money player

"Morning!"

"Good morning, Secretary Ashley."

Eve Ashley and George Soros meet on the stairs in the morning in London.

"George, your graduation is in July?"

"Yes."

"What do you plan to do?"

"Continue to study for a master's degree."

"Passed?"

"uh-huh."

"not bad."

As they approached the company's front door, Eve Ashley naturally ended the conversation.

Before she even stepped into the company, she spoke, "Tell me the price."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone appeared in the office.

"New York 7.1 cents per pound, London 46.72 pounds per ton."

Eve Ashley clapped her hands. "Everyone, please have a meeting in five minutes. I need to know the latest data on the estimated sugarcane production of each country this year."

Following her order, the office was immediately filled with the sound of documents being flipped through.

As Soros followed Eve Ashley into the office, an old question emerged in his mind again - is finance more attractive than philosophy?

"George, come to my office, I have some documents to burn." Eve Ashley said, pointing at Bai Jiaxun, who understood and followed her into Eve Ashley's office.

Eve Ashley took out a stack of documents from the safe, counted the pages, confirmed the content of each page, and handed it to Soros. Soros took the documents out of the office, followed closely by Bai Jiaxun, and came to the outer office. He signaled another Chinese, Zhou Shangfang, to follow.

Mistakes are easy to occur during the destruction of documents. Dean has always implemented strict destruction procedures to prevent leaks as much as possible.

"Ting Zhen, do you want to go and take a look at this Prince Enterprise?"

Taipei, Zhao Tingzhen's home, his wife Zhu Huaifang puts a newspaper in front of him.

Zhao Tingzhen, born in 1921, graduated from the Department of Chemistry of Guanghua University in 1945. Right after graduation, he participated in taking over Japanese-funded chemical companies and resuming operations of local chemical companies. He put his chemical knowledge to good use, and not only applied it simply, but also participated in business decision-making. He was an elite in both chemical technology and management.

In 1949, he went to Taiwan with his experience in the chemical industry to look for opportunities. Initially, he was hired by the National Government as a technical consultant to assist in evaluating the potential of the local chemical industry and participate in the technical improvement of Taiwan Alkali Company.

Then, his chemical technology became known to Taiwan's chemical companies. Private companies invited him to help improve their technology, and some companies also extended olive branches to him, but he did not agree. He always maintained an aloof status and quietly paid attention to the plastics industry.

Zhao Tingzhen picked up the newspaper, looked at the place Zhu Huaifang pointed, and silently read the recruitment advertisement on it:

Our subsidiary, Taizi Chemical, plans to build a plastics company in Taiwan, mainly producing PVC. Our company is well-funded, has raised NT$3000 million in start-up capital, and has extensive financing and technology introduction channels. We now sincerely invite chemical workers to join us, with preferential treatment...

After reading the advertisement, Zhao Tingzhen looked confused, "Huaifang, I have never heard of this Prince Enterprise before, do you know the details?"

Zhu Huaifang shook his head. "I don't know either. It's just that there have been recruitment advertisements in the newspapers in recent days. You might as well take a look. Maybe it's really strong."

Zhu Huaifang knew that her husband had the ambition to localize the production of PVC in Taiwan. In the past six months, he had been in contact with bosses from Shanghai and was also lobbying the bosses of local chemical companies. However, no one in the industry was interested in his plan so far. Instead, Wang Yongqing, the owner of a timber mill, was somewhat interested. However, Wang Yongqing not only had limited strength, but was also hesitant.

Zhao Tingzhen was slightly moved, "I'll go take a look?"

"go."

Zhu Huaifang gave encouragement verbally and was not slow to act. He immediately stood up to get Zhao Tingzhen's coat and briefcase.

Prince Enterprise Office.

Xian Yaowen sat in a big chair, flipping through a thick stack of resumes.

Opposite him sat his secretary Valerie Hobson and HK Consulting's manager Zhong Lin.

Prince Enterprise is the core of Taiwan's strategy. Zhong Lin personally led a team to oversee talent recruitment and established the Taiwan branch of HK Consulting.

Taiwan is still capable of producing a lot of talent. Not to mention that Xian Yaowen has a list of talents in his mind, even if the talents are not on the list, he will recruit them if possible and will not let them go if there is any mistake.

He had always been disgusted with the values ​​of the monk who sweeps the toilets. An old man who sweeps the toilets is beaten and kicked by a group of young people and dragged to the streets every day, as if he were a loser. But one day, a Nobel Prize winner suddenly found him, knelt down in front of him and cried bitterly, muttering "Teacher, teacher".

At this moment, the pleasure of showing off came like a tide. It turned out that this old man was a master in a certain field. He had been an assistant to Einstein. His research had reached a dead end, and he kept holding on to the two theories of "brooms, feces and urine and quantum entanglement" and "the collision of young people's fists and feet with statistical mechanics".

