America: My Time

Chapter 1554 Compromise
Chapter 1544 Compromise

“Rockefeller, I know you have many problems to solve, but you can take it easy for now. There’s no need to confront John directly. The financial sector is a different story. You should know how fast John is expanding. Don’t be fooled by Standard Chartered’s lack of presence in the US; Chengxin Bank and East West Bank are accelerating their expansion, and they’ve developed a professional set of tools online. Aren’t you worried? If war breaks out, whose side do you think those Wall Street guys and international speculative capital will be on?” Morgan continued to pressure Rockefeller. He didn’t want to have a conference call with those old guys; more importantly, doing so would severely damage his relationship with John.

John wasn't an ordinary man; what right did he have to agree to the proposal on John's behalf? If he did, the friendship between Morgan and John would come to an end. Morgan wasn't that foolish to be deceived by Rockefeller! It was precisely because he saw this that he continued to put pressure on Rockefeller, demanding an explanation.

"You have to give up something to gain something. Don't worry about the small profits from South Korea. What's the big deal about giving up South Korea's energy? You should know that you are far from being John's match in terms of price. Oh, I should say you are the match for Asian energy. They have undersea oil pipelines, while you have to use oil tankers. Just keep your semiconductor chips and home appliances in South Korea. Don't think about competing with John in the automotive, steel, and energy sectors. You are no match for him."

After a moment, Rockefeller took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I admit you're right. I will give up my energy plans in South Korea and not compete with John. But food and semiconductor chips are out of the question. Samsung must also be in our hands. John can't interfere, and neither can his woman. That's my bottom line."

Morgan didn't agree immediately. Instead, he pondered for a moment and replied, "I have no problem and will do everything I can to fulfill your request. However, whether his woman will interfere with Samsung is not something I can decide. It's a matter for the Lee family of Samsung, or even John's family affairs. It's difficult for us outsiders to interfere!"

At this point, Morgan paused slightly, giving Rockefeller time to react, before continuing, "Based on my understanding of the Samsung Lee family and John, you don't need to worry like this. You are also the patriarch; you should understand that in the face of power, kinship is meaningless. Otherwise, the Samsung Lee family wouldn't have done so many things they shouldn't have. And do you think John will let Lee Boo-jin interfere with Samsung? If he needed to do that, he wouldn't need to separate the Korean assets into a conglomerate—a Korean conglomerate!"

“I understand what you mean, but even if there were only a sliver of a chance, I wouldn’t dare take the risk. You know how important South Korea is to us. After all, South Korea isn’t like Japan, which we can control. We’ve already started taking action on this, and the White House has tacitly approved. This is related to our conglomerate’s strategic needs!”

"Okay, I'll try my best to persuade John to agree, but you'll have to deal with the Li family yourself; I won't take responsibility."

"No problem, as long as John agrees. However, John will need to discuss with the Koreans what they will do. After all, this is normal business practice. We won't take the initiative, but we won't give up either. We need to maintain our credibility, otherwise we won't be able to give the Koreans an explanation!"

It's less about the Koreans giving an explanation and more about giving everyone an explanation. If their integrity is affected, it will affect their ability to make large-scale investments in the future, and no one will even be willing to cooperate with them, given their poor integrity!

Morgan and Rockefeller quickly completed their exchange and reached a consensus. How to handle things in the United States was Rockefeller's business, and Morgan would not concern himself with it. What he needed to do was to discuss it with John again, but this time he would represent not the Morgan Group, but a group of American financial groups, as well as the position of the White House.

"It seems I underestimated the old guys' reaction. They made their decision so quickly, which really surprised me. I wonder what kind of compromise they've made, or whether they intend to continue their confrontation with me?" John said with a calm smile when he saw Morgan appear before him again.

John and Morgan are now equals, and John doesn't need to give Morgan any face, since they are now on opposing sides. From his own perspective, John doesn't like him either, since Morgan isn't on John's side right now.

"Confrontation is impossible. You should understand that even if Rockefeller wanted to do this, others wouldn't agree, and the White House wouldn't agree either. After all, Jack Laden doesn't want to further damage his reputation, and he doesn't want to see a financial crisis at the end of his term. The dot-com bubble had a significant impact on him, let alone a financial crisis! They are willing to give up their energy plans in South Korea, but you need to negotiate with them yourself. After all, they also value integrity! Also, Rockefeller hopes you can agree to one request: your woman cannot interfere with Samsung. After all, they have invested heavily in South Korea and don't want any trouble!"

Upon hearing this, John sighed. Although he had been interfering with the development of South Korea, he was powerless to change the overall situation and had not been able to stop the 'cooperation' between South Korea and the American conglomerate. It seemed that Samsung and other companies had already sided with the American conglomerate led by Rockefeller.

"Yes, I can agree to his request, and I've never even considered it. If you know the Lee family of Samsung, you should understand how cold-blooded their men are. With this request, I can also part ways with them to avoid getting into trouble and hindering my career development in South Korea!"

