The rise of great powers: starting from military industry

Made in the United States, from the 19th century to the 1930s, was synonymous with copycats, and also represented poor quality and low-end products. It was relying on copycats that it became a super copycat empire, and its economy rose step by step, becoming the world's number one large economies.

Relying on becoming the biggest winner in World War I and World War II, absorbing and stealing a large number of scientists, American science and technology ushered in a big explosion and became the most technologically powerful country in the world. The only country that could compare with it was the Soviet Union.

Made in the United States has become synonymous with advanced and high-end products!

At this time, the United States had not yet de-industrialized, and its industrial strength was still very strong. The only industrial power in the world that could compare with it was the Soviet Union.

At present, there are only two countries in the world with complete industrial systems, one is the Soviet Union and the other is the United States!

These two industrial systems are completely independent, do not interfere with each other, and have no intersection!

In weapons and equipment around the world, the Soviet Union and the United States account for the majority, while the rest are minor.

Even now, after thirty years of hard work, China has only initially established an industrial system and a national defense industrial system. This industrial system and national defense industrial system are still very rudimentary.

In Wang Baoguo's view, Liu Tao's desire to sell weapons and equipment to the Yankees was simply nonsense.

Even if the firearms developed by Liu Tao are indeed very advanced in performance and have reached the world's advanced level, it is almost impossible for Americans to buy them, because for a country, the most important thing is to have unified standards for weapons.

Systematic weapons and equipment are the most important!

This was also the time when China gritted its teeth and insisted on unifying weapons and equipment, ending the era of creation by all nations, even though many weapons at that time were actually more advanced than domestically produced.

"Leader, Americans don't need to use it themselves, but they can buy it for others to use." Liu Tao showed a meaningful expression.

Buy it for someone else to use?

Wang Baoguo was stunned.

Then he burst into laughter: "It's true that Americans are developed countries, but their money comes from strong winds. How can they buy weapons and equipment for others to use?"

Liu Tao smiled, he knew what Wang Baoguo meant.

In July 1944, the United States adopted the provisions of the International Monetary Fund Agreement at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. All countries must confirm the official gold price of US$35 per ounce set by the US government in 1934, and use this as the basis of the international monetary system. This is the famous Bretton Woods system.

1 ounce of gold = $35!

The dollar is equal to gold!

Therefore, in that era, the U.S. dollar was often called U.S. dollars, and as long as you held the U.S. dollar, you could exchange it for gold in the United States at any time.

Unfortunately, the growth of gold reserves is far less than the growth of banknotes printed by banknote printing plants. Dollars are constantly being printed and flowing into the market. However, the United States does not have that much gold, and the Bretton Woods system gradually cannot survive. Finally, in 1971 The year collapsed.

The first person to pierce this layer of window paper was none other than France's Charles de Gaulle.

In February 1965, de Gaulle summoned reporters from all over the world to attend a press conference and bluntly stated that the United States no longer had enough gold to exchange for the proportion they promised.

Later, the dollar found its anchor again, which was oil. Thanks to Kissinger's efforts, he finally reached an agreement with major oil-producing countries in the Middle East that oil trade must be settled in U.S. dollars, thus establishing the petrodollar system.

However, there is still a big difference between the gold dollar and the petrodollar. For example, in the past, 1 US dollar = 2.5 RMB. Although there was a slight fluctuation, the fluctuation was not large. However, since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the RMB has continued to fall, and now 1 US dollar = 1.5 US dollars.

In the 1970s, the United States experienced an economic stagflation crisis, that is, hyperinflation and sharp inflation.

The U.S. economy is still in crisis, and landlords have no surplus food.

"Leader, now that the Soviet Union has entered Afghanistan, the most anxious person in the world should be the United States. Once the Soviet army moves south again, and the passage to the Arabian Sea is opened, its influence will radiate to the entire Middle East, threatening the oil and energy security of Europe and the United States. The petrodollar that the Americans have finally built will collapse in an instant. This is definitely a pain that the United States cannot bear." Liu Tao smiled and expressed his thoughts: "They will definitely find ways to stop the Soviet Union, such as supporting the rebels. , and this requires a large amount of weapons and equipment, which is too far to transport from Europe and the United States to Afghanistan, but if you buy it from us, it is cheap and easy to transport.”

"This is a win-win business," Liu Tao said.

Wang Baoguo looked shocked and looked at Liu Tao in shock.

He wanted to split Liu Tao's head open and see how long his head was. He could think of all these things.

However, what Liu Tao proposed is very practical.

China is naturally anxious, but the most anxious one is definitely the United States!

As Liu Tao said, the United States cannot bear the consequences of the Soviet Union moving south to the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.

Once the Soviet Union achieves this strategic goal, the bipolar struggle for hegemony can announce its final outcome in advance.

Why fight? There is no need to fight!

After being shocked, Wang Baoguo quickly said to Liu Tao: "Don't contact the Americans yet. Let's have a meeting first and report to the leadership."

Wang Baoguo realized that this was a ground-breaking event, and he did not want Liu Tao to break the news.

If the sky were broken, he wouldn't be able to protect Liu Tao.

After leaving the Fifth Machinery Department, he looked at the time and saw that it was still early. Liu Tao planned to go shopping in the city and went to the bus station.

Not long after, Liu Tao got on the bus.

Entering the city, Liu Tao looked at the capital of this era through the window. There were no high-rise buildings, no busy traffic, and there were not many buses on the road. The few cars were either from embassies of various countries or from government agencies. There are no personal cars at all.

In this era, vehicles were not yet open to private individuals, and even driving licenses were not available.

The most popular ones are bicycles.

Bicycles in this era were high-end goods. A Phoenix bicycle cost two hundred yuan, and often you couldn't buy it for two hundred yuan, so you had to use a bicycle ticket.

There is a Phoenix brand bicycle, which is absolutely enviable. It can be used with great success on the street.

The three most important items for weddings nowadays are bicycles, watches, and sewing machines!

Go to the supply and marketing cooperative, tickets are better than RMB!

Working in a supply and marketing cooperative, there is a little bit of trouble, that is, when you charge RMB for goods, you have to add some money, and the extra money is the trouble.

The bicycles Liu Tao saw were all relatively bulky and unattractive. They were far less beautiful than the bicycles that were available thirty or forty years later in a variety of styles.

But the quality of bicycles in this era is very high. A bicycle can often be used for ten or twenty years, and the load can reach 200 kilograms.

Only when you live in this era can you know what the kingdom of bicycles is!

Suddenly, Liu Tao's eyes lit up, and his eyes were attracted by a girl who had just gotten in the car.