Chapter 446: Want to do greening in Luo Potassium

The result did not exceed Guo Yang's expectations. After thinking for a while, several people from the Jinjiang Gang all chose to decline.

It's very uniform.

Sun Weiting of Huafu added funds, bringing the total investment to 1 million yuan.

Cotton growing companies Guannong and Xinnong, as well as many large cotton growers and cotton ginning mills also raised 5 million yuan.

Only Li Rucheng and his daughter of Yageo are still struggling.

Li Rucheng said, "Mr. Guo, the fund has raised a total of US$10 billion. When will Jiahe make up the remaining gap?"

Guo Yang smiled and said, "Any time is fine."

Li Rucheng pondered and said, "Can you give me a little more time? Such a big decision needs to be informed to other shareholders."

"It's OK before the Spring Festival."

"Row."

Li Rucheng nodded. The Jinjiang Gang remained unmoved, which was consistent with the image of this group of people.

Guo Yang didn't force it.

Even if India's cotton production booms for a year or two, it will soon die down and never recover.

During this process, cotton farmers and cotton ginning mills are protected by a sliding tariff and are not as greatly affected by imports.

The textile and garment companies are the most affected because they have cheaper sources of lint and yarn abroad, which gives them a cost advantage.

Domestic yarn products and clothing will face greater competitive pressure when exported.

Guo Yang thought about it and looked at the four people from Fujian Province.

"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Ding, Mr. Wu, Mr. Xu, you can also reconsider it, or go back and investigate the situation of the textile and garment industry abroad. Major countries are facing the pressure of economic recovery, and trade protectionism is on the rise!"

All four of them seemed to be thinking about something.

The premise is external pressure, and this time it is more detailed. Is trade protectionism on the rise?
Wu Rongguang had some vague understanding before, and said, "Boss Guo, I will think about it again when I get back."

The other three people also said the same thing, it wouldn't take much effort to investigate.

"Okay, then I declare the first general meeting of JCIA a success. There will be a dinner party afterwards, so everyone have fun."

"Hahaha, the wine at noon was pretty good, but I was holding back and didn't drink it to my heart's content."

"Mr. Zhou, I'll have a couple more drinks with you later."

Li Rucheng set his sights on Zhou Shaoxiong again. Sevenwolves could basically be considered the core of the Jinjiang Gang at that time. It was not small in size. More importantly, there were a group of men's clothing companies in Fujian Province around Sevenwolves, including KingBoss, Septwolves, Lilang, and Jomoo King...

By taking over Septwolves, the company can also enter the core circle of domestic men's clothing brands.

Sun Weiting was very annoyed by this scene and said, "Boss Zhou, why don't we not attend this dinner and go to Aksu now? I'll have someone prepare some wine."

Li Rucheng laughed and said, "There is no shortage of delicious food and wine in Youngor's territory."

Sun Weiting said: "Jiahe is the initiator here, where did you put Jiahe?"

Li Rucheng teased, "How dare you say that? The dinner hasn't even started yet, and you're already thinking about taking people away?"

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel again, Zhou Shaoxiong felt very embarrassed. He glanced at the crowd watching the show. He was not familiar with the planting company, and his relationship with the other three colleagues was not that harmonious.

After thinking for a while, he looked at Guo Yang and said, "Mr. Guo, I'll need your advice on brand upgrades tonight."

Guo Yang agreed happily.

This is a group that is prone to conflicts, after all, the mid- and downstream companies have overlapping businesses.

Although Guannong and Xinnong are both planting enterprises, the Corps basically has fixed locations, so the conflict of interest is not that great.

Fortunately, Jiahe can act as this regulator.

Mr. Guo is quite good at mediating conflicts. Well, if that doesn't work, he can at least attract attention.

It was still early, but the group didn't care. Instead, they found an empty yard, sat around a fire, drank wine and ate meat.

“Brand upgrading is not easy!”

As expected, Zhou Shaoxiong sat together with Guo Yang by the fire. Li Rucheng and Sun Weiting did not come over and formed a small circle with the others. Li Hanqiong also came close to Yang Cheng to find out more about the investment.

Zhou Shaoxiong said: "Foreign men's clothing brands can achieve annual sales of more than 20 billion, while domestic men's clothing companies mostly hover between 30 billion and billion, and it is difficult to expand."

