the world is at stake

Chapter 71 Artificial scarcity

After a full month of sailing, the ship on which Rockefeller Jr. arrived in Los Angeles on the west coast of the United States.He generously recommended Qu Yongqiu and Chinese medicines to Methodist Hospital in Southern California.

With the golden signboard of Rockefeller, the hospital still needs to show some face. Qu Yongqiu's drug experiment was very successful.

Methodist hospitals are already using antibacterial drugs produced by pharmaceutical companies affiliated with the 'fraternity', but doctors are also satisfied with Chinese medicines because they work exactly the same and are cheaper.

"Actually, your pricing is too low." Rockefeller Jr. reminded Qu Yongqiu specifically, "Currently, a penicillin in the United States costs 25 dollars, but your medicine has the same effect but only sells it for [-] dollars. This is not fair."

In Qu Yongqiu's view, penicillin at seven dollars is too expensive for ordinary people to afford.

But after visiting the urban area of ​​Los Angeles, especially feeling the tall buildings on both sides of the street and the clanging trams, the delegation from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology confirmed that the living standard of Yankees is much higher than that of China.

The vast North American plains bring ample arable land, and steam tractors with hundreds of horsepower can easily plow thousands of acres of arable land in one day.The superior natural environment makes Yankee's table extremely rich, and he never worries about the lack of food.

What China can compare with Los Angeles is the essence of the Bund in Shanghai.Leaving the Bund, there are countless slums.There are many cities in the United States similar to Los Angeles.

After understanding the consumption capacity of the market, Qu Yongqiu had the courage to wholesale sell the [-] penicillin tubes he brought to the Methodist Hospital at a price of fifteen dollars each.

Other drugs are also treated similarly, with a total price of 150 million US dollars.

The Methodist Hospital stated that it was unable to pay the one-time payment of millions of dollars for medicines, so the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officials who led the team to the United States proposed a "more reasonable" solution.

Ask the Methodist Hospital in Southern California to write or send a telegram marketing 'cheap and high quality' Chinese medicines to other missionary hospitals across the US.

Of course, for the sake of publicity, the Methodist Hospital may not mention 'Made in China' in sales promotion.After all, the United States is extremely 'exclusive' these days.

In addition, the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles provides after-sales and consulting services for this batch of drugs, and can provide a rebate for each hospital that prescribes the drugs.

Uh... if the word 'kickback' insults the pride and faith of a missionary hospital, it can be understood as a donation to God.Anyway, it is a truth.

After serious discussions, the priests and nuns of the Methodist Hospital agreed that the pricing of medicines in China is unreasonable.

These days, there is no FDA to control drugs, and all kinds of fake drugs are rampant all over the world.Every drug with significant curative effect is "God's Gospel".

Why is the wholesale price of American penicillin [-] dollars, but the price of Chinese penicillin with the same curative effect has to be reduced?No, they must be treated equally.

This is the best way to make accounts, otherwise the IRS will come to your door.You don't want to be like Al Capone in Chicago, right?

The use of penicillin is too wide, except for a small number of people who are allergic.It can be used in pharyngitis, tonsillitis, scarlet fever, pneumonia, otitis media, meningitis, anthrax, syphilis, diphtheria and other diseases.

If you're allergic to penicillin, get sulfonamides.

It is rare for both medicines to be allergic at the same time.Coupled with isoniazid and streptomycin, it can basically cover most bacterial infections.

To solve the bacterial infection, human beings will move away from the upper limit of life set by nature, and the average life expectancy will be doubled accordingly.Social productivity will be more developed.

American missionary hospitals have great influence and good reputation.Knowing that there is a special medicine that can save lives, the local hospital in Los Angeles took the initiative to come to buy it.

'Brotherhood' currently has insufficient drug production capacity, mainly supplying cities on the east coast of the United States, and the west coast can't take care of it.

Los Angeles currently has a population of 32, and California has a population of nearly 240 million. These groups are relatively affluent, and the consumption potential of medicine is extremely huge.

The first batch of specific medicines from China were sold out within five or six days.Some hospitals prefer not to rebate, or even increase the purchase price.After all, in the face of human life, twenty dollars or thirty dollars are very cheap.

Many hospitals and citizens will even try their best to hoard this life-saving medicine so that they can be saved when patients and lives are in danger.

This is like a future generation who has advanced lung cancer and only has a few months to live. The doctor said that there is a special medicine that can be cured for only 1 yuan.

