Chapter 396: Borers in the Mine [5200]

Compared with the red brick and green tile factory buildings centered on Lu Yang’s villa, the closer to the back mountain of Shanghuai Village, the surrounding environment becomes grayer and grayer.

Even the trees on both sides of the road were black, and their leaves were covered with spots of coal dust.

This is the price of development, and it is the “conscience” that the entire village of Shanghuai must pay in order to become rich collectively.

Of course, whether you have a “conscience” or not has little to do with whether the coal under the mountain behind will be mined, because if you don’t have a “conscience”, someone else will. By then, the money will be earned by outsiders, and the polluted environment will still be borne by you, the people of Shanghuai Village.

If there was no Lu Yang, this would actually be the final outcome.

Lu Yang did not choose to ask Zhao Shi out for a secret meeting, making it look like an underground party meeting. Instead, he was open and aboveboard. He transferred a driver from the small car team, drove his own Mercedes-Benz, and took him directly to the tea mountain behind the village.

The nature of this coal mine is a public-private partnership. No, it is not appropriate to use the term public-private partnership. It should be more appropriate to use the shareholding system.

After all, its composition is actually very complicated, including state-owned enterprises, local governments, village collectives, and then Lu Yang, a private legal person.

Together, the four parties formed the board of directors of this coal mine. As the second largest shareholder and the only individual shareholder, Lu Yang naturally had the right to go up the mountain and inspect the industry under his name. There was nothing wrong with this and no one could find any fault with it.

“Director Lu, welcome, welcome. Your presence here really brings honor to our mine. Come on, come on, everyone, come and meet Director Lu. He is the founder of our coal mine and also the largest individual shareholder. Apart from the government, Director Lu holds the most shares in the coal mine. Please cheer up and greet Director Lu nicely. Otherwise, if you make Director Lu unhappy, watch out for your position.”

The coal mine executives who came to greet Lu Yang seemed very enthusiastic, but their eyes were wandering. It didn’t seem like they were greeting their boss, but rather facing the god of plague.

I can’t wait to end this terrible welcome ceremony.

Yes, it was a terrible welcome.

Who just spoke on behalf of the mine?
It’s the factory director.

But look at what he just said, do they sound like something a factory director appointed by the board of directors should say?
Not like it, right?
People didn’t welcome Lu Yang to come up the mountain to investigate at all, and were using sarcastic words to bully him.

Why do people dare to do this?
The position of factory director was directly appointed by the state-owned coal mine. Although theoretically it needed to be discussed and voted on by the board of directors, according to the agreement signed at the beginning, Lu Yang did not have the right to appoint, or even the right to recommend. The only way he could participate in management was to have a director seat on the board of directors.

At the end of each year when dividends are distributed, or when there needs to be a change in senior management, he votes in favor, or abstains, and then expresses his opinions. Of course, people may not necessarily listen, but that’s good enough. After all, this was the bottom line why the county government and the state-owned coal mine agreed to let him invest in this local large and medium-sized shallow coal mine.

This old factory director obviously has a backer!
And he clearly realized that Lu Yang could not do anything to him, so he had the confidence to use words to squeeze this major individual shareholder and made it clear that he, Lu Yang, was not welcome to come to Lao Mozi’s inspection.

The origin of this hostility is probably that Lu Yang’s family is too close to here. If we don’t make our attitude clear today, and let them get too comfortable, they will often come to make trouble in the future, come up the mountain from time to time to investigate and ask for money. What should we do then?
Wouldn’t it affect his performance as the factory director and his ability to have the final say here?
Lu Yang laughed out loud, not taking it seriously. He patted the old man on the shoulder and said, “Your last name is Niu, right? Director Niu, I’m not looking for you. Go away. I just came up the mountain to have some fun today and to meet my brother Zhao Shi. When my business was still small, Brother Zhao helped me a lot. Come on, Brother Zhao, let’s go to your office and talk slowly. It’s smoky here and the air is not fresh. If I stay any longer, I’m going to get a rhinitis.”

