After a little preparation, Su Cheng wrote an article on the situation between China and South Korea and handed it to the Zhou Office.

He is now a registered member of Zhou's office, a standard staff member or think tank, and he will definitely read the articles he writes about the international situation.

In the world, the hardest thing is prediction, and the easiest thing is afterthought.

Prediction is to extract from the inextricable things and conclude a conclusion. Hindsight is linked to any one or several things from the conclusion.

Sioux City does know that the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea is a success, and it does know that this year, just find a few reasons to form a good article.

Other aides, such as Jiao Guoping and others, even if they affirm this matter, they must leave a glimmer of leeway, so as not to talk too much and affect their authoritative position. Compared with Su Cheng's categorical cut, the momentum is first one level lower.

When it comes to the more difficult attitude of the DPRK and Taiwan, all kinds of predictions are dizzying, and there are all kinds of things to say and some to avoid. Among them, only Sioux City gave the verdict: the North Korean side will not be happy, but there will be no fierce opposition either.

From an afterthought's point of view, this is obvious, and the fact that North Korea was able to agree to South Korea's membership in the United Nations shows that this matter is a matter of course.

But in reality, people only come up with the word when things come naturally. It is also normal for there to be repetition in the middle, so there is "good things and many grinds".

Before this happens, if China insists on establishing diplomatic relations with South Korea, it is uncertain whether North Korea will hold a protest to withdraw from the United Nations in anger, or even create an artillery incident.

But what is certain is that if North Korea creates a point of conflict, it is not nonsense that the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea will be delayed for another year. At that time, Roh Tae-woo's term of office will end, and his "northern policy" of establishing diplomatic relations with China, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe during his term of office will certainly go bankrupt, but the attitude of the new president will also add variables to the situation.

Su Cheng's article, mostly with affirmation and very few with speculation, immediately attracted discussion from Zhouban. Within two days, the Zhou Office sent someone to invite him to attend a preparatory meeting for the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea.

When he arrived at the place, Su Cheng finished his opinion in front of Cui Guoping and others, and then took the opportunity to tentatively raise the issue of Sino-South Korean economic and trade activities and liquefied natural gas carriers.

Zhou Lao listened very carefully, except for a question about capital and equity in the middle, he just listened.

Su Cheng spoke for 40 minutes in one breath and explained the problem of LNG ships in simple terms.

When he was in school, his understanding of LNG ships was generalized, although he did not obtain practical technology, but he was very clear about the structure of LNG technology, and he asked several experts from Dahua Offshore Oil Research Institute, even if Zhou Lao did not understand oil and gas transportation, he could understand it.

Jiao Guoping sat on the side with nothing to do, very helpless.

After graduating from the University of Foreign Chinese, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, traveled all over the former Soviet Union in his early years, and since the 80s, he has also traveled to many African and European countries, and his attainments in world diplomatic relations have been very deep.

But there is such a thing as an LNG ship, where does he have any concept!

If it weren't for Zhou Lao by his side, Jiao Guoping wouldn't even bother to listen.

Waiting for Su Cheng to report the technology, Zhou Lao nodded first and said, "It's okay to exchange technology with South Korea." Well, this LNG ship, I remember someone mentioning it?"

He recalled, as if he had flipped a switch, and his secretary immediately added: "It's Hudong Shipyard." They have organized relevant experts and personnel to study the relevant information of LNG ships, including the collection of information such as specifications and rules, ship type information, cargo hold patent information, etc. The opinion of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Planning Commission is to allow them to prepare and carry out early research and development on their own......"

To prepare on our own is not to give money, but only to policy, which is exactly the consistent style of the central government in the 90s. Before the fiscal and taxation reform, the central government really did not have the money to allocate to enterprises to engage in technology research and development. A project such as an LNG ship, which requires tens of millions of dollars to start, can only be imagined, and even, just collecting information, can consume the foreign exchange deposits of a large state-owned enterprise.

Come to think of it, Hudong Shipyard did not have self-raised funds in the end.

Su Cheng nodded while thinking about it, and said: "LNG ships are a complex system, and it is still relatively difficult to produce and manufacture them by yourself. The scale of the world shipbuilding market is very large, and Dahua Industry can't eat a bite. ”

Zhou Lao immediately waved his hand and said, "I'm not interceding with them, and I don't know them." First of all, you still have to do a good job of your own business, if you have spare energy, it is not impossible to help other enterprises in China. ”

A word from the leader will lead to countless speculations below. Zhou Lao also knew this, so he deliberately said: "Dahua Industry has done a good job in this regard, and there is no need to deliberately do anything." You are doing this LNG ship, and your own burden is estimated to be very heavy, so don't make any extraneous complications. ”

Seeing that Zhou Lao was really not interceding, Su Cheng quietly breathed a sigh of relief and agreed steadily. At the same time, he also became interested in the Hudong shipyard.

