Chapter 152 Doing Business the Other Ways: She's My Partner.
What exactly are these so-called collective enterprises? This is related to a unique phenomenon in the development of private enterprises in the 1980s and 1990s—wearing a "red hat" (i.e., being affiliated with a state-owned enterprise).
Before the formal introduction of the market economy in 1992, reform and opening up were, in fact, like dancing in shackles for a long time, and one wrong step could really lead to imprisonment.
To mitigate risks, private business owners often try to legitimize themselves. For example, they might invest entirely in the business but form a collective team of eight or nine people and register the factory under the name of a collective enterprise.
This can save a lot of political and economic troubles, but at the same time, it also plants time bombs.
Regarding the current situation of Ovechkin buying the factory, from the perspective of current law, Zheng Xiufang is not qualified to sell the factory to anyone.
Because the factory is a collective enterprise, you alone cannot represent the factory.
A raging fire instantly ignited in Wang Xiao's chest.
Where's the lawyer? Damn it! Did we pay you to be a useless bum? You can just close your eyes and let people jump into such a huge pit.
Is it because you think the bar exam is too easy and you don't care about it, and you plan to end your career at any time?
The lawyer who was mentioned dared not take the blame and immediately jumped out to refute: "What nonsense are you talking about? I oversaw the procedures from beginning to end. It's either a collective enterprise or a private enterprise."
Zhao Da jumped up and down: "Impossible! My brother and I were the ones who found him in the first place."
However, changes in enterprise ownership are recorded; it's not a matter of who shouts the loudest and who gets to own the factory.
The records from the Administration for Industry and Commerce clearly state that Sunshine Garment Factory was originally a collective enterprise, but it is now privately owned.
But it didn't just change in the last two days; it changed last year.
Following his Southern Tour speeches, domestic businesses and industrialists launched a campaign to clarify property rights. Some private business owners who had previously been affiliated with the government quickly reclaimed their factories. Of course, some also took advantage of the situation, turning legitimate collective enterprises into private ones.
But that's outside the scope of what they're going to say, so we'll leave it at that.
In short, the ownership transfer of Sunshine Garment Factory was completed in October of last year.
Zhao shouted even louder: "How could we? My brother left in August last year and hasn't come home since. How could he possibly come to change the factory in October? Hey, you can't help foreigners bully us ordinary people! You're worshipping foreigners and traitors!"
The people at the Industry and Commerce Bureau weren't going to tolerate him. They glared at him and said, "What nonsense are you spouting? Zheng Xiufang isn't a three-year-old child. Why can't she come and handle the procedures herself?"
Originally, when the factory was first registered, the Zhao family registered it under Zheng Xiufang's name.
As for whether it was because Lao Zhao trusted his wife and felt that the two of them were inseparable, or whether he wanted to avoid risks so that he could easily slip away if something went wrong, only heaven knows.
But one thing is certain: Old Zhao probably didn't keep his guard up against his wife. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to let her complete the company ownership transfer procedures so smoothly.
This is probably the unpredictable nature of men.
He frequented brothels, yet he still believed his wife should be faithful to him, never even considering that there was anything wrong with his behavior.
Honestly, normal people can't understand their logic.
Wang Xiao had met many so-called successful people who sought out prostitutes and had casual sex, yet considered themselves good men who were loyal to their families.
The reason is that he doesn't have a mistress outside the marriage.
Some even keep mistresses or concubines, but don't have any illegitimate children, yet they still have the nerve to boast and consider themselves gentlemen and upright men.
Indeed, society is keen on moral judgment of women, and women are keen on moral judgment of themselves; but conversely, men are always able to easily reach a reconciliation with themselves.
In this respect, men generally have stronger social survival skills.
It was written clearly in black and white, but Zhengda simply couldn't accept it.
After all, in anyone's shoes, in the blink of an eye, tens of millions of assets that seemed like a sure thing can vanish!
It would be strange if they didn't go crazy.
"Impossible!" he shouted, his voice hoarse. "This perfectly good collective factory, just turned into private property like that? How come I didn't know? My wife is working there!"
Logically speaking, now that the original data has been presented, the official explanation should end here.
Do whatever you want from now on; it has absolutely nothing to do with the official channels.
But grassroots law enforcement officers all understand one thing: if you don't convince him once and for all, who knows what kind of trouble he might cause later.
So even though he had no reason to believe it, the officers from the police station still led a group of people to find each of the members who had registered the collective enterprise back then.
Why not just call the person to the police station?
