60s: I have a store

Chapter 311 Security Fund
Before we knew it, a few days had passed and Li Guang brought good news, saying that the application for the airbag major had been approved and the protection period would be as long as twenty years.

Li Guang requested the motherland to send someone to assist in the negotiations, because he had already invited a well-known automobile company to come for discussions.

If the patent belonged to him, there would not be need for such trouble. But this time it is different. The patent belongs to the country, and he can only ask the country to send someone over.

The motherland also attaches great importance to this matter, and senior leaders personally lead the team there.

When Li Guang received the call from the senior leaders, he also estimated the importance of this negotiation to the country, which might be because of the opportunity to obtain a large amount of foreign exchange.

Originally, Leader Gao wanted to take Zhou Yimin with him, but Zhou Yimin refused. Leader Gao did not force him and led the team alone and boarded the plane to Malaysia.

For this negotiation, Li Guang put in a lot of effort and used a lot of favors to successfully hold the negotiation.

Originally, the auto giants didn't care, but after Li Guang took out the patent certificate, they had no choice but to send people over to discuss.

You should know that the companies participating in this negotiation are all relatively well-known automobile companies, such as Ford, General Motors, Lincoln, and the island country's Toyota.

The negotiation started quickly, and the senior leader did not interfere, because he knew that professional matters should be left to professionals. The leader asked him to come over only because he was worried and accompanied him throughout the process in case anything unexpected happened.

Li Guang warmly welcomed those who came to attend the negotiation to his company's conference room and served everyone present a cup of coffee.

Coffee is already a very common drink in this era, and coffee has experienced the first and second coffee waves. The first coffee wave occurred between 1940 and 1960, a period known as the instant coffee era.

During World War II, in order to stimulate economic consumption, the United States cooperated with South American countries to produce a large amount of instant coffee, mainly using Robusta beans.

Although this type of coffee is low-cost, it tastes bitter and often requires the addition of sugar or creamer to improve the taste.

The second coffee wave, represented by Starbucks, promoted the rise of specialty coffee.

As we all know, by promoting deep roasted coffee, Starbucks has made people start to pay attention to the flavor and quality of coffee. The concept of boutique coffee has gradually been accepted by the public and has undergone a transformation from instant coffee to boutique coffee.

The senior leader just doesn’t understand what’s so good about coffee. He is more of a tea drinker.

Li Guang prepared the best tea for Leader Gao and others.

No one hesitated and got straight to the point.

Ford representative: "Lee, how do you plan to cooperate on this airbag?"

He didn't expect that the person in front of him would surpass their company and invent seat belts and airbags first. You know, these are also under development, and the seat belts are almost completed.

God played a joke on me. The seat belt was developed by someone else and a patent was applied for. If I wanted to bypass it and invent something with similar functions, it would be a waste of time and money. As long as it wasn't too excessive, I had no choice but to agree.

Some time ago, their company spent a large sum of money to buy the patent for the seat belt.

Unexpectedly, they came up with a better product.

"Mr. Crane, there are two ways of cooperation. The first is that you produce a certain number of cars and I will pay you two hundred dollars for each car you produce. The second is to settle directly on an annual basis, which is 60 million dollars a year." Li Guang explained slowly.

He deliberately set a high price, a bit like asking for an exorbitant amount, so that they would have room for bargaining.

When they heard the price of two hundred dollars, the automobile representatives present were shocked. You have to know that a car only costs two or three thousand dollars, and airbags cost only one tenth of that.

When the senior leader heard the price, he was so shocked that he accidentally spit out his tea. How could he come up with such a high price of 60 million US dollars? How dare he do that?

You know, their US dollar reserves this year are not even this much!
If we talk about this, it's simply unimaginable.

At this stage, the country is in great need of foreign exchange.

If successful, whether it is them, Li Guang, or Zhou Yimin, they will have made great contributions!

Crane said excitedly: "Li, your price is too high. We can't agree to it."

Sixty million US dollars a year is a sky-high price at that time, not to mention that there was not just one car company present, but four. Adding up the total, it was more than two hundred million US dollars.

