In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 253 International Telecommunications Giants Join Forces to Suppress? No problem, we'll get subsidies from the Western financial markets.
The current situation arose because both parties were worried that the cooperation would not be possible, and the buyer was unaware of how poor the seller was, while the seller was unaware of how wealthy the buyer was.

Even though Xie Wei was an experienced man with a vision that transcended his time, he still didn't understand the arms trade of this era.

The root of the problem lies in his overemphasis on the purchasing power of money in that era. In addition, his understanding of the arms trade was that large households paid party dues to buy Dongfeng missiles at exorbitant prices, while other weapons and equipment Xie Wei heard about were sold by the kilogram.

That's why this situation has arisen.

"Mistakes must be corrected immediately. Next time, we can't just consider the purchasing power of money; we also need to carefully analyze the customer's financial values!"

After Xie Wei understood all of this, he secretly admonished himself.

"So, what's the price we should quote when we're selling tanks?"

Wang Zheng, who was standing to the side, asked Xie Wei curiously.

Originally, Wang Zheng was not involved in negotiations and exchanges related to military industry projects. Xie Wei was in charge of the negotiations on the school's side, while Liu Debao and other school personnel were responsible for the other work.

Wang Zheng only came to find Xie Wei after Xie Wei returned to his office.

Xie Wei has hardly ever returned to his dormitory since then. When he does go back, no one is there. His roommates have either "disappeared" or are in the lab. He only sees his classmates who are still at school during final exams.

"We'll see how things go then. Although these oil-producing countries make money easily, and can easily find oil by digging a few shovels of sand when they run out of money, the international oil supply is finite..."

Upon hearing this, Xie Wei immediately recalled that when he heard about the Iraqis coming, he felt there was a solution that could solve the school's funding shortage all at once, but he couldn't think of one no matter how hard he tried.

Now, when it comes to oil, the thoughts in my mind become instantly clear!
Go long on international oil futures!

The Iran-Iraq War will definitely cause international crude oil prices to rise sharply.

In China, since the financial market had not yet been established, Xie Wei had no opportunity to deal with it except for taking out loans, and he had never even considered it.

"What do you remember?"

Seeing Xie Wei suddenly lose focus while talking, and then his expression become serious.

Wang Zheng looked at Xie Wei in surprise.

Could it be that there's something wrong with the generous Iraqi order?

"Brother Wang, what's the status of registering an investment company in Hong Kong?"

Xie Wei asked Wang Zheng seriously.

Principal Li obtained several million Hong Kong dollars from his superiors to register companies in Hong Kong, not just trading companies and investment companies, but mainly to circumvent some domestic policies and obtain more preferential policies.

"Don't even mention it. The investment company has no investment business now, but it still supports more than ten people, and the rent is quite high every year. The salary costs over there are also high. The whole company has lost more than 100 million Hong Kong dollars. If Principal Li hadn't left the school yet, the ministry would probably have had the investment company deregistered long ago..."

Wang Zheng gets a headache whenever this is mentioned.

"Huang Zhijie and Chai Hong of Desheng Trading Company are extremely dissatisfied with the investment company..."

"That's for sure, since Starry Sky Investment is a subsidiary of Desheng Company, and its operating costs and losses are also included in Desheng."

Xie Wei was aware of the dissatisfaction of Huang Zhijie, Chai Hong, and other senior managers at Desheng Group.

When we recruited them, we offered them a very high guaranteed annual salary. After the profit exceeded the guaranteed annual salary, they would receive more commission for each additional profit.

"Why do you suddenly ask this?"

Wang Zheng asked Xie Wei in confusion, "I came to see Xie Wei, but I haven't even told him what I wanted to say yet."

Faced with Wang Zheng's question, Xie Wei neither answered nor explained, but instead asked, "Brother Wang, have you ever thought about working in Hong Kong?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Wang Zheng was stunned.

Going to Xiangjiang?
The company in Hong Kong was ostensibly under the jurisdiction of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry, but in reality, it was managed by the school-enterprise office.

Wang Zheng was unfamiliar with the international market and practically let Desheng develop freely. If it weren't for the fact that the finance department there was arranged by the school, Xie Wei wouldn't have dared to be so at ease.

"Do I need to go there again for a while?"

Seeing that Xie Wei did not answer, Wang Zheng asked.

Previously, when problems arose, he needed to go to Hong Kong to find out the situation, then relay it to Xie Wei, and then proceed according to Xie Wei's ideas.

"It's not just for a short period of time; I'll go work there later. In a few years, we'll open a branch office in the special economic zone next to Hong Kong..."

Sending Wang Zheng to Hong Kong was not Xie Wei's spur-of-the-moment decision.

