Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 394 Handling According to Law
Chen Xuebing spent a full week in Chengdu.

During his inspection of the project over the past few days, his various reports on the negotiated sale of the Chenghua plot seemed to have gone unanswered in Chengdu.

Chen Xuebing, however, remained calm and composed, quietly waiting in Chengdu.

It's not that simple.

On the morning of March 29, all senior executives of Gu'an Construction were present in the conference room of the Qingyang Command Center.

Chairman Yu Chunyin, General Manager Bi Yaxiong, Vice General Manager Pang Yi, Vice Chief Engineer Liu Zehui, and the heads and deputy heads of the Human Resources Department, Engineering Management Department, Budget and Settlement Department, and Bidding and Procurement Department (Contract Management Department) of Sichuan Second Construction Company.

Most of them were new faces, and Chen Xuebing didn't recognize them all.

It's not necessary to know them all, because Guan Construction is currently undergoing a period of management adjustment, and the department heads are all temporary.

The Second Construction Company of Sichuan Province, acquired from Huaxi Construction Group, is currently handling the Dujiangyan-Wenchuan Expressway project independently. Although it operates under an independent brand, it will eventually undergo a process of being merged into Anhui Construction Group and will be responsible for the group's transportation engineering projects.

Chen Xuebing sat alone at one end, opposite a conference system connected to the conference room of the Chongqing New York Building.

There are also many people on the other side.

Chief Engineer Tang Qiankun, Consultant Zhang Qingzhong, Gu'an Labor Services' newly appointed General Manager Tan Maoshui, Licheng Real Estate's General Manager Liang Hui, and Debon Green Building's General Manager Zhao Fuhua.

Chongqing also underwent some personnel adjustments. The general managers of the companies that were acquired to form the Gu'an Group were all familiar faces. Liang Hui's position as deputy general manager of the construction group was canceled, and he was given a real estate company. This company has property management qualifications and is backed by real estate business in Sichuan. It will also take over the property of Huijin Building when its lease expires next year.

This company is of great significance. In the future, it will be responsible for collecting rent for the group's property management and also for the property management of real estate projects. In fact, it is a comprehensive commercial property management company with huge future profits. Moreover, there are a lot of unseen and trivial accounts. Although Chen Xuebing plans to send a professional manager to take the lead in management, he has also arranged for Liang Hui to be sent there in advance to familiarize himself with the business. He also plans to send Zhang Hang there as well. The two brothers may not be able to manage such a large business as the group, but they are more than capable of keeping track of such trivial accounts.

Tan Maoshui's Gu'an Labor Service is responsible for completing the original Chongqing water project, helping the group train and dispatch Chongqing technical workers, and can also undertake some of the group's labor team subcontracting in the future.

The chubby construction worker whom Chen Xuebing had once favored, Zhao Fuhua, the motorcycle warrior, manages Debon Green Building and is responsible for undertaking government greening projects that do not yet exist. If the team matures, they can start by taking on some greening projects for real estate developments.

These companies are currently recruiting guerrilla teams in Chongqing, and they will later follow the group company to work all over the country.

The construction group was built up by Chen Xuebing. Although its internal structure is small at present, it has all the necessary functions, including real estate, civil engineering, property management, landscaping, and transportation. Soon, the procurement department will be established as an independent company, and there are also joint-stock companies such as Chongqing Jiaotong Construction Design Institute.

There is also a materials production business.

This is still a first-tier branch company structure; more second- and third-tier project companies will be acquired and created in the future.

"Chunying Special Steel has resumed production. According to the chairman's idea, this company will only do one business, which is our special steel for real estate. The procurement channel is the long-term contract ore from Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group. Although the price is 8% higher than the scrap steel recycled by the public and the scraps from state-owned enterprises, the quality can fully meet the requirements. It is more advantageous than the price of Indonesian and Vietnamese ore from port traders."

"The selection of Maotian Cement Plant's plant manager was a well-considered decision. The final decision was to appoint Xiong Dehui, the former vice president of sales at Jidong Cement, with an annual salary of 40 yuan plus a 3% bonus."

"Yu Jun, the deputy director of production and an expert from Hefei Cement Institute, is proficient in vertical mill and waste heat power generation technology and has experience with a 5000-ton-per-day production line. He made a pledge that under his management, the standard coal consumption of 120 kg per ton can be reduced to below 105 kg. The price of coal delivered to the plant from Guizhou is quite high, at 320 yuan per ton, so we offer a monthly salary of 2 yuan plus a coal-saving bonus."

"The deputy director of the supply and marketing department was Song Siyuan, the former deputy director of the materials and equipment department of Chongqing Construction Engineering Group. His condition was that he had no base salary and received a 3% commission on independent sales."

Vice President Pang Yi, a management expert hired by Bi Yaxiong, reported on recent material production matters in an orderly manner.

