Chapter 2433 Bad News

Los Angeles, Nevada Lieutenant Governor Jim, accompanied by Business Secretary Lopez, came to Musk's SpaceX by invitation.

It was an ordinary morning at SpaceX. I sat on the tour bus and took a quick look around. In the shockingly large workshop, which was originally used to manufacture aircraft, there were hundreds of casually dressed SpaceX employees. Some wore earplugs, and some simply wore earplugs. Wear headphones, use iPod or iPhone, and listen to music while working.

Governor Jim, who has visited many high-tech companies in Silicon Valley, has a very intuitive understanding of the liberal atmosphere in American high-tech companies, but what he saw at SpaceX was beyond his expectation.

He felt that this company looked like everything, but it was different from what he thought of as an organization that developed rockets and spacecrafts.

He has also been to NASA and was very impressed by the rigor and professionalism there.

Compared with there, this place really seems like a joke.

But during the visit, SpaceX's concept made his ideas waver.

If SpaceX can really significantly reduce the cost of aviation launches, or as they say, can reuse rockets, then they may really be able to make a difference in the aviation field.

So, can they succeed?

Governor Jim himself is not sure about this issue.

He looked at the not many employees distributed in the workshop, and how they looked disorganized. It really didn't look like a company that could successfully manufacture rockets and spaceships.

However, thinking about Musk's background, he felt that things would not be so absolute.

Musk became famous in Silicon Valley, and those guys in Silicon Valley are best at doing things that originally seemed incredible.

Governor Jim, who is already in his fifties, is very aware of the changes that Silicon Valley has brought to his life in recent years.

Today's Silicon Valley has long included not only semiconductors and the Internet, but also all aspects of daily work and life. The difference is that some fields are deeply involved, while some fields have just begun to be touched.

Silicon Valley's tentacles are extending to various industries, and have achieved great success in many industries.

Just like Lieutenant Governor Jim would never have thought that the TV in his living room and the mobile phone in his pocket would be related to Silicon Valley. Who knows, this guy who became famous in Silicon Valley will not let those who look professional and rigorous in the future. Are the aerospace agencies eclipsed?

Just say, when they first started Tesla in Silicon Valley, who would have thought that they would actually achieve results so quickly?

The test drive information coming back from all over the country also made some of their original bold words such as "changing the traditional automobile industry" not only not like a joke, but a fact.

The SpaceX receptionist was introducing the company's long-term plan to Lieutenant Governor Jim, who was visiting for the first time. The idea of ​​immigrating to Mars did interest the Lieutenant Governor, but he still kept looking at his watch.

He didn't come here to visit SpaceX.

Ten minutes have passed since the appointment time, but they are still being dragged here. Musk, the protagonist of the meeting, is still missing.

The deputy governor glanced at Ms. Lopez, the state business secretary, who had been in contact with Musk several times. At this time, he seriously doubted whether he had been let go by Musk.

Lopez approached the lieutenant governor and whispered, "Musk has never been very punctual when meeting with government representatives who want to secure Tesla's location."

Oh, Lieutenant Governor Jim suddenly understood that this was just Musk's usual method.

He also felt relieved.

…………

On the East Coast, in Washington, D.C., the talks in the Treasury Department building were finally coming to an end.

Feng Yiping and Paulson were somewhat tired at this time.

"...I suggest that when dealing with our country's officials, Mr. Secretary should emphasize that at this stage, you are the person on whom the White House relies most on finance and economics," Feng Yiping suggested at Paulson's request.

"In our country, at the national level, the voice will be very clear. Even if multiple departments speak out on the same issue, they will definitely be consistent,"

"But in the United States, that's not the case,"

"On the same issue, there will be many people from many departments expressing their opinions, and their opinions will be inconsistent, which is really confusing,"

Paulson smiled, a little helpless.

In a country like the United States that adheres to elections, the more hot-button an issue is, the more people will rush to express their opinions.

Sometimes, not to mention him, even after the president expresses his own opinions, there will be some heavyweights, such as the lady on Capitol Hill whom Feng Yiping once mentioned, who will express opinions completely opposite to the president.

This will indeed confuse government officials in some countries who deal with them. Who has the final say?

Sometimes, he really envies China. The voice from the top of China will be very clear, and the people below can build consensus faster.

But in the United States, it's a very difficult process.

