Volume 5: The Age of Storms Chapter 0773 Big Liar
In September 1982, an extremely grand and bizarre mass wedding was held at Madison Square Garden in New York.
A total of 2,075 couples participated, all of whom were dressed uniformly, with the groom in a dark blue suit and the bride in a white lace and satin wedding dress. Most of the couples had never even met each other a few times before the wedding, and many were in cross-border and arranged marriages, so they needed an interpreter to communicate with each other.
The most bizarre couple is a 71-year-old African pastor and a 43-year-old South Korean female acupuncturist.
The conductor and planner of the wedding was Wen Zhengming, a successful businessman who owned a multinational trading company called Tongil. Its assets peaked at $1.2 billion. From ginseng to guns, the products sold by this company covered almost everything in a person's life, from birth, aging, illness and death to eating, drinking, defecating and urinating.
He also has a more widely known identity: the founder of the famous "Earth Alliance Association". All the 2075 newcomers who can't even pronounce each other's names correctly are his followers.
Many people will leave the United States immediately after this wedding and go to a completely unfamiliar country to live a completely unfamiliar life, but they are not afraid because everything will be arranged by the "Earth Alliance Association", including when they will have children.
This kind of matchmaking behavior seems a bit anti-human and anti-social, but this "successful person" who was born in North Korea, made his fortune in South Korea, lives in a luxury house in New York all year round, and owns more than ten luxury cars will tell you with practical actions that the reason why he is anti-human is to go to more countries to make more money and find more believers to provide more "love offerings."
In 1954, Wen Zhengming, who fled from North Korea to South Korea, founded the "Earth Alliance Association"; in the 1970s, he took his wife and son to the other side of the ocean, and in a very short period of time he developed 50,000 believers and successfully dug up the "first pot of gold."
In the 1980s, he had a new destination and a new direction of development - China's automobile industry, which had just been reformed and opened up for 10 years.
In September 1988, Kim Guk-won, a Korean-American businessman engaged in the import and export of auto parts, registered an automobile company called "Panda" in Delaware, USA.
A few days after the company was established, Jin Guoyuan came to China.
At that time, the people of Echeng were always eager to develop the manufacturing industry rapidly. After all, when the locals opened their eyes, they saw the high-rise buildings rising from the ground in Shencun in the south, and when they closed their eyes, they thought of the Peugeot assembly line in Yangcheng in the west.
As luck would have it, Li had a friend in Hong Kong who "just happened" to know a senior executive of Panda Auto, and knew that the CEO of this company was visiting China, so he immediately used his connections to invite Panda Auto to visit Echeng.
Soon, Jin Guoyuan went there. He contacted the heads of local related industries and believed that Echeng had a bright future. As long as Echeng built a large automobile factory covering an area of 81 square kilometers and with an annual output of 300,000 vehicles, Echeng would be able to take over from the declining Detroit and become the "Eastern Detroit" of the 21st century.
Jin Guoyuan also specifically mentioned two key points: an investment of US$1 billion, without using a single cent of investment from Goose City or loans from local banks, and all goods will be exported.
These conditions are simply giving money to Goose City . You know, the investment amount of 1 billion US dollars alone is already the largest foreign investment project in China at present, not to mention the annual output of 300,000.
Today, even though the Volkswagen Santana assembly line has gradually been localized, the country's annual automobile production is still only 30,000 vehicles.
The negotiations went as smooth as silk. In December, both parties could not wait to sign the memorandum, fearing that the other party would regret it. The following year, in June 1989, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in Goose City, and the chairman of Panda Company, the grandson of General MacArthur, personally cut the ribbon.
But on the day of the ribbon-cutting ceremony for MacArthur and his grandson, some people felt a little strange and uneasy, because according to the time calculation, MacArthur's grandson in 1989 should have been only in his thirties, but the person who came to cut the ribbon was a middle-aged man in his fifties.