Although he had made great achievements, he was unwilling to publish them, and even disdained to compete for the Nobel Prize, saying bluntly that the prize was a toy of foreigners. This was already recorded in the "Far Ahead" chapter of the "Yongle Encyclopedia".

In his later years, his cultivation level was elevated to a level unfathomable to mortals, so he mustered up the courage to study a problem that had troubled mankind for five thousand years - the theory of relativity between the orientation of fish heads and the height of toast glasses.

According to Xian Yaowen's idea, talented people should sit in positions that suit them and shine instead of hiding in the wild and playing childish pretentious and face-slapping games. If others don't give them opportunities, he will.

He was very pleased to see that every resume said they graduated from a certain university. Regardless of whether these people had real talent or not, just being able to go to university in the 1930s and 1940s meant they had good luck. Prince Enterprise gathered a group of lucky people, so how could the company's fortune be bad?
Among the factors for a company's success, only luck is illusory but indispensable. Hiring more lucky people will not be a mistake, even if it is not the right one.

After reading all the resumes for more than 40 minutes, Xian Yaowen took out a resume from the one he had put aside. "Taiwan has a lot of work to do and there will be a lot of infrastructure projects. Prince Construction must strive for projects that have already started and also plan for projects that are about to start. In order to enhance the overall competitiveness of Prince Construction, I lowered my psychological expectations. Prince Construction can be unprofitable. The bottom line is to break even.

But I want a complete map of Taiwan's infrastructure planning, and the ability to make changes to the map, such as having a certain road pass by the side of our hoarded land, or having the landfill move further away from our land.

In order to have this ability, Prince Construction must make friends with the Construction Department... Valerie, how many departments does the Construction Department have?"

"There are six departments and three offices. The Public Works Department is responsible for road and bridge projects; the Water Conservancy Bureau is responsible for reservoirs and irrigation systems; the Urban Planning Department is responsible for urban planning; the Construction Management Department formulates construction regulations; the Surveying Corps is responsible for topographic surveying and mapping; the Material Testing Institute is responsible for engineering quality inspection. The others are auxiliary departments."

Xian Yaowen nodded, leaned back in his chair, and said slowly: "Valerie, Prince Construction needs two special talents, preferably a man and a woman, to be responsible for government public relations.

In addition, we need to secretly build study abroad channels in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and be prepared to send the children and lovers of the company's strategic partners to study abroad at any time."

"Do I need to prepare US dollars in cash?" Valerie asked.

"There is also gold, gold bars, gold leaves, gold melon seeds, gold peanuts, whatever people like, we have some."

"OK."

Xian Yaowen raised the resume in his hand. "This Zhang Mingqiang is quite interesting. He was a builder in Shanghai. He came to Taiwan and worked as a clerk in Yin Zhihao's Continental Engineering Company. He also opened a Pacific Bank outside, acting as an agent for imported building materials from the United States, participating in the matching of US aid materials, and contracting temporary military barracks projects. He is lying dormant, waiting for a big breakthrough."

Then, staring at Valerie's face, "Why do you think he came to work at Prince Construction?"

"Boss, if you want to undertake infrastructure projects in Taiwan, you need a Class A construction license. Only 12 will be issued this year, so it's very difficult to get one. The projects that can be undertaken in the next two years are mainly military projects and subcontracts of US aid projects."

Xian Yaowen smiled faintly, "It seems that Zhang Mingqiang is quite well-informed."

"General Manager, there is a Shanghai Association in Taipei, which is very powerful," said Zhong Lin.

"I've heard something about it." Xian Yaowen nodded.

Valerie found a document from the table and handed it to Xian Yaowen, "Boss, take a look at this."

Xian Yaowen took it and glanced at it. On the cover was clearly written "Construction Industry Management Measures during the Martial Law Period".

As Xian Yaowen began to browse the documents, Valerie said, "In Taiwan, if you want to undertake infrastructure and military projects, the contractor must hold a Class A construction license and must be reviewed by the Ministry of National Defense before taking over. According to the internal guidelines of the Ministry of National Defense, military projects are given priority to military friendly construction companies."

"Explain the military friend builder."

“The military holds shares.”

"Public or private?" Xian Yaowen chuckled as soon as he said this. "It's unnecessary to ask. It must be both public and private. What's the shareholding ratio?"

"Yes."

Xian Yaowen put the document aside, rubbed his temples, and pondered for a moment.

Soon, he said: "Establish a Women's Association, a New Life Association, and a Sports Association under the Prince Construction. Choose a place with a beautiful environment and buy a house as an office to accommodate the people sent by the military. It doesn't matter whether they work or not. The salary will be paid on time every month, and each person will be given a certain amount of reimbursement.

