In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 427 Advanced? It's just asking for more money, isn't it? We've prepared 280 tons of gold!
"It's not a big deal for them to send students abroad, so why do they disagree?"

Liu Debao frowned and asked Xie Wei.

Because Xie Wei disagreed with the talent development cooperation plan proposed by the other party, subsequent negotiations did not proceed.

"Yes, Director Xie, our school already has several hundred Pakistani students, so we don't mind having another batch of Iraqi students..."

Ge Jianjun was also puzzled.

It's really unacceptable that this has caused the negotiations to stall.

The group stared at Xie Wei with puzzled expressions, hoping he could provide an explanation.

"Ah~"

Xie Wei sighed. "Gentlemen, how are the Pakistani students performing at school?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, the group fell silent.

Only Qin Weidong, who was unaware of the inside story, looked puzzled. "What? Is there something wrong with these international students?"

"It's not that they have a problem, it's that their foundation is too weak. They are all elites selected by the other side from within the country, but the result is similar to our previous worker-peasant-soldier students..."

Liu Debao explained to Qin Weidong.

"Isn't it?"

Qin Weidong knew the situation of worker-peasant-soldier students; many of them only had primary or junior high school education.

Shouldn't those sent by Pakistan be carefully selected?
"We train scientific and technological personnel, and many of those they send are from the military or..."

Xie Wei sighed, "Not only that, their relationship with the school isn't very harmonious right now either."

Qin Weidong frowned.

He didn't understand what Xie Wei meant by "the relationship wasn't harmonious."

"They want better treatment, like the kind that's superior to what ordinary people receive... Their representatives have talked to us many times before, even threatening to drop out of school and return to their home country. Right now, the monthly allowance for students is less than 30 yuan, while theirs is 220 yuan a month..."

"This is significantly less than other schools."

Qin Weidong's lips twitched a few times.

Pakistan sends students to the school, and according to the contract, each student is paid US$3000 per year, which is equivalent to RMB 11000.

According to Liu Debao, the monthly stipend of 220 yuan would amount to 2640 yuan per year.

The school made a profit of almost 9000 yuan with tears in their eyes!

"Wait a minute, don't these students also do internships on projects in addition to their academic classes? And the projects even provide subsidies..."

The more outstanding and hardworking you are, the more you earn. This was perfectly demonstrated at Harbin Institute of Technology. The monthly living allowance was less than 30 yuan. While prices outside were rising rapidly, prices on campus remained unchanged. This ensured that the expenses for food and daily necessities were absolutely covered.

The subsidies are higher if you participate in the project.

Unfortunately, the Pakistani students receiving training here are unwilling to participate in the project in their spare time, and their reason is quite valid: they don't even have enough time to study academic subjects.

"..."

After hearing Liu Debao's explanation, Qin Weidong didn't know what to say.

"Director Xie, the situation in Iraq is different from that in Pakistan..."

Ge Jianjun frowned as he looked at Xie Wei, "If we don't agree to this kind of cooperation, it will affect the arms sales order..."

"It won't have any impact."

Xie Wei looked confident and gestured to Ge Jianjun not to worry.

Northern Building.

Tikrit, Abdullah, and Yitzhak were also discussing things in a small conference room.

The atmosphere was incredibly oppressive.

"Your Excellency Minister, the other party does not agree to accept our technical personnel as international students. I think we can discuss this later. We are here to purchase weapons to enhance the combat effectiveness of our troops!"

Abdullah suppressed his dissatisfaction.

There's no way around it; neither Tikrit's status nor his relationship with the president can compare to Abdullah's.

"Abdullah, I'm doing this to improve our troops' combat effectiveness! After Feng Ke went missing, the quality of our missile manufacturing became unstable... and the production of solid fuel propellants, warheads, etc., requires a large number of skilled personnel!"

Tikrit also spoke with a dark expression.

"Your Excellency, does the fact that the other side doesn't accept international students mean we can't discuss equipment procurement? Combat has proven that Chinese tanks are superior to the T-72. At least our officers and soldiers don't have to worry about their tanks being blown up along with their turrets once they are penetrated!"

Yitzhak was unhappy.

He just wanted to quickly reach a weapons procurement agreement with Xie Wei, and then extract more advanced military construction plans from Xie Wei.

Over the years, Xie Wei must have improved upon the previous military construction plans.

In fact, China's experimental forces have been developed to an unknown extent.

Chinese people always keep good things to themselves.

“Yzak, don’t forget that Feng Ke left with you. Now Feng Ke is missing, and we don’t know if she’s alive or dead… If Xie Wei holds us accountable…”

Tikrit's words immediately caused Yzak's expression to change drastically.

