January 2015
Dongguan City, the Pearl River, and the Humen Bridge observation deck.
Lin Sanqi stood by the Pearl River, surrounded by a large group of people in administrative jackets, all of whom were leaders from the local Electricity Bureau and Development and Reform Commission.
Also in the middle of the jacket was an old acquaintance of Lin Sanqi's, Section Chief Song from the "relevant department". He was introducing something to Lin Sanqi:
"Director Lin, look at this stretch of water before you. The Battle of Yashan at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty took place here. Back then, Left Prime Minister Lu Xiufu carried the young emperor on his back and threw himself into the sea, sacrificing his life for his country. The Song Dynasty was shattered. It was truly the darkest day for our Han people."
Lin Sanqi quickly clasped his hands together and bowed towards the river:
"This is my first time here too. I know about the Battle of Yashan. Facing foreign invaders, we must take up arms and fight to the end. But first, we must be strong ourselves. Just as iron needs to be forged to be strong."
Lin Sanqi was used to being a big leader in another time and space, and now he speaks in official language.
At this time, Director Wang from the Power Bureau nearby quickly stopped him and said:
"Chairman Lin, you don't know this. The Yuan Dynasty is still the legitimate dynasty of our country, and the Mongols are also part of the Chinese nation. So, you must not say in public that this was an aggressive war. You must not say anything that is not conducive to unity."
Lin Sanqi thought so too. When the war between the enemy and us turns into an internal war, the concept of national hero will be abolished.
Just like Yue Fei is no longer called a national hero, what is he called? A first-class meritorious official? And then he died at Fengbo Pavilion?
Section Chief Song chuckled at this time:
"I think Chairman Lin is right. The key is for us to be strong ourselves. If we are not strong ourselves, we should not blame those demons and monsters for coveting our great motherland. So this time, we invited Chairman Lin to Humen, not just for tourism."
Lin Sanqi looked at Section Chief Song with a smile, but he didn't dare to relax at all.
Who dares to laugh in front of the Jinyiwei? This is a special department that absolutely cannot be offended.
Now that he had more than 100 billion in purchasing funds, Lin Sanqi thought it must be for this money.
"Section Chief Song, you're so secretive that I'm completely lost. Fortunately, I run a fair and honest business and pay taxes according to regulations, otherwise my legs would be shaking right now."
Everyone around chuckled.
Section Chief Song nodded to the leaders around him and said:
"Chairman Lin, this is Director Wang of Dongguang Electric Power, this is Director Qin of the National Development and Reform Commission, and this is General Manager Wu Gang of Humen Power Plant. Now you understand why I invited you to Humen, right?"
Lin Sanqi blinked: "Humen Power Plant?"
Section Chief Song pushed Wu Gang out with both hands:
"Come on, General Manager Wu, this guy is our God of Wealth. Our department guarantees that as long as your transaction is completed, you will receive the cash immediately, without any delay. A boss like this is rare, so you must seize the opportunity."
Lin Sanqi looked at Section Chief Song speechlessly, thinking, "Old Song, you have thick eyebrows and big eyes, why do you look like a brothel owner?"
Besides, neither the power plant nor his pharmaceutical factory seems to be under the jurisdiction of Section Chief Song.
He had no idea what Section Chief Song was up to. If there was no benefit at all, why would he be so enthusiastic? This was a party and a trip.
Wu Gang quickly stretched out his hands and held Lin Sanqi's hands tightly:
"Mr. Lin from Lingnan Hall, I've long admired him."
Lin Sanqi also said politely:
"Mr. Wu, you're so polite. If there's anything I can help you with, please feel free to ask in front of all these leaders. If I can help, I'll do it. If I can't, we still have Section Chief Song."
Section Chief Song was so angry that he laughed and pointed at Lin Sanqi with his finger.
Wu Gang pointed to several large chimneys not far from the Humen Bridge and said:
"Director Lin, look, that's our Humen Power Plant over there. You can see the entire thing from the Humen Bridge."
Lin Sanqi was a little surprised and said:
"I was just about to say, these chimneys are truly terrifying. If they were to start up, I'd bet they'd block out the sun with dark clouds. That would be incredibly polluting. This area is one of the most economically developed and densely populated areas in the country. How many people's health would be affected by this?"
Wu Gang smiled bitterly and said:
"Mr. Lin has already noticed the environmental issues, and this is also our biggest concern at the moment.
