Traveling Through the Tokyo Bubble Era

Chapter 652: The End of the Leland Group, the Harvest of Arkansas

Elf Entertainment invested hundreds of millions of dollars in an industrial park in Tochigi Prefecture. After the news was broadcast, it became a hot topic in Japan.

After Hanyu Hideki's nice words were widely known, although they brought him many benefits, they also brought him a lot of trouble.

Of course, this trouble is a little different from what you imagine.

That is, any Japanese official who can get in touch with Hideki Hanyu will try to attract Hanyu Hideki to invest in their constituencies.

Members of parliament from the Northeast are also included here.

As for these people, Hideki Hanyu can only make excuses for various reasons.

After all, no matter how well Elf Entertainment develops, it cannot save the unemployment rate in Japan as a whole.

As for why the legislators there are still not satisfied even though he has invested in so many projects in the Northeast, we can only say that in human nature, "satisfaction" is a relative goal that can never be achieved.

As for some individuals who complained that Hideki Hanyu did not pay attention to his own base and did not build the industrial park in the Northeast region.

Hideki Hanyu's response was not so polite.

No matter how remote Tochigi Prefecture is, it is still in the northern Kanto region and belongs to the Tokyo metropolitan area. Whether in terms of talent or transportation, it is far beyond the reach of the "bitter and cold" Tohoku region.

Many of the basic conditions that can be provided here are difficult to achieve even in the core cities of the Northeast.

He can understand why people come to him to complain about their employment rate.

But if someone wants to interfere in the core development affairs of his company, don't blame him for praising them back with words like "idiot" or "stupid".

Although there were many annoying little troubles, fortunately, after finishing his trip to Tochigi Prefecture, he quickly left Japan and took the "Cloud" to the UK.

He threw all the annoying sounds of neon to others at once.

No matter if you're looking for Iwata Satoshi, Kitahara Eri, or his assistant's office, just don't find him.

I guess by the time he finishes his overseas business and comes back, these guys who came to him on impulse will have calmed down.

After all, many people who came to him didn't really want to do anything for the constituency, but just wanted to take advantage of the news and use the investment to boost their support rate in the constituency.

When the news heat has died down, these people will be too lazy to do such a thing that will make themselves tired and make Hanyu Hideki unhappy.

……

July 6th.

The 'Clouds' landed in London, England.

The first thing Hideki Hanyu did after arriving was to meet with Lamborghini President Wendelin Wiedeking at his house in the Kensington Gardens neighborhood.

In the luxuriously decorated living room, Hanyu Hideki asked after he and his maid brought a cup of black tea to Wendelin Wiedeking.

"I heard you say on the phone that the conditions over there have basically been determined. Tell me the details."

In the acquisition of Leyland Group, because of the sudden intervention of Lamborghini, British Airways, which was originally forced to take over by the UK, saw that there was a scapegoat to share the pressure, and naturally wanted to pass more burdens to Lamborghini.

But Wendelin Wiedeking, who originally just wanted to buy a mini, naturally didn't want to be a sucker.

Therefore, after more than a month of mediation by the British government, the mediation of the Leyland Group, and the original scapegoat British Airways, the parties finally have a preliminary plan after sitting together to discuss.

Wendelin Wiedeking did not explain it clearly on the phone, but when he heard Hanyu Hideki's question, he explained it in detail.

"British Airways was adamantly against our plan to buy only the Mini and Land Rover brands, and after lengthy negotiations, they also proposed several other conditions."

Hanyu Hideki asked, "What are the conditions?"

Wendelin Wiedeking replied.

“In addition to MIni and Land Rover, we have to buy two more car brands.

And bought Self-Changing Gears (SCG), a gearbox manufacturer with pretty good performance.

It also wants to buy Unipart Group, an auto parts logistics company that owns Brown Brothers, Serck and other companies.

There are also two publishing and printing companies, Nuffield Press and Lyne & Son.

And then finally we have to buy the record company they set up for their band, Leyland Band.”

After hearing Wendelin Wiedeking's answer, Hideki Hanyu couldn't help but start complaining.

"I can understand car brands, gearboxes and spare parts logistics, but what are publishing and printing companies and record companies? Don't they know that Lamborghini is a car company? What's the point of having publishing houses and record companies?"

Hearing Hanyu Hideki's words, Wendelin Wiedeking spread his hands helplessly, "These are their conditions, and these companies are of no use to us, let alone British Airways. They just want to dump the burden on us."

Hanyu Hideki rubbed his brows and asked, "Can't we negotiate the terms anymore? They don't want us to buy the company at all, but to take over the employees of these companies."

