Chapter 154: 153, First Asia-europe Commercial Flight, Historically Overlooked Tech Talent
Fang Wen drove the car and charged over, while shouting to Zhao Jiu:
“Grab the grip, pull the trigger, no need to aim, parallel sweep. When I say shoot, you do exactly that.”
Zhao Jiu silently recited the four-word mantra in his heart: ‘Grab the grip, pull the trigger, no need to aim, parallel sweep’.
He operated accordingly and waited.
The car charged through the warehouse and was spotted by the plainclothes men, some of whom turned to shoot.
Bullets hit the car, yet it was unscathed and they ricocheted off.
This was the war toy meticulously crafted by Fang Wen and Howard, with a body reinforced by steel plates and aviation bulletproof glass removed from the f.220 machine gun compartment.
No matter how fast the Thompson submachine gun’s rate of fire, its pistol bullets couldn’t penetrate this defense.
The car charged through the warehouse area, then suddenly stopped and drifted sideways.
The rear of the car was aimed at the enemies.
“Shoot.” Fang Wen gave the order.
Zhao Jiu, who had been waiting for this moment, grabbed the grip with both hands, pulled the trigger, and rotated the gun body amid the machine gun’s shaking.
The powerful 7.62 mm bullet heads were not comparable to pistol bullets.
Amid the gun body’s shaking, bullets fired one after another, some hitting the plainclothes men squarely.
That scene was truly gruesome.
7.62 mm bullets not only cause direct tissue damage upon entering the body but also produce extensive tearing and destruction to surrounding tissues through the cavity effect.
A single bullet hit is enough to produce a stopping effect.
When ten plainclothes men fell to the ground, the others fled in panic.
“Stop.” Fang Wen called out to stop Zhao Jiu from continuing to shoot.
At that moment, the people inside the warehouse finally had a chance to rush out.
They clasped fists to thank Fang Wen, then all boarded a ship to head to the opposite shore of the Huangpu River.
Fang Wen also turned the handlebars and left.
After dropping off Zhao Jiu, he drove out of the city.
He didn’t stop until the airport.
After parking, Fang Wen felt somewhat depressed; he had originally thought not to act against his own people, but he had made an exception after all.
In a situation like just now, not taking action would mean the treasure hunting group would be wiped out, his secrets would be exposed, and his connections and future plans would be affected.
He thought of Gang Leader Wang.
In this war-torn era, those with ideals must be ruthless and willing to make sacrifices.
With the negotiations with the treasure hunting group concluded, Fang Wen was continuously converting silver dollars into US dollars for investment behavior in the United States.
During this time, Sun Debiao returned, bringing back Zhang Laifu’s family.
These people were doing okay, mainly having suffered some hardships while sneaking through the Japanese Army-controlled area.
They took a train in Tianjin, got off in Jinan to transfer to a plane back, which was quite convenient.
For this meritorious official, Fang Wen’s small group held a celebration and gave generous material rewards.
As for Zhang Laifu’s family, he was arranged to work at the company, and his family members were given a livelihood on the street, better than back home.
Time passed unknowingly, reaching mid-June.
Everything that needed preparing was ready.
Fang Wen prepared to depart.
This time, since he needed to bring Zhao Jiu, single-seat fighters like the Shrike Hao were of course not suitable.
The Boeing 247 would work.
But for this Asia-Europe trip using the Boeing 247, could they, like last time, rely on Boeing Company’s support and build good relations with governments along the way to facilitate establishing the Asia-Europe route?
Fang Wen sent this idea via transoceanic telegram to Neil in the United States, asking him to negotiate with Boeing Company.
Boeing Company strongly agreed with Fang Wen’s proposal.
Now that the Boeing 247 was starting global sales, with Taishan Airlines as a key client of the Boeing 247, Boeing hoped to use this for better propaganda.
Thus, both sides hit it off and agreed on a commercial travel project called ‘Around Asia-Europe in Eighty Days’.
The project consisted of three parts.
First part: Depart from Shanghai on the Boeing 247 and arrive in Paris, France.
Taking about three days.
Second part: Passengers stay in Europe for 70 days, perfectly convenient for Fang Wen to handle matters in the United States.
Third part: Depart from Paris on the d.332 and return to Shanghai.
This plan would invite some passengers from China, India, Pahlavi dynasty, Turkey, and Europe.
This way, it could use the passengers’ fame to promote Boeing and Taishan Airlines, and leverage their influence to prepare for establishing the Asia-Europe route in the future.
This was a great deal beneficial to both Boeing and Taishan Airlines.
