The news spread like wildfire.
The Great Xia internet exploded.
Many pro-foreign netizens, swayed by the narrative, immediately blamed Meng Hao.
"The culprit behind all this is Meng Hao of Huarong Technology, who, without knowing his limits, proposed to develop lithography machines. It's utterly preposterous…
"Chip technology has always been controlled by Western alliance nations led by the United States. Meng Hao has stirred up a hornet's nest…
"Heh, something even the state can't handle, and a private company owner thinks he can achieve it… Besides annoying the West, he'll accomplish nothing…
"Oh right, Brother Hao is having a prize announcement this afternoon… Has his lithography machine been sorted out yet?"
"Pfft, there's no way there'll be a live stream this afternoon. Meng Hao offended Kun Kun in Modu City and was sent to the police station…"
"What?"
"Such explosive gossip!"
"Pics or it didn't happen! Spill the beans!"
"…"
…
Great Xia.
Commerce Headquarters.
Emergency Video Conference.
The Minister of Commerce, who had previously reprimanded numerous internet moguls, personally chaired the meeting.
And this time.
The attendees of the video conference were also prominent figures in Great Xia.
The CEOs of Huawei Group, BY Group, Zhongxin Technology, Great Xia Cisco, and many other semiconductor technology research and development enterprises were all present.
If heavy industry is the backbone of a nation, then since the dawn of the information age, semiconductor companies have been the entire nation's nervous system. Utterly crucial.
The CEO of Huawei spoke first.
"Everyone has received news of the sudden drastic changes, haven't they!"
"The West's lithography machine and chip sectors have jointly sanctioned Great Xia again."
"They claim Meng Hao is challenging the authority of the West in the high-end chip market, hence the 20% price increase."
"By the way, who is Meng Hao?"
Meng Hao had been very popular online recently.
However, he was mostly known within military fan circles.
For the senior executives of semiconductor giants like Huawei and BY, he was an unknown.
"Yes, I've received news as well."
"After negotiating with lithography machine companies in the US, they stated this is their national strategy and the company cannot change it!"
"Has the West gone mad? They can't even come up with a decent excuse."
Amidst the complaints, the Minister of Commerce spoke with a furrowed brow.
"Everyone."
"If chip supplies are cut off, it will be a devastating blow to our semiconductor industry."
"How much inventory do you all have on hand?"
"A little over a month."
"Less than two months."
"We can barely hold on for two months."
"…"
It was evident.
The demand for chips was immense, and with the West deliberately squeezing them, prohibiting large-scale shipments.
This resulted in semiconductor companies within Great Xia having chip inventories of roughly two months.
Once the chips in hand were used up.
They would have no choice but to continue purchasing from the West at a 20% premium.
This feeling of being bottlenecked by other countries in such a critical field was truly unbearable.
"Speaking of which, who is this Meng Hao?"
"Why is the West using Meng Hao as an excuse to choke us?"
A senior executive asked absentmindedly.
They did not believe that the West's current chokehold on the chip sector was due to Meng Hao's intention to develop lithography machines, causing this sudden move.
It was known.
Lithography machines, as high-precision, cutting-edge products, were often impossible for a single nation to develop and manufacture independently.
Even the United States, boasting of being the world's leading technological power, did not have independent research and production laboratories for lithography machines; instead, they adopted a collaborative approach with Western alliance nations for their production.
Therefore.
The claim that Meng Hao's pursuit of developing lithography machines and challenging the West's dominance in this field was sheer nonsense.
None of the executives present believed it.
Developing lithography machines single-handedly?
This notion was no different from a primitive human wielding stones and clubs to develop tanks and aircraft!
It was utterly fantastical.
Facing everyone's helplessness, the Minister of Commerce smiled faintly.
"Meng Hao, founder of Huarong Technology. Before graduating from university, he already owned a technology industrial factory worth over a billion!"
After a brief introduction.
The executives attending the video conference did not show much reaction.
At most, they were curious why the Minister of Commerce would suddenly mention Meng Hao specifically at this critical juncture.
As leaders in the semiconductor field.
The major players attending the video conference, their companies were often worth trillions, tens of trillions.
Compared to that.
A company worth a billion was hardly awe-inspiring.
The only noteworthy aspect was that Meng Hao was quite young.
"The West is truly shameless, not even bothering to find a proper excuse…"
"A small and micro-enterprise worth over a billion, even a technology industrial company, couldn't possibly develop lithography machines…"
"They just picked any company to blame, which will only lead to this small company's bankruptcy, accomplishing nothing…"
Clearly.
No one believed that Meng Hao's Huarong Technology, valued at 1 billion, could develop and manufacture lithography machines capable of producing high-end chips with 7nm process or above.
The Minister of Commerce chuckled.
His face held a hint of inscrutable wisdom.
"Quite the contrary."
"This sanction is indeed targeting Meng Hao."
"The United States and the Western alliance nations are perhaps willing to incur our wrath and massively increase chip prices, all to tarnish Meng Hao's reputation and force him out of the country!"
Huh?
Everyone was somewhat bewildered.
Was a young man who merely founded a company worth a billion truly worth such a grand mobilization from the United States and the Western alliance?
Even going so far as to use the chip sector's bottleneck to discredit Meng Hao and drive him away.
"This Meng Hao."
"What qualifications does he possess to provoke such a reaction from the United States?"
"…"
Faced with the doubts of numerous semiconductor magnates, the Minister of Commerce directly pulled up Meng Hao's information.
Developed and manufactured mechs, widely purchased by the Russian military, and hailed as the strongest mechs on Earth…
Collaborated with the Great Xia military, signing a total order of 1 billion…
In order to counter trolls, he traveled overseas to the city of Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands to seek lithography machine technology and develop Great Xia's own lithography machine…
One by one.
Incident after incident.
These semiconductor magnates were left dumbfounded.
Great Xia.
When did such an exceptional individual emerge?
"These foreign forces truly harbor intentions to destroy us, constantly trying to poach our talent…"
"From this information, it can be inferred that these foreign forces have attempted to lure Meng Hao away more than once…"
"Having thwarted the schemes of foreign forces multiple times, Meng Hao is indeed a patriotic talent…"
After some hushed discussions.
The senior executives of various semiconductor companies expressed their stance.
"It seems that this Meng Hao has indeed alerted foreign countries. He might genuinely be capable of breaking the monopoly in lithography machines and chips…"
"Rest assured, we have decided to unite and voice our support for Meng Hao. Even at the cost of losses, we will hold out until we develop and manufacture our own lithography machines for Great Xia…"
"We absolutely cannot let talent like Meng Hao become disheartened… We've earned quite a bit of money over the years… Even if we have to buy foreign chips at a high price, we will absolutely ensure that our products do not increase in price, the market does not become chaotic, and the public does not develop negative sentiments towards Meng Hao due to the purchase of high-priced electronic products…"
The Minister of Commerce nodded.
The reason he organized this video conference, and even revealed some information about Meng Hao, was precisely to ensure these semiconductor companies worked together as one, stabilized the market, and strongly supported Meng Hao!