When such a problem occurs within a company, it's obvious that it was caused by John's team stationed inside the company. However, there's another point: as Jiafeng's workforce grows and middle management gains a foothold, forming internal factions, this situation is also normal.
Many large companies ultimately fail not because of external factors, but because of internal struggles.
Along the way, the business empire, supported by multiple dimensions such as end products, business models, industrial manufacturing, and core technologies, has been more difficult than Lu Feng had imagined, especially in terms of core technologies, which involve international competition and core disputes among major powers.
This is something that no single person or company can withstand alone.
Lu Feng didn't know much about the positioning of various countries in the 1990s, which was his weakness. After all, in his previous life, he was just a businessman, and a 'small businessman' who was unlikely to reach this level.
He believed he could at least control a relatively low-end chip industry chain, relying on the prosperity of the domestic market to make money from other products, subsidize chip development, and win in a decade or so.
Who would have thought Europe would be so cowardly?!
As time went on, Jiafeng set up the board meeting at a five-star hotel to make it convenient for major shareholders to stay and hold meetings. With the arrival of some minor shareholders, the atmosphere became lively.
On December 15th, as a private jet landed at the airport, the cabin door opened, and John, accompanied by several people, stepped out. He glanced back at the Boeing 737 and said to those around him, "Such a wonderful gift has been given away; I hope to receive something tangible in return."
“He understands the situation better than you do; maximizing his own interests is the best option,” someone nearby said.
John nodded slightly, indicating his agreement. In John's eyes, Jiafeng's future was certain. As the most prominent Chinese enterprise, it was perfectly appropriate for it to be targeted in the current international situation.
So in John's eyes, we don't talk about the future, we only talk about money!
Half an hour later, Lu Feng received a call from John, who invited him to lunch.
Lu Feng hung up the phone, went out, and drove straight to the agreed hotel. When he arrived, John and his group had just booked a private room. John saw Lu Feng and smiled, walked up to him and said, "Long time no see! I'm really lucky to have come here this time, thanks to you, on your private jet."
“I never said I would definitely accept your plane.” Lu Feng shook his hand and said, “I’ve heard recently that some of the management who hold shares in the group are causing trouble. Are you aware of this?”
"What's wrong? Is it affecting performance?" John took a deep breath and said, "The bigger the company, the more troublesome the internal management becomes. We're only at the beginning. Judging from the development of large international companies, it would be best to introduce advanced management concepts and management teams."
"Tsk!" Lu Feng smacked his lips and said, "Why don't we just sell it? Then we won't have to worry about anything."
“Hahaha, that’s one way to do it,” John said without any hesitation.
“It’s clear that you’re not entirely satisfied with the investment in Jiafeng. Despite my hard work on performance over the past two years, I still haven’t been able to win back the investors’ confidence,” Lu Feng said, staring at him.
“The times are vast and unstoppable, beyond human control. If you were European, Schröder would absolutely give your full support,” John said sincerely.
“Yes, the times are changing rapidly, and you already think it won’t work before the show even starts.” Lu Feng didn’t want to discuss these things with him and said, “Let’s eat.”
In the private room, John had just sat down when he shared with Lu Feng several important European meetings in the second half of the year. As a large conglomerate, Schroders was able to find out the topics and results of some of the important meetings.
Americans flocked to Europe more readily in the second half of the year, using a combination of threats and coaxing; in short, it boiled down to two words: blockade!
John brought these things up at the dinner table to make Lu Feng see the situation clearly. He put down his chopsticks and said, "Are you paying attention to military affairs based on your own strength?"
"I don't care, I don't have time," Lu Feng said casually.
“Do you know how many warships have sailed here in the past six months, how many military bases are around, the attitude of those international banks towards you in the second half of this year, and the top international industry associations? Not to mention chips and semiconductors, industrial heavy equipment, it’s all completely blocked now. Large tunnel boring machines, heavy gantry cranes, high-end machine tools, and all kinds of machine tools known as the ‘mother machines of industry’.” John said to Lu Feng seriously, “Just like the lithography machine and related industrial lines that you crave, in the face of absolute power, even a country will seem very small, let alone a company, or even an individual.”
"So you surrendered?" Lu Feng looked up and stared at him as he asked.
“No, no, no, it’s not surrendering. It’s your opinion that discretion is the better part of valor. We need to live, to live happily, and we need money,” John reassured him.
"It seems we need different things," Lu Feng said in a deep voice.
"Then what do you need?" John asked curiously. Are there really people in this world who don't need money?
"I need a future!!"
John didn't know what to say, so he just raised an eyebrow, picked up his chopsticks again, and ate for a while before finally speaking: "Without the West, there really is no future. You can go and look at other countries in the world. Your economy is just starting to pick up, and this may be the peak. An economy like this has no market."
"Whether there's a market or not isn't up to you. Since you've already made up your mind, fine, we can buy back your shares and return your initial investment of two billion US dollars." Lu Feng asked, "How about it?"
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