Agreement was quickly reached.
Flight paths and ground airport support didn’t need worrying about; just use the previous ones.
Passenger selection needed consideration.
Through telegrams between Fang Wen and Boeing Company, quotas for different regions were set.
The China region definitely had the most spots, with three.
This was decided by Taishan Airlines.
The remaining seven spots, including India, Pahlavi dynasty, Turkey, and Europe, would be handled by Boeing Company.
Presumably, Boeing Company, for promoting their planes, would find influential passengers.
So who to select for China’s three passengers?
Fang Wen had an idea about selecting the three passengers.
No need to find high officials to fill the scene; Mr. Liang and Mr. Lin were good choices, as there were many ancient buildings along the way that they liked to study.
He sent invitations to the two.
But both declined citing busy work.
Since that was the case, Fang Wen thought it better to use it as welfare feedback for Taishan Airlines passengers.
He thought of it and acted,
publishing a vernacular announcement in the newspaper.
Taishan Airlines Anniversary Celebration Activity Announcement
To thank our esteemed passengers for their support, starting today, any passenger who has flown with our airline may bring their old ticket stub to our company to register.
The registration period is set for three days; after that, our company will hold a grand lottery ceremony.
At that time, three lucky winners will be drawn from the registrants for the top prize, with many prizes for other categories awaiting our distinguished guests.
The top prize winners will receive a pair of round-trip tickets to Europe, on Taishan Airlines flights, to tour the European Continent and enjoy 70 days of travel. Upon expiration of the 70 days, our company has another flight to safely return our distinguished guests to Shanghai.
The value of this top prize is truly precious. If the winner cannot travel for some reason, they may resell the ticket to others or hand it to our company, which will repurchase it for one thousand silver dollars to benefit more people wishing to tour Europe.
Additionally, to help everyone understand the details of this trip, we have attached a route map and introductions to the regions along the way for our passengers to carefully review in preparation for travel.
Taishan Airlines wishes to share wonderful times and travel joys with everyone.
After Taishan Airlines’ activity announcement was published in the newspaper, it drew much attention and discussion, widely spreading the news.
At this time, Taishan Airlines, with its five routes, made travel much quicker.
Many families facing long trips chose this more expensive but safer and more convenient mode of travel.
Because of this, Taishan Airlines passengers came from all walks of life and classes.
Most kept their ticket stubs and flocked to Taishan Airlines’ airport to report their ticket stub numbers to the staff for recording.
They were all aiming for that 1000 silver dollar grand prize.
This sum of money was too much for most families, enough to change many lives.
Meanwhile, another group was very interested.
Those who had read ‘Asia-Europe Flight Travelogue’.
They envied the aerial touring life Fang Wen described in the travelogue but couldn’t achieve it themselves.
But now, if they won, they could be just like Taishan Airlines General Manager Fang Wen.
Thus, these people, even without ticket stubs, bought a ticket within the three days for the lottery.
This led to the cheapest Shanghai-Fuyang segment on Taishan Airlines’ five routes selling out early for three consecutive days.
Three days passed, and the lottery began.
At Shanghai’s busiest Sixteen Wharf dock, reporters rushed over, and surrounding crowds, ferry passengers, and people checking if they won packed the site tightly.
Taishan Airlines employees carried a wooden crank-style lottery machine onto the stage.
The lottery was hosted by Pan Jiafeng.
Facing the noisy onlookers, he picked up the megaphone and said loudly:
“Everyone, please quiet down. I’ll explain the lottery process and rules.”
After everyone quieted, Pan Jiafeng continued:
“We will put paper strips with all ticket stub numbers into this lottery machine, then invite a randomly selected on-site participant to crank it. To show our fairness and openness, everyone can see the process of putting the paper strips into the machine.”
Immediately, bundles of paper strips with ticket stub numbers were carried onto the stage by Taishan Airlines staff and opened in front of everyone before being put into the lottery machine.
After all paper strips were in, Pan Jiafeng turned, raised a ball.
“I’ll throw this ball backward; whoever catches it comes on stage to draw and will get a prize from our company.”
The crowd below laughed:
“Isn’t this throwing the embroidered ball? Swap for a woman to throw, and I’ll definitely grab it.”
“Then don’t grab it later; I don’t want a wife, but Taishan Airlines’ prizes are nice.”
Before the crowd finished discussing, Pan Jiafeng forcefully threw the small ball backward.
Instantly, everyone raised hands to scramble for it.
“I got it, let me through.”
A man hugged the small ball and rushed onstage.
