Break out of the courtyard

Although Zhang Heping's tone was sharp, Hua Lao knew it wasn't directed at him, so his smile didn't fade.

"We received intelligence a while ago that an explosion occurred at the US Area 51 underground base." Old Hua reached out and grabbed Zhang Heping's shoulder, pulling him aside and whispering:

"When the capital previously asked the Magnesians for technical information related to lunar landing and exploration, they didn't refuse. They simply used this as a condition for cooperating with your peaceful space program."

"But during the past two days of negotiations, the Magnesians claimed that the technical data related to lunar landing and exploration had been lost and could not be used as a condition for cooperation."

Zhang Heping frowned and asked, "Do you think the explosion was related to the loss of their technical data?"

“That’s highly likely!” Old Hua said in a deep voice. “Area 51 is the United States’ advanced aircraft research and testing base. Intelligence suggests that the ‘Jianmu’ divine tree may be hidden there.”

"You have witnessed the wonders of the Ruomu and Fusang sacred trees, so you should understand why the higher-ups want to recover the Jianmu sacred tree."

Zhang Heping's frown deepened. "We know they have the Jianmu sacred tree, but don't they know we have the Ruomu and Fusang sacred trees?"

After a moment's hesitation, Hua Lao had to admit the truth: the secret must have been leaked by Taiwan long ago.

"Both sides want each other's technology, but don't want to give their own technology, and then they both set their eyes on my technology. Do you think I'm a sucker?" Zhang Heping laughed at himself and continued to move forward.

Zhang Heping had long known that the Jianmu sacred tree was given to the Magnesians by the bald man. If he had not wanted to see the relevant research data from the Magnesians, he would not have been so anxious to promote the lunar and Mars exploration plans.

As for the controlled nuclear fusion device, it was originally used to obtain research data related to the Sanxingdui underground base. However, we did not expect the Magnesians to be so urgent. The day after the successful ignition test, they sent a negotiation team to the capital to discuss cooperation.

As Hua Lao watched Zhang Heping walk away, he sensed that Zhang had a problem with not being granted access to the Sanxingdui underground base by his superiors.

But Hua Lao had no choice. He swallowed his pride and went to the capital to ask Zhang Heping for the necessary permissions, but in the end, he only received two sets of documents.

Although Zhang Heping agreed to include the regeneration and repair fluid in the top-secret formula and agreed not to export it after reading the two documents, everyone knew that Zhang Heping suffered a great loss in this exchange.

Therefore, even though Zhang Heping no longer cared about the follow-up research of the regeneration and repair fluid, no one else said much and just thought he was throwing a tantrum.

In addition, Zhang Heping was recently inspecting and accepting the Shouyuan 120 pharmaceutical automated production line, so no one bothered him with trivial matters.

Zhang Heping ignored Hua Lao's reply to the capital. During his inspection of the Shouyuan 120 pharmaceutical automated production line, he also took time to go to the city to attend the Global Chinese Businessmen Annual Meeting on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

At the annual meeting, many businessmen inquired about the Peace Group's future development plans.

Someone asked Chen Shuting if, as a small shareholder, his company was controlled by the Heping Group, he could enjoy a free trial of Shouyuan 120 medicine.

"Boss Shi, our group's benefits are only distributed to employees who have signed employment contracts. Shareholders alone are not eligible." Chen Shuting said casually.

"It's like those retail investors who only bought shares of our group's listed companies. They can't be considered employees of the company."

Before releasing this year's Document No. 1, Chen Shuting brainstormed with a group of group employees at an internal meeting and predicted many of the outside world's plans.

"Mr. Chen, I heard that your group has acquired several clothing factories in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas. Will you ship those clothes back to Hong Kong Island for distribution?"

The person who asked this question is the chairman of Luen Thai Group, which accounts for 15% of Hong Kong's textile exports. Their quota was obtained from the British.

Today, the Eagle Country offers tax exemption and inspection exemption to the Peace Group. If the Peace Group seizes the opportunity to seize Hong Kong Island's textile export market, the textile quota system previously formulated by the Eagle Country may be forcefully destroyed by the Peace Group, and the consequences are unpredictable!
You should know that the so-called groups such as Liantai and Jingyuan that make money by relying on textile export quotas are actually small companies with no technical content. They just add the word "group" to their name to make them feel big.

However, the difference they make from reselling textile export quotas each year is indeed much more than that of many formal groups in Hong Kong Island.

Because last year, the total value of Hong Kong Island’s textile exports alone accounted for 30% of Hong Kong Island’s total exports!

If it weren’t for the Peace Group’s diverse product exports accounting for a portion of the total, Hong Kong Island’s textile exports would probably have accounted for more than half of Hong Kong Island’s total exports last year!
"Don't worry, Mr. Zhu!" Chen Shuting was very polite to these Hong Kong businessmen who had bought a lot of Heping Group products. "Our group enjoys duty-free export treatment in the mainland, and it's close to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, so there's no need to bring them back to Hong Kong Island."

