Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1365 The Conflicted Polar Bear (5k)

The medium-sized landing ship floated on the water and looked almost no different from being on land.

This boat is special; it has a very shallow draft, especially now that it's empty, so it's even shallower.

Seeing this, the defense commission leader laughed and said, "It's like they're going into the water again. I just wonder how many they can produce."

Unlike warships, which require testing, landing ships are the type that can be mass-produced as long as there are no major design problems. After all, as long as the core functions are met, they are usable.

The navy was relatively more optimistic: "We've produced quite a few landing craft, and we also have a few of the roll-on/roll-off ships you suggested. With the buffer time, we should still be able to use them."

"There are still some preparations that haven't been made."

"Yes, actually, if it weren't for the problem behind it, we could say we were well prepared."

"We should still be prepared for the worst and anticipate the worst-case scenario."

As they chatted, they watched the scene unfold before them, their faces beaming with smiles, yet a glint of light flickered deep within their eyes.
-
Gao Zhendong, who was digesting his winnings from the last lottery, took a break from his busy schedule and sat in his office, looking at the newspaper in front of him.

Last time I was really lucky, but it was also really difficult. Although this set of things is simple, it should be of some inspiration to our current professional field. After all, what was simple in the 10s may not be so in the present day.

The only problem is that it's a bit difficult. Because it's so simple, it's actually a bit challenging for Gao Zhendong. He needs to try his best to discern and dig deeper into the subject matter, hoping to do so and even make some preparations for it.

As for why this is so superficial, there's nothing we can do about it. The materials published worldwide in this field are not very in-depth.

—"Marine Nuclear Power Plants," a book compiled in the new century. The content is not in-depth, but it is very useful for our current level.

However, Gao Zhendong has a lot to do. In addition to learning and exploring, he also needs to remove a lot of outdated elements.

Phrases like "In XX year, the Kingdom conducted such and such improvement experiments on the XXX nuclear submarine" and "Roman nuclear submarines switched to diffuse fuel" are ubiquitous in the book because it was written late. This was what troubled Gao Zhendong the most; he dared not leave any of it out.

Moreover, simply deleting them isn't enough. In each of these problematic descriptions, after removing highly specific details such as time, country, and model, he also has to find a way to keep the core information.

Not only did he leave the core content behind, but he also had to find a plausible source for it, even if it was something he dreamed about. He had to write down the words "I dreamed about it".

So this took up a lot of his time, and today he took a break from his busy schedule, partly to rest, and partly because he was waiting for a message.

Wait for a piece of news that has no impact on him, but has a profound impact on the world's trends.

Holding the day's newspaper, Gao Zhendong shook his head.

If I wasn't mistaken, no matter how much I stirred things up in China, the impact on foreign countries would be limited to technology and some collateral effects. As for major political and economic issues, they wouldn't have any influence.

For example, the fact that the kingdom's Grand President had such a wild idea.

Similarly, history has not been biased; the incident in Luo Guo still happened, with no change in time. Although the report did not mention the location or process, Gao Zhendong estimates that the situation will remain unchanged.

Since these things won't change, Gao Zhendong estimates that some of the major developments that follow won't differ much from the expected outcome.

A country is like a running elephant; its historical inertia is extremely strong, and Gao Zhendong believes that this will not change.

At this moment, Gao Zhendong couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had urged the leaders of the National Defense Commission to implement some things. Even if the other party changed their mind, at least we still had a lot of benefits.

Meanwhile, putting aside the cooperation issue, for other projects, neither party has yet delivered the physical goods, so it's not necessarily a complete failure. In Gao Zhendong's previous life, even when the conflict between the two parties intensified, they were still doing business and delivering goods; this is nothing compared to what's happening now.

Gao Zhendong put down the newspaper in a cheerful mood; he was genuinely in a good mood.

He merely wanted to confirm that this had happened, but he had no intention of preventing it from happening. Gao Zhendong's thinking was very simple and straightforward—a dead Luo Guo was a good Luo Guo.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the National Defense Commission were stunned when they saw the news.

He recalled Gao Zhendong's words when they were discussing the export of semiconductor production lines in exchange for reactors: "It would be best to finalize these matters within a quarter."

Now, if I do the math, it's indeed within a quarter, which is pretty much perfect.

This kid, does he have such a keen sense of smell? Impossible, absolutely impossible.

To be objective, his research work alone is enough to fill his time and energy completely, leaving absolutely no room for these kinds of things. Even a tenth of his regular work would be exhausting, leaving him no time to care about such matters.

Moreover, he had no way of finding out. Not to mention him, even people at all levels couldn't possibly know anything about this matter. Otherwise, Luo Guo would have discovered it long ago, and this wouldn't have happened.
After thinking for a moment, he shook his head. Impossible. He was being influenced by Comrade Zhendong's usual inhuman behavior and was overthinking things.