Just when more and more people were beginning to doubt, the first investment of US$250 million came from the other side of the ocean as promised.
This made everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
The construction of the Goose City factory went extremely smoothly, but the Goose City leadership team gradually figured it out: this "Panda Automobile Company" and the "US$1 billion" investment were simply like a pillow given to you when you want to sleep, how could it be so good?
Therefore, a senior investigation team including legal experts and automotive engineers was set up, and they made a special trip to Delaware to conduct on-site research on Panda's background, credit, market, engine production line, etc.
Not long after, a "notice" came from afar, bringing bad news and good news.
The bad news is that this automobile company named "Panda" was registered very recently, and it is most likely targeting China.
The good news is that although Panda Automobile was established not long ago, it has factories and assembly line equipment in the United States and can produce the Yugoslav Red Flag. They have already tried it and found that the grade is not high.
They have reported this to the top management, who have agreed to introduce new models from Toyota in Japan to be produced in Goose City.
Finally, the inspection team came to the following conclusion: "Panda's product level was not the highest at the time, but it had strong financial strength and its investors had strategic foresight. Considering the needs of the development of China's automobile industry, it had a certain appeal."
To prevent accidents, Echeng stipulated "two 100%s" for Panda Automobile Company: 100% self-investment and 100% export; at the same time, it also established "two prohibitions": no missionary work in China and no construction of highways.
The “two 100%s” are understandable, but the “two not allowed” seem a bit confusing, but there is indeed a reason for this.
It has to be said that the senior team that went to the United States to investigate was really good. They discovered the "Earth Alliance Association" behind "Panda" - Delaware, the registered place of Panda Automobile Company, has the main branch base of the "Earth Alliance Association" in the United States, and the automobile dealer Jin Guoyuan is a senior executive of the "Earth Alliance Association".
More importantly, they also discovered that the Earth Alliance Association has always had the ultimate fantasy of "unifying the Earth". The first step to realizing this fantasy is to build a highway network that spans the globe.
More importantly, their leader Wen Zhengming has many connections in Washington. It is said that he has a close relationship with former US Secretary of State Alexander Haig.
Whether their "global highway network" is the final fantasy or just a wild guess, it needs to be cut off at the source.
Faced with many additional conditions, Panda Auto Company agreed to all of them. Goose City also used both carrots and sticks. After completing the conditions, it gave the newly built city hall building to Panda Auto as an office.
The name of "Eastern Detroit" became famous as expected, and Goose City instantly became a hot spot for investment. Land prices skyrocketed in a short period of time, and real estate companies flocked in.
“In the 1980s, look at Shencun; in the 1990s, look at Goose City.”
The people of Goose City finally no longer have to look at Guangzhou with envy or Shenzhen with jealousy.
But no one would have thought that Panda Auto would go back on its promise so quickly.
Not long after the foundation of the Echeng factory was laid, Panda Auto complained to Echeng for some reasons known to everyone, saying that it was clear that automobile exports would most likely fail in the next two years, so it would be better to join forces to develop the domestic market and put 30% of the production capacity for domestic sales. It also said that this project had never been included in the planning of the national automobile authorities, so it should be able to decide whether the products could be sold domestically and what the proportion of domestic sales should be.
But Goose City still adheres to the spirit of the document and insists on the original "two 100%".
Since the foundation was laid, Goose City and Panda have been involved in rounds of negotiations. However, this future "Eastern Detroit" has been built in an orderly manner, and it seems that completion is just around the corner.
But in fact, the bustling and orderly appearance is just the shell of the factory, and the scene inside is completely different.
Looking at the information Han Zhenhe brought back, Nan Yi could tell that both Jin Guoyuan and Panda Auto had been prepared to make money in China from the very beginning. They first used large investments to confuse the local people, and when various projects such as surrounding real estate, bank loans, and private investment followed up, they turned around and threatened Goose City to compromise.
