Because the targets of Merlin's spells were all Americans.
America kept the matter secret.
Anyway, it just so happens that Donkey Elephant has completed the handover in 2024, and the previous batch of senior executives can gradually fade out of the public eye.
It's just that the foreign media will always keep an eye on them, especially Russia's RT, which is extremely powerful and provides various close-ups to analyze the characters' psychology.
RT TV station also gave a definition to this matter: "Merlin's Curse".
Anyone who is affected by this curse will lose their positive emotions. Judging from the appearances of big shots in public, their smiles can be clearly seen as fake smiles.
There was only endless emptiness and exhaustion in his eyes.
The term Merlin's Curse is recognized around the world, and everyone agrees that it is an appropriate description.
At the same time, it is also a kind of warning. Don’t act rashly before you are completely sure.
There may not be any benefits, but once you are hit by Merlin's dimensionality reduction, you will be targeted.
Coupled with Merlin's elusiveness, they didn't even dare to mention Merlin's name before they could restrain Merlin from remotely controlling human bodies.
So much so that American internally joked:
"He is somewhat of a mysterious man, the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads."
"The main reason is that the method used to control William is too weird. Before we find a way to restrain this method, everyone around us may be his substitute.
The more important point is that he can use a solution similar to the global surveillance plan we used before, and he has a technological advantage over us in the Internet field. "
"So now the investigation against him has been stopped, and the big shots will no longer make irrational decisions before finding a way to crack it."
"That's not necessarily true. The current brain circuit is not understandable by normal people."
Leadership is indeed easy to surprise.
Not only did the people in England think that Merlin was an Englishman, they even officially suspected that Merlin was an Englishman.
Originally, they were looking for a list of people who had disappeared inexplicably in the past five hundred years in England's history.
And focus on university students and scientific researchers.
England spent a lot of manpower and material resources to do this, trying to find the missing traces from history.
This stopped immediately after Merlin's curse came out. No one could resist Merlin giving him such a blow.
All data on this project have been sealed, awaiting possible subsequent restart.
The existence of Bill and others is the best deterrent to Blue Star Civilization.
Chinese netizens connected Merlin's curse with the law of the dark jungle in "The Three-Body Problem".
"Technology may not be inferior to magic, but the problem now is that we are in the light and Merlin is in the dark.
We knew nothing about magic, and Merlin seemed to be well versed in Muggle studies. The two parties are not on the same cognitive level. "
Zheng Li's clone in Lion City also felt that the "attention" to him disappeared.
Shock is still effective.
Before the release of the first model of Rice Motors, Lei Jun made a special trip to the Lion City to meet with Zheng Li and also visited the R&D center of Rice City.
Meeting Zheng Li was the core purpose, and inspecting the Rice City R&D Center was only the secondary purpose.
Lei Jun obviously has more white hair on his head than before, and dyeing his hair can't hide it.
Zheng Li chose to meet Lei Jun on the top floor of Wallich Family.
Lei Jun gave him a hug as soon as they met: "We haven't seen each other for a long time. The last time we met was probably in 2022. At that time, I came to the Lion City for business and met."
"Every time I see you, I have the feeling that I am a young person in this era, and I always feel that it is time for me to retire."
Zheng Li was only 24 years old at this time, and he was already the richest man in Asia, with a net worth of more than one trillion RMB.
Looking at it, Lei Jun felt as if he had worked so hard in vain for so many years.
Zheng Li smiled and said: "It was the first venture capital investment given to me by my senior brother. It was only with the starting capital that I was able to develop today."
The butler served the tea and disappeared silently into the living room.
The conversation between the two was somewhat confidential, and any information leaked out would have an impact on the secondary market.
"No, no, no, I'm just the icing on the cake. Even when you were still a student, my fifty million was just the icing on the cake, not a timely help."
Lei Jun was very humble. He knew that Zheng Li was not good at talking, so he continued:
"Kechuang Biotech is a purely technology-driven enterprise, and Kechuang Biotechnology's endorphin manufacturing method at that time was the core need of mankind, and the competitiveness of its products lies there."
"Even without my venture capital, it will take you a little longer to get started, but you can still develop Science and Technology Biotech to where it is today."
