Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

After all this trouble for half a month, we've only just reached an agreement on the terms. We still need to persuade the workers to come willingly. The factory and the neighborhood will cooperate in this regard. Wang Yaotang called on more than 20 lawyers he knew in Hong Kong to each lead a group of people north. He held a special meeting before they left.

“This time, persuading people in the north is different from poaching people in Hong Kong. The focus is not on how much salary to offer. After all, it’s impossible to really bring them up to the same level as Hong Kong. We have to consider labor costs. At most, we can increase their original salaries by 100%. Compared with the national pension, permanent medical insurance, housing allocation, and job placement for their children, the benefits are far inferior.” Wang Yaotang said with a light laugh and shook his head.

"No, Mr. Wang, does the north really provide pensions, medical insurance, housing, and children's education and employment?" a lawyer exclaimed in disbelief.

"Otherwise, how do you think they live on a monthly salary of only a few dozen yuan?"

"I always thought they were farmers who could only eat grass and tree bark during years of disaster..."

Of course, that's a joke, but my impression is that life there is indeed very hard. Otherwise, why would so many people come to Hong Kong? This is also why Hong Kong people are so proud and look down on mainlanders.

Wang Yaotang smiled and pointed at the lawyer, "The north offers you an official position, the lowest level section chief. Would you go back?"

"I..." The lawyer hesitated, his eyes darting around.

He wasn't the only one; everyone fell silent.

Wang Yaotang laughed loudly, "Look, this guy hesitated. What does that say is self-evident. He's just the lowest-ranking official. There are indeed many people who flee to Hong Kong, either because they have no land or no job. Officials never flee here unless they commit a crime. Why?"

“It’s good that we can pass on the family business.” Someone remarked with emotion, “Don’t be fooled by how well we are doing now, with a car and a house. That’s all thanks to Mr. Wang’s care over the years. Everyone knows what it’s like to be a new lawyer. It’s true that it’s easier for our children to become lawyers than for ordinary people, but Hong Kong can only accommodate a limited number of lawyers, and everyone wants to be a lawyer or a doctor.”

"Difficult, difficult, difficult!"

"How will the children live?!"

A chorus of sighs filled the meeting room.

No matter who Wang Yaotang is meeting, the questions he always asks are: "Is the mortgage paid off? Is the car loan paid off? Have you paid the insurance? Is there enough money for your wife's daily expenses? Have you prepared money for your children's university education? Have you prepared insurance for two families with four or more elderly people? Have you prepared money for medical expenses? Have you prepared houses for your children? Have you prepared money for their weddings? Can you arrange a job? What about the money for your grandson's milk powder?"

Each time, this series of questions causes the participants to become extremely anxious, and these words are passed down layer by layer, making everyone extremely anxious.

Many of this generation were raised by their grandparents, so it's normal for them to consider their grandchildren.

Isn't there a saying that "a person who does not plan for the future will have trouble in the present"?

But why is it that when it comes to me, it's 'people have both long-term worries and immediate concerns'?
There's a reason why Wang Yaotang's various companies are operating so smoothly, and why everyone is so eager to compete fiercely rather than cause trouble.

"So, everyone understands now, right? This time, when we go north to persuade those workers, we can't possibly use money as an incentive. We need to change our approach." Wang Yaotang tapped the table to bring everyone back to their senses.

The lawyers were no longer as relaxed as before; their expressions were all serious. The conditions proposed by Wang Shengban might attract those people, and maybe they could attract them too. At the very least, if they did well, they might be noticed by Wang Shengban and invited to be the full-time lawyer for the 'royal family'... Wang's business.

This is the benefit of selling anxiety.

"First of all, everyone should bring newspapers that have reported positively about me, Wang Yaotang, over the years. They should have pictures, be in various languages, and be from various countries. This includes reports from my hometown, as well as photos of me meeting with dignitaries from various places and countries, including my hometown. I have had these collected and prepared by my staff. Bring them along. Showing them will be enough to convince people that the factory owner is a well-known and wealthy man at home and abroad, a guest of honor of dignitaries from various countries, and that the factory has a background, credibility, and guarantees. Only then can the promises made later be trusted."

The crowd nodded, inwardly wondering what kind of mentality led them to specifically arrange for a group of people to collect and preserve large quantities of newspapers from various countries that reported positively about them...

Too narcissistic...

“Why are you all looking at me like that? This is for the convenience of doing business. Besides, I only collected reports that praised me. I didn’t collect those newspapers that belittled or even insulted me at the same time, nor did I categorize them by country, social class, or level of insult. I didn’t even think about revenge!” Wang Yaotang said loudly.

Lawyers: No, who asked you that?
What do you mean by "protesting too much"?
Legend has it that the 'Little God of Wealth' is petty and vindictive, and it seems to be true.

