Darkstone Code

Chapter 1074 - 1072: Internal Issues Beneath Peacetime

"Use your eyes to see..."

As they spoke, both people on the phone laughed softly.

"This change is good. We need a president who can intervene proactively, not one who needs a push to move a step; there’s a big difference. I should probably donate some money to the Congress gentlemen."

Lynch spoke lightly. After understanding the reason, he found Congress people quite amusing for the first time.

Originally, Mr. President wasn’t very radical; he could even be considered somewhat conservative. But just because they didn’t want the president to get more privileges or the war to affect Congress’s power, and due to some capitalists’ support...

They made a very wrong decision, pushing the wavering president a step towards the radicals.

This is a good thing. Once the President realizes the benefits of change, he’ll crave more support and power even more.

A few seconds later, Mr. Truman broached other topics.

"The negotiations are basically over. We have a list and sales quantities, but the price hasn’t been discussed; you need to negotiate with them separately or give a public price?"

"In any case, we don’t handle this aspect. You just need to sort it out before February."

"As for the rest, there’s not much else."

Lynch hesitated for a moment, "Can I know which company’s aircraft the Ministry of Defense is procuring?"

"Of course, it’s no secret. Kemoko Industries and Lanying Industries have received new orders from the Ministry of Defense, but the quantity hasn’t been determined yet."

"The Ministry of Defense is discussing with Congress about establishing an air force. If there aren’t too many obstacles, the Federation Air Force will be completed in the second half of next year; the exact quantity they’ll order will be known then."

The Air Force hasn’t been established yet, and neither the Army nor the Navy wants to spend money from their own pockets to purchase aircraft in large quantities.

They have applied for an additional budget for Lynch’s planes once. If they apply again, whether Congress will agree is another matter; it’s possible some investigation measures will be initiated, which is something the military doesn’t want to see.

Simply put, if the military continues to apply for new additional budgets, Congress can conduct investigations into the military’s budget and military spending to determine if they truly need this funding to enhance military facilities.

There’s nothing wrong with this coping mechanism. Anything related to the military is quite sensitive, as it is a violent institution.

Continuously applying for new budgets inevitably makes people wonder if there’s something else on their mind or if they’re doing something dangerous.

So arranging an investigation team to examine the military’s spending is quite normal. If there’s a real need, Congress will certainly approve it.

This logic is understood, but the military won’t agree. The reason is quite simple: not all the military funding they apply for is used where it’s needed.

Military personnel also need to live, have families, and slightly improve the officers’ lives. Is that wrong?

Definitely not.

For example, the military has established many "plans out of scope" clubs where some military personnel and officers can relax and reduce their work stress.

Although there are rumors about these clubs, only open to Federation military, involving solicitation, this is absolutely false; they could never do such a thing!

The Army and Navy aren’t handling this, and the Air Force hasn’t chosen a leader yet. The budget talks are naturally out of the question.

Internal struggles within the military are currently quite intense. Everyone can see the great future potential of the Air Force, and all want to become its leaders.

Especially officers at the General level, they’ve been negotiating relationships these days and don’t have time to focus on other matters.

After the conversation ended, Lynch jotted down the names of the two companies, Kemoko and Lanying, in his notebook.

He hadn’t heard of these two companies before; they must be newly established.

Lynch guessed correctly; these two companies were formed through joint ventures by several old military-industrial enterprises to prevent Lynch from further expanding within the military-industrial field.

As a result, they used some underhanded tactics to prematurely eliminate Lynch’s bombers.

They’ll never realize, though, that Lynch’s real trump card wasn’t the egg-laying aircraft, but the... plane-fighting plane!

The next morning, Lynch went to the Flight Research Institute bright and early to discuss the aircraft price with the Chief Engineer.

Given that Lynch previously blindly priced a plane costing around forty thousand at fifteen thousand, the Chief Engineer felt that this time, the bomber couldn’t be priced less than two hundred thousand at least.

In terms of cost, the new bomber was only enhanced in the engine, using a reinforced engine model, and a new design was completed with wind tunnel help.

