Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 390 Half Seawater, Half Flame
"How long will it take for Mr. Chen to spend four or five billion?" Liu Yonghao asked.

"In about two or three months, a batch of stocks will be sold off quickly."

"But... next month, they're going to hold a board reshuffle meeting and take back one of my two seats. Also, one of the directors who supports me might be replaced, leaving me all alone, unable to make a difference."

"Replacing directors requires a shareholders' meeting vote. How close are you to the veto threshold?"

"It's about 4% short. If you take in 2%, that should be enough."

In fact, Liu Yonghao had 31.3% support, only 2.7% short. However, if Chen Xuebing absorbed the circulating shares to join the vote, the two sides' share would be diluted a little. 3% is the basic line, so he reported 1% more.

In fact, even if he is ousted from the next vote, he will not only retain more control over the fundamentals, but some shareholders who support him may also turn against him, because some people may not want to see a situation where one party dominates.

He was already willing to gamble, and with Chen Xuebing joining in, his chances of winning were even greater.

Chen Xuebing nodded slowly: "I understand. Within a month, my shareholding will increase to over 2%."

"However, it won't be easy for Mr. Chen to support my opposition to related-party transactions with shareholders. This is a board resolution. There are nine board seats, and I need to get five votes, which is a majority vote. In January, I proposed 'Restricting Related-Party Transactions with Shareholders,' but it was rejected by the board."

"How many votes were vetoed?"

"Seven to two." Liu Yonghao's face flushed slightly.

"His-"

Chen Xuebing raised his eyebrows.

Good grief, you only have two seats, seven to two?

What about the directors who support you?
So it turns out you're the one supporting them, right?
When someone is about to be kicked out, they ask you for help; but when it comes to eliminating related-party transactions, even they oppose it.

Isn't that still just one hand on your head?

However, from Liu Yonghao's perspective, it seems that he can only try to win over anyone he can.

The Nationalist army swept across from them, and there was a bandit standing on the hilltop. They wanted to eliminate him and also take down the bandit, so the bandit became an ally.

Mr. Liu has had a tough time working for Minsheng Bank.

"Take it slow," Chen Xuebing said with a sigh, wiping the sweat from his brow.

He has more than just Liu Yonghao in his dealings with Minsheng Bank; Lu Zhiqiang is also on his overseas investment ship.

Lu Zhiqiang opposes Liu Yonghao because of conflicting interests, but his attitude towards him may not necessarily be the same.

If Chairman Dong Wenbiao sees his growing power, he might try to win him over.

His short-term goal is simply to gain control over public discourse, secure a position, and suppress the Tomorrow Group.

Major shareholders of banks have numerous legitimate rights and interests.

First, he has priority in subscribing to shares issued by listed companies to banks at low prices, similar to the kind of share issuance by Nanjing Iron & Steel that Xin Mengzhen once worked himself to the bone for. He can get it just by sitting back and doing nothing.

Second, internal acquisition of non-performing assets and defaulted real estate project asset packages. As long as he is interested, he can obtain the most comprehensive project information without going through the judicial auction process.

Third, bank dividends. These days, bank dividends are pretty good.

Fourth, priority should be given to obtaining order information from core enterprises. Any changes in the business information of enterprises that have borrowed from Minsheng Bank must be reported to the bank.

Even without being informed, they have the right to investigate.

Minsheng Bank's market capitalization is only 1200 billion yuan, but its total deposits reached 7770 billion yuan and total loans reached 5543 billion yuan last year. These figures are still rising, indicating that Minsheng Bank has far too much information at its disposal.

V. Right to participate in banking operations.

VI. QDII foreign exchange quota.

7. He has the right to negotiate low interest rates on bank loans. Even without engaging in related-party loans, his status as a major shareholder of Minsheng Bank gives him certain privileges with other banks.

8. Bargaining power of the Long March Financing Bank channel.

Nine.
Too much.

Many of these privileges were things that previously required a lot of time to communicate to obtain, and there was also some information that he couldn't get despite his best efforts.

