money player

"Hello, I am An Shuche from CHN·I."

"Hello, I am Toyosuke from CHN·TL."

In West Berlin, at the office of Chung Hwa Garment Holding Co., Ltd., the newly appointed General Manager An Shu-che and the newly appointed Director Feng Shou-zhi of Chung Hwa Garment and Textile Research Institute held their first formal meeting.

"Brother Shouzhi, please sit down."

Feng Shouzhi sat down opposite An Shuche and said with a smile, "Shuche, I never thought we would become colleagues."

An Shuche smiled and replied, "Brother Shouzhi, don't be surprised. It was I who recommended you to the company."

“No wonder.” Feng Shouzhi suddenly realized. “I was wondering why China Garment Factory would travel all the way to West Germany to invite me to join their research institute. And how did you get hired, Shuche?”

“Mr. Zhong from HK Consulting, you probably haven’t met him. HK Consulting is an agency that specializes in finding senior executives for companies.” An Shuche paused, gesturing with his hands to indicate height. “When I met Mr. Zhong, he showed me this thick stack of documents, all of which were resumes of top talents in the textile industry.”

Feng Shouzhi asked with great interest, "Are they all Chinese who studied textiles abroad?"

An Shuche waved his hand, "There are people from all over the world, Germans, British, French, Austrians, and Japanese. They are all young textile workers, some of whom are well-known figures to us."

"Huh?" Feng Shouzhi said in surprise, "Shu Che, it's not that I look down on you, but even among the younger generation of textile workers, neither of us can be considered outstanding. Why did China Garment choose you?"

An Shuche chuckled and said, "To be honest, I was ultimately chosen not because of my outstanding talent, but because of my background. My grandmother was English, and her maiden name was Hargreaves, which is related to James Hargreaves, the inventor of the spinning jenny."

My grandfather was from Guangzhou. He lived in both England and France when he was young. Later, he met my grandmother, and the two of them went to live in Shanghai together.

My father was born in Shanghai. When he was young, he went to study at Raffles College in Singapore. He met my mother in Singapore, and the two of them went to London to study together. After they graduated, they settled in Hong Kong. After I was born, they lived briefly in Guangzhou and Shantou. When I was in middle school, they moved back to Shanghai.

I studied in Shanghai for three years of secondary school. My family felt the situation in China was unstable and wanted to send me to study in Singapore. However, something unexpected happened, and I ended up studying high school in Jakarta by mistake. As you know, I ended up in Germany studying textiles.

Feng Shouzhi exclaimed in surprise, "I've never heard you mention this before. I didn't realize you lived in so many places when you were a child. So, is this why China Garment Manufacturers valued you?"

An Shuche nodded slightly. "I've been able to speak Guangzhou dialect, Shanghai dialect, Chaozhou dialect, Zhangzhou dialect, English, and French since I was a child. I learned Dutch and Indonesian in Jakarta, and German and Russian in Germany. It was my advantage in language that ultimately allowed me to win."

Feng Shouzhi remarked with admiration, "Leaving aside professional knowledge, just considering your language skills, Shu Che, you have a lot to offer. China Garment has a discerning eye for talent."

"Brother Shouzhi, you flatter me." An Shuche clasped his hands in a fist and palm salute. "Before taking office, I went to Hong Kong to meet with President Lin. He said that the research institute would be set up in Hong Kong. Why did you return to West Berlin, Brother Shouzhi?"

"That's right. The research institute wants to carry out research and needs textile research talents. I returned to West Berlin to recruit talents for the institute."

"Hiring Germans?"

Feng Shouzhi nodded, "This time I'm going to visit Professor Hermann Ras of RWTH Aachen University, Heinz Ernst, Deputy Director of the Krefeld State Institute of Silk and Synthetic Fibers, and Kurt Grob, Lecturer in the Department of Textile Technology at the Stuttgart Technical University..."

At this point, Feng Shouzhi pointed in the direction of East Berlin, “Ingeberg Renek, Director of the Leipzig State Research Department, Wilhelm Wegner, Technical Director of the Dortmund State, and Fritz Faber, Chief Designer of the Karl Marx City State.”

An Shuche gasped, "Each of them is a very important person. It won't be easy for Brother Shouzhi to invite them to Hong Kong."

“It’s not necessary to go to Hong Kong. Mr. Lin gave me the authority to set any conditions, including establishing a branch in West Germany.” Feng Shouzhi said with emotion, “Before boarding the plane, Mr. Lin told me that the future path of China Garment Manufacturing is technological innovation and monopoly. As long as they are talented, we should bring them back at all costs. Mr. Lin attaches great importance to talent.”

