"Only 170 million!" The parents fell silent, their minds frantically calculating and comparing the cost.
"I have a junior who works in railways. I remember him telling me that building high-speed rail using German technology costs about 500 million yuan per kilometer. If built with Japanese technology, the cost is around 400 million yuan per kilometer, but it mandates the purchase of Japanese products, and they are unwilling to transfer technology."
"And our current technology for building railways, the traditional tracks for those old green-skinned trains, costs about 90 million yuan per kilometer."
"This means the cost of 170 million yuan is double that of ordinary tracks, but it's definitely lower than the cost of high-speed rail, and more than half the price!" A parent spoke up, and all eyes turned to Old Chen.
"Old Chen, it looks like you're going to get rich!" Finally, a parent couldn't help but say.
"Indeed, you'll become a national god of wealth!" another parent added. These words were true; the cost of vacuum high-speed rail, in terms of both price and technology, was far lower than that of current high-speed rail.
Therefore, once this technology passed acceptance, China would no longer import high-speed rail technology from abroad but would directly use its own vacuum high-speed rail technology.
As the supervisor of this technology, Old Chen was bound to become the leader in vacuum high-speed rail construction nationwide, even overseeing the entire related business.
Once vacuum high-speed rail began to be built across the country, even if only 1,000 kilometers were built each year, that would still mean a massive appropriation of 170 billion yuan annually. Wouldn't this directly make him the god of wealth for the entire nation?
"What am I? The real earner is Boss Huang. All this technology was developed by Boss Huang's Jiangnan Group and Jiangnan Transportation Technology Development Company. All the money will be paid to Jiangnan Group, so what does it have to do with me! I'm just working for Boss Huang now!" Old Chen said with an air of detachment.
It was then that the parents suddenly remembered that this vacuum high-speed rail was not a project undertaken by China with national strength, but a project initiated by Jiangnan Group on its own.
It seemed that from the initial research and development to the current trial operation, the state had not allocated a single yuan. All funding had been raised by Jiangnan Group.
In other words, Jiangnan Group was about to strike it rich. The annual appropriation of 170 billion yuan would likely all fall into Jiangnan Group's hands.
"Old Chen, do you think I'm not fat enough?" Huang He rolled his eyes and said, "Although the technology is nominally developed by our group, in reality, it was invented by our technicians. And most of these technicians were our core technical personnel drawn from various national departments. This is the fundamental reason why we could develop vacuum high-speed rail technology. So, ultimately, all of this belongs to the people, and our Jiangnan Group just initiated it."
"Actually, this Jiangnan Transportation Technology Company is too expensive, and our Jiangnan Group can no longer afford this expenditure. So I plan to sell most of the shares of the entire company. We'll keep about 10% for memory's sake."
"What?" At this moment, the entire command hall fell silent. Even the staff stared at Huang He in disbelief, unable to believe these words were coming from his mouth.
Yes, what he had just said was absolutely true. This Jiangnan Transportation Technology Development Company was indeed extremely costly. Boss Wang's 60 billion yuan had been almost completely spent over the past three years. Any normal person would have given up long ago and tried to sell the company.
However, Boss Huang had persevered for three years without interruption in financial support, and had mobilized resources from various parties to cooperate. It was only in these three years that the entire project had entered the trial operation phase.
Now, with the vacuum high-speed train rapidly accelerating within the pipeline, and the project successfully completed by 95%, the 60 billion yuan invested and poured into it had nurtured a rapidly growing money tree. Huang He only needed to stand under the money tree, and money would rain down from the sky, making earning as simple as eating and drinking. Yet, Huang He was saying he wanted to sell 90% of the company's shares. This was simply unbelievable.
To put it mildly, if all the relevant information of Jiangnan Transportation Technology Development Company were publicly disclosed now, and the company were listed on the stock market, it would immediately become one of the top 10 enterprises in China's A-share market.
Its total market value would exceed 300 billion yuan on the listing day, and reaching a trillion-yuan scale in a few years would be a natural progression, as this company would undoubtedly undertake the construction of vacuum high-speed rail nationwide in the future.
This was a super enterprise comparable to China Telecom.
With an investment of 60 billion yuan about to yield returns of tens of times, Huang He was selling the company. Not a single staff member present could believe this statement.
The parents present were also initially incredulous. Their perspectives and insights differed, so after the initial shock, their expressions naturally changed, as if they had grasped Huang He's thoughts and intentions.
