Investment and Talent
Durrant made up his mind that such an opportunity was absolutely not to be missed!
"Mr. Long, your words are very meaningful to me. I withdraw my previous request to buy a car and accept your invitation to serve your company. However, I have a small request, can I become a shareholder of your company?" Durant carefully threw out his last idea. He planned to return to New York immediately to see Pierre S. du Pont, the far-sighted magnate who had already made the DuPont family's industry one of the most famous and largest in America. He was sure that he could see the good business prospects of cooperating with the "Golden Tycoon" to manufacture cars! Therefore, getting an investment should not be a problem.
"Alright, Mr. Durant, from now on you are my special assistant with an annual salary of $30,000. Of course, if you wish, your Flint carriage company will become a branch of the automobile company within two years and you can also own up to 10% of the future automobile company's shares. What do you think of my proposal? Oh, you are also welcome to participate in other investment projects." Long Jianming was now completely carefree, his terms making the Flint gentlemen feel like they were being favored. Of course, lovely Mr. Durant had no idea what Long Jianming was really thinking: accumulate wealth in America and develop in China! So the shares can be transferred, but only after returning to China for development...
"I completely agree with your suggestion, Mr. Long. May I have some time to arrange my personal affairs? By the end of the month, I will definitely return to San Francisco to serve you." Durant needed some time to arrange his own carriage company, and also to go to New York to tell DuPont about what he had seen and heard today, and to persuade DuPont to increase investment in San Francisco. Durant did not expect that he would follow Long's brilliant career into politics and become another famous figure, H.W. Durant!
Things are often the result of long-term fermentation, but change in an instant! Mr. Durant's experience on January 21, 1902 is the best annotation for this sentence.
Seeing off Durant, Long Xiangming's mood can be described as "infinitely good", and such a renowned figure has become his special assistant and partner! Long Xiangming even finds the tight-fitting suit on him lovely...
"Good things never come in pairs, troubles never come alone." This sentence obviously has a strong idealistic component, because on January 21st, 1902, Long Jianming's harvest was not just one Durant!
As soon as he returned to the office/bedroom (separated by a file cabinet in between), Robert brought in a short and sturdy "cowboy".
"Mr. Long, this is Pat Weissman, an expert in petroleum exploration and drilling technology. He used to work for the Mellon family's Gulf Oil and Pennsylvania Standard Oil Company." Robert introduced the square-faced white man wearing a light-colored plaid sports coat standing beside him.
"Hello, Mr. Weissman!" Long Jianming walked over and grasped the outstretched right hand, shaking it firmly as if he was holding a large stack of cash. In 1902, oil in the Middle East was still buried under the yellow sand, not discovered until 1908. At that time, the oil industry was a new emerging field, and many people became overnight millionaires or multimillionaires after finding oil, while others went bankrupt without finding a single drop of oil. Oil exploration was another adventurous profession, following the gold rush and steel fever! The land prices in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, and other states rose rapidly as many people were buying up land to search for oil, with dozens of drilling teams digging holes every mile in areas suspected to be rich in oil... Of course, the most direct reason for the rise of the oil industry was that people had begun to use petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline, kerosene, and asphalt in their daily lives and industrial production, even in military fields. It is said that the British Navy was testing and building a new ship powered by an internal combustion engine - the HMS Amethyst! And a new battleship, the "Invincible", would also use an internal combustion engine and was being planned for construction! The uses of oil suddenly expanded, with big and small oil wells, refineries, long and short pipelines, and oil tankers everywhere, and the whole world was caught up in the oil craze. Long Jianming's Dragon God plan, apart from increasing the demand for oil by developing internal combustion engines, more importantly aimed to control the output of oil, which would be a trump card for China's economic future! Therefore, an experienced drilling expert like Weissman was worth a fortune to Long Jianming at that time, and would be the commander of the future oil exploration army.
Long Jianming had in his hand a distribution map of all oil fields before 2025, including storage capacity, oil layer depth, and rock hardness details. These data occupied only a few hundred K of space on the hard drive, but could produce huge economic benefits. After some polite small talk, the conversation showed American-style straightforwardness and typical pragmatism! Long Jianming, who was always practical, would ask key questions with a sincere and honest expression. Similarly, Pat Weisman, who had a goofy face, did not disappoint him. Several "professional" questions were answered by the engineer in a very proper manner, without any decorative language, just straightforward data. It seemed that the engineer could only speak with data. Of course, this nature was a good quality and habit for a drilling engineer.
"Mr. Weissman, I don't know if you are familiar with thermal cracking of crude oil?"
"Sorry, my specialty is exploration and drilling, refinery operations are a different story."
"Can you organize an exploration team as soon as possible? Don't worry about machinery, equipment and funds, just need loyal and skilled technicians!" Professional and honest Pat Weisman won the all-round favor of Long Jianming.
"In less than half a month, I can gather all the manpower." Pat Weisman thought for a moment before responding. A complete team requires gathering a large number of people, but with funding, who can't be found?! In the entire United States, almost every known possible oil-producing place has a pile of drilling talents waiting for good projects and strong financial support...
