Rebirth in 1985

Chapter 512: The Future of Yingke

It is certain that PCCW is in trouble, but Lu Shaohua cannot say much at the moment. After all, his relationship with the Li family is there. Lu Shaohua cannot say anything about the acquisition of PCCW. It can only be said by Li Zekai. But will Li Zekai really say it?

The answer is yes. Li Ka-shing will definitely say it. The reason is very simple. Everyone present here is not an outsider, and Lu Shaohua is a shareholder of PCCW. Speaking out will help Lu Shaohua understand the situation of PCCW. Maybe he can even come up with some ideas to change the fate of PCCW.

"The current situation of PCCW is not optimistic. It looks prosperous on the surface, but it is a mess inside!" After saying that, Li Zekai paused and continued. "Xiaohua, has your Phoenix Group encountered any difficulties since its establishment?"

Lu Shaohua shook his head and smiled calmly. "No, Phoenix Group has never encountered any problems. Even if there were any problems, they were resolved."

"Oh!" Li Zekai responded, thought for a moment, and then continued, "You are also a shareholder of PCCW, and you also have a share in PCCW. Do you think there is any way to change the current situation?"

Lu Shaohua shook his head again and said, "I don't know the situation of PCCW, but I can be sure of one thing. This is not a problem of PCCW itself, nor a problem of management, but a problem of the employees."

Does Richard Li have management skills? The answer is definitely yes, for the simple reason that he is the son of Li Ka-shing. Li Ka-shing has built Cheung Kong Industries to such a large scale, so he must have management skills. As his son, Richard Li is good at capital operation, but he also has management skills.

However, what Lu Shaohua said was always so contradictory. Originally, no problems with management meant no problems with employees, but Lu Shaohua said something contradictory. This didn't seem to be Lu Shaohua's style.

Who is Lu Shaohua? How could he say such meaningless words? Now that he has said it, he must have a reason.

"After several years of development, PCCW has become a large company. Especially after listing in New York, its market value has continued to rise. However, the current situation is not optimistic. There must be a reason for this." Lu Shaohua paused and continued, "In the end, it is still a problem of employees. Employees enter a large company, get a fixed salary, and think that it is a stable job. They are not enterprising and have no sense of crisis. They may be able to negotiate small business, but not everyone is so concerned about big business."

After finishing speaking, Lu Shaohua swept his eyes across everyone's faces. Seeing that they all looked like they were listening attentively, Lu Shaohua did not hesitate and continued, "There is another fundamental reason why the employees are not motivated to make progress, and that is the useless people who were planted by the shareholders. They are the fundamental obstacle to the development of the company."

Every listed company that is not wholly owned will encounter this situation. The people inserted into the company by shareholders are there to monitor the company's movements and are often at the decision-making level. Of course, it cannot be said that these people are necessarily useless, but Lu Shaohua can say with certainty that most of them are. They are in a superior position when they enter the company, but their abilities are often limited.

Yes, Lu Shaohua was referring to those people, those people who were planted by the shareholders, and Lu Shaohua didn't say it so clearly at the beginning, only using "employees" instead. But combined with what he said later, everything became clear.

None of the people present were fools, and the Huo family father and son were even more shrewd. In addition, his Huo Group had encountered such problems before, but the situation of Huo's Group was somewhat different from that of PCCW. The problem they had was with the cronies, not the people planted by the shareholders. However, the principle was the same, so not long after Lu Shaohua's words came out, the Huo family father and son had already guessed that Lu Shaohua was referring to those people.

It is undeniable that what Lu Shaohua said was not wrong at all. Both Li Jiacheng and Li Zekai nodded. Li Zekai even smiled bitterly and spread his hands, saying, "Yes, that's the problem, but I have no way to solve this situation."

It is true that Li Ka-shing is the chairman of PCCW and holds the majority of PCCW shares, but his position is not absolute. There are still some people whom he cannot control, which is one of his biggest problems.

Li Zekai admitted it, but Lu Shaohua hadn't finished speaking yet. He waved his hand and continued, "The situation at PCCW is far more than that. The problems he encountered are not just 'employee' problems. Well, this is my intuition. As for whether there are other problems, I'm not sure."

Lu Shaohua really didn't know what the problem was, but he was absolutely sure that PCCW had other problems, he just didn't know about them.

Come to think of it, although Lu Shaohua is a shareholder of PCCW, Lu Shaohua doesn't even care about some things of Phoenix Group, let alone PCCW? Of course, Lu Shaohua doesn't care much, which is one of the reasons why he doesn't know.

Lu Shaohua was right again, because Li Zekai nodded, spread his hands, and said helplessly, "There are many reasons, and I can't explain them clearly, so I feel a little headache."