Wendelin Wiedeking said, "This is the result of my hard work. British Airways is unwilling to make any more concessions. In fact, they have inherited a bigger mess than us."

Hanyu Hideki said angrily, "It is their right to take over. The British clean up the mess for their prime minister, but we are overseas investors. Why should we pay for their wrong policy decisions?"

"Sir, we have to make a decision immediately. The factory Toyota is going to build for Lamborghini is about to be completed. There are still many things waiting for me to deal with in Italy. We don't have time to waste in the UK," said Wendelin Wiedeking.

When Hideki Hanyu heard Wendelin Wiedeking's urging, he thought about the profits that Mini and Land Rover might bring to Lamborghini, as well as the market gap they would fill, and he realized that he would most likely accept the conditions offered by the UK.

However, compared to the original history, when British Airways lost a lot of money after taking over and then handed the plane to the even more unlucky buyer BMW, they were just given these little things as a gift, so they should actually be happy about it.

Moreover, whether it is the publishing and printing company or the later record company, it may be useless to Lamborghini, but it does not mean that it is useless to Hideki Hanyu's other businesses.

Sometimes, things that seem to be cumbersome may be turned into treasures through his manipulation.

After the publishing and printing company and the record company bought the two, they directly sold them to Yunshang Entertainment, which in turn helped Yunshang Entertainment enter the British publishing and record industries.

Compared to working hard to get through the connections on his own, he was able to achieve a breakthrough from zero to one directly through acquisition, and it was the British government that begged him to sell it to him.

As for gearbox companies, parts logistics companies and so on.

The former allows Lamborghini to absorb technology, which can be sent to F1 as a supplier to try out and upgrade the technology, which can then be used by brands such as MINI and Land Rover.

The latter was sold directly to Bellucci Logistics, which has been renamed Europa Logistics, and the British market was opened up directly.

So, what seems like a mess to others can actually be turned into treasure by Hideki Hanyu.

It turns out that having many industries does have its benefits.

After quickly figuring out in his mind how to deal with those companies that were forced upon him, Hanyu Hideki knocked on the table and said.

"I have already thought of how to deal with other companies besides the car brands, so now we have to consider which two car brands to buy in addition to MINI and Land Rover."

Upon hearing this, Wendelin Wiedeking took out a document and pushed it in front of Hanyu Hideki, "This is the information of all the car brands under the Leyland Group."

Hanyu Hideki picked it up and found that although there were many brands on the information, there were only a few that he was familiar with.

After looking for a while, he picked up a pen and circled a brand.

Wendelin Wiedeking took a look and found that the brand circled by Hanyu Hideki was "MG", so he asked curiously, "Why did you choose this one?"

"The logo looks pleasing to the eye," Hanyu Hideki joked.

The reason for choosing "MG" is, of course, that apart from MINI and Land Rover, the only brand under Leyland that Hanyu Hideki is familiar with is "MG", which was later acquired by SAIC.

But he then explained, "If you want to buy, you have to choose a brand that can fill the gap. We should try the low-end and mid-range family car field. MG itself is also involved in the sports car and coupe field, so it will be more convenient to launch extended products at that time."

While explaining, Hideki Hanyu's eyes fell on another brand.

Triumph.

Triumph.

It is also translated as 'Trevissan' in China.

It is a classic sports car brand in the UK and was once a competitor of MG and Jaguar.

But now, these three are in the same boat, Triumph is on the verge of bankruptcy, and MG is half dead.

Jaguar, the only one that can still breathe, has been separated from the Leyland Group by the "Iron Lady".

Otherwise, Hideki Hanyu wouldn't have to worry about it now and could just choose Jaguar. After all, it is a brand he was familiar with in his previous life.

However, he chose Triumph not because of the name or because of the brand's past glory in the automotive industry.

He is after the motorcycle brand under this brand.

This is one of the top seven motorcycle brands in the world. It is the favorite of many tough Hollywood male stars in the future and is known as the most manly motorcycle. The motorcycle driven by Tom Cruise in "Mission Impossible 2" is the Triumph Speed ​​Triple.

Although it looks a bit sluggish now, I believe that with proper marketing and promotion, it will not be too difficult to revitalize this century-old brand.

Moreover, for Hideki Hanyu, who has huge media resources and a presence in Hollywood, it is obviously easier for him to do these things.

Wendelin Wiedeking is indeed a god-level professional manager who led Porsche to almost acquire Volkswagen in his previous life.

When Hideki Hanyu circled the Triumph brand with a pen, he immediately realized something.

"Sir, did you choose Triumph because of their motorcycle brand?"

Hanyu Hideki nodded. "Compared to other useless brands, Triumph motorcycles are still valuable."

Wendelin Wiedeking nodded and said, "That's right, motorcycles can fill the gap in our products."