Hearing this, Guo Yang smiled and said, "It seems that Mr. Zhou wants to have a wolf evolution."

"It's natural. Who wants to be a coyote when you can be a noble wolf?" Zhou Shaoxiong said:
"Septwolves has now fallen into a mid-life crisis. If it doesn't change, in a few years Septwolves will become 'grandfather-level' clothing and join the club of vintage brands."

Guo Yang laughed and said, "I remembered a limerick that might be a little offensive to Mr. Zhou."

Zhou Shaoxiong raised his eyebrows, feeling that something bad was going to happen, but when he thought about the difficulties he had faced in the past year or two, it didn't matter anymore.

"Mr. Guo, you go ahead."

"A loving mother wields a sword to chop her son. A father sees that his son is still alive and pulls out seven wolves."

Guo Yang spoke slowly, but Zhou Shaoxiong still didn't quite understand, so Guo Yang explained it again.

When Zhou Shaoxiong understood the meaning of the doggerel in detail, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

It's over.

Isn't this the epitome of the 'midlife crisis'?
"Mr. Guo, where did you hear this?"

"What I saw on the Internet is still relatively niche, but I guess it won't be long before it becomes known to everyone on the Internet."

Zhou Shaoxiong drank a sip of wine with a depressed look, and Guo Yang also took a sip.

"In the past two years, Septwolves has been undergoing major reforms, trying to transform into a retail management model and enhance its brand image."

In order to achieve brand upgrading, the first thing this self-proclaimed loyal Jinjiang man did when Septwolves was to make a major change in the middle and senior management staff.

This was followed by reforms of the system and framework.

Therefore, in recent years, Seven Wolves has been replacing its players in a rapid manner.

After the internal adjustments were completed, Zhou Shaoxiong began to devote all his efforts to expanding channels and promoting the brand.

On the one hand, the number of self-operated stores is increasing rapidly.

On the other hand, the new advertisement of Septwolves starring five popular male stars including Sun Honglei, Hu Dong, Zhang Hanyu and Lu Chuan also caught the eyes of many people.

"The product style is not prominent enough, and the conflict between franchise stores and self-operated stores is the biggest problem for Septwolves at present."

After listening to the development of Sevenwolves in the past two years, Guo Yang fell into deep thought for a moment.

The franchise agency model that enabled Septwolves to grow rapidly in the early stages has now become a burden for brand upgrading.

The fact that Zhou Shaoxiong was determined to reform was already impressive, but the numerous internal conflicts were not something that he, an outsider, could resolve.

Guo Yang pondered and said, "Does Mr. Zhou think this trip to JCIA will be helpful to Septwolves' product design and improvement?"

"Yes, the quality upgrade of cotton and yarn that we saw at JCIA this time is a great help to the design and development of terminal products, and it is also in line with the new celebrity platform created by Septwolves."

"Forehead…"

The goal of Septwolves’ Hall of Fame is to create a circle of elite men who are well-known in all walks of life.

But Guo Yang thinks this is very difficult!
It is not easy for a coyote to upgrade into a noble wolf.

Guo Yang said: "Maybe Mr. Zhou can pay more attention to the sales channels on the Internet."

Zhou Shaoxiong laughed and said, "Mr. Guo, you haven't paid attention to this year's Double Eleven, right? Has Septwolves' e-commerce business started to gain momentum?"

"Seven wolves went to Weilai's field?"

"Uh... it's Taobao Mall."

To avoid misunderstanding, Zhou Shaoxiong explained: "As early as 08, Septwolves opened a store on Taobao, but at that time the daily revenue was only a few thousand yuan."

"It's not right to not go to Weilai Tianjian. I was wondering why I didn't remember Septwolves. It turns out it's on Taobao Mall."

Guo Yang said dissatisfiedly that this year is the second year that Weilai Tianjian has launched the "Double Eleven" event.

Since Huinong.com completed financing at the beginning of last year, it further improved its warehousing and logistics this year, and its Double Eleven subsidy activities were also grand in scale.

Therefore, even if Taobao started the same subsidy model, NIO Tianjian still had the upper hand in sales on that day.

Especially in the trading and sales of agricultural products, it shows a trend of crushing various platforms.

