Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 55: Turning the Page
"This is the money my dad asked someone to transfer to me. The specific investment amount is this for now. My dad said if it's not enough, he will add more later."

In the conference room, Zhu Yunfeng showed the balance in his mobile phone.

The figure of nearly 50 million made the two town leaders' eyes sparkle with stars. They felt that they could not understand the world of rich people.

This is directly equivalent to two years of fiscal revenue.

After verifying the capital, the mayor asked cautiously, "Where would Mr. Zhu like to invest?"

"To be honest, I have lived in my hometown for almost two years. During these two years, I have done some research and found that it is still difficult to invest in our town."

Zhu Yunfeng shook his head.

Their town really doesn't have much special features. First, there are no minerals, and second, it's not a major transportation hub. The only resource is abundant timber.

Because it is backed by the Xuefeng Mountains with high mountains and dense forests, there are several forestry companies in the town. The town’s industries are mainly wood-related industries such as wood processing, wood product manufacturing, and furniture manufacturing.

The mayor quickly said, "Our town has abundant forestry resources. If Mr. Zhu wants to invest, he can consider this aspect. You don't have to worry about the relevant procedures."

"Forestry manufacturing is indeed one way, but the domestic furniture market is highly competitive, so I plan to take another path."

"what?"

"Among agricultural companies, I am more optimistic about the grain industry and the breeding industry."

Zhu Yunfeng stated his purpose.

Agricultural company?

The town secretary and the mayor looked at each other.

They never dreamed that someone would engage in agriculture in the mountains.

You should know that eight out of ten companies in the agricultural sector lose money, and the remaining two can barely break even with government subsidies.

Moreover, agriculture is basically concentrated in the north, such as Henan, Hebei, Shandong and the Northeast.

Because these places have many plains and unique geographical advantages, agricultural companies and large grain growers will rent nearby fields and carry out mechanized production to reduce a lot of costs.

It is only possible to make money from farming in the North if there is centralized production and government subsidies.

The southern region has many mountains and dense forests, making it difficult to mechanize operations. It is very difficult to concentrate production. Basically, you lose money for every acre you plant.

So we can also see the changes in grain production in various provinces across the country in recent years.

In ancient times, the Yangtze River Basin had the highest grain production, mainly distributed in the Taihu Lake and Dongting Lake areas.

From the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was first the saying "If Suzhou and Changshu are prosperous, the world will be prosperous", and then there was the saying "If Huguang is prosperous, the world will be prosperous".

By now, the situation has changed drastically.

In 2022, Jiangsu, Hunan and Hubei, the three ancient traditional grain producing areas, ranked 8th, 10th and 11th respectively.

All the areas at the top are plains.

For example, the Northeast Plain includes Heilongjiang, which ranks first in grain production, Jilin, which ranks fifth, Inner Mongolia, which ranks sixth, and Liaoning, which ranks twelfth.

华北平原则囊括了粮食产量排名第2、3、4、7、8的河南、山东、安徽、河北、江苏等地。

Among the top ten provinces in grain production, only Sichuan, ranked 9th, does not belong to the Northeast Plain and the North China Plain, but the Sichuan Basin itself has a large number of plain areas.

Therefore, it can be seen that the current way of food production has changed a lot.

Hunan also has plains, that is, the northern part of Hunan is the Dongting Lake Plain. The problem is that they are located in the central and western regions of Hunan, which is full of mountains and there is no plain area at all.

It is impossible to mechanize the production of grain here, so we can only hire people.

Based on current employment prices, land rental prices and other costs, even with government subsidies, a year's output may not be able to fully cover half of the costs.

Isn’t this a huge loss?

Seeing their expressions, Zhu Yunfeng naturally knew what they were thinking, so he smiled and said, "I know that doing agriculture in our town will definitely result in a huge loss, but my father is not in this for the purpose of making money, but for giving back to the village, so he just wants me to break even."

The problem is that it’s difficult to even break even.

The mayor and the town secretary moved their mouths, wanting to say something, but were afraid of scaring others away, so they felt they didn't know whether to say anything or not.

"Of course, simply engaging in agriculture will definitely not make a profit, so I plan to engage in animal husbandry. Raising pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks is pretty good here. There are many mountains, forests, grass and water, so there is still a big market for raw meat."

Zhu Yunfeng added, "My dad also has connections. We can send the meat directly to the meat processing plant in Guangzhou and sell it. The price should be negotiable. By then, the money earned from the breeding industry will be used to subsidize agriculture. It should be no problem to make ends meet. Don't worry about that."

Seeing this, the mayor and the town secretary were moved.

Nowadays, there are businessmen who invest not for the sake of making money, but simply for the development of their hometown. Such businessmen are simply the conscience of Hunan.

