1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 563 Reverse Knock (3)

"Boss Yang, it's rare for you to seek help from the city. Logically, the city should do its best to help you coordinate;"

"But it's not that I'm shirking my responsibility, but... after all, this is an internal matter of your oil system, and I really can't interfere!"

You Yakun looked at Yang Mo with embarrassment, his tone full of regret.

Local authorities and state-owned enterprises are two systems with no direct subordinate relationship with each other. Therefore, unless there is a special appointment by the organization, it is difficult for local authorities to effectively control state-owned enterprises or influence their internal decisions.

Today's large state-owned enterprises occupy a vast area and have a huge number of employees. They are like an independent little kingdom. They have all the necessary necessities for food, clothing, housing, transportation, water, electricity, medical care, education, and culture. Not only do they pay taxes in full, they also have their own security organizations, police stations, and disciplinary inspection organizations. Leading state-owned enterprises such as Tie Lao Da even have their own courts. How can you expect local authorities to intervene?

Although the oil system is not as powerful as the Iron Boss, it is an industry that is directly related to the lifeline of the industrial economy and strategic security. It is still a leading state-owned enterprise. Even if we do not consider its impact on the local economy, it is also difficult for local governments to influence its internal affairs.

Therefore, You Yakun's embarrassment was not pretended.

Yang Mo glanced at You Yakun, his expression unchanged, and pointed to the canal not far away where the water level had risen a lot: "Since June, there have been several heavy rains in the Texas area."

"After every heavy rain, as water levels rise and drainage is diverted, conflicts and clashes between rural communities and local chemical plants often break out because the land is polluted by industrial wastewater.

"On the one hand, this urges us to quickly increase the production capacity of sewage treatment equipment and speed up the pace of forcing factories to install sewage treatment equipment; on the other hand, frequent grassroots conflicts also mean that the city should pay more attention to environmental protection... After all, GAP medicinal material planting is already one of the important industries in Dezhou, and sustainable development is the kingly way!"

Although local and central enterprises are two different lines, it does not mean that there is no way out.

Environmental protection is one of the few constraints that can be intervened... Although the environmental protection departments in various places only started to take action in the mid-to-late 1990s, in fact, the country attached great importance to this area as early as the late 1980s.

The cadres of central enterprises and local authorities are very clear about this point, so since You Yakun is pretending to be stupid, he might as well point it out directly... Although environmental protection work was not vigorously promoted until the mid-1990s, the country had actually paid attention to it as early as the late 1980s. The reason why it had not been well-known before was actually closely related to the fact that the tax-sharing reform was not implemented at that time. I will not discuss it in depth here.

Seeing Yang Mo bringing up the issue, You Yakun frowned, "But the Solitary Island II project is being built in the city's specially planned new urban industrial land. There are no farmlands or people nearby. It's not appropriate to find fault with the environmental protection work, right?"

Yang Mo tapped the stone table with two fingers. When Zhuo Mali handed him a cup of freshly brewed tea, he turned to look at You Yakun and said, "Mayor You is being unfair. Are only the people in the grassroots villages the masses? Are the employees of the various units in the city not the masses?"

"If I remember correctly, although the construction site of the Solitary Island II project is in the new urban area, according to the planning and design, their industrial wastewater discharge system is connected to the canal...Now the commercial demonstration area is expanding its secondary business district. The industrial parks where those secondary business districts are located have many ditches that are also connected to the canal. Once the environmental protection there does not meet the standards, the water level in the canal will rise after a few heavy rains, and the stinking wastewater will flow back in. That will affect hundreds of large and small companies in the secondary business district, tens of thousands of employees, and hundreds of millions of GDP!"

At this point, Yang Mo shrugged his shoulders and said, "Mayor You, you also know that a large-scale chemical project like Solitary Island No. 2 may generate pollution from various sources. The pollution caused on sunny days is one level, and the pollution caused on rainy days is another level... Even if it is only the infrastructure stage at present, with the scale of the Solitary Island No. 2 project, the amount of rainwater precipitation of engine oil, rust inhibitors, paint, and various odorous substances alone is a level that cannot be ignored."

