Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

Then, Lin Yang's gaze fell on Su Chenghai, who was sitting on the left.

The deputy director in charge of investment promotion was a pale-faced scholar in his forties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He usually preferred to receive foreign businessmen in a suit and tie, which seemed quite fashionable in those days.

But at this moment, with Lin Yang's gaze fixed on him, Su Chenghai felt as if his tie had become a noose, making it hard for him to breathe.

"Su Chenghai," Lin Yang called him by his full name.

"Yes...yes, Chairman." Su Chenghai quickly stood up.

"I won't listen to your self-criticism. I've looked at all the foreign investment cooperation intentions you've submitted over the past six months." Lin Yang took a document from Shen Yan, casually flipped through a couple of pages, and his eyes revealed undisguised disgust.

"There are 142 foreign-invested projects. Among them, 110 are garment factories, toy factories, and plastic flower factories invested by bosses from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. The remaining 32 are electronic component assembly plants wholly owned by foreign companies."

Snapped!

Lin Yang threw the documents heavily at Su Chenghai's face. The documents scattered all over the floor.

"Is this the report card you, a bureau chief who studied abroad, have handed in to the country?!" Lin Yang's voice was icy cold. "Is this how you attract investment? You're selling out your country for personal gain!"

Su Chenghai was so frightened that he slumped into his chair, his face deathly pale. He stammered in defense, "Chairman... you're being too harsh. Foreign investment is willing to come in, which can solve the employment problem for a large number of unemployed young people. Moreover, they bring foreign exchange, which are real achievements..."

"What a load of bull!"

Lin Yang slammed his palm on the table again, causing the tea in the teacup to spill out.

"They brought a few old, obsolete sewing machines and some outdated production lines that had long been discontinued overseas, and came here to exploit our cheap labor, which only costs a few dozen yuan a month, to produce cheap goods for them day and night!"

Lin Yang approached Su Chenghai, his gaze sharp as a sword.

"They polluted our land, exploited the blood and sweat of our young people, and then sent 100% of their huge profits back overseas! What did we get in return? We only received a pittance in wages and a bunch of low-tech, garbage factories!"

"If this is what a special economic zone is, then we might as well just close the door! Is the industrial dignity that generations of Chinese people have built up with blood and sweat just meant to be used as blood and sweat laborers for foreigners?!"

The entire conference room was completely silent.

Those officials who had been reveling in the "foreign capital influx" frenzy were suddenly jolted back to reality, as if doused with a bucket of ice water.

They suddenly realized that in the eyes of Lin Yang, the commander who had once controlled the nation's most important weapons, those contract manufacturers worth tens of millions of US dollars were nothing more than poison disguised as sugar.

"Su Chenghai, I am here today to establish new rules for you and for the entire Special Economic Zone Management Committee."

Lin Yang turned around, his posture as sharp as a spear, his gaze sweeping across the entire arena with an imposing air.

"First, starting tomorrow, a 'One-Stop Joint Approval Center' will be established in the Special Economic Zone. All foreign investment, land approvals, environmental and business registrations must be processed in one hall. Anyone found engaging in bribery, extortion, or buck-passing will be fired! Three and a half months of approval? I want you to reduce it to within three days!"

Liang Qiming and the others nodded repeatedly and frantically took notes in their notebooks.

"Secondly, and most importantly." Lin Yang's voice became incredibly deep, carrying a boundless ambition to scheme for the world.

"The Special Economic Zone will never become a dumping ground or sweatshop for Western capital. We will implement an absolute strategy of 'market for technology'!"

Lin Yang's fingers tapped heavily on the conference table.

"Foreign investors who want to acquire prime land and tax breaks in the Special Economic Zone are welcome! However, they must be in high-tech industries! Whether it's automobile manufacturing, precision machine tools, or semiconductor electronics! Wholly foreign-owned enterprises are not allowed; they must be Sino-foreign joint ventures!"

"The bottom line for joint ventures is that the Chinese party's shareholding must not be less than 51%, the foreign party must provide the sharing and transfer of core patented technologies, and the localization of component production must be achieved within three years!"

Upon hearing this, Su Chenghai gasped and looked up in shock.

"Chairman... these conditions are too harsh! If we are so tough, what if those foreign conglomerates get angry and withdraw all their investments to other Southeast Asian countries? Wouldn't our special economic zone become a ghost town?" Su Chenghai exclaimed worriedly.

"Withdraw investment?" Lin Yang sneered, his eyes revealing absolute contempt for the greedy nature of capital.

"If capitalists have a 300% profit, they dare to trample on all human laws. China has a huge potential market of one billion people and the most stable rear area. They are reluctant to leave, and they cannot find a second gold mine larger than China."

Lin Yang walked to the window of the conference room, pushed it open, and let the heat wave from outside, accompanied by the roar of construction, rush into the room.

"If they really want to leave, then let them go! We don't need those few dollars to produce plastic toys. We'd rather this land lie fallow than raise a generation of industrial slaves who only know how to operate sewing machines!"

"What we want is to utilize their capital and technology to cultivate our own senior engineers and establish our own complete modern industrial supply chain. Ten or twenty years later, when we are fully developed, we can kick them aside and use our own brands to sweep across the global market!"

These words were like the sun breaking through the clouds, completely shattering the blind worship and inferiority complex of these local officials towards Western capital, and injecting a steely national will into the future development of the special economic zone.

In the conference room, the seven officials who had been trembling with fear now stood up straight, their eyes burning with unprecedented fervor and fighting spirit.

They finally understood that the man sitting in front of them was not there to wield his authority, but to personally teach them, with his extraordinary strategic vision, how to seize the most lucrative rewards for their country in this brutal international game.

"Have you remembered everything?" Lin Yang turned around and asked coldly.

"Understood! We will resolutely carry out the chairman's instructions!"

The seven people shouted in unison, their voices so loud that the windowpanes trembled slightly.

"Meeting adjourned. Go back to work." Lin Yang waved his hand.

The officials felt as if they had been granted a pardon, yet they were also energized as if they had been injected with adrenaline. They packed up their notebooks and rushed out of the conference room as fast as they could. They were going to work through the night to revise those weak investment contracts and to implement the one-stop approval center.

Silence returned to the meeting room.

Sunlight streamed through the window, casting slanted rays onto the long conference table.

Lin Yang remained standing by the window, looking out at the rapidly growing special economic zone.

His mission is far from over.