Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 871 The Beginning of a Major Investment in Education

Su Yiyi frowned and said, "Half of Hung Hom's economy depends on our textile, shoe, and clothing businesses. If we all move away, the economy will probably be in big trouble, and tens of thousands of people will lose their jobs."

“The relocation won’t be a one-time thing. This kind of large factory is not a small workshop. It will probably take several years,” Yang Wendong said. “But you’re right, these people will eventually lose their jobs, but there’s nothing that can be done about it. Nobody can stop it.”

Even with such a powerful government, the mainland in the past could hardly stop the outflow of low-end industrial chains. In the end, it was only through the new technological revolution that it was able to slow down for a period of time.
Furthermore, in order to relocate low-end industries to the inland areas, trillions of yuan are planned to be invested in the major renovation of the canal from west to east, so that the deep inland areas can also be brought closer to the water transport region.

Even so, it's hard to say whether it will succeed;
Other countries, such as Europe, the United States, and Japan, may not only lose their low-end industries, but also their high-end industries. History really is a good cycle, and in the end, no one can avoid the path that others have taken.

Su Yiyi said, "Well, that's the only way. If your Glory Electronics can continue to expand, it might be able to drive the upgrading of Hong Kong's industry."

“Theoretically, that’s true, but in reality, there’s not much of a chance.” Yang Wendong shook his head and said, “Glory is a high-end industry and doesn’t care much about labor costs, but a lot of production can be transferred to the mainland, it’s just not needed for the time being.”

Su Yiyi asked, "Then there's no other way?"

"No," Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "Don't worry, actually many people are still unwilling to work in the factory. Maybe in the future, we and the workers will be satisfied with each other."

In modern society, with economic development, many people are indeed unwilling to work in factories. The same was true in the mainland of my previous life. Many people would rather work as food delivery drivers than work in factories. Or people who work in factories would not be happy to see their children go into factories.
Decades later in the United States, the reason for the hollowing out of industry, in addition to the fact that financial capital made too much money, labor union issues, and the siphon effect from the mainland, was that many people were no longer willing to work in factories.
This is an inevitable trend, and fortunately, the mainland has caught up with Industry 4.0 and the robot era, thus avoiding a major industrial shift.

"Okay, I admit I was overthinking it," Su Yiyi said helplessly, and didn't press the matter further.

Yang Wendong is not worried about Hong Kong's future economy at all. It can live off the benefits of being a gateway to the mainland and overseas for decades. Even if the factories are gone, it will still be one of the richest cities in the world. The only problem is that many people have difficulty buying a house, which is a pain, but no one can change that.
Even Yang Wendong, at most, would only offer some assistance to the extremely poor; he would not go against the tide, nor would he have the ability or the need to.

Focusing on developing one's own career and doing something for the country and its people on the side is enough. Ideally, one should do something that achieves multiple goals at once, so as to ensure long-term sustainable development.

For example, investing in mainland China can benefit one's career, future real estate development, and the employment and foreign exchange opportunities that can be obtained there.

November arrived quickly, and Yang Wendong once again crossed the Luohu Port to Shenzhen, because Changxing Industrial's factory in Shenzhen had acquired the land and was preparing to lay the foundation stone.

In Shenzhen, they also wanted to invite Yang Wendong, a big boss from Hong Kong, to personally participate in the celebration ceremony. In addition, some departments from the mainland would also come to Shenzhen to discuss matters with him, so he agreed.

As for why the relevant mainland authorities didn't go to Hong Kong to find him, it's because of a lack of foreign exchange. If they could save money, they preferred to meet on the mainland.
Three kilometers southeast of Shenhai City, next to a plain, a row of cars were parked.

After getting out of the car, Yang Wendong looked around and asked, "This used to be farmland."

Director Zhou, who was accompanying them from Shenhai City, replied, "Yes, industry needs flat land that is close to the city. But such land could not have been left uncultivated before. We are a major agricultural country, and we will not waste even the land on the mountains."

"Oh, that's true." Yang Wendong nodded;
Industry and real estate are both competing with agriculture for land, but there's no other way, since the flat land around a city is limited;
However, in this era, the most important thing is industrialization. After industrialization brings wealth, it is acceptable to have less agricultural land, because industrial fertilizers can increase the productivity of the remaining farmland, making the overall cost-effectiveness higher.
Of course, a normal country cannot be too dependent on foreign food sources, otherwise it would be suicidal. The fall of the polar bear is also closely related to food shortages.
But for the mainland, this problem is still too far away, because in the past the land was all for agriculture and people still couldn't get enough to eat. To get enough to eat, both industry and agriculture are indispensable.