After selecting the last brand, Hanyu Hideki put down the information in his hand and said, "These are the two brands. Now that we have confirmed them, let's quickly contact the British government and Leyland Group to finalize the deal."

"Okay, I'll take care of it as soon as possible." Wendelin Wiedeking said.

Hanyu Hideki said, "I have important things to do in America, so I will leave the follow-up acquisition matters in the UK to Mr. Wiedeking."

Wendelin Wiedeking said, “This is what I should have done.”

Hanyu Hideki laughed and said, "When I invited Mr. Wiedeking to be the president of Lamborghini, you were only responsible for one brand. But not long after, you are now in charge of five brands. I guess I have to think about giving Mr. Wiedeking a raise as soon as possible."

Hearing Hanyu Hideki's words, Wendelin Wiedeking laughed and said, "It doesn't matter whether I get a salary increase or not, because I really enjoy the fun of work. Now there are so many brands waiting for me to manage, just thinking about it makes me excited."

"While we enjoy our work, it doesn't affect our enjoyment of life, right?" said Hideki Hanyu.

"Of course..."

With the conclusion of the negotiation between Hanyu Hideki and Wendelin Wiedeking on the acquisition of the Lanly Group brand, Hanyu Hideki's main purpose of coming to the UK has been achieved. As for the specific acquisition matters that follow, that is the job of Wendelin Wiedeking.

However, after the incident was over, Hideki Hanyu did not leave the UK immediately.

On July 7, he was invited by the prince to attend a dinner at Kensington Palace.

On July 8, he travelled to Manchester to watch Manchester United's first pre-season training camp.

At the Carrington training base, which has been fully built and is completely different from his memories of his previous life and is now the most modern training base in the world, Hideki Hanyu met some of Manchester United's main players for next season.

Some of them he knew, some he didn't.

But from Ferguson's words, we can hear that as the head coach, he is very satisfied with this new Manchester United.

Hideki Hanyu also took the opportunity to take a look at the training of the youth team.

The one he was most familiar with, of course, was Beckham, whose appearance had not yet fully grown.

It’s a pity that Beckham now does not have the style and skills of future generations. Only Hanyu Hideki can understand the wonderful feeling he had after seeing his opponent.

After taking photos with the players, Hideki Hanyu's trip to the UK ended.

The 'Clouds' took off from Manchester, and its next stop was not America, but France.

……

July 10th.

The 7th arrondissement on the Left Bank of Paris.

In the luxury house that Mrs. Tanaka gave to Hideki Hanyu, in the bedroom on the top floor with a view of the beautiful scenery of Paris, a young man and woman are passionately entangled.

I don’t know how long it took, but with the two of them sighing with satisfaction, life achieved the great harmony of nature.

Hideki Hanyu got up from the bed, casually put on a pajamas, and stood directly on the sky garden on the top floor, overlooking the night view of Paris in the evening.

The next moment, a pair of snow-white arms hugged his waist.

A woman's voice came from behind, "Are you leaving tomorrow?"

Upon hearing this, Hanyu Hideki stretched out his hand, pulled the cool woman behind him into his arms, and wrapped her in his nightgown.

The woman hugged by Hideki Hanyu was Christiana Yeri.

"I came to France for work, and now everything is done," Hanyu Hideki replied.

Christiana Yeri asked, "Where's next? Los Angeles?"

"It's America, but not the West Coast, but Arkansas in the south-central part of the country," Hanyu said.

"Or is it for work?" the woman asked.

“I guess so.” Hanyu Hideki replied.

Upon hearing this, Christiana Yeri hugged Hanyu Hideki tightly in her pajamas and asked.

"Can I come along?"

"Have we finished our film work with Gaumont?" asked Hanyu Hideki.

"Not yet...but I just don't want you to leave."

Christiana Yeri said with a little bit of coquettishness in her tone.

Hanyu Hideki smiled and stroked the beauty's cheek and asked, "Then you should discuss with the people in the company and hand over the work at hand to others as soon as possible. I will go to America and wait for you first."

"Ok."

After Christiana Yeri agreed, she raised her head and looked at Hideki Hanyu with anticipation.

"You're leaving tomorrow morning, and I still have to..."

In response to the beauty's request, Hideki Hanyu did not answer, but lowered his head and gave the answer with practical actions.

……

The next day, Hideki Hanyu boarded the "Clouds" bound for the North American continent.

Although I didn't spend a long time in France, I had a lot to deal with.

Hanging out with the beautiful woman is just an interlude. The most important thing is to pay attention to the various affairs of Ai Yi International.

