When drinking in the United States, of course you drink whiskey.
The alcohol level was not low, and Li Yu and Situ Meitang quickly became drunk.
Today, Hongmen in New York has not yet become a big phenomenon, and the Anliang General Hall has not yet been established, so there are no cumbersome procedures.
Otherwise, it would take a long time to go through various ceremonies with the Hongmen boss.
After a few glasses of wine, we become brothers.
However, Situ Meitang did not deliberately ask Li Yu if he wanted to join Hongmen. Perhaps he felt that since they were already brothers, it would make no difference whether he joined Hongmen or not.
The next day, Situ Meitang prepared a small box and prepared to meet Franklin Roosevelt together.
The Roosevelt family is of Dutch descent and is now one of the richest and oldest families in New York State (the history of the United States is only a few hundred years, which is quite long).
Li Yu pointed to the small box in Situ Meitang's hand and asked, "What's in it?"
After opening it, Situ Meitang said: "A few stamps from the Qing Post Office."
"Stamps?" Li Yu asked.
Situ Meitang said: "Roosevelt was a stamp collector, although I don't understand what the collecting interest of this thing is at all."
Roosevelt was also one of the earliest stamp collectors, and he even liked to design stamps.
These Qing Dynasty stamps held by Situ Meitang will be quite valuable in future generations.
Not many stamps from the Qing Dynasty have been handed down, and a good-quality one costs tens of thousands of yuan. If it is the legendary "red stamped small characters are worth one yuan", only 32 have been handed down, and the value is millions.
These stamps in Situ Meitang's hands were taken from domestic mailed letters, and they still have seals.
Fortunately, Roosevelt Jr. liked this. He collected more than 1.2 million stamps in total. For him, stamps from the Qing Dynasty were also rare items.
Roosevelt received a very typical American elite education.
In high school, he went to the prestigious Groton School, which specializes in training political figures. He entered Harvard University for his undergraduate degree and graduated from Columbia University Law School for his graduate degree.
He was very busy during his studies, either with heavy reading tasks or various sports or community activities.
There is basically not much free time.
But Roosevelt was actually good at many ball games.
Unfortunately, he suddenly contracted poliomyelitis (poliomyelitis) in middle age and could only spend most of his later years in a wheelchair. Roosevelt is definitely the most famous patient of this disease.
——
Columbia University is located in upper Manhattan. The campus architecture is quite classical and not far from Fifth Avenue.
After all, Li Yu owns a car.
"Little Roosevelt!"
As soon as they entered the campus, they happened to bump into Franklin Roosevelt wearing a golf hat.
"Mr. Situ Meitang, do you have any legal problems?" Roosevelt asked.
"The one with the problem is not me," Situ Meitang said, "but Li Yu next to me."
"Li Yu?" Roosevelt Jr. said, "that great scientist from the East? Why is he so young?"
Li Yu smiled and said: "I am a few years older than you."
Although it seems strange to say this, at least it is true for now.
Roosevelt Jr. said: "It turns out that in just a few years, you can do so many things and become a top scientist."
"We are going in different directions. If it is an official career, it is impossible to rise too fast..."
Li Yu suddenly remembered that Zai Zhen had become the Minister of Commerce at a young age, and Pu Yi's father Zai Feng had become the regent at the age of 25, so he had to add, "It is for your country."
Situ Meitang took out the Qing Dynasty stamps and said, "During this period, a few letters happened to be sent from China. I specially left the stamps for you."
Roosevelt's eyes lit up: "Mr. Situ is too polite!" But he was very flexible and said instead, "I'm afraid it's not a small matter that I have to handle today, right?"
Situ Meitang laughed and said: "Hiring a lawyer is not a small expense, but I think you are not short of money, so I took a few stamps. In the words of us Chinese, it is called following suit."
Roosevelt Jr. said: "Then I can only say that you have succeeded! Tell me, what is it?"
Li Yu told Roosevelt that he needed to go public and needed legal assistance.
Roosevelt pondered for a while: "It is not difficult to draw up a contract. I can ensure your absolute control of the company. But as far as I know, it is not a simple matter to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. You need to buy qualifications from old members.
That's fine. But now that the stock is so hot, I'm afraid old members won't want to delist, because a lot of money can be raised in the stock market."
