Faced with Fang Lang's merciless questioning, Mr. Morgan could only smile awkwardly and waved his hand:
"Fang, calm down first. We are friends, and our Morgan family never treats our friends unfairly. What I mean is, if you have any requests, you can just put them forward.
I will definitely satisfy you if I can. Even if I cannot satisfy you personally, I will definitely report it to the clan leader and try my best to give you a satisfactory answer. "
At this moment, Fang Lang finally saw through the true face of the so-called Morgan family friendship. Before, Fang Lang thought that the Germans' behavior against the Jews was too bad and that the Jews were too pitiful.
Later, after Israel was established, it often came into conflict with Palestine. Fang Lang felt that there were problems on both sides, after all, it takes two to tango.
Later, when Fang Lang was a sailor, he heard that when the Japanese invaded Northeast China, some Jews from his hometown participated in the invasion and betrayed the interests of his hometown. Fang Lang thought it might be hearsay.
After all, when the Jews were driven away by people from all over the world, the old family did not despise them, but generously took them in. But no one expected that when the Japanese attacked the old family, this nation protected by the old family would abandon the old family without hesitation.
Fang Lang didn't understand the situation at the time and was not sure.
But after this cooperation with the Morgan family, Fang Lang finally believed the rumors about the Jews in the world, forcing him to once again begin to examine whether the cooperative relationship with the Morgan family was reliable.
...
...
Unfortunately, Jewish influence is now all over the United States. If one wants to maintain good relations with the United States, it is impossible to avoid contact with Jews.
It is obviously impossible to cut off contact with the Jews, so the only thing left is to remain highly vigilant while cooperating.
He no longer easily believed in any agreement with the other party. After all, the other party's act of tearing up the agreement for the sake of profit this time was a good lesson for Fang Lang.
Although Morgan kept saying that he would try his best to give him a satisfactory answer and that if that didn't work he would apply to the patriarch, but applying to the patriarch was just an excuse.
After all, whether the application is approved is not under their control.
Therefore, Fang Lang simply turned a deaf ear to his statement and didn't want to listen to what he said.
However, he did not want to take the initiative to speak out his needs, because once he let go, the Morgan family would know his attitude towards this matter.
Secondly, in this kind of negotiation, the party that gives in first will be seized by others to make a breakthrough, putting the party in a passive position in the negotiation.
Neither of them allows Fang Lang to actively express his needs.
He believed that since the other party had invited him over, they must have a clear plan. He didn't need to take the initiative to ask for it, and the other party would definitely propose a compensation plan that they thought was appropriate.
As for whether you can accept this plan, it depends on whether you can continue to negotiate with the other party.
Fang Lang shook his head, expressing his disappointment with the Morgan family, and then he spoke directly:
"Since the Morgan family has reached a preliminary agreement with the other party, they must have prepared a compensation plan for our Global Group. Why don't you let Mr. Morgan talk about your Morgan family's compensation plan first?"
After Mr. Morgan heard Fang Lang's words, an embarrassed expression flashed across his face, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, he picked up the teacup and took a sip before slowly speaking:
"Fang, the other party did propose a compensation plan to us, which we think is quite reasonable and exactly what you need. If you think it's okay, we can implement it according to this plan."
"Oh! That's exactly what we need. Now that you mention it, I'm somewhat interested."
Hearing Morgan's words, Fang Lang said with some mockery.
However, Morgan seemed to be completely unaware of Fang Lang's emotions and continued:
"The current plan is to acquire a shipyard each from Türkiye and Greece and merge them into Global Shipbuilding to compensate for Global Group's losses in grain trade. What do you think?"
These words almost made Fang Lang laugh again. How nice it sounded to use a shipyard in each country to compensate for the losses of Global Group.
Regardless of whether these two shipyards can compensate Fang Lang for his losses, the Morgan Consortium is now the second largest shareholder of Global Shipbuilding. Although they say they are compensating Fang Lang for his losses, they are actually still protecting their own interests.
Are they treating Fang Lang like a fool?
Moreover, Türkiye and Greece are not traditional shipbuilding powers. Needless to say, Fang Lang can imagine how large the scale of these two shipyards is.
