Mining And Construction Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 218

Kim Bong-nam’s hand, gripping Jang Ji-moon, tightened with force.

“You’re going to replace the head of Cheongil Group?”

A myriad of thoughts flashed through his mind.

‘Could it be that the reason he called me here is…’

Tae-soo set down his teacup.

“Will you join, or will you turn back?”

“…After hearing such words, how could I turn back?”

Kim Bong-nam entered the room and sat across from Tae-soo.

“Why are you saying such things? What’s your intention?”

Instead of answering, Tae-soo pulled out a stack of documents from his briefcase.

He tossed one of the documents towards Kim Bong-nam.

As soon as Kim Bong-nam read the title of the document, printed in bold letters, Tae-soo tossed another one.

Thud.

Thud.

Kim Bong-nam’s eyes darted around.

“Wh-what is all this… No, why does the head of TaeYang Group have these documents…?”

He couldn’t get the words out properly.

Kim Bong-nam flipped through the documents.

The more he flipped through them, the more he was filled with shock.

“This is absurd…!”

This couldn’t be happening.

“How long has he been the head, and he’s already messed up the company this badly…?”

He was beyond astonished.

“At this rate, Cheongil Group is really going to go bankrupt.”

Kim Bong-nam, the president of Cheongil Chemical, groaned.

His complexion darkened, and his face contorted.

Tae-soo poured tea into his teacup.

“You must have heard the news that Lee Moon-bok, the president of Cheongil Construction, was arrested by the prosecution, right?”

“It seems there were personal issues involved.”

“Lee Moon-bok was arrested for drug smuggling. Do you think this will end as a personal matter?”

“The group will take action. It’s not something the head of TaeYang Group should be concerned about.”

Kim Bong-nam tried to draw a line.

But Tae-soo continued.

“What if Lee Moon-bok was arrested while trying to flee to Japan with the assets he had disposed of from Cheongil Group?”

“What?”

Tae-soo pointed to the among the documents Kim Bong-nam was holding.

“Do you still see this as Lee Moon-bok’s personal problem?”

“Surely…”

“Are you going to continue to ignore how messed up Cheongil Group is?”

“Hmm.”

For a long time, silence filled the room.

Eventually, Kim Bong-nam raised his head.

Tae-soo was quietly drinking his tea.

“I know you have quite a few grievances against Cheongil Group.”

‘Quite a few?’

“But why are you telling me these things?”

Tae-soo set down his teacup.

His gaze was strong.

“I said, let’s replace the head of Cheongil Group.”

Kim Bong-nam chuckled in disbelief.

“Don’t say such ridiculous things. Tell me honestly. What do you want?”

“I want Cheongil Construction to go bankrupt.”

“That’s nonsense!”

Kim Bong-nam slammed the teacup down.

“Cheongil Construction is the holding company of Cheongil Group. If Cheongil Construction goes bankrupt, Cheongil Group will collapse. You must know that!”

‘Of course, I know.’

“If you’re warning me about the dangers facing Cheongil Group… well, I appreciate that. But Cheongil Group’s bankruptcy is out of the question!”

Kim Bong-nam said sternly.

“I’ve dedicated my entire youth to building this group. I may be just a salaried president, but I have that much loyalty to Cheongil!”

Kim Bong-nam was a loyalist of Cheongil Group.

He had met Han Cheong-ho right after the war and had been building Cheongil together ever since.

Cheongil was Kim Bong-nam’s alter ego, his dream, his pride, and his legacy.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. I can never cooperate with Cheongil Group’s bankruptcy!”

“It’s not Cheongil Group’s bankruptcy. It’s Cheongil Construction’s bankruptcy.”

Tae-soo corrected him.

But Kim Bong-nam scoffed.

“Stop playing with words. Do I have to repeat myself?”

“What if the holding company wasn’t Cheongil Construction?”

“What?”

Tae-soo picked up the from among the documents.

He waved it in front of Kim Bong-nam.

“Cheongil Hotel and Cheongil Apartment have failed one after another, and Cheongil Construction is now drowning in debt.”

That was an undeniable fact.

“The debt that started with Cheongil Construction has now spread to the entire Cheongil Group affiliate.”

Tae-soo waved the .

‘Not long ago, Lee Moon-bok stormed into Cheongil Chemical and scraped everything he could get his hands on. Cash, promissory notes, bonds, even stocks. I heard other affiliates were stripped even worse.’