However, when it comes to the layout of categories such as clothing, Weilai Tianjian's limitations are highlighted and it is unable to do so.

Zhou Shaoxiong laughed and said, "Hahaha, I'll have someone open a store on Weilai's farmland later."

"That's a deal."

Guo Yang then spoke to the bosses of several other clothing brands, and they all gave him face.

After a period of commotion, the topic returned to transformation and upgrading.

There really is no good way.

At the end of his words, Zhou Shaoxiong sighed, "Just bear with it slowly."

This is also the idea of ​​many people in the industry.

The JCIA gathering quickly dispersed.

Everyone goes back to their homes.

But many people took JCIA seriously, and after returning to their respective companies, they began to organize R&D and design departments to verify the quality of raw materials.

It turned out that neither Jiahe nor Sun Weiting lied.

The texture of both yarn and cloth is obviously better than other products.

Moreover, the price does not seem to be much more expensive, but the quality of the finished product is significantly improved.

Although Yageo's Li Rucheng has devoted a lot of energy to real estate and finance in recent years, he has been immersed in the textile industry for two or three decades after all.

He is proficient in all kinds of skills.

He stayed in the Kashgar company for another two days and confirmed again and again that the improvement in yarn quality came from the lint cotton provided by the Jiahe Cotton Ginning Factory.

This kind of lint cotton produced according to JCIA standards is even significantly better than Australian cotton and American cotton.

"Major changes in the global cotton industry..."

Li Rucheng seemed to have grasped something.

"Dad, are you guessing that domestic cotton will seize the high-end market occupied by Australian and American cotton?"

Li Hanqiong was standing by, and the "external pressure" and "trade protectionism" mentioned by Guo Yang really made people think in this direction.

“Is JCIA’s cotton really that good?”

"There is no doubt about this," said Li Rucheng. "Whether it is the data of various indicators or sensory evaluation, JCIA is better."

Li Hanqiong said: "Will trade protectionism also happen? America is known as the beacon of freedom."

Li Rucheng sneered and said, “When someone threatens its interests, all this is just a cover.

You were also involved in the acquisition of the Xinma Group. Have you figured out anything now?"

Li Hanqiong hesitated for a moment and said, "The original offer from Xinma Group was $4.5 million, but we actually got it for $1.2 million."

"So, the sun is setting outside!" Li Rucheng sighed, "The more it is at this time, the more likely it is that the enemy will fight back desperately."

There is no doubt that the JCIA will have an impact on Australian and American cotton, and the two countries are in the same boat.

So it is not impossible that the iron fist of trade protectionism will fall.

But is it worth it for Yageo to invest in Jiahe Cotton Futures Private Equity?

After tossing and turning for two days, Li Rucheng finally asked Yageo to stop bidding for several plots of land in Zhejiang and Shanghai.

The total value of these plots of land is about 25 billion yuan.

At the same time, several other companies have also discovered that the improvement in the quality and output of Xinjiang cotton has threatened the high-end cotton market occupied by the United States and Australia.

Some clues have emerged.

...

Korla.

The sky is clear and cloudless.

This is a huge cotton storage base located in an open space, covering a very large area.

A large amount of wrapped cotton was arranged neatly, like small hills, stacked tightly and orderly.

Outside the base are several low buildings used for offices and accommodation.

This is the logistics park of Jiahe Cotton and Linen Company.

"The logistics park has successfully applied for the qualification of Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange's cotton futures delivery warehouse, with an annual dynamic storage capacity of 60 tons of lint cotton. It is also the first futures delivery warehouse in Aksu."

Guo Yang and Ji Linchuan stood on the roof of the office building, looking at the logistics park piled high with cotton bales.

The cold wind blew, but Ji Linchuan's slender body remained motionless. "This is the first cotton futures delivery warehouse in Xinjiang Province!"

Domestic cotton futures trading has entered its seventh year.

But in the past few years, Xinjiang Province, an important cotton producing area in China, has not had any futures delivery warehouse.

Ji Linchuan said: "In the past, if you wanted to participate in cotton futures delivery, you had to transport the goods to other places. Now you can complete the delivery in Aksu."

"Well done."

Guo Yang highly recognizes this breakthrough.

Especially under the impact of Indian cotton in the next two years, cotton ginning mills and traders can only avoid the risks brought about by major market changes by actively embracing futures tools.

