Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

“Secretary Fang, my business is still quite difficult, but it’s much better than at the beginning of the year.”

Lu Zhiwen introduced the company's operations, stating that production and business activities have basically stabilized, with both production and sales steadily increasing.

However, due to the targeted focus on Vanguard Mingguang, even achieving a little success is not easy.

Lu Zhiwen believes that the key factor is Fan Zhipeng. It is precisely because Fan Zhipeng harbors deep hostility towards Xiangyang Locks that the current situation has come to this.

"Personal grudges are a minor matter. If Xianfeng Mingguang wants to break through the encirclement, it must defeat Xiangyang Locksmith. Do you know about their debt situation?"

Fang Wei didn't want to mention Fan Zhipeng. He was clever but lacked wisdom, and he was a typical gambler who would forget morality for personal gain.

Gamblers will eventually end up with nothing.

"I heard that Pioneer Mingguang is unable to get loans from banks. They haven't settled their old debts, so they won't consider new loans. Although their turnover has been rising steadily recently, their costs are also high, and their profits aren't looking good."

There's nothing new under Tianyang's roof. After Fan Zhipeng's tricks were exposed, the internal integration has yet to be completed.

He cannot kick out the original boss, Wang Qingyu, for the time being, nor can he replace all of Wang Qingyu's confidants. If he did that, the company would be left with no one to use.

The few people Fan Zhipeng brought out from the hardware industry were simply not capable of completely controlling Vanguard Mingguang.

To put it bluntly, Fan Zhipeng's foundation was too shallow. Fortunately, Wang Qingyu was cooperative, otherwise the entire company would have fallen apart.

“We’re not in a rush. You need to proceed steadily and take it one step at a time. I’m not looking at your short-term business performance. I’ll give you a year to stabilize your core business first.”

Fang Wei felt it was not appropriate to assess Lu Zhiwen and others' performance at this stage. He put forward several requirements: first, to strengthen research and development and continuously introduce new products.

Products are the lifeblood of a company. Only by continuously improving product quality and launching products that meet market demands can a company go further.

Second, we will strive to expand the market and build a stable and effective sales channel.

"Understood! Since we implemented the new compensation system, the enthusiasm of our employees has greatly increased. Even if our competitors want to poach our employees, they will inevitably have to significantly increase their costs. Moreover, our employees are unwilling to leave."

Besides operational issues, there is also the issue of employee benefits.

What are we all working so hard for? To put it bluntly, it's for a salary. Without that, just making empty promises is useless.

Therefore, after Lu Zhiwen's reform plan was approved, the employees' morale was completely renewed.

For example, sales staff are now working themselves to the bone, out there trying to generate business. Because for every sale they close, the sales team gets a high commission—who wouldn't be tempted?

Research and development and production are the same; as long as there are tangible results, various rewards will be plentiful.

As a result, it becomes very difficult for outsiders to poach talent. Firstly, the cost of poaching talent has increased significantly, and secondly, employees will not jump ship for a small amount of money.

Has the foreign trade sector shown any signs of improvement?

Fang Wei nodded. He had already seen the changes in Xiangyang Locks, but the changes were not significant enough yet. However, small streams eventually converge into a river, and quantitative changes will eventually lead to qualitative changes.

Later, he inquired about the export situation.

"We also have to thank Mr. Wu and Chairman Jiang for their help. We secured orders worth $210 million this month. These products are being produced at an accelerated pace and are expected to be shipped out early next month."

When this question was brought up, Lu Zhiwen's gaze towards Fang Wei changed slightly.

He didn't actually know Fang Wei very well, but he didn't expect the Party Secretary to have such deep connections outside. He only needed two friends to help the company secure two orders.

Fang Wei did not continue to discuss this issue. He knew that the help was only given once, and he would have to maintain the sales channels himself in the future.

He believed that Lu Zhiwen understood this principle, so there was no need to say anything more.

Afterwards, Fang Wei went to the production line and inspected the product samples, finding them quite satisfactory. Of course, he wouldn't interfere with the specifics. He spent the day inspecting Xiangyang Locks before heading to the Electrical Appliances Group Company.

Meeting with Zhang Wenyuan was relatively easy. The electrical appliance group was doing very well, and all its financial data was open and transparent. All he needed to know were some things that couldn't be seen on the financial statements.

The actual situation is not much different; the company's management is becoming more and more standardized, and the supervision system is playing a very good role.

night.

Zhang Wenyuan treated Fang Wei to dinner at a restaurant known for its local specialties, with Yu Hao accompanying them.

The three of them drank, ate, and chatted, and the conversation mainly revolved around Fan Zhipeng and Xianfeng Mingguang.

Zhang Wenyuan looked down on Fan Zhipeng, and had no kind words for him: "He's a traitor who has served three masters, an ungrateful wretch."