Kim Bong-nam sighed.

Tae-soo waved the .

“They can’t even handle Cheongil Construction’s deficit, and now they have even more debt to repay.”

It was an enormous amount.

Ahn Jung-woo was pressuring them to immediately repay the government debt that Han Cheong-ho had borrowed from Park Jung-hwan at zero interest in the past.

Moreover, the repayment deadline was less than a month away.

It was a debt that couldn’t be covered even if they sold off several affiliates.

“If you don’t cut off Cheongil Construction now, the other Cheongil Group affiliates will also go bankrupt.”

Tae-soo waved the .

There was no way to repay the debt that started with Cheongil Construction.

“As you know, no company is willing to acquire the affiliates, the banks have refused loans, the stocks have been sold off, and Lee Moon-bok has disposed of all the remaining assets.”

“Hmm.”

“I’ll ask again. Is there any other way besides bankrupting Cheongil Construction?”

There wasn’t.

“To save Cheongil Group, a decision is needed. If you don’t change the holding company and cut off Cheongil Construction, recovery will be impossible.”

Kim Bong-nam finally closed his eyes tightly.

-Abandon Cheongil Construction.

Tae-soo’s words were correct, and it stung.

‘Cheongil Construction was the first company that Chairman Han and I built together, dedicating our youth to it.’

Old memories flooded back like a revolving lantern [a metaphor for rapidly changing memories or thoughts].

In their youth, Han Cheong-ho and Kim Bong-nam had worked together on construction sites, sweating profusely.

Rebuilding the city that had been destroyed by the post-war bombings, Cheongil Construction grew along with it.

Later, as they took on major government projects, Cheongil Construction expanded its business to Cheongil Cement, Cheongil Tungsten, Cheongil Timber, and Cheongil Windows.

‘And now, you’re telling me to abandon Cheongil Construction with my own hands.’

Tae-soo’s words sounded so cruel to Kim Bong-nam.

But there was no other way.

‘If I don’t abandon Cheongil Construction, I have to abandon Cheongil Group.’

A small sacrifice for the greater good.

Kim Bong-nam’s 고민이 깊어졌다 [worries deepened].

Tae-soo silently looked down at Kim Bong-nam.

‘You need to 고민해야지 [worry]. And you need to take the lead in gathering Cheongil’s loyal dogs and tearing Cheongil Construction apart.’

Cheongil’s loyal dogs.

The top contributors of Cheongil, armed to the core with loyalty.

They had gone through life and death together back then, became Cheongil’s meritorious subjects, and all secured a president position in an affiliate, becoming the group’s president corps.

‘Cheongil’s meritorious subjects are so loyal that they would volunteer to go to prison in place of Han Cheong-ho. Kim Bong-nam’s loyalty, in particular, was remarkable.’

He didn’t even object to sending Kim Jae-hak, Han Il-kwon’s son, to prison instead of Han Il-kwon himself.

Kim Bong-nam had contributed so much to Cheongil Group.

That’s why Han Cheong-ho never took back the vice president position from his troublemaking younger brother, Kim Jung-nam, even though he was a headache.

He also gave Kim Bong-nam the position of president of Cheongil Chemical and entrusted him with the most nominee shares [shares held in someone else’s name] in Cheongil affiliates.

‘Even after Han Cheong-ho’s death, Cheongil’s meritorious subjects stuck together and supported Han Il-kwon. This time, it’s your turn to choose.’

The power that Kim Bong-nam, who still boasts his presence as the president of Cheongil Chemical, comes from loyalty.

They are Cheongil’s purebloods who blocked the path of the presidents in charge of Cheongil Oil and Cheongil Heavy Industries in the past.

Tae-soo wants them to take the lead in breaking up Cheongil Group.

He wants them to turn their backs on Han Il-kwon first.

‘The feeling of being backstabbed by the ax you trusted, Han Il-kwon, you need to feel it too.’

That was why Tae-soo was stirring up Kim Bong-nam, who claimed to be Cheongil’s number one loyal dog.

After a long 고민 끝에 [after much deliberation], Kim Bong-nam opened his eyes.

“Changing the holding company is a big deal. Starting today, I’ll gather the affiliate presidents and discuss this.”

“I won’t accept vague promises to discuss it.”

Tae-soo shook the stack of documents.

“Hold a temporary shareholders’ meeting. I want you to show a firm commitment to transferring the holding company there.”

