The Lord of the World Begins from the Siheyuan

Chapter 674 Money moves people’s hearts

The tender and fragrant mutton couldn't stop Chief Li Dazhao's mouth. He sighed: "Our country's food industry is still too backward."

Zhou Xiaobaigang already knew about the difficulties encountered by the ham sausage processing factory, "We will catch up."

Li Ming was not as optimistic as usual this time, "It's still a bit difficult."

"The backwardness of the food industry is actually caused by our backwardness in biology, chemistry, and physics, and is caused by our backwardness in all aspects."

For example, very simple canned food: fruit varieties are still being improved, sugar production is insufficient, and the tinplate used for packaging cannot be produced domestically.

Sugar production involves the improvement of sugarcane and sugar beet varieties, as well as pressing and processing technology.

The production and manufacturing of tinplate involves a series of complex pickling, cold rolling, electrolytic cleaning, electroplating, reflow, passivation, oiling and other processes.

Broken down further, there are various physical changes and chemical changes.

Fortunately, we can import it, otherwise we wouldn’t even be able to produce cans. But if you can’t produce things yourself and can only import them, others have the final say on the price.

Zhou Xiaobai said with relief: "We will develop step by step and do everything the same."

"Xiaobai, you are right. Take your time." Li Ming added the cooked mutton to Zhou Xiaobai's bowl.

Luo Yun interjected: "Why do we have to take it slow? We can also find a way not to step on the pit ahead, and we can go around it."

Li Ming smiled and agreed: "Luo Yun, your words inspired me."

"Xiaobai, the research institute in the west of the city will study biology and food in the future, okay?"

Zhou Xiaobai was in a happy mood and agreed, "No problem."

Luo Yun asked strangely: "Why only add biology, but not chemistry and physics?"

Li Ming responded: "It will all happen, but the funds are limited, and physical chemistry is not the main research direction for the time being."

Zhou Xiaobai understood why Yujia Biology was there. The two of them had discussed her research direction, molecular biology, in bed.

"The institute now sells refurbished watches in the name of a watch repair manual cooperative and makes a net profit of 300 yuan every month."

“But excluding the cost of salary, subsidies, business trips, heating, and office supplies, we can’t make ends meet every month.”

"This does not include the cost of major research consumables."

Luo Yun rolled her eyes as her best friend's words were true, "Xiao Ming, is there any way to increase the institute's income?"

Li Ming explained briefly, "I sold the instant noodle production line for 4 yuan before. The institute did not recruit regular researchers, so I was not in a hurry to arrange business for the institute."

"Researcher Zhang and the others are here this afternoon. You can ask them how much daily expenses it would cost to form a small research team of 5 to 10 people for one year."

“Let’s look at expenses first, and then we’ll consider what business to generate income.”

Her boyfriend did these things all for himself. Zhou Xiaobai responded sweetly: "Okay."

Li Ming added, "Don't worry, you guys, there will be more business to do."

Luo Yun asked curiously: "Tell me first, what can be done?"

Li Ming opened his mouth and came, "Produce some chemical products, such as calcium chloride; or make radios like Xiaobai did before; or produce some bicycle accessories, which are in high demand."

"Anyway, as long as you are willing to do it, there are many projects you can do."

Zhou Xiaobai suggested: "We'd better choose something more relevant to the research institute."

Li Ming smiled and agreed: "It's up to you."

a piece of cake.

In the capital, the difficulties Li Ming encountered were either extremely troublesome and basically impossible to solve; or they were minor difficulties that were not worth mentioning.

In Hong Kong City, Lou Xiao'e encountered a big or small trouble.

Federal Building, Central.

In the chairman's office, Lou Xiao'e is urging Huang Fuyi to investigate unfavorable rumors about the Rubik's Cube.

Boom, boom. Boom, boom.

"Please come in."

Tang Hongde, manager of the gift company, said anxiously: "Chairman. Ri Ben sent a telegram."

Lou Xiao'e put a hand on her forehead, "Isn't he here to rush for goods again?"

Huang Fuyi was in charge of public relations, so Tang Hongde said directly, "This time it's not about Cup Noodles."

"It's about the quartz movement. Citizen Co., Ltd. wants to invest in the movement company jointly owned by Miyota and us in Japan."

Lou Xiao'e said casually: "Miyota is willing to sell his shares, and we won't stop him."

"If Miyota and the others sell more shares, we may become the majority shareholder of the joint venture."

In Japan's quartz movement company, Miyota holds 60% of the shares and Xingchen holds 40%.

Tang Hongde handed the telegram to Lou Xiao'e, "It's not about acquiring Miyota's shares, Citizen wants to buy our shares."

Lou Xiao'e didn't even read the content, "Not for sale."

