1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 462: The Prototype of Lancang-Mekong Mechanism

"The kid is really fierce. He has been promoted to a senior position at such a young age based on his own abilities... He is much better than me when I was young!"

In the general manager's office, which was simple to the point of being excessive, Wang Xingmin patted the young man's shoulder heavily, then laughed and spoke in an extremely bold southwestern accent, like a rural elder watching over his promising nephews and nephews, and also like an old squad leader who had reunited after a long absence.

Yang Mo felt the burning sensation on his shoulder and couldn't help but smile bitterly at the slightly rude and intimate attitude of this mountain pioneer.

As the general manager of a second-tier company, if it was someone else, even if he was much older than him, and tried to get closer to Yang Mo in this way as soon as they met, it would definitely be extremely rude. Yang Mo could even turn around and leave.

But if the person in front of him is Mr. Wang, he has no choice but to accept it.

This man is the founder of Drilling Company 1 and is also the current head. Legally and morally, he has unquestionable absolute authority in the company... After all, Yang Mo's personnel relationship is in the Drilling Company and he is also a part of the Drilling Company.

Besides, although they are both general managers of second-tier companies, this pioneer is a high-ranking deputy-department-level official, one level higher than Yang Mo, who has just been promoted to the director-level position.

A superior who is older than you, has a higher rank than you, and is your direct supervisor in terms of personnel relations, shows you "elderly care", what else can you do except accept it?
However, if Yang Mo had no objection to Mr. Wang simply acting like an elder, then he found his attitude, which was like meeting an old squad leader after a long separation, difficult for him to accept.

After appropriately showing his fear and trepidation, Yang Mo smiled bitterly like an ordinary junior and said, "Boss Wang, I'm really sorry. I've only been in the drilling company for a short time, and I've been stationed in Texas for a long time. It's really hard for me to hear the Southwestern dialect... How about we switch to Mandarin?"

Your time at the company is a bit short?
Stationed in Texas long term?
Wang Xingmin's piercing eyes lingered on Yang Mo for a moment, and he waved his hand, motioning Yang Mo to sit down, and then he changed to Mandarin with a heavy accent: "Xiao Yang, I called you back this time because I have something to discuss with you."

Yang Mo was not surprised that Mr. Wang got straight to the point so quickly: "Mr. Wang, please give me your instructions."

Wang Xingmin waved his hand: "It's not a question of giving instructions or not, it's just a normal discussion!"

Yang Mo smiled respectfully, then said nothing, waiting for the mountain pioneer to speak.

Seeing this, Mr. Wang pondered for a moment and said, "Xiao Yang, you are also from the drilling company. You became the section chief of the company before I came... How much do you know about the situation at the head office?"

head office?
Yang Mo was stunned, then shook his head honestly: "Boss Wang, it's a bit embarrassing to say this. Although I have been in the company for three years, as for the situation at the head office... apart from knowing that the head office is located in Chuncheng, I really don't know much about the rest."

This may sound counterintuitive, but it is true.

There's no way. The drilling company is isolated in Qi and Lu, thousands of miles away, and there are countless things that need to be decided on the spot. Therefore, over the past decade, it seems that the generals are not subject to military orders. In view of its special living environment, the head office rarely intervenes directly in specific matters within the company. Therefore, over time, the head office's presence here is not strong... Especially for new management like Yang Mo who is not from the southwest, the sense of presence is even weaker.

Who would pay attention to the various situations of a headquarters that doesn't usually tell you what to do, doesn't easily interfere with your personnel appointments, and doesn't even frequently issue various rectification documents?

Mr. Wang was not surprised when he heard this, but his eyes became sharper: "Xiao Yang, cadres of central enterprises should stick to their positions, and young and capable cadres of central enterprises should stick to their positions even more... After all, you are a member of the drilling company, how can you be like those ordinary employees and be indifferent to the affairs of the headquarters?"

"The headquarters is our root and our strongest support... Without the root, what's the point of your personal development? In the face of collective strength, individual strength is insignificant... You must understand unity! Only unity can lead to final victory!... Xiao Yang, you are still young, you must understand this truth!"

Hearing Mr. Wang's words full of an old-fashioned atmosphere, Yang Mo's forehead couldn't help but twitch, and there was a hint of strangeness in the look he gave this pioneer.

Although this old man is known for his dominance, he was still surprised to be hit so openly right from the start.

Not to mention that he is a reborn person and has some understanding of the trajectory of future lives. Even if he is not a reborn person, if he is in his position and still foolishly believes that Mr. Wang is really like the grassroots employees who think he is "straightforward", "feelings without scheming", and "straightforward in doing things", then he might as well find a piece of tofu and kill himself.

