Chapter 473: Across the World
Zhang Yunqi left Jiangxinzhou by boat overnight.

He asked his boss to sail the boat in advance. After getting on the ferry, he saw Ji Ling waving at him from the other side of the river.

It was already very dark at that time. The moon in the sky was big and round, and the golden moonlight spread all over the grass on the slope of the river bank. The girl's figure was slender and her face was blurred. A voice came with the sound of the river: "You have to come back early."

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said yes loudly.

Sitting in the Mercedes-Benz, he stepped on the accelerator and drove directly to No. 1 Shaoshan Road.

After all, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Zhang Yunqi did not expect Hu Xianxun to look for him. Of course, he could guess what he wanted to talk to him about, and he had a rough idea in his mind.

There are less than six days left until Aiwa Electronics officially opens for business on National Day, at which time a product launch conference for Aiwa DVD players will be held. Large-scale ground promotion and advertising marketing are being carried out in an orderly manner under the leadership of Hu Zhibiao, one of the leading marketing geniuses of this era. Yu Lin, general manager of Lianzhong, is also actively connecting with large channel dealers and home appliance stores. Everything is ready. What Zhang Yunqi is thinking about now is to jointly promote the construction of a large base with the Provincial State-owned Assets Corporation to expand the production capacity of DVD players.

The Mercedes-Benz crossed Yinshan Road and drove back along Xiaoxiang North Road. The two places were one in the suburbs of Hexi and the other in the middle of Hedong. The journey was quite long, almost forty kilometers.

Zhang Yunqi crossed the Orange Island Bridge from Erliban, went up Wuyi Avenue and passed Yuanjialing. It took him half an hour to reach the No. 1 compound on Shaoshan Road. Under the guidance of Liu Minsheng, he passed the checkpoint and came to the small courtyard where Hu Xianxun lived.

This is his third time here.

When he entered the door, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening. Zhang Yunqi unexpectedly found that his teacher, Jiang Ruqin, the president of Hunan University, was also there. At this moment, he was sitting under the shade of a tree drinking with Hu Xianxun.

There was a moon high in the sky, and the small courtyard shaded by green trees was filled with bright sunshine. There was the fragrance of fruits and the sound of lively laughter and conversation. The two old men were chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere was very cordial.

Zhang Yunqi reacted quickly and walked in to say hello.

Hu Xianxun waved for Zhang Yunqi to sit down, and then asked the nanny Xiao Xie to set the table for Zhang Yunqi, and asked, "I heard that you made quite a fuss at Xiang University recently?"

Zhang Yunqi had just sat down when he heard Hu Xianxun's question. He felt a little embarrassed, especially since his teacher Jiang Ruqin was also there. He smiled and said, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Secretary Hu."

Hu Xianxun always had a stern look, but at this moment, his dark and thin face had a hint of smile: "It's okay for you to smile for me, but don't embarrass your teacher. He has been upright all his life, and he has broken the school rules for you this time. Besides, he hasn't taught on the podium for many years. There are thousands of excellent students in Xiangda University, and he is willing to accept you as his student. Don't let him down in the future."

"Why are you talking to him about this? Come and have a drink." Jiang Ruqin couldn't stand Hu Xianxun's increasingly emotional words and interrupted him. Just as he was about to drink from his glass, he asked Zhang Yunqi, "Have you had dinner?"

Zhang Yunqi had some barbecue at noon, and played with Ji Ling for the whole afternoon. In the evening, he received a call from Liu Minsheng and rushed over. He was starving, but he was not the kind of person who liked to be polite, so he said, "Not yet, teacher."

"Then you eat something first." Jiang Ruqin waved to the nanny Xiao Xie to serve Zhang Yunqi food.

Zhang Yunqi picked up the meal and started eating.

The pan-fried steamed fish cooked by Hu Xianxun himself tasted amazing. The rice noodles on the outside were fried crispy and spicy, and the fish meat on the inside was tender and smooth, with the aroma of local tea oil that he loved very much. This is a specialty of southern Hunan, but Zhang Yunqi hadn't eaten it for a long time. He ate quickly and finished three bowls of rice in a row.

Hu Xianxun laughed and said, "Sometimes when I hear you talk you sound old-fashioned, as if you are not much younger than me. But when I see you eating, you look a bit like a young man."

