Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 301 Guo Budegang
On the afternoon of the 10th, Mission Hills Hotel.

Terry Gou booked out a hotel tea restaurant and talked about tea with Mr. Chen.

The environment is great, with floor-to-ceiling windows all around and green plants that are over ten meters tall.

When Chen Xuebing arrived with Ren Ying, more than a dozen bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses occupied every corner of the tea restaurant, making quite a grand spectacle.

It also carried a hint of threat.

However, Terry Gou knew this tactic wouldn't work in mainland China, so as his female secretary led Chen Xuebing closer from the doorway, he raised his hand and smiled:
"Mr. Chen, please sit down! It's really not easy to see you."

Chen Xuebing would normally have offered some polite greetings, but seeing that Guo Taiming had specially set up a table and was sitting cross-legged on a cushion, looking like a Japanese company president, made him feel a little uncomfortable.

He then had someone pull up a chair for him to sit down, and simply slammed the folder in his hand onto the table.

"Mr. Guo, if you agree to these conditions, we can let bygones be bygones."

Guo Tai-ming looked at the blue folder, sensed something was wrong, but without changing his expression, he patted the two heavy briefcases beside him and smiled:
"Mr. Chen, I have offended you in the past. I am here to sincerely apologize. My sincerity is right here."

Chen Xuebing glanced at it and simply shook his head: "President Guo's gift is too heavy, I'm too lazy to carry it. I prefer light checks. But today, I'm here to deliver checks to President Guo."

Terry Gou hesitated for a moment, then picked up the folder and started looking through it.

The first thing you see is the words: "Heat Dissipation Module Technology".

There's more below.

"Injection Molding Patents", "6061-T6 Aluminum Alloy Heat Treatment Parameter Library", "Precision Mold Cooling Optimization Technology", and "High-Precision CNC Fixture Calibration Technology".

All of these are automated production technologies that they have acquired from Japanese and Taiwanese companies in recent years. Each technology has a ten-year licensing agreement and licensing fee, which adds up to more than 100 million.

Below is the "Agreement on Assisting in the Construction of a Fully Automated Electroplating Mobile Phone Production Line".

Two lines will be built, with a guidance fee of 800 million yuan for each.

All units are in RMB.

Another long list of technical personnel was included, along with Foxconn's unilateral termination of the non-compete agreement.

The more Guo Taiming looked, the colder his gaze became.

The total cost is less than 1.3 million, yet they need so much stuff.

"Mr. Chen, isn't this a bit too greedy?"

"Greedy?" Chen Xuebing retorted. "President Guo, look carefully. You are only providing authorization and guidance, and you are making money for nothing. These technologies are all for mobile phone production lines. Besides, we are only building two lines, which are for our own use. We are not competing with you for business. You should also know that the people I recently poached from your factory are only involved in mobile phone production lines. If I were greedy enough, I should have built several computer production lines."

Terry Gou's smile had completely vanished: "Foxconn's international scale is unmatched by anyone, not even Flextronics in the US."

Chen Xuebing interrupted with a smile: "The fundamental reason why Flex can't beat you is that it can't integrate into China and can't fully take advantage of China's advantage of having the world's best labor market. Their production focus is scattered in 29 countries around the world. They didn't take advantage of the manufacturing boom since China's accession to the WTO, nor did they receive concentrated support from the mainland's land policies. I happen to have the ability to help them catch up."

These words clearly demonstrate that he had conducted some research on Flex, and they also caused Terry Gou's expression to change.

Foxconn's success relies on three factors: preferential land policies in mainland China, low-cost and efficient labor, and a highly vertically integrated supply chain.

While management efficiency and automation play a role, they are not an absolute advantage compared to other world factories.

"What do you mean by that, Mr. Chen? You want to help Flextronics? Do you think it's that simple?" Terry Gou sneered. "If I quit and withdraw my investment from the mainland, leaving 500,000 employees unemployed, I'm afraid many people will come after you."

"It's not that difficult. If Mr. Guo withdraws his investment, it will be even simpler."