An Shuche chuckled and said, "Brother Shouzhi, we are not on the same path. CHN·I's goal is to invest in or acquire garment companies with stable sales channels, and build a global sales network for Chinese garment manufacturing."

"Such a big target." Feng Shouzhi asked in surprise, "When I visited the factory, I heard the production manager, Zheng Zhiping, say that Zhonghua Garment's orders are already booked until September next year. Who will do any new orders?"

"There's no need to worry about fulfilling orders. Hong Kong has a large labor force with great potential to be tapped. Moreover, the company will be setting up branch factories around the world. After I finish my work in Germany, I will go to Mexico and India for inspections. The company will set up branch factories in those two places soon."

At the same time, Steven Morrissey, general manager of Commissioner Smiths, a subsidiary of Hong Kong Tongfa, appeared in Oberndorf, West Germany.

Due to the numerous inconveniences of producing standard weapons in the UK, the CGB was split up, with some personnel and some recruited former Mauser staff relocated to the suburbs of New York to form the Smith Commissioner, preparing to enter the standard weapons market.

At present, West Germany does not allow weapons development. Ludwig Volgrimler, the inventor of the roller-delayed recoil bolt action, and a group of engineers who had participated in the design of the StG45 were first taken to France, and last year they were taken to the Special Materials Technology Research Center in Spain to participate in an expert group to develop new firearms.

The initial version of the firearm has been developed and named the Setmai Automatic Rifle after the abbreviation of the Special Materials Technology Research Center, which can be considered the first NATO assault rifle.

Before long, the whole world will enter the era of assault rifles. Sin Yiu-man decided to have Commissioner Smith develop the AR-5X series and strive to make it the next generation of standard weapons in the United States. Perhaps after being adopted by the military, it will be renamed "M16".

As for the Armadillo Squad's standard weapon, the Type 52 rifle family, only a small portion of the weakened versions will enter the market. This is not for secrecy, but to avoid infringement. The development of the Type 52 rifle family is full of the "borrowing" mentality. If it works, we will use it, regardless of whether it has a patent. It is fine for internal use, but selling it to others will either result in endless patent fees or endless lawsuits.

In terms of division of labor, Darwin, CGB, and Smith Commissioner are three companies: Darwin remains immersed in the field of high-quality handmade hunting rifles; CGB has transformed into the research and development and production of high-performance hunting rifles, competing with brands such as Stevens and Mossberger in the civilian hunting market; and Smith Commissioner focuses on the killing market, inciting violent elements on Earth to kill each other and purify the world's magnetic field.

Steven Morrissey visited the Heckler & Koch Machine Works, which was founded by Edmund Heckler, Theodore Koch, and Alex Seidel, along with a group of Mauser's underlings.

After friendly negotiations, Steven Morrissey reached an agreement for Commissioner Smith to acquire a 48% stake in Heckler & Koch Machinery Plant, officially becoming the largest shareholder of Heckler & Koch.

However, Commissioner Smith would not easily interfere with the company's development and promised to open up international markets for the HK-C1 sewing machine produced by Heckler & Koch.

To put it simply, Heckler & Koch was still a legally non-existent company at this time. The registration application was submitted at the end of last year, but it has been delayed. The reason for this is probably that the "Mauser" label is too sensitive. Steven Morrissey promised to handle the registration issue, and with the addition of capital injection, non-interference, and opening up sales channels, the fourfold approach easily persuaded the three founders who were short of money and under pressure to bear the company's losses.

The abbreviation for Heckler & Koch is HK. The HK in HK-G3, HK-MP5, and HK-416 reflects the gradual relaxation of restrictions in the East, and it's only a matter of time before West Germany follows suit. Heckler & Koch is the only team in West Germany with the capability to develop firearms. If the West German government wants to equip itself with domestically produced firearms in the future, turning to Heckler & Koch is the most convenient option.

Moreover, according to the original historical trajectory, the first domestically produced standard weapon that West Germany equipped itself with after the war was the HK-G3. According to Stephen Chow's interpretation, this gun was a product of paying tribute to the Sethmay automatic rifle. The tribute was quite thorough. The design drawings were bought and drawn accordingly, with only modifications made based on the feedback from the testing troops.

Of course, planning ahead to snag a bargain is only one of the purposes; there's also a sentimental element involved. Among all firearms, Sin Yiu-man believes the HK series best suits his aesthetic.

The office of Parrot's West Berlin branch.

Sun Shuying, branch manager Alfred Herhausen, and Norbert Hrabal of the law firm Hrabal Victor were discussing the issue.

