Korean TV series: King of Peninsula 1997

Chapter 599 Secret Talk
"'Xu Fu' has been registered?"

Li You put down the glass in his hand and looked at Li Youmo with some surprise.

It was three days after the day of the walk, and who knew that Li Youmo would bring this news.

"Hmm," Li Youmo nodded in surprise, "Someone registered such a weird name?"

Li You hesitated for a while and said, "Don't worry about this matter for now. I'll ask someone to check it out."

"Okay," Li Youmo nodded obediently and went out.

Li You sat on the table with his hands crossed in front of him.

The name Xu Fu is somewhat special.

The ancestors of the Chinese people realized very early that human life has an end.

In the Western Zhou Dynasty, people usually just prayed for longevity. In the Spring and Autumn Period, people became more greedy and began to compose various poems to express their hope for immortality. The concept of "immortality" began to spread widely in the late Warring States Period.

"Han Feizi" also records that someone presented the elixir of immortality to the King of Chu, and someone taught the King of Yan to practice the way of immortality.

But in the era before Qin, the concept of immortals was completely otherworldly.

That is
If a person wants to become an immortal, he must first sever worldly ties before he can become an immortal, and this severance conflicts with worldly power and the throne.

It is said that people who live in the mountains are immortals.

If one becomes an immortal, he or she can no longer exercise worldly power, nor enjoy the wealth and honor that power brings.

But after sweeping across the world, the First Emperor went a step further and began to actively seek the elixir of immortality. He even wanted to become an immortal himself and establish an eternal dynasty.

There is no consensus on where the idea of ​​seeking immortality and immortality came from.

However, most scholars who study these agree that the development of these ideas is closely related to the coastal Qi area.

Xu Fu was a Qi person who was deeply influenced by these ideas.

Following the order of the First Emperor, he led thousands of boys and girls, carrying three years' worth of food, clothing, medicine and farming tools, and set out to sea in search of the elixir of life and immortals.

But after wasting huge manpower and financial resources, nothing was achieved. The same was true for other alchemists who were commissioned to do so. All of them returned empty-handed.

In the end, the First Emperor could not accept his fate of death. Even when he was seriously ill, he still hated talking about death, and no one among his ministers dared to mention the matter in front of him.

From then on, "Xu Fu" did not refer specifically to a person during the reign of Emperor Qin Shihuang, but rather represented the pursuit of "immortality".

Li You himself possesses the entry of [Longevity Seed], and with the addition of various entries such as [Supernatural] acting on his body, his body has long been feeling abnormal.

He had only recently begun to think about the problems of the people around him, but he had not expected that a "medical organization" named "Xu Fu" already existed.

Li You gave this name to Quan Zaijun, but did not raise the priority of 'Xu Fu' before those names.

Even Li You himself did not put too much energy into it, as he had several more important things to do.

That night, Li You met secretly with Li Lianchang and Cui Changdi in a restaurant outside Seoul.

The biggest chaebol, the old president, and the new president, all three gathered together.

"Chairman Li! President Cui!" Li Lianchang came a little slower due to his special status, but he greeted loudly with a smile as soon as he entered the door.

This is certainly not in accordance with etiquette, but it is easy to bring people closer together.

Choi Chang-di was so happy when President Choi called him that he stepped forward with a smile on his face, stretched out his hands and shook hands with Lee Yeon-chang. "Whether I am in the Grand National Party or in the Blue House, I am President Lee's junior. If I have done anything inappropriate, I will need President Lee to point it out in the future."

Facing the humble Emperor Cui Chang, Li Lianchang did not take his words seriously, but still said with a smile, "I will also keep an eye on the progress. If there is anything you need me to do, I will do it when the time comes."

It was clearly a polite remark, but when Li Lianchang said it, it sounded much less polite.

“Thank you, President Lee.”

Li You and Li Lianchang shook hands gently and parted ways. "Mr. President, you came at the perfect time. The dishes have just been served."

Rather than calling it a wine table conversation, it would be better to say that today is a tea table conversation.

Li Lianchang is about to step down, but he has an overwhelming amount of responsibilities on his shoulders and will have to go back to work later.

The three of them clearly didn't drink any alcohol, but they seemed a little tipsy at their seats.

Emperor Cui Chang and Li Lianchang finally had the opportunity to know some of Li You's views on the future, and also witnessed Li You's conspiracy to create another super chaebol idea after Shunyang.

