Chapter 363: Take Action and Decide the Victory
Although Zheng Youyuan runs an electronics factory, he is not a front-line R&D staff and has only a limited understanding of technology, so what he does is actually the simplest business, not a scientific research-based enterprise.
This is easy to understand. Just like Company L, although it claims to be a technology company, it actually does processing trade. Although it makes a lot of money, the technological content is completely negligible.
There were many companies of this kind in the 1970s and 1980s, because Xiaguo had a lot of things but the most educated labor force. In addition, prices were low, which resulted in very cheap human resources. In addition, the country had a vast territory and a large amount of natural resources, so all the products with low technical content but high demand were produced in Xiaguo.
This is also the reason why Xiaguo later proudly called itself the "world factory", but in the final analysis, it was just destined to be a worker.
But now, Lu Yiming painted a big picture for Zheng Youyuan, telling him that he could climb up from the downstream of the industry. How could the latter not be excited?
Lu Yiming showed Zheng Youyuan a rendering of the exterior, explained how to use it again, and then said to Zheng Youyuan, "How is it? Think about it, with this thing, you can carry materials with a thumb-sized thing, and the entire library can be stored. The optical drive can also be directly eliminated. How troublesome is it to burn a CD? And that thing is fragile. It will break if you are not careful when putting it in a briefcase."
Although Lu Yiming's explanation was very logical, Zheng Youyuan still had some doubts: "This thing is so powerful, can you really produce it?"
Lu Yiming said: "To be honest, I have applied for appearance patents and technical patents, and can enter mass production at any time."
Although Lu Yiming is not engaged in technical research and development, he has heard countless versions of the so-called USB flash drive dispute.
In 1998, a man named Deng Guoshun found that the floppy disks he brought with him were damaged due to carelessness during several business trips, making the stored data unreadable. He was thinking at the time, is there a new product that can replace the floppy disk?
In 1999, by chance, he met Cheng Xiaohua, a fellow Hunan native, in Singapore. The two hit it off and talked about a topic of common interest: the entire computer, from the mainboard, CPU to the mouse and keyboard, has been constantly updated, but the floppy drive has remained unchanged for many years and has always been a standard configuration. Can we abandon the floppy drive and make a small, stable mobile storage device with a capacity many times larger than that of a normal floppy disk?
Deng Guoshun and Cheng Xiaohua resolutely returned to China, giving up the attractive treatment abroad. They rented a house in Luohu District and began to attack a completely unfamiliar field without any ready-made products to learn from.
After more than a year of exploration, a flash drive called "USB flash drive" was finally born in their hands.
At the Second International High-tech Achievements Fair, Deng Guoshun hung a USB sample slightly larger than a key around his neck for display, and it immediately attracted the attention of many companies. The listed company Trek2000internation-alLtd and they jointly invested 8.88 million yuan to establish SZ City Langke Technology Co., Ltd.
Deng Guoshun is known as the "Father of Flash Drive" in the IT industry.
The technical content of a thing itself may not be high, what is important is the idea that flashed in your mind. The principle and manufacturing method of the USB flash drive are very simple, but for a long time, no one thought about it. But for Lu Yiming, who lived in the world of the next 20 years, these were not a problem.
Zheng Youyuan was naturally shocked when he saw Lu Yiming directly took out all the design drawings.
"So, this USB flash drive you mentioned is ready for mass production?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Yes. How about it? Do you want to cooperate? I believe you can imagine how big the market for this thing is. The most important thing is that this is an invention patent. By then, even foreign countries will have to use our products. We can go down in history."
Speaking of leaving a name in history, Zheng Youyuan suddenly became more excited and said, "Okay, I'll cooperate with you."
It was obvious that Zheng Youyuan was moved by what Lu Yiming had just said, and now his mind was full of thoughts about creating a brand and leaving a resounding reputation.
Lu Yiming said: "Let's jointly invest and set up a company to specialize in the research and development and production of this thing. You can choose the name of the company."
Lu Yiming didn't care what the company was called. He gave the naming rights to Zheng Youyuan so that Zheng Youyuan would have a sense of participation. In this way, Zheng Youyuan would pay more attention to this company.
