12dz Chapter 275: They called me to a meeting in Shancheng? What are they going to do?
Chapter 275: They called me to a meeting in Shancheng? What are they going to do?
However, Zhang Chi did not simply burn the large amount of opium that was confiscated.
After all, he is not a devil. He would not do such a thing as setting fire to the city and asking the people of Myitkyina to inhale it together.
As for the traditional method of digging a pool and pouring lime water, Zhang Chi felt it was a bit wasteful.
Of course, he was not blinded by money and wanted to resell opium himself. After all, he could make hundreds of millions of dollars every month through Yegorov's secret line on the White Eagle side. He really didn't care about a mere tens of millions of dollars worth of opium.
What he really wanted was to take this opportunity to improve the pharmaceutical industry in Pegu.
After all, with the development of the chemical and steel industries, Nanhua Pharmaceutical Factory can't just rely on the capital of the penicillin industry exchanged by the system, right?
So, with a wave of his hand, Zhang Chi turned the confiscated opium into the raw material for the Nanhua Pharmaceutical Factory to prepare morphine.
As a powerful analgesic, the latter's role on the battlefield goes without saying.
In the process of updating equipment and preparing morphine on an assembly line, Nanhua Pharmaceutical Factory's production capacity has also made great progress.
Kill two birds with one stone, why not?
Zhang Chi, who was inspecting the Nanhua Pharmaceutical Factory, was in a good mood as he looked at the various packaged medicines on the table in front of him.
"Penicillin, aspirin, quinine hydrochloride, injectable morphine, vitamin tablets..." Zhang Chi read out the names of the medicines in front of him one by one, and said half-jokingly, "Director Liu, your store is almost as good as a department store pharmacy."
Factory Director Liu, dressed in a suit, smiled and replied, "Under your care, we can import whatever equipment our factory needs. If we still can't produce medicine, then wouldn't my position as factory director be a mere idle effort?"
"We can't build a first-class pharmaceutical factory just by relying on imported equipment. Our own R&D capabilities are the most important." When Zhang Chi said this, he looked at the cartons of medicines on the table again.
The packaging of these medicines are all printed with the dragon-shaped trademark of Nanhua Pharmaceutical Factory, except for penicillin, which is still printed with the White Eagle Pfizer trademark.
The reason for this is that drugs such as aspirin and quinine hydrochloride have long passed the patent protection period, and Zhang Chi's pharmaceutical factories can produce them at will.
When Fleming discovered penicillin, he did not apply for a patent. However, in 41, the Rockefeller Foundation in White Eagle, together with the penicillin project team of John Oxford University, applied for a patent for penicillin in White Eagle.
This resulted in Zhang Chi being unable to openly use the Nanhua Pharmaceutical brand even though he had more advanced penicillin fermentation tanks and better penicillin strains provided by the system, and he could only use the Pfizer trademark.
Fortunately, the quality of products produced by the system's production line is guaranteed. The counterfeit Pfizer penicillin that leaked out to Zhang Chi contains fewer impurities than the original one, is more effective, and sells better.
"By the way, what about the soil samples I gave you before?" Zhang Chi asked casually.
Precisely because of the patent bottleneck, he spent a large amount of money to establish a drug development laboratory under the Nanhua Pharmaceutical Factory, recruited talents from all over the world, and used the foresight of a time traveler to make some suggestions specifically for the discovery of streptomycin and erythromycin:
Look for soils that can inhibit the reproduction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and try to extract Streptomyces species from soil samples. The secretions of these species are likely to be streptomycin.
"The effect is good. The laboratory is comparing the purified strains one by one. I believe there will be results soon." Director Liu said happily.
"Oh? So soon?" Zhang Chi raised his eyebrows, feeling that today was a double joy.
He knew very well that as a species of bacteria living in the soil, streptomycin secreted by Streptomyces had a better inhibitory effect on the bacteria that cause tuberculosis than penicillin, and could cure the tuberculosis that is currently rampant throughout the world.
