Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 254 Cooperation and Win-Win with Modernity

It was already evening when I arrived from Hongwu. I played a couple of games comfortably before it got dark.

The gardener, housekeeper, and housekeeper all went home after get off work, leaving only the three little ones, a group of cats, and a pack of dogs in the huge manor.

Zhu Di played two games, went back to his room to take a shower, and when he came out, Zhu Yunfeng had also finished showering and was in the main hall.

The aunt had prepared dinner for them before leaving, and Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He were sitting around the table eating at the moment.

"Damn it, you didn't wait for me."

"Who told you to take so long to take a shower?"

"You, as the emperor in the palace, probably have no idea how difficult it is for me to fight on the front lines."

"How uncomfortable must it be?"

"Wearing combat gear every day, I don't even have the opportunity to take a proper shower. Now that I'm finally back, I definitely need to scrub off the dirt."

Zhu Di plopped down at the dining table and first picked up a chicken leg with his chopsticks.

Pipi was already eagerly waiting at its feet, its tail wagging like a fan, its tongue lolling out as it waited for the chicken leg to fall into its mouth.

But Zhu Di did not throw the chicken leg down. Instead, he first removed the meat from the plate, then put the meat on the plate, and finally put the plate on the ground for Pipi to eat.

This was the Great General, the guardian dog of the Ming Dynasty, and also Zhu Yuanzhang's savior. If Pipi hadn't untied Zhu Yuanzhang's rope back then, Zhu Yuanzhang would probably be in jail by now.

Zhu Yunfeng was slightly touched by Zhu Di's thoughtfulness and asked, "Speaking of which, what are our plans for the future?"

"What's the plan?"

Ji He scratched his head and said, "Do we need to make any plans? Things are fine as they are now?"

Have you heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

Zhu Yunfeng asked.

"I've heard of it. What? Do you have higher ideals and ambitions now?"

Jihe was astonished.

"I don't have any loftier ideals or ambitions, I just feel that the current development speed of the Ming Dynasty is still too slow."

"It's still slow now. If an ordinary person traveled to ancient times, they might never have been able to develop the first industrial revolution in their entire life. They can drive excavators now."

"We only have some industrial capacity, but no industrial base. An industrial base means being able to produce industrial machinery, but we are still heavily reliant on modern imports. I think it's too inefficient for us to develop our own technology."

"You want to hand it over to the state?"

"Well, so I'd like to discuss this with our ancestors later. The main reason is that I think this approach would be better for both sides."

"How to say?"

"Look at the news these days."

Zhu Yunfeng took out his phone, searched for international news, and then said, "Look what the Americans are doing now? They've gone crazy. Foreign trade is very difficult to do now."

Ji He said helplessly, "There's nothing we can do about it. The real estate market was already in a downturn after it collapsed, and now the Americans are pulling this stunt. It's going to be tough to do business."

"That's why I said it's good for both sides."

Zhu Yunfeng said, "The Ming Dynasty can quickly complete its industrialization and become a global superpower in a short period of time with the help of modern times. Modern times bring new markets and a large influx of resources, which will allow the domestic economy to grow rapidly and exhaust the United States."

Zhu Yunfeng once considered handing the stone tablet over to the state, but ultimately gave up the idea.

Aside from Lao Zhu's coercion, the main reason was that he himself had some selfish motives.

After all, he owes his current wealth and status entirely to the stone tablet; without it, he doesn't know what the future would hold.

However, he has now achieved great success.

He was an emperor during the Chongzhen reign, a prince during the Hongwu reign, and is now considered the pinnacle of human achievement, with assets approaching 100 billion.

He may not be the world's richest man, but he is the richest man in Hunan Province and has made it into the top 20 of the rich list.

He was even invited by higher authorities to serve as a provincial advisor and a member of the CPPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) not long ago.

When people reach this level, they naturally have other ideas.

Zhu Yunfeng observed that the Ming Dynasty's development was slow. Although eight years had passed, it had embarked on the path of the Industrial Revolution and possessed many modern machines.

However, the lack of industrial workers and technical personnel meant that despite having knowledge, technology, and machinery, they were unable to expand road construction on a large scale.

