1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 667 The Purpose of the Number One Manor in the World
Compared with the 1980s, the 1990s was actually a truly magical era.

Even things like digging through the Himalayas and tiling the Great Wall were once discussed, and even some private companies have plans to send satellites into space.

So seriously speaking, no matter what happens in this era, it doesn't seem to be surprising.

………………

An executive-class Mercedes-Benz 560 was parked quietly in front of a cement house in Xialiutong Village.

The brand new car body and dignified and domineering appearance formed a sharp contrast with the road surface covered with spider web cracks, attracting a large number of villagers who were taking a lunch break after work to stop and watch.

In this day and age, if you can own an imported luxury car like this, which only quietly appeared in the country last year, your identity must be very powerful.

In fact, the owner of this Mercedes-Benz 560 is the owner of the famous No. Manor in the world in neighboring Tianjin.

It seems not surprising that Xialiu Village, which ranks last but is also one of the top 40 villages, is the first among the top 1.2 villages with an output value of over billion last year, more than enterprises under its name and employs people.

What's more, it is rumored that Yan Laoxi of Xialiu Sales Agency was a fan of the owner of Yu Zhuang and went to Daqiu Zhuang several times in the late 1980s to learn from him. It is believed that the two should know each other, so it is not surprising that they would visit each other.

However, in fact, although this Mercedes-Benz 560 belongs to the owner of the manor, the guests today are not him, but his important assistant Li Fengzheng, and... a young man who was designated as the successor at a age of only in his early 20s.

………………

"Boss Yan, I'm really sorry. The company has had important receptions for several days in a row recently. Chairman Yu is really busy, so he can only send me to do this... Please don't be offended."

Li Fengzheng stretched out his hand and shook hands vigorously with Yan Laoxi, then looked embarrassed.

Yan Laoxi's rock-hard face forced out a smile with great effort: "Mr. Li, what are you talking about? Your presence has already brought honor to our Xialiu Village."

Of course he knew that the owner of the manor might not really be busy receiving leaders and was unable to get away. After all, he was very different now. Ever since he was named one of the top ten farmer-entrepreneurs and a national model worker, and became the vice president of the Township Entrepreneurs Association, this owner who was praised to the sky by the media had become increasingly arrogant. Even officials of the third and fourth ranks had to "selectively meet" him. Who was he, that he was worthy of having them drive all the way here?
Of course, it would be wrong to say that Xialiu Village is not taken seriously at all.

If he really had no weight in the other party's heart, they would not have driven their own car over here and sent one of their three generals as a representative, or even let the crown prince come along.

Although this method of "giving face" is very feudal, it makes Yan Laoxi feel very uncomfortable.

Li Fengzheng glanced at the tables, chairs and sofas in the reception room, which were not shabby but could be equated with simple. He laughed and waved his hand generously: "We are all farmers and entrepreneurs. There is no need for family to be so polite. But Mr. Yan's place is quite simple... How about this, I will have someone send a new set of furniture when I go back."

As he said this, he sat down on the sofa and patted the slightly concave armrest: "Now that everyone's life is getting better, we can't always suffer... Mr. Yan is now one of our farmer entrepreneurs, we can't let people look down on us farmers!"

Although the senior executives of a certain manor have become very inflated nowadays, and Li Fengzheng also feels that he is superior to Yan Laoxi, and the gifts he gives also carry a strong sense of care, but seriously speaking, this is not a big problem.

Although Xialiu Village ranked last among the top 100 villages last year, ranking second from the bottom, its calculated output value was less than 200 million yuan.

But the problem is that the current media ranking statistics are actually very unscientific. They only count the output value of the primary and secondary industries, but do not include the tertiary industry... This may be related to the current mainstream view of village collective enterprises in society.

But Xialiu Sales Agency is an exception.

Although Xialiu Village also has many primary and secondary industry enterprises, it made its fortune through commodity circulation business. Consulting, finance and investment businesses have been its focus in the past two years. Therefore, if you count the equity appreciation under the two-tier PPP model, it is still difficult to rank among the top three of the top 100 villages, but it will have no problem ranking among the top ten.

