Chapter 850 The Beginning of the Food War
After assigning the task to Li Yabo, Chang Haonan left the compressor research.
Studying thermal effects is a relatively simple and straightforward part that can be left to students.
But that new mechanism——
Considering that it corresponds to the thermal effect, it can be tentatively named the cold ablation mechanism. After all, it may involve a completely new theory, so Chang Haonan still has to personally Come.
So...since we want to engage in materials research, the prerequisites are naturally equipment and materials.
Even if Chang Haonan has a system, it will be the same.
According to his speculation just now, the cold ablation mechanism is strongly related to the basic theory of molecular dynamics.
The research equipment needed cannot be obtained by these small efforts now.
In addition, in addition to equipment, several researchers who are not students and are dedicated to scientific research may also be needed.
and postdocs.
Of course, these all have to rely on the new laboratory under construction.
Otherwise, there would be almost no room for people in the school headquarters, not to mention the equipment.
After sorting out the primary and secondary relationships here, Chang Haonan turned directly and went to Tang Lintian's office.
The latter was flipping through a document at this time.
Judging from the two newspapers on hand, I am afraid they were delivered just now.
Hearing footsteps coming from far and near from outside, Tang Lintian raised his head and saw Chang Haonan appearing at the door.
"Professor Chang?"
He put down the pen and documents in his hands:
"A rare visitor...why do you have time to come to my place today?"
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The last time Chang Haonan took the initiative to go to Tang Lintian's office was when he hadn't even graduated from his undergraduate degree.
It also indirectly caused the location of the latter's can of good tea to be exposed, and was eventually beaten to the autumn wind.
At that time Tang Lintian was still the dean of the School of Aeronautical Science and Engineering.
After that, the two met, either outside or in Chang Haonan's office.
“Something about the new laboratory.”
Chang Haonan sat directly opposite Tang Lintian's desk, and the latter took out a tin can from a corner of the filing cabinet as usual.
Du Yishan has retired, and neither Chang Haonan nor Liu Zhenxiang drink tea much.
As the principal of Jinghang, there is a high probability that no fourth person will dare to come directly to him to challenge the autumn wind.
Not in a hurry, Chang Haonan inadvertently glanced at the two newspapers placed next to him while waiting for Tang Lintian to make tea.
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a warning: Abnormal drought may cause soybean production reduction, and we need to be alert to the harm caused by extreme weather to humans"
"The problem of global warming is imminent, the US Department of Agriculture issues a warning to reduce production"
"!"
Chang Haonan was shocked when he saw these two titles.
He had seen a similar plot in his previous life.
This can be regarded as the first round of offensive launched by the United States at the strategic level after China joined the WTO.
But that time seems to have happened around 2004.
Now that China has joined the WTO one year ahead of schedule, Americans who have suffered some losses in the past few years are obviously a little bit restless.
So it has only been three months, and I can’t wait to do something.
The two cups of tea were quickly placed on the desk.
"New laboratory..."
Tang Lintian sat back down and was about to continue what he had just said, but he soon noticed Chang Haonan's eyes glancing to the side, so he temporarily changed the topic:
"It said that soybean futures have risen above It has been more than three times as long as a month, and there is no sign of relief."
"Well..."
Chang Haonan nodded absently, picked up the cup and blew lightly:
“Although soybeans are not a staple food, they are after all a major oil crop and a semi-necessity for survival. Once there is a risk of insufficient supply of this kind of thing, the price increase will not be based on the relationship between supply and demand, but will It keeps going up until someone can’t afford it.” Tang Lintian originally just picked up two newspapers to read, but he became interested after hearing what Chang Haonan said:
"Professor Chang also studies some economics?"
After asking, it seemed reasonable, and he added:
"Oh... I almost forgot about you. I still care about this big state-owned enterprise..."
Chang Haonan took a sip of tea and then shook his head:
"It has nothing to do with that."
"I really don't understand economics, but I have read some history."
He said and put the teacup back on the table:
" During the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong of Qi State, in order to destroy Lu State and Liang State, suggested to Qi Huan Gong that he buy a kind of fabric called 'Ti' which is a specialty of these two countries at a high price, and at the same time dump grain to them at extremely low prices. When the Lu and Liang states saw the benefits, they ordered all the land in the country to be planted with rice. "
"After only a few years, the grain output of the two countries was basically zero. , could only rely on imports from Qi. At this time, Qi Huangong suddenly ordered that the whole country wear silk, so that the silk from those two countries could not be sold. At the same time, the price of exported grain suddenly increased, which directly caused a round of famine. , defeated two serious enemies without a single blow..."
"Historical books say it is rather obscure. This operation is called the Battle of Silk, but the core is actually food. After all, people can live without clothes or shelter if they are desperate, but if they don't eat, they will definitely starve to death. ”
Tang Lintian, who was born in science and engineering, has naturally never read "Guanzi", which is relatively unpopular even among pre-Qin works.
But after listening to Chang Haonan’s words about having a nose and eyes, I also knew that it was unlikely to be made up on the spot.
Besides, the other party has no reason to make up such a story to comfort himself.
“So what you are saying is...the Americans hope that by raising the price of soybeans, our country will stop growing food and switch to soybeans, and then cut off our food supply in a few years..."
Halfway through his words, he felt that something was wrong.
After all, Lu and Liang are just two small countries.
China obviously cannot directly apply it.
"No, no..."
Chang Haonan also showed an expression that he couldn't bear to look at:
"Our country has control over staple food, and there is basically no way to make decisions about it..."
In the last round of negotiations to join the WTO, China and the United States carried out a package of exchanges of conditions, including opening up Most agricultural markets.
This also includes staple foods.
But after opening up, the red line of cultivated land and yield indicators are still there. In any case, it is impossible for the whole country to plant soybeans.
Tang Lintian thought so and immediately breathed a sigh of relief:
"Then what do you mean..."
Chang Haonan pretended to think for a while before replying:
"I estimate that the other party simply wants to target our country's soybean industry."
“If you think about it, our country’s cultivated land area is not enough. Most of it can only be used to ensure the production of staple foods. Soybeans themselves rely on imports. Now that prices are soaring, soybean farmers must expand their planting area, and downstream companies will also Eager to buy soybean futures from the international market to prevent them from rising even higher."
"Wait until next year, or the year after next at the latest, and they will announce that production has not dropped as expected, causing soybean prices to plummet... ”
Although Chang Haonan didn't finish what he said, it's not difficult to guess what happened next.
Except for a small number of companies that are backed by the state, most downstream companies may go bankrupt as a result.
Soybean farmers who have hurriedly expanded their planting area will obviously also face huge losses.
The most troublesome part is -
China was able to win the staple food war in the last generation. Although wonderful operations played a very important role, in the final analysis, there were still nearly 2 billion acres of domestic land. The bottom of the cultivated land.
No matter how bad the situation is, it’s not like we really can’t afford to eat.
But the soybean industry obviously does not have this advantage.
The self-sufficiency itself is very weak, and related industries are still dominated by private enterprises and collective enterprises, and there is no way to impose orders and prohibitions like central enterprises.
And now to stock up on soybeans...
Obviously it’s a bit late.
Therefore, Chang Haonan couldn't even think of any good solution for a while...
(End of this chapter)