I need to be more careful with my words from now on...

"Alright, let me tell you about the benefits offered by the factory, starting with food, clothing, accommodation, and transportation." Wang Yaotang clapped his hands again to bring people back to their senses. "First of all, clothing is free. There are three sets of clothing, shoes, hats, and work clothes for each season, in spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The clothing will be labeled with your name, and the factory provides laundry services."

"Eat for free! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snacks are all included. Meat, soup, and unlimited staple food are provided at every meal. If you don't want to eat, you can exchange your food for cash every month!"

"Accommodation is free. The factory has obtained land from the government and built dormitories and residential buildings. Water and electricity are available, and there are elevators. If you meet the job level and years of service requirements, you will be allocated housing. If you don't need housing, you can exchange it for cash every month!"

"Okay, it's free. The company provides shuttle buses for commuting and covers one round-trip ticket for visiting relatives once a year. If you don't need it, you can exchange it for cash monthly!"

“I will take care of all their needs, including food, clothing, housing, and transportation, so that they have no worries. They can save whatever they earn and focus on their education. I will also build schools, from kindergarten to middle school, and they can enroll for free. They only need to pay for books and other miscellaneous expenses.”

"In addition, I can tell them that I know some policies from above, and that the government will allow private enterprises to pay pension contributions for their employees. There's no need to mention insurance to them, as they don't understand it. Just say pension contributions. This will be implemented in a few years."

“In this way, I’ve taken care of everything for them, from food and clothing to housing and transportation, to old age and raising children. Working here is no different from working for a state-owned enterprise, but you’ll earn even more. So why wouldn’t they come? The attitude of reform in our hometown is firm. We are now heading towards tomorrow. We must trust the country and trust the Party!”

These lawyers are indeed very eloquent, but they don't really understand the situation in their hometown. They won't take what others say to heart. Only Wang Yaotang can tell them. In this way, when they come to the north and cooperate with the factories and streets, they can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Moreover, during this trip north, Wang Yaotang also provided them with a lot of gifts. He would give them bicycles as long as they signed contracts, and those with higher ranks would receive large appliances such as radios, tape recorders, televisions, and washing machines. He didn't believe that throwing so many things at them wouldn't win them over.

These supplies are hard for him to obtain, even if others can't get them.

Over the years, I've made a lot of RMB from my businesses in Kengtung and Lashio. At the same time, I've also earned a lot of RMB from Guangzhou Telecom, Zhuhai Stone Quarry, Zhuhai Thermal Power Plant, and Pengcheng Garment Factory, which are now tied up in the bank.

He was too lazy to go through the trouble of exchanging his money for US dollars; there was no need. This time, he planned to invest it all in the videotape manufacturing plant.

Two days later, the group of lawyers, along with their working group, crossed the border into Shenzhen. They then joined forces with local people and supplies and began visiting households one by one. Each visit was quite a spectacle, with patriotic Hong Kong businessmen from factories and neighborhood committees bringing drums, gongs, and flags to invite them to their homes. They quickly became the envy of everyone in the neighborhood, and they certainly gained a lot of prestige.

Of course, people were also lifted up.

They've truly achieved both substance and prestige; with this all-around offensive, poaching talent is practically guaranteed, if not 100%.

It quickly became the talk of the town, and for a while it became the biggest gossip among all the relatives. It sparked a competitive atmosphere, and those who weren't approached by the gossip felt they had lost face.

Why was he the one being confronted, but I wasn't?

What, do you think I'm bad at the game? Or bad at being a person?

In the end, the factory had to try to appease everyone, but there was nothing they could do. Everyone had agreed to leave, so they had no choice but to swallow their pride and accept it.

Recruiting people in the Pacific and outer space went smoothly, but things weren't so easy in Hangzhou and Dalian.

Putting everything else aside, it's too far!

It's such a long journey, it takes five days by train. I have this feeling that once I go there, I might never have the chance to come back.

Of course, the conditions offered to these people were indeed good, especially Deng Xun, the production workshop director from Dalian, who was a section chief!
For this kind of person, Wang Yaotang directly resorted to the money-spending method, giving them a house, a car, a monthly salary of 5000, and a signing fee of 5!
Fifty bundles of "Great Unity" (a type of currency) were laid out in front of them, piled up like a small mountain, exuding a strong smell of money. For a moment, the Deng family members' breathing became rapid.

Deng Xun himself, however, recovered quickly after a few changes in expression.

It's not like we've never seen money before; we have more cash at home than that...

Don't ask how it came about, that would be impolite.

