Chapter 580: New Genius
Seeing this scene, Zhong Leitian's eyes almost popped out.
He tried every possible means to make Myron Kern happy, hoping that the Morgan Group would raise the valuation of the Lei Tian Group so that he could make a lot of money after listing on Wall Street. For this purpose, he had already dreamed of becoming the richest man in Xia Country, and even ignored Lu Yiming, the ready-made richest man.
As a result, he was so thirsty that Myron Kern said he would go back and think about it, and only agreed to have a meal with Zhong Leitian. As soon as he left the house, Myron Kern actually took the initiative to talk to Lu Yiming, and his flattering attitude was just like what Zhong Leitian had done to him just now.
Zhong Leitian felt a burning pain on his face.
He glanced at Tian An beside him and found that Tian An was even more shocked than him.
Facing Myron Kern's invitation, Lu Yiming certainly would not refuse: "Of course, I haven't had dinner yet."
Seeing that Myron Kern was going to have dinner with Lu Yiming, Zhong Leitian suddenly became anxious and walked over quickly and said, "Mr. Kern, haven't we already made an appointment for dinner?"
Myron Kern saw his idol at this time, so why would he care about Zhong Leitian? Seeing that Zhong Leitian was so ignorant of the current situation, he immediately said impatiently: "You can do it next time."
Watching Myron Kern and Lu Yiming leave chatting and laughing, Zhong Lei Tianzhen felt as if he was struck by lightning, and his head was buzzing.
This is no longer just embarrassing, there are more meanings here - for example, will Morgan cooperate with Lu Yiming and leave him aside?
Thinking of this possibility, Zhong Leitian's scalp tingled.
Tian An then came over, sighed, and said to Zhong Leitian: "See, I told you a long time ago not to offend Mr. Lu too much. He has been the richest man in Xia country for a year, and you haven't even started to rise yet, but you've already gotten carried away. Now you've been taught a lesson."
There is no doubt that judging from Myron Kern's attitude towards Lu Yiming, Lu Yiming is definitely influential in the Morgan Group and has a close relationship with them. If Leitian Group wants to go public on the US stock market through the Morgan Group, and Lu Yiming interferes, the matter will probably fail on the spot.
Zhong Leitian also had his own considerations. He said to Tian An, "Don't you understand what Lu Yiming is thinking? His father Lu Ding already holds 30% of the shares of our Leitian Group and is the largest shareholder besides me. If I sell some more shares to Lu Yiming, do you think the company will be named Lu or Zhong in the future?"
It was precisely because he had made up his mind not to cooperate with Lu Yiming that Zhong Lei deliberately put on such an attitude.
But he never expected that the Morgan Group would give Lu Yiming so much face. On this point, he obviously miscalculated.
If you cannot raise money by listing on the U.S. stock market, no matter how many shares you have, they are just numbers and cannot be exchanged for money at all.
Tian An thought for a moment and said, "That seems to be the case, but we can actually mediate the situation without offending anyone or selling his shares. Now we are in a dilemma. Who could have expected such a scene? I heard that Lu Yiming made a lot of money from U.S. stocks and was hated by everyone on Wall Street. Now it seems that this is obviously not the case."
Zhong Leitian said helplessly: "Yes."
After leaving the Leitian Group, Myron Kern said excitedly: "Mr. Lu, what special food is there around here? I have longed for this magical country for a long time, especially the food. This time, I must take this opportunity to taste it."
Lu Yiming would naturally not refuse the Morgan Group's overtures. You know, behind the Morgan Group is the Morgan Consortium, one of the top ten consortiums in the United States. It was formed in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and soon became a monopoly capital consortium that dominated the American economy.
Obviously, this is one of the several old moneys that control America.
Although Lu Yiming is very close to emerging capital forces such as Bill Gates, who are American technology tycoons, as the saying goes, more friends mean more paths, so there is no need to reject the olive branch extended by Morgan.
