Chapter 547: Qiao Gang plays the patriotic card
The United States is not a monolithic entity, and capital forces can be generally divided into two major factions based on industry.
Old money, which is mainly based on the old industrial era, has deep roots and still holds the political discourse power in the United States, and has penetrated into all aspects of society.
New tycoons like Bill Gates who have risen to prominence through software programming or the Internet may be richer, but their political power is actually inferior to that of conservatives.
It was obvious that Lu Yi wanted to sow discord, but Bill Gates had no way to stop him because he was an extreme egoist after all, and he would never do anything that would benefit the world at the cost of a small sum.
Bill Gates looked at Lu Yiming: "Sometimes I really wonder if you were sent by the devil. Every word you say seems to have the power to inspire people."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Same here."
Just as Lu Yiming expected, Bill Gates did not intend to do anything. After all, it was still unknown whether America would decline. However, he was happy to see the conservatives' power weakened.
It can only be said that people in high positions often do not put the overall situation first, let alone the national interests first. Because in their eyes, they are the overall situation, and their own interests are the most important.
After talking to Bill Gates, Lu Yiming didn't take the matter to heart. He could only say that the current level of productivity was not enough to get rid of the historical cycle. Even if the future of America and Xiaguo were placed in front of Bill Gates, nothing would change.
The only thing a person can change is himself.
In a place like America, people may not even be able to change themselves. Even if they can see the future, they can only watch the future coming towards them. The pain is probably like being cornered by someone, and then that person raises his fist as big as a clay pot, and he opens his mouth to curse, and you can clearly see the rotten vegetable leaves between his teeth and the saliva sprayed at you, but you can't move, and then you are sprayed in the face and punched.
In the hotel where they were staying, Lu Yiming put his arm around Shi Qingxue's slender waist and said, "Let's go shopping this afternoon. After all, we don't come to Hollywood often, so it wouldn't be worth it if we don't go shopping around."
Hollywood is not only the birthplace of global fashion, but also the center of the global music and film industry, with the world's top entertainment industry and luxury brands. Therefore, in Hollywood, you can not only appreciate the world's most developed film industry culture, but also go shopping like crazy and buy anything you want on the Avenue of Stars.
"OK."
Shi Qingxue readily agreed.
The two left the hotel and headed for the Avenue of Stars. They did not bring anyone with them, only Zhao Tiezhu followed from a distance behind.
In the luxury store, Lu Yiming saw a handbag that cost as much as three thousand dollars. It was exquisitely made and had a novel style. He pointed at the handbag and said to Shi Qingxue, "This bag is beautiful and suits your temperament very well."
"Hey, waiter, could you please take this bag down for me and have a look at it?"
At the counter, the waitress was listening to a portable CD with headphones on. She raised her head and glanced at Lu Yiming, then began to nod her head along with the CD, completely ignoring Lu Yiming's intentions.
At this moment, two white people also walked into the store, and they also saw the handbag on the glass counter at a glance.
The man said a few words in English, and the waiter quickly took off his headphones and respectfully took the handbag from the counter.
The man and the woman talked for a few words, and then the woman put the bag across her body and turned around a few times in front of the man.
At this moment, the man and the woman suddenly exerted force and ran out of the luxury store. Before the waiter could react, they had disappeared.
Several seconds later, the waiter ran out of the counter. The street was so crowded that he couldn't find the two people at all.
Lu Yiming and Shi Qingxue witnessed the whole process with their own eyes.
Shi Qingxue said in surprise: "This...is this robbery?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "This is called zero-dollar shopping, a US specialty. She deserves it. Selling it to me was considered a good achievement for her. Now, I guess she will have to compensate for the loss."
Shi Qingxue said worriedly: "This place is quite dangerous. There are people robbing people in the street."
While the two were talking, the alarm sounded in the store. Many people around noticed the situation here, and the patrolling police also walked over here.
In order to avoid trouble, Lu Yiming took Shi Qingxue away quickly.
The two of them walked around and just returned to the hotel when Li Yiwen came over.
"You're finally back. I can't get through on the phone."
Lu Yiming took out his cell phone and found that there was no signal.
"The United States has its own national conditions. It's normal that the call can't go through. What's wrong?"
Li Yiwen said: "Two pieces of news. One is that when there were suddenly many saltwater funds shorting US stocks in the newspapers, it was brought up again. I think someone is behind this."
This matter was within Lu Yiming's expectations, so he did not feel surprised. He asked, "What's the other thing?"
Li Yiwen said: "Another thing is that the sales of our Tianyin MP3 last month have come out. The sales in North America have dropped a lot compared with the previous month, especially in the last few days of the month, when the sales were almost cut in half."
This matter immediately caught Lu Yiming's attention. After all, he had been scolded in the newspapers for a long time, but the plummeting sales of Tianyin MP3 had a real impact on Lu Yiming's interests.