In contrast, although the People's Republic of China was also poor and backward during the early years, it still had a number of talented people who had returned from studying abroad, as well as many projects supported by the Soviet Union, which helped to build up the foundation of heavy industry.

With a heavy industrial base and a large number of industrial workers trained, light industry could be developed quickly after the reform and opening up, thus achieving rapid economic growth.

In contrast, the Ming Dynasty started from scratch in terms of talent cultivation. Apart from providing knowledge, everything else had to be done by themselves.

But knowledge can't be learned in a day or two.

This resulted in the Ming Dynasty's development being very slow despite possessing knowledge, technology, and machinery. Apart from a few major cities like Nanjing and Hangzhou, which had some industrial capacity, the rest of the country remained largely unchanged.

The vast countryside lacks electricity, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. Within the city, only the area around the palace has some high-rise buildings; the urban area remains the same old street with wooden houses.

The availability of ironware on the market increased with the establishment of steel mills, but despite the increase, many agricultural and kitchen tools were still not widely available.

All in all.

Zhu Yunfeng was still not entirely satisfied with the current pace of development in the Ming Dynasty.

Currently, while the development of railway tracks has been concentrated and ordinary cross-river bridges can be built, the construction of a bridge across the Yangtze River remains unresolved, hindering communication between the north and south.

It is now the twentieth year of the Hongwu reign.

If things continue at the current pace, it's likely that Nanjing won't complete its modern urbanization transformation by the thirty-first year of the Hongwu reign, the year Zhu Yuanzhang died.

After all, Zhu Yunfeng had boasted that he would complete the Second Industrial Revolution within twenty years.

Although Zhu Biao has been working hard to develop education, launching nationwide literacy campaigns, and providing basic learning, there are even a large number of projectors and tablets for video lectures by top-level teachers, which has greatly increased the learning progress.

However, the Meiji Restoration, which took 44 years, only modernized some of Japan's major cities. The vast rural areas of Japan remained largely unchanged, and even most of Tokyo consisted of low-rise wooden houses, making it convenient for Li Mei to carry out her barbecue task.

It is actually possible to complete the Second Industrial Revolution within twenty years, because with the support of a modern education system and top-notch teachers, twenty years is enough to cultivate a large number of talents with high school diplomas or above.

However, completing the Second Industrial Revolution and developing and building up the entire country are two different concepts.

Therefore, Zhu Yunfeng could only guarantee that twelve years later, the Ming Dynasty would have a certain industrial base and be able to reach the standards of the Second Industrial Revolution, but it would be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to complete infrastructure and urban construction as quickly as it has in modern times.

If modern technology were involved, things would be very different.

With our country's almost exaggeratedly powerful industrial capacity and abundant highly qualified personnel, if the state takes over the stone tablet, the Ming Dynasty will inevitably undergo earth-shattering changes within ten years.

It just so happens that the domestic economic environment is currently in a slump.

Although the real estate industry has always been criticized, it is undeniable that it has greatly promoted economic development.

The construction of this building encompasses hundreds of professions, hundreds of industries, and numerous jobs. Everyone involved, from raw materials to workers to sales, can profit from it.

The real estate market is in decline, foreign trade is being suppressed, two of the traditional three pillars of the economy are facing problems, and infrastructure investment is nearing its peak.

Although the country is making efforts to promote the development of the domestic economic cycle, it is still unable to restore high economic growth.

If we can communicate with the Ming Dynasty at this time, the country will gain a new global market, or even more than one.

Therefore, connecting the stone tablets is a very good thing for both parties.

“It would be slower if we did it ourselves, but the problem remains the same: my father’s concerns, and also the limited load-bearing capacity of the stone tablet.”

Zhu Di overheard their conversation and raised the question.

Zhu Yunfeng laughed and said, "Our ancestor isn't entirely powerless now. Besides, I've heard him say before that he would cooperate with the country in his later years. This is just a few years earlier than expected, and I believe he understands. As for the stone tablet issue..."

He pondered for a moment and said, "This is indeed a tricky matter, the carrying capacity is what it is. However, we may not be able to come up with anything, but the country may be able to. For example, increasing the range, if it can operate 24 hours a day without interruption, the transport capacity will still be very large."

