Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1448 We can begin our journey (4k)

"That...is unlikely, isn't it?"

The director of the Electricity Management Committee couldn't help but mutter to himself.

His gaze shifted back and forth between the email's content and the sender, his expression constantly changing with suspicion and uncertainty.

He couldn't believe the content, but the sender's name forced him to believe it.

After all, everyone knows what the National Defense Industry Committee represents.

He finally stopped arguing with himself and picked up the phone: "Come over here, I have something to show you. Never mind, I'll come over."

The other party will definitely come, but given their walking habits, they certainly won't walk very fast, and the director of the power management committee doesn't want to wait that long.

Not long after, he walked into the office of the chief engineer of the Electricity Management Committee.

The other person had already brewed tea and was waiting for him. When he entered, they handed him a porcelain cup and said, "Don't rush, don't rush, have some tea first."

The director took the cup with one hand and handed over the email with the other.

"Look at this."

The chief engineer chuckled as he took the email, glanced at it, and immediately stood up: "Let's go, let's go to the Defense Committee!"

"Don't rush, don't rush, let me have a sip of tea first." The director remained unmoved.

"Why are you drinking tea? This matter is more urgent!" the chief engineer said impatiently.

"Do you believe this data?" the director asked.

"Of course I believe them! Since they said that, I'm demanding they conjure it up for me. If they can't, I'm not leaving!" The data was provided by them, so they can't accuse me of cheating, right?
The director laughed: "This is something you really would do, hahaha. Sit down, sit down first. There's no rush. They're still waiting for our news."

The chief engineer sat down as instructed, but only half of his buttocks were on the floor. It wasn't that he wanted to show humility to the director, and their relationship wasn't that close, but he just had an urge to hurry over, so his buttocks naturally wouldn't stay on the floor.

"What's there to wait for?"

"I know this data is rare, but you don't need to be in such a hurry."

The chief engineer's eyes widened: "I'm in a hurry! Of course I'm in a hurry! With this magnetic energy product, remanence, coercivity, Curie point, let me put it this way, as long as we can use this thing, I can immediately reduce the size of the generator by more than 30% and increase the power generation efficiency by 10 percentage points!"

"So tall?!" Reducing the size and weight of the generator is not just about saving on material costs, installation, and transportation costs.

Increased power generation efficiency is incredibly tempting, meaning that the same energy source can generate 10% more electricity under the same conditions—a ridiculously high figure.

"That's how high it is! And that's a conservative estimate. It's a technical matter, you wouldn't understand. Besides, it says here that this magnet is cheaper than AlNiCo magnets, which can save money and increase production. Tell me, how can I not be anxious!" The chief engineer said impatiently, his words utterly blunt.

The director wasn't angry at all. Compared to the chief engineer, he was indeed a bit lacking in technical skills: "Then you don't need to be in such a hurry. What does it matter if it's sooner or later?"

"A new batch of hydroelectric and thermal power plants are about to be approved and started. Do you think I'm in a hurry or not?" The chief engineer said, reaching out to pull the director.

This matter is definitely true; after all, they wouldn't joke about something like this. However, having real data and being able to use it are two different things. Whether laboratory products can be used in a groundbreaking project is uncertain.

Therefore, the chief engineer wanted to clarify this matter as soon as possible, whether this product was ready for mass production and application. The email only asked for an assessment of its importance and sensitivity, without providing any details about this aspect.

After all, if this is true, the approval of some projects, especially the technical aspects, may have to be delayed. But this delay is worthwhile; pulling back the fist is for the purpose of striking out with greater force.

"Oh, you're right! Let's go, let's go!!! Let's go quickly!!!" The director of the power management committee wasn't stupid either; he remembered that there was indeed a new batch of various power plants in the process of working on this project.

His footsteps were even more urgent than those of the chief engineer.

Half an hour later, the leaders of the National Defense Industry Committee looked at the director of the Electricity Management Committee, stunned: "No, you could have just given your opinion on this matter. There was no need to make such a fuss and trouble you to come all the way here in person?"

