Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

Across the Pacific Ocean, Washington, D.C.

It was midday, the sun was shining brightly, but the atmosphere in the conference room of a gray building was as cold as an icebox.

This was a top-secret, closed-door hearing. At one end of the long table sat several intelligence officers in suits, while at the other end sat Mr. Schulz, a weary-looking representative of Volkswagen Group in Hansgrohe.

On the table between them was a black metal box, about the size of a cigarette pack.

That wasn't an explosive device; it was a core component removed from the "Red Star-1" prototype vehicle—the vehicle's onboard computer.

"Mr. Schultz."

A silver-haired intelligence officer tapped the table, his tone stern, "Are you sure this thing was made by the Chinese themselves?"

"Absolutely true."

Schultz wiped the sweat from his brow. "I watched them take it off the car and test it myself. And, to get the cooperation done, they even showed us parts of the circuit diagram..."

"madness!"

The silver-haired official slammed his fist on the table. "Do you know what this is? Our technical experts have just completed reverse engineering analysis. The density of logic gate circuits here far exceeds the standard of current civilian chips! If this computing power were used to control missile trajectory changes instead of fuel injectors, its accuracy could be improved by an entire order of magnitude!"

The meeting room erupted in uproar.

Everyone realized the seriousness of the problem.

They had initially thought that the ancient Eastern country was merely engaged in some cumbersome heavy industry. But the appearance of this black box completely shattered their illusions.

"This is a challenge. It is a blatant provocation against the authority of COCOM (Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls).

The silver-haired official stood up, his gaze sinister. "They not only possess advanced machining capabilities, but now they're even extending their reach into the semiconductor field. We cannot stand idly by."

"But...we've already signed a contract for the car project..." Schultz tried to argue.

"The car project can continue. It's low-end manufacturing. We can give them some incentives and turn them into our assembly plants."

The official coldly interrupted him, "However, regarding semiconductor equipment, photolithography technology, high-purity silicon wafers... starting today, they will be placed on the 'Top-Tier Embargo List.' Not only equipment, but not even a single screw is allowed to be sold to China!"

He looked around and gave the final order:

"We must strangle their electronics industry in its cradle. This is war, an invisible war on the silicon floor."

……

Three days later, in the capital, at the First Ministry of Machinery.

An urgent, top-secret internal report was placed on the minister's desk.

The minister's face was ashen, and the cigarette butt in his hand had burned his fingers, but he was completely unaware of it.

"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"

Old Chen was stamping his feet in frustration. "We'd already finalized the deal with the company in the Netherlands to import three contact lithography machines, and we'd even paid the deposit. Then suddenly we got a telegram saying they're 'strategic materials' and have been seized by customs! They didn't even give us a reason!"

"It's not just lithography machines."

Another leader in charge of the electronics industry sighed, took off his glasses and wiped them. "Just two hours ago, they announced a complete semiconductor technology blockade against us. The promised expert exchanges were canceled, and student visas were rejected... They're completely blocking our path."

A sense of despair permeated the meeting room.

At that time, although China's semiconductor industry had a relatively early start, it was still largely confined to the transistor era due to its limited industrial base. The original hope was that through this "Red Star-1" collaboration, they could exchange automobiles for electronic equipment to develop integrated circuits.

Who would have thought that the other party would react so violently, flipping the table over.

"Without lithography machines and high-purity silicon, we can't even make a decent chip."

Old Chen slumped into his chair. "The chips in Minister Su's car were etched bit by bit in a lab using a microscope. They're works of art, not industrial products. Mass production... is difficult."

"Who says we have to rely on buying?"

Just then, the conference room door was pushed open.

Su Zheng strode in. He was still wearing that old military overcoat, looking travel-worn, clearly having just returned from outside. Ye Xinyi followed behind him, carrying a thick stack of documents, her expression still as cold and aloof as ever.

"Su Zheng, you've arrived."

The minister looked up, gave a wry smile, and said, "You know the situation, right? This is a huge problem. The mass production plan for 'Red Star One' may have to be shelved. After all, without chips, it's just a metal shell."

"Why did it get stalled?"

Su Zheng walked to the table, picked up the internal report, and looked at it. A smile appeared on his lips.

"They're locking down because they're afraid."

Su Zheng threw the documents back on the table. "If they were willing to sell to us, that would prove our technology is garbage. Now that they've invoked the 'top-level embargo,' it means we're on the right track."

"But... even a skilled cook can't cook without rice," Old Chen sighed.

"I have rice."

Su Zheng turned around, looking intently at the assembled leaders. "Leaders, you only know that Base 001 can manufacture missiles and hydrogen bombs. But do you know that beneath Base 001, there is also a 'Workshop 701'?"

"Workshop 701?"

The group exchanged bewildered glances. They had heard of this code name before, but in the top-secret files, the workshop was labeled "Precision Instrument Repair Warehouse."

"Isn't that the instrument repairman?" Old Chen asked, puzzled.

"That's a cover."

Su Zheng smiled and looked at Ye Xinyi behind him.

Ye Xinyi stepped forward, opened the folder in her hand, pulled out a huge blueprint, and spread it on the conference table.

