Reinventing the Millennium.

Chapter 500 It was the one who committed the sin of arrogance in the first place... (two in one)

On the eve of Ice Core seeking to pass the U.S. Department of Energy’s audit, Fang Zhuo, Goldman Sachs, PH Company, and Ice Core’s equipment procurement team held a final meeting to check for gaps and make up for leaks, and try not to make any low-level mistakes the next day.

The review materials required by the four major departments are the same, including development plans, commercial commitments, shareholder information, equipment details, and so on.

Fang Zhuo has nothing to hide about this, and the transparent ice core has nothing to keep secret at the current stage. On the contrary, he hopes that these administrative departments will see more about the shareholder structure of ice core, including international capital.

Regardless of the Cayman Islands where it is registered, or the global shareholders of Goldman Sachs Group, Deutsche Bank, and DCM, these all prove that Bingxin CSMC is an international company, but only chooses the factory production line in China.

This is the successful experience learned from SMIC, and also the failure lesson of domestic Huahong and Huajing, whose state-owned components are too conspicuous.

The right to approve equipment procurement is in the hands of the other party, and the minimum superficial work must be done.

Every cognition and progress has to pay a price, and breaking the illusion alone requires a lot of cost.

The evening meeting didn't last long, everything was cross-checked and there were individual pre-audits by the constituents.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Fang Zhuoshu couldn't sleep, so he had another phone call with Director Xiaoyu.

In this phone call, the two of them didn't talk about Bingxin's audit the next day, nor about their nervousness, but tacitly chatted about domestic small movements.

Yu Hong asked about the situation of Changhong in China. She saw President Fang read the email sent by Ni Runfeng, the head of Changhong yesterday.

It is strange that the head of Changhong seems to have sent a company weekly report to his boss.

"Changhong entered the hut, mastered Meiling, and wanted to transform liquid crystal technology. This matter was protested by the color tube company they have always cooperated with." Fang Zhuo was very clear about the situation before and after Changhong. Come on, this is undoubtedly Changhong's betrayal of them, so there have been some twists and turns."

Yu Hong asked: "Mr. Ni seeks advice from you?"

"He is actually under a lot of pressure, including various factors such as administration, internal company, partners, warehouse inventory." Fang Zhuo said, "But I still think that Lao Ni needs to be tough. "

"Changhong's main contradiction is betting on the future technology route. Grasp this point, and other attempts to disrupt this direction must be suppressed."

Fang Zhuo first came to a conclusion, and then said: "Inventory can be sold at a loss, color tube cooperative enterprises can jump off a cliff to reduce purchases, and technicians can be transferred to Luzhou in batches."

"Old Ni is not tough now. When my overseas channels are normalized, it may still make people think. This is also very important."

"The current timing is the time when I can provide the strongest assistance. After passing this village, it will be difficult for Lao Ni to be tough."

Yu Hong sighed, "Can Changhong Meiling produce LCD TVs this year?"

"According to Lao Ni's plan, Luzhou should be able to do it by the end of the year. Our ice core production capacity can't keep up with this batch, but we can consider bringing Changhong to chat with upstream manufacturers at the end of the year." Fang Zhuo couldn't help saying The next step is to start the ice core.

Then, he immediately stopped the topic and said, "Let's see what tomorrow will be like."

Yu Hong felt a little heavy in her heart, and said with a smile on the phone, "Okay, I'll contact you tomorrow night and get some rest early. The rich and powerful have come to this point, and it can be considered that they have fought against the administration of the superpower of the United States."

"Hey, I just want to be an honest businessman." Fang Zhuo said from his heart, and ended the call.

It was quite late, and he didn't look back on the mood of facing critical approvals this time, so he fell asleep and recharged his energy for the meeting tomorrow morning.

The U.S. Department of Energy is located in the James Forester Building in southwest Washington.

Fang Zhuo and his party will visit the Hearing and Appeal Office in the morning.

To be precise, they are going to participate in an equipment procurement hearing of the Ministry of Energy today, the main content of which is the equipment procurement and technology introduction qualifications of Ice Core CSMC's factory located in China.

Fang Zhuo actually didn't understand what the relationship between semiconductor manufacturing equipment and the Ministry of Energy is. Other defense, state affairs, and commerce can be sidelined, and the Energy Department insists on stamping.

But the process is like this, everything has to be compliant.

The Office of Hearings and Appeals is on the 6th floor.

