Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 100 Yanjing Palace (ask for monthly ticket!)

“Professor Lin, this is the best Chinese restaurant in all of Washington, D.C.

It is said that the chef used to work in the Chinese court, cooking for the Chinese emperor."

In a private room at a Chinese restaurant on Connecticut Avenue, McNamara was enthusiastically introducing his carefully selected Chinese restaurant.

From the perspective of later generations, the decoration of this restaurant called Yanjing Palace is quite outdated.

It can even be described as ugly.

But it's definitely the best restaurant in Washington right now.

Walking into the restaurant, there is a small lobby with a wooden reception desk, next to which is a Chinese screen or tapestry with patterns including dragons, phoenixes and Chinese landscapes.

The walls of the lobby might be painted a warm gold, paired with dark wood furniture and Chinese lantern-shaped chandeliers that emit soft light, trying to create a warm atmosphere.

The private room where Lin Ran and his friends were had orchid pots and a faint scent of sandalwood.

Besides, it was only Lin Ran who didn't know the value of it. If Lin Ran knew the value of it, he would know that describing Yanjing Palace as famous was a bit of an understatement.

Because this place was the last meeting place for representatives of both sides during the negotiations to avoid nuclear war during the Cuban Crisis.

"Come on, Professor Lin, try this. It's said to be their signature dish."

It was indeed a thoughtful act to be able to eat Yanjing Roast Duck in Washington, and Lin Ran was a little touched, but for just the two of them to eat, McNamara prepared eight dishes.

This made Lin Ran feel a little uncomfortable, it was such a waste.

The main reason is that my status has changed, but I haven’t eaten much Chinese food, so I haven’t come around in this regard yet. I find it hard to accept such wasteful behavior.

"Robert, is there anything I can help you with?" Lin Ran couldn't hold it in any longer.

This was the first time since 1960 that I became the passive party in negotiations with others.

You know, before, whether it was with Haines, John Morgan, or Korolev who suddenly appeared, he firmly grasped the initiative in the negotiations.

This time, facing Robert McNamara, Lin Ran felt for the first time that he had lost the initiative in the negotiations.

He wondered if the other party wanted to get a piece of the pie in the formulation of shipping standards. So what, since the minister was a big shot after all.

"Nothing, I just wanted to ask you some questions.

I served under General LeMay during World War II, and my main research topic at the time was how to improve the B-29 bomber's bombing efficiency against Japan."

Lin Ran immediately became excited. I like this topic. If you want to study this, I won’t be sleepy anymore.

Whenever the bombing occurs, I will develop a comprehensive plan for you.

"We found that if we took off from Shudu in China or Kharagpur in India, we would need to carry too much fuel and the effective payload would be reduced.

At my suggestion, the take-off point was moved from these two places to the Mariana Islands.

At that time, we relied entirely on flight logs, bombing reports and target reconnaissance photos for analysis.

The most basic simplex method is used.

I would like to ask you, is there any better algorithm to solve this problem?"

This is an early application of operations research.

"There should have been mechanical calculators by then, right?" Lin Ran asked.

Robert McNamara nodded and said, "Yes, we used IBM punch card machines at that time."

Lin Ran said: "In this way, we can do a curve fitting.

Simply put, it is to use the least squares method to manually calculate the slope and intercept to find a theoretical final method.

Estimate the optimal fuel ratio by fitting the equation"

"Alternatively, if we go a bit higher, we can abstract the combat system into a matrix.

Introducing matrix analysis and eigenvalue optimization is also a solution.

You see, we abstract the B-29's combat system into a matrix A, in which the rows represent resources. You mentioned three locations just now, Shudu, Karagepur and the Mariana Islands, right?

The columns represent the targets. Let’s pick three at random: Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya.

Then each matrix element αij represents the effectiveness value of base i to target j, such as the area destroyed per ton of fuel.

This is how the simplest matrix is ​​constructed.

The next step is to find the value that maximizes efficiency."

This is considered by later generations to be the most basic mathematical modeling problem.

But at present, the traditional method is to adjust one by one through the table.

Lin Ran abstracted these variables into a system, used matrices to describe their relationships, and found the optimal configuration through eigenvalue analysis, greatly improving the theoretical level and efficiency of the analysis.

Because it had not yet been widely used in operations research, it was a new and shocking experience for McNamara.

After Lin Ran finished speaking, he took out a pen and paper from his briefcase and started to calculate, substituting the few data he had in his memory from more than ten years ago.

"Professor Lin, it's exactly as you calculated. The eigenvalue is approximately 1.5, and the eigenvector vmax is approximately [0.4, 0.5, 0.6]. The results suggest investing resources in the Mariana Islands."

