Chapter 1088 I, Da Ying, am going to pick peaches again (first update, please subscribe)
“The whole world has turned its attention to the distant new frontier!”
I don’t know when it started , space has become a distant new frontier, and the countries qualified to participate in this new frontier competition are limited. There are only three and a half countries - the United States, the Soviet Union and Nanyang. As for the other half?
It’s Britain.
After the UK cooperated with Nanyang to launch the first artificial satellite, the UK seems to have become accustomed to cooperation with Nanyang - from artificial satellites to hydrogen bombs, to other aspects, and even took the initiative to propose joint development between the two countries. A new generation of destroyers. Especially after learning that Nanyang was going to develop a new type of destroyer, the Royal Navy expressed its tendency to cooperate, although as early as last year, the Royal Navy chose a low-cost solution, namely the County-class destroyer. But this does not prevent them from wanting to get involved in Nanyang's plan.
As for what kind of flowers these cooperation can bear, I am afraid only God knows.
However, sometimes, the role played by me, the British, is to stir up the shit stick, just like now, when Downing Street is informed that Nanyang’s manned space project has entered the full implementation stage. , Britain is a little uneasy.
“We must tell Nanyang that we also want to participate!”
Once again, Aiden said with some excitement. In fact, a few months ago, Nanyang announced the When the human space program began to screen and train astronauts, Downing Street showed strong interest. Eden even generously stated that the UK could contribute 50 million pounds to participate in this program.
I have to say that this time, Aiden was extremely generous.
£50 million!
This is even more than the UK's total investment in atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs - cooperation between the two countries is indeed very economical, even the Labor Party, which is extremely stingy in "big power projects", has to admit - - Cooperation with Nanyang has opened up a new way for the development of the Commonwealth and saved a lot of money.
Just when the relevant departments in the UK rushed to Chang'an and Nanyang to discuss cooperative launch matters, the negotiation broke down on the day of the negotiation, to be precise, less than an hour after the negotiation started. .
Because Britain wants the astronauts to be British - they even emphasized that this is their only requirement.
Isn’t this nonsense?
Nanyang spent so much money to gain a reputation for launching, and then let the British display the British flag in space.
As a result, the negotiations could not even continue.
Aiden has always been worried about this.
"Now, the Americans have announced their "Mercury Project", and the Soviet Union has also announced their manned plan. What about Nanyang? Their "Kuafu Plan" has also been implemented for several months. But what about us? "
Aiden's tone became a little excited. Could he not be excited?
Recently, public opinion circles have been asking - where are the British astronauts? When did Great Britain send British people into space?
The reason why Eden is so excited today is entirely because a Labor MP said in an interview with reporters that Eden is using Nanyang to whitewash Britain's decline to cover up his incompetence.
In fact, Nanyang has started the second phase of the "Kuafu Project" since two years ago. However, at that time, the United Kingdom was still very hesitant about whether to go into space.
Furthermore, in line with the principle of spending a small amount of money to do big things, they prefer to let Nanyang complete the initial investment, and then Britain will pick the peaches.
So after learning that Nanyang started training astronauts a few months ago. They generously expressed their willingness to spend 50 million pounds.
But how could such peach picking be accepted?
Rejected as a matter of course.
Now facing doubts from the outside world, Eden, as Prime Minister, is naturally a little embarrassed.
“But, Prime Minister, we all know that it is impossible for the Nanyang people to give up the title of the first astronaut in the world to the British.”
As the Prime Minister’s personal secretary, Harry Si shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
"This is not a matter of money, but a matter of Nanyang's national honor. Prime Minister, you should know that as a country of immigrants, they are working hard to build Nanyang's national self-esteem, just like Tangshan built their self-esteem with the victory of the peninsula. , Nanyang also needs to build all this, and they even need to use this to build a sense of national identity. After all, most Nanyang people are from Tangshan, and they need to identify with this country! "
If Li Yi'an hears this! I will definitely give Harris a thumbs up. In fact, this is the reason why Li Yian cares about the space program. The space program in this era is not only a scientific initiative, but also a symbol of courage. Humanity is completely in the same place. Astronauts of this era who entered space without knowing anything are like the explorers of the Age of Discovery. No, it should be said that they were the first explorers from land to sea. They set foot on the sea with courage and then step by step. to start a new era.
That’s why astronauts in this era will become heroes of all mankind and are sought after by all mankind. Just like Gagarin - in the next few years, as the first human being to enter space, Gagarin was a calling card of the Soviet Union.
He has visited various countries and received an extremely warm welcome in every country. Countries around the world rushed to award Gagarin medals. In this process, the reputation of the Soviet Union also reached its peak.
For Nanyang, which is building a sense of national identity, nothing is more important than the title of the world's first astronaut.
In this unprecedented glory, Nanyang people will truly become Nanyang people because of unprecedented glory.
"No. 1 in the world?"
