The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 489 Cost-Effectiveness

"Then you should hurry up and start production. Ten missiles won't reveal much," Ma Shan urged. "Let's start with a hundred or two to get a taste."

"You've got quite the big mouth, aren't you?" Liu Hua said with a laugh. "A hundred or eighty, that's how much the Americans produce in a year. Your mouth alone could probably be their monthly output. And you're even letting me taste it? Aren't you afraid of breaking your teeth?"

"From the current situation, it is indeed working well. Although we don't know how it will perform in the final evaluation, I am very optimistic about this missile."

Sun Guangming chimed in, "What are you going to do next? Are you going to produce it in your own factory, or are you going to transfer the technology?"

Liu Hua thought for a moment and said, "Next, I want to set up a fully automated production line, producing 80 to 100 pieces a day, 24 hours a day without interruption."

Ma Shan had just taken a big gulp of mineral water when he heard this, and he sprayed it all over Sun Guangming's face.

Sun Guangming said with disdain, "Excitement is fine, but you don't have to be such a fuss. Goodness, this smell is awful. You need to take good care of your stomach."

"Am I being agitated?" Ma Shan said anxiously, "Listen to him, is he even speaking human language? I asked him for a hundred or two hundred, and he told me that even the Americans aren't that generous. But then he turned around and told me that he's planning to produce twenty or thirty thousand a year. The Americans are indeed not that generous. Are you planning to conquer the whole world?"

"Isn't this our old tradition of strength? Prepare for war and famine, build high walls and store up grain." Liu Hua joked, "We are a great nation. If an air war really breaks out one day, we'll have to drop them all. If we just drop one or two at a time and the Americans see it, they'll think we can't afford to use them."

"Even the Americans can't afford it. The annual production is only 20,000 to 30,000. If the Americans had that kind of production, they could fight twelve wars a year."

Sun Guangming stepped in to smooth things over: "Alright, let's not discuss this issue too much. The specific production method and quantity should be decided by the state. However, I think if we can develop this fully automated production line, we should consider it. Having such a production line would greatly benefit national defense."

Liu Hua nodded and said to Ma Shan, "See? There are still some sensible people. Not everyone is as petty as you. If we ever have a war, it won't be a small-scale conflict. We'll need a lot of ammunition, not just big bullets."

Seeing that he had been talking for a while, Sun Guangming casually picked up a bottle of mineral water from the side and handed it to him.

"You can design the fully automated production line, but you need to wait for instructions from above to produce this missile. However, there is something we need to discuss in detail."

"What is it?" Liu Hua asked curiously, "What could be more important than this missile right now?"

“CL20.” Sun Guangming said very seriously, “The cost for the US right now is $3,500 per kilogram. From the arms dealers to their Department of Defense, who knows how much more will be added. Anyway, it’s very expensive.”

"That's for sure, it'll at least quadruple," Liu Hua joked. "If you don't take it, and I don't take it, how will Commissioner Smith take it? If Commissioner Smith doesn't take it, how will the gentlemen on Capitol Hill take it?"

"You mean the US military is corrupt?"

Liu Hua nodded: "That's right. Once you understand their financial situation, you'll know why the Americans are so keen on stirring up trouble around the world."

"Didn't they say that all of their projects are put out to open tender? If there are any objections or anyone raises an objection, the tender process can be terminated."

Liu Hua smiled and said, "I actually know something about that. They'll publish the procurement plan in the newspaper, and anyone with objections can raise them within a certain number of days." "Yes."

Liu Hua smiled and said, "There are probably nearly 10,000 legally published newspapers in the entire United States. You definitely won't find this procurement contract among those top newspapers."

"If we can't find the major newspapers, where should we look?"

Liu Hua said with great joy, "Look among the newspapers published in that small town. There are probably no more than a thousand subscribers to such a newspaper. It's even possible that outside of this town, people around don't even know that such a newspaper exists."

"It's a cover-up."

Liu Hua smiled and nodded: "But you can't find anything wrong with it. The newspaper is a legal newspaper, and the procedures are legal. It's just that the price is a bit outrageous, but capitalism doesn't have a price bureau. The price is determined by the two parties through negotiation. As long as the procedure is correct and no one objects, the deal is done."

"This is the first time I've heard of this," Ma Shan said with a smile. "I'll take a look when I have time, and I really didn't know there were so many intricacies involved."

“Alright, let’s get back to the point. We’re not talking about the US, we’re talking about CL20.” Sun Guangming said seriously, “You’ve reduced the price from $3.50 per gram to 75 cents per gram, so we’re bound to equip ourselves with a large quantity of this high explosive. My boss wants me to persuade you to transfer this technology to the country. We can discuss the patent fee.”

Liu Hua said nonchalantly, "Hey, just say so. If you want it, just take it and use it. I'm not the kind of person who nitpicks."

"A nail is a nail, a mortise is a mortise; the state will not arbitrarily infringe upon individual interests, and the amount of money owed will be the amount owed."

Liu Hua waved his hand: "Do as you please, I'll take whatever you give me, no objections."

After saying that, Liu Hua smiled and said, "What do you think would happen if this technology fell into the hands of the Americans?"

“What consequences could there be? Based on my understanding of their character,” Ma Shan said confidently. “The price certainly won’t drop much, but their army will buy in large quantities. After all, the price will drop, and there will be people encouraging them to fight wars all over the world. Since explosives are cheaper, the cost of war will decrease. Such a good thing, they will definitely fight a few wars to celebrate.”

Liu Hua went back to design a fully automated production line. Sun Guangming took the new production process for the CL20 to contact relevant companies, preparing for mass production.

You know, our country has always had a kind of disease called the fear of insufficient firepower. This firepower not only needs to be plentiful and satisfying, but also needs to be extremely powerful.

Our country's artillery forces are second only to those of Russia. Now that we have better high explosives, it's natural to upgrade our old equipment.

Liu Hua speculated that the gunpowder factory should have already begun to expand, and as the scale increases, the price of CL20 will be further reduced.

Therefore, our country is a developed country. No matter how high-tech something is, as long as we master it, we can grind it down to a dirt-cheap price. Especially for things we use ourselves, the cheaper the better. We are all about cost-effectiveness.

(End of this chapter)