"What's going on? Is the Imperial Alliance rising again? I don't remember them being so powerful."
Li Yiwen said, "No, I asked my subordinates to investigate. They said that Apple is going to release something called IPOD next month. Jobs, under the banner of patriotism, said that real Americans should use their own MP3 products. Apple IPOD is an authentic Chinese product, so if you are patriotic, buy IPOD. Then it attracted many American users to hold their money to buy it."
Lu Yiming: “…”
Wow, why does this smell so strong?
And the key point is, this is my word.
Shouldn't a certain Chinese technology company be the one promoting the Chinese brand? How come Apple, a fat country like you, is also using this trick?
The most important thing is, in Lu Yiming's impression, this thing was not released until 2001? How can the interview be held more than a year in advance? What kind of method is this?
What Lu Yiming didn't expect was that his rebirth had changed so many things. The flapping wings of the butterfly had already caused a gust of wind on the other side of the ocean. Seeing that Tianyin MP3 was selling well in the North American market, Boss Qiao couldn't sit still and directly asked the IPOD team to speed up the research and development progress and produce the product a year ahead of schedule.
Li Yiwen asked: "What should we do now? Although we still have a little first-mover advantage in the ecosystem, Apple is not fair and just plays the patriotism card."
Americans are the most unreasonable. What free market? The premise is that Xia country’s enterprises cannot threaten the development of American enterprises.
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "I didn't expect America to start playing the patriotic card. It seems that some people are jealous of us because of how much money we make. Those people in the newspapers who said we were shorting U.S. stocks were probably them, right? On the one hand, they belittle us, and on the other hand, they praise themselves. I'm very familiar with this routine. I can only say that Angsa monkeys are Angsa monkeys, and their brain capacity is just that."
After complaining for a while, Lu Yiming continued, "Since they don't follow the rules, there's no need for us to be polite to them. We can just sue Apple for infringement of its IPOD technology."
Li Yiwen was shocked: "You are in America, suing an American technology company for infringement?"
Lu Yiming said disapprovingly: "What else? Do I have to bear any grievances by myself?"
The original Tianyin MP3 was designed by Lu Yiming based on the IPOD, and he also registered the patent first.
The Apple IPOD may be an excellent product in its original world, but Lu Yiming doesn't believe that the IPOD, which was launched a whole year earlier than the original one, did not "borrow" the technology of Tianyin MP3.
at the same time.
Apple Inc.
The skinny boss Qiao was furious at his subordinates.
"Can anyone tell me what's going on? Why can't I get the song copyright from the Recording Industry Association of America?"
In front of him, several of his subordinates were silent, and one executive said with a stiff upper lip: "Mingyuan Technology has reached an agreement with the Recording Industry Association..."
Before he could finish his words, he was rudely interrupted by Boss Qiao.
"I don't want to hear any excuses. I'll give you a week. If you can't fix it, you can pack up and leave."
Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was kicked out of his own company by its shareholders. Now he has been invited back, but his temper is still as good as ever, and he is still the feared "tyrant".
Faced with the irritable Boss Qiao, his subordinates had no choice but to discuss how to obtain the copyright of the record association.
Just then, there was a knock on the office door and in walked Steve Gary Wozniak, the company's co-founder.
In his hand, he held a court summons.
"I just received a copy of this and I thought you'd better take a look at it."
He pushed the court subpoena in front of Jobs.
Jobs' already large, bulging eyeballs suddenly became even larger, looking extremely inconsistent with his long and thin face.
"What's going on? We actually received a court summons?"
Steve Gary Wozniak said: "Tianyin sued us for infringing their patents."
"Tianyin Company?"
"This is it. I have to say, it looks a lot like our product."
The news that Apple was sued for copyright infringement by Tianyin quickly spread due to the spread of the news by some people with ulterior motives.
Today, Apple is a giant company, and its every move is watched by everyone. It is a new thing to be sued for infringement all of a sudden. For a time, many media turned their attention to Apple.
On this day, Boss Qiao was interviewed by a group of reporters and media.
"What do you think about Tianyin Company suing you for plagiarism?"
Boss Joe said without hesitation: "Apple did not plagiarize! As everyone knows, Tianyin is a company from Xia Country. Xia Country is wild and backward, and there is no technology to speak of. Apple wants to make MP3 products, which is a simple thing. How could it plagiarize? It's simply a joke. I have asked the legal department to investigate this matter. Apple will never accept any form of slander!"
The reporter was completely unmoved by Boss Qiao's explanation.
"I heard that Apple's new product, the IPOD, copied a lot of Tianyin MP3's ideas and technologies. Is this true?"
Jobs's face suddenly turned very ugly, and he immediately retorted: "How can product development be considered plagiarism? This is at most a reference!"
