In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 104 Madman of the Times: Rocket Launcher with a Range of 500 km
"There's no point talking about money. Principal, as a freshman, I have limited abilities and cannot meet your requirements..."

Xie Wei didn't expect that before he could take a few steps, he was grabbed by Li Rui who rushed over.

He immediately said with a straight face.

He didn't plan to talk to Li Rui anymore.

What can you do when you meet such a leader?

Not to mention these days, even decades later, not everyone with ability can get promoted to a higher position in each unit.

Xie Wei's current age and status are both disadvantages within the system.

Let's wait until Li Rui leaves and see what the new principal is like. Anyway, the basic facilities are poor now, so there is no need to rush.

"Don't talk about money! Don't talk about money!"

Seeing Xie Wei getting anxious, Li Rui quickly expressed his opinion, "Three million is three million. But Xie Wei, in addition to the investment made by the School Enterprise Office and the investment in technology research and development in the school and various department laboratories according to market demand, the extra money..."

"There is no such thing as too little, only too little!"

Xie Wei said coldly.

Are you kidding? Doing scientific research, would you complain about the money?
"..."

At this moment, Li Rui looked at Xie Wei and his expression became serious.

Nothing extra!
This means that in addition to investing the money earned by the School-Enterprise Office into the technological upgrades of cooperative projects, Xie Wei will also lead the School-Enterprise Office to invest in some new technological projects.

That is the principal’s right!

“Can you tell me what areas you are going to invest in?”

Li Rui's face was serious, which made Xie Wei's expression become serious as well.

"Computers, non-metallic materials, automatic control technology..."

Xie Wei listed a series of basic technology projects without hesitation. Under Li Rui's puzzled gaze, he continued: "Principal, I said before that every research and development invested by the School-Enterprise Office will be reported to the school and approved by the school."

“What if the school disagrees?”

"Then avoid the school!"

Xie Wei was not joking. If the school did not agree, he had many ways to circumvent the school.

"..."

Li Rui did not expect Xie Wei to be so direct, and for a moment he did not know how to respond.

After a while, he sighed, "It's me too...Okay, bring me the documents."

Li Rui's abnormality made Xie Wei alert immediately.

Based on his understanding of the principal, the old man was definitely not so easy to talk to. Although the research and development of the basic technology projects he proposed could be linked to the military technology currently being developed by the school, it was obviously not normal for the old man to give in so easily.

"But you have to agree to one condition..."

really!

The old guy is not that easy to talk to.

Xie Wei remained silent, waiting for Li Rui to state his conditions.

"You have to help me deal with the inspection team... You said before that you would recruit people from the Third Ministry of Machine Building, and those school projects were also proposed by you. The leaders above were very dissatisfied with this fighter jet project. I had no choice but to say that this was the foundation of the space shuttle for manned space engineering..."

"..."

The old man's boldness once again refreshed Xie Wei's cognition.

Looking at Li Rui, Xie Wei suddenly thought: In the original world, Harbin Institute of Technology was the first to release the lunar base construction plan, and later the school also undertook a large part of the lunar base construction project. Didn’t it start decades later?
It started from this year!

"Why? Project 714 was cancelled because the basic technology was weak, the control technology was not up to standard, and the high-thrust rocket engine and other problems could not be solved... Now we are just moving in this direction and making plans in this direction. Don't tell me that you are developing civilian technology just to make money..."

Seeing Xie Wei opening his mouth slightly without saying anything, Li Rui frowned and spoke to Xie Wei in a cold voice.

Li Rui had no idea what the young man in front of him was planning.

Xie Wei's initial reasons such as "I washed the dishes and developed AES", "I wanted to study at Harbin Institute of Technology but ended up attending Harbin Institute of Technology", "the fighter model is just a toy for my sister", etc., were not convincing to Principal Li.

"If the delegation handles the situation well, the school will have 1200 million in research funding. Although part of it is related to your school-enterprise office, if you are unwilling to increase the funds you submit to the school, this money has nothing to do with the school-enterprise office..."

At this moment, Li Rui finally gave Xie Wei everything he had explained.

1200 million!
Sure enough, the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building still has money.

"Will the higher-ups agree to give us this money? The entire Seventh Ministry of Machine Building has a lot of projects, and the annual budget is not several hundred million, right?"

Xie Wei was not at all jealous of the 1200 million yuan in research funding.

