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

Chapter 546 The island nation is very rich, Americans, come and harvest our leeks!

Hideo Itokawa's face grew even uglier. Japan was the fourth country to launch an artificial satellite, and the East was the fifth. Therefore, the people of Japan still felt a sense of pride.

Now, they come to Dongfang, offering money and technology, which should be perfectly logical, but unexpectedly... the people from Dongfang are so disrespectful!
They only want money, nothing else, not even rocket engines! This...

That's going a bit too far!

"Hmph, do you really think that without you, our island nation's space technology will not develop?" Hideo Itokawa said in an unfriendly tone.

"Of course you will develop it too. The hydrogen-oxygen engine is good. You can continue down this path."

What? The other party already knows?

Qin Liang certainly knew!

The N-series rockets had limited carrying capacity, so the island nation began developing a new generation of liquid-fueled launch vehicles, the H-series rockets, in 1981.

This rocket was developed by the Space Development Corporation, while the engine used on it was developed by the Space Science Institute.

This brand-new LE-5 rocket engine can be said to be the soul of the H-type rocket; it is the most advanced hydrogen-oxygen rocket engine! Thanks to this engine, the island nation's rockets have increased their low Earth orbit payload capacity to 2.2 tons!
It sounds like... just child's play!

Moreover, this is a series! With the five-ton LE-5, there will be the seven-ton ES-702 and the ten-ton ES-1001. The island nation's rockets will all be targeting hydrogen-oxygen rocket engines!

However... this has always been an internal plan of theirs, and has never been announced to the outside world. If the research and development fails, it would be embarrassing.

At this moment, Qin Liang actually hit the nail on the head, which shocked the Japanese!
"Principal Qin, what do you mean by that?"

"It's nothing. Since you're not here to donate, I won't keep you company any longer. Goodbye!"

"Wait, Principal Qin, you don't mean to think there's a problem with our technical approach, do you?" Hideo Itokawa asked nervously.

"I don't understand. Why are you so eager to possess our liquid oxygen-methane engine? Don't you think there's something wrong with your own development path?"

"Hydrogen embrittlement?"

No engineer can escape the basic laws of physics!
Hydrogen, as the lightest atom in the universe, can easily get into the gaps between other molecules, which can make other materials brittle, even disposable liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engines.

"Ahem, this problem shouldn't be difficult to solve. After all, the American space shuttle uses a hydrogen-oxygen engine, which can be reused multiple times. No problem, your technical approach is correct!"

Qin Liang smiled, a hint of... peculiar meaning appearing at the corner of his mouth. You can ponder it, you can savor it!
In short, it's impossible for me to give them pointers, but I can certainly annoy them!
It's worth noting that in 85, Japan was also developing its own H-2 rocket, a rocket with a near-Earth payload capacity of ten tons! It used a hydrogen-oxygen rocket engine developed by Japan itself.

If my charade makes the people of the island nation uneasy and they start to argue about it for three to five years, then things will get really interesting!

In fact, even if the H-2 rocket were built, it wouldn't be able to secure launch missions on the international market. This island nation's domestically developed rocket costs a whopping $1.7 million per launch! It simply can't get any commercial launch missions!
The later H-2A, with its price reduced to 70-80 million, finally became truly meaningful.

However, it is absolutely necessary to make things difficult for the islanders!
Watching Qin Liang leave, all the Japanese people were unsure of what to do. What exactly did Principal Qin mean?
The Soviet Union pursued the liquid oxygen-kerosene route, the United States pursued the liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen route, and the East pursued the liquid oxygen-methane route. Which technological route was correct?
Hydrogen embrittlement is the key defect of liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engines, while the defect of liquid oxygen-kerosene is that it cannot be reused multiple times. In this light, the Eastern technical route may be the most correct. After we go back... should we develop a completely new liquid oxygen-methane engine?

The island nation gained nothing and instead threw itself into disarray.

After parting ways with those guys, Qin Liang returned home, turned on his computer, and started working.

A head quickly appeared on the computer screen.

"Principal Qin, didn't you previously collaborate with Boeing to develop a spaceplane? Why have you switched to researching ordinary rockets now? Aren't those things already obsolete?" Steiner's dissatisfied voice rang out.

We agreed to play together, but you turned around and got mixed up with other people? What's going on?

Qin Liang said helplessly, "Mr. Steiner, you misunderstand. If we're talking about flying on Earth, a spaceplane is definitely more suitable, but on Mars, the lift provided by the atmosphere is too small!"

Mars has a density that is only one percent of that of Earth's atmosphere, which means that the lift generated by the wings is also quite small. To obtain enough lift, the wing area would have to be quite large, which would then limit the speed.

Therefore, spaceplanes are not suitable for Mars!

"You really want to land on Mars?" Steiner expressed disbelief: "That would require a huge amount of money, which is not something Northwestern Polytechnical University can afford."

"Many like-minded people are investing, such as the island nation, which plans to provide a large amount of funding..."

Steiner's eyes widened.

Hang up the video call and then contact another one!
Soon, Ben Ritchie's face reappeared on the computer screen.