The mayor could not help but say, "We will definitely discuss the subsidy issue with the higher-ups. We will also implement various tax reduction policies and rural welfare for you. Don't worry about that, Mr. Zhu."

“No, no, no, forget about the subsidies, just leave them to those in need. I just want some preferential treatment somewhere else.”

“No subsidies?”

"Yes."

"So what kind of preferential treatment does Mr. Zhu want?"

"It's about tax-related policies. Of course, I will pay all the taxes that should be paid, but most of my agricultural products are probably used as feed for breeding. If there is no sales, there should be no tax requirements in this regard, right?"

"Of course, we will not collect taxes on products that are not sold. And according to the policy, agricultural producers are exempt from value-added tax on their own agricultural products. Enterprises engaged in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery projects can be exempted from or have their corporate income tax reduced. Don't worry about this. We will directly apply for the exemption of all taxes for you, including value-added tax and income tax."

"That's good."

Zhu Yunfeng continued, "There are also seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, breeding pigs, breeding cattle and the like. Please help us get as much as you need. We also hope the county can help find relevant technical personnel. We will definitely not be stingy with the salary we should pay."

"This"

The town secretary and the mayor were both dumbfounded.

It’s not that they think Zhu Yunfeng’s conditions are too harsh, but that they are taking too much advantage. It seems like their political achievements were picked up for free, which makes them feel uneasy.

The main reason is that Zhu Yunfeng’s request was within the scope permitted by policy.

Agriculture-related industries are tax-exempt, and they won’t check at all. This is a policy set by the state.

Their county also has other preferential policies, but Zhu Yunfeng refused them all, not even the state subsidies.

How can this be called a capitalist or entrepreneur?
He is truly a philanthropist.

As for the issues of fertilizers, seeds and pesticides.

happy.

The secretary smiled and said, "You can have as many of these as you want."

"I heard that we have to report it, and there are restrictions."

Zhu Yunfeng said in surprise.

"Why is it so troublesome? Who are you listening to?"

The secretary shook his head and said, "For seeds and pesticides, go directly to the dealers. You can ask for as many tons as you want. There are no rules. If the county doesn't have enough, go directly to the city. The fertilizer manufacturers can also send semi-trailers. Just unload them at the local place and pay."

"So that's it."

Zhu Yunfeng scratched his head.

He saw netizens talking about these things on Bihu and thought it would be troublesome to buy them.

I didn’t expect it to be so easy. It doesn’t matter how much you want.
If you think about it carefully, you can actually understand it.

Rules are made by people. Agriculture itself is a losing business. Why set so many rules and regulations? Aren’t you restricting the development of agriculture?
So the so-called reporting and restrictions are actually nonsense. In real life, when you lease land, dealers would like you to buy more so that they can make more money, and the government would also like you to buy more so that there is sufficient food.

Zhu Yunfeng added: "If that's the case, then I have no problem with it. As long as the county supports us with relevant policies and conducts fewer random inspections on us, allowing us to focus on production, we will be happy to increase our investment."

"Secretary, contact the county immediately."

The mayor said immediately.

"Good good."

The town secretary said to Zhu Yunfeng: "I will report to the county immediately, and we will definitely implement your request."

"It's troublesome."

Zhu Yunfeng nodded.

Then the town secretary went out to make a phone call.

After a while he came back and said, "Boss Zhu, the county magistrate will be here soon. Would you like to have a simple lunch with us?"

"it is good."

Zhu Yunfeng nodded again.

For investments like this, ordinary businessmen not only want to make money, but also often need the green light from government departments and various policy preferences.

Tesla settled in Shanghai and received a lot of policy support.

Zhu Yunfeng not only does not need special treatment or subsidies, but also has made such a huge investment. It is likely to shock the mayor, not to mention the county magistrate. So it is not surprising.

At that moment, the town secretary and the mayor became even more enthusiastic towards him, asking about his well-being and thanking him and his father for their concern for their hometown.

About forty minutes later, the town secretary received a call and said, "The county magistrate is here."

They were about to get up to greet him when the door to the conference room opened. The secretary came in first, followed by a middle-aged man in his forties wearing glasses who walked in and asked, "Where is Mr. Zhu?"

"Hello, County Magistrate. I'm Zhu Yunfeng."

Zhu Yunfeng stood up and pulled Zhu Di, who was sitting next to him and playing with his mobile phone out of boredom.

"Hello Hello."

The county magistrate walked over quickly, held Zhu Yunfeng's hands with both hands and said enthusiastically: "Mr. Zhu is young and promising, and he still cares about his hometown so much and is willing to make contributions to his hometown. This is really a timely help."

"No, no, that's what my dad meant."

