Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 765 Local Bullies and Sticks
Having arranged to attend the groundbreaking ceremony the day after tomorrow, Deputy Director Gu and his entourage left by car.

In the next couple of days, some Hong Kong businessmen will be invited to participate in the event and witness the commencement of construction of the Shekou Industrial Zone. We will be responsible for the reception work and do our best to persuade them to set up factories here.

At that time, almost everyone was pessimistic about the Shekou Industrial Zone. Even many patriotic Hong Kong businessmen, after visiting this place which was equivalent to wasteland, bluntly told Mr. Yuan, "Setting up the Shekou Industrial Zone is a waste of money and effort."

No one would have thought that an export industrial park could be built on this barren land.

Apart from Mr. Yuan himself.

That's why they attached so much importance to Zhou Yali's inspection trip.

Watching the two cars drive away, Chen Fan and the others did not leave immediately.

He waved to Wang Jianguo and the others, and they immediately walked over quickly.

Without trying to hide it from Liao Guangzhi, Chen Fan pointed to the direction of the sea and said, "See? In two days, construction will begin here. According to the China Merchants Group's plan, the policy is 'build and use simultaneously,' meaning that as soon as a batch is completed, it will be put into use."

If all goes well, the factory we need should be ready for use by the end of this year at the earliest, and the corresponding employee dormitories and canteen will also be completed at the same time.

He turned to look at Wang Jianguo and said seriously, "Although the contractor is a state-owned enterprise in the mainland, I..."

As she spoke, she pointed to Zhou Yali, "My cousin also needs trustworthy people to keep an eye on things here. Although their company has many trusted confidants in the United States, they have to keep an eye on the business there and are too busy to come over."

Recruiting in Hong Kong is not only unreliable, but the salaries are also extremely high.

He suddenly chuckled and pointed at Wang Jianguo and the others, "Even if we only hire one supervisor, the salary will be several times higher than all of yours combined, which is not cost-effective."

So don't think I'm keeping you here out of pity. To be honest, it's because the American capitalists value your honesty and trustworthiness, and most importantly, your low labor costs. By hiring you, they can save on labor costs and have trustworthy people to keep an eye on things, while you get jobs too. It's a win-win situation, understand?

Wang Jianguo chuckled awkwardly, scratched the back of his head, turned to look at his brothers, then looked at Chen Fan and said embarrassedly, "But, we don't know anything except how to fight. What can we do if you ask us to stay and keep watch?"

Chen Fan patted him on the shoulder and laughed, "Before the factory and dormitories are built, you will live in the construction site sheds just like the workers here, keeping an eye on the quality and progress of the project."

I will teach you what to keep an eye on and how to do it, so you can rest assured.

"Once the factory is built, I will arrange for you to learn to drive."

Wang Jianguo's eyes widened, he raised his hands in a gesture, and asked in surprise, "Driving a car?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jianjun, Li Nan, and the others instantly became excited, looking around and whispering among themselves.

This is learning to drive! It's one of the eight essential jobs, and the most sought-after "steering wheel" job. If you learn to drive, you won't have to worry about not finding a job no matter where you go.

Of course, they weren't planning to run away after learning; otherwise, they'd cut themselves off without anyone else having to do it. But that didn't stop them from being excited!

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, saying, "Deputy Director Gu and the others just agreed that they would apply to their superiors for approval of our factory's domestic sales qualification, so I don't think there will be much of a problem with that."

The reason why Deputy Director Gu and his colleagues agreed to help him submit an application to higher authorities was after careful consideration.

First, the more products the factory produces, the greater the profits earned by the mainland side.

This was also determined by the four foreign investment cooperation methods in the early days of the special economic zone: processing with supplied materials, processing with supplied samples, assembling with supplied parts, and compensation trade.

Processing with supplied materials is easy to understand; it means that foreign companies provide all or part of the raw materials, and the Chinese side processes them into finished products according to standards and delivers them, charging only a processing fee.

Processing based on samples goes a step further, where the foreign party only needs to provide samples and technology, and we will deliver products in batches according to the requirements. In addition to the processing fee, we also earn the profit from the raw materials.

"Assembly supplied by foreign companies" refers to the process where foreign companies provide the components, and Chinese companies assemble them into finished products.

Compensation trade is a trade arrangement in which the Chinese side imports equipment and technology through credit and repays the loan with the products or services produced. It is similar to seller's credit, except that the repayment is not in the form of money, but in the form of products or services.

The Luohu handbag factory that Deputy Director Gu mentioned earlier is a typical example of processing with supplied materials. The raw materials are all provided by the investors, and the factory is only responsible for processing them into finished products. In addition to the workers receiving wages, we can also obtain management fees, taxes, and other income, all of which are in foreign exchange.

