Chapter 709: Negotiations (Part 2)

The next day, there would be a solemn return ceremony and naturalisation ceremony for Xia Yu.

Li Chunqiu said that there was no need to make a big fuss, but after Ye Qianyuan spoke to the heads of the various martial arts schools in Wudang Mountain, they decided that the ceremony should be held.

It so happened that they also learned about Xia Yu's identity, and the local leaders of Hubei Province would also be present, so they attached even more importance to it.

For this kind of ceremony, Xia Yu had never experienced it in his past or present life, and at first it felt a bit novel.

About twenty minutes before the ceremony was about to begin, sure enough, the local leaders of Hubei Province arrived, but they also knew that they could not steal the show now, so they took their seats in the VIP seats and watched.

The whole process took an hour or so, and Xia Yu was only then officially added to the roster of Wudangshan Taoist succession.

From this moment on, Xia Yu could also be considered a Taoist, and he was satisfied with this additional identity.

After the ceremony, Xia Yu first met Ye Qianyuan with Li Chunqiu. After just five minutes, Ye Qianyuan, who was familiar with the situation in the country, agreed to Xia Yu's request.

After all, Xia Yu is one of their own, and the specific management will also involve the council established by the Wudang Taoist Temple. With Xia Yu's connection, others will also be cautious when it comes to Wudang Mountain in the future.

After leaving, Xia Yu went straight to the living room and met with the waiting leaders of Hubei Province, Sun Jianghai, and the second-in-command of Checheng City, Liu Feng.

If it weren't for the order from their superiors, telling them to cooperate with Xia Yu as much as possible and meet his reasonable requests as much as possible, they would not have dropped their busy affairs to come here.

Upon seeing Xia Yu enter, Sun Jianghai and the others, who were having tea, immediately stood up and greeted Xia Yu with a smile.

'Mr Xia, please sit!'

'Thank you!'

'After you!'

After the pleasantries, Sun Jianghai gave Liu Feng a wink, and the latter immediately understood, put down his teacup and asked, 'Mr Xia, I heard from the staff that you plan to take over the management of Wudang Mountain?'

Xia Yu nodded with a smile and said, 'That's right!'

'Returning to Wudang Mountain and developing it further has always been my master's wish, and as his disciple I of course want to fulfil his wish.'

'And now I am also a part of Wudang Mountain, so there is all the more reason for me to do this.'

Liu Feng looked troubled. 'Mr Xia, we understand your thoughts, but there is no precedent for this kind of thing anywhere in the country. And Wudang Mountain is not like any other mountain. It is also a sacred place for Taoism. There are too many factors involved, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to succeed.'

Xia Yu smiled faintly and said, 'Director Liu, why don't you listen to my thoughts first, and then decide if it is practical and feasible?'

'Please go on!'

Liu Feng's face became serious, and he made a gesture to show that he was listening.

'When I say I want to contract out Wudang Mountain, I don't mean to move the property rights of Wudang Mountain. I know that's impossible. I just need the management rights for tourism development.'

'Right now, the country is still in the stage of solving the problem of hunger and clothing, but abroad, as people's living standards continue to improve, the pursuit of spiritual civilization and material enjoyment will become the norm. This will stimulate the development of the tourism industry. Many foreign cities rely on tourism to support the livelihood of their residents.'

'Just think, as long as someone is here on holiday, they definitely won't be leaving the same day, so they will definitely have to spend money locally, on food and drink, accommodation, transport, shopping, etc. As soon as money circulates, taxes will be generated, which will not only enrich the local residents, but also increase local tax revenue, and there are very few other harmful effects.'

'If you just want to attract people to come and visit, then Wudang Mountain needs to be decorated. Now the buildings on the mountain are dilapidated, and there is no spare money domestically to repair them. If I were to take on the contract, I would pay for the repairs and operate the Wudang Mountain scenic area as a company. The Wudang Taoist religion would set up a council to participate in the operation, and you would only need to send someone to supervise. You wouldn't need to send someone to run it, and you could enjoy the company's profits.'

