Material Empire

Wang Hongsheng and others stayed in Pingyuan for one night, and left one after another the next morning. Qin Hai, Ning Zhongying, Song Hongxuan and others bid farewell to these officials one by one, and stuffed the trunks of the officials' cars with local products from Pingyuan. Of course, this is not a bribe. Officials at this level will not Caring about this local specialty is just showing a kind of human relationship.

Throughout the morning, Qin Hai and the others were laughing, shaking hands with various people, and complimenting each other, showing a reluctant look. After sending the last batch of guests away, Qin Hai felt that his face was a little cramped, and his palms also showed signs of numbness.

"Oh, what a bother."

Lying halfway on the big sofa in Ning Zhongying's office, Qin Hai expressed wild emotions.

"For the establishment of the group, there must be a ceremony, otherwise it will be unclear." Song Hongxuan poured a glass of water for Qin Hai, then sat beside Qin Hai, and said with a smile.

Ning Zhongying sat on another sofa, calm and relaxed. He has experienced a lot of this kind of pick-up and send-off, and he doesn't think there is any trouble. On the contrary, seeing so many high-level leaders at once made him feel a little excited and full of confidence in the group's prospects. He kicked Qin Hai's outstretched feet, and said, "Xiao Qin, sit up, you are now a chairman after all, you have to pay attention to your appearance."

Qin Hai sat up straight embarrassingly, and said with a smile: "In front of the two of you, what appearance do I need to put on? It's not like you don't know who I am."

"Xiao Qin, Director Wang called you to his room last night, what did he tell you?" Song Hongxuan was a practical person, and after a few gossips, he got to the point. Ning Zhongying had obviously been thinking about this question all the time. Hearing what Song Hongxuan said, he put away his teasing expression and turned his attention to Qin Hai.

Qin Hai sighed softly, and said: "I am also preparing to talk about this matter with you two. Speaking of it, this is really a troublesome matter, but I have already agreed to it. What should I do specifically? I'm afraid we'll have to discuss it."

"Go ahead." Song Hongxuan sat down at the desk, took out his notebook and pen, and prepared to start recording.

"The state will gradually cancel the unified allocation and sales of most production materials in the next two years, which means that the prices of production materials will be fully liberalized. Director Wang wants to hear my views on this matter." Qin Hai said.

Ning Zhongying frowned and said, "This is a big deal. If it doesn't work out, the economy will be in chaos again."

He said "again" because at the end of the 1980s, when the country liberalized the price of light industrial products, it caused a round of sharp price increases, which had a great impact on the economy. It is even conceivable that the price of heavy industrial products will be liberalized now.

Song Hongxuan thought for a while and said: "It has been a long time since we talked about liberalizing the price of production materials. I think the country will definitely take this step. Take our steel factory as an example. The price planned by the country is too low. The impact on our steel mills is huge. We don’t have enough profits to expand reproduction, and the end result is that the supply of steel continues to be tight. I think that letting go of prices should be a good thing in the long run.”

Ning Zhongying said: "Of course it is a good thing. If the price is not relaxed, who is willing to engage in heavy industry? The point is, if the control is not good, the price will be lifted in an all-round way, and the lives of ordinary people will be sad. Really do it again The storm, what should the country do?"

Qin Haidao: "Director Wang is also concerned about this issue. The country's plan is to establish a reserve of major production materials before the price reform, so that when there is a panic buying in the market, the materials can be sold and the price will be stabilized."

"This idea is correct. The big capitalists who first liberated the Pujiang River wanted to hoard supplies and disturb prices. Our country defeated them in this way." Ning Zhongying said enthusiastically.

Qin Hai smiled wryly and said: "It was then, and now is now. Back then, the country used the power of the whole country to deal with a Pujiang River. Now it is a nationwide problem, and there are many materials needed. Director Wang and I did a preliminary calculation. , The country needs to prepare at least 100 billion yuan in materials to play a role in stabilizing prices."

"This number is actually a bit conservative." Song Hongxuan said, he pays more attention to macroeconomic issues on weekdays. Although he doesn't have ready-made data at hand, he can roughly estimate the size of the entire country's economy. In his opinion, 100 billion is probably not enough to build a material reserve that can turn things around.

Ning Zhongying asked: "Xiao Qin, what does Director Wang mean by telling you this? Does he want our Daqin Group to help the country pay?"

Qin Haidao: "He didn't ask us to pay, but just asked if we could help store some supplies so that they can be put on the market when needed, and help the country share some pressure."

