Chapter 2670
Compromise: Once it begins, it will continue indefinitely.
Chapter 2670 Once compromise begins, it will continue.
Alliance, Susco.
November is approaching, which also heralds the arrival of winter.
Snowflakes danced in the sky, adorning parks, roads, and groves with a light blanket of snow, making the already solemn squares and palaces appear even more dignified.
This is a season steeped in history, the beginning of an epic, where a simple, cool color palette is punctuated by a crimson hue, like fresh blood.
The cold wind howled, but it could not extinguish the fire in the hearts of every member of the alliance. On the contrary, the fire would burn brighter and brighter in the cold wind.
It's a season unique to the league, and even more so, a romance for men.
The burly old man still sat at the long table made of nanmu wood, which exuded a sense of history, but this time there was no one opposite him.
The room was so empty that it gave one an indescribable sense of loneliness.
Behind him, snowflakes fell softly; in front of him lay a vast map.
At this moment, however, his gaze was fixed on the roof, as if he were looking out at the world through the roof.
After a long while, the burly old man finally withdrew his gaze, then sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair.
His gaze then fell on the table, his face showing both conflict and anger.
Only after he reached this position did he understand why his predecessor was 'mediocre' and only thought about 'growing corn'.
It's not that my ex didn't want to do anything meaningful, but rather that there were too many entanglements.
To achieve something significant will disrupt the current balance.
It will also involve the interests of all parties.
If you try to take away someone else's share of the pie without exceptional political skills, the outcome is inevitable.
The fate of your ex is proof of that.
So, my ex can only grow corn now.
Because the people who grow corn are farmers, and they are someone that no force would bother with.
Within this region, all forces tacitly agree to relinquish control and refrain from interfering.
Thus, the alliance became known as the 'Corn Alliance'.
Even after he came to power, he couldn't find a way to change this 'single' agricultural structure.
Because farmers have gained enough benefits from this.
At this point, the farmers also became a force to be reckoned with.
This has made the league's situation even worse.
His ambition was gradually worn away by the trivialities of daily life.
As is the case now, he can only sit here, look at the documents on the table, and act as a signatory.
What I have here are the materials reported from below.
One of them was a report on the space program.
This report, however, only discusses when and what will be launched, without mentioning anything else.
It looks more like a 'notice'.
The burly old man almost tore it up after reading it.
But thinking of the internal power struggles within the space agency, he helplessly tossed it onto the table.
Perhaps the person who submitted this report didn't not want to write it, but rather couldn't.
This is also one of the drawbacks of the alliance in its space program.
The departments that manufacture rockets and spacecraft are two separate entities.
Moreover, they are two unrelated departments.
He didn't understand why he had to do things this way after taking office, why he couldn't find a highly respected person to preside over the position, and why things had to turn out like this, with everyone doing their own thing.
As a result, either the rocket malfunctions or the spacecraft has a problem.
Just like last time, the rocket exploded because of a liquid oxygen leak.
How can they make such basic mistakes? What's the point of having this bunch of idiots?
And the time before that, the rocket went up, but the spacecraft's automatic control system malfunctioned, and it lost contact with the ground.
What is this for?
They just launch it and then leave it to its own devices?
play?
He approached the people in charge of both sides multiple times about this matter, but they just couldn't see eye to eye. Yet, he still needed to rely on both sides, because he couldn't do without either of them.
Therefore, after the last accident, he thought of halting the "moon landing program" and putting the saved funds into economic development.
Then, things didn't go as planned.
First, his subordinates refused, and their words even expressed their determination to fight the United States to the death.
Then China came out to stir things up, with a ten-year lunar landing plan that excited the alliance to no end.
Even the younger brother is preparing to go to the moon, how can the older brother not show some support?
Besides, if the younger brothers were really allowed to go up and eat mooncakes while they were still looking up at the moon from below, what would the other younger brothers think?
Will anyone want to change their eldest brother?
Finally, the United States added fuel to the fire, continuing to pour money in after one explosion.
France and Britain, not wanting to miss out on trouble, each shamelessly declared their intention to go to the moon.
Even more shameless people actually tried to hitch a ride.
If he could still tolerate this, he probably wouldn't be able to hold onto his position for long.
Now, he faces a dilemma: to move forward or to retreat.
His gaze shifted from one report to another.
This is a report analyzing the strength of China.
The main purpose is to determine whether the other side has fired blanks.
The investigation results not only surprised him, but also gave him a chilling feeling.
Who would have thought that my former underling would develop to this point so quietly?
Even in computer research, they are about to surpass the league.
In the smelting of certain special alloys, they have even surpassed the Alliance.
This involves the titanium alloy technology used in aircraft manufacturing.
Because of this, the Alliance's planes could never catch up with the Blackbird.
Because of this, the opponent's white and blue horses stole the show and were even implicitly referred to as third-generation fighter jets.
Even the next generation of guys are being sought after.
The consequence of this is that the other party's aviation manufacturing industry has been injected with fresh blood, and its development will only accelerate.
