New Year's Day, 1937, is coming in a blink of an eye.
The Xi'an Incident has been successfully resolved, and the whole country is rejoicing.
What people are happy about is not just the resolution of a civil war, but the hope of seeing the national united front come true.
There were undercurrents surging within the Kuomintang, but they were basically consistent politically, which was to use all their strength to wipe out the Red Army in the northwest. Chiang Kai-shek did the same thing. Not only did he frequently mobilize his direct troops, but he also ordered the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army to attack the Red Army base areas.
However, the drunkard's intention was not in drinking, and Chang Kaishen's real goal was to take the opportunity to annex the warlord forces. The Northwest Army was slightly better, but the Northeast Army fell into chaos: some officers believed that they should fight to the death with Chiang Kai-shek and try their best to rescue the young commander.
Some officers believed that they should obey the Central Committee’s orders to attack the Red Army, otherwise Chiang Kai-shek would be disadvantageous to the young commander.
From then on, the Northeastern Army began to split, and "Fengcian" would soon become a historical term.
The thinking of the Communist Party is also in chaos, and many comrades cannot accept the "alliance with Chiang Kai-shek" line. This state will last for several months.
In fact, the top leaders of both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party attach great importance to that gentleman's agreement. Without telling many of his subordinates, Chiang Kai-shek has begun to contact the Communist Party to discuss the reorganization of the Red Army and its base areas. In two months, he will personally
Go to Hangzhou to negotiate with Duke Zhou.
Although the mainstream voice within the Kuomintang is to "unite with Japan to destroy the Communists," Chang Kaishen is very clear that the Xi'an Incident disrupted all his plans, and it is simply impossible to continue to "suppress the bandits" with all his strength. And Japan's pace of aggression
is approaching, it is the general trend for the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to unite to resist Japan, and he needs to release a certain degree of goodwill to the Red Army.
On New Year's Day, Zhou Hexuan received a manuscript from Jiang Baili. "On National Defense" was about to be published, and he wanted to ask Zhou Hexuan to help write a preface.
As soon as Zhou Hexuan finished writing the preface to "On National Defense", Zhang Mouzhi took his two sons to Chongqing.
"Brother-in-law!"
"Brother-in-law!"
Two brothers, Zhang Yuanbei and Zhang Yuanmo, shouted in unison.
Zhang Mouzhi has six sons. Zhang Yuandong is building the Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan, Zhang Yuanxi has been promoted to the Ministry of Construction of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Zhang Yuannan has settled in the United States to manage the condom business. Hearing that Zhou Hexuan was going to build a large-scale construction project and factory in Sichuan, Zhang Mouzhi not only rushed back,
He also called his sons Zhang Yuanbei and Zhang Yuanmo as helpers.
Zhang Yuanbei is twenty-eight years old this year. He has been a branch manager in the United States for three years and is very good at company management and business operations. Zhang Yuanmo is much more immature. He has just completed a master's degree in law and has no skills.
In terms of work experience, I must start as an intern when I return to China this time.
There is also a younger brother, Zhang Yuanfan, who is still studying abroad at this time. Among Zhang Mouzhi's 11 children, at least they have graduated with a bachelor's degree, which is extremely rare in the Republic of China where the education penetration rate is extremely low and sons are valued over daughters.
Zhou Hexuan greeted warmly: "Yuanbei, Yuanmo, please sit down quickly and don't see anyone else in your own home."
After all, Zhang Yuanbei had been in the mall for several years, and he seemed mature and capable. He chatted and laughed with his brother-in-law. Zhang Yuanmo, on the other hand, was a bit nerdy. He sat upright in front of his internationally famous brother-in-law, not daring to breathe and saying nothing.
Listen to their chat.
Zhou Hexuan noticed his fifth brother-in-law's discomfort and took the initiative to guide the conversation: "Yuanmo majored in law?"
Zhang Yuanmo quickly replied: "Master's degree in law from Princeton, majoring in economics and sociology."
Zhang Yuanbei smiled and praised: "My fifth brother is a top student in our family. He has three bachelor's degrees and one master's degree."
Zhang Yuanmo's face showed a little bit of pride, but he still didn't say anything. He just smiled and waited for his brother-in-law's praise.
"Well, it's very good. Keep working hard." Zhou Hexuan praised it as expected, but he added in his heart: I just feel a little dull in reading, I hope I can practice it.
Zhang Yuanmo, like a child being praised, answered: "I originally wanted to continue studying for a Ph.D., but my father insisted that I return to China to help, saying that my brother-in-law is in great need of manpower."
Zhang Yuanbei resisted the urge to roll his eyes and wished he could slap his brother on the back of the head.
Does anyone talk like this?
If you are a master's student who doesn't understand anything and asks you to return to your country to run an industry, it will be like ruining your future.
Zhou Hexuan was not angry. He only regarded his fifth brother-in-law as a new graduate with insufficient experience, and warned: "The situation in China is different from that in the United States. When you come back, you have to listen, watch and learn more, especially to handle interpersonal relationships well."
"Yes, I will." Zhang Yuanmo nodded repeatedly.
After Zhang Mouzhi finished talking to his daughter, he also walked in and asked: "Xianxiang, you have such a big stall in Sichuan, have you figured out what to do?"
Zhou Hexuan said: "I think we should focus on real estate and civilian product manufacturing. Real estate is divided into three categories: high, middle and low. The high-end is garden houses, sold to dignitaries; the mid-range is ordinary apartments, sold or rented to the middle class and intellectuals; the low-end
It is low-rent housing, rented to people at the bottom of society and refugees..."
