Chapter 743 Boeing's Sincerity
Two days passed. Early in the morning of this day, Lu Yiming got up from the large bed in the hotel and asked Zhao Tiezhu to bring him a batch of local newspapers as usual.
What made Lu Yiming feel satisfied was that the content that had previously scolded Lu Yiming and belittled Xia country's culture had disappeared. Instead, there were more articles promoting the importance of national cultural exchanges. Some even went so far as to tout Xia country's traditional culture as a treasure of the world .
There is no doubt that these so-called newspaper media and their financial backers have all been "bribed" by Lu Yiming. How dare they talk nonsense? Are they dissatisfied with their wallets or think their heads are too stubborn and want to find something hard to touch?
In this world, whoever has the money has the final say. With Lu Yiming's order for the big plane, who in France dares to disobey?
Dai Leman will make them obey.
Paris Opera, tonight is destined to be extraordinary.
On the red carpet, celebrities gathered and stars shone.
The reporters and audience at the entrance of the opera house couldn't help but exclaim in excitement as they watched celebrities dressed in gorgeous clothes file in, and they kept taking pictures with their cameras.
Dai Leman's wife, Nancy Kenny, was wearing a dark blue tight-fitting hip-hugging dress and jewel-studded high-heeled shoes. She held Dai Leman's hand, but her brows were furrowed and she looked unhappy. She looked at the rich ladies and officials coming in and out and said arrogantly, "It is well known that Xiaguo has no art at all. I am not interested in any of their performances."
Dai Leman was helpless. As an old European, he certainly despised the so-called Eastern culture, thinking it was a synonym for backwardness and ignorance. But there was nothing he could do. Lu Yiming's contract was really something he couldn't refuse. So, even if he had to drink feces tonight, he had to swallow it in one gulp - this was what a qualified capitalist should do.
"I know how you feel, but we were invited here by Asia's richest man, Lu Yiming. He is a major customer of Airbus, and we must give him face."
The two entered the theater and saw Lu Yiming. Nancy followed Dai Leman's instructions and greeted Lu Yiming enthusiastically, looking very elegant.
Lu Yiming was also very polite to Nancy. After all, in the next 10 to 20 years, Xiaguo's aircraft will still rely on Airbus, and the two sides can be said to be long-term strategic partners.
During the performance, Nancy and Dai Leman sat next to Lu Yiming, who acted as their guide.
"The next program is called "Colorful Skirts and Feathered Coats". It was written by the emperor of the Tang Dynasty 1,300 years ago and performed passionately by his favorite concubine. It has been sung for thousands of years and will be remembered forever."
Dai Leman was immediately excited after listening to Lu Yiming's introduction. Even Nancy slightly put away the disdain on her face.
The emperor composed the music and the concubines performed it? That's amazing! The performance immediately became different!
For France, a country with a long history of aristocratic heritage, performances with royal colors are of great significance. This sense of honor cannot be brought by ordinary music and dance.
"The Dance of the Colorful Skirt and Feathered Coat" began.
In the dim stage, a bright moon rose slowly, and the lingering mist made the surroundings look like a fairyland. In the haze, a group of beautiful women in white clothes came gracefully with flying skirts. The audience, who had been a little indifferent at first, were immediately attracted by this artistic conception.
Beautiful things often have a charm that transcends race and nationality. No matter who you are, you can be moved by this beauty that comes from the depths of the soul.
Nancy Kenny couldn't help but exclaim: "It's beautiful."
The majestic atmosphere precipitated by thousands of years of history is no joke.
Lu Yiming took the opportunity to say, "Look at the clothes these actors are wearing. They are the clothes that the noble ladies of that era wore. We have completely restored the ancient technology and craftsmanship and made them with the same materials as they were back then. This is the 'Tianyi' brand specially developed by a clothing company called 'Liren' in our Xia country. What you see are all made of gold, silver, silk and gems. They were worn by the royal family and nobles at that time."
These so-called European aristocrats were the ones who started the trend of luxury goods. After hearing what Lu Yiming said, they immediately felt like drooling.
What does luxury want?
What we want is the style!
It's unique!
It’s a sense of dignity.
It's a story!
It just so happens that this "Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Coat" has a story, a heritage, and a style. It is simply a natural luxury!
This is extremely attractive to European ladies.
Starting more than two thousand years ago, these ceramics and silks from the Xia Kingdom had already been an important tool for European royal families to show off their status, and this continued until the middle of the nineteenth century.
In medieval paintings, the treasures from the mysterious Eastern country are definitely at the center of the show.
The royal family had gold and silver tableware but did not use them, and was proud to use the ceramics that were so popular in the country of Xia.
The truly high-end and top-notch things in Xia Country are beyond the reach of ordinary people even if they have money. They are symbols of true identity and status.
Those things cannot even be simply defined by the word "luxury goods".
Many people say that there are no luxury goods or high-end goods in Xia Country. In fact, the people who say this are just ignorant and of low status, and cannot access the real good things.