Yang Mo sighed compassionately: "If it is evaluated that it will have a serious impact on the future operation of the secondary business district of the commercial demonstration area, out of responsibility considerations, Dahua Company can only suggest that the main companies in the secondary business district change or even adjust their business planning;"

"As a result, the business activities of many major enterprises will certainly be seriously affected. The 3 million GDP that could have been added is likely to be cut in half. Thousands of employees may even face difficulties in making a living... I'm afraid those employees will complain!"

"Compared to this, the asset depreciation that our Dezhou Urban Construction Fund Company may face in accordance with the city's requirements by issuing urban construction bonds to build public facilities in the secondary business district is nothing."

When You Yakun heard this, his eyelids couldn't help but twitch a few times.

Yang Mo's words were almost like a threat, and a threat from many aspects.

Everyone knows that the main enterprises in the secondary business district of the commercial demonstration zone now follow the lead of your Dahua Company. Today, Dahua Company is a veritable resource dispatch hub and business opinion leader in Texas. If you give your own evaluation and say that due to certain reasons, the leisure street and wholesale market originally planned to be built in a certain area have no development prospects, at least eight out of the ten companies will no longer have confidence and may even stop the construction team midway to stop the loss.

This has affected hundreds of millions of GDP. How can the city hand in a good report card by the end of the year?

Yes, the city can do ideological work to allow these units to continue their projects, but the projects can continue, but confidence cannot be restored. Moreover, the business planning and operation adjustments of these secondary business districts have always been guided by Dahua Company. Once Dahua Company stops providing consulting services in this area, not to mention the main enterprises, even the city will have no confidence in revitalizing the economy of these secondary business districts.

In addition, asset depreciation will also bring huge pressure to the market.

Due to its poor foundation, DZ City's fiscal budget has always been tight. If it weren't for the Urban Property Fund Company issuing municipal bonds, the city would not even be able to carry out urban expansion work as planned.

But in this era when companies that are listed and issue new shares have to beg others to buy them, you cannot raise funds by issuing municipal bonds. The reason why people pay to sell your municipal bonds is, on the one hand, because Yang Mo has a big reputation, and on the other hand, they are going for the 5% distribution rights of real estate + public facilities.

To put it bluntly, they are optimistic about these real estate and public facilities, especially the appreciation potential of real estate... As for the 8% interest rate of municipal bonds, who can afford it these days?

So the question is, once these real estate properties lack room for appreciation due to the current changes, and there is insufficient internal interest driving force, how can the municipal bonds be sold in the future?

The secondary business district of the Commercial Demonstration Zone is already the best and most promising location in DZ City besides Dahua Industrial Park and the city center. Even the real estate here has not been able to generate enough room for appreciation. How can you expect people to willingly pay for municipal bonds in the future?
In short, under the demonstration effect, this is a consequence that the city cannot bear, and the systemic losses it brings are definitely more than just 100 or 200 million yuan in GDP.

………………

Looking at Yang Mo's compassionate expression, You Yakun took a deep breath.

The young man in front of him was a guy who didn't play by the rules. He really didn't dare to bet whether he would really go crazy... Although the environmental issues raised by the other party regarding the Isolated Island No. 2 project were basically nonsense, anyone with a normal mind could tell that it was nonsense, but for someone at Yang Mo's level, all he needed to do was to come up with an excuse that could barely fool people.

Damn it, was this bastard a bandit in his previous life! ?
He won't say a word nicely and always acts threateningly!

You Yakun bit the back of his teeth secretly, his face still had that calm expression: "Boss Yang is right, we really need to treat everyone equally. The country is paying more and more attention to environmental protection. We need to protect the interests of grassroots rural residents, and we also need to pay attention to the interests of county employees."

