Chapter 1654 It's a mess, it's all a mess

Just a few minutes after the signal from Thor's live broadcast room was urgently cut off.

The residence of the director of the Industrial and Construction Committee.

The only sound in the study was the faint tapping of the keyboard. Luan Wenjie sat in front of the computer, his eyes repeatedly scanning the electronic document on the screen.

This is the content of the speech at a space work conference tomorrow.

Logically speaking, after reaching a certain level, there will be a dedicated secretary to be responsible for the speech drafts, and the leader himself only needs to review and familiarize himself with the content in advance.

But this time, Luan Wenjie insisted on completing the entire task by himself.

There is no other reason.

The importance of this meeting is simply too high.

A week ago, the Nuclear Industry Group sent a report from Jincheng stating that all ground tests related to the space nuclear reactor power supply have been completed, and the prototype reactor numbered XS-1 is fully ready to start production.

However, due to the special nature of the facility, the XS-1 cannot be stored on the ground for a long time like most spacecraft. Once the core assembly is installed, it must be launched into orbit within a short period of time. Therefore, it is necessary to coordinate the progress of the entire project to determine the start time.

And tomorrow's meeting is held for this purpose.

As the former director of the Space Administration, he knew the strategic value of the XS-1 better than anyone else.

Once the relay base, with a space nuclear reactor at its core, is built, it will greatly reduce the difficulty of spacecraft traveling to the moon, Mars, and even more distant celestial bodies. It is a key link in humanity's journey out of Earth and into deep space.

It is not only a symbol of the pinnacle of technology, but also the cornerstone of the right to speak in the future international landscape.

Whoever can master stable and efficient deep space energy and transportation nodes will have an absolute dominant position in lunar resource development, deep space exploration and even future interstellar colonization.

But on the other hand, he also knew that this project would require an unimaginable amount of resources.

According to preliminary estimates, the funds required to complete the first phase alone will easily exceed the total of all major space projects, including the lunar exploration project, since the launch of the manned space program in 1992.

This does not include possible subsequent overspending.

At this moment, China is deeply involved in a technological, economic and trade war that was initiated by the other side and may be protracted. Every penny needs to be carefully calculated.

This heavy report not only carries the dream of the stars and the sea, but also affects the delicate balance of national strategy.

How can we advance it in the current era of resource constraints? And how can we transform it into an invisible bargaining chip in international games? These questions swirled in his mind, more complex than the trajectory on the conceptual map.

"Boosting domestic demand...leading with cutting-edge technology...a new platform for international cooperation..." Luan Wenjie softly repeated the positive significance given to this project in the report.

It is necessary to convince superiors that this is not just a waste of money, but also a strategic investment for the future.

Thinking of this, he pressed the alt and tab keys on the keyboard at the same time and switched to another WPS document.

It was the report from Jincheng.

Then, he scrolled to the very end and carefully examined the attached conceptual diagram of the circular space base.

Although the planned first phase of the project only includes a space reactor located in the center and about 1/8 of a ring rotating around the reactor, Luan Wenjie's heart still beats faster involuntarily when he thinks of such a behemoth appearing at the Lagrange point.

When the manned space program was launched in 1992, he was still serving as chief engineer in the Ministry of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

The biggest wish of the old guys back then was to witness Chinese astronauts entering outer space in their lifetime.

Who would have thought that in just over twenty years, I would actually be able to see Chinese astronauts set foot on an alien planet...

A throbbing feeling mixed with a huge sense of responsibility and historical mission hit his heart, forcing him to take a deep breath before he could barely calm down.

"Ring ring ring——"

Just as Luan Wenjie was about to focus on the text again, the eye-catching red phone on the corner of the desk suddenly rang.

His gaze was instantly brought back to reality, and he subconsciously glanced at the lower right corner of the computer screen - 21:37.

The ringing of this phone at this time means that it is definitely not an ordinary matter.

Luan Wenjie immediately picked up the receiver.

"Director, this is Lan Xinzhi." The voice of the Deputy Director of the Construction and Construction Committee came from the other end of the line, speaking a few points faster than usual. "The situation is somewhat urgent... The information about the batch of domestically produced 7nm chips from the Ju Factory may have been leaked."

Luan Wenjie's heart sank suddenly, and the emotions that were just excited about the deep space dream were instantly covered by the cold reality.