As the blueprint unfolded, everyone's pupils contracted sharply.

Those aren't blueprints for a repair warehouse.

It was a complex underground factory, densely packed with pipes and ventilation systems.

"This is a project I started preparing two years ago."

Su Zheng's voice was calm yet powerful. "Back then, when we were doing data analysis for the hydrogen bomb, the computing power of the Red Star 2 computer wasn't enough. I thought, it's better to rely on ourselves than on others. If we're going to do it, let's do something big."

He pointed to a core area on the blueprint:

"This is a cleanroom with constant temperature and humidity. Although it's not at the top international level, it's sufficient for our needs."

"This is the monocrystalline silicon pulling furnace that we built ourselves. Although the yield rate was not high before, that was before. Now that Xinyi has optimized the temperature control algorithm, I am confident that I can increase the yield rate to 60%."

"As for lithography machines..."

Su Zheng paused, a sly glint in his eyes. "They think they can do nothing just because they seized the Dutch goods? They forgot, we have the best optical instrument factory in all of China—Yunguang Factory. Plus, my 'eyes'..."

He pointed to his eyes.

Everyone present knew that Su Zheng had a magical intuition that allowed him to "see through mechanical structures," which, although inexplicable, had never failed him.

"I have had the master craftsmen at Yunguang Factory handcraft a lens assembly according to my blueprints."

Su Zheng raised his voice a few decibels, "Although it's a rudimentary method, although it's 'hand-made,' as long as the precision is high enough, there's nothing we can't make!"

"You mean..." the minister exclaimed, standing up excitedly, "that we can make them ourselves?"

"It's not just about making."

Su Zheng nodded. "The production line in Workshop 701 is ready. With just a command, we can produce our own chips. Although the process may only be 3 micrometers, or even 5 micrometers, which is less than the Americans' 1 micrometer, it's sufficient for industrial control applications like 'Red Star One'!"

He looked around, his tone as firm as iron:

"They want to trap us in the Stone Age? Dream on!"

"Although we can't see the smoke of this silicon-based battlefield, since they fired the first shot, we will fight them to the end."

"I want them to know that there's nothing in this world that the Chinese can't create. And if there is, we'll create it again!"

……

Late at night, at Base 001.

The desert winds howled across the ground, but thirty meters underground, there was only deathly silence.

A heavy lead door slowly opened.

Su Zheng, accompanied by several ministerial experts who had rushed over overnight, went through three air showers, changed into full sets of white dustproof suits, and entered the legendary "Workshop 701".

There was no roaring machine noise here, only the slight hum of the ventilation system.

Under the bright operating lights, there are rows of equipment that, although they look somewhat rustic and even show obvious signs of being pieced together, are operating in an orderly manner.

"This...this is a diffusion furnace?"

An elderly expert trembled as he stroked a piece of equipment. It was actually a modified version made of refractory bricks and special heating tubes, and the outer shell still retained traces of its original use as a "heat treatment furnace".

"Yes, we modified the temperature control system, and the accuracy can be controlled within 0.1 degrees," Su Zheng explained.

"That...that's a lithography machine?"

Another expert pointed to a strange machine at the far end. It looked like a hybrid of a microscope and a projector, with several hand cranks next to the control panel.

"Semi-automatic contact lithography machine."

Su Zheng walked over and stroked the machine as if it were a child. "The lens was polished by the best master craftsman at Yunguang Factory over a month. Although aiming still relies on human eyes and feel, here, sometimes a human hand is more accurate than a machine."

Just then, Ye Xinyi sat down at the control panel and pressed the start button.

"All indicators are normal. The 107th trial production has begun."

As the instructions were issued.

The machine started running.

The makeshift lithography machine emitted a soft click, and a beam of purple light shone through the lens, projecting onto the silicon wafer at the bottom.

That's a dance at the nanometer level.

It is a grand project carried out in the microscopic world.

A few minutes later.

When that fingernail-sized wafer was removed and placed under a microscope.

Everyone held their breath.

The old expert leaned close to the eyepiece, glanced at it, and then suddenly looked up, his face covered in tears.

"It's done... the road is open!"

Under the microscope, the neatly arranged circuits resemble the most beautiful flowers blooming in this vast desert.

Su Zheng stared intently at the wafer, his gaze deep.

He knew this was just the beginning.

This is just a low-end chip with a diameter of 3 micrometers.

In the outside world, Intel's 8086 processor is about to emerge, and Moore's Law is accelerating at an alarming pace.

To keep up with that fast-paced era, simply "hand-crafting" won't suffice.

We need an even crazier plan.

"I like it."

Su Zheng turned to his partner and said, "Let's start the second phase of the 'Nuwa Project'."

"You mean..." Ye Xinyi pushed up her glasses, a glint of fervor flashing behind the lenses, "that experiment about alternative materials for 'photoresist'?"

"right."

Su Zheng looked into the depths of the desert. "Since the foreigners' path is blocked, then we'll take our own. The answers we need are hidden in the poplar forests of the Gobi Desert."

This war has only just begun.

……