Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 352 No shame

“Mary, I don’t want that damn report. Didn’t I make that clear to you last time? I want you to come up with a plan. I want an acquisition plan, and then you can negotiate and execute it.”

I didn't ask you to provide decision-making advice; what you need is execution!
Your performance makes me highly suspicious that Morgan Stanley's business in Hong Kong is not struggling due to the overall economic environment, but rather because its Hong Kong employees are incompetent and lack even the most basic English listening and speaking skills.

On the other end of the phone, a barrage of endless criticisms from the Washington Wolf came crashing down on me.

Although Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley Asia are not the same company, Jonathan Hale is not Li Minyi's direct supervisor.

However, the other party wielded immense power within Morgan Stanley, and a single instruction could lead to the replacement of senior executives at Morgan Stanley Asia.

With high-ranking officials being replaced, can a mid-level official like her expect a good outcome?
In Hong Kong, there aren't many positions better than a mid-level management position at Morgan Stanley. So what makes Li Minyi think she can snatch the position from someone else?

She was very self-aware, knowing that this was the best job opportunity she could currently have. Li Minyi quickly added, "Boss, I'll take care of it right away. Give me a day. In that day, I will negotiate with each property owner and determine the sale conditions for each owner."

"Looking forward to your performance."

Jonathan's voice was so cold that he hung up after just a few words.

Li Yiqing felt he had been wronged for no reason. He thought his report was very well written and comprehensive, but he was told it was a complete mess, without being told exactly what was wrong with it.

Li Minyi simply assigned the task, and every employee in the entire investment banking department had a task to connect with, requiring them to find the owners of each property unit on their floor and conduct a round of communication.

Li Yiqing, as an intern, was assigned to two floors.

Pete fared even worse, being split into four layers.

It needs to be completed within one day.

On the way to Chengxing Commercial Building, Pete, who was driving, casually remarked, "That's just how Mary is. If the boss criticizes her, she'll pass the pressure on to her subordinates."

Even if it's her problem, she never wallows in self-pity. You'll get used to it. Just ignore her criticisms; let them go in one ear and out the other.

Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong was working on acquiring the property designated by Lin Ran, and John Morgan Jr. from the mainland visited Lin Ran again three days later.

"Professor, I think the conditions you proposed are very reasonable."

We can totally accept that.

John Morgan Jr. said that the attitude had made a 180-degree turn.

why?
After consulting with his father, John Morgan Jr. was convinced that the deal was feasible.

John Morgan said the following:

"Why can't we disclose that our technology comes from China? Will this affect general aerospace?"
This, on the contrary, proves that we have established an unbreakable partnership with the world’s best commercial space organizations.

Apollo Technologies' Saturn V rocket, lunar module, and fuel tanks can all be transferred to our General Aerospace, and even the latest Burning 1 modified rocket can be transferred. The professor himself is willing to personally command our lunar landing.

Public opinion may have a temporary negative impact, but in the capital market, this is a huge boon.

This not only proves that we now have sufficient technological strength, but also that we have unlimited potential for the future.

If Tesla can build a Gigafactory in Shanghai, why can't we import aerospace technology from China?
Apple's production lines are also being built in China, and Intel, Microsoft, and Google all have R&D centers in China. Will anyone criticize them?
John, let me put it this way: the strong are not to be blamed, and rules are not meant to restrict the strong.

So, collaborating with the professor is only beneficial to us, with no drawbacks.

Instead, it tied him to the general aerospace industry.

The technologies used by Apollo Technology can be purchased by general aerospace companies now, and we will be able to purchase Apollo Technology's technologies in the future as well.

Commercial spaceflight is different from other businesses; it's a highly fragmented market, and we don't have a direct competitive relationship with Apollo Technologies.

This guarantees they will continue to transfer technology to us, and we will be their best partner.

SpaceX and Blue Origin are the ones who should be in a hurry; how can we refuse them?

The only thing you need to talk to the professor about is legal oversight, and you must do so with sincerity.

Make it clear why we can't publicly admit that the engines of the F-1 and J-2 come from China. There are legal provisions for this. In addition to going yourself, you should also bring a lawyer so that the lawyer can explain everything to the professor one by one.

We acknowledge everything within the bounds of the law; for things outside the legal scope, we use technical methods.

After hanging up the phone, John Morgan thought to himself, "Why didn't I meet someone like that professor back then? If I had, I wouldn't have lived a life of failure and had to retire early."

John Morgan Jr., on the other hand, had figured it out: if he could only choose between money and fame, he would definitely choose money.

Besides, he's not choosing between these two; he's choosing between money, power, and fame, so he'll definitely choose money and power.

"Okay," Lin Ran said.

Then John Morgan Jr. handed over a stack of documents and said, “Professor, these are the details of the commercial real estate you mentioned, because the ownership is scattered among many people.”

