"Since transporting water is difficult, why don't we directly transport hydrogen? Hydrogen is the least dense gas. If we compress and liquefy it at low temperatures, we can transport a massive amount of hydrogen at once."
"This?" The supreme leader was a bit confused. "Mingqiu, the desert lacks water, what do you need hydrogen for?"
Jing Mingqiu spread his hands and replied in a tone of self-evidence.
"I am transporting water. Hydrogen can react with oxygen to become hydrogen oxide, which is what we commonly call water. There is no shortage of oxygen in the air, so we just need to transport the hydrogen."
"Moreover, when hydrogen reacts with oxygen, it releases a large amount of heat, which can be used to boil water for cooking, or converted into electricity through special equipment."
Solving both water and electricity problems at once, the supreme leader's eyes instantly lit up. "So it can be done this way? Every profession has its specialists, and I don't understand these chemical reactions very well, but I believe in your ability."
As he spoke, the supreme leader suddenly sighed and looked at Jing Mingqiu, speaking earnestly.
"The Beautiful Country first had its Arqonghan base destroyed, then you slapped them in the face at the Haiya Military Court, and the plan for the three major pharmaceutical groups to escape like a cicada shedding its shell was also thwarted. The Beautiful Country absolutely cannot tolerate such a great loss, and there will definitely be major action soon."
"Mingqiu, I may not be able to attend to these desert transformation personnel for the time being, so I can only ask you to look after them. I will have the Minister of Energy, Han Yinian, follow you. If you have any problems, you can approach him directly."
The desert transformation involved an upgrade task for Jing Mingqiu's system, so he readily agreed. "No problem, leave it to me!"
"As the saying goes, practice is the criterion of truth," the supreme leader said, looking at Jing Mingqiu's excited expression. He wasn't entirely reassured and specifically cautioned, "We are all making assumptions now, and no one knows exactly what is needed to transform the desert."
"Mingqiu, you can first arrange for one or two hundred volunteers to enter the desert and personally guide them through the transformation to see what is needed. If there are fewer people, it will be more convenient to resolve any issues that arise."
Jing Mingqiu nodded vigorously. "I understand. I was planning to do that anyway."
This was true. Although the system could provide many solutions, it was only through personal experimentation that one could determine which solution was most suitable.
The time and effort required to experiment with one hundred people versus ten million people were worlds apart.
After chatting for a while longer, and when Minister of Energy Han Yinian arrived, the supreme leader had to leave first, leaving Jing Mingqiu and Han Yinian in the first conference room.
Han Yinian was around fifty years old, with a square face and thick glasses, and was very serious. "Professor Jing, please tell me if there is anything I can help with."
Jing Mingqiu briefly reiterated his previous thoughts. "That's generally the idea. I plan to switch from the original method of transporting water to transporting hydrogen."
"Professor Jing, this is indeed a good idea, but," Han Yinian paused, "producing hydrogen requires natural gas, and our country's natural gas reserves are severely insufficient. Do you have any good solutions to solve this problem?"
Jing Mingqiu was very puzzled. "Why do we need natural gas to produce hydrogen? Can't we just electrolyze water directly!"
"Directly electrolyzing water requires a large amount of electricity, which is too energy-intensive..."
Han Yinian had only explained half of it when Jing Mingqiu interrupted him with a smile. "If it consumes a lot of energy, so be it. With the controlled nuclear fusion device, at least for the short term, we don't have to worry about energy issues."
"This!" Han Yinian awoke as if from a dream. It was only at this moment that he realized the tremendous change that the maturity of controlled nuclear fusion technology had brought to the entire industrial system.
Han Yinian suddenly thought of something very important. "Professor Jing! If we use the controlled nuclear fusion device to electrolyze water, what is the maximum output we can achieve? Can it reach 200 billion cubic meters per year?"
Jing Mingqiu glanced at the system's light screen. "No problem at all. As long as we build more nuclear power plants, let alone 200 billion cubic meters per year, even 200 billion cubic meters per day is not an issue."
"That's great!" Han Yinian was so happy that he almost jumped. "Our country's natural gas crisis is finally completely resolved."
Sensing Jing Mingqiu's questioning gaze, Han Yinian quickly explained.
"Our country consumes an average of 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. Although our country's natural gas reserves are not particularly low, our population is large. On average, our natural gas reserves are only 4.1% of the world's per capita level."
"Professor Jing, you heard correctly, it's 4.1, not 41. We are not even one-twentieth of the world's per capita level. Furthermore, with the continuous increase in our country's natural gas consumption in recent years, the per capita level is still declining."
"Therefore, we need to continuously import natural gas from foreign countries. This not only consumes a large amount of foreign exchange but also makes us very susceptible to being controlled, thus threatening national security."
"We were trapped in a misconception. We only remembered that electrolyzing water consumes a lot of electricity and could only be used on a small scale in laboratories, not for large-scale hydrogen production. We forgot that with the controlled nuclear fusion device, we now have no shortage of electricity."
"Professor Jing, you are truly amazing!"
Looking at the agitated Han Yinian, Jing Mingqiu couldn't help but smile wryly. "Alright, stop praising me. If you praise me any more, I'll be walking on air. You go and contact them now to arrange for one hundred volunteers to enter the desert and start the pilot transformation."
"I'll go make a few more efficient electrolyzers. Although we don't lack electricity now, thrift and diligence are our fine traditions, and we shouldn't waste deliberately."
With that, Jing Mingqiu turned to leave, preparing to find a suitable factory to build a prototype.
As soon as he stepped out, Mo Ruixue and Jing Rou, who had been waiting for a long time, each took his arm.
"Husband," after Mo Ruixue gave a look of signal, Jing Rou spoke first, acting spoiled and shaking his arm as she held it, "What have you been busy with lately? You haven't spent any time with me!"
Jing Mingqiu smiled awkwardly and instinctively blurted out the common excuse men use: "Isn't it because of work?"
"A Qiu," Mo Ruixue swayed Jing Mingqiu's arm. "I know you're very busy, but you need to balance work and rest. You've been busy outside for so long, the killing intent on you is almost solidifying."
"A Qiu, I know you're very capable, but you don't need to carry everything yourself. Other engineers in Long Country are also excellent. You should trust them more."
Looking at their concerned eyes, Jing Mingqiu felt very guilty. "Xue'er is right. This really isn't urgent. I'll give them the design drawings first and let them start working on them. If problems arise, I can step in then."
Hearing this, Jing Rou jumped up happily and stood on tiptoe to gently peck Jing Mingqiu's cheek. "Husband, let's go back to the villa first. I've made a lot of delicious food! You'll definitely like it!"
While Jing Mingqiu was enjoying the pleasure of having both beauties by his side, in a secret estate in the state of Boston in the Beautiful Country, an old man in a bespoke suit, after listening to his subordinate's report, smashed the wine glass in his hand.
"Brook, what good are you for! I gave you so much funding, and you lost all of our core industries!"
"Sir, I really did my best," Brook lowered his head dejectedly, letting blood mix with the red wine flowing from his head. "There were too many forces acting this time, not just Long Country, but also the Commonwealth of Nations, the German-Italian States, and the Sakura Country, they all joined in."
The old man, referred to as "Sir," sneered. "Heh, they think of us as toothless tigers and want to get a piece of the pie. Who told them we only have biological laboratories in Arqonghan."
"Brook, go contact Dr. Carl and have him use Preparations No. 2 to give those countries that intervened a surprise..."