Reborn Brazil as a Plutocrat

Chapter 419 Caterpillar

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

Since the two families had expressed their intention to participate, of course they would not be polite and 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 highway. Everyone knows that I am Brazilian. The traffic environment in Brazil is still relatively bad. I want to use this opportunity to build highways for Europe to accumulate some road and bridge construction.

experience.

After I develop 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 that high-quality asphalt can be provided, I wonder how far the asphalt pavement has developed now!

It won’t melt when it encounters high temperatures, and it will stick when the car is driven on it! Also, it won’t deform when a heavy car presses it!”

In fact, what Fang Lang meant was that the road and bridge company was ready to organize itself, so that it would be easier to bring it back to Brazil for road and bridge construction in the future.

In fact, neither the Morgan nor the Rockefeller families have much interest in this. After all, this is the nature of a contractor, and a large consortium like them still looks down upon such a business.

But Fang Lang doesn’t see it that way. After all, in the next few decades, the world will develop at a rapid pace, and there will be countless construction projects. As long as his road and bridge company can really develop it in Europe, it will be able to work all over the world in the future.

The world receives orders to build some large projects. Even high-rise buildings with hundreds of stories.

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

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. After hearing Fang Lang name so many construction machinery, Halken Morgan felt a headache.

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

Rockefeller's expression changed, and he unconsciously glanced at General Marshall.

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

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

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

These words made the Morgans and Rockefeller look at each other, and they secretly wondered what this guy wanted to do. The Morgan family, in particular, was already a little worried about the endless new tricks of the other party.

Then he glanced at the Morgans on the other side and said:

"But I do have some new asphalt concrete technologies that can solve these problems very well. It can be said that I have certain technical advantages in the construction of this expressway.

"I will also arrange for people to start secretly buying shares of this company tomorrow."

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

"Haha. It seems that Fang is very confident in his new technology! But there are many companies like the one you mentioned in the United States. I don't know what kind of mechanical equipment you want to study specifically!"

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

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

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

This situation had to wait until March of this year, that is, March 1947, when Lao Du gave a speech in Congress, announcing that Lao Du's 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's policeman around the world, and military intervention began

Only to be picked up again.

"Mr. Rockefeller, the current asphalt pavement material is definitely not suitable as a highway material."

These mechanical equipment are not actually rare things nowadays. The excavator among them has existed for a long time. However, the modern hydraulic excavator had to wait until 1951 to be born by the French company Poclain.

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

Fang Lang was noncommittal about this. In his opinion, his request for a small favor was really just a small favor.

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

"Fang, you are too polite. Since you can promise to build a highway locally, you have solved the biggest obstacle in our negotiations with the local government.

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

"No problem, we have done this little favor. Tomorrow I will arrange for people to start buying Caterpillar shares in the market."

Therefore, for a long time, the highways in my hometown used concrete pavements. It was not until new asphalt concrete materials were developed and put into use that a large number of asphalt pavements began to appear.

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

After coughing twice, he said awkwardly:

"Well! Well! There are definitely some problems with asphalt materials, but compared to concrete pavements, isn't the construction time of asphalt pavements shorter?"

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

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

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

.

"To be precise, what I need is a factory that produces construction machinery. At least it must be able to develop mixing equipment, pavers, and road rollers. These are just the most basic asphalt road construction equipment.

My company does not have the R&D capabilities 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."

As for the maintenance issues after thirty years, it is none of his business.

At this time, several members of the Morgan family and Rockefeller couldn't help but look at each other again, and finally understood why Fang Lang said that he needed them to do a small favor.

Of course, it is not without its shortcomings. For example, the cost is often higher than that of concrete pavement. Also, the road surface is softer than concrete pavement. If the vehicle is parked in place and continues to exert pressure on it, it may deform.

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

However, with the end of World War II, although the United States' new tank project is still under study, the production progress has slowed down significantly. For example, the main battle tank "Sherman" in World War II has indeed been discontinued.

And now is the last window period, so of course Fang Lang doesn't want to miss this opportunity and sets his sights on Morgan and Rockefeller.

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

"I have just said that I have a new technology of asphalt concrete that needs to be used, and some brand-new machinery and equipment need to be used here.

