Chapter 1283: Conscience Awakened

"Secretary-General, don't forget the administrative meeting."

Wang Lu trotted a few steps, caught up to Li Xuewu who had just gone upstairs, and reminded him: "Nine o'clock, the Commission Office is already preparing."

"I remember, thank you."

Li Xuewu smiled, and as he walked upstairs, he asked casually: "How are the wedding preparations coming along?"

"There's still some time," Wang Lu wiped her eyebrow a bit shyly, then immediately said brightly: "Yajun and I both want to invite you to be the witness, but we don't know if you'll have the time."

"Hmm, you're right to say that."

Li Xuewu glanced at her and said with a smile: "Being a witness is no problem, but I must have the time."

He checked the time on his wrist and said: "It's set for May Day, right? That's still over twenty days away, I can't guarantee it."

"Then we'll just look forward to you having the time—"

Wang Lu's personality remained as cheerful as ever, as if she never had a worry in the world.

She followed Li Xuewu up the stairs, even bouncing on the last step; colleagues in the corridor felt their hearts skip a beat when they saw it.

They then realized that Wang Lu's background was almost transparent; everyone knew whose connection she was, so such liveliness beside the Secretary-General was not surprising.

If it were anyone else, even if they weren't a secretary for the Commission Office, they would be labeled as immature and unstable, and they could forget about any future advancement.

Of course, Wang Lu had never cared about others' opinions, nor had she ever thought about actively striving for advancement; she had long since lost any desire for a career in officialdom.

Her parents and older brother had provided her with a carefree upbringing, and after she started working, her uncle had provided plenty of care and support.

Without any material or spiritual pursuits, where would her desire for advancement come from? Isn't it nice to go to work and come home happily?

Actually, such agency staff are the most comfortable, but how many people can truly be without desire and let things take their natural course?

Don't look at those old comrades in later generations' agencies who name themselves "Let Things Take Their Natural Course" online; just give them a division chief position and see if they don't start fighting.

Precisely because Wang Lu had no career ambitions and behaved authentically without pretense, she didn't attract jealousy, and after having a stable romantic life, she actually ended up with more friends.

Along the way, the staff who greeted Li Xuewu almost all nodded and greeted her as well; she was a master of social interaction.

Is sincerity truly the most powerful ultimate skill?

"Are you really not planning to select a full-time secretary?"

Once inside the office, Wang Lu began to tidy up the documents piled on the desk and sofa with some helplessness; these were all sent over by various departments.

"Without anyone to help you handle these, work efficiency actually decreases."

"Hmm, that seems to be a problem."

Li Xuewu brewed a cup of hot tea for himself, took off his coat, and said: "Is helping me delaying your own work?"

"That hasn't happened," Wang Lu straightened her back, looked at Li Xuewu, and said: "But I can see the Li Kezhang's dilemma."

While tidying up the materials, she explained: "Sometimes when he comes to the section to arrange work, he deliberately skips me, very afraid that you might have some work that needs doing, which makes the comrades feel a bit uncomfortable."

"After all, I'm not the special one."

"Hmm, it seems it's my problem."

Li Xuewu listened to her opinion seriously, nodded, and said: "I was thinking about not adding trouble for everyone, but I didn't expect to be blamed for it instead."

"Actually, that's not..."

Perhaps feeling the reflection and thought in Li Xuewu's words, Wang Lu said with some embarrassment: "Maybe I thought too much."

"Hehe, perhaps your thinking has advanced."

Li Xuewu chuckled as he looked at her and said: "Since you've brought it up, I'll consider it carefully and have decided to seek your opinion."

"Ah? What?" Wang Lu was stunned by his words and asked hesitantly: "You mean... seeking my opinion?"

"Hmm, selecting you as secretary means I have to seek your opinion," Li Xuewu picked up the notebook and materials needed for the meeting, stood up, and said: "Think about it carefully, and give me an answer after the meeting."

"That—"

Wang Lu just wanted to decline right then, but saw that Li Xuewu had already left the door to go to the administrative meeting.

"I... I don't have any work experience..."

That was what she wanted to say; doing ordinary secretarial work was passable, but to truly be the Secretary-General's full-time secretary, that was really putting her in a difficult spot.

Thinking this, she hurriedly tidied up the materials in the office and went out to find Li Xue for advice.

