Material Empire

In August 1987, Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil.

A large passenger plane flying from Madrid landed smoothly at Sao Paulo Congonhas International Airport. The cabin door was opened, and the passengers walked out of the cabin in an orderly manner. It was remarkable that among a large group of passengers with high noses and blue eyes, there were more than 30 oriental faces. delegation.

The expo to be held in Sao Paulo is aimed at global agricultural machinery companies, and it is the first time for China to participate in such an expo. Since the strength of a single enterprise is not enough to organize a group to go abroad alone, the Ministry of Agriculture took the lead to form a joint delegation led by Cui Hongchun, the vice minister of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The organizers of the expo were very happy to hear that China would send a delegation to participate in the expo. After all, China is a large agricultural country. It was a pity that China did not participate in the past agricultural machinery expos. This news also attracted the attention of the media reporters. They had already pestered the organizers of the meeting to ask countless questions a few days ago, and they rushed to the airport early today, ready to interview the Chinese who just got off the plane. .

Mr. Minister, how do you feel about your first participation in the International Farming Equipment Expo?

Mr. Minister, can China afford the new agricultural tools displayed at the expo?

How many villages in China have access to electricity, and have they been exposed to modern agricultural technology?

What do you think of China-Pakistan relations...

...

Seeing the Chinese delegation walking out of the airport passage one by one, the reporters rushed over at once. After confirming the identity of the head of the delegation to the interpreter, everyone began to ask questions. For the reporters, being able to interview information related to Red China can grab attention. As for more details, they really can't think of it for a while, and none of them have ever set foot on Chinese soil.

We came to this beautiful country of Brazil with the purpose of learning. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil 13 years ago, the exchanges and cooperation between the two sides in the field of agriculture have been very sufficient. China will realize the modernization of industry, agriculture, national defense and science and technology by the end of this century , so the development of agricultural machinery is one of our important tasks. This time, we have brought some farming machinery produced by our domestic enterprises, hoping to conduct technical exchanges with counterparts in other countries...

Cui Hongchun was prepared for this scene, he stopped and made a short statement impromptu. After snapping a bunch of photos, the reporters were about to ask further questions. The staff of the Chinese embassy who came to pick up the plane stopped them and escorted the delegation to board the bus.

Oh, foreign journalists are so interested in our China. I have encountered this situation several times when I went abroad. The flashing lights dazzled my eyes. After Cui Hongchun sat down on the bus, he smiled to his side several officials said.

Tian Yuzhong, the agricultural counselor of the embassy who made a special trip to meet the delegation, nodded and said: Yes, the main reason is that there are too few opportunities for our country to participate in this kind of international exposition. Such a big sensation. Speaking of which, the Ministry of Agriculture is ahead of other ministries and commissions in this respect, and this is all because Minister Cui is open-minded and dares to be the first in the world.

Haha, Lao Tian, ​​you are getting better at talking. Have you been a diplomat for a few years and you have developed your tongue? Cui Hongchun teased Tian Yuzhong. He and Tian Yuzhong knew each other when they were in China. At that time, Tian Yuzhong was still an agricultural A cadre in a unit under the Ministry.

The two made a few jokes, Tian Yuzhong restrained his smile, and reported seriously: Minister Cui, according to the request in the fax sent to our embassy by the Ministry of Agriculture, we have already contacted the organizer of the expo. There is an exhibition area of ​​200 square meters. However, I have a question, can we exhibit so many things?

Why, Lao Tian, ​​you don't believe in our ability? Cui Hongchun asked back.

Tian Yuzhong laughed a few times, and then said: Minister Cui, it's not that I don't believe in our ability, but our technical level is still far behind that of developed countries. Yes, there are many large agricultural machinery manufacturers in the United States, Europe, and Japan, and their products still have some technical strength...

What he said was very euphemistic, but the meaning inside and outside the words was very clear, that is to remind Cui Hongchun that the technology of foreign companies is very advanced, if our products are not good, don't show them to shame.

In fact, without Tian Yuzhong’s reminder, Cui Hongchun himself knows that the gap between China’s agricultural machinery technology and foreign countries is still very obvious. If there is no such cheating device as Qin Hai, he would never consider organizing a delegation to participate in this expo, or To participate in the meeting is to act as a spectator rather than an actor.

However, Qin Hai's appearance changed everything. This time, the Chinese delegation brought a full range of basic parts of farming equipment, including the improved rotary blades of Qingfeng Agricultural Machinery Factory, as well as plowshares, harrow blades and other accessories improved by other agricultural machinery enterprises under the guidance of Qin Hai. The performance of all these basic components has been tested in China. Cui Hongchun firmly believes that this time the Chinese delegation will be able to make a big splash.