At this point, Chief Engineer Tang Qiankun spoke up: "I recommended Dong Song Siyuan. He used to have a wide network within the Road and Bridge Group!"

The network here is average; it's not a dedicated broadband line like those at Changzheng and Qidian, so it's a bit laggy.

But everyone understood.

The relationships are quite extensive.

3% of sales revenue, rather than profit, is no small amount, but to dare to ask for that amount, even without a base salary, shows that they must have some confidence.

Chen Xuebing nodded in approval: "We should recommend more people like this. By the way, Maotian has proven limestone reserves of 5000 million tons, and the ore grade is quite high. Can the sales handle it all? After your assessment, is there any opportunity to expand production capacity?"

He had been eyeing this idea for a long time and wanted to know how much economic benefit it would actually bring.

“Possibly,” Pang Yi continued. “As a project with huge development potential, we have formulated a series of production and sales plans after on-site inspections. The first phase of Maotian has an annual production capacity of one million tons, and the Lutang mining area in Pengshui can continue to explore and expand production capacity. However, the mining rights in the main urban area are monopolized by Lafarge and Jidong. Our transportation costs are high, and we do not have a price advantage in the competition. Therefore, we need to avoid price wars in the main urban area and focus on cement supply agreements with new highways and large local contractors. We will set up a major customer department to connect with state-owned construction bureaus. We have a good interpersonal advantage in this regard. The Yangtze River waterway sales line is also our unique advantage. Ensuring the sales of the first phase project should not be a problem. However, whether we can expand production depends on the actual cost after production is put into operation and we will refine the sales plan. We can get a specific answer in a year.”

"Hmm," Chen Xuebing said with slight satisfaction, "There will be many construction dividends in the next few years. We should actively develop mining rights and build our own brand."

Saying it's a few years is too short; it should be more than ten years.

He intends to dedicate himself to the engineering industry.

In terms of major engineering materials, cement has the highest gross profit margin, with a median of around 40%, and even reaching 50% for Mota. Net profit fluctuates greatly, with management and sales accounting for a large part of the factors.

With the growing network of connections and internal project consumption advantages that Gu An has gradually built up, the cement industry can reap the greatest benefits.

Relatively speaking, the cost of entering the industry for many materials is relatively high. For example, he once had aspirations for steel because he was very familiar with the steel cycle. However, after actually understanding the situation, he found that small steel mills generally had no competitive advantage and even had to rely on large mills for ore procurement. Therefore, he decisively signed an agreement with Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group to sell Chunying Special Steel and instead profit from Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group.

For other materials industries, as long as he is familiar with price cycles, he can try to enter the market and develop through trial and error.

Money is hidden in every industry, but you have to actively seek it out. Every industry has a limited scale, and there's a ceiling to it. You can't earn 10 billion by selling a cup of milk tea until you die. Instead of getting stuck in a certain industry and fighting tooth and nail with people until you lose every last penny, it's better to make good use of its advantages and share in the profits from every detail of your understanding.

He has never defined a specific industry for what he wants to do, such as industrial tycoon or internet giant, because he believes that both have certain shortcomings. The only label he recognizes is investor.

Investors who follow the trend.

"By the way, how's the construction progress of Angel City in Jiangbei?" Chen Xuebing asked the person in Chongqing.

The Pang Donglai flagship store in Jiangbei is nearing completion, and Chen Xuebing didn't have much trouble naming it; he simply called it Angel City.

"They're laying the walls!" Tang Qiankun shouted from the opposite side. "The exterior should look pretty good. I've sent the photos to Boss Bi and Assistant Ren! Pang Donglai is already open and ready! Boss Bi has transferred 30 million to us, so there shouldn't be any problem with completion. However, we need to pay the balance after the project is completely finished, which is estimated to be 90 million!"

The other end paused again, and Chen Xuebing, who had originally planned to ask about the preparations for Pang Donglai, lost interest and started making arrangements directly:
"Okay, I have a few things to announce."

"First, Chief Engineer Tang has been promoted to Vice President of the Construction Group to oversee matters in Chongqing, while the position of Chief Engineer will be filled by Vice Chief Engineer Liu Zehui."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone began to applaud. One deputy general manager was promoted, and the position of chief engineer became vacant.

Tang Qiankun, sitting opposite him, was very excited and stood up.

"Thank you for the trust of the chairman and headquarters leaders!"

Construction groups today are not like they used to be; they're large organizations!

Chen Xuebing waved his hand: "President Tang, you need to handle things well in Chongqing. Our positions are subject to promotion and demotion. The specific arrangements for your responsibilities will depend on your performance during this period."

Let's get the ugly truths out first.

He would never allow someone whose abilities do not match the company's to grow in power while remaining in their original position.

The rapid turnover of positions within the company was essentially determined from the very beginning by the establishment of an annual salary increase system.

The expressions of the established leaders present also became much more serious.

