this man is not calm

Chapter 505 New atmosphere

The difficulty is not just a lack of data and resource accumulation. At the end of the 20th century, field surveying was a very sensitive area and was not open to the public at all.

In simple terms, this involves national security and you can't do it just because you want to.

With the advancement of urbanization, the importance of accurate maps and road data is increasing. Look at the guide maps distributed to tourists at train stations today. Some blank areas that are not obvious and have no annotations may be the locations of certain sensitive units.

If ordinary people don’t know, they should not ask too much, and if they know something, they should not talk nonsense about it.

Focusing on this issue, we have to mention GPS (Global Positioning System), Galileo Satellite Navigation System and Beidou Navigation Satellite Navigation System. Their general functions are similar, and their technical levels vary, but one thing in common is that they are expensive. They require at least dozens of satellites and a large number of ground base stations to provide positioning before they can be used.

This is no longer a purely commercial issue.

With Jin Shang's strength and background, it would not be right to say that he is completely unqualified to intervene, but it is really too difficult to manipulate it.

Our motherland in this life has been seeking to establish a "Huan Tian Yi" system with independent intellectual property rights since the early 1970s. After more than 20 years of development, commercial promotion is still very difficult, but its application in some fields is already very mature, such as ship positioning and navigation at sea, emergency rescue in deserts, grasslands and forests, etc., the effect is quite good.

As for the deeper value, Jin is not quite clear and does not want to delve into it, but the demand for accurate city road maps has reached an urgent level.

In the future, the volume of offline business will increase, and there will be more and more orders for grassroots logistics and delivery. It is impossible to cover all regions with outlets, allowing customers to pick up the goods themselves or hiring local acquaintances as couriers to complete the last mile.

For e-commerce that relies on after-sales service as a major selling point, how can it go to consumers’ homes to solve their problems if it is difficult to even find the specific location of the customers?
There are some companies engaged in map surveying and mapping in China at present, but not many of them are really famous. Two years ago, when I went back to my hometown with Li Xuan, I saw a pretty good small startup company in Wuhan doing this business. Later, I invested some money and bought shares. Unfortunately, before it could develop, it was acquired by a company in Beijing.

After the "Armillary Sphere" system was connected, it relied on ground base stations and satellite networking, and cooperated with field surveying and mapping information data, and it barely had some practical value.

Jinxi Culture has some shares in it, but its say is not much. If it wants to continue to increase its investment, the other party's "bride's family" is strong, has a strong backing, and has sufficient resources. Except for a little bit of cooperation in private commercial promotion, it does not need Jinxi Culture at all.

This is very difficult.

"It seems that I still need to trouble Old Huang to help pass on a message. Some things really can't be solved just by having money."

Unless the other party's commercial promotion is not going well and there is no long-term return on investment, or the competitor is too strong, Jin Shang really doesn't see the possibility of giving in.
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As the company grows bigger, it faces more and more troubles. It is not just a problem of map navigation. How to establish unobstructed fuel (methanol, natural gas and liquid ammonia) filling stations and charging and swapping points is also a top priority.

It's really frustrating. Why is it that in the decision made by Jin Shang, pure electric vehicles already have good feasibility, but the main direction is still two-wheeled electric commuter vehicles, super hybrids and extended-range vehicles? There is really no other way. Today's battery technology is not mature enough and charging is very slow. If there is no function of adding fuel to supplement the cruising range, it cannot be used at all.

The investment cost of battery swap stations is too high, so they can only be tried out in a few limited core areas.

Just like the taxis and logistics trucks under Jinxi Culture, they need to refuel after running a few dozen kilometers or one or two hundred kilometers. If they can be fully charged in less than half an hour, it is barely acceptable. But if it takes seven or eight hours, can they still operate for the day?
There is also the issue of data center expansion. With the rapid development of various businesses, especially online video and audio and online games, the demand for broadband servers is simply endless. Correspondingly, the amount of space, energy, heat dissipation and supporting projects is huge.

The imperial mausoleum pumped storage, wind and solar power stations, environmentally friendly wetland parks, data centers, characteristic tourist towns, luxury properties, theme parks and film and television surrounding areas, etc., have built the first phase of the power system and data center and environmental protection supporting facilities and put them into trial use, alleviating the urgent need.