The factory that Zhou Yali is building now is the same, and even more so... In exchange for agreeing to sell the products domestically, all goods that can be purchased in the mainland will be purchased in the mainland first, and all will be settled in foreign exchange.

In this way, the higher the output, the higher the foreign exchange earnings.

That's why Chen Fan said that he estimated there wouldn't be much of a problem in that regard.

He paused for a moment, then continued, "However, the province only agreed that our products could be sold domestically, but did not agree that the supply and marketing cooperative or department stores should make purchases on a quota basis. Therefore, we have to rely on ourselves for sales channels and cargo transportation."

Actually, if Chen Fan puts in the effort, this is something worth discussing.

Even when the supply and marketing cooperative headquarters and department stores purchase products from these factories, they use RMB, while the factories use foreign exchange to purchase raw materials from the mainland.

Even if there's a price difference, it's estimated that the mainland would seriously consider exchanging RMB for foreign currency, or at least agree to it to a limited extent.

However, this would make it difficult for Chen Fan to make further arrangements, so he didn't mention the matter at all.

He said to Wang Jianguo, "You don't need to worry about sales. As long as the product is good, you won't have to worry about sales at all."

It's a seller's market now, with shortages of goods everywhere. How can there be no way to sell them?
Moreover, even without assigned tasks, the factory can negotiate with local supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores on its own.

Director Li of Yunhu Home Appliances Company did just that. He traveled around all year round, and specially arranged two vans to transport samples. In this way, he knocked on the doors of supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores in various places one by one.

Besides him, there were quite a few collective enterprises that did the same. ... It was still a bit early for private enterprises; the peak of private enterprise development wouldn't arrive until after 84.

Nowadays, there are more collective enterprises like the Lujiawan Garment Factory and Food Factory.

The reform and opening-up policy freed them from their constraints. Apart from Huaxi Village, which had a small amount of light industry, the other production teams mainly focused on agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery and sideline production, with the emphasis on the "sideline" aspect, such as the deep processing of agricultural products.

However, with the arrival of spring, despite the lack of clear regulations, many places allowed production teams to operate beyond the "agricultural scope," and such enterprises quickly spread and became unstoppable.

Actually, the idea behind these places is quite simple: to attract more young people of working age to work in the factories through collective enterprises. That's an achievement!
These collective enterprises operated by finding their own sales channels outside of the planned economy.

Benefiting from today's seller's market, they all reaped huge profits, and a group of people became wealthy first, laying the foundation for the rise of the next era of private enterprise. Since they can do it, the factories here can certainly do it too. And as foreign-invested enterprises, they have a much greater advantage than those collective enterprises these days!

However, establishing this sales channel was not Chen Fan's main objective.

He said to Wang Jianguo, "We don't need you to handle sales, but after the sales department sells the products, we need to deliver them to your door. Your task is to set up a transportation team to transport the goods to the designated location intact. This job shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?"

When Chen Fan first told them they were to be construction site supervisors, their mood index was 0 degrees. Later, when he told them they were to go out and do sales for their own company, their mood index dropped to -10 degrees.

It's definitely not going to work!
Until the very end, when he mentioned wanting to learn to drive, his mood spiked to 60 degrees.

Upon hearing that their mission was to ensure the goods were delivered intact to the designated location, their interest skyrocketed.

It's not difficult at all!
Wang Jianguo immediately patted his chest and grinned, saying, "Dr. Chen, you can rest assured. As long as we learn to drive, we can guarantee to complete the mission, even if it's transported to the Gobi Desert in the Northwest or the snowy plains of the North!"

"Hmm."

Li Nan nodded excitedly and laughed, "When we retired, we were allowed to bring our equipment back because we didn't receive our full demobilization pay. With our handy weapons, even if some places on the road are chaotic now, it's not a problem at all. I don't believe anyone can handle the guns of the nine of us!"

(Note: Some readers asked if this is true. It is true, but it existed for a period of time after the start of the rotation war. It didn't exist at this point in time; it was just a borrowed piece of information. ￣□￣｜｜)

Seeing their expressions, Chen Fan couldn't help but chuckle and wave his hand, saying with a smile, "Don't rush, I haven't finished speaking yet."

After Wang Jianguo and the others calmed down, Chen Fan continued, "The few of you alone won't be enough, so once the factory is built, I want you to contact as many of your comrades as possible."

Based on a calculation of four to five people per vehicle, ...

At this moment, Wang Jianguo suddenly raised his hand and said, "We don't need that many people, two people are enough."