He had always thought that Wang Zheng lacked vision, but he also had to admit that Wang Zheng would never object to any of Xie Wei's opinions. Any idea Xie Wei had, whether right or wrong, would be strictly implemented by Wang Zheng.

This is the best candidate to take control of a foreign company.

However, the opportunity wasn't quite right before.

Xie Wei also plans to establish a group company in Hong Kong and register it as an offshore company once he has more business overseas, in order to sever the company's overt relationship with the school.

At this rate, Harbin Institute of Technology will definitely be the first university to be added to the US sanctions list.

The US sanctions will not have a significant impact on the school's development, but they will have a considerable impact on international trading companies related to the school.

"I'm too busy with things back home..."

Wang Zheng frowned.

Hong Kong may be a nice place, but it can never compare to the mainland.

When Director Wang arrived in the decadent world of capitalism, he wasn't afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself, but rather he felt very lost.

"Take your wife with you, and we'll arrange a job for her at that company."

Xie Wei knew that Wang Zheng was unwilling because of his partner.

"We're not married yet!"

"Then let's go there first, get through this busy period, come back to get married, and then bring her along."

Xie Wei gave Wang Zheng absolutely no room for negotiation.

"when are we leaving?"

Seeing Xie Wei's resolute attitude, Wang Zheng knew he couldn't change Xie Wei's decision, so he bluntly asked him when he was leaving.

"After Principal Li returns, I'll discuss it with him, and then you can leave. You don't need to worry about the domestic business for now..."

"in spite of?"

Wang Zheng suddenly stood up. "Our switch service is having problems."

That was his real purpose in coming to find Xie Wei.

"What's wrong with the switch business? The factory in Chengdu hasn't even started production yet; they're just relying on the technical personnel trained in the school's practical training workshop to carry out small-scale production..."

Now it was Xie Wei's turn to be puzzled.

I haven't heard of any problems with the switch service.

Through Wang Zheng's explanation, Xie Weicai understood that the business deal with the Fuzhou Telephone Bureau fell through because Fujitsu knew that domestic companies could provide small-capacity program-controlled exchanges and were developing 2000-line exchanges. So, Fujitsu decisively lowered the price, drastically reducing it from the original $1500 per line to $600 per line!
Furthermore, Fujitsu has partnered with the Shanghai Radio Management Bureau to establish a joint venture factory in China to produce high-capacity program-controlled telephone exchanges.

In this way, the biggest disadvantage of foreign program-controlled switches—their high price—no longer exists.

"So ruthless?" Xie Wei exclaimed after hearing this.

The butterfly effect of its own actions was significant, causing a sharp drop in the price of the earliest program-controlled switches to enter the Chinese market, and even prompting international telecommunications giants to establish joint venture factories in China four years ahead of schedule.

"It's not just Fujitsu; other international telecommunications giants have lowered their offers after hearing the news, with the highest offer now below $1000... There are reports that more than five international giants are currently in contact with domestic companies, preparing to establish joint venture factories... The Chengdu side should be coming to the school soon... Uncle Xie must be under a lot of pressure these days..."

Seeing that Xie Wei wasn't worried at all, Wang Zheng quickly told him what he knew.

The reason we didn't know about it at first was because the people in Fuzhou kept it a secret.

"Imperialism is still determined to destroy us, and it is coming on strong."

Xie Wei was not angry about the actions of the Fuzhou Telephone Bureau.

Is being angry useful?

If Harbin Institute of Technology could provide high-capacity switches, the outcome might be different.

Xie Wei, the first city in China to open a program-controlled telephone exchange network, was a bit late in flapping his wings and ultimately had no impact.

"Exactly! Under these circumstances, you still want me to go to Hong Kong..."

Wang Zheng said unhappily.

"You staying won't change anything. We can't compete with them on price wars right now. And we won't lack business in the short term..."

"The factory in Rongcheng represents a significant investment, and the Rongcheng municipal government..."

"The affairs of Hong Kong are more important!"

Xie Wei shook his head.

He knew that it was unrealistic to go to war with international giants in the field of program-controlled switches. Price wars were not a good thing. Without large-capacity switches to compete with international giants, there would be no profit. Even if large-capacity program-controlled switches were developed, it would take too long to recoup the R&D costs.

Seeing Wang Zheng's worry, Xie Wei sighed: "If we're only competing with international giants in the program-controlled switch business, we have no hope at all. Unless we have other sources of funding, even if we can't continue research and development based on the profits from the switch business, we'll have a large amount of funding to invest..."

"Given the school's situation, where will the money come from?"

It would be strange not to worry.

The university-enterprise cooperation office makes a considerable profit each year, but it also has many more expenses: it needs to increase investment in the research and development of new technologies, expand production scale, add other businesses, and expand the university-enterprise cooperation office itself...

