The first deputy minister of foreign trade, who is nearly fifty years old, is called Yuri? Brezhnev, as soon as you look at the surname, you will know his heel - the eldest prince.

In this regard, Tang Huan naturally did not have any timidity, after all, he had even enjoyed the treatment of the guest of the President of the United States, and purely from the perspective of business negotiations, the specifications were reasonable.

In fact, the Soviet side's way of doing things is very skillful, and the women's gymnastics star Nelicin, who Tang Huan hired as a product image spokesperson and funded university studies in Moscow, was included in the list of people on this trip, which can be regarded as an intermediary who enlivens the atmosphere.

At the beginning of the meeting, the two sides communicated really well during the greeting process, which set a good tone for the next talks, and then naturally entered the formal negotiation stage. Brezhnev openly and honestly asked for a price reduction for the Zheru series of software.

Tang Huan shook his head with a wry smile, picked up a document and handed it over, "This is our sales statistics, and there are conclusions later, Your Excellency the Minister may wish to take a look at it first." ”

Yuri? After Brezhnev looked at it, he couldn't help but look embarrassed and coughed lightly.

Whether a tool like a personal computer is useful or not can be quickly judged by the discerning person by observing how well others use it.

After the Xiaobawang game console and a generation of Fangyuan computers were sold into the Soviet Union, the products were indeed very popular, but they also suffered from various cracks, after all, people have this technical strength.

The situation of the Xiaobawang game console is a little better, mainly because some games have been transplanted to other platforms without authorization, but the generation of Fangyuan computers is a bit miserable. Just like IBM's System/360 mainframe, it has become the object of fire, from hardware to software. are all cracked in an organized way, and in the name of beauty, technology localization is needed.

However, technology cracking and industrial mass production are two different things.

The personal computer industry in the United States has made great strides in recent years, that is, the civilian technology has been accumulated and put in place, while the level of computer development in the Soviet Union is stained with the light of serving the military industry. However, the industry standard of microcomputers is really limited.

It is important to know that the instruction set of the CPU used by the PC determines the characteristics of the entire hardware platform. The Soviet Union still had to get through it.

In other words, if the Soviet Union wanted to launch its own products on the market that were compatible with the first generation of Fangyuan computers, it also had to have a compatible CPU corresponding to the MOS6502.

But that's the end of the difficulty, after all, the first generation of Fangyuan computers is not like the second generation of Fangyuan computers. on the motherboard in addition to the CPU. There are also more complex designs such as ISA buses, north-south bridge chips, etc.

In general, in terms of hardware, the Soviet Union has basically been able to make products compatible with a generation of Fangyuan computers and its own technology.

But the phrase "accumulation" is not casual, and they soon found that the price of their products has little competitive advantage. At the same time, the previously neglected application software problem is becoming more and more acute.

In fact, the Soviet cracked the entire system of the generation of Fangyuan computers. The software side and the hardware side go hand in hand.

On the motherboard of Fangyuan computer, an EEPROM - electrically erasable programmable read-only memory is integrated. Used to store BIOS code, operating system FreeDOS, spreadsheet software CGrid, word processing software WordEasy, database EBase and other products will read functional functions or markup for authenticity verification.

This mechanism is not an absolute problem for those who have a heart, and it can be bypassed.

So the situation of the generation of Fangyuan computers in the Soviet Union is that more and more orders no longer include CGrid, WordEasy, EBase, and even more excessive, we don't need FreeDOS, the operating system integrated by your system, so what, and then discount.

Tang Huan's effective countermeasure can only be to devalue the old version of the software that was cracked before by constantly introducing new versions of software with more powerful functions.

In addition, Tang Huan acquiesced to this objective situation, and deliberately no longer demanded the binding of software and hardware, for example, after the software detected an unauthorized environment, it only prompted, or restricted the use of some advanced functions, instead of forcibly exiting the program, which can be regarded as reducing the difficulty of cracking to a certain extent, in fact, it is a disguised indulgence in software piracy.

Slowly, users on the Soviet side began to find that the latest version of Zheru's software was much less difficult to get started with, and at the same time, the local follow-up software was not as motivated to update as before.

After all, the operation of each software is different, and it is very troublesome to learn and learn, and Soviet users subconsciously accepted pirated Zheru software to quietly unify the market.

However, sometimes, the experience of using pirated Zheru software is not perfect, and program crashes occur from time to time, at this time, users often scold the cracker for waste, and then reopen the program and continue to use it.

This phenomenon generally does not have much impact on users such as office clerks, who often save or reprint a small piece of lost manuscript.

However, it is becoming increasingly unbearable for users who count all kinds of real-time data, especially those who rely heavily on database EBase applications, whether it is data loss or data calculation errors.

At the same time, unlike spreadsheet software and word processing software, EBase has a very frequent need for after-sales service and technical support, and it is obvious that pirated software cannot get such treatment.

