"Today's special news, a spokesperson for the British Rolls-Royce company announced that a major breakthrough has been made in the development of a new engine, which is expected to be put into commercial operation within three to five years."
In the office of the chairman of Hanjing Guoda Airlines, Yue Sheng watched the news on TV, and the muscles on his face twitched. Finally, he sighed and pressed the call bell. The secretary soon pushed the door open and said, "Chairman, you called me?"
Yue Sheng held his forehead and said, "Um... please contact Jianchuan Airlines and ask the representatives from the bureau that previously suspended Spring Airlines to handle all of them."
The secretary was startled: "Chairman, although we hold a controlling stake in Jianchuan Airlines, most of the time we do not interfere in the affairs of Jianchuan Airlines. This is what was written in the agreement when we acquired the shares."
"That's in normal times. In special times, Guoda Airlines can directly control Jianchuan Airlines. Did you forget this supplementary clause?"
"Special moment?" The secretary was a little confused: "Do you mean now? Chairman, do you have any...questions?"
Judging from the feedback from all parties, there seems to be no special news about Jianchuan Airlines.
"Yes, right now. Just tell Jianchuan that if he doesn't deal with those bureau representatives quickly, someone will take care of him."
This secretary was no ordinary person either. He thought quickly, "Chairman, is it related to Xu Cang? If it was him, he would have asked those authorities to resign on his behalf."
"Then do as Xu Cang wants."
"But Jianchuan reported that they have reached a settlement with Xu Cang and will compensate for the losses caused by the death of the captain. Xu Cang should have accepted it."
This made Yue Sheng stunned: "Is this true? Is Xu Cang so easy to talk to?"
The secretary lowered his voice slightly: "It was President Shen who stood at the gate of Spring Airlines for nearly six hours..."
Yue Sheng suddenly realized and nodded: "It seems that Jianchuan Airlines is not entirely stupid. However, this is not enough. In addition to compensating Spring Airlines for its losses, those bureau representatives must also be dealt with, and quickly, preferably within two days. But how to communicate with those bureau representatives privately? Anyway, after two days, those bureau representatives of Jianchuan Airlines must resign. Do you understand?"
After saying this, Yue Sheng was still afraid that the people at Jianchuan Airlines didn’t know the seriousness of the matter, so he added: “Tell them clearly that it was me who gave the order.”
Seeing Yue Sheng's serious look, the secretary naturally did not dare to neglect it: "Okay, I'll do it right away."
"There is one more thing..." Yue Sheng called to his secretary: "Go get the financial director and the strategic department... just hand over the financial director."
Since Yi Feng left, the position of head has remained vacant. Yue Sheng is obviously still not used to this situation and sometimes says the wrong thing.
"CFO? I see." The secretary asked, "What if the CFO asks about something?"
Yue Sheng finally smiled: "Hehe, we're going to spend a lot of money in Japan soon, so naturally we have to ask the person who manages the purse strings for advice. Go ahead, and as long as the CFO doesn't have anything important to do, ask him to come over right away."
The secretary nodded as if he understood, then left Yue Sheng's office.
After the secretary left, Yue Sheng muttered to himself: "A fierce tiger descends from the mountain, a blue dragon emerges from the sea, he has finally become something powerful."
…
In the chairman's office at the Yangcheng Muhua Airlines headquarters, Ma Cheng kept tapping the table with his right hand. The rhythmic sound kept echoing in the empty chairman's office.
Opposite him, the secretary was reporting on recent work.
About five minutes later, Ma Cheng stopped tapping and raised his eyelids: "Are you saying that Guoda Airlines is willing to negotiate the A380's permanent stationing in Hanjing?"
"Yes, that's the notice I just received." Obviously, even the secretary didn't expect such a result: "There is another thing. Not only can we stay in Hanjing permanently, but we can also discuss the future operation of the A380 on European and American routes."
Ma Cheng immediately clenched his right hand into a fist: "I didn't want to talk about anything before, but now I can talk about anything..."
The secretary whispered, "Yes, according to the feedback from Hanjing Airlines, Guoda Airlines is willing to make many concessions. Under this situation, the A380 project has great potential. Chairman, this project is going so smoothly that it is a bit abnormal."
