Upon hearing that He Rui was unavailable, Rockefeller did not pause but went directly to request a meeting with Wu Youping. Wu Youping did not know what Rockefeller intended, but the American's opening sentence brought a smile to his face.

Rockefeller did not smile. His statement—"If China is willing to provide insurance services, I am willing to purchase a batch of oil tankers from China"—was not an attempt to curry favor with the Chinese government. It was based on very realistic grounds: China's 5,000-ton vessels were of excellent quality and possessed a significant price advantage.

Rockefeller continued, "Mr. Premier, at this stage we require a large number of tankers. Given the stakes involved, these vessels need insurance."

Wu Youping did not answer immediately. For the Chinese government, state-owned enterprises in the shipping sector did not particularly require insurance. If a vessel was lost, it was a loss of state assets, and the state naturally bore that loss. To avoid such losses, the state provided guarantees for shipping.

Shipping losses were primarily caused by improper operation or severe weather, resulting in damage or sinking. A more dangerous threat came from pirates or warships controlling specific maritime regions. This required the support of national power.

The cooperation between China's state-owned oil companies and the Saudi oil company, led by Rockefeller, was currently the largest petroleum partnership between Rockefeller and China. The main shipping routes for transporting oil from Saudi Arabia to China passed through British India, the American Philippines, and French Indochina. At this stage, Britain, France, and the United States posed no immediate threat to China, so Wu Youping could not quite understand Rockefeller's insistence on insurance services.

Rockefeller proceeded to explain. After some time, he realized Wu Youping was in a state of "understanding but not quite accepting," and he felt a pang of regret. If he were talking to He Rui, Rockefeller was eighty percent certain the deal would already be done.

Marine insurance has a long history, originating in Italian intermediary trade in the late 11th century. By the 14th century, a relatively commercialized and specialized maritime insurance industry had formed. As the industry progressed, maritime insurance law also developed and matured.

Marine insurance is a type of property insurance where the insurance company provides economic compensation to the insured for losses caused by various natural disasters or accidents at sea. The principles of marine insurance refer to the behavioral norms that both parties must observe when engaging in insurance activities. These primarily include the five principles of indemnity, insurable interest, proximate cause, utmost good faith, and subrogation.

Since Wu Youping lacked He Rui's grasp of these mechanics, Rockefeller simply emphasized the fundamental reason again: "Mr. Premier, we also need to satisfy our shareholders."

Wu Youping actually understood Rockefeller's meaning. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Please wait a moment. We will reply to Mr. Rockefeller as soon as possible."

Soon, Wu Youping personally met with He Rui to discuss the matter. After listening, He Rui understood Wu Youping's difficulty. If China provided underwriting, it would entail significant costs—costs that could far exceed the premiums earned. More importantly, China's current navy was very weak. Although it had signed agreements with the Great Powers regarding maritime investigations, it lacked experience.

However, just as Rockefeller had anticipated, He Rui believed it was necessary to sign the agreement.

Wu Youping did not object, for he also knew the benefits were immense. The Saudi oil company currently had a huge demand for tankers. If they signed this order, several shipbuilding companies would immediately be operating at full capacity.

The matter was quickly settled. However, a week later, Foreign Minister Li Shiguang personally reported to Wu Youping, "The French side has expressed an opinion to us. They hope to share a portion of the order."

Wu Youping was stunned. The insatiable greed of the French astonished him. France hadn't even recommended Chinese ships, yet they were already running over to grab orders?

After thinking for a moment, Wu Youping asked Li Shiguang to explain the details. Ten minutes later, after Li Shiguang finished, Wu Youping replied, "Let me get this straight."

Li Shiguang waited quietly for Wu Youping to think it through. Wu Youping stood up and walked to the window. A lot had happened in the past week. Following the custom of cooperation with China, the Rockefeller Company had first released a news item. Upon seeing this news, several famous shipyards around the world became very interested in this batch of tankers totaling 200,000 tons. Even though Rockefeller had announced they expected to order from China, these shipyards sent telegrams asking if Rockefeller would open the ships to public tender.

French enterprises naturally hoped to get a slice of the pie, but French shipyards were currently running at full load. According to unreliable intelligence Li Shiguang had gathered, France was contacting China on one hand, while urgently contacting Dutch shipyards on the other, hoping to sub-contract a portion of the order to Dutch shipbuilding companies. The French intended to act as middlemen and pocket the price difference.

Wu Youping determined that he would absolutely not agree to the French request. He turned back to Li Shiguang and said, "You are going to Lausanne, Switzerland, for a meeting. The French will likely discuss many things with you then. If they mention this matter, tell them to talk to the Ministry of Commerce."

Li Shiguang knew this was a refusal. Although he had conveyed the French request to Wu Youping, Li Shiguang himself was firmly opposed to France's attitude. Hearing Wu Youping's crisp response, Li Shiguang felt his mood improve.

