Empire Conquest
Chapter 61 - 57 Pioneer

Chapter 61: Chapter 57 Pioneer

The ones who came to pick up Bai Zhizhan and his companions were not from the Navy, but an old friend, He Pengfei.

Now, he was the CEO of "Chengfeng Company."

Although this enterprise, which researches, designs, and produces large aircraft, had been established for twenty years, it was still not very well-known within the Empire.

There was no helping it, for in twenty years, they hadn’t produced many decent aircraft.

Even now, He Pengfei often joked that Bai Zhizhan had dug a hole and he had jumped into it, and he was still unable to climb out of it.

Of course, that was just a joke.

The digger wasn’t Bai Zhizhan, but He Pengfei himself.

Twenty years ago, after the Navy headquarters had set a development strategy focusing on the Air Force, He Pengfei volunteered to go and develop the aviation industry.

He was the type who acted as soon as he said he would.

After Bai Zhizhan returned to the Puzhou Navy Shipyard to temporarily supervise the construction of the "Longjiang," He Pengfei did something earth-shattering, which, to this day, still seemed unbelievable. He mortgaged the ancestral home in the Imperial Capital, secured a loan through the He Family’s connections from a bank, and built a factory in a farm owned by the He Family located on the outskirts of Puzhou, giving it the profoundly meaningful name.

"Chengfeng" came from an ancient legend.

According to He Pengfei, he had come up with the name just by slapping his forehead.

As for it being an act of divine inspiration, that was just made up by others.

Furthermore, it wasn’t a farm, but a breeding facility for minks and foxes, which had closed down due to poor management and had been abandoned for many years.

Neither He Yongxing nor Bai Zhizhan had expected that after several decades, this foul-smelling breeding facility would become a sacred site in the global aviation industry.

Indeed, it was the famous "Mink Fox Factory."

However, at the time, it was just a small workshop.

Influenced by He Pengfei, He Yongxing personally stepped in. The following year, with funding and a venue provided by the He Family, the first International Flight Speed Competition was held in Puzhou.

Crucially, the prize for the winner was an astonishing one hundred thousand Gold Yuan!

What did this mean?

Back then, in the early 80s of the New Calendar, the annual average salary of industrial workers in the Empire was around five hundred Gold Yuan, enough to support a family.

Moreover, all participants who reached the minimum speed target would receive five thousand Gold Yuan as participation prize money.

The huge prize money drew aviation enthusiasts from around the world, and the competition was a unprecedented success, attracting more than a million spectators.

From then on, the International Flight Speed Competition was held annually in Puzhou.

As for its impact, it goes without saying.

In the first competition, the champion’s flight speed was less than two hundred kilometers per hour. Last year, the champion’s speed exceeded five hundred kilometers per hour. According to the organizers, this year’s champion would need to improve by at least ten percent, not considering claiming the title without reaching at least five hundred fifty kilometers per hour.

In fact, in some unofficial races, people had already achieved speeds of six hundred kilometers per hour.

However, He Pengfei had little to do with the flight speed competition. His company was dedicated to designing, researching, and producing large aircraft.

The reason was that Zhao Yu had told him that only enterprises producing large aircraft had a future.

Because he completely trusted this Hereditary Count, whose head was often in the clouds, He Pengfei hadn’t bothered with small aircraft over the past twenty years.

If anything, he had some relations in the aviation engine sector.

As a result, he had walked a path of bad luck for twenty years!

After twenty years of efforts, He Pengfei had produced a few large aircraft, all of which he had sold to the military, and those sold to the Navy were all large seaplanes. As for the commercial transport planes he had always wanted to make, there was still no sign of them, mainly because there was no market demand for them.

Yet, that was last year’s news.

After seeing He Pengfei, or more accurately, seeing his triumphant appearance, Bai Zhizhan immediately thought that this guy must have finally turned his luck around.

Indeed, it was so!

After getting in the car, He Pengfei told Bai Zhizhan with great excitement that the Empire’s Army Air Force had just placed an order to purchase one hundred and fifty four-engine heavy bombers from Chengfeng Company.

This was absolutely terrific news, and even "pie falling from the sky" was not sufficient to describe it.

For this kind of four-engine heavy bomber, He Pengfei could arguably have given his all, and it would be even more accurate to say he had bet everything he owned.

As far as Bai Zhizhan knew, in order to develop this type of heavy bomber, He Pengfei had long been heavily in debt.

To put it bluntly, if it weren’t for He Pengfei’s family name and having his family as a financial backup, he would not have been able to secure a bank loan and would have gone bankrupt two years ago.

The order from the Army Air Force saved He Pengfei and also altered the fate of Chengfeng Company.

This was truly like receiving a charcoal in snowy weather!

Of course, this also meant that a great war was imminent.

Otherwise, why would the Army Air Force need to order so many heavy bombers?

Moreover, heavy bombers are very expensive, and it’s an absolute waste to buy them and not use them; if it were for training purposes, they wouldn’t need one hundred and fifty.

"I just returned from the Northwest yesterday, the situation is very tense, the regular forces have already canceled their leaves, and they could enter combat readiness state at any moment."

"Is there any news on this side in the Imperial Capital?" Bai Zhizhan asked directly.

"I went to the Navy Commander headquarter this morning, and if nothing unusual happens, we should receive the Navy’s order in a few days."

Bai Zhizhan immediately furrowed his brows.

"The order for seaplanes, it took almost half a year, and we just about finalized it last month— the purchase volume is also very large, I’ve been worrying about this matter."

"How large?"

"At least a hundred units, and mainly four-engine ones."

"Can’t meet the production capacity?"

He Pengfei gave a forced smile and said, "Right now, I feel like a beggar who’s about to starve to death, suddenly walking into a buffet restaurant."

"Eyes bigger than your stomach?" Bai Zhizhan couldn’t help but laugh.

"I suppose so," He Pengfei sighed and then said, "I’m going back to Puzhou tomorrow to see if I can secure a new loan from the bank."

"If you’re building a new factory, I suggest prioritizing inland cities, especially the middle and upper reaches of Nanjiang."

"Yuzhou?"

"It has inland waterways, so transportation shouldn’t be a big issue, right?"

Hearing Bai Zhizhan say this, especially with that last rhetorical question, He Yongxing immediately understood and nodded, indicating he had taken the point.

Puzhou is at the mouth of Nanjiang Port, to the east is the Xu Sea, facing the Sado Islands and the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

It was clear that, after the outbreak of war, Puzhou would inevitably be a primary target for the enemy.

If the Imperial Navy failed to seize the initiative in the early stages of the war and build a barrier to protect the homeland, it would be necessary to consider relocating important factories and mines inland.

Bai Zhizhan was reminding He Pengfei.

Even if one was unwaveringly confident in victory, one must prepare for the worst scenario.

Of course, considering these scenarios was still unrealistic at this point since the war hadn’t erupted yet, and how it would be fought, or whether it would occur at all, was still unknown.

Furthermore, Bai Zhizhan had a personal interest.

He was from Yuzhou, and if he could use this opportunity to develop the industry in Yuzhou, even if it were only a few factories providing not many jobs, it would still be contributing to his hometown.

After all, who doesn’t have personal biases?