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Of course, Mr. Kern, Xia Country's cuisine has been passed down for thousands of years and is innumerable. If you eat a few kinds every day, you will never eat the same thing twice in your life. Come on, I'll take you to taste our most authentic cuisine, Longjiang Pork Knuckle Rice! It's my treat."
After dinner, on the way home, Li Yiwen said to Lu Yiming with a smile: "Haha, it's great. Did you see Zhong Leitian's expression when we left? He really felt like he had eaten shit."
Lu Yiming said to Li Yiwen: "Wipe the shacha sauce from the corner of your mouth."
Li Yiwen wiped off the yellow-brown shacha sauce from the corner of his mouth and continued, "Let him be rude to us. If we don't teach him a lesson, he will really not know why the flowers are so red."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "I think it's normal. After all, the moon in foreign countries is farther away. Now even the Morgan Group has contacted them and wants to get a piece of the pie. It's normal for him to look down on me. What's more, our Dianguang Automobile has already acquired 30% of the shares of Leitian Group. If we continue to take shares, he may not give it. He should be deliberately showing his displeasure to me, hoping that I will retreat. After all, if we continue to increase our holdings, it will be dangerous for him."
Li Yiwen said with some concern: "If we can't get more shares, will this affect the subsequent plans of Dianguang Automobile?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Without Zhang the Butcher, do we have to eat hairy pigs? Scientific research is nothing more than finding people who can do things and then spending money like crazy. Zhong Leitian is indeed a genius, but Xia Country is not the only genius. Moreover, it is still unknown whether the Leitian Group will still be named Zhong in the future. After all, in the face of the power of money, everything is possible."
Mr. Zhong from the Lei Tian Group, the battery king of Xia Country, is the fool who once donated 10 million US dollars to the United States and openly said such stupid things as "What does Xia Country's poverty have to do with me?"
If you don't teach him a lesson, do you really think Xia Kingdom can't survive without him?
Speaking of which, this news about Zhong Leitian happened in 2011.
At that time, Zhong Leitian, the battery king of Xiaguo, donated 10 million US dollars to the University of California, and said arrogantly: "I earned the money myself. I can donate it to whoever I want. Xiaguo has no right to restrict it. What does Xiaguo's poverty have to do with me?"
It is hard to imagine that these are words that a person who has been listed as a national treasure-level inventor by the Ministry of Science and Technology could say. One can only say that his emotional intelligence is so low that it makes people speechless, or perhaps his continuous success has made him completely inflated to the point of being arrogant.
Indeed, from a legal perspective, individuals can donate to whomever they want, and outsiders have no right to interfere or criticize.
Lu Yiming has also donated money to the United States for his own business interests, but one must have a stance and know where one's roots are and where one should sit.
As the saying goes, a sheep kneels to thank its mother for feeding it, and a crow repays its parents by feeding them. As a Xia citizen, he enjoys the reputation and market of Xia, but after making profits, he does not think about giving back to the motherland. Instead, he tries every means to kneel and lick the United States. It is disgusting to be so servile and worship foreigners.
His scientific research environment was provided by Xia Guo, policy support was given by the government, and even the funds were provided by domestic investors. With so much help, he was able to achieve his career.
In the end, all I got was “Xia Guo’s poverty has nothing to do with me”. What is this?
This is like eating Xia Guo’s food and smashing Xia Guo’s pot!
In Lu Yiming's opinion, even if Zhong Leitian could be fair, he could donate some more money after donating in America. After all, the main market of Leitian Group is Xia Country. People should not forget their roots. He doesn't even understand this principle, and still donates money and builds factories abroad in a high-profile manner. It can only be said that he is extremely stupid.
The University of California in the United States has government grants and donations from wealthy people, so it does not need the 10 million dollars. In comparison, some schools and employment issues in China need this money more urgently than the United States.
But Zhong Leitian went to America to add icing on the cake instead of providing timely assistance at home. He also publicly criticized netizens across the country. He was simply digging his own grave.
