Chapter 652: Daring
“This job is impossible!”
After Xu Guochu left, Xiao Qiang couldn't help cursing. Isn't Xu Guochu too overbearing? He called everyone to a meeting and didn't allow anyone to object. He just decided the matter without saying anything.
As a result of what he did, all the subsequent work was in chaos. Xiao Qiang was in charge of supply and marketing, and the existing supply and marketing staff were suddenly reduced by nearly half. Who would do the next job?
Liu De also had a worried look on his face. He was in charge of production and was under a lot of pressure.
Once the cooperation with Youmin Factory ended, the production dropped significantly. With one-third of the production reduced, and now being the peak season, the impact on the factory was huge.
"Old Zheng, this matter...?" Liu De glanced at Zheng Guoyuan who was standing beside him. Zheng Guoyuan was smoking with a frown on his face and didn't say anything.
According to Zheng Guoyuan's previous temper, he would have quarreled with Xu Guochu a long time ago. However, today, after Zheng Guoyuan made a suggestion and was opposed by Xu Guochu, Zheng Guoyuan did not insist for the first time.
It’s not that he doesn’t want to persist, the key lies in Xu Guochu’s reminder.
That's right, the investigation and verification of him has not been completed, or there was no investigation and verification at all. Xu Guochu has been in Quanlin Factory for quite some time. Logically, there should have been a conclusion to the so-called report letter long ago, but the strange thing is that the superiors seemed to have forgotten about this matter and never sent anyone.
Now, this matter has become a sword of Damocles hanging over Xu Guochu's head, and has become a powerful weapon for him to control himself.
Zheng Guoyuan was not stupid either. He was keenly aware of the problem. He thought that this matter might have been aimed at him and Quanlin Factory from the very beginning. Moreover, this matter had not been concluded yet. If it remained unresolved , Zheng Guoyuan would have to carry the burden forever.
Zheng Guoyuan felt extremely uncomfortable because he had worked so hard to build the Quanlin Factory. Now, such a situation had occurred. If Xu Guochu continued to mess around like this, the good situation of Quanlin Factory would be ruined. How could Zheng Guoyuan bear to see this?
But the problem is, what will be the consequences if there is a direct conflict with Xu Guochu?
Judging from what Xu Guochu said just now, this guy had clearly made up his mind long ago. Now he has the leverage over Zheng Guoyuan. As long as Zheng Guoyuan conflicts with him, he will have dozens of ways to put a hat on Zheng Guoyuan and attack him.
If this is the case, it will be hard to say whether Zheng Guoyuan can keep his position as factory director, and it may even cause even bigger troubles.
Zheng Guoyuan had also experienced that era, and he knew that people like Xu Guochu were impossible to deal with. They had many ways of bullying people, and Xu Guochu had people above him, so Zheng Guoyuan simply could not resist them.
Losing my job was a minor matter, but what about Quanlin Factory? What about the hundreds of people in the factory? And what about Liu De and Xiao Qiang who were sitting in the office?
After working at Quanlin Factory for so many years, Zheng Guoyuan has long regarded the factory as his home, and has developed a deep relationship with the workers and cadres. Once he is no longer at Quanlin Factory, with Xu Guochu as the secretary, the future of Quanlin Factory can be imagined.
"Let's coordinate with Jiang Youxing first and see what his attitude is. We should be nicer when coordinating and explain the situation clearly so that Old Jiang can understand our difficulties. In addition... Old Jiang has some connections in the bureau..."
Zheng Guoyuan didn't say the rest of the words, but Liu De understood the meaning. It was simply that if Jiang Youxing felt that this was inappropriate, he could use his connections to ask the higher-ups to coordinate. If successful, it would be more effective than him saying a hundred words in front of Xu Guochu.
"Okay, I'll take care of it. I'll talk to Lao Jiang first. But Lao Zheng, you should also be prepared. Lao Jiang might come to you."
"Just look for it. There's nothing we can do about it."
"You haven't forgotten what Xu Guochu mentioned about importing equipment just now, have you?" Xiao Qiang suddenly interrupted. Seeing Zheng Guoyuan and the others looking at him, Xiao Qiang looked around and lowered his voice and said, "How can there be such a coincidence in this world? Just after announcing the termination of cooperation with Youmin Factory, they immediately said that there are ready-made equipment from the machinery factory that can be imported? What do you think, could there be something..."
"Old Xiao, don't say that again!" Zheng Guoyuan stopped him sternly before he could finish his words: "If such unfounded words are spread out, it will be a big deal. By then, just spreading rumors will get you fired as the head of the supply and marketing department."
"Just withdraw. It seems I won't be in this position as section chief for long anyway. I have no soldiers under me anymore. What's the point of doing this?" Xiao Qiang complained.
"Old Xiao, what Old Zheng said is right. It's not a good thing to be confrontational now. They are about to cause trouble for us. Why would we go up to them and give them something to worry about? Besides, if you don't take the position of supply and marketing section chief, who will? If you step down and Xu Guochu replaces him with someone else as the supply and marketing section chief, how can our Quanlin Factory be safe?"
Zheng Guoyuan agreed, he thought so too. In this situation, we can only endure it for now, and we must be strategic in the struggle, and we can't force it.