Since coming to work at the Commission Office and visiting the Li family, her relationship with Li Xue had become closer; they could be considered real relatives now.

Li Xue didn't treat her sister-in-law's prospective sister-in-law as an outsider, but couldn't help laughing after hearing what she said.

"What are you laughing at—" Wang Lu grabbed her hand in feigned annoyance and said anxiously: "I'm worried to death, and you're still making fun of me."

"What's there to be nervous about," Li Xue whispered to her: "Didn't you hear it? Second Brother is teasing you—"

"Ah? Teasing me—what does that mean?" This left Wang Lu completely confused, "He—clearly said—tell me quickly—"

"Have you ever heard of a male leader using a female secretary?"

Li Xue squeezed her palm and explained with a smile: "He must have heard the difficulty in your words and wants to give you a convenience."

"What—what convenience?" Wang Lu was even more puzzled, looked at Li Xue and asked: "Didn't you just say—he was teasing me."

"It's impossible to clarify your status as a full-time secretary," Li Xue continued to smile, but explained with a serious tone: "He's just telling your Li Kezhang that from now on, you are responsible for the documentation and schedule arrangements in his office."

"But you don't have to follow him everywhere like a full-time secretary."

"Ah, so that's how it is—"

Wang Lu finally realized, glanced at Li Xue, and teased: "Then why didn't he just say so? Making me so nervous."

"I even felt a bit inferior, worried that I wouldn't do the secretarial work well..."

"Second Brother already made it very clear," Li Xue pursed her lips, smiled, and whispered: "It was you who didn't understand."

"I understand now—"

Wang Lu pouted and said: "The leader is giving others a reassurance to dispel the gossip in the Commission Office because his secretary position has been vacant."

"Using me won't cause gossip from others, and it can eliminate my awkward situation in the office."

"You're still quite smart!"

Li Xue shook her arm and said: "Actually, it's quite good. It's the same work you're doing now; you don't have to do the Commission Office's work, so it's actually more relaxed."

"Besides, a full-time secretary is still a secretary, a member of the Commission Office; there's no essential difference in status, everyone is the same."

"I didn't care about whether it was full-time or not," Wang Lu pursed her lips and said: "I was just a bit depressed that I couldn't understand what he said."

"What's there to be depressed about? I'll teach you a simple trick."

Li Xue smiled and whispered in her ear: "When it comes to the leader's words, listen to half literally, and listen to half inversely..."

Due to the expansion of the Management Committee's leadership team and more detailed division of business, the Management Committee's organizational meetings changed from once every two weeks to once a month.

And the leadership administrative meeting, which used to be held once a week on Mondays, was also changed to once every two weeks, and the time was no longer fixed on Mondays.

This is the benefit of having many people; eleven people, each in charge of their own area, generally speaking, assigning responsibility to individuals also saves the trouble of collective decision-making.

But some necessary work still needs to be discussed and studied at the leadership meeting, reporting progress on key projects and work that each is responsible for.

Because the frequency of the leadership meeting was adjusted, Vice Director Dong Wenwen, who was far away in Steel City, also had to attend the meeting.

So in the small conference room on the third floor, all eleven leaders of the Management Committee were present.

The meeting was presided over by Li Huai De as usual, with Secretary-General Li Xuewu reporting on the specific agenda and summarizing opinions, while also taking meeting minutes.

"Last week, the Secretary-General went to visit the Hundred Herbs Hall pharmacy and also encountered an explosion accident," after Li Huai De gave a brief pre-meeting speech, he went straight into the main topic according to the meeting agenda, "Let's first discuss the Chinese herbal medicine business."

"Okay, Director Li," Li Xuewu responded, opened the corresponding materials, and began to report on the agenda.

"The Beijing Medicinal Materials Branch intends to sell a batch of pharmaceutical enterprises, including Chinese medicine shops, warehouses, technology, production workshops, and so on..."

"We are focusing on 'Hundred Herbs Hall', right?" After Li Huai De heard Li Xuewu's report, he looked at the other leaders and said: "The Secretary-General just mentioned it, Hundred Herbs Hall's main business area is in the south."

"This time, the Beijing Medicinal Materials Branch is selling Hundred Herbs Hall's assets and business located in the region north of the Yellow River."