This secretary has been following Ma Cheng since he was still a mid-level cadre, so he is not too restrained when speaking.
Precisely because he had access to many high-level things, the secretary was completely confused as to why NUS Airlines had suddenly made such a concession.
Muhua Airlines wants to make money, but Guoda Airlines doesn't care. They don't care about these things. However, Muhua Airlines wants to expand its influence, especially by using the Universiade and the Olympic Games to increase its external influence, which touches Guoda Airlines' bottom line. This is why Guoda Airlines has always refused to give in.
But without any warning, really without any sign at all, the attitude of NUS Airlines made a 180-degree turn. It was so weird.
"Chairman, it's you..."
Ma Cheng rubbed his temples: "If I had such a powerful method, would I still be constrained everywhere now?"
When Ma Cheng was the head of the strategy department, he thought that as long as he took a certain position, he would naturally gain the corresponding authority. However, when he really took over the position of chairman of Muhua Airlines, he found that things were not that simple at all.
Si Weimin left in too much of a hurry and did not plow the land for Ma Cheng again, resulting in Ma Cheng not being able to command his troops as he pleased at the Muhua headquarters. Some departments pretended to obey his orders but actually disobeyed them, causing him a headache.
In addition, the three major branches are also quite tricky.
At his inauguration ceremony, only the Tianning branch sent a representative to congratulate him. Not only did the Hanjing branch not even want to send its CEO Cheng Qiming, it was unwilling to even symbolically send someone over. As for the Xianchi branch, it is already going through the splitting process.
However, the Xianchi branch is too large and is closely connected to the Muhua headquarters, so it will take almost half a year just to split it up.
Previously, the profits of the Xianchi branch were quite good. Although Ma Cheng felt it was a pity to lose this blood-replenishing pack, he could accept it as he could directly get rid of such a big problem.
In short, Ma Cheng is now in trouble both internally and externally, and it seems that he is not as influential as when he was the head of the strategy department.
Only at this time did Ma Cheng deeply appreciate Si Weimin's ability. Before, no matter how much he said that he had Si Weimin's support, he could do whatever he wanted in Muhua Airlines. Once Si Weimin left, even if he was promoted, he could no longer control the people below him.
The secretary knew Ma Cheng's distress and couldn't accept this remark.
After a while, Ma Cheng adjusted his mood: "Go and find out the news from Rolls-Royce to see if there are any major changes regarding the engine."
"As for the engine, the news just reported that Rolls-Royce's Trent 1000 engine has made a major breakthrough."
"That's it." Ma Cheng waved his hand: "Someone has paved the way for us, so let's talk. You notify the person who is in charge of the negotiations in Hanjing to summarize the conditions for me."
The secretary didn't quite understand who was helping Mu Hua, but he didn't ask any more questions. It wasn't his turn to ask about this matter. So he continued, "I know."
"By the way, Zheng Yuanming from Jianchuan Base is coming over."
"Now?"
"Yes, right now. Let him take the nearest flight over here." Ma Cheng pondered for a moment: "Also, let the manager of the Human Resources Department come over as well."
The secretary had some guesses about Ma Cheng's plan to ask the general manager of the Jianchuan base to come over, especially since Ma Cheng later asked the HR staff to come as well.
However, the secretary still asked carefully: "Chairman, who should I call for the HR department..."
Ma Cheng did not hide anything from this subordinate who had followed him for a long time. He just said with a cold expression: "Layoffs!"
…
Compared to Yue Sheng and Ma Cheng, the atmosphere at the Pratt & Whitney headquarters in the United States was a bit depressing at night. Not long ago, after Rolls-Royce officially announced that the Trent 1000 had made a major breakthrough , angry roars were heard from the president's office from time to time.
In the office, Clark's face was livid, and on his desk was a document. Compared with the content briefly mentioned in the news, the content of this document was more detailed, at least mentioning that the key to the major breakthrough of Trent 1000 was the completion of a flight test.
"Xu Cang!" Clark took off his glasses, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He slapped the table hard, making a muffled sound.
"Are you really that angry?" However, in this depressing atmosphere, a frivolous voice suddenly rang out in the office. Clark looked up and found that General Dynamics CEO Yu Chen was leaning against the door of the office, looking at him with interest.