Li Yu said: "Mr. Morgan can help with this matter."
"Mr. Morgan?" Roosevelt Jr. asked in surprise, then relieved, "If he could speak, it would be easier. He has plenty of membership seats."
Situ Meitang asked: "So, you accepted this order?"
"It's settled," Roosevelt Jr. said, "just treat it as a semester assignment. There are not many opportunities for such a good assignment. If it is completed successfully, I will definitely get the first place in this semester's assessment."
Li Yu said: "There will definitely be a lot of trouble for you in the future. You can be the number one every semester."
Roosevelt smiled and said: "If it can really go public, I would love to be your legal adviser."
There are not many companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange today, and they are basically industrial giants.
Moreover, the New York Exchange has gotten rid of the previous corruption, scams, and fraud and has become the strongest exchange in the United States.
In fact, for a long time after the establishment of the New York Stock Exchange, the stock exchanges in Maryland and Philadelphia in the United States were almost the same as the New York Stock Exchange in terms of trading scale and activity.
But unlike other exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange prohibits Ponzi scheme-style financing, which has helped the New York Stock Exchange gradually win out in competition with other exchanges.
Coupled with the invention of the telegraph, the influence of the New York Stock Exchange on other regional stock exchanges was once again greatly strengthened. Other exchanges were quickly marginalized, allowing Wall Street to become the center of American stock and securities trading.
Otherwise, it is likely that New York's financial status will be dispersed to Washington or Philadelphia to a certain extent.
Within a few days, Roosevelt Jr. came up with very detailed contract terms, clearing up the most critical ownership and control issues for Li Yu in going public.
Listing procedures now are much fewer than those in later generations, and there are no super complicated financial audits.
Of course, Wall Street doesn’t have that bull either.
There was no need for Li Yu to handle the specific process of listing. Morgan entrusted his assistant Spencer to handle it quickly.
After all, they also hope to make a good profit from Li Yu's company.
Many financiers on Wall Street have made huge profits from stocks such as steel companies, railroad companies, and shipping companies.
Li Yu knew in his heart that they just wanted to engage in stock trading, but he could also help the company quickly obtain financing and continue to develop. A win-win situation would be good for everyone.
——And if the Wall Street giants are not given some sweetness, they may not make it easy for themselves in the future.
When Roosevelt and Morgan's people were carrying out the specific listing operations, Li Yu was not idle. He continued to make some improvements to the radio equipment.
After receiving a large amount of financing in the future, it will definitely be necessary to launch good products with advanced technology and excellent quality into the market, and competition will come unexpectedly.
Li Yu wants to come up with products of different grades and prices to meet different needs.
He continued to use transistors to enhance the anti-interference ability of radio equipment and improve radio coverage.
These two items are arguably the most desired by radio customers at the moment.
To give a more painful example, consider the Titanic incident nine years later.
At that time, the ship was actually equipped with Marconi's radio equipment, and the operator on the ship had received an iceberg warning, but the operator had been busy sending and receiving personal telegrams and did not see it.
After the collision, Titanic's distress signal reached the nearest ship, the Californian.
Coincidentally, the Californian's operator ended his shift ten minutes before the accident and did not see it!
These are still man-made disasters.
But it has to be said that the Marconi Company’s radio equipment technology on the Titanic was not up to standard and it cannot be exempted from the blame.
Because the wireless telegraph machine had malfunctioned the day before the accident, personal telegrams from "important" passengers piled up, making the operator extremely busy.
Everyone needs to know the situation at that time. In the era when radio was just born, the radio on board the ship was also a vanity carrier to a large extent, which could satisfy those passengers who wanted to brag about their experiences by sending maritime telegrams to their friends: in the eyes of the upper class,
A telegram sent from the sea is quite "fashionable".
In addition to technical problems with Marconi's radio equipment and the operator's inability to prioritize communications, the ship's radio equipment has poor anti-interference capabilities and the channel is prone to interference. This caused the Titanic to be fatally
During the trip, iceberg warnings from other ships could not be clearly received.
In short, there were many factors that caused the Titanic accident. Human factors cannot be avoided, but technology can always make up for it.
——It’s just that human factors cannot be changed, and this accident may still not be eliminated.