As long as they are still there, Quanlin Factory has hope. Even if Xu Guochu makes trouble for this matter, it will only cause a certain impact.
Although Xiao Qiang was holding his breath, he still listened to what Zheng Guoyuan and Liu De said. After a moment of silence, he nodded and sighed.
A few days later, the cooperation between Quanlin Factory and Youmin Factory officially ended. What surprised Zheng Guoyuan was that he originally thought that Jiang Youxing would oppose such a decision and find ways to communicate with the higher-ups. But who would have thought that when Liu De communicated with Jiang Youxing, Jiang Youxing agreed to it very readily and was even a little impatient.
This abnormal situation attracted Zheng Guoyuan's attention, but he didn't understand what Jiang Youxing was thinking for a while. The termination of the cooperation between the two parties was a loss for Quanlin Factory, but the loss for Youmin Factory was even greater.
After all, the current Youmin Factory relies entirely on the Quanlin Factory for its survival. Once the cooperation is terminated, who will Youmin Factory sell its products to?
Zheng Guoyuan was a little confused about this question. Jiang Youxing was a calculating person, so he would definitely figure this out! But he agreed to it very readily. What was there that he didn't know?
After the cooperation was terminated, the production and sales of Quanlin Factory were greatly affected.
With the output suddenly reduced by one third and nearly half of the supply and marketing staff gone, Zheng Guoyuan could only temporarily shrink the market and maintain a few important markets first, while the several new markets opened up last year had to be temporarily abandoned.
According to the plan at the end of last year, it stands to reason that this year's sales and profits will increase significantly compared to last year. After all, the Quanlin factory has added a set of production lines, the basic output has increased, and the new market has also been operating well. In addition, the market price has risen again this year, so the profit is relatively higher.
But the fact is, with Xu Guochu's efforts, the original advantages disappeared, and the market not only did not grow but began to shrink. In the first month of the termination of the cooperation, there was chaos in the Supply and Marketing Department. Xiao Qiang worked day and night for more than two weeks before he rearranged the work. The comrades in the Supply and Marketing Department who worked below complained, and everyone's workload increased a lot.
The chaos in the supply and marketing department, coupled with the decline in production, not only did the overall sales and profits fail to meet expectations, but even half of the expectations were barely achieved. Looking at the report figures in his hand, Zheng Guoyuan was worried.
This was not the end. Xu Guochu then brought the assembly line project that had been agreed upon with the machinery factory to the meeting for discussion. Zheng Guoyuan was shocked when he saw the quotation.
This assembly line is not brand new, it is said to be 80% new, but the price quoted is almost the same as a brand new one. You should know that at the end of last year, Zheng Guoyuan got a depreciated assembly line through his connections, and the purchase price of that assembly line was only 40% of Xu Guochu's. The gap can be imagined.
But Xu Guochu directly told Zheng Guoyuan that this matter had been recognized by the regional leaders, and the leaders believed that the current opportunity for Quanlin Factory to expand its development was a good opportunity. Taking advantage of the peak season, they hoped that Quanlin Factory would follow the instructions to speed up the introduction, installation and production.
Zheng Guoyuan was completely speechless. After weighing the pros and cons, he agreed to Xu Guochu's suggestion and signed the payment slip for the imported equipment.
But the matter was not over yet. After the money was transferred, when Liu De, on behalf of the factory, took the technical staff to pick up the equipment, Zheng Guoyuan received a call from Liu De just after lunch. On the phone, he told Zheng Guoyuan that this assembly line was not 80% new at all, but an old-fashioned assembly line in a semi-scrapped state.
Apart from the generally perfect overall cast iron structure, many equipment structures had problems of varying sizes. The technicians found that this assembly line could not be used at all and that it must first be overhauled and many parts replaced.
Moreover, this kind of overhaul and replacement of parts is very troublesome, because the assembly line is seriously aging, the models are outdated, and many accessories are no longer produced. It is necessary to go to the original manufacturer to purchase and customize them, which costs a lot of money.
"Old Zheng, this is just a pile of junk!" Liu De said angrily on the phone, "I asked someone about it. This thing was originally sold to the machinery factory as scrap by a factory from another place. The machinery factory repaired it a little and repainted it. Now they are selling it to us as a good thing? Aren't they taking us for granted?"
Zheng Guoyuan's hand was shaking slightly as he held the phone. He had never thought that Xu Guochu, this bastard, would be so shameless. He bought old equipment as new, and he actually bought a bunch of scrap copper and iron as new equipment? It was not easy for Quanlin Factory to have the current assets. They had accumulated them with great difficulty over the years. Xu Guochu spent it all with a wave of his hand. What was he doing?
After asking Liu De to wait on the phone, Zheng Guoyuan called the factory's driver team as soon as he hung up. But when he asked, he found out that the factory-run car had sent Xu Guochu out with the driver, and no one knew where it had gone.
Unable to get a car for a while, Zheng Guoyuan could only ride his bicycle to the machinery factory. The machinery factory was in the suburbs of Jiangbei, dozens of kilometers away from Quanlin Factory. When Zheng Guoyuan arrived there, sweating profusely, it was almost dark.
