Reborn in the red age

In front of the camera, Xu Yuanming once again emphasized the importance of technology, innovation, and insisting on walking on the path of technology, industry and trade.

Compared with the last time Li Qingfeng proposed this idea, this time the success of Huaxin's self-developed graphics card makes this concept more convincing and has attracted the attention of all domestic technology companies.

The breakthrough of Huaxin graphics cards is like a blockbuster bomb exploding in the field of science and technology, proving that domestic companies' independent research and development in hardware and technological innovation are not distant dreams, but great achievements that can be achieved as long as they work hard.

For a time, domestic private technology companies came forward one after another to announce that they would follow in Huaxin's footsteps and take the right path of development.

Of course, people who can run businesses are not stupid, and they will not change the focus of their company's operations just because of Xu Yuanming's few appeals. This is mainly because the profits brought by Huaxin's self-research are really too high.

Sales reached 2 million US dollars in three days. Although Huaxin did not announce its profits, industry insiders speculated that the profit margin of Huaxin's graphics card chip may have exceeded %.

He earned 8 million yuan in three days, and it was in US dollars. According to the bank's current exchange rate, it is more than million yuan.

This is an unimaginable number in China. How much was the annual net profit of domestic enterprises in the 90s? The Phoenix Bicycle Factory in Shanghai, such a large bicycle manufacturing factory, has an annual net profit of just over million.

Huaxin earned 8 million yuan in just three days. Even if the shipment volume decreases significantly later, it should be able to make a profit of over billion yuan a year, right?

Profits of hundreds of billions are so huge that they are enough to drive domestic companies crazy.

In response to this, Li Qingfeng said that you are thinking too much. Fifty percent profit, you are really daring to think about it. Do you really think that the design, research and development and equipment costs of chips are as low as those in traditional manufacturing?

When the 94-micron production line was brought back to China in 0.8, Huaxin spent a total of $5 million on the equipment and various patents, and the cost has not been fully recovered yet.

If the graphics card chip had not been successfully developed, it would have been a long time before Huaxin could achieve profitability.

"Teacher Li, Intel's representative will arrive at the Capital Airport tomorrow. When do you think we can meet him?"

Li Qingfeng, who was processing documents at Huaxin, heard He Guangqin's report, put down his pen, smiled and shook his head, and jokingly said, "Who is coming? Is it the representative who was scared away?"

"No, the person who came this time is our old acquaintance, Intel's vice president, Pullen," He Guangqin pursed his lips and spoke.

"Pulun, I'd better not see him. This guy makes me angry when I see him. It's not a big deal. Let Xu Yuanming go talk to him."

"I suggest you meet them. This time, not only are there people from Intel, but also people from the Morgan Foundation of America."

When he heard that someone from the Morgan Consortium was coming, Li Qingfeng raised his eyebrows. He originally thought that Wall Street would let Huaxin make some money first before coming to them, but he didn't expect Wall Street to act so quickly.

We had just started shipping our products and they came knocking on our door.

In fact, after Huaxin's product launch conference, Wall Street tycoons began to get restless and wanted to get a piece of the pie from Huaxin.

If it weren't for the conflict in March this year, people from Wall Street would have come a long time ago. It was a sign of Wall Street's patience that they could wait until the situation was completely stabilized and Huaxin started shipping products to the world.

There is a saying that goes, monopoly means absolute profit.

With Huaxin's current monopoly position in display chips, for capitalists, it is like a huge cake with an enticing aroma. They can't wait to get involved and get a good share.

Li Qingfeng was not surprised that the two companies came together. Since the 80s, the Morgan Consortium and Intel have had a very close relationship.

Intel's many large-scale technological upgrades were supported by important financial support from Wall Street capitalists led by the Morgan Consortium.

It can be said that Intel’s current global monopoly position is inseparable from the support of the consortium headed by the Morgan Consortium.

This time, Li Qingfeng's expression was a little solemn, and he nodded slightly: "Morgan's people really need to give some face. How about this, let Morgan's people come to see me the day after tomorrow, and Xu Yuanming will still deal with Pulun."

"Okay, I understand. I will arrange a meeting between you and the Morgan Consortium now."

Seeing that Li Qingfeng was lost in thought, He Guangqin did not dare to disturb him. He quietly left the office and went to arrange a meeting for the day after tomorrow.

