Chapter 205 Cleansing and Counterattack

In the early days of the Internet, administrative intervention was not uncommon.

Especially portal websites, which involve news dissemination, are the focus of attention from above.

The reason why Sina set up a VIE structure when it went public was to circumvent some administrative restrictions.

At that time, Wang Zhidong would go to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to wait for the leader when he had nothing to do. It took several revisions before he was able to go to the United States.

As a big boss who has been working in the industry for many years, Duan Yongji must have very deep connections with the upper echelons.

None of the business tycoons of the older generation did not have very good connections with the upper class, let alone Duan Yongji who had taken root in Beijing.

It was obvious that Director Li, who came to inspect, had bad intentions, but Liu Zhou had no choice but to fight back.

The next day, Liu Zhou, Wang Yan, Cao Guowei and several other senior executives solemnly welcomed Director Li's arrival, which can be said to have given him enough face.

Director Li seemed very happy to be welcomed by Liu Zhou and others. He had a smile on his face all the time and even kept chatting with Liu Zhou enthusiastically.

To be honest, Liu Zhou was a little confused by his behavior.

Even Liu Zhou, a director, was deceived by his superb acting skills.

Director Li smiled on the surface, but he was ruthless when he took action.

Sina is extremely picky about the news on the Internet. Any slight non-compliance will be pointed out and the company will be ordered to make corrections.

Liu Zhou didn't know what to say about this.

Because in today's Internet, whether it is a portal website or other types of companies, it is impossible to be fully compliant.

At this time, some websites even deliberately use colors to attract traffic.

However, because the supervision from above is still imperfect, many websites have taken advantage of loopholes, and some large companies are turned a blind eye if they do not pass the line.

But you are afraid of taking everything seriously. If the superiors really take it seriously, you will not get angry even though you know you are being targeted intentionally.

Director Li still had some concerns and did not dare to be bold enough to directly shut down Sina temporarily.

In response to this, Liu Zhou had no choice but to ask his employees to improve the non-compliant areas, even if it would temporarily affect website traffic.

However, Liu Zhou still underestimated Duan Yongji's shamelessness. In addition to the leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in the next few days, even the fire protection, taxation and industry and commerce departments came to inspect one after another.

Liu Zhou didn't expect that a man like Duan Yongji would use such low-level means.

But damn, such low-level methods are quite effective.

The morale of the employees had already stabilized, but this incident made some of them panic again and made everyone lose their focus on work.

Liu Zhou knew that this situation must be stopped. If it was allowed to continue, it would sooner or later drag down Sina.

It was not until this moment that Liu Zhou realized his biggest shortcoming.

That is, it has almost nothing to do with the upper levels.

Liu Zhou used to work in the entertainment industry, where the relationships were relatively simpler, and he was also named by the higher-ups, so he was able to do very well.

But when Liu Zhou entered the huge melting pot of Chinese business, his connections in the entertainment industry were not enough.

Even if Liu Zhou wanted to manage the relationship, it was too late for now.

For this reason, Liu Zhou could only mobilize all his connections to solve this problem.

He not only called the people he knew above, but also saw if they had any classmates or former colleagues who could lend a hand.

But unfortunately, this path is simply not feasible.

Perhaps Liu Zhou's relationship with them was not worth their doing him a favor.

Afterwards, Liu Zhou had to call Ding Lei and Zhang Chaoyang for help.

Both NetEase and Sohu are portal websites. In terms of relationship, NetEase is not much worse than Sina.

Neither of them refused Liu Zhou's request and agreed to help.

Afterwards, there were indeed fewer people coming from above.

But I don’t know if Duan Yongji was too angry. Despite the help of Zhang Chaoyang and Ding Lei, people still came from time to time, especially the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which became more stringent in its supervision of Sina.

Liu Zhou had no way to deal with this, because he had no one above him.

Just when Liu Zhou was about to swallow his anger, someone he had never expected took action.

Sina's director Mao Daolin went to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on behalf of Sina, and the problem was immediately solved.

Not only did the number of people coming to Sina for research disappear, but the supervision of Sina was also relaxed again, and it became almost the same as before.

Liu Zhou didn't expect Mao Daolin to actually help, after all, his identity was quite sensitive.

But no matter what, since Mao Daolin solved such a big problem for Liu Zhou, he must go and thank him in person.

In response to Liu Zhou's thanks, Mao Daolin said directly:
"Mr. Liu, I'm not helping you, I'm helping Sina.

To be honest, I don't have much confidence in whether you can lead Sina forward, but at least you are more humble and able to listen to opinions.

If you hire the right people, Sina will at least have better development instead of being caught up in internal strife.

This is my last bit of help to Sina. I will no longer pay attention to Sina's future development."

After hearing what Mao Daolin said, Liu Zhou felt grateful and held his breath.

Liu Zhou felt that not only people outside the company, but also the senior executives in the company seemed to be not optimistic that an outsider like him could lead Sina to better development. Since everyone was not optimistic, Liu Zhou felt that he had to make some achievements and give them a slap in the face.