At 10:[-], a group of five people arrived at the office [-] minutes early.

"Oh, the curling company's application, right? Hold on a minute."

There were only two people in the office, and one of them, with a hooked nose, flipped through the submitted application forms, took a look, and confirmed that the time had not yet come.

The English name of Ice Core is Curling Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, where Curling means "curling".

The person in front of him didn't seem to have read the application form carefully, or he wasn't specifically responsible for this item, and understood what he thought it meant after just a glance.

Fang Zhuo watched helplessly as the hooked-nosed man slowly returned to his seat with a cup of coffee, and then picked up the newspaper on the table, and suddenly felt a little more confident for no reason.

We are a curling company, so why not let us buy equipment!

With a cup of coffee and a newspaper, the atmosphere quickly changed to a level that I could understand!
Or lace newspapers!

10 minutes seems to be slow but really fast.

As soon as nine o'clock arrived, Hooked Nose put down the newspaper and pressed the intercom. After waiting for two colleagues, he politely asked Bing Xin and his party to transfer to the small meeting room next door.

Fang Zhuo arrived at the meeting room, and watched helplessly as the hooked nose sat in the reviewing seat.

Then, he knew this person's name——Wilson.

"We are submitting Ice Core's application for equipment procurement and technology introduction for global semiconductor factories." Smith, the current senior vice president of Ice Core, introduced the situation naturally at this time, and handed over thick materials.

Fang Zhuo could clearly see that Wilson, who had a hooked nose, was stunned for a moment, and then he looked down at the application form, and then looked at the materials, probably to confirm the equipment of the curling company.

Smith eloquently introduced the situation of the ice core factory, and incidentally mentioned his personal job change. He used to be the vice president of Goldman Sachs.

From Goldman Sachs to Bingxin, participating in the hearing today as one of the representatives, this is a suggestion given by PH, which is responsible for the procurement plan, in order to provide an endorsement of trust.

If Fang Zhuo were to introduce the situation, even if he spoke comfortably, yellow skin would not be as convincing as white skin.

Does this little trick work?

From Fang Zhuo's point of view, it seemed to have an effect. The hook-nosed Wilson nodded when he heard Smith's position.

Smith introduced for a full 10 minutes, and the three white men in charge of the first trial occasionally interrupted to ask questions, and then wrote and drew.

When Smith came to an end, Wilson suddenly looked at Fang Zhuo with sharp eyes.

Fang Zhuo's heart tightened, his face remained unchanged, and he was ready to fight, all kinds of thoughts and pre-set answers were circling in his mind.

"Is this Japanese?" Wilson asked a question.

Fang Zhuo's heart suddenly became empty, and his anger seemed to go straight to his forehead. On the first page of the application materials, there was an introduction of the company's shareholders, and his nationality was clearly written.

Why did the other party ask such a question?

Did you not listen for the last 10 minutes?
Or embarrass yourself on purpose?
Fang Zhuo hesitated for two seconds.

Wilson looked at Smith, gestured with his eyes, and asked, "Can this Japanese communicate in English?"

Fang Zhuo was stunned, and said in English: "Yes, yes, I am from Huaxia, and I am also the chairman of Bingxin."

Wilson raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why do you want to build a factory in Huaxia?"

"Because the labor over there is cheap." Fang Zhuo answered one first, ready to change his breath and continue to talk about reasonable reasons.

However, Wilson nodded, looked directly at Smith, and said, "Wait a minute, I'll submit these first."

The aquiline-nosed person walked out of the conference room with a complete set of materials and application form after speaking, while the other two reviewers were scribbling, not sure whether they were recording or analyzing.

Fang Zhuo just felt a puff of breath in his throat again. He still had a stomach full of business model analysis and the reasons for the establishment of the semiconductor market development. Why did Wilson leave?
What are the next steps in the initial review?
Wilson looked very careless, a little more careless than Fang Zhuo expected.

The two reviewers finished their writing and also asked Smith a few questions.

None of them asked Fang Zhuo, nor did they ask the other three members.

Sitting in the conference room, Fang Zhuo suddenly felt very lonely.

He is the chairman of such a company that is dedicated to revitalizing Huaxia Semiconductor, but he does not receive the slightest attention. This is not what he imagined!
About half an hour later, the hook-nosed Wilson came back. He patted the document in his hand on the table and said politely, "Okay, it's over. I hope you all have a good day."

