Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1396 Outrageous but True (4k)

Hey kid, you're really into swill, aren't you?

Believe it or not, in this era when even feces and urine required ration coupons, swill oil was also a kind of commodity.

The two elderly men were somewhat amused and exasperated, but upon reflection, their idea was quite interesting, since this item was likely the cheapest, and could even be purchased for free.

"If only coal could be turned into oil, we have plenty of coal, though we can't mine that much yet," the leader remarked.

Coal is indeed one of our most abundant energy sources, and compared to oil and natural gas, it is considered our advantageous energy source.

If we can develop the technology to turn coal into oil, then we can rest easy!
Gao Zhendong's face twitched, and he chuckled.

"What? Speak!" The leader turned to look at him, his eyes gleaming.

"Hehe, it's not impossible. I've researched it, and it's much more difficult than this, but it's not impossible."

Converting oil to oil and coal to oil are on completely different levels of difficulty, and the amount of coal currently mined is not even enough. It's fair to say that oil-to-oil technology is widely available online, but coal-to-oil technology is much less common.

Furthermore, oil-to-oil conversion can be done in workshops with low requirements for technology, equipment, raw materials, and energy. As long as there is enough oil, the technological investment in oil-to-oil conversion is not very high. However, coal-to-oil conversion is a different story, requiring large-scale industrial production.

But there must be a way. To put it bluntly, even if Gao Zhendong can't find specific technology online, he can always find a technical route. He can hand over the technical route to his comrades to study in depth. Even if it takes ten or twenty years, they can eventually figure it out.

On this point, Gao Zhendong had unwavering faith in his comrades. Their main limitation was their weak theoretical foundation, making it difficult for them to find a reliable approach. However, once they had a technical approach, most of the most difficult issues would be resolved.

The reason why the phrase "at one's wits' end" is used to describe despair is because not being able to find a way out is the greatest despair.

The rest can be left to the comrades; besides, I'm not entirely incapable of offering help.

"Is this really true?!" The leader's face became extremely excited again.

He clutched his chest. No way, you need a strong heart to talk to this kid. He'll just give you a huge surprise, or even a shock, out of the blue.

Compared to oil-to-oil conversion, coal-to-oil conversion has greater strategic significance for our country. After all, large-scale biodiesel production requires competing with crops for land, while coal-to-oil does not.

“Really. I’ve researched it. Although I initially chose oil-to-oil conversion due to technical difficulties and practical applications, coal-to-oil conversion is theoretically feasible. However, it’s more difficult and the cost is much higher than petrochemical refining,” Gao Zhendong said with great certainty.

The leader nodded, understanding why Gao Zhendong hadn't prioritized coal conversion into oil.

Even laymen would think that turning oil into oil is simpler and more feasible than turning coal into oil. After all, it's all oil, so it's all the same thing. In the current environment, choosing to research a technology that is more effective and can be put into use sooner is a rational and reasonable choice.

Moreover, coal is also in short supply right now. If we don't consider extreme situations and are in the process of normal development, then even if coal-to-oil is developed, it will be in a state of raw material shortage for the time being, like a skilled cook without rice to cook. This technology, which has greater strategic significance, is actually not as practical as oil-to-oil from the current tactical perspective.

Moreover, Gao Zhendong estimated that the cost of this technology would be relatively high, which makes it easier to understand why he chose to convert oil into oil first.

But understanding is one thing, but no matter how you look at it, the strategic significance of this technology is immense. So when he heard Gao Zhendong's affirmative answer, he unusually made specific demands on Gao Zhendong's work.

"Comrade Zhenzheng, I know it will be very difficult, but no matter how difficult it is, even if it takes ten or a hundred years, you must lead your comrades to develop this technology!"

He spoke very seriously, saying that food security, energy security, and water security are essential aspects of a country's security, and their importance is no less than that of military security.

He believed that Gao Zhendong never made empty promises, and he had almost never made any specific demands on Gao Zhendong's work, but this time, he made an exception.

Given my country's resource endowment, this technology is a project that requires a century of effort. Even if it takes ten or a hundred years, we must develop it, especially when we hear a reliable comrade conclude that the technology is feasible.

