In the days that followed, Bradman and his wife had frequent contact with OPEC headquarters in Vienna, sending back to Vienna the technical information provided by China from Garrard and others, and asking the technical experts at the headquarters to analyze and judge whether the Chinese side had really mastered the new coal-to-liquid process, whether this process could effectively reduce the cost of coal-to-liquid, and whether this process could be quickly promoted.

A comprehensive investigation in Vienna revealed that in the past five years, China has quietly applied for hundreds of key patents related to coal-to-liquids technology, and even more so on the border borders. After analyzing the technical information and the content of these patents, OPEC experts came to the conclusion that the Chinese were not bluffing, but really mastered the technology.

Experts have another, more frightening prediction: that on the existing basis, the Chinese may develop more advanced processes that could reduce the price of refined oil by another 20 to 40 percent, and that even if crude oil prices fall back to the level of late 2003, which is $30 a barrel, coal-to-liquids will be competitive.

The Chinese must be made to stop this crazy behavior!

This is an order from OPEC headquarters to Bradman and Graeme.

"I don't think the Chinese will give up this technology." Graeme consulted with Bradman with a grudge.

"I think we still have room for negotiation with the Chinese. Bradman was quite composed, and he analyzed: "If you think about it, the last time Mr. Feng asked us to guarantee the supply of oil and limit the price of oil, and said that if we didn't agree, they would take follow-up action. That is, he gave us a choice at that time, and that was that if we agreed to their conditions, they would cancel the follow-up. Now that he's shown us what he's capable of, I think he's willing to give us a chance. ”

"However, since they have mastered the technology of coal-to-liquid, as long as they promote this technology, they can bring down oil prices, so why do they need to negotiate with us?"

That's exactly the mystery of that. Since they have such ability, but the last time he had to negotiate with us, don't you think there is something wrong with that?"

"Indeed, the Chinese must have other ideas. Graeme reacted. Isn't it often played like this in movies, the villain has a gun in his hand, and he could have killed the protagonist with one shot, but he kept shouting at the protagonist, which means something else. As long as the other party has a plan, he has a chance, and countless bloody plots of the protagonist's Jedi counterattack have happened like this. This time, Feng Xiaochen is undoubtedly a villain, I am an extremely insidious villain, and he may have the opportunity to become a hero who saves the earth.

After agreeing on their views, Bradman and Graeme revisited the Commerce Department and asked for a new meeting with Chinese officials, including Feng Xiaochen. Xu Zhenbo hummed and agreed, and it took another week to inform Bradman and his party that General Manager Feng was finally free and could resume talks with them, and the venue for the talks was still in the Ministry of Commerce, and it was the conference room where they had a meeting last time.

"Mr. Feng, it's a pleasure that we meet again. ”

At the door of the conference room, Bradman took the initiative to walk towards Feng Xiaochen, stretched out his hand to shake hands with him, and at the same time piled up a bright smile on his face as much as possible, no longer like last time.

"Mr. Bradman, Mr. Graeme, it is a pleasure to meet you both again. Feng Xiaochen's expression was very relaxed, and even made people feel a little proud in it. Bradman decides that when he returns to the hotel in the evening, he will find a corner and draw a row of small circles to curse the villain.

Xu Zhenbo, who still played the role of moderator, beckoned the people from both sides into the conference room, took their seats, and then announced the start of the talks. After a few pleasantries and reaffirming the long-standing friendship between the two sides, Bradman got to the point.

"Mr. Feng, Mr. Xu, after the last meeting, OPEC had a serious discussion on the issue of stabilizing oil supplies to China. Representatives of member states agreed that China, as the world's largest importer of crude oil, is understandably concerned about crude oil supply and oil prices. We have come to China this time to listen to the specific demands of the Chinese side on this issue, so that OPEC can formulate corresponding policies and maintain good cooperative relations between the two sides. Bradman said very artistically.

"I should ask Director Xu to talk about this question. Feng Xiaochen kicked the ball to Xu Zhenbo. He himself is in charge of equipment manufacturing, which has nothing to do with oil imports, and it is the task of the Ministry of Commerce to raise conditions.

