Warm applause rang out.

Li Kangping clapped his hands and said: "Very good, very good, the next step, Mario will continue westward by electric signal, Mario will pass through Missouri, Arizona, and finally arrive in California." I wish the performance in California would be more pompous than the one on Fifth Avenue, and we could even invite Hollywood stars out of New York and then broadcast them live to Hollywood. ”

"Gentlemen, please continue to work hard according to the plan proposed by Dr. Lee."

Freeman gave instructions to the engineers and spoke with Li Kangping individually.

"Dr. Li, I am very pleased to see that the number of engineers in Zeus Lab has increased to 54 in a short period of time, and that you have purchased some advanced equipment to make the development of the TV system go smoothly."

The $200,000 RCA invested in Zeus Laboratories cannot be spent indiscriminately, it must be used on the technical side, and it needs to be effective. People RCA are staring at it.

At present, it seems that the fragile agreement between Zeus Labs and the RCA is basically maintained by core technology.

Li Kangping must grasp the balance, he must maintain the status of the world's No. 1 TV research and development, but also cannot pass on all the core technology to RCA at once.

Freeman added: "My idea is that the development of the TV cable transmission system will be undertaken by Zeus Laboratory. At the same time, we will start the research and development of a wireless transmission system, which will be handled by RCA's Jersey City R&D site. Dr. Lee, you wouldn't object, would you? ”

"How could I object? RCA is the most powerful radio company in the world, and it is only fitting that RCA is responsible for the development of the wireless transmission system for television. "But, Dr. Freeman, you should know that wired and wireless can be said to be two technical routes, two different systems. Although there are similar technical principles between the two, they are still two different plans: Plan A and Plan B. I can't say for sure, but who is better, wired or wireless? However, I support RCA in developing a TVB system as a technical reserve. ”

"That's right, technical reserves, I like that. Dr. Lee, every time I talk to you, it makes me feel happy. ”

The development of mechanical television systems is in full swing.

On this day, the last issue of Scientific American in 1922 published Li Kangping's paper "The All-Electronic Television System" written a few months earlier.

The main audience of Physical Review is scholars in academic circles, while Scientific American's audience is inventors in invention circles and managers and technicians in enterprises.

Freeman subscribed to Scientific American, and he saw Lee Kangping's "All-Electronic Television System" for the first time.

"Dr. Li, I think you are much ahead of this era." Freeman said over the phone.

"Huh?"

"We're working on a mechanical TV project, and you're now coming up with the idea of an all-electronic TV system."

"Mr. Freeman, I suppose I have the right to publish?"

"Of course, of course you can."

"Actually, as you said, the "all-electronic TV system" is just an idea, how to achieve the all-electronic TV system, I don't know for the time being, maybe this system will never be realized. As for mechanical TV, we have made a physical object, and realized cross-city live broadcast. ”

"Yes, the development of mechanical televisions will not be interrupted, and about the "All-Electronic Television System" I will seriously study it during the Christmas holidays. Anyway, Dr. Lee, Merry Christmas. ”

"Merry Christmas."

As the Christmas holiday approached, Li Kangping hung up the phone and continued to discuss the company's performance in 1922 and its plans for 1923 with Mr. Zhou, Liu Shaowen, and Li Chong.

Manhattan Zeus currently has 391 employees, including 54 in Zeus Laboratory, 302 in Hera Mahjong and 35 in Headquarters.

Zeus Laboratories has not yet reached the profitability stage, and the laboratory is mainly supported by the income of Hera Mahjong and the investment of RCA.

In 1922, Hera Mahjong Company produced and sold 82,300 pairs of Hera brand mahjong, with an after-tax profit of 462,100 US dollars, which was put into production that year and made a profit that year.

Hera Mahjong's profit was supposed to be more than $500,000, close to $600,000. However, President Li often raised the salaries of core employees, so the profit fell to less than $500,000.

Either way, the company is getting better, and the faces of the four shareholders are beaming with joy.

"The balance of the company's account is hundreds of thousands of dollars, congratulations!" Li Kangping stroked his palms and laughed.

"Kangping has great courage to create the first mahjong company in the United States, build the Hera mahjong brand, and sell well in the American market, which should be the biggest contribution of Kangping." Mr. Zhou said sincerely.

"Without the full support of Mr. Zhou, Brother Shao Wen and Li Chong, how could the company achieve today?" Li Kangping calmed down after being happy, and he asked: "Brother Shaowen, how much does our company still owe Citibank a loan?" ”

Liu Shaowen said: "Calculating the interest, I owe 53,000. If it is settled at this time, the repayment will be 49,000. ”

Li Kangping proposed: "Settle the Citibank loan immediately, what do you think?" ”

"Okay."

"Do as Kangping wills."

Li Kangping said: "When the company was founded, my father borrowed 70,000 oceans from a friend to help the mahjong factory break ground. Now, I want to repay the loan of my father's friend, I wonder if you have any suggestions? ”

"It should be returned." Mr. Zhou said.

Liu Shaowen and Li Chong also agreed.

A year ago, one dollar was worth two dollars in the ocean of the Republic of China. At this time, the dollar appreciated, and one dollar was worth 2.5 yuan in the ocean of the Republic of China.

Li Kangping entrusted Brother Shaowen to remit US$35,000 to the Li Company in Guangzhou, and the matter was handled later.

Now that we've summarized the company's 1922 year, let's plan the company's development in 1923.

It can be expected that Zeus Laboratory will still be in a state of burning money in 1923.

Kangping will negotiate with RCA, hoping that RCA will invest more money and try to make Manhattan Zeus burn less money.

It is also expected that in 1923, the sales revenue of the Hera Mahjong Company was the lifeblood of the entire Manhattan Zeus Company.

The maximum annual production capacity of Hera Mahjong's factory in the Bronx was 120,000 pairs of mahjong, and Camping hoped that Hera Mahjong would achieve its goal of producing and selling 120,000 pairs of mahjong a year by 1923.

Liu Shaowen suggested: "Mahjong sales in the United States are improving, do we consider building a new second factory to increase the annual production capacity of Hera brand mahjong to 240,000 pairs?" ”

Li Kangping thought for a moment and said: "Brother Shaowen's proposal is not unreasonable, but it should not be rushed, and it is necessary to do an in-depth investigation before we can decide whether to open a second mahjong factory." Hera brand mahjong is currently only supplied to the White Brothers Trading Company, a single sales channel is extremely risky, if the White Brothers Trading Company suddenly does not cooperate with our company, then our company will be in trouble. Therefore, I want to open up new channels, such as Narod and Taylor, which have worked closely with our company on TV performances, and if they are willing to wholesale our mahjong, they will cooperate with them. Later, I asked Benjamin to start a business conversation about it. ”

The last shareholders' meeting of the Manhattan Zeus Company in 1922 was successfully concluded.

Next, let's not talk about work, let's talk about personal matters.

The four major shareholders of Manhattan Zeus all rented houses, and the company had a little money at this time, so the quality of life of the shareholders should be improved.

The four largest shareholders each bought a house in New York. This was Li Kangping's suggestion, and he immediately put it into practical action.