Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 387, Section 385: Transporting Students of the United University, Industrialization Technology of Polycrystalline Silicon

Fang Wen was thrilled to have received such important information about the rare treasure from Daoist Jingyuan.

As his abilities grew and his understanding of the rare treasures deepened, he increasingly valued their worth.

Whether it's absorbing energy or developing the functionality of rare treasures, it will greatly enhance one's own abilities.

"Do you remember those people?" he asked.

"It's been over twenty years. Back then, there was still an emperor, and my old friend has long since passed away. I only remember that those forces were all descendants of the ancient Shu Kingdom. They were divided by their surnames, namely Gou, Gou, Mu, Jin, and Gong. That treasure must be in the hands of one of them."

After the old Taoist priest finished speaking, he picked up the bundle he had packed and walked out of Fang Wen's house with a carefree air.

Gong Xiuneng hurriedly called out, "Master, where are you going?"

The old Taoist priest sang a Taoist poem.

I was born into a wealthy family and spent my childhood in luxury. At the age of twenty, I aspired to leave the world and seek the Tao in the mountains.

In the serene ancient temple, I studied the classics; the morning bell and evening drum accompanied my sleep. Ten years of honing my skills strengthened my resolve; at thirty, I mastered the mysteries of heaven and earth.

The Tao follows nature, and the mind is naturally enlightened; all things in the world are predestined. For fifty years, I have visited famous mountains, seeking the true words of various Taoist schools.

At sixty, I'm lost in the dust and grime of life, my heart restless amidst the chaos. I retreat into seclusion, searching for answers, and several more years have passed in a flash.

At eighty, he suddenly rode on wings of heaven, and above the clouds, he comprehended the profound truths of the Dao. Unfettered by the vast sky, his heart drifted freely with the white clouds.

Looking back, the past is like a dream, my heart is at peace now that the knots have been untied. Only my Daoist heart remains unchanged; I will spend my remaining years carefree and at ease.

This was the old Taoist priest's way of ending his life. He had resolved his inner conflicts, achieved self-realization, and had no more worries.

As they were about to leave, Fang Wen spoke up: "Daoist, you said that there are five surnames in Hanzhou: Gou, Gou, Mu, Jin, and Gong. They are all descendants of the ancient Shu Kingdom. Is Gong Xiu Neng a native of Hanzhou?"

Gong Xiuneng was immediately shocked. Having been raised by his master since childhood, he had also wondered who his parents were.

Unexpectedly, the commander's words revealed the key to his background.

The old Taoist priest stopped and replied, "Go find the Gong family. Xiu Neng's background is there. Why bother knowing about this?"

He raised his right hand, waved goodbye, and left.

After bidding farewell to Master Gong Xiuneng, Fang Wen did not immediately prepare to go to Sichuan.

After the Lantern Festival, 500 students from Nanjing who were being trained there and more than 1000 students from the Southwest Associated University will be sent to Kunming, Yunnan.

He needs to personally arrange this matter to demonstrate his emphasis on scientific research talent and to attract more talent to support the military industry.

To this end, he arrived at work early and organized 20 seaplanes to undertake this transfer mission.

The flight is scheduled for the tenth day of the Lunar New Year.

Five o'clock in the morning.

Five hundred students from Nanjing gathered outside the dormitory building of Taishan Airlines headquarters, carrying their suitcases.

Fang Wen said to them, “Gentlemen, you will be going to Kunming, Yunnan with the Southwest Associated University to study electricity and chemistry. I know that many of you have studied literature and philosophy, and it may be difficult for you to accept this new knowledge. But I also know that you are smart enough and absolutely capable of completing your studies. I hope you will graduate soon. At that time, I will fulfill my promise to you and let you join Taishan Military Industry to save the country through industry. Tell me, can you do it?”

The students shouted in unison, "We can do it!"

They answered with hatred for their country and their families; the Japanese army destroyed their homes, and this hatred would be transformed into motivation.

"Alright, let's go now and head to the airport."

Immediately afterwards, Fang Wen and Fang Shouxin, along with staff from the administration department of Taishan Airlines, led 500 students onto the airport shuttle bus.

Fifteen minutes later, the students arrived at the sea airport.

They lined up with their luggage and boarded the seaplanes docked at the pier one by one.

A seaplane can carry 20 passengers, but because it has no large luggage, airmail, or cargo, it can actually seat five more people.

With 25 people per plane, 20 seaplanes can make one trip and transport all the people to Changsha at once.

After a flurry of activity, all 500 people boarded the planes. Fang Wen piloted one of the seaplanes and took off first, followed by 19 others.

After the plane took off, four fighter jets flew in from the northwest, escorting the civilian amphibious aircraft on both sides.