"Thank you for your suggestion," Paulson looked at his watch. "It seems that I can't justify not inviting you to dinner?"

Feng Yiping looked at his watch, "Is it already this time?"

"Every other employee in this building has already gone off work, right?"

Paulson suddenly asked curiously, "Do you still want to meet other people in this building?"

"Yes," Feng Yiping said, "Since it is a rare visit, and I will inevitably deal with some people in this building in the future, I hope to take this opportunity to interact with people in this building. Let’s get to know the others,”

Paulson immediately picked up the phone and said, "Who do you want to see?"

"I heard that the Committee on Foreign Investment is working here? I hope I can meet their chairman," Feng Yiping said with a smile.

Paulson was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that Feng Yiping was talking about this department.

"Why, isn't it inconvenient?"

"Are you worried that some of your company's future business activities will be affected?" Paulson asked.

When he was in charge of Goldman Sachs, he cooperated with Feng Yiping's company several times.

He naturally knows that, legally speaking, as far as the United States is concerned, the company Feng Yiping founded in the United States, or in other words, Feng Yiping's company in the United States, is not actually foreign capital, but domestic capital.

Because the funds come from the United States.

Feng Yiping smiled and said, "Who knows?"

It’s just that those guys on Wall Street don’t act evil. Because of the next plans, he naturally hopes to establish good interaction with this committee.

Paulson actually understood Feng Yiping's concerns. He picked up the phone and said to his secretary, "Let the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Investment come to my office."

The chairman was his subordinate, and it was actually no big deal for him to meet Feng Yiping, because this was a cross-department organization, and one person could not influence the final decision.

Looking at Feng Yiping, he said to his secretary, "Wait a minute."

Then he asked Feng Yiping, "How about letting him have lunch with us?"

Feng Yiping gave a thumbs up.

As a result, Lawrence Fink quickly received the relevant news. Not only did Feng Yiping keep talking with Paulson, but Paulson also invited him to have lunch with him. Among the people accompanying him, there was actually the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Investment!

He became restless again.

…………

At this time, in SpaceX, Jim, the deputy governor of Nevada, finally met the protagonist of the meeting, Musk.

"Hello," Musk said as he waited for them in a conference room.

Seeing his appearance, Jim felt that this guy was not trying to show off himself, because not only were there a lot of documents on the table, but the guy looked really tired and haggard.

It really seems like I have been working hard for a long time, or maybe I didn’t get any rest last night.

He didn't know that a large part of Musk's haggardness came from family reasons.

As 2007 came to a close, the relationship between Musk and his wife Justine was on the verge of collapse, and it seemed that there were some irreversible trends.

"Sorry to bring you all here," Musk threw half of the burger on the table into the trash can. "We were supposed to meet at Tesla, but these days, I really can't live without Los Angeles."

"Haha, we are very happy to have such an opportunity to visit SpaceX," Jim said with a smile.

He knew that it was very difficult for this guy to say such a thing.

"First of all, I have to congratulate you and congratulate Tesla on a very smooth road test,"

"Thank you," Musk said coolly.

"Governor Jim's visit this time brought the latest conditions in our state," Lopez, the commerce secretary who has had many contacts with Musk, handed Musk a folder.

She knew that this guy didn't like politeness.

"Oh," Musk looked at it immediately.

Lieutenant Governor Jim looked at the company's office area, which looked equally sloppy. "Nevada attaches great importance to the Tesla project, and we will make every effort to cooperate with Tesla,"

Musk was still looking at the documents, as if he hadn't heard this sentence.

"It's just that Musk, as far as I know, Schwarzenegger also attaches great importance to this project,"

"We also know that California has provided very good conditions for this. Why is Tesla still screening manufacturing plant sites across the country?"

His words have some other meaning. Are you using us as a bargaining chip with California?

Musk's eyes temporarily left the document, "Our project will contribute more than 5 billion US dollars to the local economy's GDP and provide more than 50,000 jobs. We naturally hope to choose the most suitable place."

$5 billion? 50,000 jobs? The shocked Lieutenant Governor Jim glanced at Lopez.

Lopez spread his hands. This was the first time he had heard of such clear data.

"Of course, these two sets of data include those created directly by us and those created by our partners,"

I see!

But it's still very fascinating.

"As for California, we have always believed that some California lawmakers do not support us enough," Musk said.

"Congressman from California?"

"California federal congressman," Musk said calmly.