The problem with the stone tablet is that it requires someone to deliver it each time it is transported back and forth, and it is impossible to send large items over.

For example, you can't just touch the Earth from one side and teleport it to the other. Experiments have shown that each transport can only carry a maximum of about ten tons, and the energy consumption is enormous. Transporting a few thousand tons would be insufficient due to insufficient power reserves, and it would require high-voltage transmission, which would take a long time to recharge.

Therefore, the limit for goods in a month is a few hundred thousand tons. Compared with the size of the country, this amount of trade is really just a drop in the ocean.

This means that if we can only maintain this carrying capacity limit, then it would be better to reach a comprehensive trade agreement with a slightly larger African country, which would probably allow us to transport hundreds of thousands of tons of goods per day.

However, his personal strength is limited. Perhaps with the country's capabilities, the stone tablet could be further developed, such as increasing its battery life so that it can last for a year on a single charge.

With the country's transportation capacity, it is entirely possible to transport hundreds of tons per minute, operate 24 hours a day, and transport hundreds of thousands of tons per day, resulting in a transportation capacity of hundreds of millions of tons per year, which would make the trade volume very considerable.

Although it is still not on the same scale as my country's annual imports of more than 5 million tons of crude oil and total import and export trade volume of hundreds of billions or even trillions of tons, it can at least affect the country's economic development.

This is of great benefit to both sides' relations and economic and trade exchanges.

"Okay, then I think there's no problem."

Zhu Di said, "It depends on what my father and elder brother think."

"I feel so too."

Ji He said, "I feel that if we really start a cooperation, our company's size will probably expand again."

"Indeed, Yunfeng Group has been operating for too long. If the country can fully cooperate, then Yunfeng Group can start construction openly and immediately, and its size will inevitably increase dramatically."

Zhu Yunfeng also realized the problem, but it was only after Ji He reminded him that he thought of it.

After all, he was a hands-off manager of the company, and it's a miracle that the company hasn't been ruined or had its wealth stolen over the years.

"Then I'll talk to my dad and the others about it tomorrow."

Zhu Di ate the last few bites of rice, stood up, glanced at the sky outside which had completely darkened, and saw that it was past 7 p.m. on his phone. He excitedly said, "Log in, log in, let's get started."

The three little ones were immediately excited; they hadn't played a game in a long time.

The three of them quickly logged into their accounts and started playing the game.

I played almost all night and didn't go to sleep until after 4 a.m.

The next day at noon, the three of them started yawning.

As soon as I stepped outside, I saw Zou Ting wearing gold-rimmed glasses, sitting in the living room outside, looking at a large pile of documents.

Upon seeing the three of them emerge, Zou Ting, exuding an air of domineering CEO, glanced at them sideways and said sarcastically, "Chairman Zhu and Vice Chairman Ji are truly busy people. It's so difficult to even see you. When I try to make a phone call, your phones are either switched off or switched off. Are you on a business trip to outer space?"

Zhu Yunfeng looked embarrassed and changed the subject, saying, "Well, Musk is working on the Mars project, right? We should support the country's space program. He recently went to the moon. As you know, our company is a participant in the Nantianmen project, so we should contribute to the country."

"That's utter nonsense. Are you going to go up there before the space elevator is even built?"

Zou Ting was so angry she laughed, and said, "Besides, I was in charge of all these plans. I've never heard of anyone like you going to the moon or going to the space station."

"This is a state secret plan, of course you wouldn't know. By the way, what's up today?"

"what's up?"

Zou Ting slammed the documents down and said, "Look at this yourself. So many company projects are waiting for your approval. Do you think these are still the small contracts of a few million or tens of millions? Any one of these is a project worth hundreds of millions or billions. I'm telling you, you should at least take some responsibility for the company."

"Oh, Sister Zou, you can decide whether you're a company director or CEO."

Zhu Yunfeng dared not argue with Zou Ting.

no way.

In terms of contributions to the company's development over the years, in the early days, the company's main business relied on trade with the Ming Dynasty to grow, so its contribution was the greatest.