These things might not be useful to other bank shareholders, but for him, who is on a winning streak, the ability to discern information is far superior to others. There are some business opportunities that he simply cannot think of until they are right in front of him, and even if he does think of them, he still needs to understand and analyze them in depth. Even after a thorough analysis, he may not be able to participate. What he lacks is the breadth of information and the ability to participate. With this identity as a support, it's like having a menu of many profitable businesses placed in front of him and letting him choose at will.

Many top international conglomerates have survived for over a century thanks to their extraordinary intelligence and connections; for him, it was an even greater advantage.

This is just one Minsheng Bank. If a bank had a seat on the board of directors of a national joint-stock commercial bank like China Merchants Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, or Industrial Bank, its status would be almost indistinguishable from that of a tycoon.

In other words, this kind of monopoly on core financial information is actually quite dangerous, so it's best to be cautious.

At the beginning of the year, he set a goal for Kan Zhidong: to secure deals with two companies, that would be enough.

In his previous life, Liu Yonghao served as a director of Minsheng Bank and Shenzhen Development Bank, and a shareholder of Industrial Bank. He also served as a director of Minsheng Bank and a shareholder of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank in Oriental Group.

His understanding of the red line of the rules is to loosen the rules a little bit, based on what others have done before.

Pshaw, a billion.
Sigh, I've gotten used to being unrestrained.

Little by little, just a little bit.

This really can only be done in small amounts.

After the sauna, Liu Yonghao took the initiative to invite them to dinner. They went to a nicely decorated little restaurant in a lane in Jing'an and went up to the second floor.

We didn't order any food; the proprietress arranged the dishes based on the freshest ingredients.

This Shanghainese restaurant surprisingly incorporated Sichuan dishes like "Lantern Shadow Beef" and "Garlic Pork Rolls." Both dishes were quite delicious, and the presentation was exquisite, reflecting the refined style of a Shanghainese restaurant. It's clear they went to great lengths to keep Mr. Liu, their esteemed guest, there.

Indeed, it shows great foresight. The guests that General Manager Liu entertained were all extraordinary. After General Manager Chen tasted the food, he called the owner's wife and left his phone number, planning that if he didn't want to eat in the cafeteria while living in Shanghai, he could order takeout from this restaurant, regardless of the price.

The two chatted about the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle and also about Liu Yonghao's second brother, Liu Yongxing.

Liu Yonghao is the youngest of four brothers.

In the 80s, the four brothers sold their family assets and started a breeding business in Chengdu, eventually building the Hope Group, the first private enterprise in China. In 95, they split up and started four companies.

The eldest is Mainland Hope, the second is Eastern Hope, the third is West China Hope, and the fourth is New Hope.

After the family split up, the second brother, Liu Yongxing, switched to heavy industry. He acquired a piece of wasteland in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, and developed it into an "industrial super family bucket," making him a genius at saving money.

The electrolytic aluminum plant is a major electricity consumer, so it built its own power plant and mined coal from the neighboring coal mine. Last year, it also started photovoltaics and began industrial silicon purification. The overall electricity price is 40% cheaper than the State Grid. It has also built many supporting factories, and even the cardboard boxes for packaging aluminum and the railway for transporting goods are all made by itself.

In 21, aluminum prices rebounded, and the stock market speculated on the aluminum sector for a while. Chen Xuebing was researching the aluminum industry for the first time and also noticed this company. When the aluminum price was 1.9 yuan/ton, his peers earned 4000 yuan per ton, while he earned 7000 yuan per ton. This data left a deep impression on him. Unfortunately, this heavy industry giant with annual revenue of 2000 billion yuan has never been listed. Whenever related sectors are speculated on, investors can only choose targets from the listed companies that cooperate with it.

At that time, East Hope's polysilicon profits had already surpassed those of electrolytic aluminum, making it a world giant in both photovoltaic and semiconductor materials. Polysilicon is used in photovoltaics, optical fibers, and semiconductors.

