Reinventing the Millennium

The weather in Shanghai in late March is still a bit cool.

Fang Zhuo pushed his wheelchair and took Jiang Shangzhou for a walk on the lawn in the sunshine.

"Go to Building 8, the cherry blossoms over there are in bloom." Jiang Shangzhou pointed in the direction and asked, "Mr. Fang, how are you doing recently?"

"It sounds like I'm quite old, but few people ask me about my physical condition." Fang Zhuo slowly pushed the wheelchair and said with a smile, "I just had a routine physical examination a while ago, and there were nodules in the thyroid gland. , there are no changes, the bronchus is a little bit inflamed, and nothing else. Oh, yes, I didn’t want to do a gastroscopy at first, so I’ll let you do one at home. I don’t want anesthesia, so I’ll wait until I’m free.”

Jiang Shangzhou listened to this and said leisurely: "Don't wait until you are free. I know that Mr. Fang is busy. He happened to come to the hospital today. I will do a gastroscopy by the way. Young people should also pay attention to their health."

"It doesn't matter. People eat whole grains. It doesn't matter if they have minor problems." Fang Zhuo pushed his wheelchair and saw the cherry blossoms blooming outside Building 8. He found that many people were taking pictures, so he didn't come forward and just talked to Dr. Jiang. Admire it from a distance.

"How did you feel when you went to see ASML last time?" Jiang Shangzhou mentioned his previous trip to Europe.

"Envy, want, have a headache, do something." Fang Zhuo briefly talked about his mental journey, "I'm really envious, I really want, I really have a headache, I really do things."

Jiang Shangzhou burst into laughter after hearing this. He suddenly became out of breath while laughing.

Fang Zhuo's expression really changed when he saw this, and he quickly pushed him back.

"It's okay, it's okay." Jiang Shangzhou calmed down, "I won't die, so don't be nervous."

Fang Zhuo slowed down, a little frightened: "Dr. Jiang, pay attention to your emotions."

Jiang Shangzhou smiled and said: "Mr. Fang, if you don't let me laugh more at this time, when will I laugh? If I die laughing, I'm afraid it will be the most pleasant way to die in the world."

Fang Zhuo nodded: "Yes, yes, you are happy, I can't argue anymore."

"Mr. Fang of Bingxin has always been domineering, but this time it's better, he directly killed the chairman of SMIC." Jiang Shangzhou said cheerfully, "This will make the reputation even more powerful."

Fang Zhuo let out a breath, and his reputation became even stronger.

"Hey, what were you trying to say just now? Oh, I was laughing at your mentality. It's really similar to mine these years." Jiang Shangzhou managed his emotions and slowed down his speech, "Who doesn't envy the good things when they see them? What if you don’t want it? If you want it but can’t get it, you’ll have a headache. After you have a headache, you can’t wait, you can only work and do things.”

He smiled and said: "Before, I might have been a little more semiconductor-savvy than you. Now that I'm lying in the hospital and you're enduring it, I'm probably just a little more mature than you."

Fang Zhuo smiled: "It's a bit hard, but not that hard. Every time I think that the ice core is much better than the center core, I feel happy at night."

Jiang Shangzhou sat in a wheelchair, pointed at Mr. Fang, and glared: "Are you not afraid that I will get emotional now?"

Fang Zhuoran hesitated and continued to push the wheelchair forward.

"I heard that you are currently working on a 4X plan?" Jiang Shangzhou asked.

Fang Zhuo repeated in confusion: "Plan 4X?"

Why don't you know?

Seeing Mr. Fang's expression, Jiang Shangzhou was also surprised and said, "I heard someone said that you did it on the Huahong Line. Is it a rumor?"

Fang Zhuo thought for a while and suddenly corrected: "It's not the 4X plan, it's the XXXX plan."

"What's the difference? Isn't it just four X's? It's the one who makes the A/B/C comparison line and the spare tire, right?" Jiang Shangzhou confirmed.

"Huahong's control line is part of the XXXX plan." Fang Zhuo explained, "This is actually not an official name, it is just our internal name. If one day the ice core is like Huahong and cannot purchase equipment and introduce technology, then The day of the month is the official name of the plan, for example, July 20, that is Plan 0720, which symbolizes that the plan has been fully activated."

Jiang Shangzhou: "..."

After a moment, he commented: "It's pretty fancy."

"Everyone has already worked very hard. What's wrong with being a little fancy without affecting our work?" Fang Zhuo said disapprovingly, "I think it's a good idea proposed by the Wafer Alliance."

"Sure enough, what is good at the top will be worse at the bottom. The style of doing things in your department is similar to yours." Jiang Shangzhou smiled, "I see that Bingxin has made great moves in the past few months."

Fang Zhuo nodded and said: "Bingxin has only established extensive but not close enough connections in China before. We hope to be closer in the future."

Jiang Shangzhou was surprised and said: "You have all bought the production line from Hua Hong, how can you keep it close?"

Fang Zhuo hasn't finished his words yet: "I also hope that Ice Core can further develop its leading position in the domestic industry."

