The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 507 is a good thing for us.
The Imperial Graveyard was ablaze with fighting, but it didn't affect us much. We watched the spectacle while working hard to develop our economy.

Some astute individuals realized that the Americans urgently needed various military supplies. While they couldn't get guns and ammunition, they could at least get clothes and shoes.

Anyway, the US isn't doing this right now, focusing all their energy on offense and not having time to check logistics. By the time they have time to check logistics, we'll have made our money. We can kill those who should be killed and punish those who should be punished, but it won't affect us.

Of course, while we've been making our little moves, the Americans haven't stopped either. They've been focusing most of their attention on the graveyard of empires, but they haven't forgotten to stir up trouble here.

On the one hand, various newspapers and magazines began to publish comments praising squid. For example, they mentioned the Talmud, or that books were smeared with honey. Basically, they came up with all sorts of absurd claims.

On the other hand, they first recruited some influential people to start talking about environmental protection.

Liu Hua understood the purpose of these events. The reason there were articles praising Squid was because Squid was planning to build a high wall in his hometown, which would be the world's largest prison. Therefore, they wanted to use a media offensive to minimize the impact.

As for environmental issues, Americans are intelligent people too. They are alarmed by the rapid industrial development of China, knowing that a strong nation must have a powerful industry.

The US's money is now flowing into the financial market, and because most of the funds are invested in war, the country is unable to revitalize its domestic industry.

Since they couldn't strengthen their own industry, they decided to weaken their rivals' industries, so they brought up the topic of environmental protection. Originally, environmental protection was only popular in Europe, but now they've brought this trend to China.

So when Liu Hua came out of the hotel lobby at the end of the year to attend a scientific research symposium, he was surrounded by a group of reporters.

"Professor Liu, what significant impact will this symposium have on our country's scientific and technological development?"

"Professor Liu, why was this symposium held after the US attacked the graveyard of empires? Will this symposium have any impact on our country's energy structure?"

"Professor Liu, how do you think my country's automotive industry should develop in the future?"

Liu Hua answered every question with a smile, and even cracked a few jokes with the reporters, making these uncrowned kings laugh heartily.

Just as Liu Hua was about to leave, someone suddenly asked, "Professor Liu, what are your views on the greenhouse effect and global warming?"

“The greenhouse effect does need to be controlled, but global warming is actually a good thing for us.” Liu Hua said without hesitation, “You ask me how I view the greenhouse effect, but these questions should be asked of those people in Europe and America. We have only been industrialized for a few years. When we started industrializing, the earth had already been ruined beyond recognition by Europeans and Americans.”

Liu Hua didn't think much at the time; he was just indignant. But he didn't expect that the next day, a certain newspaper called Southern Metropolitan Daily would publish an article about it.

The article heavily criticized Liu Hua, saying that he avoided the main issues and failed to mention the dangers of global warming, which showed that he did not care about environmental protection and even shifted the responsibility for environmental protection to Europeans and Americans, showing no sense of responsibility.

For a time, public opinion was in an uproar, and the criticism of Liu Hua was endless in the newspapers. With the help of some people, Liu Hua was portrayed as an utterly wicked person. In order to dispel the rumors and protect Liu Hua's reputation, CCTV, as an old friend, sent its own mouthpiece, Xiao Shui, to interview Liu Hua.

"Academician Liu, you've stirred up quite a storm," Xiao Shui said with a smile. "You'd better watch your words and actions today."

Liu Hua waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Let me tell you, on that day, no matter what I said, it would be interpreted differently. People would think it was all about ruining me, so no matter how careful I was, it was useless."

"Alright then, let's revisit the topic from the other day. What are your thoughts on environmental protection?"

"Environmental protection is definitely necessary." Liu Hua nodded. "If he asked me that day whether we should protect the environment, I would definitely say yes. Our green mountains and clear waters absolutely cannot be polluted. If our green mountains and clear waters are polluted, firstly, the health of the present generation will not be guaranteed. Secondly, it will poison future generations. We cannot let our descendants live in garbage mountains and stinking ditches. Taking the path of sustainable development is our historical responsibility."

"Let me ask you some questions that are currently being hotly debated online. You own a large steel plant, which is known to be a major polluter. Since environmental protection is being promoted, why do you still operate a steel plant?"

"That's a rather naive question. If steel mills are not allowed to operate just because of pollution from outdoor equipment, that's like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Steel is the backbone of a country's industry. Pollution is not a problem, as long as it is controlled. My steel mill's environmental protection equipment is world-class, and some of it was even designed by myself. The pollution control effect is excellent."

"As we all know, steel mills use a lot of coal, and the gases produced by burning coal exacerbate the greenhouse effect and contribute to global warming."

Liu Hua nodded: "That's absolutely right. That's why I'm actively exploring the use of electricity to make steel, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

"But generating electricity also requires coal."

Liu Hua shook his head: "That's all ancient history. My steel plant has its own power plant, which uses a thorium-based molten salt reactor, a nuclear power plant."

“Isn’t the nuclear contamination caused by nuclear power plants even more deadly? Besides, your factory is located in Tangshan, which is an earthquake zone.”

Liu Hua laughed heartily: "You don't pay any attention to local news at all. No wonder, you're a CCTV reporter, right? You have a higher standard."

"Academician Liu, you can't say that. I haven't been paying attention to local news because there's just too much of it. We need to pick out the most popular ones."

Liu Hua waved his hand: "Back then, the TS municipal government held a teleconference to explain the nuclear power plant issue to all citizens."

"The reason for building a thorium-based molten salt reactor is because it is too stable. When building nuclear bombs, thorium was considered, but no matter how it fissioned, it could not reach the limit of explosion, so it was excluded from the selection of materials for nuclear bombs."

"I see. Since it's safe, then we'll consider that a different story. Nuclear power is perfectly fine." Xiao Shui said with a smile, "Then why did you say back then that global warming was actually a good thing for us?"

(End of this chapter)