Electrolytic aluminum is the universal metal framework of industry and an important material for new energy vehicles, aerospace, and high-speed rail bodies.

These are all important areas that Chen Xuebing will enter in the future.

Chen Xuebing was well aware of the extent and scale of this person's abnormal cost control, and because he was very low-key, he subtly expressed his desire to get to know Liu Yonghao.

The two brothers have a very close relationship, and their businesses are the strongest among the four brothers in the family. The wealth ranking of "Liu Yongxing and Liu Yonghao" is in the same frame, and the media calls them an "invisible community of destiny".

Liu Yonghao readily agreed, saying that when Yongxing came to Shanghai, they would all have a meal together.

As for the Ziyang transit warehouse, Liu Yonghao was somewhat tempted by the landed price of 1800 yuan per square meter. He promised to arrange for someone to inspect it immediately. If Huaxi Group's park design was good, New Hope and Oriental Hope could take over the remaining 9 square meters.

Liu Yonghao easily helped Liu Yongxing's Oriental Hope make decisions worth hundreds of millions, and Chen Xuebing also saw that the two brothers had an extraordinary relationship.

Chen Xuebing ordered a bottle of aged Shaoxing rice wine from Kuaiji Mountain, a local specialty. Both of them were a little dehydrated after the sauna, so they started drinking it before they could even sober up. The Shaoxing rice wine was thick and clung to the glass, with a slightly caramel sweetness. The two people from Sichuan and Chongqing started speaking their hometown dialect, and their conversation became even more lively.

The spring breeze never lingers.

Mr. Chen is busy all year round.

长征信托募资通道在18.6亿的额度截止，3月22号联系上海外汇局，3月23日，按照购汇当日上午9点15分发布的银行挂牌价1美元= 7.7350人民币通过专用托管账户汇出2.4亿美元，打入QDII海外收款账户。

Chen Xuebing sent the remittance slip to Goldman Sachs' Fabrice email address, and then, after a phone conversation, revised the $3.1 million contract to $3.5 million.

Everything went very smoothly.

Because in the month following the signing of the contract, the US government and regulators intervened in the subprime market. JPMorgan Chase provided emergency loans to Bear Stearns. On March 21, the Federal Reserve's FOMC meeting announced that it would maintain the interest rate at 5.25% and removed the previous wording of "further tightening". The market interpreted this as a signal of policy shift, and the S&P 500 rose 1.6% that day.

The ABX index, a bellwether for subprime mortgage derivatives, also began a super rebound in response to the news, surging 18%.

The pig, which was on the verge of death, actually stood up and even ran.

The conflict between the American market and Western economics had reached a point where one of them had to die.

With the market recovering so well, more banks are willing to act as guarantors for CDS.

Paulson's team is likely going through a struggle right now, meaning their CDS contracts may be even longer before they see any hope of receiving compensation for a default, and their four-year contracts are becoming less valuable over time.

However, in Chen Xuebing's eyes, this was just a last gasp before the sun set.

At this rate, an even more frenzied market will only push the subprime crisis into an even more dangerous abyss.

In addition, on the same day that Chen Xuebing finished his talks with Liu Yonghao (March 22), the 2.594 million yuan repurchase payment for BOE shares from Changzheng TMT Fund and Hefei arrived in the account.

Based on the repurchase price of 8.7 yuan, the total amount is approximately 22.57 billion yuan, with each party receiving 11.28 billion yuan.

Logically, Hefei should have earned 8.1 million yuan from these shares, and 2.43 million yuan should have been transferred over. However, Hefei invested 8 million yuan last year and has only recovered its costs and made a profit of over 3 million yuan so it cannot be settled in this way.

After negotiations, the Hefei side transferred 100 million yuan first, and the remainder would be settled after the remaining shares were sold.

This 100 million yuan is the operating profit of Changzheng and has nothing to do with the TMT fund.

Chen Xuebing immediately instructed the TMT fund to look for opportunities and buy Minsheng A-shares with all its might.