Jiang Shangzhou said in surprise: "Mr. Fang, now you, Bing Xin, are the leader of the alliance, how can you still lead?"

Fang Zhuo turned the wheelchair and feigned anger: "Can we still talk? If we can't talk, I'll push you back."

"Let's talk, let's talk, let's talk for a while." Jiang Shangzhou said with a smile, "Look, Mr. Fang, the status of your ice core in the country is what you are now. You can control the direction of the industry at any time. I feel the same way as most of my colleagues."

But he then said: "Your boss has great powers and can see more, and the ice core has a technical team like Hu and Liang. Your judgment must be better than ours. If you are willing to continue to increase your leadership, just take the lead. I will I won’t stop you.”

Fang Zhuo pretended to be proud and said, "I hope you can stop me."

Jiang Shangzhou laughed: "Yes, I know how powerful you are."

He stretched out his hand and pointed forward to the corridor: "The sun is shining on your eyes. Come and sit in the corridor."

Fang Zhuo pushed his wheelchair to the corridor, letting the sun shine on Dr. Jiang's back and his eyes in the shadows. Then he sat down and talked about this trip to Europe and the current progress of EUV technology.

Jiang Shangzhou breathed slowly and listened quietly to the changes at the forefront.

To be honest, SMIC is not paying attention to this area now. Compared with ice core, it is still continuing to catch up with the previously interrupted process. It is not that it does not have the dream of deploying next-generation technology, but it just has no spare capacity.

As for Jiang Shangzhou himself, his illness has relapsed in the past two years, and his remaining energy is devoted to balancing the internal situation of SMIC, and he is unable to pay attention to this.

Now listening to Mr. Fang talk about cutting-edge, ASML and Nikon, the numerical aperture of the optical system, the overlay accuracy of the photolithography machine, and the increase in the threshold of light source power, there is a kind of... vitality of competition in front of us.

"Nikon's failure is not entirely due to technical problems. Although EUV is almost approaching the limits of physics, materials science and precision manufacturing, there are opportunities in Japan." Fang Zhuo shook his head and said, "Nikon cannot join the EUV LLC alliance. We are faced with More extreme geopolitical factors make this aspect even more difficult.”

The EUV LLC alliance was led by Intel and American Energy to verify the feasibility of EUV lithography machines, and includes members such as Motorola, AMD, IBM, Lawrence Livermore, Sandia, and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories.

Intel once strongly invited Nikon to join, but due to obstruction from the United States, it was eventually excluded.

"Nikon wants to build photolithography machines, and ice cores have to be bought. The degree is different." Jiang Shangzhou said slowly, "But it is better to buy early than to buy late. The closer the ice core manufacturing process is to the advanced level, the harder it is to buy this EUV. .”

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly: "That's right."

ASML still hopes to gain more market share when it manufactures EUV, so it "once" accepted orders from SMIC, but this is no longer entirely due to market factors, and SMIC's EUV has been delayed in arriving.

For the same reason, ice cores are difficult to buy, but relationships at different times will have different window periods. Just like when SMIC was first established and obtained a license to purchase equipment and introduce technology from the United States, it became the only one in the mainland. It's also difficult.

Fang Zhuo hopes that some kind of fateful meeting will occur, and is also trying to promote such a fateful meeting to see if he can get a window period.

Now, in addition to ASML's unconventional methods and Japan's mine explosion research and technical slicing, he is still thinking about whether such an opportunity can fall on some friends in the United States. After all, the ice core has not yet been launched.

Once the ice core is close to being launched, it’s not too much to have some good news to cheer you up.

"If your XXXX plan is really activated, I'm afraid there will be a lot of pain." Jiang Shangzhou said again.

"That's right." Fang Zhuo nodded again.

"This close connection and dominant position are also stepping up preparations, right?" After Jiang Shangzhou said this, he increased his speaking speed and said in unison, "That's it."

He said angrily: "I was eloquent just now, why is it so concise all of a sudden?"

Fang Zhuo stood up and pushed the wheelchair: "We have been chatting for a long time. You better take care of yourself. We will have more to talk about in the future. Don't rush to this moment."

He noticed that after chatting for a while, the fatigue on Dr. Jiang's face could be clearly seen.

Jiang Shangzhou did not refuse to be pushed back, but just said: "Don't leave in a hurry. I am seizing the day now, so I have to rush for this moment. What you told me, I will not leak to you."

"I didn't say anything. I'm pushing. Just listen to what I say." Fang Zhuo slowly pushed the wheelchair and organized some conversation, talking about the activities of the Wafer Alliance in China and the scale of Ice Core's event. expansion.

As the ice core is working on the control line, as he just said, the dominant position of ice core in the industry is increasingly being used substantively, but this makes many people very painful.

In other words, suffer and be happy.

The purpose of the control line is to learn from the advanced. However, going from backward to advanced requires hard work and price. This price is not only the self, but also the interference from the ice core.

For example, mergers and acquisitions and restructuring.