Being able to get off to a good start at the end of this year is worthy of the huge initial investment.

The benefits are also huge. The number of active users of the popular online game "Fengshen" is rapidly approaching 10 million. This cultural feast that has swept the entire East Asian cultural circle has begun to show its terrifying influence after breaking the circle.

It turns out that electronic games are not just a form of entertainment, nor do they only have the negative effect of "losing one's ambition", they are also a powerful channel for cultural output.

If the "Three Kingdoms" series of books, audio-visuals, games and other peripherals in the past two years were the natural blessing of the strong historical and cultural heritage, then the fact that "Fengshen", a mostly "original" mythological allusion, can also be popular in half of the world is quite remarkable.

It can be clearly felt that at the end of the year, more leaders from various departments came to inspect the company, and the issues they were concerned about tended to be culture and external publicity.

We received many guests including Zhao Rongzhen, Wang Yan and Jin Shang, and it was not until the last two days of 1998 that we felt much more relaxed.

At this year's New Year's Day celebration party, the "gold content" of Jinxi Culture has increased a lot. Many fashionable buzzwords are related to Jinxi Culture and are frequently mentioned by major media.

Amidst all this hustle and bustle, the three-day New Year's Eve holiday passed by in a flash.

January 4, 1999, a Monday, is two days away from the Minor Cold in the twenty-four solar terms.

After the slightly cold but sunny weather, it was rainy again. The chilly wind accompanied by drizzle washed away the dust in the whole city. The cool but refreshing air was inhaled into the lungs. Jin Shang held a cup of hot corn juice and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window looking at the bustling crowd outside the Securities Center Building.

After a while, Mei Yingnian came over with red wine.

"I haven't seen you since the opening ceremony. Several people who wanted to say hello to you were unable to do so..."

"When there's a chance, it's just a social event, that's all."

As your business grows bigger, there will always be no shortage of nice people around you who want to get close to you.

Today is the opening day of the Beijing Commodity Exchange. The first batch only includes ten commodities, including wheat, rice, soybean meal, methanol, ethanol, crude oil, dimethyl ether, liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas and marine fuel oil (heavy oil). Subsequently, there will be a total of seventy or eighty commodities online, including I-beams, rebar, galvanized pipes, cement, aluminum ingots, soda ash, glass, gypsum, stone and copper.

As a newly launched commodity exchange, attracting more customers and allies, gathering resources, and controlling risks are top priorities.

Jinxi Culture... To be more specific, Jin Shang himself is the link in the middle. Many connections and resources are gathered by relying on Jin Shang's strength and background. As for the newly born Stock Exchange, the trading system is more based on the London Metal Exchange (LME) in the past, which has a long history, a mature model and low risks.

The Stock Exchange in this life adopts a spontaneous market maker system. The exchange itself does not make any rigid requirements for its members, but almost all members above a certain level are fulfilling their market maker obligations. In other words, a large number of brokers are also market makers.

The multi-level membership system is also conducive to buffering market risks. No matter how the transaction is generated, it must be matched and cleared through the clearing group of the Stock Exchange, which can minimize the risk of default.

The Clearing Group itself does not guarantee transactions between its members and their customers.

Of course, rules are rules, and they still cannot eliminate risks. Jin Shang can only try his best to do the best based on his understanding of his two lives and the judgment of the "Golden Broom". The rest can only be left to professional financial traders.

The uncle and nephew chatted for a while and talked about the operations of several member accounts under Jin Shang.

"The oil companies have accumulated a lot of goods, the OPEC production cuts are not strong, and the increase in international crude oil prices is lower than expected. Why did you buy a large amount of refined oil? Especially diesel and fuel oil..."

"Are you optimistic about the future rise in petrochemical energy prices? Not only oil and refined oil, but also natural gas and coal chemical substitute fuels, I am buying them in large quantities..."

Jin Shang not only commissioned Mei Yingnian's shipping company to import large quantities of liquefied natural gas and fuel oil from North America and the Gulf of Mexico, but also purchased a large amount of coal. In the Western Pacific region, it built many oil depots, gas stations and offshore oil storage barges in Yongzhou, Shazhou, Jiaoao and Jingu, and also cooperated with oil companies to place many orders for FPSO and shuttle tankers.