Hearing this, Yang Mo smiled in admiration: "Since June, the rainfall in Dezhou has been getting heavier. Even though the city has allocated funds to build more than 60 small and medium-sized reservoirs since the beginning of the year, the dredging capacity of the river branches and ditches in various regions is limited. Before the water level drops after a heavy rain, another heavy rain comes;"

"Most of the grassroots small-scale chemical factories have not yet had time to equip themselves with sewage treatment systems. Under such circumstances, conflicts among the masses caused by industrial wastewater backflowing into the land will only become more frequent... I am afraid that by then, the city will have to pay great attention to this."

Yang Mo is sometimes a person who knows how to return a favor. Since You Yakun has agreed, he shouldn't make things difficult for him.

Therefore, the meaning just now is very clear. If "no accidents" happen, the conflicts over environmental protection issues at the grassroots level in various places will suddenly become intensified in the next few days. This concerns the rural grassroots, land and GAP medicinal material planting industry. The social impact brought about by such intensive conflicts is enough for the city to justify strictly controlling environmental protection and then re-evaluate the environmental protection of all chemical projects.

The negative impact is so great and it involves the relationship between workers and farmers in the local area. Even if the Isolated Island No. 2 project is a key project in the oil system, there is no reason for the command center not to accept the city's environmental protection re-evaluation.

Hearing Yang Mo's understanding, You Yakun breathed a sigh of relief: "What level of help do you need from the city?"

After hearing everything, You Yakun would never believe that Yang Mo would rather threaten the future of the secondary business district and municipal bonds in the commercial demonstration zone just to win some manufacturing orders for those strong village companies that do not have high technical content and are not particularly large in scale... The total business volume of the secondary business district alone is close to or even exceeds the value of these orders. This profit and loss ratio is not cost-effective at all.

Since the environmental protection is being re-evaluated, the evaluation results can certainly vary, and the rectification suggestions given can also be difficult or easy. Therefore, it is very important to know which step to take. The mysterious and flexible aspects of it are really not something that can be told to outsiders.

As expected, Yang Mo smiled when he heard this, and motioned Zhuomali to quickly replace the cold tea for You Yakun. After thinking for a while, he said, "I remember when the Solitary Island II project was submitted for approval, I had already explained the basic ideas about this project to Executive Director Ye, and formed a report document; I believe that you, Mayor You, also reviewed the relevant documents later."

You Yakun nodded slightly.

The Isolated Island No. 2 Project is the largest comprehensive chemical project in DZ City at present and even in the next three years. In order to cooperate with this project, the city has tried its best. Therefore, even though You Yakun and others were parachuted in later, they did not dare to be careless in the slightest.

But this is not the point. The point is what Yang Mo had previously explained in the report document.

After recalling the contents of the document, You Yakun gradually showed a look of surprise: "Boss Yang, what do you mean...?"

Yang Mo nodded slowly: "Yes, what I mean is, since some of the current plans of the Solitary Island II project have deviated, then we should correct it to the original track... So, my idea is that not only should the orders for spare parts and consumables be kept in Dezhou, but the core equipment production capacity that was originally planned at the beginning should also be kept in Dezhou and Lanling!"

At this point, Yang Mo's eyes narrowed slightly, and his tone revealed a rare sharpness that could not be questioned: "When traveling a hundred miles, the most important thing to avoid is the ninety-nine and a half miles."

"Northwest Shandong is not like other places where chemical resources are scarce. There is Liaocheng in the south and Tianjin in the north. There are two large-scale chemical industry clusters only two or three hundred miles apart. There is no shortage of high-, medium- and low-end chemical raw materials. If you really want to meet the demand for chemical raw materials, Dezhou has better choices."

"so……"

"Either the Solitary Island II project will be just as we designed it to be, and will make its full contribution to the upgrading of petrochemical equipment research and manufacturing in the Dezhou area, as well as the incubation plan of strong village companies;"

"If not, then let's just go our separate ways!"

He has always believed in the principle of either not fighting or making sure the fight hurts; since a good discussion cannot produce a barely satisfactory result, he might as well just blow the roof off.

Upon hearing this, You Yakun took a deep breath and could no longer maintain his composure on his face: "Boss Yang, are you crazy? Don't you know that the change in the civil engineering and equipment plans for the Solitary Island II project was an instruction from the ministry?"