Factory 14 was put under the management of the school-enterprise cooperation, and the profit after two or three years of development will be more than this.

He wondered that the country's annual fiscal revenue was only more than 1100 billion yuan. Among the various systems in the country, how much could the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building get?

"Young man, have a higher vision. Even the poorest units always have some money in their treasury. The Soviet Union sent astronauts into space first, and less than 10 years later, the Americans landed on the moon... We don't even have the technology to send astronauts into space now. If we keep delaying, do you think we will still have a place on the moon?"

Li Rui's words left Xie Wei at a loss as to how to respond.

People these days seem to have an incomprehensible obsession with landing on the moon.

I think the winter in Northeast China is too cold, and Xie Rou will suffer if she comes here. It would be better for her to stay in Chengdu or go to a university in the south.

Facing his wife and Professor Hou from the junior class of USTC, Xie Jianguo also refuted by saying that he wanted to occupy territory on the moon.

Xie Wei really wanted to tell Li Rui that the US landing on the moon was fake.

The first people to land on the moon were Chinese!

When the two major lunar bases, Tianhe and Guanghan Palace, were put into use, no American astronauts were seen setting foot on the lunar soil.

Although we found the remains of the Apollo landing on the moon, we didn’t see the Star-Spangled Banner or footprints…

Even for lunar soil, the United States has to beg China for it.

The United States used the "Star Wars Plan" to deceive the Soviet Union into disintegrating, and deceived China's technology, which was once inferior to some small European countries, into becoming a nightmare for the United States itself...

"Just say whatever you want to say. Be a man, and speak out! I accept the condition of not interfering with the finances of the school-enterprise partnership in the future, and I will also sign your "Several Opinions"... Please help me arrange for the inspection team."

Li Rui saw Xie Wei's daydreaming and said with an unhappy look on his face.

I have already delegated my power.

Could it be that this guy is dissatisfied that the 1200 million yuan of funds allocated by the ministry is not allocated to the school-enterprise office and wants to seize this money?

"Don't even think about that money. Some of the school's projects that cannot be made public require a lot of funding; the fighter aircraft technology project cannot be supported by the several million yuan per year from the school-enterprise office; the school's teaching buildings, dormitory buildings, and laboratory buildings also need to be repaired... After I get this money, I have to go to the Third Ministry of Machine Building and the Air Force Headquarters to get some money..."

After hearing this, Xie Wei realized that Principal Li was much bolder than he had imagined.

As long as he doesn't interfere in the school-enterprise finances.

Seeing that Xie Wei agreed, Li Rui signed the document happily, took out the official seal from his pocket, blew on it and stamped it.

"..."

"What's so strange about that? Your father tied the official seal around his waist with a rope so it won't get lost easily. I tried it and it works great."

Li Rui said to Xie Wei unhappily.

"That's not right, Principal. I don't know much about aerospace technology, and I'm not familiar with the expedition team."

Xie Wei didn't understand why Li Rui wanted to find him.

"Deputy Minister Ren, who led the team, personally named you. Otherwise, do you think I would let you get in touch with the leaders of the department? After graduation, you can work as a teaching assistant while studying for a master's degree, become a lecturer after graduating from graduate school, and then become the department head and sit in my position all the way..."

Li Rui didn't treat Xie Wei as an outsider at all.

Tell Xie Wei directly that his future path has been planned for him.

"..."

Xie Wei didn't know what to say.

No wonder Li Rui said before that he couldn't wait to fight for the power in his hands so early.

······
Power laboratory.

A small liquid rocket engine roared, and white flames spewed out of the tail nozzle.

Various environmental sensors arranged around transmit the detected data to the black and white display screen in the monitoring room next door.

Soon, the roar of the engine stopped.

"Leader, after comparison, the new fuel formula with hydrogen trifluoride added has an energy density that is about 12.37% higher than the previous one..."

Fang Pengju, director of the power room, handed Deputy Minister Ren a table recording the thrust, flame temperature, etc. generated by the combustion of the two fuels.

Deputy Minister Ren took the form, looked at the handwritten data on it, and said seriously:
"The school's experimental conditions are relatively poor, and the test data is incomplete. We cannot obtain accurate data on vacuum specific impulse, and the sensor sensitivity is not high. We will first provide a batch to the 101 Institute for testing."

Deputy Minister Ren shook his head in dissatisfaction.