He looked at the materials and said: "The reason for such a large-scale move, besides the city's economic and industrial layout adjustments, is that the large-scale use of Western medicine, as well as the needs of the market and the masses, are also changing."

"To put it bluntly, it's that both policy and market are cooling down."

Li Huai De raised his head, looked at the others and said: "To take over such a sunset industry, pioneering and innovation alone are not enough; the challenges and problems we face are no less than those of these pharmaceutical enterprises."

"That is indeed the case," Jing Yunong looked at the materials in her hand and said: "The industrialization and market survey are already very clear. Within the whole city, in just the past two years, more than 100 Chinese medicine shops and Chinese medicine enterprises have faced operational difficulties, most of which have already stopped business and production."

She raised her head, looked in Li Xuewu's direction and said: "Under such a harsh business environment, we still want to launch a Chinese medicine industry project. How is the Economic Management Group considering this? Are there any specific plans or blueprints?"

"We are planning the Chinese herbal medicine industry based on the idea of foreign trade driving domestic trade," Gao Yaqing, who is in charge of economic work, took over the conversation and explained: "Watsons, under the Hong Kong Oriental Times Bank, as the most excellent pharmaceutical and cosmetic retail enterprise in Southeast Asia, will fully dock with our factory's pharmaceutical and cosmetic centralized procurement business. This is also the main driving force for the foreign sales driving domestic sales that I just mentioned."

"Relying on the development direction of the existing pharmaceutical and cosmetic market in Hong Kong, and referring to the actual usage needs of the masses in the mainland, we will refer to and learn from it, change the traditional 'front shop, back factory' model, and create advanced Chinese medicine shops that meet social needs."

"In other words, the Chinese medicine shops designed in the 'Plan' are fundamentally different from traditional pharmacies?"

Gu Weijie pressed the thick "Red Star Factory Chinese Herbal Medicine Industry Plan" beside her hand; she had no time or energy to read it on the spot, so she could only look at Gao Yaqing and raise the question in her heart.

"That's right, a subversive change."

Gao Yaqing explained: "The multi-functional food and drug processing plant will use advanced production equipment for processing and production to ensure product stability."

"At the same time, the produced products must have characteristics such as convenient use, high acceptability, and significant effects, suitable for long-term retail needs."

She flipped through the "Plan" beside her and said: "Besides the processing link, large-scale planting at the origin is also a key work of the project."

"Furthermore, there is the advanced retail system just mentioned," Gao Yaqing looked at everyone and introduced: "Chinese medicine shops will no longer be about 'filling prescriptions based on prescriptions', but the masses will choose and purchase medicines themselves according to medical advice and actual needs, removing cumbersome links."

"A bit like a Western pharmacy."

Dong Wenwen smiled at Li Huai De and said: "If Chinese medicine can really be made as convenient as Western medicine, I believe the masses will still choose Chinese medicine."

"That's right, Chinese medicine pays more attention to treating both the symptoms and the root cause," Xue Zhifu nodded and agreed: "If we can really digest the advanced experience from abroad, then the Chinese medicine industry will surely have better development."

"In addition to Chinese herbal medicines, Chinese medicine decoction pieces, and Chinese patent medicines, the 'Plan' will learn from foreign advanced experience in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics to develop the cosmetics business."

Gao Yaqing joked: "This makes me look a bit like I'm abusing my power for personal gain, but the need for cosmetics among female comrades is indeed urgent and pressing."

"Hehehe—"

A burst of light laughter erupted in the conference room, and eyes swept over the three female comrades at the conference table; who in middle age doesn't want to stay young forever?

"It seems I have no choice but to support it," Jing Yunong also rarely made a joke, which caused even greater laughter.

The first agenda item of the administrative meeting was successfully passed; Red Star Factory will establish Red Star Pharmaceutical Company to formally acquire Hundred Herbs Hall and other related brand assets.

Including pharmacies, warehouses, formulas, technology, channels, and origins, etc.

Actually, just like merging sixteen industrial enterprises, it still has to face problems such as assets, finance, and personnel, but this is no longer a problem for the current Red Star Factory, and pharmaceutical enterprises are not as large as industrial enterprises.

Agenda item after agenda item, Li Huai De grasped the beginning and the end, Li Xuewu was responsible for the middle, and the cooperation between the two was still as tacit as ever.