Yang Mo glanced at him and corrected him, "It was a private instruction from someone in the department, not an instruction from the department... There is a big difference between the two. Mayor You should be more careful with your wording."

You Yakun's eyes twitched.

Is there any difference?

Seeing this, Yang Mo laughed and said, "I heard that Mayor You was a senior secretary?"

You Yakun frowned, feeling a little unhappy, but he still nodded gently: "Boss Yang is really well-informed."

Unlike later generations, in this era, because the upward path is relatively smooth, people who have risen step by step from the grassroots level in the local area often look down on those cadres who have a former secretary background. They think that these people are people who have been favored by others and lack a solid foundation of experience. The key is that they don’t have the courage to forge ahead.

In fact, this point is also very obvious in the two previous teams of Dezhou. When Dezhou was still a county-level city, Ye Tao and his group dared to place all their bets on the newly established Dahua Company for a hope that might have only a 30% chance. Then they mobilized all the resources in the city and cooperated with Dahua Company with an extremely tough attitude internally. This led to the success of the commercial demonstration zone and the three changes in Dezhou's business environment in one month.

As for You Yakun and his team, when they were parachuted in, Dezhou had already been promoted to a prefecture-level city, with better policy support and a platform for development; but half a year had passed, and even the relationships between the counties had not been sorted out smoothly. If it were the original team, they would have slammed the table and yelled at people, while taking advantage of the general trend to attack.

You Yakun and Tian Guangyue were well aware of the private criticisms, so when they heard Yang Mo mention his previous identity as chief secretary, combined with his current situation, they subconsciously felt uncomfortable.

When Yang Mo heard the other party answer the question in a way that was more evasive than euphemistic, he nodded as if adding fuel to the fire: "No wonder."

No wonder?
You Yakun's eyebrows were raised, and he almost couldn't suppress his anger: "Boss Yang, what's the wonder!?"

His tone was filled with displeasure, as if he was going to get angry in the next second. Yang Mo shook his head: "Mayor You, with all due respect, the biggest difference between you and Executive Ye and the others is that you consider things too comprehensively... to the point where you are overthinking things! In other words, some of your concerns are totally unnecessary!"

Thinking too comprehensively?

no need?

You Yakun frowned and stared at Yang Mo closely, his expression unclear whether he was angry or happy.

Yang Mo spread his hands: "Take this matter as an example, Mayor You, I must emphasize one point... local and central enterprises are two different systems!"

"Although the local authorities cannot easily interfere in the internal affairs of our central enterprises, before the official documents are passed down, are the opinions and views of some people in the ministry important to you!?"

"Besides that, Mayor You, have you forgotten that Texas is now a pilot city for the tax-sharing reform?"

“What is the purpose of the tax-sharing reform?”

"The goal is to not only replenish the national treasury, but also achieve economic decentralization at the local level!"

"Mayor You, please think carefully about what economic decentralization means!"

"Do you think that the organization selected Dezhou as a pilot city for the tax-sharing reform and sent you here to lead economic construction, simply to increase GDP and the amount of tax paid in the next few years and that's it?"

"If you really think that's all, aren't you oversimplifying things?"

“What about the potential for sustainable development?”

“What about per capita income and employment rate?”

“What about industrial competitiveness and autonomy?”

“What is the industry share of talent?”

"How are we going to accomplish these unstated targets?!"

At this point, Yang Mo paused slightly and said, "Mayor You, you should have heard about the plan to build a large stadium in Guangzhou, right?"

You Yakun, whose back was slightly sweating from Yang Mo's series of counter-questions, was stunned when he heard the words, then nodded: "I heard that the Asian Games have just passed for more than half a year, and national sports are a hot topic. Guangzhou's economy is relatively developed, and it was the first city to be designated as a pilot city for the tax-sharing reform. It is normal to want to boost the local GDP by building a large gymnasium."

Yang Mo shook his head: "This is not the point, the point is..."

After a slight pause, Yang Mo looked up and found that there was a cloud in the sky outside the pavilion that looked very similar to a crab claw. He sighed and said, "Forget it. I won't go into other details. I'll just tell you about a small thing."

