Making the Pie Bigger

Zhang Yuan thought for a couple of seconds, then took the microphone from the host. Suddenly, he felt that there really weren't that many conspiracy theories.

The blonde girl was quite sweet. She had probably asked that question because she genuinely thought that way.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yuan replied unhurriedly, "Miss, there's a concept you may have misunderstood."

"Every year, the government and various charities allocate hundreds of billions to poverty relief. That's real money, donated by people from all over the world. These kind-hearted people sacrifice their own interests to help others. That's truly admirable."

"But the 167 trillion generated by the aerospace industry each year is gross output, not real money. It doesn't belong to the Deep Space Foundation, either. It's collective wealth created by 43 million space workers and 2.2 billion workers on Earth, involving 273 industries, large and small..."

"Without that 167 trillion in gross output, I think there would be more than two billion additional people living in poverty on Earth. Everyone would be living in even worse conditions..."

"So the amount donated to poverty relief and the value of gross output are two different concepts. They shouldn't be confused."

"As for your question, I'd put it this way: the aerospace industry makes the pie bigger, while helping people out of poverty merely redistributes it. I'm more inclined toward the idea of 'making the pie bigger,' which is why I donated the money to the Deep Space Foundation..."

Everyone in the audience listened attentively.

Zhang Yuan spoke at an even pace and laid out his argument clearly, as if he'd already drafted every word.

Wang Lili and Xu Yunjing were already whispering to each other. "I didn't know he was such a smooth talker. He's usually pretty shy."

"Maybe he's just pretending!"

"Haha, so this is the real Zhang Yuan!"

Zhang Yuan continued, "...Why did I make that choice?"

"Miss Angelica, I don't know if you've ever ridden the space elevator, or seen the solar system with your own eyes. If you've truly witnessed the vastness of space, you'll understand that the aerospace industry's pie is astonishingly huge—one hundred, one thousand, even ten thousand times bigger than you imagine!"

"If we make this pie properly, it could support hundreds of billions, even trillions of people!"

"The poverty you mentioned is only a small problem in comparison."

"But..."

"Getting a piece of this pie is incredibly difficult. Tens of billions are just a drop in the bucket, and hundreds of billions are a mere fraction of what's needed. The space elevator behind us, humanity's first, cost trillions and took a full twenty years to build!"

"...No private company would have the resolve or the resources to spend decades building a 36,000-kilometer space elevator that seemed to offer no returns. Only a nonprofit organization like the Deep Space Foundation could do it..."

"If this space elevator hadn't been funded a hundred years ago, if those idealists hadn't donated so generously, I think we might still be confined to this little planet, living in widespread poverty. Even with controlled nuclear fusion, we'd still be poor."

"That's why I donated the prize money my father received to the Foundation. It may be just a drop in the bucket, but it's something I wanted to do..."

"We need more like-minded people to join us in making this pie bigger, so more people can share in its benefits."

"As for the poverty issue you mentioned, it's not unimportant. I agree with your ideals, and I admire your compassion. But we have an old saying in Xia Kingdom: 'Give someone a fish, and you feed them for a day; teach them to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime.' Simply giving them money and food will only make them dependent. It won't bring any fundamental progress."

"...I believe education is the only way to change their lives. The Deep Space Foundation has a charity department focused on online education. It hopes to spread education through distance learning. I won't go into detail here, but if you're interested, you can look into it."

"Thank you!"

An even louder round of applause broke out.

Zhang Yuan's answer was tactful and polished, flawless from every angle.

The blonde reporter could only open her mouth, unable to say anything.

She herself hadn't been convinced, but the audience had, and that was enough.

"Professor Wang, Zhang Qiming's son is quite something. He speaks well," Foundation Vice Chairman Liu Yi said happily. "You'd think we'd rehearsed this with him."

"Since even a scientist's son donated ten million, those businessmen will have to dig deep!"

Wang Zhong chuckled but said nothing. He could hardly hide his pride.

Praise for his grand-student felt even better than praise for himself.

The Deep Space Foundation was a behemoth. It wielded enormous political influence and technological clout, and owned large stakes in the aerospace industry and the space elevator. For those capitalists, working with the Foundation was a win-win.

Of course, for it to be a win-win, the Foundation had to be interested first...

They might as well make a donation to start with.

After all the awards had been presented, the winners went onstage for a group photo. Then came various performances and fundraising activities.

Zhang Yuan stepped down from the stage and sat quietly in his seat.

Professor Wang gave him a gentle pat and an encouraging look.

"Professor Wang, I didn't say anything wrong, did I?"

"That was very well said!" Wang Zhong replied with a smile.

As he watched one capitalist after another take the stage to donate, Professor Wang thought to himself, If Mr. Qi Yuanshan could see this, he'd be so pleased.

People all over the world chased after profit. Even if these capitalists were doing it for money rather than "ideals," it still made for a healthy cycle.

It was easy to help someone who was already thriving, but lending a hand when they were down was as difficult as reaching the sky. Those hard times were now a hundred years in the past, long before Wang Zhong was born.

Qi Yuanshan, hailed as "the Einstein of materials science," was a true giant in the field.

His three greatest achievements were, first, "High Magnetic Saturation Superconducting Material"; second, a method for the mass production of carbon nanotubes; and third, of course, the sociological theories of the New Civilization School.

Why was controlled nuclear fusion so difficult? There were many reasons, such as neutron radiation and the triple product. Another major issue was that magnetic confinement wasn't strong enough.

The magnetic field had to be powerful enough to contain the raging plasma and keep the tokamak's fusion reaction stable for longer.

But simply increasing the current wasn't enough to create a sufficiently powerful magnetic field.

There was a phenomenon in materials science called "magnetic saturation." Once the applied current and coil density reached a certain level, the magnetic field stopped growing.

No matter what you did, the magnetic field wouldn't get any stronger. You'd just have to make do with what you had.

The magnetic confinement reached its limit, but still wasn't strong enough to hold the plasma. It seemed like an unsolvable problem.

But Professor Qi's groundbreaking High Magnetic Saturation Superconducting Material simply and directly increased the original magnetic field strength tenfold!

Tenfold!

The raging plasma was finally held in check. Many problems ceased to be problems, and "controlled nuclear fusion technology" arrived at last, becoming a reality.

In that era of scarce energy and no oil, Professor Qi's reputation naturally soared. He was hailed as the "Father of Nuclear Fusion."

His second major achievement was a mature production method for carbon nanotubes, which made them extremely cheap. This material had more than a hundred times the tensile strength of steel, yet a density of only 0.03 grams per cubic centimeter, making it an excellent building material.

Such a scientific giant had an influence that extended into the modern day, and was admired by countless scientists.

Yet back then, the government rejected Professor Qi's proposal, Construction Plan for the Space Elevator.

The investment was too enormous—so enormous that Xia Kingdom, only just recovering from the energy crisis, couldn't accept it...

As for what happened afterward to make the government change its position so dramatically, Wang Zhong didn't know.

He only knew that the space elevator was built as planned, and that by the time he was born, it was nearly complete.

Xia Kingdom had gambled its national fortunes for twenty years, and at last, that gamble had paid off with a bright future!

Even now, historians often spoke admiringly of this chapter in the past.

When a country gets a head start, it stays ahead.

The same was true of a civilization.

Without that courageous first step, Earth might still have no space elevator today—and we wouldn't have the wonderful world we have now.