Reborn in 1985: From Selling Braised Duck to Becoming the World's Richest Man

"Hiring our factory manager? What are you people doing here?"

Upon hearing Jiang Tongji and Liang Ming's words, the security guard's face showed a hint of curiosity, and he asked.

Just as Liang Ming was about to speak, a middle-aged man's voice came from inside the brick factory:

"Xiao Chen, have we had some guests? What's wrong with you? You have guests, why aren't you bringing them in? Why aren't you preparing tea for them? Why are you keeping them out?"

The security guard turned around, saw the factory manager approaching, and quickly said:

"Director Wu, these two people came to our brick factory. It seems they wanted to hire you, but I haven't figured out what they're here for yet..."

"Hire me?" Wu Yong was taken aback when he heard the security guard's words.

He turned his head and, upon seeing Jiang Tongji's appearance clearly, a respectful expression immediately appeared on his face. He said:

"Mayor Jiang, what brings you here? You didn't even tell me you were coming so I could have welcomed you!"

At this point, he turned and glared at the gatekeeper, saying, "Xiao Chen, you too! This is the mayor of our Taoyuan Township! How could you leave him standing outside for so long? Quickly apologize to Mayor Jiang!"

The security guard was taken aback when he heard this.

This was the first time he had ever met the mayor of Taoyuan Township in his entire life.

Hearing the factory manager's words, he quickly apologized to Jiang Tongji, saying, "Mayor Jiang, I'm sorry, I... I didn't know it was you, I..."

"Alright, Director Wu, stop scaring your workers. We just happened to be passing by and stopped to check. It's nothing serious."

Jiang Tongji waved his hand, interrupting the security guard's apology, and then praised him:

"This security guard did a very good job; he made sure to ask about the visitors before letting them in."

Wu Yong breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Jiang Tongji was not angry because the security guard prevented him from entering the factory.

His words were also intended to protect the security guard.

He immediately turned to the gatekeeper and said, "The township head didn't hold it against you, so you should say thank you quickly."

"Thank you, Mayor! Thank you, Mayor!" the gatekeeper said hurriedly upon hearing this.

"Alright, you can get back to work. Your factory manager and I still have things to discuss."

Jiang Tongji waved his hand and smiled.

Upon hearing this, the security guard turned and glanced at Wu Yong.

After receiving Wu Yong's nod, he returned to his post.

"Mayor Jiang, your presence today is an honor for our brick factory. Let's go to your office first, have some tea and chat?"

Wu Yong immediately said to Jiang Tongji.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Tongji did not answer immediately, but instead turned to look at Liang Ming.

"Mr. Liang, what do you mean?"

Liang Ming thought for a moment and said, "I think we should take a look at the Red Brick Factory first."

"Let's finish our work first, then we can have a proper chat."

Hearing Liang Ming's words, Jiang Tongji also felt that they made sense and nodded, saying, "Okay, Boss Liang, I'll listen to you."

At this moment, Wu Yong also noticed Liang Ming next to Jiang Tongji.

Hearing Jiang Tongji call him Boss Liang, he had some guesses in his mind, but still asked:

"Mayor Jiang, may I ask who this gentleman is?"

"Director Wu, look at my memory, I forgot to introduce myself to you."

Jiang Tongji patted his head, then introduced Liang Ming to Wu Yong:

"Director Wu, this is Liang Ming, the youngest private entrepreneur in our Taoyuan Township and the owner of Liang's Canned Food Factory."

Upon hearing Liang Ming's background, Wu Yong's face immediately showed a respectful expression, and he said:

"So it's Boss Liang! I've heard so much about you!"

"We've long heard that Boss Liang Ming is young and promising. In just a few months, he turned Liang's Canned Food Factory into the number one canned food factory in Taoyuan County. We all admire him very much!"

Hearing Wu Yong's compliment, Liang Ming just smiled and said modestly, "Director Wu, you flatter me. I was just lucky."

"You are all seniors, and I should be the one learning from you!"

Although he knew Liang Ming was just being polite, Wu Yong still felt very comfortable.

Seeing that the two were still exchanging a few more polite words, Jiang Tongji spoke directly, interrupting them and getting straight to the point;

"Director Wu, your state-owned brick factory is in very poor condition. The township has already changed it from a state-owned enterprise to a semi-state-owned, semi-private enterprise!"

"Next, the red brick factory will be managed by private entrepreneurs with shares, while the township will only provide the site and technical support."

"Boss Liang is the first private entrepreneur with strength and business acumen that we found in our village."

