Chapter 1368
Nomadic Special Plane, Special Plane Design Expert Li Aiguo, The Concept of an Optical
The Middle East has been a land of war since ancient times, and it has become an arena of conflict, especially after the discovery of oil.
Although Old Sa cleaned the house, there were still quite a few demons and monsters.
Therefore, Lao Sa's standard travel setup is a convoy of large off-road vehicles.
The lead vehicle was naturally that large, golden SUV.
Seeing the iconic gold-plated convoy speeding past, kicking up clouds of dust, the people on the roadside immediately recognized it as Old Sa's outing.
Old Saddam Hussein actually has a pretty good reputation now, for a simple reason: he made a fortune selling oil and also provided a lot of welfare benefits.
"Judging from this scene, they're heading towards the airport. Are they going to pick up some important person?"
"They're probably brothers from the East! We have a very good relationship with the East now!"
"They really helped us a lot, and the tools they gave us were really useful."
Come on, let's go see what's going on!
Those who had free time drove their cars and followed the convoy, heading towards the airport.
Old Sa was aware of this situation, but he was quite enjoying it, after all, his patriotic brother had said that he should go deep into the masses.
Old Sa arrived at the airport, and as soon as he got out of the car, a large airplane flew in from the horizon.
"My Hu Da..."
Upon seeing the large aircraft, even the seasoned veteran Saddam Hussein was stunned and couldn't help but take off his sunglasses.
Old Sa's entourage and chiefs were all so astonished that their mouths were wide open.
The people on the periphery gasped and stared intently at the plane.
Simply because it was a large airplane that shimmered with dazzling golden light under the sunlight!
From beginning to end, it was glittering with gold, and from a distance, it looked just like a flying golden palace!
This level of sophistication and prestige is off the charts.
"Haha, my patriotic brother really understands me." Old Sa finally realized what was going on and laughed with satisfaction.
The chieftains nearby exchanged glances; no wonder the Grand Commander trusted his brothers in the east so much.
However, among the crowd, there was a chief whose face was so gloomy it seemed to drip water.
This man's name is Bam.
Back when the old leader was still in power, Bam was the "comprador" specifically responsible for liaising with the American people. Through him, the American people acquired many oil wells at low prices.
Bam also used this relationship with his foreign master to amass a fortune that rivaled that of a nation. He not only became the most powerful among the many tribes, but also secretly transferred all his children and property to Xiaomei's family.
After Saddam Hussein came to power, these oil wells were naturally taken back.
With his source of income cut off, Bam's status plummeted, and he had long since cursed Old Sa's ancestors for eighteen generations.
He had been holding back, wanting to take this opportunity to provoke and severely undermine Old Sa and the East's prestige.
As a result, the moment this golden airplane appeared, his prepared speech was completely cut off.
"Hmph, don't get too cocky! Big airplanes are foreign gadgets, they don't fit our Yi family's ancient nomadic traditions at all. I'll have plenty of excuses to make you lose face later!"
Bam had already made his plans.
The golden presidential plane landed gracefully on the runway, taxied for a distance, and then stopped in front of the red carpet.
The person in charge of the handover is Chen Baiya, who now has a foreign affairs passport and frequently travels abroad to handle business.
As the airplane's spiral staircase lowered, Chen Baiya wanted to go down to hand over the work, but Lao Sa couldn't wait to come up and shake his hand tightly.
"How is your master?"
“My master is doing well. He thanks you for the camel meat you sent last time and asked me to give you his regards,” Chen Baiya replied.
"Okay, Comrade Chen, take me inside for a tour."
Chen Baiya gestured for him to enter and led Lao Sa into the private jet.
As he walked through the driver's cab, the restroom, the kitchen, and so on, Old Sa's smile never faded.
Nothing more than glittering gold-plated decorations everywhere you look!
Even the toilet seat is golden!
This luxurious style is simply tailor-made for him!