"As soon as the news of Guangzhou's plan to build a large stadium spread, a number of companies were eager to try, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to get a large order; and the two most well-known domestic air-conditioning brands, Gree and Chunlan, were also said to have made moves after hearing the news... After all, Guangzhou has a hot and humid climate, and a large stadium would require a large number of air conditioners to be installed."

Yang Mo smiled lightly, and a strange arc appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Although Gree and Chunlan are both national brands, and they are most likely to win the bid, but Mayor You, you might as well guess, if the quality, reputation, and size of these two companies are similar, how will the winner be determined?"

You Yakun thought without hesitation: "The winner can only be determined by price. Since the quality is similar, we will choose the one with the lowest price."

Yang Mo nodded: "My judgment is similar to yours, Mayor You. In the end, the two companies will most likely have to rely on price to decide the winner. It's not surprising that they bid at a price close to cost just for the sake of this gimmick."

"But in China, the biggest fear is setting a precedent. Once one of these two air conditioner brands wins the bid with an ultra-low price, it will be difficult to raise the price again on the B-end and G-end... But air conditioners are expensive nowadays. Apart from various units, there are not many private consumers who can afford to buy air conditioners."

"That is to say, once this precedent is set, no matter which brand wins the bid, it will have to take the path of small profits but quick turnover, and then take over most of the domestic air-conditioning market with its marginal cost advantage and lower prices."

You Yakun was confused: "What's the problem? Air conditioners are so expensive, wouldn't it be a good thing to lower the price?"

Yang Mo shook his head: "Lowering the price is a good thing from a certain perspective, but that's not the point. The point is... who do you think is the biggest beneficiary in this process?"

You Yakun glanced at him and said, "Of course it's the general public. When the price of air conditioners drops to a level that ordinary people can afford, everyone won't have to endure the unbearable scorching summer."

Yang Mo shook his head again: "Let's not talk about the macro perspective. Mayor You's view is a false proposition just like the current popular cost reduction and efficiency increase in enterprises. Let's just say..."

After a pause, Yang Mo sighed, "Forget it, I won't expand on this topic. I'll just tell you my opinion... In my opinion, the biggest beneficiaries in this process are neither the general public nor the company that won the bid, but... Mitsubishi from the island country and other compressor manufacturers abroad."

Eh?
You Yakun was immediately surprised: "Why is this?"

Yang Mo smiled and said, "The reason is very simple. At present, domestic air-conditioning companies cannot produce compressors that meet higher commercial standards. So whether it is Gree or Air Conditioner, even though they are the most well-known air-conditioning companies in China, from an industrial perspective, they are currently just assemblers of air-conditioning parts... In other words, their biggest cost is actually the core component of imported compressors, and no matter how much they cut costs, they can't reduce the price of air conditioners to a level lower than the purchase price of imported compressors;"

"We all know that the prices of compressors exported to us by Mitsubishi and other foreign compressor manufacturers leave ample profit margins... But no matter how large our import volume is, it is impossible to influence their pricing strategy in turn. I believe that Mayor You can understand the reason behind this."

The film industry case is so classic that You Yakun naturally understood the key point. He looked a little unhappy at the moment: "But I believe that the domestic compressor manufacturing level will catch up soon, and then we will not be controlled by others... And even if there is no national policy guidance, driven by business, whether it is Gree or Chunlan, I don't believe they will not invest in scientific research to tackle compressor manufacturing technology."

Yang Mo nodded, then shook his head: "I believe that our domestic compressor technology will catch up one day, but if you say that it will catch up soon, then I can only say that you are too optimistic, Mayor You."

Sighing heavily, Yang Mo took a sip of the tea that Zhuomali had just handed over and said, "The reason is very simple. In this process, the benefits to the Chinese and Japanese companies are not proportional. Since the domestic air-conditioning manufacturers have adopted the strategy of small profits but quick turnover, the amount of profits that can be retained is very limited, and the funds allocated to scientific research are even less;"

"On the other hand, no matter how much China's air conditioners sell for, the prices of its exported compressors are stable, and the profit value is much higher. In addition, China's market is so huge. The better the domestic air conditioners sell, the more funds and motivation the island companies have to pre-research the next generation of more advanced compressor technology."