Equip the office with a chef to prepare lunch, hire a few service staff, buy a few high-end card tables and mahjong tiles, and provide a permanent supply of high-end tea, coffee, and snacks in the tea room.

Buy a bus and two cars to pick up people to and from get off work. The company should not ask how the vehicles are allocated and let them allocate them by themselves. "

"Boss, are we going to bring in military shareholders?"

"Yes, and we need to bring in shareholders from as many forces as possible so that the Crown Prince can build it into a military paradise."

Valerie thought for a moment and asked, "Register another company to hoard land?"

Xian Yaowen nodded approvingly, "A certain number of plots of land that can be quickly converted into cash will be held in the name of Prince Construction, so that everyone can reap the benefits."

"OK."

"Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I want to meet Zhang Mingqiang and ask him to buy two sets of fishing gear for me. Do I need to write an invoice for you?"

"unnecessary."

"Hmm, next topic, Lao Zhong, you go out first."

After Zhong Lin left, Xian Yaowen said, "Prince Trading must become the God of Wealth as soon as possible. Before the middle of the month, we must spend at least 2000 million Taiwan dollars and find a way to buy a large amount of sugar cane, either spot or futures for delivery before June 6."

"Sugarcane is an important export commodity of Taiwan, and it is difficult to buy sugarcane with the Taiwan dollar."

"I know. We can make a workaround and use Taiwan dollars as collateral. After the July contract is delivered, we will settle in US dollars in August."

After a moment's hesitation, Valerie said, "Boss, are we betting too much?"

"It's a bit heavy, but it's within my tolerance. Even if the sugar speculation fails, it won't make me lose everything. At most, I'll have wasted a year's work. This opportunity is rare, and it's worth taking the risk. But..."

Xian Yaowen placed his gentle gaze on Valerie's face and said, "Whether this succeeds or not, please maintain your independent thinking and raise different opinions. Before executing a project, we can have several debates and you can convince me or I can convince you."

"Why not start from now?" Valerie smiled.

Xian Yaowen shrugged. "You lack practical experience now. I don't think you are qualified to debate with me. So, please accumulate experience as soon as possible."

"Ok."

"In addition to sugar, you can also buy rice, camphor, canned pineapples, and coal. These are all commodities that are easy to sell. Buy as much as you can."

The two chatted for a while about Prince Trade. At about 4:30, Valerie was called out and told that there was an unusual interviewee who needed Valerie's personal review. With that, the conversation between the two came to an end.

Xian Yaowen called Qiong, and Qiong asked him to pick him up at the entrance of White Company at six o'clock.

There is still some time, and Francesca is not here, so I can't talk to him today, so this is a good time to think about the problem quietly.

There are investable objects everywhere in Taiwan, and Prince Investment has no shortage of potential good projects. Finding projects is not the current focus of work. How to hold projects for a long time is the key. Prince Investment needs energy. Francesca’s current workplace should not be in the office, but in a cafe or banquet hall, so as to build connections in Taiwan as soon as possible.

six o'clock.

Xian Yaowen arrived at the gate of White Company on time, and after waiting for only five seconds, Joan appeared in front of him.

"Where to go?"

"Poly Road Western Restaurant."

"My car is over there."

"I want to take the bus." Joan glanced at her watch. "There will be a bus coming soon."

"OK."

The two crossed the street and arrived at the station in front of the Bank of Taiwan.

After waiting for a few minutes, an open-top bus drove over. Xian Yaowen took a glance at the chassis and knew that the bus was modified from a Dodge WC series military truck. Well, in fact, you can tell without looking at the chassis that the so-called modification was only a sign with the word "traffic vehicle" hung on the front of the car, and nothing else was changed.

When the truck stopped, Xian Yaowen said, "Truck bus, very romantic."

"This is an intercity bus, not the one we want to take." Qiong Yun said calmly.

"uh-huh."

After waiting for another two minutes, a bus-like vehicle came.

Joan waved her hand, and a woman's head popped out of the bus and blew a whistle in her mouth. The sound of the whistle controlled the driver's foot, and he stepped on the brakes and the bus stopped in front of the two of them.

Click, squeak, crunch
The door opened and the conductor started talking, "Don't be in a hurry, get on the bus slowly and watch your step."

Before he finished speaking, Xian Yaowen's eyes were fixed on the conductor's face, and he actually spoke with a Taiwanese accent.

He had some understanding of the formation process of the Taiwanese accent. To put it simply, Taiwanese people who spoke Minnan dialect learned accurate Mandarin from female teachers from Jiangsu and Zhejiang who spoke Wu dialect, and eventually the Jiangnan Mandarin with a female voice was gradually formed.

It takes a generation of accent evolution to form. It is strange to hear Taiwanese accent now. (End of this chapter)