The exchange terms proposed by the other party are clearly more advantageous to them.
However, their own people only saw the benefits and selectively ignored the hidden dangers.
He saw it all, but he couldn't do anything to change it.
out of control.
This is the true thought of the burly old man.
If we compromise this time, what about next time?
Once the opening is made, it will only get bigger and bigger.
This is not good news for the league.
However, he could only pretend that he knew nothing.
The snow outside the window was falling heavier and heavier, and a thick layer had already covered the windowsill, making the room feel cold and empty.
The burly old man stood up and silently watched the scene below.
Images flashed through his mind, and the anxiety on his face began to ease. "Winter is here, but victory is not far away."
Four Nine Cities.
Yang Xiaotao rushed over as soon as he received Chen Lao's call, and saw Huang Lao and the others there when he entered.
He smiled apologetically at Old Chen, then quickly walked over and sat down next to Old Wang.
"You're always the last one to arrive at the meeting, acting like you're more important than the leaders."
Old Wang joked from the side.
Yang Xiaotao straightened his notebook before speaking, "Don't talk nonsense, I came right on time."
Old Wang smiled and then asked, "What have you been busy with lately?"
"Busy, so very busy."
“I just finished class at the vocational school and came over as soon as I got the call.”
As Yang Xiaotao was speaking, he suddenly remembered something and said to Old Wang, "By the way, speaking of technical schools, have you forgotten something?"
Old Wang shrank back, naturally knowing what Yang Xiaotao was referring to.
When the technical school was first established, he insisted on becoming the vice principal and even promised Yang Xiaotao that he would send someone to teach there.
But so far, no one has been sent over yet.
"What do you say?"
"How come I didn't know?"
"Um, let's have a meeting first, we'll talk about it later."
Seeing that Elder Zhang and Elder Qin were looking over, even the thick-skinned Elder Wang couldn't continue speaking and could only laugh it off to Yang Xiaotao.
Yang Xiaotao didn't say much, and then Chen Lao cleared his throat and began to chair the meeting.
"I've called you all here today because there's something I want to tell you."
As soon as Mr. Chen spoke, Secretary Guo distributed the prepared documents to the group.
Yang Xiaotao took the document, opened it, glanced at it, and immediately understood what the meeting was about. While the others were still looking, Old Chen explained, "This time we communicated with the alliance, and they agreed to open channels for us to purchase some items."
"There's a list at the back; you can take a look."
"Of course, I have to pay for it myself."
Yang Xiaotao listened and flipped to the back, and then saw that there were only about ten projects.
Moreover, most of them are raw materials, with almost nothing like machine tools or machinery.
However, as long as Yang Xiaotao has the rhenium metal he is hoping for, that will suffice.
The others also flipped to the end to read it, but their expressions were not good.
Because the things on it are almost never needed.
Old Chen wasn't surprised, and then said again, "Of course, transactions are mutual, and the alliance has also provided a list. See on the last page if there's anything you can do."
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to the last page.
Sure enough, there were even fewer items this time.
However, after taking a look, everyone immediately turned their attention to Yang Xiaotao.
Old Wang shook his head and said, "Good heavens, this is clearly a collaboration with you."
Yang Xiaotao looked at the list of items for sale. The first item was semiconductor materials, followed by satellite phones, and the third was calculators.
There's Mercury Machine Tool behind it, and even Chen Xing Machine Tool is at the very end.
Yang Xiaotao felt a little embarrassed after seeing this.
There are nine projects in total, and five of them are in nine departments. No wonder Lao Wang said that.
But is this alliance for real?
To actually want to purchase Mercury machine tools, this seems a bit contrary to the principles of the Heavenly Gang.
"We won't participate."
Just as Yang Xiaotao was wondering, Old Huang spoke first.
Everyone looked over and saw Old Huang laugh and say, "We don't even have enough tunnel boring machines for ourselves, and the production capacity isn't high, so let's just forget about it."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Yang Xiaotao looked at the fourth project, which was the tunnel boring machine.
"I remember the alliance had tunnel boring machines."
Old Qin asked from the side.
Old Chen glanced at Secretary Guo, who quickly stood up and introduced, "Sir, the information we received confirms that the Alliance does indeed have their tunnel boring machines."
"However, that was thirty years ago. Their tunnel boring machine was a compressed air open-face tunnel boring machine, which was much more backward than ours."
"The other party is currently researching nuclear-powered tunnel boring machines, but they haven't officially debuted yet. The alliance is severely lacking in the civilian tunnel boring machine field, which is why they are purchasing our tunnel boring machines."
After Secretary Guo finished speaking, he sat down again. Old Huang frowned and asked, "Do they have a price?"
Upon hearing this, Old Qin chuckled and said, "Old Huang is interested, huh?"
Old Huang shook his head, "This is a rare opportunity to earn money from the alliance."
"The price isn't too high; the other party offered 100,000 Alliance Coins per unit."
