The Fourth Disaster Begins at the Dawn of the Millennium

"It's so funny, it's just a hype." Chen Gong was shocked after reading this.

After reading the report, I couldn't help laughing. This report listed the research capabilities of potential competitors if Chuli Guo Company entered the home appliance industry, as well as the recent research and innovation products.

What are these innovative contents?

There is a "photocatalyst air conditioner", which is claimed to be "a major breakthrough in the air-conditioning industry of this century". In fact, it is just installing a "filter net containing activated carbon" on the filter. When the activated carbon gets wet, you can take it out and dry it in the sun. The cost is less than 1 yuan; the "sterile refrigerator" is declared to be "a sign that refrigerators have entered the green era". In fact, some agents are injected into the plastic parts of the refrigerator. The cost is less than 10 yuan, but this technical concept can raise the selling price by 200 yuan; the "digital color TV" that uses the "digital depth of field circuit" is actually a new concept description of the electron beam principle in color TV technology; the "annular three-dimensional wind air conditioner" is a patented technology developed by a large air-conditioning company with an investment of over million yuan. In fact, it is just a timer installed on the fan blade to make it change up, down, left and right at a fixed time.

There are also some ridiculous cases, such as the world's first "sweet potato washing machine" launched by Haier. Researchers installed two drain pipes on the washing machine, one thicker and one thinner. The thick one was used for washing sweet potatoes, and the thin one was used for washing clothes. Then, the "washing machine for pounding ghee" and the "washing machine for washing lobsters" were derived.

After all the workers in the factory listened to Lin Dengtu's speech, Chen Gong also made a summary speech at the right time: "Our company disdains to engage in formalistic innovation, and will not rashly cross-border to take over a steel plant or tractor factory. If it is necessary to acquire those, it is a decision made by Huanyu Group and has nothing to do with our branch. What we need to do is to use pressure cookers as a starting point, enter the home appliance industry, specialize, and then globalize. This is the only way for the company to survive."

Soon, at the end of 1997, the local companies that had defeated the multinational companies quickly fell into an even more brutal "civil war". Since all the companies were at the same technical level, the weapons of the "civil war" were still price wars and rounds of "concept wars" with "technological innovation" as the gimmick. While they were in the midst of the "civil war", the pressure cooker companies relied on the short-term technical advantages brought by the smart electric pressure cookers to temporarily gain time for safe development and expand production capacity in an orderly manner.

Someone asked the chairman why he didn’t immediately announce his entry into other home appliance industries and produce home appliances such as televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, and microwave ovens. But Chen Gong always answered: “Wait!” Of course, we have to wait, because the talents recruited by the company in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and other places in China, as well as the R&D and management teams hired at the bottom of Japan and South Korea (economic bubble + financial crisis, Japan and South Korea are not having a good time either) have just arrived at the company. When they all arrive, they will soon be surprised to find what they have in their hands and the projects they are about to participate in:

"What? LCD TV? Environmentally friendly and energy-saving refrigerator? Multifunctional washing machine?"

For those Japanese and Korean technicians, their surprise was not because they had no idea about these things, but because they knew very well that this was

The company's own technological reserves, but in the home appliance branch of Universal Group, these new technologies are no longer just concepts, but can be put into practice. The company has mastered the technology to put these things into production lines (some technologies in the early 21st century that were used for task exchange in the early stage).

At the end of 1997, the Asian financial crisis would make the dreams of those home appliance companies that were obsessed with price wars and determined to fight their way into the "Fortune " in the price wars turn into bubbles. It was not until many years later, when they really realized the significance of mastering core technologies and caught up, that they had a chance to sprint towards the "Fortune ".

At the end of 1997, the most popular movie in the world was "Titanic" produced by Hollywood. The world's largest luxury passenger ship in the early 20th century, which was called "unsinkable", sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean with elegant music and screams of terror. The love between the young wandering painter Jack Dawson and the noble lady Rose also sank with it. When Chinese audiences walked out of the theater with mixed feelings, the tragedy was also played out in the business world, and the sadness was exactly the same.

