Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 265 How could Randolph be so wicked?
China and the American establishment have long shared a great deal of common interests.

As members of the American establishment, and arguably the true shareholders, the Morgan family also received preferential treatment in China.

In situations like this, American citizens would generally not be able to get visas, but core members of the Morgan family could get them easily.

Of course, he would need Lin Ran's permission to see her.

Lin Ran was willing to meet the other party only because of the other party's name: John Adams Morgan II.

The generation number of your name is related to when your family started adding a Roman numeral.

For example, Charles Francis Adams III was not a third-generation member of the Adams family at all. His grandfather, Charles Francis Adams, was the third-generation member of the Adams family and the grandson of John Adams, one of the founding fathers of America.

The reason Charles Francis Adams III was called III was because his father was John Quincy Adams II.

Therefore, in order to highlight his lineage from the Morgan and Adams families and to be the product of a marriage between the two families, John Morgan Jr. did not want to give up Adams in his name, so he became John Adams Morgan II.

“Professor, are you kidding me? Even if the president dares to appoint you as the director of NASA, would you really dare to go to America in person?” John Morgan Jr. paused for only a moment before responding to Lin Ran’s request in a very clever way.

She was so much taller than Huang Min, who had come to see Lin Ran a few days ago.

The other person's Chinese was incredibly fluent. And since they spoke like a professor right away, they had clearly done their homework.

Lin Ran said calmly, "The White House gave me an executive order, Congress approved it, and I came here on my private jet that same day."

Lin Ran thought to himself, "I have connections and a super brain, why wouldn't I dare to come? It wouldn't hurt to come and guide NASA's moon landing in this timeline, and maybe even have a showdown with Musk's SpaceX."

John Morgan Jr. sensed that the young Chinese man in front of him, who was even younger than himself, was telling the truth. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Professor, I'm sorry, the White House really can't do what you're asking."

Your proposed price of $100 billion is a bit too high.

$10 billion a year, what do you think?

John Morgan Jr. proposed a price.

Lin Ran raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is this price an insult to me?"

John Morgan Jr. shook his head: "Professor, don't put me in a difficult position. I believe this price is very reasonable. It's not a buyout of $10 billion, but $10 billion a year."

Lin Ran then asked, "Can I use a QQ membership? I believe Tencent will give me that opportunity."

You guys should open an official White House verified account on QQ, and then buy yourselves a $10 billion Moon Landing membership every year.

I'll ask Tencent to make the special effects for the White House's official account look really cool. NASA might not be able to land on the moon in reality, but it'll have already done it on QQ Space!

John Morgan Jr. gave a wry smile. "Professor, well, it seems we can't reach an agreement."

Lin Ran's demand was that the White House not only had to give him money, but also slap him in the face in front of the whole world.

It's not very harmful, but it's extremely insulting.

Despite Lin Ran's teasing, John Morgan Jr. didn't say anything harsh. Making harsh words in this kind of situation was useless, and showing emotions during negotiations seemed unnecessary for them.

Lin Ran shook his head: "No, no, no, I can't cooperate with the White House, but we can cooperate."

John Morgan Jr.'s eyes lit up. "We're cooperating? You mean Apollo Technologies is accepting foreign investment?"
"Rest assured, even if the relevant authorities in China disagree, as long as you agree, we will take care of them, and the introduction of foreign investment will proceed smoothly."

Lin Ran chuckled and said, "No, that's not what I meant. I meant that I can cooperate with you."

This caused John Morgan Jr.'s smile to fade, replaced by a hint of confusion: "Us?"

Lin Ran didn't bring up that again, and instead asked, "Is your father named John Adams Morgan?"

John Morgan Jr. nodded and said, "Yes."

This is not surprising, after all, his name is John Adams Morgan II, and his father's name was John Adams Morgan.

"What is he doing now?" Lin Ran asked.

John Morgan Jr. was even more puzzled. "He's probably playing golf."