To be honest, things that can really be bought with money are not considered "luxury"; they are just artificially hyped consumer traps.
The "Tianyi" brand created by Lu Yiming has high-end products that are completely handmade and made with ancient techniques. The consultants invited are all experts from top museums, and the operators are all national-level arts and crafts masters and skill inheritors. This lineup is completely incomparable to any XX immortal.
For example, the snow-white colorful feathered clothing that Lin Yuzhen was wearing cost more than 300,000 yuan in materials alone, not to mention how much the weaving skills were worth. Lu Yiming had no other requirements, but to restore the relevant records of the colorful feathered clothing in the ancient books as much as possible.
The costumes are so carefully made, so naturally the other things are not sloppy either. The makeup team has relevant research experts, and the things used are all original, absolutely no modern industrial products, including spices, rouge, etc., all extracted by ancient methods. All musical instruments are also specially customized. Some of the musical instruments are even antiques that are hundreds or thousands of years old.
Lu Yiming invested nearly 30 million yuan in this performance at the Paris Opera House, just to bring a little shock of Xia culture to these Europeans.
On the stage, the actors performed hard and the audience cheered and applauded continuously.
In the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy or trick is a paper tiger.
The culture condensed from thousands of years of rich history is like a bloodline suppression and dimensionality reduction attack to these European bumpkins.
After watching the performance, many people present could only sadly discover that the luxury goods they were proud of were nothing in front of Xia Country's top aesthetics. What they were flocking to were all the leftovers of Xia Country's ancestors.
The performance was over, and all the audience had expressions of reluctance to leave on their faces, which was a sign of admiration from the bottom of their hearts.
In fact, many people's arrogance towards the East comes from ignorance. They cannot directly contact the culture of the Xia Kingdom. All the content is through their media. And the media is subjective and obeys capital. What they let you see is what they want you to see. What they don't want you to see, you will probably never see.
And today, through such a program, they saw with their own eyes the tip of the iceberg of Xia Kingdom. They were extremely intoxicated by the world that was completely different from what was described by the publicity and promotion agency. They even recalled the Eastern worship that was engraved in the DNA of their ancestors more than a thousand years ago.
After the performance, Lu Yiming invited everyone to have dinner at the hotel next door.
The precious wooden tables with the design style of the prosperous Tang Dynasty are filled with various delicious delicacies. When dining, musicians play chimes to relax people and increase their appetite.
The ritualistic way of dining, with bells ringing, music playing, and food served on arranged tripods, shocked the French, who were known for their aristocratic etiquette.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, Europe rose to prominence by plundering the world. In order to cover up the bloodshed, they pretended to be civilized, and began to talk about rituals in an attempt to recreate the glory of many years ago.
As a result, now, everything they saw before them made them realize clearly that their so-called sense of ritual was not even child's play.
Lu Yiming introduced: "The sound of bells and the presence of tripods are the dining etiquette of the ancient Xia nobles."
These European "aristocrats" seemed to understand but were shocked.
Although there are no nobles in France anymore and even the former king has been sent to the guillotine, people still want to show off and satisfy their vanity through various so-called rituals.
The Xia Kingdom's classical costumes, classical music, and the grand feast of bells and drums made the attendees enjoy not only the most top-notch audio-visual feast, but also a feast of gourmet food.
After the banquet, Lu Yiming gave everyone a set of Hanfu.
As the saying goes, what goes up must come down. In the final analysis, the aristocracy still rules Europe, and many people still believe in "history" . It is a little different from the pure possession and forgery of the United States without any history. So Lu Yiming was very smart to capture these aristocrats first, and the people below would naturally want to learn about Xiaguo.
Just as the Xia Kingdom has done to Europe for two thousand years.
Whether it was porcelain, pigment, silk or tea, their diffusion in Europe all started with the nobility.
This method has been applicable for thousands of years, so there is nothing wrong with using it now.
For several days, Lu Yiming became a well-known figure in the whole of France, and the newspapers were full of reports about him.
In the following days, in order to boost its stock price, Airbus directly disclosed the news of receiving a large order from Xia Guo.
The French people were shocked.
Has Xiaguo started to use large passenger aircraft?
And they are all purchased in bulk!
Does Xia State have such a vast market?
For a time, the whole of France was in an uproar, and was inexplicably caught up in a kind of "Summer fever".
Many French businessmen turned their eyes to the East, as if recalling the ancient land full of gold and business opportunities described by Marco Polo.
Although Gallic roosters are arrogant, it doesn't mean they don't like money.
This information was quickly captured by Lu Yiming, who immediately called Shi Jinhua to tell him about the situation and reminded him that he could organize a business exchange group to come to France and invite the other party to pay a return visit. This would not only allow him to do business with the French, but might also help attract investment.
Shi Jinhua was so excited when he received Lu Yiming's call that he couldn't sleep. He didn't even care about the time difference and started making phone calls to ask people to prepare for the business exchange group.
Lu Yiming also notified Lin Zhen, Liu Tianhao and Lu Jianxin. After all, they were all old acquaintances and he still had to take care of them.