Including the home appliance industry, the market was sluggish and all industries were depressed. Price wars broke the capital chain of many companies and faced a crisis of life and death. When the time came to 1998, Chen Gongcai revised his cautious expansion strategy and said to everyone: "The financial crisis has temporarily overwhelmed our potential competitors in the market. The funds they can use to fight price wars are much less than before, but they will get out of the crisis soon, so let's attack now and bite off their market share!"

Chapter 111 Come on, meet at 98

While focusing on advanced productivity, Universal Group's companies have not forgotten two other things: advanced culture and the interests and well-being of their employees.

Inside the post office hall, the ceiling fan slowly rotates, bringing a cool breeze. Most of the people waiting in line to remit money are from Huanyu.

The workers who are repairing houses in the group, because most migrant workers will not get their wages from the contractor until the end of the year, like them, who get their wages at the end of the month and send money to their families, are rare in Guangzhou.

see.

The workers held the completed remittance slip and envelope in their hands, carefully checked the information on the remittance slip, and after confirming that it was correct, they carefully

After folding the forms, they waited for their turn at the service window. The line slowly moved forward and the workers chatted while waiting.

Some people talked about their first experience of receiving a monthly salary:

"We come to the city and work for a thousand yuan a year. What we want most is to get the money when we go home for the New Year." This is the wish of most migrant workers. In the past, the wages they received from the contractor had to be deducted for daily meals and some pocket money. Generally, it was good enough to take home 6,000 to 7,000 yuan at the end of the year.

"Whether you can get the money depends on the conscience of the contractor." In places other than Huanyu Group, migrant workers' wages are only paid once at the end of the year, and they are only given living expenses at other times, ranging from 60 to 100 yuan per month. The contractor said that he would save it for them so that they don't spend it all.

In the end, they could not take the money home. The migrant workers complained: "We are all adults, with wives and children, and we have a big family. We will not be able to take the money home if we are paid."

Should we save it or send the money back? Do we really need our boss to save it for us?"

Because I had no money, I had to ask my boss for advances for daily necessary expenses. For example, bedding had to be deducted from my salary. A quilt of extremely poor quality cost 40 yuan.

Generally speaking, construction companies pay attention to the quality of the completed projects and

The contractor will pay the wages to the contractor as soon as possible, and then the contractor will pay them to the workers individually.

The settlement will be made later, and I don't know how long I have to wait. Because this form exists between the construction unit - the construction enterprise - and the migrant workers

Due to the triangular debt relationship, wages cannot be paid. No one can tell where the problem lies, and more often it is a four-corner debt or a five-cent debt.

Therefore, wage arrears for migrant workers occur from time to time. Sometimes it is because the project funds cannot be paid on time, which triggers a chain reaction. Sometimes it is because there is a concern that paying wages on time will easily lead to migrant workers "job hopping".

Therefore, the migrant workers who can receive full wages on a monthly basis cherish their current jobs repairing houses for the Universal Group. The fact that they have wages in their pockets every month makes many people envious. They don't have to rack their brains to beg their boss for their hard-earned money, and resort to suicide, robbery, and the so-called "jumping show".

Some people also talked about their life during this period.

"Everything is good, good food, good accommodation, and time to relax. Shen is... a little bit uncomfortable..."

This also reflects another feature of the Universal Group, namely, strict management and "overtime study". Strict management is not only about the increasingly harsh and strict management of production flow and production safety. Many workers brought their bad habits from previous construction sites with them, resulting in continuous heavy penalties as soon as they started working, and some were even punished to the point of squatting outside the construction site and crying and wiping their tears.

In addition to production, Universal Group also took control of it. For example, in terms of gambling, they directly announced that gambling was not allowed. If you don’t gamble, what if you just play cards? That’s allowed. There is also smoking control. Not only is smoking prohibited at the construction site, but even in the living area, it is stipulated that smoking can only be done in designated places. Drinking and causing trouble? That will also be punished to the point of tears...