Even if it's difficult, even if it can't be done in one generation, we'll keep going. We have enough patience and policy continuity to support a technology that initially seems unprofitable. After all, there's a significant difference in difficulty and cost between coal-to-oil conversion and direct petroleum cracking.

However, for a mature and large country, many things cannot be judged solely by whether they are profitable or not, nor can they be focused only on short-term interests.

His trust in his comrade and his anticipation for the technology led him to make the request to Gao Zhendong without hesitation.

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Don't worry, I will continue to study it. Converting oil to oil first is a short-term consideration, while converting coal to oil is a long-term, strategic consideration."

He didn't give a guarantee when he would finish it; this is something that he probably can't develop on his own in a short period of time.

However, he wasn't nervous. He had his own plans and would take it one step at a time.

Despite Gao Zhendong's confident assurances, the comrades of the National Defense Work Committee still trusted him. Even before he made those assurances, all sorts of significant achievements were still being made.

As one of our leaders aptly put it, this comrade is outstanding in three ways!
"What conditions do you need? Just name them. I will do my best to meet them from the National Defense Commission." The leader confidently opened a wide door for Gao Zhendong, and he was at ease no matter how wide the door was opened.

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "Right now, it's mainly theoretical stuff. A pen, a piece of paper, and a brain will suffice. We don't need that for now. But when we do need it, I won't hesitate to ask."

This project requires an extremely large investment. Even if we don't reach the final stage, the preliminary technologies will still require a huge investment and will be just as useful. Gao Zhendong wanted to try to find some resources himself first, take a comprehensive look, and then organize the necessary personnel.

He strives to ensure that the development of each technology yields a corresponding research outcome, creating a positive and sustainable research cycle. He even plans out the very first prerequisite technology.

Upon hearing this, the leaders and chief engineer of the National Defense Industry Committee were pleased, but also felt a bit annoyed. This kid was good in every way, except that he spoke in a way that was too infuriating, and yet he himself was completely unaware of it.

What do you mean by "one pen, one piece of paper, one brain"? ... With all those other comrades' brains combined, let alone turning coal into oil, there's not even a trace of oil turning into oil.

Well, there's nothing we can do about it. He has the confidence to back it up. If he's too humble, he'll lose his edge. For a leader with a military background, that's exactly the kind of drive he needs! Don't say anything more. If anyone can achieve the same results as him, you can say whatever you want.

Knowing that Gao Zhendong had his own arrangements and ways of doing his work, the only direct requirements the leader could make were in the research direction of coal-to-oil conversion. As for specific work, he would never make any demands on Gao Zhendong.

This kid has his own way of doing things, you can't interfere, interfering would only make things worse. "Fine, you arrange your own affairs, I'll just assign tasks. I know you have a lot of work and you're very busy, you don't need to put all your energy into this, just a little bit is enough." The leader laughed, and even he himself thought what he said was outrageous.

The idea that such an important matter only requires a little effort sounds like utter nonsense.

However, as it turns out, this statement was quite true for Gao Zhendong. After all, he is truly capable, and other matters are also very important; it's impossible to focus everything on just one thing. Allocating a portion of that time to him would probably be enough.

Outrageous, but true.

Standing by the window, watching Gao Zhendong's car drive away, the leader was suddenly inspired to write a poem.

"You have gutter oil, I have gutter oil. Let's turn them all into my oil and make good diesel."
-
Gao Zhendong was eyeing other people's trash, but he didn't realize that outsiders were also eyeing our trash.

Off the coast of Hong Kong Island, two medium-sized cargo ships are moored together, and people on one ship are constantly transferring goods to the other.

It was clear that these things were very heavy. Each wooden crate was tightly wrapped. When people carried them onto the gangplank between the two boats, the thick gangplank would sink a bit.

"Are they all DJS-59s?" One of the men frowned as he looked at the massive physiques.

"Of course! And don't be dissatisfied. Look around, where can you find a ready-made computer these days? These are all machines from large organizations. You think they're too heavy, and so do I," another person joked.