In order to enter the strategic development decision-making department, Bernard Arnault has been very active in the LVMH Group recently. He has put forward various development suggestions to the group, and has therefore been recognized by many shareholders.

In this situation, Hideki Hanyu just watched from the sidelines.

After all, people work hard to help him make money, so he is naturally happy to see it happen.

As for what other thoughts Bernard Arnault had, Hideki Hanyu didn't care at all.

As long as he develops steadily and does not give Bernard Arnault any chance, it will be useless for the other party to think about it.

July 12th.

Hideki Hanyu arrives in Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas.

A whole year has passed since he last came here.

After a year of construction, the large-scale affiliated logistics distribution base invested and built by Blockbuster here has been completely completed.

One thing we can also see from this is that although America’s infrastructure and manufacturing industry have been completely dragged down in later generations, they have not completely declined in this era.

That’s right. After all, even Boeing’s headquarters is still in Seattle. It has not moved to Chicago, and has transformed from a manufacturing giant into a financial giant.

The afterglow of America's golden age will still shine for a while.

When the "Clouds" came to a stop and Hideki Hanyu stepped out of it, the Little Rock airport was still the same.

But what was different from last time was that the person who received him was different.

In addition to the blonde lady, the other party's governor husband also appeared at the airport this time.

Thinking about the other party's future identity, Hanyu Hideki had to say that his cards today were "enough".

Of course, it is precisely because he knows the other party's future that Hideki Hanyu did not put on the arrogant attitude of an investor.

In the other party's welcome, he neither put on airs of a wealthy man nor deliberately flattered the other party. Instead, he adopted the most equal attitude and communicated with the other party as if he were an old friend.

After leaving the airport, because the unveiling ceremony of the affiliated logistics distribution base is tomorrow, the couple is not in a hurry to discuss business, but instead invites Hideki Hanyu to attend their family dinner.

During this process, the two sides naturally could not just talk about business, and naturally they also talked about other things, such as sports, entertainment stars, and the upcoming election...

As for the latter, Hideki Hanyu would not be so foolish as to act as a prophet.

But as a businessman, I have to express some economic-based opinions when facing these two people.

But no matter how much he tried to hide his shortcomings, the insights of a time traveler still made the two people feel that he was "far-sighted".

The governor even said that if he had any problems in the future, he hoped to get guidance from Hideki Hanyu.

Hideki Hanyu laughed it off and made a joke that now seems a bit ridiculous.

That is, if the governor intends to run for president in the future, he will arrange for a film company to help the president make a movie that can win the favor of the people.

Naturally, both the governor and his wife took Hanyu Hideki's words as a joke.

But who can predict what will happen in the future?

……

July 13th.

In the suburbs of Little Rock, in the presence of the media, officials, and public representatives, a white Blockbuster executive, together with the Governor of Arkansas, completed the unveiling ceremony of Blockbuster's affiliated logistics distribution base.

When facing media interviews, the Blockbuster executives looked a little clumsy and were completely overwhelmed by the elegant and handsome governor.

The other party told the media with a proud tone what kind of economic changes the investment he facilitated would bring to Arkansas and how many jobs it would create.

In the crowd not far away, Hideki Hanyu, who was watching all this silently, couldn't help but sigh that he is indeed a candidate who can shout "It's the economy, stupid" in the future.

When I was working in Arkansas, I realized that the economy and employment were the real issues that the public was concerned about.

Looking at the governor who was still talking to the media, Hanyu Hideki glanced at the Blockbuster executive who was a little clumsy in his words. The other person's performance made the governor next to him look even more perfect.

Then, Hanyu Hideki said to Blockbuster manager Hirokichi Ichihara, "Mr. Ichihara, this person is a good choice."

"I was just following the president's orders." replied Hiroyoshi Ichihara.

"Ha ha……"

Hanyu Hideki chuckled.

That’s right, this clumsy white Blockbuster executive spokesperson was deliberately selected by Hanyu Hideki and Hirokichi Ichihara.

After all, in an occasion like today, he didn't want to pick a smart person who was good at speaking to steal the limelight from the future commander-in-chief.

As the saying goes, a journey of a hundred steps begins with the halfway mark. Everything has been laid out so perfectly in the beginning, so of course there must be a perfect ending in the end.

Sure enough, when the unveiling ceremony was over, the governor showed visible joy after finding Hideki Hanyu.

He even invited Hideki Hanyu to a family dinner again.

But Hanyu Hideki understood the principle of knowing when to stop and that distance creates beauty, so he politely declined the invitation, saying that his route had been confirmed and he would return to the west coast in the evening.

In this way, Hideki Hanyu came and left in a hurry.

It seems that there is no substantial gain, but what he actually got, only he himself knows in this world.

(End of this chapter)