In short, there are many rules and many tricks, but in addition to punishment, there are also rewards. For example, if you quit smoking successfully, the company will reward you; if no violations are found on the construction site for a period of time,

For regulatory events, all project personnel can receive reward allowances.

Over time, the migrant workers' attitude towards these management measures has gradually changed from simple obedience to recognition. Strict production safety discipline is to allow everyone to go to work safely and protect their own lives; controlling gambling, smoking and drinking makes it easier for migrant workers to save money and have better health. When the company held a health lecture and showed everyone the lungs of long-term smokers, it shocked many old smokers. After the shock, they were terrified and scared, and wiped their tears, fearing that their lungs would also become like this.

So how do you vent the frustration accumulated at work without playing cards, smoking or drinking?

The company will take various measures to squeeze out the time that migrant workers originally used for gambling, drinking, and fighting, and change it to various cultural and sports activities, such as going to the basketball court or football field to vent. If you are too tired and want to rest, the canteen will also be changed to a place to play TV series and movies during non-meal time to help you kill time. If someone can still grit his teeth and insist on using his free time to improve himself after hard work, the company will also provide a small reading room for you to study.

In fact, in terms of encouraging learning, Universal Group has a tradition, which is probably the corporate gene they have planted since the first branch of the group. However, considering the differences in the specific situations of the two sides, in Guangdong, Universal Group mainly conducts lectures, first talking about some useful things to stimulate everyone's interest.

For example, how to conduct an anti-fraud lecture? It's very simple. Players catch a few fraudsters and ask them to tell how they defrauded others. They ask them to tell how they "impersonated the public security, procuratorate and courts, fabricated the winnings, pretended to be relatives and friends, engaged in pyramid schemes and fraud, and played tricks". If necessary, they will also perform on the spot.

Another example is to do legal publicity, telling workers what rights they should enjoy, what protections they should get, and what to do when a labor dispute arises. The workers became more and more upset the more they listened. After listening, they found that except for the projects of Universal Group, which gave them rights and protections, few construction units, construction companies, and government departments they met when they worked before took responsibility.

Finally, there are courses such as the most basic financial management. Although migrant workers have a low level of education, when it comes to their own money, their attitude in class is still very good. Especially now there are many examples of "getting rich overnight" and "losing all the money" at the same time, and they all hope to be the former, not the latter. In the financial management class, the teacher talks most about saving more and taking fewer shortcuts, such as "I heard that XX project is very profitable, want to get rich overnight?" Well, please invite the fraud teacher who taught the last class to review the content of the last class for you.

Less than a year had passed since the start of the project, and it was almost the Spring Festival of 1998. The migrant workers had already gone on holiday and were rushing to the train station with their bags, ready to go home to reunite with their families and share what they had seen and heard in the big city.

They all left, and the project department became empty, but the streets were bustling. On the Spring Festival, children playing with firecrackers could be seen from time to time on the streets. Firecrackers popped and sparks flew everywhere. Children jumped and cheered excitedly, with excitement flashing in their eyes. In the intervals between the sound of firecrackers, you could hear the song played on TV while people were watching the Spring Festival Gala at home: "Come on, come on, meet ninety-eight people..."

As the two singers sing, the bell of the Lunar New Year is about to ring. People hope that the new year will be as sweet and gentle as the song.

Chapter 112: The State Withdraws and the People Advance, and the World Follows

The year 1998 was not as gentle as the song, but rather thrilling.

The time came to 1998. Private enterprises, which had always taken the lead, suffered a major setback in the Asian financial crisis of the previous year. Private enterprises were in mourning and small and medium-sized enterprises were bankrupt.

The situation in state-owned enterprises is equally dire. All previous reforms targeting state-owned enterprises seem to have no effect. State-owned enterprises have resorted to falsifying financial statements to cover up their real predicament.

The situation of false profits is widespread. Among the 39 major industries, 18 are in the red, and the total debt of state-owned industries accounts for % of all industries.