Old Chen spoke up.
"Forget it then, this price is only good for beggars."
Old Huang simply crossed his arms and didn't bother to say anything more.
If the price is right, he can even work overtime to earn some extra money.
This amount of money isn't even enough to cover the cost of materials and processing.
Yang Xiaotao shook his head when he heard the price.
The price they're offering is pure deception.
Even though Alliance Coins are very valuable now, a tunnel boring machine can't be bought for just 100,000.
Seeing that Elder Huang said this, Elder Chen looked at the others and asked, "What about you?"
"Is there anything you want to buy or sell?"
“Speak up, let’s go and talk together.”
After listening, everyone looked at each other, and finally it was Elder Zhang who said, "Our Third Ministry of Machine Building doesn't have anything to buy. As for what to sell, we haven't finished the machine tool task from last time, so we won't participate."
"Yes, our logistics department doesn't have much to say either; we won't be participating this time."
Old Qin also spoke up from the side.
Old Chen nodded in agreement, then looked at Yang Xiaotao, and the others also looked over.
"Sir, our Ninth Department can sell semiconductor raw materials, but the price cannot be low."
"And we also want to buy some materials, but the price can't be too high."
As expected, Yang Xiaotao spoke up decisively.
Old Chen was somewhat troubled after hearing this.
"This price might not be feasible."
Yang Xiaotao listened carefully and said, "Sir, now the other side is begging us."
"To be honest, we can also get something from Kazakhstan, this time it's just that we're doing it openly and honestly."
"Compared to them, they need our semiconductor materials more."
Hearing Yang Xiaotao say this, Old Chen simply nodded and then continued, "Let's put this matter aside for now and talk about the steel industry."
"In the first half of this year, the national steel production increased by 10 percentage points, and it is expected to reach 20 million tons this year."
"But we also have many problems, the most serious of which is the quality of steel."
The meeting lasted until evening. Yang Xiaotao closed his notebook and left with Huang Lao.
"Boss, I think we can sell the tunnel boring machine to the alliance."
The two approached the car, and Yang Xiaotao spoke cautiously.
Old Huang nodded in agreement. "I just think this price is too outrageous."
Yang Xiaotao laughed and said, "Then let's raise the price. When it comes to buying and selling, we can always bargain."
Old Huang agreed, saying, "Alright, I'll talk to Old Chen about it later."
"The price should be at least ten times higher."
Yang Xiaotao shook his head, "Ten times is too little, if you ask me, it should be at least twenty times."
Old Huang raised an eyebrow, then smiled and said, "If we really sell it for that price, I'll give you half."
"No need, we'll just go and rob the rich when the time comes."
Old Huang laughed heartily, then waved goodbye to Yang Xiaotao and left.
Three days after the meeting, Yang Xiaotao received another call from Mr. Chen.
"Xiao Tao, the other party has offered a price for purchasing semiconductors, agreeing to increase the price by 10% on top of the original price, but the price of raw materials will also increase by 5% to 10%."
Old Chen's voice was calm, but Yang Xiaotao understood the meaning behind it and then smiled, "Sir, there's still room for negotiation."
As soon as he finished speaking, Old Chen's laughter rang out.
"Yes, that's what I think too."
"As long as there is something to talk about, it means the other party cares a lot, and conversely, it means that the conversation can continue."
The two chatted briefly and then waited to see how things would develop.
Three more days passed.
Old Chen called the Ninth Department again.
This time the sound was even louder than last time.
"I have good news for you."
"The spacecraft that the Alliance tested yesterday has run into trouble again."
Old Chen's voice was tinged with schadenfreude.
Yang Xiaotao, without any hesitation, clapped his hands and exclaimed, "That's great!"
"Even better, the problem this time was slow signal response, which is said to be in the remote control system."
"I estimate that our semiconductors can fetch a good price."
Yang Xiaotao immediately nodded in agreement, “Sir, I think it would be most appropriate to increase it to 30% while the other party lowers the price back to the original price.”
Old Chen shook his head speechlessly on the other end of the phone. This kid was clearly planning to kick a man when he was down.
"Okay, let's talk again."
"Yes, let's talk about it again."
Just as the second week of November was about to end, Mr. Chen brought good news.
Not only did they get a price discount, but they also sold the tunnel boring machine from the Ministry of Machinery Industry.
Moreover, the price has increased to a full 2.5 million, a direct 25-fold increase.
When the good news arrived, Huang was overjoyed and immediately decided to sell one of the two machines he was currently manufacturing to the Alliance.
Then use the money to expand production.
This time, the Ministry of Machine Building will simultaneously launch six tunnel boring machines.
This time, we'll show everyone why the First Ministry of Machine Building is the boss.
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaotao called to ask to come over for a meal, and Old Huang immediately agreed, saying that he would arrange a get-together for the weekend.
However, neither of them expected the league to be so 'easy to talk to'.
The reason the league is so accommodating is probably nothing but pressure.
(End of this chapter)