Li Guang said slowly, "Mr. Crane, don't be so excited. You should know that your Ford company produces 600,000 or 700,000 cars a year. If we switch to the first cooperation mode, your company will have to pay more than 120 million."

After hearing this, Clan's face darkened. He didn't expect that Li Guang already knew everything about their company and it seemed that he came prepared.

"Li, your price is still too high. Our company will give you fifty dollars for one car. This is the highest price I can offer." Clan pretended to be helpless.

They had also watched the videotape that Li Guang sent them and understood the importance of airbags, so they came to participate in this negotiation.

"Mr. Crane, this price is too low. The lowest price is one hundred and ninety dollars per car." Li Guang did not give in.

Originally, the Chinese representative wanted to speak, but was glared at by the senior leader and immediately swallowed his words back.

Giving $50 for one car was already a very satisfying price for everyone, and it exceeded everyone's expectations.

If Ford really produces 600,000 or 700,000 vehicles a year, it will have to pay more than 30 million US dollars a year. It is simply a huge profit!

Almost all of this money was earned without any effort.

What else are you not satisfied with?

Some of the Chinese representatives were afraid that the other party would regret it immediately, so they wanted to agree quickly and write it down in black and white.

Fortunately, the senior leader remained calm and rational and stopped everyone from talking.

He found that their homework was not sufficient and they were not ready for negotiation.

From now on, he gave Li Guang full authority to negotiate on their behalf.

As the saying goes: leave professional matters to professionals.

At this time, General Motors and Toyota also joined the "battlefield", accusing Li Guang of offering too high prices, resulting in low profits for them.

The members of the Chinese delegation did not expect the negotiations to be like this. It felt like there was no difference between them and an old lady fighting over something to buy.

After fierce bargaining, the annual patent fee was finally agreed upon at US$35 million, which means the total for the four companies is US$140 million. That means they can earn US$140 million in patent licensing fees without doing anything in a year.

The senior leaders were almost stunned. They thought that it was a big deal to be able to bring 40 or 50 million in foreign exchange to the country, but they did not expect it to more than quadruple.

You have to know that the country's foreign exchange reserves are only about 40 million. You can imagine what an astronomical figure 140 million is.

Such a high patent licensing fee was actually negotiated.

The senior leaders now deeply understand what Li Guang said before, that the automobile industry will be a highly profitable industry in the future.

It seems that after returning, he needs to write a detailed report and submit it to the central government. He hopes that the country will pay attention to it and then lay out the automotive industry. The patent fee for the airbag alone is actually over 100 million US dollars a year. It is hard to imagine what kind of shock this news will cause when it is passed back to China.

After reaching the cooperation, Li Guang sent Clan and others away.

The senior leader had not yet come to his senses. Not only the senior leader, but also the people who came with him to participate in the negotiation were looking at each other in bewilderment.

At the same time, they were very glad that it was Li Guang who led the discussion this time. If it were them, how much of a loss would they have suffered?

Maybe they could just give them 30 or 20 million dollars to get rid of them. Moreover, after signing the contract, they even felt that they had made a profit.

After Li Guang sent Kelan and the others to the car, he turned around and said, "Leader Gao, I just stepped into the wrong place."

In fact, he also underestimated the economic benefits brought by seat belts and airbags. You know, his net worth is only a few hundred million US dollars. But compared with this, it feels like he has lived in vain all these years.

Others can make so much money easily and without any risk.

If Zhou Yimin were here, he would definitely not have such thoughts.

You know, the annual output value of airbags will reach hundreds of billions of dollars in the future. It’s not too much to earn one or two hundred million dollars a year, right?

"Mr. Li, what are you talking about? Thanks to you this time. If we were the ones to negotiate, we would have agreed without hesitation when they offered $50." Leader Gao said slowly after he came to his senses.

He could not wait to tell his leader the good news. He believed that this good news would shock many people. Zhou Yimin was indeed a lucky star. His casual invention could bring so much income to the country.

At Li Guangqiang's insistence, Gao and his team stayed for two more days.