The state-owned enterprises have a total equity of 1.92 times, and their own assets are insufficient to repay their debts. In other words, state-owned enterprises are insolvent. State-owned enterprises across the country have indeed reached a point where they must be reformed or they will die.

To this end, China proposed "state retreat and private advancement".

In the newspapers and periodicals at the beginning of 1998, officials made high-profile statements everywhere. The governor of Jiangsu Province said, "We should not seek purity, but excellence, and should not be bound by the proportion issue." The governor of Hubei Province said, "We should completely abandon the traditional concept that links the shareholding system with private ownership, and eliminate the doubt that the sale of state-owned assets will lead to the loss of state-owned assets." The governor of Anhui Province said, "Now is the time to change and take the initiative, change later and you will be passive, and there is no way out if you don't change."

As the most significant strategic adjustment in the reform of state-owned enterprises, “state retreat and private advancement” has not yet formed a national legal reform plan.

This is the most bizarre part of this reform. In accordance with the idea of ​​"crossing the river with a big bag", various places have shown their magical powers, such as the management's collection of

There are many methods, such as acquisition, management curve acquisition, quantitative investment, quantitative value-added, bankruptcy restructuring, etc. These methods have no unified legal basis and no necessary supervision system.

As a result, a dusty situation emerged. In the process of restructuring, operators in various places invented various "increase and decrease methods". "Increase" means increasing liabilities, while the assets of the enterprise remain unchanged. By fictitious establishment, under-provision and lenient assessment, liabilities are increased.

As the total amount increases, the original debt repayment rate will decrease; "reduction" means to do everything possible to reduce assets, divest assets, conceal assets by false losses, intentionally

Low value assessment and so on.

In a sense, the massive release of state-owned assets has indeed become a production line for creating multimillionaires and even billionaires.

All over the country, government leaders posted reports on the establishment, production and restructuring of the company. After the leaders approved the report, "Please declare it bankrupt according to law",

The case is immediately transferred to court, but because there are too many such companies, the court often declares them bankrupt before even having a chance to open a trial.

"The Universal Group must follow up! Whether in the name of the group or

This is a covert acquisition not carried out in the name of the group. We need to grab it as soon as possible.

Save these people, property, and things that are about to be sold at a low price... "

1998 is destined to be a busy year for players.

In Brunei, a large number of combat players will use military means to take Indonesia

rule was driven out of this place; and outside East Timor, such as China

In the United States, non-combat players are also "fighting" on another front.

We play managers and entrepreneurs, and travel all over the country to rescue those famous people!

A company that has obvious potential but is still on the verge of bankruptcy.

This is different from the general business idea of ​​"running a business to make a lot of money as quickly as possible".

The road is different. The task given to players by the Universal Group is to identify the upcoming

Whether the acquired companies can improve and supplement the industrial chain of Universal Group.

Considering that the Universal Group is now close to successfully owning its first "joint venture country"

"Home" is getting closer and closer, and in the future there will be a second and third home like this

joint venture countries, then acquire these bankrupt state-owned enterprises, state-owned

Assets, and even the acceptance of these state-owned enterprise workers, must be considered whether

It is in line with the industrial chain layout of the Universal Group around the world.

For example, in the joint venture that is about to go public,

Timor is a joint venture country. If the Universal Group hopes to mobilize

If more people want to join "our cause", then we need to train at least a group of workers.

Class. Then the question is, industrial equipment, industrial production management

Where do experienced and skilled workers come from?

Looking back at history, people will still remember that the "156 Project" was the first project of New China.

The foundation stone of the industry, the construction during the "First Five-Year Plan" period with "156 Project" as the core,

It enabled China's heavy industry, which mainly consists of energy, machinery and raw materials, to take a major step forward on the road to modernization, and formed the embryonic form of an unprecedented independent industrial system. The newly added industrial production capacity was unprecedented in Chinese history.

