My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 670 Was the Emperor Naked?

It's still a matter of outdated thinking.

This building, which imitates the Guangdong Trade Fair Exhibition Center in Guangzhou, is just an exhibition hall. It has no underground parking, no attached hotel or conference center, nothing at all.

A solitary building stands beside the main road.

If Wei Dong hadn't stopped him, he would have been planning to build several flower beds across the large square in front of him as a National Day gift project.

In fact, the construction of this building was extremely costly, and even the people below, including the general manager of the exhibition center, didn't know what to do.

Fortunately, the surrounding auxiliary road was fairly well-maintained, and like a company compound, it had a back gate. The white minivan bypassed the bustling market and entered from the back, with Mao'er following behind in his Defender.

Wei Dong was instructed to thank the security guard at the gate.

The passenger in the front seat had his wife observe carefully: "In movies and novels, people who are so courteous and humble are either extremely wicked or extremely compassionate. But how can someone who is compassionate accomplish great things? It's better to be a little wicked."

Wei Dong scoffed at her: "You don't know anything. These lowly kids are hard to deal with. They're no good at doing things, but when it comes to doing bad things, they're a piece of cake. Saying a few nice words and providing some emotional value is effortless."

Beautiful women might have a mysterious confidence: "Emotional value, hehe, is this a term from mainland China? I've never heard of it. But you know to say nice things to the security guard, so why don't you say it to me? That's because you're shy. In your heart, you're already treating me differently."

Wei Dong was the one whose emotional value was at its peak. He stopped the car with a big laugh, but once he got out, he had to put on a serious face.

When it comes to accomplishing great things, there's no room for so much frivolity.

Even now, there are still various different opinions.

"Mr. Rang, there's nothing wrong with this auto show, but it's too chaotic and noisy. Why not just have the various companies in the automotive and machinery manufacturing industries hold meetings? What's the point of having so many random exhibitors and so many irrelevant people coming to visit? Is it even useful? It just creates so much trouble..."

"General Manager, I think we need to screen companies in the machinery industry and manufacturing units. Not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can squeeze in. It's ridiculous that township enterprises can sit alongside our subordinate enterprises..."

As you walk up the stairs to the second-floor conference room, you can hear similar noises continuously.

Wei Dong was speechless. Sometimes when he saw a big shot with a cold and arrogant face, it wasn't necessarily because they looked down on him, but because there were just too many idiots.

However, even he didn't know the specifics of how the exhibition was organized. He had never experienced it in his past life, nor had he participated in it in this life; he had only glimpsed it twice.

Old Gao tentatively suggested, "Shouldn't we invite a leader to give a speech at the opening ceremony?"

This shouldn't be difficult. The Ministry of Machine Building, the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building, and the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building could all get leaders to endorse it, and it wouldn't be difficult for even the Economic Commission, the China National Automobile Corporation, or someone of Lao Fang's level to come.

Many exhibitors decide how much they will invest in the exhibition based on which level of bigwigs are participating.

Wei Dong shook his head again: "This is a business exhibition. They deliberately avoid so much administrative attitude. It's enough for the city leaders to give a speech. Those who can't get on the bus deserve to wait to die."

In fact, everyone was busy scrambling to get on the bus.

Even if people question the quality, they won't doubt the scale.

This unprecedented national auto industry exhibition was held during a time when everyone was desperately seeking sales channels and struggling to survive, so everyone was eager to seize such an opportunity.

273 car manufacturers!

With over 2,400 parts manufacturers, the original 1,000 second-floor parts display booths had to be used in every nook and cranny, stairwell corner, and aisle. The booths were also reduced from the planned 3 meters by 3 meters to 1.8 meters, and some were moved to the first floor.

This was the first time we organized this event, and the fees were very low: 500 yuan for car manufacturers and 200 yuan for parts manufacturers.

Excluding booth rental, the basic revenue of around 600,000 yuan, according to Wei Dong, if they hold these kinds of exhibitions all year round, with dozens or even hundreds of events, wouldn't that make up for the cost of building the exhibition hall?

This is the proper business model, not government funding followed by neglect.

Now, the factory managers and leaders of car factories and parts factories are all crammed inside and outside the meeting room, chattering away like they're in a vegetable market, which is enough to make your blood pressure spike and cause a lot of irritability.

However, having Wei Dong walk by with a cold face did manage to calm the gradually quieting atmosphere. Lao Gao and Lao Tang went up to talk to him, and the others whispered among themselves, asking who he was. Of course, they also noticed the elegant woman in a trench coat with her hands in her pockets and a designer handbag behind her.

Collins, Santana, and Jiang'an's leaders were sitting at the conference table inside. The three of them were joint venture giants and the backbone of the entire exhibition.

Even though the other models share the same origin as Jiang'an's minivans, they were all replicas assembled from parts they found themselves, which is quite different from assembling the originals. None of them were worthy of a seat at the table. But unexpectedly, CDK-assembled sedans that had just rolled off the production line in Tianjin in September and CDK-assembled station wagons that had rolled off the production line in Yuezhou in October were both present!
Secretary Zhai from the city government, representing the government, also attended the final working meeting. When he saw Wei Dong emerge from the crowd, he waved to him.

Wei Dong finally smiled a little, and then he saw Sister Duan and Sister Song, who ran a hot pot restaurant, squeezed into a corner of the conference room, helping to serve tea and water...