Zheng Youyuan was very excited. Now that the naming rights were handed over to him, wouldn't people always think of him when they talked about the USB flash drive in the future?
After a long pause, Zheng Youyuan said, "What do you think of the name 'Mingyuan Technology'?"
Originally, he wanted to name the company "Youyuan Technology", but then he thought that using his own name would have nothing to do with Lu Yiming, and he was afraid that Lu Yiming would object, so he took one character from his own name and one character from Lu Yiming's name as the name of the new company.
This is actually the idea that many people use when naming their companies. If you look at the names of many partnership companies, you will find that they are actually a combination of the names of several founders.
"Celebrity Technology?"
Lu Yiming took a breath of cold air.
Is this name really suitable for a technology company?
Before he asked, Zheng Youyuan wrote the two words "Ming Yuan" on the paper with a pen.
Feeling that Lu Yiming's tone seemed a little off, Zheng Youyuan raised his head and asked, "Why? Is this name not good?"
Lu Yiming looked at the two words written by Zheng Youyuan and said with a smile, "Very good, it's decided. I will invest 50 million on behalf of Future Capital, accounting for 40%. At the same time, we will set up a research and development team to tackle technical problems. You will invest 150 million, accounting for 60% of the shares, and be responsible for production and sales. What do you think of this arrangement?"
Zheng Youyuan hesitated for a moment, then agreed.
Although according to the proportion, Zheng Youyuan invested 150 million and Lu Yiming invested 50 million, Zheng Youyuan should own 75% of the shares.
However, for technology companies, the proportion of technology investment is very important because it is the foundation of technology companies.
Besides, the patent for USB flash drives is in Lu Yiming's hands. If Zheng Youyuan disagrees, Lu Yiming can always find someone else to cooperate with.
It can be said that Zheng Youyuan had no choice at all.
What's more, if you think about it carefully, this thing will be a groundbreaking product and its market prospects are unquestionable. Zheng Youyuan will definitely not miss such an opportunity to make money.
The two drafted a cooperation framework, agreeing that the new product would be developed by Mingyuan Technology and produced and sold by Dayuan Electronics Factory. The specific details of the cooperation would be discussed at a meeting three days later.
The day after Lu Yiming left Zheng Youyuan's house, Zheng Youyuan mobilized his connections and began to target Liang Shuzhen and Zuo Chunrong.
In the hall of the Lingdong Merchants' Mutual Aid Association, Liang Shuzhen and Zuo Chunrong gathered together, both of them with panicked looks on their faces.
Liang Shuzhen frowned and asked, "Why did Zheng Youyuan, this old fox, suddenly come out to protect that kid named Lu?"
Zuo Chunrong was also very depressed: "How should I know?"
The two were not afraid of Lu Yiming because Lu Yiming had nothing but money, and he had neither strong connections nor deep-rooted power, so they were fearless.
But Zheng Youyuan is different. He is one of the elders of the Cantonese business community. He is not very rich, but his connections are absolutely amazing. It is no problem for him to crush the two of them.
Liang Shuzhen asked, "What should we do now? With Zheng Youyuan stepping in, let alone looking for trouble with Lu Yiming, we might even be in trouble ourselves."
She is just a restaurant owner, and to be honest, her connections are a bit limited.
Zuo Chunrong was also very worried. Once Zheng Youyuan took action, the mutual aid fund association would not be able to continue. If the previous members wanted to redeem their funds, it would be the end of the association.
After thinking for a while, Zuo Chunrong gritted his teeth and said, "Run away. There is still a chance to run away now."
"Running away?"
Liang Shuzhen disagreed when she heard this. She said dissatisfiedly, "You are in foreign trade, so you can just walk away. But my hotel is still here. You can run away, but you can't."
Zuo Chunrong sneered, "Do you think I have nothing to lose? This is my best plan. We can preserve our strength and make a comeback later. If they catch us, we will go to jail."
Liang Shuzhen retorted: "Who said we should do this? It was you. Now that you are telling me this, who will bear my losses? Unless you give me some money to make up for my shortfall."
"I don't have the money..."
Just as the two were arguing, Liang Shuzhen's cell phone rang. She picked up the phone angrily and pressed the answer button.
