Zhang Li Sheng and other preparatory group members arrived in Donghua today, but before coming over, they had already rented a small building on the north side of Nanyuan Hotel as a temporary office, and also rented three cars from Nanyuan Hotel for temporary use.

  After the banquet, Sun Yalin stayed at the Zhuxi Hotel, and Zhang Lisheng had a driver take him back to the city; Yang Haipeng now has many social engagements and can't control his drinking, so he also arranged for a dedicated driver to take Zhao Dong back to the city.

  Shen Huai and others waited for Chen Danxi to come down, then drove to the hospital to pick up Xiao Li; Xiao Li took a bus after school to visit Kou Jing, who had been accompanying her in the hospital all along. Yang Chengming and Kou Jing's injuries have stabilized, and they will be transferred to the town health center for further recovery after two more days of observation.

  Driving back to Mei Xi Town, I saw a sedan parked at the entrance of the alley. It wasn't until I got closer that I realized it was Chu Yiliang's Nissan.

  Shen Huai turned the car into the alley, Chen Dan and Xiao Li got out of the car and returned to their own house, Chu Yiliang's car followed from behind, as if intentionally not directly exposing Shen Huai and Chen Dan's adultery...

  Shen Huai pushed open the car door, looked at Chu Yiliang getting out and walking over, and smiled: "Director Chu didn't drink well, still tipsy, and in the middle of the night, not going back to sleep?"

  "Leaving the Zhuxi Hotel, I thought there was still work to report to Secretary Shen." Chu Yiliang smiled.

  "Come on in and take a seat, but I don't have any tea at home, General Zhu. Please don't mind." Shen Huai said, not knowing if Chen Dan would be kind enough to bring over some hot water, otherwise there really was no way to brew tea.

  Shen Huai took out the key to open the door, saw Chu Qiang getting off the car afterwards, opening the trunk and carrying two boxes of Wuliangye to come over. Shen Huai stopped and said to Chu Yiliang: "Little Chu is working under me, I don't talk nonsense with Boss Chu. You came in empty-handed, I thought Boss Chu was a friend who could have a heart-to-heart talk; you insisted that it's embarrassing to enter my house empty-handed, then everyone can go back to sleep, it's so late..."

  Chu Yiliang smiled awkwardly and signaled for his son Chu Qiang to put the things back in the trunk.

  Shen Huai turned on the light, turned on the heater, and called out to make the air in the room not so cold and unbearable. In addition to the two single sofas, he also pulled over a chair for Chu Qiang to sit down beside him.

  "I've only been working in Meixi Town for three months, but before I came here, I had some understanding of the situation in Meixi Town," Shen Huai handed a cigarette to Chu Yiqiang and said, "Whether it's contracted operation or private ownership, among the small and medium-sized private enterprises in Meixi Town, the operating conditions of the blanket factory cannot be said to be the best. You can't say that you're making the most money either, Director Chu. As for the weaving and dyeing factory, I've considered taking back the contracted rights; while for the blanket factory, I hope you can make it bigger and stronger, Director Chu. Why is that? I think you have a clear understanding in your heart..."

  Chu Yiliang nodded slightly, but didn't continue the conversation.

  Shen Hua will be the new party secretary of the town, he is dissatisfied with the dyeing factory, whether behind or in front, teaching a lesson or two is justified.

  It's not right to speak ill of others behind their backs.

  "Whether it's running a business or being an official, one must have a bottom line," Shen Hua said. "The problem of the dyeing factory discharging polluted water into the Tongtang River, I've already instructed Xiao Chu to notify the relevant personnel. If no rectification is seen after the Spring Festival, I will demand the cancellation of the dyeing factory's contract. The town cannot sacrifice the entire Tongtang River for tens of millions of yuan in annual contract fees, turning it into a black ditch... I heard that General Manager Chu invested 500,000 yuan out of his own pocket two years ago to build a sewage treatment pool for the blanket factory, which shows that he has more foresight than others..."

