Reborn: Billionaire in College

Although Chen Pingjiang didn't have much dealings with Musk, he still knew that this man was aloof, confident, and high-spirited. He was not afraid of offending anyone and dared to say anything.

The two of them are actually very similar!

He could almost imagine that Musk must have a smile on his face when he replied to the tweet, a mocking smile.

Just as he evaluated BYD in the early days, he believed that BYD's products lacked competitiveness and even said that he did not regard BYD as a competitor.

This time it was just to save some face for Chen Pingjiang.

……

The founding team members who rushed to He City gathered again in Dongjiang.

In the conference room, Chen Pingjiang looked at the faces in front of him with a smile on his face.

Apart from him, the youngest is 40 years old, and the oldest is even over 60 years old.

"Everyone has worked hard this time. After returning to their respective jobs, we should replenish the staffing in the shortest possible time, and pay attention to the training of the three generations of people. Although each base is under construction, our preliminary demonstration and design work must be one step ahead."

I called you all here today just to give you some encouragement.

"It's no exaggeration to say that now people around the country and even the world who are paying attention to this matter know our name. There is absolutely no reason for us to back down. R&D efficiency should be put second, and safety should be the first."

All eyes were focused on Chen Pingjiang.

"Don't worry, Mr. Chen. After your suggestion that day, we all agreed to take liquid oxygen and methane as our research direction."

Chen Pingjiang was not surprised by this conclusion.

The concept of liquid oxygen-methane engines was popularized by SpaceX and Blue Origin, allowing more people to see its benefits.

Xu Rui, who was not far away, almost couldn't hold back his laughter after hearing this. Is that called a discussion? It's more like a quarrel.

After the meeting, Chen Pingjiang called Xu Rui and said, "I am not a technical person, and neither are you, but I have found enough excellent talents. It is up to you to tap their potential and get things done. These are intellectuals, experts in aerospace. You can neither be fooled by them nor do things that make them resist. We must discuss everything, and at the same time, we must bring in the corporate style of a private enterprise."

Even as he left Chen Pingjiang's office and headed for the venue, Xu Rui was still thinking carefully about these words.

There is no doubt that these words reflect my expectations for myself and also point out the focus of my future work.

We need to coordinate the work of various professionals, but we cannot be led by them. At the same time as not offending them, we must firmly grasp the control of the company, establish the corporate style of private enterprises that puts efficiency first, and eliminate some bad practices in old state-owned enterprises.

These are easy to say but difficult to do.

Some of them are as old as Xu Rui's grandfather. It's not enough to smile, let alone say harsh words. But smiling blindly will only lose the dignity of the CEO. In the end, the work is not done, and the old experts pat their butts and jump to other jobs. What should I do?
Xu Rui couldn't help but frown and fell into thought, recalling the debate in He City two days ago.

"Now the whole world is researching liquid oxygen and methane engines. If we go back to research liquid oxygen, how can it be considered high-tech? I don't deny that liquid oxygen is not mature, but kerosene is good in some aspects and methane is good in some aspects. Comprehensive comparison shows that each has its pros and cons. Alternatively, liquid oxygen and methane are new things, and new things will have a growth period. At present, we must encourage a hundred flowers to bloom. If we don't research, we will fall behind others." These are what Zhang Xiaoping said.

Peng Xiaobo believes: "The technology of liquid oxygen and kerosene is the most mature now. Kerosene was also used as a propellant in history. From a safety perspective, I support kerosene. Everyone knows the advantages and disadvantages, so it's pointless to elaborate. Please share your opinions."

In short, each party has his own reasons. Fortunately, after several hours of closed-door meetings, everyone agreed to take liquid oxygen-methane engines as the research direction.

Because from the power point of view, more links are beneficial to methane, such as easy heat transfer design, easy pressurization design, easy reuse, etc. In a nutshell, "power loves methane."

Moreover, methane is cheap and has a better cost-effectiveness ratio.

But these were not enough to make everyone decide on methane as a research direction.

Because this cannot compare to the four words "safe and stable".

Finally, Xu Rui called for help - Chen Pingjiang.

After listening to opinions from all parties, Chen Pingjiang asked with a smile, "Is there kerosene on Mars?" This became the straw that broke the camel's back.

The experts who supported liquid oxygen and kerosene were left staring in amazement, speechless.

Yes!

It’s fine for rockets to fly around the Earth and the Moon, but what about going to Mars?
Musk is going to Mars, so why shouldn’t we go too?
The answer is found in Zubrin's book "Riding to Mars: A Plan for Settling the Red Planet".

This can be roughly explained as, by utilizing the resources of Mars, methane can be easily replenished.

Power prefers methane, while the general use is kerosene. The reason why power prefers methane is based on optimization; while the reason why the general use is based on safety and risk. Different needs determine everyone's choice. However, now that reuse and Mars exploration have opened up new directions, does the overall strategy need to shift?

After all, space travel requires some imagination.

Chen Pingjiang said: "I understand that everyone's role has not changed yet. Many times, people start from the word 'stability', which is of course not wrong. But private enterprises are different from state-owned enterprises. State-owned enterprises can do anything for safety. At the national level, whether a rocket can successfully ascend to space and enter orbit represents the face of the country. To put it more seriously, this is a political task. Once a mistake is made, it is a waste of funds and everyone's hard work. If I stand in that position, I will also support kerosene."

"But we are now a private enterprise, a private enterprise that is not short of money. What we want is imagination. No one will think there is anything wrong with one or two launch failures as long as no one is killed. After all, we are just a private enterprise. It doesn't matter what outsiders think of us. I am not afraid of losing face. I just need the final results and to always be on the right track."

Chen Pingjiang still had some things to say, for he was afraid that saying them would hurt the experts' feelings.

Is SpaceX really that powerful? He thinks not necessarily. But no matter what, Musk has developed the "miracle-making" Falcon 9, the Starlink program with tens of thousands of satellites, the Raptor engine, and reusability.

But why did our national team start projects in this regard so late?

To put it bluntly, it’s because of the burden of the national team.

This is enough to explain that it is impossible for the national team to operate as efficiently as Minsheng Bank Enterprise, conducting one experiment after another and becoming more successful each time despite the ridicule of the whole world.

The national team doesn’t have that much energy!

This!

This is precisely the significance of the above-mentioned agreement to launch commercial space flight.

This is also the significance of Chen Pingjiang's real aerospace work. (End of this chapter)