In a conference room in Kyoto, the most powerful people in the entire Great Yuan Empire sat in a group, opposite the three giants of the Ministry of Secret Service, and next to them were the heads and experts of the Ministry of Aerospace and the Ministry of Energy.

"The Secret Service proposes to launch a lunar development program...... Do you think the time is right? Qian Ge asked.

"Yes, after several rounds of discussion and argumentation, we believe that we now have the preliminary conditions for the development of the moon, and given that Lao Hei has begun to develop the moon on a large scale, we also need to catch up." This posture is very much like a defense, which makes Liu Huaiyi a little nervous, whether the lunar development plan can be initiated by the secret service department will seriously affect his future political capital.

After all, this is likely to be the initial origin of human beings officially stepping out of the earth and developing interstellar space, as long as this step is taken well, it is almost inevitable that they will be famous in history.

"It feels a bit rushed, after all, the first nuclear fusion engine has just been successfully verified, and the technology of the prototype is not yet mature, let alone the more complex nuclear fusion space shuttle. The moon landing is not a trivial matter, and it is easy to fail to put immature technology into such a complex system. Elder Shen Ge asked a question.

"It's a bit rushed, but Lao Hei has already built a development base on the moon, and in order to build this base, Lao Hei has closed a crater, which is more than ten square kilometers in diameter, and such a huge volume is enough to build a self-sufficient small city." Liu Huaiyi did not rush to answer the question, but brought up another topic.

"Small city...... Are you sure? Elder Song Ge asked.

"Yes, we have collected and analysed all the details that have been circulated by the lunar colonists through various sources, and the information obtained from them shows that the interior of the enclosed crater is being filled with gas, the soil suitable for cultivation is being cultivated, and a large number of functional buildings are being built...... By all indications, the base is preparing for a larger colonist. ”

"Old Black still doesn't have any clues?" Qian Ge Lao interjected.

"We conducted a psychological portrait of Lao Hei, and according to his cultural characteristics, we basically identified him as being between 25 and 40 years old, or with the knowledge and experience characteristics of people of the same age. At present, a large-scale investigation and comparison of national residents' information is being carried out, but there is no ...... for the time being."

"Back to the original topic, our fusion engine has just been launched, so why should we rush into the lunar development program?" The Qian Pavilion veteran straightened the crooked building.

"If we wait slowly for the technology to develop, I am afraid that when our nuclear fusion engine matures, there will be no helium-3 on the moon for us to mine."

"......" Liu Huaiyi's words caused the conference room to fall silent, and finally Shen Ge Lao said, "Tell me about the basis of your judgment." ”

"If the conditions are right, the expansion rate of living things is exponential, and according to the power base that Lao Hei already has on the moon, it may only take five years or even less for Lao Hei to mine the moon's helium-3. It's easy to make it faster, it just needs to send the remaining 22 grandmothers to the moon, maybe in three years or less. ”

"What will happen if Lao Hei monopolizes the Helium Three of the Moon?" Elder Song asked suddenly.

"Without helium fusion, it is difficult to guarantee that there is no nuclear contamination, and this restriction of the low-cost and large-scale application of nuclear fusion technology will make nuclear fusion technology lose most of its value. If there is no Helium 3 on the Moon, the next helium 3 source may need to be found on Mercury, which will delay the Empire's nuclear fusion application for at least a few decades. ”

After listening to Liu Huaiyi's explanation, the atmosphere in the conference room was much more solemn.

Step by step, helium three is limited, and it is also a necessary fuel to ignite the era of nuclear fusion, if you can't grab helium-three at your doorstep, if you want to collect helium-three from Mercury, the technical difficulty immediately rises by several orders of magnitude. Even if it can be technically realized, you can't afford to delay it.

Lao Hei was the first to get there, and the helium-three on the moon must be taken away by it first, and the Great Yuan Empire must at least grab enough helium-three on the moon to start the era of nuclear fusion. Otherwise, it will be a little slower now, a year or two later, and it will take decades to pay it back.

"Minister Sun, how long will it take you to apply fusion engines to existing space technology?" At this time, Shousuke spoke, and he asked a key question to the Ministry of Space.

Several people from the Ministry of Aerospace discussed in a whisper, and Sun Shuo replied.

"The best application method of nuclear fusion engine is as a power source for the space shuttle or space warship, not to mention it, China's technology accumulation in space shuttle technology is not strong enough, I am afraid that the mature nuclear fusion space shuttle will not be completed within five years."

"We are more mature in the spacecraft technology of multi-stage rockets, but if the nuclear fusion engine wants to be embedded in the existing rocket and space system, it still needs a lot of modification and testing, and it is conservatively estimated that it will take about a year, which is still on the basis of the maturity and stability of the nuclear fusion engine."

"If you just pursue speed one-sidedly and ignore safety to some extent, there is an easy way to use the fusion engine as a single-stage main power rocket, and then equip it with a few auxiliary power rockets, and use auxiliary power rockets for deviation correction and fault tolerance, if it is fast, it may only take a month or two, but the manufactured things are likely to be only one-time."

One month......

Although it is a one-time and the security is relatively poor, it is fast!

"If nuclear fusion technology is applied on a large scale, according to the level of economic development of our country, how much helium-3 will our country need per year?" Shousuke asked the Ministry of Energy a question.

"At present, the large-scale application of biotechnology in China, the market share of bio-cells and bio-photovoltaic technology is very high, but there is still a large amount of fossil energy consumption in the field of high heat and high energy, if all this part of fossil energy is replaced by nuclear fusion energy, counting the incremental growth rate of China's economic development, it is estimated that about ten tons of helium-three are needed per year, and we may need 500 tons of helium-three in 20 years." The Department of Energy has given an estimate.

"In twenty years, we need 500 tons of helium-three, and if you count more, it's 5,000 tons. Academician Li, I remember that you once launched a space manta ray to the moon to collect helium-3, according to its collection data, how much engineering is needed? Shoufu turned his head and asked Li Menghua.

"According to its working data, we may need to filter all of the surface lunar soil of at least 500,000 square kilometers before we can collect 5,000 tons of helium-3."

500,000 km, the area of three provinces......

Several pavilion elders exchanged glances, and soon formed a tacit understanding, and Shoufu brewed his emotions and said.

"Nuclear fusion is a key technology for the next hundred years, and the empire wants to lay an excellent foundation for the destiny of the country and the future of the nation when the era of nuclear fusion arrives.