Before Zhou Hexuan could finish speaking, Zhang Mouzhi interrupted: "You have built so many houses, can you sell them? I found that a lot of land has gone to the wilderness, and even the roads have not been built. Will anyone rent such a house?
purchase?"
"It's not there now, but it will be soon," Zhou Hexuan explained. "There will be a war by the end of the year at the latest. The east, north and south cannot be defended. Sichuan will definitely belong to the rear area, and the central government will probably move here by then.
"
"real?"
Zhang Mouzhi and his two sons exclaimed in unison.
Zhang Yuanbei and Zhang Yuanmo were surprised because of the war between China and Japan, and because the country was in danger. Young people always have too much feelings for their family and country.
Zhang Mouzhi's focus was different. He considered it more from a business perspective. Zhou Hexuan's words made him see unlimited business opportunities. As for the national crisis and saving the nation, he had to be an official to support it. Zhang Mouzhi could only donate some money when the time came.
Zhou Hexuan nodded and said: "There should be no mistake, the Japanese will take action soon."
The Zhang brothers wanted to ask again, but Zhang Mouzhi had already rushed to speak. He was gearing up and said: "If it is true as the wise son-in-law said, then we can definitely have a big fight. The shopping mall is like a battlefield, let's talk ugly in the front, and I, the Zhang family, will definitely do our best.
Cooperate, but the shares must be clearly separated in advance to avoid unpleasant troubles in the future."
"I think so too," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, "And I want to remind you that in the real estate business, you can make a lot of money from wealthy businessmen and high-ranking officials, but the rest must serve people's livelihood. The rent for ordinary apartments cannot be charged too high.
Just click on it, after all, it is not easy to leave your home and career. As for low-rent housing, it is a completely loss-making business and is only provided to war refugees who are living extremely difficult lives."
"How can anyone do business like this? We are not running a charity!" Zhang Mouzhi immediately expressed his dissatisfaction.
Zhang Yuanbei did not express an opinion. From a businessman's perspective, he thought his father was right, but from a Chinese perspective, he thought his brother-in-law was right.
Zhang Yuanmo didn't care about all that. He looked at his brother-in-law with admiring eyes, clapped his hands and said: "Brother-in-law is of a high level and deserves to be an international scholar. Brother-in-law, leave it to me to set the qualifications and review standards for low-rent housing."
Let's do it. We can draw a poverty line based on local prices and the percentage of personal income. This standard is floating. We can also add parameters such as pregnant women, the elderly, young children, and the disabled. Moreover, it needs to be reset every year.
After reviewing the qualifications, if any fraud is found, they will be condemned in the newspaper and refused to rent or purchase all the company's properties."
"Very good, I'll leave this task to my fifth brother." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.
Nerds are not really stupid, nor do they necessarily have low emotional intelligence. How can a top student like Zhang Yuanmo, who has three bachelor's degrees and one master's degree, be a fool?
Ordinary people think that top students are stupid because both sides look at problems from different angles. For example, when greeting and sending people off and making fun of each other, it’s not that top students don’t understand, but they are disdainful and repulsive. Therefore, they are generally considered to have low emotional intelligence and seem to be incapable of dealing with others.
.
But when it comes to things they care about, top students will definitely be able to achieve results, and they can often crush ordinary people.
Of course, due to his lack of social experience, Zhou Hexuan must also provide Zhang Yuanmo with an assistant, otherwise the fifth brother-in-law will most likely be deceived by people who take advantage of loopholes.
Seeing that his son and son-in-law were discussing animatedly, Zhang Mouzhi could only smile bitterly. He wanted to call Zhou Hexuan a fool, but he unconsciously felt admiration and respect in his heart.
Faced with a stupid son-in-law who can throw more than 10 million yuan into the ocean for disaster relief, what else can Zhang Mouzhi say?
After thinking about it carefully, Zhang Mouzhi decided to change the topic and asked: "What about the factory?"
Zhou Hexuan said: "We already have an enamel factory in Sichuan, and a few months ago I invested in an ink and paint factory. I think we should also open a quilt factory, a shoe and hat factory, a paper factory, and a printing factory.
Match factory, cigarette factory, soap factory... there are all of them, as long as they are civilian goods, then there will be no worries about sales, and it can also alleviate the shortage of materials in the rear area during the war."
"Is there really going to be a war?" Zhang Mouzhi confirmed again that the investment in Zhou Hexuan's plan was too large, and it was difficult for him to make up his mind for a while.
Zhou Hexuan nodded and said: "We really want to fight."
Recalling that his son-in-law has always been a master of information, Zhang Mouzhi hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and said, "I'll do it!"
Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "If we build so many civilian factories, the competition will be fierce. We can recruit a few powerful people to join us, such as Song Meiling. Of course, this is not enough for the time being, and we must open up the situation first."
"I understand," Zhang Mouzhi nodded and said, "It's just that there are not enough people and the stall is too busy."
Zhou Hexuan said: "The older graduates of the Hope Primary School I run in North China are already 17 or 18 years old. Many of them dropped out of school and worked in various factories. I can contact the principals to recruit people. These people are basic and backbone employees.
Laborers are recruited locally in Sichuan. As for more advanced talents, you can go to universities to recruit people and send invitation letters in my name. But for business management talents, you, my father-in-law, must be responsible for checking them."
Zhang Mouzhi said: "Leave this to me. Let's first determine what factory we want to open, then recruit technical talents, and then go to the United States to purchase machinery and equipment. Let's talk about investment and stock ownership..."
