Citroen drove into the steel mill and stopped in front of the office building.

Eric got out of the car, looked at the young man standing in front of the crowd who came to greet him, smiling, and his heart was full of emotion, such a huge enterprise as the Pacific Group, it is said that this young man supported it single-handedly, it is not simple!

"Hello Mr. Eric, this is our President Qin, I heard that you are coming to visit, so I came here to wait." Wang Fang introduced on the side.

"Mr. Qin, it's an honor to meet you." Eric stretched out his hand and warmly shook Qin Feng's hand.

"Mr. Eric, welcome to visit, we have a very good relationship with France, especially with Airbus, and recently we signed an agreement to build the Airbus A320, are you here also to ask us to help with the production? We have the advantage of human resources here, and we guarantee to give you the most reasonable price. ”

Produce? Do you still want to help us produce aircraft carriers? You don't have a dockyard either! Eric thought to himself, but said, "Yes, we want to come here to see if there are any good things we can bring back, can we go to your production line first?" ”

"Of course, let's go, I'll take you to the workshop to have a look."

Eric didn't come up and said that he wanted to buy a wire rope, after all, he hadn't figured out which plan to use, so he just took a look first and said it when he saw the wire rope.

However, he didn't know that when he walked into the first production workshop, he was shocked by the pipes produced inside.

A pipe is more than eight meters long and about half a meter thick, with grooves on both sides for connection, a gap at the upper end, and the inside is also precisely polished.

"What is this pipe for?" Eric took a deep breath and his mind raced.

"I don't know, the customer asks us, and we will process it according to the customer's requirements." Qin Feng said: "We have an advanced 80,000-ton die forging press, and the pipes that are pressed out are of first-class quality and have high pressure resistance. The customer originally asked for a four-meter one, but we thought it was a waste, so we changed it to an eight-meter one, eliminating half of the customer's joint connection. ”

Four meters one!

They are already negotiating with the United States, and the cylinders of the American C-13 steam catapult are four meters each! For a length of 100 meters, you have to have 25! Now eight meters a piece, can reduce the docking by half, greatly reducing the difficulty of assembling the system!

"What about the diameter?"

"Diameter 533 mm."

That's not right!

The diameter given by the United States is 457 mm, but how did it become 533 mm here?

Eric wondered if he had guessed wrong.

At this moment, Qin Feng spoke again: "What the customer needs at present is a 533 mm inner diameter, but the customer also said that he may place an order for 457 mm in the future, which are two different models." ”

Eric reacted: this is the difference between the C-13-1 steam catapult and the C-13-2 steam catapult!

The steam catapult was invented by the British, the original BS-4 model could only catapult about ten tons of carrier-based aircraft, the United States introduced British technology patents, manufactured the C-7 and C-11 steam catapults, and finally developed the C-13 steam catapult.

At present, the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers are using C-13 catapults, but this catapult is also divided into several types, the initial model, the cylinder stroke is only 75.15 meters, and the later C-13-1, the cylinder stroke has increased to 94.4 meters, and the maximum ejection weight has increased to 34 tons, however, this catapult still needs to be improved.

It no longer makes sense to continue to increase the length, after all, as the steam continues to expand in volume in the cylinder, the pressure is also decreasing, and about a hundred meters is already the limit, and there will be no greater thrust if the length continues to increase.

Therefore, they decided to increase the volume and expand the cylinder diameter from 457 mm to 533 mm, which further increased the need for catapults.

The first to use such a steam catapult of the C-13-2 type was the aircraft carrier Lincoln, which is currently under construction, and the Americans, in order to save money, simply subcontracted the production of its parts to the Orientals?

The Americans just need to install it later! As for this 457 mm order, was it tailored to them in France?

Thinking of this, Eric continued to ask: "So, does this 457 mm diameter also need a length of a hundred meters?" ”

"It doesn't need to be that long, this kind of 457 mm diameter, it only needs a length of about 80 meters, and we can produce four sticks, but the customer said that if you want to order, at least sixteen."

The catapult used by the Americans themselves has to catapult more than 30 tons of carrier-based aircraft, but the French can't use it that big, their Rafale fighter is full of all kinds of missiles and auxiliary fuel tanks, and the take-off weight is about 20 tons, and they plan to purchase the American E-2 early warning aircraft, which is only 244 or 5 tons of maximum take-off weight, so their catapult only needs to have a maximum catapult capacity of 25 tons.

The Americans sold them the C-13-1 catapult, and the length was shortened to eighty meters, of which the power range was 75 meters, and the plane went out, and the piston needed to slow down forward and stop, so the total length was about eighty meters.

Thinking of this, Eric has been able to confirm that the Americans want to be second-hand dealers and want to make them a lot of money!

"The accuracy required by American customers is still very high, this opening thing, actually to the machining accuracy of 0.05 mm, docking accuracy of 0.001 mm, but this is not difficult for us, we have high-precision CNC machine tools, the production of products are absolutely qualified."