Aiden was surprised, as if he was watching a joke, and said:
"How is this possible? You know, As early as December last year, the Americans had completed the selection of their astronauts. The Soviets may have started this work earlier. I dare say that this time, either the United States or Russia will be able to snatch the world's number one title. Americans Although the possibility is very high, the Soviet Union's success rate will be higher. After all, they launched the satellite earlier! As for Nanyang..."
Aiden did not continue but walked to the desk. , smoked a cigarette from the tin cigarette box, lit it, took a puff, and said in a slightly regretful tone:
"It is definitely impossible for them to be ahead of the United States and the Soviet Union. After all, where is the national power and strength of Nanyang..." At this point, Aiden said with a flash of inspiration in his mind.
“Harris, I have an idea!”
…
“What?”
Listening to the voice coming from the phone, Li Yian didn't even react.
“That’s right.”
In the small phone room at No. 10 Downing Street, Aiden said into the phone microphone.
“I believe that for the common reputation and interests of the Commonwealth, the UK should take joint action with Nanyang on the manned space program. Therefore, we are willing to provide 50 million pounds of funding and send British scientists to participate. into this plan to send our people into space as soon as possible."
Uh...
Listening to Aiden's voice, Li Yian fell into silence. He took two puffs of his cigar silently and then said.
"Mr. Prime Minister, you should understand that manned spaceflight has a different meaning to Nanyang."
For Li Yi'an, who is bent on building a sense of national identity, he I don’t want to do it because of 50 million British pounds The Pound missed this opportunity. This is not a satellite. There is no problem with two national flags on the satellite. It is nothing more than a British reporter taking a picture of the Union Jack flag and a Nanyang reporter taking a picture of the double-star flag. In the end, everyone's newspapers were all - I Nanyang (Great Britain) )'s man-made satellite was launched into the sky.
But manned spaceflight is different. When the time comes, astronauts will need to say hello to the whole world through TV, so the astronauts must be from Nanyang!
“I guarantee that when the manned spacecraft is launched for the second time, there will be a ticket from the UK!”
This is already Li Yian's biggest concession!
But as soon as he finished speaking, Aiden said.
"No, no, Li, I think you misunderstood me. I think we can reach an agreement. This agreement..."
Aiden took a puff of cigarette and said slightly Said a little proudly.
"It is the agreement about the first astronaut. If Nanyang launches a spaceship before the United States and the Soviet Union, then of course the world's first astronaut will be a Nanyang person. But if Nanyang launches a spaceship before , the United States or the Soviet Union have completed their launch plans and sent their astronauts into space, so the astronauts on our spacecraft are British, what do you think?”
After saying these words into the microphone, Aiden took a puff of cigarette with some pride. In his opinion, this is an extremely perfect plan. If everything goes well, the first astronaut in the Commonwealth will definitely be British. .
50 million pounds is definitely worth the money!
"This..."
Li Yian's brows furrowed. He knew very well what this guy Aiden was planning. To put it bluntly, this guy was betting - betting that Nanyang would not be the best. It may be the first to send a man into space. As long as the United States or the Soviet Union takes the lead in Southeast Asia, then this guy will succeed in picking peaches.
Although Li Yi'an did not reject space cooperation with the United Kingdom, after all, this could draw on British talents and technology, but during the cooperation, he discovered that the United Kingdom was not excluded from space for no reason - they I don't have much interest in space at all.
In fact, if the space race was not related to national reputation, the United States and the Soviet Union would definitely not spend so much money on the space program. For the United Kingdom, which cannot even maintain the Royal Navy, it is naturally impossible for them to continue to spend a lot of money. Money is in the space program.
So, the space cooperation between Nanyang and Britain was not as smooth as he imagined. Nanyang wanted to use British technology and funds for free, while Britain wanted to use the benefits of the space program for free.
In this case, after the two parties cooperated to launch several satellites, the artificial communication satellite was simply done by Nanyang without Britain. Now Britain wants to prostitute astronauts for nothing.
Is there such a good thing in this world?
"Aiden, my friend, you should know that if we launch before them, then..."
Before Li Yian could finish speaking, Aiden said.
"In that case, it will be an unprecedented honor for the entire British Commonwealth. It is natural for you to win the title of the world's first astronaut. My friends, after all, we belong to the same British Commonwealth. Federation.”
It has to be said that Aiden is very good at using official language. He does not believe from the bottom of his heart that Nanyang will send its own astronauts into space before the United States and the Soviet Union, so , he proposed this "gambling agreement".
Faced with such a gambling agreement, Li Yian did not agree immediately, but thought for a while and said:
"Let me think about it!"
That's right!
Li Yian's answer was within Aiden's expectation. He knew that the other party definitely wanted to seek the scientists' opinions, but he did not stop the other party, but said it directly.
"I hope to get the answer as soon as possible, my friend, you know, this is related to our common interests!"
(End of this chapter)