Although Greece is one of the most developed shipping countries in the world, there are more shipping companies in Greece than shipbuilding companies. The shipbuilding companies of Greece and Türkiye are not ranked high in the world.
If Universal Shipbuilding were to acquire shipyards in Türkiye and Greece, it would only mean the addition of two new shipyards, which would not bring much improvement to the shipbuilding technology.
I have to say that the Morgan Consortium’s calculations are really loud.
But Fang Lang obviously couldn't implement their ideas, so he refused without hesitation:
"I don't think so!"
Greece has a well-developed shipping industry, and building a new container terminal here would allow goods to enter Eastern Europe more easily. However, Eastern Europe at this time was dominated by the Soviet Union.
It is very difficult for Fang Lang's company to enter this market. It is not that he is unwilling to enter this market, but the Americans will never allow Global Group to do business with the Soviets.
When the two sides are in a state of polarization, they may face endless investigations by US intelligence agencies, which is annoying enough to think about.
Of course, this does not mean that Fang Lang will give up building its own container terminals in Greece and Türkiye. If possible, Fang Lang is ready to build container terminals all over the world and implement its container standards worldwide.
But this business has nothing to do with the European aid plan. Even if there is no European aid plan, it will not affect the expansion of Fang Lang's container terminal projects around the world.
Therefore, this obviously cannot be a condition for compensating Universal Group.
Fang Lang's attitude obviously did not surprise Morgan. He knew very well that this would not satisfy Fang Lang. Therefore, he kicked the ball back in front of Fang Lang again.
"Fang, if you feel this plan is not suitable, you can put forward your request."
After going around in circles, the problem returned to the starting point. In fact, Fang Lang's attitude has already shown that he agrees to give up part of the market. The biggest problem now is how to compensate Fang Lang to satisfy him.
Fang Lang also began to think about what he needed from Greece and Türkiye.
Speaking of these two countries, it is also very interesting. As far as Fang Lang knows, Greece and Turkey have always been very incompatible. Although the two countries are both NATO countries, they have done a lot of things to sabotage each other.
Take the aircraft carrier that China purchased from Ermao. It was blocked by Türkiye in the strait and refused to be released. It needed a state guarantee. At this time, Greece took the initiative to step forward.
Not only did he provide a guarantee for his hometown, he also sent a tugboat fleet to tow the aircraft carrier out of the Aegean Sea.
A big part of the reason for this is the conflict between Greece and Türkiye. Greece's actions are intended to undermine Turkey.
So what exactly is the shield and spear between the two countries? Let's start with the shield and spear between the Ottoman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.
In 1453, the powerful Ottoman Turks destroyed the Byzantine Empire and occupied Constantinople.
Greece, as a member of the Byzantine Empire, also came under the rule of the Ottoman Turks, but the Greeks continued to fight for independence. It was not until the 19th century, when the Ottoman Empire became weak, that the Greeks finally gained formal independence in 1821.
In World War I, the Ottoman Empire, as a defeated country, became the target of division. Greece took the opportunity to rise and wanted to restore the glory of the Byzantine Empire and recover the original territory of the Byzantine Empire from the Turks.
Unfortunately, their strength was not taken into account and they were defeated by Türkiye. Later, because of this defeat, the Greek royal family suffered a coup and the king was exiled.
Although the Greeks were defeated, they were not willing to accept the defeat. In their view, all the territory of the Byzantine Empire should belong to Greece, especially Constantinople, which is called Istanbul in Türkiye.
To this day, the two countries are entangled in the fate of some islands in the Aegean Sea.
Therefore, the relationship between the two countries has never been harmonious, and they always undermine each other.
But in terms of strength, Turkey is definitely much stronger than Greece, both economically and militarily. As a populous country in Europe, Turkey's total population is more than seven times that of Greece.
In terms of military strength, Türkiye is known as the second strongest country in NATO, so it is impossible for Greece to regain its homeland.
Just from the population gap between the two countries, we can see that the equal distribution the Morgan family talked about is a joke. The main consumer of food is the population, and Turkey's population is more than seven times that of Greece. How can this be called equal distribution?
