Chapter 175 Prudent Strategy
s an extraordinary talent. Although her performance under the exam-oriented education system was abysmal, she was a prodigy in areas that interested her. Over these past six months, Su Cen had introdu...Chapter 175: A Good Strategy
"To change the current situation in Huancheng, we need to not only focus on the charcoal industry but also address fundamental issues such as coal processing plants and carbon enterprises. After completing our due diligence investigation, you should quickly proceed with relevant acquisitions and company mergers." After leaving Li Jinsheng's charcoal factory from the industrial park at North Mountain in Huancheng, Su Can continued to communicate with Lin Guangdong on the phone.
Lin Guangdong said over the phone, "The overseas department of Daoboluo Holdings has already started registering two special purpose companies—Phoenix Industry Co., Ltd. and Phoenix Investment Holding Co., Ltd.—in the Cayman Islands. Once we receive the results of our due diligence investigation, we will proceed further."
The due diligence investigation refers to a comprehensive information collection and verification process regarding business, financials, legal aspects, management background, market risks, technical risks, and funding risks before Su Can's investment in Li Jinsheng's charcoal factory. If there are no significant issues, Phoenix Investment Holding Co., Ltd., registered in the Cayman Islands, will control Li Jinsheng's Jinseng Carbon Industry.
The legal representative of Phoenix Investment Holding and chairman of the offshore structure would be Lin Guangdong, Su Can’s right-hand man. Meanwhile, Li Jinsheng would serve as the general manager, responsible for overseeing related industry operations.
"When will you arrive in Huancheng The Dagou Mountain coal mine is a critical foothold for our entry into the coal mining and washing industry, estimated to be worth around 1.1 million yuan. You can refer to this estimate; if possible, have Huancheng Industry Co., Ltd. acquire it as soon as feasible."
Lin Guangdong replied, "I should arrive in Huancheng tomorrow or the day after. I will let Jiang Ming serve as the general manager of Phoenix Industry Co., Ltd., while Li Jinsheng serves as vice-general manager. The financial director and other core management personnel will be appointed by us and directly under Daoboluo Holdings to effectively monitor and control Phoenix Industry Co., Ltd."
Similarly, controlled by Phoenix Investment Holding Co., Ltd., Su Can's newly led Huancheng Industry Co., Ltd. would subsequently conduct acquisitions of coal mines and coking plants in Huancheng. Since returning from vacation and taking up his position in Huancheng with Su Licheng, most of what Su Can did was akin to the work of a counselor for his father. Occasionally, he also reviewed some reports and internal documents about Huancheng City left by Su Licheng in the study room. Combined with discussions with people like Zhang Shen and Yao Ming who were well-informed about the situation in Huancheng, he had a good grasp of certain circumstances.
Huancheng Industry Co., Ltd. could improve the current low concentration and unreasonable layout of the coking coal and charcoal industries in Huancheng through acquisitions and adjustments.
"No wonder you've been gathering relevant information those days and frequently meeting up with people like Zhang Shen and Yao Ming who are familiar with the local situation to have tea. It looks like you had already thought of a direction."
Li Pengyu, who was driving, only realized that Su Zhen was considering developing Huancheng's coke industry resources while dealing with the Xu family on one hand. His eyesight and thoughts were indeed different from ordinary people.
The car was returning to the city center. As Su Zhen looked out of the window at the large number of banyan trees retreating from both sides of the road, he said, "Huancheng is rich in coke coal industry resources, but it has never been effectively developed and utilized. When I first arrived, I thought about what could quickly show results to improve Huancheng's situation and gain its people’s trust besides economic measures.
"I saw a report earlier that Huancheng couldn't even get a consolation prize in the province-wide competition for the most beautiful streets, which made the locals very angry. The public generally criticized urban pollution problems; they paid environmental costs but didn’t see corresponding results. Improving the long-standing environmental issues is currently the most meaningful thing to do. The current coke coal production efficiency is too low and comprehensive utilization levels are not improving. Actually, coke gas produced during the process of making coke is an important industrial civilian fuel. As a strategic scarce coal type, the coke oil and crude benzene it produces are mostly discharged due to incomplete recovery, leading to environmental pollution and economic value being wasted... I thought if I could take over these struggling coke-making enterprises one by one and upgrade their equipment levels. I previously saw some advanced tail coal recovery systems and fly ash sorting systems that efficiently utilize valuable resources developed domestically, but ultimately, because of Huancheng's local protectionism or other well-known reasons involving high-level officials, they couldn't be effectively introduced. This caused the loss of many good things and delayed Huancheng’s development for a long time."
"How much of Huancheng's coke enterprises do you plan to take over, how many such systems will be needed, and how much money is required" Li Pengyu asked; just from Su Zhen's description, he could sense the scale involved.
