Where the money made by Iketani Productions goes, no one knows better than these directors. Since the 80s of the last century, the Japanese economy has been moving from real to virtual, real estate, stocks and other financial derivatives have become the target of the national pursuit, who is interested in sticking to the industry with low profits?

With all the technical advantages and brand advantages of Iketani Production, it has been able to maintain a certain share in the international market over the years, and although the profit margin cannot be compared with the past, the annual net profit is still very considerable. However, only a small part of these net profits were used to upgrade equipment and carry out technology research and development, and the vast majority of them were paid into the pockets of shareholders as dividends at the request of the directors, which were then turned into stocks and real estate.

After the stock market crash in the early 90s, Japan's stock market and housing market were sluggish, but the more recessionary it was, the more speculators had to throw money into it, hoping to have a chance to turn around in one fell swoop and let them recover all their previous losses. The whole society is becoming more and more impetuous, all walks of life are cheating, and the top elites know that the Japanese economy is on the crater, and maybe one day the volcano erupts, and the whole of Japan will be doomed. With such a mentality, they are even more reluctant to make long-term investments, only thinking that they will be drunk today and drunk tomorrow, and who cares what the future will be?

Tian Yuzhe also took over as technical director with the ambition of making a career, and at the beginning of his tenure, he formulated a technical research plan for the 21st century, and then excitedly went to the board of directors to apply for a grant. The board of directors appreciated his plan very much, and Koji Takai also praised him and told him to work hard and win glory for the company. But when Tian Xiongzhe also asked about the funds needed for research and development, Koji Takai began to play haha, and Yunshan Wushu said a bunch of words, and the core was just two words: no money!

Of course, Iketani Manufacturing does not invest a penny in R&D, and in fact, it has tens of millions of dollars of experience invested in R&D every year, so it can do a lot of things. But compared to Tian Xiong Tetsuya's goal, this money is almost a drop in the bucket and to no avail.

The coal-to-liquids project is an important project that Tian Xiongzhe also proposed to the company, and Tian Xiongzhe also believes that this technology is enough to allow the company to maintain profit growth for 20 years. Koji Takai asked Uchida to make an assessment from the perspective of the market, and Uchida also believes that this is a promising direction, because oil resources are depleting day by day, and the rise in global oil prices is an inevitable trend. Once oil prices break through a certain threshold, coal-to-liquids will become an alternative to oil in many countries. Whoever can master the advanced coal-to-liquid technology first will be able to win this huge market.

After listening carefully to the reports of the Technology Department and the Marketing Department, the Board of Directors agreed to make coal-to-liquids technology a key research project of Iketani Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and invested $500 million in development over the past five years, which is a large amount compared to the investment in other technologies. Tian Xiongzhe also lived up to expectations, and led his subordinates to break through many technical obstacles and proposed a new set of process routes, which can be introduced to the market after just waiting for perfection.

According to Ta's calculations, the cost of synthetic gasoline produced by this process can be controlled at the level of US$800 per ton, which is 20% lower than the current cost of about US$1,000 in international counterparts. Tian Xiongzhe also has to look at the oil prices in the international market every morning when he goes to the office, and no one looks forward to the rise in oil prices more than him. As long as the price of oil rises to $60 per barrel, his process qualifies to compete with refined refined products.

As Garrard told Bradman, some countries are not only considering the price difference between them and petroleum refining, but also the energy security benefits of adding a source of refined products, and the resulting bargaining power with OPEC. From these aspects, $800 per tonne of coal-to-liquid is economical.

As the research and development of coal-to-liquids technology gradually comes to an end, the shareholders of Iketani Manufacturing have also ignited some hopes, or some ambitions, in their hearts. They hope that the coal-to-liquid process will bring some good news to Iketani, so that Iketani's stock will leap to a new level. Due to the continuous leakage of information within the company, Iketani's stock has maintained a continuous upward trend for nearly a year.

All of this was reversed when a news report from China was picked up by local Japanese media. In the past two weeks, Iketani's stock has fallen by nearly two percent, and the capital market has questioned Iketani Manufacturing, hoping that Iketani's senior management will come out and comment on the matter, explaining what kind of impact the Chinese's technological breakthrough will have on Iketani Manufacturing, and what Iketani can do to deal with it. Many shareholders hold shares in their hands and don't think about whether to sell them off, because the coal-to-liquid technology is still relatively complex, and ordinary people can't figure out what the conflict between Chinese technology and Iketani technology is.

