69novels Page 196
Page 196
The atmosphere in the office area of the Historical Relics Protection and Research Foundation was somewhat unusual today. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry, and even their walking speed was faster than usual. Every now and then, someone would steal a curious glance at the foundation's large conference room, quickly look around, and then quickly lower their head to continue with their work.
This morning, the HR department issued an urgent notice to everyone to clean up their respective work areas, as the chairman would be visiting the foundation shortly.
Upon receiving the notification, everyone hurriedly began cleaning and tidying their desks. The administration also conducted a surprise inspection of various locations in the office area, replacing some of the withered plants.
There are various speculations among the employees regarding the mysterious chairman of the foundation. Some say he comes from a prominent family in Jiangnan, while others say he was born into a noble family, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Of course, some also speculate that he is the heir to a wealthy businessman. Regardless of the speculation, immense wealth is undoubtedly a defining characteristic of the chairman.
Some of the earliest employees who joined the foundation even met the chairman in person, who was said to be a handsome young man. It's a pity that the chairman doesn't usually appear at the foundation, which is a little disappointing for some single female employees who are still looking for opportunities.
At 10 a.m., a distinguished young man, accompanied by President Jiang, toured the foundation's office area. Immediately afterwards, the foundation's senior executives entered the conference room...
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Zhang Jing's visit to the foundation was not a whim, but rather a result of Jiang Shanlin's earlier proposal to give Zhang Jing a special report before the new year, as the foundation's operations became more established and its scope expanded. The report aimed to inform Zhang Jing of the current progress and determine the foundation's future direction.
Chapter 339 Meeting
Although Zhang Jing granted Jiang Shanlin considerable authority, Jiang Shanlin, being cautious due to his long experience in the workplace, did not act arbitrarily in important matters, which made Zhang Jing generally quite satisfied with this subordinate.
Considering that the foundation's operations have indeed amassed a great many treasures for him, and that the efficiency of collection will only increase as the foundation expands, Zhang Jing felt it was necessary to pay attention to it. It would be irresponsible to always be a hands-off manager.
So, three days ago, Zhang Jing informed Jiang Shanlin that he would come to the foundation today to take a look and convene a meeting to hear the current management's report on the current work and their plans for the future.
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"In summary, the foundation's basic structure has been completed. The eight departments under the President's Office—Investment and Business, Data, Technology, Investigation, Appraisal, Finance, Human Resources and Administration, and Legal Affairs—are operating smoothly. Except for a few departments, recruitment is basically complete, and the financial situation is currently quite sound. Business operations in various regions are expanding." In the meeting room, President Jiang Shanlin was personally reporting to Zhang Jing.
"Currently, the foundation has 48 full-time employees and several informal informants. In terms of finances, the foundation's expenditure on employee salaries last month was 47 yuan..."
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"That's the overall situation. Chairman, would you like to have the heads of each department give their respective departmental work reports now?" Jiang Shanlin finished his report on the foundation's overall situation, paused for a moment, and then looked at Zhang Jing, who was sitting in the main seat at the center of the long table.
“Okay, just follow the planned pace.” Zhang Jing nodded. Jiang Shanlin had already briefed him on today’s meeting schedule.
“Okay.” Jiang Shanlin nodded, then turned to look at the others at the long table. After a pause, he looked at a middle-aged man in his thirties: “Luo Tang, the Investigation Department is the largest department in the Foundation. Let’s start with you.”
Zhang Jing was introduced to the heads of various departments present today, including the middle-aged man named Shang Ye (courtesy name Luotang). He was the head of the foundation's investigation department, a professionally trained individual who had graduated from the Southern Cultural and Art College with a degree in Cultural Relics and Museum Services and Management. After graduation, unable to find suitable employment in a museum, he worked at several different private antique shops, serving as a shop manager. He later joined the foundation through a job interview and was responsible for building the foundation's investigation team.
"Okay." Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man nodded to Jiang Shanlin and Zhang Jing, then connected his laptop to the large projection screen in the conference room: "Now, let me first introduce the specific situation of our department."
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"Our department currently has 8 trainee investigators and 12 full-time investigators. Before recruitment, these investigators generally had relevant experience in photography and social surveys. Most of them had worked in the cultural relics collection and related industries. After recruitment, we hired relevant industry professionals to conduct a week-long onboarding training for them. The training focused on cultural relic appreciation, photography, research methods, and some relevant work experience. After the training, they will become trainee investigators. During the internship, their salary and allowances will be paid at 70%. After a three-month internship, the department will assess their performance. Those who pass the assessment will become full-time investigators."
"Currently, the Survey Department divides the country into seven regions: Southwest, Southeast, Central, South-Central, West-Central, West, and North. Each region comprises approximately four to five provinces. Please refer to the diagram for a detailed breakdown of these regions..."
"In practice, our investigators currently work in investigation teams. A standard investigation team consists of two to three investigators, who also develop informants in various locations to assist in the work. Each investigation team is responsible for a fixed investigation area. Within their respective areas, they conduct research on the areas where early human artifacts are likely to be found, such as the market for collectibles and cultural relics, well-known antique dealers, and museums."
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"…We photograph and document key cultural relics, and input the collected information into the foundation's database in real time. The company's appraisers will then authenticate the data, remove any fakes, and the remaining information will become important data in the foundation's database."
