Reinventing the Millennium

The business and energy approvals have been approved, which means that the hurdles stuck in the ice core's progress have been passed halfway.

Apart from Fang Zhuo and Bing Xin, the most excited ones are the equipment manufacturers.

While Fang Zhuo was waiting in Washington, several manufacturers of ice core procurement equipment came to inquire about the situation.

For example, Lam Research, which focuses on the etching, deposition and cleaning markets, KLA-Tencor, which dominates the market of inspection semiconductor photomasks and reticle equipment, Teradyne, the world's leading provider of device testing equipment, etc. .

Semiconductor equipment manufacturers in the United States are world-class, such as Kelei Company. They provide not only mask equipment, but also semiconductor product yield solutions, which are extremely lacking within the foreseeable range of ice core.

Bingxin's procurement team has long been in contact with these manufacturers with checks in hand, and everything is almost settled. Only the administrative review has not been received.

Equipment manufacturers attach great importance to the purchase list from Dongfang Factory, which is a large contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Moreover, after the equipment is sold, they can earn many, many dollars in after-sales fees, production line solutions, etc.

In addition, such factories for semiconductor manufacturing often do not build just one production line. For example, SMIC, which was countersigned by the four major departments in the United States four years ago, purchases products one by one. It is definitely a major customer of equipment manufacturers.

This is a long-term business worth caring about.

Especially, now that the chairman of Bingxin is in Washington, and the approval process is more than half way, those waving checks are about to fall into their pockets.

"Fan Lam Company gives me the feeling that it is more urgent than ourselves."

"What's happening here?"

Before he could conquer the remaining two tough points, Fang Zhuo attended sports activities to maintain his image and also held discussions in the ice core purchasing group.

"Mr. Fang, Fanlin Company is afraid that we will choose Tokyo Electron from Japan." Procurement team leader Xu Shenghui explained, "Once the review is passed, the obstacles in front of the ice core will no longer exist, and our options will be wide. a lot of."

"Tokyo Electronics' equipment is also very advanced, and it is more convenient in terms of distance and communication."

"The price of Lam's equipment is higher, but the industry solutions they provide have a relatively good reputation."

Fang Zhuo nodded, that's right.

He thought for a while and asked: "What about the attitude towards after-sales and solutions?"

Xu Shenghui said without hesitation: "You're all pretty good."

Fang Zhuo shook his head slightly, feeling surprised.

"Mr. Fang, which one do you think we should choose?" Xu Shenghui asked the boss for his opinion.

"The review hasn't even been completed yet. It's up to you to make this judgment." Fang Zhuo didn't want to interfere with expert judgment on this matter, and just said, "Just try to consider the long-term relationship."

He thought for a while and then said: "Do you think equipment companies like Fanlin and Kelei have the resources to lobby the state affairs and national defense?"

Xu Shenghui hesitated and did not dare to make a judgment.

After going through the previous review process of energy and business, Fang Zhuo found that the scale was quite... quite different from what he imagined. Although he also encountered difficulties, they were not the kind of difficulties that he had imagined.

Of course, it may be that Smith also did some work secretly.

Goldman was capable of more than he realized, and Smith was doing more than he let on.

On June 27, the Ice Core Five team submitted an application for equipment procurement and technology introduction to the State Council’s Bureau of Economic, Energy and Commerce Affairs in accordance with the usual time.

It has to be said that whether it is the name of the department or the full name of the leader, this makes Fang Zhuo feel a little strange.

The top leader of this department is called Guo Wuqing, and he is a person whose name can be heard frequently in the news.

Fang Zhuo also figured out one thing through this purchase application. The State Council here in the United States is different from the domestic institution of the same name. It is actually more equivalent to diplomacy and performs diplomatic matters.

But even if it is not what Fang Zhuo imagined, the State Youth League is still the number one member of the cabinet, more important than cabinet members in other departments.

Fang Zhuo asked Smith one thing before coming.

"Are we going to see Powell? Do we need his approval for our review?"

Smith was very calm: "I will definitely not see him. He has gone to France. If everything goes well, the second minister should be responsible for the ice core procurement review. Fang, your nervousness seems very strange."

Fang Zhuo explained the reason.