"Haha!" Lu Shaohua laughed, then his face changed, becoming a little serious, and said, "To be honest, these are just small things, and they are also the current problems. Well, how should I put it? In my personal style of doing things, I have to think three steps ahead before taking one step, and have a longer-term vision. Oh, let me explain, I am not bragging about myself, but I want to tell everyone that we should have a longer-term vision and think about what may happen in the future."

Lu Shaohua was reminding and hinting, but as for what he was reminding and hinting at, Lu Shaohua did not say it, leaving everyone with a question mark and suspense.

"Long term?" Li Zekai asked softly, as if thinking about something.

"Yes, think ahead." After saying that, Lu Shaohua did not forget to look at everyone, and seeing that everyone, including Huo Yingdong, looked confused, he smiled lightly, stopped playing the puzzle, and gave a hint. "It's already 1996, and 97 will be here soon."

97? No Hong Kong citizen does not know what this number means, including the Lee family and the Fok family. They also know what this number means.

It means the day when Hong Kong will return to China, 1997. This is something that the whole world knows. Hong Kong will return to China on July 1997, 7.

After Lu Shaohua's reminder, everyone seemed to have sorted out their thoughts, especially Li Zekai, who suddenly realized something and his expression became serious. He asked a tentative question. "Return? PCCW?"

Lu Shaohua did not speak, but nodded to indicate that Li Zekai's guess was correct, and finally explained it to him. "Think about it, the telecommunications industry is originally a part of military defense, and you are just a businessman. Just think about it and you will know what will happen."

Yes, as a businessman, there are only two choices in the telecommunications industry. The first is to make the people above you think you can be trusted and then keep it in your hands forever. The second choice is to sell it. But it is not easy to sell it. The buyer has to get the approval of the people above.

Of course, Lu Shaohua is different. Not only does he hold the rank of lieutenant general, he also has an official identity. The most important thing is that Phoenix Communications in Shenzhen has state shares in it. From a certain perspective, it is still a semi-state-owned enterprise.

Lu Shaohua said these words with an intention. From Li Zekai's expression, Lu Shaohua discovered a message, that is, Li Zekai was somewhat intending to sell Yingke. It was because Lu Shaohua saw this that he said this.

Li Zekai did intend to sell Yingke, and after being reminded by Lu Shaohua, he became more aware of the seriousness of the matter. 97 was a fire, and Lu Shaohua's words were like igniting this fire, making Li Zekai even more serious.

The same went for Li Jiacheng. He also became serious. As Li Zekai's father, Li Jiacheng knew the situation of Yingke. Now, after Lu Shaohua's reminder, he was really a little worried. But after all, he was not the chairman of Yingke, so it was difficult for him to say anything. He moved his lips, but finally swallowed the words back into his stomach and did not say them out loud.

Li Zekai was different. He was lost in thought and did not speak for nearly ten minutes. His expression changed constantly. Finally, he seemed to have made a decision. He came to his senses, looked at Lu Shaohua, and asked, "Are you interested in Yingke?"

Hearing this, Lu Shaohua knew that the main topic had come. After going around in circles for most of the day, Lu Shaohua was just trying to acquire Yingke. Now that Li Zekai had finally asked the question, Lu Shaohua could officially get to the point.

"Yes, not only am I interested, I'm very interested." Lu Shaohua spoke frankly without hiding anything.

As soon as Lu Shaohua finished speaking, Li Zekai and Li Jiacheng, father and son, also looked over and glanced at Lu Shaohua, as if they understood something. Then the two looked at each other and exchanged glances before Li Zekai spoke.

"I want to sell Yingke."

Just a few simple words expressed Li Zekai's determination.

Lu Shaohua didn't rush to speak, and after a long pause, he persuaded her. "Yingke is your hard work, are you willing to give it up like this?"

Lu Shaohua really wanted to take Yingke under his own account, but at this point, Lu Shaohua still had to persuade him. After all, Li Zekai had paid a lot for Yingke, and it seemed a bit too much to let go. Well, it should be said that Lu Shaohua had the intention of taking away someone's love.

"What else can I do if I don't sell it? Yingke has too many problems now. If it reaches after 97, there will probably be even more problems. And by that time, I think it will be difficult to sell it." Li Zekai said helplessly.

What Li Zekai said is absolutely right. After 97, it has become difficult to sell.

"Well, actually, selling is not the only way. There is another way that can solve all the problems." Lu Shaohua put forward an option.

"What road?" Li Zekai asked hurriedly.

In fact, people are the same, especially Li Jiacheng, who took a deep breath and looked at Lu Shaohua without blinking, waiting for an answer.