Expedition to Europe

The exact amount invested by Lanfang in developing helicopters is now impossible to calculate.

Since the Corsican period, Qin Zhiyuan ordered Long Chengyuan to start developing helicopters. Due to objective conditions, the research and development of helicopters has not been smooth. It was not until the arrival of Nikola Tesla that the progress of helicopter research and development was suddenly accelerated. Now It has basically entered the finalizing stage.

A rough calculation shows that Qin Zhiyuan probably invested less than 10 million.

Calculating it this way, Qin Zhiyuan's asking price of "one billion" is quite a lot.

However, the value of scientific researchers cannot be measured in money, and the value of a helicopter cannot be summed up in 10 million. The price offered by Qin Zhiyuan includes the efforts of the scientific researchers headed by Long Chengyuan over the past few years, including Ni From the looks of it, the value of Gurla Tesla's genius ideas is not much, even "one billion".

Not to mention the helicopter itself is worth the price.

As for the attitude of the French towards scientific research, this has something to do with France’s political system. As a democratic country, it is impossible for the country to spend an astronomical amount on seemingly endless scientific research every year, unless some commercial institutions are motivated by commercial interests. After the departure of Louis Renault, France really had no industrial leader, so France's scientific research work was basically at a standstill after the World War.

If you don't have scientific research capabilities and want to stay ahead of the curve in science and technology, you have to endure Qin Zhiyuan's seemingly greedy "blackmail."

"Having a helicopter and not having a helicopter are two different concepts. First of all, the use of helicopters is not restricted by the site. Helicopters can be used on almost any terrain. This is very important in cities. Nowadays, buildings are getting taller and taller, and the roofs are natural landing pads. , so don’t worry about there being no market. The more important field is in the military. Helicopters can provide fire support for ground troops and can quickly evacuate the wounded. , transporting supplies, helicopters can do almost anything, so if you think the price of one billion is high, you are wrong. The value of helicopters is much higher than this. I can tell you clearly that only with France and Lanfang can We will consider this deal, otherwise there will be no room for negotiation at all." Qin Zhiyuan was not exaggerating. If it were not for the French, Qin Zhiyuan would not negotiate the transfer of technology at all.

Compared with transferring technology, directly selling aircraft is the most profitable. Transferring technology is equivalent to killing the goose that lays the eggs.

Don't look at Qin Zhiyuan's price of "one billion", which Paul Reno cannot accept. If Lanfang's helicopter is successfully developed, the French will need almost this amount if they want to buy hundreds of them. Calculating it this way, Qin Zhiyuan's price of one billion is really very high. justice.

This "transfer of technology" and "licensed production" are two different things. Once France obtains helicopter technology, France can produce helicopters for sale, and it will not take long for the French to get their money back.

Paul Reynold understood the twists and turns involved, but it was a pity that Paul Reynold did not have the financial strength of Louis Reno, so Paul Reno could only say slightly bitterly: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, you won't get enough at this price." support."

The support here refers to the funds approved by the Parliament. Every penny the French government wants to spend requires the approval of the French Parliament. Although the price of "one billion" is a good deal, it will obviously not be approved by the Parliament.

"Then we can only purchase finished products. I can give you a promise. As long as the model of Lanfang's helicopters is confirmed, your French government can obtain them as soon as possible." Qin Zhiyuan gave in to the maximum extent.

Selling helicopters to the French will of course cause technology leakage, but this is not a serious problem. When the French thoroughly understand the technology of Lanfang helicopters, Lanfang will launch the next generation of helicopters, so the French will still have to pay. Buy it, it’s actually not cheap at all.

However, democratic countries are so weird. This suggestion, which is not very beneficial to the French, was actually approved by Paul Reynold: "Okay, Your Majesty, can we talk about the issue of Jean Pierce now?"

The French did not find Jean Pierce's body in the basement of Norodom Palace, so the French have reason to believe that Jean Pierce was taken away by the Lanfang people and may be being held somewhere now.

"Jean Pierce? What's wrong with him?" Qin Zhiyuan refused to admit it.

No matter what, Qin Zhiyuan will not hand over Jean Pierce. The French government announced that it will investigate the "Norodom Palace basement incident" to the end. Although it is a cover-up, if Jean Pierce is handed over, it will be tantamount to giving away the biggest clue. If left in the hands of the French, Lanfang will be passive in all aspects, instead of being dead without evidence like now.

"Your Majesty, no matter what, Jean Pierce still has his own family in France, with his own wife and his own children. You cannot prevent Jean Pierce from reuniting with his family." Paul Reno did not give up.

"Of course, I won't stop him, but I don't know where Jean Pierce is." Qin Zhiyuan pushed cleanly.

While Qin Zhiyuan and Paul Reno were talking nonsense, Jean Pierce was at the Lanfang Helicopter Research Institute.

