256: Chapter 256 prepared two bottomless pits for the Zhao family

Former Secretary Zhao Lichun watched the backs of the two as they walked away and sighed.

His thick-headed son, Zhao Ruilong, had caused him endless worry. It was fortunate he hadn't let him pursue a political career. However, at the thought of Hou Liangping, a faint smile couldn't help but appear on his old face—his old rival Secretary Zhong wasn't doing any better; his son-in-law was actually even stupider than Zhao Ruilong. These two were simply "Crouching Dragon and Phoenix."

Still, this foolish son wasn't completely hopeless. If he could really rekindle some sort of connection with Chen Yan, it might actually bring a powerful ally to the Zhao family.

Just as he was thinking this, his phone suddenly rang. Looking at the caller ID, it was Liu Xinjian, Chairman of the Handong Province Oil and Gas Group. Former Secretary Zhao Lichun frowned slightly, waited a moment, and then pressed the answer button: "Hello, Little Liu, is something the matter?"

Liu Xinjian's exceptionally respectful voice came through the phone: "Old leader, I'm truly sorry to disturb you. I have an urgent matter and wanted to find Zhao Ruilong, but all three of his phones are turned off, so I'm a bit worried..."

"Oh." Former Secretary Zhao Lichun's expression softened slightly. Just a moment ago, to avoid being disturbed, he had specifically told Zhao Ruilong to turn off all contact methods. "It's nothing; Zhao Ruilong was just here discussing some matters with me, and I told him to turn them off. He'll turn them back on in a little while."

"Oh, that's good. Old leader, how has your health been lately? I'd like to go to the capital in a few days to visit you." Liu Xinjian's tone was filled with flattery.

Former Secretary Zhao Lichun said indifferently: "No need, I prefer quiet these days. What is it you need to talk to Zhao Ruilong about?"

"Reporting to the old leader, it's a business matter. There's a high-tech project that I think is very promising. I've asked two or three teams—both tech teams and financial teams—and they all say it's a good project, so I wanted to touch base with Zhao Ruilong to see if the Huilong Group could invest in it."

"Oh?" Former Secretary Zhao Lichun's interest was piqued. "I recall that the Handong Province Oil and Gas Group has an investment department, right? If you're so optimistic about it, why not invest yourself?"

"Sigh, old leader, the project team is in Hong Kong, and the core personnel don't want to deal with enterprises of our nature; they're afraid of being restricted in the future." Liu Xinjian's tone was somewhat helpless. "They prefer private capital, saying that it allows for more commercial purity. They'll only consider us if they really can't find other investment."

Former Secretary Zhao Lichun was a bit puzzled: "In the current climate, there are still companies being so picky about investors? What kind of project is it exactly?"

"It's an autonomous Driving project." Liu Xinjian said, "They aren't starting from scratch; it's a team that spun off from Hongdou Auto to form an independent R&D company. Hongdou Auto already holds a thirty percent stake in it. With the support of Hongdou Auto, they have plenty of confidence when negotiating with investors."

"Hongdou Auto?" Former Secretary Zhao Lichun paused for a moment and asked suspiciously, "Why did they spin off this project? Was there internal conflict?"

"Reporting to the old leader, it's because Hongdou Auto felt that autonomous Driving technology had already moved beyond the scope of automobiles and belongs to a different track, so they separated it. Another reason is that while the project's prospects are very bright, it requires a large investment. Hongdou Auto separated it to accept private capital and lighten their own burden."

"Then which investors are they in contact with now?" Former Secretary Zhao Lichun asked again.

"The Lantis consortium from America, Qilan Investment from Hong Kong, Tencent from Shenzhen, as well as SoftIron from Japan, and royal capital from the Middle East." Liu Xinjian replied respectfully.

Former Secretary Zhao Lichun frowned: "Those are all strong opponents. I'm afraid Huilong Group doesn't have an advantage."