Clark and Yu Chen were not close friends, but they came together because of some business cooperation. This kind of cooperation was equal, and no one was begging the other. Seeing Yu Chen laughing at him, Clark's face became even colder: "Are all people in General Motors so rude? Don't you need to knock on the door when entering the office?"
Yu Chen was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "It seems that you are really angry and have started talking nonsense."
Yu Chen didn't care about Clark's warning at all. Holding a document, he walked into the office leisurely. His eyes quickly locked on the report on Trent 1000 on the table.
Clark did not hide anything. These were all relatively obvious news. If General Motors wanted to know, it would not be difficult.
"Trent 1000? Tsk, tsk, tsk, when did Rolls-Royce's scientific research capabilities become so strong? The Trent 900 has only been commercially available for a short time, and the Trent 1000 has already completed its flight test. This speed..."
Seeing Yu Chen's weird look, Clark became even more furious and sneered, "Does the Trent 1000 pose a threat to me alone? I don't think I'm talking nonsense, it's you, Rick!"
Hearing Clark calling his English name, Yu Chen showed a hint of displeasure on his face: "I said, I hate people calling me by this name."
"I also hate it when someone puts a smiling face in front of me when I'm angry." Clark responded sharply, not giving Yu Chen any face at all.
Yu Chen frowned, then changed his expression and opened his arms: "Why can't I laugh? Isn't this very interesting?"
"Is the Trent 1000 any good news?"
Yu Chen curled his lips, walked closer to Clark, and laughed softly: "Do you know what the biggest difference between General Dynamics and Pratt & Whitney is?"
Clark looked at Yu Chen with some disgust and said nothing.
Yu Chen was quite proud and clapped his hands: "We have CFM56, but you don't."
Hearing this, Clark's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot and he cursed a word starting with F.
CFM56 is a first-generation civil aviation artifact and the world's best-selling civil aviation engine. Although it is not the most advanced, it is the most durable and has a high acceptance rate. Relying solely on the CFM56 engine, General Dynamics is basically guarding a gold mine and making a lot of money.
Pratt & Whitney's strength is not inferior to General Dynamics, but it lacks a best-selling product like CFM56.
Owning CFM56 means that General Dynamics can maintain relatively stable profit income for a long period of time, and this is Yu Chen's confidence.
Yes, the emergence of the Trent 1000 is not good news for General Dynamics. However, General Dynamics has food at home, so it is not worried. Of course, Pratt & Whitney has also developed well in recent years, and its capital chain is still relatively sufficient, but those who do not plan for the overall situation are not qualified to plan for a small area. Pratt & Whitney does not have a treasure pot like CFM56, so it must always have a sense of crisis, which is what makes Clark feel annoyed.
For some time, Pratt & Whitney has maintained its dominance over Rolls-Royce. However, with the extraordinary development speed of the Trent 1000, it is really a question of how long this advantage can be maintained.
Yu Chen stopped being proud and got down to business: "So, the major breakthrough of the Trent 1000 is that it completed the flight test ahead of schedule. They dared to take off after just a little debugging of the prototype. They are really brave."
"Someone gave them the confidence." Clark gritted his teeth and said, "Xu Cang, he is the one who broke the balance."
Speaking of Xu Cang, Yu Chen's expression became slightly more serious: "The test flight of the Trent 1000 prototype seemed to be very smooth this time. It should have nothing to do with Xu Cang."
"But it still succeeded. Whether it was the Boeing 777 or the Trent 1000. Yes, the test flights of the Boeing 777 and the Trent 1000 were actually very smooth, and there was no difference in the results with or without him. However, both Boeing and Rolls-Royce trusted him so much, doesn't that mean something?" Clark said in a deep voice: "I don't care whether he is really capable or just too lucky, but this person is very important, very important."
Boeing and Rolls-Royce are not small workshops. Their evaluation departments have not evaluated Xu Cang and have not estimated the risks. They dared to let Xu Cang test fly, which in itself is a kind of recognition.
The fact that both giant companies made the same choice and the results were satisfactory is actually quite convincing.
"What do you mean, what you promised before?" Yu Chen asked immediately.
Before this, Clark promised Yu Chen that he would not easily hand over the planetary gear technology to Xu Cang. But now listening to Clark's tone, why did Yu Chen feel that Clark's mind might change?