"Qin, you guys are really popular lately! Could you include us in this Mars exploration mission? Lockheed Martin has some serious technical expertise. The Titan IV, which is currently under development, has a payload capacity of 21 tons to low Earth orbit!"

In the United States, many aerospace projects are undertaken by military-industrial companies. Boeing not only builds airplanes but also spacecraft, and Lockheed not only builds airplanes but also rockets.

Titan IV is currently under development and is scheduled to make its maiden flight in 1989. It will use two solid rocket boosters and a two-stage liquid-fueled rocket, with a takeoff mass of 94 tons, and will use room-temperature propellants such as unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide.

Now that Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) is going to build rockets, they've become interested. After all, toxic fuels will definitely be phased out, and the liquid oxygen-methane route proposed by NPU seems to have many advantages!
“No, we’re pursuing a private aerospace path, so we can’t cooperate with companies with government backing. The island nation offered to provide us with a large amount of funding, but we didn’t agree.”

what?
Ben Richie's gaze was complex.

Hang up the video call and contact someone else!
Those who learned the news contacted the White House with mixed feelings.

By the time we finished all that, it was already dark.

Upon noticing Yang Duo'er standing behind him, Qin Liang quickly went to help her up.

"Duoduo, your body isn't suited for standing for long periods. Come, sit down. What would you like to eat?"

"Brother Liangzi, are you setting a trap for the Japanese?"

"Yes, island nations are so rich, so they should help their American daddy solve his economic problems."

The so-called economic prosperity of the West is nothing but the result of plunder. Europe's strength is inseparable from the plunder of the world's resources during the Age of Exploration. The strength of the United States mainly comes from World War II. By the end of World War II, almost all the world's gold and talent were in the United States, and the American mainland had not suffered from war damage, except for Hawaii.

Therefore, relying on this advantage, the Americans rapidly rose to become the world's leading power and promoted the Bretton Woods system around the world, pegging the dollar to gold and other countries' currencies to the dollar. In this way, the dollar became the true gold standard.

If this system can continue, then it does have some merit. But will the Americans allow it?

As long as dollars are printed, they can be used like gold. How could they possibly resist their greed? Moreover, there is the unsolvable Triffin dilemma in theory, which makes this system unstable.

In 1949, the United States had $246 billion in gold reserves, accounting for 73 percent of the total reserves of the entire Western world. However, starting the following year, their gold reserves began to decline steadily.

In the 1960s and 70s, the United States was mired in the Vietnam War, its finances were strained, and the credibility of the dollar was undermined. Countries began to exchange their dollars for gold. According to the Bretton Woods system, the United States was obligated to do so, and as a result, the United States' gold reserves decreased rapidly.

In 1968, this system could no longer be maintained; the fixed exchange rate was abolished, and the exchange rate between gold and the US dollar began to float freely.

Simply put, if too many US dollars are printed and there isn't enough gold, it's impossible to maintain the exchange rate.

By 1971, this system had officially collapsed. Throughout the 1970s, the dollar continued to depreciate, inflation was severe in the United States, and the happiness index of its people was definitely not as good as that of the Soviet Union!

The Soviet Union's aggressive stance was also based on this.

Starting in the 1980s, the US economy deteriorated further, with the trade deficit increasing continuously, reaching a staggering $160 billion in 1984. The government's fiscal deficit was also increasing, and the economy was on the verge of collapse. The Americans' solution was, of course, to fleece the people!

In the 1960s, they exploited South America; in the 1980s, they exploited island nations; and later, they exploited Europe. They harvested the leeks again and again. Now that we in the East have become strong, the Americans want to harvest our leeks once more.

In 08, we used the instability of our own economy to help the Americans weather a crisis. As a result, the Americans thought we were easy to bully and later tried to take advantage of us, but we stood our ground and fought back.

Tariff wars and trade wars? We're ready for it! After that, the Americans lost interest, realizing we couldn't take any more profits!
Now is the time when the Americans are scheming to carve up island nations!
Hearing Qin Liang's explanation, Yang Duo'er's eyes lit up: "So..."

"Our chance to make a fortune has arrived! Let's pour all the funds we have into the island nation's market! If we manage it well, we can reap a huge reward!"

The Plaza Accord brought a false sense of prosperity to the island nation, but after the economic bubble burst in the 1990s, the island nation's economy began to stagnate.

As a result, many people reminisce about the good old days and attribute their current lives entirely to an American conspiracy.

That's not entirely true either.

The Plaza Accord wasn't just signed with island nations; it was also signed with Germany, yet the German economy wasn't significantly affected!

Germany focuses on the steady development of its domestic economy. Through interest rate control and inflation management, it has successfully maintained a balance between prices and production, ensuring economic stability and security.

What about island nations?
The island nation's governments were blinded by the short-lived prosperity and implemented overly loose monetary policies, which stimulated a crazy surge in their real estate and stock markets, creating a huge economic bubble!

Therefore, the ultimate reason for the island nation's lost decade can be attributed to their excessive ambition.

When they bargained down prices to buy American buildings, when they chartered planes to Europe to buy everything they wanted, when the whole nation started speculating in stocks and real estate, they should have known that these actions would eventually come at a heavy price.