"Alright, Pat. I'll go register an oil company right away and in half a month you'll be the chief engineer of the company with an annual salary of $30,000, not including bonuses. Please get ready as soon as possible, I think you'll be very busy from now on." The ugly face of capitalism was finally exposed on Long Jianming's body, he couldn't wait for Pat Weisman to start searching for oil for him right away and the busier he was, the better, even if it meant forgetting to collect his salary.
"Sir, I have never met a boss like you before. You still don't know if I can make three million dollars or not!" Pat Weisman was indeed a straightforward and lovely person. If the blood of Germans flowed like his, at least two world wars could be avoided, or there would be no world war at all! In Weisman's memory, being employed by others always started with a trial period, and only after becoming a formal employee could one receive a formal salary, which never exceeded $10,000. Has this Chinese person become rich from selling gold?
"Now, Mr. Pat Weissman, show me your abilities, I believe you will be worth the price I pay, and your salary starts from today." Long Jianming would never play tricks on people he could trust. Although this was a typical German, his surname had already made that clear, but Long Jianming decided to temporarily ignore these things, his sworn enemies were the German Emperor and Navy, it was the Emden!
"Delighted to serve you!" Pat. Weissman walked away happily, and United Oil Exploration Company was soon registered. 11 days later, with the support of $10 million in funds, Pat. Weissman divided his forces into three routes, carrying the detailed map given by Long Xiangming, and went to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Mexico to find the coordinates clearly marked on the map, buying land within a 5-mile radius and setting up rigs!
"The second investment has finally gone out!" Long Jianming let out a sigh of relief, now there's too much idle money and too many things to do. Being able to combine funds with talent and projects is a victory!
……
Robert Whitney worked hard to entertain guests, selecting potential collaborators and companies from among them, conducting basic investigations, and submitting written reports to Long Jianming.
Robert knew that Long Xiangming's words in the Citibank William Wallace office were gradually coming true, and the prototype of a future group company had taken shape. His 49% stake in the machinery company would definitely increase in value several times over. Perhaps by building this group enterprise centered on automobile production, his position in the company would be even more consolidated.
Long Jianming organized a week's report, combined with his own on-site inspection results, and drafted a list of intended enterprises. There are: Hill Megga Steel Co., Ltd., Navick Electric Co., Ltd., Michel Rubber Co., Ltd., Skirling Bearing Factory, Wilson Refinery, Douglas Construction Co., Ltd., Delton Glass Factory, Verrier Shipyard, Kelman Coal Mine, Franklin Gear Factory and other 16 small and medium-sized enterprises on the West Coast that are more satisfactory to Long Jianming. If they pass the inspection, they can basically be confirmed as a member of the enterprise union.
Long Jianming is now waiting, waiting for the person seeking cooperation from the East. "Will Henry Ford come? The famous 'T' car can be mass-produced with the current industrial technology in the United States. Judging from the bankruptcy of Ford Motor Company in 1902 and its re-establishment in 1904, Ford should come! He is thinking about how to provide "timely assistance" to Henry Ford who has "sent himself to his door" and save the Ford Motor Company which is on the verge of bankruptcy, so as to achieve mass production of the 'T' car. This is a shortcut to dominate the American automobile market!
At this time, Henry Ford was on the train with a heavy heart. Since founding the company in 1900, due to his personal preferences, he had misallocated company resources into expensive car racing and racing events, resulting in the current "famous but struggling" predicament! This trip to San Francisco, could he persuade that "Golden Baron" to cooperate with him? It seemed very difficult! That Chinese man had both funds and technology to produce cars much faster than his own, what reason did he have to cooperate with him?! It was tough, but he had to try anyway, or the company would not be able to sustain itself...
Similarly anxious was the Chinese employee of Citibank, Wu Liang. "The gold transaction has caught the attention of the company's top management, and there is news that William Wallace will soon be transferred to another branch as general manager. After this only superior who cared about himself left, his days at the San Francisco branch would be even more difficult! It was time to seriously consider Long Jianming's invitation."
Wu Liang picked up the phone on the table, dialed a few numbers and then hung up again. He thought that calling like this would make him seem too abrupt, and in the future when working for Long Jianming, today's attitude would undoubtedly be a footnote to his future status! He hesitated, and the phone in his hand was picked up and put down unconsciously...
Finally, Wu Liang made up his mind and dialed the phone number that he had silently recited countless times in his heart.
Long Jianming is currently lacking in talent! Kuang Donglin's technical skills are okay, but his management level is too general; Wang Yong is still learning English and can't be used for the time being, while the pirate brothers in Shanghai obviously haven't made preparations yet. Talent is the most urgent need, and it's Chinese-American talent! At a time when Pepsi is waiting to rise and talent cannot be cultivated on a large scale, Long Jianming can only grasp every person around him, every person who may become a talent!
Wu Liang's phone call made him overjoyed...
