Reborn in the red age

"When we were negotiating this order, we agreed that the subsequent annual maintenance fee would be 10 million. You overcharged us by more than 40 million. It is reasonable for us to ask for a four-year waiver of the service fee."

"We miscalculated the annual maintenance cost of the satellite at that time, and the price we offered you was significantly lower than the market price. We can follow the amount stipulated in the contract, but the more than 40 million cannot be deducted from the annual service fee, but can only be deducted from the technical support."

In addition to launching satellites, the annual maintenance cost of satellites is still a considerable expense in the satellite industry.

Not to mention other costs, the ground receiving station built for communication satellites alone, the annual daily operation, equipment maintenance, staff salaries, etc., is a considerable expense.

Only because the Aerospace Industry Corporation is a state-owned enterprise can it directly benefit from the country's satellite infrastructure on the ground. Otherwise, the annual maintenance fee of 10 million would not even be enough to pay the frequency fees to the International Telecommunication Union.

In fact, satellite companies do get a great deal when it comes to maintenance costs.

Looking at Liu Dewen's firm tone, without any room for maneuver, Li Qingfeng could not help but raise his eyebrows.

It's bad. They have finally realized that state-owned enterprises can now do business, but their business is not very honest. They are just unscrupulous businessmen.

After thinking for a moment, Li Qingfeng was too lazy to argue with him and directly asked about the solution that had already been discussed within their aerospace company.

Liu Dewen did not hide anything and directly told the company the result of the internal discussion: "It can be used to offset the cost of the satellite's orbital monitoring equipment. We will be responsible for providing the entire orbital monitoring equipment from the time the satellite is launched until it is scrapped, and will bear the subsequent upgrade and maintenance costs."

Fearing that Li Qingfeng didn't know the value of the track monitoring equipment, Liu Dewen added, "Teacher Li, this is not a small amount of money. The initial purchase cost of a set of advanced track monitoring equipment is as high as tens of millions or even hundreds of millions. In addition, the subsequent upgrade and maintenance costs are also increasing year by year with the iteration of technology and the aging of parts. The cost of this item alone will cost hundreds of millions."

As he said this, Liu Dewen gave Li Qingfeng a look that said, "You've made a fortune."

Facing Liu Dewen's gaze, Li Qingfeng smiled. This guy was taking him for a fool. What he said was as if he had exempted the satellite company from hundreds of millions of fees.

It goes without saying that the satellite monitoring equipment must be from the country. A national space monitoring station needs to monitor all satellites launched by the country and foreign satellites passing over the country. The communication satellite launched by itself is just a by-product.

One more or one less doesn’t make much difference, and it doesn’t increase the cost much, so I just did it.

After thinking about it, he did not continue to argue with Liu Dewen about the 40 million yuan, but instead asked about his satellite: "What is the current development progress of our satellite? When can it be launched?"

"I have to say, Mr. Li, the 8 million you spent is really worth it. Our company has used brand-new technology for your satellite. It is the latest generation of large-capacity communication satellite developed in China. It is also quite advanced internationally. Its design life is years."

"At present, 95% of the overall research and development has been completed. The integration and testing of the onboard electronic equipment have been completed. All performance indicators have not only met the standards, but some have even exceeded expectations. The satellite's structural system has undergone rigorous testing, and its strength and stability have met the design requirements."

"According to the current progress, if everything goes well, all research and development work will be completed within half a month and we will enter the launch preparation stage. At that time, we will use the Long March 3 carrier rocket for launch."

"and many more"

Qingfeng Li interrupted Liu Dewen, who was beaming with joy, and introduced to Qingfeng Li how powerful and advanced this satellite was in a tone that said you've made a fortune.

Facing Liu Dewen's puzzled gaze, Li Qingfeng touched his chin and said doubtfully: "The data you mentioned sound familiar to me. I seem to have heard it somewhere."

"Of course it sounds familiar to you, because this satellite is specially customized for you. I guess you have seen the design plan we gave you in the early stage." A trace of unnaturalness flashed across Liu Dewen's face, but he still pretended to be calm and said.

"When is the exact launch date?"

“It has not been decided yet, but it is likely to be in March.”