"I know, I know. The situation is complicated right now. We're lucky to even have computers. Hahaha."

"Well, don't worry, we'll definitely guarantee yours. It's just that computers are needed everywhere in the country right now, so making money is a minor issue. These DJS-59s are actually running perfectly, they're all machines that can run over 10,000 cycles. If they weren't so power-hungry and considered not worth it domestically, they wouldn't have been phased out at all. Don't worry, we've prepared some good stuff for you, in the back, not many, the 08 model, which is even faster than the DJS-59, but smaller and more compact, with lower power consumption and easier maintenance. It'll be easy to sell to anyone except the French," one of them said with a smile.

Gaul has its own open and official channels to obtain goods that are even more advanced than the Type 08, which is a special case.

"Well, making money is a small matter. The main thing is being able to use it in some unexpected ways and gain some special conveniences."

"Yes, we know your situation, so we specially provided some 08 machines. By the way, give this to your boss."

"Okay." The person receiving the receiver took it without saying a word, and stuffed it into their pocket without even looking at it.

Watching too much of it will cause trouble, and you won't even understand it.

"Speaking of which, things have really improved back home. These things that would be treated as garbage here are now in high demand abroad," the person receiving the machine said with a smile, something he was very proud of.

As Chinese people who have come from a backward and weak era, no matter where we are, most of us will still be happy about our development and proud of our leading position.

"Hmm, that makes sense. To be honest, it's not like most people can afford to buy this junk."

The two laughed, but their laughter was quickly drowned out by the sound of the waves.

Lou Shouxing sat in his office, holding a document filled with numbers and the six letters ABCDEF. He carefully typed the document word by word into the satellite communication terminal.

This is a basic function of communication terminals—decryption, a function that can be used without a satellite connection.

On the small screen of the terminal, lines of text appeared. The screen could not hold many words at a time, so he had some difficulty reading them, mainly because he had to connect them with the context.

Although the document itself is short, it still took some effort to write.

However, Lou Shouxing is already very satisfied. With this, he can contact his "family" at any time.

"Collecting kitchen waste and separating waste oil? Hahaha, what kind of operation is this?" Lou Shouxing laughed as soon as he saw it. The requests from his family were getting more and more bizarre.

It's probably because they felt embarrassed to have their own legitimate company handle this, so the business was ultimately handed over to a company like Zhenxing Electric Technology. They're willing to make some money, and besides, if they really did it domestically, the labor and implementation costs wouldn't necessarily be cheaper, and they might not even be able to connect with many connections.

On the contrary, companies like Zhenxing Electric Power, which approach this matter with purely commercial means, are likely to be more successful and achieve a win-win situation!

Lou Shouxing didn't know why, but he didn't bother to ask. If there was a need in China, then go for it. This business might seem a bit shady, but it was actually a viable venture.

He made a few calls and felt that this was something he could actually do.

Let's not even talk about far away. Just in Hong Kong Island, more than 1000 tons of food waste are generated every day, and there are probably hundreds of tons of waste oil in it. Especially since there are many restaurants, it is convenient and easy to collect the waste oil directly.

Without going into too much detail, it's probably possible to collect tens of thousands of tons of waste oil a year.

As for places further away, they're probably quite interesting too.

Despite its large size and influence, Zhenxing Electric Power can never afford to spend too much on personnel, and there are many other factors involved in this matter, making it a win-win situation.

Along with these items came a batch of chips.

These chips were something Lou Shouxing had been waiting for a long time—CPUs and RAM for game consoles. With these two, even without a game ROM, he could assemble a prototype game console. The ROM could be loaded onto a floppy disk and still work.

After all, the shooting game he found most interesting was only 256KByte in size, which was not a problem for a double-sided floppy disk. Zhendong had already matched the loading speed with the game progress, so the speed of the floppy disk was not an issue either.

Compared to expensive ROM cartridges, floppy disks can reduce production costs and increase manufacturers' profit margins.

Furthermore, domestic semiconductor production capacity is not yet sufficient to free up enough ROM capacity for Zhenxing Electronics Technology, so floppy disks will have to fill the gap for now.

(End of this chapter)