Chen Feng's Late-Night Scheme

In the dead of night in Port Dubai, the study on the top floor of the administration building is still lit.

Chen Feng was not asleep. Three documents were spread out on the table in front of him.

On the left is Liu Yongfu's "Summary of Technical Bottlenecks and Suggested Solutions for the 'Cheetah Project'", which is fifty pages long and details seventeen key technical challenges, including the autofrettage process of the 381mm main gun barrel, the sealing system of the 10,000-ton hydraulic press, and the processing of large steam turbine blades.

On the right is the full text of a secret telegram sent by Wang Wenwu from Singapore. Written in code, the translated content is shocking: British MI5 has dispatched agents to the Persian Gulf; the French Navy is secretly discussing "non-traditional channels for naval procurement"; and the Japanese consul in Singapore has recently been frequently contacting officials of the Dutch East India Company to inquire about "the movements of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia".

In the middle is a blank sheet of paper with only one line of text written on it:

A two-year window of opportunity – how to maximize its utilization?

The low rumble of the power plant's steam turbines drifted in from outside the window—the heartbeat of the industrial base. In the distance, the chants of workers unloading cargo overnight could be faintly heard from the port area. Further still, the "Leopard House" restricted area was brightly lit—the future of Lanfang. (Wouldn't "Leopard House" sound even cooler?)

Chen Feng picked up his pen and wrote the first word on the blank paper:

client

Then he started making a list:

Germany (existing clients, stable relationships, strong payment ability, but overly ambitious and requires caution)

Austria-Hungary (a secondary customer with weak payment ability but can use goods as collateral; important geopolitical value)

France (potential client, in urgent need, wealthy, and potentially willing to exchange advanced technology)

Russia (potential client, in urgent need, wealthy but politically unstable, high risk)

Japan (potential clients, urgently needed and ruthless, extremely dangerous, avoid contact)

The United States (potential clients, wealthy, technologically advanced, but currently pursuing isolationism)

Second-tier naval nations such as Italy and Spain (future market)

After he finished writing, he underlined "France" twice.

Then the second word:

technology

Checklist:

Maintaining the generational gap between the "Cheetah" class and the Westphalian class (core)

The technology for oil-fired boilers has been perfected (which will affect the performance of all future ships).

Optical rangefinders and mechanical computers (the eyes and brain of the fire control system).

Special alloy smelting (the basis for armor and gun barrels)

Radio miniaturization and encryption (communications and intelligence warfare)

Internal combustion engine technology (preparing for future tanks, cars, and airplanes)

Ammonia synthesis technology (the foundation of fertilizers and explosives, relevant to agriculture and the military).

Next to "optical rangefinder" and "special alloy", he wrote "potential French technology".

The third word:

Resource

Checklist:

Oil (discovered, extraction and refining capacity needs to be expanded)

Iron ore (Australia and Malaya channels need to be strengthened)

Specialty metals such as copper, chromium, and nickel (sources from South Africa and Chile)

Rubber (from the homeland of Southeast Asia, a resource that must be reclaimed in the future).

Food self-sufficiency rate needs to be increased from 40% to 80%.

Talent (engineers, scientists, teachers, recruited from Europe, and trained domestically)

The fourth word, and the most important one:

时间

Chen Feng stared at the word for a long time.

Two years. Seven hundred and thirty days.

According to the original plan, the first Gepard-class destroyer would need twelve months to enter service. The second batch of four ships ordered from Germany would require eighteen months. Large-scale oil extraction would take twelve months. The railway network would take two years to complete. The education system would need three years to train its first batch of qualified engineers…

There's a lack of time for everything.

He closed his eyes, and the timeline from his history textbook flashed through his mind: the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, the outbreak of the Moroccan Crisis in 1906, the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907, the Young Turk revolution in 1908, the Second Moroccan Crisis in 1911, the Sarajevo incident in 1914...

The footsteps of a world war were already beginning to sound in the distance.

Lanfang had to have enough power to protect itself before that happened. No, not just to protect itself—it also had to be able to fight for a real, uncolonized land for the Chinese people in a chaotic world.

