Chapter 112: Small-scale Meeting
Great Xia, Imperial Palace in Kyoto.
In the meeting room, Leader Ye Rongshan sat in the main seat, followed by Zhang Jing from the Ministry of Economy and Trade, Li Jiandong from the Ministry of Industry, Zhao Bo from the Foreign Affairs Department, Military Commander Liu Shengzhan, and Chairman of Xinghai Technology Fan Ren sitting on the other side.
After the successful air defense interception of the abandoned space station, Liu Shengzhan and Fan Ren immediately took a private jet to fly to Kyoto and came directly to the Imperial Palace to attend this high-level small-scale meeting.
“Before the meeting starts, let’s first talk about how the military headquarters demonstrated its consistent style in training personnel and weapons and equipment during this incident. Very good.”
As soon as everyone arrived, Ye Rongshan did not hold back in greatly praising the military headquarters’ actions this time.
Everyone present also knew that this was because the military headquarters’ actions not only ensured the safety of the space elevator but also made Great Xia the first force on Blue Star to achieve 100% interception capability against 20 Mach hypersonic aircraft.
In this era of vigorously developing the aerospace industry, this point is particularly important.
Why Auro and Wells were so shocked was because with this capability, Great Xia, once in conflict with them, their intercontinental missiles might not be able to break through Great Xia’s air defense network upon re-entry into the atmosphere.
Not to mention that in the field of missiles, Great Xia is undoubtedly the strongest on Blue Star.
Without exaggeration, if a real conflict occurs in the future, the situation between the two sides could very likely be one-sided.
“Elder Ye, this is all thanks to the Xinghai Supercomputer. Before this, I really didn’t expect that after joining the supercomputer, our anti-aircraft missiles would be so effective.”
Ye Rongshan waved his hand with a smile and said with a smile, “Then you should communicate more with General Manager Fan on this aspect. The military headquarters’ budget next year can focus more on this. Of course, we’ll discuss the specifics later.”
He paused and dropped the topic, his expression instantly turning serious.
“You department chiefs should all be aware of the current situation, so I won’t go into details. Currently, the troops in the major divisions of the military headquarters have entered level one alert status. This incident is undoubtedly a deliberate targeting of our space elevator by someone with ulterior motives. Although it has been successfully intercepted now, if we just let it go as before, I think none of us would have the face to sit here.”
Ye Rongshan glanced at Fan Ren and nodded slightly before continuing, “Even General Manager Fan urgently issued a statement due to this incident, contracting Xinghai’s overseas strategy, raising all product and technology license fees by 200%, and temporarily not selling nuclear fusion reactors abroad.”
He didn’t mention Xinghai’s additional demands, as they were not important here and not the theme of today’s meeting.
“Speak up, what are your opinions? We can’t just take such a big loss, with the troops entering level one alert, and have no other reaction, or we’ll be laughed at.”
Although Ye Rongshan said this with a smile in the end, everyone present could see that this always amiable elderly person was truly angry now.
The meeting room was quiet for a while, and Liu Shengzhan was like a stone at this moment, not speaking.
In his view, the military headquarters was always just a knife, responsible only for executing orders to safeguard Great Xia’s interests, and asking nothing else.
Zhang Jing pondered for a moment, tapped his hand on the table, and spoke.
“In our current trade exchanges with the White Alliance side, they already have significant prejudice against us.”
He glanced at Li Jiandong from the Ministry of Industry and continued, “Thanks to the Ministry of Industry’s vigorous development in recent years, Great Xia’s industrial output value is now proudly leading the world. Especially with the emergence of those technologies from General Manager Fan’s Xinghai Technology, our products now hold pivotal positions in many high-end markets.”
Zhang Jing’s gaze fell on Fan Ren, with undisguised appreciation in his eyes.
“The Ministry of Economy and Trade has made an estimation: by the end of this year, Great Xia’s overall GDP, although still below that of the United States, I believe surpassing them is just a matter of these two years. After all, once the space elevator is officially put into use, we will enter the next development fast lane.”
Zhang Jing stopped here, took a deep breath, and said solemnly, “If today’s Great Xia detaches from global trade, the economy can remain stable for a long time, as our current massive internal demand for vigorous construction is extremely large.”
“The Ministry of Industry’s industrial upgrade is now just waiting for tri-titanium alloy. According to my previous estimate with General Manager Fan, the expanded lunar base can achieve an annual mining output of 50 million tons.”
Li Jiandong took over the conversation and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly at this point. 50 million tons is actually a small number, even only accounting for 5% of Great Xia’s imported ore.
The main reason is that the lunar space elevator has not yet started construction. No matter how much ore is mined, it has to wait for launch vehicles to land, take off, and transport it repeatedly, which is too inefficient.
Thinking of this, he looked at the people present and said in a deep voice, “I suggest that Xinghai provides the technology for the lunar space elevator, and our Ministry of Industry funds the construction. Since the moon’s gravity is low, setting aside environmental factors, the construction difficulty is actually lower than on Earth. This can, to a certain extent, help Xinghai reduce the burden. Completing the lunar space elevator one day earlier will also allow the mining output of ordinary crystal stone to expand one day earlier, and we can detach from South Australia’s ore export restrictions sooner.”
Ye Rongshan nodded upon hearing this.
He knew that Xinghai’s demand for a complete cancellation of export tariffs was not easy to achieve and would be delayed for some time.
Although after that, the high export tariff pressure could be resolved long-term, it would also lead to insufficient financial resources, thereby slowing down various projects.
At this time, Great Xia must step up and do something for them.
“The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Economy and Trade, you discuss it. We’ll undertake the construction of the lunar space elevator.”
Fan Ren felt a warm current flow through his heart upon hearing this.
“Elder Ye, chiefs, Xinghai still has some money on the books, and the lunar elevator project is temporarily no problem. Moreover, our engineers are more proficient in this area. Just let us continue.”
After saying this, seeing Li Jiandong about to speak, Fan Ren quickly continued, “But I do have an idea.”
Seeing this, the others did not object and all waited for what he would say next.
“The next phase is not only the lunar elevator project, but as I planned before, we will also construct a tri-titanium alloy refinery in space.”
Fan Ren envisioned the plan in his mind and continued without pause, “The refining process of tri-titanium alloy must be done in an oxygen-free environment. Refining on Earth not only adds extra transportation costs but also incurs additional fees for building an oxygen-free environment. Therefore, establishing our refinery in space is imperative.”
He glanced at Li Jiandong and said with a smile, “Refining is originally the Ministry of Industry’s responsibility. How about this: Xinghai provides the technology, and the Ministry of Industry continues this project? Otherwise, your Ministry of Industry’s refineries will be obsolete in the future.”
This is great!
Li Jiandong’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.
