Restarting life in Siheyuan

The business in Hong Kong is already very large, covering aviation, ocean shipping, machinery, electronics, finance, real estate, textiles, commerce, chemicals, etc., not to mention pharmaceuticals and supermarkets. A beverage factory will also be built soon, so it is necessary to make a comprehensive plan again.

After the locomotive factory in Hong Kong was built and a good cooperative relationship was established with Hong Kong Polytechnic Institute (predecessor), some laboratories also needed to be set up, especially in the field of electronic research.

Then, developing different fields at the same time was a difficult problem for Zhu Xuefeng. He had been in an invisible state and had not met the chief executives of various industries until now. He did not know these people very well. He was only familiar with Miss Chen, Old Li and Hu Yuhang.

The positions of the persons in charge of the locomotive factory, beverage factory, steel plant, fertilizer plant that are about to be established, including the airline and the shipyard, freight terminal, and ocean-going fleet for which there is still a glimmer of hope, are still vacant. The steel plant, terminal, shipyard, and ocean-going fleet are easy to deal with, as they will all be acquired and directly select existing talents, but Wu Qianqian will have to take care of the other persons in charge.

There is no need to worry about Wu Qianqian's character. Zhu Xuefeng is very confident, but she is alone after all, and the pressure is indeed too great. It seems necessary to let Daya come over to help in advance. Zhu Xuefeng has too few people available. Qian Chuanzi can barely be considered one, but she has elderly people at home and it is not suitable for her to travel far, so he has to give up. The only one who can be used is Daya. Daya is still very capable. If she continues to learn here, Zhu Xuefeng believes that she can shoulder the heavy responsibility.

Erya and Sanya are lacking a lot in this aspect, and it is good enough that they can manage the clothing stall well.

In fact, Lin Yilan has good potential, but it's a pity that she prefers to stay in the steel rolling mill. What a pity. Steel rolling mill, by the way, Zhu Xuefeng suddenly thought of someone and had a new idea. He had to go back and investigate.

Director Shao of the steel rolling mill, the Director Shao who disappeared due to a secret leak, is an excellent candidate.

If such a big thing happened, he would definitely not be able to hold his head up for the rest of his life, and even his family would be affected. However, Director Shao’s character is actually fine, and his business ability is also very strong. He has been in the steel rolling mill for so many years and has been in charge of the technical department. He knows all these business and technical requirements well. There is no one more suitable than him.

The problem now is that we have no idea how Director Shao was dealt with or where he is. We have to go back to Beijing and ask Director Yang. He is the leader and he should know something.

Old Yang from the steel rolling mill was having a headache. When he was about to get off work today, a document was issued from above, requiring the steel rolling mill to cooperate with the Ministry of Commerce and transfer the motorcycles sent to Dongsheng Trading Company to the Ministry of Commerce's Hong Kong Office for export. In other words, the mill had to work independently without Dongsheng Company.

As soon as the document arrived, Secretary Liu immediately organized the factory-level leaders to work overtime to convey it. The meeting place was somewhat shocked and full of discussions.

Secretary Liu simply broke the common sense and organized a discussion. He asked everyone to speak up and discuss how to implement it. The discussion was not heated. Lao Yang and Lao Xia, who held different opinions, did not speak, because no matter what, the document had to be executed and there was no possibility of bargaining.

Old Xia was shocked, and after the meeting he took the initiative to find Director Yang to ask. "Old Yang, have you heard about the contents of this document in advance?"

It stands to reason that for such a big change, the superiors should seek the opinion of the steel mill. Lao Xia thinks that Lao Yang should at least have heard some news about it. Their family has discussed it and believes that this approach is simply unrealistic.

Old Yang shook his head, looking strange. "There is no news. If there was, I would have discussed it with you a long time ago. I am still wondering what level this superior is. He didn't even come to our factory for an investigation, but directly sent a document."

The document was actually forwarded by the Ministry of Metallurgy. Seeing that Old Yang was truly unaware of the situation, Old Xia left with full of doubts.

"We have only been cooperating for more than a year and everything has been going smoothly. Why did such a decision come about?" Old Yang couldn't understand it. The meaningful smile of the new Secretary Liu was still in front of him.