Smith was a little surprised and said, "Didn't you have dinner and communication with Donald before? You should understand what a lot of things in the news are like."

"..." Fang Zhuo returned his concern to business, "What about the goods this time?"

"It's serious stuff, we have to apply according to the process." Smith replied.

What does serious stuff look like?

Fang Zhuo really didn't understand Smith's answer, but this time the application was indeed based on the entire process. After a whole day of busy work, just completing the application submission, the process was very cumbersome.

Many things written on the materials were asked again mechanically.

The nuances of who you are, where you come from, what you do and more.

Then……

Three days passed.

The stone disappeared into the sea, and there was no news.

Fang Zhuo called to inquire, but received the same answer he had already submitted, with almost no change in wording.

"What's happening here?"

Fang Zhuo asked Smith.

"Wait for another two days and see." Smith didn't have any good ideas. The state affairs side didn't have many resources, so he made insinuations and didn't respond.

After another two days, it seems that the application for the purchase and introduction of ice cores has been coldly treated.

Smith is contacting more people to help solve this matter, and Fang Zhuo even called Mr. Zhang Rujing in China to ask him how he passed the review of this company in the first place.

Zhang Rujing's answer is not of much reference. His first job at that time was the State Affairs Bureau, and the process was relatively smooth, but the later ones were more troublesome.

Fang Zhuo had no choice but to wait for another two days.

In addition to feeling a little tormented in the past two days, he received news from Sony Music, which will hold a shareholders' meeting on July 14 to discuss the merger of Sony Music and Bertelsmann.

Among them, the shareholding and external director candidates of Yike Company will also be determined together.

This is good news for Fang Zhuo. Yike will obtain more music copyrights, enough to compete head-on with Apple.

In addition, Yi Ke also has a channel to peek into Sony Music.

The turbulence of the Sony Group and the development trend of the global music industry are destined to make it difficult for the merger of Sony and Bertelsmann to have too positive effects. This is a good opportunity for Yike, an intervenor.

On July 5, Smith, who flew to Los Angeles and New York successively, hurriedly came to Fang Zhuo and put forward a new suggestion.

"Mr. Fang, I heard that Yike is a client of Bloomberg? I'm afraid we need to find them to solve the problem this time."

"Bloomberg provides data and certain media services to Yike. Can they help?" Fang Zhuo had doubts and wanted to understand the logic behind it.

The fact that Yike became a client of Bloomberg was considered forced. At that time, Fang Zhuo was still in China, and a New York state congressman in the United States suddenly jumped out and accused Yike of dumping behavior.

Subsequently, following the lawyer's advice, Yike purchased the services of Bloomberg, and the state legislator suddenly stopped.

It seems that the congressman has nothing to do with the boss behind Bloomberg—New York City’s top executive Michael Bloomberg, but this benefit is a bit too obvious.

All I can say is that there is no problem with the process.

"Although Bloomberg gave up his Democratic membership and won New York City as a Republican," Smith said, "but he has a wide network of contacts. If someone doesn't find someone to take action, I'm afraid the ice core application will be stuck for a long time."

Fang Zhuo asked worriedly: "Will he be willing to help?"

Smith said simply: "Of course, you spent money."

Fang Zhuoning choked.

“Michael is not a person without political integrity who spends money to get things done.”

Smith's words took Fang Zhuo to a new level. Is political credit used here?

However, political donations and lobbying are legal, and it’s always right to listen to the experts.

Fang Zhuo contacted Yike for the first time since he became a client of Bloomberg and briefly described the situation.

As a result, people from Bloomberg came that night.

The attitude was very professional. He asked about the ice core situation back and forth, and looked at the reviews of the previous two departments.

Then Bloomberg asked a question.

"Yike is our customer, Bingxin is not."

The answer to this question is somewhat obvious.

Bingxin also became a client of Bloomberg before 12 midnight.

The next day, no one from Bloomberg showed up again. Instead, a small local law firm in Washington came to inquire about the situation of the ice core. After taking detailed notes, they made no comment and left quietly.

On July 7, Fang Zhuo seemed to have made a call to the fire department after a fire, or ordered a food delivery service over the phone.

The firefighters put out the fire with a huff of water, and delivered the meal to the door with a knock on the door.

