I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 186 Choosing Sides: One of Two
There's a reason why it was Lao Chen who came instead of someone else. Lao Chen represents the youth group, so his statement can be summarized in one sentence: I'm betting the world on the future.

Of course, Chief Instructor Zhang wouldn't say something like, "I'm going to be the Pirate King!" at this point, but he was aware that the forces in the province that had formed a gang with him... well, let's just say a team was quite extensive.

To be honest, Eguchi Province doesn't really have any "factions" or "localism." But if someone thinks Eguchi Province is pure turtle soup, then only those who have been bitten know the truth.

On June 8th, they stopped in time, and on June 9th, Zhang Da'an praised the "Beijing International Book Fair" held on the 25th of last month.

It's quite reasonable for CCTV to send reporters to interview the views of education industry giants.

Moreover, last month Han Tieguai and Xiao Xiangzi went to Beijing to discuss business. This time, there were nearly a thousand publishing institutions and international organizations, and there were more than 100,000 kinds of books and more than 20,000 kinds of audio-visual products that could be traded directly.

"Zhang An Education" certainly wouldn't sell "The Top Scholar's Handbook" to the public, but picture albums, illustrated books, and the like are all lucrative.

Because of the existence of a "team of thousands of illustrators" and the smooth operation of the "mobile wallpaper" website, some of the more skilled "sweatshop" artists have achieved personal "financial freedom" through the secondary creation of paintings based on photographic works.

He didn't earn as much as those "stinky game developers" from "Godslayer," so he achieved true "financial freedom."

But for someone who has suffered for countless years, suddenly earning a few hundred thousand is already quite satisfying.

With the frequent launch of color screen mobile phones, the value-added services in the mobile communication market are also constantly changing, and screen wallpapers have become a spiritual "essential need" for many people.

A beautiful traditional Chinese painting of "Slender West Lake," a half-length portrait of a beautiful woman with features so delicate they resemble a fairy, a calico kitten playing with a ball of yarn in front of a roadside shop...

All of these have the potential to become "blockbuster" products.

Zhang Xiaobai Technology Co., Ltd. can make a fortune even by spinning off its copyright business, and the most impressive thing is the mobile wallpaper of the original artwork of the game "Shenturu", which has a download volume that is almost unparalleled.

Especially for these "gamer enthusiasts", their anticipation was already at its peak when they heard that a collaboration phone with "Godslayer" was about to be released.

At this stage, collaborations were still fragile, basically just a matter of "stickers," and the gameplay of mobile system themes was not yet mature.

However, this does not prevent Zhang An Electronics from investing in this area of ​​research and development, and it is also in talks with Texas Instruments about the feasibility of jointly developing mobile phone basebands.

The main reason is that "Zhang'an Electronics" not only acquired licenses from domestic telecommunications companies, but also collaborated with Jiangning Institute of Technology, which holds a considerable number of laboratory patents.

The first-generation GSM laboratory system was born in China at Jiangning Institute of Technology, so there is some technological accumulation. However, due to the fragility of the domestic market for chip design and chip processing, we can only strengthen one aspect. At present, we are strengthening the design side, while the processing side is like a "guerrilla war". It would be good if there were any results, but it is not a pity if there are none for the time being.

Normally, the university circles in Jiangkou Province wouldn't offer any suggestions related to "localization" regarding this grand strategy, but this time, with the "three-time champion" committing murder and arson everywhere, it's impossible to pretend to be blind. They either have to follow Zhang Da'an's path or continue to remain silent with the descendants of the nobility of "Hongdu New Prefecture".

There is only one option; there is no middle ground.

The reason why he couldn't please everyone was extremely simple: Zhang Da'an would continue to be a part of Jiangkou Province in the future, and he would live in Jiangkou Province for many more years.

Given Zhang Da'an's current retaliatory behavior, who can guarantee that he won't still remember this incident ten years from now?
The core question is whether one's own "prodigy" or "prodigy" can outlive him.

The answer is absolutely not under normal circumstances; that beast would only be thirty years old ten years from now.

It was only at this point that people remembered that Zhang Da'an, that beast, was still very young.

So the local bullies in Jiangkou Province, who are usually hard to "unite," were quite united this time, in every sense of the word.

Of course, if we look beyond the surface, the concept of "unity" already existed when "Zhang Xiaobai Technology Co., Ltd." created products such as "Xiaobai Antivirus" and "Xiaobai Input Method".

