The municipal government held several meetings and finally reached a consensus: the transfer price of the printing factory would be 3.2 million yuan, 200,000 yuan higher than Liu Fu's plan. Other conditions remained basically the same, but the price was raised by 200,000 yuan.
Liu Jian calculated that the loan would be 3 million yuan. The printing factory's debt was 1.3 million yuan, which had to be paid off in one lump sum. This would leave 1.7 million yuan, of which 1 million yuan would be paid to the municipal government, leaving 700,000 yuan in hand, enough for the subsequent production of both the distillery and the printing factory. Moreover, after acquiring the printing factory, if there wasn't enough money, the printing factory could be mortgaged to get a loan of several million more. Whether that would be needed would depend on the actual situation.
Two months after the Sanbao Distillery started operations, Liu Fu reached an acquisition agreement with the municipal government for the city's No. 1 Printing Factory. The workers, who had been living in anxiety for several months, not only did not make trouble when they learned that the printing factory had been acquired by Liu Fu, but also let out a tremendous cheer.
The example of Sanbao Winery is right there; the factory that had been out of production for two years has become the hottest factory in Panshi in just how long since its acquisition. Everyone says Liu Fu is rich, having invested millions just in the new equipment and factory buildings for the winery, and he even bought an Audi worth hundreds of thousands. These days, he's been advertising on TV every day, and it's rumored that the advertising costs alone are over a million. Everyone says Liu Fu is the richest man in Panshi, with tens of millions in cash alone.
With all this going back and forth, Liu Fu became known as the richest man in Panshi. When the workers at the printing factory learned that the printing factory had been acquired by the richest man in Panshi, they figured the factory wouldn't have to worry anymore, so not only were there no objections, they were practically celebrating with gongs and drums.
After acquiring the printing factory, Liu Fu reorganized the personnel. Liu An became the director of Sanbao Winery, and Liu's mother remained the accountant of Sanbao Winery. Liu Fu himself took on the role of director of the printing factory. The young woman who was originally intended to be assigned to the business department was first assigned to the finance department of the printing factory; the previous accountant's incident couldn't be ignored as a warning. The eldest sister and her husband had already arrived; the eldest sister was assigned to the printing factory, while her husband stayed at Sanbao Winery and joined the sales department. The third brother from the maternal uncle's family was assigned to the printing factory, starting as a worker. This was just to plant an informant among the workers.
The printing factory's problems are actually easy to solve. The factory has many orders to produce, but it has been delayed in production due to a lack of money to purchase raw materials. As long as there are raw materials, the factory can immediately resume production. Another urgent matter is that the bank keeps pressing for loan repayment.
The first thing Liu Fu needs to do after taking over the printing factory is to pay off all the previous outstanding debts, followed by purchasing raw materials and immediately resuming production.
Unexpectedly, after the news of Liu Fu's acquisition of the printing factory spread, all the creditors disappeared. Some even actively sent raw materials, saying that they were not in a hurry for repayment and that it was important for the factory to resume production.
Liu Fu finally realized the effect of Liu Jian's constant hype. His own name was even more effective than the city government's signboard. The city government took over the printing factory some time ago, and people came to demand payment every day. Some even tried to move the factory's equipment. If it weren't for the police watching, some things would have been taken away to pay off debts. Now that he acquired the printing factory, not a single creditor came knocking.
Liu Fu was a man of his word. As soon as he said he would pay, he paid. He called the finance department, checked the printing factory's accounts, and sent people to notify various units and factories to send people to collect their money.
As for ordering raw materials, a phone call was all it took for them to be delivered immediately. It can be said that the printing factory's work progressed more smoothly than Liu Fu expected and quickly got on track.
Regarding the debt to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), not only did ICBC not demand repayment under the pretext of it not being due, but they even proactively came to the door to inquire if funds were needed, asking if more loans were required.
Everyone believed that after the printing factory fell into Liu Fu's hands, it would definitely achieve even greater development. If they didn't curry favor now, when would they?
The printing factory's funds had always gone through ICBC accounts. This incident caused a great deal of unpleasantness, and coupled with the frequent interactions between Liu Fu and the Agricultural Bank of China, ICBC was very afraid of losing this potential major client. As for the one million loan, it was a minor matter in comparison.
Having not repaid the loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank, Liu Fu, following Liu Jian's advice, returned the money to the municipal government, thus completing the acquisition of the printing factory in terms of procedure.
This payment completely quelled the debate within the municipal government. Recently, because the acquisition money had not been paid in full, some leaders worried that Liu Fu would intentionally delay payment, while others feared that Liu Fu had no money and wouldn't be able to pay in the end. They often brought up this matter on various occasions, and some even suggested that if Liu Jian didn't pay off the debt, Liu Fu should use his cars as collateral.
Unexpectedly, only a few days after the acquisition, Liu Fu settled the full amount, paying the balance before the one-year deadline stipulated in the contract. Liu Fu explained that he didn't want to make things difficult for the municipal government, even if it meant his own finances were tighter. However, through this incident, these leaders were convinced that Liu Fu really had money, and how much money he had became a popular topic of conversation. From then on, many things became much easier to accomplish, which can't be denied was due to this quick repayment.
After Liu Jian got the sales of Sanbao Winery on track, he handed these matters over to his eldest brother-in-law. In fact, once the regulations were established for sales, and with the orders from old customers, the follow-up work was easy to carry out. That's the situation at Sanbao Winery now.