Due to the difficulty of developing EBase, so far there has been no product in the Soviet Union that can be barely satisfied.

But objective needs do not wait for anyone, and the Soviet official has to come forward to solve such problems, and in the planned economy model of great unification, who is responsible if you are not responsible?

In addition, the products developed by the Soviet Union that are compatible with the first generation of Fangyuan computers, if you want to solve the problem of application software, the easiest way is to directly use the CGrid, WordEasy, and EBase of Zheru.

I don't know why. The same Zheru pirated software has a world of difference between the genuine generation of Fangyuan computers and its own technology-compatible computers. The latter is extremely unstable.

The reason given by the technical staff is that the CPU compatibility may not be perfect enough, but more importantly, the low-level code implementation of Zheru software uses some techniques that rely heavily on hardware features.

Yuri? On this trip, Brezhnev not only planned to bargain on genuine Zheru software, but also wanted to find a solution to this problem.

Merely. The former is above board, while the latter is a bit more difficult to talk about.

Especially after reading the documents handed over by Tang Huan, Yuri? Brezhnev became more and more passive.

There's clear analytics on that. summed up how much money Tang Huan lost.

The total shipment of a generation of Fangyuan computers in the Soviet Union has approached 20,000 units, and according to the statistics of the genuine licensing model, the software used with each computer. The cost often exceeds the price of the hardware itself. That's where the huge profits of software come in.

But as a result, Tang Huan lost at least 80% of his software sales.

Since it is a business, it must be sincere in the distribution of benefits, right?

Tang Huan looked at Yuri with a helpless gaze? Brezhnev, how do you think I should lower my price?

Yuri? Brezhnev was silent for a long time, unable to answer.

For the Soviet Union, where the planned economy occupies the absolute mainstay, it is very convenient to place the square circle computer on the desk to facilitate the operation of the entire increasingly rigid national economic system. It brings obvious dynamism, such as various data statistics and summarization. The rate of improvement is not half a point, and the level of education in the Soviet Union is enough for most of the staff to quickly master the use of office software.

How could the ruling elite not know these benefits, and this is also the motivation for so much attention to the generation of Fangyuan computers.

So, no matter how difficult it is, Yuri? Brezhnev had to find a way to solve it. But what he didn't expect was that Tang Huan took out such a detailed document, which directly disrupted his prepared rhetoric.

Is it possible to want the horse to run, but also to want the horse not to eat grass? You may not be so selfless, let alone an outside businessman.

Tang Huan is very particular about social skills, see Yuri? Brezhnev was embarrassed, so he did not continue to press, but talked to Nelikin, the only acquaintance on the Soviet side.

I have to say that the Soviet Union brought Nelicin to liven up the atmosphere.

After Neligin retired, she stayed in Moscow for university studies under the sponsorship of Tang Huan, and at the same time worked part-time in the office that sold Fangyuan computers to do some public relations work and receive a salary, which was far more nourishing than her returning to Belarus to accept the official work arrangement, which can be seen from her mental outlook and dress.

Based on this relationship, Tang Huan and Neligin are actually very familiar, but on such occasions, they naturally want to talk about those clichés.

For example, think back to Neligin's achievements at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics, ask her about her current study, work and life, and talk about the strength of the Soviet women's gymnastics team.

In short, there is no cold scene at all, even Yuri? Brezhnev also got involved, talking about a lot of light topics.

Since sports can be used for military diplomacy and football diplomacy, it can naturally also play the role of lubricant in business negotiations.

Yuri? Brezhnev saw a loophole, changed his words, and turned to the topic, "In any case, the most important thing is to focus on the future." ”

Tang Huan nodded approvingly, and said in his heart that if I don't focus on the future, will I let you use my software so comfortably?

"The purchase order I brought this time was originally 1,000 Fangyuan computers, but now it has been doubled to 2,000 computers, what do you think?" Yuri? Brezhnev waved his hand heroically.

Tang Huan smiled noncommittally, and didn't seem to be moved, because the price of a generation of Fangyuan computers has dropped to less than $1,500, and its profit margin cannot be compared with software.

Seeing this, Yuri? Brezhnev continued to add weight unhurriedly, "The intensity of cooperation between us obviously needs to be further strengthened, and the operational capacity of your office in Moscow has been somewhat unable to keep up with the situation, why not raise the specifications of this institution." What about changing to a branch or subsidiary? ”

"Would you like to support you in this regard?" Tang Huan asked with interest.

Although the East and the West are now facing off against each other, there is also a permanent communication mechanism between the two, especially after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The links are apparently frequent, because no normal person wants a third world war with nuclear weapons.

Since there is political communication, there will naturally be economic exchanges, for example, it was not until after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that the United States began to ban grain exports to the other side.

If anyone can do business between the East and the West, then there is no doubt that this gentleman is definitely a powerful man. And Tang Huan is more interested in this role.