"I can only intervene in those with the most serious issues. In the initial acquisition plan of Phoenix Industries, around five million yuan was allocated to complete the acquisitions of three coal mines and five coke factories within one to two years, plus the current problematic Qingshan Carbonization Industry Company and a coking plant. As for the cost of equipment upgrades and systems for recovering added value, I would say it ranges from three hundred thousand to one million yuan per modern coal processing company with an annual capacity of one million tons."
"Do you have that much money" Lin Luoran glanced at Su Zhen.
“Facebook also needs cash flow...” Tang Wu frowned. Facebook was Su Zhen's business, and indirectly it was part of her career as well. She began to gradually understand Facebook, whether through internships or research related to the economics major she studied in college. Knowing the current situation, she wanted to advise Su Zhen.
Su Zhen turned around in the passenger seat with a reassuring smile for the two women, “Not having money can be a problem sometimes, but it’s not always one.”
Upon returning to the Huang City Municipal Government Compound, he passed by Qingshan Carbonization Industry Company on Yan River along the way. The entrance was a mess; workers were sitting quietly there, and many people圍觀群眾 were watching.
When he got home, Su Licheng was正好 in his study room, having剛 returned from a municipal committee meeting that he had attended. Tang Wu, Lin Luoran, and Li Pengyu were outside watching TV. Su Cen went into the house and had a face-to-face conversation with Su Licheng in the study room.
"Are you sure you want to acquire Qingshan Carbonization Industry Company That company is not so easy to handle, and there are dozens of employees who need安置. Now, the problem is two-fold: Although the workers at Qingshan Carbonization Industrial Company痛恨工廠高層拿回扣，和高官勾結等問題resent the factory's senior management taking kickbacks and colluding with high-ranking officials, these people were initially part of the factory when it was transferred to the Qing Mountain Group, and the government承諾過保留待遇had promised to maintain their benefits. Now, many outsiders are pleased廠子的封停大快人心that the factory has been shut down, but how can we解決這些員工的活路solve these employees' livelihood issues For them, this is a catastrophic disaster...
Previously, Su Licheng opposed Su Cen's插手收購青山炭化工業hands-on acquisition of Qing Mountain Carbonization Industry Company. It wasn't because he disapproved領導乾部子女經商條件of leaders' children engaging in business; in fact, there were很多方法規避這個條例many ways for Su Cen to avoid this regulation, such as林光棟做鳳凰實業和鳳凰投資控股的企業法人having Lin Guangdong serve as the legal representative of Phoenix Industry and Phoenix Investment Holding.
He was just worried that it would be a mess, and his son掙錢並不容易had not earned money easily step by step. This couldn't be兒戲treated lightly; spending隨意一筆down a few million could make多少人一夜暴富many people rich overnight, and many people傾家蕩產would go bankrupt. Now, the municipal committee was正在著力商討認真 discussing this very issue. Mayor Li Yinliang did not mention許長城的事Xu Changcheng today,顯然在靜觀風向obviously watching the situation quietly; both the provincial press group and Xu Changcheng had背後都有人在powerful backers, and if it wasn't十分必要extremely necessary, he wouldn't涉這趟渾水tangle with this complicated situation. However, the current urgent task was解決這些人的問題to address these people's problems.
Su Cen could only say, "Of course we will進行全麵改製comprehensively reform; I fear that the entire management of Qing Mountain Carbonization Industry is爛掉了corrupted, so原來的管理層都得換all the original managers need to be replaced. In this regard, Dad, you can先給你透個底give me a hint first: only保留最基層的職工keep the most basic employees, and原先的位置也要搬遷move their positions downstream from Yan River to your newly-planned free trade zone保稅區. There will陸續be more焦炭企業搬遷過來coal enterprises moving in, so你要給最優惠的政策you need to give them the most favorable policies to show市府的決心the city government's determination for凰城製炭焦化產業最徹底的改革comprehensive reform of Huang City's coal and coke industry."
Su Licheng smoked a cigarette吸了隻煙and nodded, "I will商討落實discuss this with Mayor Luo who oversees industrial affairs."
"Since you oversee經濟口the economic sector, there are其他的事情需要你幫忙other matters that need your help. I plan to收購三座煤礦acquire three coal mines,五家大型製炭廠five large coke factories, and現在的青山炭化工業公司currently Qingshan Carbonization Industry Company and一座煉焦廠a coking plant, but最終都需要進行裝備升級all of them will ultimately require equipment upgrades. Huang City's old選煤工業區coal washing industrial area west district produces 19 million tons of raw coal annually; it洗選加工精煤同時produces and processes 10 million tons of refined coal for export while also產生500多萬噸洗中煤，煤泥和300萬噸煤矸石producing more than 5 million tons of semi-washed coal, coal slurry, and 3 million tons of gangue. These可用資源usable resources have been treated as廢物體waste for many years; some are廢棄discarded without use, causing環境汙染environmental pollution, while others are賤價賣掉sold cheaply in a stagnant market at prices as low as每噸5元，10元豆腐價per ton of 5 yuan or even 10 yuan. This also擠占有限的鐵路運力occupies limited railway capacity; according to municipal statistics統計顯示, Huang City spends two billion yuan每年每年annually on治理這些選煤過後的副產品cleaning up these coal washing by-products...