Of course, the "financial business" of Xialiu Marketing Agency is not a financial business in the traditional sense. Not only does it not make money, but it is a first-rate money-losing business. So after offsetting the two, there is actually no problem at all that the media did not include the output value of the tertiary industry in the calculation.

But no matter what, Xialiu Village is a typical example of "the impact is far greater than the output value", so Li Fengzheng's desire to give him a new set of office furniture to maintain the appearance of rural entrepreneurs is extremely consistent with the mainstream values ​​of this group today.

Upon hearing this, Yan Laoxi forced a smile and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Li, but you don't have to give me the furniture. We have been poor for so many years. If there are so many high-end things in the house all of a sudden, I'm afraid everyone won't even recognize the house."

In addition to villas and imported luxury cars, Tianxiadiyizhuang’s high-end furniture is also very famous and even reported in newspapers. With the price level in the early 1990s, a chair could cost tens of thousands of yuan. Can you imagine?

You can't even recognize the house?
Hearing Yan Laoxi's words that sounded a bit harsh, Li Fengzheng couldn't help but change his expression slightly... Only those who are familiar with the current situation of the world's number one village know the irony hidden in these words.

Seeing Li Fengzheng's expression change slightly, Yan Laoxi laughed, then put down the thermos and brought two cups of freshly brewed tea to the two of them: "Mr. Li, Mr. Yu, I wonder what important matter has taken the time to come here?"

As he spoke, he took out his old thermos cup from his pocket, unscrewed it and took a sip: "Could it be... that you came here for those bridge payments?"

Yan Laoxi frowned, with some doubt in his tone: "But the remaining 870 million bridge payment is not small, but according to the original agreement, the earliest batch will not be repaid until the middle of next month... Could it be that your family is in urgent need of money recently?"

Xialiu Sales Agency has always been an outlier. It has many industries and no shortage of business, but in the past few years, it has been stuck in a cycle of borrowing and repaying, borrowing and repaying... Even though the private funds previously used for the development of the village have long been repaid, they still look extremely hungry for funds, and no one knows what they are borrowing so much money for.

As the capital demand of Xialiu Sales Agency grew, and as most of the private capital in Dezhou was absorbed by Yang Mo's several major moves, Yan Laoxi and his team naturally shifted their attention to other places... and Tianxiadiyizhuang, which was not far from Dezhou and had no shortage of money, naturally became the first choice.

Seeing that Old West Yan got straight to the point, Li Fengzheng, who had been around for many years, immediately suppressed his previous unhappiness and laughed out loud: "Boss Yan, what are you talking about? Although the bridge loan was lent to your village based on the past friendship between the two families, friendship is friendship and business is business... Since it was clearly written in the contract that it would be returned next month, and Boss Yan, you have always been very trustworthy and paid the interest in full, we naturally can't do something like forcing you to pay back the money in advance."

Upon hearing this, Yan Laoxi felt relieved.

Just don't go to your house and force you to pay back the money in advance.

Relying on its excellent business reputation, Xialiu Sales Agency has many private fundraising channels, which are not only spread all over the country, but also cover all kinds of units.

However, in the past month or so, as a group of masters who can turn decay into magic have appeared in Dezhou and Lanling, it has become increasingly difficult for Yan Laoxi and his team to attract funds from state-owned factories and employees... After all, those state-owned factories are also vigorously raising funds in their units, and although the interest paid by Yan Laoxi is quite generous, it is really not enough compared to the money from stock dividends.

This has resulted in the cash flow of Xialiu Sales Agency becoming fragile.

As we all know, Xialiu Sales Co., Ltd.'s practice of constantly borrowing and repaying money is the most challenging to its cash flow level. Once there is a slight break in the middle, the consequences will be catastrophic.

The bridge payment of 870 million cannot be considered a small amount even in the future, so it is really good news to hear that the other party did not come to force the repayment of the money in advance.

Thinking of this, Yan Laoxi's eyebrows relaxed slightly. Although the smile on his cold face was as ugly as before, it softened a lot: "Then I wonder why Mr. Li came here this time...?"

The ups and downs he had experienced over the years made him not be like others who, after receiving other people's "favor", would pat their chests and say a lot of things like "if there is anything I need your help with, I will definitely not refuse" and so on.