There are no eternal friends, nor eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

This is a common saying, but it still basically reflects the current situation.

Once the "Dog King" is born, even 240 billion won't be enough to divide. Right now, it's just that the "Dog King" is too powerful, so we have to intervene in the split. But even if "Zhang Xiaobai Games" is spun off, it won't be a problem to get a market value of several hundred billion.

The province's idea was simple: let "Shentui" test the waters first, then let "Zhang Xiaobai Culture" take over with the copyrighted content, and then let "Xiaobai Antivirus" continue.

Wouldn't it be even better to break down everyone's demand, which is worth hundreds of billions of dollars?
It was definitely a great experience, but the "professional teams" from Jiangning University of Finance and Economics and Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics were quite frustrated. They did so much preliminary work, only to have it all reaped by Luzhou University of Finance and Economics.

The split-off business was basically monopolized by a company that graduated from Luzhou University of Finance and Economics.

This will comes from Zhang Da'an himself.

He has no interest in how to go public, nor does he care about how the market value will skyrocket. But he is now pretending not to trust Jiangning University of Finance and Economics and Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics, which has hurt many people.

They're still forcing you to take sides, even if your Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics is based in Hongdu, the provincial capital, you still have to take a stand.

Changing universities wouldn't be a big decision; you'd probably just blindly choose one in your provincial capital. But Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics is different; it's actually undergoing an epic downgrade.

This epic nerf has been going on for many years, and this is just an intensified version.

So, the choice between two options that you would never hesitate to make in the past will now cause you to hesitate.

There's no way around it; the "Alumni Association" isn't just for show. The "Successful People Alumni Association," which hasn't been updated for many years, has seen a significant increase in the number of "successful people" last year and this year, which is obvious to all.

Meanwhile, in 1946, Zhang Da'an was invited by alumni of the Finance Bureau of Shazhou City to donate 100,000 yuan.

Therefore, the arguments within Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics were actually quite intense, much more heated than the debates among the higher-ups in Jiangkou Province.

The rise and fall of a school often happens in just one semester; some schools take off while others fall into obscurity.

The fact that some schools couldn't even preserve their classic names reflects the ebb and flow of industry discourse power amidst the tides of time.

So when Japan beat Russia 1-0, Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics sent a delegation to visit, ostensibly to learn from the advanced experience of Jiangning University of Finance and Economics, but actually heading straight for "Zhang An Real Estate," which had already been listed.

Why go to "Zhang'an Real Estate" instead of "Zhang'an Industrial Alliance" in the eastern part of the city?
This brings us to the question of what "the tide of the times" is.

For all finance and economics majors, the "real estate industry" of this era is not reinforced concrete, not roads and bridges, not decoration, not construction workers, not real estate design, not property management... but finance.

This is the career path for school graduates, and it is undoubtedly something that should be given serious consideration.

This is just one example. Another point is that the "welfare housing for senior intellectuals" developed in cooperation with the Jiangning University Cluster has already been given an official name – Hanlin Garden.

Originally, Zhang Da'an wanted to register "Hanlin Academy," but the other party asked for 20 million yuan to transfer the property. He was too lazy to argue anymore and officially hung "Hanlin Garden" at the entrance of the apartment building.

Large-scale occupancy is not expected until next year; this year, people are only gradually moving into the "model building."

There are no model apartments, but one of the buildings serves as the model. The large-scale apartments bring a completely different kind of motivation to the senior engineers of the "Zhang An Industrial Alliance". The high spirits of the R&D staff stemmed from bringing their families to visit the large-scale apartments in "Hanlinyuan".

There are also detached houses, but they are not here. Instead, they are located in Baohua Mountain, not far from the "Zhang'an Industrial Park," which is within the jurisdiction of the neighboring Runzhou City, so they are considered to be in another city.

However, the detached villas are mainly for vacations and are considered a bonus; the core property is still a large flat in the Jiangning city center.

Aside from the fact that it cannot be traded immediately, it is flawless.

Moreover, they have no interest in school districts. The reason is simple: "Zhang'an Education" has already prepared to build an internal kindergarten and primary school, but it has not yet been announced in official documents, and there is no classification of "preschool education" or "compulsory education" on the official website.

However, when people from Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics arrived at "Hanlinyuan", they could see that there were kindergarten facilities inside. It was a central park-style kindergarten, and the children's swimming pool was already open at this time, but it was open for summer operation as a revenue-generating item.

