Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 193 No. 1 or No. 2

"Well, it feels a bit like a dream."

At 8 o'clock in the morning, Masato Takeshita looked at the ceiling of the State Guesthouse and fell into a trance.

Although entering Diaoyutai happened yesterday, he still felt a little dreamy inside.

I have really become a big shot.

Such a great place, you can stay here.

After being in a daze for a while and gaining some confidence, Masato Takeshita reluctantly broke free from the quilt.

The monster named Quilt was so terrifying that it controlled him for more than 20 minutes.

The breakfast at the State Guesthouse has a wide variety, including both Chinese and foreign delicacies.

Masato Takeshita ordered a classic combination of steamed buns + soy milk + fried dough sticks + eggs.

After breakfast, the young man went back to his room to wash up again before heading to the meeting room.

He will negotiate with relevant leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences on semiconductor manufacturing projects such as lithography machines.

After a brief greeting and some politeness between the two sides, Masato Takeshita took the initiative to break the deadlock.

"I have two options for you to choose from."

"The first option is that the Chinese Academy of Sciences will use the distributed lithography machine manufacturing process and all members of the lithography machine project team of the 45th Institute as a price to invest in the Xinghai Semiconductor Manufacturing Company I founded in Tokyo."

"The company has more than $200 million in physical assets and more than $700 million in available cash assets."

"If there is a problem of insufficient funds in the future, I can expand my investment."

“The minimum is $2000 million, and the upper limit is at least $1 million, so there is no need to worry about funding.”

If he was not worried about scaring the relevant leaders of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, he actually wanted to say that there was no upper limit to the investment.

An industrial gem like the lithography machine would cost tens of billions of dollars, not to mention $1 million.

However, the cap of US$1 million has already scared the relevant leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

They had never expected that Masato Takeshita would be so determined.

Because the lithography machine project of Institute 45 of the Chinese Academy of Sciences only cost a few hundred thousand RMB.

Even so, everyone still thinks it's a waste.

Just when everyone was surprised by the wealth of Xinghai Group.

Ma Yunxiang, director of the 45th Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, asked anxiously: "There are more than 700 million US dollars of disposable funds now, is it true?"

He doesn't care about the $2 million pie, he's more practical.

"Of course, if we can reach a cooperation, $300 million of the money will be used to purchase various experimental equipment, and the rest will be used to buy experimental materials and pay salaries."

Laboratory equipment is always the biggest expense in the lithography industry.

Most of the more than 200 million US dollars that disappeared from Xinghai Semiconductor Manufacturing were used to purchase various equipment.

The fact that Institute 45 of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was able to spend hundreds of thousands of RMB to develop a world-class lithography machine is also based on the existing relevant equipment.

Compared with Ma Yunxiang, who was full of impatience, the top leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology were relatively calm.

He spoke in a gentle voice, "Director Ma, don't be anxious. Let's continue to listen to Mr. Takeshita's conditions."

"Sorry, I was impatient."

No wonder Ma Yunxiang is anxious.

He attached great importance to the lithography machine project, but the Chinese Academy of Sciences directly disbanded the project team due to insufficient funds.

Now that there is an opportunity to rebuild, I am naturally quite anxious.

When Masato Takeshita saw the boss looking at him again, he smiled and nodded.

"Okay, then I'll continue with the first plan."

"This plan is mainly for your department to use its technology and personnel to invest in Xinghai Semiconductor Manufacturing's head office in Tokyo."

"The advantage is that they can grow and progress with us, but the disadvantage is that the shares are not large, only 30%."

Masato Takeshita really hopes that the leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology will choose this plan because this plan involves investing in the head office.

This means that when Xinghai Semiconductor Manufacturing grows and develops, China can also get a piece of the pie.

The top leader of the Ministry of Science and Technology remained noncommittal and showed no emotion.

He asked steadily, "Well, can you tell me about the second option?"

"The second plan is simpler. We will set up a joint venture with the Academy of Sciences in China. The shares will be 55-."

This approach seems equal, but it has a lot of uncertainty.

And once Tokyo masters more advanced or even equal lithography technology, it will abandon the branch here.

Because Masato Takeshita could not use his own money to support this branch company that could not occupy a dominant position.

"I see. I see. Then please wait a moment. Can we discuss this first?"

"Yeah, of course."