This 1 yuan looks like a lot but not much, should I pay it?Any family that is not extremely poor will pay.

Qu Yongqiu temporarily lives in the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, and is busy with the demand for medicines from California and other West Coast states every day.He couldn't help but rejoice that he sent a telegram to the Ministry of Health of the Imperial Capital in Hawaii, requesting that the second batch of medicines be shipped as soon as possible.

The Ministry of Health of the Imperial Capital was more confident than Qu Yongqiu. A week after he arrived in Los Angeles, the second batch of medicines followed.The quantity is the same as the previous batch.

Qu Yongqiu thought about continuing to sell through the original channel, so he called Father John of the Methodist Hospital.

This is an ordinary drug sale, but when the other party learned about it, his voice suddenly increased, as if seeing the dawn in the dark, and shouted in a shrill voice:

"Qu, you are really a good friend of mine, and the special medicines are delivered so quickly? Great, this time we will pay the full price and buy all the medicines at once. You must not sell them to others."

Why?

When Qu Yongqiu was thinking about this issue, Father John said, "Come and talk to me right away", and hung up the phone.He couldn't understand it, only knew that something had happened.

In less than half an hour, Father John rushed to the consulate in a car and brought the bank check and the manager of Citibank, expressing that he would pick up the goods immediately.

"Father John, the goods just arrived at the port, and I just got the manifest." Qu Yongqiu asked suspiciously, "Of course I can sell all the goods to you. But why is it so urgent?"

Father John blushed anxiously, as if he didn't want to say anything, but he knew he couldn't hide it.

The bank manager nearby said in a low voice: "The factory of Brother Pharmaceutical Company in New York was bombed yesterday. It is said that the reconstruction will take at least three months.

'Brother Medicine' is currently the most active drug manufacturer.Its factory in New York accounts for 70.00% of its total production capacity, and the penicillin it produces is sold well across the United States.

The miraculous effects of this drug have been publicized through the media and examples, and people see it as a 'gift from the Lord'.It could save the lives of many patients, and everyone wants one.

In the past, there was no medicine, and everyone could only wait to die when they got sick.But now there is medicine but no production capacity, which is too cruel.

The bombing of the factory caused the already scarce penicillin to become extremely scarce, and all hospitals and patients are now looking for sources of supply like crazy.The price has soared to fifty dollars each, and there is still a tendency to continue to rise. "

Fifty dollars each?

The price is crazy too.

The rise in the price of specific drugs in the United States is of course a good thing for Chinese pharmaceutical companies, but Qu Yongqiu asked a key question, "Since this 'Brother Medicine' is so important, how could it be blown up?"

Good question.

Father John twitched suddenly, as if he didn't want to say anything.After a stalemate for a while, the bank manager said: "'Brother Medicine' has a lot of valuable drug patents in its hands, but it refuses to authorize other companies.

Perhaps it was this disregard for the suffering of patients that aroused public outrage and eventually led to the bombing of its pharmaceutical factory.Of course, this is a violation of the rule of law and human rights.The NYPD has opened an investigation and there will be a result. "

What he said was vague, no matter how stupid Qu Yongqiu was, he could understand that the matter was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.A special drug that can bring huge profits, who can not be jealous?

It happened that someone from the consulate rang Qu Yongqiu's office, saying that Mr. Rockefeller Jr., who had returned to New York, had sent an urgent telegram, specifying that Mr. Qu should receive it.

The message was very simple, and they came to ask for penicillin.

With a current population of nearly 500 million, New York has a greater demand for medicines than the entire state of California.

Rockefeller Jr. said that patients and hospitals in New York are in urgent need of penicillin or other antibacterial drugs, and thousands of patients are waiting for it to save their lives.

If Qu Yongqiu has special medicine in his hand, no matter what the price is, the Rockefeller family will buy it all, and immediately arrange people to transport it, and send it to New York as soon as possible by rail.

Rockefeller Jr. said that if Qu Yongqiu could help, he owed him a favor, and he would definitely be rewarded.

The staff of the embassy said that the lawyer of the Rockefeller family in Los Angeles has come and is waiting to see Qu Yongqiu.

Qu Yongqiu suddenly felt dizzy, and he spread the telegram to Father John and the bank manager, embarrassingly expressing that he might not be able to fulfill the promise just now, and he must help the Rockefeller family with this favor.

Father John looked worried, but the bank manager showed some joy for no reason.The former can't compete with the big consortia, and can only ask to leave at least half of the medicines for California.