“Isabel, I’ve studied the shopping cart patents of Sylvan Goldman, the Telescope Cart Company, and Vanzel. If Parrot wants to produce shopping carts, it simply can’t avoid the patents of these three parties.”

"Norbert, have we filed our patent application?"

"Submitted."

“OK.” Sun Shuying nodded slightly, her gaze meeting Helhausen’s. “Alfred, I plan to negotiate with the telescope cart company based on our patents, either by mutually granting free patent licenses, or by giving our patents to the telescope cart company and sharing the licensing fees. What are your thoughts?”

“President Hepburn, Parrot does not have the conditions to produce shopping carts, nor does it have the ability to develop the market. I prefer to share the patent fees.”

Sun Shuying remained noncommittal, saying, "Let's contact the telescope cart company first and hear what conditions they offer."

Since the birth of the first wooden shopping cart, in just a few years, the shopping cart has evolved to include steel wire folding and omnidirectional wheels. Sin Yiu-man once saw this and drew up a design that took several iterations to come up with: a child seat, cup holder, base for placing a basket, and coin slot. This one-step solution shortened the decades-long evolution of the shopping cart and secured some key patents.

However, existing patents cannot be bypassed; if you want to profit from the patents in the shopping cart field, you must share with others.

The three discussed the shopping cart issue, and then the West Berlin branch's patent strategy in West Germany:

One approach is to contact Wanzier, offering patents and capital injections as conditions for acquiring a stake in Wanzier, thereby positioning themselves in the production of shopping carts and taking a share of the profits.

Secondly, we should contact Rude's R&D personnel to study the hardened manganese steel anti-skid chain that the company is developing. It would be best if we could get the overall patent first. If we can't get it, we should register the core peripheral patents first, so that even if the other party succeeds in the development, they can't produce it without Rude's approval.

Third, we contacted Hettich and promoted their patented technology for concealed hinges.

Before Xian Yaowen proposed the research and development of the concealed hinges commonly used on cabinet doors in later generations, there were no mature products or related patents on the market. The patent benefits in this area had already fallen into the hands of the parrot.

Fourth, we contacted Krones to discuss joint research and development of glass bottle labeling machines and to expand our patent portfolio in the field of beverage packaging line equipment.

Fifth, contact Trumpf. The company's founder, Christian Trumpf, is quite old and has no children, so there's no one to inherit the company. Discuss a "successionary share buyout" agreement with him.
Provide the other party with a recognized talent to assist in the management and expansion of Tumblr, while gradually transferring a certain number of shares according to the valuation at each stage, until the other party is exhausted and the final share transfer is completed.

Sixth, we contacted JUMO, a newly established company, to discuss joint research and development of industrial platinum resistance thermometers.

Seventh, we completed the order from Chang Gong Electric, the parent company of the Hong Kong manufacturing group, and contacted Kärcher to discuss the secondary R&D patent licensing of high-pressure cleaners.

Although Chang Gong Electric is still a shell company, the Hong Kong manufacturing group is not far from being on track. It is time to lay out its business and embark on a 30-year journey to overtake General Electric and catch up with its taillights. The second step is to make a 70-year plan to surpass it.

There are shortcuts to climbing the technology tree. By following in the footsteps of predecessors, one can complete 80% of the journey in 20% of the time. Those with short-sighted vision will become arrogant at this point, boasting of their superiority and losing themselves in the praise, thus ruining the possibility of catching up with the most difficult 20% of the journey in 80% of the time.

It's like a student who's not bad at studying but didn't study hard, suddenly realizes the importance of hard work, puts in a month or two of intensive study, and immediately narrows the gap with top students by a hundred or two points, boosting their confidence. With another push, the gap is reduced to just a few dozen points, only to find that those few dozen points are like an insurmountable chasm, and every point they manage to close feels like half their life.

When the poor student was feeling down, Old Man Time smiled kindly, then cursed, "You son of a bitch, have you ever shown me any respect?"

For thirty years, they focused solely on catching up, separating technology from marketing, relying on the mouth of God to boast about being far ahead, and selling as many immature products as possible, accumulating massive trial-and-error funds for the next seventy years.

The parrot has a lot to do in West Germany, but things need to be done one by one. Sun Shuying has temporarily assigned seven tasks to the West Berlin branch, and the rest can be done slowly.

She finished some paperwork in her office and then went to the Forstenhof Hotel.

I sat down in the coffee shop, ordered a coffee, asked the waiter for today's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, took out Larousse's bilingual pocket edition, and read the newspaper with the help of a dictionary.