Some students had seen it before, while others did not know that it was a fighter jet of the Taishan Independent Regiment.

They told each other they were very excited about the fighter jets outside.

These fighter jets represent the pinnacle of China's air power and have achieved remarkable feats on various battlefields. Being able to see them so closely from the air is very positive for the students.

The one-hour escort flight ended before they knew it, and the four fighter jets returned and flew northwest.

Subsequently, 20 seaplanes landed at Changsha Sea Airport in succession.

After landing, 500 students disembarked and waited in the open space of the seaplane base.

It was 7 a.m.

The students and faculty of the United Nations University also came in large numbers.

Instead of taking a car, more than 1000 people formed a long line and walked together from the leek garden.

Fang Wen greeted them at the airport entrance.

He also spoke with Professor Liu, the faculty member in charge of the transfer at the UN General Assembly.

"I'm entrusting these 500 students to you. Their living expenses, tuition fees, and miscellaneous fees will all be covered by Taishan Airlines. Here's 10 yuan."

After Fang Wen finished speaking, Gong Xiuneng opened a box next to him, inside which were several stacks of brand-new Chinese currency banknotes.

Professor Liu looked at the money in surprise, but shook his head: "We can't accept it. You've already done us a great favor by sending the students and teachers of the United University to Kunming. How can we take your money back?"

Fang Wen smiled and said, "Let's keep things separate. I offered to send the person myself, and I said I wouldn't take a penny. But the training arrangement is something we both agreed on, and you absolutely cannot be responsible for any of the expenses. Besides, you'll need money for everything in Kunming, and Taishan Airlines isn't short of money. We'll have more sponsorships for education in the future."

Investing in education is essential; talent is paramount. Fang Wen doesn't want to tarnish his reputation in the education sector. What is 30 yuan? He'd be willing to invest millions of yuan in the future to acquire military talent.

Despite his insistence, Professor Liu accepted the money and even wrote a receipt for Fang Wen.

Afterwards, Fang Wen handed over the list of 500 students to Professor Liu and introduced him to the students. In this way, Professor Liu would be in charge of the 500 students' training and study in Kunming.

Professor Liu patted his chest and promised that he would definitely arrange it.

Next, it's time to arrange the flight.

Fang Wen explained: "20 planes, 4 hours to Kunming. Each batch can transport 500 people. There are 2000 people here, so we need to fly 4 batches, a total of 44 flight hours round trip, which will take 4 days."

Professor Liu said happily, "Only four days? That's great! When can we depart? I'll make the arrangements right away."

“You can leave now. Let your faculty and student council members go first so they can make arrangements for ground reception in advance.”

"That's right, I'll go and talk to them."

Professor Liu rushed to the assembly point at the United Nations University to communicate with other faculty members.

Following Fang Wen's suggestion, the first registration team of 500 people was organized, consisting of teachers, student council members, and activists.

They lined up to board the planes, and 20 seaplanes took off one after another, led by Fang Wen, heading to Kunming, 1000 kilometers away.

A 1000-kilometer long-distance flight is impossible for a seaplane to complete in one go.

They needed to make an intermediate stop to refuel. Fang Wen arranged for this transit airport to be located in the Yuanjiang River basin, at a seaport near the ancient city of Qianyang.

(The ancient city of Qianyang, located in Hongjiang, was situated on the Yuanjiang River during the Republican era.)
After completing a refueling stop in the ancient city of Qianyang, the flight team immediately took off and continued flying southwest.

The remaining 700 kilometers were completed in one flight, and the aircraft arrived in Kunming at noon, landing at Taishan Water Airport located on Dianchi Lake.

Thus, the first group of teachers and students from the United Nations General Assembly arrived in Kunming.

They will meet up with the Southwest Associated University teachers who have arrived in Kunming earlier to conduct preliminary reception work.

Fang Wen then returned with 20 seaplanes.

After an 8-hour flight, we arrived in Changsha at around 4 p.m.

At this time, there were still more than 1500 students and teachers stranded at the airport, who would stay there for three days waiting for their flights.

Fang Wen disembarked and spoke with Professor Liu, who remained at the airport.

"How do they spend the night? Do they have enough to eat?"

"I brought dry food and bedding," Professor Liu replied.

A simple answer, yet it contains a lot of meaning.

These students who persisted in their studies during the war are not hothouse flowers; they have endured harsh living conditions to this day.

Fang Wen was somewhat moved, realizing that the living conditions at the Southwest Associated University were not good.

He said, "We can't let them freeze or go hungry for these three days. I'll make the arrangements."

He went directly to the airport office area and used the commercial radio there to communicate with headquarters, requesting that Wuhan send a batch of supplies for emergency use.