Xue Zhifu reported and discussed the construction progress of the United Industrial Hospital:

United Industrial Hospital, which is a comprehensive hospital jointly established after the merger of Red Star Factory Hospital and sixteen factory hospitals.

The construction project was ranked behind the United School, and it will be completed in the first half of this year. The full set of medical equipment has been arriving in Hong Kong one after another.

If the construction period goes smoothly and there are no problems with decoration and equipment installation and debugging, it is expected to start business in September this year.

By then, United Industrial Hospital will become the comprehensive hospital with the largest scale, most advanced equipment, most beds, and most excellent doctors and nurses in the Beijing area.

With the current medical status after the development of the "Great Learning" activities, plus the fact that Red Star Factory has been crazily absorbing excellent medical talents for more than two years and spending huge sums of money to purchase advanced medical equipment and instruments from abroad, this hospital is bound to be powerful.

United Industrial Hospital will mainly serve more than 100,000 workers and their families expected to live and work in the Liangma River Industrial Zone.

Likewise, it is inevitable that the concentration of medical resources will bring about a concentration of patients; this hospital will inevitably become the first choice for the treatment of key diseases and patients in Beijing and even the surrounding areas.

After the discussion of Xue Zhifu's topic ended, Gao Yaqing continued to report on the sales situation of Red Star Automobile Industry.

In the first quarter of 1968, through the efforts of the Hong Kong Automobile Trading Company and the Santa Ya Group's distribution company, Antelope, Gemini, and Comet motorcycles went abroad on a large scale, sold well in Southeast Asia, and became completely popular in the local market.

Among them, the distribution scale of the Hong Kong Automobile Trading Company was far ahead in the Hong Kong region, but it was still quite inferior to the Santa Ya Group in the Southeast Asian region.

The main reason is that the Santa Ya Group has excellent enterprise supply and sales channels. Through the connections accumulated in industrial equipment, hardware industry, and engineering machinery equipment distribution channels, such high-quality and inexpensive products naturally don't have to worry about selling.

In addition to the good news from the foreign trade market, there was also good news from the domestic sales market.

The second batch of three Gold-Label Hongtu customized buses were formally delivered to the General Office Management Department, which also marked that Red Star Factory's special vehicle development had embarked on the right track.

In addition to Gold-Label Hongtu, the special vehicle production project also includes ambulances, fire trucks, Saber-toothed Tiger armed patrol vehicles, 9-seater Hongyun commercial vehicles, and other products.

With the timely handling and cracking of the shopping mall explosion case (the target's identity is still under investigation), the injured masses receiving emergency treatment at Red Star Factory Hospital have been discharged one after another or transferred to city hospitals and unit-affiliated hospitals.

Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs transferred medical rescue funds to Red Star Factory, and at the same time sent material rewards, and sent certificates of merit and bonuses to the personnel who participated in the rescue work, namely Li Xuewu, Han Jiankun, Zhou Miaomiao, and the medical staff.

In particular, Beijing Daily published the letter of commendation and the list of commendations on the front page, making public commendations and thanks.

The factory had both face and personal substance, and the factory's substance also arrived.

Gao Yaqing reported that the Beijing Municipal Medical Administration formally included the ambulances and fire trucks produced by Red Star Factory in the special equipment procurement list.

That is to say, when Beijing city hospitals and fire units purchase equipment and gear, they can consider the products produced by Red Star Factory.

Of course, this list is not just Red Star Factory, but being able to enter this list already proves that Red Star Factory's products have received full trust.

After Gao Yaqing's report and discussion ended, Gu Weijie continued to report.

In order to respond to the relevant requirements of the superiors, the Organization Department and the Personnel Department intend to launch recruitment work for college graduates from colleges and universities across the country in accordance with relevant policies to support relevant instructions and requirements.

Actually, everyone in the conference room knew very well that starting two years ago, Red Star Factory had been secretly and desperately trying to recruit university graduates.

Not only university students, but even teachers and professors were recruited, and they were arranged with work and life, as long as they could support Red Star Factory's talent work construction.

Now that the superiors have opened a gap, and it is still a situation where the vast majority of industrial and mining enterprises and grassroots levels cannot recruit workers, wouldn't it be as many as they want?

Of course, there really aren't many university students now.