However, he couldn't resist and made a phone call to Gao Zhendong.

"Comrade Zhendong, have you read today's newspaper?"

Gao Zhendong's cheerful voice came from the other end: "I saw it, boss. I never expected this."

What Gao Zhendong meant by "I didn't expect it" is self-evident at this point.

"What are your thoughts?" the leader couldn't help but ask.

The voice on the other end sounded slightly confused and puzzled: "Opinion? I have no opinion. I'm a tech person, and I really don't know much about the various aspects involved in this matter. I don't have time."

In fact, Gao Zhendong was arguably the most knowledgeable about the inside story of this matter, aside from those who had personally experienced it in the north, throughout the entire world. After all, since the fall of Luo Guo, there have been countless people who have revealed his past misdeeds.

If he wanted to talk, he could simply open the system and talk for half a day without repeating himself, and he could analyze things very logically.

Even if you only analyze the surface appearances and don't go into any details, he can still make it sound incredibly convincing.

But he didn't want to, and he couldn't. What business is it of mine? Only a madman would say so much.

After listening to Gao Zhendong's words, the leader nodded on the other end of the phone. Yes, this time when he said "I don't know," he really meant he didn't know.

"Okay, then. Focus on your work and don't let anything affect you."

Gao Zhendong chuckled on the other end of the phone; the leader could practically see his wide grin revealing a row of pearly white teeth: "Alright! Don't worry, boss, how could this possibly affect me? Hahahaha~~~~~"

Hearing Gao Zhendong laugh so happily, the leader remembered that this kid had a lot on his mind about the North... Hehehe, it was very important. The first new equipment he personally and deeply participated in developing was the tank. The first equipment system he invested heavily in was army equipment. One of the earliest epoch-making weapons he developed was specifically designed to fight tank formations.

These actions cannot be fully explained by his background in the army.

"That's alright, he couldn't possibly be affected by anything, he probably wouldn't even have any emotional fluctuations. If I had to say something... well, it might be disrespectful to our comrades from the North if I said it." The leader spoke a few words to Gao Zhendong and then hung up the phone, relieved.
-
This incident may have caused a huge uproar outside, but it had little impact on us. The two people, one before and one after, treated us the same, according to their declassified documents and eyewitness accounts.

Gao Zhendong is still battling wits with the data on marine nuclear reactors in his hands, but in the north, in certain niche areas, a discussion that concerns us is underway.

It's obvious without even guessing that things have changed for them, and they'll start considering whether many things should change as well.

If other existing projects are tightly intertwined due to increasingly deeper exchanges between the two sides, making them difficult to separate and exhibiting a "cold political, hot military" situation, then these new projects have forced the relevant leaders to organize personnel to discuss and consider them.

For example, aerospace and nuclear industries.

The main problem is that the people in these departments don't have much experience dealing with us in these areas, and they don't have much confidence or courage.

A group of people gathered together on one topic—whether to continue with the agreement reached with the comrades in the south.
“My suggestion is to continue. The comrades of the Supreme Council haven’t given us any orders to suspend the cooperation, have they?” a Romanian man said with a smile.

“Comrade, I understand you need their semiconductor production line, but the semiconductor production line is just a small matter. Its importance cannot, in any way, exceed the will of our leadership and the highest decisions.” The speaker was from the aerospace department, but not a technician, and was relatively more thoughtful.

Good grief, you want to go ahead with the deal and preserve the achievements of your electronics industry, but at what cost?
The price is that we have to continue cooperating with them, even at the risk of policy changes.

Although there's a saying in the South, "You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub," you can't risk my cub.

At this point, as an administrator in the aerospace sector, the primary consideration should be policy risks, rather than technological or economic benefits.

All of that is superficial. No matter how well you do in space exploration, it's not as important as the position under your buttocks.

For him, things were very simple: continued cooperation might bring some progress and some benefits, but it would be meaningless for someone whose upward mobility was already limited. On the contrary, the policy risks associated with such behavior far outweighed the benefits.

"Comrade, it wasn't just me who suggested this. In fact, many departments and institutions that had exchanges with our comrades in the South were not affected and continued their work." As someone in the electronics industry, Luo Guo was very familiar with the situation in the electronics field.

If the deal is to be terminated, it should at least be completed after this transaction. That way, he could acquire a semiconductor integrated circuit production line. Just five years ago, he was supporting the other party in manufacturing semiconductor plants, but now, five years later, he has to do everything he can to keep his hope of importing an integrated circuit production line from them alive.

At this point, he turned his head and looked at his comrades from the Ministry of Atomic Energy. In fact, if we're talking about sensitive issues, the Ministry of Atomic Energy is the most sensitive one, and he doesn't expect to get much support from there.