"Hello?"
A slightly childish voice came from the other end of the phone: "Mr. Liang, this is Lu Yiming."
"ah?"
Liang Shuzhen screamed, which frightened Zuo Chunrong, and he complained, "Why are you screaming?"
Liang Shuzhen pointed at her phone and wanted to say Lu Yiming's name loudly, but she was afraid that Lu Yiming would hear her. So she swallowed her breath and poked the phone fiercely with her finger, and whispered in an exaggerated expression: "Lu Yiming!"
"What?"
Liang Shuzhen thought that her current situation was caused by Lu Yiming, and she was immediately filled with hatred for this young man she had never met. She said coldly: "It turned out to be Mr. Lu. You called me at this time. Are you going to laugh at me?"
On the other end of the phone, Lu Yiming smiled and said, "I'm not that boring. I'm a businessman. I called you because I want to do business with you."
Liang Shuzhen said angrily: "We don't have any business to discuss!"
Originally, if Lu Yiming had not appeared, none of this would have happened. Lu Yiming was the culprit. Based on this relationship, Liang Shuzhen opposed cooperating with Lu Yiming from the bottom of her heart.
On the other end of the phone, Lu Yiming said slowly: "Ah? Are you sure? I thought you were planning to sell the restaurant. Could it be that I guessed wrong?"
“Ah, this…”
Liang Shuzhen was immediately shocked. He had just been discussing running away with Zuo Chunrong and hadn't told anyone. How did Lu Yiming know about it?
Just when she hadn't figured out how to respond to Lu Yiming, Lu Yiming spoke again.
"Are you thinking about how I guessed that you were going to run away?"
Liang Shuzhen's heart was already in turmoil, but she forced herself to remain calm and said, "What do you mean by running away? I don't understand what you are talking about."
Although Liang Shuzhen vehemently denied it, Lu Yiming had already seen through her guilty conscience and said, "I've asked someone to do the math. You and Zuo Chunrong probably raised about 1.2 billion, right? With so much money, the interest alone would be 60 million every month. Unless your new members can bring in more than 60 million in funds every month, you can only use the original principal to pay the interest."
"As the number of members increases, the gap will only get bigger. How long can you hold on? Unless you can find a business that can make more than 1.5 billion yuan in net profit in a short period of time and fill the gap, continuing will lead to a dead end."
Lu Yiming's words made Liang Shuzhen's mood plummet to the bottom, so that her response was a little weak and fierce: "Mr. Lu, what do you want?"
Lu Yiming yelled in dissatisfaction: "Hey, hey, hey, watch your tone. It's obviously you who are trying to mess with me, why do you talk as if I'm the villain? How about it? I'll give you one last chance, do you want to do this with me?"
Liang Shuzhen didn't expect that Lu Yiming had already found out the financial situation of the mutual aid association so clearly. In other words, Lu Yiming had completely mastered her in terms of intelligence work.
She thought that the Cantonese business community definitely contributed to this.
There is no doubt that in this contest between the Cantonese Merchants and the Lingdong Merchants, the Cantonese Merchants have already won with this move.
After all these thoughts went through her mind, Liang Shuzhen compromised and asked, "What do you want to do?"
Lu Yiming said calmly, "Your Zhenbao Restaurant, the villa on Fuqian Road under your name, and the five shops on Zhongjing Street. I want them all. One hundred million, how about that? I'm being generous, right?"
Listening to Lu Yiming's story, Liang Shuzhen's face turned pale and she shouted, "You're dreaming! All my properties combined are worth at least 500 million! You're clearly taking advantage of the situation!"
Facing Liang Shuzhen's roar, Lu Yiming smiled and continued, "I paid cash in one lump sum. If you look for other buyers besides me, let alone whether they will lower the price more than me, even if they have a close relationship with you and don't lower your price, are you afraid that I will spread the news and say that you are going to run away?"
This undisguised threat almost made Liang Shuzhen grit her teeth, but since she was under someone else's roof, she had no choice but to bow her head.
Lu Yiming laughed proudly: "He who knows the times is a hero, Boss Liang, I'm waiting for you to sign the contract."
