The next morning, the first thing Xu Qiang did was to take a bus to a bank in Changzhou and deposit the remaining 30,000 yuan.

Afterwards, Xu Qiang, He Yonghong and Zhang Li came to the Red Star Feed Factory in Wujin County.

Xu Qiang’s task today is to hand over the production formula and process of the new feed to this factory, and at the same time design a new production line based on the situation here.

At the same time, thousands of miles away in BJ, Minister Zhang Zhen of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building organized a special academic seminar.

"…I would like to hear your suggestions regarding the papers submitted by Comrade Xu Qiang."

In the conference room at this time, except for Minister Zhang Zhen and Director of the General Office Guo Tiemin, the others were all members of Xu Yuanming's previous 8702 project team.

Now, two months have passed since the explosion in Xu Yuanming's laboratory, but there has been no progress in the plan to restart the 8702 project, which undoubtedly makes Minister Zhang Zhen feel a little helpless.

Due to the high technical difficulty and great risk of the 8702 project, as well as the lack of top talents in related fields in China, apart from Xu Qiang who volunteered to take over, no one else was willing to take on the task, so that the project has now become a "hot potato" and faces the possibility of termination at any time.

However, Zhang Zhen knew clearly that the 8702 Project played a very important role in China's military industry. If no breakthrough could be made in high explosives, the gap between China and developed countries in Europe and the United States would be further widened, and it might even seriously affect the process of national defense modernization. This was something Zhang Zhen could not accept in any way.

In addition, although Xu Qiang is willing to take over the project, Zhang Zhen does not want to hand it over to him from the bottom of his heart. After all, this is a rare young chemical genius. In the future, Zhang Zhen also hopes that he can continue the research and development of the aramid industry and make greater contributions to the country's chemical materials.

Moreover, the risk of this project is too high. Even Xu Yuanming, a top expert who has been dealing with military explosives for most of his life, could have such a serious accident. If Xu Qiang, who has never undertaken a similar project, takes over, Zhang Zhen will be worried. After all, Xu Yuanming has already been lost, and Zhang Zhen does not want to lose another young talent with a promising future.

However, the current situation is urgent. It is impossible to find other suitable candidates, and other members of Xu Yuanming's team also refused to take over. The papers on new explosives that Xu Qiang has been sending to Zhang Zhen in the past two months have continued to irritate Zhang Zhen. In desperation, he organized this academic discussion meeting, allowing the original team members of the 8702 project and several other top domestic chemical experts to jointly review Xu Qiang's papers to confirm his technical level in high explosives.

The paper was sent to these people half a month ago, and today's meeting is the final discussion and evaluation session.

"I have read Comrade Xu Qiang's paper carefully. Generally speaking, his theoretical research on new high explosives is quite complete. For example, he proposed to change the molecular structure of explosive materials from a planar ring structure to a cage structure, and proposed to convert the four oxygen atoms of the elemental explosive 797# into four N-NO4. This idea is still very advanced, and the starting point is to increase the energy density of the material..."

The first speaker was Wu Min, an expert in gunpowder charging technology and mechanical application from the 201 Institute. He picked up one of the photocopied papers and said:

"…But this paper doesn't contain any experimental content. It's just a theoretical plan, so I think there should be some flaws in this theory…"

"That's right. I've also read the paper that Old Wu mentioned. Xu Qiang's idea of ​​increasing the density of matter and increasing the explosion energy is correct, but the key is that after this material is synthesized, its molecular structure changes, which will also lead to structural instability. So I think the plan proposed by Xu Qiang is not feasible for synthesis at all!" Another expert from the research institute also said.

"Yeah." Zhang Zhen nodded, then looked at Guo Rui who was sitting in the corner, and asked gently: "Xiao Guo, have you read these papers by Xu Qiang?"

Guo Rui is Xu Yuanming's eldest disciple and a member of the previous 8702 project team. Before, Zhang Zhen wanted him to take over his master's project, but Guo Rui finally refused due to lack of ability.

"I think this Xu Qiang is a genius!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Rui immediately spoke without thinking.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Zhang Zhen was stunned when he heard that.

"I have read all of Xu Qiang's papers. From a theoretical point of view, I think his level is very high, even higher than my personal level..."

When Guo Rui said this, everyone present was surprised.

You know, although Guo Rui did not dare to undertake the 8702 project, he was Xu Yuanming's eldest disciple after all, and he had participated in many national scientific research projects before. His technical strength was unquestionable. Even if he was not as good as his master, at least in the country, there should be only a handful of explosives experts who were better than him.

Moreover, it is somewhat unbelievable that a senior expert with such a reputation dares to admit that his level is not as good as that of a young man in his early twenties. More importantly, by saying this, he is actually lowering his own status.

