I farmed in military academy and crushed the entire intergalactic world.

Chapter 570 I heard you've run into trouble (4000 words)
Lin Xiaohe didn't tell anyone about her impending promotion, only instructing the factory and county to be prepared, as there might be an investigation from higher-ups.

Changhong Factory and Anning County are used to all kinds of visiting and inspection teams and are very experienced.

Recalling the conversation between the two leaders, Lin Xiaohe couldn't help but admire their boldness.

The provincial capital's organizational structure is at the sub-provincial level, which means that the administrative level of each district under its jurisdiction is at the sub-departmental level.

The higher-ups plan to demote Lin Xiaohe by half a rank and make her a temporary district head in the provincial capital's southern railway district, which is equivalent to a deputy bureau-level official.

The leaders made it very clear why they were investing so heavily in this project: because Tienan District is an old industrial area in Liaoyang Province, where state-owned enterprises are most concentrated and conflicts are most acute.

It boasts the strongest industrial strength, the largest industrial scale, the most industrial enterprises, and the highest concentration of industrial enterprises.

This means that carrying out reforms here would be incredibly difficult.

"Um... Xiao He... aren't you going to move around? Where are you going?"

Both were seasoned veterans. County Chief Tian deduced from Lin Xiaohe's unusual behavior that she was definitely going to be promoted, and the promotion would be quite significant; otherwise, Lin Xiaohe wouldn't have paid so much attention to the people from the Organization Department.

Lin Xiaohe hesitated for a moment before saying, "Tienan District."

County Chief Tian frowned: "This place is difficult to manage. During the last meeting, the officials of Tienan District were publicly criticized because Tienan District has the highest rate of business losses and shutdowns in the province, the greatest regional decline and image gap, and a very serious historical burden. Why don't you try to find a way to move to Jinshi?"

County Chief Tian believed that Lin Xiaohe would definitely be promoted to deputy director level, as the deputy director level in the city had much more freedom.

Lin Xiaohe replied calmly, "District Chief of Tienan District."

puff!
County Chief Tian spat out the hot tea he had just drunk, looking completely dazed: "Is this for real?!"

This is a deputy director-general level position! A deputy director-general level position in his early twenties? Who would believe it? Who would even imagine it?

Lin Xiaohe: "Demoted by half a rank, on temporary assignment."

I'm so rough!

County Chief Tian wiped the tea from the corner of his mouth, his heart filled with complex emotions. Even if he was demoted by half a rank, he was still a deputy bureau chief!
My goodness!

A golden carp is no ordinary fish; it transforms into a dragon when it encounters favorable winds and clouds. Even if he knew Lin Xiaohe was a golden carp, he never expected her to ascend so quickly!
This speed of promotion is enough to go down in history.

County Chief Tian rubbed his face with both hands until his cheeks turned red before he could barely suppress the complicated emotions in his heart: "But the Tienan District is really a huge pit of fire. If you don't have enough deep connections in the provincial capital, that area... is not for the average person."

The difficulties were like three mountains looming before them.

But if it were really that easy, how could it possibly be Lin Xiaohe's turn?
County Chief Tian paced back and forth in his office, muttering to himself, whether to himself or to Lin Xiaohe, it was unclear: "But this is a rare opportunity, and you're only on temporary assignment. At worst, you can go back to Changhong Factory!"

If we focus all our efforts on Changhong Factory, maybe it can become a large conglomerate like the oil company sooner?

Oh my god, this is such a difficult decision.

This cake is so big and so sweet; one bite and you'll feel like you're flying. But there are iron nails mixed in; they'll prick your mouth!

County Chief Tian felt like he was at a crossroads, unsure of which path to choose.

Even though this was Lin Xiaohe's business, he seemed even more nervous and hesitant than Lin Xiaohe.

County Chief Tian suddenly realized that there was no use in worrying anymore. The higher-ups had spoken, and unless Lin Xiaohe didn't intend to advance, was there any room for refusal?
"Xiao He, have you told your dad about this?"

If Lao Lin knew, he'd probably jump for joy.

Lin Xiaohe was taken aback: "I forgot, he's been working as an assistant to Comrade Wang Shuxiang lately, he's been incredibly busy. I'll tell them after things settle down."

County Chief Tian treated Lin Xiaohe's matter as his own, always maintaining the best demeanor while waiting for the Organization Department to arrive.

But instead of waiting for anyone to arrive, they received a phone call from the capital.

In the capital, the small conference room of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was filled with smoke. The factory directors of the eight major color picture tube factories sat in a circle, looking like wilted eggplants.

