Siheyuan Great Craftsmen

After Professor Meng learned of Zhou Tian’s request, he did not dare to be negligent and hurriedly reported the matter.

This matter soon attracted the high attention of the Ministry of Industry. After some discussion, the Ministry of Industry decided to follow Zhou Tian's advice and contact merchants in Hong Kong to start the import of silicon wafers.

After receiving the instructions from above, the Hong Kong businessmen contacted Bell Labs immediately.

"Smith, you are asking for too much! The cost of silicon wafers is not high, but you are asking for ten dollars each. This is simply blackmail!" When Ho Ying-tung heard what Smith said, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

You have to know that at that time, all his assets added up to only a few million Hong Kong dollars. The current exchange rate between the US dollar and the Hong Kong dollar is 1 to 5.7, which means that one US dollar can be exchanged for Hong Kong dollars.

The task assigned to him was to produce one thousand silicon wafers, which would cost him $100,000, or 570,000 Hong Kong dollars. This was almost one-tenth of his entire fortune, and the thought of it made him feel distressed.

"No! No! No! Dear Huo, you have to understand that the silicon wafer was developed by the joint efforts of hundreds of people in our laboratory. It is the result of everyone's hard work. Believe me, ten dollars for a silicon wafer is really not expensive. You must believe me!"

"No, Smith, ten dollars is still too expensive. What I want is not a small amount. If you can make it cheaper, I will buy it. Ten dollars is absolutely not enough!"

Ho Ying-Tong said in a firm tone that as for the other party's claim that it was the hard work of hundreds of people, he would not believe such nonsense. As far as he knew, there were only sixty or seventy people in the entire Bell Labs, so where did the hundreds of people come from?

"Well, dear Huo, what price do you think is appropriate? If the quantity is small, I might be able to give you a lower price. You have to know that otherwise I won't be able to explain to my superiors!"

"How about one thousand? Smith, one thousand should be enough for you to report to your superiors!" Ho Ying-tung did not hide anything and directly stated the number.

"One thousand?" As expected, Smith on the other side was shocked by the number reported by Huo Yingdong. "No, dear Huo, why are you buying so many silicon wafers?"

As a businessman, he naturally hoped that Ho Ying-tung would buy as much as possible, but the problem was that as far as he knew, Ho Ying-tung had close ties with the Eastern power.

A thousand pieces, if used by an individual or a company, would definitely not be enough. Could it be that the Eastern Power wanted to buy it? Thinking of this, Smith's eyes suddenly flashed with greed. If so, wouldn't he be able to make a fortune?

Although the country is now at war with the Eastern powers, what does this have to do with him? He is just a businessman who only wants to make money.

"I can't tell you this, but Smith, just tell me, can we discuss it? If not, then I can only express my regret!"

Ho Ying-tung knew these businessmen from the Bald Eagle countries very well. If he talked about friendship with them, he would eventually be cheated by them. Only by talking about interests could he have long-term cooperation.

What's more, he also knew that the other party was not an ordinary businessman and had cooperation with the Bald Eagle military. It would not be difficult for him to investigate him, so he did not hide it from the other party.

"Okay, dear Huo, for the sake of our friendship, I'll give you a low price. How about eight dollars per coin? This is already our lowest price!"

Facing Smith's words, Huo Yingdong couldn't help curling his lips, but he said, "Smith, it's still too expensive. Just because we are friends, you should make it a little cheaper. Maybe I'll want it again next time!"

After a fierce debate, Smith and Ho Ying-tung finally set the price at five dollars per silicon wafer.

However, the other party was only responsible for loading, not delivery, but this was not a problem for Huo Yingdong at all, as he now had many cargo ships. After negotiating the price, Huo Yingdong paid half of the advance payment to the other party, then called Dongfang and told him what had happened.

Soon, in less than half a month, the silicon wafers arrived in Hong Kong Island. Huo Yingdong secretly used secret means to send these silicon wafers to the mainland.

When Zhou Tian received the goods, it was already the end of September.

After several months of research and development, there has been no progress in the research of lithography machines.

Although Zhou Tian had a complete design drawing and specific parameters of the lithography machine in his mind, the more advanced the lithography machine was, the more materials it would require, and many materials even needed to be purchased from abroad.

After estimating the amount of funds needed to successfully develop the lithography machine, even he was shocked.

Finally, he had to stop the research on lithography machines because he felt that it was not worthwhile to research lithography machines based on the current industrial foundation.

Even though he now has silicon wafers, he still has to admit that he failed in this research.

However, just because it cannot be completed now does not mean it cannot be completed in the future.

When Zhou Tian announced the failure of the lithography project, many teachers in the electronics industry showed a look of disappointment. After all, this was the first project applied for by the Department of Wireless Electronics at Tsinghua University.

"Okay, don't be sad. Although we can't research the lithography machine, we can still research transistors!"

Looking at everyone's lost expressions, Zhou Tian couldn't help feeling a little sad. He even hated himself for being too impatient.

In fact, he knew that it was indeed difficult to study photolithography machines with the current industrial level of the country. But he always felt that he had a virtual space in his mind and should be able to pick this pearl in the electronics industry. But who would have thought that he would be slapped in the face in the end.

Less than half an hour after Zhou Tian announced the failure of the lithography machine research, Professor Meng hurried to the laboratory.

"Xiaotian, what happened? Wasn't the lithography machine project progressing smoothly? Why did it fail?"

Facing Professor Meng's question, Zhou Tian couldn't help but reveal a hint of self-mockery on his face.

"Professor Meng, I was too arrogant. At that time, the reason why I studied transistors and lithography machines was not only to develop the domestic electronics industry, but also to see if I could develop lithography machines before foreign countries. But now it seems that I thought too much."

As he spoke, his mood gradually became depressed.

"Okay, failure is failure, don't be so depressed. Even if the lithography machine failed, don't we still have transistors? Let's take it step by step and research the transistors first. As for the lithography machine, it won't be too late to research it later!"

Seeing Zhou Tian's somewhat ugly expression, Professor Meng could only comfort him.

After all, Zhou Tian's failure in researching lithography machines was partly due to his fault.

When Zhou Tian vowed that he wanted to research lithography machines, he was skeptical at first.

What is a photolithography machine? As a professor of electronics, he naturally knows.

Moreover, as the originator of the photolithography machine, Bell Labs was just getting started.

But Zhou Tian created so many miracles, including the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, 107 multiple rocket launcher, howitzer, anti-aircraft missile, horizontal lathe, boring machine and so on.

It can be said that Zhou Tian has already become something of a legend in the hearts of these scientific researchers, so he did not refuse.

Now that they have failed, it is actually not a bad thing for them. The only pity is that they seem to have bought too many silicon wafers. However, he thinks it is worth wasting some money to help a genius like Zhou Tian recognize himself.