Chapter 426: Blockade?

“That’s wonderful,” Jiang He nodded.

That’s how medicine works. Proposing a new model is just the first step.

Extensive validation studies must be conducted in major hospitals to accumulate sufficient data. Only then can the model be discussed at conferences and potentially used to revise current treatment guidelines.

“There’s one more thing,” Wang Zhengchu said. “In the future… if Affiliated Hospital No. 1 has any more complex minimally invasive surgeries like this, I hope I can come and be your assistant.”

Jiang He was slightly taken aback.

Wang Zhengchu said sincerely, “To be honest, your technique today produced a better outcome for the patient than I could have, with less trauma. This is a more advanced direction for medicine, and I want to learn it.”

Jiang He was stunned.

He took another look at Wang Zhengchu.

Then he smiled.

‘Who could dislike a doctor like this?’

He said, “No problem, Director Wang. Actually, I’ve recently had some ideas for improving the pancreaticoduodenectomy—the Whipple procedure. I’m planning to explore a fully laparoscopic approach. When a suitable case comes up, would you mind coming over to lend a hand?”

Wang Zhengchu was surprised. “You’re going to attempt a fully laparoscopic modification for the Whipple procedure too?”

That was considered the pinnacle of general surgery,

the Mount Everest of surgical procedures!

‘You can modify this thing?’

Jiang He replied conservatively, “I have a few vague ideas, but nothing’s certain yet.”

That made Wang Zhengchu even more expectant. He said, “Great! I’ll be waiting for the good news.”

After seeing Wang Zhengchu off, Jiang He felt a sense of reassurance.

This surgery not only saved the patient but also solidified his core position within the hospital. He had even managed to poach the top surgeon from City First Hospital to be his assistant.

For any tricky surgeries in the future, Wang Zhengchu would be the perfect second assistant.

Just then, the phone in Jiang He’s pocket began to ring.

He took out his phone and saw the caller ID: [Lin Zhenhua].

It was rare for Minister Lin to call him directly.

Jiang He said a quick word to the other doctors in the office, pushed the door open, and stepped into the stairwell before answering.

Lin Zhenhua’s tone was clearly off. He asked, “Jiang He, are you busy?”

“Yes, I just finished a surgery. What’s wrong, Minister?”

Lin Zhenhua was silent for a moment before saying, “It’s about the 863 Plan. The equipment you wanted—several ultra-high-precision refrigerated centrifuges and high-resolution mass spectrometers—were all ordered from top manufacturers in the United States. The deposit has already been paid…”

Jiang He already guessed what the minister was about to say.

He sighed silently.

As expected, Lin Zhenhua said, “This morning, the distributor suddenly sent an email notifying us that they’ve halted the shipment. The reason is simply ridiculous!”

“The distributor said their US headquarters put an emergency stop to the order last night, claiming it triggered the Wassenaar Agreement.”

“They’re demanding that the U.S. Department of Commerce send a special commissioner to China to conduct months of on-site inspections and usage assessments of our laboratory. Until then, the equipment order is frozen indefinitely, and the deposit will be fully refunded.”

Lin Zhenhua grew more furious as he spoke. “What is this? It’s a blatant strong-arm tactic! Just because you demonstrated our medical prowess in Baltimore, they’re starting to pull this crap!”

To put it bluntly, if they weren’t going to sell, they should have had the guts to say so from the beginning. But no, they saw Jiang He’s star begin to rise and got scared. They saw the lion open its eyes and panicked, scrambling to build an iron cage. There was no contractual spirit whatsoever! Using such methods to choke them off was nothing less than an attempt to smother Jiang He in the cradle.

However, after hearing all this, Jiang He was surprisingly calm.

His calmness was even transmitted back to Lin Zhenhua on the other end of the line.

“Minister Lin, please calm down.”

Jiang He leaned against the wall in the stairwell and said reassuringly, “Actually, regarding the equipment ban, I had already guessed this might happen before I went to the United States.”

Lin Zhenhua was stunned for a moment. “You… you guessed it would happen? Then what do you plan to do? Without the equipment, how can the project move forward?”

Jiang He smiled. “Minister, do you remember the task the leadership assigned me when I reported the H1N1 model? That we needed to create China’s own reverse genetics eight-plasmid system?”

“Of course I remember that. You mean…”

“Exactly. Since we’re going for an original creation, it only makes sense to use domestic equipment.”

“Can… can that work?”

“Trust me. I have a way.”

“…”

Lin Zhenhua didn’t know what to say.

‘Jiang He was so audacious, and he absolutely loved it.’

He listened as Jiang He continued:

“Creating our own original eight-plasmid system is tantamount to telling those on the other side of the ocean: ‘Go ahead and play your games of containment. For every path you block, I’ll create a new one myself.'”

“‘Let’s see if you can block us faster than I can break through your patents.'”

“‘Once we teach them a lesson, they won’t try to pull these dirty tricks again.'”

“Also, we need a two-pronged approach. We can’t stop domestic R&D. I’ll contact a team to research alternative solutions. At the same time, we can try to establish contact with parties in Europe and push forward on both fronts.”

Jiang He had already been thinking about a domestic R&D team.

At the end of 2008, China’s high-end scientific instrument industry was still largely a blank slate.

Refrigerated centrifuges, high-resolution mass spectrometers, and high-throughput sequencers were almost 100% dependent on imports.

Jiang He himself didn’t really understand these things.

But he knew who did.

More importantly, he knew where the finish line was.

In the R&D of cutting-edge instruments, the most time- and capital-intensive part is choosing the technological path at the outset.

It was like the early days of nuclear weapon development.

Gaseous diffusion, centrifugal separation, electromagnetic separation—several routes were pursued in parallel.

If the wrong path was chosen, the massive amounts of capital and time invested would all go down the drain.

But Jiang He held the right answer.

As long as the direction was correct, the country’s top-tier industrial base was fully capable of leapfrogging generations to catch up.

Jiang He planned to contact old Professor Yu Lei from the biomedical engineering department at Southern Medical University.

Then, through the provincial department’s connections, he would reach out to the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Precision Mechanics.

This would put domestic equipment R&D squarely in the fast lane.

After listening, Lin Zhenhua was filled with emotion.

He even felt like ripping off his tie right then and there, rushing into the courtyard, and performing a set of military calisthenics just to vent the heroic passion that had been ignited in his heart.

He took a deep breath and said in an incredibly invigorated voice:

“Excellent! Jiang He, I’ll immediately coordinate on my end to adjust our procurement direction and try to go through European channels!”

“The eight-plasmid system… go for it with everything you’ve got. I believe you can do it.”

“Those people on the other side of the ocean are probably popping champagne right now, thinking they’ve successfully restricted your research.”

“Then let’s do it!”

“Just like before, achieve something epoch-making and shock everyone!”

“Jiang He, I believe that on the day you create our original eight-plasmid system and completely overturn the world of viral reverse genetics,”

“it will be just as the great man said: ‘Blockade us! Blockade us for eight or ten years, and all of China’s problems will be solved!'”

“Borrow the east wind and burn their chained camps—”

“The Golden Monkey raises his mighty cudgel, sweeping the heavens clear of all dust!”