Whether the "Coal Boss" was a "black cat" or a "white cat" could not be discussed for the time being. However, this mark was engraved on someone and became the label of the times. For a time, people were proud of it. As a large coal-producing province, a certain province became the "locomotive" of China's development and attracted the attention of the world after the "Jin Merchants".
Back then, the "Jin Merchants" made their fortune by relying on a pair of feet and a shoulder pole to travel all over China. They even walked out of the country and started a transnational business. As their business grew bigger and bigger, the Jin Merchants were no longer satisfied with the status quo. They established branches in the capital, Baotou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and other places to carry out banknote remittance business. "Hui Tong Tian" became the prototype of China's bank. In the late Qing Dynasty, they became the leader of the top ten business groups in China. Even the Empress Dowager Cixi had to cooperate with the Jin Merchants to raise money to support the war.
The Jin Merchants were short-lived and soon reached a dead end, unable to extricate themselves from it. Of course, there were factors of the times, but personal factors were an inescapable reality. They were complacent and conservative. Family disputes led the Jin Merchants to step into the abyss. The "Venice Merchants" of China fell and became a symbol of the times.
The rise of the "Coal Boss" made the province proud again. Most of these people were uneducated and had experienced the unbearable poverty years. With so much money in their hands all of a sudden, they were at a loss for what to do as they did not know how to manage their finances. In order to make up for their previous losses, they began to spend money like water. They bought their family businesses, bought luxury cars, and gambled crazily. Their appearance even directly affected the housing prices in Beijing, causing them to increase rapidly.
Although the "Coal Boss" of Nanyang was not as rich as the province, his extravagance was no less than theirs. Who was the richest man in Nanyang? Until now, there was no conclusion. The people of Nanyang liked to hide their wealth. They did not show their wealth and were very confusing. However, people always thought that the richest man in Nanyang was Qin Erbao of the Shiwan Coal Mine. He was the boss of the "Four King Kongs". As for how much money he had, there was no way to calculate it. People speculated that it was probably more than a hundred million.
What did a hundred million mean? Nowadays, people's brains simply couldn't wrap around it. A vivid metaphor was deeply rooted in people's hearts. If one hundred million yuan were to be exchanged for one yuan, it would be piled up higher than Mount Everest. If you wanted to count it, even if you didn't eat or drink and kept counting, it would still take more than three years. According to those who knew the inside story, Qin Erbao only had a few tens of millions, about 60 to 70 million yuan. More than 100 million yuan was just an exaggeration. However, this amount was still enough to make him the richest person in Nanyang County. It was equivalent to the annual revenue of Nanyang County.
As for Qin Erbao's glorious deeds, I won't elaborate on them here for now. They will be mentioned later.
Shuyang Coal Mine was a legitimate state-owned enterprise. Tao Anguo, the manager of the mine, was originally the deputy director of the Agency Affairs Bureau. At some point in time, he became the manager of the mine and a "Red Top Merchant" who was both an official and a businessman.
The annual output of the coal mine was less than 100,000 tons, but it supported a large team. There were more than 2,000 employees, and if each person was paid 800 yuan per month, the monthly expenses would be more than 1.6 million yuan. In total, it would be 20 million yuan a year. It was a shocking number.
In fact, Shuyang Coal Mine had long been insolvent. If it wasn't for the county's continuous "blood transfusion" with a large number of loans to support it, this giant would have collapsed long ago. Everyone could see this reality clearly. Everyone wanted to get rid of this burden, but no one dared to touch this high-voltage wire. Once a hole was opened, how would these 2,000 people be distributed? If it wasn't handled properly, it could easily cause instability. The restructuring of an enterprise wasn't something that could be done with just a few words.
Tao Anguo, the manager of the mine, worried about this matter every day. The county urged him to pay the taxes, the bank urged him to repay the loans, and the coal market was not doing well. The workers also urged him to pay their salaries. Under these circumstances, some units kept harassing him, using crowbars to pry out two pieces of coal from time to time to satisfy their own selfish desires. As a mine manager, he was really useless. The county only asked for the coal, but they couldn't come up with any solutions or measures to save it. He was so anxious that he lost half of his hair.
Finally, a postgraduate in economics came to the county, Zhang Zhiyuan, but ever since he came, he seemed to be indifferent to the development of the enterprise. Liu Kecheng was still in charge of Nanyang, and he had no right to speak. During a conversation before the new year, Tao Anguo vaguely heard some news from Zhang Zhiyuan, and it gave him hope.
In Tao Anguo's office, the staff of the county's safety bureau kept drinking tea and smoking in the office. They kept saying that there were safety hazards in the coal mine and wanted to rectify them. These people were all big shots. Although Tao Anguo was a section-level leader of a state-owned enterprise, he didn't dare to offend them. He kept smiling and saying nice things.
