Rebirth: My 80s

The rays of light filtered in through the gaps in the blue curtains and spread out under the fluorescent lights, as if putting a golden dress on Li Jiankun who was sitting by the window.

The meeting lasted a whole day.

Finally, we talked about the issue that no one seemed willing to mention.

The person who was speaking was a leader on the stage. He was the one who spoke the least throughout the day. He basically did not speak much and spent most of his time taking notes.

"How much money do you need?"

As he said this, his eyes were looking at the other people in the leadership seat and the participants in the first row of the audience.

The four scientific giants who jointly wrote the proposal sat next to each other in the center of the first row.

Everyone whose eyes swept over him looked at each other.

In many previous meetings, everyone seemed to be consciously avoiding this issue.

But everyone knows that sooner or later they will have to have a serious discussion.

In the entire plan, funding is undoubtedly the most critical and sensitive issue.

High-tech research and development means high investment.

Without money, nothing can be done.

However, the current economic conditions in the country are not so good.

After a moment of silence, the senior leaders stepped forward to break the silence. Wang Ganchang, one of the four leaders, raised his hand and said:

“We have discussed this issue in private in our small circle.

"Everyone's idea is to save as much as possible, and it would be fine if we can give 200 million yuan a year."

Here’s what they think:

The current average price of eggs across the country is about 20 cents per egg.

We have hundreds of millions of people.

Save one egg from every mouth every year.

It’s exactly 200 million yuan.

rustling...

The leader who asked the questions did not express his opinion, but just wrote it down in a notebook.

Li Jiankun guessed his background and knew that the important issues discussed today would be reported to the top officials immediately after the meeting.

At this time, there was a lot of whispering in the audience.

"Seven major projects, fifteen theme projects, all high-tech research and development, 200 million per year..."

"If this is the case, the time it takes to achieve scientific research results will be greatly extended."

"It's difficult."

Chen Chunxian looked at Li Jiankun: "How... do we do this?"

"The seniors are reluctant to give it, knowing that the country is not rich. If they ask for 200 million a year, will they really give 200 million?"

Li Jiankun said with a sigh: "The higher-ups will definitely calculate it. Since they have decided to do it, they must have made preparations for special investment."

Li Jiankun knew about this matter.

Because that number is very shocking in this era.

It also shows great courage.

The final special fund approved for the 863 Program was billion yuan.

This is equivalent to one twentieth of the current national fiscal expenditure!

It can be said that they emptied their family's savings to support it.

Unparalleled decisiveness also carries enormous pressure.

However, Li Jiankun understood that even if it was 10 billion.

Even if a billion people tighten their belts together.

For a century-long project like the 863 Project, which is also a series of projects, it is still insufficient.

At a certain moment, Li Jiankun came up with a bold idea:

【I'll get the funds! 】

But then he changed his mind and smiled bitterly again.

This is no longer something that can be described as "bold".

Being too high-profile is not necessarily a good thing.

He thought again, it is not a good idea to take care of everything at once, so how about taking care of projects involving chips?

Not in a personal capacity either.

Li Jiankun's eyes lit up. This might become an important bargaining chip for him to fight for the right to take charge of the chip project.

"Okay, everyone, be quiet."

At this time, a voice came from the speakers in the auditorium:

“It’s getting late, and at the end of today’s meeting, we have an initiative to launch.

“Most of you here are senior scholars and authorities in the scientific community, and some are experts in the corresponding fields of the seven major projects and 15 thematic projects mentioned in the plan.

“First, we hope that you can get together more often in private and continue to discuss. We are happy to listen to any suggestions that may be helpful in implementing the plan, and we will seriously discuss them.

“In addition, as mentioned earlier, the planned high-tech development direction, according to the technical field or theme project, requires the establishment of a special R&D team or even an organization, which requires someone to be responsible.

“Comrades, we have invited you here from all over the country, which means that you have achieved results or have rich management experience in your respective fields.

"So we hope that capable and courageous comrades can take the initiative to apply to become the person in charge of a certain project. In the end, we will give priority to comrades who take the initiative to apply for the position of person in charge of the relevant projects.

"This is definitely not an easy task. We must be prepared for long-term hardship and struggle, and a protracted war. Everyone's enthusiasm and personal willingness are very important.

"Interested comrades can submit their applications to the Science and Technology Commission or the Science and Technology Industry Commission..."

Below the stage, Li Jiankun secretly clenched his fists.

Although he knew that it would be difficult for him to become a project leader.

But he also has to write this application.

……

……

The 863 Project was officially named.

The name means March 1986.

In the Science and Technology Commission compound, there is a newly opened office——

【863 Project Coordination Department】.

It was late at night, but the room was still brightly lit.

Smoke billows.

Several people sat around the red lacquered wooden sofa against the wall, reading through the applications one by one and starting discussions.

