On the morning of Scrooge's "awakening", Morgan was also in the building of General Motors' new Third Automobile Manufacturing Plant to inspect the brand-new equipment. In a few days, the plant will be ready for production. General Motors' share price is now rising, tripling from its floor price when the stock was first issued. It is believed that after the factory is put into production, these stocks will hit new highs again. It's just that Morgan always has an inexplicable feeling of uneasiness in his heart. Several times, he almost couldn't help it, and wanted to sell all the GM shares in his hand. But in the end, reason still suppressed emotion, and he persuaded himself. Since it is impossible for the forest of Ripples to move like Dun Xinen, and since the sword in the hand of any child born to a woman cannot hurt Macbeth, then what else can Macbeth worry about? Moreover, the shares of GM in his hands are not too much, and it will not really hurt him if he loses them all.

Morgan knows that in order to suppress General Motors and continue to maintain its dominance in the automotive field, Volkswagen has recently launched a variety of new products. However, these so-called new products are actually just lifted versions of the original products. Compared to the original product, almost nothing has changed except for a slight change in appearance. Some don't even have much change in appearance, just new paint. If there's one serious change, it's that they've started equipping some high-end cars with battery-starting engine systems. In the eyes of many people, such a rush to throw out one "new model" after another can only be said to prove that Volkswagen has behaved at a loss under the pressure of General Motors.

Today, Volkswagen AG is releasing a so-called "revolutionary" new product. But obviously, now, most of the media are not particularly concerned about the so-called new products of Volkswagen, and in yesterday's Sun newspaper, there was even a cartoon like this:

Volkswagen's chairman, Frank, was dressed in overalls with the Volkswagen logo, holding an old cucumber in one hand and a paint brush in the other. There is also a caption next to it - a new Volkswagen product.

Morgan didn't pay much attention to Volkswagen's so-called new products. Satisfied, he walked around the factory, then left the factory and was about to board the luxury bulletproof car called "Dream" that General Motors had prepared for him specifically for him. saw his secretary Conlill hurrying over, his face was very wrong.

"Mr. Morgan, something is wrong." Conlill stepped forward and whispered.

Morgan looked at him and said, "What's wrong?" Let's get in the car and talk. ”

Conlill followed Morgan into the car without saying a word, then took out a promotional material from his purse and handed it to Morgan: "Mr. Morgan, you see, this is the information of Volkswagen's new car." Now their launch is still going on, and there will be a performance demonstration in the afternoon. ”

Morgan took the material, which was apparently a promotional video distributed by Volkswagen to visitors at the launch of the new product. The paper is beautifully printed, with a small car with a unique streamlined shape on the front, and a large line printed next to it: "Volkswagen Beetle, put wheels on America." Next to it, there is an even more shocking line of numbers: "Estimated retail price: $280!" ”

The price surprised Morgan. If Volkswagen can really produce and sell such cars in large quantities at this price, then GM's related products will not be able to compete with it in price anyway. But Morgan remained calm, because he thought: such a cheap car must be cut to the bottom in terms of performance. If it's too low-end, it won't pose much of a threat.

So Morgan flipped the paper to the back. On the back is printed the performance list of this car, and looking at this performance list, Morgan's sweat comes out.

"30 hp 6-cylinder engine with a top speed of 50 mph, equipped with night running headlights, electro-acoustic horn, engine electric start system, parking brake system, four-wheel independent torsion bar suspension...... How is this, this, and such a thing all concentrated in such a cheap car? Could it be that the public is losing money and shouting? ”

Morgan immediately said to the driver, "Go to the Central Park room right away." He thinks that it is best to consult professional and technical personnel in this regard.

……

"Thomas, is it possible to do this at such a price?" Morgan asked.

"It's possible." Edison stared at the brochure and said. This answer made Morgan's heart cold.

"Look, Mr. Morgan, the size of this car is quite small, and of course it is not a problem to seat four people, and it can barely fit five adults. This is barely enough for the average family. Because of its small size, it naturally uses less material. This is a significant cost savings. As for the night running headlights, electro-acoustic horns, parking brakes, independent torsion bar suspension, and liftable glass windows, these are indeed very advanced in technology, but the patents are in their own hands, and they do not have to pay royalties. Edison replied.

"But with so many new technologies, the cost of research and development should be very high." Morgan asked.

