What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 658 Standing on Apollo's Shoulders

Capital
"This noodle dish has to be served while it's still hot!"

Zhao Hande put down the half-stirred noodles, thinking his wife had returned, but when he opened the door, he saw Tang Wen and Qian Lin'an.

The latter saw the noodles on the table as soon as he came in and peeked out, saying:
"You, a dignified director, are just going to settle for a bowl of noodles with soybean paste for dinner?"

"What's a director? If you smash a brick in Beijing, everyone there is a director. Besides, isn't this how ordinary people live their lives... I just happened to have too much fried sauce, so wait here."

Half an hour later, Qian Lin'an and Zhao Hande looked on with envy at Tang Wen, who had finished a large bowl of noodles in one go.

When people reach a certain age, even indulging in excessive eating and drinking becomes a luxury.

Tang Wen, having finished eating, sat up, but was interrupted by Zhao Hande before he could speak:

"They say no one visits a temple without a reason, so Mr. Tang must have something important to say. Let me guess..."

Zhao Hande glanced at Qian Lin'an and narrowed his eyes:

"You're not thinking of following Mu Qizhong's example and getting into satellite communications, are you? That's not as simple as just having money."

Tang Wen shook his head and pinched his fingers:

"It should be slightly larger than this."

military?

But Zhao Hande knew it wasn't him, otherwise he wouldn't have come looking for him.

But no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't figure it out. After all, what else could he be doing if he brought Qian Lin'an along?
"You don't want a rocket, do you? That won't do; that's absolute control technology."

"Close enough, but not quite."

"..."

Zhao Hande's keen intuition told him that Tang Wen was about to say something shocking, so he silently took out a blood pressure pill from his clothes and swallowed it.

"You said."

"I plan to invest in a space project."

"What project?"

"Send people to the moon."

"Oh, this... then you need..."

Zhao Hande suddenly raised his head, looked at Tang Wen in disbelief, and then slowly shifted his gaze to Qian Lin'an.

Qian Lin'an: "I think it's technically feasible, and there's no problem with funding."

Zhao Hande's gaze froze, staring at him for a moment before returning to Tang Wen, uttering two concise words:
"madman."

This was not meant to belittle him; he knew that even the most impossible things could happen to Tang Wen, and since the latter said so, he must have enough confidence.

The only source of the technology for the moon landing could be the Empire, and even such a core secret was stolen... For a moment, he even thought that the Empire should just surrender, as it was riddled with holes inside and out.

This is a crazy world.

Could there really be some kind of supernatural ability?

He had to admit that Tang Wen's answers always exceeded his expectations, and the key was that he didn't dare to refute them casually.

"Five years, massive funding and technical support, let's see how far we can advance the moon landing program within five years. Of course, we can set a goal for now to complete the moon landing program within five years."

To be precise, this should be described as... a semi-OEM outsourcing plan, or you could see it as a collaborative project. How about we start by investing a budget of 100 billion to see how it goes?

"It's not about money."

Zhao Hande wiped his sweat. At this moment, Qian Lin'an gestured for Tang Wen to leave first, and only after the latter entered the restroom did he whisper:
"I suggest you agree." "Professor Qian, you also..."

No, no, no, it's not what you think.

Qian Lin'an blinked:

"Tang Wen is a high-ranking figure in the Dragon Group. He is now absolutely not lacking in material life. In terms of spiritual life, he has even become the de facto second-in-command of the Imperial FCC. Such a person will start to pursue something different, and the intensity of his pursuit will be extremely exaggerated."

Think about it, if we don't agree, who else can Nanyang fund with its money and technology?
If they fund the Empire, their network of connections might actually allow them to return to the moon; if they fund Russia, they would certainly be eager for the funds and have a fairly solid foundation for it; at the very least, they could even fund the Lost Empire—given the current situation, I'm not even sure if Wernher von Braun is really dead, he might still be busy in his underground city in Antarctica.”

"hiss--"

Zhao Hande couldn't sit still any longer. The first two recipients might not agree, but the last one... it was hard to say. It was really hard to say whether the Hans scientists under the ice could actually get it out.

Qian Lin'an spoke again:
"The technology of rockets can be disassembled. If you can build submarines, you can build pressure-resistant fuel storage tanks. If you can build airplanes, you can solve the flight control problem. The engine requirements are high, but they have Hans Precision to handcraft a dozen or so, which is enough. The Lost Empire is fully capable of achieving this."

"Once the Lost Empire masters giant rocket technology, intercontinental ballistic missiles will no longer be a problem, but unless they conduct actual launch tests, they will never have reliable rockets."

Domestically, the attitude towards the lost empire remains one of vigilance and limited cooperation. The last gigawatt-level jammer was beyond the limits, and the rocket technology was even more beyond the limits.

"So, what if we're still considered to be saving the world?"

Zhao Hande's tone was somewhat uncertain. After Qian Lin'an's analysis, he felt that refusing would cause a major change in the world.

Qian Lin'an didn't say anything more. He was just an ordinary technician who had only offered some analysis from a rational, objective, and neutral perspective. As for what to do in the end, it depended on the arrangements of his superiors.

After hesitating for almost ten minutes, Zhao Hande finally made a huge decision:

“I will raise this issue with my superiors; it’s no small matter.”

……

After leaving Zhao Hande's house, Qian Lin'an secretly gave an "OK" sign, and Tang Wen also reached out his hand in a thumbs-up.

The two understood each other perfectly and parted ways, Tang Wen couldn't help but feel a little excited.

The moon landing—a phrase that stirs the heart just by thinking about it.

During discussions with Qian Lin'an, the proposal to restore the Saturn V was jointly rejected for the same reason as NASA's decision not to rebuild the Saturn V: it would be both time-consuming and laborious, and unnecessary.

Qian Lin'an's plan is to design a completely new lunar rocket based on the engine and rocket body technology of the Saturn V, combined with the more advanced control system and industrial capabilities of today.

The overall design was led by the space agency, and all components, including the control system, crew cabin, and lunar lander, needed to be newly developed, while Geigin manufactured important mechanical components such as engines and storage tanks.

The rocket technology provided by the Empire was a prerequisite for the plan, and it can be said that we are advancing on the shoulders of the Empire.

Praise the Apollo program, praise Kennedy.

Tang Wen felt that hundreds of billions should be more than enough for the moon landing program. After all, funds were just a symbol to him now; they only generated value when they were spent.

However, the biggest source of confidence supporting the lunar landing program comes from Natuna Island, a large island of 2000 square kilometers that is much easier to develop than the Spratly Islands.

Even if you work yourself to the bone for a month, you can only fill 1 square kilometer of sand in the Nansha Islands, and the work will be suspended from time to time due to storms.

After inspecting Natuna, the construction company directly stated that as long as there were sufficient raw materials and manpower, it would be easy to work on 3 square kilometers in a month with less impact from the weather, which would be equivalent to increasing the daily output by 1.5 tons per month. The description given to Qian Lin'an was actually an understatement.

Natuna Petroleum's actual daily production will reach around 10 tons by the end of the year, with an annual production of nearly 3700 million tons.

As an independent oil field, its output has reached the world's top ranks, equivalent to almost half of Babylon, and its potential is limitless.

However, such a large production volume also brings huge risks, and Prism Building will definitely take action.

Unlike the Spratly Islands, where even if more oil is extracted in Lile Beach, the prismatic buildings can only elicit a few complaints from environmental organizations, Natuna is leased territory, making it much easier to cause trouble.

The empire needs to be busier.

(End of this chapter)