The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 491 My life is my own
The Air Force is probably the happiest. This missile is definitely going to enter service. Now there is a semi-automatic production line that can produce dozens of missiles a day, so the price should not be too high. Therefore, the Air Force can produce as many as they want during training.

After the first batch of missiles was completed, they were transported to various air force units in the South China Sea. Pilots flew J-10s, carrying the missiles that had just been named PL-15, and patrolled the coast of our motherland in the South China Sea.

Two F-16s that took off from Flying Monkey were sneaking around in our airspace when they suddenly spotted our J-10 and tried to come up and show off.

Our planes weren't afraid of it either, and they had a dogfight with the F-16. Because our engines and lift coefficients were better than the F-16's, the F-16 couldn't accept it and tried to cheat us.

However, as soon as our aircraft revealed its belly, two PL-15 missiles gave them a rude awakening. The F-16 pilot immediately blinked and flew south upon seeing the two missiles.

These two pilots had already taken lessons before. Although the PL-15 had not been officially unveiled, the Americans had blurry photos of it, and with its presence near us, these two were very familiar with our equipment.

The new missile is unlike anything I've seen before. It looks very similar to the 300-kilometer air-to-air missile we just developed. We have to keep our distance.

They used to bully mainland aircraft because mainland aircraft were indeed not good enough. Later, with the J-10, they regained some face, but our air-to-air missiles were not good enough. Now the PL-15 has made up for the shortcomings, so it is now evenly matched.

Before they arrived, their superiors had told them that when facing the Chinese Air Force, they could act like scoundrels, but they absolutely could not afford to accidentally fire a gun.

The most important thing is to stick to a bottom line: never force their family members to launch air-to-air missiles at you.

First, because they can't stop them; second, even the great Americans don't have an absolute advantage right now. Only a madman would want to fight the Chinese.

As the two American pilots cleared their minds, they recalled the words their superiors had spoken to them when they first left the country.

"The ones they're using now are air-to-air missiles, which have an advantage over us. They can hit you, but we might not be able to hit them. So I hope you'll be careful and keep things within limits. Although I'm 99% sure they won't launch missiles at you, if you provoke them too much and they lose control, then there's nothing I can do. Don't expect them to avenge you. Even if they do launch missiles at you, it'll just be an accidental clash; there won't be a war. The two sides will just wrestle for a while, and you'll just die for nothing."

Even if a pilot from the United States has received a poor education, he can still understand the trade-offs. The country's face is for the country, but his life is for himself. It's not worth risking his life for the sake of the country's face.

This was a rare victory. Seeing the American pilot fleeing in disarray, loud cheers came through our communication channels.

The leader in charge of national nuclear power affairs and the general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation came to see Liu Hua. Before they even spoke, Liu Hua already guessed what it was about.

"Are you trying to take over thorium-based molten salt reactors?"

The general manager of CNNC laughed and said, "Engineer Liu, your words are too harsh. What do you mean by 'scheming'? We're here to seek cooperation with you. Our cooperation has always been very pleasant. You have so much thorium ore piled up in our warehouse, and we haven't even charged rent." "Just say what you want. Anyone who tries to get close to you is looking for something bigger."

The nuclear industry leader smiled and said, "We hope that with your technology and the investment from CNNC, the two sides can jointly build several large thorium-based molten salt reactors in the northwest and southwest regions."

Liu Hua said with a smile, "Actually, I can do just as well as them."

“We need to concentrate our superior resources on major projects now. Your superior resource is advanced technology, while their superior resource is that they have some money.” The leader joked, “You should understand that although we allow private investment in power plants, this is a nuclear power plant, so it’s best to be cautious.”

"Engineer Liu, that's not fair of you. We've been giving you our full support. The first batch of nuclear researchers and engineers at Taiyi New Energy were all supported by our CNNC. How can you abandon us and work alone now?"

"I just wanted to see what it means to 'cross the river and then destroy the bridge'," Liu Hua joked. "Actually, we've had this plan for a while now. The relevant infrastructure construction has been ongoing. Since your CNNC is willing to be the sucker, then pay up."

"The infrastructure construction has already started, that's great." The leader smiled happily: "Since we joined the WTO, the country's economic development has been on a steady upward trend. The electricity problem has become an important factor restricting our economic development. So we want to build a large number of thorium-based molten salt nuclear power plants in the Northwest region to control the electricity supply in the North first, and then transmit the rest of the electricity to the South."

“Once the Three Gorges Dam is built, this situation will improve significantly.” Liu Hua said with a smile, “Actually, I think it would have been fine if we hadn’t built the Three Gorges Dam in the first place, as long as we had built a large number of these nuclear reactors. After all, the power generation of our thorium-based molten salt reactors is not bad either.”

"That's not right. The Three Gorges Dam is not just for generating electricity. It also regulates the water volume of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The great floods of 1992 and 1998 severely damaged the homes that the people of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River had worked so hard to build."

“I think it would be better to build it upstream, directly on the Yarlung Tsangpo River,” Liu Hua said with a smile. “At that time, India will be our closest ally, and we can guarantee that it will obey us no matter what.”

“The idea is good.” The leader nodded with a smile, “but the infrastructure construction on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is too difficult and requires more funds. We don’t have that capability at the moment.”

"It doesn't matter. It's been more than half a century since the Three Gorges Project was approved and construction began." Liu Hua said nonchalantly, "If we start building the Yarlung Tsangpo Hydropower Station now, I think we can start construction in less than twenty years."

"Things aren't as simple as you think. We have to consider the international outlook." The leader tapped the table: "Alright, let's get back to the point. I'm not joking with you today. Since you've decided to build a large-scale thorium-based molten salt reactor, then quickly make a plan. No matter what difficulties you encounter, I'll try my best to solve them for you."

Liu Hua turned around and took a hard drive from the safe under the bookshelf behind him: "The detailed plan is all on this hard drive. We have already taken precautions."

(End of this chapter)