Great Power Technology

"Climate? You mean weather weapons?"

Ye Zhou asked.

"Yes, limited-range, controlled-use weather weapons."

After hearing Chen Hao's answer, Ye Zhouxian lowered his head and thought for a moment, and then continued to ask:

"But what is the difference between this and nuclear weapons? They are also weapons of mass destruction... I understand. What do you mean, climate weapons are not weapons of destruction?"

"That's it. Climate weapons, or meteorological weapons, are actually a kind of 'secondary deterrence'. They can achieve the destruction of productivity caused by nuclear weapons to a certain extent, but at the same time, their damage to production materials and personnel is also limited."

"During the duration of the war, meteorological weapons can continuously and massively weaken the opponent's productivity, achieving a strike efficiency that far exceeds that of conventional weapons."

"At the same time, its effects are not irreversible."

"Imagine, if you want to attack an industrial area, and you cannot use nuclear bombs, what you need is a huge amount of conventional weapons and a large-scale air strike. The attack efficiency is extremely low."

"But what if you do it through weather weapons?"

“All you need is one continuous rainstorm to bring an entire industrial area to a standstill.”

"This is what is called secondary deterrence, or companion deterrence."

"The moment the war begins is the moment when productivity declines across the board. The benefits gained from the war cannot make up for the disadvantages caused by the continued decline in productivity."

"So, any rational decision-maker would consider whether launching a war is worth it under the current circumstances."

"For example, this time, the failure on the food battlefield will cost Ugly Country hundreds of billions of dollars, but if a war is launched, they will lose trillions of dollars."

"Choose one of the two and the conclusion will be obvious."

"Unless the current situation directly reaches the conditions of ultimate deterrence, it is impossible to launch a hot war."

"In other words, no matter how close we are to war, we cannot fight it while we have multiple levels of secondary deterrence."

"Because in this case, if we don't fight, as long as we fight, it will definitely be the end of mankind."

"--Speaking of which, isn't the Golden Crow you are thinking about also a secondary deterrent? It's just that its deterrent level is higher than that of weather weapons."

After listening to Chen Hao's explanation, Ye Zhou silently repeated the deduction in his mind, and finally raised his head.

"Well... you are right. It was me who limited my vision. In fact, this was a very simple logic - in this era, there are no two countries that do not have interests connected with each other, and we It has more interests related to its opponents.”

"In fact, this alone has brought considerable obstacles to the hot war."

Chen Hao nodded with satisfaction and replied:

"Just think about it clearly. It's right to have a sense of crisis, but if this sense of crisis goes too far, it will be detrimental to you."

With that said, Chen Hao stood up again, patted the dirt behind his butt and said:

"Well, I didn't bring you here to let you see anything special. I just wanted you to see the popularity and bask in the sun."

"But speaking of which, if you want to bask in the sun, I have a better place. Do you want to go for a walk?"

Ye Zhou stood up after him and asked:

"Where to go?"

"Hai Lan!"

Chen Hao replied with a smile.

…

Four hours later, the two of them arrived at their destination on this casual trip.

Led by a researcher named Xu Lei, the two walked leisurely on the ridge of an experimental field of Hailan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, feeling the evening breeze that mixed the fragrance of earth and rice.

The green seedlings are tinged with a light red halo under the setting sun in the evening. Although this crop of rice has not yet reached harvest time, at a glance, there is a refreshing feeling of satisfaction.

Maybe this is the instinct rooted in genes?

Ye Zhou himself spent time in rural areas when he was a child. He remembered that he seemed to have an innate affinity for crops, especially rice.

When his grandparents went to the fields to harvest, he would lie on a bed made of straw on one side of the field, breathing in the strong fragrance of rice baked by the sun, and sleep until the sky was filled with stars.

Yes, then as now, most field work did not start until the weather gradually cooled down in the afternoon.