"I didn't expect it," Li Lianchang sighed. "I was wondering at the beginning of the year why so many measures were taken when there was no chance of an accident happening inside the Kinmen Group."

"It seems that President Li sensed the coming of the crisis early."

Cui Changdi thought more about it. He frowned and looked at Li You, "Chairman Nim, what do you think will happen next year?"

Li You just shook his head, and Emperor Cui Chang's expression changed again and again, and he no longer had the ambition he had just now.

"As expected," Li You said frankly, "the crisis is much more serious than this year."

Emperor Cui Chang felt dizzy, having to deal with the financial crisis in his first year in office.
"President Cui, don't worry," Li Lianchang laughed. "I still have two months to minimize the disturbance and impact. However, due to the poor economic situation, the inauguration ceremony may have to be shortened."

"Thank you very much, President Li," Emperor Choi Chang sighed softly.

"I have another candidate who can help President Cui do many things," Li You chuckled.

Emperor Cui Chang was capable, but his ability did not lie in reviving the economy, otherwise he would not be so troubled.

"President Nim, yes"

Li You glanced at the door and said, "I'll be there soon."

Cui Changdi and Li Lianchang turned to look at the door together, and the place fell into silence for a moment.

Ten seconds later, a serious and respectful man in a suit and tie came in. He looked much thinner than the last time Li You saw him.

"Mayor Li?" Emperor Cui Chang was surprised at first.

"President Choi," Li Mingxue bowed his head slightly and returned the greeting to Choi Changdi who greeted him first, then looked at Li You and Li Lianchang, "Chairman nim, President Lee."

"It turns out to be Mayor Li," Li Lianchang said with admiration on his face and relief in his eyes.

No matter how you count, Li Mingxue is also a member of the Quanzhou Li family. Li You's promotion of him is naturally equivalent to showing goodwill to the Quanzhou Li family. Li Lianchang is about to retire. After retirement, he will most likely take over the Quanzhou Li family and become the new patriarch. Seeing the emergence of talents, he is naturally pleased.

"If it's Mayor Li, then there won't be any problem," Emperor Cui Chang also turned around and nodded affirmatively.

Choi Chang-jo knew a little about Lee Myung-hak, who almost competed with him for the presidential candidate in the Grand National Party.

For example, Lee Myung-hak hopes to become the 'CEO of Seoul', and it is not difficult to see that most of his ambitions are in the economic field.

In Li Mingxue's eyes, political means should probably come after economic means.

Emperor Cui Chang and Li Lianchang didn't know, but Li You knew it clearly.

In Li Lianchang's previous life, the position was occupied by Roh Moo-hyun. Roh Moo-hyun was indeed full of ambitions, but this passion disappeared after serving as president for two years.

Despite various reasons.

But during the five years he served as president, the economy slowed down, the fiscal deficit increased, and the gap between the rich and the poor widened. He focused on cracking down on real estate speculation, but house prices rose by an average of 55 percent.

The per capita GDP of the Korean Peninsula has indeed doubled, from more than US$10,000 to nearly US$20,000 in early 2008, but this is largely due to the sharp appreciation of the won against the US dollar. The Korean Peninsula's total economic output has instead fallen from tenth place to thirteenth place.

The economy of the Korean Peninsula in 2008 was far, far worse than the Korean Peninsula where Li You is now.

Li You thought about it and found it difficult to do.

But even in that situation, after Lee Myung-hak took office, he still turned the economy of the Korean Peninsula around, and even provided support for the next three presidents for fifteen years.

In Li You's view, Li Mingxue has consolidated a wrong mindset among people on the Korean Peninsula.

If you want to improve the economy and finance, elect a rightist; if you want to improve social customs, elect a leftist.

So after Li Mingxue, the first leftist Moon Jae-yoon took office and created a very good atmosphere, but Moon Jae-yoon really didn't understand economics. Just to name a few, housing prices have increased by 80 percent in four years, not to mention other things.

During Lee Myung-hak's five-year term, there was also the impact of the financial crisis. The average economic growth of the Korean Peninsula was 2.9%, which may not seem like a very good number, but from 2008 to 2010, the Korean Peninsula was once considered to be the second bankrupt country after Iceland.

But in 2009, when the economies of most developed countries were still experiencing negative growth, the Korean Peninsula under Lee Myung-hak's governance was still able to maintain positive economic growth.