Near noon, Fang Zhuo received a call from the Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs, a subordinate department of the State Council.

The review of Bingxin CSMC’s factory equipment procurement and technology introduction in China has ended.

"Your company meets the U.S. Department of State's measurement standards and will receive approval documents from this department, which will be valid for four years."

"In view of the certain sensitivity of equipment and technology, Bingxin CSMC's factories in China may be subject to random inspections. Once violations are discovered, the approval documents of this department will immediately lose their validity."

With such warnings about passing and follow-up review, Bingxin received a stamped document from the State Department and already has approval from the three major U.S. departments of energy, commerce, and state affairs.

After receiving the call, Fangzhuo and Smith went to the Truman Building.

When he took the document, his mood was particularly complicated: "I got it, it's great, it's great."

Smith looked at Mr. Fang's emotional expression and said, "Mr. Fang, you spent money."

Yes, I paid for it, and I deserve it.

Fang Zhuo quickly put away his emotions about passing the review. Compared with the carelessness of energy and the rich style of business, the process being pushed here does not seem to be too surprising.

He praised: "Michael really has political credibility."

Smith said while driving: "So, Mr. Fang, if you come to the United States, you may be able to maximize the effects of money like Evans and Michael."

Fang Zhuo knew that the other party was mentioning nationality again.

He said in a dumbfounded voice: "Smith, no, I have a better bottom line. If I really want to come to the United States to engage in politics, I will definitely not be able to do it in my life."

"I think if Mr. Fang goes to Business B, he will definitely be much better than that idiot Evans." Smith sighed, "Evans is too stupid."

Fang Zhuo asked curiously: "Have you dealt with him before?"

"I had a stupid cooperation with this idiot when I was a congressman." Smith sneered twice.

It turns out that this person is not a key figure in politics, but a real member of Parliament.

Fang Zhuo remained respectful and polite and did not comment.

Smith had no interest in talking further and just turned the topic to the last part of ice core approval, which is also considered the most difficult part - national defense.

The top national defense leader in the United States is Rumsfeld, a hawkish representative with rich political experience. He was once the youngest top defense leader in the Ford cabinet and is now holding this position for the second time in the Bush administration.

In recent years, Rumfeld has strongly promoted the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq and is a very influential figure.

Because of this, there is a high sensitivity to advanced equipment and technology in this link.

On July 8, Bingxin submitted the application to the subordinate office of the National Defense Department.

In just half an hour, Fang Zhuo and others received a clear rejection.

"Energy? Business? State affairs? This is funding the enemy!"

Henry, the office director, shook the ice core purchase list with his hand and said in a stern voice: "How did they get it approved? No need to apply, we won't stamp it here."

The leader of this office was tough and left no room for error.

Smith stepped forward to negotiate and used the judgments of the previous three departments to try to prove that the ice core was reasonably compliant.

Henry, however, stubbornly refused to accept the advice.

"Mr. Henry, even Mr. Bush believes that China will be a global partner of the United States. If we are really enemies, how could he say that?" Fang Zhuo tried to explain the trend at the top.

Henry just sneered: "Will you take it seriously? Or will I take it seriously? Don't have any illusions, we will not be enemies."

Fang Zhuo was helpless and Smith was helpless, so the group had to end the application first.

The Ministry of National Defense is far more tough than imagined, and they can't even submit an application.

"How about I contact Bloomberg again?"

Fang Zhuo asked Smith for advice.

"The relationship between Michael and Rumsfeld may be a bit bad." Smith rejected this method from this perspective.

"What about using the media to exert influence?" Fang Zhuo asked again.

"Such toughness cannot be influenced by the media." Smith also had a headache.

Fang Zhuo thought for a moment: "What if I approach China's diplomacy here to negotiate? Will it have the opposite effect or a miraculous effect?"

"In that case, if you submit the application you can, it will definitely be rejected faster." Smith shook his head.

The two of them thought about it, came up with the right plan, and considered ways to do it, but they still couldn't come up with an effective way.

Like the quote from Rumfeld I saw hanging on the wall in my office today – if in doubt, don’t do it.

Now, at this stage, the ice core is considered doubtful and cannot even pass the first threshold.