Restarting life in Siheyuan

In the compound of the Beijing General Assembly, jeeps arrived one after another. Officers from different military branches got off the jeeps, greeted each other, and walked towards the three-story building not far away.

These people all had one thing in common: they all looked confused and had empty hands. Outside the meeting room, those who arrived early were queuing up to be checked by the security guards.

In the conference room, a group of middle-aged men and several elderly men in plain clothes were already waiting. Soon, the large conference room was full. A middle-aged man in military uniform walked up to the podium and waved.

"Everyone, please be quiet. Today's meeting was notified at midnight. I know that everyone was confused when they received the notice, but I still want to emphasize one thing to everyone here. Today's meeting is very important and the level is top secret, so except for the recorder, do not make any notes. I will not repeat the confidentiality requirements."

The discipline in the meeting was relatively good. Although the participants were full of doubts, they still strictly abided by the discipline. A group of people listened to the reports of several experts on the podium one after another in confusion.

Some people's expressions became more and more serious, some looked incredulous, and some looked suspicious.

"My dear leaders, I have finished my report. I know this is a little hard to believe, but I swear on my party spirit that everything we just reported is true."

"Alright, alright, Mr. Yu, no one said your report was false. You should understand the shock of these comrades. If you hadn't brought back the photos, I wouldn't have believed it was true."

The middle-aged man who presided over the meeting expressed his opinion with a smile, and Mr. Yu no longer paid attention to the suspicious looks from the crowd.

"Thank you for the chief's trust. This is indeed a rare opportunity. We feel that this is an opportunity for us, an opportunity to quickly enhance our national defense capabilities."

Seeing Yu Lao sitting down, the middle-aged man felt a headache facing all the officers in the room. These people had higher ranks than him, but there was no way. The task assigned by the leader had to be completed seriously. Besides, this matter was of great importance.

"Okay, thank you for your detailed introduction, Mr. Yu. I will repeat it here. Don't have any doubts. This is indeed true. Just as Mr. Yu said, this is an opportunity, an opportunity to narrow the gap between us and our opponents. We should seize this opportunity."

"Comrade Cao, I believe what Mr. Yu said. Although it is hard to believe, I do not doubt the truth of this matter. However, we should be unable to cope with such a large research project now."

A middle-aged military officer seriously expressed his opinion and questioned the project.

"Comrade Lin is right. I totally agree. There are too many specialties involved. There are fighter jets, refueling aircraft, and early warning aircraft, not to mention aircraft carriers and submarines. This is not something that any department can research independently. What I mean is that we should discuss it together, find a few research directions, and give our research suggestions to the leadership."

Comrade Cao cleverly used Officer Lin's questioning to make Officer Lin feel that his speech actually had no fundamental disagreement with Comrade Cao's.

Officer Lin knew how difficult the country's economic situation was. It had only improved a little in recent years. If so many projects were to be launched all at once, the country would simply not be able to afford the research expenses.

You know, the cost of Top Secret Project No. 02 has exceeded 02 billion yuan so far this year. If this plan is implemented, it will definitely take longer than Mission No. and consume more manpower and material resources because it involves a wider range of aspects.

"Comrade Cao, I disagree with your point of view. We are all soldiers and we all know that only when these are combined together can we have combat effectiveness. If you pick out one or two items separately, how about research success? This needs to be considered in the long run. My personal suggestion is to wait until the second half of the year, when Mission 02 is successful. If this project is launched, I estimate that it will take to years and cost hundreds of billions of dollars before we can see results."

The speaker was dressed in uniform. He was a naval officer. His hair was already gray, but his eyes still sparkled with an indomitable light, and the wrinkles on his face were like marks of history.

"Logically, our navy should be the most supportive of this project, but because I am in the navy, I know very well that our country has no ability to carry out research on two major projects at the same time. Everyone knows this and always laughs at me, saying that I am like an old beggar who lives on a hundred-ton gunboat and dares not go to any place far away. Why is this? Because we are poor now. We must develop vigorously first before we have the energy to do these things."

As he spoke, the officer's eyes became moist. He was the only one who knew best that the navy needed this. With this, there would no longer be soldiers standing in waist-deep water, facing the vast ocean, and swearing to defend the reefs under their feet to the death. That was also the territory, the territory that was often submerged by the sea.

