Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 203 The Sucker Has Arrived (Bonus Chapter for 5k words)

Moscow is accessible, Nixon can be reached, de Gaulle's personal letters can be read, and Che Guevara can come.

China has always been very clear about the principles it needs to adhere to and the areas where it can be flexible.

No country remembers the lesson that weakness invites aggression better than China.

China has always been very clear about the role of computers, as clearly stated in the "Outline of the Science and Technology Development Plan (1956-1967)" formulated in 1956:

"Production process automation is based on mechanization, and it develops from mechanization to the automation of individual processes, and then to full automation."

"Full automation of the production process requires the installation of computing equipment throughout the control system to replace human computation. The most advanced and complex computing equipment is various types of electronic computers, which act as the nerve center of the automation system. The invention of the electronic computer has ushered in a new era for computing technology."

They have even seen the potential for silicon-based photovoltaics to be developed from a fundamental perspective:

"Semiconductors can be used to directly convert light and heat energy into electrical energy. The potential applications of semiconductors in other areas are also developing rapidly."

The above is the original text from the development outline.

As can be seen from the development outline, although China in 1956 was a weak and newly awakened nation, with only a skeleton and no flesh and blood, it knew its mission, knew the painful price of technological backwardness, and knew which direction it should develop in.

From a holistic perspective, China has a natural advantage over other countries with similar starting lines.

At this juncture, with the XM-01 electronic calculator as an achievement and the conjectures of Dean Qian and Hua Luogeng as leverage, unprecedented political treatment was secured for the entire Area 51.

From the initial signs of Area 51's establishment, to the possibility of Shu Xingbei changing his name and joining, to today's actual receipt of such treatment.

China's cutting-edge technology has ushered in a new chapter.

Lin Ran, far away in America, naturally didn't know all this. He knew that his butterfly effect would definitely be very strong, and it would be abnormal if he didn't change, but he never expected the change to be like this.

Because in his plan, he had to personally ignite the flames of the entire world.

In this era, Finland was a very special presence in Europe.

They are almost the only company in all of Europe that can do business on both sides at the same time.

The Soviet Union exported oil to Finland, and then Finland exported the oil to Western European countries.

It's impossible for Finland not to hate the Soviet Union, whether it's the history of World War II or the fact that after the war, the Soviet Union forcibly took 10% of Finland's territory and $3 million in war reparations from it.

However, in order to maintain neutrality, the Finns are well aware that given their geographical location, if they dare to align themselves with the Americas, they will never have peace.

After the war, Finland rejected America's Marshall Plan, paid off all its reparations in four years through frugality, and signed a friendship treaty with Soviet Russia. At the same time, it maintained its status as an intermediary entrepot and ensured that it did not join the Soviet camp.

Soviet Russia agreed to Finland's accession to the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

Also, because America did not join the WTO, the "W" here does not mean "World" but "Warsaw," and America does not prevent them from doing business with Western Europe.

After enduring humiliation and hardship for decades, they seized an unprecedented strategic opportunity after 2022, jumped ship and joined NATO, disgusting the Russians and leaving them helpless.

This is an absolute masterpiece of small-country manipulation. I can endure humiliation and hardship as long as I can achieve my goal. I will never let an opportunity slip by.

To be more precise, Finland is extremely clever in choosing sides, and its methods are far superior to those of a certain semi-European country that takes a unilateral stance.

Currently, Finland is one of the few countries that can do business with both sides.

China's Area 51 took a liking to Finland precisely because of their unique status.

As for why not Hong Kong, it's because Hong Kong was still under English jurisdiction, and selling Hong Kong could only be done through unofficial underground channels.

For an electronic consumer product with a sales target of tens of millions, it would be impossible to sell unless the sea between Hong Kong and the mainland suddenly became full of ships, and those ships had to be invisible so that the white people and their lackeys couldn't see them.

Therefore, Hong Kong is unrealistic, while Finland is realistic.