Oh my, what kind of master is this!
It's not dark yet, so of course we should take advantage of the daylight to get as much work done as possible.
Otherwise, do you think their monthly salary of 300 yuan is due to the boss's kindness?
Even though the police officers were so considerate of the people's feelings, the workers didn't seem to mind being called off the production line.
They are paid by piecework; every minute they delay means a minute less money they earn.
Ovechkin watched with great interest; these were the workers he wanted.
In Moscow, and throughout Russia, factory workers often sit and drink tea, chat, or play cards. No matter how urgent the production tasks, they pretend not to see it.
The older workers, in particular, all want to live a comfortable life and are unwilling to work hard.
Ivanov retorted, "That's because you hired the wrong workers."
For someone like him, finding farmers and their children in the suburbs of Moscow would be much easier.
Sigh, I'll have to call them later to see how their preparations for the New Year are going.
Now that the ruble has fallen below 500, everyone should prepare some New Year's goods to at least soothe their anxieties.
By the way, we also need to keep a close eye on Huaxia Commercial Street.
It's the Lunar New Year holiday, and I'm so busy.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Ovechkin with disdain. If it weren't for this guy causing trouble, would they have come here to waste their time?
The workers at the garment factory also felt that the police were making trouble out of nothing and deliberately delaying their ability to earn money.
So what if they transferred it? Why can't they transfer it? It was their money that came out in the first place.
Why was it transferred to Zheng Xiufang instead of Zhao Yuanqing?
Oh dear, if the couple themselves don't care, why should outsiders interfere?
Now that Zheng Xiufang has sold herself to the Russians, it's no big deal.
The factory continued operating as usual, and the new boss even gave them red envelopes, 100 yuan each, which was just enough to buy more New Year's goods.
"Didn't your Fengzhen sign it too? She didn't take a single penny less than the thousand yuan."
Zhao Da jumped up even further: "Damn it, I haven't seen a single penny!"
A middle-aged peasant woman walked in and began to curse without any politeness: "Now that you've seen it, you son of a bitch, do you know whether to feed him to the dogs at the mahjong table or send him to support a young widow?"
Zhao Da flew into a rage and slapped her across the face: "You bitch, what have you been doing behind my back!"
His wife turned her face away, and the blow landed on her forehead. She immediately lunged at him and started tearing at him, yelling, "Zhao Da, you bastard, I'm not done with you yet!"
Well, the couple started fighting first.
Actually, Zhao Da's wife wasn't on the same page as Zheng Xiufang in the past—
After all, money is a powerful motivator. Let alone assets worth tens of millions in 1993, even after 30 years of inflation and a significant devaluation of the Chinese yuan—
Ten million is enough to cause a death.
When the registration was changed, no one expected that Zhao Er, that bastard, would find a prostitute in Moscow so quickly, end up turning himself into a living dead and losing his life.
In fact, if Zheng Xiufang had been even a little weaker, what difference would it have made even if her name was on the business registration?
For a large family to want to devour a woman is incredibly easy.
But they're willing to go all out; they'd rather sell at a loss than lose money and just take the money and leave.
To be honest, the workers at the garment factory really admired her.
They didn't abandon the child.
After seeing off her dead husband, she took on the responsibility of caring for the Zhao family's children.
A woman who has done this much has truly lived up to her husband's family's expectations.
The workers are now very grateful for her decisive action.
Selling the factory to the Russians is better than leaving it to that guy Zhao Da.
That way, he won't just take the factory and then immediately sell it to someone else to build houses.
The police officers at the local police station don't care about couples fighting. They can't handle these kinds of things; if they mess it up, it might turn into a mixed doubles beating, with both the husband and wife attacking him.
So he just watched idly from the sidelines, casually remarking, "What land are they selling? At most, they'll sell the factory. Building a house? Anyone who wants a house can build it themselves."
Now, almost every household in the villages under their jurisdiction in Xishui Town owns a small villa.
Merchants who come to collect goods can stay at any house they like; there's no need to build any houses at all.
"Who said that?"
While busy tidying up the leather in her hands, the female worker retorted, "I already said I wanted to build a house. Is it really that easy to make money by selling houses?"
She looked in the direction of the county leaders and said, "Hey, isn't the county town also going to have houses built?"
The county public security bureau leaders felt the matter was over, so they had the leisure to chat: "That's not the same thing. Our county's employees don't have houses to live in, how can we compare to you, who all live in apartment buildings?"
With that, he stepped outside.