Zhu Yunfeng declined repeatedly.

"County Governor, it's almost noon. Let's go to the restaurant and talk while we eat."

The mayor said.

"Okay, okay, I'll treat you. I'll treat you."

The county magistrate couldn't stop smiling.

An investment of tens of millions, with the possibility of additional investment in the future, is not just the political achievement of a town, but the political achievement of the entire county.

Next year, the county’s GDP statistics will inevitably increase significantly. Compared with the political achievements, treating someone to a meal is naturally a small matter.

They immediately went to the big hotel in town.

It is called a big hotel, but in fact it is just a place slightly higher in class than those fly-in-the-wall restaurants on the street.

But this is already the best restaurant in their town.

A group of seven people, including Zhu Yunfeng, Zhu Di, Ji He, as well as the county magistrate, the county magistrate's secretary, the town secretary and the town mayor, sat down one after another, ordered local specialties, and talked while eating.

Soon the dishes were served and everyone was chatting happily. In response to Zhu Yunfeng's request, the county magistrate immediately decided that he would ask the Agricultural Bureau to complete all the formalities as soon as he returned and all his requests would be granted. In fact, this request was not excessive.

Because the agricultural department itself is a loss-making department, Zhu Yunfeng buying more things from the seed company can make up for the losses, which is a good thing for the Agricultural Bureau.

Therefore, not only did Zhu Yunfeng not take advantage of the government by setting up this agricultural company, he was even helping the government solve its financial problems in disguise. Naturally, everything went smoothly.

Fertilizer is simpler.

Because chemical fertilizers overdraw the soil's fertility, the country has been promoting the use of half chemical fertilizer and half farmyard manure in recent years. Fertilizer factories everywhere are having a hard time. If Zhu Yunfeng needs it, he can make a phone call and have the fertilizer factories in all nearby counties and cities serve him.

As long as there are no problems with fire protection and procedures in the warehouse where the fertilizers are stored, there will be no need for any investigation or inspection, and the county and town will both make things easier.

So while drinking and chatting, the investment issue was basically agreed upon.

"Hello, who is it?"

While everyone was chatting, Zhu Yunfeng's cell phone suddenly rang. He saw it was a local number, so he answered it and asked.

The man on the other end said, "Hello, is this Zhu Yunfeng? I'm Liu Yong from Songxi Town Police Station. I want to ask you a few questions. Is it convenient for you now?"

"Hello, it's convenient."

"Can you come to the police station?"

"I'm afraid it's not possible now. I have something to do here."

"Then where are you? Let's come over here."

"I'm in town, in Box 1 of the Grand Hotel in town."

"Okay, we'll be right there."

The phone hangs up.

Zhu Yunfeng frowned slightly, then relaxed and continued chatting with the county magistrate and others.

About ten minutes later, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

The mayor thought it was a waiter.

Liu Yong pushed the door open and entered. When he saw the situation in the room, he frowned and asked, "Who is Zhu Yunfeng?"

"I'm."

Zhu Yunfeng stood up and said.

"It's like this. Two people are missing here. They are the two dog thieves who broke into your house last time. Do you remember them?"

Liu Yong asked.

"some."

Zhu Yunfeng nodded: "Didn't I send them to the police station?"

"But according to the investigation, the two people sent to the police station did not seem to be the two missing dog thieves."

Liu Yong said.

"Old Liu."

Just then, Deputy Chief Zhou stood at the door and called out to him.

Liu Yong asked, "What's wrong?"

"Why don't you ask next time? It might be a bit inconvenient now."

Deputy Director Zhou looked embarrassed.

Liu Yong was not from their town, so naturally he did not recognize the town secretary and the mayor, but he knew them.

The most important thing is the county magistrate, who was transferred only last year. They, the people from the rural police station, have hardly dealt with him, so it is normal that they did not recognize him.

However, when Deputy Chief Zhou went to the county to handle a case at the beginning of this year, he happened to meet the county governor who was inspecting the county public security bureau. They met once at that time.

So when I saw this situation, I felt a little nervous.

"What happened?"

the county chief asked.

Deputy Chief Zhou had no choice but to come in and say, "County Magistrate Fang, this is what happened. Two dog thieves disappeared in Songxi Town next door, and Zhu Yunfeng was the last person to come into contact with them."

"This isn't right."

Zhu Yunfeng shook his head and said, "I clearly called the police and had them arrested and taken to the police station. The police were there at the time."

The county magistrate thought for a moment and said, "Since this involves a case, you should ask questions, but you cannot wrongly accuse people. You must rely on evidence when doing things."

"Okay, mayor."

Liu Yong broke out in a cold sweat. He didn't expect the county magistrate to be here. Now he felt a little uncomfortable.

