Chapter 581 Buy Whatever You Can

"First? Great! Great! Let me take a look at our heroes on the technological front."

The chief picked up the group photo that had been developed overnight and placed it in front of him.

In the black and white photo, all white is workers wearing protective clothing. In fact, apart from being able to barely distinguish between men and women, even their eyebrows and eyes are not very clear.

But he still looked at it carefully. There were men and women, old and young in the photo. Although he couldn't see clearly, he knew that everyone was smiling happily.

"Which one among them is Comrade Gao Zhendong?" The leader was quite curious.

The leader of the 12th Ministry of Machinery was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "He is not in this. The Defense Work Committee has informed us that he cannot take this kind of photo. It is a bit unfair to him, but he is used to it."

Upon hearing this, the chief also laughed heartily.

"Oh, I see. Hahaha. Don't worry. A comrade who can voluntarily downgrade his first-class merit to the third-class merit just to complete the Grand Slam will not care about this matter."

This one-down-three thing happened at the Defense Work Committee. The leaders of the 12th Ministry of Machinery had no idea about it. When they heard what the chief said, they were very curious: "Oh? There is such a thing? Chief, tell me about it."

Holding the world's first in cutting-edge technology, the chief was in high spirits. He smiled and told him about Gao Zhendong's story. The leader of the 12th Ministry of Machinery laughed out loud: "Well, this is indeed something Comrade Gao Zhendong can do."

The chief smiled and said, "So, you don't have to worry about him feeling wronged. People don't know him now, but one day, comrades like them will be remembered forever by people."
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In the north, at the old Russian's house, Linochka, his minister, Sergeyev, Petrovich and other comrades in charge of exchanges with the south and economic and trade affairs, as well as some technical experts in related industries, gathered together.

In front of them was a photo of the front-page headline of the Daily News, the largest newspaper in the South, and next to it was a translation.

As friendly countries, they are the first and most complete to receive news about our latest breakthroughs in integrated circuits because they don't have to do it in secret.

"my country's P-process integrated circuit chip trial production is successful, with a line width of 10 microns, the world's first"

This newspaper was just an introduction that brought them together. In fact, it was the drastic changes in the types and amounts of transactions with the south in the past one or two years that finally forced them to sit down together.

"My dear Davari, there is nothing to be surprised about. It is normal for them to turn to researching these things since they cannot make further progress on the electron tube."

Although the levels of the two seem to be not much different, the minister, who has close ties with the Russians' largest powerful agency, is actually higher in status than his visible level. Sergeyev understands this very well.

The minister did not dwell on this question at all: "Comrade Sergeyev, I don't care whether this is normal or not. What I care about is whether they are actually ahead of us in this direction."

Petrovich knew that it was time for him to share some of Sergeyev's responsibilities: "Comrade Minister, I think it would be best if our technical experts could answer this question."

Everyone turned their attention to Comrade Alexi from the Supreme Academy of Sciences, who is the top authority in the electronics industry.

"They're ahead of us, that's all I can say, and beyond that, I can't even say how far ahead they are."

Comrade Alexei's statement was difficult for everyone, including Comrade Minister and Sergeyev, to understand.

"why?"

"Because we are completely blank in this area. We have made no achievements in integrated circuits. You want a kindergarten child to evaluate the people who are at the forefront of the world. This is beyond our ability, my comrade minister."

Alexei said he had no comment, but in fact he said everything.

Too far, too far to understand, too far to see.

"So, is this kind of lead important?" The minister changed the question from a more practical angle. If this kind of lead is like John Bull's booklet called the Guinness Book of World Records, then it's fine.

Alexei opened his mouth and thought for a long time.

Even he couldn't say this casually. He knew the seriousness of the problem, but he knew even more the seriousness of saying the wrong thing and going against the entire academic field.

Finally, when everyone was about to lose their patience, he spoke.

"It's not very important, my comrade minister. Integrated circuits have their advantages, but they also have defects that can never be solved." He felt that he should consider himself first and said something that seemed correct but was useless.