Although he knew that Xialiu Sales Agency's reputation was built on its style of never making promises easily but always keeping its word once promised, Li Fengzheng, who was dealing with Yan Laoxi formally for the first time, was not quite used to this style of being frugal with words.

After thinking about it, Li Fengzheng gave the prince next to him a look without any expression.

Prince Yu immediately understood: "Boss Yan, I heard that the German Trade Fair you plan to hold in Dezhou at the end of the year is very large and its specifications are not inferior to the Canton Fair?"

Old Yan looked at the overly young prince and smiled politely, "Boss Yu, rumors from the outside world are always exaggerated. How can this German Trade Fair be compared with last year's Canton Fair in terms of specifications and scale?"

The Canton Fair in 1991 was the largest in decades, and could even be said to be an insurmountable peak. Although there have been larger exhibitions in later generations in terms of scale, in terms of quality, even the first South China Expo in later generations was a step behind it. This shows how effective the 91 Canton Fair was.

Therefore, Yan Laoxi, who also visited the 91 Canton Fair with the Dahua Company delegation, would never tell lies with his eyes open.

Upon hearing this, Prince Yu didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Li Fengzheng, who was standing next to him, smiled and said, "Mr. Yan is too modest. We heard from the leaders in Hengshui that although this year's German Fair is not as good as last year's Canton Fair, it is still possible if we want to match it with this year's Canton Fair."

What he said was a reminder to the prince, who still lacked experience, not to be misled by Yan Laoxi's words. Comparing it with last year's epic Canton Fair would not be of any reference at all.

Prince Yu came to his senses, and then looked at Yan Laoxi with a little displeasure, trying to maintain a smile on his face: "Boss Yan, I heard that your Xialiu Village is one of the main judges of this German Trade Fair?" Yan Laoxi hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "It can't be considered a main judge. Our Xialiu Sales Agency only participated in the preliminary review of the exhibits."

When Prince Yu saw that the other party did not deny it, he immediately said hurriedly: "We in Daqiu Village want 11 main booths!"

Hearing this matter-of-fact tone, Yan Laoxi couldn't help but frowned, glanced at Li Fengzheng beside him, and sighed: "I'm sorry, President Yu, I can't help you with this... You are a company in Tianjin, and you are not invited to this German Trade Fair."

Unlike exhibitions in later generations, today’s exhibitions, unless they are national-level exhibitions, all have a strong regional flavor… Even the Canton Fair was once mainly focused on displaying and selling famous and high-quality new products from the Pearl River Delta.

So, you want 11 main booths worth thousands of dollars at once?
As expected of this prince, this German Trade Fair will feature mainly high-quality new products from Dezhou and Lanling, followed by Jinan and Qingdao, while enterprises from other regions within the province are eligible to submit their products for selection… Enterprises from Tianjin don’t even have the minimum qualification to be selected, so how can they talk about having a main booth?

Hearing Yan Laoxi's refusal, Prince Yu was not discouraged: "This is easy to do. Let Uncle Zhang and Uncle Li pick a few companies and form a partnership with your shell company in Qilu. Let them take the majority of the shares. Then, wouldn't the new company become a Qilu enterprise and be eligible for selection?"

After thinking for a while, Prince Yu waved his hand and said, "If Mr. Yan thinks 11 main booths are too many, you can help to arrange eight or nine... But let's make it clear first, at least eight. Our group has a lot of products, and if there are fewer, there won't be enough."

At this time, Tianxiadiyizhuang had become a group company. Under the head office, there were 5 other group companies, which packaged all the more than enterprises into it, so there were quite a lot of various products.

The idea of ​​a certain prince was also simple. The Canton Fair played a crucial role in the rise of their village. So, having just been promoted to the position not long ago, he listened to the advice of those around him and naturally did not want to miss such a large exhibition as the German Fair, which was not much inferior in scale and specifications.

As for why they would ask Old Man Yan for help despite being the most famous manor in the world...

It's very simple. Although his father is very powerful and has been to Diaoyutai, local third and fourth rank officials are frequent guests in his home. But it is a pity that... the reputation of their manor does not work very well in Qi and Lu.

