Chapter 691: 5 million for the machine and 10 million for shipping
Lu Yiming felt very happy that he had recruited two masters at once.
Zhang Xiao felt relieved now that he had secured a job. He couldn't help but ask, "Boss Lu, did you come all the way to the United States just to recruit talents?"
In his opinion, Lu Yiming is the richest man in Asia. If he wants to recruit talents, as long as he gives an order, talents from all over the world will flock to him.
Working for the richest man in Asia is an opportunity not everyone has.
Lu Yiming shook his head slightly and said, "No, recruiting talents is just a by-product. I came here this time to see if I can buy some equipment related to lithography machines."
After hearing what Lu Yiming said, Zhang Xiao suddenly had an idea and said, "I know a small company that developed photolithography machines went bankrupt. The equipment company there might be able to use them. Are you interested?"
Lu Yiming's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly urged: "What's going on? Tell me quickly."
Although it is a bankrupt small company, in today's country, we must solve the problem of whether we have it or not before we can study the issue of whether it is advanced or not.
Therefore, no matter how rubbish this lithography machine is, it is at least a lithography machine, which has great value to Xia State.
Zhang Xiao said: "The company was optimistic about the future of the Internet and the computer industry, and believed that the demand for chips would continue to grow. So they bought a lot of equipment and planned to make a big splash. But the Internet suddenly failed, and the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. Now the only valuable things are the equipment in the company."
Then Zhang Xiao reminded Lu Yiming , "Some of these devices are on the banned sales list. The risk is very high. If Mr. Lu feels it is inappropriate, forget it."
Lu Yiming clapped his hands and laughed, "It's perfect, it's perfect. Where is the boss now? Without further ado, let's go over and take a look."
The equipment on the banned sales list is related to the research and development of lithography technology. Isn’t this exactly what I need?
Besides, the resistance encountered when buying new equipment directly must be greater than that encountered when purchasing second-hand equipment, right?
New machines have to go through various approval levels and checkpoints, but buying and selling second-hand machines is much easier.
Lu Yiming thought, this is really a case of looking for something without any effort. So he was very focused and urged Zhang Xiao to leave immediately, fearing that if he was too late, the equipment would be bought by someone else, and then his joy would be in vain.
At that moment, Lu Yiming asked Zhao Tiezhu to drive and take the three of them to the bankrupt company.
This bankrupt company is not located in the city center, or even in an industrial area, but is located next to a boulevard. There are not many buildings around it, let alone prosperity.
However, there is a river and a small hydroelectric power station a few kilometers away.
After getting out of the car and looking at the surrounding environment, Lu Yiming couldn't help but sigh: "This boss is really brave. In order to save costs, he dared to open the company in such a place."
Zhang Xiao joked, "This is the United States. There are many people who value money over their lives . If I hadn't dealt with this boss several times before, I wouldn't have known about this."
"Money over life? That's a pretty good summary."
Lu Yiming smiled slightly. He liked dealing with such principled people.
Zhang Xiao had already called the owner of this place, Claude Combe, so he got out of the car and went straight to the factory door and started banging on the big iron door.
"Claude, open the door."
"Here I come."
A thick and strong voice came from inside. After a while, accompanied by a creaking sound, the iron door slowly opened, and Lu Yiming saw a white man with golden hair, golden beard and a big belly.
He immediately thought of the Barrel in League of Legends.
Claude Combe looked at Zhang Xiao, then at Lu Yiming and others behind Zhang Xiao, especially after he glanced at their waists and found that none of them were carrying large weapons, he invited them in.
"It's very dirty inside. I haven't cleaned it in a long time."
Claude Combe took a towel, dipped it in water, wiped a few stools, and said, "Sit down."
Lu Yiming scanned the factory and soon spotted the machinery and equipment covered with canvas, so he walked over.
Just as Claude Combe was about to speak, Zhang Xiao said, "My dear friend, I heard that your company went bankrupt. I was so sad, so I brought my friend here to take a look today. He is very interested in your company and plans to buy it."
Claude Com immediately looked at Lu Yiming's back as if he were a fool.
Sure enough, Xia Guo Huangpi's brain is not working. What is the value of buying a bankrupt company?
Of course, he would not say this out loud. After all, he would be more than happy to have a fool take over.
Well, it must be that the prayers day and night moved God to send such a rich idiot.
Thank God for his gift!
I just don't know what Claude Komm would feel if he knew that the Internet winter that bankrupted him was to some extent caused by this big fool.
Lu Yiming looked around and found that these devices were similar in appearance to those he saw in the news before his rebirth. He thought they should be good stuff, so he turned around and asked, "Will you sell this company?"
