Chapter 20 "My Friend"

At the Quancheng Railway Station, Wang Ye and Liang Jinsong parted ways, and Wang Ye boarded the train bound for Yanjing.

Sitting in his seat, Wang Ye sighed deeply as he hugged his backpack. It had only been a day since he last rode this train, but his state of mind was completely different. Yesterday, while he was generally confident, there was still a hint of unease.

What if the Provincial Defense Management Office didn't cooperate? What if the workers at Hongxing Machinery Factory caused trouble? What if there were no rewards for creating wealth in the Luqi Province? These and other questions troubled Wang Ye.

But today, all of that ceased to exist!

"The start went smoothly overall. All I need to do now is secure the gas cylinder order, and we can complete the initial accumulation for the military-civilian conversion of the machinery factory, serving as capital for numerous future projects..."

With the sound of the train starting "clang clang," Wang Ye looked out the window at the receding station, his mind racing.

Actually, the answer Wang Ye gave yesterday to Liang Jinsong's question about why he planned the "wolf in sheep's clothing" gas cylinder scheme couldn't be considered his true thoughts. It was more of an official response for the occasion, but it still garnered Liang Jinsong's promise.

The real reasons, however, were threefold and not suitable for public disclosure.

Firstly, Wang Ye coveted the unimaginable profits in arms trading. This reason could also be considered an extension of his explanation from yesterday. For military research institutions, transitioning to civilian development might be a good option, but it was hard-earned money in Wang Ye's view. And in this world, what kind of business had the most lucrative profits if not arms trading? Wang Ye returned to this era, so why couldn't he and Hongxing Machinery Factory take advantage of it?

Secondly, Wang Ye wanted to break a shackle: China's difficulty in exporting military equipment. In the second decade of the new century, the global arms trade totaled about 40% of the market share for the United States, with annual profits reaching staggering figures in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Russia, France, and other countries followed. However, China barely accounted for less than 5% of this share. The reasons were simple: China had never engaged in land grabs or military expansion, causing its weapons exports to be weak. Additionally, there was a convention in international arms trading that exported weapons must be equipped by the exporting country itself; otherwise, foreign countries would consider the weapons unreliable and weak. The most advanced equipment wasn't exported due to secrecy. So this time, Wang Ye wanted to break free from these shackles.

Lastly, the third reason was simpler. Wang Ye believed that in this world, apart from Japan and South Korea, the only countries willing to sincerely serve as America's minions were few. And these countries submitted primarily because of America's military might. But what if America wasn't as overwhelmingly powerful as it would become in a dozen years? If these countries had a bit of resistance, what would happen? At least occasional fires in their own backyards should be inevitable, right?

In conclusion, by employing the strategy of "wolf in sheep's clothing," Wang Ye could contribute to the country's economic development, subsidize domestic economic construction, support military-industrial research, promote the development of China's military industry, and even cause some trouble for the United States. So why not do it?

Thinking of this, a slightly sinister smile appeared at the corner of Wang Ye's mouth, scaring the person next to him, who quickly shifted away, clutching their bag tightly, and moving away from this tall and intimidating youth who was secretly laughing.

At eleven o'clock at night, the train arrived at Yanjing Station. Without resting, Wang Ye bought a ticket and boarded the train bound for Changshan City.

At six in the morning the next day, the train arrived at Changshan. After a day of travel, Wang Ye, feeling somewhat tired, came out of the station and found a small shop selling mutton soup. He ordered a large bowl of mutton soup, along with a pound of flatbread. In order to be in the best mental state for negotiations later, and since it was his first official business trip with soon-to-be foreign currency income, Wang Ye didn't hold back and even added two extra lamb intestines.

After finishing the meal with gusto, feeling revitalized, he washed up somewhere and went straight to the Changshan Advanced Military Academy.

At the gate, Wang Ye handed over his introduction letter and said, "Hello, I'm Wang Ye, the factory manager of Hongxing Machinery Factory. This is my introduction letter. I'm here to visit a friend of mine, a foreigner with dark skin named Kikwete, who is studying here. Can you please inform him?"

After the guard checked Wang Ye's introduction letter and confirmed there were no issues, he nodded. Shortly after, Kikwete, who had just returned to the dormitory after morning exercises, received notification from the staff.

"Hongxing Machinery Factory? My friend?" Kikwete frowned for a second, then nodded to the staff member and said, "Please ask him to come over!"