The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 93: Eagle Sauce Pays? (Please Read)
Made in the United States, from the 19th century to the 20s, was synonymous with copycats, and also represented poor quality, low-end products. It was by relying on copycats that the United States became a super copycat empire, and its economy gradually rose and became the world's largest economy.

Relying on World War I and World War II to become the biggest winner, and absorbing and taking away a large number of scientists, the United States ushered in a major technological boom and became the most powerful technological power in the world. The only country that could compare with it was the Soviet Union.

Made in the USA has become synonymous with advanced and high-end!
At that time, the United States had not yet deindustrialized, and its industrial strength was still very strong. The only industrial power in the world that could be compared with that of the Soviet Union.

Currently, there are only two countries in the world that have a complete industrial system, 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 terms of weapons and equipment, the majority of the world's weapons and equipment are made in the Soviet Union and the United States, while the rest are only a small portion.

Even now, after three decades of hard work, China has only initially built an industrial system and a national defense industrial system, but these industrial systems and national defense industrial systems are still very rudimentary.

In Wang Baoguo's opinion, Liu Tao's idea of ​​selling weapons and equipment to the Americans was simply a pipe dream.

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

Systematic weapons and equipment are the most important!
This was also the reason why China gritted its teeth and insisted on unifying its weapons and equipment when things were very difficult, ending the era of weapons made by all nations, even though many weapons at the time were actually more advanced than domestically produced ones.

"Leader, the Americans don't have to use it themselves, but they can buy it for others." Liu Tao looked meaningful.

Buy it for someone else?
Wang Baoguo was stunned.

Then he burst out laughing: "It's true that the Americans are a developed country, but their money comes from the wind. How can they buy weapons and equipment for others?"

Liu Tao smiled, he knew what Wang Baoguo meant.

In July 1944, the United States passed the provisions of the International Monetary Fund Agreement in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, requiring all countries to confirm the official gold price of US$7 per ounce set by the US government in 1934 and use it as the basis of the international monetary system. This is the famous Bretton Woods system.

1 ounce of gold = $35!

The dollar is equivalent to gold!
So in that era, the US dollar was often called American dollars, and as long as you had US dollars, you could exchange them for gold in the United States at any time.

Unfortunately, the growth of gold reserves could not keep up with the growth of banknotes printed by printing factories. US dollars were continuously printed and flowed into the market, but the United States did not have that much gold. The Bretton Woods system gradually became unsustainable and finally collapsed in 1971.

The first person to break this window paper was none other than Charles de Gaulle of France.

In February 1965, Charles de Gaulle convened a press conference with reporters from around the world and bluntly stated that the United States no longer had enough gold to exchange at the rate they had promised.

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

However, there are still big differences between the gold dollar and the petrodollar. For example, in the past, 1 US dollar = 2.5 RMB. Although there were slight fluctuations, the fluctuations were 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 70s, the United States experienced an economic stagflation crisis, which was a period of hyperinflation and rapid inflation.

The US economy is still in crisis and the landlords have no surplus food.

"Leader, now that the Soviet Union has entered Afghanistan, the most anxious country in the world should be the United States. Once the Soviet army moves south again, the passage to the Arabian Sea will be opened up, and its influence will radiate throughout the Middle East at once, threatening the oil energy security of Europe and the United States. The petrodollar that the Americans have worked so hard to build 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 a way to stop the Soviet Union, such as supporting and helping the resistance forces, and this requires a large amount of weapons and equipment. It is too far and difficult to transport them from Europe and the United States to Afghanistan, but if they buy them from us, it will be cheap and easy to transport."

"This is a win-win business." Liu Tao said. Wang Baoguo was shocked and looked at Liu Tao in shock.

He even wanted to split Liu Tao's head open to see what his head looked like. He could even think of such a thing.

But what Liu Tao proposed is very practical.

China is naturally anxious as well, but the most anxious is definitely the United States!
As Liu Tao said, the United States could not bear the consequences of the Soviet Union moving south to open up access to the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea.

Once the Soviet Union achieved this strategic goal, the bipolar rivalry could be declared over in advance.

What are you arguing about? There’s no need to argue anymore!
After being shocked, Wang Baoguo quickly said to Liu Tao: "Don't contact the Americans yet. Let's hold a meeting and report to the leadership."

Wang Baoguo realized that this was an earth-shattering event, and he didn't want Liu Tao to expose it.

If he pierced the sky, he would not be able to protect Liu Tao.

After leaving the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, Liu Tao looked at the time and saw that it was still early, so he planned to go for a walk in the city and went to the bus stop.

Not long after, Liu Tao got on the bus.

Entering the city, Liu Tao looked out the window at the capital of that era. There were no tall buildings, no traffic, and not many buses on the road. The few cars were either from embassies of various countries or government agencies. There were no personal cars at all.

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

The most common one is bicycle.

Bicycles in this era were high-end products. A Phoenix brand bicycle cost two hundred yuan, and often you couldn't buy one with two hundred yuan; you had to use a bicycle ticket.

Having a Phoenix brand bicycle is absolutely enviable, and you can ride it with great vigor on the street.

The three major items for marriage nowadays are bicycles, watches and sewing machines!

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

If you work in a supply and marketing cooperative, there is a little bit of profit, that is, you have to add a little money when you pay in RMB for the goods, and the extra money is the profit.

The bicycles Liu Tao had seen were all rather bulky and not very beautiful. They were far less diverse in style and beautiful in appearance than the bicycles that were produced thirty or forty years later.

However, the quality of bicycles of this era was very good. A bicycle could often be used for ten or twenty years and could carry up to two hundred kilograms.

Only by living in this era can you know what the bicycle kingdom is!
Suddenly, Liu Tao's eyes lit up, and his eyes were attracted by a girl who just got on the bus.

(End of this chapter)