“That building was assigned to us researchers from Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, along with the Jiangning Audit Office.”

"Is it also a large single-level apartment?"

"No, that's a regular large apartment, with two elevators serving two units per floor."

"That's pretty good." "It is indeed good, 140 square meters, and there's an underground parking lot, but no underground garage."

"This is truly unbelievable..."

The people at Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics were quite frustrated because, in terms of strength and status, Jiangning University of Finance and Economics was utterly incompetent, and its success was purely due to the influence of Jiangkou Province, and mainly Jiangkou Province's grain system.

For a truly reputable and capable organization, Jiangning Audit is the best choice.

However, to put it another way, currying favor with powerful figures is an art, and given the unpredictable nature of changing times, Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics has been continuously downgraded for so many years; one can only say that it has simply caught the wave.

In terms of alumni quality, Jiangning University of Finance and Economics is nothing special, but who knows what will happen in the future.

Judging from the proportion of expenses, they can save a considerable amount of money on personnel costs.

Some information is better left uninquired about, because inquiring about it can make you feel uneasy.

Because I already had a good relationship with Zhang Da'an, I came here specifically to verify some things.

"I heard that in the 'Zhang'an Industrial Park,' R&D investment and research personnel expenditures are carried out in parallel?"

"Yes, research personnel expenses are not included in the R&D investment statistics. This is mainly because the business scope of the 'Zhang An Industrial Alliance' is too broad, so there is a special 'Labor Development Division', which is designed separately for research personnel expenses. Therefore, the R&D investment amount is quite valuable. The enterprise management software and product traceability system that Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics developed in cooperation with 'Zhang Xiaobai Technology Co., Ltd.' may only have a budget of over six million yuan, but it is actually the same as the more than ten million yuan of R&D expenditure of our competitors."

The people from Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics kept their mouths shut because, within the "Zhang'an Industrial Alliance," the level of compensation and benefits was simply not comparable to that of ordinary research institutions.

Take Yuchi De of "Zhang'an Foods" as an example. He can earn 500,000 yuan a year. At the same level, students at Taihu University of Light Industry would only earn about 40,000 yuan a year. This is even considering that Taihu City has the financial strength to subsidize local universities.

So if they really get a little carried away, then there's no way to explain it.

Another aspect is the development of financial software, which requires setting up a development environment. In the Yangtze River Delta region, the truly capable institutions are at the level of Luzhou University of Finance and Economics, while Jiangning University of Finance and Economics has absolutely no experience in this area.

When people from Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics mention the achievement of "enterprise management software," in reality, during the development process, senior intellectuals from Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics played functional roles such as content consultants and application scenario consultants.

The main development team is still comprised of projects poached from universities such as Jiangning Institute of Technology and Jiangning Auditing Institute.

These projects all follow the lead of either "big shots" or "young talents." The "big shots" are professors or department heads who are in charge of their own projects; the "young talents" are some exceptionally capable graduate students.

Some "prodigies" are already exceptionally strong during their undergraduate studies, and pursuing a master's degree is just a side benefit, not something they actually need.

At this time, the "Zhang'an Industrial Alliance" plays the role of large cities with abundant scientific research funding, such as Luzhou, Beijing, and Bao'an. When necessary, it can also act as a counterpart to countries and regions with more abundant scientific research funding and environments, such as the United States, Europe, and Japan.

Basically, for some of the "young talents" who have received extremely high praise from the "Labor Development Division," the "Zhang An Industrial Alliance" has been quite effective in addressing their concerns.

These include, but are not limited to, the needs for scientific research facilities, personal housing, parents' health security, children's education, commuting, and travel. Sometimes, these "little cows" with unique personalities will even make some bizarre requests, such as wanting noodles with minced meat sauce and red bean double-skin milk for their midnight snack when they are working overtime on experiments late at night.

Most organizations simply ignored them, but the "Labor Development Division" went to Guanzhong and Hedong provinces to poach experienced noodle makers; and went to Lingxi and Lingdong provinces to buy at least five different flavors of double-skin milk recipes.

If this were to spread, it would undoubtedly spark a discussion, but it didn't cause any ripples in the canteens and restaurants of "Zhang'an Industrial Park".

Whether they were frontline employees or researchers, they all thought it was just because the company's food was good.

The reality will exceed their imagination, but the "Workforce Development Division" strictly follows the boss's requirements in this regard, with virtually no questioning and only envy.

