Chapter 265: Future Monopoly Enterprises

"Zhou Ming, are you still wondering why I invited you to today's dinner?" Cao Jianing asked.

At this moment, the dinner had long ended, and Zhou Ming and Cao Jianing were in the tea room of the club, just the two of them. The other guests had left as they all had their own matters to attend to. They had come only to discuss the future direction of Lingnan and then left; they couldn't stay here indefinitely.

"Before the dinner, I might not have had a clue, but now I think I understand a bit," Zhou Ming said, looking up at Cao Jianing. "If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Cao, you're worried that these people might still just be giving you lip service, right?"

"How did you guess that, Zhou Ming? How do you manage to figure everything out?" Cao Jianing exclaimed.

Cao Jianing was genuinely impressed with Zhou Ming, not just because he had guessed correctly but also because Zhou Ming had consistently surprised him. If being surprised once was unexpected, Zhou Ming seemed to have made it a habit.

Zhou Ming shrugged nonchalantly. It wasn't that hard to guess. From the dinner, it was clear that while the guests were superficially polite, their politeness seemed too casual, as if they weren't taking the matter seriously.

If one thought deeper, why would Cao's elder brother so easily abandon Tao Niansheng, just because of a smuggling case in the military? How could such a case dissolve an independent faction so easily? It seemed too simplistic. It now appeared that the so-called independent faction didn't actually exist. It was merely some people in Cao's family who wanted to create an independent kingdom and challenge the central government, while more people were just supporting on the surface and actually waiting to see how things developed.

Such fence-sitters would reveal their true colors the moment there was a major upheaval, just like now.

"Actually, Mr. Cao, you're not bad at all. At least you're able to keep a clear mind and recognize the issue, which is already impressive," Zhou Ming complimented Cao Jianing.

Cao Jianing shook his head helplessly. "I just have some self-awareness. After all, my elder brother has been trained in political thinking since he was young. I know I'm not as capable as he is. Now that there's a problem with my elder brother, these people are showing this attitude. I can't afford not to be cautious!"

Zhou Ming pondered for a moment and then said, "Actually, Mr. Cao, your approach itself is fine, but I think your focus shouldn't be entirely on this."

Cao Jianing's eyes lit up. "If not here, where should I focus?"

"That's not what I meant. Since you already have these connections in your family, you should still hold onto them. Whether they're sincere or not, you still have these connections. Many people in Lingnan Province are searching for opportunities without success. Just like me, before meeting Du Peng, no matter how much money I had, I couldn't even get a leader's attention," Zhou Ming sighed. "So, Mr. Cao, you must cherish these connections, or you might end up in trouble. What I want to say is related to what I mentioned before."

"What you mentioned before?"

Cao Jianing thought for a moment, and the verse about Bodhi not being a tree echoed in his mind. He asked Zhou Ming, "Are you suggesting that my direction might be wrong?"

"Partly right and partly wrong, depending on how you see it," Zhou Ming replied.

Cao Jianing looked at Zhou Ming in astonishment. "If my eyes weren't working, I would think I'm discussing philosophy with a sage."

Zhou Ming laughed. "You can understand it that way because that's how it is. Mr. Cao, if you were a department head in the Lingnan Provincial Party Committee or a county party secretary and wanted to navigate the political field in the future, you would need to interact with those people frequently. But from what I know about you, you seem to prefer doing business."

Cao Jianing nodded. "Yes, so I should focus my main efforts on the business field?"

"Exactly. Because if you can create a monopoly enterprise in a certain industry, your status in the central government won't be lower than that of a provincial party secretary," Zhou Ming said.

Zhou Ming wasn't just trying to flatter Cao Jianing. After all, a provincial party secretary was merely the top official of a province. Excluding family factors, his influence was largely confined to his province. In some complex provinces, even a provincial party secretary might not have full influence. However, a monopoly enterprise affects the entire country, and if problems arise, they can have national repercussions, which makes solving them quite troublesome.

This is why, in later years, dealing with state-owned enterprise issues often proved more difficult than simply removing a provincial party secretary.

Had it been any different, the reform and restructuring of state-owned enterprises after 1978 wouldn't have taken over a decade to show results.

As someone from a prominent family, Cao Jianing was clearly more aware of this. But understanding was one thing, and doing it was another. Creating a monopoly in an industry would be impossible without national support.

Zhou Ming noticed Cao Jianing's concerns and deliberately waved his big brother phone on the table in front of him.

