Chapter 256: Chen Dejun: I'd Damn Well Like to Kneel Before Him Too

10:30 PM, Apartment 0418, Faculty Residence.

Chen Yansen set down a can of beer, dropped heavily onto the sofa, focused his mental energy, and summoned a semi-transparent system panel before his eyes.

With the Luzhou No. 4 Sister Chengzi Factory now in production and Gao De Map fully acquired, the total number of employees providing him with Human Dao Firepower now exceeds 97,000.

Among them, Yunsu Express has 61,192 employees, with labor costs of 501.77 million, accounting for the highest proportion;

Sister Chengzi Mobile Phone Factory has 21,437 employees, with costs of 184.35 million, closely following;

After Kuai Pao entered the Hangcheng and Jin Ling markets, the employee count rose to 7,668, with costs of 66.71 million.

Additionally, Gao De Map, Sister Chengzi Technology, and four other subsidiaries have a combined 6,810 employees, with labor costs of 142.29 million.

Senlian Capital's employee count is just one step away from the 100,000 mark; Human Dao Firepower stands at 100,146 threads, which can be synthesized into 1,001 threads of Divine Dao Firepower.

Yunsu Express loses the most fiercely, yet contributes the most Human Dao Firepower!

Liao Wei mentioned in his April work report that the combined pickup volume of the "Three Tongs and One Da" is only 40% of Yunsu's.

It must be known that in 2011, each of the Tongda group's daily pickup volumes exceeded 2 million parcels; Shentong even reached 4 million parcels on Taobao's Double 11, with the Tonglu faction occupying half the express delivery industry.

Yet when Yunsu Express's daily pickup volume broke through 8 million, the business scale of the Three Tongs and One Da kept shrinking; in just half a year, they lost sixty percent of their market share.

Franchised outlets across the country closed one after another; compared to their peak, their numbers had actually halved.

"Chen Dejun's stress resistance is quite strong; he neither begged for mercy nor sold the company. It seems he intends to fight Yunsu to the end."

Chen Yansen smiled faintly and muttered softly.

……

……

"I'd damn well like to kneel before him too, but with Shentong's volume shrinking by sixty percent and selling price too low, I'd rather fight Liao Wei to the death!"

In a private club in Hucheng, Chen Dejun held a wine glass, gulped down a huge mouthful, and cursed fiercely.

Ever since Zheng Shengyu of the Postal Association forced Shentong and Yuantong to raise the price of e-commerce small parcels under one kilogram from one yuan back to one and a half, the market share in hand could no longer be defended.

Backed by Pinbai Shangcheng, Yunsu lacks no customers and can even aggressively seize express delivery business from Taobao merchants.

As one wanes and the other waxes, Yunsu Express's economies of scale become increasingly evident.

With technical support from Sister Chengzi Technology, Kuai Pao, and Gao De Map, Yunsu Express leverages big data and intelligent algorithms to plan optimal routes for transport vehicles based on order distribution, traffic conditions, and other factors, effectively reducing empty mileage and transport time, lowering transport costs while improving delivery efficiency.

Meanwhile, seven large-scale intelligent warehousing centers have been built in the North China, East China, and South China regions, introducing automated equipment to achieve high and precise sorting efficiency.

In the last-mile delivery segment, Yunsu combines express lockers with door-to-door delivery services, suffocating the Three Tongs and One Da.

"We must think of a way, otherwise none of us will last until next year." Yu Weijiao of Yuantong Express frowned tightly; the white hair on his head grew denser, clearly indicating recent hard times.

"If not, just sell the company to Yunsu." Lai Haisong of Zhongtong Express shrugged, looking helpless.

In his view, wait another year or half a year, and no one will buy; better to plan early.

"Boss Lai has gone cowardly?" Nie Tengyu of Yunda Express glanced at him, speaking disdainfully.

"Cowardly? Half a year ago, it was Boss Chen who said Yunsu couldn't withstand the losses and would last only a few months. And the result? I gritted my teeth and fought Liao Wei, but he grows more spirited with every battle; this month he built another intelligent warehouse in Yongcheng. What else can I do but not be cowardly?"

Lai Haisong suddenly stood up, confronting Nie Tengyu with a questioning glare.

"Enough, no need to point at the mulberry while cursing the locust here." Chen Dejun, face grim, looked at Lai Haisong and said coldly.

"Hmph!" Lai Haisong suppressed his anger, plopped down with a thud, and picked up his wine glass to drink in silence.

The four stared at each other, momentarily at a loss; to put it plainly, in terms of capital reserves, even the Three Tongs and One Da combined are no match for Yunsu.

Currently, there is only one way out: find a way to secure financing.

……

……

"Financing? China Merchants, Huake, and Huaxin?"

On the first working day of May, as Chen Yansen arrived at the office, Gao Weilin knocked and entered.

Gao Weilin nodded with a smile: "Exactly; it was arranged by Association President Zheng Shengyu."

Zheng Shengyu?

Chen Yansen did not believe the other party was so kind-hearted.

Most likely, it is because Yunsu has been expanding wildly across the country recently, spending money like water, with monthly losses surging from the original one or two hundred million to two or three hundred million.

Is Zheng Shengyu afraid Yunsu's capital chain will break, affecting...?

However, if they can establish connections with China Merchants and Huaxin, future purchases of second-hand aircraft from Air China for conversion to cargo planes, or applications for air transport operating qualifications and route operating permits, will be much simpler.

"Yunsu is indeed due for financing; you will handle the coordination."

Chen Yansen thought for a moment and instructed Gao Weilin.

"Boss, what is your bottom line?" Gao Weilin pressed.

"At most 15%; valuation is naturally better the higher, but no talks below 10 billion USD." Chen Yansen replied.

"Understood." Gao Weilin nodded, placed a financial report on the desk, and turned to leave.

Once the office door closed again, Chen Yansen extended a hand, and the Sister Chengzi phone on the desk slowly flew into his palm.

After his mental value broke through 44.95, not only did the diameter of his spiritual sense probe expand to over fourteen meters, but the weight he could 'lift' also increased by more than three times.

"May 1st: Penguin invested 200 million to acquire 13.5% equity in Yixun. com, raising its holding to 80%; the remaining shares will be held by Yixun. com's management..."

Chen Yansen shook his head; it seems Little Pony Brother has indeed abandoned his idea of running e-commerce himself, shifting the group's strategy on the e-commerce sector to investment.

Pity that Yixun. com cannot bear Ma Wenteng's e-commerce dream; Penguin's total investment of 700 million is destined to be wasted.

Chen Yansen remembered clearly: two years later, Ma Wenteng exchanged Yixun. com, QQ Shopping, and Paipai. com, plus 220 million USD, for 15% equity from Brother Jingdong just before JD. com's IPO.

Liu Qiangdong, for the sake of WeChat and Mobile QQ's top-tier traffic entry points, could only tearfully take over the deal.

Actually, he did not lose; after gaining Penguin's traffic, JD. com's valuation on its listing day could surge past 20 billion USD.

Otherwise, based solely on JD. com's market share and business level at that time, it would be hard to secure an offering price of 19 USD per share.

Now Penguin has already given the traffic entry points to Pinbai; whether they will still invest in JD. com later remains uncertain.

Just then, Zhou Hongyi's phone call came through.

(End of chapter)