Basically, he was responsible for securing most of the company's initial capital of over 10 billion yuan. He also took charge of the gold, silver, grain, and other raw material production businesses.

However, after the company had its initial capital and acquired billions of assets, it began to venture into various industries such as manufacturing, mining, and construction.

Zou Ting then took a dominant position in the subsequent development.

As the company got on track and grew stronger, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He started to slack off, so they jointly transferred some of their shares to her. Previously, Zhu Yunfeng owned 80% and Ji He owned 20%. Now Zhu Yunfeng owns 70%, Ji He owns 18%, and Zou Ting owns 12%.

It can be said that Zou Ting's contribution to the company's growth from 10 billion to 100 billion is the greatest, far exceeding the contributions made by Chairman Zhu, who is often missing and rarely seen.

Therefore, now that Zou Ting is teasing him, he can only nod and submit to her mockery.

"Hmph, you take a look first."

Zou Ting said, "The company needs to have a meeting tomorrow, let's have a board meeting."

"Why would the three of us need a board of directors?"

Zhu Yunfeng was speechless.

Ji He also said, "Yeah, the board of directors is set up by listed companies. Why would our company need to do all this stuff?"

"We still need to make plans for major events. The company values ​​talent very much. In order to retain talent, we'll see if we can transfer some shares. It doesn't have to be a lot; just a little dilution among the three of us will be fine."

Zou Ting said, "As you all know, the competition is extremely fierce now, both internationally and domestically. Our company has had a very difficult time developing over the years. Although we pay many senior executives high salaries, we can't satisfy their morale. If we want to retain talent, we have to offer shares. This is a common practice for large companies. For a company like ours with a market value of nearly 100 billion, having three shareholders with such a high shareholding ratio is extremely rare, and you won't see it anywhere else in the world."

This isn't because Zou Ting has any designs on Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He's shares; it's simply because that's the case.

The success of Yunfeng Group is an isolated case. Even if its external business is not doing well, it still has a steady stream of revenue from gold and other minerals.

If Zhu Yunfeng wanted, he could easily obtain hundreds of tons of gold from the Hongwu era or other parts of the Ming Dynasty, which would directly give the Yunfeng Group assets worth hundreds of billions.

As for the source, that's easy to figure out too.

Yunfeng Group's main business is now mining. Recently, gold mines were discovered all over Hunan. Yunfeng Group has purchased a large number of mining rights and is slowly filling the mines in like ants.

Therefore, Yunfeng Group does not need to rely on external investment or listing to complete its financing.

But talented people are a different story.

Although Zou Ting is very capable, a large company with a market value of hundreds of billions requires top talents to assist in all aspects of management, and the company's strategic layout also needs to be adjusted.

If we don't offer shares to attract talent, the turnover rate will be very high, leading to instability in the company's upper management decision-making.

Therefore, this is the most urgent matter, and it is also what Zou Ting needs to discuss with Zhu Yunfeng and the others.

However, Zhu Yunfeng pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No board of directors, no share dilution, just the three of us."

"you sure?"

Zou Ting frowned and said, "This makes it easy for talented people to leave."

"Don't panic, I have a plan."

Zhu Yunfeng said, "Could you contact my superiors and see if we can schedule a time to talk?"

"above?"

Zou Ting asked in surprise, "The provincial level, or...?"

Given the size of Yunfeng Group, county and city leaders no longer need to schedule appointments; a simple phone call suffices.

"If we can get to the very top, we should. If not, we should contact the provincial authorities first."

"That's fine."

"That's all for today, I have other things to do."

Zhu Yunfeng yawned and said, "You and Ji He go and take care of this. Go to the provincial government and ask the leaders for instructions. I'll come over when we set a time."

"That's fine."

Zou Ting frowned as she looked at the large pile of documents on the table.

So all that was it? I came here for nothing today. I didn't see any projects or sign any contracts.

However, Zhu Yunfeng was like that, and she got used to it. Fortunately, Ji He stayed, so she didn't always have to make decisions alone.

Over the years, managing such a large company alone has been like walking on thin ice, extremely cautious, for fear of making any decisions that might be disastrous.

(End of this chapter)