My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 829 Weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival; arrogance is.
The Cherokee supply chain easily acquired production line personnel comprised almost entirely of university students.

This was in the 1980s when college students were still precious treasures.

It can be described as luxurious.

Moreover, major universities are vying to lead teams to participate in the cooperation, establishing various automation research institutes and materials research institutes in the industrial park by the airport road in the northern suburbs.

Treat the production line as the front line of teaching.

This was the bustling scene when complete sets of industrial equipment from Jiangsu and Lianzhou were introduced in the 1950s.

It has been reproduced.

Conditions are actually much better now than they were back then, so why can't we do it all over again like that?

Wei Dong didn't even bother to promote or recruit manpower for the Dodge supply chain in Shanghai.

Let's leave that area to the universities in Shanghai.

This immediately drew criticism from some people.

Not only are there so many makeshift repair shops turning into car factories, but other large state-owned factories are also introducing production lines. What are we supposed to do if you're hoarding all the talent?
Before anyone was vying for them, they didn't seem to cherish them much.

But now that I see I've reaped a lot of rewards, I've jumped out of the water.

Of course, in the days before social media and trending topics on the internet, the options were either to submit a report and issue a formal order, or to directly confront the person in question.

We went directly to the scene.

However, at this point, it was no longer just college students who gathered; people from various departments that had received the news also came.

Of course, some people will definitely be grumbling and complaining, feeling that they were sent here to waste time even though it was supposed to be their off-duty time.

Some people came on their own initiative, seizing the opportunity to do so.

Some people even went so far as to drag together leaders and experts to see the new situation.

People with a sharp mind and a broad perspective can recognize that this is a crucial juncture for private enterprises, or different business models, to step onto the historical stage.

First, observe, understand, think, and figure out what's going on before you're qualified to make a judgment.

This is at least a basic line of thinking.

As a result, the number of people gathered was too large; just this part, plus Wu Xi's friends and acquaintances, numbered over a thousand.

For the first time ever, cameras and microphones were added, and reporters were also seen around.

Yu Xiaoqiu was very excited, feeling that her family had finally made something of themselves and received so much official recognition. She actively led the food service staff and a group of office clerks to make reception arrangements.

Men naturally have a better perspective at this time, and Wang Zhiwen and Liu Zhiyuan noticed the difference, their expressions becoming somewhat serious.

Yu Qili became even more excited.

Even at this critical juncture, it's clear that some people are born to handle big situations.

Wei Dong must have been forged through hard work and experience.

It's impossible for him not to be a little scratching his head. He really just happened to see so many college student employees in the office that day and casually mentioned that he wanted to explain the current development status of these categories at the career service center and encourage the recruitment of college students to join.

That's it.

It's now showing off like a super behemoth spanning multiple fields and industries!
So, holding the microphone, I went on stage, thinking to myself: Damn it, I need to get straight to the point and quickly finish explaining the rest of these trades.

He didn't have the eloquence of that college entrance exam consultant influencer: "Today I'll combine electronics, clothing, and shopping malls/supermarkets into one discussion, because these are the most common commodity sectors in a market economy..."

The car factory's test track and parking lot are simply too full to hold them all!

The students in front tried to squeeze together and sit on the ground.

After many laps, I started sitting on bricks, two or three bricks higher.

Further on were benches and long benches, long benches pulled out from the cafeteria, where a large number of scholars, teachers, and officials gathered.

Finally, the group stands with their chests pressed against their backs, completely covered.

Even the high-rise buildings next door were packed with people.

Now, like a gentle breeze across a lake, everyone is bowing their heads, turning a page and taking notes!

The rolling waves of wheat were crystal clear. This gave Wei Dong a strong sense of responsibility to speak properly and not let anyone down: "One of my team members is a returned overseas Chinese. A few years ago, after graduating high school, he went to Hong Kong to take care of his grandmother. He discovered a very simple way to make money: importing currently popular items from Hong Kong to the mainland. These are absolutely superior products—electronic watches, jeans, radios, televisions—because we have a huge consumer market of one billion people and a product gap of decades. It's like water naturally flowing downhill. Ah, I see envy in many people's eyes..."

Some people even avoided eye contact, embarrassed.

But Wei Dong was merely providing inspiration:
"Doing this only enriches a few individuals and has no social benefit. Calling them unscrupulous merchants is one thing, but if it involves smuggling, it's even more unforgivable. So, to avoid this situation, our approach was to develop productivity, introduce production lines and styles, and successfully have the Jiangzhou sewing machine factory imitate similar garment sewing machines, while the Jiangzhou printing and dyeing factory and cotton mill provided the fabrics. Ultimately, this solved the employment problem for thousands of workers and successfully brought down the price of jeans from fifty US dollars for exports, twenty US dollars for Hong Kong production, and more than twenty US dollars for coastal areas to below ten yuan, making these sturdy and durable canvas pants popular in the last two years..."