"On the contrary, I have benefited from you, and Shunwei Capital can own 5% of the shares of Science and Technology Biotechnology."
The market value of Kechuang Biotech has exceeded RMB 2 trillion. After the split, the total share capital has changed from 400 million shares to 4 billion shares.
The market value of 10% of Lei Jun's shares exceeds RMB 200 billion. His first investment that year was RMB 50 million, and the follow-up investment in Series B was only about RMB 20 billion.
In five years, the investment increased tenfold.
The income this investment alone brought to Shunwei Capital exceeded their total investment income over the years.
Zheng Li: "Senior brother, we are so familiar with each other, so there is no need to be polite. We can be more direct."
"I feel like you're under a lot of psychological pressure this time. Did the incident with Rice Car put you under a lot of pressure?"
Lei Jun sighed: "Although what you said in the media, you don't have to take it seriously."
"But the rice car should really be my last stop. I really can't do it anymore as I get older."
"I have no idea whether the rice car can be built or whether it can survive smoothly."
New energy vehicle companies have been fighting fiercely in recent years, with new players entering the game one after another.
Whether Huawei has built a car or not, it can only be said that benevolence is in the eye of the beholder and wisdom is in the eye of the wise.
(Anyway, I think Selis is no different from ending up in person)
Luxshare Precision, a former Apple supplier, also entered the market and announced in a high-profile manner that it would build cars.
Not to mention that international consumer electronics giants such as Apple and Sony have also announced that they will participate in the competition of new energy vehicles.
In the past, there were Li Xiaowei, BYD, Tesla, etc., and in the latter, new energy vehicles from Apple and Sony were about to be launched.
As their competitive product, rice is under a lot of pressure and mainly has no core advantages. Is it really effective to rely on rice noodles for large-ticket products such as cars?
Lei Jun's heart was just like what he said, he really had no idea.
Zheng Li: "With Rice being so successful, Rice Auto will definitely have no problem. I believe in Rice's mature supply chain system and the execution ability of Rice's team."
Cars, far more than mobile phones, test the strength of the entrepreneurial team. Being able to work hard and work successfully is a must-have ability.
But beyond basic abilities, there are still many, many more questions about whether you can survive.
Like Jia and Xu, they don't have the most basic ability to work hard, and building cars only exists with words.
Lei Jun's face was very bitter: "Tesla recently announced a price cut of 30,000 yuan in the Chinese market, bringing the price to the range of 250,000 yuan."
"This puts too much pressure on Mi Motors. Even with the support of super lithium battery technology, it will be difficult to beat Tesla at the same price."
"Many people who succeed in starting a business don't know why they are successful. Although they will sum up various successful experiences, in fact they are only a small part."
"The biggest factor in entrepreneurial success is timing. If you seize the opportunity and do it better than others, you will succeed. This is what we call the opportunity."
"But in the words of today's young people, the trend of new energy vehicles is really too big."
"It is no less difficult than starting a business in the mobile phone industry in 2020. Every pain point you can think of has been solved by peers."
"At the same time, only after truly entering this industry can we understand the power of Tesla."
"I heard that Tesla's price reduction of 30,000 yuan is just the beginning, and it will drop another 30,000 yuan in the future, approaching the price range of 200,000 yuan."
Zheng Li was surprised. Because of his entrepreneurial experience, he still had a certain understanding of Blue Star's industry.
Zheng Li asked: "I'm curious. The price of a single Tesla is only between 250,000 and 300,000. The price is reduced by 60,000?"
"If the price drops so much, will it affect their own profits? Take away the profit margins reserved for marketing and dealers, and this will lead to negative profits, right?"
Lei Jun explained: “This is the scary thing about Tesla.”
"Their gross profit margin is 35%. If the price is reduced by RMB 60,000, they will still make a profit."
"But the profits of domestic new energy manufacturers are generally between 10% and 20%, and they cannot afford this level of price reduction."
"Super lithium batteries have put a lot of pressure on Tesla, but Tesla has come up with the trump card of price reduction."
"Super battery life does solve the mileage worries of tram users, but not every car owner needs this feature."
"Many new energy vehicle users only travel in the city, and super range is just the icing on the cake for them."
Zheng Li: "So Tesla's price reduction can attract all these users who don't value battery life?"