Chen Xuebing said slowly.

"Mr. Guo, you know I just secured a 42 billion yuan industry fund, right? I also have the ability to quickly mobilize tens of billions of yuan in market funds. If you announce your departure tomorrow, I'll take over all your mainland employees the day after tomorrow and build production lines on your existing factory land. I have plenty of mobile phone orders, and Lenovo will also support me in the computer sector. In addition, Steve Jobs will come to China to see me tomorrow, and I'm confident I can get him to agree to transfer all of Apple's iPod and iMac orders, and even mobile phone orders, to me. Do you believe me?"

"You've lost your production line, so you go elsewhere to hire workers and build a new factory. I've partnered with Flex to take your Nokia orders. What are you left with?"

"Mr. Guo has done well in recent years, but he has made a lot of enemies in Japan, South Korea and the United States. If someone takes the lead in digging a hole to bury you, I believe many people will be willing to add a few handfuls of soil to it."

"If you dare to withdraw, it will not have any impact on the mainland, but you will be completely removed from the list of the world's electronics manufacturing companies next year, and your status in Taiwan will also plummet."

"The world is changing very quickly, especially the electronics industry, so I advise Mr. Guo to be careful about saying things like the mainland is withdrawing its investment."

One sentence after another, each one filled with immense pressure.

Guo Taiming felt extremely uncomfortable being stared at by those young and sharp eyes.

He has always used money and power to intimidate people.

At this moment, however, he had no grasp of the other party's territory at all, while the other party seemed to have the opportunity to launch a full-scale attack against him.

Besides his technical advantages, what else does he have left?
Now that the other party also wants his skills, he is even more conflicted.

He felt a sudden urge to give in, a desire to ignore it.

Yes, just ignore him.

At most, he'll come to poach people; how many can he poach?

But thinking about it this way makes me feel even more powerless. In the past few days, many key employees have been poached by Singularity. Some people even stood at the gate of Foxconn's factory to sign contracts with them. This is enough to show that many talented people do not have much of a sense of belonging to Foxconn. They just lack a better job.

With such a large factory and hundreds of thousands of employees, he couldn't possibly improve everyone's treatment; doing so would be a disaster, while the other party could easily poach his people with high salaries at any time.

Evil arises from the heart. "Bang!"

Terry Gou slammed the folder in his hand heavily on the table.

"Mr. Chen, let me tell you, I, Terry Gou, am not someone to be intimidated! I served in the military in Japan, and Foxconn's empire was built on fighting! If you dared to speak to me like that in Taiwan, you'd be dead already."

"Ah!"

As the bodyguards around him continued to move closer, Chen Xuebing stood up and slammed his hand heavily on the table. The heavy wooden tabletop trembled violently, the glass on it fell over, and the ballpoint pen that was hit on the table broke off with a thud, its cap flying far away before landing.

Guo Taiming felt the terrifying power of the palm strike up close, and his whole body trembled.

His angry outburst contrasted sharply with Chen Xuebing's calm voice.

"Mr. Guo, I started practicing martial arts at the age of six and started my business in construction. My first deal was also earned through fighting. Don't brag to me about your years of experience as a sheep soldier. If you continue to speak without thinking, I suggest you bring more security guards when you come to the mainland in the future."

Guo Taiming's expression changed repeatedly; he hadn't expected that Chen Xuebing's impeccably tailored suit concealed such immense power.

They really have practiced.

He had never encountered such a formidable opponent. In the past, when faced with difficult business deals, he could use his military experience to act tough and display his strength. This time, even his display of strength had met its match.

“Mr. Guo, this is a society governed by the rule of law. Let’s talk business properly,” Ren Ying suddenly said from the side.

Guo Tai-ming stepped down from that step without hesitation, waving to his bodyguards and forcing a smile again:

"Hehe, Mr. Chen, this topic is indeed not in line with our identity. We are businessmen, and we should talk business. Before coming to the mainland, Mr. Cai from MediaTek told me that you are a formidable person and advised me not to have any conflicts with you. However, I also heard that your mobile phone chips are manufactured by TSMC. Morris Chang of TSMC is my brother-in-law. You probably don't want to have too much of a falling out with me, do you?"