Cao Jianing immediately understood Zhou Ming's hint. "You're suggesting that I should enter the mobile phone business?"

"Not just mobile phones, but mobile communication services," Zhou Ming said, taking out his pager. "You should have seen how pagers have developed in just a few years. Each pager with service fees costs hundreds. Imagine a hundred or a thousand pagers. Just in South River and Baiyun City, I believe there are tens of thousands of people with pagers. That could bring in several million or even tens of millions in revenue per month."

Zhou Ming paused for a moment and continued, "And this is just in Baiyun and South River. Imagine if it were nationwide. This would be an income that the central government cannot ignore."

Cao Jianing nodded. "That's true. But can you be sure that mobile phones will surpass pagers in the future and become a giant enterprise that the central government cannot ignore?"

"You're being too conservative, Mr. Cao. I can assure you, it will definitely happen!" Zhou Ming said with certainty. Mobile service operators in later years were all giants. Zhou Ming added, "Mr. Cao, let me ask you one question. Do you think pagers or mobile phones are more convenient?"

"Of course, mobile phones are more convenient!" Cao Jianing answered without hesitation. "After all, pagers can only receive messages. For calls, you still need a phone, but mobile phones can make calls directly."

Zhou Ming shrugged, implying that since mobile phones are more convenient than pagers, they represent the future trend.

Cao Jianing thought for a moment and raised another concern. "But the current price of mobile phones is too high—tens of thousands per unit, and call rates are a dollar per minute. This is unaffordable for ordinary people, not to mention the signal issues and battery limitations. This is a significant restriction."

Hearing Cao Jianing's concerns, Zhou Ming realized why Cao Jianing was not as exceptional as Du Peng. Despite Du Peng's impatience, he was young and somewhat unstable, but he had good vision and was bold. Cao Jianing, on the other hand, was too conservative.

"These issues aren't really a problem. Even if the phones are expensive, people will still buy them. As for the signal issues, it's due to the current limitations in base station networks. With efforts to build a mobile communication network, these issues can be improved," Zhou Ming continued. "Moreover, Mr. Cao, you should always believe that technology progresses with time. Future phones will overcome these problems and even offer many functions we can't yet imagine."

Cao Jianing suddenly realized something. "Is this why you and Du Peng wanted to collaborate with me on building the Lingnan mobile communication network?"

"Yes," Zhou Ming said. "Initially, this was intended for military and national defense use. The civilian aspect was only a small part. Since neither Du Peng nor I have connections with the Lingnan military region, to truly enter this market, we need to cooperate with you, Mr. Cao." Zhou Ming didn't hide this fact. He had indeed instructed Du Peng before the Spring Festival to contact the mobile communication network and secure the business.

Cao Jianing took a deep breath. "I understand now. I will work quickly with the military region to develop the mobile communication network in Lingnan and promote the mobile phone business."

"Not just in Lingnan, but also in the capital, coastal cities, and Jingchu Province, especially in Linyang City. We need to establish the mobile communication network there as well," Zhou Ming added.

Cao Jianing was taken aback. While he could understand building networks in the capital and coastal cities, why Linyang City?

Zhou Ming explained, "Because I'm in Linyang City. It's too inconvenient without a mobile network. So, I don't care about other places, but if I'm involved in mobile network construction, it must be available there. This is my personal wish, so I'll leave this to you, Mr. Cao."

"That's easy to arrange. Jingchu Province is also within the Lingnan military region's jurisdiction and can be built at any time. I'll have Guoli Company start this project as a priority according to your plan tomorrow," Cao Jianing said.

"If we really want to do this well, I suggest not letting Guoli Company handle it. It would be better to establish a new company, with you, Mr

. Cao, and Du Peng and me jointly investing in its establishment," Zhou Ming suggested. "Of course, if Mr. Cao doesn't trust this, you can fund it yourself…"

Cao Jianing immediately shook his head. "I trust your integrity, Zhou Ming. That's not an issue."

"Great. I'll be heading back to Linyang soon. We need to finalize this immediately. What do you think we should name the company?" Zhou Ming asked, leaving the naming to Cao Jianing.

Cao Jianing thought for a moment and said, "Since it's a mobile communication business, let's call it Lingnan Mobile."

"Mr. Cao, our business should not be limited to Lingnan Province but should be nationwide," Zhou Ming reminded.

"Then let's call it China Mobile," Cao Jianing decided.

"Alright," Zhou Ming agreed, though he felt a bit helpless. Despite all the twists and turns, they ended up naming it China Mobile.