Chapter 194: Boss Jiang

Leaving aside British Aerospace's reaction for the moment—what they intend to do and whether they plan to fleece us are entirely their own matters, and since the formal meetings haven't even begun yet, there is no need to overthink it.

Instead, Yang Hui and the high-ranking official from the Ministry of Electronics, who had come for the inspection, were currently chatting casually back and forth in a rather interesting manner. Yang Hui had not expected this person to be in the mood to seek him out for a chat, likely feeling that Yang Hui had arrived in the UK a few days earlier than he had.

As for this heavyweight from the Ministry of Electronics Industry, Yang Hui had little to say. Over the past year or two, he had already crossed paths with quite a few central government bigwigs, and by now, he could converse with them quite fluently.

As for what they were talking about—what else could you discuss with an inspection delegation from the Ministry of Electronics Industry other than the electronics industry itself? Working in aviation naturally required some overlap with electronics, so chatting about it did not make him sound entirely like an outsider.

At this point, Yang Hui began to play to his strengths, holding forth with grand eloquence: "The British electronics industry is passable enough. As a veteran industrial powerhouse, although it cannot compare with the United States—the birthplace of the electronics industry—it still has some projects worth looking at. At the very least, it is second only to the United States and should be on the same tier as modern-day Japan."

When mentioning the United States, there was certainly no comparison to be made, but at the mention of their close neighbor Japan, the senior official looked somewhat surprised. In the 1980s, Japan's electronics industry was genuinely on a crusade to surpass the United States; its international status and market share in electronics were far more formidable than in later generations, and calling it second in the world was hardly an exaggeration.

To place Britain and Japan on the same level now—was that really appropriate? Although the British electronics industry was indeed fairly decent.

"Oh, young comrade, is there a particular rationale behind what you are saying? Today's Japanese electronics industry is pushing relentlessly to surpass the United States. What is your basis for grouping Britain and Japan into the same tier?"

It had to be admitted that this man was indeed a heavyweight in the electronics industry, possessing a remarkably clear view of the global electronics landscape. Yet, as the official noted, Japan was formidable—so formidable that its prominence had made it a target of tall trees catching the wind. Of course, Japan was not the only one; fellow defeated nation Germany was also drawing similar scrutiny, though the current discussion was solely about Japan.

"As for Japan today, it has naturally widened the gap with Britain, leaving the British behind and even posing a threat to the United States. But my personal opinion remains the same: Japan is a defeated nation deeply influenced by the United States. Now that it shows a slight momentum in surpassing the US economically, I believe it will soon be given a thorough lesson."

At this point, Yang Hui suddenly realized he might have said too much. How did someone in aviation end up talking about economics? Heavens preserve him, he needed to return to the main topic immediately.

Setting aside economics and focusing strictly on the electronics industry itself, there were indeed noteworthy points, particularly in terms of technology.

"Let's move past that and talk about technology instead. I've noticed in public materials that Japan's electronics industry is large but not strong. While its industrial scale is quite massive, when it comes to the most cutting-edge core technologies of the electronics industry—microelectronic chips and computer processors—it genuinely cannot compare to the United States or Britain."

The electronic chip industry—such high-end territory! Just thinking about it made it feel utterly out of reach. Here was Yang Hui boldly declaring that Japan lacked core technology and that its electronics industry was large without being strong. What Minister Jiang wanted to say right then was:

We currently lag far behind Japan in both scale and technology. How on earth do you have the nerve to say such things? Still, never mind; this fellow is just an aviation man, not someone from the electronics industry, so uttering such remarks wasn't entirely ridiculous.

"Don't go around saying Japan's electronics industry is large but weak and lacks core technology. Right now, we are thoroughly defeated by Japan across the board; we really don't have the capital to call Japan inferior."

Hearing Minister Jiang put it this way, Yang Hui had no real way to refute him. What was said was indeed the stark truth, but wasn't everyone desperately trying to catch up right now?

