Chapter 67: with translation of chapter title

Since Old Zhang has already seen the Truck Cannon, we might as well start talking about the Truck Cannon!

The office didn't have enough space, so President Liu led the group from the Capital into the conference room; facing these senior officials for the first time, Qin Miao showed no fear at all, speaking with flying spittle, eloquent and uninterrupted.

"Currently, most of Yituo's weapons are Soviet-made; take the howitzer for example—their largest caliber suppressive firepower is also a 152mm howitzer, with a range under twenty kilometers, whereas our 155mm howitzer firing ordinary base-bleed shells can reach thirty kilometers; as long as we have a qualified salesman, we can definitely sell it!"

"Even if Yituo's army only purchases two hundred units, at five hundred thousand dollars each, that's already a hundred million dollars in sales. As for profit…… at least fifty million dollars; with that money, what's there to fear about not being able to build this vertical metal extruder?"

This already factors in the price of using a Mercedes chassis; if we didn't count the chassis, the cost would be even lower—after all, Eastern military industry has no other advantages, its main selling point is low cost!

One hundred million dollars!

Everyone was stunned.

In 1980, the nation's foreign exchange reserves were only 1.2 billion dollars; now, selling two hundred Truck Cannons could earn a hundred million dollars?

"Student Qin Miao, this price…… can it actually be sold?" Old Huang reminded cautiously, "Don't just boast here; if we can't sell at this price, how will we explain it domestically? Qin Miao is just a student, unfamiliar with many societal matters!"

"The run-down 152mm howitzer Yituo bought from the old Russians costs two hundred thousand dollars per unit, while our 155mm howitzer has long range, great power, strong mobility—five hundred thousand dollars each, that's dirt cheap! Moreover, we're using a Mercedes truck chassis and adding a semi-automatic loading system..."

Now, without considering single‑person operation or computerized auto‑calculation, just the mechanical part of the Truck Cannon has already been built; Yituo's artillery doesn't need high tech—the existing Truck Cannon alone is enough to sell and make money!

"If we're going to sell, we need to act quickly, after all, the relevant technology has fallen into the hands of Dr. Bu'er Boshi and his group; they'll surely be promoting it worldwide, and I estimate their selling price could be as high as over one million dollars."

Old Zhang's eyes gleamed with excitement: "All right, since that's the case, let's give it a try! Once we make money……"

Saying this, Old Zhang turned to Qin Miao: "How should we distribute the profit—have you thought it through?"

"Old Zhang, Ha Gong Da develops weapons precisely to drive the nation's development; although we have contributed greatly, we…… cannot be greedy for credit—how the profit is divided is up to the superiors."

This kid, there's meaning behind his words!

Old Zhang smiled: "Don't worry, just say whatever you have in mind!"

"Well, well…… let me say this—if I'm wrong, you leaders can just treat it as…… cough, cough, we at Ha Gong Da are struggling; many research projects suffer from lack of funds……"

"Hey kid, just say what you think directly; beating around the bush is pointless."

"It's like this: can the Truck Cannon project be placed directly at our Ha Gong Da, where we set up a school-run factory to specialize in producing this product; once we open Yituo's sales channels and make money, this vertical metal extruder will be directly supported by our Ha Gong Da to the Second Machinery Plant."

The teachers of Ha Gong Da all had their mouths drop open at once.

Don't let the benefits go to outsiders!

If the developed product is handed over to other factories, what money would Ha Gong Da make? Those state‑owned factories, after producing the Truck Cannon and earning money, won't give Ha Gong Da a single cent; in their view, Ha Gong Da is just a university—once it comes up with a project, it must hand it over to the factories, and they feel justified taking the design plans.

Design fees? Knowledge patents? Bringing this up in this era would provoke public outrage!

If that's the case, why hand it over to others? Ha Gong Da will run its own school‑run factory and produce it ourselves! The profits are ours alone—if others are jealous, let them be jealous; Ha Gong Da is a university!

President Liu's eyes gleamed—if we had a profitable school‑run factory, later where would we still need to painstakingly request funds from superiors?

The people from the Capital were all stunned.

What is Ha Gong Da up to? The nation wants to develop the economy, the army needs to endure, how many military factories are waiting for a handout—now it's fine, Ha Gong Da is keeping the benefits in-house!

Everyone turned their gaze toward Old Zhang.

While in the Capital, Old Zhang had already praised Ha Gong Da more than once, and even urged other units to learn from Ha Gong Da, to seek their own path; as for Ha Gong Da, he gave it his full support!

Now Ha Gong Da is about to go independent; having developed the project, they will produce it themselves, leaving other sister units with nothing to gain—this is wanting to eat alone! Can Old Zhang still support that?

In the midst of everyone's expectant gazes, Old Zhang spoke: "Great! We don't need to worry about anything—the Second Machinery Plant can just get the vertical metal extruder; such a windfall, how could we not support it? This Truck Cannon belongs to the ground‑weapon system, so for this arms sale we must list it under Northern Industry's name, and have them accompany you!"

After the national gates opened, Eastern military industry also actively transformed, preparing to expand into the international arms market.

The aviation department set up Aviation Technology, the ground‑weapon department set up Northern Industry, the maritime department set up China Shipbuilding, and the General Staff department established Poly Company……

Ha Gong Da can sell the Truck Cannon, but it must still come under Northern Industry's management; if it wants to go independent, it would have to wait until the late 1990s, after joining the WTO, when any company would gain direct foreign‑trade rights—currently, import‑export business is all monopoly‑franchised.

So Qin Miao also needs to know when to stop.

"Thanks for your support, Old Zhang!" Qin Miao beamed with excitement.

The other Ha Gong Da teachers also smiled; from now on, Ha Gong Da will never have to worry about money—you know, these two hundred export‑type howitzers are just a beginning; further exports will keep coming, and the profit will be endless.

"Next, the Red Flag‑2 missile converted to a surface‑to‑surface missile—are you also planning to set up a school‑run factory dedicated to modifying missiles?" Old Zhang asked again.

If Ha Gong Da, every time it comes up with a new product, opens its own factory to produce it, going forward…… won't they monopolize all the projects? Will they leave any room for other factories?

"Old Zhang, this……"

"President Liu, I'd like to hear what Qin Miao is thinking." Old Zhang interrupted President Liu's words: "Qin Miao, you speak!"