Soon, the group crossed the freshly harvested rice paddies and arrived at a spot in the middle, where many people were already waiting, and several small trucks could be seen nearby.

After everyone introduced themselves, Yang Wendong got to know the team that was in charge of the factory infrastructure project. It was a construction team from the Ministry of Railways. After the reform and opening up of the deep sea, the central government ordered many construction teams that originally belonged to state-owned enterprises, local governments or the military to come to the four special economic zones.
On the one hand, the special economic zone needs to construct a large number of buildings to attract foreign investment; on the other hand, the mainland itself is experiencing economic difficulties and it is also difficult to support these teams. Doing so can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

In this regard, Changxing Industrial also adheres to Yang Wendong's requirements, allowing projects that can be done in mainland China to be done in mainland China, while Hong Kong is responsible for overall supervision and control.

The groundbreaking ceremony began soon. Hong Kong's TVB, Guangzhou TV, and CCTV all sent filming teams to the site to film, which will be edited later.
The groundbreaking ceremony was nothing special, similar to what I saw on TV in my previous life. In short, after going through the formalities, the boss, Yang Wendong, arranged for several assistants to give red envelopes to everyone present, except for the officials.
After that, they went to a restaurant in Shenhai City for a lavish lunch. For many people, even officials, in the mainland, there was so much meat that they couldn't finish it all, which was considered a very high level of welfare. Even if these people could afford meat, they wouldn't be so extravagant.

That afternoon, after the groundbreaking ceremony, Yang Wendong met with the top leaders of Shenhai City. After some pleasantries, Yang Wendong specifically invited Director Lin of the Land Planning Bureau and Director Shen of the Education Bureau of Shenhai City to meet with him.
The two were also a little curious. It was normal to go to the Land Planning Bureau, but why go to the Director of the Education Bureau?
"Gentlemen, there are two things I'd like to discuss with you," Yang Wendong said with a smile.

Director Lin asked, "Mr. Yang, please tell us, is there anything we can help you with? Don't hesitate to ask."

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, the first thing is that I want to sponsor a number of primary schools in Shenhai City through charitable donations."

As Hong Kong's largest conglomerate, Cheung Hing Group spends a considerable amount of money on charity in Hong Kong every year.
In the early days, many people in Hong Kong had no food or ate poorly, but with the development of Hong Kong's economy, such people are now very few. Therefore, the charity foundation has mainly shifted its focus to helping many average families who have suffered from serious illnesses.

However, there are still not many people like this, and charity is not limited to hospitals, but also includes education and so on. With Hong Kong's financial strength, it is fully capable of supporting its own education system. If Cheung Hing Group oversteps its bounds, it will only save the Hong Kong government money, and in the end, it is unknown whose pocket it will go.

Therefore, it is more meaningful to carry out this charity in the mainland. At least in the mainland at this time, many children really cannot afford to go to school, and even their food is very poor or they are not full. Even in Shenzhen, which has been reformed and opened up, it is still in its early stages and is not very wealthy yet.

"That's great!" Director Shen's eyes lit up. He himself was also having a headache over the allocation of education funds.

After all, the funds that Shenhai City can allocate to education are limited, and Shenhai City is so large with a large number of outsiders. There is an urgent need to build new schools, and the money is simply not enough.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "What I mean is to build a sufficient number of primary schools according to the needs of Shenhai City, and then Shenhai City will be responsible for the teaching staff, and your side will also be responsible for the future operation."
However, I will provide financial assistance to some children who cannot afford to go to school, or provide some food aid, depending on the circumstances.

In fact, with Yang Wendong's wealth, it would be easy for him to fully cover the cost of these children's schooling, but he didn't want to do so.
One reason is that doing this would only make the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau or parents heavily reliant on him. If he stopped providing aid one day, they would be the ones who suffer the consequences. This is a classic case of "a little kindness breeds gratitude, but too much kindness breeds resentment." On the other hand, Shenzhen is currently just a test area. After summarizing the experience here, he will try to promote it nationwide. No matter how much wealth he has, he cannot withstand such a large-scale charitable aid.