Minsheng is a super large-cap stock, listed on both A-shares and H-shares in Hong Kong. The restricted shares generated by the equity split reform in 2005 were released on January 9, 2007, with 47 billion A-shares in circulation. In addition, some shares are also circulating in H-shares, with a total market value of nearly 70 billion. There is almost no need to consider the fluctuation of buying, only the fluctuation of stock price.

The next day happened to be Friday, the closing day. After the market opened, the stock price dropped by 2 cents to 11.8 yuan. Changzheng bought 3000 million shares throughout the day and appeared on Minsheng's shareholder list.

On Friday afternoon, Chen Xuebing also appeared at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport.

Saturday.

Duwen Expressway, north entrance of Dongjiashan Tunnel.

The roar of bulldozers pierced the morning mist. At 8:30 a.m., the sun had not yet brought warmth, and the air was a bit chilly, but the echoes of the vigorous roars at the tunnel entrance made the whole scene feel somewhat hot.

"Second team, inspect the support frame! Third team, measure the gas concentration!"

300 meters from the tunnel entrance, four fire trucks were parked, and 20 firefighters in full firefighting and rescue gear were on duty.

A group of people wearing safety helmets stared intently in the direction of the tunnel.

Director Xian, Chen Xuebing, and Bi Yaxiong at the front of the group remained silent, somewhat nervous as they listened to the shouting coming from inside the tunnel.

The Dongjiashan Tunnel on the Dujiangyan-Wenchuan Expressway experienced a gas explosion last year, and the second phase of construction is even more difficult than the first.

There is a possibility of a landslide, and there is also the possibility of another explosion.

If an accident occurs ahead, the fire department must call for support as quickly as possible and move into the scene.

Chen Xuebing didn't expect that he would encounter the Dongjiashan Tunnel restarting after surveying as soon as he arrived in Sichuan. So early in the morning, he made an appointment with Director Xian to go to the site for inspection, hoping that the leader could help coordinate and allocate more support personnel to keep an eye on this area.

Everyone could feel the extreme danger inside the tunnel.

Gu'an Construction's project manager, Yao Zhixin, calmly and methodically introduced the project from the side.

"For this task force, we've brought in six technical experts from the Nibashan Tunnel on the Yalu Expressway, as well as 12 engineering soldiers who participated in the reconstruction efforts after the 2003 Algerian earthquake. The team leader is Yang Dechang, a blasting expert who's 63 years old! He used to be the construction team leader for the Shamarada Tunnel on the Chengdu-Kunming Railway! They're all very experienced! The most difficult geological re-exploration phase is over! The biggest concern is the potential for hidden gas accumulation! Our project team and Mr. Yang have already gone in to conduct several surveys! There shouldn't be any major problems!"

Yao Zhixin spoke calmly, but when he mentioned the aforementioned teams, he was obviously hoping that the big boss would give credit to the brothers.

The air was still somewhat suffocating. Chen Xuebing understood what he meant and nodded slightly.

"You've worked hard. I'll come to Chengdu to celebrate with you when we're all done."

He had reviewed the construction process and knew that during the anchor bolt installation stage, drilling vibrations could induce stress release in the rock strata, and excessive grouting pressure could also cause rock mass to split. These were all millimeter-level errors, and the excavation had to be stopped every 1.5 meters, with all personnel evacuated to a safe area for two hours of observation before construction could resume.

Without strong mental fortitude, it's simply impossible to complete.

Just then, a loud "thump" was heard from inside, and the atmosphere froze.

Chen Xuebing's expression tightened, and he immediately strode forward.

"Chairman! It's alright, it's alright!" Yao Zhixin quickly grabbed him and laughed, "It's just that the newly installed hydraulic support columns are getting under load! Good news!"

Chen Xuebing finally stopped, and for the first time this morning, he had a smile on his face.

Shanghai and Chengdu are like two worlds, one half seawater and the other half flames.

Upon arriving here, he unconsciously thought of the major events that would happen next year, and felt a bit nervous.

"Safety first!"

(End of this chapter)