By mid-December 1988, a certain disobedient little fellow in the south had had his butt spanked to pieces. Two years earlier, the little fellow had actually been engaged in reform and opening up, and he no longer wanted to jump around.
There was no choice. The little guy couldn't have the final say. There was an old man behind him who provided more than 1 billion rubles in military aid every year. He had no choice but to follow the rhythm of the "palm" and play a war game in a queue with the palm tacitly.
Today, the little guys' lives have begun to improve thanks to reform and opening up, but military spending is very tight, supplies are extremely scarce, and logistics support problems are serious. The life of the troops is even worse than during the Anti-US War.
During a routine inspection, it was discovered that every 17 kilograms of military rations contained up to two kilograms of debris such as pebbles and straw. Even rations of this quality could not be guaranteed to be fully supplied, forcing many starving soldiers to run to ordinary people's homes to steal rice, sugarcane and other food.
Some troops in the northern region could not even sustain three meals a day and had to switch to only two meals a day.
There is a shortage of staple food, and the supply of non-staple food is even worse. There is a serious shortage of vegetables, with an average of only 170 grams per person per day, less than 4 ounces.
In addition, the military's medical conditions are also very poor. The military hospitals, treatment centers and medical teams belonging to the army are all equipped with outdated equipment and cannot meet the needs of normal treatment and recuperation. Because they cannot receive timely treatment, the physical fitness of many soldiers has seriously declined.
This year, the incidence of malaria, edema, hepatitis, anemia and other diseases among military soldiers has increased. Even for troops stationed in cities, the lowest anemia rate is 20%, while the highest is as high as 77%.
Data from the Military Medical Bureau of the General Logistics Department showed that after some troops entered the mountainous areas, hundreds of people were infected with malignant malaria in just six months, resulting in dozens of deaths and nearly 10,000 people were hospitalized for treatment.
Moreover, due to chaotic management, local factories and enterprises often failed to deliver goods according to the contract, causing major problems in the army's military supply.
For example, troops on the front lines and on islands can only wear old uniforms, while troops in some northern regions have not even been issued winter uniforms according to standards when winter comes.
Due to the fuel shortage, the amount of fuel allocated to the army has generally been reduced by 30 to 40 percent, which has caused many military vehicles to stop running and even forced them to use non-motorized vehicles instead of motor vehicles, seriously affecting the army's efficiency.
"School beauty, did you get an allowance when you were in the army?"
"Yes, I receive a special allowance, which is a higher amount, enough to buy 20 bowls of rice noodles."
"What about the ordinary soldiers?"
“Four bowls of rice noodles.”
"Well, does the name Fan Hongfu sound familiar to you?"
"He is familiar with us. He is from the 559th Army. He once led an operation to cooperate with our team."
“What do you think of the Vietnamese military doing business?”
"The People's Army has needed to be self-sufficient since the day it was established. In order to raise military funds, it had to engage in economic activities. This is an advanced experience learned from China."
"Don't talk about this old story." Nan Yi waved his hand and said, "The Vietnamese army is going to start doing business again. Now it's just a small-scale trial, but it will be a big deal in the near future. Fan Hongfu is now the general manager of BID Trade, a company engaged in import and export trade, the military assets of the 559th Army."
"Nansheng, what do you need me to do?"
The school belle knew that Nan Yi would not mention his old acquaintance Fan Hongfu to her for no reason, he must have an intention.
"This March, Shan Pao went from Mong Cai to Hanoi. Several people from Wangmu Fruit followed him. Now he has established a firm foothold in Hanoi. I need you to write a letter to Hanoi to introduce Shan Pao to Fan Hongfu."
"Nansheng, the relationship between Fan Hongfu and I is very ordinary, and a letter alone won't have much effect."
"Haha, it doesn't need to play a big role. It's just a stepping stone. If people want to open up to each other, they need a foundation of trust. What Shan Pao needs to do is just the preliminary communication work. If necessary, I will go to Hanoi in person."
"I see."
Is there good business in Vietnam?
The answer to this question is yes, there is no doubt about it.