Zhang Yunqi felt embarrassed after hearing this, so he put down his bowl and chopsticks, picked up his wine glass and stood up and said, "Secretary Hu, Teacher, let me toast to you two elders."

Jiang Ruqin waved his hand and asked Zhang Yunqi to sit down: "Let's drink later, let's talk about business first."

Zhang Yunqi had no choice but to sit down: "Teacher, you talk."

Jiang Ruqin thought for a moment and said, "You put forward a viewpoint in the document "Concept of Economic Reform in Southern Hunan" that China will become the global manufacturing center and the world's factory in the future, and Chinese products will be distributed around the world. Why did you make this judgment?"

Zhang Yunqi thought about it.

This question was not difficult for him.

For those who pay a little attention to economic development in later generations, it is not a profound question. It is just that at that time, China's market economy had just been opened, industrial transfer had just begun, and China's entry into the WTO was even less likely. It is indeed difficult to understand that he directly judged that China would become the global manufacturing center in the future.

He said, "Teacher, this is a question of industrial transfer. Now the global manufacturing center is mainly in Japan, but Japan was able to become a manufacturing center because it was transferred from Europe and the United States. After the economic development of Europe and the United States reached a certain level, the economic model needed to shift to high-end industries. Because workers in Europe and the United States want high wages and high benefits, but this is definitely not possible from low-end manufacturing. After the low-end manufacturing industry puts the cost into it, the product price is high and naturally it is not competitive, and it cannot gain market share and make more money. So the low-end manufacturing industry in Europe and the United States was transferred to Japan, retaining the high-end industries with technological reserves. However, Japan is now facing the same problem. Under high wages and high benefits, the transfer of Japan's low-end industries is also a historical necessity."

Zhang Yunqi continued, "Since the reform and opening up in 79, 16 years have passed. The market economy mechanism has gradually improved, the business environment has stabilized, and all localities have made attracting investment a top priority and introduced various policies to benefit businesses. Under such circumstances, I believe that it is inevitable that a large number of low-end manufacturing industries will move to China. After 8.5 years of heavy industry accumulation, China, coupled with the world's most hardworking and cheap migrant workers, has become the world's manufacturing center, which is also inevitable. However, the core driving force behind these great achievements is the one-way flow of cheap rural land and cheap labor factors under the urban-rural dual structure, which provides blood transfusions to cities. Therefore, it can be predicted that the largest reservoir of consumption, food, people's livelihood, and even war in our country - the rural area with a population of million - will become hollow year by year."

Hu Xianxun said nothing.

Under the moonlight, he looked at the young man who was talking eloquently, picked up the wine glass and drank it all.

Zhang Yunqi couldn't stop talking about this, or maybe it was a rare opportunity, he had to talk about it, to make them understand and accept it: "Of course, the two elders may think that I am fanciful or alarmist, but no matter what, I stick to my ideas, and I am willing to go all the way for my ideas. Over the years, when I have the opportunity, I have made many reports on this to Jiangchuan City, the province and even the ministry. I firmly believe that the key to solving this problem lies in how to promote the equal exchange of urban capital, technology, talents and rural resource elements with cheap labor, two-way integrated development, and strive to create a two-way positive cycle for the entire urban and rural development chain. As for how to form a two-way positive cycle? This is a vast project, which may be difficult, but it should be done."

Zhang Yunqi said: "The two elders should have seen my idea. To sum it up simply, there are three core paths. The first is to promote the reform of the three rights separation of rural collective cultivated land, homestead land, and construction land. The second is to promote the reform of urban areas, build local platform companies based on industrial land to promote the mixed reform of state-owned enterprises, and rely on platform companies to create innovative investment and financing models. The third is to build a high-speed channel for equal trading and exchange of various urban and rural factors between cities and rural areas, that is, the rural property rights transfer and transaction center."

Hu Xianxun nodded when he heard this.

He has done a lot of research on the reform of the three-rights separation of farmland, the rural property rights trading center and the establishment of local platform companies mentioned by Zhang Yunqi, and he basically agrees with them. However, he has many doubts about the reform path of relying on local platform companies to create an innovative investment and financing model. Hu Xianxun said: "More than a month has passed, and I have read a lot of materials in this regard. A few days ago, the Xiangnan Provincial State-owned Assets Corporation also made a report on a tripartite joint venture led by your Aihua Electronics and cooperation between the government and enterprises."

Zhang Yunqi nodded.

