Reborn in Brazil As a Plutocrat

  Chapter 419 Caterpillar

  Fang Lang's meaning is also very obvious. Since it is a company jointly funded and built by everyone, everyone arranges their own people to participate in the construction and management of the company.

  Since the two families have expressed their intention to participate, of course they will not be polite, and they all nodded in agreement.

   Seeing that the atmosphere seemed a bit dull, Fang Lang quickly handed everyone a cigar, and said again:

"To be honest, I have some ideas about building this expressway. Everyone knows that I am a Brazilian. The traffic environment in Brazil is still relatively bad. I want to use this opportunity to build expressways for Europe to accumulate some road and bridge construction. experience of.

  After training a strong team, I also want to try to build a few highways in Brazil.

   Originally, I was thinking of using reinforced concrete pavement directly, but since Mr. Rockefeller proposed to provide high-quality asphalt, I don’t know how far the current asphalt pavement has developed!

   It won't melt when it encounters high temperature, and it will stick when the car is driven! Also, it won't be deformed when a heavy car is pressed! "

  Actually, what Fang Lang expressed was that this road and bridge company is going to organize itself, and it will be convenient to bring it back to Brazil for road and bridge construction in the future.

   Regarding this point, in fact, neither the Morgan nor the Rockefeller family have any interest. After all, this is the nature of a contractor, and a big consortium like them still doesn't like such a business.

But Fang Lang doesn't see it that way. After all, in the next few decades, the world will develop rapidly, and there will be countless construction projects. As long as his road and bridge company can really be trained in Europe, it can be used in the whole world in the future. The world takes orders and builds some big projects. Even high-rise buildings with hundreds of floors.

  These are engineering projects that can make a lot of money. Think about the various road and bridge companies in later generations, they are not giants.

  Rockefeller's expression froze when he heard Fang Lang's question. All the confirmations about asphalt that Fang Lang said actually existed. This is also the reason why concrete pavement was so popular in this period.

   After coughing twice, he said in embarrassment:

   "Ah! Well! There must be more or less problems with asphalt materials, but compared to concrete pavement, the construction time of asphalt pavement is shorter!"

  In fact, Fang Lang still has a certain understanding of cement roads and asphalt roads. The current construction level of asphalt roads in Europe and the United States is actually the asphalt roads of the old national roads in his hometown, which will become uneven after a period of use.

  Especially in summer, the high temperature can even melt the road surface. Walking on it will stick people to it like fly stickers. If it is run over by overloaded trucks several times, it will immediately become potholes.

  So, for a long time, the highways in my hometown used concrete pavement. It was not until the new asphalt concrete material was researched and put into use that a large number of asphalt pavements began to appear.

  The new asphalt concrete pavement not only has low noise, less dust, good drainage, less wear on tires, comfortable driving, short construction time, and convenient maintenance.

   Of course, it is not without disadvantages, for example, the cost is often higher than that of concrete pavement. In addition, the road surface is softer than the concrete road surface. If the vehicle stops in place and continues to exert pressure on it, it may deform.

   This is why highways are made of asphalt, but tollbooths are made of concrete. After all, vehicles need to stop and wait in place when queuing up to pay the toll, which can easily cause road deformation.

  When he saw Rockefeller, he didn't tell the truth, and Fang Lang didn't tell the truth. If the highway franchise negotiated with the local government was less than 30 years old, he would definitely choose concrete pavement without hesitation. After all, the cost is low.

   As for the maintenance issues thirty years from now, it's none of his business.

   And after more than thirty years, he must still find a way to reduce his maintenance and cover costs. At this time, the new asphalt pavement is obviously more suitable.

   smiled and said:

   "Mr. Rockefeller, it is definitely not acceptable to use the current asphalt pavement material as a highway material."

   Then he glanced at Morgan and the others on the other side before saying:

   "However, I have some new asphalt concrete technology, which can solve these problems very well. It can be said that I have certain technical advantages in the construction of this expressway.

  Of course, in order to complete our expressway construction plan better and faster, here I need a little help from everyone. "

   After speaking, he looked at everyone present with burning eyes.

