Huang Xuan did not wait in the hotel. He had many things to do, such as drawing pictures, robbing a few well-dressed gentlemen to pay for the room, and wandering in the market looking for business opportunities.
The most important thing is to find a few more suitable buyers. In this regard, Huang Xuan doesn't have much experience to follow. However, with Ford's smooth schedule, it will be easier to convince more manufacturers.
Huang Xuan used a simple but effective method - advertising, and the advertising tool he used was very advanced in this era: the telegraph.
Telegrams in the 1900s were expensive, but the effect was obvious. Because of their cost and commercial nature, companies that received telegrams would not throw them into the trash can as easily as newspapers today do. On the other hand, telegraphs It also meets Huang Xuan's requirements, simple but interesting.
He simply wrote three sentences on the telegram: At 9 o'clock tomorrow, the design drawings of a new car will be sold at the Elis Hotel, and a company has already bid. Huang Xuan believes that his performance at the Rouge plant should attract the attention of many people, and those who are interested in purchasing this design drawing should be able to get the message that Ford is very interested in this design drawing.
Is there anything more gimmick than using Ford to drum up business
As for whether anyone from other companies is really willing to buy it, this is not the point. As long as it can put enough pressure on Ford, Huang Xuan believes that this V8, which is completely designed by Ford itself, will definitely make Ford unable to bear to give up.
…
Henry Ford was a man who thought very highly of himself. In fact, he did stand higher than most Americans. However, he was not always right when it came to the management of Ford Company.
He likes to make judgments without being influenced by others. Many times, this judgment is based on intuition rather than intelligence. The result is sometimes correct and sometimes wrong. Blindly expanding the Rouge production base, reducing R&D expenses, and acquiring stocks were all wrong decisions on his part. Of course, this was from the perspective of hindsight, but mistakes are mistakes.
Ford was a talented designer who started from scratch, single-handedly manufactured a gasoline engine and designed the Model T car. At the same time, Ford was also a genius manager. He created the concept of cheap cars, the assembly line operation, and the five-day work week. But his ego is also a headache. Most of the time, Ford believes more in its own abilities than in the team. Therefore, in terms of the development of new technologies, Ford has always lagged behind its competitors. It is no exaggeration to say that , Ford is a factory with extremely high productivity but ordinary technology, just a large factory.
From the beginning to the end, Ford has been a fan of efficiency. He has not produced a new model for more than 0 years in a row. What he does every day is to increase production. It was not until the Model T was invaded by Chevrolet that he woke up from a dream and closed down. The factory conducted research and development, but this did not alert Ford. After General Motors occupied the throne of First Motors, Ford still focused on improving production efficiency.
Under the guidance of this thought, Henry Ford nodded imperceptibly when he saw the drawings brought by his son, and asked: "How is the V8 design going?"
"It didn't go very well." The Ford V8, also known as the flathead V8, quickly became the darling of entry-level racers across the United States after its launch. In the 1900s and 1940s, the flat-head V8 was highly praised by modified racing cars. At the same time, Ford cars powered by the flat-head V8 also won the Monte Carlo Rally Championship in 196 and 198. As long as you see these information, you can understand that there must be many innovations and difficulties in the development of such a classic model.
Old Ford flicked the drawings on the table with his fingers and said with a deep face, "Will it be better than this design?"
"This... we can't be sure." Edsel said hesitantly: "The main problem is that this is just a drawing, not even a prototype. No one knows whether it can meet the above-mentioned indicators."
"He didn't build a prototype?"
"It doesn't look like it." Edsel recalled Huang Xuan's appearance and said, "He seems to only have drawings and is eager to ask for money."
Ford frowned, sat back in his chair, and said, "He wants 100,000 yuan?"
"yes."
After waiting for a long time, Ford said: "If there is nothing wrong with the drawing, just give it to him."
Henry Ford still had something to say. Such complex drawings could not be drawn without a prototype car. In other words, if there is no problem with the drawings, then there must be a prototype car, and the other party does not, then The source of the drawings is very problematic.
However, for Ford, these are not problems. If it can save millions of dollars, or even only one-tenth of it, it can get rid of the problems caused by the source of the drawings, not to mention that the government at the moment is in the midst of an economic crisis. Worried.
