The train driver in the courtyard

Li Aiguo listened to the discussions quietly and did not blame them.

After all, in that era, computers were still a new thing, and everyone thought that computers should be mainframes as big as a room.

They simply cannot understand the concept of computer miniaturization, let alone accept it.

Professor Xia Zhongsu had already noticed Li Aiguo at this time, and his face suddenly became a little ugly.

After all, it was thanks to the help of this train driver that their Institute of Computing Technology was able to complete the design and manufacturing of the 103 vacuum tube computer.

Logically speaking, now that the Red Star Computing Institute is in trouble, the Beijing Computing Institute, as a peer, should take the initiative to lend a helping hand.

"Patriotic comrade, look at this." Xia Zhongsu hesitated, his words full of embarrassment.

"Old Xia, do you mind letting me say a few words?" Li Aiguo said as he walked up to the podium. Xia Zhongsu quickly stepped aside and gave him the right to speak.

Li Aiguo's eyes slid across the faces of the researchers: "Everyone, you all know that I am a train driver. I don't understand any profound principles, but I know a little about what happens on the train."

Hearing this, several old researchers frowned.

Now we are talking about the development of computers, which is truly high-tech. What do you mean by mentioning something as crude as a train?
But before they could say anything, Xia Zhongsu glared at them. They had no choice but to calm down and wait and see how the train driver planned to turn the situation around.

Li Aiguo supported the table with both hands and continued:
"As we all know, the train was first built in 1804 by Drew Vesquez using Watt's steam engine.

The original train used firewood as fuel, had a speed of only five kilometers per hour, and a load capacity of no more than 500 kilograms. Both speed and load capacity were far inferior to horse-drawn carriages.

The coachmen at that time might not have imagined that the bulky steam locomotives would eventually form a global railway network.

But as of now, horse-drawn carriages have almost disappeared, while there are thousands of trains running on the earth every moment around the world.

Today's vacuum tube computers are like the horse-drawn carriages of the past - expensive, fragile and capable of serving only a few people.

To put it bluntly, people who use vacuum tube computers today are like the wealthy people who rode in horse-drawn carriages in the past.

Transistor minicomputers are like the first generation of trains. Although they are not perfect, they will inevitably bring computers from royal palaces to ordinary people's homes.

It has truly improved people's productivity, provided them with convenient transportation, and is a tool that belongs to the people.

When every university, factory and even laboratory can have its own "train", who would still be attached to those horse-drawn carriages that can only be used by the rich? "

After Li Aiguo finished speaking, there was silence in the conference hall. None of the researchers who had originally planned to express their objections dared to say a word.

Peng Yunyou stood aside, his eyes suddenly widened, and he exclaimed in his heart: Wow, Li Aiguo actually compared the vacuum tube computer and the transistor minicomputer to the horse-drawn carriage of the rich man and the train of the people respectively.

This metaphor is absolutely perfect!
In that special historical context, anyone who opposed transistor minicomputers was standing against the people and had ideological problems.

The Academy of Sciences leader's face darkened, and he could only bite the bullet and say, "Patriotic comrades, this is an academic discussion, don't make it too serious."

"Oh, sorry." Li Aiguo finally reacted and smiled embarrassedly.

He knew in his heart that the tactics he had used to deal with the Office of Progress had too much impact and were almost used in the wrong place.

Then, he slammed the table and said excitedly: "History never waits for those who hesitate, but will remember the pioneers!
By joining the Red Star Computer Research Institute, you will carve your name into the history of computer development.”

*****
time.

Just like a man over 35 years old, his life gets faster and shorter every day.

In the blink of an eye, September passed and it was October.

At this time, the good news of the successful discovery of the Daqing Oilfield spread across the country like wings.

The people of the whole country are immersed in this great joy and celebrate this major victory in the field of petroleum geology.

On Fuxing Daliushu Road in Haiding District, Beijing, residents in the surrounding area discovered that the large courtyard that originally belonged to the military research institute had become bustling again.