In the end, Zhong Leitian got what he wanted. His arrogant remarks successfully aroused the anger of the people, who began to spontaneously boycott Zhong Leitian's company's batteries, resulting in a sharp drop in product sales.
At the same time, a large number of companies cooperating with him also terminated their cooperation. Within a month after Zhong Leitian finished speaking, his company's stock price also plummeted, leaving him with no way out.
Zhong Leitian realized that he could no longer stay in China, so he went directly to the United States with his core technology. He not only promised to help solve the employment problem, but also provided technical support.
This move shocked everyone, and the company's top management decided to investigate him, which led to more problems with Zhong Leitian. The shareholders immediately joined forces to bring him to court, demanding he pay 200 million yuan in compensation.
When Zhong Leitian received this news, he naively thought that America would take out the money to help him through the difficult times.
But what he didn't expect was that after the United States got the money and the technology he provided, it directly kicked him out. After hitting a wall in the United States, Zhong Leitian had no choice but to return to China. At this point, Zhong Leitian could only declare bankruptcy, and thus, the era of the battery king came to an end. In the end, he was submerged in the torrent of the times and never made a splash again.
So, don’t be too presumptuous, it’s useless.
After sending Li Yiwen back home, Lu Yiming returned home. Ning Xuehua had just brought out a pot of seafood porridge from the kitchen. When she saw Lu Yiming, she said, "You're back just in time. Go wash your hands and have dinner."
Lu Ding asked: "Have you met Zhong Leitian? Did he agree to our increasing shareholding?"
Lu Yiming said casually: "No, he is still very vigilant. He is probably afraid that if we have too many shares, he will not be able to control the Leitian Group."
After hearing this, Lu Ding said helplessly: "It seems that it is impossible to continue investing or even controlling the Leitian Group now."
In the new energy vehicle industry, batteries are of paramount importance and are a key link that cannot be avoided. Neither Lu Yiming nor Lu Ding would allow their lifeblood to be controlled by outsiders. So after learning that Lu Ding had invested in Leitian Group, Lu Yiming proposed to increase his holdings to take control of the company. Unexpectedly, Zhong Leitian was quite vigilant and refused to sell his shares.
Lu Yiming thought for a while and said, "Dad, this Leitian Group still has a period of growth. Just treat this as a simple investment and sell it at a high point. At worst, I can invest in another company that develops and produces batteries. The world is so big, there must be more than one genius like Zhong Leitian. I can always find a replacement."
In fact, Lu Yiming already had a candidate in mind for this replacement.
After dinner, Lu Yiming called Li Yiwen and said, "Cousin, please accompany me to Hong Kong tomorrow morning."
Li Yiwen asked curiously, "Why are you going to Hong Kong? Aren't you already investing in U.S. stocks? Are you planning to go back to Hong Kong stocks and stir up trouble again?"
Lu Yiming laughed and scolded, "Go to hell, when did I stir up trouble? I'm here to look for someone. Log in to your QQ, I'll send you the person's information."
"Okay, I'll take a look. I'm hanging up. Contact me on QQ."
The person Lu Yiming was looking for was named Zeng Yuqun.
Eleven years ago, Zeng Yuqun, who had graduated from the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering of China Ocean University, plunged into a Japanese-owned electronics factory and worked there for ten years.
During these ten years, he has grown from an ordinary technician to a senior core technical and management personnel from the mainland in a high-tech foreign-funded enterprise.
During the ten years working for the Japanese company TDK, Zeng Yuqun not only learned advanced management experience from abroad, but also acquired a lot of cutting-edge knowledge and technology, and gained a full understanding of the market.
After seeing the broad market prospects in the new energy field, Zeng Yuqun, who was already 32 years old, no longer wanted to work for capitalists.
Zeng Yuqun, who was full of ambition, hit it off with several senior executives of TDK. They pooled some money and registered New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. in Hong Kong , mainly engaged in consumer electronics business.