Therefore, although Fang Lang accepted the one-person-one-country distribution plan in his heart, he never expressed his opinion.
The biggest problem now is that Fang Lang has not found a compensation plan suitable for him from these two countries. At the same time, he does not want to get compensation from anywhere other than these two countries.
After all, he has completely seen through the way the Morgan family treats their so-called friends. If he talks about obtaining compensation from other countries now, new changes may arise by then. It is better to cash in the benefits that he can get now.
"Mr. Morgan, to be honest, I am very disappointed with the Morgan consortium now. This kind of behavior of going back on one's word is very contrary to business ethics.
However, I have worked with Mr. Morgan many times and have a very good relationship with him. I don't want to ruin our relationship for a single business deal.
If the Morgan consortium really can't stand the pressure and is ready to let Bunge enter the market, I can also agree to give up part of the market for your sake with sufficient compensation."
Hearing Fang Lang's words, Mr. Morgan breathed a sigh of relief. He knew very well that what Fang Lang said were just polite words. He would never completely offend the Morgan family for the sake of a grain business.
In the end, he will definitely agree to give up part of the market. The most important question now is what kind of compensation he will ask for and whether this request will exceed everyone's expectations.
Now it seems that the shipyard plan he proposed will definitely not satisfy Fang Lang.
"Haha... Fang, I knew that we are friends, and you will definitely not make things difficult for me."
He laughed and stood up, extending his right hand to Fang Lang. Fang Lang smiled and stood up slowly, shaking hands with him.
He said slowly:
"Mr. Morgan, although we are friends, I must say something in advance. The equal distribution plan you mentioned is not equal at all.
If the allocation is based on one person, one country, I would choose the Turkish market and let Bunge be responsible for the Greek market.
You have to know that Türkiye's population is more than seven times that of Greece. If this is considered an equal distribution, it would be an insult to my intelligence."
Morgan, who had just been laughing, shut up in embarrassment when he heard the words. He slowly withdrew his right hand that had just been shaking with Fang Lang, and touched his trouser leg somewhat embarrassedly.
He continued with some embarrassment:
"Ah! This... this does seem unfair. We really haven't noticed this situation yet!"
Fang Lang certainly didn't believe Morgan's lies. As a successful capitalist, how could he make such a low-level mistake? Even a three-year-old child could see through this not-so-clever lie.
But Fang Lang did not expose the other party. After all, there was no point in continuing to entangle with the other party here.
So, he continued:
"I know that the other party must have offered the Morgan family benefits that they could not refuse. Perhaps, I wonder if the Morgan Consortium has now become one of Bunge's shareholders.
Of course, these have nothing to do with me. What I want to know now is what kind of compensation I can get as an ally of the Morgan Consortium.
First of all, I am not familiar with Türkiye and Greece, and I can’t find suitable compensation for the time being.
However, since the Morgan Consortium is compensating me, I hope to get corresponding compensation from another place."
Morgan was stunned when he heard this, and he didn't quite understand what Fang Lang meant. Getting compensation from another place was too broad. The best case scenario was that Fang Lang hoped to get compensation from the markets of other European countries.
Another possibility is that Fang Lang has his eyes on some industry of the Morgan family.
Thinking of this, Morgan became very cautious and said uncertainly:
"Oh! I don't know what the other place you are talking about is..."
Seeing Morgan's alert expression, Fang Lang's mouth curled up slightly. He looked Morgan up and down with ill intentions, picked up the teapot and poured him a cup of tea, then slowly said:
"I want the Morgan family's shares in General Electric."
Fang Lang's words made Morgan jump up from the stool and exclaimed:
"What? This is impossible!"
You should know that although General Electric at that time was far from its later strength, it was an important part of the Morgan Consortium's large industrial plan.
This company, which can be traced back to Edison Electric Light Company, has a history of 68 years. In the years since its establishment, it has acquired many excellent companies at home and abroad through various means.
In 1939, GE had about 30 factories in the United States, and now has more than 100 factories. By 1976, GE had 224 manufacturing plants in the United States and 113 manufacturing plants in 24 countries around the world.
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