As early as the period when he absorbed the siblings Nguyen Chi Binh, Nguyen Chi Linh and Le Van Thai, Nan Yi had actually set its sights on Vietnam. However, due to the "spanking" reasons, Nan's tentacles had not been convenient to extend to Vietnam.
Not long ago, Nan Yi learned that China and Vietnam had resumed trade relations and Vietnam had imported several batches of light industrial products from China. He knew that the time had come to enter Vietnam.
Vietnam now advocates economic development and has been adjusting its relations with neighboring countries. It has withdrawn troops from the western and northern fronts. Given that Vietnam has a large amount of cheap labor, once Vietnam ushered in peace, economically developed countries such as Japan and South Korea will certainly export capital to it. Many companies will invest in Vietnam and drive Vietnam's economic development.
As Vietnam's economy develops, people's lives will gradually become more affluent, and naturally many Vietnamese will choose to buy means of transportation - cars, or more precisely, motorcycles.
Vietnam is a country with many mountains, hills, jungles and high slopes. Bicycles have little market in many areas of Vietnam. If you ride a bicycle in the mountains, it is actually not as comfortable as walking.
As for electric cars [electric cars with several wheels have a very long history, but the market has chosen fuel-powered cars], they are also difficult to promote in Vietnam. First of all, many rural areas in Vietnam do not have electricity, and it is impossible to charge electric cars.
Second, using an electric car consumes a lot of power due to the average traffic and road conditions.
Third, Vietnamese people are accustomed to using motorcycles to transport goods, and electric vehicles are not powerful enough to support this.
Therefore, neither electric vehicles nor bicycles have a very large market in Vietnam. On the contrary, motorcycles are very suitable for Vietnam's actual situation.
The price of a car is relatively expensive. For Vietnamese people with low average income, buying a car is a luxury. Only the middle class and above can drive a car. Most Vietnamese people still choose motorcycles.
Vietnam's motorcycle market has huge potential. Motorcycle companies from Japan, South Korea, Europe and China will all be eyeing this piece of cake. Similarly, Nan Yi also has his eyes on this piece of cake, and he wants to take as much as possible.
At the beginning, Nan Yi had thought about being a middleman to import domestic motorcycles into Vietnam, but his memory told him that domestic motorcycle companies were hopeless. Chen Yaojin had three tricks, but motorcycle companies only had two tricks - reducing configuration to reduce costs and price wars.
In this regard, Nan Yi plans to proceed in two steps: first, register a motorcycle brand, and then find a domestic motorcycle company to do the OEM, sign a strict contract, do it according to his requirements, earn the OEM fee honestly, and fool around and lose money to the motorcycle company.
Second, establish a company specializing in engine research and development in China, and then form a joint venture with Vietnam's local motorcycle companies to guide Vietnam to take a motorcycle development path that exchanges market for technology.
Whether it is the first step or the second step, if you want to do it well and smoothly, you can't do without the support of the Vietnamese military. Nan needs to cooperate with the Vietnamese military and borrow the advantages of the military. Of course, while taking advantage of the situation, he also has to give up most of his interests.
This was not a problem for Nan Yi. He always knew how much share he should get from the partnership business and he would not be jealous of partners who got more than him.
The education he received since childhood made him clearly understand what "distribution according to work" means. Those who work more get more, and those who work less get less. It is very fair.
Does Nan have its own accumulation of motorcycle engine technology?
No, the only way is acquisition.
"Yami, the brand of the Wolagang [Qiangliang] Automobile Group can be established now."
"President, let's produce motorcycles first?"
"Yes, screen acquisition targets and acquire a motorcycle manufacturing company as soon as possible."
"It's a bit difficult. Motorcycle companies are all large enterprises, and it's not that easy to acquire them," said Masami Ueto.
"I didn't ask you to target Japanese brands like Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Suzuki. The cost of acquiring them is too high. You can target European and American brands. Ducati, Agusta, Aprilia, Piaggio, KTM, Indian, and Bombardier are all suitable acquisition targets."
"Should we also include Guangyang and Sanyang as alternative targets?"
"You decide for yourself." Nan Yi rubbed his temple and said, "Hurry up, Vietnam has already started. Don't fall behind."
"Definitely not."
"That's it for now."
