131: Priced below 10,000? Kill me!

The appointment to deputy bureau chief is just a matter of time. If you come to the Advanced Industrial Manufacturing Zone, Julong Steel will definitely continue to improve,

Lu Shenwei said with a smile.

The previous District Chief of the Advanced Industrial Manufacturing Zone had been transferred away because he failed the last annual assessment due to some shady dealings with the Lis Group.

Lu Shenwei heard that several people were vying for the position of District Chief of the Advanced Industrial Manufacturing Zone, and even a deputy mayor was willing to step down for it.

"I'll go once the appointment from above comes down."

"Then our steel mill will be considered your direct subordinate from now on, so please give us some preferential policies."

Lu Shenwei said with a grin; Zhou Wen coming to the Advanced Industrial Manufacturing Zone was truly a godsend.

Although the steel mill hadn't been held back much before, the environment would certainly be more relaxed after Zhou Wen arrived.

"Rest assured, whatever I can give, I will give, and whatever I can fight for, I will prioritize for you," Zhou Wen said casually.

He watched as Lu Shenwei step-by-step brought Julong Steel from the brink of bankruptcy to the top ten in Qinchuan; there was no need to question Lu Shenwei's character.

His business acumen and technical sensitivity were the best in Qinchuan; there was almost nothing he couldn't accomplish.

"I didn't go into detail on the phone yesterday, but the province approved 1,000 mu of land. I plan to rezone the existing plant area, and I'd like to hear your suggestions."

"Go ahead, let me offer some advice."

According to Lu Shenwei's plan, he intended to set aside 100 mu of land to integrate the Julong Steel Pipe, steel pipes, and arresting cables, naming it the Traditional Transformation Manufacturing Zone.

He would set aside 200 mu of land to bring together the Longying Drone production line, the large commercial unmanned transport aircraft R&D base, and the An-225 wreckage storage site to form the Aerospace Manufacturing Zone.

Additionally, he planned to designate 200 mu of land to dig a large artificial lake 100 meters deep for the research and development of unmanned patrol boats.

"Wait a minute, how many meters deep?"

"100 meters. Is there a problem?"

"Are you not afraid of digging through our ancestors' graves? There are quite a few emperors and generals buried underground in Qinchuan. If you really dig 100 meters down, you're bound to cause a huge stir."

It's just like when the Qinchuan University of Political Science and Law was expanding and dug up the founder of criminal law, Zhang Tang, right on their own campus.

When the Agricultural University did infrastructure work, they dug too deep and unearthed over six hundred ancient tombs.

Because of this, some jokingly say that infrastructure in Qinchuan is building roads on top of graves and dancing on the graveyards of the ancestors.

"How about 50 meters then?"

"Even if you want to build a marine park in the factory, 30 meters is enough. Digging too deep won't be easy to explain to the higher-ups."

Lu Shenwei nodded. He wasn't building submarines, so a 30-meter-deep artificial lake would be enough.

"Finally, I'll set aside another 200 mu to expand the dragon cat production line, with 50 mu separately allocated for Liuguang Coating production."

Zhou Wen nodded: "That leaves 600 mu of green space as reserve factory land. How does that sound?"

Lu Shenwei paused and then said, "Actually, for the remaining land, I plan to set aside another 50 mu for staff housing. The new college graduates we've hired still don't have anywhere to live."

Using industrial land for commercial housing requires approval from the higher-ups; otherwise, it's just a mess.

Zhou Wen pondered: "Would 'small property rights' housing work?"

"It would be best if we can get the certificates. I don't want to use the steel mill to hold the workers hostage for their whole lives," Lu Shenwei said casually.

But little did he know, 99% of the workers at Julong Steel wanted to follow him wholeheartedly.

The remaining 1% were those who had reached retirement age and couldn't continue.

"Alright, I'll communicate with the city."

Given the influence of Julong Steel in Qinchuan, converting industrial land to residential land wouldn't be difficult.

With Zhou Wen's approval, Lu Shenwei held an all-staff meeting the next day.

"Everyone can see the development of our steel mill. The current cramped plant area can no longer meet the future development needs of the steel mill. After communicating with city leaders, the factory has decided to reorganize the entire plant's functional layout into four major areas: East, South, West, and North."

As soon as Lu Shenwei finished speaking, the workers below immediately began to whisper.

"Director Lu is making a move again; the future of the steel mill is promising."

"What do you mean 'promising future'? It's already awesome right now, okay?"

"Exactly. Looking at all of Qinchuan, you can't find anywhere with better benefits than our factory."

"I heard that when they hire new people next year, the starting requirement will be postgraduates from Qinghua or Peking University."

"That's ridiculous, right? Even just tightening screws requires Qinghua or Peking University?"

"Is that true? I was planning to have my nephew, who graduated from Jiangbei University, apply to our factory."

Lu Shenwei looked around at the workers and said loudly: "The East Zone will be the Traditional Transformation Manufacturing Zone, mainly responsible for the original business of the steel mill. The West Zone will be..."

"This division is the right way to go. Apart from the top three chemical and heavy industry enterprises, our steel mill is considered the largest in Qinchuan."

"Isn't that the truth? Thinking back to a few years ago when the factory was about to close down, I couldn't even hold my head up when I went out."

"Now, whoever asks me which unit I work for, I puff out my chest and say: Julong Steel!"

"Hehe, me too."

"We'll be in the East Zone from now on."

"I'm in the West Zone, but this division feels a bit like an insult."

"You don't know anything, kid. This is the decision of Director Lu and Director Ma."

"If you ask me, Old Ma is lucky to have found such a good successor in Director Lu."

After finishing the future development strategy, Lu Shenwei added: "The development of the steel mill cannot be separated from everyone's efforts. While we expand the factory area, we will also build housing for everyone."

"Holy crap! Is Director Lu going to give us money?"

"Fund-raising for housing; my memories of this sort of thing are still stuck in the last century."

"I'm dying here, don't keep me in suspense. Director Lu, just tell us how it's going to be distributed."

"It must be based on a points system; many large state-owned enterprises do it that way."

"I hope the price isn't too high, otherwise the new hires won't be able to afford it."

"Don't even think about it if you're a new hire. To participate in the housing distribution, you'd need at least five years of work experience, right?"

The crowd was buzzing with discussion. Lu Shenwei raised his hand and said: "Everyone, quiet down. I've been considering this housing construction for a long time, and I've also consulted with Director Ma and Deputy Director Wang."

Lu Shenwei paused: "If the price is too high, everyone won't be able to afford it; a lower price is more in line with my personality."

"Director Lu's personality is great; I just love low prices."

"Even with a low price, it has to be at least 8,000 per square meter, right?"

"8,000? What kind of pipe dream are you having, kid? Look at the six urban districts of Qinchuan; the cheapest second-hand houses are 12,000."

"Anything just over 10,000 would be charity; below 10,000 is practically giving it away."

Seeing the crowd excited and expectant, Lu Shenwei said half-jokingly: "Anyone interested in guessing the price?"

"11,000!"

"13,000! That price is realistic for the main urban area."

"We are on the edge of the main urban area; it can't be lower than 10,000, right?"

Lu Shenwei raised his hand to stop the arguing: "I've heard you all; most are calling out 10,000, but I want to ask you one thing: do you not consider Julong Steel your own home?"

"10,000 per square meter—that's the price for outsiders."

"Holy crap, below 10,000? I'm going to buy the hell out of it!"

"Housing prices in the Qinchuan High-Tech Zone are almost 20,000; we aren't only selling for 8,000, are we?"