As expected, after the news was passed back to the country, it even alarmed the top leaders, who went to find out the details.

When the news of digging an underground river in Zhoujiazhuang spread, countless villages were envious. You know, having sufficient water is very important for growing crops.

That day, the old Party branch secretary approached Zhou Yimin and asked, "Yimin, can you help the village buy some sweet potatoes and cornmeal?"

The villagers now have quite a lot of money at their disposal. After experiencing a famine, they thought about exchanging the money they have for food so that they don’t have to worry about having nothing to eat.

Besides, if the village wants to engage in breeding, it will not work without enough food.

Zhou Yimin thought for a moment and said, "Old Party Secretary, how many sweet potatoes and cornmeal do you want?"

If the number is not large, I can agree to it, but if the number is too large, I will have to think carefully about it.

"Can we purchase the same 5,000 kilograms?" the old branch secretary said, looking at Zhou Yimin.

A large amount of grain is consumed every day in building the reservoir, so we want to store more grain in case of emergency.

"Okay, I'll send it over in two days." Zhou Yimin thought for a while before speaking.

Several thousand kilograms of grain is not a big problem.

After receiving Zhou Yimin's affirmative answer, the old branch secretary felt relieved. Ten thousand kilograms of grain is not a small amount, especially in the current environment.

Zhou Yimin proposed at this time: "Old Party Secretary, should the village set up a security fund?"

"Security fund?" The old branch secretary was a little confused?
Zhou Yimin explained: "This time when we went into the mountains to hunt, we encountered that person. If we hadn't rushed over in time, he would probably be gone."

"He is the pillar of the family. If anything happens to him, the family will probably fall apart."

Zhou Yimin’s concept is actually similar to insurance in later generations.

The old Party Secretary began to understand a little: "Yes! That's right! Yimin, tell me more in detail."

Nowadays, many men are the backbone of the family. If any problems arise, it will be a devastating blow to the family.

“If the village can resolve this worry, the villagers will no longer have this worry and will definitely work harder, whether it is work or anything else.

As long as he does things that benefit the village, even if he dies or becomes disabled, the village will guarantee the basic living needs of his family."

"Okay, Yimin, this is a good suggestion."

It's just to ensure the most basic living needs, and it's not like they are fed for free. They still have to participate in the village's labor. It's just that if they can't survive, the village will support them, and they don't have to keep giving them food.

The villagers will have no objection to this, after all, everyone is a beneficiary.

However, even the old branch secretary could not make up his mind on such a big matter, so he could only call the whole village to discuss it and see if it could be passed.

The people are in charge now, and the idea of ​​one-man rule is not accepted.

Even if he could make decisions for the village, he had to pretend to do so.

After lunch, the old branch secretary called on every household in the village to send one person to attend the meeting.

Although it was a bit strange, we still followed the old branch secretary's arrangement and each household sent a representative.

When the old branch secretary saw that everyone was gathered, he said, "I called everyone over because I have something I want to discuss with you."

The villagers were a little curious. Most of the affairs in the village were handled by the old branch secretary. Unless it was a big deal, he would not worry everyone.

"Old Party Secretary, what's the matter that requires you to call us here now?" Zhou Xucai asked.

The old Party Secretary replied: "Yimin, a very good suggestion was just given to me, which is to set up a security fund in the village."

"As long as someone is injured or sacrificed for the village, the village will guarantee the minimum living needs of his family." The old branch secretary briefly explained the purpose of the security fund.

When the villagers heard this, they all started talking about it.

"This is a good suggestion. Last time, that uncle was attacked by a wild boar and almost died." Zhou Dashan quickly expressed his opinion.

Zhou Dahui also offered his help: "Yes, this is a good suggestion!"

As expected, no one objected.

As long as you have a brain, you know that this security fund is beneficial to everyone. Who can predict the future? In case of an accident, if someone becomes disabled or dies, the village can still provide the most basic living needs.

"Let's vote by raising our hands! Raise your hands if you agree," the old party secretary shouted.

The process still needs to be followed again.

(End of this chapter)