Old Sa was very satisfied. This private jet was not only high-end but also safe, just the kind of private jet he had always dreamed of.
"Very good, Patriot Brother truly lives up to his reputation as a renowned private jet designer."
Just then, a voice came from behind.
“President, I feel something is amiss. We are of nomadic origin, and there is absolutely no trace of nomadic characteristics on this private jet. If you were to travel abroad, people would think you are a Westerner when they see this private jet.”
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed.
Everyone turned to look and saw that it was Bam who had spoken, and they immediately understood.
This is going to cause trouble.
The people looked at Chen Baiya with pity in their eyes.
This private jet is indeed impressive, but it will likely be very difficult to deliver it smoothly today.
Old Sa frowned slightly.
He's a smart man. Large aircraft are the product of modern industry. Trying to link them to the traditions of nomadic tribes is just nitpicking.
However, Bam's tribe was very powerful. Ever since the Xiaolang family suffered a defeat, they had been holding their breath and were looking for trouble.
There might be a second war soon.
In this situation, Old Sa didn't want to fall out with Bam and was trying to smooth things over.
Just then, Chen Baiya calmly chuckled.
“Sir Chief, your concerns are very valid, but we have one last place to visit, you will find out soon.”
With that, Chen Baiya turned around and walked towards the main cabin.
Bam sneered and followed behind. He was filled with disdain.
This young man from the East really won't shed a tear until he sees the coffin.
This is an airplane!
Do you think you can conjure up a desert on an airplane?!
"President, this is the main cabin, which you will use to receive distinguished guests and rest in the future."
As Chen Baiya explained, she pressed the switch on the hatch.
The hatches slid open slowly to both sides.
When he saw what was inside, Old Sa was stunned, as if struck by lightning, and stood there dumbfounded once again.
What should have been the main cabin with luxurious chairs and a conference table had been transformed into a giant tent!
That's right! Stepping through the hatch leads to an exquisitely designed tent entrance!
Looking up, you see an exotic dome, a carved support pillar stands in the center of the tent, and the ground is covered with top-quality pure wool carpets.
The surrounding furnishings and tapestries were completely replicated from the tents of the Little Yi family nobles.
It's even a hundred times more luxurious than a real tent!
"Good, good, good!" Old Sa finally realized that it was to his liking.
His biggest worry is that when he travels abroad for meetings on a private jet, he won't be able to let those foreign bumpkins experience the traditional culture of the Yi family.
Now that we have this "sky tent," what is he afraid of?!
From now on, he'll be the most dazzling guy at international conferences!
At this moment, Bam, who was about to launch into a tirade, opened his mouth wide enough to fit an ostrich egg.
He couldn't utter the derogatory words that were stuck in his throat; his old face turned bright red, like a monkey's bottom.
What is tradition?!
This is tradition!
They simply moved your entire nomadic tent to the stratosphere!
That's a real slap in the face!
Old Sa glanced at Bam indifferently and said coldly, "Bam, how could a frog in a well like you possibly reach the wisdom of a patriotic brother?"
Let me reiterate: Dongfang is our Yi family's closest brother!
I won't hold it against you this time.
But from now on, if anyone dares to do anything underhanded behind my back...
Don't blame me, Old Sa, for my ruthless knife!
The meaning of those words was quite clear, and Bam was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"Commander, you misunderstand. I was only thinking of our Yi family."
"is it?"
Old Sa took a step closer, lowered his voice, and said in a volume that only the two of them could hear, "I also heard that someone's children have all bought sea-view villas for Xiao Mei's family."
"what!"
Bam's legs went weak, and he almost knelt directly on the wool carpet.
He spent a fortune when he sent his children abroad.
Not only did they change his name and identity, but they also laundered the money for the villa seven or eight times, so much so that even Xiao Mei's family's FBL might not be able to find out.
How did Old Sa know all this so clearly?!
Seeing Bam's expression of utter disbelief, Old Sa was secretly alarmed.