MediaTek has influence in Shenzhen, so how could they not know that Singulato was poaching people from Foxconn?

Before Terry Gou arrived, Tsai Ming-chieh, who was only a nodding acquaintance with him, actually took the initiative to contact him and said the above words.

Meanwhile, Terry Gou was threatening Chen Xuebing while unscrupulously betraying Tsai Ming-chieh.

Chen Xuebing deduced from these words that Cai Mingjie had deliberately provoked the conflict.

That old rascal Tsai Ming-kai is indeed restless; he probably hopes TSMC will cut off his supply.

Chen Xuebing was unaware of the relationship between Terry Gou and Morris Chang before, but it was mentioned in the intelligence Ren Ying had gathered for him:
Morris Chang, chairman of TSMC, is currently married to Sophie Chang, who is Terry Gou's cousin. The two married in the United States in 01.

"Hehe, Mr. Zhang is also a businessman. If he is willing to pay a high penalty for breach of contract to favor you, he will probably have to give an explanation to the TSMC board of directors. I am happy to see this happen. The American design company will help me find other factories to place orders. I am not in a hurry."

Behind Chen Xuebing's calm demeanor lies an unfathomable nature. He has made bets on multiple fronts, and no one knows his core strategy or what is most important to him, making it impossible to precisely threaten him.

Guo Taiming's smile froze slightly, and he was indeed unsure. From the information he had, it seemed that the other party's current power came more from finance and that 3G chip company.

But he was truly unwilling to be so completely controlled by others.

His lifeline was in someone else's hands, and that person was someone who coveted his skills. If he compromised once, there might be a second time. Thinking about all this, he felt like he couldn't even sleep well at night.

Chen Xuebing saw through his inner conflict and resistance, and laughed, "Mr. Guo, to be frank, I don't like you as a person, and it has to do with your remarks. In fact, given Foxconn's contribution to employment, if you could be more sensible, consider the big picture, and make some positive remarks, your status in Taiwan would be different, and the mainland would treat you even better. You wouldn't be so passive in front of me today."

Upon hearing this, Terry Gou suddenly realized something.

Correct.

He always felt a sliver of fear in his heart, stemming from the other party's unclear and obscure background, and the unscrupulous methods that shouldn't exist under such circumstances.

He used to be unafraid of such a background. He had 50 jobs and his business was able to feed mainlanders. Who could do anything to him?

Now that a ruthless person has appeared who doesn't follow the rules, he's finally scared.

These words
Are they here to offer us amnesty?
Whom does it represent?
Thinking of this, he didn't want to express his opinion, and instead became more reserved: "Hehe, Mr. Chen is joking. I'm just a businessman, what position could I possibly have?"

"Hmph." Chen Xuebing chuckled and said bluntly, "President Guo, there's no need to be so careful. The two sides of the Taiwan Strait are actively promoting ECFA. You are a businessman, and this matter is exactly in line with your proper position."

Terry Gou had a sudden inspiration, realizing this was a solution, and began to ponder it.

After a long pause, he smiled cautiously and said, "Mr. Chen, you don't really think I can do anything, do you? This is not something that one or two people can decide."

"What are you going to do?" Chen Xuebing laughed. "You can't even beat me, what can you possibly do?"

After saying that, he stood up, put his hands behind his back, and said slowly, "I just hope that the next generation of young people on the island can hear more positive voices as they grow up."

"Never forget official history."

After saying those four words, Chen Xuebing met Guo Taiming's gaze with a deep look in his eyes.

The legal teams from both sides arrived.

The agreement was still signed.

Mr. Chen's red and expert gaze instilled a sense of fear in Mr. Guo, making him hesitant to be too assertive.

He longed to be protected.

Even after Chen Xuebing and his team left, he remained in his seat, deeply contemplating the feasibility of making positive statements regarding ECFA.

(End of this chapter)