Chapter 106 High-Level Argumentation
Beijing, a certain meeting room.
There was no plaque, no room number, and even the windows were tightly covered by thick curtains. Sitting around a long conference table were a dozen people—some in military uniforms, some in Zhongshan suits, some in business suits, and an elderly Academician in a white lab coat.
Lin Mo sat at the main speaker's seat with a thick stack of materials in front of him. Chen Xueming sat in the row behind him, his palms drenched in sweat.
Fang Lin sat at the other end of the conference table and gave him a slight nod.
In the very center of the table, an elderly man with graying temples opened the proposal in front of him and looked up.
"Comrade Lin Mo, let's begin."
Lin Mo stood up and took a deep breath.
"Leaders, experts, the topic of my report today is: 'Feasibility Study of the tokamak-3 Controlled Nuclear Fusion Project'."
He pressed the remote control, and the first page of the PPT appeared on the screen behind him.
It was a comparison chart: on the left was the complex structure of a traditional tokamak device, and on the right was their new design based on Room-Temperature Superconductivity.
"Traditional tokamak devices have two major bottlenecks: first, the superconducting coils require liquid helium cooling, which is expensive and complex to operate; second, plasma control is difficult, and stable operation times are short."
He switched to the next page.
"Our proposal, based on superconducting materials, can completely solve the first problem. Magnetic field strength is increased threefold, energy consumption is reduced by ninety percent, and the device's volume can be reduced to one-fifth of traditional designs."
Someone took a sharp, quiet breath.
Lin Mo continued.
"The second issue is plasma control. Engineer Li Xiao from our team has developed a real-time control algorithm based on artificial intelligence. Simulation results show that stable operation time can be increased from the current few hundred seconds to the order of thousands of seconds."
Lines of data appeared on the screen, dense but clear and compelling.
Lin Mo spoke for forty minutes.
From technical principles to key materials, from R&D milestones to resource requirements, and from risk assessment to expected outcomes. Every stage was supported by data, evidenced by case studies, and backed by contingency plans.
After he finished, the meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.
Then, someone raised their hand.
It was a middle-aged man in a dark suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses with a serious expression.
"Comrade Lin Mo, I have a question."
Lin Mo nodded. "Please, go ahead."
"What is the total estimated investment for your project?"
Lin Mo glanced at Chen Xueming and then said, "Phase one, five years, requires approximately twelve billion. Phase two, three years, about eight billion. Phase three, two years, about six billion. Total, ten years, twenty-six billion."
A low murmur of discussion rippled through the room.
The man in gold-rimmed glasses continued, "Twenty-six billion. What if it fails? This money would just be flushed away."
Lin Mo looked at him and remained silent for a second.
"Leader, let me ask you a question."
The man in gold-rimmed glasses was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.
"What do you think the probability of success for Nuclear Fusion is?"
The man thought for a moment. "According to international consensus, they've always said it's thirty years away. It's been thirty years, and it's still thirty years away."
Lin Mo nodded.
"Exactly. Because they are following traditional technical routes. That path is high-cost and extremely difficult; it's indeed hard to see the finish line."
He switched to the next PPT slide.
"But our route is different. We already have Room-Temperature Superconductivity. For Tritium Extraction, we've already achieved 76.8% efficiency. The plasma control algorithm is under development. For the First Wall Material, we have found three partner organizations."
He turned around and looked at everyone present.
"I'm not saying it's a hundred percent guaranteed. There is no hundred percent in science. But I can say responsibly that this path is currently the world's closest path to success."
The man in gold-rimmed glasses was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "What if?"
Lin Mo looked at him and said slowly:
"If we don't do it, we will never succeed."
The meeting room went quiet.
The elderly man with graying temples suddenly smiled.
"A fine 'If we don't do it, we will never succeed'." He looked at Lin Mo. "Comrade Lin Mo, you're thirty this year, right?"
Lin Mo nodded.
"Thirty years old, and you dare to ask the state for twenty-six billion. When I was thirty, I didn't even dare to dream of becoming a platoon leader."
A light ripple of laughter echoed in the room.
The old man stood up and walked to the window—even though the curtains were drawn, he still habitually looked in that direction.
"Nuclear Fusion, the ultimate answer to energy. Whoever develops it first will control the next hundred years." He turned around and looked at those present. "You understand this logic better than I do."
He walked back to his seat and sat down.
"But I understand another truth even better—our generation has suffered too much from being held by the throat. Chips, engines, high-end machine tools... which one of them wasn't a struggle where others had their hands around our necks?"
He looked at Lin Mo.
"Now, you tell me that on this path of Nuclear Fusion, we can lead the way."
Lin Mo nodded.
The old man was silent for a few seconds, then said:
"Then let's walk it."
The man in gold-rimmed glasses was stunned for a moment; he wanted to say something but swallowed it back.
The old man looked at him and smiled.
"Old Li, I know you're worried about the money. But have you considered, if they actually succeed, how much will that twenty-six billion be worth?"
The man in gold-rimmed glasses didn't speak.
The old man answered himself: "Priceless."
He stood up and looked at Lin Mo.
"Comrade Lin Mo, go back and tell your team that the country supports you. The money will be there. The people will be there. The policies will be there."
He paused.
"But there is one condition—it must be kept secret. This technology is more sensitive than the 'Two Bombs, One Satellite' project."
Lin Mo stood up and nodded solemnly.
"Understood."
When they walked out of the meeting room, Chen Xueming's legs felt a bit weak.
"Lin Mo... that old man just now, was he..."
Lin Mo nodded.
Chen Xueming took a sharp breath.
"Damn, I've never seen such a high-ranking official in my life."
Lin Mo smiled.
"Well, you've seen one now."
Fang Lin walked up from behind.
"Lin Mo, Professor Chen, congratulations."
Chen Xueming looked at her and suddenly asked, "Director Fang, did you know all along that it would be approved?"
Fang Lin shook her head.
"I didn't. But I knew that what you are doing is worth approving."
The three of them stood at the building's entrance, looking at the sky outside.
The Beijing sky was hazy, but Lin Mo felt it was brighter than ever before.
His phone vibrated.
It was a message from Li Xiao: "Teacher Lin, how did it go?"
Lin Mo replied with four words:
"Approved. Get to work."