The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 59: A higher rank can crush a person
Leave No. 25 Xiushui North Street.

I took the bus and arrived at the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building.

At the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building compound, after showing the letter of introduction and registering.

About half an hour later, Liu Tao finally met Wang Baoguo.

Wang Baoguo was drinking water from his enamel teacup that he had 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 has sent a working group to Yangcheng." Wang Baoguo put down the enamel teacup.

Liu Tao nodded: "Yes, I went to Kun City yesterday and met with Director Wang."

Wang Baoguo said: "The goods will arrive in Yangcheng tonight, and we are just waiting for customers to inspect them. Once the ship arrives, we can load them."

It takes about one day to travel from Kunming to Guangzhou by train.

The arms were first transported to the warehouse at Yangcheng Wharf. After Rashid inspected the goods and paid the money, they could be loaded and shipped directly as soon as the merchant ship arrived.

This is also the case now, China lacks sea vessels and does not have the ability to transport goods by sea.

Otherwise, you can ship the goods to the Middle East by sea, unload them at the port in Iraq, and earn some extra money on the transportation costs.

"Your incident this time also served as a reminder to the ministry. We held several meetings to study the matter and finally decided that the military factories were not qualified to engage in foreign trade, and that the ministry had to be the main body of foreign trade," said Wang Baoguo.

Liu Tao frowned slightly.

He could understand why the ministry did this.

After all, if military factories were allowed to engage in foreign trade, things would be in chaos.

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

But if we lose foreign trade and rely solely on internal resources, how can Panshan Machinery Factory grow and develop rapidly?

Procurement through the military?
Stop joking. The next step is for the military to be patient. They want to spend one dollar as if it were ten dollars. How much money do they spend on weapons and equipment in a year? When it comes to guns and bullets, how much do they spend in a year?

How many soldiers have served for two years, only to find out when they retire that they had less than five bullets left for shooting!
How many military factories were converted to civilian use, some selling ice cream sold ice cream, some selling popsicles sold popsicles, but eventually they could not survive and went bankrupt, leaving only abandoned factory areas decades later.

Relying on the firearms he developed, Panshan Machinery Factory could live a relatively comfortable life, but as for development and growth, that was definitely out of the question.

Without money, there is no way to develop and grow.

"However, you can go and discuss business. Just like last time, foreign exchange will be controlled by the department. Your factory will have priority. If there are other factories that can produce, we will allocate them based on the situation." Wang Baoguo said.

Liu Tao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that this is a small back door for myself.

"We don't want funding from our superiors. Can you give us a policy that allows us to raise our own research funds and operate independently for projects that are not funded by the state?" Liu Tao thought for a while, "Allow us to seek international partners for technology development. This way, it will be easier to purchase products and open up the market."

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

Liu Tao doesn't even look at the millions of dollars allocated from above.

As for the projects funded by the state, it is unlikely that they will fall to Panshan Machinery Factory, but will only fall to those large military factories and research institutes.

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

"I'll bring this up at the next meeting, but don't hold your hopes too high." Wang Baoguo nodded, but also reminded: "The firearms you develop are very advanced, especially the heavy machine guns and heavy sniper rifles, which are advanced in the world. Some comrades are very dissatisfied with you for negotiating orders without reporting and obtaining their approval." Over the past year, the most eye-catching performance in the military industry has been the several firearms developed by Liu Tao and the semi-automatic bullet production line.

At first, everyone thought it was much more advanced than the original one, and the soldiers liked it, and it had excellent battlefield performance. However, as research progressed, it was discovered that it had actually 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 cannot be compared with heavy weapons such as tanks and airplanes. The order that the Third Ministry of Machine Building is negotiating with Egypt is for airplanes and engines!" Liu Tao widened his eyes and muttered.

Any advanced technology will be kept secret, not only in China but also abroad. The most advanced and best ones are always used by themselves and will not be sold no matter how much money is offered.

But the problem is that China is now too poor, extremely poor, as poor as a ghost.

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

No matter how advanced the light weapons are, their firepower is limited and they do not have the ability to cause large-scale destruction. From a starting point, they are not as good as heavy weapons such as airplanes, tanks and missiles.

What would a poor and crazy rabbit do? They even dared to sell the 'Dongfeng-2800' medium-range ballistic missile with a range of 3 kilometers!

The price of one 'Dongfeng-3' medium-range ballistic missile was as high as 1 million US dollars. 35 missiles were exported, with a total contract of 35 billion US dollars!
The rabbit thought the deal was too expensive, while the camel thought it was too cheap.

From then on, Saudi Arabia had hard goods to rely on and felt more secure.

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

Wang Baoguo didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

You are poor, but don't say it out loud.

Young people, with their beardless mouths, speak without restraint.

"In short, 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 Ministry of Machine Building is responsible for managing the national weapons industry.

Wang Baoguo didn't want other departments to know what Liu Tao had done but the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building was unaware of it. It would be embarrassing if they didn't know when the leader asked them.

"Last time, as soon as I agreed on it, didn't I report it to the department immediately?" Liu Tao muttered.

He has a scale in his heart to measure what he can and cannot do.

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

After all, it was a chaotic period of transition from free military aid to arms dealer, and everyone was still confused. How could they have thought of this method?

"You~~" Wang Baoguo smiled, "After the goods are delivered this time and the balance is settled, the foreign exchange will remain in 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 Ministry of Machine Building is no exception.

Liu Tao shrugged helplessly, "A higher-ranking official can crush a person to death. If you say so, how can I say no?"

You should know that banks now force foreign exchange settlement, 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 name for this thing - US dollars!
The US dollar is a hard currency comparable to gold!

If you want to study abroad or go abroad for business, you need US dollars.

Like the delegation of the Third Ministry of Machine Building, several people were in such a tight schedule that they could only collect 5 US dollars. You can imagine how valuable the US dollar is now.

(End of this chapter)