"Old Yang, our electric vehicles, tricycles and tractors sold well at this year's trade show even without the help of Dongsheng Company. What does this prove? It proves that as long as the product is good, there will be no problem finding buyers in such a large international market. It is a wrong decision for us to hand over the sales of our flagship products to Dongsheng Company. We are working for the capitalists."

"Now that the higher-ups have thought clearly about it and want to be self-reliant, we don't need to think about those messy things. We should just respond to the call and resolutely implement it. It makes sense anyway. It's better to hand it over to the Ministry of Commerce than to capitalists who don't know the bottom line."

Old Yang didn't say anything at the time, but cursed in his heart, "You know nothing, without Dongsheng Company's backing, how could those things be so popular? Newcomers are new, and they didn't do any research. They didn't even know that most of them were bought and sold by Dongsheng Company. This is really only known by the old secretary, myself, and Old Xia. And, didn't Shencheng's motorcycles go to the exhibition? Why couldn't any of them be sold to Europe and North America?"

These people still think that export is too simple. Lao Yang deeply remembers the difficulty of negotiating with Dongsheng Company. He also clearly understands the role played by Dongsheng Company in sales to North America and Europe. The positioning of the Ministry of Commerce determines that it has no chance to negotiate with North America and Europe at all.

Lao Yang put away the documents. It was already dark outside. He looked at the time. It was really late. This discussion had wasted too much time. But he was an impatient person. He had to find his old leader for this matter. This decision might very well ruin the steel mill.

Now the motorcycle project earns about 10 million foreign exchange every year, which includes costs, and the proportion is not low. When the Ministry of Commerce cannot sell it, let alone foreign exchange, the steel mill's account will be a mess. After all, the motorcycle project is a must-have project for the steel mill, and too many resources have been invested.

Not to mention a year, even half a year of unsold products would break the steel mill's capital chain, and it would then have to rely on the superiors' plans to survive. This was something Lao Yang could never accept.

The steel mill fell into crisis just a few months after the secretary left. By then, people who didn't understand, including the 14,000 employees in the factory, would definitely point the finger at me and scold me for my incompetence.

Therefore, whether from the perspective of the country, the collective or the individual, Lao Yang cannot accept this document at all. He must report this to his superiors. This is a wrong decision!

The leader’s home is in Chaoyang District, which was formerly Dongjiao District. It was renamed a few years ago. It is not as prosperous and lively as Dongcheng District, and there are very few people along the way.

Anxious Lao Yang rode very fast, using the street lights to catch his way. He was checked twice by the patrol team. When he finally arrived at the compound, it was already past nine o'clock. The guard on duty was familiar with Lao Yang, as he had been here many times during this period.

"The minister just came back. If you want to see him, just go in directly."

"Thanks, young man."

Old Yang pushed the cart into the compound, locked his bicycle, and went straight to the second floor. Minister Ding's house was on the second floor, and Old Yang had brought Sha Zhu here several times.

"Guodong, why are you here? What's the emergency? It's not about the notice for this afternoon, is it?"

Lao Ding had just arrived home and had just taken off his clothes and washed his face when the door rang. When he opened the door, he saw it was Lao Yang.

"Leader, you are right. That is why I am here."

Old Yang closed the door and greeted the minister's wife who came out after hearing the noise.

"Sister-in-law, sorry to bother you so late."

"Oh, it's Guodong. It's okay. Lao Ding just got home too. Go and talk if you have anything to say. I'll go get you some water."

"Don't worry, sister-in-law, I can do it myself."

"Let her do it. Let's go to the study. You rushed here in such a hurry. It seems that you are dissatisfied with this notice."

The two of them closed the door, and Lao Yang did not hide anything, "Leader, I personally think that this document is indeed inappropriate. They made this request hastily without even asking for our opinions."

Minister Ding threw a cigarette and said, "Light it up yourself. I'm just taking advantage of your presence to smoke a cigarette. If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have dared to smoke even when I went home."

Seeing that the old leader looked around and didn't say anything, Director Yang asked.

"Leader, please tell me something. Who made this request? We fought for this project and went through so much hardship. Now everything is going well. Why did you suddenly change your mind?"