The director shook his head: "No, no, no, it's better if we confirm this ourselves. This is very important!"

"Very important? Very important to your power department?" The leader had already realized something. No wonder Comrade Zhendong sent a letter to take the initiative to promote it. It seems that he was aware of the importance of this seemingly just a magnet with a stronger magnetic field.

Hey, this is good stuff again!
"It's very important!" The director of the Electricity Management Committee gave a brief introduction to the situation. His words were simple, but the meaning behind them was anything but.

"A 10% increase in power generation efficiency?!" Reducing size and weight is fine; it's tactically important and saves money, which is also tactically important. But a 10% increase in efficiency has a strategic significance.

What is electricity? It can be said that without electricity, there would be no human society, including primitive society.

After all, human nerves transmit bioelectric signals.

The development of modern society is inextricably linked to electricity. No electricity? No electricity means no steel, no aluminum, no industrial products—it's that simple.

A 10% increase in power generation efficiency? That's an incredibly high number. Even 5%, let alone 10%, is a remarkable figure.

"Efficiency" is a very interesting concept. It often implies a limit that is difficult to improve, just like the power generation efficiency of solar panels or the thermal efficiency of heat engines. Once a bottleneck is reached, it is difficult to improve it further.

Increased efficiency means paying the same price, but producing more waste products, especially the extremely valuable electricity.

“Yes, that’s why we’re in such a hurry! We want to figure out one thing—is this magnet a laboratory product or a mass-produced result?!” The director and chief engineer of the Electricity Management Committee stared intently at each other.

The leader of the National Defense Commission scratched his head. "This kid didn't even tell me how important this thing was beforehand. He caught this old man off guard."

The key point is that he didn't know either, because Gao Zhendong didn't explain the matter clearly; he only asked him to forward it, and that such material existed.

"Wait a minute, I need to make a phone call!"

So you didn't know either? The two comrades from the Electricity Management Committee were stunned, and instead became a little worried. It seemed they hadn't verified it; was it true or false? They were afraid even the lab data was fake. Under their bright, expectant gazes, the leader of the National Defense Industry Committee made a phone call, and the other two just watched him frantically prepare on the phone.

"...Um...right, it's about whether we have the conditions for mass production...um, is that right? Okay, okay! Got it!"

The moment the leader hung up the phone with Gao Zhendong, the two people from the Electricity Management Committee stared at him and asked, "How did it go?"

"Mass production is possible!"

According to Gao Zhendong, this product uses some rare earth elements, which are relatively scarce, but fortunately they are not unavailable in China, and the amount used is not large, so it can still be sustained.

Those three words immediately put the minds of the comrades from the Electricity Regulatory Commission at ease: "Great! All the production capacity is reserved for us!"

"I can't make that decision. I can only try my best to help you. Anyway, you probably won't need many at first. After all, you'll need to make technical modifications and redesigns before you can use them, which will take time. We'll wait until production capacity ramps up. It seems like you're not the only ones who will need this."

"But we're important, so we should be given priority." This statement wasn't entirely wrong, since electricity is indeed crucial.

"I'll try my best. To put it this way, there are some specific details I can't tell you, but I can reveal one thing first: the production of this stuff isn't controlled by us, but by other ministries. We can only decide how it's distributed within our own system, but we can't decide how it's distributed to you. By the way, you haven't answered the questions I asked in the email yet."

Just how important and sensitive is this achievement?
"Look at our performance, what do you think?" The director of the Electricity Management Committee said with a smile.

Regardless of how much we get, one thing is certain.

—This thing can be used in engineering!

With this conclusion as a foundation, things become much easier. As the other party said, this product has just been developed and still requires the construction of a supporting production plant and the ramp-up of production capacity. However, correspondingly, their own new power plant also needs to be built, and the cycle will not be short, so it can be roughly connected.

As for ordinary small generators, this technology is probably not applicable. After all, judging from the attitude of the National Defense Commission, this technology is probably not usable everywhere.