For China, Finland was simply a transit point. Once the agreement was reached, the goods didn't necessarily need to be transported to Finland; they could be transported through East Germany, England, or France.

In any case, when it was finally sold, it was branded as Finnish.

Vertanen means stream, a common Finnish name, and he has been obsessed ever since he saw the XM-01 at the Chinese booth.

Whether it's the product itself or the expressions of the buyers, electronics manufacturers, and representatives from various countries at the event over the past few days, it all clearly demonstrates one thing: this thing has enormous commercial value.

People were even more enthusiastic about the exhibition than IBM's Deep Blue.

After all, consumers don't need Deep Blue. Neither businesses nor individuals really need a chess-playing robot, but they do need a portable, small calculator capable of scientific calculations.

This is a revolutionary product in the current climate, just like the advent of the iPhone. The iPhone moment for the semiconductor industry has arrived.

As the purchasing manager for Neste's e-commerce division, his keen intuition told him that if they could procure the XM-01, they would definitely make a fortune.

In the past, part of their department's profits came from China. Panda brand electronic radios from China were resold to the pro-independence camp, and Chinese Americans there were happy to buy them, even at a markup. They believed this was a way of helping their motherland.

Neste is the largest company in Finland engaged in entrepot trade. Their main source of profit is selling oil for the Soviet Union, but this has not prevented them from expanding into other trade sectors.

The XM-01, however, can be marketed globally without requiring Chinese ancestry.

But like everyone else, after handing his business card to the Chinese representative, he received no reply; the card seemed to have vanished without a trace.

As with the past few days, Vertaninen planned to visit the Chinese booth that morning to see if he could chat with the Chinese people.

Who knows, some seemingly insignificant staff member might make a big decision.

He had read Robert van Gulik's "Detective Dee," though not all of it, but he knew of the story of the incognito travels.

What if I were to encounter such a good thing?

However, he did encounter some good fortune. It wasn't an incognito visit; rather, the hotel receptionist asked him to answer a phone call, saying it was from a representative of China.

This surprised him.

When Wirtanen gave his business card to the Chinese man, he also included two phone numbers: one was the number of his hotel during the Leipzig Trade Fair, and the other was the number of his company.

To ensure that if the Chinese people want to see him, they can do so immediately.

"Okay, Mr. Li, I look forward to meeting you." After hanging up the phone, Vertanen clenched his fist and waved it in the air.

The Chinese wanted to discuss the export of the XM-01 with him.

Vertanen silently vowed to himself that he would definitely close this deal.

At the hotel where the Chinese delegation was staying, Vertanin was dressed very formally, wearing a suit, a bow tie, and white gloves.

The purpose is to leave a good impression on the Chinese people.

Wirtanen beamed: "Mr. Li, this is Wirtanen from Finland. Receiving your call is the best news I've heard all year!"

Li Mingde smiled and said, “Welcome, Mr. Vertanen. I am Li, representing the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Our Panda Calculator is a cutting-edge product with scientific computing capabilities that surpass ANITA, including trigonometric functions, logarithms, and statistical calculations, and it is also more portable.”

Li Mingde never had any expectations of cooperating with Finland.

With his keen intuition and multilingual abilities, he knew perfectly well that selling in large quantities to Finland was, in essence, indirectly selling to the liberal camp.

This is simply impossible.

Partnering with the Finnish company Neste was part of his plan. When he was developing the plan, he never even considered that it had any chance of being implemented. Li Mingde was only helping out of respect for Dean Qian.

This included sending a telegram back home, partly due to personal relationships, and partly because he didn't want to see the XM-01 fail to fulfill its intended value.

Li Mingde is a veteran in foreign trade. Although there is a distinction between camps, it doesn't mean that they haven't done business with countries in the free camp. They have sold grain, tea, and porcelain.

Having done business before, he felt hurt by the comparisons and, deep down, he didn't like doing business with countries on the Soviet side.

Because these countries rarely settle transactions in currency, they won't even settle in rubles; they prefer to settle in goods.

