"But won't using the anti-gravity engine as a bargaining chip be a bit of a loss?" Professor Parkinson fell into deep thought after his secretary left.
It was evident that Yang Yunhe was the spy meticulously arranged by Professor Parkinson, and the anti-gravity engine technology in Yang Yunhe's hands was precisely what Professor Parkinson had given to Yang Yunhe.
Otherwise?
No one would genuinely believe that a young man in his early thirties like Yang Yunhe could lead a team to develop an anti-gravity engine, right? Novels shouldn't be written like that!
The truth was, this technology was the result of the U.S. government spending thirty years, investing over a hundred billion dollars (on paper), and mobilizing over a dozen research and development teams with hundreds of personnel. xxs yi er
As for how Professor Parkinson handed over this technology to Yang Yunhe to use as a stepping stone, it was naturally because the allure of Black Gold technology was even greater, capable of generating more profit and making the powerful figures behind it incredibly covetous.
Some might find this far-fetched, thinking that anti-gravity engine technology should inherently be more valuable than materials like Black Gold, so why would it be willingly offered as bait?
This is because the research into anti-gravity engine technology had actually reached a dead end. To put it plainly, anti-gravity engine technology uses high-energy microwaves to shield the energy within an object, aiming to achieve a reduction in mass.
However, this requires a substantial amount of high-energy microwaves. Despite thirty years of research, the U.S. had only managed to achieve the current level of power; they could not advance any further.
This wasn't a problem that could be solved with a sudden flash of insight; it was a comprehensive inability to meet the requirements.
First and foremost was the material aspect – the inability to find usable materials.
And that was just secondary. The crucial issue was the theoretical breakthrough, or rather, the lack thereof. The development of anti-gravity engines required extensive accumulation of technical knowledge and architecture in high-energy particles, yet humanity's current technical accumulation in this field was practically zero, a blank slate.
Research into high-energy particles cannot rely on flashes of inspiration; it necessitates a vast number of high-energy collision experiments. After all, unless one discovers a specific high-energy particle through experimentation, one cannot proceed with subsequent experiments.
Finally, there were the limitations of manufacturing processes, energy sources, and numerous other technologies.
This wasn't a matter of shortcomings anymore; it was the extent of current human technology. To achieve further progress would require at least several hundred years of accumulated knowledge.
Under these circumstances, the anti-gravity engine technology could only be applied to large aircraft; it was unusable in other projects.
Therefore, at present, the anti-gravity engine technology was merely a seemingly powerful, ultra-futuristic super-technology, but in reality, it was practically useless and extremely difficult to convert into actual profit. The annual revenue of the aviation industry was limited, and even with a 30% reduction in fuel consumption, the savings would only amount to tens of billions of dollars.
Furthermore, this benefit would accrue to airlines, not directly to these financial groups. In fact, the financial groups were unwilling to promote this technology because if airplanes truly saved fuel, wouldn't the oil-selling financial groups lose money?
Wouldn't oil prices have to fall?
Precisely because of these various reasons, although the U.S. had a rudimentary form of anti-gravity engine technology, even capable of partial use, it was still kept hidden by major financial groups, with no opportunity for implementation.
The assessment departments of these financial groups even declared that this technology would be useless for the next 150 years, yielding no return except financial losses.
Besides the fact that this technology wouldn't generate profit within 150 years, another major reason was their discovery that China was also developing anti-gravity engine technology. 150 years would be enough for the Chinese to break through this technology.
Since there was no possibility of improvement, everyone would inevitably start from the same starting line. Therefore, giving it to them in advance wouldn't be considered a loss.
It was precisely for this reason that after prolonged deliberation, the financial groups behind Goldman Sachs agreed to Professor Parkinson's request to offer this technology as bait to Jiangnan Group.
As for why a high-tech project was chosen as bait instead of other inducements, it was the conclusion reached by Professor Parkinson's team after meticulously studying Huang He's personal character.
They found that Huang He and Jiangnan Group placed great importance on technological research and development. Looking back at the several critical junctures in Jiangnan Group's growth and expansion, all were attributed to Huang He's keen insight in identifying scientific research talents and his relentless efforts to recruit them.
More importantly, Huang He provided unparalleled support to these research talents, not only entrusting them with significant responsibilities but also allowing them to use research funds freely. He also cleared all obstacles for them in various aspects, even mandating that the marketing department cooperate with the research department. Whatever technology the research center developed, the marketing department had to transform it into actual products and sell them.
