There are only five days until New Year's Eve, even if the economic crisis comes and all industries in the empire are depressed.
But the current life of the empire is still better than that of any previous dynasty.
The New Year atmosphere was not greatly affected.
What the Chinese New Year seeks is happy family reunion. Rich families have their own ways of being rich, and poor families have their own ways of being poor.
Even the imperial relief food distribution point distributed two chicken legs, five pounds of pork, and two meters of cotton cloth to every family receiving relief food at this time, so that they could have a warm New Year.
Du Baonian, president of the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce, parked his car in the underground parking room of the Empire State Building. He stepped out of the car and followed the stairs to the private room on the fifth floor.
He looked at the most prosperous commercial street in the capital through the glass wall of the Empire State Building.
It was more depressed than in previous years. Du Baonian felt the same and kept sighing in his heart.
Most people are clamoring that an economic crisis is coming.
Du Baonian could not imagine what would happen in the economic crisis.
When the economic crisis really comes, a large number of companies that had been developing well before went bankrupt.
Especially borrowing bank loans to expand the company's business.
Banks either go bankrupt or liquidate, or withdraw loans to protect themselves.
Without external funds, these companies immediately went bankrupt and closed down, with no possibility of self-rescue.
Du Baonian looked at some young businessmen and lamented that the empire was about to end.
He just wanted to say one thing to young people: "You are too young."
These people have lived in a stable environment since childhood.
As long as they can remember, they have lived in a boarding elementary school and watched the empire grow and develop step by step.
In their impression, the empire's business environment was thriving, and they had never seen the empire decline.
These people's reaction was so great, that is, the illusion in their hearts was broken.
For a person of Du Baonian's age, he had experienced the dark environment in the late Ming Dynasty since childhood.
Businessmen in the Ming Dynasty, unless they were princes or Jinshi masters, had white gloves.
Otherwise, any county magistrate can destroy his family.
When doing business in an environment like the Ming Dynasty, businessmen had to be versatile and take care of people in the officialdom at any time.
Without identity and background, it is impossible to grow your business and you can only earn some hard-earned money.
Du Baonian was able to survive in this harsh environment.
He was truly surprised to see the damage caused by the economic crisis to business and industry.
But this situation did not make him panic.
The prosperous company he created with so much effort has shrunk to less than one-fifth of its heyday.
But Xingsheng Company's core business, the food industry, can still be maintained.
This is also closely related to the fact that Du Baonian was a big landowner in Nanyang.
Most of the raw material supplies for Xingsheng Company are provided by farms under his name.
This results in Xingsheng's products being cheaper than similar products.
During economic downturns, price wars are the most effective means.
This will reduce the company's profits, but the most critical issue now is survival.
Half a year since the economic crisis broke out, at least tens of thousands of companies have gone bankrupt.
The current market is not very good, but Du Baonian believes that the market will recover sooner or later.
Which company can survive the economic crisis will surely occupy a huge market and earn astonishing profits after the crisis is over.
Most businessmen know this truth, but it is extremely difficult to do it.
Du Baonian came to the private room reserved by Li Gong, the president of the Empire Chamber of Commerce, and stepped into the private room of the Empire State Building.
This is a large private room, and some businessmen have already arrived.
Familiar people were sitting on the seats, and they were discussing the recent affairs of the empire.
Du Baonian walked in, and President Li Gong immediately greeted him.
"President Du, welcome to your arrival.
When the New Year is approaching, I call everyone for a meeting. This is my fault. Please bear with me."
Chairman Li Gong is very polite. The president of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce has a high status, but he is not an official.
The merchants did not want to cooperate with the Imperial Chamber of Commerce, and Chairman Lee Gong had no choice.
He and Du Baonian have been friends for many years, but he didn't want Du Baonian to think that he was using chicken feathers as arrows to order him to do things.
He and his friends were able to resolve the misunderstanding, but many people who were invited could not explain it one by one.
President Li Gong could not see anyone, so he stepped forward to explain.
If he does this, he will not be able to maintain his position.
President Li Gong has been waiting for someone who has a high status and can cooperate with his friends.
Du Baonian has been in the shopping mall for so many years, and he is also a good person.
He heard something was wrong in Li Gong's tone, and saw that the atmosphere at the scene was a bit depressing.
After thinking about it for a moment, he immediately understood Li Gong's intention.