Otherwise, what's the point of staying? To watch that couple fight? He's just bored!
As for trying to mediate a fight, forget about it.
With that woman's fierce spirit, who knows who might beat whom?
The group of people returned to the police station in a grand procession, just in time for lunch.
The director immediately extended a warm invitation: "Come and have something to eat with us, it's just home-cooked food."
What he said was quite true, because the police station was small and didn't have its own canteen.
The dishes on the table were all ordered from a restaurant on short notice: four dishes and a soup. They looked ordinary, but the main feature was the generous portions. Perhaps in case there wasn't enough food, there was also a braised goose on the table.
Unlike Jinning, although down jackets are also made locally, the main animals raised are geese. There are even two big, honking white geese in the police station yard.
They planned to kill them during the New Year.
Ivanov generously contributed a thermos of pork stew and joined them at the table for the meal.
The police officer from the local station took a bite of the still-steaming pork stew and asked, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Sir, has anyone in our county raised funds to speculate on land in Hainan? My goodness, I heard it's incredibly profitable. More profitable than those stocks! You can double your money with just one transaction?"
The county public security bureau leader exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, that's impressive!"
"Of course," the police officer replied casually. "My brother-in-law's wife's family took out an 80 million loan and went to Hainan to buy land."
As he spoke, he mentioned a place name.
Wang Xiao felt a deep sense of admiration for them, admiring their courage. Because even 30 years from now, this place wouldn't be considered economically developed.
Haha, as expected, when a leader makes a snap decision, he'll do anything.
If losses are incurred, it's the ordinary people who will suffer.
Since the government cannot produce wealth itself, the people always end up paying the price for all its decisions.
The county public security bureau leader gasped: "Good heavens, they're really something else."
The police officer asked with a smile, "Are we doing this in our county?"
"Let's do something crazy," the leader complained. "I think they're desperate for money."
"Oh my!" the police officer chuckled. "What if they made a fortune?"
The leader retorted, "What if we lose money? There's no such thing as a sure thing in this world. Last year everyone was saying that buying stocks would make you rich. And what happened? I lost so much that I can't even afford cigarettes now."
The police officer didn't hold back at all, laughing uncontrollably, and had the station chief slap him: "You rascal."
Driver Ding looked at his rice bowl with glee, then suddenly remembered something and asked Wang Xiao curiously, "Mr. Wang, have you been acquiring land in Hainan?"
The wealthy people he knew had either already gone or were on their way there.
Seriously, it's much faster to make money than running a factory.
You get a permit downstairs, and once you get upstairs, the price doubles—it's like picking up money off the ground.
Wang Xiao shook her head: "I'm not going, and I advise you not to go either."
The police chief became curious: "You don't think it's a good idea either?"
That doesn't make sense. Actually, he was just being sour; he didn't have the capital to make that kind of money.
Wang Xiao bluntly retorted, "I'm not optimistic at all. Hainan has nothing right now. Who would live in all those houses that are built there?"
She swears to God that she absolutely did not harbor resentment because she was ripped off during her trip to Hainan before transmigrating into the book, and that she is now trying to badmouth Hainan.
To be honest, although it has been given the name of a special economic zone, it is not the same as Shenzhen at all.
"The real reason Shenzhen was able to develop was due to industrial relocation. Just now, Hong Kong especially needed to transform its industries, so it had to move its factories to the mainland."
Shenzhen's proximity to Hong Kong provided a ready-made "front shop, back factory" model, which is the real reason why it and the entire Pearl River Delta region were able to develop.
The confidence to raise housing prices is essentially based on economic development.
Economic development cannot be achieved simply through policy support.
Otherwise, why is it that even though the national policies are similar, there are differences in economic development between non-special economic zones, with some areas being more advanced and others less so?
The key factors are geographical advantages and human advantages.
The Pearl River Delta region, a coastal area, is inherently more influenced by foreign cultures, resulting in a relatively open-minded mindset and an awareness of economic development.
That's why 100,000 talented people flocked to Shenzhen, thriving and driving the special economic zone's rapid economic development.
She gave another example: "Let's take another one. Now, with the development of Pudong, the goal is to boost the economic development of the Yangtze River Delta region, and that can certainly do so."
Even before the Pudong development, the Yangtze River Delta region's economy had already developed on its own.
The Southern Jiangsu Model and the Wenzhou Model are well-known templates for the development of township enterprises throughout the country.
Even before the reform and opening up policy, they were already secretly engaged in economic development.
