The man on the right shook his head and said, "After our rigorous analysis, we can't stop them in terms of patents." They have applied for a lot of patents in advance, and they have purchased a lot of patents, many of which are owned by the same owners as us. They also signed a patent-sharing agreement with Xerox. In fact......"

At this point, Thompson stopped talking.

Bill Gates was very unhappy and asked, "Actually, what's the matter, say?" ”

Thompson said helplessly: "They have not formally joined the WTO until now, and even if there is patent infringement, we can't sue them at all." ”

Bill Gates asked, "Is it possible to lock their software inside their country, at least not to let them enter Europe and our North America." ”

Thompson shook his head wordlessly.

Simeone, on the left-hand side, said: "It is possible to prevent them from entering our United States, and as long as we continue to lobby for political power, it may be possible." But it is difficult to say that Europe will reject them. Europe has been dissatisfied with the joint development of CDMA98 by Qualcomm and Feixun of Huaxia, thinking that we are seizing the 2G market for mobile communications with Europe. They already hold a grudge against us, and they don't have a good impression of our flying company in the United States and Huaxia. And now the release of the Firebird 98 operating system is Zhonghua Software Technology Co., Ltd., which has a contradiction with Feixun. The purchase of this high-performance and inexpensive operating system by European countries will not only allow them to use their computers better, but also disgust us and Huaxia Feixun, killing two birds with one stone. ”

Speaking of this, Simone suddenly remembered something and said, "That's right. I don't know if you have noticed, but Macchite, who is now in the dominant position in the Italian prime minister's election, has clearly shown his friendship with China, and he has openly said that if he is elected, Italy will sign a bilateral WTO agreement with China as soon as possible, and he will also persuade other European countries to be friendly to China. Now firebird98 is almost unimpeded in Italy. ”

Hearing Simeone's words, Bill Gates said angrily: "Firebird! Firebird is a demon! Are they going to kill us Microsoft?...... Tell me, what are we going to do?"

"I think we're going to do it in three steps," Thompson said. ”

Seeing everyone looking at him, Thompson said: "The first step is to use our official power to continue to prevent firebird98 from entering our United States, Canada, and preferably to prevent it from entering Japan, Britain and other allies. Second, we can persuade Huaxia officials to allow us to buy this software company, we can make concessions on the price, and we can also agree to invest in Huaxia. Third, increase the development of indos95, I believe that as long as we can come up with a better operating system than before, although slightly worse than the firebird98 operating system, investors will not be too disappointed, at least prove that we are trustworthy and have strong research and development capabilities. ”

Bill Gates nodded and asked, "How much will it cost us to buy that company?"

Thompson said helplessly: "If it is an acquisition by normal means, if the boss of the other party is not stupid, this acquisition cannot be successful." Even if we come up with a billion or two billion dollars, we won't be able to. You know, they've sold no less than two million pieces of software during this time. This number is not yet open in their market, and many people are waiting for our indos95 to come out, many people are used to using our company's software, and are full of expectations for our indos95, if they find that our indos95 is not as good as firebird98, these people who are looking forward to it are likely to turn to purchase the other party's software. ”

Bill Gates asked, "What if the abnormal means are taken?...... What do you mean by abnormal means? Spend huge sums of money to bribe Huaxia officials and let those officials persecute the boss of this company?"

Thompson said: "Buying Huaxia officials and raising the purchase price is one thing, and the other is lobbying our officials so that when they negotiate the WTO with China, they can make concessions in other areas, as long as they help us buy this company." ”

Bill Gates smiled bitterly: "After all, our Microsoft is just a company, how can we have such a big ability to influence such a big concession from the official?...... Well, no matter how difficult it is, we have to try. But what if it fails? In case the acquisition fails, if our INDOS95 is still unsatisfactory, do we have any other means than to block Firebird98 from entering our country?"

Thompson didn't speak, but looked at Simeone.

Seeing that Bill Gates also looked at him, Simeone said: "Then we have to make other preparations, and we can't hang ourselves on the tree of the operating system." I suggest that we increase our efforts to develop browsers, seize the market with Netscape, and at the same time start to open up the instant messaging system and acquire MSN. In addition, we can also develop software for the company's resource integration system, and I think that the ERP system that was proposed earlier is very promising. Of course, we can also work on the development of computer games......"