Seeing that the man was still calm, the lawyer said in broken Mandarin, "Comrade Deng can feel our sincerity. Wang Sheng is listed in the company, and this is also a cooperative attempt by the higher-ups. After joining the company, Comrade Deng's social status will only be higher, not lower."

"The boss is Chinese. Although the company currently relies on the Japanese team, it will eventually be handed over to our own people. Comrade Deng started from a high position and is the most likely person to take control of the entire company later. The company's first-phase annual output value can exceed 3000 million US dollars, at which time we can directly communicate with the provincial government."

"The Dalian Tape Factory can also communicate with the provincial government, and its annual output value is over 100 million RMB," Deng Xun said in a deep voice.

"I don't mean anything by it. To be honest, Comrade Deng is forty years old and doesn't have many opportunities left. He won't have a chance to advance his career at the tape factory."

Deng Xun pressed his lips together without refuting. He already knew he had no chance when the factory had talked to him before.

This feeling of being ostracized was very unpleasant. He had a strong personality, strict management style, advocated investment in research and development, and pursued new technologies, which made him very incompatible with the conservatives in the factory.

Developing new technologies requires a large investment, not to mention improving equipment. If it succeeds, only a small number of people who strongly advocated for it will be credited, but if it fails, everyone in the factory will suffer. Therefore, most of the factory's leadership wants to maintain the status quo.

Especially for older people, who will retire in a few years, a peaceful and stable life is more important than anything else.

The product is in short supply, so why bother with all this fuss?
The workers below are unwilling, so what difference does it make whether it's new or old?
The salary only increases by ten or eight yuan a year. You have to learn new skills and work overtime for new jobs. What's the point of all this trouble?
But the younger generation of cadres knew the problems with this. They were still ten or twenty years away from retirement. What would they do when these old guys retired and had an easy time?
Unfortunately, power is in the hands of those old bastards.

Of course, this has nothing to do with having a lot of cash at home.

People are complex; he has great ambitions...

"Are you really willing to invest in research and development, instead of just relying on the Japanese technology?" Deng Xun asked in a deep voice.

"Don't worry about that." The lawyer perked up at the mention of the subject, leaning closer and lowering his voice, "Boss Wang Yaotang isn't exactly a saint... he's not exactly a saint either. The newspaper and photos I showed you before were from the front. I'll tell you something that can't be published..."

Deng Xun was somewhat taken aback. You were just about to say 'not a good person,' weren't you?

Holy crap, what kind of people are these?!
“Mr. Wang has a background in the underworld.”

Deng Xun's eyes widened in surprise. He stood up abruptly, a look of panic flashing across his face. "This, this, you, you should all go back to your rooms first."

After sending his family away, Deng Xun sat down again.

"Comrade Deng, there's no need to be so cautious. These things are all public knowledge over there. The situation is different from back home. Mr. Wang has long since gone ashore and owns a company called Umbrella Security & Defense Company, with 1,700 or 1,800 people. They're all retired soldiers from back home, including those with buzz cuts. They have personnel from the army, navy, and air force, including several warships and missile ships in the navy. In the past two years, they've fought the Annamite military at sea several times and won every time. Even the Governor of Hong Kong has to be mindful of Mr. Wang's feelings..."

"Old Master Wang was the most hardline, looking down on all foreigners equally."

Deng Xun's expression twisted. What the hell do you mean by having land, sea, and air resources?
Can a private individual possess this?

Do you even know what a missile ship is?

Will the government allow it?
"What? You don't believe me?" The lawyer looked around cautiously, opened his briefcase, took out a few photos, and handed them over.

Deng Xun took a look and his face instantly turned red.

Wang Yaotang was riding on the missile launcher of the warship. If it weren't his own property, he would never have been allowed to take pictures like this.

No, even a country's warships wouldn't allow you to go aboard and take pictures like that!
"Take a look at this one. It was taken at a shipyard in Shanghai. The warship under construction in the background is the one that Wang Sheng ordered."

Not one ship, not two ships...

Two of the photos were taken from the ship's railing, with a silent warship not far away, but without flags or hull numbers, so it's impossible to tell which country it belongs to.

No, you actually have one!

"Wang Sheng talks about barbarians and Japanese pirates all the time, and he's very rude to the Japanese. It's certain that he'll invest in independent research and development. Besides, how much money could he possibly spend on research? The missiles he's fired out are more expensive than this!"

Deng Xun, no, how did these men get together?

He would occasionally borrow a gun from the security department of his unit and fire a few shots when he felt itchy, and he had also gone hunting in the mountains several times. But is it too much to fire a missile just because you feel itchy?

The lawyer held his head high, as if he had done it himself. "Wang Sheng is worth billions. He earns more than ten million every day, and 50 every hour. He can earn that back in the time it takes to sleep after firing a few missiles. He's rich, so what?"