She struggled a little to read the headline news when a man sat down opposite her without invitation.

Sun Shuying looked up at the man's face, and the man immediately said, "I am Zaxi."

Zaxi, the name of a Tibetan Mastiff, was sold by its original owner to its current owner at the Plaza Hotel Kennel Show in New York this March, generating $25,000 in revenue for the original owner and becoming the most expensive dog ever sold.

Zaxi, whose real name is Cheng Zhihua, graduated from the 5th class of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics' Telecommunications Training Program in 1947. In March 1949, he arrived in Paris as a correspondent for the Central News Agency stationed in Europe.

In late 1948 and early 1949, in order to transfer assets and establish overseas intelligence stations, the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (BIS) dispatched 40 senior trainees to infiltrate Paris, Rome, and Lisbon. The mission was codenamed "Kunlun".

In January 1949, Chiang Kai-shek stepped down and Li Zongren came to power. The first blow was dealt to the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (BIS), which had plotted to assassinate him. On top of the fact that it had already been reduced to 12,000 people in 1946, it was further reduced in size, with only 75 staff positions approved for the BIS, meaning that the Nationalist government would only pay salaries to 75 people.

This was a disaster. The Kunlun people were spending a lot of money overseas, but their hometown cut off their supplies, and their identities were also lost. After observing for a while, many people assumed that they were no longer secret agents and began to find their own way out.

Some applied for UN refugee status, some joined local foreign legions or security companies, some were recruited by the CIA and moved to the United States after changing their identities, while Cheng Zhihua gathered a few people to continue making a living from intelligence, buying intelligence with one hand and reselling it at a higher price with the other, making a profit from the difference.

Several Asians were trying to make a living in the predominantly white European intelligence market, and it was easy to imagine how difficult it would be for them to integrate and their income wouldn't be very high. Just when they were about to break up and find their own way, someone approached Cheng Zhihua and recruited all of them with high salaries, forming an independently operated intelligence team—Patent Dog.

Sun Shuying put down the newspaper, picked up her coffee cup, lowered her head slightly, and covered her mouth with the coffee cup. "I need a list of Carl Zeiss Jena's technical staff, including their names, areas of expertise, and family member information."

Cheng Zhihua took out a cigarette from his pocket, held one between his fingers and brought it to his lips, but stopped just before it touched them, saying, "The Hyenas have no way to enter East Germany."

"Call 312154 and say that Miss Yin introduced you."

"Understood." Cheng Zhihua lit a cigarette, took a puff, and pointed to the newspaper with his cigarette-holding finger. "Miss, may I borrow the newspaper?"

"I haven't finished reading it yet."

"Lend it to me after you've finished reading it, Miss."

"can."

"I won't bother you any longer."

Cheng Zhihua got up and left, returning to his desk.

Sun Shuying took a sip of coffee, put down the cup, and continued to read the newspaper quietly, but her heart was not at peace. She still couldn't guess the purpose of Xian Yaowen's last order.

The parrot registered a subsidiary in New York called "Photolithography" and then tried to recruit technical personnel from Carl Zeiss Jena.

Photolithography is an ancient technique that combines lithographing and photography in a printing method. First, a photographic negative is used to expose an image onto a lithograph coated with photosensitive emulsion to form a latent image, then an etched pattern is created, and finally, ink is applied for printing.

It seems P·L is going to enter the printing industry, but how does it end up being associated with lenses?

Sun Shuying was right; Xian Yaowen was indeed planning to enter the printing industry, but he was only interested in one specific area: developing machines for printed circuit boards. He gave these machines a rather ingenious name—lithography machines.

Singapore.

Deep within the Bukit Timah Conservation Area, the patented dog's armed force, the Fish Head Team, is conducting a heavily armed off-road exercise.

The team leader cuts open the fish. The male team members cut open the fish's eyes, lips, belly, fins, and tail, and the only female team member does not sit on the table. Each person carries a large bag with excellent waterproofing, containing 25 kilograms of documents. They also have a smaller bag hanging on their left or right waist, containing 7 kilograms of documents.

In addition, each person, according to their own habits and preferences, carried essential supplies such as ammunition, grenades, and rations in several places on their body, except for the front of their chest, with each person's load not less than 50 kilograms.

Their armed cross-country running is not just about running with weights; it also involves shooting at targets that could jump out at any time, dodging hunting dogs that could appear at any moment, and training to "give up" muscle memory.