"March. Now it's the end of December, which means there are still more than three months left. But why do I feel that this time also sounds familiar?"

Just when Li Qingfeng was still wondering where he had heard this information before, Yi Xuexi, who was standing by, explained: "In March, China will launch a communications satellite, which will be mainly used to meet the country's growing demand for communications, broadcasting and other services. The performance parameters are basically the same as what Vice President Liu said, but the communication capacity is slightly smaller than ours."

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Qingfeng understood what was going on and looked at Liu Dewen with a half-smile.

Facing the gazes of Li Qingfeng and the others, Liu Dewen smiled awkwardly: "This is just in time. Not long after we took your order, the country issued a research and development task."

"Do we have to use the same rocket when launching? Do we have to use a two-satellite-in-one-rocket launch method?"

"Well, it's about saving costs. Our country's method of launching two satellites with one rocket is very mature. We are absolutely capable of sending your satellite to the designated area. And don't worry, the country will not let you suffer any loss. The cost of this rocket launch will be borne by both parties, and we will only charge you 40 million US dollars."

A satellite is a satellite and a rocket is a rocket. These are two different things.

After the satellite is designed and produced, it needs to be sent into space by a rocket.

Domestic commercial rocket launches began in the late 80s. Since then, the country has been undertaking international satellite launch business. The first business was to launch the American-made Asia- communications satellite. Since then, the country has received many orders for satellite launches from foreign companies.

The price varies depending on the rocket model and launch mission. Generally speaking, the price for foreign companies to launch an international communications satellite is between 50 million and 80 million US dollars.

How can I describe the price of 40 million US dollars? It is indeed a discount, but it is far from being half and half. However, it is still acceptable and saves Lemon Company a lot of money.

Li Qingfeng rolled his eyes. Well, he got away with it this time.

But I don’t care too much about it. The method of launching two satellites with one rocket is indeed very mature in China, and it will not have any impact if they are launched together with domestic satellites.

In addition, patent sharing was something that was agreed upon in advance, so the country will use it and it can be considered as supporting the development of the domestic aviation industry.

After learning the details, Qingfeng Li was not interested in staying here any longer. He said calmly, "After the satellite is successfully launched, we will discuss how to deduct the 40 million yuan. If it explodes, there is no need to discuss it. We can just deduct the cost of rebuilding the satellite directly."

"Don't worry about that. Our satellite launch success rate is still very high. Generally speaking, there will be no launch failures," Liu Dewen hurriedly explained to Li Qingfeng, trying to reassure him.

Glancing at Liu Dewen, Li Qingfeng said leisurely, "It has only exploded twice this year."

After Li Qingfeng finished speaking, he left Liu Dewen, who was embarrassed, and waved to the people he brought with him before leaving the Aerospace Industry Company.

After returning to Huaxin Building, Yi Xuexue followed Li Qingfeng to his office. As soon as he entered, he immediately lowered his head, his expression full of guilt and annoyance: "Teacher, this time it was my fault for not doing my job well, which put the company in this passive situation."

Looking at the regretful Yi Xuexi, Li Qingfeng sighed. He was originally a student and was brought to the laboratory by Li Qingfeng before he graduated from university. He has been working with Li Qingfeng on technology for so many years.

It is completely a greenhouse flower. It has never experienced too many storms and has always been smooth sailing. When it encounters a little trouble, it doesn't know what to do.

Most of the other students have spent a considerable amount of time at the middle and lower levels and have been exposed to business negotiations and project promotion to varying degrees, thus having certain experience.

Only Yi Xuexi was promoted directly from the technical department by Li Qingfeng, and immediately went to work as a senior executive in the satellite company jointly established with NanDe.

Waving his hand and motioning him to sit down, Li Qingfeng patted Yi Xuexi on the shoulder and comforted him, "Xuexi, don't blame yourself too much. The business world is like a battlefield, and it's hard to completely avoid this kind of thing. You've always focused on technology, so you're not familiar with the twists and turns in these business collaborations. This is normal. Just treat this as a lesson, and we'll have experience in the future."