Su Licheng listened quietly靜靜地聽, knowing all this. Seeing the shocking景象of Huang City's coal mountains firsthand only allowed one to體會那種震撼fully appreciate人類對資源貪婪攫取，而又暴殄天物the shock of humanity's greed in extracting resources while squandering them. If改善現今混亂的局麵the current chaotic situation could be improved as Su Cen had planned earlier, not only would it改善人人可見的環境improve the visible environment for everyone in Huang City, but there were巨大的經濟效益hidden huge economic benefits as well. He asked again問道,"Where do you get so much money"
"Most domestic charcoal production enterprises are equipped with advanced Japanese carbonization equipment, which consumes about twenty to thirty kilowatts of electricity per hour and produces one hundred grams of charcoal rods with a moisture content of 4-6% and density ranging from 700 to 900 kilograms per cubic meter. The cost for domestic factories to introduce such mechanized charcoal technology generally ranges from $300,000 to over $350,000." Su Cen listed the information he obtained from Li Jinsheng one by one to his father Su Licheng: "Jinsheng Charcoal Industry in Phoenix City was once the richest man in Xiahai during the nineties. Back then, you told me that everyone knew about Li Jinsheng in Xiahai. After Li Jinsheng's charcoal factory in Xiahai closed down due to failed negotiations with Japanese equipment suppliers and subsequent investment withdrawal by the Japanese, his situation worsened. But after three years of effort, he developed a carbonization machine consuming less than twelve kilowatts per hour and producing 250 kilograms of charcoal rods with moisture content below 1% and density ranging from 1200 to 1500 kilograms per cubic meter, far surpassing Japanese advanced technology. Ordinary carbonization machines are priced around $30,000 each but come with extremely high maintenance costs and labor costs in the long run. Li Jinsheng's charcoal rod machine is priced at six million yuan, yet it saves four million yuan on electricity costs per year and nearly one million yuan on repair labor costs. I believe anyone would calculate such expenses accordingly. The only issue now is that due to its small scale, it’s hard to promote this technology. If it can be listed as part of Phoenix City's green project this year and become a major supported project by the city government, there will be no problem for this machine to swiftly open up the vast southwestern market."
"Li Jinsheng, huh Ha, that was long ago when you were still young. The first richest man in Xiahai City was toppled by national policies back then and lost everything overnight; how many people lamented..." This seems to have triggered a recollection from Su Licheng as he sighed.
Su Cen thought, indeed, time never returns once it's gone. Due to the butterfly effect of his rebirth, much has changed in this era. Back then, when my family was penniless, we could only look up to such luminaries like Li Jinsheng with awe and admiration. Now, unknowingly, I'm living a completely different life.
Su Cen had his own plans. Promoting Li Jinsheng's advanced clean carbonization machines would provide significant revenue supplementation through sales income. At the same time, such technology being promoted in Phoenix City could fundamentally change the ecological environment of small and medium-sized charcoal production enterprises there.
"Similarly, after acquiring several heavily polluting charcoal factories and coking plants, to improve pollution control and increase resource utilization efficiency, we need to introduce even more advanced recycling systems. But I can't afford such a system; equipping all the factories with it would be an astronomical figure, at least forty million yuan. As part of Phoenix City's welfare project, I believe that as the city government or through commercial loans, we could perhaps爭取爭取一下..."
"So you're planning to get me involved in your plans," Su Licheng laughed wryly but was indeed tempted. However, to use Phoenix City’s fiscal resources or have banks lead the way under government guidance would not be a minor matter. For him to possess sufficient authority and influence for this task now depended on whether he could topple or marginalize Xu Zhou in this game. Otherwise, all these so-called reforms would only be wishful thinking.
Finishing his last cigarette and stubbing it out in the ashtray, Su Licheng looked at the dimming sky outside and thought: While Xu Changcheng is leveraging his provincial connections to pressure the provincial press group and blocking news releases, he might even secretly cover up or shift major issues with Green Mountain Real Estate. With him acting so recklessly now, could this be a sign that it's time for a complete failure.
There will be one more chapter, definitely written out for everyone. Those who can't wait can check the update in the morning.president is merely an attempt to experience university life and is of little importance—like a fleeting cloud among countless others. But the weight lies in those who have rallied around him because...