I, Yan Jiefang, will live to 2025 in this courtyard house.

After leaving Hong Kong, Yan Jiefang returned to the Special Economic Zone and made a special trip to visit the Liantang Battery Factory in Dongguan.

This is one of their key industries in the later stages.

The children may not know the importance of this industry, but he himself will never forget it.

After checking the factory's progress, it was found that they were indeed using new equipment to produce nickel-metal hydride batteries.

He is also a top expert who has elevated battery skills to a very high level and understands the characteristics of this type of battery.

It boasts unique advantages such as extremely high safety, ultra-long lifespan, and an extremely wide operating temperature range, making it applicable in many fields.

However, its drawbacks are also obvious.

First, the energy density is low and the volume is large, which is the biggest drawback of this type of battery.

Secondly, the cost is relatively higher.

Third, it has a memory effect, requiring shallow charging and discharging to prolong its lifespan.

Therefore, trams in the 20s did not use this type of battery.

Its battery life is simply too short to satisfy users' charging anxiety.

Fortunately, it is unlikely to be eliminated in the short term.

However, Yan Jiefang's future plans included developing electric vehicles, so he naturally couldn't rely on this type of battery.

The mainstream directions going forward are ternary lithium and lithium iron phosphate, and it will definitely occupy a place in that market.

The R&D department only has a handful of people, which is far from enough to produce anything worthwhile.

Yan Jiefang was not satisfied.

There isn't a leader as ambitious as Xiao Wang here, so it seems we need to prepare some reliable people to manage this factory.

In the following days, he specifically looked up which universities had the greatest achievements in disciplines such as "electrochemistry".

Soon after, it became clear that Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) was in a league of its own, with some saying that HIT held "half the market share" in the field of battery applications.

There are quite a few schools in the second tier, such as Tianjin University, Central South University, Xiamen University, and Wuhan University, whose related majors are also quite good.

Unfortunately, Harbin Institute of Technology was too far away, so Yan Jiefang had to settle for second best and sign a "Industry-University-Research Cooperation Agreement" with Central South University and Xiamen University, which were slightly closer. The agreement clearly defined the rights and responsibilities of each university.

The following should be clearly stipulated in the "Special Clauses" of the contract:

During the contractually agreed period, all R&D expenses will be provided by "Big Battery", and all intellectual property rights (including patent application rights, patent rights, trade secrets, etc.) generated from this project will belong to the battery manufacturer.

Furthermore, both universities are obligated to send relevant graduate students and senior teaching staff to the battery factory to provide guidance, with all travel expenses reimbursed by the battery factory.

The agreement stipulates that professors and graduate students participating in the project are obligated to assist the battery manufacturer in handling patent application procedures.

The agreement stipulates confidentiality obligations for both parties (especially the university) and requires that any papers published by the university be reviewed by the battery manufacturer to prevent the premature disclosure of core technologies.

...

Although Yan Jiefang was not afraid, in order to avoid trouble and pitfalls, he specially hired an experienced intellectual property lawyer to participate in the signing of the contract throughout the process.

Signing this contract may not necessarily bring much benefit to the company's development, but it will likely be difficult for their outstanding graduates and postgraduates in related fields to escape the recruitment of battery factories.

This is what Yan Jiefang values ​​most.

However, during this trip, he also discovered a new situation.

Three lithography machine manufacturers from Japan and the Netherlands have already prepared lithography equipment that supports 180-nanometer processes.

These devices primarily employ deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography, using a 248-nanometer wavelength krypton fluoride (KrF) excimer laser as the light source.

The 248-nanometer wavelength KrF excimer laser is a key light source for deep ultraviolet lithography technology and an important technology that is driving chip manufacturing into the 180-nanometer era.

Upon receiving this news, even Yan Jiefang couldn't help but marvel at how rapidly developed countries were progressing in cutting-edge wafer manufacturing.

Moreover, the 180-nanometer lithography machine is not yet in mass production, but their laboratory is already researching 130-nanometer technology.

They are currently researching a 193-nanometer (argon fluoride, ArF) excimer laser source with a shorter wavelength.

Although Jiangcheng's lithography machine factory is also very hardworking, it will probably not be easy for it to catch up with these foreign companies.

To expedite their process, Yan Jiefang specially copied the complete set of foreign blueprints and sent them to them.

Upon receiving these blueprints, the chief engineer of the lithography machine factory was overjoyed, holding the blueprints with barely restraint.

This is practically putting the answer right in front of them; all the ideas, directions, and goals are suddenly there!

All the problems that had been troubling them were easily solved.

So these engineers unanimously decided that next year they would still produce 0.35-micron and 0.25-micron lithography machines as usual, but the year after that they must directly produce an advanced 130-nanometer lithography machine!

Yan Jiefang was also very pleased that the engineers were so confident.

If they really succeed, then they won't need to go abroad to beg for alms anymore; traveling back and forth is quite troublesome.

As for whether he could be given priority in supply, he wasn't worried at all.

Even setting aside the fact that they had already signed an agreement when the blueprints were provided, who would dare to object given his capabilities?

Unless you want to see your great-grandmother ahead of time!

...

As December arrived, the temperature in Jiangcheng also became slightly colder.

Presumably due to its proximity to the river and the presence of numerous lakes and rivers, the air here is very humid. Therefore, although the temperature is not too low, it still feels quite cold to the touch.

In addition, there is no heating here, so many people from the north will find it colder than the north.

However, Yan Jiefang and his son were completely oblivious to this situation.

It's probably related to their cultivation level.

He has now cultivated his martial arts skills to the level of 25/100 in the "War God's Record" (5).

He is much better than his three sons.

After all, he had already opened up his Ren and Du meridians and advanced to the Innate Realm when he first entered the fifth level.

The built-in "Heaven rewards diligence, one certificate is eternal" message on the panel is still too overpowered.

...

Also this month, the real estate situation in Hainan seems to have taken a turn for the better.

Upon seeing this news, Yan Jiefang felt that this might be a significant business opportunity for him, and more precisely for the construction company where Lao Zhao worked.

He called Lao Zhao, who was developing real estate in Lujiazui, Shanghai:

"Old Zhao, when will your construction site be finished?"

They've been partners for over a decade, so when Lao Zhao heard his boss calling, he didn't mince words and answered directly:

"How about next June, boss? You can come and inspect the place when you have time. I specially reserved a few large villas for you; they're almost finished!"

Yan Jiefang didn't respond to this:

"Okay, I'll go again when I have time."