Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 271: Did the newly developed technology impress Thomson Corporation?
Chengdu, in the East.

"Based on the all-metal prototype, we are already producing the first prototype aircraft." Pointing to the prototype being assembled in the factory, Mr. Song introduced to everyone: "It is expected that our J-01 will make its maiden flight by the end of this year."

The maiden flight of the JF-17 Thunder has concluded, and the foreign guests have departed. The remaining Easterners, of course, are eager to see the progress of the new fighter jet.

Looking at the aircraft whose frame had just begun to be built, Old Lin nodded in satisfaction: "Hmm, the first flight at the end of the year is not bad, the Air Force can wait!"

The Air Force is eagerly awaiting this brand-new fighter jet. According to the plan, its overall performance will be superior to all existing domestically produced aircraft, and it will be the Air Force's main fighter jet in the future!

Are there any remaining technical challenges for this aircraft?

"The landing gear had been a problem for us for a while, but after working together with Northwestern Polytechnical University, it is no longer an issue. The proportion of titanium alloy used in the airframe is slightly higher, but the processing technology has been overcome. The avionics are also fine. The biggest challenge at present is still the flight control."

This is the first time I've used a three-axis, quadruple-redundant digital fly-by-wire flight controller. If something goes wrong with this thing... the consequences would be unimaginable!
Qin Liang smiled and said, "Isn't Yang Wei and the others involved in the research and development? We have to trust them. They will definitely develop this system to maturity. However... in order to better test the flight, the Air Force still needs to spend money to send Lei Zi and the others abroad for training for a period of time."

If Qin Liang remembered correctly, back then, in order to test fly the J-10, the Air Force specially sent test pilots abroad for training, to Western Europe, Russia... By the time they returned, they already had hundreds of hours of flight experience on fly-by-wire test aircraft.

Now, we can't keep working in isolation. Even if the flight control is fine, we still need experienced pilots.

Old Lin nodded: "No problem, the Air Force must pay for this!"

On these key issues, the Air Force will not be ambiguous.

Thump, thump, thump... A secretary ran over: "Report, we just received news that Dassault Systèmes' attempt to sell the Phantom 4000 to Mr. Sha has failed. The client is even demanding to switch to our avionics..."

Everyone smiled. If Sha doesn't buy the Phantom 4000, he can buy more of our planes!

"Sales efforts with Yituo also failed."

The smiles on everyone's faces grew even brighter.

"However... the sales efforts with India have been very successful. India has decided to purchase forty Mirage 4000s at a unit price of one hundred million US dollars..."

Everyone was stunned.

This Indian is incredibly wealthy! Even richer than that guy from Saudi Arabia?

"This... I feel like this isn't quite real," Old Lin said.

Qin Liang smiled and said, "A price of one hundred million US dollars per unit is meaningless. For Indians, only the down payment matters. If they pay a 20% down payment, each aircraft will only cost 20 million US dollars, which is a good deal."

"Liangzi, what do you mean by that?"

“When Indians do business, the down payment is equivalent to the full amount; they never intend to pay the balance.”

Everyone had different expressions. If this were true... wouldn't Dassault Systèmes be devastated?

Twenty million US dollars isn't even enough to cover the costs!

"Actually, Dassault should sell the Mirage 2000 to India. That way, they can still do legitimate business. They're really too obsessed with heavy fighter jets. That's not good..." Qin Liang, with his superior perspective, began to offer his opinions.

As they walked and talked, they also took a look at the prototype of the 01st test flight, which was under construction. After that, the day was over. During lunch, Old Lin said, "The Changhong factory nearby is hosting guests from Thomson Company for a visit tomorrow. Why don't we go and take a look?"

"Okay, bring back several truckloads of color TVs when you come back."

Qin Liang's words made everyone laugh. Given their status, who among them didn't own a television, and even more so... imported ones? Qin Liang's words meant something else entirely: support for domestic products!

Changhong Factory.

Pierre, a senior executive at Thomson, stood on Panasonic's production line with a large group of engineers. Looking at the rudimentary equipment, the Frenchmen wore contemptuous smiles.

"Excuse my bluntness, Director Wang, but I doubt the capabilities of your factory. A production line like this is simply not qualified to use Thomson's picture tubes..."

Factory Director Wang wore a professional smile, but his anger was growing stronger.

Thomson has reason to be proud. They are a long-established European company that has been producing electronic devices for nearly a century. As for televisions, they even claim to be the inventors of the television. They currently hold various patents, especially in cathode ray tube technology, which is also very strong.

Therefore, upon learning that Yang Duoer had helped contact Thomson, the entire Changhong factory, from top to bottom, was filled with anticipation for this collaboration.

They went to France, visited their advanced technology, and were truly amazed. Now they've brought the French back to visit their own factory, and... they've been looked down upon by the French?
That's incredibly rude of the Frenchman to say that.

“Your company needs to eliminate all these outdated production lines and completely replace them with our Thomson production lines,” Pierre continued.