In 1965, which was the last year of the college entrance examination, the number of high school graduates was 360,000, and the number of college admissions was 164,000.

164,000 is the total number of college graduates; there are more junior college students than university students, and truly excellent university graduates are treasures in the whole country.

Red Star Factory created the United Industrial School in September last year, and had its own talent training system and cradle.

However, within three years, Red Star United Industrial School did not have the conditions for industrial talent output, which led to a shortage of talent construction work.

The focus of everyone's discussion at the meeting was still the relationship between talent and finance; no one mentioned whether excellent graduates could bring actual benefits to Red Star Factory.

This doesn't need to be considered; which is more cost-effective, cultivating a junior college student yourself or recruiting a university student?

Jing Yunong focused on reporting the financial budget for talent recruitment work this year, mentioning the shortage of reserve funds, which needed discussion and research.

Li Huai De glanced in Li Xuewu's direction, then pondered for a moment, and made a firm decision: there will be no financial upper limit on talent introduction and recruitment work.

That is to say, this year's opportunity is rare, and Red Star Factory must go all out to grab people.

Talents in various disciplines, excellent graduates from various systems, as long as people have real talent and are willing to come, Red Star Factory must coordinate with schools to let people go, don't be afraid of spending money.

Just signed a trade order of nearly 25 million yuan with the Arte group, which really let Li Huai De see the content of technology.

It can be said that without Li Xuewu's persistence two years ago and his compromise, Red Star Factory would absolutely not have such a technological foundation to build these projects.

University students entering agencies and going to the grassroots level, the actual value of talent introduction is being proven time and time again; he has no reason to refuse this opportunity.

United Industrial School, hospitals, group agencies, branch factory agencies, branch company agencies, research institutes, technical departments, production departments, sales business, International Business Department, and other units all need high-education, high-quality talents.

Taking the development of the International Business Department alone, Red Star Factory cannot wait for tour groups to come voluntarily every year. The International Business Department must be established as soon as possible, go out, and promote United Industrial products to the world with better prices and channels.

Technology and product blockades have always been a lock in one's own heart; for Red Star Factory, these have never been restrictions.

In the following meeting, Cheng Kaiyuan reported that the blast furnace heavy oil blowing technology and equipment introduced from France had arrived at the Yingcheng Port terminal.

Correspondingly, Red Star Factory needs to invest in the construction of new 10,000-ton cargo ships as soon as possible to complete the compensation trade agreement.

The ship name of this 10,000-ton bulk cargo ship has been finalized, called "Shengge Mei".

Everyone had no opinion on this, only Zhang Jinsong muttered about the ship name, saying why the French always like to use "Sheng" as the beginning of the name.

The development of the shipbuilding industry is not just about building "Shengge Mei". Steel City Dongfeng Shipping borrowed from Oriental Times Bank and entrusted Yingcheng Shipyard to manufacture three 15,000-ton container cargo ships, with a total cost exceeding 4.5 million yuan.

Cheng Kaiyuan specifically mentioned that Dongfeng Shipping does not have the ability to operate large ships and should be ordering cargo ships on behalf of Hong Kong Shunfeng Ocean Shipping.

The reason why it is a container cargo ship instead of a bulk cargo ship is mainly to cooperate with Red Star Factory's goal of building a new port area in Yingcheng, while taking into account the business dealings between Jin Gu Port terminal and Hong Kong Prince Port container terminal.

Three 15,000-ton container cargo ships will wander between the three port areas for cargo and trade dealings in the future.

At the same time, he also mentioned that the Santa Ya Group's office efficiency is quite good. In the letter, it was specifically mentioned that if the cargo ships can be delivered in three months, then the Falcon 20 official aircraft promised to Red Star Factory in the framework agreement can also be delivered in three months.

Old Li is not very interested in official aircraft; he just wants to go to the sky to see if the clouds are white.

Regarding Cheng Kaiyuan's work report, he specifically asked about the progress of the negotiation work with the Santa Ya Group; this aspect of work is Gao Yaqing's responsibility.

Gao Yaqing's reply was that there is no problem with the new framework agreement, and the specific business negotiations are still proceeding in an orderly manner. Because the other party changed the vice president, the negotiation representative was temporarily transferred from Southeast Asia, and both sides still need to communicate and resolve some details, and it is expected to complete the contract negotiation within two months.