In planning its motorcycle business, Nan Yi not only saw the prospects of the Vietnamese market, but also had his eyes on the Indian market. To be honest, the Indian motorcycle market is much more vast.
Motorcycles are the main means of transportation in urban and rural areas of India. During rush hour, the motorcycle fleet almost overflows onto the sidewalks. When it comes to purchasing family transportation, among the tens of millions of relatively wealthy families in India, less than 10% of the wealthier families choose cars, while the rest of the middle- and low-income families mainly choose motorcycles.
India's transportation is underdeveloped and there is a serious shortage of parking lots. Most white-collar workers use motorcycles as their main means of transportation for convenience. In addition, when ordinary Indians get married, no matter how poor the bride's parents are, they have to borrow money to buy a motorcycle for the groom, otherwise it will be difficult for the bride to enter the groom's house.
Under the temptation of the Indian motorcycle market, many large foreign companies want to come and get a piece of the pie.
Honda was one step ahead and entered India in 1983, establishing a joint venture with the local Hero company to produce "Hero Honda" motorcycles. In the third year, it also established a wholly-owned Honda Motorcycle India Company in an attempt to capture this most promising motorcycle market.
In addition, Suzuki, Yamaha and Spain's LML are all eyeing the market, while India's local brand Bajaj has the advantage of being at home and is also making steady progress.
The situation in India is completely different from that in Vietnam. Vietnamese people are poor but they don't choose inferior goods. They would rather spend more money to buy good ones. Indians are open-minded and have many amateur scientists. They are very good at doing things by themselves. As long as the price is cheap, it doesn't matter if the quality of the motorcycle is a little worse, they will modify it themselves.
After the modification, the performance of the motorcycle will have a qualitative leap. Other people's cars can carry three or four people at most, but their cars can carry a reinforced battalion.
India is a very suitable soil for motorcycle companies to engage in price wars. Nan Yi does not plan to develop this market by himself. He plans to introduce domestic brands to India for joint ventures or cooperation, and give full play to their price advantages to compete with non-local brands in India.
India also uses the strategy of exchanging market for technology. Without cooperation with local Indian companies, foreign motorcycle brands simply cannot be sold here.
December 17th.
Since there were people from the Shanghai Hua Pharmaceutical Factory on the construction site of the Huaguo Shenyou Factory, Nan Yi just took a look at the construction site from a distance and then boarded the plane to Xiangkeng.
December 19th.
Wearing a green leather military coat and four pairs of trousers, the slightly bloated Nan Yi appeared on the streets of the capital, with his hands clasped together and tucked into his sleeves. He took small, slippery steps and staggered a little.
Staggering, Nan Yi arrived at the door of Huanyu Restaurant, lifted the thick cotton curtain on the door, and walked into the restaurant.
"Brother Nan, you are here."
Tu Yu, who was counting money at the counter, stood up and greeted Nan Yi enthusiastically when he saw him.
Nan Yi took off his felt hat and shook it off. He pulled his hands out of his sleeves and warmed them by the stove. "Well, it's very cold outside today."
"It's cold. Not many people go out in this weather, and the business in the store has slowed down a lot."
Tu Yu took out an enamel pot, poured some boiling water into it, rinsed it, then poured some more boiling water into it, walked to Nan Yi and handed it to him.
Nan Yi took the cup, held it in his hand, and said, "You want to produce disposable lighters?"
"Yes, last time a fellow villager came to the store. He produces lighters, and they are selling very well. Some people are selling them for more than ten yuan, and some are selling them for four or five yuan."
"You have to think clearly. Whether it is more than ten yuan or four or five yuan, this price is not a normal price. It is because people think this thing is new that they are willing to spend a lot of money to buy it. What they buy is the novelty.
Disposable lighters now seem to have some technical content, but the content is not high. You can make it, and others can make it too. As more people make it, its novelty will wear off, and the price will return to its functional attributes, and you will still have to compete with others on price.
The profit per person will be lower every year, and in the end, it is possible that one person will only make two or three cents.”
After coming up with the idea of ​​disposable lighters, Nan Yi didn't think much about it. He had let people understand the process of disposable lighters, and also evaluated the cost after mass production and industrial chain. Nan Yi's understanding of disposable lighters is also deeper than before.