"What are you stockpiling and what is the quantity?" Song Hongxuan asked.

Qin Haidao: "The main material produced by our group is steel. Director Wang hopes that we can reserve some steel, the quantity..."

Speaking of this, he was a little embarrassed. 10 million tons, this is the number he promised Wang Hongsheng, but he believed that once he said this number, Ning Zhongying and Song Hongxuan would go berserk. In fact, Wang Hongsheng did not intend for the Daqin Group to take on such a big obligation. This incident was entirely caused by Qin Hai's enlightenment.

"Director Wang doesn't want us to reserve 1 million tons, does he? This is a difficult task." Song Hongxuan timidly guessed as he looked at Qin Hai's uncertain expression.

Ning Zhongying shook his head resolutely: "If it's only 1 million tons, Xiao Qin won't be in such a difficult situation. I think the number is probably more than this."

"Sure enough, Director Ning is wiser." Qin Hai flattered Ning Zhongying, and then said: "Director Wang just made a request, hoping that we can make some contributions. I proposed it on my own initiative, and I am willing to bear 10 million yuan. Ton."

"Are you okay, Xiao Qin!" Just as Qin Hai expected, Song Hongxuan jumped up before he finished speaking. He stared straight at Qin Hai, trying to find a trace of joking on Qin Hai's face.

Ning Zhongying was not so excited, maybe he had experienced too many things in his life, the more unbelievable he felt, the calmer he was. He looked at Qin Hai, and said slowly: "Xiao Qin, what are you planning, let's tell it together, I believe, you are not a person who just talks about it."

"Old man Shengming." Qin Hai smiled and said, "I carefully calculated and thought that this number is within our reach, so I replied to Director Wang like this. Director Ning taught me that the icing on the cake is like giving charcoal in the snow. When the country is in trouble, if we reach out to help, we will benefit the most. Conversely, if everything goes well in the country, it doesn’t matter if we are there or not, so we don’t have to rush to show our kindness.”

"You're right, if we do this well, it will be of greatest help to our group in the future." Ning Zhongying said in agreement, "However, 10 million tons of steel, calculated as billet, is 10 billion. Calculated by wire, it will cost at least 20 billion, how can we get it? Xiao Qin, how do you think about it?"

Song Hongxuan also calmed down at this time. Based on his experience in cooperating with Qin Hai for so many years, he could also guess that Qin Hai should have a well-thought-out plan to take on such a seemingly impossible task. He couldn't help being a little curious, wanting to know how Qin Hai could do this.

Qin Haidao: "It is impossible for us to build a steel inventory of 10 million tons. If more than 10 billion yuan of working capital is converted into inventory, our group will basically collapse. My idea is, can we Establish a dynamic reserve and use the international market as a reservoir. When the domestic market does not need so much steel, we will sell the steel abroad. When the domestic steel is in short supply, we only need to abandon the international market and transfer it back to China. The domestic market can provide sufficient supply. What do you think of this idea?"

"International reservoir?" Song Hongxuan's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood Qin Hai's thoughts.

Qin Hai's plan was very simple to put it bluntly.

First of all, Daqin Group needs to expand its production capacity, such as expanding the current production capacity of 1 million tons to 5 million tons, or even more. This matter is actually something that Qin Hai and Song Hongxuan have been discussing for a long time. If they were not worried about the lack of digestion capacity of the domestic market, they would have established a new blast furnace and continuous casting and rolling production line long ago.

After expanding the production capacity, Daqin Group can start production at full capacity. At this time, due to insufficient demand in the domestic steel market, these excess production capacity cannot be digested domestically, but can be transferred to the international market for digestion, that is, the produced steel is sold abroad. As long as the steel produced can be sold, there will be no problem of occupying working capital, and the group will not be under too much pressure.

When the price reform starts and the price of steel in the domestic market soars, the group can stop its supply to the international market and shift its production capacity to supply the domestic market. If the original annual sales of 5 million tons abroad are now transferred to domestic markets, it is equivalent to an increase of 5 million tons of supply in the domestic market, which can play a significant role in stabilizing prices.

This principle is very simple to say, but there is an important link that cannot be avoided, that is whether the steel products of Daqin Group can be sold in the international market. The iron and steel industry is a typical capital-intensive and technology-intensive industry. China lacks both capital and technology, and has no advantages in steel production. Therefore, it is difficult to sell steel to foreign countries, let alone sell It is as many as several million tons a year.

How did Qin Hai think about this obstacle?

Thinking of this, Song Hongxuan couldn't help casting a puzzled look at Qin Hai.