I started with a ship full of max-level veterans, and I'm just a complete noob.

"Jiang Ming, don't go inside yet."

Wu Hanzhang walked down two steps and handed the manila envelope to Jiang Ming. "It's marked by Mr. Qian. The messenger only instructed that you handle it personally after opening it."

Jiang Ming took the envelope and first looked at the seal, the number, and the creases in the paper. There was no postmark on the envelope, and the cover only had Qian Xuesen's familiar penmanship. The expedited marking next to it was circled in red pen.

Comrade Song walked from the direction of the gate, took the envelope, checked the number on the register, and then handed the gate over to the guard team.

"The room has been cleared. Director Wu, you and Engineer Jiang go in. The rest of you stay outside."

Wu Hanzhang nodded and led Jiang Ming into the 502 confidential compartment.

Da Liu, Lao Sun, and Fang Xudong remained outside the door. None of them asked about the contents of the envelope. Fang Xudong put the purchase list into a file bag, while Da Liu went to check the seal on the shockproof wooden crate. Lao Sun stood by the door smoking, his gaze fixed on both ends of the corridor.

Jiang Ming sat down at the table and used a tear-opening knife to cut open the kraft paper along the edge of the seal. Inside was a folded sketch and a technical inquiry letter without a heading.

He first took out the inquiry letter, then spread out the sketch.

The paper shows a multi-stage electronic signal processing circuit, with arrows marking the input, pulse shaping, amplitude conversion, and output recording stages. However, several key positions are left blank, where the tube model, impedance value, and bias conditions should have been filled in, but instead, wide areas have been deliberately left.

Wu Hanzhang leaned down and glanced at the envelope, pressing his fingers against the edge.

"This thing came from the Northwest. Mr. Qian only told me to judge whether it could be done; I have no access to its specific uses."

Jiang Ming followed the circuit path, first looking at the pulse width at the input end, then at the voltage divider structure of the amplitude section and the recording method at the output end. The circuit layout on the paper carried the signal discrimination ideas commonly found in nuclear physics experiments, but the core requirements were far higher than those of ordinary vacuum tube amplification equipment.

The inquiry letter contained very little text, only a few technical conditions: existing Soviet vacuum tube equipment exhibited accuracy lag in short pulse measurements, some characteristic waveforms were widened during amplification, shaping, and recording, and short-lived signals were difficult to separate from background noise; it was hoped that China would research an alternative circuit with faster response and more stable amplitude.

"Nanosecond-level pulse amplitude detection."

Jiang Ming stated his judgment.

Wu Hanzhang looked at the sketch. "Are you sure?"

"From the pulse width, interstage impedance, and amplitude structure at the input end, it can be seen that ordinary radar echoes do not break these stages down so finely. High-energy particle signals need to be identified in a very short time, otherwise the characteristic waveform will be superimposed with noise."

He turned the sketch around and pointed to the blank spaces at the core, saying, "Leave these blank spaces open, waiting to be filled with devices that have a fast enough response time."

Footsteps came from outside the door. A veteran circuit engineer, who had been seconded from another unit, was led into the cubicle by Comrade Song. After seeing the sketch on the table, he first adjusted his glasses, then bent down to examine the input and output terminals.

"These kinds of requirements are difficult to meet at this stage."

He pressed his finger on a pulse shaping node. "The vacuum tube has hysteresis, and the interstage parasitic parameters cannot be suppressed. If you want to complete the amplitude identification in nanoseconds, the equipment itself cannot keep up. Even if you build the circuit, the measurement results will be distorted by the instrument."

Wu Hanzhang did not refute, but only looked at Jiang Ming.

Jiang Ming flipped to the back of the inquiry letter, where large blank spaces remained. He broke down his previous judgment into several verifiable questions: input pulse rise time, amplitude threshold, junction capacitance effect, interstage matching, and temperature drift, writing each next to the sketch.

The newly opened threads of quantum mechanics and semiconductor physics in his mind began to emerge, and the speed at which electrons crossed the potential barrier, the response of the PN junction depletion region, and the capture of short pulses by interface states could all be correlated with the blank nodes on the table.

This understanding has not yet been verified by real-world equipment, so Jiang Ming can only treat it as a direction for now and cannot directly write down theoretical judgments as completed results.

The seconded engineer looked at the several sets of parameters he had written down and pointed to one of them.

What components are used here?

"Consider producing new silicon tubes first."

Jiang Ming replied, "The device is still undergoing impact aging, and parameter extraction has just begun. At present, we can only consider it as a candidate and cannot directly promise to meet all the requirements."