“There’s one problem.”

Kim Bong-nam said with a heavy face.

“Most of Cheongil Construction’s shares are held by Chairman Han’s family. No matter how much we raise our voices, the management rights…”

“I’ll take care of that problem. Han Il-kwon will step down from the position of head.”

‘With what means?’

Kim Bong-nam asked back with a sharp look.

But Tae-soo’s confident expression said it all.

‘I don’t know what kind of scheme he has, but Kang Tae-soo definitely has a way.’

Tae-soo said.

“If the holding company changes, Cheongil Construction’s shares will lose their power. Cheongil Construction’s bankruptcy is a predetermined course.”

Tae-soo took out stock certificates from his briefcase.

They were all Cheongil Motors stocks.

“4% of Cheongil Motors stock. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the stock that Lee Moon-bok sold off this time.”

“Lee Moon-bok…”

“I heard that Cheongil Motors, in particular, had its shares distributed evenly.”

The Han Cheong-ho family virtually monopolized the shares of Cheongil Construction, the holding company.

On the other hand, Cheongil Motors had its shares held evenly by the affiliate presidents to a certain extent.

“The plan is to move Cheongil Group’s holding company to Cheongil Motors.”

“Hmm.”

“It seems that persuading the affiliate presidents will be easier than elsewhere.”

Kim Bong-nam nodded.

‘If it’s Cheongil Motors, where the nominee shares are evenly distributed and everyone has them, everyone will agree.’

Tae-soo looks different again.

‘He’s meticulous. He presents a clear solution to the problem, so I can’t refuse.’

He seems to know the internal affairs of Cheongil Group like the back of his hand.

There’s no way he could know the stock situation of each affiliate president.

How did he choose Cheongil Motors?

It was the only affiliate that Kim Bong-nam could nod his head to right away.

Tae-soo smiled.

“Cheongil Chemical must also hold Cheongil Motors stock, right?”

“We hold a lot compared to others in the group.”

Cheongil Chemical holds 7% of Cheongil Motors stock.

“And the next head…”

Tae-soo paused and looked at Kim Bong-nam.

How could the quick-witted Kim Bong-nam not understand the meaning?

Kim Bong-nam swallowed hard.

‘You want me to be the next head…?’

It was an unexpected proposal.

As he thought about the opportunity he had never considered, Kim Bong-nam’s eyes flickered with emotion.

Kim Bong-nam also had ambition.

Tae-soo poured oil on the fire of that ambition.

“I’ll give you my support.”

Tae-soo shook the stock he held in front of Kim Bong-nam’s eyes and then put it back in his briefcase.

Greed flickered in Kim Bong-nam’s eyes.

‘Kang Tae-soo holds 4% of the stock, and Cheongil Chemical has 7%.’

That’s 11% in total.

‘On the other hand, the Han Cheong-ho family holds about 15% of the stock. It’s not Chairman Han, but Han Il-kwon, so it’s worth a try, right?’

The other affiliates each hold about 2-5% of Cheongil Motors stock.

‘If I secure the stock of the affiliate presidents who will join forces with me…’

There’s a possibility!

The faces of the presidents who could be persuaded 떠올랐다 [came to mind] in Kim Bong-nam’s head.

Then, he could come to a conclusion very easily.

“We’ll have to hold a temporary shareholders’ meeting, using Cheongil Motors’ poor management as an excuse.”

탁탁탁 [sound of tidying up].

Tae-soo gathered and organized the documents he had shown Kim Bong-nam.

And he smiled as he handed them to Kim Bong-nam.

“This will be your weapon. Take it with you.”

Kim Bong-nam couldn’t control his expression as he looked at the Cheongil documents in his hand.

Kim Bong-nam repeatedly washed his face with his hands.

Tae-soo didn’t even wait for Kim Bong-nam’s answer and got up from his seat.

“See you at the shareholders’ meeting.”

드르륵, 탁 [sound of door sliding open and closing].

Kim Bong-nam, left alone, 고민은 더욱 깊어졌다 [worries deepened even more].

But the conclusion had already been reached.

“I should have a drink with my friends for the first time in a while.”

The tea set was removed from the Daeun閣 [private room in a traditional Korean house] room where Tae-soo had left.

Instead, a 술상 [table setting for drinking alcohol] was brought in.

Upon receiving Kim Bong-nam’s call, the presidents of Cheongil affiliates began to gather at Daeun閣.