Clark thought for a while, his face solemn and serious: "Yu Chen, do you think it is impossible for him to become our exclusive test pilot? Have you put forward any conditions for him?"
"I mentioned it." Yu Chen snorted, thinking of the unpleasant experience before, he was a little dissatisfied: "This kid is stubborn and has a strong sense of family and country. He seems to be a little disgusted with us."
"National consciousness, do you mean his obsession with developing his own engines and large mainline passenger aircraft?"
"Yeah." Yu Chen spread his hands: "He seems to have a preconceived aversion to us."
"We? Europe and America?" Clark thought for a moment. "The Boeing 777 incident doesn't count. After all, the risk factor was not too high, and it could be understood as a simple commercial cooperation. However, the Trent 1000 test flight was actually very risky. If he was born to dislike Europe and America, why would he be willing to take the risk to cooperate with Rolls-Royce?"
"Luo Luo gave him some benefits, right?"
Clark snorted, "What Luo Luo can give, you GM can't give?"
Yu Chen was startled, his eyes turned slightly, and he immediately felt the problem.
If Xu Cang is too obsessed with domestic engines and aircraft, then in a sense, Rolls-Royce, GM and Pratt & Whitney should be the same. But Xu Cang accepted the cooperation with Rolls-Royce and rejected the cooperation invitations from GM several times. This difference in attitude is indeed problematic.
Just as Clark said, what Rolls-Royce can give, GM will only give more. If Xu Cang was looking at the benefits, it shouldn't be the case now.
Then the only explanation is that Xu Cang has other considerations.
"Is there a possibility..." A thought flashed through Clark's mind: "He doesn't want Rolls-Royce to fall too quickly. He wants to achieve balance in the field of aviation engines?"
"Balance?" Yu Chen's face changed: "If so, then his ambition is not just the so-called domestically produced engines and large aircraft."
"In the field of aviation engines, Rolls-Royce has always been weak. If there is no change, it will fall behind in a while. He doesn't want this to happen. He wants to use Rolls-Royce to contain us?" Clark narrowed his eyes: "This is the only explanation."
Yu Chen snorted disdainfully: "Then he is courting his own death."
Clark looked at Yu Chen, and suddenly his mind flashed back to the scene where he met Xu Cang at the Civil Aviation Conference in Hanjing. He suddenly smiled and said, "It's probably true that Xu Cang hates you guys. But whether he hates us or not is a question mark."
Yu Chen was stunned: "What do you mean?"
"Yu Chen, Xu Cang has demonstrated his value, but what about the value of my cooperation with you? I haven't seen it yet." Clark said coldly: "I need a new basis to judge the relationship between GM and Pratt & Whitney."
Yu Chen took a deep breath and said, "Although we are all businessmen, and businessmen value profit, it is not a decent thing to be so blatant."
"When we lose money and are held accountable by the board of directors, that will be the most undignified thing." Clark closed the report on the table and leaned on the edge of the table: "Anything else?"
This was a very clear order to expel him. It seemed that the president of Pratt & Whitney Power had lost interest in talking to Yu Chen.
"What's the value of cooperating with me?" Yu Chen's face was gloomy at first, but he soon smiled and handed a document to Clark: "This is the value."
Clark frowned and took the document: "What?"
"Tomorrow Boeing will announce the official announcement." Yu Chen said, "The press conference on the renaming of the Boeing 7E7 project to the Boeing 787."
Clark's eyelids twitched wildly, and he turned directly to the end of the document. On it was a brief summary of the manuscript, which included the selection of the preset power system for the Boeing 787.
"GENx and PW4000-112!" Clark breathed a sigh of relief. He had been feeling depressed since hearing the news about the Trent 1000. Finally, he heard some good news. "Is this the final result?"
"Of course not!" Yu Chen smiled and said, "However, since it was clearly stated at the press conference, unless there is a major change, it should not change in the future. Of course, the PW4000 engine is still a little old. If possible, we can optimize it based on this."
Clark nodded: "Of course I know this."
According to Yu Chen, the power options for the Boeing 787 are almost like this. Clark feels that the so-called major changes will not happen. Given the good assessment of the prospects of the Boeing 787, the sales of the PW4000 engine should see a new wave of growth.
Anyway, this is indeed very good news.