What's more, Ford has always ignored the government. Roosevelt once changed his car in anger because of Ford.
At the other end of the city, Alfred Sloan, the new president of General Motors, also got Huang Xuan's small advertisement, but he did not pay attention to it. He just ordered a supervisor to go and take a look. He had just grabbed the position of Ford. , he also wanted to know what Henry was thinking.
Elis Hotel.
Huang Xuan was waiting in the living room of the suite with his legs crossed. About five years ago, such a suite cost $0 a day. However, with the advent of the Great Recession, the hotel had to lower its charges several times. Now it only costs $4 a day. It was enough. Of course, Huang Xuan was still waiting for Ford to send the money. He had decided that as long as Mr. Ford brought 100,000 US dollars, he would not let him take the money back.
If Ford didn't get the money, he might have committed more violent crimes. This is due to the situation. He has used millions of dollars of energy and brought millions of dollars worth of materials. If there is no profit, everything will be wasted.
Now is different from the first few trips. At that time, Lorraine had very little energy and he had no protective measures. The use of violence was likely to outweigh the gain. In addition, the lack of a target was also a major reason. It was different now. He was in a budding financial kingdom, with a densely woven alloy on his head, a plane base on his back, and no other travelers to harass him...
The designed Edsel didn't know yet that the 100,000 US dollars in the suitcase had been "booked" by Huang Xuan. He also specifically asked Brown to bring 0 strong security guards with firearms to the Elis Hotel for the meeting.
As the waiter came to the door, Edsel smiled lightly, shook hands with Huang Xuan and said, "You should get used to the weather in Detroit. It's been a little cold in the past few days."
"It's okay." Huang Xuan didn't say much, let Edsel in, and then introduced him: "This is Mr. Edward, he also wants to see my drawings."
"Of course." Edsel didn't know this Edward, but the other party obviously knew him. They greeted each other in a friendly manner and suppressed their questions in their cheeks.
Without too much politeness, Huang Xuan asked, "Do you mind if I see the cash you brought?"
Edsel's face was a little stiff. He didn't expect Huang Xuan to be so direct, but he nodded obediently and motioned for Brown to show it to Huang Xuan.
Although Lorraine could easily check the suitcases of everyone present, Huang Xuan was still willing to show a gesture that would make the subsequent conversation easier.
In the suitcase are neat Federal Reserve rolls, which are the U.S. dollars of this era. There are two denominations of $100 and $1,000. The latter has not been issued since 1969. There should be 0. The rest are all neat hundred dollars. The banknotes feel a bit like withdrawing money from a Chinese bank.
"OK. We can start talking." Huang Xuan happily pushed the suitcase to Brown, stood up and opened the bedroom door. Inside was a mountain of drawings.
"Take your time and watch." Huang Xuan said, sitting down and drinking tea from Sri Lanka.
The GM representative felt unhappy about being forgotten, but Huang Xuan didn't even look at him. GM was just a backup option. He told Ford that I had other companies to sell to. But as long as Edsel didn't say no, he wouldn't put any thought into GM. To be more precise, Huang Xuan believed that time was more important than money. If it was delayed for two more days, no amount of money would be of any use.
In the bedroom were the drawings drawn last night. Huang Xuan was sleeping on the bed, and Lorraine easily used energy to complete the work. The people at Ford were quickly buried in hundreds of drawings. Their work was much easier than drawing these drawings.
Huang Xuan was not in a hurry. He dragged the tea cup and said to Edsel: "Mr. Ford, do you have any connections in New York?"
"There are some."
"I want to buy a printing factory in New York. The equipment should be as advanced as possible. Do you have any ideas?" This is the method Huang Xuan thought about all night. It is a little despicable, but it is easy to use.
Edsel looked at Huang Xuan strangely and said, "There are many closed factories now. If you want to buy one, it is a very simple matter."
"That's good." Huang Xuan smiled and said, "But I hope it can save some time. Maybe you know where there is such a factory."
This is of course a matter of funds, but Edsel still told Huang Xuan two names and said: "As a friend, I think I should tell you that the investment environment in the United States has become somewhat, uh, the rate of return has become low. ”
"I understand." Huang Xuan smiled and closed his eyes to rest. (To be continued)