Our Humen Power Plant has a long history. As a supporting factory for the establishment of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, we were established in 1984 with investment from Dongguan Province.
The first phase of the project installed three 200,000-kilowatt domestically produced generator sets. After years of development, it now has 12 generator sets with a total installed capacity of 3.88 million kilowatts, making it the largest thermal power generation base in South China."
Lin Sanqi didn't quite understand this concept, so he asked another question:
"Mr. Wu, if this 3.88 million kilowatts of electricity is generated, how many kilowatt-hours of electricity can it generate per year?"
Mr. Wu knew that Chairman Lin was an outsider, so he patiently replied:
"If we start all the generators, the annual power generation can reach more than 15 billion kWh."
After hearing this description, Lin Sanqi understood and took a deep breath, thinking that this amount of power generation was really amazing.
Because Lin Sanqi traveled through another time and space in the past, the national power generation in 1962 was 45.7 billion kWh.
In other words, only four Humen power plants are needed to supply electricity to the entire country. If you think about how big this country is, you will understand how awesome this power plant is.
Thinking of this, Lin Sanqi had already guessed what these leaders wanted to do.
I guess he wants to sell the power plant to Lingnan Hall.
The question is, how can such a large power plant be sold so easily?
It can generate 15 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year.
The price of electricity for urban residents is around 0.56-0.62 yuan per kilowatt-hour, while the price of electricity for industrial use is slightly higher, at around 0.86-1.80 yuan per kilowatt-hour.
Even if the factory price is cheaper, it is about 0.3 to 0.4 yuan per kilowatt-hour, and the power plant also supplies heat, so the annual turnover will be tens of billions.
Other products may have trouble selling, but state-owned power plants have no worries about selling electricity. So why would they sell it?
Without clarifying this issue, Lin Sanqi dared not take over rashly, even if it was introduced by Section Chief Song.
Section Chief Song is not his father, and he would also cheat people.
"Mr. Wu, I'm a businessman, so I have to ask a rather vulgar question: Has your Humen Power Plant made a profit or a loss in the past few years?"
Wu Gang puffed out his chest a little proudly at this time:
"Yes, the profit is not high, but I still make 1 billion yuan a year."
Lin Sanqi rolled his eyes, thinking, "1 billion is considered a low profit?" Of course, it can't compare to the profits of a company like Lingnantang that sells for zero yuan.
"Then I don't understand. Since the Humen Power Plant is the largest in South China and has an annual profit of over 1 billion, wouldn't such a star enterprise want to sell it to us, Lingnan Hall?"
Lin Sanqi thought more and more that something was wrong, and added:
"My family runs a clinic and a pharmaceutical factory. This has nothing to do with a power plant. They are two completely different industries."
Seeing that Lin Sanqi had guessed his true intention, Section Chief Song laughed:
"Mr. Lin, your guess is both right and wrong. We are right that we do want to sell the power plant to you. But we are wrong that we do not want to sell the entire power plant to you."
Lin Sanqi looked at the giant power plant in the distance and the tall chimneys reaching into the sky and asked:
"Section Chief Song, how should I understand this?"
Section Chief Song pushed the question to Wu Gang again: "Come on, Old Wu, you answer this one."
Wu Gang introduced somewhat awkwardly:
"Mr. Lin, this is what's going on. All the coal needed for our Humen Power Plant's operations is purchased from Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. We're a thermal power plant, so we can't burn coal.
When our Humen Power Plant was established in 1982, it was surrounded by wasteland. But decades later, look at both sides of the Humen Bridge now, they have become economically developed and densely populated areas.
When the power plant was built, there was no environmental awareness in the country, so desulfurization facilities were not installed. As a result, waste gas and coal ash are now directly discharged into the air and water, causing serious acid rain hazards and pollution of the Pearl River water quality.
It is said that our Humen Power Plant has become the largest source of pollution in the entire Pearl River Delta.
Of course, our power plant has never admitted this statement. Why should it be our responsibility if hundreds of thousands of factories along the Pearl River emit emissions together?
In recent years, the Provincial Congress has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the long-term delay in installing environmental protection facilities by various entities of our Humen Power Plant, and demanded that the three power plants resolve the issue within a time limit.
It’s not that we don’t want to make rectifications, it’s just that the cost of making rectifications is too high.
Unfortunately, the government has now implemented a blanket policy requiring the closure of generators with an installed capacity of less than 300,000 kilowatts. We in Dongguang Province have taken this opportunity to directly shut down the Humen Power Plant. (End of chapter)
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