"What about the planetary gears?"
Before Clark could answer, another person came into the office. It was Clark's secretary.
"The Airbus representative has something urgent to discuss with you." The secretary said, "He'll be right over."
Clark waved his hand: "Let him come over."
After saying that, he looked at Yu Chen and said with a smile: "Thank you for General Dynamics' mediation, but I do have something to do right now. If it's convenient..."
Yu Chen also knew that it was inconvenient to stay any longer, so he nodded and said, "Come visit me again later."
Having said this, Yu Chen did not waste any time and left the office directly.
As soon as Yu Chen left, Clark told his secretary directly: "Send an invitation to Spring Airlines for business negotiations in the name of Pratt & Whitney."
The secretary was startled: "Then what about General Dynamics?"
She knew about the deal between Clark and Yu Chen. Now that Yu Chen helped Clark get the Boeing 787 project, Clark should keep his promise and keep his distance from Xu Cang. However, Clark's behavior seemed inconsistent with his agreement with Yu Chen.
"Hmph! Just don't let him know."
The secretary bowed his head and replied, "I understand. I will do it carefully."
"Well, let the Airbus representative come in." Clark waved his hand.
The secretary nodded and quickly left the office.
Outside in the corridor, Yu Chen's smile had disappeared. He kept thinking about the Trent 1000 report he had just seen on Clark's desk. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. So he called his secretary.
Soon, the call was connected: "Go check the news about Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 now. The more detailed the better."
"Also, has Xu Cang contacted Kraft Medical Center?"
There was a pause on the other end of the phone: "Kraft Medical Center has not received the relevant application."
"Damn it!" Yu Chen cursed and hung up the phone.
However, just as he hung up the phone, a man in a hurry came towards him. Yu Chen knew this man. He was the representative of Airbus in the Americas region.
The Airbus Americas representative had a solemn expression on his face and looked straight ahead. He passed by Yu Chen without noticing that he had missed the CEO of General Dynamics.
"He's anxious?" Yu Chen stopped and looked back at the Airbus Americas representative. Just from his back, Yu Chen could sense his impatience: "What happened?"
Under Yu Chen's puzzled gaze, the Airbus representative turned into Clark's office. At this time, Clark had already sat back in his seat. Hearing the noise, he looked up and immediately saw the serious-looking Airbus representative.
"Varrick, what happened?" Clark obviously knew the head of Airbus Americas, and they seemed to have a good personal relationship: "You don't look well."
"Clark, there's something I might need your help with."
Clark just sat down and stood up again. He made a cup of coffee for Varrick, added milk, and handed it to Varrick: "Then you need to consider whether that matter is something I can control. You know, many things are not something I can decide alone."
"I know. This is what Toulouse meant. There will be formal negotiations later. I came here just to give you a heads-up."
"What does Airbus headquarters mean?" Clark's face became serious. "What exactly is it?"
Warrick took a sip of coffee, put it aside, and immediately asked, "Clark, is Bombardier's C Series aircraft power system cooperating with you?"
Clark nodded: "Yeah, what's wrong?"
"Clark, immediately terminate your cooperation with Bombardier on the C Series aircraft." Warrick said solemnly.
"What did you say?" Clark was shocked. "But we have already signed an agreement. If we terminate the cooperation, we have to pay liquidated damages."
"Regarding this, Airbus will be responsible for the penalty. In addition, if you agree, we will take care of Pratt & Whitney to a certain extent in the selection of power for subsequent Airbus models."
Clark licked his dry lips. He could tell that Warrick cared a lot about Bombardier, or rather, Airbus headquarters cared a lot about Bombardier C Series aircraft. However, this made him a little confused.
"If I remember correctly, Bombardier's C100 aircraft sales were very poor before. Is it necessary to pay attention to it?"
Previously, Bombardier's C100 basic model launch event created a "myth" of zero sales on the same day, which was considered to be a complete loss of face for Bombardier in the field of regional aircraft. Why is Airbus so nervous about such a useless aircraft?
Or is Airbus overreacting?
However, Warrick gritted his teeth and said, "Bombardier is reckless and actually launched the C300 series with 130 seats. Doesn't this overlap with the market positioning of the A319 and A318 that we are about to launch? We must severely punish them and let them know that the trunk market is not something they can enter."