In the past, due to delivery restrictions, many cotton mills and traders in Xinjiang Province were reluctant to use futures tools.

With a futures delivery warehouse nearby, upstream customers will be more willing to place their goods in Aksu.

After the goods are put into storage, they can be sold at the basis point price, or directly sold on the market, and then delivered to downstream buyers through the delivery warehouse.

For downstream textile enterprises that purchase lint cotton, the cotton futures delivery warehouse is equivalent to a huge raw material base, making cotton purchase more convenient. This is a breakthrough in cotton logistics in Xinjiang Province.

Jiahe Cotton and Linen Company can also earn profits from warehousing and logistics, transaction commissions, financial services, information consulting and other aspects.

In addition to this delivery warehouse, Guo Yang also saw another cotton futures delivery warehouse under construction when passing through Aksu.

In addition, the Cotton and Linen Company owns as many as 13 cotton ginning mills through acquisition and new construction.

Cotton processing capacity has exceeded 100 million tons!

It is mainly distributed in the three oases of Kashgar, Aksu and Korla.

Guo Yang felt that the achievements of the cotton and linen company were okay. Even if he had to spend money, he had to find the right people to execute them.

In the last confrontation with Louis Dreyfus and Ikam in the domestic cotton futures market, although Jiahe won, it earned more than 1 billion in profits from the two companies.

But there is one big regret.

Jiahe did not choose to deliver the 60 tons of cotton spot held by Louis Dreyfus.

The first reason is that the delivery location is not in the northwest.

Second, Jiahe is difficult to digest.

If faced with this situation again today, Jiahe will no longer show mercy but will take advantage of the situation.

Louis Dreyfus and Ikam have not disappeared from the China Futures Market and are still important participants in domestic cotton futures.

Perhaps the two sides will have a chance to face off again in the next two or three years.

Guo Yang pondered and said, "We also need to strengthen the understanding of futures among cotton spinning enterprises. Hedging is a good tool to avoid risks."

Ji Linchuan nodded and said, "We have already carried out training in this area together with the exchange."

The delivery warehouse and the exchange have a close relationship, which can attract more people to deliver in Jiahe’s logistics park and earn more fees.

So both sides are very enthusiastic about this aspect.

After looking at the rooftop for a while, the two returned to the office.

Guo Yang sorted it out again in his mind, and only after confirming that Jiahe had taken all the possible countermeasures did he prepare to go to the next stop.

He is going to Luojia.

There are two routes to Luojia. One is from Hami, which is about 380 kilometers to Luojia. You can take a train or drive.

The other route is to start from Ruoqiang, but there is no airport in Ruoqiang at that time, so it is not convenient to go there from Korla.

Guo Yang naturally chose to go to Hami first and then to Luojia.

However, before he set off, Cui Jianwen, general manager of Guannong Co., Ltd., invited him.

Guo Yang was a little hesitant and asked Ji Linchuan: "How has Guannong been these past two years?"

“It’s OK, but Guannong’s losses in the fruit and vegetable business are quite serious.”

"What about cotton?"

"Guannong's cotton processing business is small, but its investment in this private equity fund is not small."

"..."

This is a bad fate.

In the original time and space, apart from Guoliang Sugar Industry, the company with the best domestic tomato business was Guannong Co., Ltd.

But what attracts much attention from investors is its holding of shares in Luo Potassium, which allows it to make money from dividends every year.

However, part of the Luo Potassium shares held by Guannong were acquired by Jiahe, and it should have been paying dividends for three years.

Ji Linchuan briefed Guo Yang on the current situation of Guannong.

Guo Yang also took the opportunity to send a message to Qi Ziwen, "How much money has Luo Potassium distributed in dividends in the past few years?"

Guannong is now a Corps enterprise, and its main business is deep processing of fruits and vegetables.

At the same time, it also invested in gold mines and hydropower.

However, due to excessive investment in the fruit and vegetable deep processing project and too small production capacity of apricots and other miscellaneous fruits, Guannong's fruit and vegetable deep processing development was not very ideal.

So Guannong made another adjustment, taking advantage of the tomato resources in the Yanqi area and switching to producing tomato sauce.

He also acquired a sugar factory and planted sugar beets to make sugar.