Even at the end of his term, economic growth reached seven percent.

In the three years before Moon's term, before the disaster, economic growth averaged only 2.6 percent.

Li Mingxue is indeed not a good person, but he deserves the title of "economic president".

While Li You was thinking, the other three had been chatting for a while. They were all smiling and waiting for Li You to finish thinking, without interrupting his train of thought.

"What do you think of Daying Ocean now? What should we do if Tianxia Group, Daying Group, and Daying Ocean continue in this quagmire?"

Although Li You was facing three people, Cui Changdi and Li Lianchang both knew that this was an assessment of Li Mingxue's ability for Cui Changdi.

Li Mingxue had been instructed by Li You before he came, so he spoke without any stage fright.

"At present, we still need to make adequate preparations for Daying Ocean, not to expect it to get better, because the decline of shipping is a global problem. During the financial crisis and the economic contraction period after the financial crisis, this is a vortex that the government must not touch, even if Daying Ocean survives for a few years."

“We have to focus on the other two.”

Li Mingxue said in a deep voice: "To deal with Daying Group and Tianxia Group, we must reduce their debt ratio and let them contribute to the economic recovery of the Korean Peninsula, while also suppressing their ambitions."

It is worth mentioning that, apart from Samsung, which was "united" in the previous life, and Kinmen now, other chaebols are no match for the president.

For example, during Park Geum-sun's period, the Lotte Shin family was forced to surrender due to threats to their lives and sold large tracts of land to the peninsula government. There was also Moon Jae-yoon's heavy blow to the disunited Samsung.

What Li Mingxue said is not groundless, the president can really do these things.

"We must force the two companies to implement the 'main business system' and let them divest their non-core assets."

Li Mingxue's words made Cui Changdi and Li Lianchang look serious.

The so-called "core industry system" requires chaebols that have extended their influence to various sectors to identify one to three core industries, such as semiconductors, automobiles, and shipbuilding, and prioritize investments in these areas with funds and technology. The Korean government will then restrict their expansion into non-core areas to avoid resource dispersion and debt accumulation.

The Kinmen Group is not so bad. Trade, real estate, and semiconductors are its major businesses, with the entertainment industry being the biggest one.

But the world and the camp were simply suppressed.

Daying Group alone includes trade, automobiles, and real estate.
If all walks of life are counted, there are nearly ten industries covered, not to mention the Tianxia Group.

"Anything else?" Li You smiled.

"Control their debts," Li Mingxue said earnestly, "and force them to reduce their debt ratio from more than 300 percent before the financial crisis to 100 to 15 percent.

And they are required to sell non-core businesses, recover funds and optimize their financial structure.”

"This will have both good and bad effects on the chaebols," Emperor Choi Chang glanced at Lee Woo.

"Go ahead," Li You nodded.

"Although their desire to develop without regard for the country's survival during the financial crisis has been suppressed, their core industries have actually become more competitive globally. The downside is that this over-focus will lead to the marginalization of small and medium-sized enterprises and fail to completely curb the expansion of chaebols."

"Yes," Li Mingxue nodded to Emperor Cui Chang, "The main industry system is a structural reform policy introduced to cope with the financial crisis."

He sat next to Emperor Choi Chang-di and spoke more slowly. "By focusing on the industry, forcing them to upgrade their technology, and then optimizing their debts, we can reshape the competitiveness of the chaebols."

But in this case, it would be a daydream to continue to attack Daying Ocean and expand one's own industry.

"If you can see the essence of this," Li You drank a cup of tea slowly, "this is a way of cutting off one's arm to survive, using short-term pain to exchange for the long-term international status of the core industry."

"Of course," Li You shrugged, "I don't need to do it."

"Because I took precautionary measures before the crisis began, the focus of the Kinmen Group has long been on Kinmen Electronics. Semiconductors and networks will be the focus of the Kinmen Group's development in the next few years."

"Other industries are starting to shrink."

In early 2007, Li You convened a meeting of the management of Kinmen Group and meetings of various subsidiaries to make these preparations in advance.

A year before those chaebols who had suffered heavy losses were forced by the government to cut off their arms to survive, the Kinmen Group had made these preparations and no longer had to carry out the so-called "cutting off of their arms".

Li Mingxue was silent for a while, then smiled and said, "President, if Tianxia Group and Daying Group had learned this, they would not have attacked Daying Ocean this year."

(End of this chapter)