Cough cough, just how fierce are these places?
In fact, when the plan to establish special economic zones was proposed in 1979, the earliest version included Chongming Island.
Yes, it's Chongming Island, which belongs to Shanghai but was under the jurisdiction of Nantong City, Jiangsu Province before 1953.
Why was Chongming Island no longer included in the later lists?
Because it was Comrade Chen Yun who crossed it out.
His reasoning was that provinces like Jiangsu should not be designated as special economic zones, as the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region has historically been known for speculative activities, and bad elements are well-versed in these activities.
However, even without policy support, and even in a sense being in a state of vigilance and suppression, the Yangtze River Delta region still developed.
Ultimately, aside from the objective local conditions, the fundamental factor is people.
"Let's look back at Hainan. Which of these two conditions does it meet? Without any industry, what industries can it develop? Without industrial support, what will the people who stay in Hainan eat and drink?"
When people can't even afford to eat and dress, how many of them actually have the money to buy a house?
In a game of musical chairs, the flower eventually ends up in someone's hands.
While eating, Ovechkin, with the help of the translator, listened intently to Wang Xiao talking to someone.
Now he couldn't help but ask in bewilderment, "Then why are housing prices in Moscow rising so fast?"
Don't say it's because Moscow's economy is developing rapidly.
Good heavens, telling such lies will make your nose grow long.
"That's because a large number of people are migrating to Moscow, returning from other republics, as well as from Siberia and the Far East. As long as conditions permit, they are willing to buy houses in Moscow. With a large buyer's market, prices naturally rise. Moreover, there is a new wealthy class in Moscow who also have a need to improve their housing conditions."
This situation is not unique to Moscow; it is prevalent in major Russian cities.
The reason why people are so keen to go to big cities is partly to find more job opportunities, and partly because they are forced by life.
Despite the seemingly extensive railway network of the Soviet era, the actual transportation situation was not as good as outsiders imagined.
It was only after Wang Xiao had spent a long time in Moscow that he learned that some small Russian towns only have one train a month.
This train is carrying all the necessities that the local residents will receive in the next month.
She couldn't help but cry out to God.
It was precisely because of this terrible transportation environment that a large amount of Russian agricultural products rotted because they could not be transported in time, which made the already scarce supply of goods even worse.
If it were her, she would also go to a big city, at least the supplies in big cities are relatively guaranteed.
The police officers couldn't understand her gibberish Russian, so her conversation with the Russian was just background noise, not interrupting his previous topic at all.
"If that's the case, then how did this land speculation start?"
The police chief looked puzzled. "This sounds even less reliable than stocks to me."
Wang Xiao shrugged: "Because it doesn't have anything to speculate on right now, it can't just resell cars again, can it?"
Everyone present laughed.
Good heavens! The Hainan car resale scandal in 1985 was a complete shock to the whole country.
According to Xinhua News Agency, 88 out of the 94 directly affiliated units in the region were involved at the time.
To put it bluntly, this is a large-scale smuggling case led by the local government.
At that time, the central government granted Hainan Island a quota for duty-free imported cars, but the cars could only be used on Hainan Island.
At that time, it was said that the import tariff rate for complete vehicles was 120%-150%, and the huge profits in the rest were unimaginable.
If an ordinary person were to take the lead in this kind of case, they would probably be executed.
However, the person in charge of Hainan Island at the time was only dismissed from his post; he himself did not earn a single penny from it.
He did this because he knew there were no other ways to make money on Hainan Island. Having no other option, he turned his attention to duty-free goods.
Hainan Island is not much better than before. Cars can no longer be resold. If land speculation is not allowed, where will the government get the money?
With a serious expression, Yamada Ichiro emphasized, "That's not right, that's not right. If the houses built are unaffordable for ordinary people, like the citizens of Tokyo, then the houses are meaningless."
"Ahem," Wang Xiao chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, so we all think the government will definitely control it."
What she didn't say was that a professor from one of her elective courses in college had once raised a very interesting point about this matter.
That means the decision-makers who decided to speculate on land in Hainan had the intention of trapping and exploiting the people.
However, their target audience is the newly rich, and currently only the wealthy can afford to spend real money to buy large tracts of land.
The main theme is killing local tyrants and dividing their land.
However, the newly wealthy class in China is not just composed of businessmen; behind them often stand a large number of officials.
This has resulted in the number of newly wealthy people who actually spend money from their own pockets falling far short of the decision-makers' expectations.
Most of the actual funding comes from banks.
