Rebirth: My dad is too obedient

Chapter 239: Mr. Xu's Deliberate Honesty
Two days later, Yang Congxin returned from a business trip to Beijing with two technical colleagues.

Xu Zhiquan organized a closed-door meeting that day and asked Li Rui to drive to pick up Xu Chen from the town and bring him to the factory.

……

Chenfeng Technology Park, large conference room in the comprehensive building.

When Xu Chen walked into the conference room, there were already more than a dozen people gathered inside.

Except Xu Zhiquan and Fang Jun, the rest are technical backbones of the factory.

Several mechanical drawings were projected onto the screen, and Yang Congxin was explaining them to everyone.

He spoke in great detail, and a bunch of technical colleagues nodded frequently.

Xu Zhiquan, Fang Jun and Xu Chen were obviously having difficulty listening.

Xu Zhiquan interrupted him several times and asked a few questions. Yang reorganized his thoughts and changed the vocabulary and description methods to some easier to understand.

Xu Chen, who was sitting in the back row, also roughly understood the situation.

What Yang Congxin brought back was the latest motor technology from the Institute of Physics of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, which is probably called "DC brushless hub motor".

This motor technology has been proven mature in the laboratory, and Yang Congxin has also verified it in reality, but it has not yet been put into commercial production.

Compared with the mainstream motors currently used by electric vehicle manufacturers on the market, this motor technology has two core advantages.

First, there is almost no noise and the driving process is very quiet.

Second, it requires almost no maintenance, and its service life is more than three times that of mainstream brushed motors.

After all, Xu Chen didn’t know much about technical matters, but as he listened to Yang Congxin’s explanation, some impressions of his past life came to his mind.

If he remembered correctly, it seemed that in the previous life there was an electric car manufacturer that bought out this motor technology and used its noise-free and long life as its differentiated advantages, quickly opening up the market.

According to Yang Congxin, this motor technology is still in the hands of HUST and has not been bought out by any electric vehicle manufacturer.

I don’t know if it’s a deviation in the timeline after rebirth, but at present, this is indeed an important opportunity for Morningwind Electric Vehicles…

After Yang Congxin finished his explanation, Xu Zhiquan turned around and glanced at Xu Chen in the back row, and the father and son exchanged glances.

Obviously, Xu Zhiquan also realized the great value of this.

He took a puff of cigarette and said to Yang Congxin:
"Director Yang, how can we cooperate on this?"

Yang adjusted his black-framed glasses, picked up the water cup on the table and took a sip:
“The Huazhong University of Science and Technology also needs revenue, and they have already contacted three or four electric vehicle manufacturers, and we are one of them.

But no one has yet made a clear statement of intent...

I learned from other sources that the other companies they contacted were all small electric car manufacturers in the Beijing-Tianjin area.

These companies are still waiting and watching, mainly because their electric cars are selling well now, and they think that investing millions of dollars in motors is too expensive..."

In 06, domestic electric vehicles were still in their infancy and had not yet experienced a real boom.

At present, there are mainly two places in the country where relevant industrial supporting facilities are gathered.

One is the area around Jinshi in the north, and the other is the area around Xishi in Jiangsu Province.

The electric vehicle production line introduced by Morningwind Technology this time was introduced from Jiangsu Province.

At that time, Xu Zhiquan also conducted an investigation and research. The production line in Jinshi in the north was relatively backward, even similar to a small workshop in a township.

At the same time, it just so happened that the city leaders could also leverage the connections in Su Province, which is why the current production line was introduced...

Yang Congxin continued:
“I have had in-depth discussions with people from the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and they are open to several forms of cooperation.

The first is technology licensing, but it is not exclusive, which means that this technology can also be licensed to other manufacturers at the same time.

The initial offer is two million...

The second is the production and sales profit sharing. You don’t need to pay any fees in the early stage, but for every electric car we sell using their motor technology, they take 2%-8% of the retail price.

This type of cooperation can be exclusive, but the corresponding profit-sharing ratio is higher.

The third method is technology buyout. We buy out the motor technology patent at one time, and other domestic manufacturers will not be able to use it.

The cost is also the highest, their initial offer is eight million..."

When the words came out, several technical colleagues were shocked:
"So expensive?!"

"It actually costs several million. You should do scientific research to make money!"

“How many electric cars do we need to sell to make the profit back?”

……

Xu Zhiquan frowned and thought for a while, then looked up at Yang Congxin.

Yang Congxin had worked with Xu Zhiquan for a long time, and immediately understood what he meant, so he said to the dozen or so technical colleagues in front of him:
"Everyone, go back to work. What we'll discuss at today's meeting will be kept confidential."

The other colleagues agreed and then said goodbye and left.