"What's going on? It's only been a few days?" His voice remained steady, but his brows were furrowed.

Sooner or later, mobile phones will be delivered to consumers, and consumers all over the world, so the matter of domestic chips will sooner or later be revealed as a card.

But the expected time is definitely not now.

"It was an accident," Lan Xinzhi said with resignation. "According to the plan, the company was going to release the first batch of tested Kirin 9X chips to the market. They were randomly installed in 500 top-of-the-line Mate SX RS phones, primarily to collect actual user feedback... but one of them was publicly disassembled by an online streamer during a live broadcast today."

"Tear it down?!" Luan Wenjie repeated subconsciously, holding his forehead with his fingers helplessly and pinching his eyebrows hard.

This is indeed a low-probability event that no one can predict, it is purely a matter of luck.

So there is no point in blaming anyone.

"How far have they disassembled it? Has the chip itself been exposed?"

"The disassembly was...very thorough," Lan Xinzhi confirmed. "Not only did they separate the SOC from the motherboard, they even exposed the laser coding on the chip substrate. They used a high-powered macro lens to photograph it..."

"Fortunately, our public opinion risk control system reacted quickly. Before the livestream audience could fully see the information code, they forcibly cut off the streaming signal and blocked the guy's livestream for 24 hours... The comrades from the publicity center also immediately contacted the person."

"Chip code..." Luan Wenjie's heart was in suspense. The core secret was on that line of tiny characters. "The last line, are you sure it hasn't been exposed?"

"I just personally checked the live streaming data provided by the platform. The host was quite careful in cleaning the base film, and the camera did capture the complete encoding. However, it takes time for the image to be transmitted, received by the audience, and decoded."

Lan Xinzhi's report was clear and well-organized, and it was clear that he had made sufficient preparations:

"The audience only had time to see the first four digits, '1515', which means it was produced in the 15th week of this year, which was last month. The following digits, 'CN19 F3', which represent the production location and production line, were definitely not effectively identified and disseminated."

Luan Wenjie breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt a bit awkward.

The mere information that it was "produced last month" was enough to cause a huge stir internationally and completely refute the assumption that "China cannot obtain 7nm chips after the ban."

He couldn't help but fall into silence.

This was indeed an unexpected accident. A small random event could upset the delicate balance that was carefully maintained.

A few seconds later, Luan Wenjie spoke again:

"Well, Xinzhi, you must immediately prepare a detailed report detailing the incident, the current public sentiment, potential risks, and our response measures, and submit it as soon as possible."

"Although not much information has been leaked, if the news that the Haihe base can mass-produce 7nm chips is exposed, many subsequent actions will have to be brought forward, so the superiors still need to be mentally prepared."

Lan Xinzhi immediately agreed: "Understood, I will draft the report overnight."

"Yes." Luan Wenjie nodded slightly, and did not forget to emphasize, "You write it yourself."

"Don't worry, I understand."

Judging from his tone, Lan Xinzhi seemed to be about to hang up the phone.

But then he changed the subject:

"By the way, Director, there is one more thing."

His tone was a little complicated:

"Tesla has given us some... hints through unofficial business channels. They suggest they want to 'deepen' the Chinese market. The wording is vague, but the intention seems clear. I had originally planned to report this at the regular meeting tomorrow morning, but since we're on the phone now, I'll just share it all at once."

"Tesla?"

Luan Wenjie's mind quickly flashed with news that Tesla was in the midst of a battery crisis, its stock price plummeted, and LG Chem was on the verge of collapse.

Is the other party trying desperate measures, or does he have other motives?

If Tesla enters China, it will certainly bring considerable employment and investment, and it can also play the role of buying a horse with a lot of money.

But it also means introducing a potential giant with close ties to the United States, whose actions may become Washington's eyes and ears or bargaining chips.

Especially at this critical juncture of chip leakage, any action must be taken with extreme caution.

"For now, we won't respond to Tesla's actions," Luan Wenjie instructed decisively. "Since they haven't formally proposed it, there's no need for us to initiate contact. This matter is sensitive and involves many people. I need to report this to my superiors, and we'll make a decision after comprehensively assessing the current situation. You can just keep an eye on it for now."

"Okay, Director." Lan Xinzhi understood the caution.