Material Empire

One month later, the "Foundation of Quwu Ceramics Group and the Signing Ceremony of Cooperation Intent with Japan Kusera Company" was grandly held in the auditorium of Quwu Municipal Government. Chen Yuan, Zhao Bowen and others who went back and forth, officials of the Linxi Provincial Government, the secretary and mayor of Quwu City and others participated in the ceremony. Sitting on the rostrum as the background wall, there is also Takehiko Takamura with a bitter face. After returning to Japan, he made a special trip to support Quwu City.

The idea of ​​annexing Brother Ceramics Factory, under the joint resistance of Qin Hai and Mo Kongchao, finally went bankrupt in a shameful manner. A mere $10 million in investment is not enough for Chen Yuan and others to support Takehiko Takamura. After they realized that they had been cheated, they had no face to vent their anger on the Quwu City Government, but vented their dissatisfaction on Takehiko Takamura. .

Naturally, Kusela Company will not offend the Chinese government for such an unpleasant incident. The company immediately explained to the State Economic Commission and other departments, saying that the company encountered temporary operational difficulties, which resulted in the failure to realize the original investment intention . In order to express its apology, Kusela donated 2 million U.S. dollars to Quwu City to support local education and health care. At the same time, it also donated some funds to universities under the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Light Industry for the establishment of scholarships. It means paying for compensation.

Regarding the cooperation with Quwu Ceramics Group, Kusela Company also showed great cooperation. According to Chen Yuan's request, it signed a cooperation intention with an extremely vague amount and method, and sent the unlucky Takehiko Takamura to To attend the signing ceremony, to put it bluntly, is to stand on stage and hold a show. Whether it is Japan or China, they all know that there is no chance for the two sides to cooperate.

Compared with the last time he came to Quwu, Takehiko Takamura's spirit was much weaker. He has been notified by the headquarters that after attending the ceremony and returning home, his position will be adjusted, and it is said that he will be sent to West Africa to develop the market. In West Africa, I heard that there are beautiful mountains and rivers and outstanding people, but there is no ceramics market, so he is waiting for him to open up wasteland.

Takehiko Takamura, Chen Yuan and others have been tossing around in Quwu for so many days, and the only result is to make a wedding dress for Quwu City and Brother Ceramics Factory. Mo Kongchao was thinking about how to tie several state-owned ceramic factories in Quwu City to the chariot of Brother Ceramics Factory to share some benefits when he heard that Brother Ceramics Factory had received international orders worth hundreds of millions of dollars. However, Brother Ceramics Factory is a private enterprise, and there are many policy obstacles that need to be overcome in order to form a joint venture with a state-owned enterprise. This is something that officials in Quwu City dare not try.

With the help of Takamura Takehiko, Mo Kongchao successfully persuaded Chen Yuan to join in the formation of Quwu Ceramics Group. With the support of the State Economic Commission, such a joint-stock company jointly established by private enterprises and state-owned enterprises was successfully born. In name, the purpose of establishing this group company is to prepare for a Sino-foreign joint venture with the Japanese Kusela Company, but in fact, Kusela is only a name, and it is impossible to really participate.

In the newly established Quwu Ceramics Group, Brother Ceramics Factory accounted for 70% of the shares, and the Quwu Municipal Government purchased all the land, workshops, equipment and personnel of the three state-owned ceramic factories, accounting for only 30% of the shares. However, even if it was 30%, the Quwu Municipal Government took a huge advantage. The profit from the sale of ceramic knives is as high as hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and the share that Quwu City can get is far more than the assets of those companies.

Qin Hai has no complaints about such a shareholding structure. The assets of the three state-owned ceramic factories are also very useful for Brother Ceramics Factory, which can enable Brother Ceramics Factory to expand its production scale in the shortest time and quickly occupy the international ceramic knife market.

Qin Hai is not a greedy person. He knows that if he wants to achieve great things, he must learn to use his strengths to create momentum. It is impossible to succeed alone. In the next 20 years or even longer, the government will be the most important economic entity in Chinese society. It is very necessary to bind one's own interests with the government. This backer can provide oneself with various kinds of help. In contrast, what's the point of giving up a few percent of the shares?

When the Brother Ceramics Factory and several state-owned ceramic factories made a joint venture, the core technology of ceramic knives was not included in the scope of the joint venture. This core technology belongs to Qin Hai personally, not Brother Ceramics Factory. According to the cooperation agreement signed by Qin Hai, Brother Ceramics Factory and Quwu Municipal Government, the newly established Quwu Ceramics Group can use this technology to produce ceramic knives for the international market, but each ceramic knife needs to pay a certain amount to the owner of the technology. The proportion of technical royalties, these technical royalties are ultimately calculated in the production cost of ceramic knives.