He frowned slightly. You're all business people, yet you still entertain guests like this. Wouldn't it be more pleasing to the eye and more in line with the scene if you hired some young girls to do the work?
But in this era, people are desperately trying to seize opportunities. The more they fight, the more they have to grab those opportunities at all costs.

Wei Dong shook hands with several factory leaders and Secretary Zhai, then took the corded microphone handed to him by Lao Gao and said, "We've had five or six preparatory meetings already, and today all the exhibitors are finally here. We don't need to worry about those who haven't arrived yet. The opening ceremony is tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. Except for urgent matters, you can give your opinions to Lao Gao, the general manager of the auto show, and the general manager of the exhibition center. Otherwise, listen to me!"

Among the thousands present, each commanded dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of generals.

Then, suddenly, there was another loud bang.

They're hard to manage. You're not the Minister of the Ministry of Machinery Industry, so why should they listen to you? When there are benefits to be had, they'll just grab the best for themselves.

They even went so far as to claim it was for the survival of the company, because so many people were waiting to make a living.

When he was a security guard, Wei Dong never had this kind of domineering aura. Now, he has been tempered in the wild environment for three years.

Raising his voice sharply to stop them, he said, "Just now, someone asked why we hold an exhibition, why we let ordinary people come to watch the spectacle, and why we want township enterprises with nothing to stand on equal footing with large state-owned factories. Let me emphasize again, perhaps among those inconspicuous ordinary people outside are children who dream of dedicating their lives to the automotive industry. Perhaps... no, there are definitely small factories and enterprises here that, under the leadership of shrewd and capable leaders, will turn the tables on large state-owned factories and become the automotive giants of the future!"

The whole scene became even more spectacular.

Only a dozen or so people could sit at the conference table, and the entire conference room could only accommodate a hundred or so people, with most of them crammed into the spacious aisle outside.

The factory leaders at the table, who had initially looked embarrassed and disdainful, suddenly heard someone outside shout, "Thank you! We will work hard!"

"Bro, I'm sure you were right to sleep like that!"

Suddenly, a whole bunch of people responded in various dialects!

Wei Dong still didn't look pleased and raised his voice, "I'm not just making empty promises or trying to motivate you. We've been preparing for half a month, allowing everyone to enter the exhibition early to prepare. Actually, it's just to provide an opportunity for all manufacturers to exchange ideas. I know some factories have already signed many processing cooperation agreements, which can be registered with Lao Gao in the end. In addition to assisting you with transportation and sales, we can even help you advertise. The power of advertising goes without saying. Everyone is here because they saw the exhibition's advertisements. Feiyan sanitary napkins, XX computers, Xililai clothing, and Bainian Runfa shampoo are all our products. We can help good brands become famous brands. Even if you're just a nut manufacturer, you can become the national nut king!"

Aside from Collins and others who needed to listen to the translator, everyone else started to get restless.

Even if you don't know Rang Weidong, just hearing about these famous brands makes you think, "If we were that famous, we'd be rich!"

There are a lot of people outside trying to squeeze in right now.

Old Gao was surrounded by a kind of Newtonian attraction, almost turning him into a sunflower.

Wei Dong frowned: "Can we please maintain order? The exhibition is a place for all manufacturers to negotiate and cooperate in an orderly manner. If we make it like the wild tactics of small vendors outside, it will only make people suspect that your company and products are also not following the rules!"

Now his words carried weight, and his orders were obeyed without question, leaving the person squeezed at the door looking utterly embarrassed.

Qin Yuye loved this kind of lordly aura so much that he secretly took out a camera to take pictures.

Actually, there were quite a few reporters in the corner around the table, all silently taking pictures.

Wei Dong tried to be concise: "In my personal opinion, at this stage we should focus our efforts on developing about ten state-owned and private car brands. Other inferior products cobbled together will be eliminated by the market sooner or later. Car companies that can't produce and sell thousands or tens of thousands of cars every year will definitely be killed by their growing competitors. This exhibition is for car companies and auto parts companies across the country to compare their strengths. Those that lack technical strength, production quality, and business philosophy should choose to focus on a certain type of parts supply as soon as possible. It's better than trying to make complete vehicles and ending up bankrupt with heavy debts. A stormy era of automobiles is coming!"

It caused another uproar; it felt like even Wei Dong's microphone couldn't contain everyone's outburst.

There are over two hundred car companies, and you say there should only be about ten. But look at the other ten or so companies on the table; they are mostly large factories with joint venture or state-owned backgrounds. Are they trying to kill us?

All the small car manufacturers are starting to curse!

Secretary Zhai frowned deeply.

Wei Dong, however, stood firm like a boulder in a torrent, calmly observing everything before him: "Everyone has to die, that's a great truth, but most people pretend not to know or think about it. It's the same with businesses. If you're just sitting in your own county or town, thinking you're pretty great, able to assemble a road-going car and sell it to unsuspecting customers, ask yourselves honestly, do you know that your cars are prone to breakdowns and have hidden dangers? When joint venture car manufacturers streamline their production capacity and flood the market with high-quality products that only require maintenance once a year, will you still be able to survive? I'm telling you, that time may be three to five years, or maybe even next year or the year after. You're all going to die. The difference is whether you dare to prepare in advance and change course!"

Private ownership of cars and boats was only permitted in 1983, and it was only in those two or three years that so many brands emerged.

And now they're suddenly saying you're all doomed!
Did they pay the exhibition fee only to receive a critical illness notice?

(End of this chapter)