Two hours later, as darkness fell, another seaplane landed.

Fang Wen called out loudly, "Classmates, after we reach 30 people, come with me to move some things."

A group of students immediately emerged, numbering more than 30.

Fang Wen led them to the dock to unload the cargo from the plane that was fully loaded with supplies.

Boxes of supplies were unloaded and piled up on the open ground of the airport.

Fang Wen opened one of the boxes, took out a set of supplies, and showed them to everyone.

"This is special operations field rations. It has two layers. Pour water into the bottom layer, put the lime bag in, and then cover it with the top layer. This will quickly heat the food."

He demonstrated how a two-tiered special operations field heating pot made of tinware could easily heat food.

The students watched Fang Wen's actions with great astonishment.

Someone asked loudly, "Mr. Fang, this thing sounds like it's for combat. It seems like it can solve the problem of soldiers' food and drink in the field."

Fang Wen certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity to promote himself in front of the students.

He smiled and said, "This is the second-generation product of Taishan military compressed dry rations. It was originally intended for the Taishan Independent Regiment, but it hasn't been distributed yet. Everyone can give suggestions after consuming it. If they are adopted, we will make corresponding improvements."

The students were immediately enthusiastic because they could enjoy hot food, satisfy their curiosity, and offer suggestions for improvement.

They lined up and received a double-layered tin pot for outdoor heating, a bag of lime, and a serving of heated food.

Subsequently, the entire seaplane base became bustling with activity, as numerous self-heating pots emitted hot smoke.

The food heating process didn't take long, and they soon had steaming hot rations for their field expedition.

Subsequently, some students actually offered suggestions to Fang Wen after finishing their meal.

Fang Wen listened to the students' suggestions with a smile, and wrote down any suggestions he thought were good.

This behavior left a very good impression on the students.

Self-heating food solves the dietary problem, but in Changsha in February, especially along the Xiangjiang River, the nights are windy and cold.

Staying overnight here makes it easy to catch a cold.

Therefore, Fang Wen had them all move into the airport's waiting room office area.

But there were just too many people, and those rooms simply couldn't accommodate them all.

Therefore, Fang Wen and the faculty members who remained in Changsha went out of the airport together to visit the surrounding residences.

Some residents, upon hearing that the students were university students, warmly agreed to let them stay overnight, and many more accepted the price of 1 yuan per night.

In this way, all the students will no longer have to worry about getting cold and freezing at night by the river.

When daylight came, Fang Wen immediately organized the second batch of students to board the plane and be sent to Kunming.

After four busy days, we finally managed to transfer all the students and teachers.

Now, with 500 smart technicians about to start work in three months, Fang Wen couldn't help but be concerned about the production process research and development at the research institute.

He returned to Wuhan and immediately went to the Taishan Research Institute.

Inside the Taishan Research Institute.

Fang Wen asked expectantly, "Is there any progress?"

In order to enable these elite foreign scientists to produce results as soon as possible, he offered them a high bonus that was hard to refuse.

As a result, all the foreign researchers in the institute, motivated by the high rewards, worked overtime to conduct research, except for one day off on the Spring Festival.

When Fang Wen inquired about the research progress, they provided their first answer.

Industrial preparation methods for polycrystalline silicon.

The first step is the preparation of industrial-grade raw material silicon.

The main raw materials are silica and carbonaceous reducing agent. The properly proportioned silica and carbonaceous reducing agent are fed into a high-temperature reactor.

The furnace charge is heated to over 2000 degrees Celsius in a high-temperature environment. At this time, silicon dioxide reacts with carbonaceous reducing agent to generate industrial silicon liquid and carbon monoxide gas.

Carbon monoxide gas then escapes through the exhaust pipe, and a mixture of oxygen and air is then introduced into the bottom of the silica water to remove impurities such as calcium and aluminum.

Then the molten silicon is poured into a mold, and after cooling, high-purity industrial silicon material can be obtained.

As for the preparation method of polycrystalline silicon, they adopted the simplest and most direct approach.

Metallurgical method.

This is a low-cost method that physically produces polycrystalline silicon without requiring too many complex chemical reactions.

However, its purification efficiency and purity are limited by the quality of raw materials and purification technology.

Fang Wen smiled after listening to the researcher's report.

Having studied polycrystalline silicon, he understood that this was currently the best preparation method.

Fang Wen felt relieved that the industrial-grade polysilicon technology had been realized so quickly. He knew that the more complex transistor component manufacturing technology could not be rushed.

This is the perfect time to go to Sichuan to find that treasure and, incidentally, help Gong Xiu find out about his background.

(End of this chapter)