To his surprise, the comrades from the Ministry of Atomic Energy greatly exceeded his expectations: "We hope to complete the deal; they are the best comrades-in-arms."

This statement surprised everyone. The people in the aerospace department were trying to find allies: "Comrade leader, you should know that you should not make deals with them."

The atomic energy leader's expression didn't change much. The real reason he was willing to complete the deal with the Southern comrades was that their actions were very selfless and they were genuinely considering the safety of both sides' personnel.

This is morally correct, but it cannot be brought up in public, especially at this time.

However, he had another reason, and it was readily available.

"No, no, no, my comrade, we are the least worried. In our deal with our comrades in the South, we provided them with our most sensitive part—the graphite reactor—many years ago, and they used our aid to produce the most sensitive material. That was a mistake in the past, but that mistake has eliminated our biggest worry."

The atomic energy leaders have a whole set of reasons for their leadership, and they actually sound quite reasonable.

“But even so, there is no need for you to proceed with this transaction.”

"No, no, no, it's not that we're trying to complete this deal. I'm just helping my colleagues in the electronics industry get what they want," the atomic energy leader said confidently.

These words made the comrades in the electronics industry a little uncomfortable. No, what do you mean by using me as a shield?
However, the colleagues from the Ministry of Atomic Energy genuinely supported their ideas, which was very important to them: "I agree with the Ministry of Atomic Energy's opinion."

After all, they were well aware that during the initial negotiations, the other party had specified that the reactor was a mandatory component. In other words, as long as the reactor was available, the deal could still be completed, and the probability was extremely high.

This made the people in the aerospace sector seem somewhat isolated and weak. In fact, the people in the aerospace sector did not care about cooperating with the people in the south. The core reason was that they had enough honors: the first satellite, the first astronaut, which gave them enough confidence and assurance.

The electronics industry, a sector long dominated by the West, needs to grasp at every straw it can find, regardless of whether it's for military or civilian use, and its performance is lacking. It can complete tasks, even excellently, but often at a huge cost.

Huge, an objective physical description.

In this matter, he could even use this as a direct excuse to explain their motives to his superiors.

At this point, the Lubyanka representative spoke up: "Davari, I think it's necessary for me to explain to you that the production line they're exporting this time is obsolete in their system."

The person from the electronics industry turned around, a wry smile even appearing on their face: "Comrades, as professionals, I understand this better than you do. But what I know better than you is that if this production line were to be established here, it would be our most advanced production line. And I also know that this production line is more advanced than any other in the world except for those comrades in the South!"

This is the underlying reason why he insisted on completing the deal: a sufficiently advanced production line, besides production, might allow them to gain even more. At least being able to stand tall in front of the Kingdom's people, which is more important than anything else.

Even their superiors could use this to brag to the king, saying, "I have what you don't, and you don't care where we got it."

This significantly increases the likelihood that the higher-ups will approve this matter.

The boasts made by the Russians and the Russians during the Cold War, besides being strategic deception, were often out of necessity. It's like a university club recruiting new members; if they don't exaggerate their abilities, the new students probably won't be interested in joining.

The man from Lubyanka was momentarily speechless, because he knew it was true.

The two sides then engaged in a fierce oral exercise over this issue.

"Well then, let me make a suggestion," the person in charge of military exchanges with the South finally spoke up when he saw that the two sides were deadlocked.

A hint of joy flashed in the eyes of the person in the electronics industry sector, because he knew more or less about the leader's inclinations.

Sure enough, his suggestion, which sounded like it was helping both sides, actually agreed with the people involved in electronics and atomic energy. As the person truly in charge of finalizing this deal in its early stages, he knew best the prerequisites and inside story of the transaction, making it incredibly easy for him to take sides.

"Based on the delivery of the graphite reactor, we will propose to our superiors that this transaction be completed. At the same time, the cooperation between the two parties' aerospace departments will be submitted as background information, but no recommendations will be made."

The two sides, who had just been arguing fiercely, looked at this comrade and realized that the Comrade General, who was in charge of foreign exchanges and trade, was the smartest.

This suggestion satisfied the requirements of electronic and atomic energy, excluded the aerospace sector, and also passed the decision on aerospace cooperation to higher authorities without any bias.

All parties felt that their ideas had been satisfied, but as for Lubyanka, they actually had no ideas at all.
-
At this time, Gao Zhendong was unaware of this situation, and even if he had, he wouldn't have cared; the space cooperation was merely a side project. In short, having already obtained a batch of preliminary cooperation data from them, we had already profited.

He is now sitting in the meeting room, holding a list in his hand, with a wry smile on his face.

I haven't finished my business yet, and I haven't had a chance to come to you, but you've come to me first.

(End of this chapter)