The dissatisfaction was not with the fuel, but with the school’s experimental conditions which remained the same as more than ten years ago and made it impossible to complete all the experiments.

"The school usually does not produce many research results in this area, and only conducts some basic experiments."

Liu Debao quickly replied, "It can't be compared with the specialized research institute in the ministry."

Due to limited funding, the engine platform of the power laboratory can only be ignited a few times a year.

The delegation quickly learned the details of the school’s rocket-related technology projects and obtained first-hand information, but no evaluation has been conducted so far.

"Pengju, take me to your office."

Deputy Minister Ren asked Fang Pengju, head of the power laboratory, to take him to his office.

After saying that, he turned his head and looked at Liu Debao, "Secretary Liu, please take them to the school-enterprise office to learn more."

Deputy Minister Ren's arrangement made the accompanying Liu Debao, Zhang Mingqiu and others very worried.

But there is no way to force you to follow.

The relationship between Deputy Minister Ren and Fang Pengju is not something they can compare to.

In desperation, he could only arrange for Yuan Zhenyue, who was accompanying everyone, to find an opportunity to sneak out and report to the principal, while at the same time taking the rest of the inspection team to the school-enterprise office in the school building.

Fang Pengju welcomed Deputy Minister Ren into his office.

He personally poured water to make tea, placed it carefully on the table, and then hung it respectfully to one side.

"sit down."

"Teacher, I'm standing..."

Fang Pengju graduated from the Artillery Engineering Department of Harbin Institute of Technology in 1957. At that time, Deputy Minister Ren, who had just returned from studying abroad, served as a professor in the Artillery Engineering Department.

During his school years, Fang Pengju received a lot of care from Deputy Minister Ren.

"You haven't changed your mind yet?"

Deputy Minister Ren did not force Fang Pengju to sit down, but instead asked Fang Pengju what he thought.

"not yet……"

When Fang Pengju heard the teacher asking about his thoughts, he lowered his head and answered in a low voice.

He was worried about the teacher's rebuke.

Because of his own ideas, he was called a madman by many people, and even refused to do research at the Rocket Research Institute.

"Have you ever met Xie Wei?" Deputy Minister Ren sighed silently, without dwelling too much on Fang Pengju's thoughts, and changed the subject.

He understands the students' personalities.

犟！
"I've heard that chlorine trifluoride was accidentally discovered by him and his classmates when they were working on daily chemicals. Xie Wei was the first to propose that chlorine trifluoride is active and could be used as rocket fuel..."

Even if the school leaders and faculty were not familiar with Xie Wei, they had heard of him.

The school is not large at present, with a total of more than 3000 people, of which more than are faculty and staff.

However, there are only a few students like Xie Wei in the long history of Harbin Institute of Technology.

Deputy Minister Ren had an expression that said, "As expected."

He asked a lot about Xie Wei's life at school, but Fang Pengju was in the power test laboratory most of the time and didn't know Xie Wei very well.

"You can talk to him when you have time. Xie Wei's strongest point is not his learning ability, but he is better at combining technologies and finding solutions... It is not necessarily wrong for you to want to develop a rocket launcher with a range of more than 300 kilometers or even 500 kilometers..."

"..."

The teacher's words surprised and delighted Fang Pengju.

What was surprising was that the teacher actually asked me to ask Xie Wei, a student who had just entered the school not long ago!

The good news is that the teacher has changed his attitude and no longer opposes me developing ultra-long-range rocket launchers.

In 53, Fang Pengju was admitted to the Artillery Engineering Department of Harbin Institute of Technology. After coming into contact with rocket launchers, he devoted all his energy to learning the relevant knowledge of rocket launchers, resulting in poor academic performance.

Deputy Minister Ren, who was a professor at the Artillery Engineering Department at the time, told him: If you want to make a rocket launcher, you must master rockets, cannons and other related knowledge, otherwise you will not be able to make it.

In 56, Professor Ren was transferred to the Fifth Academy of the Ministry of National Defense to conduct rocket research.

In 57, Fang Pengju was admitted to the graduate school of control science and technology at Harbin Institute of Technology to further study rocket knowledge.

After graduation, Fang Pengju stayed at the school to teach.

When the national long-range rocket artillery project was launched, Fang Pengju was originally planned to participate, but Fang Pengju proposed to develop ultra-long-range rocket artillery with a range of 300 to 500 kilometers or even more...

