Chapter 6 Mitsui (3)

  The Mitsui family has a long history, dating back to the Heian period (794-1192) with Fujiwara no Michinaga, who held the position of Kampaku (Chief Advisor to the Emperor) and wielded the highest political power. The fifth son of his fourth son, Fujiwara no Sanemasa, left Kyoto and settled in Mitsui Village, ōmi Province (now Shiga Prefecture), taking on the surname Mitsui. From then on, the Mitsui family became a prominent samurai clan, residing in this area for generations.

  After Sanemasa's 15th generation descendant, Mitsui Narizane, died without an heir, Sasaki Rokurō Takahisa entered the Mitsui family as an adopted son during the Muromachi period (1338-1573). Later, Takahisa left Mitsui Village and returned to his hometown of Kiso, building a castle and expanding his influence, thus earning him the respect as the founder of the Mitsui family.

  Subsequently, all successive heads of the main house of the Mitsui family inherited the name "Takahisa" (such as Mitsui Takatoshi, who laid the foundation for the Mitsui business empire, and Mitsui Kō, the last head of the Mitsui zaibatsu). During the time of Takahisa's grandson, Narizane, the Kiso Castle was attacked by Oda Nobunaga, forcing Narizane to flee with his clan to Ise (now Mie Prefecture).

  Later, Narizane's son, Takatoshi, succeeded him as head of the family. With a pragmatic mindset, Takatoshi believed that in the Edo period, fallen samurai had no chance of rising again, and an era of peace was approaching. Therefore, he decided to abandon his declining samurai status and become a townsman (merchant), residing in Ise-Matsusaka.

  Thus, Takatoshi began operating a sake brewery, miso fermentation business, and pawnshop in Ise-Matsusaka, marking the beginning of the Mitsui family's industrial empire, Mitsui Echigoya!

  Mitsui Takatoshi, who inherited the position of family head, founded Mitsui Echigoya during the Edo period. At that time, he adopted innovative business methods such as small-quantity sales and thin-profit multi-sales, achieving great success. Thereafter, the financial group provided financial exchange services to the Edo shogunate, gradually becoming a purveyor to the shogunate, and eventually developing into Japan's leading wealthy family. From department stores to finance, the first step in entering the financial industry was to handle government bills.

  In the late Edo period, Mitsui also suffered from political turmoil like other zaibatsu, but continued to grow after entering the Meiji era.

  After the Meiji period: The Mitsui conglomerate hired business talents such as Minoru Sanmi, Takahashi Masuda, and Kōnosuke Matsushita, gradually moving towards modernized management. In 1876, Mitsui Bank and Mitsui Bussan were established. Thereafter, the conglomerate continued to expand its industrial domain, entering industries such as textiles, mining, and machinery manufacturing.

  In 1909, Mitsui Gomei Kaisha was established.

  At that time, it had become Japan's largest zaibatsu. After the end of World War II, the GHQ, which was in charge of occupied Japan, issued an order to dissolve the zaibatsu, and Mitsui, as a "keiretsu", was also forced to be dissolved.

  After that, the Mitsui conglomerate completed its transition from family leadership to professional management. Since then, the Mitsui family has become a symbol of the Mitsui conglomerate, and the actual operators have become professional managers. The Mitsui family is called the bureaucracy, while the Mitsui conglomerate is called the people's bureaucracy, with the bureaucracy appointing the people's bureaucracy, and all those who do things are the people's bureaucracy! Just like Japan's emperor and his cabinet!

  Jerry looked at Mitsui Aiko, and some information about the Mitsui family flashed through his mind, making him want to laugh. He had actually brought out the entire Mitsui family behind the Mitsui conglomerate. This joke was a bit too big!

  "100 million yen! Miss Kanae, this is no small amount! Are you sure you really need a loan of this size?"

  "Miss Aiko, you really are one to talk. If it wasn't for the need of so much money, why would I have come to Mitsui in the first place? Besides, 40 billion yen is nothing to Mitsui!"

  "It's not a problem at all! However, as far as I know, the total revenue from last year's IC issuance by that young man reached 50 billion yen, plus a loan of 1 billion yen. Miss Nakamura, may I ask impertinently, what do you plan to use this much money for?"

  "Sorry, I'm not at liberty to disclose this information, it's a trade secret!"

  "Or else, let's change our approach! Gunta-kun!"

  "Hey!" The middle-aged man standing behind Mitsui Aiko handed over a file folder he had brought with him and gave it to Mitsui Aiko.

  Mitsui Aiko opened the folder and pushed it in front of Tanaka Nana.

  This is a detailed survey of the juvenile IC, including all authors, all works, audience analysis, value evaluation, and future trends. The level of detail in this document almost exceeded Jerry's understanding. Mitsui Intelligence Development Co., Ltd.'s strength in information collection was something he had heard of, but only hearing about it without experiencing it firsthand was shocking!

  ￥200 trillion, this is the final valuation result given by Mitsui & Co.!

  Behind the materials, there is also a letter of intent for share acquisition!

  Mitsui really appreciates the value of Shonen IC! However, Jerry does not deny that the value of Shonen IC is worth 20 trillion, and it's even far higher than this number.