Lei Jun nodded: "A price reduction of 30,000 yuan is not necessarily possible, but if the price is reduced to 60,000 yuan, it will definitely attract most customers at this price who do not value battery life."
Zheng Li: "What is the expected price of Rice Auto?"
Speaking of this, Lei Jun sighed: "Our original plan was to divide rice cars into two models with super range and without super range."
"There is no rice car with super range, and the price is about 150,000."
"But at this price point, if Tesla cuts the price by RMB 60,000, the competitiveness of Mi Auto products without super battery life will be too weak."
"This is not to say that DaMi Auto's products themselves are not good, but rather to consider aspects such as user acceptance."
Many investors are not optimistic about rice-made cars because cars are different from mobile phones.
Mobile phone failure will not affect your personal safety, but car failure will.
According to the degree of squeezing of the supply chain by rice mobile phones, the same method of making cars will not work.
One thing to mention here is that Huawei Mobile has never exploited suppliers, but Huawei exploits software service suppliers in an all-round way.
These are common operations such as pressing for payment. The most disturbing thing is that the length of time you help Huawei provide software services depends on when they learn your technology.
The majority of users are obviously skeptical about the safety of rice-made cars.
Therefore, after Dami announced that it would build a car, the secondary market voted with its feet and was not optimistic about it.
The stock price fell along with the Hong Kong stock market, falling to the ankle.
Until recently, after the launch of brain-computer connected VR, Rice held a 20% stake in the joint venture. Relying on this super good news, the market value of rice exceeded its previous high point.
Zheng Li knew why Lei Jun had aged so much when he met him this time. "He should have been off the production line, right?"
Lei Jun: "The first batch of rice cars are already in production, and the model cannot be changed."
"The only question now is how much lower to push the price down."
"Originally, Mi Auto did not want to take the cost-effective route, but now it seems that it has to return to the cost-effective route."
Zheng Li: "Survive first before we can talk about the next step."
Lei Jun: “I don’t want to focus on cost-effectiveness because cost-effectiveness is deeply tied to rice.”
"Over the years, I have been trying to get out of this restriction, whether it is splitting Redmi or developing a mix series."
"Dami Auto has returned to the cost-effective butcher route, and I'm worried about the impact on Mi Mobile phones."
Zheng Li: “Tesla was the first to be the price butcher.”
Lei Jun nodded: "Yes, I think it will be much better if you say it this way."
“If we don’t lower prices, there is still a glimmer of hope.”
If the price is not reduced, how can a car with a normal range of 150,000 yuan be compared with a model 3 that has been reduced to 200,000 yuan?
As a top entrepreneur, with his sense of smell, Lei Jun can make decisions that are in the best interest of the moment.
As for whether anyone can calculate five or ten years from now, it is possible in five years but impossible in ten years.
Lei Jun continued: "Daimi Automobile has to go on with it no matter how hard it is."
"Even if I fail in the end, I hope I tried my best."
"When I came to the Lion City this time, I wanted to talk to you about the share transfer."
"From my perspective, I think it is a good thing that you transferred 8% of your shares to Huaguo Investment."
"Increasing the proportion of state-owned assets can get some additional support, and at the same time, the capital allocation of all parties will be more balanced."
Zheng Li nodded: "Actually, I have always wanted to introduce state capital, but there was no suitable time. This time, Huaguo Investment found me."
"I transferred a small part of the equity to them at a more suitable price."
Zheng Li did not choose to tell Lei Jun the truth.
What Cheng Gang reported to him was not part of the board of directors' communication, and Lei Jun didn't know about it.
Since Cheng Gang was previously a professional manager of Lei Jun's Shunwei Capital, in order to avoid suspicion, Cheng Gang deliberately distanced himself from Lei Jun.
Even if the news was leaked from Cheng Gang to Lei Jun, Lei Jun would not make it clear that Zheng Li would not be able to step down when he heard what Zheng Li meant.
Zheng Li caught a hint of surprise on Lei Jun's face.
"I thought someone was putting pressure on you, so I wanted to comfort you."
"It's also a good thing for you personally. You can cash out 8% of your shares at one time and have funds in hand to allocate some resources."
"In addition, from a certain perspective, expanding state-owned capital is conducive to the subsequent development of scientific and technological innovation."