He had no choice but to continue asking, "But we found that the two who were sent here were not the two who were missing."

"No way? How is that possible?"

"Indeed."

"Could it be that they weren't those two in the first place? The missing people never came to our town?"

"No, the van is definitely their car."

"I do not know then."

Zhu Yunfeng shook his head and said, "The dog thieves I encountered were indeed the two who were sent to the police station. If you suspect me, you can investigate as you like. It doesn't matter what you want."

That's right, the dog theft had nothing to do with him and he hadn't broken any law, so he wasn't afraid at all.

For an old policeman, it is easy to tell whether he is feeling guilty or not.

Zhu Yunfeng's innocent look dispelled Liu Yong's suspicion, but he still had to conduct the necessary investigation, so he said, "When is Mr. Zhu free? We want to visit your home."

"Just finish your meal. I'm almost done discussing this with the county chief and the others. I can just take you to my house."

"Okay then. I'll wait outside."

"no need."

The county chief stood up and said, "It's almost time. I'll go with you."

"okay."

Zhu Yunfeng stood up and said, "Let's go together."

He then set off with everyone.

The group of four cars soon arrived at Zhu Yunfeng's home in Zhujiaping, Shangfeng Mountain.

The house was empty at this time and Zhu Biao had also gone back.

Just now in the car, Zhu Yunfeng asked Ji He to call Zhu Biao and ask him to return to Daming and move the stone tablet on Daming's side and move it back to its original position after four hours.

After getting out of the car, several policemen began to search Zhu Yunfeng's home.

While the others were searching, Liu Yong asked Zhu Yunfeng, "Mr. Zhu, what do you plan to do with the chainsaw, compound bow, and pepper spray?"

"A chainsaw is for chopping wood."

Zhu Yunfeng explained: "The compound bow is intended to be used to shoot rabbits and the like, and the pepper spray is to prevent thieves. As you know, there was a thief in my house, so I have to be prepared."

This reason is very sufficient. It is reasonable for rural people to cut wood. There are many mountains and forests near their homes. Many elderly people in the village do not know how to use induction cookers and are accustomed to cooking with firewood. There are no restrictions on cutting down trees.

There are many wild rabbits, wild boars and the like, so hunting is normal. As for guarding against thieves, it is easier to understand, after all, they were thieves.

"Captain Liu, the luminol reaction detected a small amount of blood. However, when I brought people here earlier, I did see that the two men were bleeding from being beaten, and the amount of blood was consistent with the situation."

"There are no signs of burial nearby, and the surrounding soil has not been loosened recently. Even the cellar has been checked, and there is nothing there. Everything is normal."

"I asked the neighbors, and they said they haven't seen anything unusual with Zhu Yunfeng recently, except that he suddenly became very rich and bought a new car."

Xie Minghui, Deputy Director Zhou and Xiao Zhao who went to check came back to explain the situation.

Zhu Yunfeng looked normal.

The arrangements for these issues have already been made.

The family's blood really comes from Zhu Yuanzhang and his son, and has nothing to do with Zhang San and Li Si.

Li Si died in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang San died in the backyard. There was only blood under the mud in the backyard. Later, that mud was shoveled away by Zhu Yunfeng.

In other words, there is no trace of the real Zhang San Li Si in his house.

If there are any, they are fake Zhang San and Li Si.

But the fake Zhang San and Li Si disappeared after leaving the police station, which had nothing to do with him.

In this way, his family will completely disappear from the police's investigation.

His most fundamental goal was to have his home excluded as the crime scene by the police.

Zhu Yunfeng said: "My dad asked his friend to give me the money. You can check it. There are records at the bank."

"Okay, after a preliminary investigation, Mr. Zhu should not be a suspect. Maybe the two people went somewhere else. I'm sorry to bother Mr. Zhu."

Seeing that there was nothing unusual, Liu Yong no longer had any doubts.

After all, this is just a missing person case, not a criminal case. The body cannot be found and there is no evidence. This is indeed the limit.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

Zhu Yunfeng nodded.

Seeing this, County Magistrate Fang also said, "Then we'll leave too, Mr. Zhu, we'll contact you later."

"Well, thank you, County Magistrate. I will go to the county to handle the formalities tomorrow."

Zhu Yunfeng responded.

Then he saw everyone off outside the house, went back inside, sat down on the sofa, and let out a long sigh.

He didn't kill anyone or break any law, but even so, he still found it exciting.

After all, someone really died in his house.

All I can say is that it’s a good thing that the stone tablet can move the body, otherwise, he would never be able to wash himself clean even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

But luckily it's all over.

The matter of the dog thief has finally been put to rest, and the next step is to officially start the business!
(End of this chapter)