Chapter 209 Ji Ling's meal (Book friends who have read the previous chapter and blocked the chapters can skip this)
On the morning of that day, Yang Jiarong invited Ji Zhong to have tea.

Yang Jiarong has no other hobbies. He likes to drink tea and play Go when he has nothing to do. When he has something to do, he also likes to drink tea and play Go. But he is not very old. When he was in charge of Jiangchuan last year, he was 37 years old, almost the same age as Ji Zhong. He doesn't call ordinary people, but he likes to find Ji Zhong. However, when it comes to Go, his attainments can only be described as mediocre. If he has something on his mind, he will be even worse at Go.

Ji Zhong could see that he had something on his mind, but he didn't ask.

Or it is the same whether you ask or not. The problems are the same, and everyone knows them, but how to solve them, and how to solve them beautifully, is difficult.

Halfway through the game, Yang Jiarong threw away the white pieces and said, "Old Ji, what do you think of Zhang Yunqi, the boss of Lianzhong?"

This sentence was a bit puzzling to Ji Zhong.

He nodded: "Not bad."

Yang Jiarong smiled: "You are not protecting your child, are you?"

Ji Zhong was a little surprised, but he just smiled and said, "No way."

Yang Jiarong picked up a document on the table and handed it to Ji Zhong: "I'm afraid he is more than good. He is only seventeen years old and has strong abilities. I think there are not many people in Xiangnan Province who can bear the title of 'young talent'. But he has a big appetite. A few days ago, he discussed with Chengnan District about Lianzhong's acquisition of Longjingyuan Canning Factory and proposed a harsh plan, which directly embarrassed Huo Jianzhong."

Ji Zhong said nothing. He picked up the document and flipped through it. It was detailed information about Lianzhong Trading. He had no knowledge of Lianzhong, but he knew that Zhang Yunqi was the boss of this private enterprise.

A person like Yang Jiarong would never speak without a purpose. Mentioning Zhang Yunqi to him for no reason must have a hidden agenda.

Logically speaking, he and Zhang Yunqi have no relationship and they seldom contact each other. It's just that his daughter and Zhang Yunqi are very good friends. But the problem is that some people don't see it that way. Chinese people have always paid attention to origin and background. His wife is from Yunxi Village. Officially speaking, Zhang Yunqi is from his mother's family!
How could this guy, who is so young, with no experience or connections, build such a big business? And do it so well?

This might give Yang Jiarong some food for thought.

In other words, this will make many people think about it.

Thinking of this, Ji Zhong couldn't help but worry that at this critical juncture of the restructuring of the Longjingyuan Cannery, Zhang Yunqi would be labeled as Ji Zhong.

It is really hard to predict whether this matter will be good or bad.

Ji Zhong closed the information and said with a smile, "I don't know much about Lianzhong's situation, but I don't know how he plans to acquire the Longjingyuan Canning Factory?"

Yang Jiarong smoked a cigarette and said, "Transferring all the assets of Longjingyuan Canning Factory for free means giving it to him for free."

Ji Zhong was happy.

He once again witnessed the boldness of this kid, who dared to come up with any idea, but he had to admit that Zhang Yunqi had a more meticulous thinking than his peers. For example, when his brother was caught for selling flue-cured tobacco, he came to him to save his brother. It seemed naive and impossible, but in fact he knew very well how to make him nod his head.

The current situation is so similar.

Faced with Zhang Yunqi's seemingly exaggerated request, Yang Jiarong actually had few choices. Others may not understand, but he was very clear about the huge pressure Yang Jiarong was facing. He was a young, ambitious, down-to-earth and daring man, but for him, Jiangchuan was a quagmire where he could not move forward.

This is particularly evident in the reform of state-owned enterprises.

When he took office at the end of last year, Yang Jiarong ambitiously responded to the call of the "Southern Speech" and took charge of the city's state-owned enterprise reform, which has been the highlight of the local government in recent years. He embarked on a comprehensive investigation and audit of the city's industrial and commercial enterprises.

The half-dead state of state-owned enterprises and the financial situation of deficit made this young leader feel very uneasy. The salary issue of cadres and employees alone was enough to make his hair turn white, not to mention the high rate of bank non-performing loans and the complicated triangular debt relationship, which trapped him like a cage and made it difficult for him to escape.

