Chapter 151: War without Gunpowder
During the project's progress, Zhang's father was dissatisfied with his daughter's strong style and secretly contacted several investment banks.
As a person of the older generation of finance, he hinted that the technical architecture of the International Financial City was too radical and the risks were difficult to control.
Zhang Ruojin went straight to Pei Song and said, "Recently, several investment banks have suddenly become very cautious and have said they will re-evaluate their investment scale."
Pei Song nodded: "The terms that have already been agreed upon need to be renegotiated now."
"My father came prepared this time," Zhang Ruojin said. "He has found several large trading institutions and persuaded them to postpone their entry into the platform."
Pei Song immediately understood the seriousness of the problem. As the person in charge of operations, he knew very well that without enough market participants, even the best system would be just an empty shell.
Jin Shuning hurried in and added: "Not only trading institutions, but also several major market makers are waiting and watching. They said they would wait until the 'market is more mature' before making a decision."
"This is my father's usual method," Zhang Ruojin sneered, "He has been in the industry for many years and knows that the most effective way to kill a new platform is to cut off its source of liquidity."
As they were talking, a key investment bank sent a notice asking the project team to re-verify the feasibility of the system architecture.
"He's trying to force me to submit," Zhang Ruojin's eyes flashed with ruthlessness, "Twenty years ago, he was able to use this method to trap my mother, and now he wants to use the same method to suppress me."
Shi Yanchen walked in at this time: "So this is no longer a simple project issue, but a power struggle within Zhang's company?"
"That's right," Zhang Ruojin said. "In his eyes, I'm just a young girl who just returned to China. I dared to cooperate with SNK and bypass his network of connections. This is a slap in his face."
Pei Song frowned as he looked at the latest market research report.
The hesitation of several core institutions has begun to affect the confidence of other potential users.
"Our biggest problem now is not technology," he said, "but proving the commercial value of the platform to the market."
"But how easy is that given my father's network of connections?" said Zhang Ruojin.
Shi Yanchen looked at Pei Song: "What do you think?"
Zhang Ruojin stood aside, observing this special interaction between superiors and subordinates with squinted eyes.
Pei Song did not answer immediately, but looked through the market report carefully.
After a while, he raised his head and said, "Since Mr. Zhang is using business means to put pressure on us, we will respond from a business perspective."
"Tell me about it." Shi Yanchen leaned against the table thoughtfully.
"We can redesign the market access mechanism," Pei Song said, "and focus on emerging institutions. They may not be as big as traditional institutions, but they are more willing to try innovation."
"Will this affect the depth of the market?" Shi Yanchen asked, with approval in his tone.
Zhang Ruojin raised her eyebrows. She was a little surprised at the tacit understanding between the two people at work.
"In the short term, maybe," Pei Song admitted, "but in the long run, it is more valuable to cultivate new market forces than to be constrained by traditional institutions. Besides," he smiled, "isn't it the same when a restaurant opens? Instead of begging a Michelin chef to come and support you, it is better to cultivate loyal customers yourself."
Shi Yanchen smiled with satisfaction: "Very good, go ahead and do it. I trust your judgment."
Zhang Ruojin withdrew her gaze. It seemed that she had chosen the right partner for this project.
In the next few days, Pei Song led the operations team to redesign the market access mechanism and incentive plan.
Core market makers can enjoy more favorable rates and participate in the platform's profit sharing.
At the same time, he also contacted several emerging but fast-growing trading institutions and customized special market cultivation plans for them.
"Instead of being constrained by traditional institutions," he told Shi Yanchen, "it is better to foster new market forces."
This idea soon produced results. The addition of new institutions brought vitality to the platform, and trading volume began to increase steadily.
Father Zhang didn't expect that the "blockade" he had carefully arranged would be broken in this way.
He originally thought that with his influence in the traditional financial circle, he would be able to dominate the direction of the market.
"It seems that I still underestimated you," he said to Zhang Ruojin, "but do you think that these new organizations alone can shake my position?"
"Dad," Zhang Ruojin said, "you are always living in the past, but the market is changing, users are changing, and the entire industry is changing."
"Childish!" Zhang's father sneered, "The rules of this circle have always been made by people like us."
"Then let the market test it," Zhang Ruojin said calmly, "and see whether your network of relationships or the choice of users is more powerful."
"Good news," Jin Shuning said to Pei Song excitedly two weeks later, "three more medium-sized trading institutions have confirmed that they want to access the platform. They said our market cultivation plan is very attractive."
"How about the new market maker?" Pei Song asked.
"The performance exceeded expectations," Jin Shuning called up a set of data, "Their quotation strategy is more aggressive, and the transaction volume has accounted for 35% of the total."
"So Director Zhang's 'blockade' didn't work?" Shi Yanchen looked at Zhang Ruojin.
Zhang Ruojin shook his head: "It's not that simple. I just received news that he has met with several large asset management companies."
"He wants to put pressure on us from the funding side." Pei Song reacted immediately.
Without the entry of large-scale asset management companies, the platform's liquidity will always be limited.
"And this time he played the compliance card," Zhang Ruojin said, "implying that current market makers are too fragmented and may affect market stability."
Pei Song hesitated for a moment: "Let me think about it." He paced in the conference room and suddenly asked Zhang Ruojin: "What do these asset managers value most?"
"Of course it's a stable income," Zhang Ruojin said, "but under my father's suggestion..."
"Then we can break through from here," Pei Song interrupted her, "We can design a special market maker alliance plan. Let the existing market makers form a quotation group to jointly provide liquidity support for large funds."
"This will not only address the concerns of asset managers," he continued, "but will also allow new market makers to gain more business opportunities."
Zhang Ruojin's eyes lit up: "This is indeed a win-win solution."
The plan was soon implemented. When the first large asset management company announced its access to the platform, Zhang's father's face turned ugly.
"You should see the changes in the market," Zhang Ruojin said to his father. "Instead of sticking to old relationships, you should embrace new opportunities."
"Do you think you can change the rules of the game by connecting with a few asset management companies?" Zhang's father snorted coldly, "Young people are too naive."
"Mr. Zhang," Pei Song said calmly, "the rules are actually very simple. The market will naturally choose whoever can create more value for the market."
But they all know that this battle is far from over.
Zhang's father has been in the financial circle for many years and still has a lot of chips in his hands.
This is not only a collision between old and new forces, but also a contest between two business philosophies: one controls the market through a network of relationships, and the other wins users through innovative services.
In this war without the smoke of gunpowder, the final victory or defeat does not depend on who has stronger connections, but on who can truly understand and meet market demand.