Claude Combe wanted to be more reserved and negotiate a good price, but he couldn't help laughing as soon as he opened his mouth and said, "If you are willing to buy it, I certainly don't have any objection."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "I like talking to straightforward people like you. Name your price."
Since he had confirmed that Lu Yiming was a fool, Claude Combe certainly would not be polite and said directly: "Fifteen million US dollars, all of this is yours!"
Before Lu Yiming could say anything, Zhang Xiao started yelling, "Fifteen million US dollars? Do you think we are fools? Claude, I'm looking for a boss for you out of good intentions, you can't cheat me like this. I just checked, your camera is a Nikon NSR-S205C, with a resolution of 130 nanometers. Five million US dollars is the maximum."
He was engaged in chip research in the United States, so he naturally knew the prices of these devices. Not to mention that it was a second-hand sale, even if it was a brand new device, it would not be worth so much money.
Claude Combe seemed a little embarrassed when his thoughts were exposed. After all, the guests were introduced by his friends, and he was caught ripping them off in front of them. No matter how thick-skinned he was, he couldn't handle it.
However, Claude Combe still argued: "Then I'll just make it cheaper. Mine are all the most advanced models. You can't compare them with the junk you use."
Claude Combe was thinking in his mind that if the $15 million was no longer possible, he would at least have to sell it for five or six million to get some of his money back.
After all, there are smart people everywhere, but it is hard to find a rich fool .
However, before Claude Combe could make up his mind, Lu Yiming spoke up: "Okay, 15 million US dollars is 15 million US dollars."
Zhang Xiao was shocked when he heard this and said, "Boss Lu, this company has gone bankrupt and is not worth a dime. It's just these equipment that cost a little money. He has made 5 million US dollars, and you are still giving him 15 million?"
Tang Jijun also thought that the price was ridiculous and said, "It's a bankrupt company. Fifteen million US dollars, that's not how you spend money."
This company is small in scale - to be more precise, it is a semi-finished product. It just started a production line, but the Internet went cold and the company's capital chain was broken. In other words, what was bought at this price was not a company, but only a production line.
It's really outrageous that this can be raised to 15 million US dollars.
However, Lu Yiming smiled and said to Claude Combe, "I will give you 15 million US dollars, but it will be paid in two installments. I will give you 3 million US dollars first, and you will dismantle and pack all the machines and ship them to Zhonghai in Xia Country. After the things arrive in Zhonghai, I will pay you the remaining 12 million."
Claude Comb's eyes widened, as if he had never seen Lu Yiming before, and he stared at him closely: "Are you from Xia country? I thought you were from an island country!"
Lu Yiming said depressedly: "Why are you scolding me? Am I that short and ugly?"
Claude Kom is not a fool. On the contrary, he was able to think of directly doing the upstream of the Internet industry, which shows that he still has some brains. It's just that he was unlucky to encounter the Great Depression. Now after hearing what Lu Yiming said, he immediately understood what Lu Yiming wanted to do.
"No, that's not what I mean. These instruments are on the banned sales list. If I sell them to you, wouldn't that be illegal?"
Claude Combe didn't expect that after going around in circles, this big pit was waiting for him.
Lu Yiming said calmly: "That's your own business. What does it have to do with me? If you agree to this deal, 15 million US dollars will be yours. If you don't agree, then I will go find someone else."
In other words, these devices cost 5 million US dollars, but the shipping cost is 10 million US dollars. This price can be said to be fucked. Of course, if Lu Yiming finds Epstein, the price will probably not be lower than this price. Although that guy looks very friendly, he is really unambiguous when it comes to cutting the knife.
Zhang Xiao and Tang Jijun also knew what Lu Yiming was planning, and they immediately admired Lu Yiming.
Although it seems that this price is absolutely unfair, it actually transfers all the risks to Claude Combe. Even if someone investigates in the future, it will be Claude Combe who is motivated by money and has nothing to do with Lu Yiming.
Considering Lu Yiming's status, spending 10 million US dollars in exchange for a clean background is definitely a great deal!
Claude Combe had an awkward expression on his face and said, "It's not that I don't want to do business with you, but the customs will never let you pass, no matter how much money you pay. Smuggling things on the banned list is tantamount to selling out your country!"
Lu Yiming jokingly said: "A person like you still cares about this?"
He patted Claude Combe on the shoulder and said, "I believe you will find a way."
Claude Combe hesitated for three full seconds before agreeing to Lu Yiming.
After all, he really needs money now. Between the interests of the United States and his own interests, he chose himself. As a qualified capitalist, his actions fully illustrate what capital has no borders.
“It’s been a pleasure working with you.”
“It’s been a pleasure working with you.”