The selection of project leaders is extremely important and cannot be sloppy.

"Everyone has given good comments about Comrade Chen Wei. Let's take note of it and see if there are any other applicants who are better than him in this project field.

"Next one."

A man picked up a letter from a wooden coffee table of the same color, glanced at the applicant, and couldn't remember who it was, so he cut open the letter and read a paragraph. He suddenly understood, but his expression looked very strange:

"Do you know this person named Li Jiankun? He is from the Special Zone Huadian (joint venture) company."

The man raised the letter in his hand:

“He wrote it.”

Someone asked: "Is he the person who developed the fourth-generation lithography machine with Chen Chunxian? He seems to be a partner of Huaxia Silicon Valley Company?"

"Yes, that's him."

Some people said: "What the hell is he applying for? He doesn't hold any public office. We invited him to the last meeting just because we saw that he and Chen Chunxian had developed a fourth-generation lithography machine, which was related to some of the planned projects. We thought that he could provide some support in hardware when the project was launched."

Some people pondered and asked: "Should we not consider people who do not hold public office at all?"

The first person responded: "This is an unprecedented national high-tech development plan. I ask you, are you confident in handing it over to a businessman, a foreign manager of a joint venture company?"

"But... among the seven major projects, two involve large-scale integrated circuits. I don't know if you know this Li Jiankun, but let me put it this way: if you want to carry out the research and development of large-scale integrated circuits, you can't avoid this person."

"joke!"

"I'm serious now. I'm not kidding you. The Huadian joint venture company where Li Jiankun works has long been conducting research in the chip field in the Special Economic Zone and has even built a chip industrial park. It is said that the supporting facilities are very complete and a lot of scientific research results have been produced. Through this person, we can take a shortcut in the research and development of large-scale integrated circuits. If we bypass him, we will most likely have to start from scratch."

"You said it's a joint venture, and he's just a manager. You're taking him too seriously by saying 'you can't get around him.'"

"This person is not as simple as you think..."

"Alright, alright." Someone saw the two were about to quarrel and tried to smooth things over.

……

……

Li Jiankun didn’t know whether all applicants would be summoned individually.

But he was not surprised at all that he was summoned alone.

Now, he was sitting in a reception room in the Science and Technology Commission compound, wearing a deliberately white shirt, black trousers, and shiny leather shoes of the same color.

A lesbian had poured him a cup of green tea before.

When I was halfway through drinking my tea, three people walked in together from the outside of the room, which was not closed, and closed the red painted wooden door.

I had met these three people at the meeting that day.

All of them are sitting on the stage.

Li Jiankun stood up from the sofa chair covered with white silk.

"Please sit down." said the person in the middle.

The three of them then sat down on the sofa chairs nearby.

"Comrade Jiankun is a very busy man. We are also very busy. Let's get straight to the point." The person in the middle smiled slightly.

Li Jiankun smiled back and said "OK".

"You said in your application that you want to apply to be the person in charge of the large-scale integrated circuit research and development project. Are you aware that there are two subject projects?"

"Well, one is LSI design, and the other is LSI materials."

"Do you think you can do it?"

"Of course. It's no exaggeration to say that I think I am the most suitable candidate. In fact, both of these projects have been carried out by the Special Zone Huadian Company. We have a certain foundation and have achieved some results -"

"I'll interrupt."

The person who was farthest from Li Jiankun interrupted and asked, "From what you said, if you were really put in charge, would you combine the two theme projects in the 863 Plan with the related projects of the Special Zone Huadian Company?"

Li Jiankun remembered this man's name, Lai Zhongmin.

"Comrade Lai, the Special Zone Huadian Company, the Special Zone Development Committee holds 51% of the shares."

"I know that."

Lai Zhongmin: "I also know that according to the joint venture agreement, the SAR Development Committee has no operating rights over the SAR Huadian Company. If you let me take charge of these two theme projects, I have a few questions:

“1. Who will own the research results of these two projects in the future?”

"In terms of shareholding ratio, the majority of the Special Zone Huadian Company belongs to the state, but the ownership is still a question—"

"Listen to what I have to say first."

Li Jiankun was interrupted again by Lai Zhongmin.

“2. Your Huadian Corporation is in charge of all operations of the Special Zone Huadian Corporation. The 863 Plan has drawn the whole country’s efforts. If the scientific research results catalyzed by it are leaked outside, who will bear the responsibility?

"3. If other domestic units and institutions need to use the scientific research results generated by these two projects, can your Huadian Company share the technology without reservation?"

...

Li Jiankun frowned slightly. He had a feeling that Lai Zhongmin's words were not meant for him.

Instead, he said it to the two people beside him.

After Li Jiankun thought about it, he suddenly realized:

Lai Zhongmin didn't want him to be the project leader from the bottom of his heart.