Especially in Texas, there is no such thing as a grand occasion.

There is no way. In terms of size, Dahua is more than ten times yours.
When it comes to radiation range, whether it is Dahua Company or Dezhou City Real Estate Company, they all make industrial layout based on prefecture-level cities;

In terms of the nature of the enterprise, it is a state-owned enterprise with a good pedigree, and is by no means comparable to a village collective enterprise that is not so-called.

In terms of comprehensive influence, although Yang Mo has never been to Diaoyutai, he is a recognized leader in the current domestic economic field, and he is a hotshot that the administrative system and state-owned enterprise system are vying for;

Although his father is a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, after being pointed out by people around him, he realized that the value of this is not as high as outsiders think. It is more of a superficial glory. Compared with Yang Mo, who holds real power and has already taken shape as a new faction, it is not enough!

But Yang Mo is well-known for attaching great importance to the rules he sets, and he is also well-known for being difficult to deal with. If he says he won’t give you face, he won’t give you face.

Therefore, wanting to get an admission ticket to the German Trade Fair, or even a main booth worth thousands of dollars, through upper-level operations... is unrealistic!
But it's not that there are no loopholes for Yang Mo to exploit.

At least there is a big gap on the Xialiu Distribution Agency side.

It is a well-known fact that Yang Mo has always been short of talent under his command. Therefore, although the supply and marketing cooperative, which had always strongly supported him for some reasons before he became successful, has no direct subordinate relationship with Yang Mo, the relationship between the two parties is closer than that of normal superiors and subordinates. As time goes by, Xialiu Marketing Cooperative has become Yang Mo's indispensable right-hand man.

But I don’t know what these people in Xialiu Village are thinking about all day long. They have such a big tree to lean on, and they have projects one after another, but they are like a poor family who can only rely on others for help to survive. They borrow money everywhere all day long to patch up the gaps.

Having all started from scratch, the people in the No. 1 Village in the World know too well that a penny is worth a hero. So, as they have lent out more than 8 million yuan in bridge loans this year alone, it was easy for them to set their sights on Yan Laoxi.

As Yang Mo's right-hand man, he is not only responsible for the initial review of the products submitted for exhibition, but also Dahua Company and Dezhou Urban Development Company, who are responsible for the review, will never easily reject Yan Laoxi's face... As for the province and the city, although they are nominally responsible for the final review, at most they will only add a few names of companies and products to the list, but basically they will not risk offending Yang Mo, who is known for his dominance, by crossing out the names of companies and products that have passed the review.

Therefore, as long as they can put on a superficial coat that can fool people, dealing with Yan Laoxi is equivalent to getting the admission ticket and main booth of the German Trade Fair. This is a logical line that is easy to think through for the people of the world's number one village.

Of course, the prince was still young after all, and was used to being bossy. In addition, Xialiu Sales Agency owed them money, so his tone was naturally a bit harsh. As soon as the words came out, even if Li Fengzheng felt that something was wrong and wanted to make amends, it was too late.

As expected, Yan Laoxi was disgusted by this kind of self-righteous attitude, and he calmly closed the lid of the thermos cup: "Mr. Yu, I'm sorry, I really can't help you with this."

As he spoke, Yan Laoxi looked past the prince and looked at Li Fengzheng seriously: "Mr. Li, our two villages have dealt with each other several times in the past two years. You should know that our Xialiu Village has been able to stumble all the way from a poor village to where it is today, not because of anything else, but because we have always followed the four words of seriousness and trustworthiness."

"The same principle applies to this German trade fair. We should be loyal to the trust of others. Since Dahua Company thinks highly of us and is willing to give us the right to preliminarily review the exhibits, we must not damage our reputation in any way."

After a slight pause, Yan Laoxi sighed, "Boss Li, Boss Yu, I'm not trying to shirk responsibility. Even if your company has changed its name, the products submitted for review will not pass."

"It's not that the quality of your village's products is bad... Guizhuang created an output value of 40 billion last year, a considerable portion of which was exported abroad, so whether it's quality or price, there's no doubt about it."