Lin Ran understood immediately. He could tell that John Morgan, without the "Professor's" help in this timeline, had lost the competition for the position of head of the Morgan family early on, and then happily lived a life of leisure in the Morgan family's financial group.

Lin Ran didn't press further; the question was merely a spur-of-the-moment decision. He continued, "That's right, I'll cooperate with you."

Do you want to be the next Elon Musk?
Whatever technology SpaceX has, I can help you develop it. For example, I can perfectly replicate Falcon 9, Starship, and Starlink.

And you, my friend, could spin off the space business from General Electric, create a General Aerospace, and go head-to-head with SpaceX.

Why should Elon Musk be the protagonist of America's space age, and not you, John Adams Morgan?

The two timelines do not interfere with each other; this is from a timeline perspective.

But that doesn't mean Lin Ran can't interfere; Lin Ran can't change the world according to his own will.

Lin Ran knew very well that Huang Min's visit a few days ago must have been authorized by Musk and SpaceX, as Musk hoped to enter the Chinese market through this method.

After all, he has already enjoyed the benefits of building a super factory in Shanghai.

This time, he wants to replicate Tesla's success in the aerospace field in a different way.

Lin Ran felt that if Kou could go, so could he.

Musk can cause me trouble, and I can cause me trouble too.

John Morgan Jr. remained outwardly calm as he asked, "Professor, what do you mean?"

"The literal meaning," Lin Ran said.

John Morgan Jr. replied, “Professor, don’t forget that the conditions we offered you before included reusable rockets.”

Lin Ran waved his hand: "That condition does not mean that the Morgan family has reusable rockets. Even if you do have them, it does not mean that you can build them yourself given America's weak industrial base."

I can replicate the Saturn V using only the available data, as you all know. Just give me the detailed technical information.

But my friend, for you, even if you were given the technical data for the Falcon 9 in America today, replicating the Falcon 9 would be as difficult as climbing to the sky.

Otherwise, Bezos' Blue Origin wouldn't be struggling so much.

The difference is that you give me the data, then recruit engineers and send them to China. I'll be responsible for teaching them how to build the Falcon 9 using America's industrial base. Falcon 9, Starship, Starlink—basically, whatever SpaceX has, I'll give you. With the Morgan family backing you, are you worried about not getting orders?

"As for my training abilities, you can ask those former NASA employees who are here, you can ask Aldrin."

Lin Ran grinned and said, "How about it? Being the head of General Aerospace is much more interesting than being a middleman like you are now, right?"

Even if your position and rank at Morgan Stanley are prestigious enough.

But that still can't compare to replicating the Morgan family founders, taking General Electric from Edison, and personally building an industrial empire.

Lin Ran's tone was full of seduction, and John Morgan Jr. never imagined that his father would be seduced in this way.

"So, Professor, what do I need to give in return?" he murmured after a sudden realization.

Lin Ran said, "The membership fee is ten million US dollars per person per month for training. If you feel more comfortable sending more people, then send more people; if you feel less people, that's fine too. It's up to you."

Learn it and go; one more day won't make a difference.

For example, with the Falcon 9, how do we determine delivery? We consider it complete when we launch a rocket in China that is exactly the same as the Falcon 9 and complete the entire reusable process.

Given the Morgan family's resources, obtaining a batch of work visas to come to China wouldn't be difficult.

$1000 million per person per month is quite expensive, because the rocket industry is a manufacturing industry. If you want to learn it, you need to send at least a hundred people, which means burning through a billion dollars a month.

“Professor, could you make it cheaper?” John Morgan Jr.’s voice was a little dry, clearly indicating that he was interested.

Lin Ran's proposal was incredibly appealing, especially to him personally.

It's like the younger generation of the Morgan family are competing on the same track, trying their best to make a name for themselves in the financial industry and do some big projects.

Now, suddenly a big shot appears and says that you don't necessarily have to learn martial arts, you can also cultivate immortality, and you can achieve immortality quickly!
Lin Ran waved his hand: "Think about it. Take the Falcon 9 as an example. Including the Merlin engine, the price is really not expensive."