Let’s talk about the Longjingyuan Cannery again. This state-owned enterprise has been making losses for many years, and it affects the jobs of its employees. The factory cannot be closed down and has been operating at a loss, causing great suffering to the city’s finances.

What can Yang Jiarong do?
Ji Zhong was not interested in speculating, but according to his thinking, now that there is private capital willing to take over, even if it is free, even if the property rights are completely privatized, it is better than dragging it on like this, because at least it can save the jobs of more than 200 employees and relieve the burden on the overburdened local finances. If it develops well in the future, it can also return taxes to the local area and even set a benchmark for state-owned enterprise property rights reform.

Of course, it was not his turn to express his opinion on the reform of state-owned enterprises in the city, but now that Yang Jiarong had come to talk to him privately, the situation was very different. In addition, from the casual conversation this morning, he always had a feeling that Yang Jiarong seemed to want to convey some kind of message to him. Although he was not very sure, he did not mind showing a certain tendency on certain issues.

Ji pointed at a cigarette and said, "We all know that the abscess must be punctured, otherwise there will be endless troubles. Shedding tears and executing Ma Su can effectively stop the loss and avoid dragging down the city's finances, but it's easy to say, but the reality is that everything must be based on the responsibility to the employees of state-owned enterprises. I think Zhang Yunqi's overall acquisition plan is still feasible. Leader Yang, let me tell you something that may not sound good. The Longjingyuan Cannery has not been in operation for more than seven months. It is no different from bankruptcy. How can there be any net assets to speak of? It's just that other local governments are still hesitant to carry out shareholding reforms. We are going to transfer the property rights free of charge right from the start. This step is indeed a bit big, and it is necessary to grasp the influence of public opinion."

Ji Zhong's words made Yang Jiarong smile. He pointed at Ji Zhong and was about to say something, but he seemed to have thought of something. He glanced at the time and said, "Old Ji, shall we go to Xu's Restaurant for a drink tonight?"

Ji nodded his head.

The two chatted briefly for a few more sentences before Ji Zhong stood up and left Yang Jiarong's office.

When he went down the stairs, he met the leaders of the South City District, Huo Jianzhong and Zhang Yunqi, not surprisingly. The two must have come to meet Yang Jiarong to discuss the acquisition of the cannery.

It seems that Yang Jiarong had already made up his mind about this matter.

Ji Zhong and Huo Jianzhong greeted each other before looking at Zhang Yunqi.

Zhang Yunqi called out, "Hello, Leader Ji." Ji Zhong just nodded and didn't intend to say anything, but Huo Jianzhong, a shrewd man, seemed to have confirmed that there was some kind of relationship between him and Zhang Yunqi, and he went upstairs first with a smile.

Ji Zhong looked at Huo Jianzhong's background with his hands behind his back, and said to Zhang Yunqi: "Leader Yang is a pragmatic and daring person. He should be more direct, but he should consider the interests of the employees more."

Zhang Yunqi nodded: "Thank you, Uncle Ji."

Ji Zhong said “hmm” and went downstairs with his hands behind his back.

Zhang Yunqi smiled and went upstairs to catch up with Huo Jianzhong. Huo Jianzhong smiled meaningfully at Zhang Yunqi and said, "Boss Zhang, Leader Ji is quite good, young and promising. I heard from my son that Leader Ji's daughter is also quite good and very beautiful."

Zhang Yunqi laughed and said, "Leader Huo, are you trying to say that I'm a gigolo?"

＊＊＊＊＊＊
When Zhang Yunqi and Huo Jianzhong walked into the leader's office, Yang Jiarong had already asked his secretary to put away the chessboard and was sitting at his desk looking through the overall acquisition plan for the Longjingyuan Cannery.

In fact, he had read this plan many times. He no longer had the initial surprise, nor did he have the deep doubts after reading it over and over again. But he just wanted to flip through it, to take a look, and to find the courage to subvert it.

It was not until Zhang Yunqi and the other man came in that Yang Jiarong took his eyes off the information. After Huo Jianzhong made a brief introduction, he got straight to the point without any politeness: "Xiao Zhang, if you took over the Longjingyuan Canning Factory now, what would you do?"

Zhang Yunqi said: "Leader Yang, the operation of Longjingyuan Canning Factory in the later stage is relatively complicated, including production lines, canning raw materials, product packaging, sales strategies, management team adjustments, etc. All of these need to be changed. As for the current situation, in order to let the canning factory resume production as soon as possible, I will do four things."