The accuracy is right, too! Eric took a deep breath: "Is this the only thing that the customer asked you to process?" ”

"There are others, such as gas tanks." Qin Feng said: "The internal pressure requires twenty atmospheres, you should know that the bigger this thing is, the more difficult it is to make, but we don't care, after all, we have an 80,000-ton die forging press, we only need to use this machine to press, the steel can meet the demand, and then welding, fortunately, we have invented a new welding technology......

Eric had an excited look on his face, yes! That's it!

"How much is the total amount of the order placed by the Americans for you?"

"Mr. Eric, this is a trade secret, in fact, even if it is said now, it is already a trade secret, we are only grateful for the friendship of the French, we will say so much, the amount of money, it is really inconvenient to disclose."

Eric's eyes rolled: "Mr. Qin, of course we know that this is a trade secret, but we also know the actual use of this thing, we are afraid that you will be deceived, so we want to ask questions." ”

"Practical use? The customer said that this thing is used in a fertilizer factory, and you also know that we are a private enterprise, and we only produce civilian products......"

"No, this is a military product, this thing is the steam catapult used on the US aircraft carrier, and this open cylinder is the most important part of it!" Eric said: "Americans use civilian products as a cover to place orders, just to spend less, this thing is very expensive!" One cylinder is worth $200,000! ”

The Americans gave them a quotation, a set of catapults is 12 million US dollars, of which the quotation of the cylinder occupies 6 million US dollars, the two-cylinder structure, if it is four meters a total of 40 knots, each section is 150,000 US dollars, and the production here is eight meters a piece, multiplied by two, it must be 300,000 US dollars.

But of course Eric won't say so high, after all, they also have the idea of purchasing, and if they say it too high, they are not raising the price for themselves.

"Really?" Qin Feng's eyes widened: "So expensive? The hateful Yankees, who only offer us $150,000 per section, is too pitiful, no, we have to go to the Yankees and ask them to raise the price! ”

One hundred and fifty thousand? So expensive? Shouldn't it be discounted to 100,000? The Yankees themselves have to make money, the offer is 150,000, it's already very conscientious, okay?

"Where's the gas tank?" Eric asked.

"Gas tanks? It was only offered for $800,000, and then we didn't think it was worth it, so the Yankees raised it to $1,000,000, and it seems that there is still water, and we got them to ask for $2 million! ”

Wait a minute!

Eric regretted it a little, saying that the price given by the Yankees was low, and the people in front of him would feel that they were at a loss, and they wanted to ask the Yankees for a high price, of course, it was the best, but this was not only the Yankees, but also their France, how good was their purchase according to the American price, why did they raise the price?

"Ahem, the price of this gas tank is okay, one million is already very good, after all, it is a steel structure component, and the cost is less than 500,000."

What 500,000, 50,000 is less, as long as there are qualified high-strength steel, advanced stamping machines, and perfect welding technology, the gas tank will be built.

This thing, for weak countries, is the industrial Everest, and for strong countries, it is something that comes easily.

"Oh, okay." Qin Feng said: "They also asked us to produce a soft metal strip that can be plugged into this seam, what is the market price of this thing?" The Yankees quoted us $500,000 a piece, did you ask for a high price? ”

Fill in the strips!

The three key technologies of the steam catapult: cylinder, filler, pressure tank, these three are all produced in the Pacific Group, and the other small parts don't matter, as long as these three can be made, the steam catapult will come out!

Eric's mind was racing.

The cylinders are 150,000 per section, and 20 knots are 3 million dollars, which is half cheaper than the American quotation, but unfortunately he owes it, so he has to say that the American quotation is low, and he forcibly raised the quotation by one-third, and 3 million became 4 million.

However, I want a diameter of 457 mm, and if the diameter is small, the price will have to be reduced, and it will be 3 million dollars.

A hundred dollars for a gas tank and $500,000 for a filler, that's $4.5 million, plus some other parts, the total price of $5 million can still come down, so it's more than half cheaper than the United States!

So......

"The price of the filler is so high, 500,000 ...... a piece"

Wait, a set of catapults has two cylinders, then this tank must also have two, and the filler must also have two!

In this way, the price is more than six million dollars, and it is going to be seven million dollars!

This......

It's also cheaper than the American one! Fight for a bargain of $6 million!

"Mr. Qin, if it weren't for us, I'm afraid you wouldn't know that this thing was used as an aircraft carrier catapult, right?" Eric spoke: "It just so happens that we also need two sets of catapults, how about you help us produce the relevant parts, and then go for a friendly price?" ”

"Well, of course no problem, we are friends, I promise not to make you more money, everything is according to the price of the American order!" Qin Feng replied very simply.

"Well, we want to reduce the size, after all, our aircraft carrier doesn't need to be that big, the cylinders can be reduced from 533 to 457...... The length was shortened from one hundred meters to eighty meters......"

"If that's the case, then the price has to go up."

Floating?

Eric's eyes widened: "Mr. Qin, the diameter we want is smaller, and the steel we use is less, shouldn't the price be lowered?" ”

"Mr. Eric, you should be considered an expert, don't you know the problem? The key is the thickness, what you use is different from the one ordered in the United States, which means that we need to re-manufacture the mold and re-open the production line, which must not raise the price? ”

Eric was speechless, Qin Feng also made sense to say this, the thickness is different, and reopening the production line naturally means that it will be more expensive, so, order the same?