Panda is gambling. Goose City cannot bear the chain reactions brought about by the withdrawal of a huge investment of 1 billion US dollars. If it does not agree, it means unfinished buildings, plummeting housing prices, and all surrounding supporting facilities will be scrapped. It is impossible to agree. From the perspective of a national chess game, it will have a devastating blow to domestic joint ventures and the development of the national automobile industry.
It is obvious that Panda's project will fail. The reason why Nan Yi pays attention to it is that it can be seamlessly connected with the Wolagon Group. However, the condition of 100% export is fatal to Panda, and the same is true for Wolagon.
Nan Yi doesn't want to follow the path of producing models of other car companies, no matter how bad the models are. He wants to take an original path and produce existing models, which means using other people's production processes and technical indicators. In fact, it is a disguised OEM, and he can't digest much of the technology at all.
If it was just for making money, Nan Yi would not even think about the automotive industry. A century-old car company with a century of experience is not as good as a concept or a gimmick. It is ridiculous that a giant that has been deeply engaged in the automotive field has a market value that is not as good as the so-called new energy vehicles that are different.
If Volagon were to get involved in the Panda project and continue it after this project fails, it would seem that it could save some construction time and investment, but it would also put a heavy yoke on Volagon. Nan Yi's original idea of five years of research and development, five years of improvement, five years of development, and a stunning success in fifteen years would fall through.
After taking over Panda, Wolagang will be stuck in the air from the beginning. Goose City introduced car companies to earn foreign exchange, and the national level is for automobile technology and to drive the development of surrounding economies. If Wolagang focuses on research and development, only produces a few thousand or even a few hundred cars a year to fool people, and is determined to make a loss first, Nanyi can accept it, but can the country and Goose City accept it?
Stroking his chin, Nan Yi pondered for a long time before closing the information Han Zhenhe brought. He said listlessly, "Let's put this matter aside for now and wait until the Panda project reaches a complete deadlock before discussing it again."
When Nan Yi said this, he had actually basically given up the idea of intervening in Panda. If he was determined to join, many things had to be prepared now. The reason for his hesitation was that he wanted to struggle and delay to give Miracle some space to perform.
After being stunned for a while, Nan Yi explained to Han Zhenhe the ongoing projects of Green Core Development. Han Zhenhe's return meant that Nan Yi could be freed from the specific affairs.
Before, Han Zhenhe had been staying in Mumbai to keep an eye on things in India. It was not until a few days ago that Nan Yi summoned him back when the India strategy team jointly formed by the Intelligence and Strategy Committee, the South Office, and the Small South Office [Nan Ruoyin] got on track.
Nan's development foundation in India has been laid. The next step is to wait for the Indian economy to open up, and then Nan Yi will return to Mumbai to finish what needs to be done.
…
As March arrived, the third social event that Nan Yi paid attention to had a result: Lithuania became independent.
As for Haitang Trading, the shipment volume has increased by more than 30% since mid-February. Nan Yi only paid attention to the financial statements and did not interfere in the specific affairs. He was not on the front line, so he could not learn any clever tricks from the sages Zhuge Liang and Wulong.
With the arrival of Han Zhenhe, 80% of Nan Yi's limited workload has been shared out. Yiwan International has already embarked on the track and is moving forward along the right path. It is impossible to become fat in the short term. This year or in the next three years, the main tasks will be three: building a strong team, developing new customers, and maintaining old customers.
Foreign trade business is easy to replicate. In the foreseeable future, after the old employees of Yiwan International have grown stronger, some of them will definitely jump out to start their own companies. As they leave, some customers will naturally be lost. This problem has no solution. There are limited positions for core figures, and Nan Yi simply cannot meet everyone's rising expectations.
When some people leave, some people will come. As long as a relative balance is reached between coming and going, the team will not collapse. Therefore, Yiwan International needs a healthy employment mechanism and an effective HR team.
Of course, it is too early to talk about the team. With the current scale of Yiwan International, Nan Yi can fully take over the human resources work. It will not be too late to consider setting up a human resources position by the middle of the year.
