The train driver in the courtyard

Li Aiguo's theory on sandstone uranium deposits has been verified by Professor Li and a group of geological experts.

After calculation, the expert group came to an incredible conclusion: this is a super-large uranium mine with two million tons of uranium resources.

This was beyond Li Aiguo's expectations, and most of the data on this uranium mine was not published in later generations.

It seems we held back a bit when mining this important mineral.

The depth was just as Li Aiguo had predicted, with the shallowest point being over 500 meters and the deepest point around 1,800 meters.

The maximum drilling depth of geological exploration drilling rigs is exactly 1,800 meters.

The discovery of super-large uranium deposits is related to strategic planning and must be approached with utmost caution.

After the meeting, Professor Li suggested continuing to drill along the mineral veins in the Gobi Desert to obtain more data.

“Aiguo, I suggest you hand over the work of operating the exploration drilling rig and focus your main efforts on designing mining plans.” Professor Li invited Li Aiguo into his tent.

Li Aiguo proposed a technology for uranium extraction called in-situ leaching, which is theoretically sound.

Professor Li was also very interested and decided to bring a group of people to help with the research.

"Uncle Li, that's what I was thinking too. I plan to train a few operators in the exploration team."

"Uncle Li?" Professor Li was taken aback when he heard this address.

Li Aiguo smiled and said, "That's how you're addressed in the comic book. Also, the first time I saw you, I felt a sense of familiarity with you, just like my own uncle."

"You rascal," Professor Li looked at Li Aiguo and smiled with satisfaction, "If I had a nephew like you, I would be quite content."

Who is Li Aiguo? He's the kind of guy who, even without a pole, can erect one himself and then climb up it.

Moreover, he only had respect for Professor Li, so he awkwardly called him "Uncle".

"Nephew!" Professor Li responded, patted his pocket and took out a pocket watch, handing it over.

"I left in a hurry this time and didn't bring any gifts, so this is just a small token of my appreciation."

The professors behind him were already surprised that Professor Li had taken in a god-nephew, and they were even more shocked when they saw the pocket watch.

This pocket watch was a gift from Professor Li when he was studying at John Bull's house, and he has worn it with him for decades.

Although Li Aiguo did not understand the significance of the pocket watch, he still accepted it respectfully.

The members of the exploration team were happy for Li Aiguo when they learned that he had become Professor Li's godfather.

Just as Old Cat was leading people to transfer the Japanese corpses and documents inside the cave, he encountered a goitered gazelle and shot it down with a single shot.

The goitered gazelle is similar in size to the gazelle and is one of the few small animals that can live in the Gobi Desert. However, its numbers are small, and the exploration team has not been able to hunt many of them.

To celebrate at noon that day, Tang Guangwu had the canteen bring out the last of their instant noodles, which they paired with mutton, and everyone enjoyed a delicious meal.

After finishing his meal, Lao Mao reported the situation to the higher-ups. Considering that the professors in the expert group were not in good health, a batch of supplies was temporarily allocated in the name of the weather station.

Li Aiguo picked his teeth as he entered Liu Tianquan's tent.

At this moment, Liu Tianquan and Huang Ting were writing a letter together with Aunt Liu when they saw Li Aiguo come in. They stood up to greet him.

"Patriotism, you've arrived."

"Brother Tianquan, are you interested in driving an exploration drilling rig?" Li Aiguo took the cigarette and asked directly.

Liu Tianquan asked in surprise, "Me? Can I do it?"

After this period of drilling, the members of the exploration team all understand that the exploration drilling rig will become an important weapon for the exploration team.

Huang Ting was also happy for Liu Tianquan.

If they operate the drilling rig, they won't have to travel around so much, and the couple can spend more time together.

"Tianquan, why don't you thank Aiguo?"

Liu Tianquan then realized what was happening and tightly grasped Li Aiguo's hand: "Aiguo, thank you so much."

He also understood why he was chosen from among so many people in the team.

"Brother Tianquan, operating a drilling rig may not be as hard as exploration, but it is very difficult. You need to be mentally prepared for a tough battle."