Feng Ke has disappeared!
因为冯珂参与了阿巴斯、侯赛因导弹的改进，使得这射程达到630公里的阿巴斯射程提升到650公里，战斗部装药从190公斤增加到680公斤；侯赛因900公里的射程增加到1200公里，战斗部装药从110公斤增加到420公斤……

The accuracy of the missiles has been improved from the original circular error probability of 1000-3000 meters to an accuracy of 350 meters!
Because of this, Feng Ke was repeatedly targeted for assassination, and the assassination attempts became increasingly frequent.

Ultimately, Feng Ke disappeared in an assassination attempt.

Only a few charred and completely deformed corpses remained at the scene.

I don't know if Feng Ke is dead, or if he was captured by another intelligence agency...

“Feng Ke and Xie Wei have a very good personal relationship. That’s why we hope to reach a cooperation agreement with them as soon as possible. Only after reaching an agreement can we discuss compensation for Feng Ke with Xie Wei.”

Abdullah sighed.

If we bring this up before the negotiations, and Xie Wei uses it as a pretext, it might affect the cooperation.

Even if they still sell weapons, the price and terms...

"Also, Your Excellency Minister, Xie Wei has stated that sending students abroad is the responsibility of their Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and we also need to talk to the school leaders... Why don't you talk to the relevant school leaders separately first?"

Abdullah turned to Tikrit, "This order isn't just about improving the troops' combat effectiveness; it's also about the president's future plans! The Soviet Union is no longer willing to extend credit to us, and the Arab world is unwilling to continue providing us with loans..."

Tikrit gritted his teeth and glared at Abdullah several times.

Damn bastard!
They actually threatened him—the former Minister of the Military Industry was Kamal, who was far more trusted by the president than the current Tikrit. Later, for some reason, Minister Kamal was dismissed, and Tikrit took over.

"Westerners are unwilling to exchange our resources for military equipment, and even if they do, the prices are high and the conditions are harsh. Only the Chinese are the fairest!"

“Okay! You guys talk to them, I’ll go talk to their school leaders about the cooperation on international students first.”

Tikrit relented.

The delegation split into two groups the next day: Tikrit, the head of the delegation, along with several of his men, discussed cooperation in talent cultivation with school leaders such as Zhang Mingqiu and Luo Yang; while Abdullah and Yitzhak met with Xie Wei to discuss the procurement of weapons and equipment.

"Exchange resources?" Xie Wei frowned as he looked at the old acquaintance with the fervent gaze in front of him.

How was the message relayed?
He offered it himself, but it was in gold!
"Thank you. I know you've proposed payment in gold, but currently, we only have about 280 tons of gold available for payment... We need more than just tanks and armored vehicles; we also need your kind of air defense missile system that can intercept ballistic missiles!"

Abdullah looked anxious.

Xie Wei's expression changed drastically in an instant: "What air defense missiles that can intercept ballistic missiles? We don't have any!"

Looking at Xie Wei's expression, Liu Debao, Ge Jianjun, and the others couldn't help but scoff: This kid is putting on an act as if he really doesn't have anything going on.

If they hadn't known that Xie Wei had deliberately leaked information to the other party, they would have genuinely believed Xie Wei's story.

"Thank you. We're old friends! As friends, we should share good things with each other; this is something that can enhance our country's defense capabilities!"

Yitzhak did not believe Shewe's story at all.

Xie Wei's expression suggests only one thing: those anti-aircraft missiles are too advanced! So advanced that even the cash-strapped Chinese are reluctant to sell them!

"General, the whole world knows that China has a weak industrial base and backward technology..."

"Alright! Thanks, we came with good intentions, otherwise we can't continue our discussion. Without this, I don't think we need to waste our time..."

Yitzhak knows Shewe very well.

Because of his relationship with Feng Ke, Yizak had learned a great deal about Xie Wei from Feng Ke.

Under Yitzhak's watchful gaze, Xie Wei's expression kept changing.

"Xie Wei, since the general is so sincere, why don't you..."

"Uh, Secretary Liu, that's our country's most secret air defense system! Even if we're willing to talk about it, will the higher-ups approve it? If the technology leaks out, it could seriously endanger national defense security!"

Upon receiving the call, Ge Jianjun hurriedly reminded Liu Debao.

really!

Having learned Chinese from Feng Ke, Yitzhak, who had no problem with daily communication, understood instantly.

But he pretended not to understand and waited for a translator to translate.

"As for the price, we can accept it as long as it's reasonable."

Seeing that Xie Wei wouldn't budge, Yitzhak calmly said...

He knew exactly what Xie Wei hadn't finished saying: "Advanced, we need to pay more!"