Patriot Brothers' Hextech technology has an incredibly extensive intelligence network!
They even know the inside story of Xiaomei's family!
Old Sa did not continue his relentless attack.
This is both a weakness and a landmine.
If Bam dares to misbehave, he can blow him to pieces at any time.
Old Sa extended his hand to Chen Baiya: "Little Chen, this private jet is excellent, I'm very satisfied."
Since the purchase price of the aircraft had already been settled with crude oil and cash, Chen Baiya completed the handover procedures and then boarded the transport plane responsible for transporting the munitions.
Old Saddam Hussein was particularly fond of this private jet.
At the conference a few months later, he showed off his skills, making the princes in the Middle East extremely envious.
Those princes were so poor they only had money left.
Although I'm not qualified to buy a presidential-level super-large private jet, buying a slightly smaller business jet shouldn't be a problem, right?
As a result, Hextech received a flood of orders in the following months.
They then secured several large custom jet orders from Middle Eastern tycoons, making a fortune.
Of course, that's all in the future.
After seeing Chen Baiya off, Li Aiguo immediately threw himself into the research and development of the anti-image stabilization fire control system.
After nearly half a month of hard work, the samples are more than half completed, and the parts are 100% self-developed.
Of course, Li Aiguo's claim of 100% self-developed means truly 100%, unlike some people who claim that the self-development rate has reached 100%.
From a single screw to the core components, everything is self-developed. It's not about the outer casing being self-developed; it's about using statistical methods to justify the claim.
Fortunately, the studio's capabilities are growing stronger, with more senior engineers and skilled workers; otherwise, such difficult parts would have been impossible to manufacture.
The remaining parts will require the involvement of more experienced craftsmen, and the types of work will also increase.
While they were busy here, Chen Baiya successfully delivered Old Sa's private jet and also brought back a batch of local specialties that Old Sa had gifted her: Middle Eastern camel meat.
According to Chen Baiya, these camels are quite special; they were raised on goat milk from a young age, and their meat has a rich milky aroma.
This was a personal thank-you gift from Lao Sa to Li Aiguo.
Li Aiguo circled the large slices of camel meat twice, looking at them from left to right, but he couldn't see much difference between the camel that drank goat milk and the ordinary camel. At most, the meat was just a bit redder in color.
"Tsk tsk tsk, a camel raised on goat's milk? That's quite a luxurious way to eat!" As soon as Section Chief Xing heard about this interesting thing, he immediately strolled over with his hands behind his back.
"Section Chief, you've come at the right time. This is a gift from Old Sa to our maintenance section brothers. Would you mind helping us distribute it?"
Li Aiguo said with a smile.
"You're just so generous."
Section Chief Xing knew all too well.
This kind of good stuff must have been specially given to Li Aiguo by Old Sa as a token of their personal friendship.
This kid, on the other hand, casually turned it into "a gift for the locomotive depot".
However, Section Chief Xing also felt a pang of regret.
Li Aiguo is a young man who is not only incredibly skilled, but also impeccable in his conduct and dealings with others.
Even if the atmosphere in the locomotive depot is very positive, there are still quite a few people who are jealous.
If you eat alone every day, people might start talking behind your back.
Although given Li Aiguo's current status, those petty actions wouldn't harm him in the slightest.
But it's like a toad crawling on your foot; it doesn't bite, but it's disgusting.
Rather than keeping it and inviting envy, it's better to just take it out and offer it up, letting everyone have a taste of the good life.
This is what it means to "unite the vast majority of comrades"!
This kid's awareness is impressive!
Afterwards, Section Chief Xing divided the camel meat into small pieces, distributed them, and kept one piece for the employees to try that evening.
Li Aiguo also received a few pieces.
He picked out a few of the best pieces and gave them to several teachers and craftsmen, then took the rest back to the courtyard house.
The next morning, Li Aiguo arrived at the locomotive depot's workshop as usual.
Last night, the newly transferred experienced workers arrived one after another.