Moreover, the very meaning of charity lies in providing appropriate assistance.

Director Shen nodded, agreeing that there was no problem with it, and then asked, "So, Mr. Yang, how many schools do you plan to build?"

Yang Wendong said, "It's not certain yet. I need you to provide information, such as how many families and children are in a town, how big the school needs to be, and how many schools need to be built in total. Please prepare accordingly, and then we will review it."

"Okay, I'll take care of this one," Director Shen replied.

This reason is quite reasonable. After all, it's within the mainland, and they are more adept at investigating this kind of information.

Yang Wendong continued, "There is another request. In Hong Kong, I have also done similar charity projects. The local primary schools are all called Wendong Primary Schools."
So I hope that schools in mainland China can also use the name "Wen Dong" in their names, what do you think?

Everyone has selfish desires. He did charity not just for fame, but it's not unreasonable for him to do so incidentally. He wouldn't do something like that.

"This..." Director Shen hesitated for a moment, then said, "Mr. Yang, I can't make any promises about this right now. You should also know that the hotel donated by Mr. Bao Yugang of Hong Kong in Yanjing City was stalled because of a name issue."

“I know that.” Yang Wendong smiled and said, “But that’s Yanjing, and this is Shenhai. As a special zone, Shenhai naturally has a certain degree of autonomy, right?”

Yang Wendong was one of the witnesses to Bao Yugang's request for naming rights when he donated a hotel.

Because of this incident, Yanjing City is hesitant to accept the $1000 million check he provided, which is making Bao Yugang very irritable. However, since the request has been made in his deceased father's name, he cannot back down, so he is in a very awkward situation.

Director Shen thought for a moment and said, "That's true, but I can't make the decision on this matter. Please forgive me, Mr. Yang. We need to discuss it internally."

“No problem.” Yang Wendong didn’t make things too difficult for the other party. That’s how it is in this era. Even in Shenhai City, people don’t dare to make decisions on their own regarding many changes.

"Thank you, Mr. Yang." Director Shen knew that this matter would benefit him no matter what, so he asked, "Mr. Yang, is the second thing you mentioned also related to my Education Bureau?"

“Yes.” Yang Wendong nodded and said, “Since you know what happened to Bao Yugang in Yanjing, you should also know that I plan to donate money to build a university in the mainland, right?”

Director Shen immediately realized something and felt incredulous, so he asked, "I've heard of it. What does Mr. Yang mean?"

Yang Wendong said seriously, "I want to locate this university in Shenhai City."

"What?" Director Shen and Director Lin were shocked; "Mr. Yang, you're not joking."

They never imagined that this top university, which was valued by the central government and revolved around by the entire Ministry of Education, would actually be located in Shenhai City. They had never had such an idea before.

Yang Wenzheng said, "Would I joke about something like this?"

When China was reforming and opening up, it never imagined that it would become a global industrial superpower decades later.
When Shenhai City became a special economic zone, it never imagined that it could become one of the largest cities in the mainland in the future. After all, the other three special economic zones of this era had a much stronger foundation than Shenhai City.

This has led to a regrettable situation: although Shenzhen's economy is promising and it has many top-tier companies, it is far inferior to Beijing and Shanghai in terms of education.

Shenhai City will be the future base of his electronics industry group. Large electronics groups need local high-quality educational resources, so Yang Wendong is willing to invest enough educational resources here for free today, because today's investment will bring him stable indirect returns in the future.

Of course, the foundations are quite different. In terms of education, Shenzhen can hardly catch up with Beijing and Shanghai. However, the electronics industry is just beginning to develop, and there is still an opportunity for Shenzhen's education to grow stronger in the electronics industry.
After a moment's realization, Director Shen quickly asked, "Mr. Yang, what do you need us to do? Just tell us."

Yang Wendong said, "My people have already negotiated with Yanjing on various matters concerning the school itself. Only the location remains. It has now been decided to be in the deep sea. Basically, all matters are settled. As for the teaching staff and resources, you can't get involved in that aspect of the university. It still needs the central government's help."

"Indeed," Director Shen agreed.

They can still mobilize primary school teachers, but universities are a completely different story.

Yang Wendong continued, "However, I have another request, specifically for Shenhai City."

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
As mentioned before, novels can only feature characters below the rank of bureau chief, so this is the only way in this regard.

(End of this chapter)