Carrying 50 kilograms of weight is no joke. Few people can handle long-distance running. When the distance exceeds one's personal limit, it is necessary to start reducing the load. Besides the 32 kilograms of paper documents, what to discard first and what to discard later should be dealt with differently depending on the situation.

There are only a few types of situations, and the coping methods for the same type are largely the same. It is very necessary to develop muscle memory to achieve the effect of subconscious reaction and increase the possibility of safely bringing back the document paper.

Functionally, the Fish Head Team is an anti-blocking and fast-blocking assault team. If any heinous enterprise or individual uses patented technology to block the Parrot's neck, the Fish Head Team will remove the blockage through means such as stealing technical data and assassination. If any stubborn enterprise or individual refuses to obediently block the Parrot's neck, the Fish Head Team will step in to persuade them by reasoning.

After eliminating several targets, Kaiyu didn't stop. He reached behind his waist to take out his water bottle, unscrewed it, and brought it to his lips. He took a small sip of water, held it in his mouth for a while, then tilted his head back. The water flowed from the corner of his mouth, down his chin and neck, and into his collar. He then took another sip of water and slowly swallowed it three seconds later.

He hung the water bottle back up and turned to glance at the faces of his teammates.

"Tired?"

"Lu pkm*k! (Malay mixed with Hokkien words, used to express the most sincere greetings to the other person's mother)"

"kampret! (Bastard, Javanese dialect)"

“klootzak! (Dutch)”

"Son of a bitch!"

The team members appreciated the care shown to them during the fish-opening ceremony and reciprocated in kind.

Kaiyu was pleased with the team members' response, and he forced a smile onto his face. "I won't sit at the table, I'll sing a song."

“No, sir!”

"This is the order."

"Arise, lovely fish head, rise and fight for money! Destroy the bandits who are strangling you, destroy..."

Having no other option but to start the conversation, the other team members immediately followed suit: "Eliminate the scoundrels who refuse to give out cards. We and the allure of money will never be separated, for all eternity! War on the neck, fight for the neck!"

The song "Song of the Fish Head Team," with new lyrics and music borrowed from "The Sacred War," drifted through the forest.

As the singing gradually stopped, Kaiyu shouted loudly, "Where the fish head points!"

"Two shots to the chest, one shot to the head."

"Fish Head Team".

"Fuck you, Confucius!" The team members changed the original words in perfect unison.

"Damn it," Kaiyu said with a helpless laugh.

His ancestral home was Qufu, and his surname was Kong, but his given name was Qingyuan. However, he could only be associated with Confucius in a very small way. His ancestors were actually Jurchens named Pujia Nu, who were granted the surname Kong because of their merits.

But when someone speaks disrespectfully to the "Kong family," he gets inexplicably angry. After all, from the Yuan to the Qing, and then to the Japanese, his family was able to survive thanks to the Kong family's weak knees.

……

After a moment's thought, Sin Yiu Man said, "Perhaps we should talk about the rules of Siam."

"The rules of the Siamese?" Shui Xian chewed a few times and said, "Sir, Bankman is currently doing business with the Chinese. Being on good terms with the Siamese can only help us in the long run, not solve our immediate problems. We have just entered Bangkok and cannot compete with their decades of connections and relationships."

"Siam has the Communist Party of Thailand, which is following the strategy of encircling the cities from the countryside. It also maintains underground radio stations and student movement groups infiltrating Bangkok universities and labor unions. The members of the student movement groups are mostly students, who are educated but hot-headed, and can be easily incited to nationalism with a little guidance."

Narcissus stared in disbelief and said, "Down with Chinese capitalists?!"

Sin Yiu-man nodded slightly. “It wouldn’t be too difficult to do. It would work in Siam for people who are not of our race, but it would easily sow seeds of hatred towards Chinese in the hearts of Siamese people. In the future, the situation might escalate and affect too many people. Forget it, let’s not use such a dirty trick.”

"Sir, you always plan things out before you act. You must have already thought about how to conduct business at the Bangkok store, so why didn't you just tell me?"

Xian Yaowen chuckled, "I do have an idea, but the situation has changed a bit, and I need to think it over again. You should also consider it. We can talk about it again tonight or tomorrow morning."

"Aren't we going to talk now?"

"Let's not talk now. I went back to Oxley Road this morning to pick up a fax, and I have some other things to take care of later, so I can't have lunch with you."

Narcissus smiled gently, "I'm not free at noon. I have an appointment with a guest to have lunch at the Queen's Restaurant."

“That’s perfect.” Xian Yaowen put his arm around Shuixian’s arm. “I’ll come to your office on Miduo Road this afternoon.”

"Hmm." (End of Chapter)