"...My master has always taught us to seek truth from facts. By reading Comrade Xu Qiang's paper, I have indeed discovered the gap between me and him." Guo Rui didn't care about other people's eyes at all. He just listened to him continue: "In fact, I have also read the paper that Professor Wu Min mentioned just now. I think the theoretical solution proposed by Xu Qiang is completely feasible, because before the accident, my master also proposed the same theory, and the preliminary experiment was successful..."

"what……"

Hearing what Guo Rui said, everyone suddenly understood.

"You mean, Xu Qiang's paper is the same as your teacher's paper?" Zhang Zhen asked at this time. "You can say that, because the core content is the same, but the expression is different." Guo Rui said.

"So does Xu Qiang plagiarize your master's thesis?" Wu Min asked with a frown.

Plagiarism is a very serious matter in the academic world. Once discovered, the plagiarist will basically become infamous in the academic world and may even be punished and suspended by his or her unit.

But even so, many experts still take risks in pursuit of fame and fortune, so that academic plagiarism has been rampant and even in later generations, we can often see reports on this.

"Xu Qiang did not plagiarize my master's paper, because that paper has never been published and is still in his office drawer." Guo Rui paused and continued, "In addition to that paper, Xu Qiang's other papers are also of high quality, especially another article "Some Views on the Design of New Explosive Molecules", which really refreshed me and overturned some of my previous understandings of this profession. It is a pioneering innovation, so I think Comrade Xu Qiang is worse than me, at least in terms of theory, I am not as good as him..."

"Yeah." Zhang Zhen nodded, then looked at the other members of the original 8702 project team and asked, "Do you guys have anything else to say?"

"I agree with what Senior Brother Guo said. I suspect that Xu Qiang must have done in-depth research on high-energy explosives before. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to write such a high-level paper."

"Yes, I think so too."

"What is Xu Qiang's major? Didn't he develop aramid paper before? How come he started researching high-energy explosives?" Wu Min couldn't help but interject at this time.

The fact that Xu Yuanming's original team members gave him such a high evaluation obviously exceeded the expectations of everyone else present.

Especially since Xu Qiang was a newcomer with no experience in the research and development of high-energy explosives, this was even more incredible. Even Zhang Zhen was already moved at this point.

"Xu Qiang is a chemical genius, and his ability to draw inferences from one example is very strong..." Zhang Zhen pondered for a moment, then looked at Guo Rui and said, "Xiao Guo, if I let Xu Qiang take over the 8702 project, are you willing to cooperate with him?"

"This..." Guo Rui didn't expect Zhang Zhen to ask him this question, and he didn't know how to answer it.

"We can't delay this 8702 project any longer..." Zhang Zhen frowned slightly, and then said, "I think you all know the importance of this project. In addition, you should also understand the purpose of my calling you here today to discuss Comrade Xu Qiang's paper. Since you have just recognized his technical level, there should be no problem in future cooperation, right?"

"As long as Minister Zhang gives the order, we can cooperate with Xu Qiang to continue working on Project 8702." said another person sitting next to Guo Rui.

It was obvious that these disciples of Xu Yuanming still had some self-respect. Even though they had previously refused to become the person in charge of the 8702 project, they would still find it psychologically unacceptable to let an outsider lead them, even if the person's level was very high.

But if it was Zhang Zhen's order, then the nature would be different. At least to the outside world, it could be said that he was carrying out a task assigned by his superiors. After all, although Xu Qiang was highly capable, he had not yet made these people completely convinced.

"Okay!" Zhang Zhen nodded and said, "I'll ask Xu Qiang to come to BJ in a couple of days and call you all over for a meeting. We'll make a decision then!"

"Okay!" Guo Rui and others nodded in response.

"That's all. Thank you all for your hard work." Zhang Zhen signaled for the meeting to adjourn.

Afterwards, the experts present stood up and left the meeting room.

"Minister Zhang, are you really going to let Xu Qiang be in charge of Project 8702?"

Seeing everyone leave, Guo Tiemin, the director of the General Office who had been sitting opposite without saying a word, frowned and asked Zhang Zhen.

"Do you think I have a better choice?" Zhang Zhen replied indifferently.

"But Xu Qiang..."

"I know that I still doubt his technical level in military explosives, but the fact that he was able to write a paper recognized by other explosives experts shows that he is at least very talented in this area." Zhang Zhen paused and continued, "In addition, with the help of the original project team members, I believe he will be very careful. We can give him a chance, but we have to set a deadline. If he fails to complete the task by then, I will find someone to replace him..."

"Do you mean to let Xu Qiang take over this project temporarily for a period of time?" Guo Tiemin suddenly understood.

"To be honest, this project is really difficult and dangerous. I don't have too many expectations for Xu Qiang. I just want this project to continue. Only in this way, the people who take over later don't have to start from scratch, which can save a lot of time and avoid many detours..." Zhang Zhen said lightly. (End of this chapter)