This clearly shows that the long-term trend is optimistic about the surge in oil and natural gas prices.

"Uncle, do you know how many large and medium-sized freight trucks and operating vehicles I have? The fuel oil consumed by a large number of inland and offshore fleets is an astronomical figure. Why should I set up this commodity exchange with oil companies, banks, securities firms and suppliers at all levels? It's all for cost control..."

When the business model reaches its end, energy cost is almost the bottom cornerstone.

If the current rate of development continues, the energy consumption of Jinxi Culture's subsidiaries, grandson companies and holding companies will amount to billions every year.

A slight fluctuation in crude oil, coal and electricity will result in the inflow and outflow of hundreds of millions of funds. If the prices of gasoline, diesel, natural gas and marine fuel oil continue to rise and double at any time, it would be very uncomfortable.

The risks to today's culture are too great if we do not diversify our energy consumption and avoid risks.

Why has Jin Shang been considering building its own new energy power station since the year before last? Isn’t it for safety reasons?

"Natural gas and methanol engines, diesel engines, and dual-fuel engines are the foundation of the energy and power company in the north. The current research and development team's results are pretty good. Methanol fuel is ready to be developed for small civilian vehicles, and the fleet prefers liquid ammonia and methanol to increase the replacement rate. However, it also depends on the regulations on low-carbon and environmental protection. We have to take it one step at a time. In addition, with food in hand, we are not panicked and have full confidence, and we can also avoid the risks on the exchange side..."

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has just opened and there have been frequent defaults. There is no basis for trust anymore. How can we continue to operate?
"Okay! Currently, the 'market makers' are mainly you and me, the oil company and the bank brokerage firm. There are relatively few members at other levels. It will take a long time to develop. There is no rush, just take your time..."

After listening to Mei Yingnian's words, Jin Shang understood that his second uncle still had some doubts in his mind, but he didn't intend to delve into it.

There are quite a few leaders from all levels present today. Apart from necessary occasions, Jin Shang does not need to socialize very often. In comparison, others need this occasion more.

"Last year, the business activities of our two companies, the economic vitality brought by direct and indirect business investment, promoted the GDP of Beijing by more than 5%, which is quite exaggerated."

There are not many companies in the country that have the ability to make and spend money.

"Last year alone, Minxing Bank's dividends exceeded 8 billion yuan, which is very generous. All major shareholders are very satisfied, and the market value performance is also very good. The favor of pension funds and provident funds is the greatest affirmation."

"Yes! In the past few years, the financial industry has been developing at a fast pace, especially those related to real estate. It is no exaggeration to say that it is boosted by a rocket."

For Jin Shang personally, the debt owed to Huang Zhengkuo, the pressure of installment principal and interest is getting smaller and smaller, and is no longer the primary concern.

The sectors with the largest scale and potential are energy, finance, communications and real estate, while the fastest growing is the Internet.

Its first listed company, Jinxi Video, has become a cultural media group integrating content production, channel distribution, offline outlets and peripheral development. Backed by its parent company Jinxi Culture, although its online video business has not yet made a profit, its influence has already risen.

The surge in registered users and paying users has made Jinxi Video the largest online audio and video media in China and even in the world.

A large amount of revenue from offline book and audio-visual product distribution and property store operations supports the massive IP development market, which continuously increases the exposure of online videos.

It has already been listed and its main business is stable, which means it has no shortage of money, and it even has a certain market share on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

This is extraordinary.

The threshold for movies, TV series and books to go abroad and even enter the European and American markets is so high that the Internet has easily broken the barriers of time and space.

For example, the current Hong Kong Stock Exchange opening celebration has a live online video broadcast, but TV news and radio stations cannot broadcast in real time, and the convenience is far less than that of the Internet.

This is still the web 1.0 era. In the future, when everyone participates and self-media begins to rise, the Internet will truly unleash its terrifying power.

In early 1999, only e-commerce (including group buying), online games, and portals (paid advertising) seemed to have shown a certain ability to generate revenue, while other Internet applications were still mostly viewed with suspicion.

(End of this chapter)