Wu Hanzhang looked at the sketch. "The 800 terabyte batch?"

"Yes, the cutoff frequency has exceeded 800 MHz, and the junction capacitance and surface state control have reached the engineering line. However, there are still loop and packaging issues that need to be verified before reaching nanosecond-level amplitude detection."

Jiang Ming picked up a pencil and drew a simplified semiconductor junction structure in the blank space of the core. He then added a fast bypass along the input end and finally wrote the words "barrier tunneling" and "impedance matching" next to it.

The seconded engineer looked at it for a moment, his expression shifting from disapproval to caution.

"Can this bypass shorten the plastic surgery time?"

"In theory, it can reduce the drag of the main amplification stage on short pulses. The specific effect depends on the junction capacitance, bias and parasitic inductance. If any of the three factors deviates, the waveform will change."

Jiang Ming added a few more sets of impedance parameters, "This graph will be used as a directional record for now. We'll decide whether to start full-scale R&D once the device parameters and test fixtures are stable."

Wu Hanzhang took the sketch and his gaze lingered on the few symbols that had just been written.

"Who is the person asking the question?"

Jiang Ming looked at the end of the inquiry letter, where there was only a transfer number and a very short signature. The clue came from the uninhabited area of ​​Northwest China, and was transferred to 502 by Qian Xuesen. The person who actually issued the inquiry was from the field of nuclear physics.

"Wang Ganchang".

Jiang Ming said the name.

Wu Hanzhang put the sketch back on the table and tapped his fingers on the paper. "The level of this task is probably higher than what we are dealing with now."

Jiang Ming understood the boundaries in his words. Qian Xuesen's willingness to forward the technical inquiries indicated that the request had entered a reliable collaborative chain. However, the fact that the letter deliberately omitted the heading and specific experimental background also meant that the recipient only needed to deal with the devices and circuits at hand and should not inquire about the full picture of the mission for the time being.

"We will process this as an inquiry for now and will not initiate full-scale research and development."

Jiang Ming folded the sketch back to its original state. "I will include silicon transistor parameter extraction, fast pulse response, and amplitude identification circuitry in my technology reserves. We will decide how many people and equipment to invest after the subsequent licensing and device aging results are available."

The seconded engineer nodded, his previously tense shoulders and back visibly relaxing.

"This arrangement is prudent; we should verify the components first, then discuss the circuit."

Wu Hanzhang put the inquiry letter back into the envelope and handed it to Jiang Ming.

Jiang Ming got up and walked to the metal cabinet. He opened the highest-security drawer, separated the sketches, inquiry letters, and his parameter derivation paper into the inner sleeve, sealed them with double-numbered seals, and finally put the sleeves deep inside the drawer.

Old Sun poked his head in from outside the door, holding the maintenance logbook for Furnace No. 3 in his hand.

"Engineer Jiang, the quartz tube is nearing its limit. If the next batch of purification is to proceed as planned, we'll have to replace the tube first."

Jiang Ming closed the drawer, picked up the maintenance log, flipped to the lifespan record page, and after seeing the cumulative usage time and furnace temperature change curve, wrote the replacement task into tomorrow's schedule.

"Tomorrow, we'll first inspect the spare quartz tubes. Lao Sun will be in charge of the furnace body, Da Liu will check the power supply, and Fang Xudong will number the new and old tubes separately. We'll also run no-load curves before and after the tube replacement."

He returned to the table, where Wu Hanzhang had already sent hot water. Jiang Ming brewed a strong cup of tea, and the tea leaves slowly unfurled in the enamel mug.

The sky outside the window turned from deep blue to gray-white, and the sound of vehicles stopping came from the factory gate. Qian Xuesen's car was already waiting there, its headlights illuminating the wet ground in front of the gate.

Comrade Song came in and reported, "Mr. Qian's car has arrived. He's here to inform you to attend a core meeting at the Institute of Mechanics."

Jiang Ming put down his teacup, his gaze shifting from the metal drawer to the purchasing list on the table, and then to the technical inquiry number that had just been sealed. Ballistic guidance, semiconductor materials, and high-energy physics circuits were connected by sheets of paper. The distance between tasks was shrinking, but the available time was becoming increasingly tight.

He put away the maintenance log and picked up his briefcase.

"Walk."

Outside the door, Old Sun picked up his tool bag, Big Liu hugged the sealed wooden box tightly, Fang Xudong put away the purchasing list, Wu Hanzhang stayed in 502 to continue processing mail registration, and Comrade Song walked behind Jiang Ming.

As the group passed through the courtyard gate, the back door of Qian Xuesen's car had already been opened.