Normally, nowadays each transport team assigns two drivers to a large truck: one is the main driver, and the other is a driver apprentice or a slightly lower-level licensed driver, so that there is a shift change.

Chen Fan waved his hand and said seriously, "As Li Nan just said, some places on the road are not safe right now, and two people are far from enough."

For safety reasons, each vehicle must have at least four people on board. Two should be in the driver's seat, and the other two, while not required to drive, should act as safety officers, concealed in the cargo hold to guard against any accidents.

He patted Wang Jianguo's arm and said softly, "I know you guys are very capable, but there are more than just your reconnaissance company in the whole army. Aren't you afraid that other people who are just as capable as you, or even more capable than you, will go astray?"

Wang Jianguo's heart tightened immediately, and he stood at attention. "Understood. We will definitely prioritize safety and protect the goods."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "You're wrong again. If things don't work out, don't cling to any extra money; prioritize your own safety."

Lost property can be found or earned back, but if a person is gone, that's truly gone.

Wang Jianguo nodded vigorously, "Understood."

However, I had other thoughts in my mind.

The so-called safety officer was probably something Dr. Chen created specifically to provide a way out for veterans like himself.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be enough to have two drivers, one driving in front and the other keeping watch from behind, plus they're armed?!
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but secretly resolve to make it clear to his brothers and others, so that Dr. Chen's good intentions wouldn't be taken for granted.

Not only did he think this way, but almost everyone else around him shared the same idea.

Even Liao Guangzhi secretly admired him, thinking to himself, "As expected of the writer Chen who roamed the southwestern jungles alone, his medical skills are excellent, his individual combat skills are outstanding, and his character is even better!"
Perhaps the only one who didn't have this thought was Zhou Yali, who was still clueless.

Jiang Lili and Jiang Tiantian?
Hehe, don't underestimate the militia. Back in the day, when there were "a billion people, a billion soldiers, and a vast army," they also took plenty of tactical lessons.

The three-man system is fundamental, and shooting down airplanes with rifles is a required course; this little bit of teamwork is a piece of cake.

Seeing Wang Jianguo's positive attitude, Chen Fan smiled with satisfaction and then said, "Besides finding more drivers and safety officers, you can also think about how to plan out a few suitable cargo transfer points based on the current national highway trunk lines."

Wang Jianguo looked confused. "A transit point?"

What is that?
Chen Fan thought for a moment and said, "You can think of it as a depot for combat supplies."

Wang Jianguo instantly understood and nodded vigorously, "Got it. It's about treating the whole country as a chessboard, and the sales outlets that the sales department has negotiated are the battlefields we need to conquer."

The transit point serves the battlefield. We need to transport goods to the transit point, and at the same time, this place also needs to serve as a place to treat the wounded, refuel trucks, gather intelligence, and provide logistical support for soldiers.

Chen Fan pursed his lips and gently patted his shoulder, "You understand very well. Now you know what to do, right?"

Wang Jianguo nodded vigorously, "Understood. The first is to form a transport team, and the second is to set up transit points. To achieve these two goals, I will recruit as many veterans as possible to ensure the absolute safety of our logistics transport lines and never allow the tragedy of our logistics lines being paralyzed by bombs on the northern battlefield to happen again!"

Chen Fan gasped. "That's a very good summary. Keep it up."

At the same time, I was a little hesitant. Following Lao Wang's line of thinking, should I also hand over the Shenzhen-Hong Kong freight route that I had applied for to him?
That's right, even before the factory has started construction, Chen Fan is already considering plans to build his own logistics network.

I don’t need to explain how profitable logistics is. Just think back to the 1980s, almost half of the first people to get rich were truck drivers.

The major logistics companies that followed were all giants with market values ​​of hundreds of billions or even trillions.

The most crucial element isn't actually money, but rather the social resources leveraged through the logistics system. For example, freight yards involve logistics real estate. With so many owned vehicles, building their own gas stations isn't unreasonable, is it? One real estate project and one energy project can stimulate countless ancillary industries!
Therefore, the hidden profits behind the logistics industry may be greater than the apparent freight costs.

However, in the logistics industry, two things are indispensable: local bullies and force.

Especially in the 1990s, many logistics companies were built up by sheer hard work and dedication.

That's why Chen Fan put Wang Jianguo in charge. They have many comrades-in-arms. As long as they select a location, find local comrades to cooperate with, and have their own support, and with comrades leading other comrades and relatives and friends helping out, they are truly local strongmen and can easily set up the transit station.

As for "sticks and clubs," how many people can be more formidable than a group of retired veterans?!

(End of this chapter)