There is no rush for personnel positions, but the re-establishment of other positions and company structure is a bit urgent. Nan Yi plans to set up the department structure of Yiwan International according to the template of a large trading company. He will have a general manager in charge of finance and company development strategy, a deputy general manager in charge of import and export business, administration and other departments, the business department, the quality inspection department, the freight department [customs declaration, commodity inspection, booking, storage and transportation], the purchasing department, the overseas business department, and several auxiliary departments. He will build them up step by step.
Even if there is only one person in a department, we must first set up a framework so that people in the company can get used to the daily routine of departmental collaboration.
Several more job notices were posted at Triangle Pool. On the day they were posted, many people came for interviews. Quite a few people came, and it was a bit endless. Nan Yi asked Song Jia to be responsible for the reception, Zhao Jinshui to be responsible for the initial interview, and he himself was responsible for the final screening link.
For three consecutive days, Nan Yi read a lot of resumes and met with many interviewers. In his spare time, he couldn't help but sigh that the recruitment notice for programmers was the same whether it was posted or not. Half a month was gone, and he received three letters. The answer to the question in one of them showed a strong taste of learning and applying. He gave up the idea of recruiting programmers in Coconut City.
Twenty days passed in a flash. All seven rooms of Yiwan International on the first floor were put to use. Two rooms on the second floor were also allocated. One was Zhao Jinshui's office, and he was appointed as deputy general manager by Nan Yi. One was used as the finance office, and Nan Yi himself served as the chief financial officer and accountant. Song Jia also served as half-cashier, and some small expenses of the company were directly paid by her.
The position of Chief Financial Officer gave Nan Yi a headache. It was hard to find someone who was reliable and tight-lipped. Besides, Nan Yi didn't dare to hand over his money to others without at least a year of in-depth understanding. The number of staff in Yiwan International's Financial Department could not be too large, and there was no condition to establish a system of cross-supervision and separation of money and accounts.
It’s a headache. Nan Yi really has a headache. This is a super difficult problem that cannot be solved even if the Coconut City Branch of the Nan Guo Bank starts business. The bank where mainland companies open accounts must be a domestic bank. It cannot be a foreign bank like the Nan Guo Bank. It is impossible to add a security lock to the bank.
When March was about to leave in a flash, Liu Xin brought someone to Nan Yi's office.
Ma Mengyu, the office director of the Coconut City Land and Resources Bureau, did not have a smooth career. Liu Xindong asked around and learned about such a person. After a period of encouragement, Ma Mengyu decided to go into business.
Nan Yi had a long talk with Ma Mingyu and was quite satisfied with him, especially his unit, which was quite compatible with Nan Yi's needs.
As a result, Green Core Development had a new employee and a not very formal real estate department. Ma Mengyu and Du Tiangong were both members of this department, and Ma Mengyu served as deputy manager.
With the addition of Ma Mengyu, Nan Yi's level of information has reached a new level.
Since the establishment of Qiong Province, the number of real estate companies has increased sharply to more than 300, and many of them are quite powerful. For example, Huandao Group is a group company with a background in Beijing, and it owns a lot of the land on Haitang Island. The Hong Kong and Macao Company occupies the Hong Kong and Macao Industrial Zone and Seaview Bay. Zhujiang Industry came to Coconut City with the avant-garde experience of the Guangzhou area. Longzhu New City has the best geographical location and people, and its operating method is different from the mainstream, but has its own set of methods.
The Financial and Trade Zone and Jinpan Development Zone are both very good real estate projects with very obvious government actions. Many of the good plots in Coconut City have fallen into the hands of various government and enterprises. The real estate in Coconut City has already started to spark, and it only takes the east wind to set the prairie on fire.
Years ago, Nan Yi asked Du Tiangong to learn AutoCAD. At that time, the software functions on the market were not very powerful and relatively easy to use. Du Tiangong learned it quickly and made a base map of the real estate layout of Coconut City for Nan Yi. It was very simple but very useful. Nan Yi marked the real estate projects, industrial zones, and land for sale on the map.