Lao Tian, ​​as the old saying goes, three days after a farewell, you should look at it with admiration. You have been abroad for two years, right? I'm afraid you don't know the level of domestic technology. Why do you think we can't produce products that can be exhibited? Cui Hongchun smiled and sold off to Tian Yuzhong.

Tian Yuzhong hurriedly said: Don't you dare? There are no weak soldiers under a strong general. It is only natural for Minister Cui's subordinates to produce some advanced products. ... But, Minister Cui, can you give me a thorough understanding of Lao Tian first? What secret weapon did you come up with?

I can't say that. Cui Hongchun smiled even more happily. He looked at Tian Yuzhong's confused face, pointed to the seat in the back of the bus, and said, Old Tian, ​​did you see a young man over there? No, he's my secret weapon.

Young man? Tian Yuzhong looked along Cui Hongchun's fingers, and saw three unusually young faces among all the middle-aged people in the car. These three people included two women and one man. When he looked over, the two girls were sandwiching the young man from one left to the other, chirping something.

This young man is naturally Qin Hai. The two girls beside him were Qin Shan and Ning Jing who had just finished their college entrance examinations. They joined the delegation as product demonstrators of Qingfeng Factory.

The Ministry of Agriculture formed a group this time, except for some officials in the Ministry, the remaining places were allocated to more than a dozen agricultural machinery enterprises. Because Qingfeng Factory provided the rotary tillage blades for the exhibition, it won two places, one was directly assigned to Qin Hai by Dai Hat, and the other was determined by Qingfeng Factory itself.

In other enterprises, such opportunities to go abroad are naturally monopolized by the factory director. But Ning Zhongying was not so greedy. He knew that he didn't have a deep understanding of technology, and it was meaningless to go to the expo, so he handed over the spot to Leng Yuming as the representative of Qingfeng Factory.

The mere two quotas obviously cannot meet Qin Hai's request. He has his own purpose for participating in this exposition, and this purpose can only be achieved with the assistance of others. He made a phone call to Cui Hongchun, and expressed the hope that a few more places could be added, and all the costs of the increase would be borne by him personally.

Naturally, Cui Hongchun would not refuse Qin Hai's request. The reason why the Ministry of Agriculture restricts the number of places is only because of insufficient funds. If Qin Hai is willing to raise funds by himself, Cui Hongchun would actually like him to bring a few more people there, because this can make the delegation appear large and leave a deep impression on others.

After getting permission from Cui Hongchun, Qin Hai began to plan manpower. Li Linguang and Yue Kun must be included, because they created the thermal spraying process, and Qin Hai is planning to sell this process at this expo to seize the market for thermal spraying equipment.

The second people to bring are Liu Shuo and Huang Yanling from the Brother Ceramics Factory. This is what Qin Hai thought of after they visited Pingyuan. After more than a month of hard work, the zirconia product that Qin Hai asked Brother Ceramics Factory to trial-produce has been successful, and Qin Hai is also planning to sell this product at this expo.

Qin Hai originally planned to take Song Hongxuan and Ning Zhongying with him, but both of them declined because of their busy schedules. Qin Hai knew that Song Hongxuan was indeed unable to leave because of work, while Ning Zhongying thought that going to Brazil was useless and he didn't want to waste Qin Hai's funds, so he refused with an excuse.

Bringing Tranquility and Qin Shan to Brazil was entirely on Qin Hai's whim. At that time, the two had just finished the college entrance examination, and Tranquility took the lead, tormenting Qin Hai to take them out to play all day long, saying that they wanted to bring back the youth that was delayed by the college entrance examination. At this moment, Qin Hai was busy preparing to go to Brazil, and he was worn out by them, so he had an idea and decided to include the two of them in his entourage.

Due to the hot sales of the special steel of Pingyuan Iron and Steel Works in Japan and Europe, Qin Hai has accumulated a considerable amount of foreign exchange in his hands, and it is no longer a big deal to spend 10,000 to 20,000 US dollars to take two girls abroad. Qin Hai also intends to let his younger sister Qin Shan get in touch with the outside world more, and going abroad is undoubtedly the most effective way.

If you want to take Qin Shan, naturally you can't pull Tranquility down, because these two people are always in focus on Meng and Meng, and it is impossible to separate them. Besides, Tranquility is Ning Zhongying's daughter and Ning Mo's younger sister. No matter what level of relationship it is, Qin Hai has to take her to Brazil.

In this way, Tranquility and Qin Shan were included in the list of the Ministry of Agriculture's overseas delegation as exhibitors, and together with Qin Hai, they came to Sao Paulo.

The second update, even though it's past zero... Oranges are actually quite hardworking