But it is unrealistic. They all know how difficult the country is now. While tightening their belts, they still have to repay the North at least one billion every year.

"Old Huang, don't think too much. There are so many people watching us."

The officer next to him tugged at his sleeve. The officer knew that it was inappropriate for him to be too excited in such an occasion, so he sat down.

"Officer Huang, no one is laughing at you for being beggars. We are all the same. No one laughs at anyone else. I just listened to Mr. Yu's report. He listened very carefully. I think we can start with the fighter jet project, including the tanker and early warning aircraft. If we can understand them thoroughly, our air force's combat effectiveness will at least be raised to a higher level."

"I think developing submarines is the most suitable, because of their mobility and concealment..."

The discussion was very lively and everyone expressed their views. There were all kinds of opinions. Some suggested focusing on the project, some suggested comprehensive research, some suggested studying fighter jets first, and some suggested figuring out submarines first, but basically no one advocated studying aircraft carriers.

There were huge differences and endless debates about what kind of research projects to conduct, but there were a few points of consensus: everyone agreed that these were all good things and we must learn something from them.

Comrade Cao had a headache holding the minutes of the meeting he had to organize. This was a task assigned by the leader and he had come to organize it with great excitement. However, he did not expect that after a day, he would be dizzy and overwhelmed by these battle-hardened officers.

The officers had just been arguing heatedly in the conference room, but as soon as they walked out of the meeting room, they all changed their expressions. They passed cigarettes to each other and chatted about family matters, as if they were not the ones who had rolled up their sleeves to argue in the meeting just now.

"These comrades, ah, I am afraid of them."

Watching the crowd disperse, Comrade Cao shook his head and smiled bitterly. He still had to hurry to organize everyone's opinions and suggestions, and then rush over to report to his leader.

...

"Xiao Cao, your meeting minutes are very interesting. Everyone's opinions are very reasonable, but why is there no opinion from you?"

The chief read the minutes of the meeting carefully and handed them to the thin figure beside him. The thin leader took the minutes and sat on the sofa to read them carefully. Looking at the various arguments, his brows were also furrowed.

Seeing the big leader asking a question, Comrade Cao quickly answered, "Chief, everyone's opinions are my opinions, and we are originally representing their opinions."

The chief laughed, "You are such a sly little Cao. I asked you to be in charge of the equipment department, but I didn't want you to be a mouthpiece and speak your mind."

"Commander, these technologies are of great use to us. They can greatly improve the combat effectiveness of our navy and air force. To be honest, I want them all, but the practical difficulties are here. We may only be able to conduct research selectively."

"Oh, which projects do you think are suitable?" "Aircraft are very suitable. We are familiar with these fighters. They are indeed much better than our most advanced J-6. The tanker technology can greatly improve the endurance of our fighters. The early warning aircraft can greatly reduce the possibility of us being attacked and harassed. Moreover, we already have a complete fighter research team. Starting from this, we should be able to see results quickly."

"That's good, continue."

Comrade Cao, encouraged, continued, "Among other projects, I think the submarine project is also quite suitable. This thing has good concealment. As long as we succeed in research and make it public, I believe the territorial waters will be peaceful."

Comrade Cao had already left, and only the two leaders were still sitting on the sofa. The guards came in, made tea, closed the door and stood guard outside.

"What do you think? This autonomous region is really weird. To be able to get such a national treasure, their abilities must be unimaginable. The key is that we haven't heard of any movement from that stupid eagle."

"It's indeed quite strange. There is no information at all. If it weren't for Elder Yu's solemn oath, I wouldn't have believed that this was something from Daitouying."

"Let's not think about that. Let's talk about the request they made first. Do you have any objection?"

The thin leader put down his teacup and shook his head. "The conditions are too good for us. These are not difficult for us at all. This doesn't feel like a conditional exchange. It feels like a door-to-door gift, and a heavy and generous gift at that."

The chief exhaled a long puff of smoke, leaned back, and placed his hands naturally on the back of the sofa.

"You are right, but no matter what, this is a good thing for both of us. My personal opinion is to speed up the process. As for how they got it, we should not care."

"It will be very difficult to fully launch Project 02 without waiting."