John's easy agreement surprised Morgan, given the immense allure of Samsung. If John could control Samsung, he would have control of the entire Korean market, and could even turn the tables on industry giants like Intel and AMD!
Seeing the slightly surprised look on Morgan's face, John smiled calmly and said, "Are you surprised? Actually, I've never considered Rockefeller an enemy, nor have I ever intended to eliminate Intel and AMD. This market is huge, far beyond his imagination. I'm not that greedy to control South Korea; I don't have that much ambition. And do you think South Korea would give me such an opportunity?" "That's true, I was overthinking it. After all, not everyone can resist such temptation. Even if South Korea is small, it's still a country. Even the smallest country has tempting interests; otherwise, those old guys like Rockefeller wouldn't have made a move. If you have no objections, then it's settled. Both sides will back down. As for your thoughts and which companies you target, that's up to your own abilities. But Wall Street cannot be touched, and the US stock market cannot be disturbed. This isn't my decision, but everyone's decision; it's the White House's requirement!"

John nodded and said, "Okay, I have no problem. Since they have a request, I'll make a small one too. I can give them six months, but after six months, they shouldn't withdraw from the Korean energy market. My request isn't unreasonable, is it? At least they've maintained their integrity. As for what reason they use to refuse after six months, that's their own business. This time, we need a written agreement, otherwise I don't trust them. If they go back on their word again, they can't blame me for not keeping the agreement. Whoever breaches the contract will bear all the consequences!"

At this point, John didn't want to make things difficult for Morgan, since from his perspective, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't just stay out of it, since the Morgan conglomerate wasn't something he could decide on his own.

"Sure, don't think you're the only one worried. Even those old guys like Rockefeller are worried. After all, your semiconductor chip strategy is too impressive, leaving them helpless. They're worried I might back out. But John, I have a question for you. Why are you starting to slow down your development in communications? Is something wrong?"

"As you've noticed, it's not that Bell Labs has any problems; it's that we've mastered better technology and need to upgrade. While PHS phones are good, they still lag behind mobile phones. We're preparing to fully transition to mobile phones and stop promoting PHS phones!" Although this was a Bell Labs secret, John didn't keep it from Morgan at this time but told him directly.

"Isn't it a bit too fast to phase out PHS phones so soon? It will be a significant loss for us." Morgan's first thought wasn't about his own financial losses. After all, John's departure meant that the development of PHS phones would be completely abandoned, with no further updates, and they might even be gradually replaced. This would require a substantial investment in equipment upgrades, a situation they were unwilling to see!
"There's no other way. If we don't do this, the Europeans will seize the initiative once they achieve results. For our own interests and the security of the United States, we have to do this. Moreover, Hong Kong has already started to lay out plans, make adjustments, and make final preparations, while Taiwan is also making arrangements. If there are no problems on both sides, we will start laying out plans in the United States and Europe at the same time, and the upgrade will be completed very quickly."

“John, we need to continue to strengthen cooperation and work with the United States to make new arrangements.” Instinct led Morgan to decide to follow John’s lead. After all, John’s vision was recognized by everyone. For him to make such a decision, there must be great benefits involved, and it was also the most suitable direction for social development.

"Sure, that's not a problem. You can definitely discuss cooperation with Bell Labs. Bell Labs has already been split up, and the communications division is completely separated. You'll need to pay patent royalties to Bell Labs anyway. However, if you're willing to accept ASUS phones, then you won't need to produce them yourself, which will save you some trouble."

Upon hearing John's words, Morgan's expression shifted slightly, and he sighed softly, saying, "John, do you think there's still hope for American manufacturing? Mobile phones are considered high-end products; do you think they can stabilize the situation?"

John shook his head and said, "It's difficult, almost impossible. Cost is the biggest problem. The reason I chose to move manufacturing out is because I was worried that over time we would have to fight price wars with other brands. We can't always maintain our leading advantage, and we can't always enjoy the benefits of technology. If something unexpected happens and we are overtaken, you should know that without a cost advantage, we will directly fall into bankruptcy."

"But if this continues, the entire United States will soon be hollowed out. Once it loses its manufacturing industry, it will lose even more, and it will follow in the footsteps of Britain!" Morgan directly pointed out the hidden dangers of doing so, a situation he did not want to see. After all, only when the United States is strong can these financial giants have greater influence.

"This is not something we can solve. Blame those guys from the donkeys. The more crazy they go, the faster the United States will fall into trouble. And those bastards from the oil and gas capital. If they continue like this, the United States will be in chaos. Perhaps in just twenty or thirty years, the United States will be completely in trouble."

John's words shocked Morgan. He had not expected John to have such a lack of confidence in the United States and such hostility towards the Donald, believing that the Donald would lead the United States to decline.

"Perhaps you think I'm exaggerating, but based on current developments, I've made this prediction: the US's development, frankly, is about draining resources from the global economy, leveraging the advantages of the dollar's globalization. But will this advantage last? The Democrats set a bad precedent; they shouldn't have cut military R&D spending, shouldn't have forced everyone to abandon so many projects. It's their stupidity that has caused a gap in the US military industry. I don't know the situation of other military companies, but I know about Gulfstream Aerospace. Even with the support of Middle Eastern tycoons and civilian products, it's not enough to meet R&D needs; they have to abandon important projects. What do you think the situation will be like for other military companies?"

"Even if our military industry is disrupted, we still have enough strength. After all, the Russians have fallen, and we have no rivals left. The United States is the sole superpower, and it can naturally reap the benefits of global development and maintain its status. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, and with our current military industrial strength, others won't be able to catch up for a long time!"

(End of this chapter)