115: The bank is giving away money for free? Okay, I'll think about it!

Far away in the frozen, snowy lands, Zhou Cun sneezed for no reason.

Wang Zizhong muttered, "Got a cold? Don't rely on being young; put on more layers. East Siberia isn't like our Qinchuan."

"Vice Factory Manager, can people even live in this barren land?"

"Don't underestimate this place. The coal and iron ore resources are extremely rich, and the fishing and forestry resources aren't bad either. It's just that the Russians are wary of us and won't let us engage in large-scale development."

"If this place were developed, wouldn't our Sandong Province be able to revitalize itself again?"

"The Russians think the same way, so they'd rather let the place rot than develop it themselves."

"For the longmao agricultural vehicle to operate here, it must be fitted with snow tires."

"You're right. We need to negotiate the price carefully; after all, this is our first export order."

As the two were talking, a tall Russian girl approached to greet them. The following days were just a cycle of waking up to drink and drinking until passing out.

Even Wang Zizhong, a little lamb from Subei, couldn't handle the Russians' vodka.

Julong Steel Factory, Chairman's office.

Lu Shenwei flipped through the development report for Julong Steel submitted by Ma Quanlin, feeling incredibly surprised.

In just a few years, Julong Steel Pipe had sold nearly 900,000 pipes, 160,000 steel cylinders, 300,000 units of the Longying Drone, and 420,000 units of the improved and performance models of the longmao small car.

Even after donating 2 billion, there was still 3.1 billion left in the account, and the working capital was growing rapidly.

The young Finance Officer had mentioned many times that they needed to revitalize the reserve funds and improve the efficiency of capital utilization.

"Take 1 billion and put it into large-denomination certificates of deposit, and use the rest of the money to expand the factory," Lu Shenwei said.

The young Finance Officer looked up and said, "1 billion? Very well, Chairman."

Based on the current cash flow, it's estimated that they could earn another 700 to 800 million by the end of the year.

"The Five Major Banks somehow got news of our factory expansion, and the provincial branch presidents all want to see you."

"What do they want to see me for? They aren't going to give us money."

"That's exactly what they're doing—giving us money, and for free."

"For free? How so?"

Lu Shenwei asked in confusion, and the Finance Officer handed over five loan agreements.

Lu Shenwei flipped through them casually. The Five Major Banks were fast; he had only just made the plan, and they had already drafted the loan agreements.

"Are the Dragon Xia, Industrial and Commercial, Agricultural, Construction, and Communications banks all here?"

"Yes, and they are offering discounted interest loans."

"That good? Doesn't that mean it's practically free money?"

"You could understand it that way. This is specially authorized by the Dragon Xia headquarters; each bank can provide us with a 1 billion unsecured loan with discounted interest."

"1 billion? That's quite a lot."

While speaking, Lu Shenwei quietly pulled up the system to check if he could use the borrowed money to exchange for black technology from the mall.

After receiving a negative response, Lu Shenwei asked in a low voice, "What about the loan terms?"

"The Agricultural Bank is the longest, giving 5 years, while the Industrial and Commercial Bank is the shortest, giving 3 years."

"Borrow all of it."

Lu Shenwei thought for a moment; the money for the factory expansion would come from the banks.

The Finance Officer nodded gently, but then heard Lu Shenwei add, "The payment terms for suppliers used to be six months; starting next month, change it to three months."

If he was going to eat meat, he couldn't just let others drink the soup; he had to at least give them some meat scraps.

The Finance Officer nodded silently. Lu Shenwei was about to say something else when the office phone on the desk suddenly rang.

"Chairman, this is Old Liu at the front gate. There's an old gentleman here named Chen Qizheng who says he has an appointment with you."

"Chen Qizheng? That's right. Tell him to wait a moment; I'll come to get him."

Lu Shenwei hung up the phone and headed straight for the front gate.

Due to confidentiality regulations, Lu Shenwei required all visitors to be accompanied by a designated person.

If any issues arose with the visitors, the accompanying personnel would be held equally responsible.

"Elder Chen, you could have just called. Why make the trip yourself?"

Lu Shenwei welcomed him in with a smile. Chen Qizheng said casually, "I just happened to be passing by, so I thought I'd drop in. I'm not disturbing your work, Director Lu, am I?"

"What are you saying? Let's chat in the conference room."

Chen Qizheng left his assistant waiting at the gate and followed Lu Shenwei into Julong Steel.

Inside the conference room, the two chatted about various things, but the conversation eventually turned to cooperation on the longmao agricultural vehicle.

"Regarding the cooperation we discussed yesterday, I wonder what you've decided, Director Lu?"

If Julong Steel was a local snake the day before yesterday, then after the baptism of yesterday's commendation meeting, Julong Steel had become a true towering dragon, and one backed by the Great Leader at that.

"I want to be a hands-off manager, I just don't know what your thoughts are, General Manager Chen."

"We will fully act as agents for the longmao agricultural vehicle, and we absolutely won't increase the price by a single cent when selling to farmers. What do you think?"

"Are you thinking of using the sale of agricultural machinery to also peddle your own fertilizer, General Manager Chen?"

"It's so simple talking to a smart person. If you agree, I can even subsidize the sales of the longmao agricultural vehicle."

"Agreed, but we cannot close the rural sales points we've already opened."

Chen Qizheng nodded and said, "That goes without saying."

Afterwards, the two discussed the details of the cooperation, and Chen Qizheng left satisfied.

After learning about this, Ma Quanlin asked in confusion, "We are also subsidizing production. Isn't Chen Qizheng just trying to use our products to decorate his own storefront?"

"Uncle Ma, we can't eat all the meat in the big pot that is Qinchuan. I want to tell these big enterprises in Qinchuan that if they cooperate with Julong Steel, there will be meat to eat."

Julong Steel is not the Li family; it can accommodate all collaborators.

Of course, if anyone is ungrateful and wants to compete with Julong Steel, Lu Shenwei will also use thunderous means to crush his opponents.

"I understand."

Ma Quanlin nodded. "By the way, the city's Planning and Natural Resources Bureau came by again this afternoon, hoping we'd preserve the old trees in the planned factory area. I've had several gardeners look at them, but the trees are too tall to handle."

If Lu Shenwei didn't have any good ideas either, Ma Quanlin planned to cut them all down and plant something that grows easily, like paulownia trees.

"It takes ten years to grow a tree and a hundred years to cultivate a person; it's not easy for them to grow this big. I'll give you my opinion in a couple of days."

Lu Shenwei pondered; the system mall should have equipment that can prune tree crowns.

"Alright, I'll get back to work." Ma Quanlin said, then turned and left.

Less than half a minute after he left, the red landline on Lu Shenwei's desk rang.

"Little Lu, you scolded the officials at the commendation meeting; you have guts, kid. I like that personality," Chen Guang said with a chuckle.

Lu Shenwei replied calmly, "Leader, please don't tease me. What instructions do you have for calling?"

"Can't I just call to keep in touch?"

"You're a busy person; do you really have time to keep in touch?"

"That's true. Next week there's a theater confrontation exercise, and I want you to come over and see the debut of the drone swarm attack, as well as test the effectiveness of the Liuguang Coating."

"Which day are you talking about?"

"Don't schedule any other work next week; I'll notify you at any time."

Theater exercises are of great importance, and the final time is always determined on short notice.

Especially since the opponent this time, the Blue Side, is led by Colonel Man, who is famous for not playing by the rules.

Perhaps next week's exercise might even be moved up to tomorrow.