This business negotiation did not use factory leaders to go down personally at all, and even placed the negotiation location in the International Business Department newly established in Jinmen.

Gao Yaqing has also been very busy these days, running back and forth.

In the report on the progress of negotiations, she mentioned that the procurement agreement of the Arte team had been signed, and the deposit was paid into Red Star Factory's deposit guarantee account at Hong Kong Oriental Times Bank at the first time.

The contract was signed, the deposit arrived, and the corresponding orders began to be produced and shipped. The Arte people are still in Beijing, and the goods have already been loaded.

For Red Star Factory's work efficiency, Arte and others are quite satisfied. Accompanied by foreign affairs personnel, they began real leisure and entertainment.

In addition to the Arte team's procurement agreement and the Santa Ya Group's framework agreement, Jilixing Shipping also successfully signed a new technology introduction agreement.

Mainly including a series of yacht-class and small cargo ship, fishing boat manufacturing technology and production equipment, which is also a supplement to the OEM production agreement between the two sides.

Yingcheng Shipbuilding is developing too fast, technology introduction is carried out through multiple channels, and Jilixing Shipping's cooperation advantage is increasingly weakened. If this continues, Jilixing Shipping will not be able to obtain advantageous procurement prices at Yingcheng Shipbuilding.

His yachts are about to sell crazy in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and South America, so how could he be willing to give up this golden chicken that lays eggs.

In order to maintain the advancement of technology and crush Yingcheng Shipbuilding in technology, he can only constantly narrow this distance difference to satisfy the shipyards' increasingly expanding appetite.

Andrew is also seizing the time to collect advanced shipbuilding technology internationally and broaden cooperation channels with Red Star Factory, so as to delay the deadline for technology leveling.

Actually, Red Star Factory doesn't mind selling ships to Jilixing at a preferential price, as long as they can constantly provide new shipbuilding industry manufacturing technology.

Other foreign businessmen are still negotiating, involving food, electronics, automobiles, hardware, shipbuilding, textiles, leather, alcohol, furniture, sports goods, etc.

It is not just Red Star Factory's own products; this is negotiating with the Trade Management Center, and United Industrial enterprises across the country can share resources.

That is to say, except for planned orders, these enterprises will hand over all non-planned products to the Trade Management Center for operation.

Export has become the most practical and also the most profitable channel.

Last year, the Jinmen Trade Management Center earned more than 3 million yuan from foreign trade, which shows how huge the export volume is.

Cargo funds are not transferred back to the mainland in the form of foreign exchange, but returned to the mainland in the form of advanced production equipment and technology, as well as related foreign procurement products.

Manufacturers can select resources suitable for themselves from the Trade Management Center's resource pool according to product valuation, effectively shortening the trade exchange period.

These 3 million didn't come for nothing.

When it was Li Xuewu's turn to report, he didn't talk about industry, nor did he talk about economy, but talked about the business within the Secretary-General's duties.

First of all, Vice Director Lu of Liaodong will come to the factory tomorrow morning to discuss industrial investment, port area construction, mineral development, and other businesses.

This can also be considered a return visit to Li Huai De's previous visit to Liaodong. Old Li attaches great importance to it and specifically asked about the specific arrangements for the meeting.

Of course, Li Xuewu does things without a leak, and his answer made Li Huai De nod with satisfaction, and other leaders also put forward some opinions.

Secondly, in the report, Li Xuewu mentioned that Ge Ping, the person in charge of Steel City Industry, conveyed some opinions to him personally through the Beijing Office.

In the conveyed message, he complained in a joking tone that Red Star Factory was "big and bullied customers," and why did they have to bypass Yingcheng and talk to the province about port area construction.

He indicated that some things can be said privately, and talking about conditions in the city is more appropriate, and the conditions are also more generous, including mineral resource development, etc.

Li Huai De chuckled after hearing Li Xuewu's report, and other factory leaders also laughed, but after laughing, there was no opinion.

It's very simple; everyone knows very well that Red Star Factory is not unwilling to talk to the city, but cannot fully trust the city's execution ability.

Especially in this period, the continuity of policy still depends on the person in charge himself. If talking to the province, it can ensure the stability of the project to a great extent.

After Li Xuewu finished reporting, it meant that the agenda of the meeting was basically over. Li Huai De gave the last agenda in the presiding conference room.