When he saw that Rockefeller was not telling the truth, Fang Lang did not expose it. If the highway franchise negotiated with the local government was less than 30 years, he would definitely choose concrete pavement without hesitation. After all, it is low-cost.

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

General Marshall had obviously heard of the name of this company. He glanced at Fang Lang with a twinkling look, and then said slowly:

"Oh! I know the company Fang mentioned, but there may be some trouble here. Because the company is still our main supplier of M4 medium tank chassis for the US military."

The intentions of the two companies are very clear, and they will definitely not encounter any resistance when they come forward to buy the shares of this company. As for whether the two companies are interested in the shares of the same company at the same time, will it cause a reaction in the market?

If you want to build a highway, you will definitely need to dig mountains, build bridges when encountering water, and even dig tunnels. All of these require professional construction equipment, such as excavators, bulldozers, cranes, bridge erecting machines, and even shields.

Institutions.”

After hearing Fang Lang's question, Rockefeller's expression froze. The certainties about asphalt mentioned by Fang Lang were all real. This is also the reason why concrete pavement became so popular during this period.

Hearing this, Fang Lang picked up the cigar, put it to 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 everyone's expressions.

"Fang, since you already have a complete idea in your mind, of course we absolutely support you. I don't know if you have a specific target for acquisition. Tell me and we will help you think of a solution."

Fang Lang was not worried at all, nor did he look at the backgrounds of these two companies, let alone doubt their professional abilities in acquisitions.

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

The new asphalt concrete pavement not only has low noise, less dust, good drainage, little tire wear, comfortable driving, short construction time, and easy maintenance, etc.

He looked at everyone with a smile on his face and said:

"When it comes to targets, I do have one, and that is a company called Caterpillar that produces crawler bulldozers in Illinois, USA."

He smiled and said:

Using a factory that does not belong to you in exchange for an investment opportunity that can bring you huge benefits is a sure-fire deal that requires no calculation at all.

The mainstream products in use now are steam shovels driven by diesel generators, and what Fang Lang wants to study is naturally the hydraulically driven excavators that will be very common in later generations.

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

.”

Sure enough, it’s not that easy of a favor!

The M4 medium tank was one of the main battle tanks of the United States during World War II, code-named "Sherman". This bulldozer company, which does not appear to be very eye-catching now, is the largest manufacturer of construction machinery and mining equipment in the world.

One of the manufacturers of engines and industrial gas turbines, and one of the largest diesel engine manufacturers in the world.

Marshall who has made it this far is definitely not a simple person. He is very aware of the state of the people in front of him at this time. Therefore, he calmly nodded to Morgan, Rockefeller and others and told them that Fang Lang's ideas helped them solve the biggest problem.

obstacles.

Although Rockefeller on the side did not have such a deep understanding, he was still a little unpredictable about Fang Lang's unbridled thoughts, and he did not dare to express his position easily.

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

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

"Isn't the current Sherman tank out of production? Moreover, what I want to acquire is Caterpillar's civilian construction machinery manufacturing plant. It shouldn't be difficult!"

When they heard that they and others needed a small favor, they couldn't help but secretly curse in their hearts. It didn't look like a small favor even if they needed help from the few people here! This made them have to treat it with caution.

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

And it was able to develop from a factory that produced bulldozers to such a large scale because it took advantage of World War II and produced a large number of "Sherman" tanks for the United States.

In other words, if Fang Lang really wants to take down the Caterpillar company, he must take advantage of it before the United States restarts its arms race with the Soviet Communist Party and do it quickly without giving the U.S. government too much time to think about it.

Maybe, if the two of them buy and sell the company's stocks that are mortgaged in their two banks, it will be enough for Fang Lang to become the major shareholder of this company.

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

No one said at what price the company's shares were sold to Fang Lang, nor did they say what proportion of the shares were ultimately acquired. Now it is only confirmed that the two companies will hand over control of the Caterpillar company to Fang Lang.

Just have it in your hand.

The final transaction details were a matter to be discussed in detail after the banquet. As for what Marshall was thinking in the reception room, no one cared anymore.

(End of chapter)