Li Aiguo has always recommended officials without regard to kinship, but his only requirement is that the candidate must be capable of shouldering the responsibility.

Liu Tianquan understood this and nodded emphatically: "Don't worry."

Subsequently, Li Aiguo selected two more team members from the exploration team as his deputies.

After Tang Guangwu routinely investigated the three of them, the three-person manipulation team was officially established.

After finishing all this, it was already evening. Li Aiguo strolled over to the cave.

The weather station team had almost emptied the cave, and after a thorough search, they discovered a Japanese soldier's diary.

This Japanese soldier was a military doctor who had previously served as a medical engineer in a brutal unit.

This position is very high-ranking, and is directly managed by Ishii Mitsuo, the older brother of Ishii Shiro and the head of the animal class.

The Japanese army doctor, feeling guilty, recorded those despicable acts in his diary, and finally wrote: "Today I was treated like food, this is the punishment that the Lord of Heaven is giving me."

"What exactly is this 'Heavenly Lord of the Middle'?" Old Cat couldn't understand.

“It must be our local God.” Li Aiguo handed the diary back and said with a smile, “I need to trouble you with something else. When we get back, have my wife mail over that jar of medicinal wine that’s in the cupboard.”

“That’s easy. I estimate it will come with the supplies transport truck, and I’ll bring it to you personally.”

Old Cat is very busy. This batch of materials is of great importance and must be brought back to the weather station as soon as possible for inspection.

Now, some people on the Japanese side no longer acknowledge what happened back then and are crying foul in the newspapers. It will be time for everyone to know the truth about what happened back then.

Before being taken away, Nojiri insisted on meeting Li Aiguo.

"Li Aiguo, do you still stand by your word?" His eyes blazed with fanaticism.

"Don't worry, I'll get your name in the newspaper," Li Aiguo said with a smile.

He was well aware of the power of this kind of thing, and that the higher-ups would definitely find a way to get it out of the way.

really.

Two days later, the old cat returned to the weather station.

After examining the documents and personally interrogating Nojiri, the farmer realized that the situation was unusual and immediately reported it to his superiors.

"The war of public opinion is also a form of warfare, and now our patriotic comrades have loaded their bullets into the chamber." This was the guidance given by the higher-level leader.

The next day, the newspapers published the cannibalism incident that had occurred in a cave in Northwest China.

The report also included excerpts of Nojiri's statement, whose shameless and arrogant remarks immediately aroused strong indignation.

The bereaved families association, which had originally planned to revise its textbooks, immediately realized something was wrong after seeing the report and launched a counterattack, claiming that it was a slander against them.

At that very moment, Nojiri's interrogation video, through Red Star Entertainment's connections in Europe and America, appeared on major television stations around the world.

This is an era without AI, where seeing is believing.

In the interrogation video, Nojiri described the details of the consumption in detail and claimed that it was all for the sake of Tianhuang, which immediately aroused people's indignation.

This is no longer a conflict of interests; it involves ethics and morality. The things the Japanese devils did were simply inhuman.

This will throw the bereaved family into a panic.

The reason we protected Tianhuang in the first place was to hold up this banner and wait for an opportunity to launch a counterattack.

Now that they see that Tianhuang is involved, these shameless guys are starting to change the subject, claiming that it was all Nojiri's personal behavior and had nothing to do with Tianhuang.

Under the manipulation of the bereaved families association, several articles whitewashing the situation appeared in major newspapers, temporarily easing the tension.

"Who can say for sure what happened back then? There's no concrete evidence over there either."

"Yes, this is just Nojiri's personal behavior. There are cannibals in Mimi's family too."

"I think they're just being stubborn and deliberately trying to smear us."

The bereaved families just breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, Colonel Araki's and the army doctor's diaries began to be published in major newspapers and periodicals.

The diary entries confirmed the tragedy that had occurred in Northeast China, completely exposing the lies of those guys.

Meanwhile, some people have linked the Ishii in the diary to the base bombing case a few years ago, and have begun to question why Xiaomei's family did not punish those beasts for their own benefit, but instead provided them with shelter.