   These words made Morgan and Rockefeller look at each other, and they secretly drummed in their hearts, wondering what this guy wanted to do again. Especially the Morgan family, at this time, they have already started to get a little bit burnt out by Fang Lang's endless new tricks.

  Hearing that I need to wait for someone to do a small favor, I can't help but start to secretly swear in my heart. I need the help of a few people here. It doesn't look like a small favor! This makes them have to be cautious.

  Although Rockefeller on the side didn't have such a deep understanding, he was also a little elusive about Fang Lang's unrestrained thoughts, and he also didn't dare to express his opinion easily.

   On the other hand, Marshall, a government official, didn't care. He glanced at Morgan and Rockefeller and said:

   "Fang, you are too kind, since you can promise to build a highway in the local area, it is considered to have solved the biggest obstacle in our negotiations with the local government.

   If there is anything I can help with, please feel free to ask, and I will spare no effort to help you solve anything within my ability. If I can't solve it, I will also report it to Mr. President, and I will definitely find a way to help you solve it. "

Marshall, who has been able to make it to this day, is definitely not a simple character. He is very clear about the state of the people in front of him at this time, so he calmly nodded to Morgan, Rockefeller and others, and told them that Fang Lang's thinking helped them solve the biggest problem. obstacles.

  You only made a promise to Fang Lang on your own behalf.

   Regarding this, Fang Lang was noncommittal. In his opinion, his proposal to ask everyone for a small favor was really just a small favor.

   Seeing several people staring at him with piercing eyes, Fang Lang didn't show any tricks, and said directly:

   "As I said just now, I have a new technology of asphalt concrete that I need to use, and here I need to use some brand new machinery and equipment.

   And my company does not have the research and development strength in this area, but I believe that for the powerful United States, there should be a lot of such companies. Therefore, I hope everyone can help me acquire such a company. "

  All the people who heard this breathed a sigh of relief, and Eli Morgan looked at Fang Lang with interest and said:

   "Hehe. It seems that Fang is very confident in his new technology! However, there are many such companies in the United States as you mentioned. I don't know what kind of mechanical equipment you want to research!"

   Seeing everyone's relaxed expressions, Fang Lang knew that his request should not be difficult, so he stopped being polite and continued:

  “To be precise, what I need is a factory that produces construction machinery. At least it must be able to research mixture mixing equipment, paver, and road roller. These are just the most basic asphalt road construction equipment.

  If you want to build a highway, you will definitely need to open mountains, build bridges when encountering water, and even dig tunnels, all of which require professional construction equipment, such as excavators, bulldozers, cranes, and bridge erecting machines. Even shield machines. "

   These mechanical equipment are actually not rare now, and excavators like them have existed for a long time, but the modern hydraulic excavator had to wait until 1951 to be born in Poclain, France.

  The mainstream product currently in use is still a steam shovel driven by a diesel generator, and what Fang Lang wants to study is naturally a hydraulically driven excavator that is very common in later generations.

  Some people may think that the shield machine for excavating tunnels should be a new gadget, but in fact, the shield machine was invented by French engineer Brunet as early as 1842, and it was widely used in the construction of subway tunnels in London.

   If you want to research and manufacture so many construction machinery and equipment at the same time, you will naturally need to invest a lot of manpower, power and financial resources. Harken Morgan felt dizzy when he heard Fang Lang report the names of so many construction machinery.

   Very worried that Fang Lang would continue to ask the Morgan consortium to provide funds to support his project, so he quickly said:

   "Fang, since you already have a complete idea in your mind, of course we absolutely support you. I don't know if you have any specific goals you want to acquire. Tell us, and we can all help you figure out a way."

   Fang Lang heard the words, picked up the cigar, put it near his mouth, took a deep puff, and slowly exhaled a puff of cigarette. His sharp eyes were hidden behind the smoke, and he glanced at the expressions of everyone.

  Looking at the crowd with a smile on the corner of his mouth, he said:

   "If you want to talk about a goal, I really have one, and that is a company that produces crawler bulldozers in Illinois, USA, called Caterpillar."

  Everyone had different expressions after hearing the name of the company, especially the members of the Morgan family who obviously didn't know much about this company, and they all thought there was nothing wrong with it.

  Rockefeller on the side changed his expression, and unconsciously glanced at General Marshall.