…
In a community square in Derbyshire, England, Xu Cang, Yang Tian and Deng Peng sat around a stone table. Xu Cang looked at the pigeons in the middle of the square with some boredom. These pigeons were all fat and strong, and they were not afraid of people. They were probably used to being fed by people.
It was the first time that Yang Tian and Deng Peng met. Both of them were working on engines and had similar interests, so they got along quite well.
Previously, due to the danger of Rolls-Royce CEO Alandi, the celebration of the test flight of Trent 1000 was cancelled. Xu Cang originally wanted to have a good meal for free, but now his dream was ruined and he felt very bored.
"Xu Cang, what would you like to eat later?" Deng Peng asked.
"Whatever, as long as it's not a hamburger." Xu Cang scratched his head: "Yang Tian, ​​is this where you usually live?"
Yang Tian nodded: "I have been living here since I joined Luo Luo. The rent here is not expensive, and it is not far from the headquarters, so it is convenient for work. By the way, I have an empty room, Deng Peng can also move in."
Xu Cang yawned and said, "You guys have to arrange all these things by yourselves. As for the food and accommodation subsidies, Luo Luo will give them to you according to the agreement. Whether you want to live together or separately is up to you. I don't care about these. However, since you have accepted my conditions, you have to come and help me after you finish your studies, just like Deng Peng."
"That's no problem. I was planning to return to China in a few years anyway. If things continue as they were before, I won't be able to learn any core technology here. They are all hiding it. If you give me this opportunity, I won't have to worry about finding a job after I return." Yang Tian said with a smile.
"Yes, this is just right." Xu Cang thought for a moment and said, "According to the agreement between me and Luo Luo, each of you will have a one and a half year learning period. During this period, Luo Luo will teach you all the three-rotor technologies. However, the learning period can be extended to two years at most. After two years, if you still haven't learned it well, Luo Luo will not care."
"Two years at most, that's enough!" Yang Tian nodded heavily: "As long as they are willing to teach us the technology."
"If you feel they have reservations, please contact me directly and I will negotiate with them." Xu Cang added, "By the way, Deng Peng, do you need an interpreter?"
Deng Peng’s English is actually pretty good, but after all, unlike Yang Tian who has been living abroad for many years, Deng Peng doesn’t use English as often. Xu Cang is worried that he may have some language problems.
"No need! I just need to familiarize myself with it. My English is pretty good." Deng Peng said with a smile, "Also, if there are any language problems, Yang Tian can help."
At this time, Yang Tian patted his chest and said, "Leave everything to me."
Xu Cang clapped his hands: "Okay! Everything is arranged."
"Xu Cang, what do you say? Want to travel around England? I can be your tour guide." Yang Tian said with a smile.
"Forget it. No one wants to invite me to dinner, so I might as well go back." Xu Cang was still somewhat interested in eating the Eight Great Bowls, especially since he had never seen the British Eight Great Bowls, but Luo Luo didn't give him this opportunity.
Xu Cang looked at his watch and said, "My flight is in six hours. Yang Tian, ​​is there anything delicious nearby? Let me have some food. Otherwise, I will have to eat airplane food. I don't know if Luo Luo has booked first class for me, but it's better to be safe."
"So urgent?" Yang Tian was a little surprised: "There are still some places in the UK where you can go."
"I have some things to deal with at home." Xu Cang said with a smile, "Britain won't slip away from here, come back later."
Deng Peng patted Yang Tian on the shoulder and said, "Forget it. He's a very busy man. I won't keep him."
"Really?" Yang Tian was a little disappointed. He was only a few years older than Xu Cang and wanted to be closer to Xu Cang.
After a moment of silence, Yang Tian suddenly asked, "Xu Cang, I remember there were three vacancies. There is one more, but I haven't seen him."
"There is another one...who hasn't been notified yet. We need to talk about it briefly." Xu Cang said, "If nothing unexpected happens, he should be a college student."
"College students, so young?" Yang Tian was very surprised. How could college students understand such high-end technology? Don't waste the quota.
"Is he very smart?" Deng Peng asked, "For a college student, is the three-rotor technology too advanced?"
A hint of reminiscence flashed across Xu Cang's face: "Well, she is very smart, very smart!"