Material Empire

Qin Hai's request was very cryptic. In fact, he wanted to send researchers to participate in Nim's scientific research. The use of the so-called supervision funds is fake, and the real purpose is to learn from others. Of course, it is said that it is stealing a teacher to learn art, but in fact everything is done in the open, and there is nothing to hide.

Nim naturally also knew Qin Hai's intentions. What he wanted was not only the ultimate technology, but also specific research methods. No matter how good a technology is, it can only be used for a period of time and will soon be replaced by a newer technology. And if you master the research methods, you can continuously create new technologies, which is the long-term vision.

Teach apprentices and starve masters to death. This principle is the same for all industries. Nim knew this, but he couldn't refuse Qin Hai's request. The reason is very simple. If he agrees to this request, he can at least finish his current research work, and maybe he can get a tenured professorship in the school because of this research; , will not even be able to keep its current position.

The future can only be thought of later, this is Nim's current mentality.

"If this is the case, then we can initial a letter of intent. After I return to China, I will arrange someone to contact Mr. Nim. I hope that Mr. Nim can provide us with two invitation letters for visiting scholars, and we will send two A researcher to assist Mr. Nim's work." Qin Hai said.

"Then the fees for these two researchers..." Nim asked cautiously. The food, lodging and transportation for two people in the United States is not a small fee, he has to ask clearly.

"Their expenses are all borne by us, not included in the 500,000 US dollars we provide you." Qin Hai said generously.

"Then there's no problem." Nim felt relieved, as long as he didn't spend his money, then send someone to come. Who told the US military not to pay attention to this research, so don't blame the Chinese for learning the technology away up. In fact, in the eyes of scholars, technology is just a tool for making a living. What does it matter to him about national defense security and China's threat?

Sending Nim away, Qin Hai secretly smiled in his heart. He has already considered two places for visiting scholars sent to Nim, one for the 70X Institute, and asked them to arrange for a researcher to go there as a local person; Young scholars travel. It is not too much to spend one or two million U.S. dollars to learn foreign research methods. Qin Hai had already made a rough estimate just now. The technology of magnetic polymer microspheres can be applied in many fields. In the hands of Daqin Group, it is no problem to create a profit of 10 to 20 million US dollars.

There are a lot of people like Jonas and Nim who come directly to the door, Qin Hai's room is almost never free, and there are endless visitors. Qin Hai has an understanding of various fields of material science. Whether it is discussing project cooperation with enterprises or scientific research support with scholars, he can grasp the essentials and propose win-win cooperation plans. In a few days, almost all the people who came to negotiate came here in high spirits and returned satisfied. They all praised Qin Hai for his open-mindedness and fairness in dealing with things. They didn't know that Qin Hai was also secretly happy in his heart, because the benefits he got were far more than those of his collaborators.

During the four-day session, Qin Hai was busier than anyone else. Others just held a meeting to listen to speeches, and after the meeting, they could go shopping in the streets of Paris, while Qin Hai attended meetings during the day and negotiated with various people in his residence at night. The thing he promised to invite Gummer to drink sherry was delayed again and again. It was not until the end of the annual meeting and the scholars left one after another that Qin Hai was free to fulfill his promise.

“Qin, I can’t remember, have we met in the past?”

In an unremarkable tavern on the banks of the Seine, Qin Hai and Germer sat face to face at a small table by the window, with a glass of sherry in front of each of them, chatting happily. Gemo looked at Qin Hai, unable to remember what kind of relationship he had with this young man. After holding back for a long time, he finally asked a straightforward question.

Qin Hai picked up the wine glass, sipped the wine in small sips, just smiled and didn't answer. In his previous life, he had a good personal relationship with the old Germer, and he had several opportunities to sit and drink in the tavern like this, but how could he explain such things to Germer? Since it is not clear, it is better to leave a suspense for Gummer to ponder.

"I'm sure we must have met for the first time, because I don't know anything about you. But how do you know my nickname, and that I like to drink sherry no ice, and other things Things, this is completely unbelievable." Gemmer said scratching his ears.

Qin Haidao: "Old man Gemo, there is a word in ancient China called 'spiritual friendship', which means that although two people have never met, they are already friends in spirit. Between you and me, even if it is a spiritual friendship Long time friends, why do we have to pursue the reason?"

"China is a mysterious place. It may not be surprising that such a thing happened in China." Gemmer shrugged and said, "It seems that I need to go to China to understand this A mysterious country with a history of thousands of years of civilization."

Qin Hai asked strangely: "Why, old man Gemmer, have you never been to China?"

"No, I've never been there," Gummer replied.

At that time, China’s degree of opening up to the outside world was still relatively low. Chinese people had few opportunities to go abroad, and foreigners had little chance to get in touch with Chinese things. They were still somewhat worried about China’s political and social environment, so they came to China. There are very few tourists. As a well-known scholar, Gemmer has been to many countries around the world, but he has never been to China.

"Since this is the case, then I solemnly extend an invitation to you, please go to China to take a look, and I will arrange someone to provide you with full service." Qin Hai said seriously.

"Thank you very much for your invitation. I will definitely take the time to go. I have known for a long time that China has the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. These are places that I am very interested in, but I have never had the opportunity to see them." Mo said, he is a very straightforward person, what he thinks in his heart, he just said it out of his mouth, without any intention of pretending to be polite.

Qin Haidao: "You can take your wife with you. If your children are willing to go with you, I welcome it too. You only need to pay for your own air tickets. All the board and lodging expenses in China will be borne by I am in charge."