The first day of April is also a festival.
Cheng Hainan appeared.
He was dressed in a manner that made him look like an average person. If you counted his clothes from head to toe, there would be more than five thousand of them.
Money is a man's courage. Unlike the last time when he met Nan Yi, Cheng Hainan exuded confidence this time. Without Nan Yi's invitation, he sat down opposite Nan Yi.
With a "swish" sound, the zipper of the handbag opened, and a stack of banknotes fell on Nan Yi's desk.
"I, Cheng Hainan, don't want to owe anyone a favor. You helped me find the relationship with the Nanhai Development Group. Here is 50,000 yuan. I'll repay you for the favor."
Cheng Hainan spoke in a strong and powerful voice , with arrogance on his forehead, like a person who had fled in a hurry and was now returning home, and also like someone who was full of confidence that he was already a rich man.
Nan Yi's eyes left the computer screen, and he glanced at Cheng Hainan lightly, then looked down and counted the banknotes again - 50,000 yuan, a mixture of new and old, denomination of 100, non-consecutive numbers.
"If you came to me for this, then there is no need. Sorry, I am very busy today and I don't have time to entertain you. Take your money, I won't send you off."
Nan Yi said calmly, lowered his head and continued to study the map.
Nan Yi's dismissive attitude made Cheng Hainan furious. He stood up and said, "Mr. Nan, don't forget what I said. Qiong Island is a place that can create miracles. Sooner or later, I will make you kneel down and beg me. At that time, I will help you once."
Hearing this, Nan Yi raised his head and looked into Cheng Hainan's eyes. "Sooner or later, I will give you a chance to take back what you said."
"I won't accept it. I'm a man and I keep my word." Cheng Hainan said with his neck stiff.
"That's fine. If you don't want to accept it, then don't accept it. When I come to your door to beg you one day, I will not only kneel down, but also call you Master Cheng." Nan Yi said in a calm tone: "Now, Master Cheng, please go in. Don't be a bad guest."
"snort!"
Cheng Hainan collected the money on the table and turned to leave.
About half an hour later, Nan Yi finished looking at the map and said to the school beauty, "You can open a file for Cheng Hainan. He died at the age of thirty-one. The cause of death... Never mind. This person was quite strong inside. He might not be upset even if he fell from the clouds. It's just that his self-esteem was too much. It was pathological and distorted."
On that day, Nan Yi did not have any ready-made dinner, and Su Meng was not there, and it was obvious where she had gone.
Since there was nothing ready, Nan Yi went out to find food.
Next to Wanghai Tower, there was a new stall serving teppanyaki. Nan Yi found it curious and walked closer to take a look. What was being cooked on the iron plate were some pork offal, including pork neck, pork intestines, pork heart, pork lungs, pork liver, and lard.
Teppanyaki is still a relatively new cooking method in China. Although there are many records of cooking on iron plates and stone plates in ancient times, the current teppanyaki is from Japan and has not yet become popular in the market. It can only be seen in some high-end foreign-related restaurants.
The cooking methods are rather monotonous, with only grilled lamb chops, steaks and the like. Even if there are local improvements, they are still made with relatively expensive ingredients. The food of the common people cannot be put on the grill nowadays. This is the first time that Nan Yi has seen this on the street.
Looking at the bubbles on the iron plate and smelling the aroma, although he knew that pork offal contained high cholesterol, Nan Yi still decided to try it.
"Boss, how much is it?"
"Two dollars a plate."
"Give me a plate and help me deliver it to..."
Nan Yi was just about to ask the stall owner to send the noodles to the next door stall when he saw Mou Nan De, a man he had never met before but had seen his photo in newspapers several times, sitting at the stall. There were a few young people sitting next to him, including Pan Wu Ju.
"Forget it, let's eat here."