In fact, when Qin Hai generously expressed his willingness to enter into a joint venture with Kucera Company, he also dug a hole and waited for Takehiko Takamura to jump into it. If Kucera really invests 200 million US dollars to acquire Brother Ceramics Factory, they will eventually find that they have lost all their money, because what they bought is only a shell of Brother Ceramics Factory, and the technology of ceramic knives is not within the scope of the joint venture at all. Inside.

"Brother, congratulations, I have to call you Chairman Liu from now on."

After the establishment ceremony was over, Qin Hai walked up to Liu Shuo and congratulated him with a smile. Since Brother Ceramics Factory is the major shareholder of Quwu Ceramics Group, Liu Shuo was elected as the chairman and general manager of the group, while Wu Jianguo and Xing Zhongqin, the factory directors of Quwu Yitao and Ertao, could only condescend to be the vice chairman. As the deputy general manager, Qin Hai can't control what these two think in their hearts, winners and losers, that's all.

"Xiao Qin, it's all thanks to you." Liu Shuo was full of ambition, holding Qin Hai's hand, and said with a lot of emotion. Enterprises such as Yitao and Ertao were originally the objects Liu Shuo wanted to look up to. In just over a year, these enterprises have become his possessions. He really feels a little dazed.

Qin Hai smiled and said: "If you want to thank, you'd better thank Takehiko Takamura. If he didn't come to disrupt the situation, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to eat all of Tao, Tao, and Tao."

Liu Shuo said: "Yes, at the beginning I discussed with Mayor Mo, just wanting to recruit some workers from these factories. Now it's all right, even the factories and workers have come together, and after a little renovation, they can be put into production. Speaking of it, this is really a big help from Little Japan. Xiaoqin, I have made up my mind and started the transformation of these factories immediately. Before the Spring Festival next year, we have to complete the production task of 500,000 sets of knives no matter what. , earn back $100 million.”

Qin Hai asked: "Brother Liu, what are your plans when you get the money back?"

Liu Shuo said: "I just want to ask you about this matter, Xiao Qin, you used to be the backbone of our brother's ceramics factory, and now you are the backbone of our ceramics group. We will do whatever you say."

"I don't dare to do that." Qin Hai smiled and waved his hands, "Since it is a group company, some matters should still be decided by the board of directors. I can only offer some reference opinions. I think that the company has made money, and it has to take part of the profits Improve the lives of cadres and workers, including those of the former three state-owned factories. Only by letting everyone see the benefits of the merger can you really win people's hearts."

"That's for sure. If people follow us, if life doesn't improve in the end, no one will be happy." Liu Shuo replied.

Qin Hai added: "In addition to this, a considerable amount of funds must be allocated to improve equipment, so that the equipment level of the entire company can be synchronized with that of foreign companies. This is also an important factor for maintaining our competitiveness."

"I understand that we can't always do production simply because it's crude." Liu Shuo said.

"The last point is also the most important point." Qin Haidao, "That is, we must persevere in technological development. My suggestion is that the group company should allocate at least 10% of its annual profits for the research and development of new technologies. Ceramics Knives seem to be profit-making products now, but our technology monopoly cannot last for two years. I guess that Kusela will be able to break through the existing technical barriers and come up with their ceramic knife products in the next year at the latest. By then , if we don’t have new core technologies, we will lose in the competition.”

"I understand. I will report these situations to the board of directors and make technology development the top priority of the group." Liu Shuo solemnly promised.

Qin Haidao: "Next, I will give you an outline for the development of ceramic technology. You must recruit a large number of talents and invest at any cost. You must seize the opportunity of these technologies. Ceramic knives are just the beginning, and we will do it in the future. There are still many things. Chairman Liu, don’t just focus on the three-acre land in Quwu. One day, your Quwu Ceramics Factory will go to the whole world.”

Qin Hai's last words were said in a joke, but Liu Shuo knew that Qin Hai was definitely not joking. He said with a longing look: "I really can't imagine what our Quwu Ceramics Group will develop into in a few years."

Qin Hai said with a smile: "Actually, it's not hard to imagine what Kucera is like now, and what we should be like in the future. However, by that time, I hope that Kucera has become a historical term."

"Haha, with your words, Xiao Qin, I'm exhausted, and I'm going to run towards this goal." Liu Shuo laughed and made up his mind.

It was beyond Qin Hai's expectation that Brother Ceramics Factory, which was set up unintentionally back then, would develop so prosperously today. Qin Hai knew that the reason why he was able to obtain huge gains in ceramic knives, thermal spraying, special steel, etc. was only based on his foresight, in other words, he was cheating by using his identity as a time traveler.

However, for the development of the material industry, it is not enough to rely on him alone to cheat. It is necessary to establish a huge scientific research team, as well as large-scale advanced production equipment and experimental equipment, and these require massive capital investment. Products such as thermal spraying machines and ceramic knives can bring him hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, but compared with the investment required to establish a material industry system, these money can only be regarded as a drop in the bucket. To use an outdated phrase, this is just the first step in the Long March.

(End of Volume 1)