Since the old man doesn’t give him face, Lu Yang doesn’t need to give him face either.

Just like what the old guy thought, Lu Yang really couldn’t directly remove him from his position as factory director, but at the same time, could this old guy still make things difficult for Lu Yang?
joke.

After all, I am also a major individual shareholder. Although I handed over the management and operating rights when signing the contract, do I have to look at the dog’s face when I return to my own home and my own company?

Dogs can bark but they cannot bite their owners. If they dare to bite their owners, not only will Lu Yang disagree, but other dog owners will probably not agree. After all, if this matter gets out, it will be revealed that someone’s state-owned coal mine in Zhao County allowed its dogs to bite people indiscriminately, and the person bit was a partner. Who would dare to cooperate with them in the future?

Wouldn’t it be embarrassing for dog owners?
Lu Yang was too presumptuous and he spoke very loudly, without caring about the expressions of the people around him. After he finished speaking, he hugged the fat man Zhao Shi, who had an awkward smile on his face, and walked into the factory.

Many mining executives were left there with dazed expressions on their faces.

Everyone looked at the factory manager with sympathy. This time the factory manager had really hit a wall.

The factory director’s surname is Niu, and his given name is Fenzi. He is a bald old man in his 50s with a goatee.

The little old man has a pair of triangular eyes.

When he was smiling and speaking in a sarcastic tone just now, he gave people a creepy feeling.

Now it’s even more hellish.

The face was as black as Bao Zheng, but unfortunately there was a crescent mark missing on his face, so it looked a bit like a hungry and malnourished African.

He kept his eyes fixed on Lu Yang’s back, and sneered like a venomous snake, then looked at the pitiful mining executives around him and said, “Hehe, young people really don’t know how high the sky is and how deep the earth is. It’s interesting. This is the first time that I, Lao Niu, have been humiliated since I became the factory director. Go away, it’s none of your business now.”

After saying that, he smiled sinisterly again, and without paying any attention to other senior executives of the mining area, he led a few of his diehard followers behind him and walked towards his own office in the direction that Lu Yang had walked.

Leaving behind were a group of mining executives looking at each other in bewilderment.

Waited for a long time…

“Oh my god, a fight has broken out. This is going to be a big disaster. What should we do?”

Finally, someone couldn’t help but swear.

“What can I do? Just choose a side. What else can I do?”

“What a joke, do you know who to choose?”

“Who else can we choose? Shouldn’t we choose the factory director? Do you really think this young man can do anything to our factory director Niu? Yes, this young man is arrogant, and it is true that he is rumored to be very rich, but so what? No matter how rich he is, he is just a shareholder without any real power. Even if he makes a big fuss, I think it will be just a lot of noise with little rain. But our factory director Niu has been jumping up and down recently. He also wants to imitate the state-owned enterprises on the verge of bankruptcy and hold an enlarged shareholder meeting and let the management hold shares. If it succeeds, we who are present will all have a share.”

“Tsk, what do you mean by having a share? If it really works out, will you give it to us too? Judging from the way this Niu eats, I think he will eat up all the meat and soup, leaving us a plate to lick, hahahahahaha.” “What do you mean by that? Do you suspect our Factory Director Niu of corruption and bribery?”

“Humph, I didn’t say that. You said that. Stop pretending here. If you are really Director Niu’s confidant, why didn’t you follow him just now?”

“I, I don’t want to bother with you.”

“Alright, alright, stop arguing. Don’t forget that we are all in the same boat now. Let’s think carefully about which side to choose. Don’t wait until the winner is decided and we haven’t chosen a side yet. Otherwise, we will offend both sides. No matter who wins, we will suffer.”

“That’s true, but we can’t be reckless. Let’s wait and see what Lu’s purpose is in coming up the mountain. It’s impossible that he’s just here to visit a friend, right?”