"Understood, we will consider it." The representative from the National Defense Industry Committee also had a smile on their face. The fact that it couldn't be widely promoted and used was actually a good thing, because the technology was advanced enough!

Of course, having reached this basic conclusion, he will also refer to the opinions of other departments, but the conclusion will probably be difficult to change.

Moreover, Gao Zhendong's words just now indicated that once this material falls into someone else's hands, it wouldn't be difficult to analyze and replicate it. The proportions can be obtained directly through analysis, and the production process of this material is not difficult; it's even simpler than the production process of many steel products, so others can always figure it out through experimentation.

After all, by using methods such as crystal phase analysis, we can actually obtain a lot of answers about the process.

The comrades from the Electricity Management Committee arrived quickly and left just as quickly. They only cared about one thing, and that thing was the most important.

After getting the answer, they left in a hurry. There was still a lot of work to do, and after getting the answer, there was even more work to do!

But it's so much fun!

On the other end, Gao Zhendong, after hanging up the phone, looked at a file on the computer screen.

The call from the commission came at just the right time. Although Gao Zhendong didn't know they would consult the Electricity Management Commission, this action was like a pillow coming to his sleep.

Just then, the first part of the document was almost completed, and the committee's move conveniently extended a small tentacle of Gao Zhendong into the Electricity Management Committee, making some of the things he was going to do later seem less abrupt.

Comrades, prepare to face the Cthulhu of knowledge!
Gao Zhendong thought to himself in a somewhat childish way, then looked around and, seeing that no one had seen his childish behavior, he felt relieved.

That was close! People can be silly, but they shouldn't be silly in front of others.

He sat down, opened his computer's editing software, and prepared to draft a new document.

As his fingers danced across the screen, a line of text appeared one by one.

—Suggestions on the Industrialization of Rare Earth Element Production System.

With terbium and dysprosium as catalysts, along with elements such as yttrium already used in industries like lasers, this project can now be put on the agenda.

It doesn't need to be accomplished overnight; at least we can begin the journey step by step, gradually locking this chain over several decades.

Gao Zhendong is most grateful that, as long as our policies are correct, we are willing to spend several generations, even ten generations, to persevere in implementing them.

This pace will not change due to the length of time, nor will it be made easier solely by economic reasons.

The Three-North Shelterbelt Project is an example of this, as is the Vegetable Basket Project, and industrial development.
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"Boss, we've recently received a sudden surge in drug procurement requests," a colleague from the Foreign Trade Department reported to the department head, holding a list.

"Medicines? We rarely export medicines, do we? Apart from the support provided by comrades from other systems, we basically don't export any."

The reason for this situation is simple: we need medicine ourselves. Although we already have the largest penicillin factory in Asia, there are many types of medicines, and we use a lot of them ourselves. As for how much we export, it's really not much.

If I had to say something, it would be that a portion of the aid is given to various friendly countries, but this portion has nothing to do with the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

"Yes, but that channel isn't a trade channel. Under normal circumstances, other countries' healthcare systems wouldn't have access to it. Moreover, this batch is very special, mainly focusing on two very rare drugs: one is an existing drug-resistant bacterial enzyme inhibitor, and the other is something we've never seen before. Furthermore, the countries that applied for the purchase aren't technologically underdeveloped countries; on the contrary, it's countries like Gaul, whose medical technology far surpasses ours, that are applying for it."

It is an objective fact that we are lagging behind. We acknowledge that our medical technology is indeed far behind that of these countries.

However, precisely because of this, the comrades in the Ministry of Foreign Trade were undoubtedly more interested in this matter; otherwise, several separate drug purchase requests would not have been reported separately to the top level of the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

"Oh?" Sure enough, the leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Trade were also interested in this matter.

If a drug can attract countries with far superior technology to apply for its purchase, then it must be something special.

The key point is that this is the first time the other party has taken the initiative to purchase medicines.

(End of this chapter)