In the familiar conference room, Old Tang sat upright in the chief seat.
He summoned all the heads of the laboratories in the Earthly Capital and made them stop everything they were doing.
The last time there was a conference of this scale was when we were researching Body Tempering Grass. At that time Body Tempering Grass, as a new material, attracted the attention of all the laboratories in the entire Earthly Capital.
Although the application of Body Tempering has not yet been fully promoted, it can already supply the entire Earthly Capital for testing.
The Body Tempering Grass alone has advanced the level of materials science in the entire Divine Land by at least 50 years.
And with such a grand meeting this time, many researchers were eagerly anticipating what new discoveries Old Tang would make.
Every researcher who was called to the lab subconsciously glanced around at Old Tang to see if he had brought anything new. When they saw that Old Tang had come empty-handed, their eyes showed a hint of disappointment.
If there's nothing new to study, then it's not interesting.
Once most of the people had arrived, Old Tang finally spoke.
"I noticed many comrades checked to see if I brought anything as soon as I arrived; I've disappointed you this time."
Old Tang understood these researchers' thoughts very well; in their minds, nothing mattered more than research, and they rarely cared about anything else.
Even when settling wages or distributing benefits, he has to arrange for someone to deliver them to everyone's door; otherwise, many people are too lazy to even come and collect them.
Are there any ordinary scholars or those who just coast along? Yes, but not many. After all, everyone here in the Earthly Capital is doing what they love. Old Tang won't force anyone to do something they don't want to do. This place gathers talents from all over Divine Land. Going along with their ideas and letting them develop freely is the best choice.
If you're slacking off while doing what you love most, it just means you don't love it enough.
"But there's good news this time. Do you remember what our Earthly Capital's recent large-scale project is called?"
Old Tang reached for the thermos and calmly took a sip of water.
" The Guanghan City Plan —didn't the first batch of personnel already land on the moon?"
Speaking of this, they were no longer sleepy. The first group of lunar landing crew members had already made contact with the ground, and the ground crew members were quite envious and jealous of them being able to jump around on the moon shirtless.
Many people who were eligible to sign up at the time are now filled with regret.
This is the moon, not a place you can just go anywhere.
Watching the buildings taking shape near the lunar base every day, and a group of people exploring the moon, rolling around in the lunar soil that they study by the gram, is more painful than killing them.
"Yes, this news is related to the Guanghan City Plan. Another batch of lunar payload quotas has recently been allocated, which is why I called you here to discuss how to allocate them."
"Me, me, me, this time it's our turn, right? We agreed on it last time."
The group immediately became excited when the topic of lunar landing and payloads was mentioned.
These are quotas that people fight tooth and nail for every year. If they don't fight for them now, when will they?
The young man sitting to Old Tang's left immediately shouted.
"That's not right. The last time was a separate matter; how can this be confused with the last time?"
The middle-aged scholar sitting next to him adjusted his glasses, clearly wanting to compete as well.
"Our last research was in space, this time it's on the moon, it's different, very different. My suggestion is that we first create a control group. Once we've done something, we should finish it; we shouldn't give up halfway."
"That's what a woman sitting across from them said."
"You've all been up there several times already, why are you still arguing?"
The meeting room suddenly became as lively as a bustling market.
"Cough cough."
Old Tang coughed, and the conference room fell silent.
This time it's a little different.
Old Tang was a bit cunning; he deliberately didn't mention the weight, just to see how angry these people would get.
After all, they are usually so gentle and quiet, engrossed in their research, that it's quite rare to see them fighting over something like this.
"The total payload this time is 5,000 tons, but after deducting the necessary basic supplies, we can actually use about 3,000 tons."
After watching them argue for a while, Old Tang finally finished speaking.
"3000? Then we need 50 kilograms."
Seemingly not having heard clearly what Old Tang meant by "work unit," the young man who had spoken first spoke up.
This time, however, no one argued with him; after all, they hadn't reacted yet.
After the news had passed through their minds, everyone was even more incredulous.
3,000 tons? Are you kidding me?
Even if all the laboratories present were divided equally, each laboratory would still have a load capacity of at least tens of tons.
What does that mean? Divine Land just conducted several studies on the space station this year, and the average amount of supplies carried by each study was only 25 kilograms.
This directly increased the weight by more than 100 times.
No wonder they had to call them all over; there was no need to divide them up. They could just stuff things in with their eyes closed.
There's no room for any experimental equipment; even if you emptied their entire lab, it still wouldn't be full.
It could even fit a few researchers inside.
"So, there's a reason I called you all here today. I need you to produce your documents as quickly as possible, and we'll calculate the cost based on this weight."
A smile finally appeared on Old Tang's face.
"Ah, this."
Not only him, but among all these people, who else has ever fought such a rich battle?
Immediately, everyone started thinking about what they wanted to take apart and bring with them.
"Of course, this time it's only for carrying cargo, not people. And don't put all the projects on it. If no one does the work, I'll personally tie you all up and send you to the moon."
After the meeting, Old Tang went to prepare and arrange the extra-large "suitcase" that Li Xingkong had requested, which he could take with him.
The researchers in the conference room remained where they were, looking at each other, unsure how to begin.
"I'm saying, we really can't send anyone up there?"
There are experimental projects, payload capacity, and the moon, a sacred place for scientific research, but humans can't go there. Doesn't that make people anxious?
They were already married, and the wedding ceremony was held, but the bride and groom got married online. I was itching to join them, but there was nothing I could do.
"How about we get a life support pod or something?" someone suddenly suggested.
"No, unless we can replicate the space station system, we still won't be able to function normally on the moon. It's not the same as those people."
The other person spoke, and from his tone, one could clearly sense his jealousy that he couldn't go to the moon while others were already running around there freely.
"That makes sense. How heavy is a space station again?"
It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, because his words gave the others a bit of a surprise.
"The one currently in space weighs about 100 tons, but if we're on the moon, we don't need spacecraft docking modules or space protection systems. If we only need basic life support functions, the weight can be reduced to 50-60 tons, no problem."
"Sixty tons? That's a lot of potential."
Everyone present had their eyes light up. Indeed, if they could take out a 60-ton payload, build a sturdy enough space station on the ground, and drop it directly onto the moon for their use, wouldn't that solve the problem?
Even if they get to the moon, they won't be able to leave the space station and can only conduct experiments inside. But at least there are already workers who can move around on the lunar surface.
If we need some samples or something later, they can't possibly refuse to help, can they?
For ordinary people, staying in the station for such a long time is like being in prison, but for them, being able to stay in such a place is much more interesting than anything else.