In fact, the moment he mentioned the price of jeans, the whole room started cheering and applauding, and many people sitting in the front even playfully lifted their legs to show off their jeans.

The main surprise was that everyone was amazed to discover how the jeans we wear every day are made.

Wei Dong raised his hand but immediately fell silent: "What I'm saying is that everyday products such as electrical appliances, cosmetics, shampoos, and casual clothing can all be made using this approach. Students in related majors or those who are interested in these things can come to our relevant factories to work and learn. Once you understand it, whether you start your own business or cooperate with other manufacturers, it will be an excellent career choice."

The entire audience fell into a near-silent silence.

Perhaps there's an even stranger feeling inside, like crows and sparrows cawing as they fly by.

When recruiting, isn't everyone trying to recruit people from their own side? Even with cars and computers, you want your comrades to go the distance together.

How did it become like casually telling you the routine, like cabbage, and even explicitly stating that you can do whatever you want after learning it?

Wei Dong had no intention of showing off: "The reason is simple: these industries are too simple and have little technological content. We tried to figure out the routines and then didn't delve too deeply into them because we have already accumulated a lot of advantages. If we continue to focus on these industries, it will only affect and suppress the development of other peers."

Therefore, our outstanding team, which has gathered many college students from the very beginning, is always trying to reach higher, deeper, and more challenging fields that require our breakthroughs.

Retaining these factories is merely to guarantee employment. The tax authorities and business registration departments can check our income and expenditure statements for these parts over the past two years; we've basically managed to break even, with profits offset by wages, welfare benefits, housing construction, and children's education.

Look at what you're saying!

The college students' eyes are practically screaming, "I want to go!"
Who wouldn't want to go with such great benefits?

Even when it comes to serving one's country, one hopes that one's efforts will be rewarded, right?
This is human nature.

But some people sitting on the benches started to frown. If you treat people like this, who can compete with you?

Before they could even find a starting point, the television factory representative raised their hand and asked, "Comrade Weidong... could you explain in detail the seemingly simple aspects of the electronics industry? We don't think it's that easy either."

Tens of thousands of people were crammed together in an area the size of a football field.

The middle-aged woman's voice was originally difficult to hear, but Wu Xi and the others around her, with the spirit of watching the excitement and not minding the trouble, all clasped their hands together and shouted in unison, acting as a human megaphone, especially the guy who made the TV off-road vehicle, who put in a lot of effort.

The college students all turned to look over, still quite naive. Oh, that's because you didn't give Wei Dong and the others that kind of ability.

Those who actually did the work are all eager to understand the many details that Wei Dong glossed over.

You can just say "Zhao Yun charged in and out of Changban Slope seven times" and that's it? That's not how storytellers do it.

Wei Dong heard this and turned around. The TV factory had come to talk to him. Pingjing TV Factory... was not bad. Like Cherokee, it was a factory that didn't have the qualifications but was forced to become a model.

I mentioned to him that they have a market share of over half in the Pyeongchang area and about one-third in the northern region.

But in the end, it still went bankrupt.

Once industrial products enter the market and competition begins, no matter how much resources are allocated to those who lack talent, they will at best remain hopeless cases.

They'll get utterly crushed by those super players who have all the advantages.

So Wei Dong was asked to briefly talk about his experience making radios in Chengdu:

"I never intended to do this; I just wanted to find some work for the third-line factories deep in the mountains. But the editor-in-chief of a newspaper I knew wanted to make connections so that our reform ideas could drive the electronics factories. Chengdu is a major area for the relocation of the electronics industry, so it is quite strong in this regard."

"As a result, the state-owned electronics factories were too busy with their existing television and radio cassette production lines to care about or even disdain cooperation. In the end, we ended up starting out at the inconspicuous Rongdu Post and Telecommunications School's factory. Now, the production and sales of X-cassette recorders are still decent. I can say with certainty that I don't know if those large state-owned factories will still be around in a few years, but X-cassette recorders should still be around..."

The room had just been in an uproar, and now the state-owned factory is gone?!

This time, however, the college students were surprised and incredulous, while the various departments and manufacturers frowned and were alarmed. Your words are truly cutting to the bone.

Only then can they see the shocking reality.

Let Wei Dong not reveal the secret: "The reason is very simple. Do these state-owned factories have the ability to independently research and develop and produce? The electrical appliances they produced before basically followed the style and ideas of Su Lian. Have they created any new products that can rival others? No, they can only patch up the existing structure. Therefore, they are far behind the rapid development of Europe and the United States in the past few decades."

"Once we introduced production lines from Europe and America that weren't the most advanced, we immediately felt like we were invincible again. We thought we could sell in the market and just focus on production. But did we develop new products? Did we explore the next generation of products? Did we create products with entirely new ideas? No, we didn't!"

"Let me tell you, these manufacturers can't even beat small private factories in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. They have a very simple trick: they ask sailors going abroad to help bring back related products, so they can copy every new generation of products. Just by doing this, they can crush all the unenterprising manufacturers!"

The college students all understood.

(End of this chapter)