"Guodong, don't worry. This decision certainly wasn't made by the department. You didn't read the document carefully. The beginning of the document says: According to the instructions of the superiors... You don't understand this yet."

"I understand. This is a request from above, but I just can't figure it out. That's why I came to ask."

Minister Ding let out a long sigh. "If you don't tell me that you don't understand, I can't figure it out either. But this is a request from above. Maybe there are some things that we don't see clearly." "Leader, I don't think it's us who don't understand, it should be the higher-ups who don't understand..."

"Don't talk nonsense. As a party member and cadre, you must first obey orders. You can reserve your opinions, but they must be implemented to the letter. Do I need to remind you of this minimum requirement?"

Director Yang did not back down. "Leader, of course the discipline will be strictly enforced, but I can reserve my opinion. Now it's time to get off work, and I'm asking you for advice just because I reserve my opinion."

"Well, that's good to know. We must maintain organizational discipline. If you have any opinions, you can raise them. Tell us what you think and why you think this request is inappropriate."

The minister's wife pushed the door open, poured tea for the two of them, closed the door, and walked out. Director Yang then continued to speak.

"Leader, you personally came to this project. I don't need to tell you about the process. You know how difficult it is to reach this kind of cooperation. Let's put aside the fact that Dongsheng Company went through a lot of trouble to help us get the equipment and the site, and paid for the wages and equipment. Let's not talk about these. Let's just say that our factory sold more than 50,000 motorcycles through them in a year, and directly exchanged them for 10 million US dollars. You can talk about this. Who has this ability? Why do you think the Ministry of Commerce can do it?"

Last year, the higher authorities issued a document that any project that could generate US$300,000 in foreign exchange would be fully supported. With such a large scale, the steel mill has certainly benefited a lot from the policies above. This is also the reason why other factories are jealous of its current benefits.

"Well, your butt is not sitting crooked, that's good. As for the cooperation with Dongsheng Company, you are not allowed to talk about it again after you leave this door. Documents are documents, and requirements are requirements. Regardless of management and understanding, we must implement them meticulously and conscientiously."

Lao Yang suddenly became anxious. "Leader, it's very simple to implement the request. We just need to send a telegram to Xiangjiang. Li Huaide is in charge of the work there now. He had this idea in the first place, but Lao Chen and I did not support it at the time. Oh, I understand."

Old Yang suddenly realized that it was most likely Li Huaide who was causing trouble behind the scenes.

Seeing that Lao Yang suddenly came to his senses, Minister Ding turned his head and asked.

"Have you figured it out? Tell me, why do you still want to resist? We need to recognize the situation. I have also consulted my superiors about this. They said that the capitalists have taken the bulk of the profits, which is not appropriate. We need to remove this huge mountain that is weighing on us, the working class. What can I do?"

"Is it really impossible? Leader, I still think this decision is unreliable. A great man once said that without investigation and research, there is no right to speak. They didn't even come to our factory to investigate. This decision was made hastily. If things go wrong, 10 million foreign exchange a year will be gone."

"How do you know there's no survey? They want to survey the sales process. Why are they coming to your factory? Your data can be found everywhere. There's no need to go to your factory. Guodong, obey the order and do as required."

"Leader, I will certainly obey your orders, but if you don't make it clear, I will be unhappy. If I lose this foreign exchange, I will be sorry for the employees who have worked so hard for it. Let me put it this way, I don't think the Ministry of Commerce can sell it at all."

"Oh, you have data on this? Tell me how you made that judgment."

Minister Ding became interested. If the Ministry of Commerce really couldn't sell it, it would be a big joke. Last year, this amount of foreign exchange even made the Ministry of Metallurgy praised.

Seeing the leader's concern, Lao Yang perked up and said, "Leader, you still remember that the Machinery Department asked us to get the blueprints last year. It was the factory in Shencheng."

"Yes, that's what happened. They took away all your blueprints and sent people to learn your technology. I heard that it wasn't going well at the beginning, so I didn't pay attention to it later."

"They also went to the exhibition in the first half of this year. Their products are exactly the same as ours. Except for the color and the logo, everything else is cut from the same mold. Guess what?"

"It should also be a hot seller. I guess this decision was made because of Shencheng's success."