Furthermore, funding is needed to support the school's military-related projects.

To this day, the money to build the office building has still not been secured.

"That's why we need you to go to Hong Kong..."

Wang Zheng waited for Xie Wei to explain how to solve the funding problem in Hong Kong, but seeing that Xie Wei didn't say anything, he didn't bother to ask anymore.

"Let's go, we'll talk about it when Principal Li gets back. Contact Factory 122 and tell them to prepare a plane and go pick up Principal Li immediately."

Xie Wei instructed Wang Zheng to arrange for a plane from Factory 122 to pick up Principal Li in the capital, while he himself went directly to Zhang Mingqiu's house to find him.

"You called me in the middle of the night just so I could call Principal Li? Doesn't Principal Li get any rest?"

Zhang Mingqiu, who had been woken up, glared angrily at Xie Wei.

I'm an elderly person, how can I compare to young people like Xie Wei who often stay up late?
"He has to get up even when he's sleeping. It's not just about getting Principal Li up to answer the phone. Wang Zheng needs to go to Factory 122 next door to get the plane taking off. Principal Li can be back at school tomorrow afternoon!"

Xie Wei said earnestly.

"What happened? Wait a minute, I'll change my clothes..."

Zhang Mingqiu was shocked.

Sending a plane to pick up Principal Li and bring him back to school clearly means something serious has happened. Why haven't I heard anything about it?

She didn't even have time to complain about Xie Wei not letting her rest late at night, and prepared to change her clothes and go to school with Xie Wei.

"It's nothing serious, we'll talk about it when Principal Li gets back tomorrow."

Xie Wei didn't care whether Zhang Mingqiu was willing or not. After the school changed its telephone exchange system, telephones were also installed in the homes of school leaders to make it easier to contact them.

Of course, money is required, but unlike the city's telephone exchange which charges a 2000 yuan account opening fee, the school leaders have to pay the 100-plus yuan phone fee themselves, as a way to support the school's research project.

"Are you sure there's nothing urgent?"

Zhang Mingqiu really wanted to know if Xie Wei really thought he, as the acting principal, was so incompetent that he had to ask Principal Li for everything.

"Not really."

Xie Wei said with certainty.

But Principal Zhang didn't believe it.

There was nothing urgent, so why call Principal Li so late at night and arrange a plane to pick him up?
"We need foreign exchange, no less than $1000 million!"

Seeing the dissatisfaction on Zhang Mingqiu's face, Xie Wei had no choice but to briefly reveal some information.

"Alright, you go ahead and do your thing, I'm going back to sleep. Sigh, getting old, lack of sleep is affecting my work..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Mingqiu decisively turned around and went back to sleep.

1000 million!
It is still the country's most valuable foreign exchange!
I don't have Principal Li's experience of rising through the ranks in the army, so I don't have the connections of old comrades and old leaders, nor do I have Principal Li's ability to throw tantrums and act helpless to ask for funds.

If you don't sleep, what else can you do?

Seeing that Principal Zhang didn't ask any more questions, Xie Wei breathed a sigh of relief.

The problem is that Principal Zhang might feel disappointed that he is also a principal and that he doesn't report anything to Principal Li but goes directly to him. That would not be a good thing.

"arranged?"

When Xie Wei returned to his office, Wang Zheng was already waiting for him.

I don't know where he got the peanuts and a bottle of baijiu from, but Xie Wei hadn't come back yet, and he had already drunk almost half a bottle of baijiu with the peanuts.

"We've already taken off, is this really necessary?"

"Yes. If the university-enterprise cooperation office wants to develop, it must diversify its operations, unless we abandon products in the high-tech field..."

"That won't do. If we abandon products in the high-tech field, what's the point of the university-enterprise cooperation office? Is it just for making money?"

Wang Zheng shook his head.

"So, I want you to go to Hong Kong. The investment company is preparing to speculate on oil futures... The Iran-Iraq War is about to start. Both are oil-producing countries. Although before that, due to Khornei's rise to power, Iran's oil export share has been greatly reduced due to Western sanctions..."

The religious revolution in Iran ousted the pro-Western Pahlavi king, and after Khomeini came to power, she implemented a policy of hostility towards the West. Under such circumstances, the West would naturally not provide Iran with funds to help it develop, even though many countries could provide crude oil.

In February of last year, after the victory of the Langtu religious revolution, international oil prices rose sharply.

However, after major oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia drastically increased oil production, international oil prices, which were much higher than before, have now dropped significantly.

Two months after the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, international oil prices will surge again.

"I don't understand this..."

Wang Zheng was dumbfounded after hearing this.

(End of this chapter)