"Hmph! It turns out that Citizen invited congressmen to put pressure on us."

The telegram stated that Chairman Ishii of Kanagawa Prefecture, where the movement factory is located, helped Citizen make a case. It was obvious without saying it that he was threatening Star Company.

The joint venture factory is not located in Nagano Prefecture, Miyota's home base, but in Yokohama, which is only 40 to 50 miles away from Tokyo.

This is the proposal of Star Company. It is more convenient to build it near the port. The land price in Yokohama is not as high as in Tokyo, and the mayor's political party is also relatively liberal.

Moreover, there are many Chinese in Yokohama, which may be higher than Tokyo in terms of population ratio.

Tang Hongde's gift company is responsible for the watch business, but it has no focus and cannot solve this troublesome problem.

"Our relationship in Japan is just a public agency run by manager Lu Hanliang. The level is relatively low, so we can't talk much."

Lou Xiao'e immediately ordered: "Make an international call to Manager Lu Hanliang immediately and ask him to find out the specific situation first, and then fly back to the port city to report in detail."

"Okay, I'll do it right away."

Tang Hongde nodded to Huang Fuyi who was sitting on the sofa chair, and hurried to the Dadong Telegraph Office to make a call.

Huang Fuyi clicked, "Everyone says that the relationship between Ri Ben's official guests and the gangsters is very close."

Lou Xiao'e raised her eyebrows and asked, "You mean they can still use off-board moves?"

"Money and silk are attractive to people, and any means may be used."

Huang Fuyi guessed based on the unspoken rules of the port city, "Now it may just be pressure on us to sell our shares. It's hard to say what will happen next."

Lou Xiao'e frowned tightly and was in an extremely bad mood.

She is very disgusted with such things, but it is very common in this era. Without some connections, it is very likely that she will not be able to protect her own interests.

Even in 2024, cross-border investment will not be simple.

When investing in a strange country, in addition to considering objective conditions such as water, electricity, transportation, raw materials, and labor force, what is more important is the local business environment.

'Yindu makes money and Yindu flowers' can be considered a very civilized robbery, but what's more cruel is that even people are killed.

Why do multinational companies set up various compliance processes?

Compliance, on the one hand, makes it easier to manage the internal operations of the company; on the other hand, it is also because it is stared at by many outsiders and is seen as fat in the eyes of others.

Try to abide by local laws and regulations, reduce the chance of being ripped off, and do not hand the knife to others.

If you want to make other people's money or take advantage of other people's human and material resources, these risks are inevitable. Even if it's a cross-border business, or it's a cross-province, cross-city, or cross-county business, you have to think a lot in advance.

The port city is small, and Li Ming showed his strength in advance, otherwise someone would have taken action against Xingchen Company.

The Lou family were also newcomers to Hong Kong City, and without the support of their clansmen and fellow villagers, they could not save Li Ming and Lou Xiao'e. Suddenly, they had an industry worth hundreds of millions, and it was impossible not to transfer the benefits.

Shopping malls are like battlefields, and this is not just a casual statement.

Since she couldn't handle it herself, of course Lou Xiao'e asked her man to take action, and there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

It passed in the blink of an eye.

Two days later, in the morning.

Li Ming, who had not hosted a meeting in Hong Kong City for a long time, ran over.

Or the chairman's office.

A small meeting with just a few people.

Li Ming decided to deal with the simpler ones first, "Consultant Huang, have you found out who was the first to release the news?"

Not noticing the rumors in time, Huang Fuyi put a lot of effort into this investigation and used a lot of favors.

"For the time being, we have only traced the Chaoqiao Plastics Chamber of Commerce. More specifically, we still don’t know who it is."

"When we were checking people, many people said they were just following the story, envious of our company's high profits, and promised not to say anything unfavorable about Xingchen Company again in the future."

Everyone has jealousy, some people can control it, and some people are blinded by jealousy.

Li Ming couldn't care less, "I understand the position of the small businessman."

"Don't be in a hurry, you can check slowly."

"Find the source and see if it's someone who deliberately caused trouble for us, or if it was a casual comment that was amplified."

Huang Fuyi said honestly: "I will investigate clearly as soon as possible."

Li Ming asked Lu Hanliang of Riben branch again, "Manager Lu, please introduce the situation of Riben."

Lu Hanliang reported the information he learned to the boss and his wife verbatim.

"Chairman Ishii is a veteran member of the House of Representatives from Kanagawa. He has a wide range of connections and has a close relationship with the east coast of the Taiwan Strait."

"The reason Citizen gave on the surface is that in such an important factory, foreigners should not hold such a high shareholding. 10% or 20% is enough."

"If we don't give it, various inspections will probably come to your door."