Hu Xianxun lit a cigarette and said, "You can talk about your thoughts on this."

Zhang Yunqi thought about it and realized that tonight was a rare opportunity to chat with Hu Xianxun and Jiang Ruqin. If he only discussed the Aiwa Electronic DVD player, it might be a bit too narrow-minded.

He wanted to talk about the landing of emerging industries in southern Hunan, not just his own industry, but the whole of China. In short, he believed that southern Hunan must seize the opportunities of the times, create an innovative investment and financing model led by the government, and introduce and layout emerging industries.

You know, southern Hunan is an inland city. Compared with the coastal open areas, it has poor innate conditions and backward various support resources, making it difficult to attract investment. This is also the core reason for the large-scale outflow of population in southern Hunan. Under such circumstances, the government must take the initiative to adjust its investment promotion strategy to attract large-scale emerging industries with core competitiveness to settle in southern Hunan.

Zhang Yunqi thought of this and said directly: "Secretary Hu, teacher, I would like to take this opportunity to report on the idea of ​​creating an innovative investment and financing model in southern Hunan by relying on provincial platform companies. I mentioned earlier that our country will one day become a global manufacturing center and a world factory, but our country will definitely face the same problems as Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea. Our country cannot always be engaged in such low-end industries, and our people cannot always work hard in sweatshops. At that time, industrial upgrading will be particularly important. So if there is an opportunity now, at least in southern Hunan, we can get ahead, we can plan ahead, we can retain college students and farmers in southern Hunan, and develop an emerging industrial economy with large-scale benefits, technical reserves and high added value."

Hu Xianxun nodded: "Tell me about the model you envisioned."

Zhang Yunqi said: "Led by the province and relying on provincial platform companies, we will establish a market-oriented strategic industry investment fund to create a diversified industry investment and financing system of 'guided equity investment + social investment + angel investment + investment fund + fund management', forming the ability to generate innovative capital and serve the strategic emerging industries in southern Hunan!"

Jiang Ruqin thought about it after hearing this, put down his chopsticks and continued, "According to my understanding, this model is led by the government, using equity investment/venture capital thinking to introduce industries, and using investment banking methods to cultivate industries. The province can first use capital to attract investment, invest heavily in funds, and attract companies with economies of scale to settle in southern Hunan. Later, the shares obtained from the investment will be sold, and after making a profit, the investment fund will continue to be expanded, so as to leverage an emerging industrial industry with one investment, drive local employment, and accelerate the upgrading of the industry."

"This model is very forward-looking and advanced. There is no other model like it in the country." Jiang Ruqin held the wine glass, his face flushed. "If we can integrate a series of investment promotion measures such as capital, land, talent, interest subsidies, and taxation into this innovative investment and financing model, our investment promotion policy in southern Hunan will be extremely attractive across the country. Then we won't have to worry about competing with our coastal provinces!"

Hu Xianxun's expression was somewhat moved when he heard this.

He could see that Jiang Ruqin, who always loved talents, really liked Zhang Yunqi and admired the ideas proposed by this young man. Jiang Ruqin was his classmate for decades and he knew his character very well. He was objective, rigorous and meticulous. He had almost never heard Jiang Ruqin praise anyone in front of him, let alone a student under 20 years old.

"But there are also problems with this model." Jiang Ruqin thought for a while, and suddenly changed the subject, saying: "my country's financial system reform is still in its infancy, and state-owned enterprises of this nature do not have a sound investment and financing system, including the Provincial State-owned Assets Corporation, which is actually controlled by the province. However, things are in the hands of people. As long as the established model is correct, policies can be sought from above, so we can ignore it for now. I feel that the real problem with this investment and financing model lies in the use of strategic industry funds."

Jiang Ruqin was not polite at all because Zhang Yunqi was his student. He said directly: "In many cases, the government is also a layman in industry. Faced with a wide variety of industries, how can it accurately judge which industry is worth investing in? When it comes to specific enterprises, the choice will definitely be more difficult. If the province makes a large investment in a certain industry and a certain enterprise, but cannot guide social capital through state-owned capital and implement an orderly exit from the capital market, then state-owned capital cannot maintain and increase its value. Once the strategic industry fund shrinks on a large scale, it will be impossible to invest in the next industry and achieve a virtuous cycle."