When the surrounding businessmen heard that the Heping Group had export tax-free privileges in the mainland, they were all shocked!

They have been engaged in processing of "three imports and one supplement" in Guangdong Province over the years, and have long realized how cheap labor is in the mainland.

What makes them unhappy is that if they use cheap domestic raw materials, the finished products brought back to Hong Kong will be subject to tariffs based on the proportion of raw materials from the mainland.

If they only use imported raw materials and ship the finished products produced by the "three-in-one" factories to Hong Kong Island, there is actually no tariff. But the problem lies in the price of the raw materials!
In recent years, not only have prices in Hong Kong soared due to the over-issuance of magnesium dollars, but the prices of labor and various raw materials have also increased significantly, and are far less cheap than in the mainland.

Even though the mainland was awakened by the spring breeze last year and various raw materials saw a surge in price, they are still very cheap compared to Hong Kong Island.

The nature of capitalists is greedy. Even if the tariffs collected by the mainland are very low, Hong Kong businessmen who engage in the "three-in-one" and "one-in-one" trade still do not want to pay taxes.

They would rather take the money to the mainland to support mistresses or gamble than pay taxes.

Compared to the hustle and bustle at the next table with Chen Shuting, Zhang Heping's side seemed much quieter, because many businessmen came over to ask Zhang Heping to take their pulse and treat their illnesses, and then took the opportunity to hand out their business cards to leave an impression on the richest man.

Zhang Heping didn't like socializing, so he took the opportunity to take the pulse and slack off like an old Chinese doctor.

Therefore, until the end of the banquet, he didn't help many people line up.

"Honey!" On the way back, Chen Shuting said to Zhang Heping on her left with a smile: "Today, several listed companies have asked us to acquire them."

Zhang Heping smiled calmly and said, "These companies probably hired all the relatives in the family."

"I know of two!" Chen Shuting laughed. "Those company owners are really dreaming. They're using their small companies, with a market capitalization of less than a billion, to exchange for life-extending potions for their employees and their families."

Zhang Heping said nonchalantly, "When we first proposed this benefit, it was to better expand our business. Just keep your eyes open."

Chen Shuting replied with a "yes," then asked with a hint of worry, "Honey, are we really going to use the 120 Lifespan potion as a benefit later on? Can we keep up with the production?"

"We can only use the Lifespan 100 potion as an emergency measure for the next two years, but the production will be much more relaxed the year after next," Zhang Heping said slowly. "Although we can't reach the monthly production of one million or ten million units that Elder Hua mentioned, it's no problem to reach a monthly production of 10 units by the end of the year after next."

Chen Shuting said with a smile: "A monthly output of 10 is very good. Any more can no longer be considered a special benefit of our group!"

With the arrival of the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, the No. 1 Production Building of Shenzhen Peace College ushered in its first trial production.

Although Zhang Heping felt it was unnecessary, Hua Lao and Qian Lao, adhering to the principle of confidentiality, still hung a long white sign with black lettering downstairs:

【Hematologic Disease Research Center】

Because the collected blood, and the future Lifespan 120 drug, were all transported through underground tunnels, this research center managed to deceive quite a few people.

At least most of the students in the college did not know until graduation that the 9-story building with only one guard at the door was actually the building with the highest confidentiality level in the college, even lower than the biological genetic experiment building next to it.

After Zhang Heping handed over the production task of Shouyuan 120 medicine, he immediately handed over the production and clinical trials of the regeneration repair fluid.

Because of Hua Lao's insistence, not a single drop of the regeneration and repair fluid was allowed to leak out of the Peace Academy and the hospital, unless a sterile regeneration and repair fluid that is not capable of reproduction was developed here.

This matter will disappoint outsiders.

Because when Zhang Heping was developing the regenerative bacteria, his first thought was that it had strong reproductive ability, strong adaptability, and was not afraid of cold.

Only in this way can we take it on a long interstellar journey.

Otherwise, medical care would not be able to keep up before the spacecraft has gone very far; if a cold breaks out on the way, it would probably claim the lives of many people, after all, the space on the spacecraft is limited.

Without those two troubles, Zhang Heping will have more time to focus on space experiment missions.

At the same time, under his leadership, he quietly carried out biological brain-computer research in the underground base with his three sons and a group of experts and assistants.

~
Magnesium country, Huadu.

"General Manager, there's no point in Professor Lu staying at Huadu University. Only by handing him over to our S.H.I.E.L.D. Evolutionary Research Institute can he be used to his full potential!"

"No! No! No! Without Professor Lu, our experiments to replicate the Lifespan 120 potion will cease, and the billions of magnesium dollars we invested in research will be completely useless."