Moreover, Nan Yi personally holds many patents related to disposable lighters.
Tu Yu nodded and said, "I have thought about it. I can't make much from each lighter, but the volume should be large. There are so many smokers in the country, and every household needs to light coal stoves and cook stoves. Once the market is developed, it should be possible to sell hundreds of millions of lighters a year."
"If we look at the whole world, the market will be more optimistic. We can expect tens of billions or even tens of billions of sales a year, but it is hard to say how much of this number you can account for."
Tu Yu smiled and said, "Brother Nan, I can't compare with you. Even if I only make three cents a piece, I can sell tens of millions of them a year, and I can still make hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is already very good for me."
“Haha , if your goal is just tens of millions, then you’d better forget about this business. You should set bigger goals. No matter how little, you should work towards 1 billion. This way you will have more room to maneuver.” Nan Yi said half-jokingly.
"I can't even imagine what it would be like to have a billion of them. It's better to take it one step at a time."
"It's good to be pragmatic. Since you want to do it but you're not in a hurry to do it, you must have some ideas about me. I'll stay a few more days this time. I'll give you a few days to prepare and think about how to tell me. On the 27th, which is next Wednesday, you can come to my place and we'll talk in detail."
Nan Yi took a sip of the hot water in the enamel pot and put it on the counter. "I have other places to go. You don't have to ask me to stay for dinner. Get ready. I'm leaving now."
"Ah..." Tu Yu was stunned for a moment, then said: "Okay, Brother Nan, I'll see you off."
After leaving Huanyu, Nan Yi started thinking again.
If Tu Yu didn't look for him this time, Nan Yi was planning to take the initiative to find people who wanted to enter the disposable lighter field.
It costs money to register a patent. What's more, Nan Yi racked his brains to draw the disassembled diagram of the disposable lighter, but the drawing was still sparse. In the end, he found an industrial designer to refer to the drawing and combine it with Nan Yi's oral description to redesign it, and then asked someone to make the actual product.
If the cost of large-scale production is spread over each product, the cost of each product will not be too high. However, if only a few are produced, the cost will be sky-high. Not to mention other expenses, the mold opening fee alone will require several expenses. You should know that a disposable lighter can be disassembled into more than 30 parts.
After going through the entire process and finally forming a patent matrix, a lot of manpower and material resources were spent, and we have to find a way to make up for it.
After getting in the car for nearly fifty minutes, Nan Yi arrived at Central China Trade again. After negotiating with the receptionist, he was taken to Chen Feng's office.
"Mr. Chen, hello, hello." After the receptionist left the office, Nan Yi walked up to Chen Feng with a hunched back, held Chen Feng's hand, and shook it up and down violently. "Thanks to you, Mr. Chen, our village can finally eat three dishes and one soup. The villagers all said that when they saw you, they asked me to get back the meal money you owed to our village."
"Why don't you ask? I don't even pay the bill when I eat out in the city. You want me to pay for eating a bunch of rotten pumpkins?"
"Damn it, it's obviously a watermelon, why are you talking about a pumpkin? You're making a veiled accusation." Nan Yi spat.
Chen Feng laughed and said, "Zhao Xing, I heard that you came to me for help this time?"
Nan Yi put away his rascally attitude, sat down opposite Chen Feng, and threw a business card on the table. "It's not that I'm asking you for help. I want to cooperate with your Huazhong Trade. Since your rank is too low, I won't tell you the details. I'll give you a chance to make a contribution. Take me to see your chairman."
"You're dreaming. Who can meet our chairman just by saying so?" Chen Feng glared at him and said, "Go outside and leave your name and phone number first. After a year or so, when our chairman has time, he will probably ask you to come over for a meeting."
"Stop talking nonsense and get down to business."
"I can't do business. The chairman is not here. He has gone south. He will have to come to the company the day after tomorrow at the earliest."
"Damn it, why didn't you tell me earlier? I made this trip for nothing."
"Come and see if I can do it. I just need your help with something." Chen Feng said, taking out a document and handing it to Nan Yi. "It's in Spanish. I don't understand it. Please help me take a look."