In twenty years, many things have changed, but some things still maintain the logic of thousands of years, giving people a sense of stability and solidity.

"It's a great place to bask in the sun... I feel the smell of the sea. Huh? Is this the sea breeze? The sea breeze blows during the day and the land breeze blows at night, right?"

Chen Hao stretched and sighed. He turned to look at Xu Lei, who smiled slightly and replied:

"Mr. Chen, to be honest, our experimental field is surrounded by mountains. No matter whether it is day or night, it is impossible to get the sea breeze."

"The small amount of moist salt in the sea breeze will bring uncertainty to the cultivation of seedlings. To avoid this effect, we chose the location of the experimental field here."

Hearing Xu Lei's words, Ye Zhou couldn't help but laugh. He squatted down and said while observing the newly transplanted rice seedlings:

"The psychological sea breeze is also the sea breeze, as long as it means that... Is this the seedling that has been edited by KNR2 gene?"

"Yes, it's all in this small area. Each square is a control group, a total of sixty-four groups of control groups."

Ye Zhou nodded slightly, curiously plucked the seedlings that had not yet begun to ear, and continued with some uncertainty:

"The tillers of these wheat seedlings... 15, 25, 32... 32 tillers per seedling? Isn't it a bit too much? What is the final effective ear-bearing rate?"

Xu Lei also squatted down next to Ye Zhou. She was wearing loose trousers and her T-shirt was covered with dried mud spots. At first glance, she seemed a bit slovenly, but when she concentrated on pushing a seedling aside for Ye Zhou When Zhou explained, a thrilling charm exuded from her body.

Of course, this kind of charm is not the attraction between men and women, but a more grand charm that transcends gender.

Ye Zhou only glanced at it and then looked away, looking at the position of her fingers.

"Ye Gong, look at this. In fact, the number of tillers of the plant in my hand is lower than that of the one you just looked at, but it has reached the level of 25."

"The prediction of the common panicle number in our experimental field should be between 30 and 35, which is about 35% higher than other unedited varieties."

"However, unlike traditional rules, the increase in the number of panicles in this area of ​​rice will not lead to a decrease in the number of grains per panicle and grain weight. So in theory, the more panicles there are, the greater the harvest will be."

"You just asked me if this piece of rice was edited by KNR2. In fact, it is more than that. In addition to KNR2, during the process of trialling new gene editors, we found that the new editor can easily edit the IPA1-Pro10 material. Make edits."

"The function of this material is to increase the number of ears and the average number of grains per ear at the same time."

"Judging from our current tillering situation, the goal of ear number has been achieved. Next, we have to wait for the harvest to see the specific results."

Hearing this, Ye Zhou nodded in deep admiration.

Xu Lei’s words are easy to understand. According to her, while keeping the grain weight unchanged, if the number of ears and grains per ear can be increased by 35% at the same time, the yield of a single rice plant can theoretically be increased by 82%. !

This is a terrifying number. If such an effect can really be achieved, then for a long time in the future, the food problem around the world will completely disappear.

This is an almost doubling increase...how long will it take for the population to double?

Of course, such an increase in yield depends on many other factors, such as fertility, water sources, thermal conditions, etc., but even considering the worst-case scenario, this type of new improved varieties should be able to increase yield by more than 30%.

Not too much, but enough.

Ye Zhou stood up with emotion, looking across the rice fields to the red sun that was gradually falling in the distance.

He didn't look back until his eyes stung to the point of tears.

When he looked at Chen Hao again, the gloomy look on his face had been wiped away.

Yes, this country and nation where I live is like this.

Even if the sky falls, you have to eat first.

And as long as you can eat enough, there is no problem that cannot be solved - even if you face the strongest enemies, the power bred from the grains is enough to tear them into pieces.

Thinking of this, Ye Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and then asked:

"So, what are our dinner arrangements tonight?"

Chen Hao smiled slightly and replied:

"Easy, eat a whole rice feast!"