"But the problem is that most of the products produced by the companies under Guizhuang are industrial raw materials or intermediate products, such as cables, cold-rolled steel strips, pipes, electrical components, etc. This alone does not match the theme of the German Trade Fair, which focuses on finished products rather than raw materials and intermediate products."

Putting the thermos cup in his hand on the coffee table, Yan Laoxi crossed his hands, his face becoming more serious: "Indeed, considering the industrial characteristics of the Qilu region, after several rounds of negotiations, the province and the city have reached a consensus to reserve about 10% to 20% of the booths at the German Trade Fair for the promotion of high-quality raw materials and industrial intermediates."

"But this is subject to a prerequisite...the raw materials and intermediate products that can pass the review and participate in the exhibition must have any of the characteristics of originality, advancement, and progress!"

"But your product..."

Yan Laoxi showed a trace of regret on his face: "To be honest, although Guizhuang's output value has been rising continuously in the past two years, as early as 88, the profit exceeded 4.7 million, and last year it was as high as million. It is a first-class quality enterprise."

"But unfortunately, Guizhuang seems to have only focused on increasing production capacity in recent years. The output of main products such as cables and cold-rolled strip steel has been rising again and again; but it seems that it does not care about technology upgrades and product innovations... Your products are basically the same as they were in 1988, and at most you have expanded a few specifications."

"The technology level has stagnated, and innovative applications are almost zero. The only change is the price that has dropped lower and lower after the marginal effect. As for the small number of finished products that have been tried and launched, they are basically imitations... Mr. Li, Mr. Yu, the products participating in the exhibition must be innovative. This is the red line drawn by Mr. Yang himself. With such a red line, if the products you plan to exhibit this time are still the same old three, don't say me, even if the provincial leaders speak for you, you may not be qualified to participate in the exhibition!"

Yan Laoxi pointed out the other party's current problems in a straightforward manner. His implication was very clear: if you don't have products that rely on old technology, you won't even get an admission ticket. Why are you asking me for a main booth?

This was the first time since Prince Yu came of age that someone had spoken back to him so rudely in person. His face instantly turned blue and red, and the look he gave Yan Laoxi quickly became unfriendly.

Li Fengzheng, who was standing by, saw that the situation was not good and, without caring about being rude, quickly reached out to stop the prince who was about to explode.

Although what Yan Laoxi said was unpleasant to hear, it was the truth. What's more, he made it very clear just now that this was the red line drawn by Yang Mo himself. Unless you have the ability to deal with Yang Mo directly, it will be useless to lose your temper.

Besides, Yang Mo is a well-known person who protects his people. Even a giant like the Wei family was brought down by his three lightning strikes for an unfounded reason. If you directly conflict with Yan Laoxi today and make Yang Mo feel embarrassed, it is possible that everyone in the village will suffer with you.

After finally calming down the prince's temper, Li Fengzheng turned around and apologized to Yan Laoxi a few times, then changed the subject: "Boss Yan, since Boss Yang has explained it before, we understand that you can't do anything about the German Trade Association, and we won't force you;"

"However, considering that our two families have helped each other for the past two years, let's work together... I think that Mr. Yan, who values ​​friendship and loyalty, will not refuse, right?"

Hearing Li Fengzheng emphasize the words "a lot of mutual assistance and subsidies" and "Mr. Yan is such a loyal and righteous person", Yan Laoxi's heart shuddered.

This is an attempt to use words to hold myself back.

Sure enough, getting the prince to speak earlier was just a test, and the real purpose was something else.

I told you, for ordinary matters, why would it be necessary for the Crown Prince and the three tiger generals to take action together?

Realizing that today's events were not simple, Yan Laoxi took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Boss Li, I don't know what you mean by cooperation?"

Li Fengzheng couldn't help but move his head and found that the door of this simple reception room was closed. Then he turned his head and lowered his voice a little: "Boss Yan, I heard that your Xialiu Sales Agency has been raising funds to build reservoirs and power plants in various places recently... We are not interested in reservoirs, but our owner wants to cooperate with you on the power plant."

power plant?
After hearing the other party's intentions, Yan Laoxi's rough and cold face suddenly changed...

(End of this chapter)