"Of course. But these technologies can be used on other vehicles as well. And if the sales of such cars are very large, then the development cost of each car will be limited. However, with so many new technologies being used at once, the reliability of such a vehicle may not be very good. If there are a lot of reliability issues in the early days, then we still have time to come up with something to contend with. Edison said again.

"Thomas, do you think there's a high chance that this thing's reliability will fail?" Morgan asked.

"It should be high. It uses too much new technology. Edison affirmed.

"Once you get a sample, how long do you have to come up with a comparable product?" Morgan asked again.

Edison was reluctant to answer this question immediately. After thinking about it for a while, he finally said to Morgan: "This qiē will have to wait until I get the product." I'm afraid that some things are not only about design, but also about materials, and if it comes to technology, then it will take a long time. Because we have to experiment in the same way, especially in the field of heat treatment, there is almost no theoretical guidance, it is completely dependent on luck, just like the ancient alchemy. So, it's hard for me to say how long it will take right now. ”

At this moment, Conlill suddenly ran over again. His face was pale, as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

"What's wrong, Conriel?" Morgan asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Conlill replied in a trembling voice, "Mr. Morgan, Shi, Shi, Scrooge have woken up!" And appeared at the scene of the product performance display! Morgan could clearly hear Conriel's uncontrollable clash of his upper and lower teeth as he said this.

"This, how is this possible?" Edison's face was so pale that he could barely stand, and he reached out and held on to the corner of the table so that he would not fall. Edison knew that if Scrooge really woke up, then it would be a huge mistake for him to leave the Great Solid room, and in the future, he would have to face the competition from the Great Solid Room led by Scrooge. He knew too well the power of the Great Solid Room, and under the leadership of Scrooge, the Great Solid Room could crush any scientific research institution in the United States. In this big gamble on automobiles, the Morgan consortium certainly invested a lot of money, and they invested much more money than Edison. However, although this money is not a small amount for the Morgan consortium, such losses are not completely unbearable. As for him, he threw all the coffins into it, and even took on a lot of debts for it. This, this is simply ......

Like Edison Conlill, Morgan panicked at first. But he quickly calmed down:

"Conlill, is the news exact? Is it indeed Scrooge? Ah, it's impossible to play fake. Go and inform them at once, so that they can come to me at once. We have fallen into the trap and must now find a way to save ourselves. Bengtson, we'll go back right away. ”

The bodyguard Bengtson answered, and walked outside with Morgan.

"Mr. Morgan, what should I do?" Edison asked.

"Stay calm and think of a way to minimize your losses." Morgan said as he walked outside.

……

At Morgan's Millionaires' Club, the atmosphere is now oppressive and deadly like a grave. A group of bankers who used to be powerful in the world, one by one, are like stone statues standing on the tombway, lifeless. In the end, it was Morgan who spoke first:

"You all know the news that Scrooge has woken up, right? I think, in fact, Scrooge is not waking up now, there is only one truth, that is, Scrooge has never been in a coma at all, he has been planning this conspiracy behind the scenes, digging this trap. We've all been fooled. ”

"Mr. Morgan, are you sure it's all a scam?" One banker said in a trembling voice, "Perhaps, it's just a coincidence?" ”

"Coincidence? Today is Sunday and the stock market is closed. If Scrooge had 'woken up' a day earlier or a day later, we would have been able to quickly sell as many stocks as possible with our quicker reaction speed, thus greatly reducing our losses. But when the market closes today, and when the market opens tomorrow, will there be even one person in the whole of America who doesn't know that Scrooge has woken up, and Volkswagen has launched a car that has an overwhelming advantage over us in terms of technology? By the time the stock market opens tomorrow, everyone knows very well. Can there be such a coincidence in the world? Moreover, the General Motors, which we built at great expense, with its factory equipment, was just as useful to Scrooge's Volkswagen. On the basis of the sharp decline in GM's stock, he only needed a small amount of money to swallow GM whole. This is equivalent to building a series of car factories for nothing at our expense. Even, because of our losses, especially the loss of confidence, he was able to allow his bank to expand a little more in our sphere of influence. You all know how dangerous it can be for us if depositors have doubts about our financial situation! Such an extremely favorable situation for Scrooge could not have been formed by coincidence. There is no doubt that we fell into a trap and became prey. Now, what we need to consider is, what is Scrooge's ultimate goal in doing this? How can we minimize losses as much as possible? ”