Liu Feng was already in his fifties and had never travelled abroad, so he had no idea what the tourism industry was really like.

Moreover, he knew that no one had the time or money to travel right now, but he knew that the domestic economy was definitely set to improve, and he would not mention some of the things involved.

His common sense told him that Xia Yu's proposal was well-founded and could become a feature of Checheng City's future, and as the local official in charge, he could not afford not to pay attention to it.

At this point, Sun Jianghai, who had been silent, spoke up. He said concisely, 'Mr Xia, what you mean is that you will provide the money and personnel, we will provide the land, Wudang Taoism will participate, and the three parties will establish a joint venture?'

Xia Yu nodded: "That's right!'

Sun Jianghai immediately said, "We need to hold a meeting to study the feasibility of this, but let me assume that if it is feasible, we want to control the equity!'

Xia Yu immediately shook his head and refused: 'No way. You don't have any management experience in this field. I'm the investor, you can't let me lose money, only our management can rest assured.'

It's a joke, he must hold both the controlling interest and the management rights.

How could he not know what the situation would be in the next few decades? As long as one of the powers is not in his hands, the joint venture company established may lose, or become a shell company.

Even if he has both powers in his hands, he still needs to strengthen supervision to prevent the company from being eaten away by some audacious people.

He was well aware that there were too many people on the mainland, and there were plenty of bold and reckless people among them.

Xia Yu's refusal also made Sun Jianghai unhappy, but Xia Yu's reasons were also beyond his ability to argue. However, he still shook his head and said, 'Mr Xia, the reform of the domestic joint-stock system has just begun, and the conditions for foreign investment access also stipulate that we must hold a controlling interest. Your request exceeds my decision-making authority.'

Xia Yu said, 'Director Sun, in fact, you should know very well that there are always exceptions to every rule. Although I am not a native of the mainland, the blood of the Chinese people flows in my veins. Some of my previous investments were solely funded. If you don't believe me, you can check.'

'I understand your difficulty, so why don't you do this: research it internally and pass on my request.'

'By the way, Sun Leader, the amount of my investment will be at least 100 million Hong Kong dollars for the first phase. This money can be converted into US dollars or British pounds as you specify.'

'And repairing such a large Wudang Mountain will definitely require a large number of construction materials and workers, which will definitely be supplied locally.'

Having said this, Xia Yu said no more and took a sip of tea.

Sun Jianghai's moustache twitched as he was captivated by Xia Yu's last two sentences.

One hundred million Hong Kong dollars, if converted into foreign exchange, would be more than 20 million US dollars. You have to know that last year, in 1978, the country's foreign exchange reserves were only 167 million US dollars, and the foreign exchange created in Hubei Province was only 200,000 US dollars.

At a time when the status of foreign exchange has now been determined, Sun Jianghai knows very well what such a huge sum of foreign exchange means.

Even if the foreign exchange will be directly retained by the higher-ups at the time, no one can take away the credit that is due!

Not to mention the huge benefits that would be generated if the money were converted into RMB and invested locally, the number of factories and workers that would be driven, and the livelihoods that would be saved!

Thinking about this, Sun Jianghai finally couldn't hold back any longer.

However, he still had a lot of tact, and instead of giving Xia Yu a definite answer, he said in a friendly manner, 'Mr Xia, I've taken note of what you said. I'll hold a meeting to discuss it and report back after I get back. If there's any result, I'll communicate with you as soon as possible.'

'Then I'll trouble you, Director Sun. I'm in Xiangjiang most of the time. If there's any result, you can have the staff of the Xiangjiang Office contact me. They have my contact information, or you can find Jiuzhou Industrial Co., Ltd.'

'Okay!'

After that, Sun Jianghai and his entourage hurriedly headed downhill, and Xia Yu instructed his subordinate to take note of this matter.

After telling Li Chunqiu and Ye Qianyuan about the process, Xia Yu planned to set off for Ganzhou Province.

That was not only the place on the mainland where Xia Yu's ancestral home was located, but also the hometown of Xia Yu in his previous life.