Therefore, our team is still in close consultation and expects to complete the acquisition this month.

Immediately after the acquisition is completed, you can appoint someone to go to Hong Kong to complete the handover.

"Didn't I say one floor?" Lin Ran glanced at the document.

“One floor is not enough to express our sincerity, and even one building seems a bit too shabby to me. The location of this property is good, but that’s about it,” John Morgan Jr. said politely.

Lin Ran glanced at the photo and felt a sense of profound change. He had been there before. When he went, this building was one of the best office buildings on Hong Kong Island, brand new. Now it was old and worn out.

"Okay, that's thoughtful of you. I'll take this one; I don't think much of the others."

"If Apollo Technology or DeepRed plans to expand into Hong Kong in the future, this place will be perfect as our office building," Lin Ran said.

A common practice among some business tycoons is to buy office buildings and then have their listed subsidiaries rent those buildings at above-market rates.

This is equivalent to indirectly turning the company's revenue into your own.

John Morgan Jr. saw the satisfied smile on the other person's face and knew that he had made the right move.

“Professor, I have a small request regarding the specific public statement,” John Morgan Jr. said.

Lin Ran nodded: "Go ahead."

"That's right, we should all describe it as technology transfer."

I'm unsure which technologies Apollo Technologies is willing to transfer, and which they can transfer.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Ran said, "Except for the Saturn V's engine, everything else can be transferred."

It includes the lunar module and the command module.

Of course, what we are transferring is the navigation system from the Apollo moon landings, not our latest improved navigation system capable of landing on the lunar south pole.

When John Morgan Jr. heard the beginning, as an American, he felt a pang of sadness. What did they mean by "technology other than the Saturn V engine"? This was clearly American technology!
America Corporation seeks out Chinese companies to purchase technology that originally belonged to America Corporation. What's wrong with this world?
John Morgan Jr. was overcome with grief, but he had to put on a brave face and pretend to be very happy.

Did John Morgan Jr., who received an elite education, not know that he was digging America's own grave by doing this?

Doesn't he know that by buying technology from China, he's stealing SpaceX's market share? If SpaceX collapses and he can't reverse engineer it, America's entire aerospace industry will become a dumping ground for China's aerospace industry?
Of course he knew.

I don't care about the deluge after I die. By the same logic, I will seize any chance I have. Can America's interests be greater than my own?
Both sides are playing almost as if their cards are open.

Lin Ran refuses to transfer key technologies in order to cut off your access and hold you hostage at any time.

Being held hostage is not anyone's exclusive right.

John Morgan Jr. readily agreed, also relying on the fact that the Saturn V was based on America's technology and that he had obtained enough engines from China, believing that one day he would be able to crack it.

If America's local engineers can't crack it, surely I can crack it by poaching people from China?
White engineers and Indian engineers are not good enough. I'll poach native-born Chinese engineers from China, give them green cards, and they should be able to crack the code, right?
John Morgan Jr.'s experience is similar to that of John Morgan Sr., or more accurately, the same John Morgan Sr. in the timeline altered by Lin Ran. Both of them first worked in finance and then jumped from finance to aerospace.

The difference is that John Morgan Sr. was in a much better situation than John Morgan Jr.

We're all from the Morgan family; money has always been just a number, just as it was sixty years ago, and it's still the same sixty years from now.

But the industrial workers they recruited were completely different. You don't know until you try, and once you start, you're shocked. John Morgan Jr. found that recruiting a native white worker was as difficult as recruiting a PhD graduate from a top university.

His requirements are very high; how could the requirements for aerospace not be high?
John Morgan Jr. doesn't necessarily require you to be exceptionally outstanding when he hires you now. He hopes you have excellent basic qualities, which he can cultivate gradually. If three years isn't enough, then five; if five years isn't enough, then ten.

With time and projects, you can always be trained into a qualified aerospace industry worker.

He discovered that the basic qualities were inadequate; very few had never smoked America's local specialty products, and even fewer were willing to dedicate themselves to the aerospace industry.

The easiest to recruit are people of Indian descent. He doesn't dare to openly recruit Chinese. The few Chinese engineer positions have to be reserved for first-generation immigrants from China. First-generation immigrants are top-notch, while second-generation immigrants have already picked up some of the bad habits of native white people.

Then let's go with people of Indian descent. People of Indian descent generally have better basic qualities, patience, and a stronger willingness to work hard than native-born white people.

John Morgan Jr. finally understood why Boeing was gradually phasing out white people and increasing the proportion of Indian Americans year by year: because Indian Americans were indeed useful, while native white people were becoming increasingly useless.

John Morgan Sr. had never encountered such troubles.

Let alone the number of employees a company needs, tens of thousands of industrial workers, even if it requires two hundred thousand industrial workers, Old John can grit his teeth and pull them out from places like Houston, Huntsville, and Florida.