"So far, we have deployed investigation teams in all seven regions..."
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"...Meanwhile, as per the high command's requirements, we have divided the imperial colonies and vassal states into seven regions and drafted detailed work guidelines for relevant personnel. To save on labor costs, we are primarily recruiting investigators with local backgrounds, coupled with a regular reporting mechanism. We have already completed the recruitment and training of investigators for the Spice Islands region, while recruitment for other relevant regions is underway..."
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"In addition, another key task we are currently undertaking is to conduct a systematic survey of regional divisions on a larger global scale. This is because we need to consider factors such as the culture, customs, languages, politics, geography, and human resource costs of different regions. Therefore, this work is still ongoing..."
"...This is a summary of our department's current work situation. We welcome any feedback from our leaders."
Zhang Jing sat in the head seat, listening attentively to the report. When Shang Ye finished reporting, he nodded and first praised, "Not bad. It's clear that the investigation department has done meticulous work, which deserves recognition."
“However, I want to emphasize here that we need to take bigger steps, especially overseas. The Foundation’s pace of going global needs to be accelerated. Whether it’s the Western Continent, the New World, or even the Southern Continent and the Black Continent, I hope we can quickly deploy the Foundation’s investigation teams to these regions. Especially in countries like Rune, Holstein, and Grand… these countries have traditionally had strong control over the Black Continent and the Southern Continent…” As he spoke, Zhang Jing looked at Jiang Shanlin beside him: “Regarding personnel recruitment, I suggest giving the investigation department greater support.”
Chapter 340 Meeting Two
Seeing that Jiang Shanlin and Shang Ye both nodded in agreement, Zhang Jing nodded in satisfaction. He stopped there; at this level of meeting, it was enough for him to express the board's support for the investigation department. As for the details, he would discuss them with Jiang Shanlin privately.
"Furthermore, I think the recruitment of informants in various regions is a good measure. The scope can be expanded, leveraging the information advantages of local strongmen to accelerate and strengthen our work. In terms of funding, we can appropriately increase support for this..."
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After the investigation department finished its report, Wang Jia, the head of the investment and business department, immediately began her report. She had previously worked at a well-known investment bank and was personally recruited by Jiang Shanlin. She was a capable woman in her forties with strong business skills.
"...I believe that our foundation's main investment direction is actually to use investment as a means to better improve database construction and establish the foundation's own ancient artifact tracking database system, which is expected to become the world's largest database system of this type in the future."
"Therefore, while preserving and increasing the value of investments is important for the foundation, it is not the primary objective. So, from the perspective of fund utilization, we prefer small-scale equity investments or joint investments with other investment companies."
"...This data is based on the latest industry survey conducted by Guanghe Management Consulting and Eagle Eye Research."
"As you can see, the domestic online collectibles platform is generally dominated by a very strong head effect. Whether it's news, websites, forums, or apps, they are basically controlled by leading companies. Except for certain specific fields where there are so-called 'small but beautiful' companies, in most industries, the top three leading companies have a market share of over 90%."
"To this end, we have compiled a list of 15 companies that meet our investment requirements based on the foundation's specific criteria. As you can see on the big screen, there are 3 startups, 2 companies in Series A, 3 companies in Series B, 3 companies in Series C, 1 company in the process of preparing for an IPO, and 3 companies that have already gone public."
"The equity financing information of these companies can be obtained from public channels, and we have already collected this information."
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"To date, the investment department has had preliminary communication with 15 companies. Seed round investments in 3 startups have been agreed upon, with 2 of them already signed. For the other companies, we have contacted their management teams and backers separately. So far, we have reached financing intentions with 5 companies. Among them, 2 are through the addition of investors, and the other 3 are through the original investors releasing some shares. Currently, except for 1 company that has signed a contract, the other 4 are in the final contract signing stage."
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"Of the remaining 7 companies, all 4 are either listed or preparing to list, and the original shareholders are unwilling to release any more shares. In addition, there is one company in Series B funding and two in Series C funding, which have sufficient funds and have no intention of raising funds in the short term, while we are still in contact with the original investors."
“There are 7 companies that have no intention of raising funds, right…” Zhang Jing frowned slightly.
“For these seven companies, we have a new strategy for now,” Jiang Shanlin suddenly spoke up. Seeing Zhang Jing’s attentive gaze, he continued, “After contacting these companies, we also proposed an alternative plan, which is to pay for their data. We will spend a fee every year to purchase their relevant data. For some companies that do not intend to raise funds or whose fundraising amount is too high, this plan is actually more cost-effective, since what we value most is their data.”
"Yes, have you tried it? Are they willing to accept this option?"
"Only one company rejected our proposal, while the other five have agreed in principle. We are currently negotiating the annual licensing fees."
"Which company refused?" Zhang Jing asked, somewhat curious.
"Songjiang Canggu Culture Co., Ltd., whose most famous product is Wenwanbang, is the largest online trading market for cultural relics and collectibles in China. As a listed company, they are relatively conservative in terms of data, but they are not lacking in funds."
"I see..." Zhang Jing thought for a moment, then asked, "Could we use web crawling or similar techniques to scrape it?"