Soon, Li Shiguang boarded a plane for Lausanne, Switzerland. As soon as he arrived at the airport, he noticed significant changes in the aircraft's appearance. Compared to previous planes, the one before him was obviously larger.

Entering the cabin, he found this to be true. Originally, there were two seats on each side of the aisle; now, it was three on the left and two on the right. Furthermore, the cabin length had increased, expanding from 14 rows to 19 rows.

This simple math problem did not take Li Shiguang long: 4 times 14 is 56; 5 times 19 is 95. The nearly doubled passenger capacity astonished him. He calculated it again mentally and found the numbers correct. This puzzled Li Shiguang greatly; he hadn't expected that a seemingly small increase in space could result in such a massive change in capacity.

Amazement aside, checking the flight time, Li Shiguang found that the flight speed had not changed significantly. As Foreign Minister, he was quite interested in this. At this stage, Chinese airliners had a range exceeding 3,000 kilometers, which meant a long time in the air. He planned to chat with the flight crew for a while to make the dull journey less boring.

Once the plane took off, Li Shiguang discovered the changes were indeed substantial. Although the vibration was still present, the noise inside the cabin was much lower. More than half an hour after takeoff, the plane entered a stable cruising phase. The cabin crew announced over the broadcast that beverages and food were now available and that the lavatories were open. The passengers immediately relaxed.

Li Shiguang, sitting in first class, waited a while longer before inviting a flight attendant over to chat about the plane.

The attendant replied with a professional smile, "Minister Li, we have only received technical training and mastered the use of various equipment on this model, as well as routine and emergency procedures. We have no understanding of the aircraft itself."

Li Shiguang didn't know if this was just their training or if their training had actually shaped their understanding this way. Faced with such a professional explanation, he could only let it drop. Given the professionalism displayed by the attendant, Li Shiguang had no complaints. What the current China—including the Foreign Ministry—needed most was highly professional practitioners. So Li Shiguang gave up asking about the plane, feeling that with his busy schedule, he wouldn't have time to understand it later anyway.

Closing his eyes to think for a while, he felt his secretary nudge him. Li Shiguang opened his eyes to see a young man in a pilot's uniform walking over, his gaze fixed on Li Shiguang. It was the co-pilot, surnamed Wang. As the secretary had anticipated, Co-pilot Wang invited Li Shiguang to the crew rest area at the front of the plane.

The rest area was small. Apart from a wardrobe and a few necessary appliances, there was nothing else. Even the seats were folding ones, designed to save as much space as possible.

Seeing these working conditions, Li Shiguang felt a surge of respect for the flight crew. "Co-pilot Wang, seeing you up in the sky every day, flying expensive planes, dressed well and speaking elegantly, I thought your working environment was like a palace. Now I understand it was my illusion."

Co-pilot Wang hadn't expected Li Shiguang to say this. Stunned for a moment, he quickly replied, "We are just doing what we should. Besides, the new aircraft is already much better than the previous ones. Future conditions should be even better."

Li Shiguang used this topic to continue the conversation. Facing the Foreign Minister, Co-pilot Wang had nothing to hide and told him everything he knew. It turned out that both Co-pilot Wang and Captain Li were retired Air Force pilots who had entered civil aviation after passing the airliner pilot exams.

After retiring from the Air Force, pilots mostly went to research departments, high-tech enterprises, or the civil aviation system. Co-pilot Wang also mentioned that the highly professional flight attendant from earlier was a retired female soldier. This enlightened Li Shiguang.

Co-pilot Wang first explained to Li Shiguang that he couldn't discuss specific aircraft parameters. Li Shiguang laughed, "I don't understand mechanics anyway. I just felt the plane was much bigger, so I was curious about the update speed of our aircraft models."

Co-pilot Wang replied calmly, "I don't do R&D, I just know that a new engine model came out. Other technologies also made great progress, resulting in this new model."

After chatting for a while longer, Li Shiguang found that the information he received was full of imaginative space for a layman who knew nothing. What was certain was that China's aviation industry was following national planning. Since the number of Air Force pilots was less than that of civil aviation pilots, the civil aviation system had to train its own pilots every year.

Moreover, civil aviation pilots were different from Air Force pilots. Air Force pilots needed combat courage and talent, while civil aviation pilots needed a cautious and meticulous flying style. Therefore, the bravest and most skilled Air Force pilots might not necessarily pass the civil aviation pilot exams.

When he first heard this, Li Shiguang was surprised. After thinking for a moment, he naturally accepted this reality. Comparing it to the Foreign Ministry: Foreign Ministry members needed to be loyal to the country; any selling out of national interests for personal gain would cause major losses to the state.

But loyalty alone did not necessarily make one suitable for Foreign Ministry work. Loyalty was merely the necessary foundation; Foreign Ministry personnel needed professional ability to complete the tasks, or even missions, given to them by the country.

Although the chat was short, Li Shiguang felt he had gained a lot when he returned to his seat. Furthermore, Li Shiguang was certain that, at least in the aviation industry, national policies were being continuously advanced.