Chen Feng opened his eyes and wrote five words next to "Time":

unconventional methods

Then he began to write quickly:

Compressed delivery times for German orders – three shifts + bonus incentives + parallel operations (risks: potential quality issues, worker fatigue)

"Cheetah" level technology breakthrough – concentrating all top talents to form a "special technical task force" to tackle the challenges day and night (risks: other projects stall, talent burnout).

Client development – ​​proactively reach out to France, offering enticing offers but setting stringent conditions (risk: angering Germany, revealing our presence).

Resource acquisition – secretly acquiring mining stakes in Australia and Chile through offshore companies (Risk: may arouse suspicion in the UK).

Talent recruitment – ​​poaching talent from Europe at any cost, offering triple salaries, family relocation, and research freedom (risk: attracting industrial espionage).

Internal mobilization – launching the “Three-Year Revitalization Plan,” mobilizing the entire population, and emphasizing a sense of crisis and mission (risk: excessive pressure on the public).

He stopped writing when he got to the sixth point.

The entire population mobilized. This is a heavy word. Three hundred thousand people who survived the Lanfang disaster left their homes and came to this desert to rebuild their homes, not for endless labor and sacrifice.

But what if... we don't do that?

Chen Feng could almost see it: two years later, when Britain launched twenty new dreadnoughts, the German fleet was suppressed, and the world was temporarily restored to "balance." Lanfang, this useless pawn, would be discarded or even divided up by the great powers. The oil fields in the Persian Gulf would be occupied by Britain or Germany, "Leopard House" would be destroyed by artillery fire, and 300,000 people might be displaced again.

No.

Absolutely not.

He picked up another sheet of paper and began drafting an outline for "A Letter to All Fellow Citizens of Lanfang." This was not an order, but a communication. He needed to make everyone understand: the sweat they shed now is for the dignity of the future; the sacrifices they make now are so that their descendants will not have to make the same sacrifices again.

I was halfway through writing when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Uncle Wang walked in carrying a steaming bowl of noodles, with two poached eggs on top.

"Young Master, it's almost two in the morning. Let's have something to eat."

Chen Feng then realized that he hadn't eaten anything since the afternoon meeting. His stomach was empty, but he was unusually excited.

"Thank you, Uncle Wang."

He took the noodles and took a bite. It was simple, but heartwarming.

"Uncle Wang, tell me... have I been pushing everyone too hard?"

The old man stood by the table, looking at the documents spread out on it and the densely written papers, and sighed softly.

"Young master, I have lived for sixty years, from Borneo to Singapore, and now to here. I have seen the Dutch gunboats, the British arrogance, and the Japanese swagger when they had just defeated Russia."

He paused:

"I have never seen any Chinese leader like Young Master, who can make us stand tall, make foreigners obediently pay for the things we make, and give us hope for nation-building."

Chen Feng looked up.

Uncle Wang's eyes gleamed under the lamplight:

"We've come here with the young master not to enjoy a life of luxury, but to build a future. If you're tired or it's tough, you can curse a few times, but when the sun rises the next day, you'll still have just as much work to do."

Why?

"Because everyone knows," Uncle Wang said, emphasizing each word, "that you, young master, are fighting for the honor of all Chinese people."

Chen Feng's hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly.

He lowered his head and ate his noodles with gusto, the steaming vapor blurring his glasses.

After finishing the last bite, he put down the bowl and wiped his mouth.

"Uncle Wang, tomorrow morning, convene all ministers and heads of major factories and shipyards. I need to hold a large meeting."

"Yes, young master. What's the theme?"

Chen Feng walked to the window and opened it. The crisp, cool air of the desert night rushed into the room, carrying the salty smell of the distant sea.

He gazed eastward, towards the South Seas, the homeland of Lanfang, and the homesickness of 300,000 people.

"The theme is," he said softly, but each word was clear and forceful.

"We will spend two years building a nation that the world can hear our voice."

Outside the window, the lights of the power plant stayed on all night.

Further away, the outline of the "Leopard House" was faintly visible in the moonlight, like a sleeping steel behemoth waiting to be awakened.