When the financial crisis broke out in 2008, many small and medium-sized domestic semiconductor companies were grouped together, but many people had no choice at that time. Now that Bingxin has revealed his intentions like this, it is somewhat unacceptable.

And, when state-owned assets are involved, the situation is even more complicated.

"So, I just said that ice cores used to have extensive but not close connections. If you want to get closer, you have to interfere deeply. This matter is quite annoying." Fang Zhuo concluded, "Especially, there is no strong external pressure. Sometimes, this would be troublesome to do.”

Jiang Shangzhou replied: "According to you, if the XXXX plan is launched, can external pressure force the internal forces together at once?"

Fang Zhuo said flatly: "Objectively speaking, I always think this is quite obvious, and it can be considered a benefit."

He suddenly smiled again and said, "We are all in labor pains together. Thinking about it this way, it doesn't seem that painful anymore."

The two returned to the ward.

Jiang Shangzhou sat back on the bed and waved to his son who walked in, indicating that he wanted to chat for a while.

"Dr. Jiang, please rest more. I won't disturb you today. I didn't see you during the Chinese New Year. I wanted to wish you a happy old age." Fang Zhuo stood up and planned to leave.

Jiang Shangzhou stretched out his right hand.

Fang Zhuo also stretched out his hand.

Jiang Shangzhou held Fang Zhuo's hand and tried hard but without much strength. His attitude was very firm: "Sit down and seize the day."

Fang Zhuo had no choice but to sit down again and continue chatting for a while.

"President Fang, you are now a very dynamic team." Jiang Shangzhou breathed a sigh of relief, "I am very happy to see you today and hear what you said. You must have considered many situations internally. No more to say."

Fang Zhuo frowned slightly, feeling that Dr. Jiang seemed even weaker than before. He smiled and said confidently: "Don't worry, when we are working on 32nm in the third quarter, you come to visit, and I will ask Liang The doctor will give you a lecture."

Jiang Shangzhou shook his head. The meaning was obvious, but he didn't say this. He just said: "I also met a few old friends in the capital during the Chinese New Year. You have left your phone number. If you encounter difficulties, just call them. Don't be afraid of trouble. Don’t be afraid of favors.”

Fang Zhuo nodded: "I always use my best in everything I do."

"In these years, I have been busy with SMIC, hoping that it will develop, but unfortunately..." Jiang Shangzhou paused and said with regret, "Unfortunately, Mr. Zhang is definitely not willing to give in, but there is nothing we can do about it. , we will always encounter some setbacks that we can think of and things we can’t think of.”

He was talking about Zhang Rujing's helpless departure from SMIC.

Jiang Shangzhou slowly took a breath: "SMIC will hold a shareholders' meeting in June. As the chairman, I can no longer fulfill my responsibilities. I have already negotiated with my old classmate Zhang Wenyi to let him join the board of directors and then take over as director. Chief, he is a very safe choice.”

Fang Zhuo knows that Zhang Wenyi, who once worked in the electronics industry and was the head of Huahong, has deep qualifications and rich experience in the industry.

"I've talked about it in the company. SMIC in the future..." Jiang Shangzhou said with some regret, thinking about his efforts over the years, "Mr. Fang said that we are in the same spirit, and I took it seriously. Xin, I have a technical problem, I hope Bing Xin can help."

Fang Zhuo gently patted Dr. Jiang's arm and said with a smile: "You are entrusting SMIC to me, don't worry."

"It's entrusted to the alliance leader." Jiang Shangzhou smiled, "Liu Bei left Baidi City to Zhuge Liang, and I am similar. If you don't think SMIC can do it, just give it to the leader closely."

"Okay, I got it, rest. I'll take you to Luzhou in the third quarter." Fang Zhuo agreed.

Jiang Shangzhou looked at Mr. Fang intently, nodded lightly, and suddenly said as he stood up: "Mr. Fang, I really like the book "The First Smell of the Autumn Wind" you gave me last time. Please give me a few more words today. Let’s put it in the ward and watch it.”

Fang Zhuo had previously written "The First Smell of the Autumn Wind" by Liu Yuxi and gave it to Dr. Jiang.

Hearing this, he looked around: "There's no way to use this..."

Jiang Shangzhou had a smile on his face.

Fang Zhuo was not a rigid person. Seeing Dr. Jiang's unconcealed weakness, he took out a pen and took out a tissue from the table: "I will just write casually today, and when you recuperate, I will give you a formal one."

He pondered for a moment, then picked up the pen and started writing. Without any hesitation, he directly wrote ten words on a tissue and gave them to Dr. Jiang.

Jiang Shangzhou took the tissue and saw the words on it.

——Even if the bones of a dead hero are fragrant, he will not be ashamed to be the best in the world.

"Good calligraphy." Jiang Shangzhou looked away from life and death and studied the calligraphy, "Hey, you match me, I am not ashamed to be the best in the world."

Fang Zhuo smiled and said, "Wait until you arrive in Luzhou."

Jiang Shangzhou nodded slowly: "Okay, let's meet in Luzhou."