Business negotiations are a very troublesome matter and usually last for a long time.

Unless you launch a hostile takeover or acquire it at a significant premium.

So Masato Takeshita tactfully led his team and quickly left the meeting room.

After the young man left, the senior leader of the Ministry of Science and Technology asked directly: "Which conditions do you think are better?"

A more conservative official thought for a moment and said, "I think it's better to have an equal joint venture. This way we can have a high enough say in the project."

"Yes, we must maintain our independence and not be led by foreign companies."

"The shares should be split 55-, and foreign capital cannot be trusted."

In response to the conservatives' remarks, a relevant leader of the Ministry of Science and Technology immediately refuted them.

"I object. I think the first option is better."

“Although we have less say in the first option, we can still maintain influence on the project. If we choose the second option, we will be left behind at any time.”

"Without sufficient benefits, capitalists will definitely choose to leave after obtaining key technologies and start a new business."

He had been abroad and was very familiar with the true face of capitalists, so he knew that he could not take advantage of this.

Many times, actions that seem to be taking advantage will ultimately result in huge losses.

These are the lessons he learned after living abroad.

Ma Yunxiang, director of the 45th Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, echoed: "I also think the first solution is better. With the development of technology, the investment in lithography machine projects will become larger and larger."

"If we maintain the 55- share model, will we have enough money to buy equipment in the future?"

Although it only cost a few hundred thousand RMB, the lithography machine project of Institute 45 was criticized for being costly.

He didn't believe that the country would spend huge amounts of money to invest in this product which seemed to be a bottomless pit in the short term.

Zhou Guangzhao, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, also thinks the first option is better.

He took the initiative to come forward and said tactfully: "The Chinese Academy of Sciences' project funds are seriously insufficient, and it is impossible to invest a large amount of funds in the lithography machine project in a short period of time."

Although the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was involved, the top leaders still did not make a decision easily.

Next, he began to discuss the matter frequently with people in the technology industry and more senior leaders.

After more than ten days of repeated discussions and arguments, Mr. Qian finally made the final decision.

"We chose the first option and took advantage of the rise of Japanese semiconductors to maintain a certain influence in the field of lithography machines."

In fact, Mr. Qian hopes that his company can independently develop the lithography machine project.

But a clever woman cannot make a meal without rice.

The country has no money, and choosing this roundabout way of saving the country is a helpless solution.

"Do you choose the first option?"

"very good!"

Next, the two sides began to discuss the location of the cooperative laboratory, salary and other aspects.

Masato Takeshita’s plan was very simple: to build a laboratory in each of the capital and Shanghai.

The land was provided by China, and the laboratory and equipment were provided by Masato Takeshita. When the laboratory was being built, members of the lithography project team of the 45th Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences temporarily moved to Tokyo to work.

This can help improve communication on the one hand, and help train new employees on the other.

As for wages.

In Japan, the salary is Japanese, which means it matches the Japanese employees at the headquarters.

If you choose to return to China in the future, your salary will not be as high as in Japan, but it will be several times that of domestic scientific researchers.

As for whether the full salary can be paid to the developers after arriving in Japan, Masato Takeshita has no control over it.

It's rare to be confused.

After all, people’s biggest concern is not the scarcity of wealth but the inequality of distribution.

Why is it that although we are both scientific researchers, my salary is only one percent of theirs?

After settling on the 45th Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Masato Takeshita proposed again.

"The company is very short of people right now. I wonder if we can transfer some more people from other places after the laboratories in Beijing and Shanghai are built."

"For example, the R&D personnel of the lithography machine project of the three companies in Bingcheng."

At this time, many state-owned enterprises have cutting-edge talents that are no less capable than those of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

There are three state-owned enterprises in Bingcheng, and one of them developed the most advanced photolithography machine in the country in 80.

If we can catch them all, we can improve the laboratory's scientific research capabilities again.

"Yes, we will also give your laboratory some university student indicators every year."

"really?"

Masato Takeshita was very surprised. He didn't expect to have such an unexpected gain.

College students in the 80s were truly precious people.

Especially college students who can enter the lithography machine laboratory are the most favored among the favored.

If you choose the government, then you will be a selected candidate by the provincial and central governments.

If you choose a state-owned enterprise, you will be a key training target at the headquarters or the province.