"It's not easy, but we also know that opportunities are rare and never come back. By the time you have the right conditions and the economy has developed, more than a decade has passed. Is it meaningful to study the technology of more than a decade ago? Even if the research is successful, it will be at least several decades behind, and you will still be far behind."

Seeing that the thin leader was still worried, he sat up and waved his hand.

"We must show our revolutionary optimism and believe in our comrades. We are a big country with hundreds of millions of people and are full of infinite possibilities."

"You are right. We really need to seize the present so that we can look to the future."

"That's right. Think about it, during World War II, Japan had a population of only 70 million and an annual steel production of more than 6 million tons, yet it was able to build 25 aircraft carriers and nearly 70,000 fighter jets. Our current steel production has far exceeded 10 million tons, and our total economic output is several times that of their time. We still have 600 million people full of fighting spirit. How can we not build a few aircraft carrier fleets?"

"Yes, I totally agree. It is a shame for a great country like ours to be unable to protect its own oceans. Don't worry, I will make arrangements. No matter how difficult it is, we must seize this opportunity."

"Then we should hurry up and convene a meeting and start right away. As long as we have an idea, there will always be a way. The only thing we are afraid of is that we don't have any ideas."

...

Zhu Xuefeng was browsing the urgent message sent by Guo Ming at Guo Ming's liaison office. The country had agreed to Guo Ming's conditions and officially launched the project, code-named: Project 6404. A preliminary research team of more than people had arrived, and an engineering corps was urgently building a research site. The autonomous region provided an area of ​​nearly square kilometers near the secret cave shipyard to the research team free of charge.

The country has stated that it will fund the autonomous region to build a comprehensive military academy, three colleges and universities, several primary and secondary schools, and several related factories, etc. It also expressed the hope that the autonomous region will speed up the export of weapons.

It seems that the country is still short of money. It seems that we need to strengthen ties with the peninsula and send people to contact North Africa. This big project is very expensive. Even though Dongsheng Company's current annual profit can reach 100 million US dollars, Zhu Xuefeng does not have the confidence to start research independently.

“Work closely together to ensure the smooth progress of the research and ensure the confidentiality of the research project.”

After giving the instructions, Zhu Xuefeng leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. This step was completed, and the rest depended on domestic experts.

"Your Highness, have some tea. Here are two more copies you haven't read yet."

The little girl brought hot tea and stood aside with her hands hanging down. Zhu Xuefeng opened his eyes and found that there were indeed two reports he had not read. One was the news about the defeated army. Several parties had already exchanged small-scale fire, and a large-scale mopping-up operation was expected to begin in May.

It's May, and I have to go back to school. It seems that I won't have the chance to know the specific situation at the first time. Forget it. There is definitely no danger in the autonomous region. With the care of Song Yan and others, the defeated army will definitely be able to break through.

I picked up another one, the content was relatively simple, saying that the recent delegation would bring two pairs of mountain eagles when visiting Beijing, that was it.

"Please send this back. It's so late. Thank you for your hard work."

Zhu Xuefeng's thanks seemed to make the little girl a little uneasy. She took it respectfully and said, "Your Highness, please don't be polite with us. It is our duty to serve you."

"This isn't the first time we've dealt with each other. Don't be so nervous. We're all family. Relax a little."

"Yes, Your Highness, I'm not nervous. It's just that I haven't seen you for a while, and I always..." The little girl was unable to describe her emotions for a moment.

Zhu Xuefeng stood up, smiled and patted the little girl on the shoulder, "You said you're not nervous, but you can't even speak. Didn't your clan leader tell you that I'm a very kind person?"

"The little girl shook her head helplessly," Our clan leader said that we must follow His Highness' orders. Your Highness is related to the development of the entire autonomous region and whether everyone's life is happy or miserable."

Zhu Xuefeng suddenly became speechless. Is he so important in the autonomous region? He only goes there once or twice a year.

"Whether the people of the autonomous region live a happy or miserable life depends on everyone's labor and efforts, not on me. Well, it's getting late, you should go to bed early too."

"Yes, Your Highness, I will send your instructions back and rest."

In the dark night, looking at the yard not far away, yes, I have to go to Uncle Kong to report, to let him know that if I don't show up after returning, I will definitely be punished. (End of this chapter)