Although this idea is a bit childish, it is indeed what Liu Zhou really thinks.

Liu Zhou, who held his breath, immediately returned to Sina headquarters, ready to continue what he had not finished.

It is rude not to reciprocate. Since Duan Yongji has made a move, Liu Zhou decided to fight back.

Originally Liu Zhou was planning to take it slow, but since Duan Yongji was pressing him step by step, there was no point in taking it slow.

On March 10, Sina Executive Vice President Zhang Lizheng and Chief Operating Officer Lin Xinhe announced their resignations.

The simultaneous resignation of two Sina executives sparked heated discussions in the outside world.

Most people think that Liu Zhou is trying to eliminate dissidents and eliminate Duan Yongji's influence in the company.

These two are no small figures; they are both top management at Sina.

Zhang Lizheng is the vice president of marketing and sales. He is responsible for integrating global sales and brand resources, and is in charge of online advertising sales and marketing in the mainland.

Lin Xinhe is also not a simple person. He is fully responsible for the company's operations and business development in various fields, as well as foreign investment and capital operations.

Sina's main business development now is wireless value-added services. After the successive acquisitions of Yangcheng Xunlong and Pengcheng Guangxun, Sina's wireless value-added services rank first among all Internet companies.

It was not until two years later that it was surpassed by the Penguin.

The main profit sources of portal websites now are advertising, wireless value-added services and games.

Sina has no presence in the gaming field at all. One of these two people controls Sina's advertising business, and the other controls its wireless value-added business.

It can be said that the economic lifeline of Sina is in the hands of these two people.

It is no exaggeration to say that the two of them hold high positions and power in Sina.

These two people are Duan Yongji's loyal subordinates. He mainly interferes in the company's operations through these two people, and even once sidelined the CEO Wang Yan.

These two people have one thing in common, that is, they are both from Taiwan.

Due to historical reasons, Sina has the most Taiwanese executives among the three portal websites.

Even after Duan Yongji left and Cao Guowei came to power, the situation did not change.

They cooperated with Wanwan Capital in the entertainment industry to provide protection for Wanwan artists such as Tian Ting Yan.

Liu Zhou is unable to dismiss all these people now and can only clean them out slowly.

However, Liu Zhou was not going to wait for their leader.

Before, I thought that Zhang Lizheng and Lin Xinhe were in charge of key departments of the company, so I couldn't just fire them rudely.

But now Duan Yongji has made moves one after another, and Liu Zhou is worried that if he keeps these two people in that position, they will cause more trouble under Duan Yongji's instructions.

Therefore, even if he would rather the business of these two sectors remain in chaos for a while, Liu Zhou would still kick them both out, otherwise the harm they cause might be even greater.

As for the business in the hands of the two, Liu Zhou handed over the foreign investment and financing business to Cao Guowei, which should have been the responsibility of the CFO.

Liu Zhou handed over the advertising and wireless value-added services to President Wang Yan.

Liu Zhou has always been a man of few words. Since he has decided to accept Wang Yan's surrender, Liu Zhou will of course trust him.

This time, handing over Sina's economic lifeline to Wang Yan is a trust in him, but it is also a challenge to him.

If he can handle the business of these two sectors well, it will prove that he is capable and will be more valued by Liu Zhou.

Liu Zhou's forced dismissal of the two men really hit Duan Yongji's sore spot.

Previously, Duan Yongji called on members of his Taishan Society to attack Liu Zhou in the media, but this time he actually took action himself.

In an interview with the media, Duan Yongji said angrily:
"Liu Zhou is doing this for his own selfish reasons, disregarding Sina's development and forcibly eliminating dissidents. This is undoubtedly a huge harm to Sina.

Liu Zhou doesn’t care about Sina at all, he only cares about his own power, he is just playing political games.”

Afterwards, a large number of people quickly followed suit.

But Liu Zhou ignored it completely. After dismissing the two people, his counterattack continued.

On March 12, Sina's Chief Financial Officer Cao Guowei announced his resignation as a director of Sina.

At the same time, Sina’s chairman nominated Vice President Zhong Lifang to join the board of directors, and then voted in favor.

Although Duan Yongji knew that Liu Zhou was trying to strengthen his control over the board of directors, he was helpless.

Besides, Cao Guowei was also a traitor in his eyes, so he didn't say much.

But what Duan Yongji didn't expect was that Liu Zhou would give him a heavy blow in a place he could never imagine.

The next day, Sina director and staunch supporter of Duan Yongji, Li Jia of Sunshine Capital, announced his resignation from Sina's board of directors.

This made Duan Yongji terrified, and now he was even more isolated and helpless in the board of directors.

He never expected that Li Jia would suddenly stab him in the back.

At the beginning, Sunshine Capital begged him to participate in Sina's financing, and had always followed his lead.

Now he looked at Wu Zheng of Ideal Investment, with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)