Chapter 44

Looking at the vast expanse of emerald green in Northeastern Outer Manchuria on the map, Lin Yuan couldn't help but recall Chekhov's famous quote: "I am utterly helpless in describing the beauty of the scenery on both banks of the Amur River; before such beauty, I can only admit defeat." The Amur River is also known as the Heilongjiang River.

This region is extremely rich in resources. First, it is rich in forest resources. The entire 9.6 million square kilometers of China has only 100,000 square kilometers of forest, while the 1 million square kilometers of Northeastern Outer Manchuria has 70,000 square kilometers of forest. Second, it is rich in mineral resources, with large deposits of iron ore, coal, and other minerals essential for the metallurgical industry. The waters near Sakhalin Island also contain substantial oil and natural gas resources. Although coal is still the primary fuel of this era, oil will soon surpass it. Third, it is rich in agricultural resources. Chinese people have heard of the story of how the "Great Northern Wilderness" became the "Great Northern Granary." Northeastern Outer Manchuria has the world's richest black soil belt, which can be described with a Jewish proverb: "This is a land flowing with milk and honey."

Finally, and most importantly: gold! Since Russia began mining gold in Northeastern Outer Manchuria, the annual production has exceeded 2,000 tons, while China's production in 1995 was a mere 500 tons.

The role of gold in international trade is self-evident. With gold, one can purchase goods from all over the world. With gold, one can issue currency based on the gold standard, which means the amount of currency issued is tied to the amount of gold in storage. Such currency can serve as a settlement currency in international trade. Once this currency is widely used and becomes irreplaceable, the gold standard can be abandoned. At that point, simply printing money can bring the world's wealth into one's pocket!

Lin Yuan stood up and paced around the room. In the 21st century, Americans did just that. They used advanced technology to elevate the US dollar to the status of a world currency. When the US needed money, they issued government bonds, which invisibly transformed the hard-earned money of people from other countries into the source of their enjoyment!

"We must also elevate our currency to the status of a world currency! Only by occupying the high ground in finance can our nation remain invincible!" Lin Yuan thought, feeling a surge of excitement. However, he was not an economist, and many of the details were still unclear to him. Despite this, he knew that the process would be arduous and long.

But the current predicament was like a bucket of cold water splashed over his heart. With the current strength of the Beijing ship, it was far from enough to seize Northeastern Outer Manchuria. Developing their own industry was indeed a daunting task.

At this moment, Lin Yuan checked the time; it was almost ten o'clock. He would invite the scientists and engineers on board to attend a symposium.

As mentioned earlier, the Beijing ship was on a sea trial mission, so there were many scientists and engineers on board. There were over a dozen academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, who were experts in their fields and the backbone of the Beijing ship's future industrial development.

At the beginning of the meeting, Lin Yuan said, "Dear experts and professors, everyone, it's time for you to show your skills. Let me first talk about our current predicament."

Then, Lin Yuan turned on the projector and began his presentation with slides: "We are currently in the 19th century. I believe you all are more familiar with the industrial level of this era than I am. Our Beijing ship underwent a base internal maintenance before the穿越 (time travel). Due to our advanced aircraft carrier design and manufacturing capabilities, the interval between two base internal maintenances is relatively long, at 40 months. Other maintenance tasks, such as crew-level and intermediate-level maintenance, can mostly be handled by the onboard workshops and equipment, so the daily maintenance of the carrier is not a significant issue."

Lin Yuan looked at them and continued, "Our real predicament is that many of our equipment cannot be replenished. Take our carrier-based aircraft, for example. Everyone knows that carrier-based aircraft are the core of an aircraft carrier's combat power. The fuel, lubricating oil, and other materials needed by the aircraft cannot be refined in this era. Missiles, bombs, and ammunition also cannot be replenished. These are relatively minor issues compared to the most challenging one: the replacement of aviation engines."

"Without engines, the aircraft cannot take off. The operating conditions of aviation engines are extremely harsh. Most components work under high temperature, high pressure, and high load. Our J-24 aircraft use the WS-30 engine, which has a turbine inlet temperature of 2100K. Such high temperatures generate significant thermal stress in the turbine blades, combined with high gas loads and centrifugal loads, making it easy for cracks to form and propagate quickly."

"Everyone knows that turbine blades must never be touched by hand after they are machined, as the salt in sweat can accelerate their corrosion. The salt content in the marine environment is even higher, which will further shorten the life of the blades compared to those used in land-based fighters. Therefore, our aircraft may very well be unable to take off due to engine issues in the future."

At this point, an elderly man with white hair spoke up: "What's the point of saying all this? Do you think we can manufacture turbine blades now? Impossible! What materials are used in the first and second stages of the WS-30 engine? Nickel-based alloys! Our research team, supported by special funds from the State Council, worked on this material for ten years. Almost all universities, research institutes, and factories in the country provided assistance. Now, where are we supposed to get this material here?"

Lin Yuan recognized the speaker as Su Zhengming, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one of the most experienced and capable materials science experts in China. Many of the middle-aged experts were his students, so he spoke with a certain arrogance.

Lin Yuan knew that Su Zhengming was extremely enthusiastic, even if his words were harsh. He said, "You're right, Su Laoshi. We indeed cannot produce such materials now."

Su Zhengming continued, "Not only can we not produce this material, but we cannot produce other materials either. Let me give you an example with bearings. I looked at the lubricating oil spectral analysis of the high-pressure rotor. The iron content exceeded the standard by several percentage points, indicating significant wear on the bearing. The bearing is made of iron-tin alloy, which is much easier to produce than nickel-based alloys, but can we manufacture it?"

Spectral analysis of lubricating oil involves the flow of oil through the bearing. If the bearing experiences excessive wear, iron particles from the bearing will enter the oil. By analyzing the iron content in the oil, the degree of bearing wear can be determined.

Lin Yuan said, "Of course, we cannot produce these materials now. We can take it step by step. I believe what we need to do first is to establish the most basic elements of industrial development."

Su Zhengming nodded and said, "You're right. The most basic elements are the units of measurement in physics, such as the exact length of a meter and the exact duration of a second. As the saying goes, 'One who does not plan for the long term is not fit to plan for the short term.' If these issues are not resolved, they will certainly cause problems for our long-term development."

Lin Yuan knew Su Zhengming's character; the more work he was given, the happier he was, as he saw it as a sign of trust. Lin Yuan said, "Since you've brought this up, Su Laoshi, would you be willing to take on this responsibility?"

Su Zhengming didn't even hesitate and said, "Don't worry, no problem."

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "The next issue is standardization. We all know that standardization is a crucial step in modern industrial mass production. We have many national standards that can be directly applied, and some industry standards. Given the different era we are in, we can analyze and improve them step by step in practice."

Everyone in the room nodded. Lin Yuan said, "So, let's discuss which specific industries we should develop first."

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