Chapter 2132: Some Things You Don't Touch

The issue between Liang Jingyu and Wu Sijie, to put it bluntly, was a clash of two modes of thinking.

Both were highly educated talents; there was no doubt about that.

But the problem was,

Liang Jingyu was from academia, a proper graduate of a formal program.

In other words, his management style and thinking patterns often followed traditional commercial routines. In his view, the most important thing for a company to develop healthily was to strictly adhere to rules and regulations.

Simply put, in Liang Jingyu's mind, some things could not be easily changed.

But Wu Sijie was different.

He was from the overseas study faction, later taken under Zhao Fusheng's wing, and had followed Zhao Fusheng for a long time.

Although not a business administration major, Wu Sijie had learned certain traits from Zhao Fusheng, preferring to take unconventional approaches and try different projects.

So the question arose.

What path should Hanxing Investment take?

"Chairman, what do you think about doing financial business in Korea?"

Wu Sijie asked Zhao Fusheng.

"Finance?"

Zhao Fusheng frowned: "Are you planning to do stocks and futures? Didn't I say not to touch that?"

"No, no, no, we're talking about loan sharking."

Wu Sijie quickly shook his head and explained to Zhao Fusheng: "Lending business in Korea is legal, so I was considering whether we could expand part of Hanxing Investment's cash operations..."

"Ah?"

This time, even Zhao Fusheng was stunned.

Then, Wu Sijie took a stack of documents from his bag and handed them to Zhao Fusheng: "Take a look, Chairman. These are some materials I found."

Zhao Fusheng nodded, took the documents from him, and began to read.

Reading the materials, he learned that in Korea, the financial industry, especially the loan sharking industry, was indeed legal.

Of course, there were regulations: no one could lend without registering as a loan shark, and violators would be punished under the Loan Sharking Act with up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won.

In other words, as long as one registered as a loan shark, they could make money by lending in Korea.

According to the Loan Sharking Act, those wishing to engage in lending brokerage could register their loan sharking business with the special mayor, metropolitan mayor, special self-governing mayor, provincial governor, or special self-governing provincial governor of the jurisdiction.

Although the qualification for loan sharks was easy to apply for, it did not mean one could casually make money through usury.

According to the law, when lending to individuals or small and medium-sized enterprises, the annual interest rate could not exceed 30%. If a contract was signed, any interest exceeding the legal limit was considered void.

Moreover, if the interest collected exceeded the legal limit, the offender would be punished under the Loan Sharking Act with up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won.

At the same time, if a loan shark illegally detained a borrower during the collection process, they would be sentenced to up to seven years in prison. If weapons or multiple people were used to threaten the borrower during detention, the punishment would be aggravated.

If the borrower was injured or died during detention, the minimum sentence for injury was one year in prison, and for death, the minimum was three years.

"According to your materials, if we enter this industry, recovering loans won't be easy."

Zhao Fusheng frowned and said to Wu Sijie.

He knew the Korean character too well. Chinese people felt embarrassed owing money and wanted to pay it back quickly.

But the people of the Universe Kingdom were not like that.

In their worldview, why should they repay money borrowed through their own ability?

Koreans were extremely cautious even when borrowing money between brothers.

No other country in the world could compare in this regard.

Even between close friends, once the topic of borrowing money came up, they might fall out.

The saying 'friends share wealth' was absolutely unworkable in Korea.

"I know."

Wu Sijie nodded after hearing Zhao Fusheng's words and said in a low voice: "So I plan to leave this matter to the collection agencies below."

Collection agencies?

Zhao Fusheng immediately understood Wu Sijie's idea.

Like Japan, gangs were legal in Korea, and these people engaged in various jobs, one of which was debt collection.

For example, out of the 30% interest, 10% could be given as compensation to the collection agency.

Even if only 20% was collected, the interest was still considerable.

But the question was, could this really be done?

Zhao Fusheng was silent for a long time.

His perspective on things was different from Wu Sijie's.

"What does Liang Jingyu think?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Wu Sijie.

Wu Sijie was taken aback and quickly said: "Mr. Liang's opinion is that it's best not to touch this project."

Then, he said helplessly: "But Chairman, you know how huge the profit margin is."

Obviously, he was very reluctant to give it up.

In fact, Zhao Fusheng could understand Wu Sijie's thinking.

After all, in his view, the ones who would suffer from borrowing money were Koreans, not Chinese. Liang Jingyu's approach was simply an overreaction.

"You..."

Zhao Fusheng shook his head helplessly.

He finally understood where the problem lay.

Wu Sijie had been with him for too long, which made him regard people from countries other than China merely as targets for making money.

For example, if selling arms could make Future Group a lot of money, Wu Sijie would not hesitate to sell arms to any country.

Except China.

This was both a good thing and a bad thing.

The advantage was that Wu Sijie would be a pure businessman, striving to pursue profits and make money for the company.

But the problem was that when considering things, he often overlooked issues beyond profit.

Liang Jingyu, on the other hand, was more mature than Wu Sijie at this point.

Liang Jingyu considered problems more comprehensively.

Or rather, he had begun to integrate into Korean thinking.

"Chairman, did I do something wrong?"

Seeing Zhao Fusheng's reaction, Wu Sijie knew he had probably made a mistake; otherwise, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't have that expression.

After all, if his actions were correct, Zhao Fusheng would have started praising him by now.

But now, he was deep in thought.

This was not right!

Zhao Fusheng did not hide it and smiled as he nodded: "It's not that you're wrong, but you overlooked one issue: we ultimately plan to stay in Korea for the long term."

"Ah?"

Wu Sijie was startled, somewhat surprised.

Zhao Fusheng shrugged: "Hanxing Investment is an important part of my overseas布局, especially in East Asia. Relying on Korea, we can extend the company's influence to farther places, like Thailand, Malaysia..."

Then, he said to Wu Sijie: "Moreover, you should know that Hanxing Investment is a company cooperating with Samsung and CJ. Do we really need to make money through loan sharking?"

"You wouldn't want people to mention Dong Chenxi and say, 'Ah, Miss Dong's boyfriend is doing pretty well in the loan sharking business in Korea,' would you?"

This last sentence immediately made Wu Sijie's face change.

He liked Dong Chenxi very much, ever since he first started working with Zhao Fusheng.

But at that time, he was just a small secretary, so Wu Sijie carefully hid this feeling. Later, as his status changed, his relationship with Dong Chenxi gradually progressed.

Now, the two had finally come together.

At this point, he cared even more about Dong Chenxi's feelings.

So, upon hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Wu Sijie's expression changed.

"Your idea is not wrong, but some businesses, at our level, cannot be touched."

Zhao Fusheng looked at Wu Sijie and said slowly.

Wu Sijie was taken aback, then nodded: "Okay, I understand, Chairman."