At the time he was considered a lunatic.

Later, he was transferred to another research institute in the ministry to do rocket research, but it was windy...

He stayed in school.

Even now, the rocket launcher with a range of more than 300 kilometers proposed by Fang Pengju has not been recognized or supported by any department.

Rocket launchers with such a range cannot compare in accuracy with short-range ballistic missiles of similar range; and their cost is much higher than that of ordinary artillery shells.

The main reason is that the army’s strategic support does not require hundreds of kilometers.

The school does not have much research funding, and all of it has to be used for the research and development of related technologies issued by the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building.

Fang Pengju's idea remained only a theoretical design on paper.

Deputy Minister Ren's attitude made Fang Pengju feel that his idea might be realized, at least he had a chance to give it a try.

"Okay, talk to Xie Wei when you have time and see what he says. With his support, you can give it a try. The School-Enterprise Office has some power to approve projects. Just because the army doesn't need it right now doesn't mean it won't be used in the future..."

After saying this, Deputy Minister Ren walked out.

Fang Pengju was stunned for a moment before chasing after him.

Even if you have a lot of doubts in your heart, it is not a good idea to ask any more questions.

I could only silently accompany Deputy Minister Ren towards the school building.

"... This is the case with the school-enterprise office. Based on the principle of asking the market for funds, the school-enterprise office is not only prepared to use the school's existing scientific research results to recover R&D funds and provide the school with more scientific research funds, but also undertakes the obligation to upgrade the partner's technology... The partner is responsible for production and market development, the school provides technology, and both parties play to their own advantages..."

With Xie Wei's advice, Wu Tao and Wang Zheng confidently introduced the operation model and cooperation plan of the school-enterprise office to the inspection team.

The contracts signed with Hongguang Factory and Huadu Oil and Fat Chemical Factory were also taken out for the members of the inspection team to see.

Some members of the inspection team came here just for the reform pilot.

With the school-enterprise office being well prepared, it was naturally easy to get rid of them.

In the evening, after some members of the inspection team were arranged to stay in the guesthouse, Deputy Minister Ren appeared in the school's conference room with several members.

Xie Wei, who was called by Yuan Zhenyue to the conference room of the school building, saw Deputy Minister Ren smiling at him as soon as he arrived at the door.

The memory suddenly emerged: I have seen this old man before!
Chengdu People's Park.

Xie Wei couldn't help but wonder, the 062 and 064 command posts built by the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building in Daba Mountain were not in Chengdu.

It will take another ten years for Chengdu's aerospace industry to move out of Daba Mountain...

How could the aerospace boss stay in Chengdu for so long?
Just when he was wondering how the big guy in front of him could appear in Chengdu People's Park, Li Rui's introduction made Xie Wei unable to remain calm: Deputy Minister Ren, one of the founders and pioneers of the domestic aerospace industry, a top big guy known as the "chief engineer" of aerospace!

"Xie Wei, it's been almost ten years since we last met."

While Xie Wei was still in a daze, Mr. Ren, who was just in his early sixties, greeted Xie Wei with a smile.

"Mr. Ren, I was thinking of visiting you after graduation."

Xie Wei hurriedly replied with a smile.

I can’t remember which big guys I met in the past, so it’s hard to find someone to support me.

Seeing such a thick thigh in front of me, I naturally have to hug it tightly!
Mr. Ren’s achievements in the country’s missile and rocket industry are second only to Mr. Qian.

One of the founders of the two bombs and one satellite.

One of the four great aerospace experts.

"Please introduce to everyone the technical projects that the school has cooperated with the subordinate units of the Third Ministry of Machine Building..."

After the greetings, Mr. Ren directly asked Xie Wei to introduce the situation.

Xie Wei wanted to find an excuse to decline, but when he saw Li Rui winking at him, he remembered what Li Rui had said before: Mr. Ren had asked him to report on his work.

At this moment, Xie Wei suddenly realized that he had been sold out by the old man Li Rui again.

Thinking that this involved 1200 million in funding and that he could start pre-research on manned space engineering-related technologies in advance, Xie Wei was too lazy to argue with Li Rui.

Walked to the front generously.

"The cooperation with the Third Ministry of Machine Building is a result of the school fully considering the technical reserves and foundation..."

Since the introduction had been made before, Xie Wei did not even pause.

Facing a space giant like Mr. Ren, I no longer had the worry of being exposed that I had when I first arrived at the school.