Bill Gates looked at his most powerful assistant in astonishment and asked: "Simeone, do we have so much energy, so much money, and so many talents? The browser, ERP system, and computer games you just mentioned are all big fields, how can we have so much energy? Moreover, you are blooming in all directions, won't you greatly weaken the research and development strength of our operating system?"

"It's a last resort, we have to find our way out," Simeone said. ”

"Our way out?" said Bill Gates silently, looking at the sky outside the window without tears......

In the evening, Jiang Xinwei hosted a banquet for Su Dingyu in private, and the two excitedly talked about the affairs of the Yiyang City Radio Factory, and talked about the past when they used to sell telephones and pagers together. Speaking of happiness, the two couldn't help but laugh.

However, Jiang Xinwei's joy was interrupted the next morning, because he had to put down the subject he was studying to receive Zheng Zitong from the capital.

Seeing that the other party took a sip of the staff's teacup and then put it down, Jiang Xinwei smiled bitterly: "Minister Zheng, why are you here again, how long have you been back? Could it be that you have become an errand messenger?...... , I really don't understand, the spectrum of people's promotions is getting bigger and bigger, you are good, you have been promoted from director to deputy minister, and you still run to me, a common person, to ask for tea. I said that you are not afraid to scare me to death, so that I, the common people, are sincerely afraid?"

Zheng Zitong also smiled bitterly and said with a smile: "No way, I have to run to you in order to sit firmly under my buttocks." You should have noticed, I get promoted to a position every two times I run to you. How can there be such a good thing in the world, can I not run? ”

He took another sip of tea and said, "Now I'm not an official, I'm doing things now." The superior organization gave me a task, that is, with your help, it took ten years to develop a completely domestic car. If it weren't for the four points you mentioned earlier, I wouldn't have been transferred to the Ministry of Machinery Industry as a deputy minister, who are you looking for?"

Jiang Xinwei spread his hands and said: "I only know some telecommunications equipment technology, but I don't know anything about automotive technology and mechanical knowledge. If you look for me, you must have found the wrong person, and you can't rely on me. ”

Zheng Zitong smiled: "I'm sorry, Mr. Jiang, I can only rely on you really." You don't know, when I reported to the higher authorities that you didn't put forward four main points about the development of our country's automobile industry last time, they ordered me to get the truth from you. They say, "Although you are a young man, you never talk nonsense, and you don't believe in words." Since you have said four key points at once, it shows that you have seriously thought about the development of China's automobile industry. ”

Jiang Xinwei said quietly: "Then you mean to blame me for talking too much at that time?" Okay, in the future, I will shut up in front of your Minister Zheng, and I will also tell you that I was talking nonsense at all last time. ”

"It's late!" Zheng Zitong said with a smile, and then, he raised a finger and shook it, "There is another reason, that is, only by looking for you, can I obtain the machinery and equipment needed to produce cars." ”

Jiang Xinwei smiled bitterly again: "Your nose is really spiritual, what we shipped from abroad, I haven't seen it myself, you know." ”

Jiang Xinwei's East-JM Bank and Investment Company made a lot of money in the Soviet Union and Russia, and although the money it made could not be compared with the money made by the United States called Vantaa, which was backed by the United States, and they made more than $2 trillion, Meioni also made at least $200 billion in cash under the guidance of Jiang Xinwei, a reborn person, and also bought a large number of factories and enterprises in Russia and the former Soviet republics, and also established a wide range of contacts in these places.

East-JM banks and investment companies have bought hundreds of businesses and factories there. The paper value of these physical objects may be just over $20 billion, but the actual value is much higher.

You must know that the situation was chaotic at that time, and many leaders who controlled the factories and enterprises did not know what their fate was, and they all hoped to go abroad to enjoy a peaceful life, and they did not care about the factories and enterprises they managed before, nor did they want to care, but only wanted to use them to make a little money for themselves, so that they could live more comfortably abroad in the future.

So, when the people sent by Mayoni approached them and offered them dollars to buy these factories and not promise them benefits in private, they all rushed to convince these buyers to reduce the value of factories and enterprises as much as possible, just to sell them sooner, and only to get those dollars into their pockets as soon as possible.

A factory worth $10 million is likely to be bought for only $2 million or even a million dollars.

Although the technical content of many factories in the former Soviet Union is not high, and many equipment have the characteristics of being coarse and stupid, there are still a lot of good goods in them, and Jiang Xinwei arranged for Mayoni to buy a lot, especially heavy machine tools, alloy smelting, shipbuilding, and new material production. 8)