Although the difference in size meant that the blueprints had to be revised, their Charles de Gaulle had only just been built from the bottom of the ship and had not yet reached the deck, so it was not a big problem to revise the plan now.

In later generations, their aircraft carriers have already been built, and after testing, it was found that the beveled deck was not enough, and they temporarily went back and lengthened it by four meters, so it was not too much of a problem.

"Okay." Eric said: "Then use the ready-made, according to the current price of the Americans, we will purchase two sets!" ”

"How much are two sets? We'll have to do the math. ”

Mao Honghai was a passer-by on the side, watching the whole process, his heart was extremely excited, easily, 10 million US dollars were in hand, and his own catapult came out!

With the blocking and landing, the catapult is there, and the main difficulties of the aircraft carrier will be overcome!

Three million catapult cylinders, two million for two cylinders, and one million for fillers, so that the main parts are six million dollars, plus other sporadic parts, another half million dollars, a total of thirteen million dollars!

The French did not have any doubts, because this thing was produced for the Americans, and since the Americans had placed an order, it means that the quality of the products here is up to standard.

If they knew that what was produced here had nothing to do with the products of the Americans, they would definitely not place an order so easily, and Qin Feng would not be able to sell the catapult!

"According to the usual practice, you will make half of the deposit first, and we will produce it for the United States first, and after completing their order, we will produce it for you."

"How long?"

"Half a year at most."

"Okay."

There is no need to rush this thing, after all, the Charles de Gaulle was not built so quickly, and if it was produced in advance, it might rust in the French warehouse, and then it would become scrap metal.

"Can we ask for another year to be produced?"

"Of course, you can pay half of the deposit."

"Can I wait until next year to pay the deposit?"

"Of course, this can also be done, but you also know, the Yankees are constantly printing money, the dollar is constantly depreciating, now you pay a deposit, we can purchase raw materials, produce at the current price, wait until next year, if you pay the deposit, then you need to follow next year's market, wait until next year, the Yankees will place a new order, we will definitely raise the price, when the time comes, ......"

"Okay, we'll pay the deposit first." Eric nodded.

Although he doesn't know where to get the money, he knows that he must agree to it first, otherwise the price will increase properly next year.

Mao Honghai was even more shocked.

This steam catapult has just produced its first cylinder, and then it needs to be produced, assembled, tested, and adjusted, and it will take at least a year to put the catapult in the test flight yard for testing.

If you give the product to the French now, the technology is not mature, maybe it will be exposed, but I didn't expect that the other party would postpone the receipt of the goods and pay the deposit in advance!

In this way, you will have the money to produce and test, and the technology will be run-in and mature, which is equivalent to using the money of the French to build your own catapult, this kind of thing, only Mr. Qin can do it!

Awesome, awesome!

Qin Feng still looked calm: "Okay, then let's go sign the contract now, or continue to look here?" ”

"Let's take a look first, what's being produced over there?"

"It is also a hydraulic cylinder ordered by an American customer."

Hydraulic cylinders!

Hearing these words, Eric felt his eyelids start to jump, could it be the cylinder blocking the landing device?

"Let's take a look."

The core of the blocking landing device is not the blocking cable, that thing is just to hook the aircraft, the aircraft can stop, mainly relying on the complex pulley to transmit the energy to the main cylinder is consumed, this main cylinder is the key!

The French don't have the relevant technology, their existing aircraft carrier can only stop a ten-ton fighter, and the Rafale is a twenty-ton one, and they have to develop it completely new, if there is one here......

Wait, for the Mao Yankees to put all kinds of products in the East to produce?

"What do American customers say?"

"This batch of customers is different from the customer of the cylinder catapult, they are old customers, and they used to buy our wire ropes." Qin Feng introduced: "At the beginning, they wanted to buy our wire rope to go back to build a crane, and as for this hydraulic cylinder, it is said that it is also used on the crane. ”

Crane? Which crane uses such a large cylinder?

Eric shook his head: "They buy wire ropes, but they don't build cranes, this hydraulic cylinder, and wire rope are all used on aircraft carrier blocking devices, by the way, how much is this thing?" ”

"This cylinder is two million dollars a piece, and the wire rope is a million dollars a roll, and a roll is a thousand meters."

The hydraulic cylinder is not cheap, but the machining accuracy required by this thing is very high, and the blank has to be pressed by a hydraulic press of 10,000 tons.

The wire rope is very cheap, and the Yankees offer a hundred and fifty dollars a piece, three hundred meters each! A million dollars here can make three sticks!

"We need three hydraulic cylinders and two reels of wire rope." Eric spoke.

The Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is relatively small, so there are only three blocking cables, and only three cylinders are enough, as for the wire ropes......

"Ahem, our wire rope is sold from five rolls, if it is less, there is no need to open a production line."

Anyway, this thing is a consumable, and it needs to be purchased often in the future, and five volumes is not too much, Eric gritted his teeth: "Okay!" ”