Chapter 454

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Shen Weirong didn't want to offend anyone, coughed once, and said: "You must be clear, Renbu's transportation is poor, large-scale supporting facilities probably can't keep up either. Right now the local government's finances are tight, and Tibet's highway maintenance costs are extremely high, so there are temporarily no plans for new road construction."

Seeming to feel his tone was a bit harsh, he lowered his voice a bit more and said with a smile: "Of course, we will try our best to coordinate with the power department to arrange the construction of power facilities."

"Isn't 'three connections and one leveling' a government supporting facility?" Chen Yi feigned surprise.

"That's for industrial development zones." Shen Weirong's face darkened as he spoke bluntly: "Tibet has no money. And within one or two years, government expenditure will prioritize mature mining areas."

Chen Yi laughed heartily and said: "I know, I know, no need to be nervous."

A group of government officials' faces only darkened further.

The high official thought with tears streaming down his face: The dinner table is an even more sacred place than the conference room, how can one joke here.

Chen Yi's words came from the distant horizon: "There is a method that can solve the provincial government's funding predicament. I can take a portion of the 10 billion investment and deposit it in Jiangning Bank, then have President Gao lend it to you at low interest, specifically for improving infrastructure east of Renbu. Additionally, I'll allow you a 30% joint venture stake."

The high official seemed to wake from a dream and asked blankly: "Lend to us, then have us build supporting facilities for your mining area?"

"High Official Li speaks truly bluntly." Chen Yi gave a hehe smile, yet said: "That is indeed the case, no mistake. However, with a 30% joint venture, your loan will be repaid quickly. By then the highways and supporting facilities will still be there, won't they?"

Tibet is vast and sparsely populated, mining areas even more desolate like a desert overgrown with grass. Such highways and supporting facilities cannot collect taxes like in developed coastal cities. Moreover, if the ore is mined out, the supporting facilities' usefulness diminishes.

However you calculate it, the officials all felt they were busy for nothing.

Of course, from the government's perspective, any project that doesn't lose money should be doable, but because of that strange sequence, everyone felt it was bizarre no matter how they thought about it.

Shen Weirong said unwillingly: "Joint venture lending is a major matter, we need to study it."

"Secretary Shen, this is an opportunity, don't miss it." Chen Yi smiled with the Chen Family's bearing — a hidden smile, a bit like a lion's smile — because his face had too many wrinkles, making it unfathomable. He paused a moment, scanning everyone's expressions from left to right, then said: "If you're tight on funds, I can likewise arrange a loan through Jiangning Bank for your joint venture capital, however, this preferential clause is bundled with the supporting facilities. Actually, you're not putting out anything, what's there to fear."

The last sentence made Shen Weirong somewhat tempted.

Ever since 20 years ago, it's always been merchants empty-handedly swindling the government, yet the government has never encountered such a good deal. Transportation and power equipment are built in Tibet, Chen Yi can't take them away. The joint venture is basically reassuring; current mining companies, as long as they don't wildly fabricate, even with rock-bottom luck, won't lose money.

"The loan term must be long, at least 10 years or more." Shen Weirong planned to hand the loan to the next provincial high official.

Chen Yi said indifferently: "You negotiate with Jiangning Bank, I'm just the middleman."

"Alright." Shen Weirong finally understood Chen Yi's scheme. He was also empty-handedly swindling, just using Jiangning Bank's money.

Don't look at how Chen Yi currently has much cash deposited in Jiangning Bank's accounts, but once he uses it, the money's quantity will clatter down until negative. As for how Jiangning Bank recovers the money it lent out, that's another matter. This is a disguised way of getting money from the state's pocket, though it's still placed in the state's pocket...

Shen Weirong pretended he didn't understand, and decided to hand this matter to his subordinates' subordinates.

"As for the joint venture company, we'll still have to trouble Secretary Shen. We can't handle too big a brand name. Also, management personnel we'll provide ourselves."

Chen Yi boastfully put forward demands, and several officials didn't oppose at all.

They cared about income, fundamentally not wanting to touch mining area management.

Chen Yi also cared about income; only with government equity would acquiring mining areas later be easier. Tibet isn't Jiangning; the Chen Family's background can be used to hold talks, but not to decide outcomes. Therefore, letting the government also profit is the most efficient way; otherwise just the wrangling would be unbearable.

The sacred lunch could finally continue.

The high official raised his cup again to welcome Chen Yi's arrival, then downed the cup of Cough wine in one gulp. A vice-ministerial level official, few can do this.

Chen Yi thus also drank his full cup in one gulp and said with a smile: "In the future I'll have to trouble High Official Li to take care of me."

"Rest assured, any problem, any time, come find me." The high official, seeing he finished the wine, was so happy he danced with hands and feet.

Over the next few days, Chen Yi toured several temples near Lhasa, sampled butter tea, yogurt, mare's milk wine and other local foods, and even stayed in Jiangning for a week. Fang Zhong and Chen Zhenxing led a professional exploration team, climbing from one mountain to another, then yet another mountain... Yu Gong back then wanted to move a mountain precisely because he climbed too many mountains; after they returned, their attitude toward mountains was about the same as Yu Gong's.