He raised his hand to signal Li Xuewu to elaborate on specific work.

In the report, Li Xuewu pointed out that Red Star Factory's development towards the goal of groupization inevitably requires a large number of projects and industries to support it, but enterprise development needs to follow the law of gradual progress, but Red Star Factory lacks the time for gradual progress the most, so it must make trade-offs on some current projects.

Everyone also understood that what Director Li signaled Li Xuewu to report was actually reducing operational risks in the process of enterprise groupization, introducing foreign capital and management, and changing projects more into a joint system.

For example, electronics, hardware, automobiles, weaponry, pharmaceuticals, aircraft, etc., except for the production plan industries of the First Ministry of Machine-Building, can all appropriately implement the United Industrial management system and transform existing industries into development capital.

Simply put, in the process of groupization, after the establishment of professional branch companies, shareholding reform can be implemented, and a portion of shares without operational rights can be sold to investment-type capital such as Dongcheng Credit Union, ICBC, etc.

As long as the main vein of the steel industry is grasped and the operational rights are grasped, there is no fear that these enterprises will appear out of control and deteriorate.

Selling equity is a necessary means to exchange future expectations for current urgent development funds; large enterprises are all developed in this way.

Red Star Factory had already formulated relevant project development plans at the beginning of the year, and no major projects will be launched this year.

But what was the result? Plans can't keep up with changes. Two helicopter production lines are very likely to settle in Red Star Factory in the second half of this year or at the end of the year.

The construction of the Liangma River Ecological Industrial Zone is burning money every day, and it will take more than a year to truly complete it. Without money, work can't be done.

Plus the construction of various factories and branch companies in the Steel City Industrial Zone, Red Star Factory has no place to finance in this era, so it can only finance itself.

Red Star United Savings Bank will act as the main body of this equity financing, and even issued an invitation for share pledge to Oriental Times Bank.

This, of course, will not violate the bottom line of introducing foreign capital. There is no foreign capital intervention in policy, only cooperation between excellent assets and equity between banks.

The discussion of the last item took the longest time. Everyone expressed their opinions and suggestions, and no final conclusion was reached on the spot.

Of course, this is also within Li Huai De's expectation. Exchanging equity for funds, if it were twenty or thirty years later, why would it be so troublesome.

Red Star Factory wants to go public, it is absolutely the first stock in the industry. Now there is no stock market, so it can only engage in United Industrial financing.

Time needs to be given to other factory leaders to consider and investigate, so the last topic was temporarily shelved, and Li Huai De made a concluding speech.

In the summary, it was emphasized that one of the key tasks this year is to further build and improve domestic and foreign sales networks, including several development directions:

In terms of categories, it includes Red Star Hundred Herbs Hall Pharmaceutical Company, Automobile Sales (Beijing) Branch, Supply Chain Distribution Branch, Supply Chain Centralized Procurement Branch, etc.

In terms of management, it is necessary to take the office as the core, form a sales branch network, and belong to the Trade Management Center for management.

At the same time, with the Trade Management Center, International Business Department, Automobile Sales (Beijing) Branch, Red Star Hundred Herbs Hall Pharmaceutical Company, and other sales enterprises as the skeleton, establish Red Star Steel Group Sales General Company, responsible for all sales business.

The International Business Department that Li Huai De is most concerned about will also formally cultivate foreign work talents, gradually contact Hong Kong, Japan, and France, and rely on the cooperation advantages of Wufengxing and Oriental Times Bank to establish office institutions in Hong Kong.

Only by building a complete internal and external sales network can we satisfy the increasingly huge production and operation foundation of Red Star Steel Group.

It is very obvious that Old Li's pressure has also increased.

Coming out of the conference room, Li Huai De called Li Xuewu to walk together and specifically asked about his secretary candidate.

"Mentioned it to Wang Lu before the meeting," Li Xuewu answered with a smile: "I don't have that many field duties now, so I'll just use one Commission Office secretary."

"Hmm, that's true—" Old Li, of course, is not concerned about his secretary candidate, and then asked about his driver, "How is your driver?"

At the beginning, he mentioned that Han Jiankun was responsible for the agency fleet work, which was to arrange Nie Xiaoguang. Now, of course, he has to ask.