After hearing Jiang Tongji's explanation, Wu Yong's face showed a look of surprise.

Although he had long anticipated that this day would come.

But when that day came, he was still somewhat dazed.

After all, he had been managing this brick factory for many years; you could say it was his child.

Now that his child wants to recognize someone else as his father, he naturally feels somewhat uncomfortable.

But Wu Yong also knew that under the current circumstances, without foreign investment, the brick factory would only face bankruptcy and liquidation.

This semi-state-owned, semi-private business model, while innovative, is definitely better than outright bankruptcy.

"Mayor Jiang, I will follow the township's arrangements!"

Having figured this out, Wu Yong spoke up to Jiang Tongji.

Seeing that Wu Yong had figured things out, Jiang Tongji nodded and a smile appeared on his lips.

"It's good that you can understand."

While the township government can make the final decision on the business model change of the red brick factory, the opinions of factory managers like Director Wu Yong still need to be taken into consideration in many cases.

If Wu Yong refuses to cooperate and causes trouble, it will damage Jiang Tongji's reputation if word gets back to the county.

Putting aside everything else, whenever there are any opportunities for promotion in the future, as long as someone opposes him and says, "This Township Head Jiang, when he was the township head of Taoyuan Township, forced the director of a state-owned brick factory to kneel down and beg him not to dissolve the brick factory."

What's going on? It's just a state-owned brick factory. Has Taoyuan Township become so poor that it can't even afford to support a state-owned enterprise?

So, does that mean this Township Head Jiang not only lacks political integrity, but his abilities are also quite mediocre?

Because of that statement, Jiang Tongji will probably never have any chance of promotion in his entire life.

Therefore, Jiang Tongji had to properly arrange the transformation of this state-owned brick factory and ensure that every worker had a future job.

Therefore, Liang Ming's full support is essential here.

If it were someone else, they probably wouldn't be willing to fully cooperate with him.

"Director Wu, could you show me around?"

At this moment, Liang Ming also spoke up, his tone respectful.

Upon hearing Liang Ming's words, Wu Yong quickly replied, "Of course, no problem, please follow me!"

Immediately, Wu Yong led Liang Ming and Jiang Tongji on a tour of the red brick factory, visiting the workshops where red brick blanks were made, the kilns where red bricks were fired, and other brick factory buildings.

"Mr. Liang, this is all the information about our brick factory. Everything you can see is here. What do you think?"

After showing Liang Ming around the red brick factory, Wu Yong asked a question.

Instead of answering Wu Yong's question directly, Liang Ming asked in return, "Director Wu, I wonder how many bricks your brick factory can produce each day?"

"Our brick factory is a semi-mechanized brick factory, using rotary kilns and semi-automatic brick-making machines to produce red bricks. The daily output of bricks is between [number] pieces."

"Of course, that's under the condition that all workers are working at full capacity and putting in extra hours."

"Because our brick factory has been receiving fewer and fewer orders this year, we are actually only producing the minimum standard number of bricks per day!"

Wu Yong replied.

After listening, Liang Ming's mouth moved slightly, as if he was about to ask about the price of the red bricks.

Wu Yong seemed to have anticipated Liang Ming's question and preemptively said, "Our red bricks cost 6 cents each."

"Most red bricks on the market cost between 3 and 5 cents each."

"However, the materials they use are very poor. Many of the red bricks are cracked, and they are incomparable to the quality of the red bricks from our factory."

At the end, Wu Yong had a proud expression on his face.

Hearing Wu Yong's words, Liang Ming nodded slightly.

He had just toured the factory and saw the red bricks from the Taoyuan Township State-owned Red Brick Factory; the quality was indeed excellent.

These red bricks are great for building houses; they'll last for at least a hundred years, or even longer.

However, this price of 6 cents is twice as expensive as the price of red bricks outside, so it's no wonder that sales are getting worse and worse.

"Mr. Liang, you've seen this brick factory, and the quality of the bricks is excellent. I wonder what you mean by this..."

At this moment, Jiang Tongji also spoke up, asking Liang Ming a question.

He also hoped that Liang Ming could invest in this state-owned brick factory.

This would not only alleviate the pressure on the village, but if the brick factory made money under Liang Ming's management, it could also give back to the village.

"Mayor Jiang, let me ask you a question first. If I invest in the brick factory, will the management and operation rights of the brick factory belong to me or the township?"

Liang Ming looked directly at Jiang Tongji and asked with a serious expression.

This issue is extremely important to Liang Ming!