Thinking of this, Yang Mo was ashamed, and then said in fear and trepidation: "Boss Wang is right to criticize me. I usually only focus on my own business and don't pay enough attention to the headquarters. I will definitely correct this in the future!"

Hearing the words "one acre and three points of land", Mr. Wang's eyes flashed with a gleam of brilliance, and he waved his hand again: "Young people, it is understandable that they are a little impatient, just be careful in the future... By the way, Xiao Yang, after you were promoted to a director-level cadre, the subsequent appointment has not come down yet, right?"

Yang Mo's heart trembled, knowing that the main point of the drama was about to begin. He smiled sincerely and said, "Boss Wang, you are usually very busy with work, so you may have remembered it wrongly. The organization has already appointed me... I have just been transferred to be the general manager of Dahua Company."

Mr. Wang glanced at him and said in a somewhat unhappy tone: "Young man, stop being so cunning and don't act crazy and stupid in front of me all day long!"

As he spoke, he ignored Yang Mo's reaction and continued, "The country has been committed to developing the Southwest in recent years, but due to various reasons, the progress has not been very smooth. Even if you don't pay attention to the Southwest, you should know about this, right?"

Yang Mo's mouth twitched: "I know."

Mr. Wang nodded. "There are many reasons for this situation, including the inconvenient transportation caused by the geographical location, the lack of talent, the weak industrial foundation, the lack of funds, and so on... But among them, the supply of energy and raw materials, especially the insufficient supply of people's livelihood and industrial energy and raw materials, is also a crucial shortcoming. Can you understand this?"

Hearing this, Yang Mo nodded again.

As we all know, the most critical factors restricting the industrial development of a region are not capital, or even technology, but people, transportation, resources and energy.

Especially in terms of resources and energy, for the primary and secondary industries, they are like air and water, and we don’t feel their presence on a daily basis. But in fact, even in later generations, when those so-called manufacturing and high-tech industry giants settle in a region, the first factor they consider is the level of local water resources and electricity supply, not the tax policy as ordinary people think... The essence of industry, after all, is the utilization and competition for resources. Although the level of resource and energy supply in a region cannot determine the upper limit of its industry, it determines its lower limit.

But in fact, in addition to water and electricity, there is another very important resource/energy assessment indicator, which is the supply level of industrial essential raw materials mainly composed of coal, gas and crude oil.

The importance of coal, known as the "food of industry", in industrial fuel/raw materials is beyond words. Without sufficient coal, even basic industrial operations cannot be realized.
Natural gas is also far more important than many people think. Like coal, it is not only an important fuel for daily life, but also a necessary fuel for many chemical products... More importantly, it is one of the most important synthetic raw materials for modern fertilizers such as urea.

As for oil, there is no need to say more... In short, you only need to know that the gasoline and diesel that everyone cares about are actually just one of the components separated from crude oil that does not have much strategic value.

So, leaving aside the "people" part,

Today, although the southwest region is rich in water resources, it has not converted them into controllable industrial water resources and electricity resources;
Although coal and natural gas resources are very abundant, natural gas is also difficult to store and transport due to technical and topographical reasons, and its utilization rate has always been low;

In addition, it is not surprising that it has never been able to develop due to a series of practical difficulties such as scarce oil resources, inconvenient logistics and transportation, and insufficient funds.

It’s just that Mr. Wang suddenly brought up this, but I don’t know why?
Mr. Wang caught the flash of doubt in Yang Mo's eyes and laughed: "Xiao Yang, you should know that due to the terrain restrictions, the industrial and economic focus of the southwest region is currently concentrated in a few dozen major cities. So from a certain perspective, as long as the industrial economy of these twenty or so major cities is revitalized, it is equivalent to initially revitalizing the economy of the three southwestern provinces."

"If we want to revitalize the industrial economy of these cities, we must first solve the problems of transportation, affordable industrial raw materials and sufficient energy supply in these cities."

"Issues such as transportation, water, and electricity are not within the scope of our oil system's business, so we don't talk about them. However, it is our responsibility to stably provide some important basic raw materials for industrial production, and this is also the problem that Southwest Drilling Corporation has been trying to solve in the past few years."

Yang Mo frowned immediately: "Boss Wang, are you talking about... natural gas?"

Wang Xingmin was talking about the Southwest Drilling Company, not Drilling Company 1. Limited by location, funds, and technology, if the headquarters wants to make a fuss about the sufficient supply of basic raw materials for industrial production in the southwest region, then the only option is natural gas. Wang Xingmin nodded approvingly: "Yes, the headquarters' idea is to start with natural gas and strive to make up for the short board of stable supply of basic raw materials for industrial production in the southwest region at a reasonable price... After all, there are many gas fields in the three southwestern provinces, which is also our advantage!"