"Minister, we can't look at it that way. Aren't we trying every possible means to develop our own electronics industry? Who knows, one day we might surpass them without even realizing it. What we need right now is to find a reliable role model to learn from."

Bringing the conversation back to the actual agenda—discussing what good things Britain had to offer—Yang Hui didn't know an overwhelming amount about the British electronics industry, only that the British were exceptionally skilled at exploring unconventional niches.

Time and again, British chief engineers managed to carve out small, specialized markets within the American sphere, surviving in the cracks. The most eccentric part was that these tiny markets could actually be slowly expanded by the British until they even threatened the Americans. One had to tip one's hat and admit: you British truly are formidable.

Therefore, if the Republic wanted to carve out a space to survive, develop its own electronics industry, and pave the way for the future, seeking scriptures from Britain was the best possible approach.

"Minister Jiang, from the perspective of an outsider, if Britain wants to develop its own technology, it inevitably has to survive in the cracks left by the Americans. Consequently, introducing British technology should be much easier for us now; what the British need right now are comrades-in-arms."

How should one explain this dynamic? To put it simply: if the second and third runners want to survive under the absolute dominance of the top dog, they need some fifth and sixth runners who share their ambitions to support them and follow their path. As the saying goes, where many walk, a path is naturally formed.

This quote fit the situation quite fittingly. Britain needed companions willing to brave the minefields alongside them—not necessarily to lend them strength or walk ahead to clear the mines, but to build momentum from behind, proving that the minefield they had traversed was safe, and showing that so many people were walking alongside them to bolster British confidence.

As long as the path was cleared, even if the British were ultimately unwilling to share the spoils later on, the benefits carved out along the journey while clearing the path would already be more than enough.

The electronics industry, especially the computer sector, is a highly monopolized field. Given the Republic's current capabilities, attempting to single-handedly carve out an entirely new path was undoubtedly impossible. The only option was to attach oneself to a less dominant path and learn some technology. That would still be vastly superior to the comprehensive collapse of the electronic computer industry seen in later generations.

Just think of how much capital was poured in during later generations without producing any tangible results, and one would understand how difficult this endeavor truly was. Technical problems, patent barriers, and most importantly, market issues—facing all of these, trying to blaze a completely new trail in later generations was an almost insoluble problem.

Hearing all this, Minister Jiang understood Yang Hui's drift, but an outsider's opinion like Yang Hui's was clearly not so easily accepted. Could the path of the national electronics industry be decided in just a few casual words from Yang Hui? Even the Chief Architect in Zhongnanhai likely lacked that kind of audacity.

Naturally, the spirit of actively offering suggestions and strategies for the nation's electronics industry was commendable and could not be faulted.

"Yang Hui, what you say is not entirely without reason. I will consider your suggestion in the future. Your concept of being in the same trench is quite vivid, but I am merely here to inspect the British electronics industry, not to initiate imports, so I don't have the authority to make such a decision."

After hearing Minister Jiang's words, Yang Hui had nothing more to say. It was indeed just an inspection tour, and Yang Hui hadn't expected to make any binding decisions right away, eagerly running off to cooperate with the British based purely on his own ideas. In short, what kind of small fry were you? The country certainly lacked the bandwidth right now, considering that the electronics industry demanded astronomical investments.

"Minister, that is your domain. As a mere junior technical specialist in aviation, I naturally have nothing more to say. The only thing I can mention is that our future military industry will also require a large volume of airborne computers. What these require are autonomous chips—chips that do not demand extreme performance, but must be reliable. Such computers rely more heavily on embedded system designs."

Seeing that Minister Jiang still looked somewhat perplexed, Yang Hui figured he might as well drop one final hint and directly recommend a destination for inspection.

"Minister, there is a new company in Britain called Acorn. You might want to go take a look. Their computers are currently bestsellers in Europe, and it seems they are planning to develop their own chips."