Before China's military and industrial strength had fully risen and shown its edge, the greatest criticism it faced was never from the world, but from within itself.
Under the long-term technological gap and the deliberate guidance of some with ulterior motives, a large group of people crazily attacked their own country, denying any achievements.
Take, for example, the world's highest-altitude railway built with tremendous national effort, which was criticized for destroying the ecological health along the route?
The projects that brought water and electricity to remote mountainous regions were said to destroy local cultural uniqueness?
The same was true for technology; anything not domestically developed was deemed high-tech fifty years ahead of its time.
And any domestic breakthrough was claimed to be inferior to foreign counterparts, certainly with various flaws.
The situation was even more true in aerospace, which, due to China's late start, was still in the stage of accumulating strength, some six or seven years away from explosive growth.
With America's moon landings and space shuttle missions as precedents, any effort made was met with scorn, "They've done this long ago, that's technology from decades past."
Since China was not yet in a powerful state at this time, the public readily accepted such self-deprecating comments and even felt that surpassing others was not possible.
Therefore, in a domestic environment that generally lacked confidence in their own official space agency, when a private enterprise suddenly emerged to enter the space industry, the skepticism it faced was, of course, overwhelming.
It was not just New Yuan Tractor Factory's official Weibo account that was under attack, but the Southern Machinery Institute was caught in the crossfire as well.
A swarm of influential figures smelling an opportunity came over to spill slanders, even going so far as to invent stories in a cutting-edge fashion.
Lin Ju had lived through this era, but later the rise in patriotic awareness among the public gradually squeezed the space for public intellectuals and made him almost forget what it was like at the time.
The announcement made yesterday was criticized today, and by evening, rumors had already begun to spread.
A certain tech circle self-media reviewer brazenly wrote a technical analysis of the New Yuan No.1 rocket, and shamelessly claimed to be impartial, focusing on the issue rather than the person.
Lin Ju read his article and burst out laughing.
The reviewer had apparently Googled the names of a few rocket parts and then blindly compared them with a similar weight foreign rocket to conclude that the New Yuan No.1 rocket's design was irrational and outright deceiving.
In the end, he did not forget to snidely jeer at the tractor factory's venture into rocket making.
The Southern Machinery Institute also suffered attacks, with some influencers claiming they had contacted "clear-headed" professors within the institute, alleging that the institute's satellite rocket project was to defraud national funds, another meticulously planned academic fraud event.
In just two days, the whole network's public opinion rushed in the opposite direction of Lin Ju, almost leaving him livid.
He first called Tong Peiqiang at the Southern Machinery Institute to discuss the matter, only to find him utterly indifferent.
"Lin Ju, don't bother with these people. They have been talking like this for forty years, and it hasn't led to anything.
Have we not gradually broken through the technological blockade, sent people into space, launched aircraft carriers? The noise of these flies is nothing to worry about. There's no need to be concerned," said Tong Peiqiang.
Lin Ju made a few more calls only to realize that not just Tong Peiqiang, but the entire institute shared this nonchalant attitude.
To the people of the Southern Machinery Institute, what was getting scolded? This was nothing new.
But Lin Ju was different. The system panel showed that the current proactive public opinion guidance was underway, and the current situation had a "-2.5%" detrimental effect on the outcome!
If it were just talk, he could have endured it, but now it was tangibly affecting his mission!
However, he currently lacked the capability to directly confront these opinion leaders and key influencers on social media, the only thing he could do was one thing: demonstrate results directly!
Once the physical evidence was in front of you, there was certainly no way to deny it, right?
Lin Ju immediately returned to the factory, gathered his team, and issued an order to release video footage of the rocket engine test and the completed shell portions to counteract the adverse public opinion.
This was not complicated, but to his surprise, the esteemed academician Professor Tang intended to leave.
"Lin Ju, I really appreciate the hospitality of staying at your factory these days; it's been hard on all of you. I think I've stayed long enough, if I don't go to the conference now, it'll be over," Professor Tang said.
Lin Ju was reluctant to see Tang Weitian go; Guo Shen had told him many times how Professor Tang had offered many useful suggestions when participating in the rocket manufacturing process, and that every additional day he stayed was beneficial.
But even when Lin Ju tried to persuade him to stay, Tang Weitian ultimately did not agree and left gracefully amidst everyone's reluctant farewells.
However, after he left, he did not go to any meeting but instead headed to a city guesthouse.
Two polite young men greeted him and invited him to sit down. After pouring some tea, they finally asked:
"Professor Tang, did you notice any issues?"
"There are some issues, but not the ones you're concerned about. I can definitively say that their technology is very mature, which probably has something to do with Chief Designer Guo.
The rocket technology is pretty ordinary, with some new ideas, but that's also natural progression of the times. However, that engine is impressive—though its thrust is almost the same as our developed YF100, its weight has been reduced by a whole 36%, and it boasts an extra 40 seconds of specific impulse.
Moreover, where the YF100 uses an oxygen-rich staged combustion, their K120 uses full-flow staged combustion. The K120 is actually more advanced and the design is simple and mature; it's very likely leaked from America's aerospace agency, otherwise, they definitely wouldn't possess such technical strength."
One man listened intently, while the other was busy taking notes, and they quickly summarized the covert investigation results provided by Professor Tang.
Indeed, Tang Weitian's infiltration of the tractor factory was actually at the behest of the Security Bureau, conducted as a technical investigation.
The sudden emergence of a private rocket company with ties to America naturally drew the Security Bureau's attention.
However, they were more concerned about any potential backroom dealings and weren't too invested in the technology itself, but they happened to encounter Tang Weitian visiting Sichuan and asked him to lend his expert eye.
What primarily interested Tang Weitian was Lin Ju's K120 liquid oxygen kerosene engine, as just two years ago China had independently developed the YF100 engine with the same thrust, which took 12 years to pass the acceptance tests.
The direct test of the K120 had startled him, especially when he discovered its more advanced technical parameters, leading to suspicion about the source of the technology.
Ultimately, Guo Shen was the one who took the blame, more precisely, his "former workplace," the American aerospace agency.
Regarding the potential "advanced American engine," Tang Weitian felt quite envious, in comparison, the domestically produced YF100 seemed too bulky and complicated.
Although he had accessed detailed technical data on the K120 during his visit to the factory, he had also signed a confidentiality agreement, and given his stature, he wouldn't do something so disgraceful.
Returning to his own hotel, Professor Tang composed a lengthy email and, after attaching several photos, sent it off to a certain email address.
Despite it being midnight, it was only minutes later that he received a read receipt from the inbox.