   And General Marshall had obviously heard the name of this company, and he glanced at Fang Lang with a twinkle in his eyes, before slowly saying:

   "Oh! I know the company Fang mentioned, but there may be some troubles in it. Because the other party is still the main supplier of the chassis of our US military M4 medium tank."

   Now, several members of the Morgan family and Rockefeller couldn't help but met their eyes again, and finally understood why Fang Lang said that they needed a little favor from them.

   Sure enough, it is not such a small favor to help!

  M4 medium tank is also one of the main battle tanks of the United States during World War II, code-named "Sherman". And this bulldozer company, which is not very eye-catching now, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of construction machinery and mining equipment, gas engines and industrial gas turbines, and one of the world's largest manufacturers of diesel engines.

  His products are very common in later generations in China. It is the construction machinery brand known as Carter. His logo is under the three letters CAT, with a yellow triangle.

   And he was able to develop from a factory that produced bulldozers to such a large scale, naturally because he caught the wind of World War II and produced a large number of "Sherman" tanks for the United States.

  Later, it took advantage of the European aid plan, acquired some factories in Europe, and opened branches to grow rapidly.

   Even Fang Lang once suspected that the other party might have poached a lot of technical experts from the defeated Germany, which was one of the main reasons why Fang Lang focused on this company.

  After hearing Marshall's words, Fang Lang smiled indifferently and said:

   "Isn't the current Sherman tank discontinued? Also, what I want to acquire is Caterpillar's civil construction machinery manufacturing plant. It shouldn't be difficult!"

   Hearing this, Marshall hesitated a little. In fact, Caterpillar was already one of the main suppliers of US tank chassis during the war.

  But with the end of World War II, although the new tank project in the United States is still being studied, the production progress has slowed down significantly. The main battle tank "Sherman" in World War II has indeed been discontinued.

This situation will have to wait until March of this year, that is, in March 1947, when Lao Du delivered a speech in Congress, announcing that the Lao Du doctrine had officially begun to be implemented, the world began to be divided into two poles, and the United States began to act as the world policeman around the world, and military intervention began It was picked up again.

   That is to say, if Fang Lang really wants to take down the Caterpillar company, he must take advantage of the old United States to restart the arms race with the Soviet Communist Party and start quickly without giving the US government too much time to think about it.

   And now is the final window period, so of course Fang Lang didn't want to let go of this opportunity, and turned his attention to Morgan and Rockefeller.

   At this time, the four of them also looked at each other and understood what each other meant. Obviously, everyone is barely a grasshopper on a rope now. Although I don't understand why Fang Lang fell in love with this company, for capitalists like them.

  Using a factory that does not belong to oneself in exchange for an investment opportunity that can bring huge benefits to oneself is a business that does not need to be calculated to make a profit without losing money.

  So, after the four of them looked at each other, they all nodded at Fang Lang. Charles Morgan, as the representative of the Morgan family, took the lead in speaking:

   "No problem, we did this little favor, and tomorrow I will arrange someone to start buying Caterpillar stock in the market."

  Alvin Rockefeller, representing the Rockefeller family, did not hesitate. After Charles Morgan finished his statement, he immediately said:

   "Tomorrow, I will also arrange for people to start secretly buying stocks in this company."

  The meaning of the two is very clear, and they will never encounter any resistance if they come forward to buy the stock of this company. As for whether two companies are interested in a company's stock at the same time, will it cause a reaction in the market.

  Fang Lang is not worried at all, nor does he look at the backgrounds of these two companies, let alone doubt their professional ability to play acquisitions.

  Maybe, the two of them are raking over the company stocks that are mortgaged to their two banks. It was enough for Fang Lang to become the major shareholder of this company.

   As for how to turn other people's mortgaged stocks in the bank into their own assets, it should not be too simple for them.

Everyone didn't say at what price the company's stock was sold to Fang Lang, nor did they say what percentage of the shares they would eventually acquire. Now, as long as it is confirmed, the two will hand over the control of Caterpillar to Fang Lang on the line.

  The final details of the transaction This is a matter for detailed discussion after the banquet. As for what Marshall is thinking in the reception room, no one cares anymore.

  (end of this chapter)