"Gentlemen, don't be too nervous. I have already sent an overseas telegram to the Ministry of Health of the Imperial City, informing that the medicine is very popular in California. The third, fourth and even fifth batches of special medicines should all be floating on the sea.

Each batch can meet the needs of at least 5 million people.I will divide the second batch arriving in Hong Kong into two halves, one half for New York and the other half for California, which should alleviate your current shortage of medicines.

When the follow-up batches arrive in Hong Kong one after another, the problem will be completely solved. "

These words did not make Father John relax in the slightest. He obviously understood what America is - when a life-saving item is scarce, capitalism can make its price skyrocket.

There will be an endless stream of people looking for Qu Yongqiu to buy medicines.Today it is Rockefeller, tomorrow it may be the Mellon consortium, and the day after tomorrow it may be the Morgan consortium. In short, there are many big men in the United States.

What qualifications does a Methodist hospital in Southern California have to rob?

As for the resumption of production at the factory of "Brother Medicine" in three months?Hehe...People who have this kind of thinking still don't understand the United States, let alone the American consortium.

In the end, Father John only took enough antibacterial drugs for 7000 people, and he called many people to take them from the port warehouse like a baby.The other half was taken away by lawyers sent by the Rockefeller family.

The lawyer also gave Qu Yongqiu a blank check, telling him he could put a 'reasonable' amount on it.As for how much 'reasonable' is, it depends on Qu Yongqiu's imagination.

When Qu Yongqiu was holding a blank check in a daze, the manager of Citibank leaned over irresistibly and asked excitedly in a low voice: "Mr. Qu, do you need a loan?

Now is the time when medicines are in short supply. Your pharmaceutical factory must expand its production capacity.

Pharmaceutical factories far away in China are not afraid of being bombed.For this kind of investment with stable returns, Citibank will definitely give the most favorable support. "

Chapter 72 Capitalism

Before there were no antibacterial and antibacterial drugs, human beings faced with bacterial infection was like facing AIDS.

After penicillin drugs appeared one after another in various countries around the world in 1910, they were all regarded as magic medicines that could change the destiny of mankind.In three to five years, the production capacity of this thing will not be able to meet the needs of patients, and it is destined to be a scarce product.

Banks are most fond of providing loans to enterprises with such rare resources, with low risk, large profits and stable returns.When the New York factory of "Brother Medicine" was shut down, the whole of the United States frantically looked for other sources of goods.

At this time, Europe can't count on it, and Britain has no extra special medicine to supply the United States.The shortage even stumped the consortium with all-hands-on-eyes, and the market panicked, even affecting the stock market.

Surprisingly, in order to speed up industrialization, China allocates part of its scarce pharmaceutical production capacity to sell abroad in exchange for funds and products.

As manager of Citibank's Los Angeles branch, East was acutely aware that he had discovered a gold mine.He followed Father John of the Methodist Hospital to find Qu Yongqiu, hoping to get in touch with Chinese officials in charge of pharmaceutical production.

"Mr. Qu, Citibank is willing to provide million-dollar loans to your country's pharmaceutical industry to help you increase production capacity." East showed great sincerity, and million-dollar loans are his credit limit.

Qu Yongqiu was very moved, but he had roughly figured out the market situation. He shook his head and said, "I am very grateful to Citibank for its support, but our weekly sales of medicines are almost 200 million US dollars."

Ah...East realizes that his structure is not big enough-there is a big change in the US pharmaceutical market, and the Chinese people have encountered soaring drug prices at the right time.

If a cargo ship arrives at the port of Los Angeles every week.With current drug prices, China's monthly sales exceed tens of millions of dollars.Although I don't know how much it costs, it is sure that the profit margin is extremely high.

Easter's heart sank at first, frustrated that he might not be able to make it to the banquet table.But he was extremely excited in the next second-the monthly sales amounted to tens of millions, breaking through the [-] million mark in a year.

This is a super huge business, and it must not be let go.

Qu Yongqiu still has a blank check provided by Rockefeller Jr. in his hand.He grabbed his pen, thought for a moment, and calculated the total price at $25 a penicillin.

Given the current skyrocketing price of penicillin, this is definitely a price of conscience, and it is a respect between people in power.East admired even more, after all, not everyone can have the friendship of the Rockefeller family.

"Mr. Qu, is there anything else I can do for you?" East had to lower his stance, temporarily put aside his prejudice against China, and tried to show his professional skills in serving the rich.