"The lesson of more than 40 million is too heavy. I feel that I am not suitable for the leadership position of the company anymore. Compared with going out to negotiate business, research and development is more suitable for me."

Li Qingfeng looked at Yi Xuexi who looked frustrated, and said earnestly: "Xuexi, this is just a setback. You can't deny your ability because of this. Ability can also be cultivated slowly in practice. Besides, who hasn't encountered pitfalls in doing business? If you were fooled this time, why not avoid it next time?"

Yi Xuexi raised his head, a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes: "But teacher, I am worried that my mistakes will cause losses to the company again."

"Our company is big and powerful, so what does this little money mean? Besides, hasn't this money been paid for? We will use technology to offset it later."

“But the technology they provide is not worth that much money”

"Whether it's worth the money or not, it's not up to us to say. It's up to them. They quoted a low price for our cooperation, so they will definitely find a way to make us make up for it later. This is normal, but the means they used are not very glorious. They have to pay more than 40 million anyway."

"Teacher, please don't comfort me. I am responsible for this loss. I know it." Yi Xuexi gritted his teeth and said, "I will bear the loss this time. Half of my monthly salary will be used to compensate the company for this loss."

Li Qingfeng was stunned after hearing these words. If he didn't know what Yi Xuexi was thinking, he would have thought that this guy was afraid that Li Qingfeng would fire him.

He really dared to think that he would bear the company's losses.

After a moment of silence, Li Qingfeng smiled and shook his head: "What kind of brain do you have? You should take on as much responsibility as you earn. How can you, a salaried person, bear the loss?"

Yi Xuexue quickly explained: "Teacher, I really just want to take responsibility for my mistake, otherwise I would feel really bad.

"Since you want to take responsibility for your mistake, let me fine you one month's salary."

"I"

"Don't be so messy. Remember this: your salary equals your responsibilities."

Yi Xuexi opened his mouth and wanted to say something else, but seeing Qingfeng Li's unquestionable look, he swallowed the words back. In the end, he just nodded heavily and whispered, "Teacher, I understand. I accept the punishment."

"That's good. By the way, your company is having trouble paying its employees' salaries. You can apply for a loan from the headquarters in the name of your company. You can repay the debt with your profits after the funds for launching the rocket arrive."

"Okay, I'll send you an application when I get back."

Seeing Yi Xuexi finally no longer worrying about bearing the company's losses, Li Qingfeng just felt tired. He waved his hand and asked Yi Xuexi to go back to work, while he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest.

It is safe to use it with students, but it is not as useful as outsiders who have experienced the hardships of society.

After someone makes a mistake, we are still responsible for providing psychological counseling to the person. What is this?

1996 was a very good year for Li Qingfeng. Li Qingfeng focused on both software and hardware, and all industries under the company achieved full development.

In terms of software, Lemon still maintains its absolute dominant position in the world, with a market share of 90% for operating systems and a stable share of more than 60% for other types of software products.

There is no need to mention the hardware here. Huaxin was the first to launch a graphics card revolution on a global scale, bringing the world into the 3D graphics era.

Unfortunately, 3dfx, a foreign graphics accelerator giant, was the first in the world to launch its own 3D graphics card. With its dual-chip SLI technology, it instantly caught up with and surpassed Huaxin's first-generation graphics cards currently on sale.

Fortunately, Huaxin's second-generation graphics card is about to be completed, with a significant improvement in performance, enough to compete with 3dfx's products.

The problem is that Huaxin's chip production line is a bit sluggish and it is unable to produce second-generation graphics cards, so it can only look for a foundry.

As for whether the birth can go smoothly, we can only find out by visiting Taiwan after the New Year.

Mercedes-Benz Automobile also has done well this year. Its independently developed A-class sedan has captured a considerable market share in the domestic market, with a price 20,000 yuan cheaper than Santana and quality comparable to Santana.

In the streets and alleys, you can occasionally see fast cars. The domestic automobile industry is no longer dominated by foreign cars.

All of this is reflected in the financial report, which is a series of eye-catching digital growth.

This year, we have achieved such great results and earned so much profit. After reading the financial report, Li Qingfeng immediately decided to give all his employees money. A lot of money. (End of this chapter)