Looking into the future, China's industry will continue to take off in the next two decades, and "Made in China" will be famous all over the world, and countless people will be able to escape poverty and live a dignified life. However, some people will take advantage of this favorable situation and become "legends of wealth creation". Even now, some people laugh at those who get rich through unconventional means:

"These people built luxurious and tacky imitation White House offices and imitation Rococo villas; their wives endured their husbands' countless lovers, felt lonely, and could only spend their lives raising expensive pets, burning incense in temples, and having more children; they poured Sprite into the most expensive wine and gulped it down like drinking water, and ate fried mullet, braised seaweed, and stewed oysters...."

Of course, Universal Group also wants to take advantage of the "Made in China" boom, but they are not interested in Rococo villas, fried croaker, braised seaweed and stewed oysters. What they want is to take advantage of the boom of China's industrial development to develop industries in "joint venture countries" and cultivate the group of industrial workers. Just like the "156 Project" is not worth mentioning compared with the huge scale of Soviet industrial production, but it is very valuable to the new China at that time; the "East Wind" bought by Universal Group from China's industrial development is not worth mentioning for China as a whole, and may even become a burden of some kind of "overcapacity" in the future. But it is extremely valuable to the future "joint venture countries".

"Rather than using your money to buy villas and yachts, and then transferring the assets abroad to buy luxury houses and luxury cars, it is better for us to use it to rescue a group of Chinese workers and peasants, and in the process develop and strengthen the proletariat of the world..."

In the future that Lindenwan described to the players, there is such a blueprint: "Imagine that when the Universal Group controls many resource-rich 'joint venture' countries in the world, cobalt in Congo, silver in Mexico and Peru, iron in Brazil, copper in Chile, lithium in Bolivia and Argentina, and we have the ability to mine, utilize these resources and manufacture them into industrial products........."

Therefore, not long after the wave of state retreat and private advancement began, players with cash rushed to visit steel mills, machine tool factories, tractor factories, and other companies that were facing financial crises and bankruptcy. Some of them could be acquired as a whole, some only sold some equipment, and some still needed players to take over the placement of laid-off employees. But as long as it is useful for the overall layout of the Universal Group, such as allowing players to obtain the qualifications to build cars, then money is not a problem. If there is a problem with money, then the players who are engaged in black operations will have to work harder.

Chapter 113 There is a powerful enterprise behind you

In 1998, Chinese society was experiencing unprecedented changes and turbulence, filled with excitement that was difficult to distinguish between joy and sorrow. The advancement of economic system reform brought about tremendous economic growth and market prosperity, but also inevitably led to the intensification of wealth polarization. On the one hand, the wave of market economy was like a hurricane sweeping across the land, giving birth to countless legends of getting rich overnight; on the other hand, the pain of reform caused countless workers to fall into the predicament of unemployment and layoffs, and the iron rice bowl of the past became fragile in an instant; the countryside also seemed to have reached the time of "running out of oil and running out of lamps". After the tax-sharing reform, the power of affairs was decentralized, and the financial and tax powers were gradually collected. The towns were short of money, so they passed the burden on to the farmers, and the tax burden on the farmers was unbearable.

Society is gradually torn into two extremes: on one side are those who own luxury houses, fine wine and delicious food, and on the other side are those who struggle to make a living and live a hard life. The widening gap between the rich and the poor has made social contradictions increasingly acute, and psychological imbalance and dissatisfaction have spread among all classes. For those marginalized people, they not only have to face the pressure of survival, but also have to endure great mental pain and humiliation. This pain and humiliation often eventually turns into intense emotions and behaviors, becoming the fuse of vicious social incidents.

There are endless murders, robberies, and revenges on society. Players who travel around the country can encounter one or two from time to time. For example, a player who was inspecting Wuhan in February, while riding across the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, suppressed two people who were about to blow up their car to take revenge on society with his bare hands. At first, people thought it was just an ordinary fight, until people found out that the two people actually brought explosives to the car and even prepared the fuse, and then they felt a little scared. If it exploded, few people in the car would have a complete body.