Chen Zhenxing opened his mouth to curse: "To hell with fresh air, oxygen so low it kills, the mysterious Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, might as well call it the Desolate Highlands."

Fang Zhong's constipated face turned green, clutching a thermos and trembling as he said: "Without a pressure cooker you can't boil hot water, sunburned peeling by day, frozen peeling by night, truly don't believe there are animals that can survive. Young Master Chen, 'not even birds shit here' — I finally understand, it's truly a place where you don't see a single bird for three days. I'm never coming again, to hell with it."

He had to curse; Fang Zhong felt if he didn't show more anger than Chen Zhenxing, he might be dispatched to Tibet by Chen Yi — if that truly happened, life would be too hard. Tibet is a place suitable for achievements, highlighting dedication, but Fang Zhong is an investment manager who pursues returns.

Chen Yi's face full of smiles, sipping the oddly flavored tea water, asked: "Mining area selected?"

"There are quite a few places east of Renbu suitable for mining, but transportation investment is a huge sum. Selecting near the Qinghai-Tibet Highway is better." Chen Zhenxing could answer without looking at data. Explorers aren't like office sitters; once they go out to work, 24 hours a day they can only work, no entertainment activities, so they memorize data figures proficiently.

Fang Zhong marked the map and said: "The first mining area is the closest to the highway, yet still 20 kilometers. Such a stretch, if in Jiangning, two weeks would finish it, but in Renbu... no asphalt, no cement, even crushed stone must be made ourselves. Hundreds of kilometers of empty land, food must be transported ourselves."

"Calculate a total material quantity, find a good construction company, the transportation problem..." Chen Yi paused, continued: "Transportation, find the military to solve."

"Their automobiles don't pay toll fees!"

"Tibet has few toll highways, right."

"Over ten thousand tons of materials, that's over a thousand vehicle trips of transport volume." Chen Yi finished, patted his head and said: "Before I forget, make a driver quantity table, we'll transfer people from the Chen Family Martial Arts Hall."

Chen Zhenxing recalled the road conditions from the past few days and hurriedly said: "Highland road conditions are special; if not veteran drivers, accidents are likely."

Chen Yi thought, the West Continent's road conditions are even worse.

He said indifferently: "Let them try. Counting workers and staff total, we're nearly 30,000 people. Dispatching a few thousand for a large business trip plan, just treat it as training."

The two secretly startled; this was the first time they knew the Martial Arts Hall's approximate headcount. People who could obtain this statistic were few and far between in the Chen Clan.

Fang Zhong proactively took this job and said: "I'll return to Jiangning now to raise materials."

Kang Qiushi's Equipment Procurement Department theoretically still belongs to Fang Zhong's Investment Department. He made a rash + decision back then, weakening his own power — if he had taken on the procurement task Chen Yi required back then, the resources he'd control would be double the current amount.

When the Equipment Procurement Department proved to be growing larger and larger, Fang Zhong wanting to take it back would consume massive time and energy, and luck.

Chen Zhenxing didn't want to organize a large business trip of thousands; Chen Group dispatching over a thousand people a year was already annoying enough, let alone a one-time dispatch of over a thousand young people who'd never been on business trips — that would be maddening.

But he wasn't happy for long. When Chen Yi said "We need to allocate planes and trucks, you contact the military," Chen Zhenxing's intestines nearly regretted out.

1,500 trainees were immediately organized. They were all Body Technique Level 5 or above, young people who had received basic driving training.

On the skill table, workers and staff with Driving B+ exceeded 1,000. Except for teachers controlled at Level A or above, all workers and staff were sent onto planes.

A 2,500-person team needed at least 250 planes!

Chen Zhenxing didn't sleep for a week.

The military was unwilling to take huge risks to save the government money, while the government purely had no money. He had no choice but to find some airlines to charter a total of 100 planes, spending quite a lot of money.

The trip from the airport to the hotel is also a large sum of money, and the hotel rooms are simply not enough...

Management has always been a troublesome matter; military discipline exists to compensate for organizational management deficiencies. That is why the United States military remains astonishing in combat power despite its freewheeling style, benefiting from its organizational capability, while African militaries remain weak in combat power despite their freewheeling style — it was originally bound to be so.

Chen Zhenxing hoped to manage the trainees as company staff members, but they lacked the awareness of staff members; he then hoped to manage them as soldiers, but they lacked standard discipline; he next hoped to manage them as tourists, but that was too loose. In the end, he could only manage them as Party members, describing a beautiful future and a resilient mindset.

Young people eat this up.

August 15th, the first automobile set off from Xining.

In the virgin copper mine, besides the mining equipment currently being installed, there are also mining pools prepared for bacterial metallurgy, and additionally, a complete set of minting machines.

Copper-lead commemorative coins — at least that is what is said to the outside.

... (Unfinished. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian. com) to cast recommendation tickets and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)