At this moment, under Chen Baiya's coordination, they are familiarizing themselves with the new blueprints.
These skilled workers were personally selected by Section Chief Xing; they are all highly skilled, and many were specially transferred from other factories.
“Master, the work on the other metal parts and mechanical structures has already been assigned, and the masters can start working on it right away. But this flat high-precision optical glass is the only one that's left to do…”
Chen Baiya came over with a roll of blueprints, scratching her head in distress.
It's no wonder Chen Baiya is worried; the parameter requirements for this optical glass are simply too high.
According to the technical data provided by Li Aiguo, the surface flatness of the glass is λ/20 to λ/50, which means that the surface undulation of the glass is equivalent to one five-thousandth of a human hair.
The roughness is Rq 0.2–0.5 nm.
It has basically achieved absolute flatness.
Not to mention parallelism.
Li Aiguo has designed a complete manufacturing process.
The initial procedures went relatively smoothly.
They used specially made quartz sand to melt the blanks in the high-temperature furnace of the glass factory, and then carried out coarse and fine grinding step by step.
But when it came to the most crucial polishing step, a problem arose.
Li Aiguo specially developed a polishing machine and even created an "asphalt polishing mold + cerium oxide".
In later generations, this thing was essentially a simplified version of CNC small grinding head polishing technology, and in theory it should have worked well.
However, after several attempts, Chen Baiya discovered that the polishing machine could only smooth the surface evenly and could not achieve nanometer-level local shaping.
The manufactured lenses did not meet the required parameters.
After listening to Chen Baiya's report, Li Aiguo rubbed his temples.
He had to admit that he had underestimated the difficulty of manufacturing high-precision optical glass in this era.
Machines are inanimate; for some delicate tasks, we still have to rely on human hands.
“I remember… we encountered a similar problem when we were developing the grid projection plate for the lithography machine. I think we asked the lens grinder from the Siming Glasses Shop in Beijing for help back then?” A flash of inspiration struck Li Aiguo.
"It was Master Liu who led the team. Yes, the requirements for the grid projection board are similar to those for optical glass. I'll have Section Chief Xing contact an optician right away." Chen Baiya's eyes lit up.
"Wait, this time we not only need to invite Master Liu, but also his apprentices, and have them stay in our Qianmen Locomotive Depot workshop. In addition, we need to recruit a group of good technical masters from all over the country."
Li Aiguo made a request that Chen Baiya hadn't expected.
In Chen Baiya's view, this was just another routine dispatching task. They hired a mentor from outside, and after the task was completed, the mentor left.
This method, which saves resources and solves difficult problems, is the most commonly used method for research work at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.
After all, transferring people here involves going through procedures and giving them official positions. What will happen to these craftsmen when they stop making mirrors?
However, Chen Baiya didn't ask any more questions and turned around to make the contact.
Li Aiguo did this because he realized that with the development of technology, optical glass will become increasingly important in the future.
The lithography machine at the Red Star Computer Research Institute needs an optics technician for upgrades.
In the future, when we build large telescopes, we will also need optics experts.
Photolithography lenses for the semiconductor industry, precision optical instruments in high-end medical equipment, automotive optical systems...
Which one can exist without optical technology?!
In later generations, how did Western giants like Zeiss and Leica manage to make a fortune in the international market with just a few pieces of broken glass?
It's all because they started early and created a technological monopoly!
Now that Li Aiguo has arrived in this turbulent era, he naturally wants to establish his presence in the field of optics early on.
He not only wants to recruit Master Liu and his team, but also wants to use them as the foundation to establish our own optical laboratory!
Of course, the optical masters and apprentices selected this time are the most outstanding among them.
We can keep all the very talented people among them and then conduct further screening. After they enter the laboratory, they will need to be observed for several years.
If they meet the requirements, they will be trained as technical personnel or reserve cadres.
Zhou Guangming is one of these lucky individuals chosen by fate.