Xu Zhenbo also took the lead, and immediately began to state the requirements that the Ministry of Commerce had already prepared, roughly hoping that OPEC could sign a long-term crude oil supply agreement with China to guarantee the amount of oil exported to China and the corresponding price obligations. In terms of prices, the Chinese side is not too harsh, but only proposes that in the face of rising international oil prices, the increase in the price of OPEC's oil exports to China should be controlled within a certain range, and it cannot completely follow the market. In other words, we don't care about how the international oil price rises, but the oil we are given cannot rise too much, and there needs to be a price acceptable to both sides.

Although it knows that it has grasped the shortcomings of the other party, it is impossible for the Ministry of Commerce to push the other party too quickly. For example, if the international oil price has risen to $100 per barrel, it is impossible for people to accept it if you have to ask OPEC to sell it to you for $30. But when it comes to $70 or $80, it's much easier for the other side to accept it. In fact, international oil prices are also a general concept, and there are countless oil contracts in the world, and the agreed transaction prices vary greatly. What China needs is only a certain degree of preferential treatment, which is enough to allow Chinese goods to maintain a price advantage in international trade, and this is enough.

Bradman was authorized by OPEC to come to the talks, and he was also mentally prepared for the conditions proposed by Xu Zhenbo. He listened attentively and said that OPEC would consider these requests, and then pretended to be casual and said: "Mr. Xu, if OPEC can meet your country's requirements, will your government also be able to make some representations from the perspective of friendly cooperation between the two sides?"

"What does OPEC want our government to do?" Xu Zhenbo asked knowingly.

"We note that your country has just started construction of a coal-to-liquids plant with an annual output of 4 million tons in Shanbei Province. Once this technology is widely promoted, it will inevitably have a serious impact on the international oil market, which will then affect the economic stability of OPEC countries. We are deeply concerned about the application of this technology, and I would like to ask Mr. Xu, if we can give China special concessions in terms of oil supply and oil prices, will China abandon this project in Shanbei Province?" Bradman asked.

"It's impossible. Feng Xiaochen replied for Xu Zhenbo, "Mr. Bradman, this project we are carrying out in Shanbei Province has nothing to do with OPEC, this is the technology developed by our equipment industry company itself, and there is no intention for OPEC." ”

"Of course, I am convinced of this. Bradman said that he was not here to quarrel, but to find peace, so it was not appropriate to expose Feng Xiaochen's lies at this time. He said: "Although your company did not mean to target OPEC when carrying out the research and development of this technology, its commissioning will inevitably affect the structure of the energy market and thus have an impact on OPEC countries, which Mr. Feng does not deny."

Feng Xiaochen said lightly: "Energy is a big industry, and the development of coal-to-liquid technology certainly has an impact on the energy market. Other technologies, such as nuclear power, hydropower, wind power, solar energy, etc., will also have an impact on the energy market.

"That's what we usually pay attention to. "We're going to pay attention to all the innovations in energy technology." However, coal-to-liquids technology is the biggest threat to us, and once coal-to-liquids technology is widely promoted, the demand for oil in the market will decline, and Mr. Feng should be very clear about this, right?"

"Well, maybe so. Feng Xiaochen nodded. It's not appropriate to always pretend to be stupid, he originally planned to negotiate with the other party, and he played the other party for a while just now, also to get out of the bad breath last time, and now that the anger is smooth, there is no need to go around in circles with the other party anymore.

"Mr. Bradman, Mr. Graeme, I admit that the development of coal-to-liquids technology will have a serious impact on the oil market in the first place. It is for this reason that in the last meeting, I specifically asked the two of you to negotiate a solution, but unfortunately they did not give me an appropriate response. Feng Xiaochen said.

Bradman said: "Mr. Feng probably misunderstood, we didn't answer Feng Xiaochen's request last time, because we didn't have the authorization from OPEC headquarters, and we couldn't make any commitments." This time, we came with authorization, and we have already communicated with Mr. Xu just now. I would like to ask Mr. Feng what kind of commitment will China give us after we make such concessions?"

"We can consider taking a more cautious approach when transferring this technology to other countries. Feng Xiaochen gave an answer.

Bradman and Graeme looked at each other, Nima, what kind of condition is this? This means that China itself will deploy more coal-to-liquid projects, while still transferring the technology to countries like Australia, which is "more cautious" at best.

Be more cautious, it's the same as not saying it!