Li Qingfeng was very open-minded about the sale of Huaxin shares. Not to mention that the United States is a rogue government that can do anything without any bottom line, and the false accusation was even more outrageous.

Huawei and TikTok in later generations are a good example.

Even though Huaxin can now ship its products unimpeded around the world, if it fails to reach an agreement with Wall Street, it will soon be accused of a false crime.

In addition, hardware companies are different from software companies. If a hardware company wants to go global, it is impossible for it to have only one shareholder. It is normal to attract international capital as long as it is within a reasonable range.

However, before introducing international capital, it is necessary to first separate the lithography plant and Huaxin. Compared with Huaxin, Li Qingfeng values ​​the lithography plant more.

Strictly speaking, Huaxin is a chip design company. What has restricted the development of domestic chip technology has never been the design, but the lithography machine and chip manufacturing technology.

After thinking for a while in the office, Li Qingfeng threw away his pen, put on his coat, and called a taxi to the secret R&D center of the lithography factory in Wudaokou.

"Professor Xu, did I disturb you at work?" After verifying his identity, Li Qingfeng successfully entered the secret R&D center and met Professor Xu Yiyi who was working.

Professor Xu raised his head, pushed his glasses, and said excitedly: "Teacher Li, you came at the right time. We have made some new progress in lithography technology. I was just planning to report to you after verification, but I didn't expect you to come today."

Having said that, he hurriedly took Li Qingfeng to the display board to explain the technological breakthrough to Li Qingfeng.

"You see, we have made a breakthrough in light source technology. By optimizing the design and material application, the light source stability and energy output accuracy are much higher than before. This will greatly improve the accuracy and efficiency of lithography."

Xu Eyi gave a long speech to Li Qingfeng, using all kinds of professional terms one after another, which sounded particularly high-sounding. Li Qingfeng was confused after listening to it, but he only knew that his money was not wasted and that there was finally a breakthrough in technology.

But how big the breakthrough will be is unclear.

After patiently waiting for Xu Yiyi to finish his long speech, Li Qingfeng finally asked his own question: "Professor Xu, how long do you think it will take for our lithography factory to start production?"

Xu Yiyi did not answer Li Qingfeng's question directly, but lowered his head and fell into thought. Li Qingfeng did not interrupt his thinking, but tiptoed to the window, lit a cigarette and waited quietly.

After a long while, Xu Yiyi, who had finished thinking, slowly said: "Teacher Li, judging from the current progress, if there are no major technical bottlenecks in the subsequent research and development process, and if the funds can continue to be sufficient, it is optimistically estimated that it will take two to three years to initially complete the research and development of the lithography plant."

"What about the precision? How many nanometers can the process achieve?" Li Qingfeng asked.

Professor Xu pushed his glasses, his expression slightly serious: "In theory, once the lithography plant is established, any nano-process can be produced. In terms of research and development, the lithography plant is much simpler than the lithography machine. According to the current speed of technological progress in the world, our goal is to have a 0.25-micron process technology when it is established."

"After the establishment of the lithography plant, with the continuous optimization of subsequent technologies, the updating and iteration of equipment, and the accumulation of experience of scientific researchers, I am confident that I can gradually overcome the difficulties of smaller nano-processes and move towards 0.15 micron, 100 nanometers, or even more advanced processes."

At this point, Professor Xu pushed his glasses up with an embarrassed look on his face and added: "However, each step forward requires huge investment and unremitting efforts."

Hearing the latter part of the sentence, the corners of Qingfeng Li's mouth twitched. He understood what Professor Xu meant, which was that he had to pay money, and give enough money.

I silently calculated the predicted time by Professor Xu. If it could be successfully implemented in three years, it would be 1999. 0.25 micron was the international advanced mainstream process at that time.

Li Qingfeng still believed what Professor Xu said. They were all honest people and had not yet learned the shameless nature of the scientific researchers of later generations, who were able to tell lies to deceive investors.

Li Qingfeng immediately encouraged Professor Xu and promised that he would make every effort to coordinate the funds and would never let the research and development come to a standstill due to lack of funds.

After leaving behind a promise of funds and getting the result he wanted, Li Qingfeng wanted to turn around and leave.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I turned around, Professor Xu grabbed my arm.