Yang Jiarong said straightforwardly: "Tell me about it."

Zhang Yunqi said: "First, invest 1.5 million to establish a new company to operate the Longjingyuan Cannery as a whole; second, immediately pay one month's salary to the Longjingyuan Cannery employees after signing the acquisition agreement; third, separate the production and sales of Longjingyuan. The cannery will be mainly responsible for production, and the sales will be connected to Lianzhong Trade to build a new distribution channel; fourth, before the Spring Festival, sell all the hundreds of thousands of cans in stock at the Longjingyuan Cannery, and pay part of the salary to the more than 200 employees so that they can have a good New Year."

Yang Jiarong looked at Zhang Yunqi who was talking eloquently. He looked like a student, but his conversation, bearing, knowledge and logical thinking were indeed far superior to those of ordinary people. It seemed that there really were people in this world who were born with knowledge.

Yang Jiarong picked up the teacup and took a sip, then continued to ask: "More than 200 employees haven't received their salary for almost a year. They only received one month's salary in the early stage. Isn't that too little?"

Zhang Yunqi said: "But if they are given too much, they will become lazy."

Yang Jiarong was not very satisfied with this statement: "Isn't this a perverse logic? Salaries are originally for employees. How can they become lazy if they are paid too much?"

Zhang Yunqi told the truth: "In fact, they can't get a penny of their salary now."

Yang Jiarong knocked on the table: "This is why you are sitting here today!"

Zhang Yunqi said, "Leader Yang, if I take over, I will pay them everything they deserve, but what I need to consider now is how to keep the cannery alive with nearly 10 million yuan in debt. This is not the responsibility of the manager, but everyone. We must work together. I will formulate a sales incentive plan and mobilize all the employees in the factory to sell canned food together. If the employees want to get more money, they have to sell more canned food instead of relying on that little salary."

Yang Jiarong nodded and said, "It's only two months until the Spring Festival. There are so many canned goods in stock. Can you guarantee that you can sell them all?"

Zhang Yunqi said: "I can't guarantee it, but I guarantee that the cannery will resume production after the Spring Festival, and the employees will have a guaranteed living and have a good New Year."

This time Yang Jiarong remained silent. He stared at Zhang Yunqi, who looked calm. He tapped his fingers on the table rhythmically for a long time before saying, "Xiao Zhang, I don't want a penny. All the people, property, and land of the Longjingyuan Cannery will belong to you. But I hope you will keep your promise."

******
PS:

I have always believed that the property rights reform initiated in 92 was the most important milestone in China's 40 years of reform and opening up. The prosperity of the motherland, the resurgence of state-owned enterprises... all of this, we can trace its origins from the property rights reform of state-owned enterprises of that era.

Due to my limited ability, I cannot explore these origins in depth, but since I am writing about the 90s, it is impossible to avoid the reform of state-owned enterprises.

Because this was the most grand narrative background of that era!
Without this narrative background, how can we see the dust of history clearly? How can we have a dramatic storyline? How can we highlight the moving character arc?
When writing this volume, I really hoped to show the most intense and instinctive reactions of every big or small person under pressure against such a grand narrative background.

The protagonist is an ordinary businessman.

Of course, I hope to add three words before "ordinary": with warmth. However, whether he is warm or not, profit-seeking is his instinct. His request for free transfer of property rights is in line with the character's inner character and is also a very reasonable demand. Perhaps in the eyes of some readers, the protagonist's request is a bit naive and lacks sufficient persuasiveness, but if you read more books and cases on property rights reform and understand the situation of small and medium-sized state-owned enterprises in that era, you may have a different view.

It was difficult for me to show this in this book, but it was not impossible to write it.

I wrote a chapter earlier but it was a failure. I revised it over and over again but it still didn't pass. I had no choice but to delete a lot of the historical background in it, then picked out the main plot, integrated it and rewrote this chapter. I wasn't able to expand it, so it may not be as convincing. The characters and the rhythm of the story are a bit drifting. I'm very sorry.

Doing this repeatedly can easily break your mentality and affect your writing rhythm and efficiency. In addition, I would like to say sorry to the readers who have read the previous chapter. I wasted more than ten Qidian coins of yours.

I am sorry.

I will try my best to write each chapter and update it as much as possible. The next chapter will probably be updated tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Because I have two plans to write at the company tomorrow, I am afraid I won't be able to make it in time.

(End of this chapter)