The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 372 I Can't Go On Anymore

"What information?" the chairman asked with concern. "Does it pose a threat to our Honda company?"

Honda Daimaru shook his head: "Their factory manager said that they also manufacture engines for Beijing Jeeps in China. I don't know if you know this company, but I do. They used to produce vehicles for the military."

The chairman, being the chairman he is, immediately understood two things: first, providing vehicles to the military meant that the quality was guaranteed.

Secondly, it shows that they have no way to exert pressure through official channels. Any official body must take into account the military's opinion. This is the case all over the world, including Japan.

Honda Daimaru stood up and said, "Actually, I have two ideas. If the first one doesn't work, then we'll do the second one."

The chairman nodded: "Go ahead and say it. I allow young people to make mistakes. Only by constantly learning from mistakes can you grow."

"First, we're investing in China and partnering with Liu Hua to build a factory that specializes in engine production, but I think the chances are slim."

"Secondly, we can purchase directly from him."

"Idiot!" someone stood up and cursed. "If we give up our own production capacity, then if we need engines in the future, we will be at the mercy of others."

"That's short-sighted. Boeing sources its parts from all over the world now," Honda Daimaru retorted. "Does that mean the Americans aren't subject to others? You know, they've made enemies all over the world."

One sentence left this elder speechless. They couldn't deny their godfather, since he was starting to deindustrialize, there must be a reason for it.

It's a pity that people in the 1990s could not have known that the boomerang would hit Americans thirty years later.

Unexpectedly, Yamaha had the same idea, and even companies like Kawasaki and Suzuki were planning to seek joint ventures with Liu Hua to build factories.

To Liu Hua's utter surprise, this unexpected turn of events revitalized the business. He was happy to accept the offer from the four companies to jointly build a factory, but Liu Hua would take half the shares while they would take the other half. This put Liu Hua in a position of absolute control, and the investment had to be made.

Liu Hua's establishment of an engine manufacturing plant in conjunction with four small Japanese companies became a major event in the north.

The northern provinces all wanted to take this lucrative prize, but the capital city was not about to let it go, so the case went all the way to the Ministry of Industry.

After consulting with Liu Hua, the Ministry of Industry finally decided to locate the factory in eastern Shandong. After all, a large portion of the engines would be exported in the future, and locating the factory in a coastal city in eastern Shandong would reduce transportation costs significantly.

Yantai, the place that produces apples, set up a large area for Liu Hua with great fanfare, specifically for building a new production base.

Because building a new factory to meet the needs of four companies is a huge undertaking, Liu Hua didn't have enough technical personnel, so he had to ask the four companies to send their own technicians.

These technicians were initially very reluctant to come to China on business, but after arriving, they found that it was simply paradise.

They can eat as much vegetables and meat as they want at cheap prices; a fraction of their monthly salary is enough for their daily needs.

Especially for fruits that are very expensive in China, particularly apples, Yantai introduced the Fuji apple variety from Toyo in 1980, and it is now booming, with an annual output of nearly one million tons.

These young people who came here on business trips mostly brought Apple products in their luggage when they returned home. Since their round-trip airfare was reimbursed by the company, it was much cheaper than buying them in China.

Liu Hua sent Ju Wei and his two carefully cultivated deputies to eastern Shandong, and temporarily promoted a deputy factory director to stabilize production. Now, besides completing his two research projects, he also needs to focus his energy on 3D printers – a so-called "leapfrog development."

We are now far behind others in ultra-high precision machining tools, especially in Germany and Japan, and these two countries have imposed an embargo on us.

Relying on his cooperation with Honda, Liu Hua attempted to import two ultra-high precision machine tools, but was flatly rejected.

Toshiba did this before and was severely punished by both the US and Japan, so Honda is determined not to do it.

Left with no other choice, Liu Hua could only focus his attention on 3D printers for the time being. Of course, he could also design those ultra-high precision calculations, since he had worked in this industry before.

However, he is currently a bit overwhelmed. Since he has already made a start with 3D printers, he will focus his attention on this for the time being. Once the 3D printers are finished, he will go back to work on ultra-high precision machine tools.

Moreover, ultra-high precision machine tools have many very demanding production conditions and raw materials, which are not available in China at present. Even if Liu Hua could do the work of eight people, he could only look on with envy.

Liu Hua knew that the General Logistics Department would be very interested in this project, so he bypassed Tsinghua University and contacted the General Logistics Department directly.

Although Sun Guangming of the General Logistics Department has been promoted in the past two years, he still calls Liu Hua from time to time to inquire whether Liu Hua has any technology that they can use.

So Liu Hua explained the concept of a metal 3D printer.

Sun Guangming nodded: "Engineer Liu, why don't you just write a project proposal? I feel this has great potential. We'll have someone evaluate the plan, and the chances are pretty good."

Liu Hua spent a week writing a project proposal and submitted it, but it disappeared without a trace for half a month.

Recently, after Liu Hua returned home from the lab, he found his yard quite lively, with his sister-in-law and brother-in-law coming over.

Thanks to Liu Hua, they both found suitable jobs back then, and both were in high demand at the time.

Seeing their dejected appearance, Liu Hua knew the purpose of their trip.

Liu Hua said with a smile, "I am so sorry to have failed to welcome my sister-in-law and brother-in-law here."

Brother-in-law Liu Sheng sighed, "Alright, brother-in-law, stop teasing us. We've come to you for advice because we're desperate."

"Shouldn't it?"

Liu Hua felt it shouldn't be like this, because a few years ago, the steel rolling mill incident was used as an opportunity to conduct a general survey throughout the northern region and rectify a large number of enterprises. It shouldn't have deteriorated again in just a few years.

"The factory is on the verge of going out of business and is considering renting it out to a private individual," Liu Sheng said with a sheepish look on his face. "Second sister, their factory is thinking about the same thing."

"What, should I transfer you to another job?"

(End of this chapter)