In the conference room, only Xu Zhiquan, Xu Chen, Yang Congxin and Fang Jun were left.

Xu Zhiquan handed Yang Congxin a cigarette:

"What does Director Yang think?"

Yang lit up his cigarette again, took a puff and said:
“This motor is definitely much better than other motors on the market, but the introduction price is indeed too expensive.

The few companies that Jinshi contacted probably all felt that the input-output ratio was not high..."

Xu Zhiquan didn't respond and turned to look at Fang Jun.

Fang Jun took a pen and did some calculations on the notebook, then said:
“Don’t think about the profit-sharing method. It may seem like you don’t have to spend any money in the early stages, but the costs will accumulate to a very high level in the later stages.

Based on a 5% share and a car price of 2000 yuan, when units are sold, their share alone will be million yuan.

According to our initial feasibility report, our annual production and sales volume in the future will have to be at least two million units..."

Yang Congxin is purely a technical person and has little contact with finance.

But after a brief consideration in my mind, I was surprised again and again...

According to Fang Jun's calculation just now, if the annual production and sales volume is one or two million units, the annual technology profit sharing fee for the optoelectronic motor will be one or two hundred million!
It was not until this moment that he realized how big Xu Zhiquan's ambition was.

This still had a great shock on Yang Congxin.

After all, in the past few years, Guangming Factory had an annual output value of 10 or 20 million, and it was enough to hold a celebration party...

However, Mr. Xu’s plans and ambitions are several orders of magnitude higher.

……

Xu Zhiquan nodded and looked at Xu Chen with a smile.

Xu Chen had already come over from the back seat and said:

"Didn't you say a few days ago that there were a few million more in the account?
Besides, Dad, you don’t have to rush to transfer back the two million from Dongchen Advertising. I don’t need it for the time being…”

Yang adjusted his black-framed glasses again, obviously surprised again.

From Xu Chen's words, it was obvious that he was already discussing the third "buyout" plan with President Xu, and they were even discussing the specific issue of fund raising.

Xu Zhiquan smoked a cigarette and said in a deep voice:

"Eight million is still a bit too much to ask for a buyout fee, there should be a lot of room for bargaining.

I will go find my leader again. This line was introduced to me by my leader.

I don’t know if there are any connections behind this, and if there is a chance to negotiate a lower price.”

Yang Congxin still seemed a little unsure:
"Mr. Xu, is there still any risk? After all, the price is too expensive...

None of the electric car manufacturers in Jinshi have expressed any intention to do so."

Xu Chen interrupted and said:

"This is a good thing. Since they haven't expressed any intention, we still have some bargaining power and can negotiate the buyout fee to be as low as possible." Xu Zhiquan nodded and continued:
"Director Yang was away these past two days, so Xu Chen and I discussed some things, including the future vision of our Morningwind electric vehicles.

Judging from the current market, electric car manufacturers in the north basically still follow the pure "assembly" route without much technical content.

If we at Morningwind Technology want to go long-term and have better profits, we still need to gradually build our own technological moat...

The motor technology of HUST has the opportunity to help us start to build a technological barrier that "others don't have but we have", which can be regarded as a great luck for us.

I will find a way to solve the funding problem. Anyway, a lot of money has already been invested, so we can't hesitate at this time.

Once you have found the right opportunity, you must act decisively. Being timid will only lead to missing the opportunity..."

Xu Chen: “Other factories have no intention to purchase the latest motor technology, which is also a market opportunity for us.

This will become our competitive advantage...

In addition, in the long run, the route of pure "low-end assembly" will not last long.

We still have to take the high-end, high-quality route.

If this motor technology has obvious advantages in terms of noise and motor maintenance, it can be transformed into a competitive selling point for our Morningwind electric vehicles.”

Yang Congxin nodded and smiled:

"Since both you and your son said so, I, Old Yang, have a good idea!

The motor technology of HUST is already very mature. In addition to seeing the actual product in the laboratory, I have also seen the large-scale technical demonstrations for mass production in the motor factory they cooperate with, and they are all very complete.

In addition to the technology buyout costs, the actual motor manufacturing cost is not much different from the current mainstream brushed motor...

I am just a little worried about the company's funding problem. The technology buyout fee is too expensive, and I am afraid that the input-output ratio is not high for us."

Xu Zhiquan: "Technology is a long-term investment, so don't consider the return in the short term..."

He paused for a moment and put out the cigarette in the ashtray:
"The first product of our Morning Breeze Technology is the most important and can only succeed and cannot fail.

If we can use the latest competitive motor technology, our chances of success will be even better.”

……

The decision was made very quickly, and the idea was basically to buy out this motor technology.

