16: Is there still a king's law? Is there still law?

"Old Ma, we haven't even had a few good days yet, how did you get so carried away?"

Ma Quanlin looked around at the crowd, completely bewildered.

Almost everyone surrounding him was an elderly worker; some had even worked in the same workshop with him when they were young.

"Old Lu, how did I get carried away?" Ma Quanlin asked.

"You *did* get carried away. Tell us, how much money did you take from Wang Zizhong to make you betray our factory's core interests?"

"That's right, that's right! He must have taken money from that Subei Little Sheep."

The group of old colleagues chimed in one after another, looking as if they wouldn't let him leave until he explained everything clearly.

"Sigh, so this is what you're talking about?"

Ma Quanlin suddenly realized and immediately explained, "Acquiring the Shanmao Tractor Factory is a step in our diversification. Don't get the wrong idea."

"And for those saying I took bribes, Wang Zizhong is so broke he's about to sell his underwear. Does he even have money to give me?"

"Old Ma, don't try to brush us off. Don't think that just because the chairman is young, he doesn't understand these underhanded tricks."

"We old folks have sharp eyes. You're taking advantage of the chairman's delegation of power to act recklessly!"

The old workers wouldn't let it go, and Ma Quanlin couldn't explain his way out of it.

"Chairman, something's wrong! Director Ma is being surrounded!"

The assistant rushed into the room anxiously. Lu Shenwei asked in surprise, "Surrounded? By people from the Shanmao Tractor Factory?"

It must be that the people from the Shanmao Tractor Factory were dissatisfied with the resettlement plan, but it could still be discussed; there was no need to surround someone.

"No, it's our factory's old workers. They insist that Director Ma took bribes from Wang Zizhong."

Ugh, they really wronged Uncle Ma.

On the day the equity transfer agreement was signed, Wang Zizhong was so moved he almost cried.

If he still had money, he would have brought it out to help the factory develop long ago. Would it have ended up being sold off?

"Let's go take a look."

When Lu Shenwei arrived at the scene of the conflict, Ma Quanlin was explaining with a bitter expression. He had talked until his throat was dry, but the old workers still wouldn't let him leave.

"What are you all doing? Have the production tasks been completed?" Lu Shenwei looked around at the crowd and said in a loud voice.

"Chairman, Director Ma isn't being honest. He tricked you into taking over such a rotten unit as the tractor factory."

"Chairman, you mustn't be fooled by Old Ma. He must have taken money from Wang Zizhong."

Seeing that everyone was thinking about the factory's development, Lu Shenwei gave up the idea of reprimanding them.

"The acquisition of the Shanmao Tractor Factory was my idea. Do you have an objection?"

"I have spoken about the need for corporate diversification on many occasions. Where did you put my words?"

"Saying Director Ma is dishonest—isn't that just saying that I, the chairman, am ignorant?"

Lu Shenwei's face darkened, and the crowd was left speechless.

"In the future, if anyone leads a disturbance again or disrespects the factory's decisions, don't blame me for turning heartless!"

Seeing that Lu Shenwei was genuinely angry, Ma Quanlin said in a low voice, "Everyone has the factory's best interests at heart. Don't just stand there, disperse."

With Ma Quanlin speaking up, the crowd looked at Lu Shenwei. Seeing the latter nod slightly, they left as if granted an amnesty.

"This is outrageous. Uncle Ma, are you alright?"

"What could happen to me? As for that bunch of old geezers, I could handle them with one hand."

Ma Quanlin laughed heartily, but inwardly he muttered that he knew his colleagues' personalities too well, as they saw each other every day.

There must be something strange behind this gathering, and he would investigate it carefully when he had time.

Lu Shenwei said softly, "Today's incident has also exposed a new problem for us."

"What problem? Loose management?"

"No, it's the development issue after taking over the Shanmao Tractor Factory."

On the surface, the scale of Julong Steel has expanded, but its intrinsic quality is declining.

The only profitable businesses are steel pipe and gas cylinder production. Massive amounts of capital have been invested in drone R&D with no output yet, and the livelihood of the four hundred people at the newly acquired Shanmao Tractor Factory is an even bigger problem.

Lu Shenwei and the technicians have already studied it; the two dilapidated tractor production lines are barely usable.

But to make them profitable, they still need to put in some serious effort.

"There are only a few companies in the country that have made a name for themselves in agricultural machinery."

Yisan Heavy Industry and Liuzhou Machinery are the leading large-scale agricultural machinery enterprises in Dragon Xia, almost monopolizing 70% of the domestic market share.

If Julong Steel wants to get involved in the competition, it's as difficult as reaching the sky.

"We both need to think carefully about this."

Lu Shenwei urged, noting that green agriculture is also a development direction worth considering.

"I'll contact the experts at the Qinchuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences to see if they have any ideas about agricultural machinery."

Let professionals handle professional matters; that's always correct.

"By the way, the Shanmao Tractor Factory is closing at the end of the month. What is Wang Zizhong planning to do?" Lu Shenwei asked.

"Subei Little Sheep said he's going back to his hometown. He's probably disheartened."

Ma Quanlin mused. Actually, he quite liked Wang Zizhong, even though he had been tricked by him before.

"Going back to his hometown? Isn't that a waste of talent? That group of workers at the Shanmao Tractor Factory is not easy to handle; have him come back to lead the team."

"Rehire him?"

"Not rehiring, but formally inviting him to join Julong Steel."

"That old guy is very stubborn; I might not be able to persuade him."

"Tell him the workers at the Shanmao Tractor Factory are insubordinate, and I'm planning to fire a batch of them."

"You always have the best tricks. I'll contact him in a while."

Striking a snake by hitting its seven inches—why did Wang Zizhong want to leave after the restructuring of the Shanmao Tractor Factory? It was simply because he felt reassured seeing that his colleagues were settled, and only then did he decide to leave.

But Lu Shenwei just wouldn't let him have his way. He cherished his colleagues, lived frugally, and even went so far as to visit people personally to help his colleagues find a good place.

Such a person might not be a technical talent, but he is certainly a backbone of the team—the kind who shines, generates heat, and unites the team.

When Wang Zizhong received the call from Ma Quanlin, he was bewildered.

What does this mean? Inviting me to be the deputy factory director at Julong Steel?

I already ran the Shanmao Tractor Factory into the ground; aren't you Chairman Lu afraid?

"Our chairman cherishes talent. Just agree to it."

Ma Quanlin said with a chuckle, but Wang Zizhong politely declined his invitation.

"I'm old, not full of drive like Chairman Lu. Let's just forget it."

"Forget it? Alright then. A few days ago, some workers from the original Shanmao Tractor Factory didn't follow labor discipline, and Chairman Lu said he'd make an example of them and fired them all!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Zizhong's face turned black.

"Which unit doesn't have troublemakers? Educate them, and they can still be good comrades."

"Julong Steel is in a period of rapid development. We lack everything except people. Fired is fired!"

"Old Ma, you are forcing me!"

"Hehe, anyway, you're not the factory director, so that's that."

"Fine, fine, fine. I'm afraid of you guys. I agree to join Julong Steel, okay?"

From then on, Wang Zizhong, half-reluctantly, officially joined Julong Steel and became the number three figure under Ma Quanlin.

With Ma Quanlin managing the original Shanmao Tractor Factory workers, Lu Shenwei could also fully focus on debugging the drone production line, and everything at Julong Steel was developing for the better.

On the other hand, at the Dragon Xia Naval Procurement and Research Department, Director Gu Ming had a face full of dark lines; research on the new generation of domestic arresting gear was proving exceptionally difficult.