The player thus became a local "hero of righteousness" and was featured in local newspapers and TV programs in Hubei. According to custom, the branch of the Universal Group will put these deeds in the local daily newsletter and inform employees while they are having breakfast.

As early as last year, the NPCs of various branches were still surprised at how the core members (players) sent by the group were so good at doing things. Those who robbed with knives were subdued, those who fought with sticks were beaten up, and they often fought with fewer people and became "heroes of righteousness" everywhere. So when the time came to 1998, such incidents were already commonplace, and most of the employees of various branches just glanced at them casually and continued to eat breakfast calmly.

Only the new employees would be surprised, while the old employees already knew that this matter was nothing special for the Universal Group.

But when the time came to a certain morning in May, early this morning, the employees of the branches who had been calm for a long time, whether it was the branch in Northeast China, the branch in Guangdong, or the branch in Los Angeles, all the NPC employees were stunned in surprise. Because the Universal Group broadcasted a piece of explosive news with a video in the morning news segment, that the branch of the Universal Group, Giant God Company, strongly intervened in the riots in Indonesia.

The canteen was filled with the aroma of food. Workers sat in groups of three or four at long tables, carrying steaming rice porridge and buns, preparing to replenish their energy for a new day of work. The TV hanging on the wall of the canteen suddenly interrupted with a news report with some scary pictures, attracting the attention of everyone in the canteen. At first, it was just a brief news report from the official, about riots in Indonesia, and a large number of Chinese were affected by the riots. Then the screen switched to the news program of the Universal Group. Those scary, bloody, and possibly uncomfortable pictures all came from the news channel of the Universal Group.

On TV, the host of the One World Group News Channel said: "According to the latest news, Giant God, a subsidiary of One World Group, has officially intervened in the Indonesian riots and is urgently rescuing Chinese compatriots affected by the riots."

The TV screen switched to a live report, and the camera lens was shaking, recording the chaotic scene on the streets of Indonesia. In the camera, Chinese shops were smashed, looted and burned by thugs, with thick smoke and flames rising to the sky. A group of thugs armed with sticks and knives attacked the Chinese crazily. The streets were in a mess, and the ground was full of corpses, some of which were mutilated, and some were burned to charcoal. If an elderly person saw this picture, the bad memories that had been suppressed in his heart for decades would immediately emerge in front of him.

This piece of news was like a bombshell, causing a sensation in the cafeteria. Everyone stopped eating and stared at the TV screen. Some people even accidentally spilled their porridge on the table, but they still didn't care and just continued to stare at the TV screen.

"Damn it, what's the difference between this and the Japanese?

"How pitiful."

"These Indonesians are such bullies!"

Many people couldn't believe their eyes. It was the 90s and it would not be long before the 21st century, but they could still see Indonesian rioters on TV doing exactly what the Japanese had done decades ago.

At this moment, the camera switched again, and a jeep and helicopter painted with the logo of Giant God appeared in the picture. The security guards from Giant God, wearing camouflage uniforms and bulletproof vests, armed with assault rifles and machine guns, quickly launched a rescue operation. It can be seen on TV that the security personnel intervened in the riot attack scene many times at the critical moment, decisively opened fire to stop the tragedy from happening again and again, with shells flying and gunshots, and the whole picture was full of tension and excitement.

A first-person perspective image appeared on the TV screen. The protagonist in front of the screen called for helicopter support with the radio while shooting with an assault rifle to cover the evacuation of Chinese people. As soon as the gunshots were heard, the armed thugs fell to the ground dozens of meters away. This was the first time everyone had seen such a scene. From time to time, you could hear the security personnel nagging each other and greeting the enemy's family with dirty words. From time to time, you could hear the sound of explosions and bullets whizzing, which gave people an immersive feeling, as if I was the one shooting at the scene.

Suddenly, the first-person perspective was aimed at the sky. Before the employees watching TV knew what was going on, they heard the protagonist on TV shouting: "Fuck, I'm shot! I'm shot!"

"Covering fire! I'll go save him!