As for the cotton business, it acquired the equity of a cotton ginning factory.

Guo Yang also looked at Guannong's stock price on the computer and said, "The stock price performance is a bit average."

"It's okay. You can't compare him to Jiahua."

Ji Linchuan was puzzled, as Guannong had performed well in the stock market in recent years.

"Too."

When Guannong resold its shares in Luo Potassium, it took away a lot of funds from Jiahe.

Although agricultural resource development is not very good, investment in other minerals and hydropower has also performed well.

I shouldn't be here to cause trouble...

Qi Ziwen has also paid out the dividends from Luo Potassium, which were 1171 million, 4410 million and 4195 million for three consecutive years.

I think Guannong’s dividends are quite a lot.

No wonder Guannong would participate in this private placement, as it has money.

So the reason why they came to us now should be because of the tomato and sugar business.

However, Guo Yang had completely misunderstood.

Guannong Co., Ltd. and Tianhe Seed Co., Ltd. have already established cooperation in tomatoes and beets.

Cui Jianwen came here purely for a visit because he did not attend the JCIA gathering this time.

Guo Yang exclaimed that it was unnecessary.

Fortunately, Guannong has no regrets about selling 10% of Luo Potassium shares to Jiahe. After all, that money accelerated Guannong's development in minerals and hydropower.

When you think about it, well, it’s still a bit of a loss.

After meeting with Cui Jianwen, Guo Yang set off for Hami.

Afterwards, the Shahai Agriculture and Animal Husbandry convoy picked up Guo Yang and drove to Luojia. The specific fulcrum for Shahai Agriculture and Animal Husbandry to enter the National Desert Park has not yet been determined.

However, Shahai Agriculture and Animal Husbandry is already familiar with the basic situation of the triangle from Dunhuang to Hami, from Hami to Luojia, and from Luojia to Dunhuang.

The road conditions became increasingly complicated, with gravel roads, sandy roads, and potash shell roads, and the cars in front and behind were all covered in mud.

On the roadside, you can occasionally see wrecked and abandoned vehicles, but the people on them have been rescued.

On this road, you only see a few cars in a day.

But you can often see people and buildings in the desert.

"In Lop Nur, don't trust your eyes. Don't walk down to the ground. Everything you see in the distance is an illusion. There are mirages everywhere. It feels like there are people and animals everywhere, but in fact, they are nothing.

This is one of the reasons why many people who cross Lop Nur never make it out.”

Having stayed here for several years, Lu Zechuan, who also came to pick up Guo Yang at the airport, introduced the situation of Lop Nur to Guo Yang.

Countless explorers have died in Lop Nur, including many famous prospectors.

From Peng Jiamu, to Yu Chunshun, and then to the contemporary Xu Xiake and Zhao Ziyun, they all remained in this desert forever.

Zhao Ziyun, in particular, is known as the "Desert King", "Living Map of Lop Nur", "Compass of Life", "Crazy Professor" and so on.

He can always turn danger into safety when the team is in trouble with his rich experience.

But he died in a car accident on his way back from prospecting.

This is an awe-inspiring place.

But hidden in this forbidden zone of life is one of the largest potassium sulfate production companies in my country and even in the world.

"Mr. Guo, your presence here brings honor to our humble company!"

Guo Yang couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth, thinking that there was no grass in this damn place, and the polite words were too polite.

The person in front of him was none other than Li Shoujiang, the second-in-command of Guotou Luo Potassium. He was a technical background and won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 05.

When the Delong Group controlled Luo Potassium, Li Shoujiang was the leader and one of the founders of the Luo Potassium project, leading Luo Potassium to open the door to the treasure of Lop Nur.

In the future, he was also awarded the title of "Model of the Times".

"I have long heard of Mr. Li's great name. Mr. Miao Lanchun praised Mr. Li highly. The Milan River Hub project was made possible thanks to Mr. Li."

"Haha, that shows that Mr. Miao is courageous, and it also shows that Jiahe supports Luo Potassium."

Li Shoujiang was wearing a gray work suit and had a calm expression. After exchanging some pleasantries, the two men went into Luo Potassium for a tour.

In addition to office buildings and living areas, the most important thing is the salt lake.