"Still learning to drive from Han Jiankun."

Li Xuewu didn't care much, afraid that Old Li would care too much, so he said: "Let's leave it like this for now. I'm also handing over with Comrade Wang Xiaoqin."

"Going out to eat at noon?"

Old Li was rarely polite: "Heard that a National Restaurant opened opposite the International Hotel, and the taste is quite good."

"That's really a pity—"

Li Xuewu shook his head slightly, feigning regret and saying softly: "At one o'clock in the afternoon, I have an appointment with President Fu of Wufengxing."

"Oh, I see, you go ahead and be busy."

At the door of Li Xuewu's office, Li Huai De patted his arm and instructed softly: "Remember this meal, we'll go eat when we have time."

"Then I'll take it seriously—"

Li Xuewu joked, returned to the office to put down the notebook and materials, took the lunch box, and went downstairs to the small canteen.

Li Huai De's conscience awakened, and he had nothing to repay, so he wanted to treat him to a meal. The reason was still on Nie Xiaoguang.

This is his mine. Putting the bomb in Li Xuewu's hands, he naturally has to make compensation.

Besides the increasingly close personal relationship between the two, they also have to look good on the surface.

Li Xuewu didn't dislike that meal; it was just that Old Li's injuries hadn't healed yet. He could attend meetings, but his daily office work was still lacking, and he had to go back to the hospital to lie down in the afternoon.

Why did Fu Caining suddenly make an appointment with Li Xuewu?

It wasn't to chat about family matters, nor to talk about the Yingcheng port area, and even less to communicate about the current negotiations between Wufengxing and Red Star Factory, but to act as a go-between.

Don't misunderstand, it wasn't to introduce a partner to him, but to introduce a partner to Red Star Factory.

"The influence of the assembly line and supply chain system your factory created is still exerting force," Fu Caining's time is also very precious. After meeting Li Xuewu at the hotel, the two talked in the lounge.

"Yesterday I met the vice president of Beijing Automobile Factory, and he mentioned the current major changes in the domestic automobile industry to me, and focused on you."

"Must not have said anything good about us, right?" Li Xuewu joked: "As long as it's not too ugly to scold, we can accept it."

"Hehe—" Fu Caining chuckled as she looked at him, and then introduced: "Actually, it's that Beijing Automobile wants me to come forward to act as a matchmaker."

"You should know," she introduced: "Beijing Automobile's scale is very large. The original factory buildings of Beijing Axle have all been converted to produce 212."

"The BJ492 engine was handed over to the Agricultural Machinery Factory, renamed Beijing Internal Combustion Engine Factory, specifically for engine production, to reduce production processes."

"In 1963, they united several units to collaborate and initially formed the ability to produce 10,000 vehicles per year of 'three vehicles and two engines' (BJ212 light off-road vehicle, BJ130 light truck, BM021 motorcycle, 492Q gasoline engine, 4115 diesel engine)."

"In 1964, they merged enterprises such as Beijing Gear, Tangshan Gear, First Subsidiary, Second Subsidiary, Bearing Factory, etc., focusing on the production of three vehicles and two engines."

"But you should also know that Beijing Automobile Factory also engaged in the sedan industry before," Fu Caining looked at him and said: "Beijing Automobile wants to entrust me to ask if Red Star Factory has the willingness to acquire some of Beijing Automobile Factory's businesses."

"Including sedans, motorcycles, and other automobile manufacturing industries and technical reserves," she explained: "Beijing Automobile hopes to use this to partially offset Red Star Factory's supply chain and assembly line technology and equipment, fully implement industrialization reform and transformation, and focus on the production and R&D of three vehicles and two engines."

"I understand what you mean."

Li Xuewu nodded, looked at Fu Caining and said: "You might not know that our factory previously took the initiative to propose related technology and equipment acquisition, or to purchase parts in the form of technical cooperation, but was rejected by them."

Fu Caining was also a bit embarrassed, because the vice president of Beijing Automobile also mentioned this point. They were really slapped in the face this time.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have asked the person in charge of Wufengxing, who cooperates closely with Red Star Factory, to act as a go-between.

Li Xuewu just pointed out the interests of both sides, but finally agreed to the relevant cooperation, but also indicated that the past was the past, and now is now.

Junk is not worth money anymore.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1284 =====