Half an hour later, Lu Yiming and his team left the factory. Tang Jijun said excitedly: "I didn't expect that it would be so easy to get a set of lithography machines."
Ever since he learned that Lu Yiming was going to buy a lithography machine, he had been thinking for a long time about how Lu Yiming was going to buy it, but he didn't expect it to be in this way.
Lu Yiming said, "One set is not enough. I plan to ship this set back for them to disassemble and study. We also need to buy more."
Lu Yiming's goal is not only to allow Xiaguo to have photolithography machines, but also to enable Xiaguo to develop and produce photolithography machines on its own, and to research the entire industrial chain, without having to import a single screw. So obviously, just one machine is not enough.
The purchase of lithography machines must be done in one go. The United States will surely find out about it later, and the embargo will be even stricter, and by then Epstein will probably be powerless to do anything.
Therefore, it is safest to buy several units at once if you have the chance.
The next day, Lu Yiming went directly to meet with Epstein and talked about the purchase of the lithography machine.
"You want to buy a photolithography machine?"
Epstein looked very surprised and said, "That is something that the United States has expressly prohibited from exporting to Xia Country. Not only the whole machine, but even the parts are not allowed to flow into Xia Country."
Lu Yiming raised his eyebrows and said, "Is our friendship so fragile?"
Epstein sighed, "Although I am a Jew, I was born on Brooklyn Street in New York City, and I deeply love this great country of the United States... Lu, I treat you as a friend, and you can't let me do this against my conscience."
Lu Yiming said calmly: "One billion US dollars, I want three sets of the latest and largest lithography machines."
"Lu, you know, we...how much did you say?"
Epstein stood up suddenly and looked at Lu Yiming.
"One billion US dollars to buy three sets of lithography machines?"
One billion US dollars is probably more than enough to buy three nuclear bombs, let alone three sets of lithography machines.
People die for money, and birds die for food.
Epstein himself is not a law-abiding person, otherwise he would not have built his "Happy Island".
As for the deep love for the United States, that is even more ridiculous.
In Epstein's mind, if patriotism has a price, it must be one billion dollars!
So faced with this huge temptation, he couldn't refuse.
However, Epstein is not stupid. No matter how great his personal abilities are, he cannot confront the country. Especially for someone at his level, buying the future with ten billion dollars is indeed not a cost-effective deal.
But it’s impossible not to sell.
"You know, if we exchange money for goods, the IRS and the FBI will come to investigate me. How are you going to pay for it?"
Epstein has skipped the question of whether to sell or not and has gone straight to the price. After all, for a qualified capitalist, everything has a price.
One billion US dollars is by no means a small number. Epstein was not afraid that Lu Yiming could not come up with so much money, but he was worried that the sudden appearance of such a large sum of money in his bank account would arouse unnecessary suspicion.
The banned sales list is no joke. Although Epstein did not take the law seriously, he would not do it because the cost and risk were too high.
Lu Yiming understood Epstein's concerns, so he said sympathetically: "Don't worry, my payment method is quite special, and I guarantee that no one will find any flaws."
Then he took out his checkbook and a pen from his pocket.
Epstein said: "It's no use signing a check, otherwise I'm afraid if I take your money now, I'll have to go to jail tonight."
Lu Yiming wrote a strange string of numbers and English letters on the checkbook.
Lu Yiming handed the note to Epstein and said calmly: "Don't worry, I didn't write a check."
Epstein looked at the words on the note and frowned: "2002, 10, TASR, 154? What does this mean? Are you kidding me?"
Lu Yiming said, "This is the code for wealth. The first two numbers are very simple, they are the year and month. T Guo Bing SR is the name of the stock, and the last 154 is the selling price. You just need to buy a few stocks on the date I told you, and then sell them at the specified price. If you don't make $1 billion in four years, I will double it."
After that, Lu Yiming looked at Epstein leisurely: "How about this, this is the first stock, there will be four more stocks to come, as long as you help me, they will be yours. I think no one will doubt you for making money by speculating in stocks? This is the safest way to pay, and this money is completely legal income. No matter who checks, they can't find any problems."
Epstein held the paper tightly in his hand. He could have quit now. If what Lu Yiming said was right, he could make a lot of money just from the stock he held.
But if Lu Yiming is right, that means there are four other stocks that are equally valuable!
Greed made him unable to give up, just like a fish lured by bait. Even though he knew there was a hook, he couldn't help but be tempted.
Finally, Epstein couldn't resist Dao Le's charm and asked Lu Yiming: "Are you sure these stocks you mentioned can make me $1 billion?"
Lu Yiming said confidently: "No more, no less, Saltwater Fund is the best answer. You know how accurate my vision is."
"Okay, you convinced me."