"Young Huang, you have this kind of awareness, it's remarkable!"
"Young Huang, to endure temporary hardship and be so impressive, your future is boundless!"
"Young Huang, just for these words, Uncle admires you. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to come to me, and I'll help in any way I can!"
"Huang He, I want to apologize to you. I truly looked down on you before. Now, I think you are extraordinary, and you are destined to be remembered in history!" In an instant, these parents, who had rarely given Boss Huang a second glance, suddenly showered him with unsolicited praise and admiration.
"Thank you all, uncles and elders, for your compliments. I don't really have that many intentions. I simply feel that Jiangnan Group's strength is insufficient to handle such an intensive task."
"The future construction of vacuum high-speed rail nationwide will involve the coordination of so much power and resources. Moreover, our Jiangnan Group has never actually built a railway. These are things we cannot do. Therefore, it's better to sell the company and hand it over to someone capable of taking it on!" Huang He said sincerely, and the expressions of the surrounding parents grew more and more satisfied.
As everyone was appreciating each other, a staff member suddenly spoke loudly, "Report to the Chief Commander, the train has entered its third lap. All data is normal, the train is in good condition, and meets the experimental conditions. Shall we proceed with the experiment?"
"Very good, begin the experiment!" Old Chen's face also showed a hint of excitement, and he issued commands to the staff in the hall. Then he turned to all the parents and said, "Everyone, you are incredibly lucky today, because you are about to witness the most magnificent moment in the history of human transportation!"
"What do you mean?" The parents were stunned by this statement.
"Actually, our experiment today has another task: to calculate if our vacuum high-speed train can reach one-third of our theoretical maximum speed!" Old Chen said with a smile.
"Only one-third? You're so excited. What is your theoretical maximum speed?" A parent couldn't help but laugh.
"Not much, just 4,200 kilometers per hour!" Old Chen replied with a smile.
"4,200 kilometers per hour???" Alright, there was a moment of silence in the hall.
"A speed of 4,200 kilometers per hour, can a train really reach such a speed? It seems that even the fastest supersonic jet aircraft now only travels at speeds of up to 3,000 kilometers per hour!" a parent murmured.
"One-third of the speed is still 1,400 kilometers per hour. Is this train going to reach that speed next?" Some parents' teeth were chattering. The thought of humans sitting in a public transport vehicle traveling at a speed of 1,400 kilometers per hour made them shudder involuntarily.
"It's roughly around that speed. Although our theoretical calculations indicate that the vacuum high-speed pipeline can stably withstand speeds of 3,000 kilometers per hour without pipeline damage, these are ultimately theoretical data. Previously, we only dared to reach speeds of around 800 kilometers per hour."
"After more thorough experimentation today, we are finally going to test the speed of 1,400 kilometers per hour to see if it can become the standard operating speed for future vacuum high-speed trains!" Old Chen said cheerfully, leaving everyone even more stunned.
1,400 kilometers per hour. Would the travel time between the Imperial Capital and Shanghai truly be reduced to within 40 minutes? Could people in Shanghai commute to work in the Imperial Capital in the future?
Amidst the awe of the onlookers, the vacuum high-speed train on the screen began to accelerate, quickly breaking through the previous highest observed speed of 600.
Then 700... 800... 1000... Finally, witnessed by the naked eye of all the parents, the vacuum high-speed train successfully broke through the speed of 1,400 kilometers per hour.
And captured by the high-speed cameras installed inside the vacuum pipeline, the vacuum high-speed train's image was recorded for less than a second. To the naked eye of the onlookers, the body of the train was no longer visible, not even a silver line could be seen. It was merely a flash of light, and the vacuum high-speed train had disappeared from the camera's view.
However, this speed of 1,400 kilometers per hour was maintained for less than 10 seconds before the train began to decelerate. This was because a curve lay ahead, and it was impossible to navigate it at 1,400 kilometers per hour, requiring a reduction in speed.
But this was also the perfect opportunity to test the required speeds for different curves. This was the purpose of constructing this test pipeline; it was essential to fully grasp all the data of the vacuum high-speed train during its actual operation.
Finally, the high-speed train stopped without any damage and returned to the platform, showing no signs of its previous frantic moments at 1,400 kilometers per hour.
"The history of railways worldwide is about to be rewritten!" exclaimed one parent. "In the future, we will not only teach Americans how to grow rice, but we will also teach them how to build railways!"