Especially after the Southern Tour talks and the subsequent easing of monetary policy by banks, land speculation in Hainan became purely a paper game.
It was precisely because this was discovered that the higher-ups urgently called for a halt.
Otherwise, if more and more local governments take out collective loans of 80 million, how will they handle the situation?
The teacher's analysis has one reason:
The six prominent figures of Vantone, who made a fortune from the Hainan real estate bubble, were once known for their ability to quickly spread the word about their scheme.
Although Pan Shiyi's story about a bag of oranges is widely known, Feng Lun's statement was made after someone had already informed him that bank policies were about to change.
The latter is clearly more in line with common sense.
What does this tell us?
This shows that this money is not meant for ordinary people; it is targeted at a specific group of people.
If it's not food on your plate, and you reach out your hand, nine times out of ten your hand will be chopped off.
According to the elective course teacher, similar events such as the stock market turmoil of the early 1990s and the "March 27th Treasury Bond Incident" were of a similar nature.
The evidence for the latter is that, before Guan Jinsheng of Wanguo Securities got into trouble, according to Yang Baiwan, the first person to make a fortune from private treasury bonds, a leader had given Guan a heads-up.
But Guan was taking a nap at the time, and his assistant didn't dare to wake him.
The leader got angry and stopped caring, which led to the person in charge being imprisoned.
Therefore, unless you have the ability to predict the future or are reborn, you shouldn't even think about making this money; it cannot be explained by economic principles.
Why would decision-makers do this?
On the one hand, the government lacks funds; on the other hand, people with money become a destabilizing factor.
To maintain stability, we need to find a way to get rid of the spare money you have.
This applies to stocks, bonds, and real estate as well.
The only difference is that the beneficiaries have gradually shifted from the wealthy to the general public.
Because this theory was quite novel, Wang Xiao still remembers it to this day.
However, she'd better not say such shocking things to scare people.
After everyone finished their meal, they said their goodbyes and left.
Wang Xiao asked Ovechkin, "Are you coming back with us, or are you staying here?"
Ovechkin immediately looked weak, pitiful, and helpless: "Miss King, you can't abandon me."
Wang Xiao wanted to roll her eyes again.
Honestly, she felt she simply couldn't have the patience for these people.
"Alright, alright, let's go, let's go back."
Once the car was on the road, Wang Xiao pressed him for an explanation: "Tell me the truth, what exactly happened to Ms. Zheng? Is she safe now?"
She never dared to ask in Xishui Town because the main business there was trade with Russia, and who knew if anyone could speak Russian.
Ovechkin initially insisted, "How would I know? After I gave her the money, I didn't keep track of where she went."
Wang Xiao stared at him coldly and scoffed, "Really? Then where are your bodyguards? Why are there so few?"
Ovechkin had no choice but to raise his hands in surrender: "Miss Wang, I just couldn't bear it. She's so pitiful, she's a lady in need of help. Really, they'll hunt her down."
"Get to the point," Wang Xiao said, his patience wearing thin. "Don't end up making things worse."
"Moscow, she and her child are now in Moscow."
Ivanov was shocked: "Are you crazy? You escaped from Moscow yourself, and you're sending other people back to Moscow?"
“Hey!” Ovechkin retorted, “There are many Chinese businessmen in Moscow, and they do their business just fine, don’t they? Besides, is Moscow more dangerous for her, or is it here?”
Wang Xiao and Ivanov exchanged a glance and were speechless.
Ovechkin immediately became smug: "We've agreed to a collaboration. I'll manage the factory here, and she'll manage sales in Moscow."
Wang Xiao didn't know what to say. This chaos should be reversed; it would be normal if things were in the opposite order.
But given the current situation, this arrangement is actually more suitable for them.
Wang Xiao sighed: "What about the child? His child is still in elementary school."
Ovechkin gave a shy smile and stammered, "Well, didn't you set up a primary school on the farm, specifically to teach Chinese children?"
Damn it, just leave it in the car.
This guy can't be kept; keeping him is just asking for trouble.
God knows how many more landmines he'll plant.
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Regarding the import tariffs on cars in 1985, Ajin also saw another claim: 400%. In short, regardless of the exact figure, it's quite high. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2024-02-17 07:12:28 and 2024-02-18 02:32:46!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Junzi Danmo 20 bottles; Yuanyuan 10 bottles; Affirmation 5 bottles; luyaly, Pangpangxiong, Xiaop, and Qiushuifeishui 1 bottle each;
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