Steal the enemy's base at the start and build a technological empire.

Chapter 194 Ni Guangnan's Vision

There were three cigarette butts in the ashtray, and two cups of tea were steaming.

Ni Guangnan sat by the window, a red and blue pencil in his hand, marking up a sketch. Ma Baoguo sat opposite him, pushing a financial statement towards him: "Mr. Ni, this is the profit figure for our factory this year."

Ni Guangnan glanced at it and nodded: "Not bad."

The door was pushed open, and Zhao Weiguo came in first, followed by Li Mo. Li Mo was holding a sample mouse in his hand, the red light on the bottom of which was flashing.

"President Ling's flight was delayed; he just got off the highway." Zhao Weiguo sat down, grabbed someone's cup from the table, took a sip, and said, "I'm starving! Does anyone have anything to eat?"

Ma Baoguo pulled out half a bag of biscuits from his pocket and threw it over.

At that moment, Ling Yun pushed open the door and came in, wearing a black jacket with rain streaks on his shoulders.

"Sorry, there was a traffic jam." He tossed his bag onto the chair, sat down, glanced at Ni Guangnan, and said, "Mr. Ni, please go first."

Ni Guangnan put down his pencil and turned the sketch to face everyone. The paper depicted a pyramid, with the bottom layer labeled "electronic watch, telephone, VCD chip," the middle layer "automation, communication equipment," and the top layer "lithography machine."

"You all know about the Wassenaar Arrangement, right?" Ni Guangnan began. "It was signed last year. From now on, we won't be able to buy high-end equipment, technology, and software anymore, or if we do, they'll be several generations outdated."

The meeting room fell silent.

"President Ling asked me to recruit a chip design team, and I did." Ni Guangnan picked up an old briefcase from beside his feet, took out several resumes, and said, "I poached three from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Institute of Microelectronics, two from Tsinghua University, and four from the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. I even swallowed my pride and insisted on getting them."

The resumes were passed around on the table. Li Mo picked one up and looked at it: "I've heard of this Engineer Chen. He's worked on digital signal processing chips."

"Yes, he's currently working at a joint venture factory in Wuxi, earning 8,000 yuan a month. I'm offering him 12,000 yuan plus an apartment in Jinan, and he'll be coming over next month," Ni Guangnan said.

Ma Baoguo coughed: "Old Ni, what's the situation in our accounts right now...?"

"I have the money," Ling Yun interrupted him. "Go on, Mr. Ni."

Ni Guangnan pointed to the pyramid diagram: "My idea is to start from the bottom. Electronic watch chips, telephone dialing chips, VCD decoding chips—these technologies have relatively low technical content, there's a domestic market for them, they can support the team, and they can also be used for practice."

Zhao Weiguo raised his hand: "Let me interject. The VCD chip market is almost entirely dominated by MediaTek from Taiwan. If we enter the market, will we even have a chance to profit?"

"Yes," Li Mo replied. "MediaTek provides overall solutions, while we can focus on optimizing the decoding chip. I've studied it; their chips have high power consumption and heat dissipation issues. If we can reduce the power consumption and lower the cost, we have a chance."

"Let's do it then," Ling Yun said. "Li Mo, you'll lead a team specializing in VCD chips. I need to see samples within three months."

"No problem." Li Mo put the mouse sample back in his pocket, his eyes shining.

Ni Guangnan continued: "The second step is to train this group of young people over two or three years. Then we'll move to the middle layer—industrial automation control chips and dedicated chips for communication equipment. These have high profit margins and high technological barriers, but we have a foundation now, so we can give it a try."

Ma Baoguo scratched his head: "Mr. Ni, I'm not trying to discourage you, but our mice and keyboards are selling well, and computer assembly is profitable. Suddenly jumping into chips, especially lithography machines... isn't that taking too big a step?"

"Not much." Ling Yun looked at Ni Guangnan. "Mr. Ni, I'll tell you the truth about the funding issue you're worried about now." He took out a copy of a bank statement from his bag and pushed it over.

Ni Guangnan picked it up and looked at it, then stopped.

"This is……"

"My funds," Ling Yun said, "are enough for us to keep going for ten years. So money isn't the problem; talent is."

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.

Ni Guangnan gently put down the statement, took off his glasses to wipe them, put them back on, and took one last look.

"I have that number," his voice trembled slightly, "I can poach half of the domestic experts in microelectronics, optics, and precision machinery."

"Then let's poach them," Ling Yun said. "But there's one thing: it's not just about poaching people, we also need to train them ourselves. We'll collaborate with Shandong University, Nanjing University, and Tsinghua University to build joint laboratories, so students can start working on real-world projects from their sophomore year. After graduation, they can directly join our team."

Zhao Weiguo laughed: "Isn't this just like the labs we set up in internet cafes?"

"Yes, that's the same approach," Ling Yun said. "We can't rush this chip issue, but we can't delay it either. If Wassenaar Argentina is blocking our equipment today, they can block our materials tomorrow. So we have to make lithography machines, but we have to do it step by step. First, we do the design, then the process, and finally we tackle the equipment."

Li Mo suddenly stood up, bumping the table and making it shake: "President Ling, I have an idea! Could we start by modifying used equipment? Some lithography machines from Japan and Europe are outdated and their precision is no longer good, but their basic structure is still there. We can buy them, modify the control system and optical components ourselves, which will allow us to practice and gain experience."

Ni Guangnan's eyes lit up: "That's a great idea! I know a few old friends who worked in optical instruments before they retired. We can rehire them to mentor the younger generation."

Ma Baoguo looked at this person, then at that person, and slapped his thigh: "Alright, since you've all come this far, I, Old Ma, can't let you down. I'll ask the district for another twenty acres of land for the new factory, specifically to build a chip laboratory. It's just... Mr. Ling, the money..."

"The money will arrive next week," Ling Yun said. "Thirty million, let's get started. We'll add more as the project progresses."

Ni Guangnan carefully folded the pyramid sketch and put it back in his bag. He stood up, his hands trembling slightly, but his voice was steady:

"This is what I've been waiting for all my life. With enough money and enough people, all that's left is to get the work done."

It was already dark when the meeting ended.

Ma Baoguo pulled Ni Guangnan aside: "Old Ni, don't leave tonight. The canteen has stewed mutton. Shall we have some?"

"Have a drink!" Ni Guangnan smiled, his wrinkles smoothing out.

Li Mo chased after Ling Yun as they left: "President Ling, I'll organize the VCD chip data tonight and send it to your email tomorrow!"

Don't stay up too late.

"I can't sleep!" Li Mo ran off into the distance.

Zhao Weiguo and Ling Yun were the last to arrive. The lights in the corridor were dim, so Zhao Weiguo lit a cigarette.

"Mr. Ling, honestly, can we really develop a lithography machine?"

"If ten years isn't enough, then twenty," Ling Yun said. "But someone has to start doing it eventually."

"That's true." Zhao Weiguo exhaled a puff of smoke. "It's better than waiting for someone to hold us hostage."

Outside the window, the lights of Xinghuo Electronics Factory were bright. Over at the new factory, the pile drivers were still running.