The rise of great powers: starting from military industry

Leave No. 25, Xiushui North Street.

Taking the bus, we came to the Fifth Machinery Department.

At the Fifth Ministry of Machinery Compound, present your letter of introduction and register.

After about half an hour, Liu Tao finally met Wang Baoguo.

Wang Baoguo was drinking water from his enamel teacup that had been used for who knows how many decades. His aura was much stronger than the last time he saw him.

"Oh, our God of Wealth is here, sit down, sit down quickly!" Wang Baoguo said with a smile.

Liu Tao looked embarrassed and sat down.

"Comrade Wang Tiezhu should have told you that the ministry sent a working group to Yangcheng." Wang Baoguo put down his enamel teacup.

Liu Tao nodded: "As I said, I arrived in Kunshi yesterday and met with Director Wang."

Wang Baoguo said: "That batch of goods will arrive in Yangcheng in the evening and will be waiting for the customer to inspect the goods. Once the ship arrives, it can be loaded."

It takes almost a day to travel from Kunshi to Yangcheng by train.

The arms are first transported to the Yangcheng Wharf warehouse. After Rashid inspects the goods and pays the money, the merchant ships can be shipped directly as soon as they arrive.

This is also now, China lacks sea-going ships and does not have shipping capabilities.

Otherwise, you can transport it to the Middle East by sea and unload it at the dock in Iraq, and you can earn some more transportation costs.

"This time, your matter also served as a reminder to the ministry. We held several meetings to study it, and finally decided that each military factory does not have the qualifications for foreign trade, and the ministry must be the main body of foreign trade." Wang Baoguo said.

Liu Tao frowned slightly.

He could understand the ministry doing this.

After all, if military factories can trade with foreign countries, there will definitely be chaos.

Military factories produce military products, not civilian products, which is very special.

But if it loses foreign trade and relies solely on internal operations, how can Panshan Machinery Factory develop rapidly?

Rely on military procurement?

Stop making trouble. Next is the period of patience for the military. They hate that one dollar is used as ten dollars. How much does it cost to purchase weapons and equipment in a year? When it comes to firearms and bullets, how much does it cost per year?

How many soldiers served for two years only to find out when they retired that they had less than five bullets to shoot!

How many military factories were converted to civilians, and those who sold ice cream sold ice cream, and those who sold popsicles sold popsicles. In the end, they could not survive and went bankrupt, leaving only abandoned factory areas decades later.

Relying on the firearms he developed, Panshan Machinery Factory can live a relatively prosperous life, but if it wants to develop and grow, it is definitely out of the question.

Without money, there is no talking about development and growth.

"But, you can go talk about business. It's still the same as last time. Foreign exchange is controlled by the ministry. Our factory has priority. If there are other factories that can produce it, it will be allocated based on the situation." Wang Baoguo said.

Liu Tao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that this has opened a small back door for myself.

"We don't want funding from superiors. Can you give us a policy? For projects that are not approved by the state, we will raise our own research funds and operate independently." Liu Tao thought for a while, "We are allowed to seek partners from the international community for technology development. In this case Product procurement also makes it easy to open up the market.”

To be honest, he didn't want to be tied.

Liu Tao doesn't even look down on the millions of funds allocated from above.

As for national projects, it would be difficult for them to fall on Panshan Machinery Factory, and would only fall on those large military factories and research institutes.

So far, Panshan Machinery Factory is a small and medium-sized military factory.

"I will mention this in the next meeting, but don't have high hopes." Wang Baoguo nodded, but also reminded: "The firearms you have developed are very advanced, especially the heavy machine guns and heavy sniper rifles, which are the best in the world. They are all advanced, and some comrades have strong objections to you negotiating an order without approval."

In the past year, the most eye-catching performance in the military industry has been the several firearms developed by Liu Tao, as well as the semi-automated bullet production line.

At first, everyone thought it was much more advanced than the original one, and the soldiers also liked it. It had excellent battlefield performance. But with further research, it was discovered that it had reached the world's top level.

Logically speaking, such advanced weapons and equipment should not be exported.

"We are all so poor now. No matter how advanced these weapons are, they are just light weapons. They are incomparable to heavy weapons such as tanks and airplanes. The orders that the Third Machinery Department negotiated with Egypt are for airplanes and engines!" Liu Tao's eyes widened. , muttered.

Any advanced technology will be kept secret, not only domestically, but also abroad. The most advanced and best ones are always for your own use and will not be sold no matter how much money you make.

But the problem is that China is too poor now, so poor that it sounds like a ghost.

There is no gap between rich and poor in society because everyone has no money and is too poor.

No matter how advanced light weapons are, their firepower is just that, and they do not have mass destruction. From the beginning, it is inferior to heavy weapons such as aircraft, tanks and missiles.

What would a poor and crazy rabbit do? That would even dare to sell the medium-range ballistic missile 'Dongfeng-3' with a range of 2,800 kilometers!

The price of a 'Dongfeng-3' medium-range ballistic missile is as high as US$100 million, and a full 35 of them have been exported, with a total contract of US$3.5 billion!

The rabbit thought it was too expensive, while the camel thought it was too cheap.

Since then, Saudi Arabia has had hard goods at hand and has gained a lot of security.

In comparison, his firearms and bullets are simply not worth mentioning.

Wang Baoguo couldn't laugh or cry.

You are poor, but don't say you are not.

Young man, his mouth is hairless and he speaks unscrupulously.

"Anyway, if you negotiate a business deal, report it to the department as soon as possible." Wang Baoguo had to remind him again and again.

The Fifth Machinery Department manages the national weapons industry.

Wang Baoguo didn't want to think that other departments would know what Liu Tao had done. As a result, even the Fifth Machinery Department didn't know. When the leaders asked, it would be embarrassing if they didn't know.

"As soon as I had an agreement last time, didn't I report it to the department immediately?" Liu Tao muttered.

He has a strong balance in his mind about what he can and cannot do.

The last time I went to No. 25 Xiushui North Street to discuss business, this was a tightrope walk, and there were no clear regulations.

After all, in the chaotic period of transition from free military aid to arms dealers, everyone is still confused as to how they would have thought of such a method.

"You~~" Wang Baoguo smiled, "When the goods are delivered this time and the balance is settled, the foreign exchange will remain with the ministry, and the ministry will allocate the corresponding money to you."

Foreign exchange is very valuable in this era.

Every unit needs foreign exchange, and the Fifth Machinery Department is no exception.

Liu Tao shrugged helplessly, "If you are a senior official, you will kill someone. You say so, how can I still say no?"

You know, banks are now forced to settle foreign exchange, 1 US dollar = 1.5 RMB, but in fact on the black market, 1 US dollar can be exchanged for 2.5 RMB, or even 3 RMB!

There is another way to say this thing - U.S. dollars!

The U.S. dollar is as hard currency as gold!

If you want to study abroad or work abroad, you need US dollars.

Like the delegation from the Three Machinery Department, several people were in a hurry and could only scrape together 5 US dollars. You can imagine how precious US dollars are now.