In front of the gate, a brand new nameplate is hung high, with the words "Red Star Computer Research Institute" clearly written on it.

A young man in a gray Zhongshan suit was standing steadily on a ladder, holding a bright red five-pointed star in his hand and nailing it to the lintel of the gate with a nail.

"Counting chickens? Can chickens count?"

"Oh, you are so old-fashioned. This is a computer, not an old hen. It is said that as long as this computer is powered on and a few buttons are pressed, it can solve math problems."

"Isn't this just an abacus? What's so worthy of research? I learned to use an abacus from the old shopkeeper when I was young, and I'm very good at it. They might as well hire me as a teacher. Just give me fifty yuan a month."

"I guess this computer is something special. Have you seen so many Russian experts in this research institute?"

Only then did everyone notice that there were a dozen Russian experts standing at the door.

After seeing this scene, the residents began to realize that the unit in front of them that was researching "computational chickens" was not a real chicken farm, but a place full of profound knowledge.

At this time, Li Aiguo had already climbed down the ladder steadily.

According to the old custom in the capital, he hung a string of firecrackers on the wall, and then handed the matches to Professor Gilotti with a smile.

"Gilotti, you are now the director of the institute. You will be the one to take charge of the first opening." Li Aiguo said.

It was obvious that this was Professor Gilotti's first time playing with firecrackers. He took the match and tried it twice before he lit the firecracker.

Hissing and crackling.

The smell of gunpowder smoke filled the air.

At this opening ceremony, there were no senior leaders attending to give speeches, no gorgeous flowers to decorate the place, and no wonderful performances.

It couldn't be simpler.

But amid the crackling sound of firecrackers, the Red Star Computer Research Institute was officially born.

At this time, the morning sun slowly jumped up to the treetops, and the golden light sprinkled on the earth. The red star on the lintel emitted a little bright light under the reflection of the morning sun.

"Comrades, from today on, our Red Star Computer Research Institute is officially established."

"Quick, quack, quack!"

"Now let me assign the tasks."

The director of the Red Star Computer Institute is Professor Giroudti, and the deputy directors are Professors Peng Yunyou and Xia Zhongsu.

That’s right, this Xia Zhongsu is the director of the Beijing Institute of Computing Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Peng Yunyou looked at Xia Zhongsu who was sitting opposite her, and sighed in her heart: How did Li Aiguo bring this big guy here?

This story begins a few days ago.

After Li Aiguo delivered the speech titled "Pioneering History", several veteran researchers at the Beijing Computing Institute enthusiastically applied to join the Red Star Computing Institute.

But no one expected that what happened next would shock everyone even more - Director Xia Zhongsu of the Beijing Institute of Computing Technology actually raised his hand high and signed up to participate in the aid construction mission.

Everyone was shocked. Even the top leader took the lead in "defection".

Li Aiguo had never thought that he could kidnap Professor Xia Zhongsu.

He is a top-notch computer expert in the country. He has made great contributions to the development of the 103 machine and is also the director of the Beijing Computing Institute.

At that time, Li Aiguo specially found Professor Xia Zhongsu and asked him to think about it carefully again. After all, this was not a small decision.

Afterwards, several deputy directors of the Beijing Computing Institute came out and took turns to do ideological work on Xia Zhongsu, trying to persuade him to stay, but Xia Zhongsu had made up his mind and no one could persuade him.

The leaders of the Academy of Sciences also did some work, but it was still useless. The old director believed that transistor minicomputers were the future of computers.

This matter went through many twists and turns and was finally reported to President Guo.

When President Guo heard the news, he was so angry that he threw aside the congratulatory poem he was writing.

He personally went to the Beijing Institute of Computing Technology, intending to give Professor Xia Zhongsu a good lesson and make him understand the "situation".

"Dean, I am already 45 years old this year. I don't have much time left. I want to use my future to do something meaningful."

"You. How come you can't see the situation clearly?" Dean Guo said with regret.