Bezos' Blue Origin was founded in 2000, and it has been 21 years since then. I estimate that their cumulative investment has exceeded $150 billion, and if we take inflation into account, it may be more than $300 billion.

Did they build the Falcon 9? Did they develop a reusable rocket?

Isn't what they're creating now still a pile of shit?
"I'm using a successful launch as the settlement point. Isn't that fair enough?"

Neither side discussed any more specific details.

Because none of those things matter.

Even if the White House prohibits such cooperation, the Morgan family has countless channels to transfer the money, given their capabilities.

As for not getting paid after the work is done, there's even less to worry about. The person is in my hands. If you don't pay them, the American engineer I sent here will never be able to leave China for the rest of their life.

John Morgan Jr. said helplessly, "Professor, I must say you are a devil who manipulates people's hearts."

"These conditions, let alone me, even my father would find it hard not to be tempted."

Lin Ran smiled but didn't reply. He thought to himself, "Isn't this how your dad was fooled? Don't say anything more. It's only because your dad and I are one of the four best brothers in life that you get this opportunity."

Lin Ran knew very well that Bezos would agree to his terms without any hesitation.

“Professor, it’s a pleasure to work with you, but I have a small request,” John Morgan Jr. said. “During the replication process, I will send a small number of engineers to participate in your research and development, limited to the reverse engineering of Falcon 9. I will also provide the information I have to accelerate your research and development.”

Of course, these few engineers will pay.

Once you successfully reverse engineer the code, we'll send a large number of R&D engineers over to oversee the entire manufacturing process.

After saying that, John Morgan Jr. smiled wryly and said, "I'm sorry, Professor, $1000 million a month per person is too expensive. I have to take this approach to save money."

Lin Ran nodded and said, "Okay."

"Let's start with Falcon 9 as our first collaborative project, to show you the professor's incredible power!"

After General Aerospace was founded, Musk would retweet memes sent to him by his company's Chinese-American engineers every day, saying "Randolph is so mean."

That's a story for another time, so let's leave it at that.

John Morgan Jr. continued, "Professor, in return, we will help Bilibili get out of the Nasdaq investigation."

Lin Ran raised an eyebrow: "I'm not a shareholder of Bilibili. Bilibili is just our partner."

Lin Ran's subtext: What does the investigation Bilibili is facing have to do with me?

John Morgan Jr. quickly replied, "This is just a small token of our sincerity."

Lin Ran then asked, "As for the starship, if I help you get it before Musk, the price will need to be renegotiated."

Of course, Saturn V technology is not out of the question. Saturn V includes the entire process of lunar landing, and these can be discussed.

It all depends on what price you can offer.

"The head of General Aerospace, who led America back to the moon, I can get it done for you if you can name your price."

John Morgan Jr. said earnestly, “Professor, rest assured, we have plenty of room for cooperation.”

The Morgan family may not have much else, but they have a lot of money.

That's absolutely true. With the Morgan family's operational capabilities, they could easily raise money for Lin Ran from the capital market.

A space company that can rival SpaceX, a space company that can replicate the Saturn V rocket, its market value could skyrocket.

Back at the hotel, John Morgan Jr. recalled the entire meeting with Lin Ran and felt quite helpless, because he found that the rhythm of the entire conversation was completely controlled by the other party.

Not only was the dialogue in the other party's hands, but he also had no choice but to accept the cooperation offered by the other party, and he couldn't even bring himself to refuse.

Although the prices offered were in the hundreds of millions, ranging from billions to tens of billions, he felt he had made a profit.

"Is he really only 24 years old?" John Morgan Jr. was filled with endless doubts, and even more curious was: "The professor mentioned my father. Does he know my father? That shouldn't be the case. My father is a good-for-nothing in the family. In Chinese terms, he's a spoiled brat who's already given up. How could my father possibly befriend a Chinese student?"

John Morgan Jr., who was waiting in Wenchang for the results of the Saturn V launch the next day, was completely baffled.

　EM may or may not be available today; it's uncertain. This is just a heads-up.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)