Qu Yongqiu's task in the United States is very simple, to ensure that the sales of medicines in the United States are all normal.He has no right to negotiate on commercial issues, so he introduced Gao Zhen, the leader of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's trip to the United States.

Gao Zhen joined Shengguang when he went to the 'Late Ming Dynasty'. He was originally from the Ministry of Construction. He led the team to the United States because he happened to be free and was good at purchasing.When I met East, he was busy starting some economic entities in Los Angeles.

For example, registering a bank, opening an import and export company, running a hospital and a school, gathering together the group of Chinese workers in the United States, and selecting the best of them for their own use.

Taking over the 'California Standard Oil' is not something that can be done in ten days and half a month. It involves a lot of professional issues, and it will definitely require several legal advisors.

High-seismic ability is strong, but his subordinates still need help from local snakes who are familiar with Los Angeles.As bank manager, Easter couldn't have been better.

"All the dollars we earn in the United States will also be spent in the United States." Gao Zhen's first words were like a 'reassurance pill', which filled East with joy.

Americans' "exclusion of Chinese" is not just simply looking down on the Chinese, there is a reason that they can't make money from the Chinese. 'Holy Light' is happy to spend money, just be careful.

"Do you have to spend the tens of millions of dollars you earn every month?" East's heart was pounding, and he seemed to see a river of gold rushing in front of his eyes.

A company with a large amount of deposits and a huge flow of funds is a high-quality customer that no bank can refuse.

"We need to purchase thousands of products and raw materials, such as rubber, steel, copper ingots, grain, forging machines, and cargo ships. In short, China will desperately purchase in the United States."

Gao Zhen will establish the "China American Commercial Bank" and connect with Citibank, hoping to obtain a low-interest loan of tens of millions of dollars from East.

at the same time……

"Mr. East, does Citibank have any bankruptcy mortgage companies that need to be sold? If the price is right, we can consider taking over. All types are fine."

Bankruptcy?Too much.

Banks lend money to businesses, but not every business can grow.Once the capital chain is broken, the bankrupt enterprise will become a bad debt of the bank, and is hated by every bank manager.

The mortgaged land may still hold its value, but those factory equipment will only slowly depreciate into a pile of rust.Every bank's books will have a nightmare pile of bad assets waiting to be dealt with.

If you can't turn low-quality assets into liquid funds, it will bring huge losses to the bank sooner or later.

"Do you want to buy the abandoned factory?" The fire of hope ignited in East's heart, and he had a pile of bad debts waiting to be dealt with.

"If the price is right." Gao Zhen sighed in his heart. This matter is called 'revitalizing sediment resources' at best, but it is "picking up trash" at worst.

Due to the particularity of the domestic market, in the past year, a large number of European and American businessmen sold "bad copper and rotten iron" to China.This time the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology decided to take the initiative to send people to 'pick up junk' to reduce intermediate costs.

On the day of the meeting, East made a deal with Gao Zhen - a factory in Los Angeles with an annual output of 200 million medical ampoules closed down two months ago, and the factory owner owed a huge amount of debt to the bank and committed suicide by swallowing a gun .

The owner of the factory has only orphans and widows left, and is driven to despair by a group of creditors every day.Gao Zhen only spent half the price of [-] US dollars to buy two production lines and more than ten acres of factory buildings.

Although banks and creditors have suffered losses, it is better than not getting any money.

Gao Zhen checked the production line and confirmed that the equipment was probably still new, and the raw materials and semi-finished products in stock were worth [-] US dollars.

All technicians in more than a dozen factories will be retained, and hundreds of Chinese people will be hired as ordinary workers. With a supplementary fund of [-] US dollars, and a more reliable manager, production can be resumed immediately.

Domestic penicillin is shipped to the United States as a large dry powder, which needs to be repackaged into small bottles.The demand for medical ampoules is exploding, and it is just right to buy this factory.

Once the factory is up and running, it may be dismantled and transported to China for re-establishment within a year or two.The so-called industrial chain needs the support of such humble but indispensable factories.

Providing tens of millions of dollars in loans is not something a regional manager like Easter can handle, so it is naturally up to the senior management of Citibank to solve it.But bankruptcy reorganization is a continuous transaction, and the profit is not low.

Every time he provides a suitable factory to China, East can get a large commission, ranging from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, and he is very satisfied with this.

Relying on the huge profits brought by specific drugs, Gao Zhen did make large purchases in the United States as he promised.Businessmen from all over the United States flocked here, all valued the orders thrown out by China.