Of course, Qin Liang was happy to see this happen.

Wealth never disappears; it only changes!
When the Soviet Union collapsed, its enormous wealth ended up in private pockets. Domestic monopolies and foreign companies all made a fortune, while ordinary people suffered the most.

When the island nation's economic bubble burst, that enormous wealth was naturally transferred.

The Americans take the lion's share, we take the smaller share, but we have to get a little bit too!

"If things go well, we should be able to raise about 70-80% of the research and development costs for our mission to Mars."

Yang Duo'er's eyes widened: "Brother Liangzi, you mean... all the donations our Starship Company receives from all over the world are used to speculate on stocks and real estate in Japan?"

Does this count as embezzlement of public funds?

"Of course, we make money for the development of Starship Company, and even more so for the prosperity of the island nation's economy," Qin Liang said with a smile. "Northwestern Polytechnical University has always been fair in its dealings; how can this be called embezzlement?"

Yang Duo'er nodded, "Listening to Brother Liangzi is definitely the right thing to do!"

The next day, Spielberg returned from the filming location and was surrounded by a large crowd at the Capital Airport.

"Mr. Spielberg, are you sure you've decided to shoot a Hollywood blockbuster in the East?"

"Mr. Spielberg, is this a collaboration with Northwestern Polytechnical University?"

Seeing the enthusiastic media friends, Spielberg didn't hold back: "Yes, we are going to make a brand new science fiction film, which will usher in a new era of science fiction! After all, since NASA is not going to land on Mars, it is up to us Hollywood to realize this ideal."

A burst of laughter erupted below.

"Excuse me, is this for promoting Starship Corporation, which was jointly established by Northwestern Polytechnical University and several other universities?"

"This..." Of course there is some publicity, but... it's not convenient to talk about it. What if the audience hears it's an advertisement and doesn't buy it?
At this moment, a voice sounded.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our starship has already received a lot of investment without any publicity."

Qin Liang has appeared!
This is the opportunity he has been waiting for!
Spielberg breathed a sigh of relief, waiting for the reporters to rush towards Qin Liang so he could make a quick getaway.

"I believe that landing on Mars is a dream for many people! Many people, from all over the world, will come together for this same dream!"

People in this era still had ideals, unlike later generations whose only ideal was to lie down and relax.

"We thank all our friends around the world who dream of Mars! Of course, I would also like to remind you that if you have ulterior motives, then forget it!"

Have ulterior motives!

There is melon!

There is a big melon!
Reporters have a keen sense of smell; once they realize there's a scoop, they're not going to let it go!

"Principal Qin, may I ask who has ulterior motives?"

"Well, I won't name names directly, but an organization that once achieved a manned lunar landing came to us, wanting to take control of our Starship Company. We firmly refused. We are a private company and absolutely cannot become a subordinate of a government agency, as that would go against our original intentions."

Why don't you just call out names directly!

The organization that achieved a manned lunar landing is NASA!
NASA is now infamous, after all, instead of striving for humanity's space dreams, it has become a lackey of the government, helping to carry out things like Star Wars!
"Any more?"

"There's another one, and I won't name names directly. They're trying to bribe us because they launched a satellite before us and they're quite wealthy! They're even willing to offer billions of dollars! Of course, we won't be bought off with money. Here's what I want to say: anyone trying to control our Starship Company, don't even bother coming! You may have money, but can you compete with this organization? We've already rejected them!"

Without even naming names, it's obviously an island nation!

They were the fourth to launch an artificial satellite, earlier than the East, and they were also rich, incredibly rich, worth billions!
Actually, it was 1 billion, but later it was supposed to be increased to 2 billion. However, Qin Liang wasn't wrong; 1 billion and 2 billion are both considered several billion!
Across the ocean, the white house.

"Hmph, since the island nation is so rich, why not let them help us through this crisis?" James Baker said seriously.

In the past day or two, many companies have come to him. The islanders are actually spending huge sums of money to fund the starship project of the Easterners!

Since the islanders are so rich, we have to take some of their money and spend it!

“Yes, our government can’t stand idly by any longer. We need to intervene in the foreign exchange market to devalue the dollar and save our increasingly depressed American manufacturing industry!” Fred Bergsten, director of the Institute for International Economics, also came and began lobbying.

In order to curb inflation, the US dollar had no choice but to appreciate steadily. From 1979 to 1984, the dollar exchange rate rose by 60 percent! It even exceeded the level before the collapse of the Bretton Woods system!
Despite the appreciation of the US dollar, the US trade deficit is widening further!
"Right now, our country is flooded with products made in the island nation, and the island nation has become the world's largest creditor nation. If we don't do something, the island nation will peacefully occupy the United States!" James Baker continued his charade.

Ronald finally spoke up: "In that case, let's get started. To make things look better, we can't just call on the island nations. Let's call in the finance ministers of Britain, France, and West Germany, hold a meeting with them, and tell them that the exchange rate of our dollar must decline in an orderly manner! If they don't agree..."

“They will agree!” James Baker said with a broad smile.

(End of this chapter)