to him, began to flatter him with a smile.

"Old Ma, don't be modest. Director Wen is here to understand our true situation, so we can't hide anything."

"."

Yi Mingzhao's words seemed like a joke, but they immediately embarrassed Ma Zhaoxian.

What do you mean by "covering up"? What am I covering up?

Ignoring the embarrassed Ma Zhaoxian, Yi Mingzhao continued to introduce to Wen Guohua: "Director Wen, you may not know this, but Jingnan Group is currently concentrating its efforts on major projects. In addition to developing light trucks, light buses, and microbuses, it has also made bold moves in the heavy truck sector."
Our merger with Southwest Heavy Truck has recently reached a critical stage. If we can receive the necessary support from higher authorities, it will fill the gap in Beijing's heavy truck industry in one fell swoop.

Li Ye: "."

Ma Zhaoxian: "."

The people around: "."

Li Ye finally understood that Yi Mingzhao brought Wen Guohua over, seemingly to help Jingnan Group seek support, but in reality, he wanted to use his power to intimidate others.

"You see, the support I'm giving you isn't just empty promises; it also comes with the trust and appreciation from above. You might not give me face, but you should at least give face to those above, right?"

Yi Mingzhao knew that Li Ye was unruly, that Li Ye had powerful backers, and that he only had advisory power over the appointments of Li Ye and Ma Zhaoxian, not decision-making power. So he invited Wen Guohua, who was at a higher level, to come over.

The achievement of filling the gap in Beijing's heavy truck industry can also add luster to Wen Guohua's resume.

Isn't this the kind of achievement that young cadres like Wen Guohua lack most?

Therefore, no matter how Yi Mingzhao calculated it, he felt that he had made a brilliant move.

But the problem is that Li Ye doesn't need your "good intentions," Yi Mingzhao!

(End of this chapter)