This was a practice that deviated significantly from conventional business principles. In normal business practice, the marketing department would propose product requirements, and the company would then pressure the research department to develop corresponding products based on the marketing department's designs. However, at Jiangnan Group, this order was reversed, yet Jiangnan Group succeeded. This led many other companies to emulate them, essentially disrupting ancestral rules.
However, this strategy profoundly reflected Huang He's personal characteristics: an extreme emphasis on R&D and a high regard for talent. As long as someone was a genius, they would be given significant responsibilities and immense trust.
With this in mind, Professor Parkinson deliberately designed Yang Yunhe as a super-spy.
The entire plan had actually begun as early as 2007 when Professor Parkinson assumed his position.
First, he meticulously selected Yang Yunhe as his pawn. At that time, he had his people collect all resumes from Chinese students who had applied to universities in the United States, totaling approximately 320,000.
Professor Parkinson then had his subordinates filter out those from affluent families, followed by those who didn't appear particularly intelligent. Next, they removed those who clearly aspired to the U.S. After that, they identified individuals with apparent animosity towards foreign countries, and finally, from this group, they selected the single most intelligent person.
Thus, they found Yang Yunhe.
Yang Yunhe's impoverished background and his undeniable intelligence were beyond question. His aspiration for the United States was evident, as he included in his email a data file on flight information he had secretly collected during his studies, intending it as his stepping stone.
Furthermore, Yang Yunhe's rejection by West-Flight meant that he was someone who could be exploited.
And because his mother had gone abroad, Yang Yunhe presented himself to outsiders as highly resentful of foreigners, which would maximally reduce the wariness of the Chinese people.
Simultaneously, by attaching intelligence data to his email, Yang Yunhe indicated that unless he was out of his mind, he would have exercised extreme caution when compiling and sending this email, ensuring it was not disclosed to anyone.
At that time, Yang Yunhe was not a figure of significant public attention, making it virtually impossible to discern his inclinations. With a little effort, subtly refining his background and erasing any potential traces of exposure, Yang Yunhe would become an impeccably clean pawn, almost impossible to find fault with.
There was also the most critical point: this email, containing intelligence, would also become the most potent leverage in the hands of Goldman Sachs. If Yang Yunhe dared to disobey, they could simply release this email, and Yang Yunhe would spend the rest of his life in prison.
In summary, Professor Parkinson quickly chose Yang Yunhe as his pawn. Through his covert operatives in China, he secretly contacted Yang Yunhe and offered him assurances of immigration to the U.S. upon completion of the task, that the anti-gravity engine would forever be considered his personal invention, and even promised assistance in applying for a Nobel Prize. Convinced, Yang Yunhe wholeheartedly agreed.
What followed was complex preparatory work. Firstly, Professor Parkinson provided Yang Yunhe with a vast amount of technical data and arranged for relevant experts to discreetly tutor him, ensuring he grasped the entirety of the anti-gravity engine technology.
Concurrently, he selected Jiangnan Aviation, a relatively transparent enterprise within Jiangnan Group. Through various means, he facilitated Yang Yunhe's introduction to his mentor, who was greatly impressed by Yang Yunhe and immediately took him on as a disciple.
Everything then proceeded smoothly. With the assistance of Goldman Sachs, Yang Yunhe studied under his mentor while simultaneously absorbing American technical data voraciously. He then presented the anti-gravity engine research project as his own ideas and concepts, spending four years refining the entire project. Finally, it came to fruition, with Boss Huang, the hunter, reaping the rewards by introducing it into his research center as a prized possession.
Little did Boss Huang know that the most skilled hunters often appear as the prey.
Of course, there were occasional deviations from the plan. For instance, Boss Huang's immediate desire to present the technology to the nation greatly alarmed Yang Yunhe, as that would have meant the complete failure of his plan.
Fortunately, Goldman Sachs' arrangements were very thorough. Leveraging Yang Yunhe's story of being rejected by West-Flight, they found a legitimate reason to decline proposals from aerospace centers and similar institutions.
In essence, everything proceeded smoothly, and Yang Yunhe had now infiltrated the research center.
His next step was to find a way to establish contact with Tong He, gain his trust, and become his confidant. Joining the Black Gold research would then be a natural progression. Once he obtained the detailed information on Black Gold, his mission would be accomplished, and he could discreetly return to the U.S.
Just as Professor Parkinson was envisioning this with satisfaction, his secretary rushed in again. "Professor, Yang has sent an urgent message. He has made contact with Tong He, but Tong He's interest in him is minimal. Yang hopes to obtain technical information on some special materials to present as his personal research achievement, thereby attracting Tong He's interest and recognition!"