Tian Xiongzhe is also one of the few people who understands. In fact, as early as a year or two ago, he had already paid attention to the progress of his Chinese counterparts in this field, because the new technologies developed by the Chinese side must be patented in a timely manner, and Tian Xiongzhe only needs to pay attention to the application of relevant patents, so he can judge where the other party has gone.

Judging from the patents applied for by his Chinese counterparts, Tian Xiongzhe also knows that Iketani's movements are a little slow, and the Chinese are already ahead of Ikeya. The technology accumulation of Iketani Manufacturing is deeper than that of Chinese enterprises, but over the years, the Chinese have caught up through digestion and absorption of imported technology, coupled with independent research and development, and follow Iketani Manufacturing is a few steps away.

In the coal-to-liquid project, the Chinese side invested several times more than Iketani Works, which is not only reflected in the capital investment, but also in the investment of manpower. China Equipment Industry Corporation has organized a nationwide technical research, mobilized more than a dozen large-scale petrochemical equipment enterprises and dozens of chemical design institutes, universities and other units of scientific research personnel, division of labor and cooperation, and made every effort to promote. Iketani Manufacturing, on the other hand, was able to mobilize only its own technical strength, plus a small amount of outsourcing collaboration.

Industry is neither easy nor very difficult.

It is not easy to say that it is not easy because it is impossible to do anything less, theory, technology, equipment, etc., all are indispensable, and without any of them, industrial technology cannot be made.

It is said that it is not difficult because as long as you are willing to throw money into it, there is no technical difficulty that cannot be broken through. Some people say that the core technology cannot be mastered, and it seems that there are some supermen in this world who can do things that ordinary people can't. In fact, all technologies are made by people, Westerners are people, Easterners are also people, and there is no reason why Easterners can't develop the technology that Westerners can develop.

China has many shortcomings in technology in the past, and many technical know-how are in the hands of foreigners, not because Chinese are less competent than foreigners, but because the foundation is weak, plus the country is too poor and does not have enough capital investment. Now that China has money, more than 20 billion yuan, or $3 billion, has been invested in a single project, and it is reasonable that progress has been made faster than that of Iketani.

After noticing the progress of the Chinese side, Takuyo also reported to Koji Takai. Koji Takai instructed Uchida to find someone to spy on the inside story, and Uchida found two Chinese who had worked in the Sinopec Design Institute and later stayed in Japan without returning, named Ge Tao and Sakai Qianji. The latter's original name was Yang Qianji, and after marrying a Japanese surnamed Sakai at lightning speed, her name was changed to what she is now.

After receiving the assignment from Uchida Yu, Ge Tao and Sakai Qianji returned to the capital in the name of returning to China to visit relatives, visited some colleagues back then, and learned about the progress of the coal-to-liquid project. According to these colleagues, the China National Equipment Industry Corporation is the lead unit of this project, and the Petrochemical Design Institute has undertaken a considerable part of the research work on the core process and has made some progress, and some of the patents currently applied for in the international arena are their research results.

"But ......" When having dinner with Sakai Qianji, Lin Danyan, an engineer from the Petrochemical Design Institute, pretended to be mysterious and said: "Qianji, you have stayed in China, and you also know that these things are all face-saving projects, just to make the leader's face look good." As we all know, these processes are not possible at all, and the best result is that we use these patents to cooperate with foreign companies and use other people's technology to manufacture. ”

"How is this possible? I've seen the patents we have applied for, and I think the design is very rigorous, and there are a lot of innovations in theory. Sakai said. She was also born in this business, and before leaving for Japan, Tian Xiongzhe also had some discussions with them, so she was able to say some truths.

Lin Danyan said: "Of course, the people on the equipment company side are also knowledgeable, if we don't make a little famous, how can we deal with them? However, theory is theory, and technology cannot be realized, everything is false." Like the manufacture of high-pressure vessels, acid-alkali resistant valves, and seals, that is not a big problem? These problems cannot be solved. ”

"According to your estimates, when will our country be able to build this device at the earliest?" asked Sakai Qianji.

Our country? Lin Danyan glanced at Sakai Qianji, and said in her heart, you are already surnamed Sakai, what qualifications do you have to say the words "our country"? What does it matter to you about China's affairs?

Although she thought so in her heart, she remembered the instructions of Feng Xiaochen, the general manager of the equipment company, and Zhou Ting, the president of the design institute, so she showed a disdainful expression and replied: "I estimate that it will take at least ten years." By then, I will be retired, and I would like to find a country to immigrate to enjoy life abroad, just like you. ”