McNamara's face was full of surprise.

Lin Ran was speechless. You want to call me for this?
“In fact, Professor John von Neumann and Professor Oskar Morgenstern’s Theory of Games and Economic Behavior can also be applied here.

We can construct a zero-sum game model to find the Nash equilibrium strategy.

We assume that the Allied high-altitude bombing has the characteristics of low hit rate and high survivability, while the low-altitude bombing has high hit rate and low survivability.

Neon's high-altitude defense is used to intercept high-altitude aircraft, and low-altitude defense is used to intercept low-altitude aircraft. In this way, a payoff matrix can be constructed based on the zero-sum game model of game theory. It is used to assume that the destruction area per ton of bombs is

Lin Ran briefly explained a model that was a little more complicated than the previous elementary model.

After finishing the story, McNamara felt astonished.

It feels like the person you admire is even more awesome than you thought.

"Oh my God, Professor Lin, your genius is far beyond my imagination," McNamara exclaimed.

"I'm going to the bathroom." Lin Ran could tell from the other person's expression that this guy came to ask him for help with math problems.

Lin Ran was completely speechless and wanted to go out for some fresh air. He really couldn't stand the other person looking at the notebook in his hand and then looking at him with admiration.

This is what licking a dog looks like.

McNamara nodded repeatedly: "Okay, I need to think about what you said again.

Professor, I only have one feeling now, that is, I wish you had been my calculus professor when I was in college at Berkeley."

Lin Ran didn't respond and went out directly. However, when he was about to return to the box, he saw a Chinese man standing at the door:
"Professor, please give me five minutes to speak briefly with you. No more than five sentences at most."

The other party's fluent Chinese and Chinese appearance, coupled with the location, gave Lin Ran some vague guesses in his heart.

He didn't answer but just nodded.

The other person makes a please gesture.

Lin Ran followed him into the nearest private room.

No one in Washington dared to do anything to him.

Plus, the security personnel are all waiting in the lobby.

It’s impossible that Washington is also a sieve.

"Professor, I am Long Sifan, the founder of this restaurant, and my father is Long*."

Lin Ran was shocked by the other party's just two sentences.

Because his father's name was too familiar, he was once a local lord.

Long Sifan was sent to the University of South Carolina to study political science in 1945 and opened the Yenching Palace ten years later.

This place once played an important role.

(The above information is based on a 1978 report in The Washington Post: Host of Two Worlds - The Washington Post)

Seeing Lin Ran didn't say anything.

Long Sifan disagreed: "Professor, I know what you are worried about.

So I said it's fine.

Your concept of cultural China and the shipping standards you are about to promote, when put together, anyone with an eye can see your purpose.

Hong Kong only belongs to England in name. In reality, the English only have the final say temporarily. It is not a matter of whether it will be taken back sooner or later, but whether Beijing wants to take it back or not.

So by developing Hong Kong, you are essentially leaving a gift to China.

As a fellow Chinese, I admire him.

Being overseas, I can't do anything about many things, but I think I can still help you a little in this matter.

If you are busy or in danger, you can come to Yanjing Palace at any time. I can't say anything else, but I can definitely buy you half an hour.

Besides, if you walk from here, no one can tell the direction you are going from me.

If you ask me to help you with anything, I will do my best to do what I can.

The last person who invites you to dinner is the former CEO of Ford Group, who has very strong connections within Ford.

The Japanese have always wanted to develop the automobile industry.

If the standardization of shipping is done first at Hong Kong's port and the renovation of Neon's port is postponed, Hong Kong will have an advantage in shipping costs. With someone helping to act as a middleman, it may not be impossible for Ford to outsource the production of some parts to Hong Kong.

It is not impossible for Hong Kong to take some of Neon’s market share.

I'll come to say hello later. You just need to say that we're both Chinese and can introduce each other to each other. You don't need to say anything else.

I will find a way to bring some of the automotive industry to Hong Kong."

What this person said turned out to be completely different from what Lin Ran had guessed.

The opponent is a player from the previous version.

The other party told Lin Ran that he didn't need to speak because they hadn't established a foundation of mutual trust. So if there was some hidden device recording him, it would be very disadvantageous to Lin Ran.

Lin Ran was a little surprised at first but soon calmed down.

He has plenty of ways to verify the other party's identity and words.

As for the existence of the gate, there is no need to take the road to Yanjing Palace.

But if that day really comes, it would be a good idea to use it to cover up the existence of the door.

In this era, strange things and strange people may appear at any time.

Lin Ran nodded, turned around and left without saying anything, thinking to himself: "I hope you can really do it."

(End of this chapter)