At this point, Wang Xingmin changed his tone: "But the headquarters believes that, unlike the Southwest Petroleum Bureau and other units, although the three southwestern provinces are rich in natural gas resources and have many gas fields, the natural gas produced by these gas fields has a high content of impurities, and most of them are located in remote areas with complex terrain;"

"Due to the lack of funds and technology, it is not realistic and cost-effective to build gas pipelines based on these gas fields to provide natural gas resources to the major industrial cities in the three provinces at this stage!"

Wang Xingmin tapped the table gently, and said in a more serious tone: "Especially in provinces like southern Yunnan where gas field resources are not that abundant, if we build gas pipelines directly from the complex terrain of Bashu or Guizhou to transport desulfurized and purified natural gas, cabbage can be sold at the price of meat. What's the point of talking about parity? What's the point of talking about stable supply?"

"Besides, the people in the southwest are tough and the situation is complicated. It is not only expensive to build a gas pipeline in the mountains, but also very expensive to supervise and maintain it. Even if the ministry can allocate the cost of building the gas pipeline at the beginning, what about the cost of supervision and maintenance? Our Southwest Petroleum Bureau is not a wealthy local tycoon. Can we afford such a huge expense? "

After severely criticizing some people's "unrealistic" ideas, Mr. Wang looked at Yang Mo with expectation: "Xiao Yang, our drilling company has no other advantages, but we are hardworking and willing to use our brains, so... when I was still in southern Yunnan, the headquarters had already begun to discuss another idea;"

"To put it simply, we can divide the southwest into two parts: Bashu and Guizhou, which are rich in gas resources and have complex and rugged terrain, are one part, and southern Yunnan, which is not so rich in gas resources but has a relatively gentle terrain, is another part;"

"For Bashu and Guizhou, we can agree with the bureau's idea of ​​laying pipelines near various gas fields to transport natural gas there, and selectively carry out one-to-one or one-to-many short-distance supply;"

"But in southern Yunnan, we rely on the more abundant and higher-quality natural gas resources in Myanmar and Laos. On the one hand, we carry out cross-border cooperation abroad to exploit overseas gas fields, and on the other hand, we reach cooperation with local governments to directly transport natural gas from abroad to southern Yunnan!"

At this point, Wang Xingmin said in a serious tone: "Xiao Yang, you haven't been there, so you may not be clear about some of the situations... From the actual exploration results, it is actually easier to build pipelines from Laos and Myanmar to transport natural gas to southern Yunnan, and the overall cost is lower. The significance of this matter to the country is actually far greater than most people think... Therefore, the department is actually very tempted by the plan proposed by the head office."

"But the problem is that as a country with abundant resources, America and the island countries have long set their sights on Laos and Myanmar. Especially the island countries, they started to build roads and bridges in the name of atonement in the 1960s and 1970s in these two places, and carried out various economic activities. Although some locals are still relatively averse to it due to historical reasons, overall, its influence cannot be underestimated;"

"Therefore, we need a person who is proficient in international business cooperation and has the ability to deal with China and the island countries, and directly promote overseas investment cooperation projects in a way that avoids direct conflicts as much as possible... And you, Xiao Yang, are the most suitable person!"

!!!

Yang Mo's eyes almost popped out when he heard Mr. Wang go around in circles, linking himself to this overseas investment project that seemed to have nothing to do with him at first glance.

Damn, no wonder my follow-up appointment has not been delayed. After all this fuss, there is still such a hurdle in the middle!
He didn't think that Mr. Wang invited him to talk today just to do some ideological work on him and then give him such an important project.

It's very simple. Although the overseas gas field investment projects are of great importance, the scale of the basic base that I have created in Texas should not be underestimated... If I were to be responsible for the overseas investment projects, who would take over the series of experimental projects and operations in Texas?
But at the same time, he didn't think that what Mr. Wang told him about this project was nonsense, and he didn't even dare to guarantee that the organization would not appoint him, a person who had a good cooperative relationship with a number of large pharmaceutical companies in the island country and even had some invisible connections with the interests of some of the island country's chaebols, to be the person in charge of this project.