Faced with such a stubborn Xia Zhongsu, Dean Guo was helpless, so he used his "signature skill" - going to Haizi to file a complaint.

"The 107 computer is currently under development. This is a key project. The Red Star Computing Institute is poaching people wantonly, which is destroying unity and trying to hinder the development of domestic computers."

When President Guo filed the complaint, his words were harsh and he described the Red Star Computing Institute's behavior as extremely bad.

In President Guo's opinion, the leaders will definitely put pressure on the Red Star Computing Institute considering the research and development work of the 107 machine.

Unexpectedly, news soon spread in Haizili: "The Red Star Computing Institute is a Sino-Soviet joint venture institute and a symbol of friendship between the two countries. Professor Xia Zhongsu volunteered to work at the Red Star Institute in response to the call from his superiors."

The leaders in Haizi were well aware of President Guo’s character, so they directly brought out the title of Sino-Soviet joint venture, leaving President Guo speechless.

President Guo knew very well that the so-called Sino-Soviet joint venture was largely just a cover, but he had no choice but to hold his nose and sign his name on Xia Zhongsu's transfer order.

But when he put down the brush, his face turned gloomy.

"The Red Star Computing Institute was established at a really bad time. The 107 machine is about to produce results."

"Professor Xia Zhongsu is in charge of the first, second and fifth research groups." Li Aiguo looked at Professor Xia Zhongsu.

"Don't worry, I promise to complete the task."

Deputy Director Xia Zhongsu stood up and said, "Advisor Li, when will we start the research and development of transistor computers?"

This old comrade can't wait any longer. Li Aiguo turned his head and looked around. He saw that the Russian experts, Chinese researchers, and even the logistics staff all looked expectant. He sighed in his heart. No wonder people these days can create countless miracles in the face of hardships.

Li Aiguo retracted his gaze and nodded to Ji Wu, the head of the security department.

Ji Wu was the deputy director of the armed forces department of Qianmen Locomotive Depot. In order to set up the Red Star Computing Institute, Li Aiguo specially applied to Minister Niu to transfer him over.

Ji Wu stood up and walked to the front of the logistics staff, smiling and said, "Comrades, you still have very important work to do."

The logistics staff immediately realized that the matters to be discussed in the meeting might involve the secrets of the Red Star Computer Institute, so they stood up and left the meeting room.

Ji Wu also left the meeting room with several security guards and stood guard outside. After the door of the meeting room was closed again, Li Aiguo looked around and said, "The following content is top secret technology. No one is allowed to disclose it, not even to their parents, wife, and children. Once the technology is leaked, the leaker will be held accountable."

In fact, what Li Aiguo said was just a routine, just like the FBI warning that always appears before some short films start.

All conversations and letters between the Russian researchers and the Russians will be checked.

Moreover, they had signed an agreement with Andre Trading Company, so they had no way to escape it even if they returned to the Russian country.

It can be said that these Russian researchers are absolutely loyal.

As for these domestic researchers, it goes without saying that the Railway Technology Institute and the Academy of Sciences have already investigated the situations of their ancestors for three generations.

However, Li Aiguo's actions still attracted the attention of those researchers, and they all stared at Li Aiguo with wide eyes.

"Our first project is..." Li Aiguo turned around and wrote a few big words on the blackboard: "4004 processor!"

"4004? What is this?"

"It should be a transistor microprocessor, right?"

"I heard that IBM is developing transistor microprocessors, but they haven't made any progress. Comrade Patriot is really planning to do something big this time."

"Be quiet, look, what did Comrade Patriot draw on the blackboard?"

The Russian researchers, the Chinese researchers, and the comrades from the logistics department all raised their heads and stared at the blackboard.

Li Aiguo was seen using the chalk in his hand to sketch the rough outline of the 4004 processor on the blackboard.

First, he drew the core architecture of the 4004 processor, which was a compact and sophisticated layout with various functional modules closely connected.

"This is the central processor unit, or CPU. It is the brain of the entire processor, responsible for executing instructions and performing data operations."