"Don't worry, old leader, I've received insider information. The Lantis Group, SoftIron, and Middle Eastern capital are definitely not within their scope of consideration because autonomous Driving technology requires collecting massive amounts of road information; it's impossible to introduce foreign capital. Our only opponents are Qilan Investment and Tencent from Shenzhen." Liu Xinjian lowered his voice, "And I've privately contacted people at Tencent; there's also the possibility of a joint investment for this project."

Former Secretary Zhao Lichun thought for a moment: "The person in charge of this project is quite thorough. I don't understand business matters very well; go discuss it with Zhao Ruilong. He happens to be going to Hong Kong, so I won't get involved."

"Then, old leader, I'll contact Zhao Ruilong. What do you think of this project?"

"Since the person in charge has considered things so thoroughly, I see no political issues. As for the business side, you all should consider it; I won't say anything more." Former Secretary Zhao Lichun said, "Alright, I have a meeting, so I won't chat with you anymore."

"Please take care, old leader, you are our backbone!"

Hanging up the phone, Former Secretary Zhao Lichun pondered for a while and sighed: "I'm getting old; I really can't understand these new things. It's better to let the young people venture out."

...

At this moment, Zhao Yang was using a secure phone to instruct Gao Qilan: "The autonomous Driving project is a money-devouring monster. The System currently used in Hongdou Auto is only at the Elementary stage. Every step forward from here will increase the investment several times over. It belongs to the kind of massive pit that, once you jump in, you won't be able to climb out for at least ten years. Therefore, we must pull the Huilong Group in and make them pour out all the family fortune the Zhao family has accumulated over the years."

Gao Qilan laughed: "Brother Yang, I roughly understand what you're saying. But autonomous Driving really has great prospects; even if we invested alone, we wouldn't lose money."

"You are too optimistic." Zhao Yang laughed, "You might think that the current System is already very good, but don't forget, the prerequisite for human-like Driving is having computing power on the same order of magnitude as the human brain. It's actually a type of artificial intelligence System. Even using the computing cards that Hongdou is about to launch, to reach one-tenth of the human brain's computing power, you would need... hmm, let me calculate... about one hundred billion units."

"Uh..." Gao Qilan swallowed hard, "Brother Yang, I was hasty."

Zhao Yang laughed: "That's why I say, every step forward requires theory, hardware, and software to advance as well; the investment in manpower and material resources will grow exponentially. Then, to power these computing centers, you also have to invest in power infrastructure... This is a massive System engineering project. It starts as a matter for a few companies, but gradually it will become a national affair. Because this is a massive industrial chain project."

Gao Qilan giggled: "Then once the Zhao family steps into it, they really won't be able to get out."

"But this is also a way out for them; who told me to take on someone's request? Either way, between their lives and their money, they can only choose one." Zhao Yang laughed, "For this project, we can give the Zhao family a slightly larger share at the beginning, and then just set it up so that the several investors move forward and retreat together. By then, as long as Qilan Investment keeps investing, the Zhao family won't have a choice."

"Brother Yang, you really are a good person." Gao Qilan laughed.

Zhao Yang laughed heartily: "I think so too. I think the people of the Zhao family should thank me properly. By the way, test them out; if the Zhao family still has spare capacity, bring out that reusable rocket project too; that's also a bottomless pit."

...

Just as Zhao Yang was scheming against the Zhao family, a tall and thin old man stood at the entrance of a nursing home in Jingzhou City, gazing eagerly into the distance of the road, muttering to himself: "Little Jinzi, you've finally come! Once you arrive, the workers of Dafeng Factory will be saved, and our Haizi will be saved too!"

He was none other than Chen Yanshi, and standing beside him was his wife, Wang Fuzhen. Wang Fuzhen tugged at him and said in a deep voice: "When Secretary Sha comes later, you must keep your mouth shut! Talk about the business at hand, and don't go gossiping about Prosecutor Zhao again!"

Chen Yanshi's expression became stern: "How is that gossiping? Does he drive a luxury car or not? Does he live in Dihao Garden or not? I'm stating facts. His conduct is problematic!"