Brine extraction channels were dug on the barren saline-alkali land, and the brine flowed endlessly and gathered into the size of a lake, with a luminous green glow beneath the milky white surface.

At first glance, the salt lake is endless and the lake surface is as calm as a large piece of emerald.

A huge amphibious water mining machine was parked on the lake, and huge production equipment was displayed in front of Guo Yang.

He was amazed at the wonders of nature and impressed by the Luojia people's ability to open up new land.

There is no fresh water and no grass here. The average annual precipitation is only 39 mm, but the evaporation is as high as 4800 mm. There are more than 7 days of strong winds above level 200 every year.

"When we first arrived, we all lived in tents and dugouts..."

Li Shoujiang has been here for almost 12 years and he also talked about the conditions here when he first came here.

It’s like being on the moon, even the horizon is curved.

As for Lop Nur Town, there was no trace of it.

When Guo Yang came, Ji Linchuan also introduced that a store at the entrance to the town also provided accommodation, but it was a dugout with quite a history.

A dugout is a pit about one meter deep dug below the ground. After some simple repairs, it can be inhabited. It was the most common form of residence during the Corps' construction period.

But it has been abandoned for twenty or thirty years.

However, in Lop Nur, the Diwozi Hotel is still in operation today and should have several more years of life left.

The entire town’s fresh water comes from the water diverted from the Milan River by Luo Potassium.

The Milan River hub project, which was built with Jiahe's 2.2 million yuan investment, has been completed, but the second phase of the water transfer project has not yet started.

Li Shoujiang said: "It is not a good time to speed up the second phase of Luoyang Potassium."

“What about just a water supply project?”

Guo Yang knows that the price of potash fertilizer has dropped after experiencing high prices in the past two years.

This may also be a deliberate act by the four major potash fertilizer companies.

"Is Mr. Guo thinking about establishing a plant introduction test demonstration base in the potash mining area?"

"Yes, I heard that Luo Potassium employees often go to the cafeteria just to take a look at the green vegetables."

"..."

"Life here is monotonous, with strong winds and constant sandstorms. I can't help but feel irritated after a while. I just want to see some green. Green brings life."

Li Shoujiang said helplessly: "In fact, the first phase of water transfer reserved water for ecological use. Water is not a problem, but we can't grow anything. If something goes wrong, it will die."

"So Jiahe came here, got the dividends, and should also make some contribution to Luo Potassium."

Guo Yang smiled and said: "In the future, not only will Luojia be able to see greenery, but Jiahe will also build various green landscape areas in office buildings, canteens and living areas."

“It’s great if we can grow crops and survive.”

The person who said this was Fu Huifang, a middle-aged woman and director of Luo Potassium's office.

"In the past, employees thought of many ways to create greenery. First, they brought potted flowers from home, and later the company distributed potted flowers.

For a while, almost every dormitory had green ivy, spider plants, and creepers, but not long after, they all died one after another.”

Guo Yang said: "The plants in Jiahe are different."

Fu Huifang teased: "As for salt-resistant plants, we also tried to plant red willow and saxaul in plastic and wooden barrels, but they died after a while."

Guo Yang shook his head. "Haloxylon ammodendron and red willow have well-developed root systems. If they are planted in a bucket, they can't grow well and will die."

"It can't grow on saline soil!"

"Jiahe can."

Guo Yang pushed Lu Zechuan out and said, "You have to trust Mr. Lu. He is very capable."

Lu Zechuan spends most of his time in the Milan River Basin and only comes to Luo Potassium occasionally, but he is very familiar with planting in extreme environments.

"Mr. Li, give me a piece of land and return me a piece of green."

Li Shoujiang smiled and said, "Isn't it a green landscape?"

Lu Zechuan said: "That's no problem."

It is not easy to grow plants, and it is even more difficult to grow green landscapes. Fu Huifang was obviously a little skeptical.

But Li Shoujiang nodded and agreed.

"Let's make three rules first, Mr. Li. If Jiahe can really make a radical transformation of the greening of Luojia, the second phase of the water transfer project will have to start."

"Haha, Luo Potassium will pay attention to the opinions of shareholders."

Guo Yang also smiled and said: "If the second phase of water supply can be completed, the Jiahe area around Lop Nur Town can be greened for you."

Li Shoujiang said: "I am waiting for that day."

(End of this chapter)