However, radio still played a role in the subsequent rescue work. Otherwise, given the weather conditions at the time, all passengers might not have been able to escape misfortune if there had not been a continuous distress signal sent by radio equipment.
Li Yu is a prophet who knows the development direction of radio completely. He doesn't even need to engage in contract fraud and monopolistic attempts like Marconi to occupy the market on a large scale.
As usual, Li Yu applied for these two patents for anti-interference and improved coverage. Of course, they will greatly increase the product price and can only be used for large customers such as ocean-going ships.
After pre-listing on the New York Stock Exchange, Li Yu received the purchase request immediately.
It's the U.S. Navy.
The current U.S. Navy is not huge, but it is an isolated country overseas and has an inherent emphasis on its navy.
"Is this Mr. Li Yu from LY Company?"
Li Yu looked at the man in navy uniform and asked, "It's me. Who are you?"
"I'm from the Naval Operations Department, you can call me Major Abel. I was previously told by the administration that your company has a very advanced radio technology that we are interested in purchasing."
"You guys came really fast, I just got the new patent." Li Yu said.
"Great, we need the latest technology," Major Abel said. "The Navy needs to purchase 20 sets of radio equipment, and the budget is US$400,000."
Li Yu never expected that there would be a big contract immediately.
In the future, the demand in the civilian field will be far greater than that in the military field. If we can build a reputation in government systems such as the navy, there will be a steady stream of orders in the civilian field.
Li Yu asked: "According to convention, should we bid?"
Colonel Abel said: "That's true, because we also invited Marconi Company to bid."
At this time, Marconi Company's influence was even stronger, because Tesla had been too flat before and had not manufactured much radio equipment, so it was not well-known.
On the contrary, Marconi continued to expand through his keen business acumen. There is a reason why he later won the Nobel Prize.
Li Yu took the tender document from Major Abel. The navy's requirements were not complicated to him. They were exactly the anti-interference and coverage requirements he applied for patents for.
But after reading the bidding document, I found that the Navy's requirements are really strict. The bidding document states that it wants to achieve intercontinental communication capabilities, or more than 3,000 kilometers.
Fortunately, the budget given is enough, and with the amplification effect of the triode, it should be possible.
Li Yu found Tesla with the tender document, placed it in front of him, and asked: "Mr. Tesla, have you sobered up?"
Tesla rubbed his eyes: "Do you have good wine?"
"If you want to drink, after we get the contract and win over your archrival Marconi, I will drink with you until dawn."
Historically speaking, losing the radio patent had a great impact on Tesla, otherwise he would not have been so poor in his later years.
Tesla glanced at the tender: "$400,000?!"
Li Yu said: "It's just an appetizer. Are you interested in making a big deal? We can seize the world's radio market and annex Marconi's company."
"Annexing Marconi?" Tesla's eyes finally lit up, "It sounds very interesting to me."
Li Yu then took out the listing contract and an employment contract: "In addition, my LY company has been successfully listed and will receive a large amount of funds. I formally invite you to become the technical director. Are you interested?"
"Launched? Technical Director?"
Tesla was a little confused again.
He had previously worked for two companies, the original Edison Electric Light Company, and later Westinghouse Electric.
He is not a senior executive in either company, just a technician.
Moreover, many companies in the United States currently do not pay much attention to technical personnel. They treat them little differently from ordinary workers, except that their salaries are higher.
Technical personnel rarely enter management unless they are founders.
Tesla himself also briefly opened a company, but he was obviously not good at business. The company was very unsuccessful, and in the end it ended up in the hands of others.
"What is the position of technical director?" Tesla asked.
Li Yu said: "Executives, and senior executives who can enter the board of directors."
Tesla has completely ignited its enthusiasm. If you can become a board executive of a listed company, you know that you will make a lot of money without even thinking about it. Maybe you can continue to conduct wireless power transmission experiments in the future.
"I agree!" Tesla said.
Li Yu smiled slightly. He knew that Tesla had no way out, and with such high conditions, there was absolutely no reason to refuse.
Li Yu then took out a design document: "I have been developing a new radio technology recently, but I have encountered some bottlenecks in signal demodulation, and I just need your help."
Tesla rubbed his eyes and looked carefully for a while. He suddenly woke up and shouted: "How is this possible!? Radio can transmit sound?"