“That’s definitely not the case. As far as I know, Deputy Director Zhao Shi was able to be transferred from the state-owned general factory because he offended Director Li of the state-owned general factory and also curried favor with this Chairman Lu. The two sides formed an alliance, and with Chairman Lu voting for him at the board meeting, he was able to secure his current position as the deputy director in charge of safety.

I guess it’s probably because of a rumor recently that our Director Niu is not satisfied with the status quo and also wants to implement the manager shareholding system. Our Deputy Director Zhao Shi revealed the news to Mr. Lu, so Mr. Lu was in a hurry to go up the mountain, and the two sides discussed what to do.

After all, among the shareholders of our mining area, only our Director Lu is an individual shareholder. If the shareholders’ meeting is really to be enlarged and approved, and then a management shareholding is set up, it will be his shares and his money that will be diluted. How can he not care?”

“That makes sense, but we’d better not act rashly. This Lu guy is really evil. He’s so young, but he’s already earned such a fortune. If you really think he’s a softie, I think some people will probably lose their teeth. If you don’t believe me, just wait and see.”

“Okay, okay, then I’ll listen to you, brother. Let’s not act rashly. Let’s wait and see. Let them fight it out on their own. It would be best if there was a bloodbath.”

“Haha, what a bloody killing! Come on, brothers, let’s go have a drink. Isn’t this a welcoming banquet prepared for Director Lu? If he doesn’t want to drink, let’s go drink on our own.”

And at this time.

Lu Yang has started drinking with Zhao Shi.

After a few drinks and a few drinks, his stomach warmed up and he started talking.

“Director Lu, if you don’t come back, I can’t stand it anymore. This Niu guy has been getting more and more arrogant recently, and his actions have become more and more outrageous. Sometimes I really want to find a few brothers, cover his head in the middle of the night, hit him with a club, and then dig a hole to bury him.”

This is impossible.

Lu Yang smiled and said, “People can do illegal things, but we can’t. You are an adult now, and you should calm down and stop being so angry. Think more about your wife and children at home. It’s okay to suffer a little grievance for a short period of time. We are still alive and well. Look, I’m back now, right? You can tell me what you have wronged me.”

After Zhao Shi finished bragging, he was worried that the Mr. Lu in front of him would slam the table and say that this was a good idea and let’s do it. After all, just now at the factory gate, our Mr. Lu was indeed treated weirdly by that arrogant director. What if young people are so impulsive?
Zhao Shi said with a guilty conscience: “Yes, yes, yes, Director Lu, you are right. Look at my broken mouth.”

As he said this, he slapped himself twice lightly.

He said with a bitter face: “Director Lu, I listened to your speech about green mountains and clear waters and protecting the environment, and I have been strictly cracking down on the smuggling of wet coal in our mine as you said, to prevent the emergence of unlicensed private small coal washing plants and coke kiln plants like our main mining area in the surrounding areas.

The effect was very good at the beginning, but not long after, someone started to make trouble. At first I thought it was someone from outside the factory and didn’t take it seriously. Later I thought about taking out a chicken and killing it to cool down the situation.

As a result, Factory Director Niu actually jumped out and not only protected the person, but also accused me of meddling in other people’s business. Damn it, I almost had a fight with this old guy at that time, but he actually carried Director Li out.

I just found out that this old guy was actually recommended by Director Li. No wonder Director Li was unwilling to support me at first. It turned out that he put all his efforts on this old man to ensure that he could stay as the factory director here.”

As he spoke, Zhao Shi showed a frustrated expression on his face. He was also a subordinate promoted by Director Li. Although he changed jobs, his old employer moved out. What could he do?
Are you going to fight Director Li to the end?

To be honest, he didn’t dare. Director Li was a cruel and ruthless person. If they really wanted to fall out, unless he could send the other party to jail, the other party would only need to move his fingers, and he was afraid that his position as the deputy director of the new factory would be over.

Lu Yang chuckled: “I don’t believe you will be scared?”

Since Zhao dared to change his family and join me, he would definitely not be scared by Director Li’s threats. Otherwise, what’s the point of doing so much? It would be more practical to go back and give him a sweet asshole.