"Think about it, one side has only a 100-yuan budget for scientific research, while the other side has a 10,000-yuan budget for scientific research. It goes without saying who can develop the next generation of compressor technology faster, right?"

"So, when China endured humiliation and worked hard for three to five years to develop a compressor technology that could catch up with the first generation of Japanese compressors, the Japanese had already developed the second generation of technology and were even in the pre-research stage of the third generation of technology;"

"This will lead to a situation... If domestic air-conditioning manufacturers dare to apply the first-generation compressor technology they have developed to their products, then the island country will immediately invest in another Chinese air-conditioning company and use the second-generation compressor. In the end, they will rely on higher quality and similar prices to squeeze you out alive!"

"Then, it's the same trick, the same cycle."

At the end, Yang Mo stared at You Yakun: "So, Mayor You, now you know why I used you to take drastic measures against the Solitary Island II project, right?"

"As the saying goes, victory or defeat is determined once the start is made. For most things in this world, we only have one chance to make a move. Otherwise, we can only wait until the leech that we are attached to encounters an accident before we have a chance to break free or surpass it... So, no matter how difficult and painful the hatching process ahead is, we have to grit our teeth and get through it."

As if drinking wine, he drank up the remaining tea in the cup. Yang Mo's tone was filled with a hint of decisiveness mixed with coldness: "You City, the north is an important petrochemical base, and petrochemical equipment is also a piece of fat meat that cannot be fatter;"

“Only by having technological autonomy can we have pricing power;”

“Only by having pricing power can we retain sufficient profits in a normal business cycle;”

“Only with sufficient profits can we guarantee the subsequent technological research and development capabilities, thus allowing industrial development and upgrading to enter a positive cycle;”

“Only when industrial development enters a positive cycle and is no longer subject to the control of others can we talk about the self-sustaining power of industrial strategy, the increase of per capita income, the employment capacity, the proportion of talent in the industry, and sustainable development.”

Taking a deep breath, Yang Mo's expression became unusually serious: "Mayor You, I hope you don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying this to kidnap you with some great principles; I'm just trying to share my own feelings with you;"

"If you want to make progress, you must first live in the present... But this [present] is not what ordinary people think it is, but one step beyond the present step. If you can't take the two steps at the present moment, then no matter how far you look or how much you think, is it meaningful?"

"So, I sincerely remind you, Mayor You..."

"Don't forget that Dezhou is a pilot city for the tax-sharing reform;"

"Don't, don't forget the purpose of the tax-sharing reform;"

"Don't, don't, don't forget the high hopes the organization has placed on you that may not be expressed explicitly!"

hiss~
Hearing Yang Mo's three consecutive "don'ts", You Yakun couldn't help but secretly take a breath, and the look he gave the young man in front of him became inexplicable.

As expected, he is a person that the organization has high hopes for. When it comes to interpreting the spirit of the documents and guessing the intentions of superiors, when I think about it carefully, he is actually much better than me.

Seeing You Yakun looking down in thought, Yang Mo smiled softly, "Besides, why should Mayor You worry so much?"

"Does the opinion of certain people in the ministry really matter?"

"Don't forget, Mr. Zhao also has a good impression of our Dezhou. It is said that he seems to have the idea of ​​coming to Dezhou to inspect our work recently... If it really doesn't work out, then we can accompany Mr. Zhao to the grassroots level in the countryside to relax?"

!!!

You Yakun looked at Yang Mo in disbelief, until he confirmed again and again that Yang Mo did not look like he was fooling him, and then his heart began to burn.

"Okay! For the development of our Dezhou petrochemical equipment industry and the strong village company incubation plan, Mr. Yang, I will help you!"

At this moment, You Yakun looked like Fan Xiwen's reincarnation...

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PS: The beginning part of this article has been slightly deleted, but it does not affect the reading.

(End of this chapter)