Nan Yi raised his hand and slapped the document back, "Look at that, you think I'm your subordinate? Let your translation department translate it for you."
Companies like Huazhong Trade that have foreign affairs will be equipped with translation talents. Generally speaking, it is either a translation office or a translation department. If it is a translation department, the scale of the company will be limitless.
"Come on, that guy in the translation department is not very good at Spanish. I dare not give it to him to translate. Please, this document is not convenient for outsiders to see. I am worried about it."
"Okay, okay, I'll show you."
Since Chen Feng had given in, Nan Yi didn't bother to continue. He just snatched the document and started to look at it.
"I'm asking for a quote. They want a certain type of steel, but I can't translate the model number, and I don't know the industry-specific words. It doesn't say how much quantity is needed, so you have to contact them and ask." Nan Yi finished reading the document, threw it back on the table and said, "Not bad, the business has even reached Equatorial Guinea."
"Of course. I've been playing around for these years. Let me tell you, I have brought back more than 30 million US dollars in business from Africa." Chen Feng said proudly.
Nan Yi gave a thumbs up and said, "You are awesome. Since your chairman is not here, I will leave first."
"Don't worry, it's almost time for lunch, let's go together."
"Forget it, let's go to my mother-in-law's house for lunch. We've already agreed."
"Then let's go tonight. Hotpot is the best in this weather."
"Besides, wait for my call this afternoon."
In a flash, Nan Yi arrived at Mingzhu Banquet. It was dinner time and there were many customers in the restaurant.
When arriving at the mother-in-law's territory, no matter who you are as a director or general manager outside, you all have to become Xiao×. Nan Yi is no exception. When he arrived at the Mingzhu Banquet, he became Xiao Nan, um, the waiter Xiao Nan.
He had to serve dishes to one table, get wine to that table, and then clean up the leftovers at another table. He was ordered around in circles.
Nan Yi only goes to the Liu family a few times throughout the year. As a prospective son-in-law, it is rare for him to come here, so it would be unreasonable if he doesn't perform well.
Working like a top, I finally made it through dinner time. By a quarter past two in the afternoon, all the customers had left and it was time for the restaurant's own people to eat.
But the business in the restaurant was really good today. Peng Hongliang, the chef, was exhausted and had to make do with his own food. He cooked two dishes that were not very good and added two leftovers that the customers didn't eat much.
Don't think it's tacky. It's normal for a small restaurant to eat the leftovers of its customers.
"Nan Yi, do you have time tomorrow?"
After taking two bites of the food, Nan Yi's mother-in-law, Lu Bifang, spoke.
"Mom, just tell me what you need."
"Your second brother has a girlfriend and he's going to bring her over tomorrow. If you're free, come over for dinner tomorrow night and help check things out."
"Okay, I'll come early tomorrow." Nan Yi nodded and agreed.
When Liu Zhen asked about the disposable lighter business for her second brother Liu Menghu, Nan Yi said that he would need 500,000 yuan as an idea fee. Perhaps because of this, Liu Menghu finally did not choose to do the lighter business, but opened a shop selling motorcycles.
Liu Menghu did not ask Nan Yi for help in opening this shop. As for whether Liu Zhen gave him some money privately, Nan Yi was not very clear. He never asked where Liu Zhen's private money went, nor did he know how much Liu Zhen's salary was.
"Feibao hasn't called back in a few months. Nanyi, do you know how he's doing recently?"
"Third brother is doing well in Xiangkeng. Mom, if you miss him, you can just call him. You don't have to wait for him to call you."
"Forget it, I'll wait a little longer. Long distance is expensive." Lu Bifang smacked her lips and said, "This rascal must have been hanging out outside and completely forgot about me."
Liu Feibao must be having a great time in Xiangkeng. He just changed his girlfriend to a prostitute in a nightclub two months ago. That girl seems to be madly in love with him and is determined to stay with him. I don't know if they are still together now.
Nan Yi didn't want to hear any news about Liu Feibao. It was a waste of time to work on him. He would only read his daily reports when he remembered them. If he didn't remember them, he would just not read them. If he heard Liu Feibao's name from his subordinates one day, it would probably mean that this grandson had gotten into big trouble.