This was the model within the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), a system of barter. There was something called the transfer ruble that remained on the books.

The book value and the actual value of the goods you receive in exchange are often not the same, and even if they are the same, they may not be what you need.

The so-called hard currency that everyone truly needs is often in high demand.

Panda radios from China are highly sought after within the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), and some smaller countries simply cannot purchase them.

However, when doing business with Western countries, you are dealing with real US dollars, which offers much greater flexibility.

Li Mingde never expected that the Chinese side would actually agree to his decision to only consider economic benefits.

In other words, we don't need to sell a single unit to Eastern European countries.

You can negotiate with both sides simultaneously and use various methods to inflate the price between them.

This was a privilege he had never had before.

Li Mingde felt something was amiss, but there was no time to think about it; his priority was to fleece these foreigners as much as possible.

Li Mingde thought to himself: He was no different from the others; he was very interested in pandas.

Wirtanen nodded and said, "Mr. Li, you are right. I have seen you demonstrate this countless times at the Leipzig Trade Fair."

I am well aware of its advantages: scientific computing, compact size, and portability.

"I only have one question: its stability, and how is its after-sales service guaranteed?" Li Mingde said, "It's very stable. We're willing to provide a replacement service. That means if any malfunction occurs after a user purchases the replacement service, we'll provide a replacement."

This maintenance service was devised by Li Mingde after learning about ANITA's business strategy.

It can generate a long-term, stable cash flow and also gain customer trust.

Vertanen felt much more at ease, knowing that corporate users would definitely appreciate this service: "Mr. Li, perfect. And what about the price?"

Li Mingde looked troubled. "I know very well that the price of ANITA in England is around $1200. Our product is much better than ANITA, but we can't determine its price. We need you to give us an idea."

Vertanen was somewhat displeased. He knew very well that the Chinese were using the price he offered as a benchmark. They would be negotiating with other companies later, so price would be especially important if they wanted to secure the deal.

There was silence in the room for a long while.

Vertanen then said, "Two thousand dollars, we are willing to pay a high price of two thousand dollars, and order ten thousand units at once, which is twenty million dollars."

Li Mingde was already deeply shaken.

Twenty million at a time—this is an unprecedented business deal.

He knew very well that once China's production capacity ramped up, selling 100,000 units a year was not impossible, and $2,000 was clearly not the upper limit.

If it's 100,000 units at $2,000 each, then that's $200 million a year.

What did this mean for a country whose total import and export volume was only US$38.09 billion in 1960?

"Okay, thank you for your quote. I will consider it carefully."

In three days, Li Mingde met with more than ten companies.

It's not just Finnish companies.

He has met with representatives from companies in England, East and West Germany, and France.

If you want to do business, there are always ways.

Set up a company in Finland, complete the transaction in Finland, and then resell it globally.

Li Mingde wouldn't set a strict rule; he wouldn't insist on negotiating with the current Finnish company.

Isn't it good to talk to a future Finnish company?
But after a whole day, the highest price they offered was only $3500.

The amount was far less than the $5000 that Dean Qian had mentioned before he went abroad.

This left Li Mingde feeling somewhat frustrated.

There are also high-priced ones, such as $10,000, but there are only ten of these available at most, and you have to deliver them immediately.

It's obvious they have ulterior motives and aren't interested in doing any real business.

They mainly engage in entrepot trade.

When it comes to large-scale exports, orders of more than 10,000 units are worth at most $3500.

Is it too much?

Of course there are many.

But Li Mingde could feel the enthusiasm for the XM-01 at the scene.

He wanted to try again.

If all else fails, then we'll have to go back and negotiate with France for the $3500.

In his hotel room, he found a wooden board and nailed it full of business cards from various countries. In addition to their names, each card also had numbers written by himself, such as the amount multiplied by the number of orders.

3500*50000 is the upper limit.

The $1.75 million figure has set a new record in China's history.

On the fifth day, Li Mingde stood in front of the booth with a furrowed brow.

