"Although Bismarck's departure does not mean that the war is about to begin, whether it is Germany or Britain, in order to carry out the war, there must always be some preparations, and it will take time. This also gives us time to prepare for war. Some related technologies must also be developed, otherwise, this feast will be missed. Scrooge said to Carol and them, "Now, let's put the task in place." ”

"In five or six years at most, a large-scale arms race will begin, and we need to be technically prepared in advance. Of course, I'll take care of the technical stuff. However, you also need to understand the relevant development projects, so that they can be better coordinated.

First of all, the need for steel in large-scale wars is very large, but it is still far from the war, the time is still early, and we don't need to make too many moves now, but we will carry out more research and development of new gun steel and surface carburized armor steel. In addition, our pharmaceutical company will also launch some products that will be suitable for war in the future, of course, in the early stage, it will not focus on war propaganda, but will promote it in the name of outdoor sports and exploration, and produce them in small quantities, collect and use them, and further improve them. In addition, after we discovered X-rays in the Dashi yàn room the year before last, we have been researching how to use them for practical purposes, and recently we have made some breakthroughs in the development of ray tubes, and we have created a truly usable ray tube. It doesn't take 40 to 60 minutes to take a perspective photo like before. The role of this thing in medical diagnosis is too obvious, and I believe that it can bring us a lot of profits after maturity. In addition, with this achievement, our Nikolai should have a chance to win this edition of the MacDonald Prize in Physics. ”

"Scrooge, I think you're too fond of Nikolai." Speaking of Nikola Tesla, Carol suddenly came up with this sentence.

"What's wrong?" Scrooge asked.

"I don't think this guy is as good as Edison." Carroll said, "Although Edison was a traitor. But in that case, being a traitor is not unforgivable. As long as he can continue to make money for us, it's enough. In fact, Edison's later work was quite hard. We have continuously developed a lot of things that can make money. In contrast, Nikolai received a salary comparable to that of Edison, but he actually did not earn us as much money as Edison. Of course, this is not the most important thing, the most important thing is that his research projects cost too much money, but the results that can be turned into money are limited. I know that Nikola Tesla is a genius, and he may even be better than Edison in terms of creativity and knowledge, but he spends his money too casually......"

Nikola Tesla has been working in the big room for several years. At the beginning, he worked as an assistant to Mr. Maxwell, and this period of study consolidated the knowledge base of Tesla, which had dropped out of school many times and did not have a strong knowledge base, but on the other hand, it also greatly strengthened his side as a scientist, and in many cases, even overwhelmed his side as an excellent engineer. As a result, when he left Maxwell to take charge of certain research on his own, there was often a problem of placing too much emphasis on science and neglecting economic viability. In addition, Scrooge often talks about some pre-research projects handed over to Tesla, these projects take a long time to research, consume a lot of money, but the results achieved do not seem to be of much use for the time being. It is difficult to say whether some of the results will even be useful in the future. Sometimes the results are completely different from what was envisioned at the beginning of the study. So, many people have some opinions about Nikolai. In addition, he is not very good at dealing with people, his words are harsh, and he often offends people. If Scrooge hadn't been a staunch supporter of him, perhaps Nikola Tesla would have been a long time ago.

"Ah, Carol. Nikolai is a great way to spend money. Scrooge replied, "His research is really not of great use for the time being." But even if you don't believe him, you should believe me. These things will be useful in the future and will turn into money. As for a lot of people, there are big opinions about Nikolai. Isn't that a good thing? Isn't it good that he can't pull together a bunch of people who are willing to follow him, as Thomas did? Let's continue with what we just said.

In addition to steel, medicine, the preparation of weapons is also very important. The pre-development of some weapons is also about to begin. For example, in the coming years, the study of large-caliber artillery over 13 inches, the study of high-power diesel engines, and ...... This is our top-secret content -- the study of aircraft is also on the agenda. In addition, once the war begins, a large amount of strategic materials will be required. In the early years, we planted a large area of rubber trees in the Panama Canal Zone, and it was time to cut the rubber, and the supporting factories were ready to be built. In addition, in terms of food, we have completed research on portable foods such as compressed biscuits in the Dashi yàn room, which can also be produced in small batches and then sold in small quantities as daily necessities in the field. ”

"But Scrooge, so many projects are being carried out at the same time, and a lot of money is needed, where are we going to raise so much money and carry out so many projects at once?" Catherine asked.

"We haven't expanded over the years, which in itself has allowed us to accumulate a huge fortune. Now is the time to spend them. Dorothea, tell you how much hard currency we have at our disposal. Scrooge said to Dorothea.

"Relying on the gold mines in Alaska, we have accumulated about $20 million worth of gold over the years." Dorothea said, "In addition, because of the previous contraction of the consortium, the decrease in our investment, the increase in the accumulation of guidance, the accumulation of all kinds of profits, which were converted into stocks and bonds that do not involve our core companies, there are also about 400 million dollars, and of course, we cannot completely throw these things away in a short period of time." In addition, there are more than $30 million in venture capital banks that can be used in a short period of time. ”

"Such funds are enough to support our various preparatory activities." Scrooge said.

"Can't we use the method of raising funds from the society?" Catherine asked, "After all, if we have too little money for our activities all of a sudden, we will be very passive if something happens." ”

"At this stage, it's better not to raise money from society." Scrooge replied, "Because if we don't reveal that we're preparing for war, we're probably not going to raise much." And if we reveal our true intentions, it will alert our competitors. And raising money from the public means that a lot of research cannot be completely confidential. It's still a long time before the war, and I'm not going to let such a project start at the same time. I'll control the order and progress. ”

"Then I have nothing to worry about." Catherine replied.

"Also, some of these items. For example, the large forging press, which is necessary for the manufacture of large-caliber artillery, can be used for civilian use. They can be counted directly in the normal research plan, and there is no need to secretly allocate funds to them. Carroll, I think the plan for the big hydraulic press was in McDonald Steel's spending plan. ”

"Yes, and it's progressing well, it's already being installed, and it will be ready for trial operation in the near future." Carol replied.