  Wei Liang did not expect that before he could even give Shen Huai a small gift, the latter had already seen through the advantages of his woolen blanket factory.

  Chu Yiliang couldn't see clearly what kind of character Shen Huai was hiding under his official power, but after listening to Shen Huai's words in the middle of the night, he felt very moved and said: "Some things are done just because I don't want my fellow villagers to scold me behind my back..."

  "Besides this, the welfare of employees, paying taxes according to regulations, in Meixi Town, no one is better than Boss Chu," said Shen Hua. "Before I came to Meixi Town, I heard that Boss Chu was a bit unconventional: instead of giving money to the country, it's better to take out some money and share it with tax officials, business administrators, and government officials, and also make a few more friends. I also know that Boss Chu is not very welcome among other private bosses in Meixi Town, because Boss Chu pays taxes in full, and with Boss Chu as a comparison, others will find it harder to evade taxes. Before I came to Meixi Town, when I heard about these things, I thought that Boss Chu was truly a far-sighted entrepreneur, and the government needs to strongly support entrepreneurs like Boss Chu to develop the local economy..."

  In the country, private entrepreneurs don't care if you have a net worth of tens or hundreds of millions, they always lower their heads in front of government officials. Even a small clerk can give them a hard time. Chu Yiliang has been doing business for over a decade and has suffered greatly from this. This is also the main reason why he is very cautious in front of officials and lets his son Chu Qiang work in the government agency.

  Wei Yiliang was at a loss for words for a moment, as he had always thought that Shen Hui was young and powerful, and after arriving in Meixi Town, he suppressed Du Jian, and should be an arrogant and condescending young official. Moreover, Shen Hui has a strong background and real talent, and indeed has the qualifications to be arrogant and condescending.

  Chu Yiliang had previously racked his brains to get close to Shen Huai, and now he suddenly thought that perhaps it was because of his excessive caution that he delayed hearing Shen Huai's words.

  Although Shen Huai was only two or three years older than his son, Chu Qiang, who was twenty years younger than himself, Chu Yi Liang stood in front of Shen Huai without any psychological advantage due to age. The maturity and sincerity shown by Shen Huai completely touched his heartstrings.

  "Secretary Shen's praise is just making me feel ashamed," said Chu Yiliang.

  "I think I've already said everything, Chu General was guarding the alley entrance at midnight, if there's really work to be summarized, he should know what to say and what not to say." Shen Hua smiled and said, Chu Yiliang's worldly wisdom and shrewdness were no different from other private entrepreneurs, and even more smooth, but he had a bottom line when doing things, and his conduct was more upright than others. He sent his son to work in the government agency, while entrusting the management of production and marketing to experienced and capable people, and running an enterprise with more vision and moderation than others.

  Even if the gift was not sent, with Shen Huai's words as a foundation, Yu Yiliang didn't have much concern and said: "To find Secretary Shen to report, it's still about the work of the woolen blanket factory..."

  "You said..." Shen Huai lit another cigarette, he poured out his heart and said this whole set of words, hoping that Yu Yiliang could also pour out his heart and speak the truth.

  Shen Hua is confident in his abilities, and he also believes that Hou Yi Liang has the ability. Two capable people, mutually guarding against each other, carefully probing, can only play a role that is less than one plus one, not greater than two. This is not what Shen Hua hopes to see.

  So, Shen Hua had been looking forward to having an in-depth conversation with Yu Yiliang. Previously, he was just the deputy secretary and wouldn't have had the opportunity, but today Yu Yiliang came knocking, so Shen Hua didn't want to delay any further.

  "The machinery equipment of the blanket factory, before I took over, was almost replaced in '84, but at that time it wasn't considered the best. Until this year, these machines can still operate, but compared to other factories, they are much more outdated, greatly affecting efficiency. In addition, the domestic wool price fluctuates greatly, and the mountain goat wool resources in Donghua City are not sufficient, with dozens of factories competing. Our factory's blanket weaving wants to further develop, but it is subject to great restrictions. And in some big cities as well as abroad, cotton textiles are very popular, so I think that if the factory wants to expand production, we can try to start from this aspect..." said Rui Liang.