Speaking of Zhou Guangming's background, he was also a child with a tragic fate.
His hometown is in Northeast China. When the Japanese invaders trampled the three northeastern provinces, his parents took him, who was young at the time, on a long journey and finally settled in Baoding.
Because he had attended a private school for a few years when he was young and was literate, and because he was skillful and meticulous, Zhou Guangming asked someone to introduce him to a small local glasses shop where he became an apprentice.
In the old society, being an apprentice was almost the same as being a slave who had signed a contract of servitude.
Zhou Guangming originally thought that he would be like countless predecessors, working as a laborer in an eyeglasses shop for three to five years without receiving a penny of wages.
They also had to endure their master's beatings and scoldings, as well as their master's wife's disdain, before they could finally earn a stable living.
But the gears of fate can be strange sometimes.
The eyeglasses store company was merged, the apprenticeship system was abolished, and Zhou Guangming became a formal worker at the eyeglasses store.
In China at that time, being a worker was considered a secure job; once you became a worker, you wouldn't have to worry about food and drink, and you would receive grain every month.
Zhou Guangming is not an isolated case. In the entire eyeglasses store, there are more than 30 employees like him who have turned their lives around and become the owners of their own businesses.
Because of his superb skills and his youthful cleverness, Zhou Guangming was exceptionally talented among his fellow apprentices.
When the dispatch order came from the front gate locomotive depot, the general manager of the glasses shop immediately wrote down Zhou Guangming's name.
With a mix of excitement and trepidation, Zhou Guangming, clutching his letter of introduction, boarded the green train bound for Beijing.
On the train, Ma Fuqiang also ate a packet of instant noodles.
Zhou Guangming will never forget that rich aroma mixed with sesame oil and seasonings.
Upon arriving at Beijing Railway Station, Zhou Guangming took a commuter bus to a locomotive depot.
In the empty station, Zhou Guangming was surprised to find that not only his own people from the glasses shop had been brought there, but also many other people from all over the country, speaking different accents.
Zhou Guangming was an honest man. He couldn't understand why a place that operated and repaired trains would need to recruit workers like them who ground eyeglass lenses.
All I know is that I got to eat meat that day, a big chunk of braised pork for each person, along with steamed buns, meat broth, and cabbage.
Later I heard that the braised pork was made from camel meat, which came from the Middle East.
The training course provides free clothes and blankets, as well as meals, accommodation, and cash.
Zhou Guangming felt that he was the happiest person at that time. As soon as he received his salary, he sent it back to his hometown.
After a week of initial training, Zhou Guangming got the opportunity to intern and began working in the workshop inside the locomotive depot, helping to manufacture some glass lenses.
Zhou Guangming had a feeling that something was about to happen in the past few days because Liu, the team leader, had spoken to him.
Then the locomotive depot leader talked to me.
The railway police station called me in for a talk and asked me many questions.
Leaders from the Armed Forces Department and the Confidential Office both spoke with him.
They also underwent a three-day confidentiality training, followed by an assessment.
Finally, a few days later, Zhou Guangming was assigned to a new workshop.
The new workshop is located inside the studio and looks similar to other workshops, but the difference is that there are people in gray Zhongshan suits patrolling here from time to time.
In the new workshop, a dozen or so mirror grinders received another confidentiality training session and had to swear an oath before a flag, promising that they would never tell anyone what they saw or heard there, not even their own family members.
Zhou Guangming felt a little excited because he knew that the workshop could manufacture airplanes, and he had even heard that the factory could manufacture tanks.
However, the studio was so big that Zhou Guangming only knew that small planes flew overhead from time to time.
Zhou Guangming's job remains unchanged; he polishes mirrors every day, and in his spare time, he stands outside the workshop with his coworkers to watch airplanes.
July 1st is a day Zhou Guangming remembers, because it was another turning point in his life.
"Everyone, my surname is Li, and I'm the person in charge of this workshop." (End of Chapter)