Fang Wei smiled; he thought the other person's summary was very insightful.

After dinner, Yu Hao took Fang Wei back to her hotel.

Fang Wei stayed in Xiangshan for five days before returning to his village. He was no longer worried about Xiangyang Locks. He believed that running a business should be like Lu Zhiwen's approach: focus on making quality products and you'll see results eventually.

The 6000 million yuan allocated by Yaoling Agriculture to Xiangyang Locks solved a major problem, and other companies no longer need to worry about their performance targets.

After staying at home for a few days, Fang Wei received a call from Sun Shili and had to embark on his journey to the Central Plains again.

"Secretary Fang, I'm in a real crisis, and you're not even here. I'm worried about things if you don't come." Sun Shili couldn't help but burst into laughter when he saw Fang Wei.

Although the team had arrived long ago, Fang Wei was still nowhere to be seen, which made him uneasy.

"You have to trust everyone's abilities. Besides, the preliminary work takes a long time, so there's no point in me arriving early."

Fang Wei didn't care about the other party's slight complaints. What he said was true, so he naturally felt no guilt.

Sun Shili then welcomed the other party inside. Considering that the other party had just arrived, they did not discuss work-related matters. Soon, the meal was arranged, and everyone ate together.

After eating, Fang Wei didn't rest but went straight to the research group.

Such a large base cannot be used entirely for research on the next generation of wheat, nor is it necessary. Therefore, the research team's experimental field occupies a piece of land in the northeast corner of the base.

We have temporarily allocated them 100 mu of land, which can be expanded at any time if needed.

"Secretary, our preliminary work is complete, and we've selected more than a dozen varieties. Next, we'll start trying to cultivate them. Please help us oversee the process."

The research team included people from the Yaoling Agricultural Research Institute as well as crop experts.

However, they were all very familiar with Fang Wei and were used to conducting research within the framework proposed by him, which would save them from taking detours.

The head of the research team brought over all the selected varieties and handed them to Fang Wei for his review.

“These are all good varieties, and we can start breeding them now. However, I think there are still too few varieties. We can select a few more from the second-best varieties that have been screened out and breed them together.”

Fang Wei acknowledged their previous efforts and then offered a small suggestion.

Fang Wei did not intend to claim the profits from this new generation of wheat varieties for himself. After all, it involved the crop research institute's experimental base, research equipment, human resources, and so on, and he was afraid that some things might become unclear in the future.

However, since it is a collaboration, it is appropriate for the research results and management profits to belong to the Crop Research Institute and Yaoling Agriculture.

Next, he briefly explained the key points of future cultivation and then ended his work for the first day.

the next day.

He arrived at the office building of the test base early in the morning. There was a small laboratory there where some necessary tests could be performed.

"Secretary Fang, which path are you planning to take? Traditional breeding? Genetically modified breeding? Hybrid breeding?"

The second stage of cultivation is actually selection. Strong plants are selected through several rounds of planting before breeding can be discussed.

Sun Shili had not communicated the details with the other party before, but now it was necessary to determine the technical path.

"Let's proceed with the traditional breeding methods for now. I've already written the plan before I came, and I'll give it to them later."

Fang Wei has already designated the experimental field, and neither he nor Sun Shili can afford to wait, so the only way to complete the mission as soon as possible is to unleash their ultimate move.

Of course, he also wrote out a further breeding plan according to the standards. If they proceeded step by step, they would surely achieve results.

"Secretary Fang, thank you so much!"

Sun Shili felt that the other party was not just being perfunctory, so he sincerely thanked them.

Fang Wei waved his hand, indicating that the other party did not need to be polite.

He stayed there for a week before returning to the village. He had actually relinquished control of the research on this new generation of wheat, so there was no need for him to worry too much.

He knew the outcome anyway; the project was bound to succeed, it was just a matter of time.

"Third Brother, how is the research project on the new wheat variety progressing?"

When she got home, it was just in time for dinner, and Pan Lianhua casually asked a question.

"It's alright. The initial work went smoothly. Now it all depends on luck."

Breeding does indeed depend on luck; if you're unlucky, you might not make any progress even after several years.

Pan Lianhua took it as the man being modest, since there had been no precedent of failure in the breeding projects he led over the years.

"By the way, while you were away, Secretary Luo called home once. If you have time tomorrow, please call him back."

The couple chatted for a while afterward, and then went to bed early after taking a shower that night.

the next day.

Fang Wei arrived at the office early and immediately began handling official business. Only after finishing his work did he call Luo Zhimin.

"Secretary Fang, you're back? Why don't you come over here now and have lunch together? There are some things I'd like to talk to you about."

"Sure, I'll just go to our usual spot and we can meet there, okay?"

"Okay, it's a deal then. See you later." (End of Chapter)