On the other side of the sea, in May Club's secret office.
Houston never imagined that one day he would replace Paine and sit in the main seat of the conference room.
He once thought that if he wanted to sit in this position, he would have to at least wait until Paine was too old to think anymore, or until the threat to his side was completely gone, and May would become a useless department, then he would have a chance.
But unexpectedly, the opponent's development speed far exceeded our expectations.
The forced adjustment is not because the opponent is no longer a threat, but because the threat from the opponent is too great.
It was so big that even Paine made no mistakes, just a slower pace, which resulted in a complete defeat of his own side.
Of course, it was this ending that gave me hope of entering the core decision-making level.
On some level, I should be grateful to Paine.
Although he was sorry for the country, he was really sorry for himself.
Anyway, I hope he's doing well on his farm in Texas
Houston breathed a sigh of relief, put down the report he had read, and said to the assistant beside him:
"Are you sure that this is their latest plan? Are they going to develop their efforts in the field of construction machinery?"
The assistant nodded and replied:
"Yes, the confidentiality level of this plan is not high, and it has even been disclosed to the relevant participating departments."
"According to the intelligence we have obtained, they should be planning to prioritize solving problems in the fields of shield boring machines, heavy excavators, and bridge erecting machines. The person responsible for coordinating this is a newly established working group called the Office of Civil Development. .”
"The authority of this working group is very high. It is said that it may be on the same level as the Office of Heavy Equipment, or even above it."
"We suspect that the Office of Civil Development is related to the mysterious working group we previously speculated on, and is likely to be their spokesperson in the field of civilian technology."
Hearing the assistant's words, Houston's brows frowned slightly.
"You mean, their No. 0 working group?"
"That's right."
"But this is somewhat unreasonable. Working Group 0 has always been responsible for scientific research in the military field. If it is now turned to civilian use, the span will be too large."
"They don't have the technical accumulation and reliable talent pool. If they rashly adjust their direction, will they really be able to do it?"
The assistant shook his head and replied:
"We're not particularly sure about this."
"But what is certain is that the early stage of the Tianjing Project is related to the No. 0 Working Group."
"In this project, they should have accumulated some civilian scientific research experience, which is enough to support them in launching large-scale civilian scientific research projects."
"No, it's definitely not enough."
Houston interrupted the assistant and said:
"No matter how rich the accumulation of project experience is, it is impossible to completely eliminate the technical gap. This is an objective law."
"But the intelligence can't be wrong, it's even semi-public."
The assistant said doubtfully.
Houston sighed, his expression gradually becoming serious.
He took a piece of white paper and wrote several words on it.
Military industry.
Civilian.
Fighters, missiles, electronics.
Ships, high-speed rail, infrastructure.
Then, he turned the paper towards his assistant and asked:
"Did you find anything?"
The assistant shook his head, still looking confused.
"It's so obvious, why can't you tell?"
Houston glanced at the assistant helplessly, and then continued:
"They are closing their gap step by step, and they are choosing the shortest path."
"The development of military industry is to maximize our influence during the window period when our energy is involved in the Middle East, establish a relatively stable external environment, and at the same time establish international influence as quickly as possible. .”
"And all of this is actually paving the way for the development of their civilian technology."
"After all, civilian technology requires a lot of capital and market support. If they don't have a voice internationally, their domestic market alone cannot support the goal of rapid development."
"So, military industry is the first step."
"After taking this step and reaching a 'sufficient' level, they began to switch to civilian use."
"The high-speed rail is their first test project, followed by the Tianjing Project, which is a mixed-military-civilian project, and the current construction machinery project, in their words, is a failure."
"They want to quickly build a strong composite economy based on the foundation established by the military industry."
“Right now, their GDP ranking is only ranked sixth, but if this trend continues, they are likely to enter the top five within two or three years, and the top three – or even second – within 10 years. "
"At that time, the economic advantage will feed back to the military, and the entire situation will be completely revitalized by them."
"So, what they are doing now is just the same thing."
"They're upgrading!"
"upgrade?"
The assistant repeated subconsciously.
"That's right. It's like a tabletop game. You have to collect all the elements required to upgrade before you can complete the upgrade."
"And once the upgrade is successful, your strength will instantly increase a lot."
"Obviously, the element they are collecting now is infrastructure."
Houston stood up suddenly and spoke firmly:
"We must not sit idly by, otherwise we will make the same mistake as Paine."
"In the past, it was difficult for us to intervene militarily, but economically, there is much more room for maneuver. Do you have any ideas?"
The assistant was obviously stunned when he heard Houston's question.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he answered:
"Trade protection, sanctions, monopoly, dumping, technological blockade. These are the only ones I can think of."
"However, when it comes to heavy machinery, we actually don't have a big say in the international arena. Mitsubishi and Hitachi are actually the other party's largest suppliers."
"It is not feasible to achieve the goal through sanctions."
"In terms of technical blockade, you also know that the technical strength of Working Group Zero is not bad. Now that it has been proposed, it is almost impossible to rely on external technology. This goes against their original intention."
Houston nodded in agreement, and after thinking for a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"If none of these work, then the only option is trade protection + dumping, right?"
"If this strategy is implemented, we can destroy both their domestic and international markets at the same time."
"By then, no matter how advanced their technology is, whatever they can't sell will just rot in the warehouse."
"As soon as the funding chain for research and development is broken, they will no longer be able to pose a threat to us."
The assistant on the side nodded silently.
Deep down, he actually didn't agree with such a plan.