Tao Anguo naturally knew what they wanted, but he didn't say anything and waited for them to open their mouths.
One of the staff took out the last cigarette from the pack and lit it up. He then crumpled the pack into a ball and threw it into the dustpan behind the door. He then crossed his legs and gave an ultimatum, "Manager Tao, safety must be passed. If the rectification is not done well, then we can only follow the procedures and stop production for rectification. We can only resume production after the rectification is completed."
Tao Anguo wasn't afraid of threats. He threw the cigarette box in his hand on the table and angrily said, "Since you've put it this way, then let's do it this way. Anyway, I've already said what I need to say. Do as you wish."
Seeing that Tao Anguo was angry, another staff immediately tried to smooth things over and said, "Manager Tao, don't blame us. We're all public officials, and we can't help ourselves. If we loosen our grip and the gas explodes, we won't be able to bear the responsibility. "
Tao Anguo sneered, "How about this, you guys will stop production and close down when necessary. In less than five days, your Bureau Chief Tang will come to me and beg me to resume production. Don't blame me for not giving you face at that time."
"Tao Anguo!" A staff member stood up and angrily pointed at Tao Anguo, "Let me tell you. Don't you dare use Bureau Chief Tang to threaten us. Who are you trying to scare? Let me tell you that we're here under Bureau Chief Tang's order to inspect your mine. Now that your mine is not up to standard, I'm going to close it down. So what? Do you think I'm afraid of you?! " After that, he threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. He angrily said to the skinny staff member beside him, "Let's go. I'll issue the order to stop production and rectify now!"
The skinny staff member was not in a hurry. He forcefully pulled the fat staff member onto the sofa and said to Tao Anguo, "Mine Manager Tao, don't be offended. That's just his temper. Everything can be discussed!"
"What do you want to discuss?" Tao Anguo said, "Tell me, what do you want?"
The thin worker smiled and said, "Actually, it's nothing much. It's not easy for us to come all the way here. It's not enough for us to rely on a few dead wages. We can't even satisfy the needs of our friends. So … we want to borrow some money from Mine Master Tao. We'll just relax our hands and turn a blind eye to it. What do you think? Hahaha …"
Tao Anguo moved closer to the skinny staff member's face and said with a smile, "How much do you want this time?"
The skinny staff member said calmly, "Manager Tao, you're making it sound so bad. What do you mean by 'want'? We're borrowing. Once we borrow, we have to return it. We don't dare to ask for it. We're not borrowing a lot, just ten thousand yuan. This amount of money is just a drop in the bucket for your Shuyang Coal Mine. The rest is enough for us to live. Haha. "
This was not the first time. This group of rascals was really difficult to deal with. If the number increased each time, Tao Anguo would be really disappointed. If it were any other time, he would have given it to them. But today, he really could not stand the ugly faces of these two people. He put on a serious face and said, "I'm really sorry. I don't have that much cash on me. The treasurer is also on a business trip. How about you come over in the afternoon?"
Hearing Tao Anguo's words, the skinny staff member was unhappy. His face was full of smiles just now, but now it was hideous. He stood up and said, "It seems that Manager Tao doesn't want to lend? Alright then … "
At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Tao Anguo shouted, "Come in!" When he saw that the person who entered the door was Lu Yiwei, he felt that his savior had come and hurried forward to welcome him.
The two staff members knew Lu Yiwei and knew that he was working for Zhang Zhiyuan. When he appeared at this moment, the two immediately became vigilant. They thought that Zhang Zhiyuan had also arrived, so they hurriedly said goodbye and fled.
Lu Yiwei saw the two leave in a hurry. He pointed to the door and asked, "Manager Tao, this is?"
Tao Anguo was too lazy to look up. He said, "These two clowns wanted to take some money from me, but I beat them up. They are all devils who eat people without spitting out the bones."
Lu Yiwei sneered and said, "You can't be lenient when dealing with these kinds of people. Today they take one piece from you, and tomorrow they dare to ask you for a hundred. If it were me, there would be no way!"
After Tao Anguo helped Lu Yiwei sit down, he busied himself with making tea and said, "If it was any other time, I would give it to them. Such a big enterprise doesn't lack money. But the problem is that they know the current situation. They can't even sell a ton of coal."
The aftershock of the financial crisis had not dissipated, and it was still hitting "Made in China." The demand for coal had greatly decreased, and they were struggling to resist the "cold winter." Take Shuyang Coal Mine for example. They didn't dare to produce coal. If they produced a ton of coal, they would lose half of their profits. The workers were on holiday before the New Year. Until now, only the logistics staff were working. When the workers would start work was still unknown.
Lu Yiwei sighed and said, "Manager Tao, County Zhang knows the situation of the coal mine, and he is actively thinking of countermeasures. But for your coal mine, this is not a bad thing. You can take this opportunity to reform."
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