He smiled and said: "President Li, among all of us, you are the most well-informed.
The Chinese New Year time is extremely important to us businessmen.
Many people in the family just took this opportunity to go home.
The current market environment is so bad that the family needs to discuss which company to abandon and which company to focus on maintaining.
It’s impossible that President Li Gong doesn’t know about this situation, but you still call us here, that means you have something important to inform us, and we can’t help but ask for it.”
When President Li Gong heard what Du Baonian said, a smile appeared on his face. Du Baonian understood him, and this friend was not in vain.
President Li Gong nodded and said: "I have summoned everyone here today. There is indeed important news that I want to share with you.
People haven't arrived yet, but when everyone does, I will share this news so that everyone will never regret coming here."
Jiang Jinxiu, president of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, said with a smile: "A private room in the Empire State Building costs five thousand taels of silver a day.
Even if President Li Gong is rich, he cannot use five thousand taels of silver to play with it.
I believe that President Li Gong will definitely have important news to share with you.
After the economic crisis came, all of us were affected to a certain extent.
At this time, we should unite sincerely and overcome difficulties together.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Instead of tearing each other down because of the previous grudges."
Jiang Jinxiu spoke on behalf of the businessmen in Jiangnan, which was supporting Chairman Li Gong.
As one of the largest textile industry families in the empire, Jiang Jinxiu is also very well-informed.
He doesn’t know the policies that the empire will introduce, what are their specific contents?
But he knows that the empire has decided to introduce relevant policies to solve the current economic crisis.
Chairman Li Gong has a special status, and when the empire is about to announce relevant policies, he summons everyone to the banquet in the name of the president of the Empire Chamber of Commerce.
What he said may not be his true thoughts, but the people behind him instructed him to say it to the businessmen.
It was because Jiang Jinxiu learned about this situation that he spoke out to rescue President Li Gong.
As a businessman, he knows what timely and accurate information means.
He didn't want Chairman Li Gong to choose to hide some important information because he was resented by some people.
President Jiang Jinxiu expressed support for Li Gong. Some businessmen who were fairly well-informed, or who were good at observing people's words and thinking, all agreed with Jiang Jinxiu's approach and supported Li Gong.
Some smart people also choose to play off the yin and yang sound just now.
Most businessmen are thick-skinned and completely ignore these squeezes.
There were only some businessmen who had to come here for the sake of face. They were bullied and chose to leave.
Du Baonian saw these people leaving because they had deep conflicts with the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce.
They are mainly Fujian and Cantonese businessmen.
The industries of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce are in conflict with them, and the accumulated conflicts cannot be alleviated by just saying a few words.
Even now, the chambers of commerce in the southern part of the empire still have extremely serious competition.
This kind of industrial competition is too fierce, which is also one of the reasons why the empire's current economic crisis has been so severe.
Li Gong led Du Baonian to his seat, and he said with a smile: "It's been three days since we've been apart, so we should look at each other with admiration. Brother Du is now the president of the Shanxi Merchants Chamber of Commerce."
Du Baonian sat down and said helplessly: "I don't want to be this president. The president needs to deal with a lot of troublesome things. Just adjusting the conflicts among internal members is more tiring than doing business."
His words made all the presidents present nod secretly.
It is relatively easy for the chamber of commerce to initiate a business war with others.
The most troublesome thing in a chamber of commerce is to adjust internal conflicts.
We are all our own people. Once we deal with things unfairly, our prestige will be affected. If we deal with them impartially, we will be related to them.
The most critical issue is to bridge the contradiction between the two parties, rather than to distinguish who is right and who is wrong.
Du Baonian sighed and said: "I have been in the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce before and have never been in charge.
As he grew older and prepared to spend his remaining years in his hometown, he joined the Shanxi Merchants Chamber of Commerce.
In the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce, I am just a vice-president in name only, and I don't care about anything at all.
Who would have known that the Shanxi Merchant Bank suddenly exploded, and many senior businessmen from the Shanxi Merchant Chamber of Commerce were investigated by the court along with the Shanxi Merchant Chamber of Commerce.
The big bosses of the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce were either shot or thrown into jail.
I am the only one left who is a marginal figure with relatively high qualifications and has become the president of the Shanxi Merchants Chamber of Commerce."
Everyone heard Du Baonian mockingly say this, but they didn't laugh at him.