They had all heard about the group's development. The chairman and his associates were the pioneers, removing people from their positions without hesitation. Now, a whole string of vice presidents had been dismissed, and no one doubted the chairman's determination.

"Secondly, regarding the recent expenses of the construction group, I have assessed them and decided to allocate 500 million yuan from the head office. In addition, after Pang Donglai moves in, I will arrange for Changshou to collect a corporate debt, at least 200 million yuan, and any more will be given to you. However, this money is an advance and must be repaid, including the money for purchasing the land. It must all be repaid to the group after the sales."

"Also, Chunying Special Steel should be able to sign a contract to sell to Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group by the end of the year. Chunying Equity Corporation has injected capital into the Construction Group. This money is considered as the Construction Group's working capital and does not need to be repaid."

"Third, establish a sales department and a Sichuan real estate sales company. The sales company will be an independent legal entity, with 80% of its staff recruited locally and 20% of its core staff dispatched by the group. It will be responsible for the upcoming real estate sales projects in Sichuan."

"The company's sales department is responsible for personnel training and selection, and for building a national sales talent pool."

"After the project is completed, the core personnel will be recalled. Local sales elites who are willing to stay with the group can be selected to join the sales department, while those who are unwilling to leave will be dissolved along with the sales company. This is our cross-regional project support mechanism, and our real estate sales will follow this model in the future."

"President Pang, you're in charge of this matter."

Chen Xuebing directly assigned the main tasks to the vice president level, clearly explaining his command style to the new senior executives.

Pang Yi immediately nodded to indicate that he understood: "The camp remains but the soldiers come and go. The elite will be retained through two channels: from the sales company to the group, and from the group to new projects. Is there a compensation plan for the laid-off personnel?"

"It's N+1 months' salary, where N is the length of service. This is the compensation standard for temporary staff. The dismissal of permanent staff is based on N+2. General Manager Wu of the head office is currently drafting the first version of the 'Basic Law for Stock Security,' which will be used as a reference for future management details. Any positions requiring specialization must be reported."

When Chen Xuebing first mentioned the term "reporting," he began to confirm some regulatory powers with the head office.

"fourth."

Just as Chen Xuebing was about to continue, Ren Ying, who was sitting next to him taking notes, suddenly received a phone call. After listening to a couple of sentences, she handed him the phone and whispered:

"Land and Resources Bureau".

Chen Xuebing immediately raised his hand and took the phone.

"Hello, this is me."

"Oh, Director Long, hello."

"Yes, haha, that's my opinion. I think this piece of land is worth at least 20 billion, right? We have no problem with a negotiated transfer, and an auction is also an option."

"Oh, an auction, how long does it last?"

"Okay, I'm in Chengdu. Here's what I'll do: I'm in a meeting now, I'll come over after I finish."

"it is good."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Xuebing glanced at his watch, then, seeing everyone's concerned expressions, said:
"Now that the land in Chenghua District has been secured, let's speed up this meeting."

Around noon, Chen Xuebing emerged from the Land and Resources Bureau with a grin.

Under pressure from his various connections and through a formal complaint, he issued an order to "handle the Chenghua plot according to law."

The fact that the word "in accordance with the law" was mentioned indicates that this matter is not as simple as the last one.

First, the staff responsible for negotiating the Chenghua plot were dealt with internally, and the list of relevant responsible persons and the results of the handling were finalized. It wasn't until today that the Land Bureau met with Gu An and Cheung Kong to determine the fate of the land: auction.

Chen Xuebing knew that this would offend many people involved in the negotiations with Cheung Kong Holdings, but if he didn't use this tactic to wipe out all those who were inclined towards Cheung Kong Holdings, it would be extremely difficult to obtain the land through negotiation.

With this "warning shot," fewer people are speaking out for Lee, while the voices criticizing Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa are likely to be louder.

The slow sound of high heels came from behind, and Wu Jiaqing, the executive director of Cheung Kong Holdings, came out with his hands in his pockets.

This woman seemed to be more shrewd than Huo Jianning. The negative outcome she received upstairs ruined her year's worth of negotiations, but it didn't seem to affect the slightest smile on her face. Perhaps it was because the matter had been handled for a long time, unlike the last auction where Chen Xuebing suddenly cursed Huo Jianning as an "old man."

"Mr. Chen, there's a saying in Hong Kong: 'Don't use all your sails when the wind is strong.' When the wind is favorable, don't hoist the sails too high, or you'll capsize."

"Why beat around the bush? Just tell me not to get arrogant now that I've succeeded. Go back and tell that guy surnamed Li that this isn't over. Anyone who offends me will not have a good ending. Since you started reporting me, I'm going to take my revenge until I'm satisfied."

Chen Xuebing said this, leaving behind a sneer, and then left.

Wu Jiaqing's smile finally faded a bit as he pondered those words.

revenge?

What other revenge can he take?

She pondered for a moment, then picked up the phone to report.

(End of this chapter)