Earned millions just by sleeping?
Deng Xun grinned, unable to comprehend how someone could be so rich.
"Brother Deng, to put it bluntly, do you know how much we envy you? The path to heaven is right in front of you, an opportunity we'll never have in our lives. Your hesitation makes me wish I could kill you and take your place!"

"If Heaven grants something and you do not take it, you will suffer the consequences; if the time comes and you do not act, you will suffer the calamity!"

"Bastard!"

"It's not a pity to die!"

As the lawyer spoke, he gritted his teeth, his hatred surging forth. This amused Deng Xun, who turned his head away and grinned, feeling so good that he felt like he was about to take off, completely unable to control himself, his body trembling.

Seeing this, the lawyer knew it was about time. He opened another suitcase, picked up the contents, and poured them onto the table. "Add another 50,000, sign the contract, and you've got 100,000!"

Deng Xun raised his hand and wiped his face. "I am a college student, albeit a sponsored one. I am a section chief. Do you think I would be corrupted by your money offensive?"
impossible!
I did it for my ideals and ambitions!

Right, that is it.

He pulled the contract out from under the pile of money, took out the pen from his breast pocket, and quickly signed his name.

The lawyer produced a box of inkpad from who-knows-where. After pressing his fingerprint, Deng Xun felt a layer of sweat on his back, his body felt weak, his heart was pounding, and he felt a surge of emotion.

……

While his team of lawyers were poaching talent everywhere, Wang Yaotang was also busy. He secured a 20-square-meter plot of land with the city in one go. The factory design was brought over by the Yamashita Matsumoto team. It was a detailed design of the Fuji factory. This design was given to the provincial design institute, and localization modifications are underway. Yamashita Matsumoto and others are serving as consultants, providing advice at any time.

Currently, the construction of the factory area is underway, including land leveling, construction of walls, dormitories, canteens, daily activity areas, and warehouses. Once the complete design drawings are completed, the factory construction will begin. The main challenge lies in the cleanroom, which needs to meet the ISO Class 7 (Class 10,000) standard, requiring personnel to wear anti-static clothing.

We've worked on this in the Pacific Ocean and in space, but there's no comparison in terms of size and cleanliness level.

Of course, this is what Japanese companies like Fuji and Hitachi say and require, but Yamashita Matsumoto said it's just to deliberately raise the bar, and that if you really want to reach that high level, being two levels lower wouldn't matter.

Wang Yaotang didn't need to worry about these things. He negotiated with the city to get a small plot of land to build a high-rise residential complex, and at the same time, he discussed donating money to support education.

At that time, there was no such thing as a private school. All Wang Yaotang could do was provide the money; the operation was entirely handled by the city.

Once that's done, it's time to get busy with ordering the equipment.

The magnetic slurry preparation equipment from TDK (Japan) or BASF (Germany) is a dispersion and grinding mill that mixes magnetic powder (such as γ-FeO or CrO) with binder (polyurethane) and solvent (cyclohexanone) to form a uniform magnetic slurry.

A vacuum stirrer from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan, used to remove air bubbles from magnetic slurry in a vacuum environment.

The Japanese Steel Works (JWS) uses a slot coater to uniformly coat magnetic slurry onto a polyester base film. The Hangzhou Magnetic Tape Factory recently introduced this machine, which has a coating head accuracy of ±1μm.

The hot air drying tunnel used by the Japanese company Okawahara is designed to control the hot air drying tunnel so that the magnetic slurry solidifies within 30 seconds while recovering 95% of the solvent.

Nidec's twin-shaft winding machine, Kampf's multi-blade slitting machine, Coherent's laser inspection system...

All kinds of equipment need to be purchased from abroad. If strictly following the "Eight-Point Regulation", none of them are technical equipment that can be exported to China!
Other sources include raw material procurement, such as magnetic powder from Japan and Germany, Japanese polyester film, and back coating materials from 3M in the United States, etc.

Even his lecithin needs to be imported!
They also have to pay patent fees every year. Even though Wang Yaotang produces videotapes himself, because he doesn't have core technology, the lion's share of the profits are still earned by them. He only controls a certain supply of goods.

Unless my hometown makes a breakthrough in 'magnetic powder'.

After nearly half a year of this busy work, in 1988, news came from the Shanghai shipyard that the newly ordered version of the 05⑶ had been launched...

Wang Yaotang was finally freed from the factory construction work. "Damn it, industrial production is such a hassle. No wonder Hong Kong people don't want to do it. Real estate is much more profitable!"

That's why Lao Cao looks down on Li Xiangjiao...

Just as he was preparing to head to Shanghai for the launching ceremony of a new warship, news from the sea infuriated Wang Yaotang… (End of Chapter)