95: Chapter 96 Huge Debts After the Business War Subsided

When the economic storm that swept across the country finally subsided, the sky over Shanghai finally welcomed a long-lost clarity.

In the president's office of Jiyuan Technology, Shen Du sat quietly in the large boss chair.

On his desk, there was currently a freshly drafted "Equity Structure Restructuring Draft," the ink on which hadn't even fully dried yet.

Despite having won a complete victory in this trade war, faced with the arrival of the nation's highest will, Shen Du did not show any wishful thinking.

He knew clearly that an arm could never twist a thigh.

In order to comply with the iron rule of "state-owned shares of thirty percent" announced at the conference, he had even prepared for the most painful sacrifice.

He planned to actively strip away one-third of the absolute equity in Jiyuan Technology and Meituan and transfer it to the relevant state departments to accept top-level supervision.

Just as Shen Du picked up his fountain pen, preparing to sign his name on the draft that would cut away most of his net worth, the office door was pushed open by General Manager Chen Shengqiang with a "bang."

"Mr. Shen! Don't sign yet!"

General Manager Chen Shengqiang didn't even bother to knock, clutching a red-headed document stamped with a large red seal; he was sweating profusely but couldn't hide his excitement as he walked in quickly: "The regional planning details from the local Shanghai authorities have just been officially issued!"

Shen Du stopped the pen in his hand, looked up, and frowned slightly: "What does it say? When will the officials come in to take over the equity?"

"They aren't taking over! No need to transfer equity anymore!"

General Manager Chen Shengqiang let out a long sigh of relief. He spread the red-headed document solemnly in front of Shen Du, pointing to the lines of regulations as he reported quickly:

"The authorities have provided a precise industry definition! The policy of 'forced equity participation and supervision' only applies to core livelihood infrastructure industries like oil, natural gas, thermal power, electricity, and communications!"

General Manager Chen Shengqiang swallowed, a glimmer of survival flashing in his eyes: "As for the internet entertainment industry like our Xinghuo, and local life service platforms like Meituan, they have all been classified under the category of 'non-essential livelihood goods.' The authorities have clearly stated that they will not participate in our equity supervision policy!"

Hearing this, the hand Shen Du held his pen with paused slightly, and a flash of astonishment crossed his eyes. He looked at General Manager Chen Shengqiang, asking in bewilderment:

"No equity participation? That day on the conference's live news broadcast, the official words were not like that. Given our current scale and the coverage of over one hundred million users, how could we not be within the scope of supervision?"

"Mr. Shen, we are indeed within the scope of supervision, but the 'method' of supervision has changed!" General Manager Chen Shengqiang waved his hand helplessly and explained: "I just went to the city to attend a meeting, and the response from there was very clear. In response to the national call, they are determined not to affect the upward development of excellent domestic private enterprises! Although entertainment and internet services have large volumes, they are ultimately not things that the common people will starve to death without. The only things the authorities want to hold in their hands are those limited industries that concern the nation's lifeline."

"However!" General Manager Chen Shengqiang changed the subject, his expression becoming solemn: "The authorities have set two red lines for us that cannot be crossed. First, the Beijing Headquarters Union will immediately send commissioners to be stationed in our company for 24/7 office work. They will conduct the most stringent supervision of our salary payments and labor contracts. Second, Meituan has also received a clear order. The authorities will absolutely not interfere with the company's normal commercial development. But from now on, it is strictly forbidden to use this kind of 'vicious ten-billion-fund hedging' method to disrupt the market. We must restore healthy competition!"

Only at this moment did the heart that had been hanging in the air finally settle steadily back into Shen Du's stomach. He looked at the meat-cutting draft on the desk that no longer needed to be signed, and a look of relief finally appeared on the corner of his mouth.

It turned out that everyone thought the policy issued by the authorities was a unilateral slaughter aimed at all capital. But in reality, it was a clever two-way squeeze and precise regulation!

The authorities used the thunderous means of anti-monopoly to smash the fangs of Northern Capital's malicious mergers. At the same time, they keenly protected the innovative vitality of southern private enterprises in the emerging technology field.

Upon learning the definitive news that state capital would not participate in equity, Shen Du let out a long breath of murky air. His whole body felt as if an invisible mountain had been lifted, and he leaned heavily against the back of his chair.

He picked up the "Equity Structure Restructuring Draft" on the table and stuffed it into the paper shredder beside him without hesitation. Accompanied by the machine's slight humming, the document that had almost cut away most of his net worth turned into a pile of waste paper.

"It is fortunate that the authorities showed mercy; otherwise, the subsequent financial cleanup would definitely have turned into a disaster." Shen Du pinched the space between his eyebrows and muttered to himself with lingering fear.

Only he, the person sitting in the trader's position, knew that behind this grand victory, what kind of suffocating debt pressure the entire Shanghai Business Alliance was carrying.

To win this trade war, the entire Yangtze River Delta business circle had poured a massive plate of a full one billion US dollars into this bottomless pit!

Among them, the three major families—Wu Tianheng, Zhou Zhenghai, and Zhu Qingshan—could be said to have poured out everything, forcibly taking out over six hundred million US dollars in underlying funds!

This was not some book valuation, but cold, hard, bloody pure cash flow!

If things had gone according to the original plan, and the authorities had really forcibly cut thirty percent of the equity from the top of Jiyuan Technology and Meituan to participate in dividends, the entire profit pool would have shrunk significantly in an instant.

At that time, the return cycle for the huge investment of over six hundred million US dollars from the Wu, Zhou, and Zhu families would have been indefinitely prolonged, or even become remote.

For the old-money families who had just experienced a massive hemorrhage, this would have been a fatal blow.

General Manager Chen Shengqiang stood in front of the desk, watching Shen Du's relieved appearance, and couldn't help but sigh: "Yes, the outside world is now watching your net worth, saying you are the largest invisible billionaire in the country. After all, judging from the public business information, you are now an absolute business tycoon."

Indeed, after this round of complex post-war restructuring and shuffling, Shen Du's current public equity structure was terrifying: He personally held 60% of the absolute controlling stake in Meituan, and he held up to 90% of the life-and-death power in Jiyuan Technology.

Just looking at this paper data, Shen Du was absolutely the only, and the biggest, winner in this century's trade war.

However, faced with General Manager Chen Shengqiang's flattery, Shen Du could only smile bitterly and shake his head.

The outside world didn't know at all what kind of harsh invisible concessions were hidden behind this glamorous "absolute control."

There is no free lunch in the world.

Why were the three major families of Wu, Zhou, and Zhu, along with more than a dozen others, willing to smash out over one billion US dollars to accompany him in burning money crazily?

It wasn't just relying on the backbone to defend their homeland, but a top-secret bet-on agreement signed at a closed-door meeting.

To repay this astronomical amount of underlying funds, a full 45% of the net profit generated by all the equity under Shen Du's name actually belonged to those three major families!

More importantly, there was another four hundred million US dollars that Shen Du also had to pay back to the other dozen or so families.