Without correcting the lies, Li Ming asked directly: "How much election funds did Citizen give to the other party?"

Lu Hanliang carefully replied: "The specific amount is unclear. But what I know is that they not only provide campaign funds, but also help to obtain support from other gangs."

"Resident Ishii wants to retire in the Senate. The legal allowances a senator can receive are quite high."

Li Ming pondered: "So, we can't bribe the speaker."

"It's difficult for us to come up with a higher bargaining chip than Citizen. Even if we could, we're afraid that other congressmen would come looking for us." Lu Hanliang raised a deeper trouble.

"Then I won't give it to you. Is there any way to pull him down?"

Section Chief Li's methods are always so simple and direct. If you can't bribe them, just get rid of them.

"Uh!" Lu Hanliang paused and said, "We have only been operating in Yokohama for a few months."

"You still don't understand the various local relationships, and you may not be able to find any fatal information about the other party for a while."

Lou Xiao'e said helpfully, "Manager Lu has been delaying this for two days."

Lu Hanliang added: "I dragged them away first because I wanted to report back to Hong Kong City."

Li Ming asked abruptly: "What does Speaker Ishii think of the Magnesium Army?"

Lu Hanliang felt that it was difficult to follow Director Li's train of thought, "I was derelict in my duty and didn't pay attention to this. But I didn't seem to hear any outrageous remarks from him."

At this time, many people were very disgusted with the magnesium troops stationed locally, and many people were very happy to do so.

Li Ming pondered: "Judging from the reason for intervening, this person is probably conservative, and may have a friendly attitude towards magnesium."

Lu Hanliang responded: "It's very possible. He and the mayor don't deal with each other and often have different opinions. The mayor hates the magnesium army."

After running through the idea in his mind, Li Ming ordered: "In this case, you immediately fly back to Ribun to confirm Speaker Ishii's attitude."

"If you are pro-magnesian, you should interview Chairman Ishii."

"Our company is a strategic supplier of Magnesium Army Food. The company's directors are busy promoting popular products in the Magnesium market. Some people in Magnesium Army do not want our investment in Japan to be blocked."

"We welcome Citizen's entry into the joint venture movement factory and can transfer no more than 5% of its shares."

"As for how many shares Miyota is willing to transfer to Citizen, we will not get involved this time and will not compete with Citizen."

"For Speaker Ishii personally, we certainly cannot provide gang support, but we can also provide campaign financial support."

Lu Hanliang hurriedly wrote down a response plan on his notepad.

Lou Xiao'e looked strange. This was the first time she had heard of the name 'strategic supplier'.

It is still feasible to pull the tiger's skin and pull the banner, and pull the banner of the magnesium army to suppress some serious people in Japan.

Of course, if you dislike the official guests of the Magnesium Army, this will only have the opposite effect.

Li Ming warned again: "Although it is unlikely, it is possible that he is disgusted with the Magnesium Army."

"Don't reveal our supply to the Magnesium Army, and don't say that our Rubik's Cube is killing everyone in the Magnesium Kingdom."

"Let's give him another excuse, saying that our Xingchen Company is against the Ying Guoguo in Hong Kong City, and we also support them in driving away the Mei Guoguo."

"In addition to providing financial support for his personal senatorial campaign, we can also support them with an additional activity fund to engage the magistrates."

Lu Hanliang responded while writing: "Okay."

In face-to-face communication, Lu Hanliang also asked for some bottom-line responses to possible situations, "If Citizen takes a stake, how will we arrange the movement factory in Hong Kong City?"

Lou Xiao'e responded: "Miyota has no shares in the factory in Gangcheng. It is our sole proprietorship."

"We signed an agreement with Miyota. The quartz movement factory in Port City only makes movements for wall clocks and alarm clocks, not watch movements."

"Even if Citizen takes a stake, we will continue to implement this agreement in the future, and the watch movements will be supplied by the Japanese factory."

Lu Hanliang added: "Citizen may have objections to the agreement that the joint venture factory will give us priority in supplying watch movements."

Li Ming gave a bottom line for negotiations, "The production allocated first is calculated as shares. The quotas that cannot be used by oneself can be transferred to other shareholders, and the shareholders can negotiate privately."

Lu Hanliang thought for a moment and realized there was nothing more to ask, "Okay."

"I will try to fly back to Japan tomorrow. As soon as there is any new situation, I will take an international long distance flight back to Hong Kong."

Lou Xiao'e glanced at Li Ming and saw that he had no objection and agreed: "That's it. I've been handling the accounts in the company these days."

In normal times, she often goes to various factories to inspect, and is not always in the office.

There are so many factories now that it’s not enough time to go to one every day, seven days a week.

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(End of this chapter)