novelraw Chapter 713 Marine accident?
Chapter 713 Marine accident?
Chapter 713 Marine accident?
Gu Jiayan had no other questions to ask, so she quickly shook her head and went to put away the documents and files.
Just then, Deputy Section Chief Zhou arrived with his men.
Although it can be used at any time of day, it's best to finish the meeting as early as possible.
Lu Qiaoge stood at the door and said, "I'll go fetch water."
She wasn't sure if she could attend the meeting, so she figured it was best to avoid it.
Deputy Section Chief Zhou nodded in satisfaction. She was a sensible person. She said, "There's no need to fetch water. There's water in our teacups. Sit down and listen. It's okay if you don't understand. Take your time."
Lu Qiaoge gave Deputy Section Chief Zhou a meaningful look. This person liked everyone to call her Sister Zhou, and didn't like people to call her Deputy Section Chief Zhou.
However, this person's way of speaking is anything but cute.
So Lu Qiaoge actually sat down and sat obediently, listening to everyone's remarks.
Deputy Section Chief Zhou naturally didn't focus her attention on Lu Qiaoge; instead, she began to explain the reasons for today's meeting and the problems that needed to be solved.
After finishing speaking, he looked at the person in charge: "Section Chief Wei, this is the topic of today's meeting. Please say a few words first..."
Old Wei waved his hand: "I have nothing to say, let's start discussing."
Old Zhao said first, "We've done everything we can. We didn't want this accident to happen, but since it has, there's nothing we can do but accept it. It's a painful lesson. I suggest that this case be sent to all provinces, cities, and departments so that everyone can learn from it and never make the same mistake again."
"Yes, we lack experience in exports, and we became careless because such accidents have rarely happened before."
"Alas, what a pity, millions of dollars worth of goods have simply vanished without a trace."
"I heard that the people who signed the contract back then are now locked up."
"What's the point of locking them up? Executing them wouldn't be too much of a mistake. How could they make such a error?"
"We were too eager to succeed, otherwise we wouldn't have let the other side take advantage of our weaknesses."
Some people have raised questions: "Could the sinking have been intentional? Was the other side trying to harm us?"
“The sea is unpredictable, and anything can happen. We didn’t expect them to be so careless as to not even consider this factor.”
The crowd was buzzing with discussion.
No solutions were proposed because the problem was unsolvable.
Old Zhao is right, we have no choice but to accept it.
Lu Qiaoge sorted it out.
It was indeed due to a lack of experience.
The incident stemmed from an agreement signed between a Suzhou embroidery factory and a tea factory with a Malaysian businessman to export Suzhou embroidery products and tea products.
The local foreign trade officials talked to the Malaysian boss repeatedly. Initially, they said that once the other party received the bill of lading we sent and checked it and found no problems, they would pay us.
This rule was originally quite safe.
However, the local foreign trade officials were new to the business and lacked experience. Eager to close their first deal, they underestimated the significant risks involved and ultimately signed the contract agreeing to the payment upon delivery. Furthermore, under pressure from the other party, they signed a clause stating: "We will ship the goods to you, and you will pay us within 60 days of receiving them."
This is like you shipping goods to someone first, and only after they receive the goods do they pay you.
If something goes wrong with the goods or someone tries to renege on their promise, then we'll really lose both money and goods. Now that the goods are sunk, Suzhou embroidery and tea are different from other goods; even if they are salvaged, it won't be of any use.
In the 70s, when we lacked an international banking network and letter of credit system, we would generally choose to pay on delivery upon receipt of documents, taking into account trust and cost, when exporting handicrafts and food.
In other words, the seller submits the complete set of shipping documents to the bank in the buyer's location through the national bank, and the bank then notifies the buyer to make payment upon receipt.
The buyer pays the full amount and then takes the bill of lading to pick up the goods.
If the goods are damaged or lost in transit, the bank will not release the documents to the buyer unless the seller can provide proof (such as a shipwreck certificate from the shipping company), and the buyer will be unable to take delivery of the goods.
However, in this case, the buyer still needs to pay to redeem the document, and then the buyer can use the document to claim compensation from the insurance company.
Unfortunately, there were problems with the initial contract.
If the goods are not heavy, payment can be received within sixty days according to the contract, which is actually acceptable.
But who could have imagined that an accident would happen?
Lu Qiaoge had no information and could only analyze the matter by listening. Just then, Section Chief Wei looked at Lu Qiaoge, handed her a stack of papers, and said, "Little Lu, take a look too. The export and import part is extremely important. We really can't be negligent at all, otherwise we will not only lose everything but also damage our credit. Actually, don't be fooled by how peaceful we are sitting here now. Every time we sign a contract, we don't dare to rest all night long. We carefully consider every word, afraid of making a mistake that will cause losses to the country..."
Lu Qiaoge wholeheartedly agreed; she had signed many foreign trade contracts, and quite a lot of them.
However, the buyer is her friend, and they wouldn't cheat her, so they might even provide supplementary explanations.
Moreover, both land and sea transport have been very smooth.
Lu Qiaoge didn't see the specific details, only the location of the accident. She then called out to the Big Shark and the others in her spatial dimension: "Go check the situation of the sunken ship in this area... Don't be reckless. If you encounter danger, go into your spatial dimension."
Although Lu Qiaoge's space hasn't been upgraded yet, she's still connected with her little darlings.
Of course, this only applies if Lu Qiaoge's physical body or consciousness is in the space.
For example, right now, Lu Qiaoge's consciousness is in the space, and she is in a meeting room, looking at the documents very seriously.
Section Chief Wei didn't expect Lu Qiaoge to offer any constructive suggestions, because it was already a done deal and couldn't be changed. The damage was done, and no one could undo it. The reason this matter fell to the Fifth Division was because the two former factory directors of the Suzhou Embroidery Factory and the Tea Factory had come to Beidu.
My hair really turned white overnight.
They never expected that what should have been a cause for celebration for the whole factory would end up costing them a fortune.
This can be described as a huge blow.
Suzhou embroidery, in particular, represents more than three years of hard work by the craftsmen. They had hoped to earn foreign exchange for the country and pay bonuses to the workers, but now, they can't even pay the workers' wages.
They weren't dismissed because they hadn't signed the contract, but they were both implicated and investigated repeatedly. Work mistakes were one aspect, but the higher-ups were also very strict about this aspect, wanting to see if there was collusion between insiders and outsiders, and whether they did this deliberately.
These two former factory directors are good; they can withstand scrutiny.
But it was quite a hassle.
Although everyone says this was a painful lesson that must be learned, and we must never make the same mistake again.
But the two former factory directors knew they had no chance of making the same mistake a second time.
It's close to bankrupting them, if not completely bankrupting them.
(End of this chapter)