Any technology, no matter how advanced, will have no problem putting this sentence on it. Sergeyev was very happy to hear this: "Comrade Minister, you see, this is not a big deal, isn't it?"

Comrade Minister nodded. "I am just as happy to know this as Comrade Sergeyev. Comrade Alexei, do you have any further suggestions?"

Having said this, he slightly emphasized the word "more".

Alexei thought about it and realized that his conscience was still there. The general direction could not be changed, but if possible, he didn't mind guiding these departments to do something that was truly beneficial to them.

"Although there are unsolvable defects, integrated circuits do have some advantages in general applications. They can save us more electricity, are faster, smaller in size and weight, and are easier to achieve full digitization. I think they are still useful. We are still using a large number of DJS-59 computers imported from them. Although they are not integrated circuits, semiconductors still have advantages in certain specific areas."

Petrovich smiled and said, "Yes, there is also a printer. This thing is really useful." After that, he raised the printed copy of the translation in his hand.

“So your final suggestion is that we need semiconductors?” The Minister’s words are very interesting.

"I mean, at least we can buy some related products from our comrades in the south, such as the DJS-59, a light, small and reliable computer."

Not to mention Gao Zhendong, even other ordinary comrades in the computing institute would think that he had drunk too much Vodka when they heard his evaluation. How was DJS-59 trivial?
But he really likes DJS-59. It is cheap, reliable, and flexible to use. Although it is not as fast as his latest computer, the above points are enough.

"What about the other party's semiconductor production line? Is it necessary to import it?"

"Comrade Minister, technically, I hope to get all the advanced technologies, but whether it is necessary to import them is not something I can decide." Alexei used his identity as a technical expert to circumvent the issue.

But he still felt a little uncomfortable inside, so he used an additional example to implicitly express his attitude.

"I've seen three chips they've reported on, and if we can get at least two of them, we could make the DJS-59 a little smaller."

He was referring to the SZ61000 four-to-two-input NAND gate and the SZ61001 four-to-two-input NOR gate. As an expert in this field, he could see the usefulness of these two devices and, based on their logical functions, deduce the significance of the integration of these two logic chips for the DJS-59.

As for the SZ61002 delayed flip-flop (D flip-flop), they knew nothing about it and had not done any research on it, so they could not tell what it was from the name and naturally had no idea what it was used for.

Alexei's words seemed simple, but they immediately made the minister's eyes widen.

He knew the performance of DJS-59 and its advantages, and he also knew what it would mean if DJS-59 could be smaller, which meant it could hold more things.

The comrades in Lubyanka are not completely useless. At least according to the news we have received from them, the southern comrades do have a follow-up model that is lighter and smaller than the DJS-59. Last year, they set a record by sinking two enemy ships with the 544 anti-ship missiles. According to unreliable information, they modified this type of computer as a controller.

And it is not just a command and fire control system, it is also a disposable onboard computer!
This made the Minister extremely envious. Even he himself was reluctant to install the DJS-59 on the missile. At first glance, it seemed that it was because there was no room for it, but in fact it was because he could not afford it.

And our comrades in the south were able to install this advanced and expensive equipment on disposable missiles!
He knew that there were many untrue parts in Alexei's words, such as the judgment that they were "not very important", and that he did not fully explain the purpose of the integrated circuit.

But Comrade Alexei still implicitly expressed his true attitude, using this seemingly small improvement to computer equipment as an example.

He understood Comrade Alexei's difficulties, but he also reached the conclusion he wanted.

He raised his head and looked at Sergeyev.

"Comrade Sergeyev, can you ask the comrades in the south to buy their integrated circuit production line technology in the name of civilian equipment?"

As an old Russian, the Minister is also strangely reserved and arrogant. It is not okay to purchase it in the name of military use, but it is okay for civilian use.

The strange arrogance of the Russians later caused them great harm.

“You can, but you may not get it.”

"If you can't buy the production line technology, then buy the finished product production line. If even the production line is not available, then you can always buy the product, right? Comrade Alexei, if you can buy chips, do you think you need them?" We are not fools. Things like production lines are probably not so easy to get.

"Yes!" Alexei became excited when it came to this and answered decisively without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)