After all, relying on "dumping" to occupy the market is actually not the most "economical" approach.
But now, if you really want to curb the opponent's "upgrade" trend, there seems to be no other better solution.
A few days later, Caterpillar headquarters.
Chairman Qian Ning looked at the man opposite him seriously and asked:
"Are you serious? Are you sure you want us to cooperate in implementing the price-cutting and dumping strategy?"
"Do you know that once the price of a product is reduced, it is not them that will be affected first, but our own domestic market!"
"Our profits will plummet, the capital chain will be broken, and we may even be unable to repay bank loans. Is this what you want?"
Houston shook his head calmly and replied:
"of course not."
"In fact, we value your own profits more than you do. Even if it is only a small reduction, it will be a huge tax loss for us."
"So, you can rest assured that this time the official is definitely not trying to make things difficult for you. On the contrary, we will provide many conveniences."
“The most important one is tariff subsidies.”
"All tariffs paid on your products exported to China will be subsidized by us."
"But in return, you must reduce the price of your products by 20%."
Looking at Houston's taken-for-granted expression, Chan Ning was speechless.
20% reduction?
You know, when their heavy machinery is exported to China, the highest tariff they pay is only 13%.
Now, you are asking for a 20% reduction in one breath. Where will the other 7% come from?
Aren't you just using my money to do your own business?
Thinking of this, Qian Ning shook his head and said:
"Sorry, sir."
"We cannot fulfill this request."
"You know, the construction machinery industry itself is an industry with thin profits. If we reduce the selling price by 20% as you said, it will cause all our export products to fall into losses."
"This is absolutely unacceptable - not only to me but also to other investors in the company."
Houston seemed to have expected Chan Ning's answer. He took the document from the assistant on the side and handed it to Chan Ning.
"I guessed you would have such concerns."
"So, before coming, we had visited all investors in Caterpillar in advance."
"This is a transcript of our conversation with them - it contains several preliminary white papers of intent."
"Obviously, these investors have a longer-term view than you do."
"They all agreed with this plan and believed that being able to capture that huge market would actually be beneficial to us."
Qian Ning took the document suspiciously, and after opening it, he saw those signatures that he was very familiar with on the document.
"Mr. Blackwater Fuller also agreed?"
Channing asked in disbelief.
You know, Fuller Kepler of Blackwater Capital is the most cautious investor he knows. Not to mention risky moves, even if it is just a normal strategic change within the company, he will call him repeatedly. Consult yourself.
But now, he actually signed the white paper of intent without going through himself?
This is very unreasonable
"Of course, he's the most positive one."
Houston replied with a relaxed air.
Qian Ning frowned, knowing that these letters of intent could not be forged.
In fact, there is no need for the other party to forge a letter of intent.
After all, a letter of intent only represents "intention". If you don't agree, it will only remain on paper.
Of course, if the other party can sign these intentions, the pressure on himself will indeed be considerable.
"How did you convince them?"
Qian Ning put down the document as if he was resigned to his fate and asked.
"It's simple. We promise to provide unlimited financial support for this project until Caterpillar can make more money in the Chinese market."
"financial support?"
Qian Ning was shocked.
“If there is financial support, why is it not given directly to us or the company, but to investors??”
This is very normal logic. If you want to fight a price war, the best way is undoubtedly to directly provide subsidies to the company, and use subsidies to improve the company's interests to support lower pricing.
But now, the strategy being considered by the May Club seems a bit complicated.
"That's not something you need to think about, Mr. Channing."
"You know, this matter is originally a duel between capital, and you are just a company manager."
"You don't have such ability, so not to intervene is the best choice for both of us."
".Understood."
Qian Ning nodded and picked up the cigarette beside him.
He subconsciously wanted to light one for himself, but he didn't move forward to light the cigarette until the match burned out.
At this moment, he felt a little confused.
This is just a game of capital
That being the case, why does Caterpillar need to be involved? ——
Yes, this company is just a tool.
A tool that serves as a springboard for them to achieve their goals.
Perhaps, after the "dumping" goal is completed, they will kick themselves out and replace them with other closer partners.
At that time, I didn’t even have the right to object to myself.
Well, not yet.
Thinking of this, he sighed helplessly.
"alright, I got it."
"I'll cooperate but I want to know, what exactly are you going to do?"
"It's very simple."
Houston sat up straight and said:
“Occupy the market, destroy all their related industries, and subsequently, achieve monopoly.”
"It's like, well, like what we do on the chip."
"Hanxin?"
Qian Ning's heart moved.
"That's another story—one that you don't need to worry about."
Houston replied with a smile.
He stretched out his hand to Qian Ning, and as the two hands clasped together, a large-scale and far-reaching plan began.
Neither side of the plan can predict its final direction, but there is no doubt that if one side wins, the other side will be doomed.
A few days later, a piece of shocking news shocked the entire China.
Caterpillar announced that due to reductions in material costs and the application of new technologies, the costs of some products have dropped. In order to ensure the optimal development curve, the company has decided to implement strategies such as price reductions, discounts, and discounts in multiple markets, including China.
The comprehensive price reduction range reaches 20%.
But the price reduction window is only one year.
As soon as the news came out, the whole world was in an uproar.
Everyone is discussing why Americans suddenly started doing charity.
Some people believe that this is purely a normal decision made to seize the market, and is essentially a trap.
However, no matter which side's point of view, it cannot change one fact, that is:
All domestic manufacturers that need construction machinery have begun to advance their purchase plans that were originally expected to be placed a few years later.