Coincidentally, the "Labor Development Division" was able to resolutely carry out the boss's will and not make "I have a suggestion" decisions, mainly because the staff responsible for implementation were mostly graduates of Jiangning University of Finance and Economics.

They are definitely "one of our own" under Coach Zhang.

Jiangning University of Finance and Economics also has its own ideas. After graduating, a significant portion of its alumni join the "Zhang'an Industrial Alliance" and work in the "Zhang'an Industrial Park," without having to leave the city of Jiangning. This is quite attractive to local young people in Jiangning.

In this context, the unique nature of the "Labor Development Division" led Jiangning University of Finance and Economics to hope that it could become Zhang Da'an's "labor development secret police" in the future.

The logic is simple: does the "Imperial Bodyguard" need a prestigious university degree? Does it need to be affiliated with any ministry?
No need.

All the "Imperial Guards" needed was loyalty.

In modern society, talking about loyalty is definitely nonsense, but the concept of "loyalty" still exists. Jiangning University of Finance and Economics is well aware that it cannot compete head-on with Luzhou University of Finance and Economics and Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics. Apart from graduates going to the provincial grain system or other economic functional departments, the only ones who can truly bring the school to a special level through influence in society are local enterprises in Jiangkou Province, and in extreme cases, local enterprises in Jiangning City.

There was no chance before, but now with the "Zhang An Industrial Alliance," the situation is completely different.

And this is indeed the case with development; the changes in funding can be seen from this.

Excluding local support, Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics only outperforms Jiangning University of Finance and Economics this year in "alumni donations," with the rest being Jiangning University of Finance and Economics's share.

This was unimaginable before.

"That's a temporary ground-level parking garage for storing reward vehicles. Researchers receive commuter vehicles as rewards when they achieve significant results or benefits. They're usually Passats or Audi A6s, but a few prefer Polos or Santanas; the allocation is adjusted based on the situation."

"The prize has been awarded but the draw hasn't taken place?"

"I don't have a driver's license."

"..."

"Time is tight and tasks are heavy. There was a warehouse management software project that was about to be tested. There was basically no time to rest. We had to conduct long-term testing in multiple companies and cities, and we also had to conduct online testing in the fall. So many R&D staff didn't have time to get a driver's license, but the stage bonuses for the project development progress were issued, so we could only be 'inventory vehicles'."

"Stage rewards?"

"The reward for completing the project is an apartment in 'Hanlinyuan,' and the sign hasn't been up for very long. It wasn't called 'Hanlinyuan' before. The entire renovation is to be completed in two years, and the design was jointly contracted with Jiangning Institute of Technology. Basically, all the universities that are cooperating are involved."

"..."

The students from Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics were somewhat upset, especially two of them who had known Zhang Da'an for quite some time. Back in 1946, when the great flood struck, they personally went to Shazhou City to deliver local specialties of Hongdu to Zhang Da'an in gratitude for his financial assistance to students from impoverished families affected by the disaster.

In terms of personal relationships, they were clearly the ones who arrived first.

Selling a worthless thing...

However, this is also an opportunity. You have to choose between Zhang Da'an and Hu Xianda. In the past, you wouldn't have had a choice, but now it's different. After seeing the benefits and treatment with your own eyes, what's the point of choosing?

What are the strengths of Jiangning Finance and Yuzhang Finance?
After visiting "Hanlinyuan" and having lunch, we planned to take a stroll around the eastern part of the city.

At this moment, construction sites are bustling everywhere, but the people from Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics have good eyesight and can spot road signs such as "Zhang An Health" and "Zhang An Electronics" at a glance. On the bus stop, there is a sign that reads "Zhang An Health Station".

As for the final destination...

It's called "Xianlin Baohua Industrial Park Station," but once you arrive, students from Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics will realize that the station name is too conservative; you should just call it "Zhang'an Industrial Park Station."

After all, the huge entrance gate of the industrial park has five large gilded signs that read "Zhang'an Industrial Park," which can be seen from afar.

It didn't even have the three words "Welcome" that are usually displayed in industrial parks; it only had the five words "Zhang'an Industrial Park".

They practically have "I'm a landlord" written all over their faces.

Seeing this, the people from Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics were also impressed. Jiangning City was really able to swallow this insult. If it were Hongdu City, they would definitely fight back.

They were also quite puzzled; did the local officials really have no temper at all?
That's too weird.

(End of this chapter)