As for Xie Wei refusing to sell?

During our last collaboration, Xie Wei even sold China's most advanced tank, which wasn't even finalized yet!
"We have prepared 280 tons of gold to pay for the crude oil. We can settle the payment at $11 per barrel. If you are not satisfied, we can discuss it further!"

Yitzhak's words were full of sincerity.

With international oil prices currently around $17, settling directly at $11 is a very generous offer.

Even the oil produced in excess by OPEC members wouldn't be this cheap.

His meaning was clear: We have enough money, but what about your supplies?

"Okay~"

Xie Wei, looking helpless, gritted his teeth and said, "General, this is a newly developed air defense missile system in our country. Although it has been tested and can indeed intercept ballistic missiles like the Dongfeng-2 with a range of over a thousand kilometers, the cost is extremely high..."

"Name the price!"

Abdullah waved his hand, interrupting Shewe's complaints.

Abdullah, who had dealt with the other party before, knew very well that everything Shewe said was just to get a higher price.

It's a pity that the Chinese haven't seen much of the world and have no idea how outrageous the prices were for the most advanced weapons of the same type sold by the United States and the Soviet Union, and those prices came with all sorts of harsh conditions!
"The Counterattack-6 has an active phased array radar with a detection range of 70 kilometers, a missile range of 18 kilometers, and a firing altitude of 15400 meters. Each set includes various supporting radars, command vehicles, and six 6-cell launchers, etc. ... The total price is US$1.2 million."

"So expensive?"

Abdullah frowned.

But he was secretly overjoyed: a short-range air defense missile system with 6 launchers and a range of 18 kilometers cost only $1.2 million!
It’s too cheap.

But he couldn't let the Chinese people see his excitement.

"The Counterattack-4 medium-range air defense missile system has a phased array radar missile with a detection range of 110 kilometers, a range of 50 kilometers, and a firing altitude of 32000 meters. Each system, in addition to various supporting radar vehicles and command vehicles, also has 6 quadruple launcher vehicles... costing $4.5 million."

"So expensive?"

Abdullah frowned now.

An air defense missile with a range of 50 kilometers and an altitude of 32000 meters is only equipped with a detection radar with a range of 110 kilometers?
The terminal velocity of a ballistic missile will never be lower than Mach 5.

This means that the missile travels at least 1.7 kilometers per second.

How much time is there from detecting at 110 kilometers, to locking onto the radar, to launching a missile to intercept?

"Ladies and gentlemen, the price is actually not expensive."

Xie Wei shook his head, "The anti-aircraft missile uses a high-purity cooled indium antimonide seeker, radio remote control commands, and terminal infrared active guidance... The entire system uses a supercomputer for data processing..."

"Furthermore, these two systems can be networked to form a medium- and short-range air defense network... More importantly, this air defense firepower network can be networked with our country's medium- and long-range early warning radars and tracking radars... This means that as long as the long-range radar detects a target, the central computer of the air defense network can start working..."

Xie Wei introduced the situation calmly.

"..."

A look of surprise instantly appeared on the faces of the Iraqis.

Iraq imported long-range early warning radar from the Soviet Union, which was more advanced and had a longer detection range than China's. With the help of the Gauls, Iraq networked its national air defense radar and unified it into a single command system.

Xie Wei's introduction seemed tailor-made for Iraq.

More importantly, China's technology adopted a similar standard to that of the Soviet Union!

"Thank you, the price is $1700 million per ton of gold..."

"Impossible! The international gold price is currently only $440 per ounce, and the price is continuing to fall..."

Xie Wei shook his head directly.

Just kidding.

The United States had already begun preparing to take action against the Soviet Union. Starting in the 80s, it began to suppress international crude oil prices. After the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, international oil prices soared to $34 per barrel, but were quickly driven down, even dropping to as low as $11 or even lower.

Crude oil exports accounted for more than half of the Soviet Union's foreign exchange earnings, which it needed to import Western electronic equipment, food, and other goods.

Precious metals were the Soviet Union's second-largest source of foreign exchange.

Gold prices have now begun to decline steadily.

"As friends, let's price it according to the current international price: $1500 million per ton of gold!"

Xie Wei said through gritted teeth.

根据谢威的记忆，87年国际黄金平均价格为446-447美元/盎司；88年就降低到410；89年进一步降低到380；90年也384……而苏联解体的91年，仅仅350美元！

If Xie Wei were to settle the matter in gold now, he would suffer significant losses over the next few years.

Based on the gold price in 91, one ton of gold was worth only US$1234.6 million, which means that Xie Wei would lose more than US$260 million per ton of gold.

(End of this chapter)