  But even so, selling 10% of the original shares of IC Youth for 200 billion yen is not what Jerry wants to do! Being occupied by Sansei-do with 10% of the shares has already made Jerry feel painful, and now he wants to give up another 10% of the shares to Mitsui? Why? What else does Mitsui have in the entertainment industry besides money? Nothing! So, sorry, even if I'm interested again, I don't think it's necessary to grab what's in my hand! Mitsui is not an ordinary guy! Being bitten by him will absolutely not be a pleasant thing!

  Tanaka Nana quietly gave Jerry a glance while reviewing the letter of intent, and Jerry cooperated by stretching out one finger and shaking it. Tanaka nodded in understanding, then slowly closed the letter of intent.

  "So, Miss Cai Cai Zi, what do you think?"

  "Two trillion yen to acquire 10% of IC Boy's shares? Miss Aiko, I think it's terrible! Extremely terrible!"

  "What? Can't our quotation satisfy Miss Cai?"

  "Yes, extremely dissatisfied! 20 trillion yen can only buy one percent of IC Boy's shares!"

  Everyone was stunned, including Jerry, who had originally planned to let Tanaka Nana directly reject Mitsui, but he never expected that Tanaka Nana would misunderstand!

  "Miss Nana, this is really a very funny joke! Yes, it's very funny! I really didn't know that Miss Nana also knew how to make jokes!" Mitsui Aiko picked up her teacup and took a sip. "After the joke, shall we formally discuss the details of the acquisition?"

  "I'm sorry, Aiko-san, I think you've misunderstood! I wasn't joking. 200 billion yen and a 1% stake. That's my bottom line! If you can't accept it, then withdraw your letter of intent. Let's go back to the issue we were discussing earlier! The 10 billion yen loan!"

  Mitsui Aiko was already gritting her teeth, Jerry saw that the hand holding the cup obviously shook slightly, and even splashed some water in the cup! She apparently didn't expect that such a detailed valuation, such a sincere acquisition offer would be met with humiliation.

  "Two trillion yen, one percent of the shares? Don't be ridiculous! What do you think I am, some kind of juvenile delinquent? And what do you think Mitsui is?" Mitsui Aiko slammed her cup down on the table, her eyes wide with anger as she glared at Tanaka Nana. But to Jerry's surprise, Tanaka didn't flinch, and instead a faint smile played on her lips. She wrapped her arms around herself, sat down slowly, and seemed to be savoring the feeling.

  "Miss? Miss?" Gunoda Matsuaki lowered his body, clenched his fists, and whispered softly into the ear of Mitsui Aiko, whose body was still trembling slightly.

  As the assistant of Mitsui's successor, Tadashi Yanai has already been decided as the next helmsman of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. His current job is to follow Mitsui Aiko and handle important matters within Mitsui Bussan together with her. This little guy with an IQ of 180 has a keen sense of smell in business that even Tadashi Yanai can't match! At the age of five (1982, when China allowed Shanghai General Electronics to introduce Hitachi's color TV production line), he set his sights on Shanghai General Electronics; at seven (1984, when Four Communications introduced Chinese-language typewriters), he actually took a bite out of Four Communications; and at ten (1987, when Toyota Tsusho and Sapporo Beer jointly established Huali Seedling Co., Ltd. to study China's domestic automobile market), he again set his sights on the Chinese automobile market.

  From 1985, since the midnight sale of "Midnight Bell", Mitsui Aiko had been eyeing Tanaka Nana. With her usual confidence, she once declared that this woman would change Japan's publishing industry. As if to prove Mitsui Aiko right, Tanaka Nana's storm swept across all of Japan. What Mitsui Aiko did not expect was that in 1986, Tanaka Nana invested 150 million yen and established Shonen IC Co., Ltd. The magazine "Shonen TOP" under the company caused a buying frenzy upon its release, leaving Mitsui Aiko speechless!

  But just as she was determined to take over the boy's IC and swallow this emerging comic book company in a gradual manner, she encountered resistance.

  What followed was humiliation!

  In the eyes of Udagawa Matsuyo, Mitsui Aiko had always been a calm person, she never showed her emotions, but this time, she was surprisingly so out of control!

  "It seems like I have no choice but to borrow 100 million yen from Sumitomo! Jerry, let's go!"

  "I'm really sorry! I'm really sorry! Regarding the 1 billion yen loan, I will instruct the relevant personnel to process it for you as soon as possible! As compensation for my loss of composure, Mitsui will offer the lowest loan interest rate! The thing that just happened, I'm truly sorry!" Mitsui Aiko heard Tanaka Nanako was about to leave and immediately composed herself, "Please let us handle the loan matters!"

  Jerry looked at Mitsui Aiko's serene face again, his eyebrows furrowed!

  This woman is indeed not simple!

  Looking at Tanaka Nana leaving with the money after completing the loan procedures, Mitsui Aiko's eyebrows were also tightly locked!

  What is this woman thinking?

  "Tanaka-kun, have someone keep an eye on her. I want to know what she'll use 100 million yen for."

  "Hi!"