Genius of the Rules-Style System

Chapter 741: Chapter 407: Why would Academician Zhao be here?

Zhang Gangchuan’s "yes" was spoken with great effort, and after saying it, he took a deep breath, as if he had made a major decision.

The main issue involved here is still confidentiality.

The Kunlun Engine is the only domestically independently developed and built Turbofan Engine and also a military-use engine. It is almost impossible for ordinary people to even catch a glimpse of it. The related research materials of the engine are kept absolutely confidential, other experts, including academicians in the expert group, can only apply to the higher authorities to access even a part of the information, let alone the complete data.

Zhao Yi is different.

Zhang Gangchuan also made some measurements. Zhao Yi is the top-level scholar, the top-level scientific research genius, his personal achievements are so high that others can only look up to him. His influence in the world is also significant, and the impact and value created by his research institute far surpass the existence of the Kunlun Engine.

If Zhao Yi were to face political leakage issues, the leakage of Kunlun Engine data would not even be important, and the higher authorities might be more concerned about the problem with Zhao Yi himself.

Zhang Gangchuan thought it through carefully and concluded that confidentiality was not an issue, so he gritted his teeth and agreed directly.

The reason why it is so difficult to agree is still the research on the Kunlun Engine. The research on the Kunlun Engine has taken more than twenty years, and the completion and improvement work has taken several years. Together, it has already exceeded thirty years. One can imagine how difficult the thirty-year research process can be and how much content it entails.

Now, every circuit on the engine can be said to be the painstaking effort of the research team.

When the Kunlun Engine project was first launched, Zhang Gangchuan was just a researcher participating in the work. Later, the engine project was shelved twice, and the chief designer left three times. Zhang Gangchuan was promoted to project designer and head. He spent his best years in his twenties on this project and is now in his mid-fifties. One could say that his entire life has been dedicated to the design and construction of the Kunlun Engine.

From an external perspective, the construction of the Kunlun Engine can also be considered a success. Even though the problems with the engine’s performance not catching up and the temporary issues with its reliability, at least it fills the gap in China’s independent research and development of turbofan engines. With the research and development experience and data of the Kunlun Engine, developing other aerospace engines will be more efficient, and we can find a group of experienced researchers.

However, Zhang Gangchuan doesn’t think so. frёewebηovel.cѳm

He invested decades of effort into the Kunlun Engine, hoping to develop an aerospace engine that would catch up with the international high-end level. After its development, the engine’s performance does not keep up, and his only goal is to improve the Kunlun engine so that it can be widely loaded on active fighter planes.

Only then would Zhang Gangchuan feel that his life’s pursuit and efforts have not been in vain.

"Academician Zhao is a top mathematician, reportedly knowledgeable about everything, and able to offer valuable insights," Zhang Gangchuan heard a lot of information and thought with anticipation, "I hope Academician Zhao can really help and speed up the improvement of the engine!"

Zhang Gangchuan thought with some expectation.

Zhao Yi and Zhang Gangchuan came to an agreement on terms, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed. He asked some questions about the engine’s parameters and also learned about China’s current active fighter situation.

China’s research and development direction is focused on advanced fourth-generation and fifth-generation fighter planes, but the main active fighters are primarily third-generation planes, with most of the planes being two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half-generation fighters.

"Our goal is to improve the Kunlun Engine within five years to a level where it can be used and installed on three-and-a-half-generation fighters, perhaps planning to be installed on several hundreds or thousands of aircraft,"

said Zhang Gangchuan earnestly. "If it takes longer, we might consider developing the next-generation engine."

If the time dragged on any longer and couldn’t keep up with the pace of China’s replacement of active fighter planes, the engine would simply not be useful anymore. We could only start a new research and development project, which definitely wouldn’t be completed within ten years.

Younger members of the research group could still join new research teams. Zhang Gangchuan would at most be an advisory role, and he might as well consider retiring.

Zhang Gangchuan looked rather bitter as he spoke, putting a lifetime of energy into a project that became useless in the end is indeed a great failure for him personally.

Zhao Yi felt sympathy for Zhang Gangchuan, but his agreement to serve as a "specially appointed expert" was not because of compassion, but because he was very interested in the engine’s development. The engine research is indeed very attractive, especially aerospace engines. Research achievements could end up being installed on many fighter planes, and the aerospace engine is the core of the fighter plane.

If China’s active main force fighters, or even its most advanced high-tech fighters, were equipped with engines designed by himself, Zhao Yi would feel an immense sense of accomplishment.

Zhao Yi couldn’t wait any longer.

...

Specially appointed experts are external experts hired by the research group, which can also be understood as "consultants". Due to major confidentiality issues, not every expert can be a "consultant". Political background must be free of flaws, and approval from the higher authorities is also required. freeweɓnovel.cøm

Since highly reputable scholars are involved, the hiring process also requires the approval of the higher authorities, so the agreements and such are not that important.

Zhao Yi still signed a confidentiality agreement. The "specially appointed expert" working agreement only had a few short terms, and everybody working on it seemed very simple. Since the funding was allocated by higher authorities, there was no need to go through the research group once the work results were reported. The "salary" would be directly transferred to the account.