Now Factory Director Wang understood: this guy was belittling his side just to make more money!

"I'm sorry, Mr. Pierre, the foreign exchange we applied for can only purchase your cathode ray tube production line, which is what we urgently need right now. As for other production lines, we haven't considered them yet, after all, that requires a huge investment..."

“If it’s just about purchasing the picture tube production line, then forget it. After all, your TVs are assembled from individual parts, and since they’re all imported anyway, why not just import the picture tubes along with them and assemble them here?” Pierre continued, his tone less formal and more like a joke: “It would be a huge waste to produce our advanced Thomson picture tubes here…”

Although it's about doing business, these damned Europeans have absolutely no respect for their customers! It's a pity Comrade Yang Duo'er was in the capital handling other matters and couldn't come along. If she were here…

Just then, a voice came from outside: "Is Thomson's technology really that advanced? I don't think so. Your airborne radar is already being rejected by customers, who want to switch to our Eastern products!"

Upon hearing this, the engineers at Thomson all changed their expressions drastically.

When the Mirage 4000 was being marketed, a major problem was that customers were very dissatisfied with its airborne radar! They repeatedly requested to switch to Dongfang's radar, which was indeed a humiliating thing for them. Perhaps they were holding onto this resentment when they came to Dongfang to sell the picture tube production line, which is why they appeared so arrogant just now.

Now, they've actually been publicly humiliated?
They turned their heads and saw a young man walking briskly towards them, followed by some leaders. Because of the backlighting, they couldn't recognize him. Moreover, their hearts were filled with anger, and their eyes were all fixed on the young man.

"We, Thomson, invented the television! What achievements do you have to offer?"

Leaving radar aside, we're talking about civilian television sets now!
"Ahem, in 1897, French physicist Joseph-John Thomson discovered the electron and proposed the concept of a cathode ray tube. However, he only proposed a concept; it wasn't until 1907 that Phillips and Westinghouse Electric Company developed early cathode ray tubes. You French..."

When Qin Liang came in, he heard the Frenchman bragging. If they were just bragging, that would be one thing, and we would admit that we were behind. However, this guy was belittling us in a sarcastic way, which was unacceptable.

"Let's talk about the color picture tube again. It was invented in 1936 by the German engineer Ferdinand Braun. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with your France," Qin Liang said. "Now, the reason you're willing to cooperate with us in the East and export picture tube production lines is simply because you're at a disadvantage in market competition and can't compete with other manufacturers, especially island nations. We chose you because you're willing to export production lines, not because your technology is advanced."

The French were furious.

"What do you know!"

"Your Eastern technology isn't even as advanced as ours!"

"Who do you have the right to judge us? Who are you?"

"Who I am is not important. Now, you need to think this through. If you want to cooperate, then cooperate in a down-to-earth manner. If you want to be high and mighty and look down on us, then forget it! Anyway, your technology isn't that great. We can just spend more money."

“Our Thomson picture tubes have hundreds of technical patents. Our glass forming technology, screen coating, and even deflection coil technology are all state-of-the-art. What do you know?” said engineer François.

"Really? Can you produce flat-panel cathode ray tubes?"

"what?"

Televisions from the 1980s had screens that convex outwards, essentially forming part of a sphere. Furthermore, the four corners of the screen were rounded, giving it an overall smooth, rounded shape. This wasn't because the glass couldn't be made flat or right-angled, but rather because the electron gun took longer to travel to the edges during the scanning process, leading to image distortion. A spherical screen was necessary to minimize this curvature and distortion.

In fact, this can only reduce, not eliminate, the image at the edge of the screen is still severely distorted, the visible area is small, and the screen is also prone to glare.

It wasn't until the 1990s that flat-screen CRTs began to appear. The screen looked flat, and the four corners looked like right angles. In reality, it was still part of a sphere, but the diameter of this sphere was very large, which made the screen appear flat.

After this type of picture tube appeared, it quickly replaced the previous spherical picture tube. Image distortion was greatly reduced, resulting in high clarity, low image distortion, realistic colors, and a wide viewing angle.

"You don't even know this, so you can only continue to lag behind in the field of cathode ray tubes. Director Wang, I suggest that we spend more money to cooperate with manufacturers from island nations and introduce the most advanced technology so that we don't fall behind in just a few years."

"Isn't this the business partner your wife brought in?" Factory Director Wang was taken aback at first, then he understood and nodded repeatedly, "Okay, Comrade Qin Liang, we'll do whatever you say!"

Qin Liang? That name sounds familiar.

"You're Qin Liang? The Qin Liang from Northwestern Polytechnical University?"

"it's me."

"Does Northwestern Polytechnical University have the technology for this kind of flat-panel cathode ray tube?"

"Well, it's a secret."

"Hmph, you have no sincerity whatsoever!"

"That depends on how sincere you are," Qin Liang said. "If you show enough sincerity in your cooperation with us, then we will certainly show enough sincerity in return."