This kind of thing is too common nowadays.
Many of these presidents are not the presidents they were six months ago.
Under the impact of the economic crisis, companies with problems have exploded one after another.
The imperial court then began to deal with these people, and many of them disappeared from the business community.
President Li Gong looked at Du Baonian with a faint smile on his face.
After Du Baonian used his personal experience to delay for a period of time, all the merchants who should have arrived here have already arrived.
President Li Gong immediately asked the servants and assistants in the house to go out and asked them to close the doors and windows.
He then said excitedly: "Everyone can come here today because they trust me, Mr. Li.
I also want to tell you a piece of news that will make it worthwhile for you to come here.
The imperial court has decided to introduce relevant policies to solve the economic crisis."
Du Baonian said excitedly: "It's great that the imperial court is going to save the stock and bond markets.
Why is it that our Xingsheng Company's stock, which was worth five taels of silver coins at its highest point, is now only worth one hundred and twenty cents?
The stock value dropped so much that people in the company lost confidence and thought the company was going bankrupt."
Chairman Li Gong shook his head and said: "It's impossible for this to happen. If the stock market and bond market lose money, they will lose money.
Even if the imperial court pours all the tax revenue for the whole year into these two markets, it won't make a splash."
As soon as President Li Gong said these words, lamentations could be heard in the room one after another.
These people all invest in the stock and bond markets. Given their status, if they can make such an expression, it means that they will lose a lot of money.
President Li Gong pressed his hands down and said, "Let me finish my words first, and we will discuss this matter later.
If you don't explain everything in detail and only discuss the scales and feathers, you are blind and touching the elephant, unable to see the whole story clearly, and our discussion is also in vain."
Du Baonian echoed: "Everyone is eager to know the court's policy. This feeling is understandable, but don't disturb President Li Gong.
Half a year has passed, and I should be able to afford it if I wait a little longer."
President Li Gong saw the noisy scene return to quiet.
He continued: "The imperial court has issued many policies in response to the current situation in the empire.
These policies involve all aspects and will be announced by the court soon. I will not go into the details.
I will only talk about policies that have a greater impact on the business community.
The imperial court is taking matters into its own hands to deal with the economic crisis. Everyone must be prepared to avoid being affected by the aftermath of the imperial court's actions.
Everyone has survived the difficult economic crisis and the wave of bankruptcies.
When the imperial court takes action, it is the darkness before dawn, and we are about to usher in the dawn.
Everyone must not fall down during this period.”
When everyone heard what Chairman Li Gong said, they all concentrated and waited for Chairman Li Gong to introduce specific policies.
President Li Gong did not whet everyone's appetite, he came with a mission.
Prince Su Shu was worried that the court's actions would cause some merchants to make misjudgments and cause a severe chain reaction.
Then he entrusted Li Gong, the president of the Federation of Industry and Commerce, to remind these businessmen through his mouth.
Chairman Li Gong showed a faint smile and introduced: "My summary of the imperial court's policies on industry and commerce is two general directions.
Support advanced production capacity and eliminate backward production capacity.
The imperial court issued dozens of policies, but they all focused on this theme.
I will only talk about one policy that has a great impact.
The imperial court stipulated that all commercial banks must pay full collateral when lending to backward production capacity, and would also conduct strict review of project funds to prevent project funds from being misappropriated.
It is very easy for commercial banks to obtain loans for advanced production capacity, and the interest rates are relatively low.
It's just this policy difference. Advanced production capacity and backward production capacity are completely different.
Whoever among us invests in advanced production capacity will surely take off.
Once we invest in backward production capacity, the only way to go is bankruptcy."
After President Jiang Jinxiu heard what President Li Gong said, he felt that the trip was worth it.
Just this sentence is worth thousands of gold.
He had learned about some of the policies that the imperial court was about to introduce, but he was a little confused about these policies.
But after Chairman Li Gong's guidance, these things that he couldn't understand are now clear when he thinks about it.
Mao Jiu, the president of the Fujian Chamber of Commerce, snorted coldly and said in a slightly mocking tone: "President Li Gong, I don't know where you heard this gossip.
It's just a conceptual statement that wants us to adjust the future development of the company.
President Li Gong said it too easily, but if we try our best, we may not be able to do it well."
Mao Jiu stared closely at Li Gong's expression. He was using provocation to get Li Gong to reveal more policies.