As the chief designer of the Renault factory, Jean Pierce knew many Lanfang executives, which ultimately saved Jean Pierce's life. In the "Norodom Palace basement incident", only Jean Pierce survived.

When he was first brought back to Lanfang, Jean Pierce was indeed very sad for what happened to his colleagues, but soon, Jean Pierce forgot about those unlucky researchers and concentrated on the research of helicopters.

Jean Pierce knew that it was indeed unfair to his colleagues who died in the "Norodom Palace Basement Incident", but there was no such thing as "fairness" or "unfairness" in the open and secret struggles between countries. Jean Pierce was extremely lucky to be able to save his life, and asking for too much was like asking for trouble.

However, although he said so, people are emotional animals after all. Jean Pierce has feelings for France, so although Jean Pierce visited the progress of Lan Fang's helicopter research, he did not express any opinions.

Although no one came to Jean Pierce to explain how the Lan Fang government would treat him during this period, Jean Pierce had already felt the attitude of the Lan Fang government. The reason why the Lan Fang government opened all the information to Jean Pierce showed that the Lan Fang government did not intend to let Jean Pierce go.

There are indeed many acquaintances of Jean Pierce in the Lan Fang high-level officials. Minister of Industry Zhang Tianyun and Air Force Zhou Hongguang are very familiar with Jean Pierce. Zhang Tianyun and Zhou Hongguang were representatives of Chinese workers in the Renault factory at the time. It can even be said that they were taught by Jean Pierce. Zhou Hongguang later changed to learn flying postures and joined the Air Force. Zhang Tianyun has always worked in the industrial field, which is in line with Jean Pierce's work.

So during this period, Zhang Tianyun has been accompanying Jean Pierce.

On the day Paul Renault arrived in Lan Fang, Zhang Tianyun found Jean Pierce with a bottle of wine.

"Why, is this the last supper?" After experiencing the killing of the "Norodom Palace Basement Incident", Jean Pierce can accept anything now, so when he spoke, Jean Pierce's voice did not tremble at all.

"Old friend, don't think we are so tyrannical. We will not treat friends like that." Zhang Tianyun's expression was sincere.

"Friend? I think your actions have tarnished this word." Jean Pierce was impolite, as if he had already understood life and death.

"Maybe, but it is undeniable that you were not righteous at first, so everything happened later." Zhang Tianyun did not deny it. This kind of thing is the same.

"You didn't have to do this, at least you didn't have to hurt so many people, Bob Morrison, Phoebe Reed, Douglas Henrietta - can you understand the feeling of colleagues being slaughtered like livestock in front of you?" Jean Pierce was still a little excited when talking about the colleagues who died.

"Of course, I feel the same way, because when I heard that my comrades were killed, I felt the same way." Zhang Tianyun threw back the same attack.

The original text is in Liu # 9 @Book/Bar!

Zhang Tianyun is also a military member. Strictly speaking, Zhang Tianyun is also a soldier, so it is not wrong for Zhang Tianyun to say that the pilots who died were "comrades".

"It shouldn't have been like this. All this shouldn't have happened." Jean Pierce is not a lawyer or a politician. Jean Pierce is just an ordinary scientific researcher, so Jean Pierce still has a moral bottom line.

"Yes, all this shouldn't have happened, but since it has happened, we should look forward. The dead are gone, and the living are like this." Zhang Tianyun spent a long time to translate the last sentence into French.

"Yes, we have to continue to live--" Jean Pierce grabbed the wine glass in front of him and drank it all, which really tasted like a drunken dream.

"Amy and Raman are already on the boat." Zhang Tianyun was not in a hurry and drank slowly with the glass.

Amy is Jean Pierce's wife, and Raman is Jean Pierce's son.

Jean Pierce has two sons and a daughter.

"You bastard, what are you going to do? You can do whatever you want to me, but you are not allowed to hurt my family." Jean Pierce was furious, jumped up and grabbed Zhang Tianyun's neck.

"Calm down, you bastard--" Zhang Tianyun pried Jean Pierce's hand apart and signaled the guards at the door to leave.

"Don't hurt Amy - don't hurt Raman - don't" Jean Pierce was very emotional, and he was fighting with Zhang Tianyun and refused to give up. His roar was more like a scream.

"Calm down, we don't want to hurt Amy and the others, but we want you to be reunited. Do you want to live alone in Lan Fang forever?" Zhang Tianyun pressed Jean Pierce on the carpet and spit at Jean Pierce's face.

"Reunion - reunion -" Jean Pierce stopped struggling.

"Yes, reunion, Jean, I don't want to lie to you, we will definitely not let you go, so you can only choose to join Lan Fang now." Zhang Tianyun explained to Jean Pierce.

"Join Lan Fang? Absolutely impossible!" Jean Pierce was firm.

"Absolutely impossible", the existence of this sentence itself is problematic, there is really nothing in this world that is absolutely impossible.