Next, he drew the register groups, small squares arranged closely together.

“These registers are used to temporarily store data and instructions. They are like small warehouses that can quickly access information, greatly improving the operating efficiency of the processor.

Different registers have different uses, some are used to store calculation results, and some are used to store instructions to be executed. "

Later, Li Aiguo added the address bus and data bus, with crisscrossing lines connecting various key components.

"The address bus is responsible for transmitting memory addresses, which are like coordinates on a map, telling the processor where the data is stored.

The data bus is responsible for transmitting data between the processor, memory and other devices. It is the highway for information flow. The speed and accuracy of data transmission directly affects the performance of the entire computer system. "

When drawing the control unit, Li Aiguo deliberately emphasized several strokes, "The control unit is the command center of the processor, which is responsible for coordinating and controlling the various components of the processor to work together.

It reads instructions from the memory, decodes them, and then sends various control signals based on the decoding results to direct the ALU to perform operations, control the reading and writing of registers, and manage the transmission of data on the bus.

The eyes of the people in the audience followed the chalk in Li Aiguo's hand closely, sometimes showing a look of surprise, and sometimes whispering to each other.

There was a gleam of excitement in Deputy Director Xia Zhongsu's eyes, and his hands were clenched unconsciously.

Those old Russian experts were forced to join the institute only because they were afraid of Li Aiguo's "tyrannical power".

Now they all showed admiration and whispered in Russian, "This is simply a genius design. This young man is incredible."

"Yes, although I still don't understand the idea, I can tell at a glance that it's very advanced."

Li Aiguo put down the chalk, patted the chalk dust on his hands, turned around and said, "Comrades, this is our next target - the 4004 processor.

Although the road ahead is full of challenges, I believe that as long as we work together, we will be able to successfully develop our own transistor computer and contribute our strength to the country's scientific and technological cause!"

There was immediate warm applause from the audience, and the applause echoed in the conference room for a long time.

After the applause died down, Professor Xia Zhongsu stood up and said, "Comrade Patriot, what are the specific parameters of this 4004 processor?"

Li Aiguo said slowly: "The chip integrates 2250 transistors, the distance between transistors is 10 microns, it can process 4 bits of data, perform 6 operations per second, the frequency is 108KHZ, and the front-end bus is 0.74MHz."

“每秒钟运算6万次嘶.”夏中肃教授倒吸了一口凉气：“103电子管计算机的运算速度是每秒1800次，就算目前科学院正在研制的107电子管计算机采用串联后，计算速度也只有每秒钟2500次.”

The speed of 6 times per second has exceeded the old director's imagination.

However, Professor Xia Zhongsu quickly recovered and said, "Aiguo, China is indeed able to manufacture transistors at present, but according to your design, the size of the transistor is too large."

Li Aiguo replied: "At present, the alloy diffusion process is used to manufacture transistors in China, and the raw material is germanium. If it is replaced with high-precision silicon and point contact is used, the process goal of 10 microns can be achieved."

Professor Xia Zhongsu thought about it carefully and realized that this was indeed the case.

At present, the 1013 Institute in China has conducted crystallization experiments using high-precision silicon, but due to the high cost, the research was not continued.

Professor Xia Zhongsu sat back.

Gilotti stood up and asked, “Dear patriotic comrade, manufacturing the integrated circuit you designed must require special technology, right?

Otherwise, even the best technicians would not be able to support such a fine pattern."

Li Aiguo said: "I have designed a microcircuit manufacturing technology called photolithography."

"Light, photolithography technology?" This unfamiliar word immediately attracted the attention of the researchers.

It’s no wonder, considering that photolithography technology was only invented in the 1960s, and it wasn’t until the 1970s that it became truly mature and used in chip manufacturing.

Li Aiguo explained: "We are all high-level intellectuals and should know that the arrangement of silicon elements is easily affected by light. The basic principle of photolithography is to use light to transfer patterns to silicon wafers through a mask.