In Sioux City's memory, the LNG ships of China Shipbuilding Company first started around the World Cup in France, and there are still five or six years to go. Thinking about it, I was still stumped by the money.

State-owned enterprises have always been slower than private enterprises to accumulate funds. Moreover, state-owned enterprises are not only inefficient, but also have high costs for fearlessness. The same is to make LNG ships, private enterprises are estimated to have tens of millions of dollars to dare to start, and state-owned enterprises must break 100 million before they dare to start. If there is no strong person in charge, Hudong Shipyard will not only have to wait for its own accumulation of funds, but also wait for the bank and national policies, if the internal opposition is loud, and it may have to wait until the profits of traditional ships are reduced, and there will be an impulse to do LNG ships.

Still, this Hudong shipyard made a fairly good impression on Sioux City. In 1992, China did more business and less industry, and those who could start heavy industry were already bold inside, and those who pursued high-tech heavy industry were almost all stupid and bold.

Of course, if those engaged in high-tech heavy industry can survive at this time, it is also quite remarkable, which is equivalent to the Red Army during the Long March period to survive after liberation, and the roots of the red seedlings are deep and stable. Twenty years later, it is the time when China's heavy industry began to shine, in addition to LNG ships, Chinese shipyards have obtained a large number of orders in the field of traditional ships, and the equipment used to produce giant floating cranes for ships is basically provided by China's heavy machinery manufacturers.

If Hudong Shipyard can start a few years in advance, it will be able to occupy a place in the LNG ship market. Or, give them a few more years to grow, and maybe they can increase their market share to the level of a Korean shipyard.

Zhou Lao also had his own considerations, he casually picked up the minutes of the meeting and looked at them, put them down with satisfaction, and asked again: "South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industry has also just obtained LNG ship technology, and the price is estimated to be not low, what is the budget of Dahua Industrial?"

"Pure technology transfer, about 40 million US dollars. ”

Zhou Lao frowned: "$40 million in foreign exchange...... Well, as far as I know, Hyundai Group probably won't create a competitor for $40 million. ”

On the one hand, he felt that foreign exchange was used too much, and on the other hand, Zhou Lao also knew that the money was not much in the international technology market, and he was worried that Hyundai Group would not sell.

Su Cheng said softly: "Under normal circumstances, we will pay $200 million and $40 million, and the effect is estimated to be about the same. ”

"So you want to take advantage of the opportunity to establish diplomatic relations?"

"It's not all. Su Cheng coughed lightly, and then said, "If Hyundai Group thinks that we Dahua Industrial have mastered the core part of LNG technology, and only negotiates with them in order to speed up the speed, their attitude will probably change." You know, some foreign companies always like to make trouble for our independent research and development......"

The drama of pretending to have mastered the technology and taking the opportunity to lower the price is not only staged in China, but also a relatively common business method abroad.

Zhou Lao nodded and asked, "Then how much do you actually master?"

"Not too much. The four main technologies of LNG ships, hull construction, cargo hold maintenance, ultra-low temperature liquid cargo pipeline and main thruster, we really have contact with only a small part of the cargo hold maintenance, such as insulated box installation, sealing experiments, film welding, we have trained a large number of related workers when we are doing offshore drilling platforms. Su Cheng smiled and said, "So, it can only be a strategy." ”

Zhou Lao was also amused by him, and said: "You are really motivated, whether you succeed or not, you can talk about it again." ”

"If South Korea's technology isn't cheap, we might give priority to France. Sioux City is not just talking about it, the incoming French President Jacques Chirac, who is now Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, is a pro-China leftist, and the best 12 years of relations between China and France are approaching. During this time, China bought a lot of advanced technology from France until the rightist Sarkozy came to power. In terms of LNG ship technology, the French technology is the current top technology, as long as you pay enough, the system solution of Yishui can be obtained. Of course, the price of such a solution is definitely European, and it is also unaffordable for Dahua Industrial at this time.

Zhou Lao has always admired Su Cheng's persistence, and said with encouragement: "If there is anything difficult to solve, come to me." The use of natural gas is becoming more and more extensive, and our country cannot always charter foreign LNG ships. ”

The latter sentence is very simple, but it defines the technology purchase of Dahua Industrial.

Taking foreign exchange to buy technology was not easy to understand in 1992. Chinese people who have not yet solved the problem of food and clothing are always staring at the one-third of an acre of land in front of them, always wanting to buy more food, daily necessities and household appliances, and those who are interested in industrial production will often dismiss their thoughts after seeing the predicament of many state-owned enterprises.

If it weren't for Zhou Lao's words, one day, some people would put forward crooked heresies such as spending money rather than saving money.

But in Sioux City's view, using foreign exchange to buy high-tech is only a question of how much to earn, and there is no such thing as a cost-effective thing.

In the future, China will have trillions of dollars in foreign exchange, and what is the point of saving it and lending it to the United States. Invest hundreds of millions of dollars today, and what you will harvest in the future will be a genuine giant ship. And the time saved by purchasing technology will inevitably create more value.