Curious, I turned my head and saw Professor Xu speaking confidently, "Teacher Li, our institute has recently encountered a technical difficulty. We have conducted a lot of experimental tests to overcome this technical difficulty. The difficulty has been overcome, but the money in the account is almost gone. Do you think you can transfer some more money?"

"Huh? Didn't they just allocate 200 million after the Chinese New Year? It's been less than two months and it's gone?" Li Qingfeng widened his eyes, his face full of astonishment.

"Which foreign company doesn't spend billions of dollars? Compared with foreign lithography machine manufacturers, we have been very frugal. From the start of the project to now, almost two years ago, we have only spent more than 1 billion yuan, and that's in RMB. R&D is just burning money. These are your original words."

"."

Professor Xu's words left Qingfeng Li speechless. He frowned, rubbed his temples, and said helplessly that he would transfer another 500 million to the R&D center's account.

"No need to pay in RMB. It's not convenient for us to pay in RMB. Let's pay in USD directly. Hasn't the company received a lot of USD payments recently? Just pay 100 million USD directly."

".I will arrange it when I get back."

Why can't Huaxin make much money when it has a decoding chip, a product that makes a lot of money every day? The reason is that it is too expensive to do research and development in a photolithography factory. If there is no graphics card chip, the early research and development of a photolithography factory alone can drain Huaxin dry.

After coming out of the R&D center of the lithography factory, Li Qingfeng had a clear idea in mind and returned to Huaxin to discuss accepting Morgan's investment with Xu Yuanming and others.

"Teacher Li, this is not possible." Li Qingfeng had just started talking when Xie Wanmin, a national representative, immediately jumped out to object.

Li Qingfeng raised his eyebrows and said unhappily: "Huh? Why not? Tell me your reasons."

"Teacher Li, do you know Project 909?" Xie Wanmin asked seriously.

"Of course I know. Not only do I know about Project 909, I also know about Project 908. But what does this have to do with us at Huaxin?"

It’s better not to mention the 908 Project, as the 20 billion yuan of national investment was wasted.

Project 909 had a higher investment, with a scale of over 0.35 billion, and successfully introduced the most advanced -micron production line at the time from Japan's NEC, mainly producing memory.

Unfortunately, management and orders mainly rely on NEC, and the domestic chip factory is equivalent to a workshop of NEC in China.

In the end, it still ended up with losses, and switched to foundry business amid a barrage of criticism. Needless to say, the ending was defeated by TSMC.

If the state had not later given it an IC card market worth more than 20 billion, it would have ended up in bankruptcy and liquidation.

Unfortunately, when Project 909 successfully completed all the goals set that year and the country was preparing to further increase investment in the chip field, the Hanxin No. appeared.

From then on, chips completely became a chip scam. In the next thirteen years, neither the government nor private enterprises invested any more money in the chip industry.

Xie Wanmin explained to Li Qingfeng and the others earnestly, "Teacher Li, you may not know that the higher-ups are considering incorporating Huaxin into Project 909. If we introduce Morgan Investment at this time, it is very likely to disrupt the strategic layout and resource planning of the entire Project 909."

After these words were spoken, everyone in the conference room looked at each other, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Including Huaxin in the 909 Project? It doesn't sound credible.

Looking at Xie Wanmin, Qingfeng Li said calmly: "And then?"

"Um, what then?" Xie Wanmin was stunned, not understanding what Li Qingfeng meant.

“After being included in Project 909”

"Well, of course, we have received investment from the state. The state will naturally do its best to help Huaxin introduce advanced international technology."

Li Qingfeng continued to ask: "Where did they get it from? Why did they sell their advanced technology to Huaxin?"

"This..." Xie Wanmin was speechless for a moment and could not answer Li Qingfeng's question.

"You can't answer this question? Let me tell you." Li Qingfeng stood up and looked at Xie Wanmin and said, "In the field of semiconductors, America can forget about it. The only technology that can be introduced is from Japan."

"Given the Japanese's usual style, do you think he will sell the production line to Huaxin unconditionally? There must be a condition of equity investment, right? The Japanese have always been willing to make a profit, and once you really take the Japanese's technology and equipment, you will really fall into a big pit that you can't climb out of." (End of this chapter)