Currently, ultraviolet and deep ultraviolet light source technology is not mature. We can use mercury lamps as light sources, but the wavelength of the lamp is longer, which may limit the resolution and accuracy.

In addition, how to control the uniformity and stability of light is also a problem.

However, I have a solution, which I won’t explain in detail here.”

"And photolithography requires a special gel. Dichromated gelatin is a very good material. As long as it is added... Well, we can discuss the specific technical details later."

"As for the production of the mask, it is also a key point. But I already have an idea, so I won't explain it in detail here."

"."

Well, if it gets any more watery, the readers will scold you.

But in the ears of these researchers, these words are seen as a symbol of technological confidentiality.

Chip manufacturing is a huge project. It is not possible to manufacture a chip just by having the chip design drawings.

The reason why Li Aiguo proposed to manufacture the 4004 microprocessor at this time was that he had already thought of various alternative materials and technologies.

In particular, he also spent 1000 points to purchase ten technologies from the system.

It is entirely possible to manufacture the 4004 microprocessor in this era of underdeveloped industry.

Although Li Aiguo concealed most of the technical details, he instantly won the trust of those researchers.

In particular, both the Russians and the Americans are currently using germanium materials to manufacture processors.

Only IBM proposed that silicon could be used instead of germanium, which is enough to illustrate Li Aiguo's vision.

In addition, the idea of ​​photolithography of silicon is simply a genius idea. It not only solves the problem of integrated circuits being too large, but also greatly reduces costs.

Professor Xia Zhongsu became more and more excited as he thought about it: "Aiguo, don't worry, even if I risk my life, I will manufacture the 4004 processor!"

"Ahem, there's no need to risk your life. We will manufacture processors that are dozens, hundreds, or even tens of thousands of times more advanced than the 4004 in the future."

"Tens of thousands of times." Professor Xia Zhongsu felt like his brain had froze. He couldn't figure out how a small processor could calculate hundreds of millions of times per second.

The researchers' eyes widened.

Li Aiguo sighed as he watched. Once the technological explosion begins, the speed of development will far exceed ordinary people's imagination.

Now a large group of professor-level experts have gathered here just to develop a processor that can perform 6 calculations per second.

In later times, you could buy a 7500F processor on JD.com that could run at billion times per second for just seven or eight hundred dollars.

A tall building rises from the ground, the pancake should be drawn big enough, and the steamed bun should be eaten bite by bite.

The entire development process is divided into more than a dozen small steps.

The first step is to study the drawings thoroughly, and this part of the work is the responsibility of Professor Xia Zhongsu.

Li Aiguo contacted the 1013 Institute through the Ministry of Railways, hoping that they could provide the high-precision silicon needed to manufacture processors.

Because it takes some time to get in touch with the department.

After a busy week, Li Aiguo finally got some rare rest time and prepared to make a delicious meal for Miss Chen in the evening.

The supply of materials in Beijing has not been so tight recently, and high-end nutritional products such as eggs and white flour have begun to appear on the market.

He rode his bicycle to the vegetable market, bought five kilograms of eggs and two kilograms of vegetables, and then rode his bicycle towards the courtyard.

As soon as I reached the gate of the courtyard, I saw Jia Zhang coming out of the courtyard, led by Officer Zhang from the Street Office.

Qin Huairu and Jia Dongxu were crying and reluctant to leave in the back, and there was a large group of people surrounding them.

"Brother Zhang, what's wrong?" Li Aiguo stopped his bicycle by pedaling on the ground, then he took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to him.

"It's Driver Li." Officer Zhang took the cigarette with a smile on his face as he faced the young man who had a good relationship with Director Wang.

He pointed at Jia Zhang and said, "We received a report from the masses that Jia Zhang cheated in the examination of the ideological study class. This time I am taking Jia Zhang back to the street office for investigation."

Li Aiguo recalled the time when Jia Zhang claimed to be an outstanding student.

At that time he thought Jia Zhang was bragging, but now thinking about it, it is actually true.

What a talent!

(End of this chapter)