As a latecomer, Apple's technology accumulation is insufficient, so it is normal for it to infringe other companies' rights. Many large companies' products actually infringe other companies' rights, but they finally reached a settlement. The key is that the technology for MP3 is already there, and for a company like Apple, it is not difficult to do so. The key is that Tianyin released it earlier, so wouldn't it be an infringement if you released it later?
What Boss Joe didn't expect was that Lu Yiming would actually use this thing to make a fuss, directly putting Apple in the position of a plagiarist.
In front of the TV, Lu Yiming and Li Yiwen were watching the video clip of Boss Qiao being interviewed.
Seeing Boss Qiao's furious look, Li Yiwen said with a smile: "Didn't you go too far with this move? Look how angry you made Boss Qiao."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "It's just a business scandal. What's that? Didn't you just say that someone in the newspaper said that I was a thief from the East who robbed countless Americans of their wealth? What's the matter? Only they can slander me, but I can't slander them?"
The news that Tianyin Company sued Apple for plagiarism was quickly reported back to Xiaguo through the three major portals and became a hot topic on the Internet.
In the 1990s, most Chinese companies were sued for infringement because of counterfeiting. Now, a local company is going to the United States to sue foreign capital for infringement?
For a time, Mingyuan Technology's reputation was greatly improved. After all, daring to sue an American company, if nothing else, its status was immediately raised.
In America, many people also have a new regard for Mingyuan Technology. At least after this lawsuit, many people subconsciously compare Mingyuan Technology with a technology company like Apple.
It's very simple. In people's subconscious, only opponents of equal strength will fight each other. How can one in heaven and one on earth be opponents? Therefore, being able to fight against Apple, Mingyuan Technology has naturally been brought to the same level as Apple.
This is why many companies like to try to take advantage of famous companies. If they fail, everyone will treat them as a joke, but if they succeed, no one knows how much profit they can bring.
Bill Gates called curiously and asked, "Why did you quarrel with Boss Joe?"
Although Microsoft and Apple are competitors, Bill Gates actually has a very good relationship with Boss Joe. Although they later fell out over business matters, they would often keep in touch with each other on weekdays. So, after learning that Lu Yiming and Boss Joe had a quarrel, he called immediately.
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "You can't blame me for this. He was the first to do it."
Bill Gates already knew the whole story, so he certainly didn't believe Lu Yiming's words: "It was you who reported Apple's infringement first."
Lu Yiming said, "Wasn't he the first to infringe the copyright? How could I possibly sue him if he didn't infringe the copyright? Don't you think so?"
Bill Gates said: "No matter what, Joe is playing the patriotism card. To America, you are an outsider and public opinion is not on your side."
Lu Yiming raised his eyebrows and said, "So?"
Bill Gates said: "Do you want to change public opinion by doing charity?"
The so-called "through charity" means donating money. Many wealthy people in the United States like to boast that they are great philanthropists.
Bill Gates just stepped down as president of Microsoft in January this year . He now holds 1.3% of Microsoft's shares. He and his wife run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since 1994, Bill Gates has donated more than 10 billion US dollars to the foundation.
American law stipulates that only 5% of the money donated to charity each year must be paid out, and the remaining 95% can be used for business activities. As long as it is not lower than this proportion, the money is not taxed.
In other words, originally one million US dollars would require a tax of $300,000, but as long as you donate 5%, or $50,000, to charity, the one million will be tax-free.
It is equivalent to paying a 5% tax - and even this 5% is transferred from one hand to the other, from one's own account to the foundation's account.
However, these tycoons, whose methods of tax avoidance in the name of charity were actually carefully packaged, immediately received various praises for "being kind and generous", "being generous and generous", and "helping the poor and the needy". Especially in Xia country, Bill Gates, who claimed that he "donated naked", was just short of having a halo on his head like a reincarnated bodhisattva.
Facing Bill Gates' proposal, although Lu Yiming disagreed in his heart, he did not directly reject it. Instead, he said: "I will seriously consider your suggestion."
Bill Gates said: "If you are interested, Linda and I will hold a charity dinner this weekend. If you have time, come and have a look."
"OK."
After hanging up the phone, Lu Yiming said to Li Yiwen: "Bill Gates called me and wanted me to make a charitable donation."
Li Yiwen had never been exposed to this, so he was full of doubts: "He is the richest man in the world, you donated money to him?"
"That's not the case. There are still a lot of twists and turns here. He has a charity dinner on Saturday, and I plan to go and take a look."
Li Yiwen was even more surprised: "You are not really planning to donate, are you?"
In Li Yiwen's impression, Lu Yiming was stingy, even buying ice packs for only 1 cent. Asking him to donate? How could that be possible?
Lu Yiming nodded slightly and said, "I am planning to show my appreciation. I will take out 100 million US dollars when the time comes."
"What the hell? You want to donate 100 million to Bill Gates?"
Li Yiwen felt like he was about to collapse.