Compared to a few days ago, the Chinese booth was not as popular.

In such a place, news travels very quickly, and everyone knows that China is in a dilemma.

They even knew the highest price was $3500.

This price is really too high.

Nobody was willing to offer a higher price.

When people chatted privately, some joked that if the XM-01 didn't have the XM-01 label, but instead bore the Texas Instruments or IBM brand, they would still dare to charge the high price of $5000.

A business card was handed to Li Mingde.

"Johnson, 5000"

Li Mingde was somewhat surprised and quickly invited him to a nearby hotel to discuss the matter in detail: "Johnson, what does this mean?"

Without exchanging pleasantries, Li Mingde went straight to the point.

“I’m Johnson Jones, a purchasing manager from America, GE. We’re willing to pay $5000 for XM-01, and we’ll take as much of your production capacity as you have. What do you think?”

That's right, General Electric has entered the fray.

As mentioned earlier, General Electric also has a computer business; they make minicomputers, while also trying to make mainframes to compete with IBM.

After discovering the XM-01 at the Leipzig Trade Fair, GE began to take action. Johnson Jones rushed from London overnight and, after learning more about it, reported to GE's senior management. The price and purchase quantity were then personally approved by members of the Morgan family.

For General Motors, the XM-01, priced at $5,000, is easy to sell; they'll just sell it to the American government without hesitation.

At least during the period when XM-01 had a monopoly, it would have been incredibly easy to sell it back to the American government for double the price.

Especially at this point in time, from Washington to Wall Street, everyone knows that the Baiyue War is drawing ever closer.

All that's left is the final pre-battle mobilization.

Portable calculators are needed on the front lines in Baiyue, as are the military supply departments in Southeast Asia, and the generals in America also need them.

These orders alone are far more than we can possibly finish.

Meanwhile, members of the Morgan family wondered, given the relationship between Morgan and Lin Ran, wouldn't Lin Ran get NASA to accept a Chinese product disguised as a General Electric product?
Don't NASA engineers need portable calculators?
This only takes into account the American government level, plus the needs of businesses.

It would be incredibly easy to process this many orders.

With this in mind, GM made this decision.

Compared to small electronic computers, portable calculators are not expensive even at a price of ten thousand dollars.

Li Mingde was already tempted.

Johnson continued, "We only have one requirement, and that is that the adjustment of precision cannot be shown in the manual; it must be set as a hidden function."

Li Mingde was completely baffled.

This is to differentiate them; otherwise, how can you explain that the one sold to Washington costs $10,000, while the one sold to a company costs only $7,000?

Isn't it because Washington's system is more accurate?

As for why the precision sold to enterprises can also reach four decimal places, isn't that something they cracked themselves?
In fact, its computing speed is far inferior.

The other party didn't explain, and Li Mingde didn't care. He just wanted to send a telegram to contact people back home as soon as possible to find out if he could do business with GM.

At a hotel in Huntsville, John Morgan told Lin Ran he had a big gift for him, and Lin Ran entered the room with this question in mind.

“Randolph, come and see what this is,” John Morgan said.

Lin Ran picked up the calculator on the table, which already resembled a portable electronic calculator from later generations. Looking at the slightly rough General Electric logo on it, he exclaimed in surprise:
"You've made such rapid progress? You've already developed such a portable electronic calculator?"

It's much more advanced than what I saw inside NASA!

He knew that the emergence of Deep Blue had greatly stimulated GE's computer business.

However, he did not expect that the other party would produce this thing at this time.

John Morgan said, "Here you go. You can use it for calculations, though I know it's certainly not as fast as your brain."

But that's not the real surprise. The real surprise is, do you know where this is from?

After a few seconds of silence, Lin Ran said, "China?"

John Morgan was shocked: "No, you knew that?" He had intended to keep him in suspense.

　Regarding the first two chapters, my understanding is that they won't lower the protagonist's prestige. This is just their guess, not a fact, and they can't confirm it.

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(End of this chapter)