Li Aiguo, in the far northwest, was watching melons on a long-wave radio while working with Professor Li to design large-scale mining operations.

Li Aiguo originally thought that the matter was over.

After all, Xiao Mei's family kept Tianhuang around to keep things under control here, so even if things got out of hand, they wouldn't take any action.

Unexpectedly, the situation escalated.

Several senior members of Congress on Capitol Hill have transformed into champions of justice, criticizing President Kenneth's strategy in dealing with the past and questioning his decisions back then.

Is this a sign of internal strife?

This scene not only surprised Li Aiguo, but also caught the attention of the foreign affairs department.

After detailed analysis, a startling conclusion was reached: these lawmakers are backed by military-industrial complexes and large conglomerates.

Now it all makes sense.

President Ken's recent crackdown on gangs has seriously threatened their interests.

Now that the opportunity has arisen, it's natural to add fuel to the fire.

These old-money people wield considerable power.

The situation escalated.

The bigger it gets, the more noisy it becomes.

There is an internal threat from the military-industrial complex.

The Eastern European countries and Southeast Asian countries that had been bullied by the Japanese also stood up and spoke out, criticizing the United States for acting unfairly.

Even the Russians have joined in.

Although this whole thing was started by Dongda Tetsu, it wouldn't be right for him, as the senior figure, not to step in.

The situation escalated.

The bigger it gets, the more noisy it becomes.

President Ken also felt wronged. The strategy towards Tianhuang was decided by his predecessor, so what did it have to do with him?

He won't take the blame.

then.

President Ken gritted his teeth and directly telegraphed the Pacific Command, reprimanding them for their incompetence and for causing such a mess.

The headquarters refused to take the blame and dealt with the bereaved families directly, while also having Tianhuang refute Nojiri's behavior on television.

"Nojiri Masakawa has completely distorted the spirit of Bushido. He is the scum of human society. People like him deserve to be killed by everyone." The thin old man spoke, his voice trembling as he held his prepared speech.

Nojiri stared at the television screen, instinctively wanting to deny that it wasn't Tianhuang.

However, ever since he entered the officer training school, he had to salute Tianhuang's portrait every day, so how could he not recognize him?

"Your Majesty, I did all this for our great cause...you..."

People like Nojiri are true fanatics. Even if you put a gun to his head, he would think he is being loyal and would not be afraid at all, but would be very excited.

But now Tianhuang's words directly destroyed what he had believed in for decades, and he collapsed to the ground like a lump of mud.

At that moment, Nojiri began to doubt everything she had always believed in.

He began to beg for mercy.

He expressed that he would definitely turn over a new leaf and spend the rest of his life repenting for his past actions.

"Take him out, we'll force him to leave!" The third squad leader waved his hand, and several meteorologists dragged Nojiri out.

Soon, gunshots rang out outside.

When Li Aiguo learned that Nojiri had been forced to a gun, he had already completed the first phase of the design work in cooperation with Professor Li.

"Patriot, that guy was forced into a corner. This time, it's all thanks to you calling the station that we managed to keep Nojiri inside, otherwise it would have been a real problem." Old Cat walked in excitedly from outside.

"What's going on?" Li Aiguo handed Old Cat a cigarette.

Old Cat took the cigarette, lit it, and said angrily, "After Nojiri was brought back, some people felt that although he was a heinous criminal, he was still a foreigner, so we should be more cautious."

“Some people even think that Nojiri’s brutality must mean he has mental problems, and that he should be locked up in the Fifth Hospital to ensure his human rights.”

Li Aiguo frowned: "Isn't this just being generous with other people's money?"

Li Aiguo is all too familiar with this kind of person. On the surface, they seem very magnanimous, able to forgive this and that.

However, if their wages are reduced by even a penny, they will fly into a rage and make a huge scene with the logistics department.

Old Cat nodded: "The comrades inside the station also had this view, and in the end, the farmer stepped in and gave those guys a good scolding."

Li Aiguo said, "Forgiving him is the victims' business, and my job is to send him to see the victims!"

"That's well said. By the way, there's also some activity at Xiao Yi's family."

Old Cat then relayed the message received by the Beijing Meteorological Station to Li Aiguo.