"Really? That's great." Gemmer laughed, "Qin, I found that you are an excellent businessman. I have heard many people say that it is a pleasure to cooperate with you these days. Now I feel the same way."

"Actually, I just like making friends." Qin Hai smiled, "Of course, if these friends can become my business partners, I will be very happy too."

"I'm not a businessman, and I haven't done specific research work for a long time. How can you be interested in a worthless person like me?" Gemmer asked curiously.

"I don't think so." Qin Haidao, "You are a senior director of the International Society for Materials Science and have a great influence in the field of materials science. I also hope that after seeing the beautiful scenery of China, you will hold next year's Materials Annual Conference in China. to hold it."

"You mean, you want to host the material annual meeting?" Gemo keenly grasped the edge of Qin Hai's words.

"If possible, we really hope to host an annual meeting of materials." Qin Hai said unabashedly, he knew Gemer's character, and he didn't need to hide his words in front of this old man. It's best to be outspoken strategy.

Generally speaking, hosting an academic annual conference is a loss-making business. Although participating scholars have to pay a certain amount of conference fees, these fees are not enough to compensate for the expenses of the conference. If you want to hold an annual meeting well, the organizer often invites some big names to attend the meeting for free. The transportation expenses, board and lodging expenses of these big names will all be included in the conference expenses. The more people invited, the greater the financial burden on the conference organizer.

However, the benefits of hosting an annual meeting are also very obvious, especially for developing countries like China. Firstly, holding the annual meeting can play a role of publicity, allowing the outside world to understand the level of China's technological development; secondly, holding this kind of academic annual meeting locally can allow more domestic scholars and students to have the same experience as foreign scholars. The opportunity of close contact is of great benefit to broaden their horizons and improve their academic level.

At that time, China's overall scientific and technological situation was still far behind the world's advanced level. In addition, the country's budget was tight and it was difficult to support the cost of large-scale international conferences. Therefore, there were not many annual conferences of international societies held in China. . When Qin Hai came to Paris this time, seeing the grand occasion of the annual meeting, he couldn't help thinking of hosting an annual meeting of materials. He specially invited Gummer out for a drink, and he also had the idea of ​​lobbying Gummer, otherwise, he would not have invited Gummer's family to travel to China so generously.

"The International Materials Annual Conference has never been held in China. If the next or next annual conference can be held in China, I think everyone will be interested." Gemmer said, "However, before that , I hope to see the academic level shown by Chinese scholars, you need to prove that China's materials industry can provide enough wonderful papers for the annual meeting."

Qin Hai asked: "Are the papers submitted by our scholars at this annual meeting not enough?"

"If you are referring to the paper on iron-based superconductivity done by your fiancée, Ms. Ning Jing, of course I would say it is very good. However, the performance of other Chinese scholars at this annual meeting can only be regarded as a mediocre level. I have reviewed all the conference papers, and I have to say very sorry that there are some bright spots in the research of Chinese scholars, but the overall research level is still lacking." Gemmer said.

"We've wasted too much time." Qin Hai nodded, accepting Germer's criticism. The academic tradition accumulated by Western countries over more than a hundred years is not so easy to be surpassed. Although Chinese scholars such as Chen Zongze, Sun Yuzhi, and Zhang Yating are very smart and diligent, they lack a solid academic foundation after all. Compared with foreign scholars, the gap is still very obvious.

To give a simple example, when foreign scholars receive undergraduate education, the professors who teach them may be former Nobel Prize winners. The academic training they receive subtly is beyond the reach of Chinese scholars. . Chen Zongze and others have learned Western academic norms almost from scratch. It is really difficult for them to reach the level of Western academic circles in a short period of time.

Tranquility's thesis can be recognized by Germer, in fact, not because of the strength of Tranquility's academic foundation, but because the discovery of iron-based superconductivity has extremely high academic value. In other words, this is what Qin Hai's golden finger does.

"Mr. Gemmer, just because China's materials research is relatively backward, we need such an opportunity so that our young people can get in touch with world-class scholars. You must admit that young Chinese scholars are very smart. Yes, what they lack is experience." Qin Hai said.

"You are right." Gemmer also nodded, "Well, I will formally propose this proposal to all the directors at the next council meeting. If China can provide sufficient financial support for the holding of the annual meeting, I think it's very promising to get this proposal through the council."

Qin Hai said without hesitation: "There is no problem with the funding. My Daqin Group is willing to provide all the funds for the annual meeting."

"That would be great. I look forward to meeting you again in China next year." Gemmer said.

"It's a deal, cheers!" Qin Hai raised his glass.

"Cheers!" Gemo also raised his glass and touched Qin Hai.

It is enough to talk about this matter to this extent, and the remaining matters need to be coordinated by Gemmer, and Daqin Group will also need to make some expressions when necessary. Next, the two brought the topic to some academic-related issues. Germer is a senior authority on materials science, and Qin Hai is a materials genius with the memory of two generations. They talked about the development trend of materials technology, etc. The two had a tacit understanding and spoke with great interest.

Just as the chat was going on, the door of the tavern was pushed open, and Germer's assistant, Willitz, hurried in. As soon as he saw Gummer, he stepped forward in three steps and said, "Mr. Gummer, you are indeed here. The Minister of Ecology, Mr. Henlock, sent people to look for you everywhere."

"What's the matter?" Germer asked.

Willitz said: "A Saudi oil tanker had an accident off the coast of Le Havre, and at least 2,000 tons of crude oil leaked into the sea. Mr. Henlock asked you to rush to Le Havre immediately to discuss the issue of marine oil pollution."