Liu Jian had originally planned to only keep four salespeople, but seeing the sales situation was so good, he kept them all. It was clear that even eight salespeople were not enough now, and perhaps he would have to recruit more soon, but all of this had nothing to do with Liu Jian. Liu Jian's eldest brother-in-law had also worked in sales before, although the products were different, the principles were the same. He got the hang of it quickly. Liu Jian had already taken care of the basic things like sales channels, sales regulations, and sales commissions. It could be said that Liu Jian's eldest brother-in-law was very comfortable as a sales manager, but the upcoming launch of "Panshi Laojiao" would test his skills.
Liu Jian and Liu Fu together moved to the printing factory, which was the next key focus of their work, and the critical battle for the Liu family to move from a million to ten million in assets.
The printing factory has resumed production, but the current orders are still from the old clients, mainly from the Education Bureau. This makes the orders very limited, the profit margins are thin, and the printing consists of low-quality test papers, which does not benefit the development of the printing factory at all. Before acquiring the printing factory, Liu Jian provided a lot of ideas, and now that the printing factory is his own, it's time to implement them.
Liu Jian now has the feeling of being a "fire captain," going wherever problems arise. After observing him for some time, Liu Fu realized that Liu Jian is not someone who can be contained; his ideas are wildly imaginative, his plans are thorough, and his vision is far-reaching. He's beyond Liu Fu's ability to assist, and often Liu Fu needs Liu Jian's reminder to do things better.
Liu Fu feels only pride, not jealousy. Liu Jian is his son, and the more outstanding he is, the happier Liu Fu is. So when problems arise, he asks Liu Jian for help without any embarrassment or concerns. Of course, this is the benefit of being father and son; if it were someone else, he would probably be on guard.
Liu Fu and his son, along with Liu Jian's younger female cousin, sat in the printing factory's director's office, discussing their next steps. Despite the printing factory's lack of funds on paper, its logistical facilities were well-built. The director's office was over one hundred square meters, with a large desk and a bookcase behind it, filled with various books. The balcony was filled with clivia and two kumquat trees. A jade cornucopia sat on the desk. The room also contained a row of sofas and a large fish tank with many tropical fish. The office also had a small bedroom, which was the director's rest area, originally a place for the former director and accountant to meet, now all benefiting Liu Fu.
When Liu Jian first entered the director's office, he was shocked by the luxurious decor. The various items in this office alone were worth over one hundred thousand, and he wondered how the municipal government had initially assessed the price.
Liu Jian's younger female cousin was named Ma Liming, five years older than Liu Jian. She had been working for quite some time, learned things quickly, and had excellent eloquence, which was why Liu Jian felt that his younger female cousin could be of assistance.
The three people discussed it in the office for a long time. Liu Fu thought it was too early to print calendars at this time, and couplets, "double happiness" characters, and the like were even more inappropriate. Before Liu Jian could offer his opinion, his younger cousin refuted him.
Ma Liming has a somewhat masculine personality, and she speaks very directly and concisely. In front of her uncle and younger brother, she said even more directly, "Uncle, I think it's okay. Firstly, our factory has just resumed production, and we can't let the factory stop production no matter what we print. If production doesn't stop, there's work to do, the workers get paid, and there won't be any trouble. The main reason why our acquisition went so smoothly is that no one objected, so we can't let the workers lose confidence. Secondly, if we print it at the end of the year, we won't have enough time. It's almost November now, which means there are less than two months before people need new calendars and desk calendars. In other words, we're only printing it a month early. Thirdly, we have a lot of orders from the Education Bureau, and in December, we'll have to print exam papers for various schools, and I'm afraid we won't have time then. Instead of being idle now and overwhelmed at the end of the year, it's better to use our free time to get this done sooner. It won't go bad in the warehouse, and we can ship it earlier and get our money back sooner."
Clapping sounds rang out. Liu Jian was shocked by Ma Liming's shrewdness. Liu Fu was even more so. Neither Liu Jian nor his father had expected Ma Liming to consider so many things. Liu Jian had also considered these issues, but he didn't expect his younger cousin to discover them so quickly. Liu Jian was convinced by the saying that talented people are everywhere, it just depends on whether you're a talent scout.
Opinions were quickly unified, and Liu Fu began contacting various manufacturers to order raw materials. He also gathered the workshop directors and held a production conference, assigning the tasks.
Just as Ma Liming said, many workers were afraid that they would have no work after the Education Bureau's job was finished. Although production had resumed in the past few days, there wasn't much confidence. Many workers were even worried that they would only be operating half-dead in the future. The distribution of this production task immediately boosted the morale of all the workers.
The printing factory's wages were linked to the amount of printing done. It could be said that this was one of the earliest piecework factories, where the more you did, the more you earned. If you did less, you only got a basic wage. Everyone was eager to have work to do every day. This production task would take a full month to print, and it would require overtime work. Everyone's wages would be greatly improved, and they were all very happy.
Seeing how capable his younger cousin, Ma Liming, was, Liu Jian felt it was a waste of talent to keep her in finance. He discussed it with Liu Fu, who felt the same way. After a brief discussion, they transferred Ma Liming to the marketing department to be responsible for market development and operations.
This was a newly established department in the printing factory. The sales department personnel were transferred over, and the salespeople were notified that if their work ability was insufficient, they should immediately apply to switch departments, go to the workshop, or leave altogether, otherwise they would eventually be fired.
This is the biggest difference between private enterprises and state-owned enterprises. It is very difficult to fire people in state-owned enterprises, requiring reporting at each level. Private enterprises are different; if the boss says you are not good enough, you have to leave immediately. These workers can't cause trouble now because the original factory leaders were either arrested or transferred away. The remaining workers came for Liu Fu's money, and there are not many who don't work diligently. As for those with connections, except for those who were transferred away before the acquisition, Liu Fu assigned the rest to the marketing department in one go, letting the market eliminate them. At the same time, their connections might bring some business to the factory. Liu Jian had already made plans on how to better utilize them.