The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 85 The Palace
"It's a family. The courtyard house was a royal palace in the Qing Dynasty. It was bought by a retired gentleman during the Republic of China period. He passed away a few years ago. They haven't had a good life in recent years, so they wanted to sell the courtyard house and go abroad to the United States." Chen Fang explained.

Liu Tao showed his delight.

The term "Yugong" refers to those who failed and went to the concessions to continue living a wealthy life, and those in power did not kill them all.

There were many such hermits during the Republic of China period.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, these former historical celebrities were not killed with one blow. Many of them were treated well, and either lived a peaceful life or were revered with a title.

He finally understood why the other party wanted 150,000 RMB but only 60,000 USD.

Even though the current exchange rate is 1 USD = 1.5 RMB, ordinary people cannot even think about going to the bank and exchanging RMB for USD.

As for the black market, 1 USD for 2 RMB is considered very conscientious and is hard to come by. 1 USD for 3 RMB is also rare, and there are even exaggerated exchanges of 1 USD for 5 RMB.

But Liu Tao just happened to have a way!

"Mom, let's go again in the afternoon. If possible, we will buy it." Liu Tao said.

Chen Fang frowned slightly, "But we don't have that much money."

"I'll take care of the money issue." Liu Tao was full of confidence.

After lunch and a short rest, the whole family set off for Shichahai and Houhai.

The scenery here is beautiful, with water and sky reflecting each other in front of the gate, rippling blue waves, willows swaying on the embankment, winding paths and corridors, pavilions and terraces in the courtyard, surrounded by lakes and rugged rocks, lush green trees and the fragrance of flowers.

This is a graceful, elegant, quiet and unique courtyard!

The more I read, the more I feel moved. The ancient princes really knew how to enjoy life. Although those hermits failed in the power struggle, they still lived a life of luxury.

It was also at this time that the other party wanted to go abroad, otherwise he would never have been able to afford such a courtyard house.

"We will complete the transaction tomorrow afternoon. We will pay in US dollars and give you 80,000 US dollars, is that okay?" Liu Tao said to a man in his sixties.

This old man is the head of this family and the owner of this courtyard.

The old man showed his joy, "Yes, yes!"

He never thought that he could get so many US dollars. You know, if the other party paid 200,000 RMB, he could only exchange it for 40,000 to 50,000 US dollars.

When Liu Tao saw the old man's appearance, he secretly sighed in his heart, thinking that his grandfather must have been a powerful figure when he was in power, and his name would be left in history.

However, the family fell into poverty and spent all their savings. No matter how much wealth they had in the past, after decades, they were not much different from ordinary people.

But after all, they are a powerful family and a family of scholars. You can tell at a glance that they are well-read. I think even if they go abroad, they will not do too badly.

In the past, the idea of ​​going abroad was out of the question.

It is only now because of reform and opening up that they have the opportunity to go abroad. They can go to Hong Kong through formal channels first, and then take a plane to the United States from Hong Kong.

At this time, China Civil Aviation had not yet opened flights to the United States, so if you wanted to go to the United States, you could only go through Hong Kong.

The next morning, Liu Tao went to the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building with his parents, and soon met Wang Baoguo. Liu Tao first reported on his work.

Wang Baoguo was very shocked at Liu Tao's ability to develop equipment. He did not expect that Liu Tao had developed new weapons during this period.

Especially Liu Tao, who is now developing self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.

"Then I look forward to your good news. As long as you can develop a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun that can rival the 'Cheetah', I will assign Factory 256 to your Panshan Machinery Factory!" Wang Baoguo said solemnly.

Factory 256, located in Shancheng, was renamed the State-owned Shancheng Air Compressor Factory in 1953. It switched to the production of military products in 1955. In 1959, the first batch of military equipment produced in trial production majestically passed through Di'anmen Square and proudly accepted the review of the leaders.

To date, Factory 256 is the largest special vehicle manufacturer in the entire Southwest, and the only special vehicle manufacturer that can simultaneously design and manufacture tracked and wheeled vehicles.

"Leader, you said this!" Liu Tao's eyes lit up.

Wang Baoguo laughed and said, "A gentleman's promise is worth a thousand gold. As long as you can develop advanced self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, there will be no problem for Factory 256 to belong to Panshan Machinery Factory."

West Germany's "Cheetah" self-propelled anti-aircraft gun caused a sensation around the world as soon as it was born and attracted the attention of many countries. There is no doubt that this has opened a new chapter in battlefield air defense. Its advanced performance has greatly improved the battlefield's medium and low altitude air defense capabilities.

China would naturally not have failed to notice the 'Cheetah' self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, and the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building was also specializing in the development of related technologies.

It’s just that China’s relevant technology is too weak now, and even now no significant progress has been made.

If Liu Tao can develop such an advanced self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, then the transfer of Factory 256 to Panshan Machinery Factory can also drive the development of Factory 256.

The trend of reform and opening up has begun in full swing, and the country's focus has shifted to economic construction, which has also had an impact on Factory 256. If there is a weapon with the same performance as the "Cheetah" self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, as long as the performance is not too bad, the troops will purchase it. Even if they will not purchase too much, it will be enough to allow Factory 256 to develop.

"This time when you go back, let the working group go with you." Wang Baoguo said: "Whether it can be upgraded to a large-scale military factory depends entirely on the results of the working group's investigation."

"No problem!" Liu Tao was full of confidence. "Our Panshan Machinery Factory is no worse than any large military factory, and it will get better and better in the future!"

Liu Tao is full of confidence in this regard.

Wang Baoguo showed appreciation.

He has been in Beijing for some time, and what he has seen and heard is naturally not comparable to what he had seen in Yun Province before. However, so far, he has not seen anyone in the military industry system who has such outstanding research and development capabilities as Liu Tao, who is full of young people's sharpness, dares to fight, and dares to take risks.

The batch of goods delivered by Panshan Machinery Factory to Egypt had already settled the balance yesterday and left the Yangcheng Port.

Compared with the 1.67 million U.S. dollars from the Third Ministry of Machine Building, which has not yet been seen, the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, even though it has been experiencing a continuous outflow of U.S. dollars during this period, still has a huge sum of nearly million U.S. dollars in its account.

And all this was brought by Liu Tao.

As for the firearms developed by Liu Tao, they have greatly enhanced the combat effectiveness of the troops. So far, there has been no news of the weapons delivered to the troops being disliked by the troops, but rather they have been well received by the soldiers.

To be honest, although the working group is going to Panshan Machinery Factory with Liu Tao this time, the issue of upgrading Panshan Machinery Factory to a large military factory has already been discussed by the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building and a conclusion has been reached.

After all, the scale of Panshan Machinery Factory is now a well-deserved large military factory.

(End of this chapter)