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

late at night.

The cold wind in the suburbs of Beijing howled wildly outside the window.

Jiang Ming pushed open the flimsy wooden door of the single dormitory and slipped inside.

He quickly locked the door from the inside, plunging the rusty iron bolt all the way in.

He then walked to the window and pulled the faded blue curtains shut, leaving not even a tiny gap.

After doing all this, he walked to his desk and pressed the switch on the old, peeling desk lamp.

The dim, yellowish light, as if covered with a layer of old ash, barely illuminated half of the tabletop.

Jiang Ming took off his old suit and carefully took out the oil paper package from his pocket.

After peeling away the layers, the burnt cathode sheet brought back from Workshop No. 1 lay quietly on the table.

He leaned closer to the lamp and squinted to observe it carefully.

The edges of the carbonized flaking are very irregular, and the distribution of the ablation pits presents a strange radial pattern.

The Soviets kept the formula under tight control.

Wu Hanzhang and his team tried the most rudimentary method of exhaustive search, attempting dozens of barium-strontium-calcium ratios, but all failed.

Because the overall direction was wrong from the very beginning!

Jiang Ming took a deep breath, turned around and walked to the single bed, took off his shoes, and sat down cross-legged.

He closed his eyes, and his consciousness instantly sank.

The ancient book, "The Record of Human Connections," suddenly unfolded in the depths of his mind.

On the bronze-colored cover, the four seal characters "通古达今" (meaning "understanding the past and present") emitted a faint glow.

The pages of the book are turned.

Bai Ding Juan (a type of Chinese roll).

Qian Xuesen's gold name card shines brightly in the center of the page, radiating a warm power.

Jiang Ming's consciousness rapidly climbed along Qian Lao's golden veins.

Above, Theodore von Kármán's node remains in a gray, sealed state, blocked by living beings.

But he had no intention of crashing into it head-on.

His consciousness skillfully took a detour, following the unobstructed golden line connecting his fellow disciples, heading straight for his target.

[System Notification: Current Realm: Novice. Daily Spirit Summoning Attempts: 3/3 remaining.]

[Do you want to connect to the unlocked historical figure: the late pioneer of early vacuum tube and radar physics?]

connect!

[Spiritual communication initiated. Duration limit: 15 minutes per session. Countdown begins.]

The surrounding darkness vanished instantly.

Jiang Ming's consciousness seemed to be in a vast, empty void.

A deep and weathered voice resounded directly in Jiang Ming's mind.

"Young man, we meet again. It seems you're facing some real-world troubles."

The pioneers spoke calmly and steadily.

Jiang Ming didn't bother with formalities at all.

Time is too precious; not a single minute or second can be wasted.

"Senior, I have a batch of anti-interference military vacuum tubes. They are semi-finished products left over from the Soviets. As long as they are put into high power, the cathode coating will be completely burned off and collapsed."

"They concealed the high-temperature formula. No matter how the current barium strontium calcium oxide doping ratio is adjusted, it simply cannot withstand the high temperature."

Jiang Ming spoke rapidly, describing what he had seen in the workshop during the day, as well as the ablation characteristics of the cathode sheet.

The pioneer was silent for two seconds.

"I've seen the ablation pattern of that cathode in your hand countless times in laboratories back in the 1930s."

The pioneer's tone carried a hint of serious academic authority.

"You've walked into a dead end."

"Barium strontium calcium oxide cathodes are a first-generation approach, barely adequate for low-power civilian radio tubes."

"But once it enters the high-power state used in military applications, the active material will evaporate rapidly, and the coating will inevitably break down."

Jiang Ming clenched his fist tightly.

It really is a genetic defect in the material itself!

"Where is the breakthrough point?"

Jiang Ming pressed for an answer.

The pioneers' voices echoed in the void, each word carrying immense weight.

"The real breakthrough lies in introducing trace amounts of rare earth oxides as high-temperature stabilizers!"

"Only the crystal structure of rare earth elements can lock in active substances at extreme high temperatures."

Rare earth oxides!

Jiang Ming's mind went blank.

This is basic common sense in materials science in later generations, but in 1955, it was an advanced yet obscure area of ​​knowledge.

It's never even mentioned in Soviet documents!

The pioneer hadn't finished speaking.

"Besides the formula, your sintering process must also be completely overturned."

"A pure hydrogen sintering atmosphere will exacerbate coating embrittlement, so it must be changed to a hydrogen-nitrogen mixture."

"Reducing the activation temperature gradient is the only way to significantly slow down the aging rate of the coating."

(✧◡✧)

Jiang Ming felt a surge of joy.

We've got a direction!

Once you have a direction, you can succeed!

"Senior, what is the specific doping ratio of rare earth oxides? What is the ratio of hydrogen to nitrogen in the mixture? How are the sintering temperature profile and activation time set?"

Jiang Ming greedily bombarded him with a series of crucial questions.

With these parameters, he can completely turn the tide of Workshop One by tomorrow morning!

However, the pioneer's tone suddenly turned stern.

"Young man, put away your speculative mentality."

The pioneer's voice was like a bucket of cold water poured over my head.

"The specific rare earth types, doping ratios, gas mixture proportions, and temperature profiles must all be derived by you through extensive orthogonal experiments based on your factory's existing equipment and raw material purity!"

"I can only point you to the road."

"But you have to walk the rest of the way yourself!"

There are no shortcuts in science.

Jiang Ming took a deep breath and nodded solemnly.

He knows the rules.

The system is not a babysitter; the psychic guidance provides the core ideas, not directly copied answers.

"I see."

Jiang Ming gritted his teeth and agreed.

"I can calculate it myself."

"very good."

The pioneer's tone softened somewhat.

He then issued the most deadly warning of the night.

"And there's one more crucial point you must remember."

The pioneer's voice became solemn, even carrying a hint of stern warning.

"Vacuum is a prerequisite for all material formulations!"

"If your factory's vacuum system can't reach the level of 10 to the power of negative 5 Pascals, then even the most perfect rare earth formula and the most precise temperature curve are all worthless!"

"At extremely high power, even the slightest residual gas will instantly contaminate the coating during the encapsulation process."

"All the hard work will be in vain."

"I remember, 10 to the power of negative 5 Pascal."

"This is the line between life and death!"

[System notification: The duration of this single psychic session has reached 15 minutes. Connection disconnected.]

Jiang Ming suddenly opened his eyes.

Ten to the power of negative five Pascal!

Jiang Ming astutely grasped this crucial key indicator.

He jumped off the bed and quickly dragged an old wooden box out from under the bed.

Inside were a handwritten dictionary given to him by Chen Zhiyuan, as well as several fragments of Russian technical documents that he had smuggled out of the top-secret workshop during the day.

Jiang Ming spread the dictionary and the tattered pages out on the table, pulled out his pen, and then took out a stack of blank draft paper.

Under the table lamp, Jiang Ming was like a precision machine running at full speed, completely switching into all-night mode.

Look it up in the dictionary.

Find the terminology.

column formula.

He struggled to reconcile the pioneering theories on rare earth doping with the existing material inventory at the Third Electronics Factory.

Since yttrium is not readily available, cerium will be used as a substitute.

If the purity is insufficient, then manipulate the temperature profile.

The pen tip scratched rapidly across the paper, making a rustling sound.

Sheets of scrap paper were filled with writing, then crumpled into balls and thrown on the ground.

Time passed by, second by second.

The sky outside the window gradually changed from deep black to a depressing gray-white.