Zhao Shi narrowed his eyes, retracted the grievance on his face and said with a grin, “Sure enough, I can’t hide it from Director Lu. Yes, Director Li has humiliated me again, but I’m not the kind of person who just takes a beating without fighting back. This Niu is Director Li’s man, so we can just use him as a breakthrough point. He’s jumping around in the factory now, doing this and that. It’s nothing more than seeing that this new factory is making money, and making a lot of money, and he’s greedy and can’t wait to put the money in his arms. We can just take advantage of this and catch him off guard.”

Lu Yang became interested when he heard this. “Oh, what did you find out?”

Zhao Shi chuckled, “If I were to tell you this, Director Lu would probably be shocked. This old guy is really bold. Our annual output value last year could have doubled. It’s not like the coal can’t be sold, but this old guy deliberately suppressed it. He would rather dig out the coal and pile it up in the mine instead of transporting it out. As a result, our mine lost a lot of money last year.”

Lu Yang asked curiously, “The mine made less money, so what good does it do him? Could it be that he plans to wait until the coal price is higher next year before pulling it out? And I saw that the dividends last year were not less?”

Zhao Shi chuckled, “That’s where he’s smart. The reason this Niu guy found is that he’s more optimistic about the coal price next year, so no other senior executives raised any objections at the high-level factory leadership meeting about stockpiling coal. But he’s not doing this out of kindness. He’s waiting for next year, when he becomes a shareholder and can get dividends. Then he can concentrate on making a big move. Wouldn’t the money earned by then be his share? Isn’t that great?”

Lu Yang was even more puzzled. “Next year? How can he become a shareholder of the factory? Did your state-owned coal mine decide to reward him?”

There are only four shareholders of this new coal mine now. Everyone is holding on tightly and no one is willing to let go. They all know that they can make a lot of money in the future, so how can they possibly allow for new shareholders?
Zhao Shi shook his head with a big fat face: “How is it possible? The state-owned coal mine is public, and no one dares to give its shares to private individuals. I am talking about the expanded shareholders’ meeting and the management’s shareholding, which is currently being implemented in many state-owned enterprises in China.

Of course, most of these state-owned enterprises are on the verge of bankruptcy. I don’t know what’s wrong with this old guy. He is so naive to want to graft them onto our new coal mine with such strong profitability. He is crazy about money. However, this old guy has one conspiracy after another.

Mr. Lu, didn’t you say before that the dividends didn’t decrease?
This is where the old man’s cleverness lies. He knew very well that the board of directors had passed a five-year plan. In this five-year plan, our Chashan New Coal Mine is required to increase its annual coal production exponentially. For example, this year, we have achieved an annual coal production of 5 tons. Next year, it will be 5 tons as required, and the year after that, it will be 35 million tons. If we want to achieve this five-year plan, we must withhold a portion of the factory’s annual profits and use it for additional investment. Otherwise, this plan will definitely be difficult to achieve. Mr. Lu, am I right?
How did this old guy do it?
He deliberately distributed dividends at a very low rate, leaving no profit from this year’s coal sales. Of course, the shareholders were happy at first, but you will see that by the beginning of next spring, this old man will use the excuse that there is no money in the mine and that the five-year incremental plan cannot be realized. He hopes that the board of directors will continue to make additional investments. If he then resorts to trickery and has employees and management subscribe to shares, won’t he have an excuse?
Ever since this old fellow became the director of this new factory, he has had a lot of benefits both inside and outside the factory. With Director Li’s support, he has made a lot of approvals in private. There are many newly opened small private coal washing plants and coking plants around us, and all the coal comes from his fingers.

Haha, I also found out that this old man’s brother-in-law, sister-in-law from his mother’s side, and a secret mistress all have a lot of shares in these small coking plants and small coal washing plants. I’m afraid the dividends alone are quite a lot of money.”

Lu Yang’s face became more and more ugly.

(End of this chapter)