After becoming the squad leader of a group of future bigwigs, Xie Wei gradually realized that the research directions in his mind were stronger than the talents of most geniuses these days.

Xie Wei gave detailed introductions to several projects and linked each project with the basic technologies required for aerospace.

This time, he didn't hide it.

Mr. Ren holds a high position in the aerospace industry. If we have his support and conduct preliminary research and basic supporting facilities for some projects in advance, it will not be difficult to carry them out later.

“Are the many projects run by the school and enterprises also basic research projects to support the school’s military technology research and development?”

When Xie Wei had almost finished his report, Mr. Ren began to ask him.

"Yes! If we rely entirely on waiting for the approval of projects by superiors and the allocation of funds by the ministry, development will be too slow. Only when we have projects can we clearly see which supporting facilities cannot keep up... Computers are the core..."

At this time, Li Rui took the initiative to stand up and continue to introduce to everyone:

"...With the current domestic technology reserves and industrial support, it is unrealistic to directly launch a manned space program. The rocket thrust is still not enough, and the control technology, remote communication technology, etc. are also not enough... The school has an independent project policy, and can carry out preliminary research and preparation work in advance..."

"According to the school's research and discussion, we will start with basic control technology, raw materials, communication technology, etc..."

Li Rui's words made several members of the inspection team nod their heads continuously.

The department is afraid that the school will directly launch the project and invest all its resources into it.

Li Rui's personality is too worrying.

"Computer technology is indeed the core. Your principal introduced to the department before that you have made a breakthrough in computers?"

Mr. Ren did not ask Li Rui.

He knew that Li Rui was a person who talked a lot.

Ask Xie Wei directly.

"Yes. The school's electronics and computer science departments have jointly designed an 8-bit general-purpose chip, and are planning to develop computer-related products based on it to promote the development of related technologies... Computers are not only used for scientific research, but can also be used to assist in design and manufacturing."

Xie Wei introduced the prospects of computers to everyone.

They are all experts, especially those related to rockets, and naturally they know the importance of computers to rockets and missiles.

"Li Rui said that a breakthrough has also been made in the key to limiting integrated circuit manufacturing."

"..."

Xie Wei looked at Li Rui, who was drinking tea from a white porcelain cup as if nothing had happened.

"When I was at Factory 14, I learned about the current status of the domestic integrated circuit industry through Vice President Qin. Although photolithography technology is still semi-automatic and cannot be compared with international standards, it is not far behind. The main factors limiting the quality of integrated circuits are the purity and size of silicon wafers; the scrap rate generated by the photolithography process is the highest, mainly because the polymethyl methacrylate is impure, which makes the etching process less accurate..."

After going to Factory 14, Xie Wei gained a more intuitive understanding of the domestic integrated circuit foundation through Vice President Qin Qiuhua.

"If the materials provided by the school to Factory 14 are good, the production quality will be improved soon?"

"Vice President Qin said that if the accuracy of the photolithography process can be controlled, the pass rate can be increased to more than 20%."

Xie Wei directly cut the pass rate mentioned by Qin Qiuhua in half.

Even 20% is a remarkable improvement compared to the pass rate of less than 2%.

Xie Wei was afraid that his expectations would not be met in the end.

If facing other leaders, Xie Wei might exaggerate.

The person in front of me is Mr. Ren!

The meeting lasted until after ten o'clock in the evening. Most of the time was spent on school-related personnel giving introductions and the inspection team taking notes quickly.

Xie Wei originally wanted to wait until the meeting was over to chat with Mr. Ren and get to know him better.

However, he had to continue the meeting with the school leaders, so Xie Wei had to return to the dormitory.

As soon as I arrived at the dormitory, I saw a teacher in his forties in the dormitory.

"Hello, Xie Wei. I'm Fang Pengju from the Power Room."

"Hello, Director Fang!"

I haven't seen it, but I have heard Liang Hongbin, Wu Haowen and others mention it.

The person in front of you is the director of the school's power laboratory.

"It's like this. My teacher came to the power room today and asked me to talk to you about some of my ideas."

Fang Pengju did not feel embarrassed because of the difference in status and age between him and the other party, and directly stated his purpose.

"what?"

Mr. Ren’s student!

Mr. Ren asked him to talk to him about his ideas?

Xie Wei felt numb all over again.

(End of this chapter)