In fact, at the beginning, Xu Zhiquan and Xu Chen didn’t pay too much attention to this, but after taking a comprehensive look, they found it to be a good surprise. Huazhong University of Science and Technology really has something.

The only problem is that the technology buyout price is expensive, which is indeed a bit stressful for Morningwind Technology, which is currently short of funds.

Xu Zhiquan contacted Wu Yongming on the same day and asked about his channels. It was mainly about bargaining issues and he was still waiting for feedback from his superiors.

Fang Jun has already re-planned his funds, and some of the funds originally reserved for production, promotion, etc. may have to be withdrawn.

Fortunately, at the beginning of this month, Jin Guiyuan, who had just "entered", contributed a few million yuan in funds back.

……

Yang Congxin spoke again:

"The design of our 'Morning Wind Ice Power' has been almost completed by two design institutes and one design company in Beijing, and the proposal is expected to be returned next week.

There are also two design companies in the provincial capital...

We will organize an internal meeting and take a look at it together.”

Xu Zhiquan nodded:
"Don't forget to call Xu Chen. As the product planner of 'Morning Wind Ice Power', he still needs to give suggestions."

Yang Congxin smiled again: "Of course!"

Xu Zhiquan thought of something else and said:

"Will the technical experts who came with the production line arrive tomorrow?"

Technical experts are brought in to the factory to coordinate with the production line.

They will cooperate to complete the installation and commissioning of the production line, as well as relevant training for technical workers, etc.

Yang Congxin said:

"Yes, they will arrive tomorrow afternoon.

We will first help to inspect the factory building, water, electricity and other hardware facilities, and the production line will be connected starting next week.

The other two technical experts will bring the technical information first. I have organized the technical elites, and they will get started as soon as they arrive!"

Xu Zhiquan nodded:
“How is accommodation arranged?”

Yang Congxin: "The administration department arranged an apartment for us from the dormitory. It has two bedrooms and a living room, which is enough for two technical experts to live in."

Xu Zhiquan: "I've been quite busy recently, Director Yang and Wu Yue, thank you for taking good care of these two technical experts.

Learn what you need to learn as soon as possible! "

Yang Congxin: "Don't worry, Mr. Xu, I have selected technical backbones who can get started quickly.

Once the production line is debugged, it won’t take too much time to train other workers.

The workers at Guangming Factory still have a good 'revolutionary tradition'. We were all managed in a militarized manner in the beginning, and now everyone is full of energy! "

Xu Zhiquan smiled and nodded:

"Chenxin Seedlings has just completed acceptance inspections for several projects, and the workers can return to the factory one after another.

Just in time for the production line to arrive!"

He turned to look at Xu Chen and said jokingly:

"But your fourth uncle will have to work hard again. He has to go out and recruit workers for the nursery project!"

……

……

The next day, Xu Zhiquan and Yang Congxin flew to Beijing again. Naturally, they went to Huazhong University of Science and Technology to see the electric machines.

However, Xu Zhiquan did not reveal his identity as the "boss" to the other party. He pretended to be another technician and followed Director Yang to gain further understanding.

The two did not stay in the capital and rushed back that day.

After Xu Zhiquan went to see it in person, he became more confident and directly asked Fang Jun to start allocating funds.

In addition, he did contact Huazhong University of Science and Technology through Wu Yongming's connections, and negotiated another round of prices in his other capacity in the city.

The cost of technology buyout has been reduced from eight million to six million.

However, Xu Zhiquan seemed unsatisfied and asked Yang to "hang out" the other party for a few days again in order to lower the price.

On the one hand, it is true that funds are tight now and every penny has to be spent carefully.

On the other hand, Mr. Xu also inquired through some channels and found that several car manufacturers contacted by Huazhong University of Science and Technology did not have any purchasing intention except Chenfeng Technology.

Then there is still room for negotiation.

……

The two technical experts from Jiangsu Province have arrived, and Xu Zhiquan took the time to have a meal with them.

Both of them were pragmatic technical professionals, and they did not have many complicated thoughts. They just treated the trip to Tiancheng as an ordinary business trip and returned as soon as possible after finishing the work.

……

Xu Zhiquan and Xu Chen once talked about how they expected that within a few years, Chenfeng Technology and this Jiangsu enterprise would become competitors.

It’s just that the other party currently looks down upon Morning Breeze Technology.

During the negotiation process for the production line, most of them thought that Xu Zhiquan was a local boss who was being taken advantage of. They thought that even if they bought a production line, they probably wouldn't be able to make anything out of it.

When Xu Zhiquan went on business trips to Jiangsu Province several times, he deliberately acted honest and reckless, and seemed to know nothing. His purpose was to make the other party feel at ease to sell the production line to him.

(End of this chapter)