At this point, Jiang Ruqin looked at Zhang Yunqi and said, "This means that if your model fails in investment, it will easily lead to a dead end, and the negative impact on government finances, infrastructure, people's livelihood security, social opinion, etc. will be far-reaching. To be more serious, there will be endless troubles!"

Zhang Yunqi nodded: "Teacher is right."

This teacher with many students all over the world is not undeservedly honored as an old-school economist. His views on investment and financing issues are indeed insightful.

The most important part of the investment and financing model he envisioned is whether it is possible to find the right industry direction and whether it is possible to discover and respect the objective development laws of the industry. After all, the lead investor is state-owned capital, and investment in emerging large-scale industries is itself a waste of money, with billions of yuan being the unit of measurement. Blind investment is likely to lead to the loss of state-owned assets!
Of course, there are countless examples of such failed government investments in later generations!
Among these, the most famous is probably the photovoltaic industry.

For a long time, photovoltaics has been a "live target" for the failure of industrial investment and financing policies and large government subsidies in the eyes of the government, academia and the media.

Because of the sharp drop in export demand during the 2008 financial crisis and the "double-reverse" investigation, the photovoltaic industry entered a cold winter, and a large number of photovoltaic companies supported by the government began to go bankrupt, including the once-prosperous Suntech and Solar.

However, this is also Zhang Yunqi's greatest advantage.

He dared to propose this model to Hu Xianxun because he could clearly judge the development trend of emerging industries in the future! He has a forward-looking vision that goes beyond this era. He can ensure that the industries supported by the strategic industry fund stand at the forefront of the times, lead the scale economy in southern Hunan to continue to grow and develop, promote large-scale infrastructure, enrich finances, improve social security and people's livelihood, absorb a large number of employed people, retain those people from southern Hunan who went to sweatshops on the coast, and then through the rural property rights transfer transaction platform, import urban capital and technology into rural areas, drive rural development, and thus break the urban-rural dual structure!
But Zhang Yunqi could never say these words.

Zhang Yunqi stood up.

Facing Hu Xianxun and Jiang Ruqin with a questioning look, he said sincerely: "The problem pointed out by the teacher is indeed objective and incisive. I can't come up with strong objective facts to refute this problem, but I still want to tell you two a few words of my thoughts."

He picked up the wine glass, and suddenly in his mind, he remembered the time when he was alone studying on the top of Jiangjunling Mountain, and the time when he dragged a cart up the dirt slope under the scorching sun. Those memories of suffering and ideals coexisted, as if they had never gone away.

He drank the local wine in the glass in one gulp. It was particularly bitter and irritating at the beginning, but it also made his mind more awake: "China has gone through 1979 years since the reform and opening up in 16. In these 16 years, our country has been crossing the river by feeling the stones, and has experienced countless dangerous shoals, reefs and rapids. It can be said that every time there is a mistake and failure in the reform strategy, it is always hundreds of millions of grassroots people who drown, sacrifice and suffer. Therefore, I know very well what I, Zhang Yunqi, am doing, and I, Zhang Yunqi, will definitely stick to it."

"Secretary Hu, teacher, words are often pale. At this point, it is meaningless to talk about it on paper and paint a beautiful blueprint for the future of the southern Hunan region. Let's talk about the matter. The three-party joint venture between Aihua Electronics and the Provincial State-owned Assets Corporation needs to be led by the province. The two elders can do a good job of researching this emerging industry that has skyrocketed to tens of billions in two or three years before making a decision. However, regardless of whether the two elders recognize this industry or not, regardless of whether the Provincial State-owned Assets Corporation will form a joint venture or not, the Jiangchuan Municipal Government and I will definitely form a joint venture, and I will definitely run through the investment and financing model I envisioned through this industry within a year."

At this point, Zhang Yunqi looked at the two elderly men with slightly moved expressions, and said sincerely: "When the time comes, I hope to cooperate with the province through my United Times to establish an emerging strategic industry investment guidance fund. I will manage the fund and guide the comprehensive implementation of emerging industries in southern Hunan!"

The courtyard suddenly became extremely quiet.

At that time, it was already very late at night.

There is a big, round moon hanging high in the sky.

This was the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1995. The bright light filled the world and the small courtyard shaded by green trees.

Suddenly, an old man’s voice floated out from the courtyard: “The great China is as majestic as a mighty wind. The torch is passed down from generation to generation, and the sun and the moon pass through the sky. Only then can we know where we have come from and where we are going…”

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