After all, Minister Ding was the leader of the Ministry of Metallurgy, and he did not pay too much attention to the movements of the Ministry of Machinery. It turned out that this was the cause. Minister Ding began to understand the decision from above.

"Leader, you may not be aware of some details. They did sell some, almost 200 units, but you don't know that they were all sold to Southeast Asia. Not a single unit was sold to North America or Europe. This is exactly the same as the situation at our factory's previous exhibitions."

"Oh, I understand what you mean. There is indeed a big problem here. The higher-ups may not have paid attention to this detail, and may have made a wrong judgment and been too optimistic."

Europe and North America are currently the main sales markets for motorcycles, but North America and Europe are currently implementing a blockade policy on the domestic market, making it impossible to directly purchase domestic mechanical products. The only things they can buy are some agricultural specialties or resource goods.

Dongsheng Company established a motorcycle sales department at that time in order to break through this blockade. It mainly targeted this market and achieved great success. The Southeast Asian market is also being developed, but there is a lack of supply. Shanghai should have made up for this market, but the economies of these small countries in Southeast Asia can hardly support such large-scale sales. The only places that can support it are South Korea, Fuso, and Taiwan. The Ministry of Commerce will definitely not contact them, and there is no chance of contacting them.

In order to circumvent the blockade, the motorcycles were assembled in Hong Kong and nominally produced in Hong Kong. Can they still circumvent it now? Will the Ministry of Commerce intervene directly? Will they sell motorcycles produced in Hong Kong?

Minister Ding also smiled bitterly, as this decision seemed to be taken for granted.

"Guodong, your news is very important. If this is true, it is indeed a big problem. Let me ask someone to check the exhibition situation in the first half of the year, and then talk to the Machinery Department to understand the current situation of this Shencheng factory, and then communicate with the higher-ups. If this decision is really based on the sales of this Shencheng factory, there may be some problems."

Director Yang was very happy to see that the old leader had made the decision. It seemed that there would be no accidents in the steel rolling mill's foreign exchange earning project.

"Then you should rest early. I will go back first."

"Wait, let me remind you that before making new demands, you still have to implement the existing demands and don't act on impulse."

In response to the old leader's reminder, Lao Yang said happily, "Don't worry, leader, I am very clear about the principle issues and will never make such a low-level mistake. But we still have to hurry up. If I deliver the products this month, it may affect the foreign exchange income of nearly one million."

"You, I don't need you to remind me. I know what to do."

Lao Yang left very happily. Li Huaide, who was far away in Hong Kong, was also very happy at this time. He already knew that this time the move was made from above, and the motorcycles from the steel rolling mill would no longer have to be delivered to Dongsheng Company.

Thinking of that unyielding beauty, Li Huaide felt a little indignant. After many appointments, he finally got to meet her, but she left after just a few minutes of talking and was replaced by a secretary to entertain him. In the next few appointments, it turned out that Ms. Wu was very busy and had no time.

Li Huaide had never been treated so coldly. Although the other party did not accept his suggestion, it was still a negotiation. He was a department-level cadre, in charge of tens of thousands of people. A small businessman did not give him face. It was just a reduction in the delivery quantity. There was no need to talk now. As long as the notice was given, all products would no longer be delivered to Dongsheng Company.

Zhu Xuefeng sorted out the drawings in the study, looked at the development plans and programs he had drawn up for various industries, put away the industrial park layout map, stood up, walked out of the study, and strolled onto the terrace.

Looking at the bright lights in the distance, it is really late. Looking at the time, it is already past ten o'clock and Wu Qianqian has not come back yet. If it is any later, the Tianxing Ferry will stop.

The phone rang in the study, and Zhu Xuefeng looked at the butler waiting at the door.

"Go pick it up, it's probably the lady."

It's not like he missed the ferry and couldn't come back. This Jin Yuri is really troublesome. He made an appointment with me at noon and didn't let me come back so late at night. I felt even more apologetic towards Wu Qianqian for a moment.

"Master, it was Madam who called and said she would not be back tonight because the ferry was gone. She went to the small building to rest for the night."

Just as I worried about it, the housekeeper came hurriedly to inform me.

"Got it. You go down too and ask them to prepare hot water in two hours..." (End of this chapter)