“Professor, can you sell the latest navigation system?” John Morgan Jr. asked.

This thing is really valuable. If you sell it to NASA and get $20 billion for ten years, NASA wouldn't refuse.

Lin Ran waved his hand: "We won't sell for now. We'll talk about it slowly after our base is built."

The Pacific Ocean is vast, and the lunar south pole is also vast. We've only occupied one or two impact craters at most. America can develop them after we've finished developing ours."

The issue of lunar ownership, China's development activities at the lunar south pole, and Apollo technology's monthly rocket launches and frequent dropping of infrastructure materials to the lunar south pole have sparked discontent among many countries.

Apart from China, other countries are dissatisfied.

The moon belongs to all mankind. How can your China start large-scale infrastructure construction ahead of schedule?

India was the loudest opponent. America felt that she would be promoted sooner or later, so why should she impose restrictive clauses? Putting aside the veto power of permanent members, even if it were to pass, wouldn't it restrict her in the future? Just like the Paris Climate Agreement.

But India is different. It prides itself on being the leader of a southern country. We southern countries may not even be able to go to the moon in our lifetime anyway. To be honest, India itself doesn't believe in its 2035 lunar landing plan.

So they keep making a fuss at the United Nations, threatening to hold meetings at any time to discuss the overexploitation of the moon, China's failure to abide by the outer space treaty, and they just want to find fault with everything.

Chinese and Indian netizens have been arguing about this on Twitter.

When John Morgan heard the answer he expected, he sighed inwardly, but at the same time, a surge of ambition welled up within him. "We're all young people," he thought, "I'm a few years older than the professor. If he can do it, so can I!"

As July progressed, the terms of the technology transfer were finalized one by one. Even for some clauses that violated regulations, John Morgan Jr. obtained special exemptions personally signed by the president from the White House.

The news of GE spinning off its aerospace giant is old news, but both the event itself and the identity of John Morgan Jr. have attracted much media attention and have been continuously followed by the media.

This includes General Aerospace moving its headquarters from Boston, GE's headquarters, to cities around Cape Canaveral on Florida's east coast, and General Aerospace poaching talent from aerospace giants.

These issues have garnered significant attention from America's national and aerospace media outlets.

But this time is completely different from the past.

John Morgan Jr. held a press conference at his suburban factory in Florida, with a huge rocket standing behind him, clearly a Saturn V rocket.

"We have signed a long-term cooperation agreement called Sky Collaboration with Apollo Technology of China, which covers joint research, manufacturing and technology transfer."

As you can see, standing behind me is the Saturn V, built with the assistance of China's Apollo Technology, which will lead the American people back to Earth this year.

We also acquired cutting-edge rocket technologies transferred from Apollo Technologies, including the Saturn V and Burning 1, such as advanced vertical takeoff and landing systems, sophisticated attitude control algorithms, and efficient liquid oxygen-methane engine designs.

These technologies stemmed from the breakthroughs in rocket technology achieved by Apollo Science.

The reporters from all over the United States in the audience were in an uproar.

Everyone initially thought that General Electric Space, valued at $1200 billion, was emerging as a strong force in the commercial space industry, aiming to challenge pioneers such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, relying on GE's legacy in jet engines and propulsion systems.

And now you're telling me that we rely most on technology from China?
A few veteran journalists in the audience experienced the golden age of the past, the 1980s and 90s, when NASA had absolute authority and America was the only force in global space exploration. Although there was no more moon landings, NASA achieved one success after another.

Now, General Aerospace, you're General Aerospace, and you actually want to import technology from China.

The reporters in the audience couldn't believe it.

After John Morgan Jr. finished speaking, the reporters in the audience raised their hands one after another, as everyone had too many questions to ask.

Everyone wants to know what price General Aerospace paid.

Some journalists who also cover financial news have also keenly realized that, regardless of whether this matter is shameful or not, from the perspective of capital operation, the $1200 billion figure should at least double.

Bezos spent well over $1200 billion, yet he still couldn't build such a substantial technological asset.

"In addition, we have recruited five retired astronauts from NASA who are already undergoing pre-landing simulation training, with Mr. Aldrin personally serving as their training instructor."

Aldrin eventually returned to America. After learning about the collaboration between General Aerospace and Apollo Technology, he hoped to spend the last years of his life in America and do his final part for America's version of the moon landing.

Morgan can save him.

John Morgan Jr. continued, "Meanwhile, the America version of the Apollo moon landing, expected to take place at the end of this year, will be commanded by Randolph Lin, who will provide ground command."

We have absolute confidence that this moon landing will mark a new beginning for America's lunar exploration in the 21st century.

The veteran reporters in the audience could only think of one thing: They've lost all sense of shame.

(End of this chapter)