Now there's some activity in Xiao Yi's family. According to our comrades there, after Saddam failed to persuade Haq, he started to plan some things on his own.

Because Saddam's operations were very secretive, the specific details of his actions have not yet been clarified.

Li Aiguo, however, knew what Sadam was planning to do.

The world has been changed again because of the flapping of a butterfly's wings.

“I suggest we stop investigating, lest we arouse Sadam’s suspicion. Don’t let his rough exterior fool you; he’s actually very shrewd,” Li Aiguo cautioned.

"The farmer shares this view and has already ordered them to cease their operations."

Yes, with a farmer in charge at the weather station, what's there to worry about?

Old Cat also handed over the wine he brought back from the capital to Li Aiguo.

"Is this the kind of medicinal wine you gave to the farmer?" Old Cat looked at the wine jar and felt it looked familiar.

"Yes, Professor Li's health has been poor, so this will come in handy."

Li Aiguo has also observed that Professor Li's body has long been exhausted due to continuous travel and harsh working and living conditions. He has been struggling to work these past few days, yet he is unwilling to rest.

When persuasion proved useless, Li Aiguo thought of his medicinal wine.

Professor Li gladly accepted the wine that Linggui was displaying, as it was brewed by his nephew, Li Aiguo.

After downing a glass of wine, Professor Li felt a warm current coursing through his body, making him feel incredibly comfortable. His fatigue vanished instantly, and his spirits were lifted.

"This wine is quite good," Professor Li said, somewhat surprised.

"If you like them, I'll send you a few more jars when I get back to Beijing."

"Isn't this taking advantage of you?" Although Professor Li didn't know the ingredients of the medicinal wine, he could sense that it was quite valuable.

“You are my uncle, what’s a little wine from a junior as a respectful junior?”

At Li Aiguo's insistence, Professor Li no longer refused and accepted the jar of wine, then handed over the exploration team's exploration report to Li Aiguo.

Recently, the exploration team has been conducting drilling operations based on the mineral vein areas predicted by the expert group.

A total of 351 mine shafts were drilled, and sandstone uranium deposits were discovered in 340 of them.

This data is sufficient to confirm that there is indeed a super-large uranium mine with a capacity of two million tons beneath the Gobi Desert.

Furthermore, this large uranium mine can be mined on a large scale at a low cost.

"Shouldn't we report this and expedite the mining?" Li Aiguo suggested, flipping through the documents.

“I have already written the report, Patriot. You discovered this uranium mine, and you should sign your name.”

Professor Li placed a report on the table, and Li Aiguo signed his name on the back without any hesitation.

After the report was sent out, Li Aiguo threw himself back into improving the uranium extraction technology through in-situ leaching.

In-situ leaching uranium mining technology is actually a complete mining technology. It involves injecting leaching agents into uranium-bearing ore layers through injection wells, where they react chemically with the ore to generate soluble uranium compounds, forming uranium-bearing leachate.

The red uranium-containing solution was then returned to the surface through extraction wells and transported to a hydrometallurgical plant for processing.

After processes such as adsorption, rinsing, extraction, acidification, and pressure filtration, it is finally concentrated into "yellowcake" (uranium dioxide powder).

Its cost is low and its safety far exceeds that of commonly used international mining methods.

It is particularly suitable for the mining of uranium from sandstone.

Although the technology is very difficult, the technology used is not considered high-tech in those days. With some modifications, a large uranium mining plant could be built in the Gobi Desert.

Professor Li is a workaholic; in addition to helping improve the technology, he also takes care of the work of the steering committee.

Early in the morning, Li Aiguo ate two cornbread buns and planned to go to Professor Li's tent to get a cup of tea. As soon as he lifted the curtain, he saw an unfamiliar comrade reporting on his work.

"Aiguo, you've arrived. This is Professor Chen from the Geological Institute."

"This is Comrade Li Aiguo, the discoverer of uranium deposits in the Gobi Desert."

After the two shook hands, Li Aiguo, seeing that they had something to discuss, poured tea and was about to leave when Professor Li called him back.