China in the 80s was in great shortage of high-end talents, and it was a typical period with many jobs but few talents.

This situation did not gradually improve until the 90s.

As for the surplus of talent, that happened after 2010.

"Well, as long as the laboratories in Beijing and Shanghai are built, each laboratory will have 40 indicators every year. 30 undergraduates + 10 graduate students."

The Ministry of Science and Technology is preparing to use chickens to hatch eggs, hoping to cultivate more relevant talents.

We can't wait until we need something and then not have the relevant talent.

Zhang Rujing, the founder of SMIC in his previous life, had this problem.

When he left Texas Instruments, he wanted to build a factory directly in mainland China, but the mainland lacked relevant talent.

He had no choice but to go to Taiwan first.

Prepare to train a group of talents before entering the mainland.

His strategy was very successful. In the early days of SMIC, it was mostly supported by the talents he brought to the mainland.

"Please rest assured that they will be able to learn the most advanced technology."

Masato Takeshita also knew how to return the favor, and tactfully expressed that he understood the meaning.

After achieving a perfect ending, Masato Takeshita returned to Japan with all the employees of the 45th Institute's lithography machine project team in high spirits.

It is still relatively simple to develop lithography machines now, so there are not many developers on the project, only about 20 people.

But out of his desire for talent, Masato Takeshita coaxed and persuaded relevant leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and added more than 10 more people.

Among them are Jiang Wenhan and Xu Duanyi, researchers who developed China’s early lithography machine projects.

These two are national treasures, and are absolutely the country's most important assets.

This time I can come to Japan with you, but it’s just a temporary loan.

Because these are all important talents, Masato Takeshita directly chose to charter a plane.

Before taking off, Chinese professionals carefully checked the safety of the aircraft.

Although he is a minor character, we have to be on guard against this aspect.

Especially in Taiwan, there might be trouble at any time.

Taiwan attaches great importance to the wafer foundry industry, and Xinghai Semiconductor is now in competition with TSMC.

Although both companies are relatively small and the competition is not fierce, the fact that they are both pro-mainland Chinese makes a difference.

You have to know that high-end business wars are often very simple.

For example, the DuPont conglomerate in the United States rose rapidly by relying on homemade aircraft.

There are still many such situations now.

When a person dies, everything ends.

"This is the apartment we rented for everyone. I hope everyone likes it."

As early as a few days ago, Masato Takeshita contacted Xinghai Semiconductor Manufacturing Rental Apartment by phone.

Therefore, the project team members do not need to stay in a hotel after arriving in Tokyo.

Hotels are fine for a short period of time, but for a long time they are not as comfortable as renting a house.

Ma Yunxiang, director of the 45th Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who also came over, asked uncertainly: "Does it mean that everyone has a separate room?"

Masato Takeshita looked at the high-end apartment in front of him and said as a matter of course: "Of course."

These are all top talents who can significantly improve the technical strength of Xinghai Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Naturally, the company must provide the best logistical guarantees.

“It’s a bit too luxurious.”

“No, this is the treatment everyone deserves.”

Although a room of over 100 square meters was indeed exaggerated for China at that time, it was just common for scientific researchers in Japan.

Top talents should be given top treatment.

If he wasn't worried about the counterproductive effect, Masato Takeshita would have rented a villa for everyone.

Then the young man said, "I won't disturb you all to rest. We'll meet at 6pm."

Although Masato Takeshita doesn't like large-scale gatherings, he has no choice when he enters the world.

In order to show enough sincerity, you still have to have a meal in the evening.

"Well, don't worry."

After Takeshita Masato left, Director Ma, who led the team, said solemnly: "Everyone has got the key, right?"

"got it."

"Well, then follow the key and enter your room."

At this point, Ma Yunxiang added: "Don't forget the discipline requirements before coming here."

"Yes, director!"

It is important to be on guard against others, so the group received some training before arriving in Tokyo.

The simplest way is to prevent spy cameras from taking pictures.

"How luxurious! I wonder what the director's room looks like?"

A middle-aged man who had never been abroad looked at the smooth marble floor and the large, stylish chandelier in front of him and felt reluctant to step on it for a moment.

He had never lived in such a nice house.

In fact, it is not only him, but also the vast majority of scientific researchers, including Director Ma, are like this.

Only a few international students and those from wealthy families are more accustomed to what they see.

(End of this chapter)