After reading Zeng Yuqun's information, Li Yiwen felt a little confused. To Li Yiwen, such a small start-up company was just ordinary and unremarkable.
He asked Lu Yiming through QQ: "Why are you suddenly so interested in this small company? Didn't your uncle already invest in Leitian Group?"
Lu Yiming said: "Leitian Group is unreliable. Of course, it's mainly because Zhong Leitian is unreliable."
Although Zeng Yuqun's company is like dust compared to Leitian Group, the gap between the founders is too big. Compared with Zhong Leitian, who started late, has only a junior high school education, and is arrogant and unruly, Zeng Yuqun, who is highly educated and has worked in a large company, is more calm and capable.
A grassroots hero like Zhong Leitian may be able to seize the opportunity of the times and rise quickly, but he is destined to be unable to make his career bigger and stronger.
Zeng Yuqun was different. When he started his second business, he founded CATL, a manufacturer of new energy batteries. It took only six years for it to become the world's number one supplier of new energy batteries. Its market value once reached more than 377 billion yuan. He was even honored by the market as the "Trillion-dollar Ning King". The installed capacity of lithium battery energy storage projects ranked first in the country, and he also had a certain status and voice in the world.
Seeing that Lu Yiming thought so highly of Zeng Yuqun, Li Yiwen was puzzled but did not say much.
You know, Lu Yiming is famous for being lazy and careless. He is the one who handles all the non-important people and matters. Even some billion-dollar businesses were thrown to him by Lu Yiming. Now he actually said he would go to Hong Kong to visit him in person, which shows that Zeng Yuqun must be extraordinary.
On the way to Hong Kong, Lu Yiming was still flipping through various documents. He pointed to one page and said to Li Yiwen, "This Chen Tanghua is Zeng Yuqun's old superior. And this Liang Shaokang, the CEO of SAE, is Zeng Yuqun's superior, although he is a few layers away from him. Zeng Yuqun, as a subordinate, was able to get his two superiors to resign and start their own business. This is not just his personal charm."
Li Yiwen couldn't help but say, "I've heard about superiors getting their subordinates to change jobs. It's really amazing that this subordinate can encourage his leader to change jobs as well."
It is rare to find subordinates who can pull their superiors to change jobs and start a business. Without real ability, who would be so stupid as to be fooled by you?
Xiangjiang, New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.
The name of the company is New Energy, which is completely different from the slutty names like XX New Energy in later generations.
Zeng Yuqun was frowning, Liang Shaokang and Chen Tanghua also had worried looks on their faces. The three of them were in the laboratory, looking at the test data in their hands.
Chen Tanghua shook his head and said, "It still doesn't work. The battery swelling problem still hasn't been solved."
Liang Shaokang also sighed and said, "If this problem cannot be solved, our previous investment will be wasted."
When the company was just established, they spent a large sum of money to purchase the patent license for polymer lithium batteries from American Keya Laboratory, and are currently working on technical research in the hope of making batteries that do not bulge.
This battery was originally developed on behalf of Nokia. Among polymer lithium batteries, its performance indicators are very outstanding, but it has a fatal flaw, which is that it will swell and deform after repeated charging.
It is precisely because there is no good solution to the problem that the technical patent was sold to Zeng Yuqun and others.
The survival of the company now depends on whether it can develop new products before the funds run out. If it succeeds, it will become rich and powerful, but if it fails, it will go bankrupt.
Technology-based startups are basically hovering on the brink of death, and only those who survive can create their own miracles and legends.
The atmosphere was a bit heavy, and Chen Tanghua had to say something to boost morale: "Don't be discouraged. After all, this is a problem that even they can't solve, so we were able to buy the patent. Now we just need the finishing touch. As long as this problem is solved, we will be able to rebound and move forward."
At this moment, a man rushed in and said excitedly: "You two get ready, we will have a distinguished guest coming soon."