"Don't leave yet. Old Chen just reported a situation. Can you give him some advice?"

Professor Li looked at Professor Chen: "Old Chen, please explain the situation again."

Professor Chen was somewhat surprised to see this, as he had approached Professor Li privately this time, without following the formal organizational procedures.

"Don't worry, patriots are our own people."

Upon hearing this, Professor Chen connected it with recent news and understood. He nodded and said, "The situation is like this: recently, the foreign trade department suddenly received orders from several foreign mining companies, requesting a significant increase in rare earth mineral exports."

The Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources has already decided to meet their demands and has notified Bayan Obo to increase production. But I have a feeling something's not quite right.

Li Aiguo understood as soon as he heard the name Bayan Obo.

The mining of rare earth minerals in China began before the liberation.

In particular, Bayan Obo has rare earth reserves of up to 4300 million tons, accounting for more than 70% of the known reserves at the time.

However, domestic research on rare earths is still in its very early stages, with extremely low efficiency; a ton of ore may only yield a few grams of rare earth.

In order to earn foreign exchange, these rare earth elements can only be sold like cabbages.

"Professor Chen, what is the current export price of rare earth elements?" Li Aiguo asked.

"Three hundred US dollars per ton, and that's the price after the recent price increase."

Professor Chen was aware of this situation and said with frustration, "After rare earths are exported, they are processed into magnets and phosphors abroad, and when they are sold back, the price increases dozens of times. This is also why I oppose selling rare earth mines."

Professor Li looked at Li Aiguo: "Aiguo, you are young, quick-witted, and quite knowledgeable about the situation abroad. What are your thoughts?"

Li Aiguo offered cigarettes to Professor Chen and Professor Li, and expressed his opinion: "These people are also short-sighted."

Why would the other party suddenly make a large-scale purchase of rare earth minerals?

That's because the electronics industry has already taken off overseas, and it needs rare earth metals.

Professor Chen raised a question: "What about the rare earth ore? We don't have a way to refine it now, we can't just leave it there, can we?"

“Why can’t we just pile them up there? Rare earth minerals are a treasure for future generations, how can they be sold off cheaply?!” Li Aiguo retorted.

Li Aiguo was very clear about the important role of rare earth elements.

Its importance can no longer be measured in monetary terms; it even relates to the international landscape.

The reason why the Russians were still able to support the American and European families even when they were in such dire straits in later generations was because they had mines.

Meanwhile, the Japanese are currently purchasing coal and other minerals on a large scale to reclaim land on the islands, also as a precautionary measure.

Selling off mineral resources today for petty gains will only lead to being at the mercy of others in the future.

“Uncle Li, I think we should stop exporting rare earths. After all, having mines in hand will keep us from panicking.”

Li Aiguo expressed his opinion.

"As for the mining of rare earth minerals, we can wait until our refining technology matures before continuing."

"If we export rare earths cheaply, we will become a small country in the rare earth industry in the future."

Professor Li had always opposed exporting rare earth minerals, but opinions within the Ministry of Mining were not unified. After listening to Li Aiguo's advice, he made up his mind.

"I am now returning to Beijing to report this situation to my superiors in person."

If we're talking about who in China can convince everyone to stop rare earth mining right now, then it has to be Professor Li.

Professor Li realized the seriousness of the problem and left the Gobi Desert that same day, escorted by the old cat.

After Professor Li left, Li Aiguo returned to his tent and pondered what had just happened.

"If others can come to our land to steal our mine, why can't we go out and take it?"

Li Aiguo opened a world map and pointed to the Central Asian region.

He remembered that Kazakhstan and several other countries also had large sandstone uranium deposits that were not explored and mined until later generations. He could easily establish a multinational mining company to seize them first.

Hextech isn't short of funds right now; if they don't need the minerals they bring back, they can store them first.

After making up his mind, Li Aiguo immediately contacted Yang Jizong in Gangcheng via wireless telegram.

"What? You want me to go to the Gobi Desert? To talk about mining?" Yang Jizong was also dumbfounded.

Li Aiguo just acquired Disney, and now he's going to get into mining?

(End of this chapter)