After listening to Lu Yiming's talk about the situation in Europe, several people were very happy. Being able to do business with foreigners and earn foreign exchange is such a good thing that is hard to find even with a lantern.
Just three days later, an airplane took off from China's Capital Airport, crossed the Eurasian continent, and landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
At the VIP reception area, Lu Yiming arrived half an hour early and watched the flight with the bright red national flag printed on it slowly land.
"Mr. Lu, long time no see."
"Mr. Lu, you miss me so much."
After seeing Lu Yiming, these industry leaders who were doing well in the country felt as if they had seen their parents who provided them with food and clothing. Although they were old enough to be Lu Yiming's uncles or even grandfathers, they were extremely humble in front of Lu Yiming and praised him highly.
Shi Jinhua, who led the team, was extremely excited.
For these bosses, this trip to Europe was to make a lot of money, while Shi Jinhua came here to make political achievements.
As a powerful figure in China Merchants Group, if he can achieve enough results during this trip to Europe, such as attracting a few European multinational groups to build factories in Guangdong Province, or negotiating a few cross-border trade cooperation agreements, then he will have to move up.
Since ancient times, in this magical land, money has never been the first priority. Everyone knows that without Lu Yiming, this way of making money, let alone the door, there is no window! Shi Jinhua naturally understands this truth even more, so he has already made up his mind in his heart that he is Lu Yiming's person in life and Lu Yiming's dead person in death. As long as he holds on to Lu Yiming's golden thigh tightly, he will be able to rise to prominence in the future, which is not a problem at all!
For several days, Lu Yiming took everyone to visit business celebrities in Paris.
At first, the proud French people didn't take it too seriously. At most, they gave Lu Yiming a chance to save face and decided to meet these "country bumpkins" behind Lu Yiming who were dressed tastelessly and in a rustic manner.
But when they received the product quote from two businessmen from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, they were stunned.
Take buttons as an example. With the same materials, craftsmanship and quality, as long as Xiaguo can produce them, the price will be only one-tenth of that in Europe, or even lower.
These old European nobles, who felt superior in front of the Xia people, knelt down directly in front of the bigwigs from Xia.
In the face of money, everyone is a slave.
The price quoted by Xia Guo was something they had never dared to dream of, so they placed orders one after another.
After all, if you don't do this kind of business, it would be a betrayal of capitalism.
As for the proud head? It doesn't exist. Xiaguo is our beloved relatives, friends, brothers and sisters!
A few days later, it was no longer Lu Yiming who led everyone to ask for help. Instead, a large number of French businessmen came and broke down the threshold of the hotel where they were staying.
There is no other way. Although I am reluctant, the price is so good that I can't help it.
For several days, various orders came in, and both buyers and sellers felt that they had made a lot of money. They were all smiling, and the economic exchanges between the two countries became hot.
Through this cultural exchange, Lu Yiming not only successfully helped LiRen Clothing further open up the high-end luxury goods market in France, but also allowed Xia Country's manufacturing industry to enter the European product supply chain.
The exchange plan went smoothly, and he also brought in bigwigs in the European capital world, such as Andre and Dai Leman, to join the chariot.
In this world, some are happy and some are sad. Boeing, far away on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, sees the French business booming, and they feel sour in their mouths, as if they had eaten a lemon.
They want the cute little money too!
The United States had no time to come to the ancient Eastern country to make trouble at this time, so the Boeing executives had no choice but to send the vice president to come to Lu Yiming in person to promote the product.
Baiyun City.
Adolphus Locke, vice president of Boeing's Asia business, walked into Lu Yiming's office.
After a brief greeting, Adolphus Locke said bluntly: "Mr. Lu, as we all know, Airbus produces rubbish. The best aircraft in the world must be made by Boeing."
Lu Yiming put his legs on the desk, leaning back in the leather executive chair, playing with a pen in his right hand. He looked at Adolphus Locke, who was sitting upright on the sofa opposite him, smiled slightly, and said, "I heard that your company has listed me as a persona non grata because I shorted airline stocks. I went to your company to order a plane before, but the salesperson dared to give me a cold shoulder."
Adolphus Locke said quickly, "That's not true! What do you mean you're not welcome? Mr. Lu is Boeing's most distinguished customer! We have fired all the employees who treated you badly last time. Mr. Lu, please believe us. Boeing treats every customer sincerely!"
Boeing is certainly not a good company. It has cheated Xiaguo Airlines out of a lot of money in the past. However, Lu Yiming still needs it to balance Airbus France and avoid being overly dependent on one of them, which would lead to losses in business layout.
After all, when it comes to overcharging its passengers, Airbus is not shy.
"All fired? It seems that the information I got was wrong. Boeing is still very sincere."
After hearing what Lu Yiming said, Adolphus Locke breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly, "Of course. Mr. Lu, please believe in our sincerity!"
Lu Yiming raised his eyebrows and said lightly: "Tell me, what is your sincerity."