Factory Director Zhang of the Red Light Picture Tube Factory pushed a report to the section chief across from him, his hands trembling as if he had Parkinson's disease: "This is our factory's sales data for last month, a complete failure! Not a single color picture tube was sold."

Director Li from the nearby Shengli Factory chimed in, his voice trembling and his eyes red-rimmed: "Our factory has 250,000 units in stock, and the warehouse can't hold them all, so we've rented three temporary warehouses. The workers' wages are two months behind, and yesterday someone was blocking the factory gate cursing at us. I don't even dare to enter the factory through the main gate."

“We’re in a worse situation.” Director Wang of Huaxia Factory smiled bitterly, took out a handful of pills from his pocket, and swallowed them with his tea. “We just expanded production last year and took out a loan of 50 million. The bank calls us every day to urge us to turn on our phones. My wife says that if things continue like this, we can’t go on living like this.”

As the section chief listened, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Just then, the door was pushed open.

A middle-aged man walked in, his face grave: "Gentlemen, we have communicated with the Japan Color TV Association. They would rather pay a penalty for breach of contract than break their exclusive agreement with you; they will no longer purchase your color picture tubes."

The conference room was deathly silent.

Factory Director Zhang was stunned, not even noticing the cigarette he'd dropped onto his trousers: "Isn't this a rip-off? What can that little bit of penalty money even cover?!"

Because of the exclusive agreement signed with the Japan Color TV Association, their factory has added several new production lines and hired many workers, working in three shifts.

The raw materials for production are all on credit, and we're just waiting for this batch of color picture tubes to be sold so we can pay the material suppliers.

But the Japanese just said they didn't want it anymore, what are they going to do with their factory?

"It's not that they've gone mad, it's that they've accepted it." The middle-aged man sighed. "Plasma displays are being crushed by LCD displays, they can't even keep up with their own survival, how can they care about you?"

Factory Director Li jumped to his feet, his chair crashing to the floor: "What about our inventory? Who will buy the 250,000 units? Who wants them?"

No one answered.

The pills in Director Wang's hand fell to the ground. He bent down to pick them up, but after a long time, he couldn't manage it. People nearby saw that his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't even hold the small pills.

Factory Director Zhang suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping against an iron plate: "Could you... ask a TV manufacturer for help? They used to buy our tubes..." The liaison officer from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology sighed: "Factory Director Zhang, now consumers only recognize LCD and PanShi color TVs. Other small TV factories have either gone bankrupt or been acquired."

There are hundreds of television manufacturers, and they're struggling to even make a living. How could they possibly handle so many CRTs?

Both sides fell silent.

They could try to pressure other TV manufacturers into buying their products. But they simply didn't have the confidence to do so with Changhong.

Back then, when Japan signed an exclusive agreement with Changhong Factory to target them, didn't they remain silent?
Later, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology met with both parties, but none of the eight manufacturers agreed.

Lin Xiaohe shouldn't hold a grudge, right?

Besides, seven out of the eight factories are joint ventures. The government can't force the legitimate Changhong factory to operate just for the sake of those seven joint ventures.

The conference room was filled with gloom and despair.

Factory Director Zhang slumped in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Factory Director Li stood by the window, his back to everyone. His shoulders were trembling, and it was unclear whether he was smoking or wiping away tears.

Factory Director Wang finally picked up the pills and swallowed them dry without drinking any water. After finishing, he gave a bitter smile: "If we had known this would happen, we wouldn't have gone to such lengths in the first place."

No one answered.

Factory Director Zhang suddenly spoke up: "My son graduated from university last year, and I let him work in the factory. I said, 'It's a joint venture factory; we can make more money there.'"

His voice choked up: "But similarly, if the performance is poor, the factory will lay off employees, reduce costs and increase efficiency, and if there is no improvement, it will go bankrupt."

Joint ventures are not like wholly state-owned enterprises. They can go bankrupt in an instant, without caring whether the workers can find jobs or whether there is any job security.
For various reasons, wholly state-owned enterprises never dare to go to the same extremes as joint ventures.

Factory Director Li turned around, his eyes red-rimmed: "Old Zhang, don't say anymore. These are all our choices. Now, all we can do is try our best to get the Japanese side to transfer the payment they've been holding onto."

The only sounds in the conference room were the hissing of cigarettes and the occasional suppressed cough.

Staying at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology like this is pointless. Even by the time I leave work, there's still no solution.

Three days later, the group went to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology again.

The atmosphere in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's conference room was so heavy it seemed like water could drip from it.

On one side of the long table sat the factory directors of the eight major color picture tube factories, each with a stubble beard and sunken eyes, looking like defeated soldiers who had just come from the battlefield. On the other side, the staff of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had complicated expressions and hesitated to speak.