Pan Jiafeng instructed: “You turn the crank; it will roll the paper strips inside the machine. Best to turn several times, then take out one paper strip from the machine. Remember, only one; more and this draw is invalid.”
The man nodded, turned the crank as instructed, and after the machine stopped, took out a paper strip.
Pan Jiafeng took the strip and read the number: “Shanghai to Jinan, ticket stub number Qin Liu Lu 2754.”
This ticket stub number was Taishan Airlines’ unique anti-counterfeiting method.
Only Taishan Airlines’ technicians and ticketing staff knew what it meant.
Qin was the technician’s surname for that flight, Liu the ticketing staff’s surname, Lu the landing airport manager’s surname for that flight.
The three surnames combined with numbers made it hard for outsiders to forge.
Even if forged, it was easy to trace who leaked it; Taishan Airlines employees wouldn’t do such a thing.
That number also had special meaning: that flight had sold 2754 tickets, quite good for an airplane’s annual passenger capacity.
At the lottery site, after Pan Jiafeng read the ticket stub number, no one came up with a stub to claim the prize.
Perhaps worried the one thousand silver dollars’ value was too high and afraid of being robbed, or maybe the person really wasn’t there.
Pan Jiafeng smiled: “The first top prize number will be posted on red paper. No one claiming now is fine; you can claim at our headquarters outside the city.”
As he finished, someone raised a ticket stub and shouted: “I won, it’s mine.”
The person went onstage holding the stub for Pan Jiafeng to see.
“Isn’t this freshly drawn?” Even the good-tempered Pan Jiafeng got angry and had the faker chased off.
The lottery activity then continued.
After a whole day, the lottery ended; three top prizes and several second prizes, third prizes, and consolation prizes had all been drawn.
Besides the top prize tickets, second prize was 50 silver dollars, most valuable on-site;
third prize was a bag of rice, also good;
even consolation prizes were eggs, ten of them.
The rich prizes surprised the onlookers and incidentally boosted Taishan Airlines’ fame.
But none of the three top prizes were claimed on-site; after all, security in this era really didn’t give them a sense of safety.
Until past four in the afternoon.
When Taishan Airlines outside the city was about to close, three people arrived surreptitiously, as if by prior arrangement.
Two chose to exchange directly for 1000 silver dollars and left happily with the silver dollars.
One hemmed and hawed.
“I have a relative who wanted to study abroad but lacks travel funds. I thought, give him the outbound ticket; he doesn’t need the return one. Can it sell for 500 silver dollars?”
Shopkeeper Liu, in charge of ticket exchange, shook his head: “No, round-trip tickets are one package; even if he doesn’t return on the scheduled flight, we can’t give it to others.”
The person grew more anxious: “He’s studying in Europe without tuition; these 500 silver dollars are very important to him.”
Fang Wen, overhearing outside, sized up the man and felt the one studying in Europe was probably him.
He entered the chief accountant’s room and asked: “What is your relative studying in Europe?”
“You might not understand if I say.” The man said vaguely.
“How do I know if I understand if you don’t say?” Fang Wen retorted. As a future person from an information explosion era, he might not know specific principles, but mere terms he should recognize.
Seeing Fang Wen ask this way, the other replied: “What I want to study is vacuum tube technology. Currently, Shanghai’s vacuum tubes are shipped from abroad and assembled. After years of exploration, I’ve mastered vacuum tube production, but some technical issues need understanding. If I learn related technology in Europe, I can return to produce the same vacuum tube equipment.”
Vacuum tubes—if not for radar research, Fang Wen really wouldn’t understand.
Vacuum tubes, also called vacuum tubes, were key components in early radio equipment.
They transmit signals or amplify electric current via electron movement in vacuum, playing crucial roles in radio communications, broadcasting, radar, and more.
Tsinghua University Physics Department bought many expensive vacuum tubes for specific frequency shortwave transmitting and receiving devices; they were expensive because foreigners controlled the technology.
Yet unexpectedly, someone domestically was researching these electronic components.
Fang Wen’s thoughts wandered: in a history without him, this person’s research might stop here forever, unfunded, unable to cross the final hurdle, passing life in obscurity.
But now.
Fang Wen smiled and said: “Is it you or your relative?”
This made the man look embarrassed.
Fang Wen continued: “If you can prove your achievements in vacuum tube research, I can help.”
The man said in surprise: “Even if I explain, will you understand?”
“If I don’t understand, someone will.” Fang Wen replied, referring to professors in Tsinghua University Physics Department, who should discern truth from falsehood.
（Early vacuum tube crystal radio, which can be converted into a telegraph machine.）