No matter what Lu Bifang was thinking about, Nan Yi just didn't respond and didn't give Lu Bifang any chance to climb up the pole. He really didn't want to waste his energy on Liu Feibao anymore.
After having dinner at Mingzhu Banquet, Nan Yi went to Baiwanzhuang.
Millionaire.
After trimming the potted plants on the windowsill, Gong Xue moved in front of the window, raised her hands, and started practicing Taiyi Quan.
When she was a girl, Gong Xue was frail, so her father asked her to worship his senior brother as her godfather and practice Taiyi boxing and Taiyi footwork with her godfather. She was not afraid of hard work and had amazing perseverance. She started practicing by standing in the morning and standing in the frame. Later, she could lift her feet above her head, open her chin to touch her toes, and arch her waist. She was so proficient in Taiyi footwork and retreating to defeat the enemy that outsiders were not allowed to get close to her.
"Good, very good, your boxing is great, you can go set up a stall under the overpass and perform." Nan Yi came behind Gong Xue, clapped his hands and said.
Gong Xue put away her airs, glanced at Nan Yi, clasped her fists and said, "I am Gong Xue, a lay disciple of Wudang Taiyi Sect. May I ask for your advice?"
Nan Yi clasped his fists in return, "No problem, Master of the Nan Family's Mad Dog Fist, you can call me Master Nan."
"Why did Sect Leader Nan want to provoke my Taiyi Sect?"
"You dare to represent Taiyi Sect with your fancy moves? Watch out, let me teach you what boxing is."
As soon as Nan Yi finished speaking, he rushed forward. When he got close to Gong Xue, he shouted loudly, grabbed Gong Xue's clothes with both hands and pulled them to both sides, "Hahaha, the old lady has it."
"Don't pull it, don't pull it, it's torn."
"It's broken, it's fun to break it, shout, shout for help!"
"screw you!"
Gong Xue's cheeks flushed. After a moment of silence, she shouted at the top of her voice, "Help! Help!"
…
"You haven't done much in the past year. Do you feel bored?" More than an hour later, the abuser lying on the bed said to the victim.
"No, I practice calligraphy, painting, and take care of potted plants every day, and go to the company occasionally. It's pretty good, but..."
Gong Xue hesitated to speak.
Nan Yi stroked Gong Xue's hair and asked, "Are you lacking company, or are your family urging you to get married?"
“Both.”
"What were the criteria for choosing a spouse that you told your mother about before?
Oh, by the way, first, she must be 1.8 meters tall, second, she must have a college degree or above, third, she must come from an intellectual family, fourth, she must have a career, fifth, she must be talented, sixth, she must not be ugly, seventh, she must have a sense of humor, and eighth, when she is acting in a love scene, when she hugs and kisses someone, he will not be jealous.
With this standard, you will never find your significant other and can only be a happy single."
Gong Xue looked up at Nan Yi's eyes and said sullenly, "Some words don't taste right when they come out of your mouth. I don't care. If my family forces me again, you help me deal with it."
"How can I deal with it? Should I tell them that your daughter, a 35-year-old old maid, is marrying a 26-year-old married man and is enjoying it, so you should stop urging her to get married."
"You did it on purpose, didn't you? Without adding the age, would your words be ambiguous?"
Nan Yi laughed, "Of course, if you don't add the age, you will be at a disadvantage. Now you are the old cow eating the young grass, picking up the spoils."
"Nonsense, no matter how old I am, the one I hand over to you is still a virgin, what about you?"
"No, it's the old lady."
"Hmph, I'm ignoring you."
Gong Xue pulled the quilt up, covered her head with it, and sulked.
Nan Yi shook his head, a bitter look on his face.
Avoiding some problems temporarily does not mean that they do not need to be solved. Gong Xue's family will have to face them sooner or later. As they are from an intellectual family, and Gong Xue's parents are middle-aged and artistic, this hurdle is not easy to overcome.
"Forget it, let's put it off for now. I don't have the energy to think about this issue this year."
Nan Yi muttered and pulled back the quilt. Then there was another round of darkness and the earth shook.