And once Nanhua Pharmaceutical Factory is able to purify Streptomyces and improve the preparation process of streptomycin, Nanhua Pharmaceutical Factory can be the first to obtain the patent for streptomycin.
By then, with the help of streptomycin's killing power against Gram-negative bacteria and some patients' allergy to penicillin, Nanhua Pharmaceutical will be able to launch a flagship product that belongs uniquely to it and to the Chinese nation in the global market.
(White Eagle discovered streptomycin in the laboratory in 43, but the patent for the specific preparation process was delayed until 48. In 49, erythromycin was extracted from the soil of Luzon Island.)
That’s right, Zhang Chi focused on the development of Streptomyces in order to make money by circumventing the penicillin patent, and on the other hand to enhance the self-confidence of the Chinese nation.
Although he is currently in Pegu in Southeast Asia, he is very clear that his base is the Chinese nation.
Now, with the help of the anti-Japanese war, the Chinese nation is indeed regarded as an ally of Western powers such as White Eagle and John, but Zhang Chi is very clear whether the other party looks down on the Chinese nation.
In the timeline before he traveled through time, if the volunteer army had not defeated the United Nations forces led by the White Eagle soldiers, it would have been unknown when the Chinese nation would have been able to rise among the nations of the post-war world.
Now, he must rely on his own advantages as a time traveler to take the lead in regaining the lost confidence of the Chinese nation in various aspects such as military, economy, and scientific research.
Streptomyces, an invention worthy of the Nobel Prize, has truly opened the door for mankind to enter the world of antibiotics. It is a star product that has paved the way for a series of subsequent drugs such as vancomycin, erythromycin, azithromycin, and oxytetracycline. This is the future that Zhang Chi is currently betting on.
However, the anxious Zhang Chi still did not get the opportunity to visit the laboratory up close and cheer for the scientists.
His journey was interrupted by his secretary Zhang Guangsong who came hurriedly.
"Stevenson urgently called me to go to Shancheng for a meeting?"
Zhang Chi looked at Zhang Guangsong with a puzzled look. In his impression, although Stevenson sometimes acted impatiently, he didn't seem like a crazy person.
That mountain city is now the secondary capital and the headquarters of the White Party. If Zhang Chi really goes there alone, his fate will probably be the same as that of a certain sworn brother who has been under house arrest until the 21st century, right?
"The entire 31st Army of Tang's army was defeated. Okamura Yasuji led the Japanese to encircle Luojing from all sides. Luojing is in danger." Zhang Guangsong said in a low voice.
Zhang Chi was still puzzled. What did the fact that the Japanese surrounded Luojing have to do with him? He was in Pegu. Why did Stevenson call him to the mountain city?
"General Stevenson wanted to transfer us to support the Qian Kingdom battlefield, but the White Party refused. General Stevenson couldn't convince those White Party leaders, so he wanted to bring you over to boost their momentum."
"It's just nonsense." Zhang Chi felt disgusted when he heard this. "Stevenson is just desperate and trying all sorts of methods."
Now Okamura Yasuji has surrounded Luojing, and the Anmin Army is tens of thousands of miles away from there. By the time they fly there, the Japanese will have already captured Luojing, opened up the railway line, and ended the Battle of Central Henan.
Besides, his relationship with the Yunnan clique has been pretty good recently, selling small tanks, artillery and food to them. It is relatively safe for him to go to Chuncheng, which is ruled by Long and Lu of the Yunnan clique, to attend a meeting.
If they really go to the mountain city, the White Party will not dare to do anything to Stevenson, the White Eagle, but it is hard to say what they will do to Zhang Chi.
"Go back to the headquarters. I need to send a telegram to General Stevenson immediately." Thinking of this, Zhang Chi was no longer in the mood to continue visiting the Nanhua Pharmaceutical Factory, and immediately returned by car under escort.