Seated at the head of the table was Vice Minister Liu, in his fifties, with gray hair and a weary expression. In front of him lay a thick stack of documents, all of them SOS reports from the eight major factories.

He tapped the table and began, “We have received the issues raised by everyone. The Japan Color TV Association is refusing to pay for the goods and demanding a return, citing substandard picture tube quality. We are actively communicating with the Japanese side, but they insist that the defect rate of the picture tubes you produced exceeds the range stipulated in the agreement. According to the agreement, they have the right to return the goods, and you will bear the relevant shipping costs.”

It's all in black and white, crystal clear.

This is a case of petty people being dishonest and tampering with the agreement, but are all eight factories innocent?

Why didn't they carefully read the agreement? Why didn't they strictly control the quality? Why hand over such a convenient excuse to ordinary people?
Factory Director Zhang was the first to speak, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible: "Leader, this is our fault. We lacked experience, and when we heard about such a good thing, we got so excited we forgot ourselves. We admit our mistake!"

Then he added a "but": "But even if the defect rate is high, it shouldn't exceed 10%, right? If 10 out of 100 are unusable, does that mean the remaining 90 are also unusable?"

Minister Liu laughed in exasperation: "The Japan Television Association only has Panasonic left, and they produce plasma TVs. Do you think they can even use them? Fine! I think that although you are a joint venture in terms of corporate structure and system, your thinking is not in line with international standards. Why did we carry out corporate reforms and establish joint ventures? It was to help you adapt to the market more quickly. What? You suffered losses in the market, so you're starting to pick up the old ways again?"

Factory Director Zhang apologized repeatedly: "It's not that we haven't thought about transformation. But transformation requires money, technology, and time. Our joint venture factories have a weak foundation and heavy debt, so we can't transform. As soon as the banks hear that we are a color picture tube factory, they won't approve any loans."

Factory Director Li continued, his eyes red-rimmed: "The Japanese aren't buying anymore, and domestic TV factories don't want them either. Our 250,000 color picture tubes can only be sold as scrap. How much are scraps worth? Two thousand yuan a ton. The money from selling our entire warehouse of them isn't even enough to cover the shipping costs."

Factory Director Wang gave a bitter smile, pointing to his bruised eyes: "Minister Liu, I haven't slept well for half a month. Every night when I close my eyes, I dream of workers blocking the factory gate, cursing me for being a liar and for ruining the factory. I'm such a useless factory director."

They're just complaining. They're wrong, they admit it, but the problem needs to be solved, right?

If joint ventures go bankrupt, won't the country's initial investment be lost? Moreover, at a crucial time when the country is about to carry out large-scale enterprise reforms, joint ventures, as a very important reform method, are suddenly seeing so many joint ventures go bankrupt. Does that look good?
Eight joint venture factories were swept away by the storm of a dispute between a small, old, state-owned factory in a small county in Northeast China and the Japan Color Television Association.

Neither side was specifically targeting these eight companies, but these eight joint ventures couldn't withstand even a small breeze and went bankrupt.

Is this outrageous? Don't they care about politics? Don't they care about unity?
Will this reignite the debate at the central level about enterprise reform?
Both sides fell silent.

Vice Minister Liu rubbed his temples, feeling a splitting headache: "Alright, stop talking to me about that. Lin Xiaohe from Changhong Factory should be coming in the next couple of days. Whether you cooperate with her or learn from her is entirely up to you."

Lin Xiaohe is not the same Lin Xiaohe as before. The news that she is about to take office as the head of the Tie Nan District of Liaoyang City is not a secret to the central government.

She's a deputy bureau-level official in her early twenties, and she's caught the eye of the central leadership; she's shouldering a heavy responsibility. If she does this job well, her future is bright!
No one wants to have a conflict with such a capable young man unless absolutely necessary.

Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao will arrive.

All eyes in the conference room turned to the newcomer.

Lin Xiaohe's trip to Russia made her more resolute; standing there, she resembled an AK-47, ready to pounce on the enemy at any moment.

Vice Minister Liu paused for a moment, then nodded: "Director Lin, please sit down."

Lin Xiaohe didn't sit down, but walked to the long table and looked at the eight factory directors.

Factory Director Zhang met her gaze, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but then he swallowed it back.

Last month, he privately cursed Lin Xiaohe, saying that this brat was messing up the market by getting involved in LCDs.

Now that the person is standing in front of him, he can't say a word.

Lin Xiaohe curled her lips into a smile: "I heard you guys ran into trouble? What happened? Tell me about it?"

My darlings, I'm taking a day off tomorrow.