In terms of cost, it might be less than sixty thousand; he felt two hundred thousand was already a bit too high.

"That’s why you’re still just a Chief Engineer...," Lynch, standing in the research institute, paused, feeling somewhat disappointed in the Chief Engineer’s pricing ability.

"You need to tell them that to achieve the long-range bombing plan for the aircraft, we specifically designed a brand new engine; don’t say ’reinforced model,’ ’Model II,’ or anything like that. It’s a brand new, independently designed engine."

"After tens of thousands of experiments, its final design was determined and produced."

He began walking again, with the Chief Engineer following closely behind.

Though Lynch was just officially listed as a college student and was actually only a high school graduate, the Chief Engineer always felt unable to reach Lynch’s peak.

He seemed like a towering mountain; standing at the foot, you could never see the top.

But once you started climbing, you’d find it more majestic and steep than imagined!

Besides admiration and reverence, he had no other thoughts.

"Just call it the Bomber I engine. The engine alone... let’s say fifteen thousand, with the fuselage and everything, round it up to thirty-five thousand; they really got a bargain!"

The Chief Engineer’s hand holding the pen shook involuntarily—selling something costing sixty thousand for thirty-five thousand, yet feeling as if they were losing money—no wonder he was just an engineer!

This time there are around two thousand units in sales, amounting to hundreds of millions, although taxes are high.

With a bunch of miscellaneous expenses, Darkstone Airlines could ultimately record two hundred million in profit, hoping to goodness, and a few tens of millions in net profit after distribution and subsequent R&D investment.

Of course, this is just ideal income. Many times, plans are ideal, and reality is another; you think they’ll accept this price, yet they think otherwise.

But overall, in military-industrial business, as long as the R&D direction isn’t wrong, it’s difficult to incur significant losses.

That’s why they don’t want Lynch entering the military-industrial sector. Once Lynch enters, suppliers increase, and competition intensifies.

Lowering profits is the most effective method in commercial competition, yielding the best effects.

Ultimately, everyone compresses profit margins, turning windfall profits into thin margins, which doesn’t meet capitalists’ demands for profit extraction.

As long as there aren’t many people in this industry, pricing is whatever they say.

The following days were rounds of negotiations; the thirty-five thousand price seemed a bit high for many countries. They hoped it could be slightly cheaper, even just a few thousand less would be great.

Meanwhile, issues of education reform and grain shortages once again became hot topics in society.

This even led to more issues and oppositions, such as some sociologists staunchly opposing immigration, believing grain shortages stem from too much immigration.

Previously, the Federation didn’t lack grain; there was even a surplus for export. The current shortage arose because the grain production and usage structure became problematic.

In the past, the ratio of farmers and farms met society’s basic grain needs, and even with natural population growth, it wouldn’t burden grain production.

However, immigrants are different; they are outsiders joining Federation society in hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions at once.

The grain system, originally sufficient for overall social needs, is now insufficient, leading to rising grain prices—a natural market response.

When people can’t purchase grain at original prices, they raise prices, and grain prices rise.

This gives those staunchly rejecting immigrants more support for their views. Some places even saw protesters holding signs saying "Immigrants, Get Out of Our Country," spreading their thoughts all around.

Society is undergoing rapid change, which is normal. After all, the passions of war cool quickly, and global social changes quickly manifest within each country.

Some problems not previously noticed gradually begin to emerge.

A new wave of opposition starts to manifest, contradictions accumulate, and everything prepares for the next war!

Lynch looked at the street scene outside the window, contemplating like this.

This is essentially a cycle; war doesn’t just address a nation’s needs in the international society, more importantly, it resolves domestic class conflicts, racial conflicts, and all contradictions!

The group that just left Lynch’s sight wasn’t completely gone before a new protest group entered his view.

The sign reading "I Want to Go to School" and the children sitting by the trash heap seemed more attention-grabbing than "Immigrants, Get Out of Our Country," at least these issues relate to one’s own immediate interests.

Not every family can’t afford to eat, but every family has children, continuously more children!