The reason is not complicated... Laos and Myanmar are both countries that directly border China, and they have very mysterious historical origins. The prototype of the Lancang-Mekong mechanism with southern Yunnan as the bridgehead actually appeared several years ago!
Ok……

It is not convenient to elaborate too much about the Lancang-Mekong mechanism here, but you only need to know that for security reasons, China has always been sensitive and cautious about its neighboring areas (by the way, this project is real, and from the 90s to the early and mid-millennium, China did use southern Yunnan as a bridgehead to promote a series of resource investment and overseas planting projects in cooperation with neighboring countries, and the scale of these projects was generally not small).

This is an issue that indirectly concerns national strategy and security, and cannot be simply calculated in economic terms. Therefore, if the superiors really feel it is necessary, Yang Mo is really unsure about the organizational choices.

In fact, Yang Mo knew very well that the headquarters had enough motivation to persuade the organization to let him take charge of promoting this overseas investment project.

The reason is not complicated.

If the Drilling Company No. 1, which is isolated in Shandong Province, is a special existence for the Southwest Drilling Corporation, then the Drilling Corporation, which has only three branches, is also a relatively special existence for the current Southwest Petroleum Bureau.

Although it was affiliated to the Southwest Petroleum Bureau, the situation of the Southwest Petroleum Bureau was different from that of the Dongying Command. At this time, although it was a super-large unit formed by the reorganization of six units, namely the Southwest Petroleum Bureau, Southwest Branch, Central South Petroleum Bureau, Central South Branch, Southwest Drilling Company, and Southern Exploration and Development Branch, the reorganization was not deep...or, rather than calling it a reorganization, it is better to call it a patchwork alliance of several units together (the real deep reorganization did not begin until after the millennium).

So you see the problem, although the drilling company is indeed affiliated with the large system of the Southwest Petroleum Bureau, let alone now, even in the mid-millennium, unless it was a document in the executive department, the Southwest Petroleum Bureau discussed most matters with the drilling company.

There’s nothing we can do about it, because all oil companies are “oil-based”.
Who makes the southwest region rich in natural gas resources but poor in oil resources?

Who made the drilling company the only unit in this large system that has taken root in the North China Plain area where oil resources are relatively rich?
This was the case even a dozen years later, let alone now.

So the question is, since the current Southwest Petroleum Bureau is more like an alliance organization that discusses everything in actual management and operation, why doesn't the Southwest Drilling Corporation, which already has a good hand, fight for a few more seats in the next term and become the new leader with more say?

………………

After pondering for a long time, Yang Mo met Mr. Wang's blazing and expectant eyes and chuckled, "Mr. Wang, contributing to the country is the duty of every Chinese. Logically, I should be grateful to be entrusted with such an important task by the head office... But unfortunately, there are too many projects that have just started in Texas. I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to get away for a while."

After sighing with regret, Yang Mo smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Of course, if the organization requires it, then I will naturally have no objection."

A gleam of shrewdness flashed in Wang Xingmin's eyes, and he had a new understanding of the cunning and slyness of this little fox.

The other party suddenly added, "If the organization has any requirements," which was undoubtedly a counterattack on him.

Since this project is so important and also involves surrounding strategies, then, as a cadre of a central enterprise, although the current situation does not allow it, I definitely have the necessary awareness;

So, as long as the organization decides to let me take charge of this project, I will do it without hesitation, leaving all the things on the table.

But will the organization really make such a decision?

Not necessarily?
Since that may not be the case, then I don't need to explain more about your purpose in putting pressure on me by using that tone that requires me to be the only one, right?

Although I'm a rookie, I'm not a whitebie who knows nothing. Since this matter may still be in an ambiguous negotiation stage, if you have any requirements, just raise them directly.

If I can accept it, then I will accept it; if I cannot accept it, then I will let the organization make the arrangements. At worst, I will just take on the task and... let's see if I am transferred abroad. Is it more your loss of not achieving your goal or my loss?

Wang Xingmin rubbed his thumb joint, which was much thicker than that of an ordinary person, with interest and nodded: "I am very happy to see that you are so conscious, Xiao Yang... Although the organization has always respected the wishes of us Southwest enterprises due to historical reasons, as party members, we also respect the organization's decisions. Since you, Xiao Yang, are not opposed to going abroad, we will have more confidence when reporting to the organization."

After not-so-subtly showing Yang Mo the initiative in his hands, Mr. Wang pondered for a while and then raised his head: "Since Xiao Yang, you may be going abroad in the short term, I can't control the affairs of Dahua Company, but... we need to have a serious discussion about the follow-up arrangements of Momo Baitou... If there is no leader, such a large department must not be thrown into disarray!"

Silently vote! ?
What does that mean... ?
Hearing the implicit conditions offered by Mr. Wang, Yang Mo was shocked and frowned again...

(End of this chapter)