  Shen Huai nodded and said, "General Chu's market vision is very keen, and my views on the prospects of the blanket factory are the same as General Chu's. I know that General Chu wants to invest funds in equipment updates and new product development, but the blanket factory only has two years left on its contract period. Even if we re-sign the contract, it will still be a five-year term. Is General Chu worried that when the time comes, the contract will be transferred, and the funds invested in facilities will be wasted?"

  "Hey!" Hu Yi-liang only now truly felt a sense of relief and comfort talking to Shen Hua, and only now truly recognized that Shen Hua indeed had the knowledge and ability to turn the steel factory around, it wasn't just luck. He thought to himself that the ancient saying "knowing someone for who they are" must be this feeling, but of course, Hu Yi-liang also considered their respective identities and positions, suppressing his excitement, and said, "I really admire Secretary Shen, I do have this concern."

  "This is a shortcoming of the current contract management system," Shen Hua said. "It's precisely because of the contractor's concerns that the contracted factories are severely restricted in terms of production upgrades and expansion, which hinders local economic development. On the other hand, contractors tend to use factory facilities in a consumptive manner during the contract period, resulting in unnecessary losses for the state and collective... General Zhu, since you've come, I'm sure you've given thorough consideration to the issue of the woolen mill. Please speak up, and the town will give it serious thought."

  "As for the blanket factory, I had hoped to sign a longer-term contract, ten or fifteen years," said Chu Yiliang. "Today, after listening to Secretary Shen and Zhang Hang of Industry Bank, I was inspired. According to the actual assets, it is also possible for me to personally invest in buying the blanket factory, I don't know if the town will consider my plan?"

  "The total value of the assets of Mao Duan blanket factory is 40 million," Shen Hua asked, "General Hu, if you take out 40 million to give to the town, how much funds are left for production?"

  In 1993, the threshold for private enterprise loans was extremely high, and it's not that having assets as collateral could get funding. In terms of national economic policy, we still adhere to taking the whole people and collective economy as the core to develop, "private economy as a supplement" this sentence will take several years to be written into the overall economic development guidelines.

  In addition, banks also implement different interest rates for enterprises of different natures.

  Not counting the gray cost behind, the official lending rate in 1993 was 10%-16%. As a key township enterprise supported by the city and county, Meixi Steel Factory could get a preferential interest rate lower than 10% from banks, while private enterprises' actual borrowing rates from banks were rarely below 16%, mostly ranging between 20-25%. Such high financing costs also became one of the bottlenecks constraining the development of private economy in the early days.

  Zhu Yiliang knew that Shen Huai was quite knowledgeable about economics, so he didn't hide anything and said: "There's less than one or two million left, maybe we can still borrow one or two million from the bank or other places..."

  Shen Huai nodded, and Xi Yiliang had been doing business since his early years. After taking over the blanket factory for three or four years, he was able to accumulate a fortune of 60-70 million yuan, which was quite impressive in '93, considering China's reform and opening-up had only been going on for about a decade.

  "I'll give you a plan, Director Chu, take it back and consider it," Shen Huai said.

  "Director Shen, you speak."

  "After New Year's Day, the country officially promulgated the Company Law. I don't know if Director Chu has read it." Shen Hua asked.

  "I've seen some." said Yiliang.

  "I suggest that Director Chu establish a limited company, and use the assets of the town's woolen blanket factory as capital. It is possible not to have controlling shares and not interfere with the normal operation of the company. However, if Director Chu wants to obtain controlling shares, he needs to make substantial investments and provide funds corresponding to the controlling shares. Additionally, joint ventures with foreign investment can enjoy great preferential treatment and convenience in the domestic market, so Director Chu can appropriately introduce a small amount of foreign capital..."