Pierre took a deep breath: "Alright, then we won't make any other demands. You can purchase a 15-inch CRT production line from us. As for the price, we'll give you an additional 2% discount on the price we agreed on before. Is that acceptable?"

They need this technology!
The other party is right. Although Thomson claims to be the originator of televisions, their prospects are not optimistic, especially for Japanese home appliance companies. Their products are of good quality and reasonably priced, and are popular all over the world, making European and even American home appliance companies suffer.

Now, the East has some flat right-angle technology. With this technology, they can completely start a revolution in television sets, and Thomson will be able to make a great comeback!
Qin Liang shook his head: "No."

"Why? Don't be too greedy!"

Qin Liang shook his head: "Everyone, for flat-panel CRT technology, the bigger the screen, the better. A 15-inch CRT is too small. It should be at least 21 inches. Let's keep the price at 2% of what you said. Let's go straight to 21-inch production lines. We need to produce these CRTs here too."

21 inches!

The people from Changhong factory present were incredibly excited. Nowhere in the country could they find a television this large. They were the first to produce a color TV of this size, and it was sure to be a blockbuster! As for the price… in this day and age, people who can afford a TV don't care about the price! They care about saving face. Bringing this 21-inch color TV home would definitely make them the most dazzling presence in the eyes of their neighbors!

"Okay! Now you can tell me, right?"

"Ahem, well, not yet..."

"Why? Young man, don't be too greedy!"

"I will introduce this technology once the production line is installed."

"That's impossible! What if you don't tell us then? Wouldn't we end up with nothing?"

"That's right, at most, once the contract is signed, you'll have to hand over this technology to us!"

"Ok."

"Then we can sign it now!"

So fast?
The French, who had been making things difficult, suddenly changed their attitude and offered the most favorable terms, demanding an immediate signing of the agreement. Moreover, they upgraded the cooperation standards to include a 21-inch picture tube!

Everyone at the Changhong factory was incredibly excited, and their gazes toward Qin Liang were filled with admiration.

Behind them, a group of people were whispering among themselves.

"What kind of trap do you think Qin Liang is digging for the French this time?"

"do not know."

"Once the 21-inch TV is manufactured, I really have to buy one to support domestic products!"

"Hmm, Qin Liang is probably doing this to make domestically produced TVs more competitive, right? Not only can they satisfy the domestic market, but they can even be exported overseas. Our home appliance industry will then develop to the level of that of island nations..."

That afternoon, in the conference room of Changhong factory, the two parties signed a formal contract. This agreement, which should have been signed in the capital, was hastily signed here. After the signing was completed, François couldn't help but ask, "Now can we introduce the flat rectangular display technology?"

"Well, it's not actually that difficult. First of all, the monitor screen is actually part of a sphere, only the sphere's diameter is larger... Secondly, we need to do some special design work on the four corners..."

"That's it?"

After listening to Qin Liang's explanation, the Frenchmen were first stunned, then furious: "With this little technology, you actually managed to make us suffer so much setback? You're lying!"

"We at the East never lie. Can my technology solve the existing problems? Can it achieve a flat, rectangular display? Don't underestimate the simplicity of the technology; Northwestern Polytechnical University is the first in the world to think of doing this!"

"Have you registered the patent?"

"Not yet. If your Thomson Company wants to register this patent, you can do so as soon as possible, as long as we in the East can share the patent. As for other manufacturers who want to use this technology, they will have to pay you patent fees. Isn't this concession big enough?"

Now the French stopped protesting.

"it is good!"

"That's pretty much it!"

"Gentlemen, according to our contract, the picture tube production line here must be installed within three months. Time is tight and the task is heavy. We hope you will abide by the spirit of the contract and complete our cooperation as soon as possible, otherwise..."

“Of course, Thomson is a century-old company. We’ve made a promise, and we will definitely keep it,” Pierre said. “We also thank Northwestern Polytechnical University for providing us with this technology…”

That evening, the Frenchman went back, and everyone sat together for dinner, their conversation filled with excitement.

"Comrade Qin Liang, we were able to sign this contract thanks to your technology. Our Changhong factory can't just take advantage of you for nothing; we're willing to give you a share of the shares..."

It just so happens that Changhong Factory is also undergoing restructuring. Giving Northwestern Polytechnical University a portion of the shares will improve the relationship between the two parties...

Qin Liang shook his head: "No need, those techniques were all made up by me on the spot, and they're not worth much..."

Made up on the spot!
"Then...is that technology feasible?"

"Of course we can, but the technology isn't the best," Qin Liang said. "What we lack now is industrial production capacity. Once the production line arrives, we can start large-scale industrial production. At that time, with a slight modification to the production line, we can produce flat-screen monitors that are a generation ahead of theirs..."

　PS: The first one is a schematic diagram of a cathode ray tube. Looking at this, you can see that when the surface is spherical, the distance that electrons travel is equal at the edge and the center, so there will be no distortion. However, in reality, the spherical surface is not that convex, so distortion begins at the edge. The second one is a flat-screen monitor, and the third one is an early spherical monitor.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)