"Since you won't give it to Professor Lu, then you can just hand his grandson over to us at S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Impossible! Professor Lu will only work for us if he sees his son and grandson every day. If he doesn't, he'll pretend to be dead! I know you want to use Professor Lu's family for biochemical research. We've already provided you with other infected personnel. Isn't that enough?"

"Those people are useless! Chief Steward, if you support our Super Gene Warrior Project, then hand over Professor Lu and his family to us. I can tell you responsibly that even if Professor Lu stayed at Huadu University for a hundred years, they wouldn't be able to develop a generic version of the Lifespan 120 Potion."

"Fuck! What evidence do you have to say we can't develop it? If we can't develop it, why do you still want Professor Lu and his family? You..."

Mr. Xiao Ke, who had just become the chief steward, was a little overwhelmed at this time. On one side was the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., and on the other side was the president of Huadu University. The object of the dispute between the two sides was the defector who the mainland insisted on handing over.

After the middle-aged man and the old man in front of him said they were tired, Xiao Ke invited them to have coffee, and then asked slowly:

"Can Huadu University guarantee that it will develop a generic drug that can extend your lifespan to 120 years within three years?"

The old president of Huadu University hesitated for a moment and did not give a direct answer. "We still need a space laboratory cabin. Some experiments need to be carried out in the radiation environment of space!"

Xiao Ke did not comment on this. Instead, he looked at the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and asked, "Drawing some blood from your side should be enough."

"If the pathogen's blood has no effect on you, then there's no point in taking the person over."

"Your Excellency is wise!" The head of S.H.I.E.L.D. achieved his desired goal and hurriedly flattered him.

The old president of Huadu University frowned and said, "Chief Steward, Professor Lu's family is seriously ill and can no longer withstand such a large dose of blood."

"That's your business!" Xiao Ke suddenly became serious and said to the two people at the desk, "The mainland wants us to hand over Professor Lu and his family before they will help us improve our relationship with the Heping Group."

"I don't want them to die in Magnesium. Even if they want to die, they have to fly to the mainland and die there after getting off the plane. Do you understand?"

After dealing with the two men, Xiao Ke asked them to leave the office.

However, before he could relax, his secretary called again.

The people who came in this time were from the foreign affairs department of Magnesium.

"Mr. Chief Steward, Peace Space has launched the Tiangong Space Station project. We can't provide equivalent aerospace technology data, so they have excluded us."

A tanned man in a black suit and white shirt placed a document on Xiao Ke's desk and continued, "Because the mainland rejected us, countries like Yingfa, Japan, and Germany simultaneously announced their withdrawal from their space program cooperation."

Xiao Ke looked at the contents of the document and frowned, asking, "Building an international space station? Do you want to start a space race with the mainland?"

"Yes, Mr. Chief Steward!" The middle-aged man with a mixed complexion nodded and said, "We have already contacted 13 countries, and several more have expressed interest in cooperation."

"Our aerospace technology is absolutely the best and will definitely surpass Peace Aerospace Company!"

What made Xiao Ke frown was the project budget at the bottom of the document.

However, when he heard that so many countries were participating in this project, and thought about the space project sponsorship proposed by the mainland, he had the idea of ​​sharing the funds.

"You should first complete the project plan and confirm all the participating countries. Then we will decide how much project funds each country should share!" After Xiao Ke said this, he asked the other party to leave the office.

~
When Zhang Heping heard on the Dapeng Peninsula that OMG was going to build an international space station, he didn't say much, because this was exactly the result he wanted, a space race!

When he heard that the Americans were willing to hand over Professor Lü's family of defectors, he ignored Hua Lao and his group's tentative conditions and only agreed to grant the Americans access to the World Internet Forum, but still did not lift the restrictions imposed by the Americans on the blacklist.

As for whether the Magnesium Government will restrict local netizens from accessing the World Internet Forum as it did before, that is the Magnesium Government’s own business.

In addition, Zhang Heping also asked Hua Lao to remind the people in the capital that before taking over the family of defectors, it would be best to confirm their health status via video call; and to notify the airport to prepare for epidemic prevention work in advance.

After hearing these two stories, Hua and his entourage stood aside and watched Zhang Heping explain the construction concept of the Tiangong space station, as well as its future expansion and upgrade potential, to experts from home and abroad.

Among these so-called foreign experts, there are actually a group of them who are just filling in the gaps, and their knowledge level may not even be as good as that of high school students in the mainland.

But Zhang Heping reached a tacit understanding with his superiors and ignored that group of people. As long as the number of cooperating countries announced to the public was large enough, it would be fine.

What's more, just because people in backward areas don't understand it now doesn't mean they can't learn it in the next few years. They can just treat it as teaching interns.

As Heping Aerospace on the Dapeng Peninsula welcomes foreign experts, the controlled nuclear fusion device is also planning to ignite and test the 10-second limit, and some foreign experts will be invited to witness this historic moment on site.

Therefore, the negotiation teams from Japan, Europe, and the United States have become active again... (End of this chapter)