"Of course. And I can guarantee this level of support. "Yuri? Brezhnev replied proudly.

Obviously, in terms of the identity of the eldest prince. It's not a problem that he has this privilege.

"In this case, I will arrange a visit for His Excellency the Minister before moving on to the subject." Tang Huan got up and asked.

Yuri? Brezhnev was a little puzzled at first, but when he saw the second-generation Fangyuan computer demonstrating various applications. I couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded.

Although not tech-savvy. But Yuri? Brezhnev can judge from the surface that compared with the first-generation Fangyuan computer, the second-generation Fangyuan computer is obviously much more powerful.

When our first-generation Fangyuan computer-compatible products are still struggling with various problems, is the technology of the second-generation Fangyuan computer so mature? So before that, wouldn't it be in vain to crack the problem, which invested considerable resources?

Apparently, the USSR was completely unaware. How intense and frequent the technological changes of personal computers are, their thinking is still stuck in mainframe mode like IBM Sysstem/360.

"Your Excellency the Minister thinks. Is the second-generation Fangyuan computer worth your large purchase? Tang Huan asked playfully.

Such a powerful product may be used for military use.

Yuri who thinks of this? Brezhnev nodded, acknowledging the value of the second-generation Fangyuan computer, and casually asked, "How to quote this product?" ”

"Base model from $5,000." Tang Huanyun made a gesture lightly.

Yuri? The muscles on Brezhnev's face twitched, and he said in his heart that the price was too high, more than the price of three first-generation Fangyuan computers combined.

After the tour, Yuri? Brezhnev expressed his expression solemnly, "I am willing to purchase 200 second-generation Fangyuan computers, but no matter how big the change." I don't have the authority to make a decision right away. ”

Tang Huan took a closer look at Yuri? Brezhnev's expression did not look like a fake.

However, compared with Japan's deep pockets, the Soviet Union's careful calculations have obviously weakened its momentum.

"Well, for the sake of His Excellency the minister, I accept this plan, and the price of the software will be reduced by ten percent at one time." Tang Huan finally relented.

But Yuri? Brezhnev was not satisfied with this, and continued to bargain, Tang Huan shook his head again and again, he could temporarily tolerate not making a lot of money in the Soviet market and leave it for future harvest, but the bottom line of small profits should still be adhered to.

This disagreement was inked until the reception began, and there was no satisfactory outcome for both parties.

But everyone's appetite has not been affected in any way, they can eat when they should eat, drink when they should drink, talk and laugh freely, and there is no mustard, after all, they are all masters of negotiation, and they know that the more they are at this time, the more patient they must be.

Between the staggered chips, Tang Huan and Yuri? Brezhnev took a drink of Volga, and then asked tentatively: "Can my office in Moscow expand its scope of operations, such as video recorders and videotapes, after being promoted to a higher level?" ”

Yuri? Brezhnev understood that Tang Huan was asking for additional benefits outside the disk to make up for the loss of his software on the disk, which can be regarded as a normal reaction and the proper meaning of the question.

He didn't have any objection to this, but just jokingly asked, "What are the contents of the tapes, Hollywood movies?" ”

As soon as he heard this, Tang Huan couldn't help but be speechless, this idea did have a bug, and it could almost be regarded as a disguised promotion of Hollywood movies to the Soviet Union, which was obviously contrary to the principle that art has always served politics.

Through this period of contact, Yuri? Brezhnev deeply understood Tang Huan's strength, and naturally showed his respect for the strong, which is also the tradition of the fighting nation.

What's more, Tang Huan speaks proficient Russian, and his hospitality in all aspects is also impeccable. Brezhnev was very impressed.

Looking at Tang Huan's deflated opponent, Yuri? Brezhnev laughed loudly, "Don, you go on to find the benefits that interest you. ”

Tang Huan is a little unwilling, he must find compensation from other fields, otherwise he will not be able to make Yuri tomorrow? Brezhnev was satisfied with the substantive concession, "Since we are talking about movies, then we might as well talk about it again, a science fiction work with the theme of children and no political affairs at all, is it not okay?" ”

Yuri? Brezhnev shook the wine in his glass and replied categorically, "As long as it's Hollywood, it's definitely not good." ”

"What if it's distributed by a non-American entertainment company?" Tang Huan, who tirelessly pursues questions, clearly exposes his enthusiasm for impossible achievements.

"You're a good idea, and if you pack it properly, there's no room for manipulation." Yuri? Brezhnev groaned for a moment, then smiled and asked, "Are you sure this is the compensation you need?" ”

"I still attach more importance to the Soviet market." Tang Huan spread his hands helplessly, "But the only products I can sell now are personal computers, game consoles and movies, can I find any other way to compensate?" ”

"If you think about it, I'll think about it too." Yuri? Brezhnev continued to laugh out loud. (To be continued......)