What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 447 Three-Pronged Approach (6600 monthly votes in May)

Even after leaving the Dirichlet Experiment Base, Wayne still felt an itchy scalp from time to time, which was quite uncomfortable.

I didn't feel at ease until I landed in Connecticut and smelled the metallic and oily odor at Pratt & Whitney.

Pratt & Whitney, an aircraft engine manufacturer on par with General Electric, has produced generation after generation of excellent aircraft engines, from the R2800 to the F119 and F135.

Currently, Pratt & Whitney's focus is on a very rudimentary and outdated engine.

"The Bristol engine recovered from the gnat wreckage is no longer usable, but we have confirmed that it is roughly the original design, so we have not devoted much research to it."

As Huai En listened to the experts' explanation, he slowly followed them to the test stand, where an F404 was undergoing testing, emitting a long, deep blue tail flame.

After he arrived, the color of the tail flame changed quickly, gradually turning orange, and the tail flame also visibly spread out.

The recent change was caused by spraying water mist into the engine air intake. The introduction of a small amount of water can reduce air density and improve efficiency, while also forcibly cooling the turbine blades to increase thrust. This was frequently used in early jet aircraft.

However, it was still a drop in the ocean compared to the air inhaled at extremely low altitudes. As more and more water was injected into the air intake, the tail flame gradually turned completely orange and then suddenly went out, with only a few weak flames flickering a few times.

The Innolux expert accompanying Wayne glanced at the electronic display screen next to him and shook his head in disappointment:

"This is less than one-third of the amount of water that the mosquitoes inhaled at that time, and we sprayed pure water, while they inhaled seawater with many impurities."

Wayne: "So, when will Pratt & Whitney's engines be able to allow our fighter jets to fly less than 5 meters above the sea?"

"..."

“Mr. Minister, this requires the establishment of a specialized laboratory for extreme working conditions.”

……

The empire is spending money, and so is Tang Wen.

Or rather, in 97 in China, throwing money around was the way of the times.

During a business trip of less than a week, Shanghai Semiconductor took out a loan of 10 billion yuan to upgrade equipment and launch new projects, but that was not enough.

In Guangzhou, the aircraft manufacturing plant has already acquired its first piece of flat land in the Nansha Development Zone, and large boxes covered with tarpaulins are piled up on the adjacent wasteland:

Those were all equipment and supplies directly dismantled from McDonnell Douglas's local factories, even including prefabricated building materials:

Because their system evaluation did not approve of the speed and quality of domestic delivery, they also shipped from the United States to improve speed, and even the electrical wires were imported.

Although Changbus was very distressed by such a waste of funds, the development zone, which was originally just a barren riverbank, did indeed begin to take on an industrial character at a visible speed.

Although the district did not lend money to the aircraft factory, it directly loaned more than 20 billion yuan to build new infrastructure, and the entire development zone looked like a construction site.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that it's just an empty plot of land right now. The first factory building will be here in October, and we hope to assemble the first passenger plane before December 1st."

Levi Strauss, holding the plan, tried to prove McDonnell Douglas's efficiency; MD was truly making a comeback.

Of course, it wasn't due to Tang Wen's small amount of funds. Although $30 billion is a lot, it's not much for an aviation giant. It was the stock price increase that made investors a fortune, giving McDonnell Douglas more time to improve its products.

The first MD-11 assembled domestically had already undergone all parts inspection and started loading onto the ship in the country, with a complete team of US assembly line workers following along.

Once transported to mainland China, this aircraft needed to be assembled within 20 days—a truly prestigious task. Tang Wen was very satisfied with this attitude and then began discussing with Levi's and Changbus the issue of finding suppliers in China.

Although the high-end industrial and electronics industries at Tokyo University are not very good right now, they are still able to design and manufacture the J-10. It was agreed in earlier negotiations that the airframe would be produced entirely in China.

Levi's attitude is to choose whichever is cheapest, as long as it meets the requirements. Changbus, on the other hand, thinks more deeply and will tell him in detail the advantages and disadvantages of several domestic aircraft industrial bases.

The three chatted until lunchtime, and then they saw a news report on the restaurant's television:
"Recently, the Hong Kong Police Department formally arrested XXX, who will be charged with hiring someone to assassinate the well-known tycoon Tang Wen. The assassin, Grand, is..."

Hong Kong authorities arrested all those involved with remarkable efficiency, but Levi's reaction was somewhat unexpected:

"Tang, this result is not worthy of your status. How did you manage to get to this point?"

Tang Wen didn't even look up: "The situation has been investigated and clarified. Of course, I trust the police station's judgment."

Then Levi didn't believe a word of it, but didn't say anything more.

In fact, Tang Wen did have some plans. The XX big boss who was arrested had a very lucrative import and export business. After his downfall, the local forces tacitly made concessions and left it to Gai Jin to swallow, in the hope of not implicating others.

He certainly had no interest in dealing with these small fry, but he didn't completely let the matter go either:
The current outcome has a major problem: the case was finally solved with the help of the IAA.

Although it's unclear why they made the move, according to XX's testimony, his demand for $50 to save his life was anything but low-key, and at least many people in the industry should know something about it.

It's one thing to do before the assassination, but after Grande was captured, he didn't even come forward to provide any evidence?

There are two possibilities: either the circles over there have tacitly approved of this, or... there's a bigger fish behind this.

The fact that the so-called boss's deputy went directly to a retired foreign special forces soldier to do this clearly shows that he came with absolute murderous intent, which is quite out of line with the local way of doing things.

Although it was just a gut feeling, Tang Wen still sensed that it was probably related to Dai Ying.

The grudge against Britain rests with the Second Fleet, and its dogs will not be spared either.

We are currently in the midst of a financial crisis, and it is absolutely unacceptable to disrupt the overall situation, but there is still room for maneuver.

The massive US$2000 billion in reserves did indeed support the Hong Kong dollar; however, the outflow of large amounts of capital and the economic contraction in the surrounding areas still led to a 70% plunge in the Hang Seng Index.

The $1 million entrusted by Tang Wen to Hughes has already doubled in value in Southeast Asia. The next plan is to return to Hong Kong, short Whampoa Industries, and use leverage to launch a fatal blow around the middle of next year, cutting off Li Ka-shing's electrical industry.

In addition, this opportunity allowed Gaijin to officially establish itself in Hong Kong, acquiring a considerable number of real estate properties:

The housing market is expected to collapse in two months at most. Some people with a keen sense of smell have already sensed the existence of the bubble crisis and have begun to transfer their assets.

Once Gaijin has taken possession of that portion of the properties, he will immediately join forces with others to begin selling them off, prematurely bursting the bubble and interrupting those who are preparing to cash out and flee the country.

The two major moves in the electrical and real estate sectors will at least cripple Li Ka-shing, leaving him with only overseas port operations.

The first two steps involved rather complex operations, which Tang Wen could only delegate to Hughes, but the last one was far too simple:

The secret of the stock market lies in timing and intelligence. Tang Wen could not foresee the prosperity of the port market, but he could create a downturn at any time. It was all about cheating in stock trading and creating opportunities for himself.

Once a certain amount of funds is raised, and then U-boats appear around important ports causing a sharp drop in throughput, no company can withstand such a gamble.

(End of this chapter)