Smith stood up with a smile, shook hands with Wilson and the two reviewers, and took the documents: "This review is very fast, I think it will be tomorrow at the earliest."

Wilson shrugged: "Mr. Lawson happens to be in the office."

He corrected proudly: "It won't be until tomorrow, we can finish it in the afternoon at the latest."

At this time, Wilson looked at Fang Zhuo, the Oriental boss whom he had mistaken for a Japanese, and added a little personal suggestion: "I don't think it's a good idea to open the factory to China. Good luck, sir."

Fang Zhuo forced a smile, and couldn't believe it for a moment.

At 10:[-] a.m., it took only an hour, [-], and [-] minutes for the five people attending the hearing to leave the James Foresta Building.

Fang Zhuo got into the car as usual, making sure that no one would see him, and almost snatched the audit document with the official seal of the US Department of Energy from Smith.

He looked at the red chapter on it, and murmured, "This...why?"

Smith replied: "It is said that Deputy Chief Lawson happened to be in the office."

"No, no, what I mean is that this review seems too easy." Fang Zhuo raised his voice and looked at the documents in his hand over and over again, always feeling like it was fake.

"A distant Eastern factory wants to buy some equipment. Why does the Ministry of Energy obstruct it?" Smith laughed. "I never think the Ministry of Energy is a problem. The real obstacle may be national defense. They are relatively more sensitive."

He continued: "Wilson didn't say anything, I don't think going to China to build a factory is a good choice."

Fang Zhuo felt his throat was a bit dry, and said with difficulty: "But, Wilson is just a deputy director of the office, can his opinion play such a big role?"

Smith said seriously: "Fang, Huaxia is very backward."

He said lightly: "I also think it is not a good choice to build a factory there. It is not a good business to catch up with semiconductors in a backward place. If I were the main investment business, Ice Core would not get it." Goldman Sachs investment."

Fang Zhuo was speechless.

After experiencing the era of fierce competition that tore the bottom line, he suddenly realized that the United States' views and attitudes towards China at this moment were quite different from what he had imagined.

Although we also know that the United States' attention is on the global response, this kind of cognitive feeling is particularly real when we really get in touch with the executives of the Department of Energy.

Fang Zhuo let out a sigh of relief and said in Chinese: "First of all, it is the Ministry of Energy who committed the crime of arrogance."

Smith couldn't understand, and asked, "What?"

"I said, it's not uncommon to package a business that doesn't look good, and I'm confident." Fang Zhuo smiled, and handed the documents in his hand to the two members of the ice core procurement team. It's unbearable.

Smith laughed and nodded.

The audit by the Ministry of Energy went surprisingly smoothly, which really surprised Fang Zhuo, and even expected the same for the next three departments.

Originally, he set aside a month to process the review signed by the four major departments. Who would have thought that a quarter of the progress would be completed in just half a morning.

3+5 small hearings, one deputy director of the office reviewed and submitted, and the deputy head of the department accepted the opinions and made the decision to pass.

Fang Zhuo suddenly had the feeling that all the strength he had accumulated for a long time had hit the empty space.

At least he mentioned his status as the owner of the Rockets, he wanted to talk about the schedule of the New York Yankees, and he wanted to talk about the actress scandal that just appeared a few days ago.

There is nothing, and people may not even look at the application form carefully. At first, they thought it was a curling-related company.

Why...

Because people don't think the Eastern countries are a threat, because people think that a start-up company can't change the situation.

The sealed and signed documents of the Ministry of Energy returned to Fang Zhuo's hands.

He put it away carefully, and asked Smith as if grass had grown in his heart: "Then shall we go to business in the afternoon?"

Smith shook his head and said: "According to the plan, we will go to the Hoover Building at the same time tomorrow morning. The Department of Energy does not manage this type of application, but business is different. This is what they come into contact with every day."

The senior vice president of Bingxin said seriously: "For the business hearing, you should make more psychological preparations. I think you can talk about the trend of globalization."

Fang Zhuo nodded deeply. He had already prepared these things. It is useless to be eager to fight today, but the business responsible for international trade, import and export control, and trade measures...

Presumably, their sensitivity to semiconductor equipment and technology will be more serious.

Fang Zhuo was mentally prepared for this.

only……

When facing the business hearing the next day, Fang Zhuo really did not expect that the first question he heard was actually from a competitor.

"Fang, what do you think of the dispute between SMIC and TSMC?"

(End of this chapter)