What happened to the inventor after the biggest farce in the history of science in China was exposed?

1March, 984, this person claimed to have invented the fifth invention of China-adding a quarter of gasoline to three quarters of water, and adding a small amount of water-based fuel expansion agent, water can be turned into "water-based fuel", which burns a little, with higher calorific value than ordinary gasoline and diesel, no pollution and low cost. Unexpectedly, this "invention" was a scam from beginning to end, deceiving the people of the whole country for more than ten years, and "changing water into oil" became the biggest farce in the history of science in China.

Wang Hongcheng, a native of Northeast China, only attended school for 4 years, raised pigs, worked as a carpenter and joined the army, and later became an ordinary driver of Harbin Gongx Automobile Company. In the 1980s and 1990s, the state advocated respecting talents and pursuing scientific knowledge. By chance, he created "water to oil". As we all know, water can't burn when it is liquid. But he played a trick, added two drops of medicine to the water, and then lit it, so the water turned into oil.

Everyone who has studied chemistry in junior high school knows that Wang Hongcheng's experimental effect is easy to achieve. The easiest way is to add a few drops of oil to the water. Oil can be burned. Generally, oil is insoluble in water or has little solubility, so the mixture of water and oil can be burned with a little fire. Such a simple fact turned into a "great invention" in Wang Hongcheng and made China an international joke. As soon as his "invention" came out, it attracted widespread attention. In order to get the bosses to invest, he often takes his companions around to perform.

Somehow, Wang Hongcheng's "invention" has been recognized by many scientific authorities. With the affirmation of experts and media reports, he became a great "inventor" with a passion for hands for a time. Even a military enterprise has set up a company specially for this purpose, and more than 300 township enterprises have spent hundreds of millions of yuan to develop with him and regarded him as a god of wealth. But Wang Hongcheng didn't understand the invention at all, and the money finally fell into his pocket. In addition, he also found someone to do a lot of forged certificates to prove that his "invention" is true.

Lies will eventually be seen through. At the beginning of 1993, the Ministry of Public Security and ministry of materials and equipment requested the relevant units to stop publicizing Wang Hongcheng's "invention". In April, ministry of materials and equipment cadres published "It's time to clarify the truth of" changing water into oil "with facts", questioning "changing water into oil". Subsequently, some newspapers published articles to expose the scam. Wang Hongcheng even sued ministry of materials and equipment cadres for violating his right of reputation, but it was rejected. At the eighth session of the China People's Political Consultative Conference the following year, four CPPCC members from the scientific and technological circles suggested investigating the "water-to-oil" incident and its destructive consequences on economic construction.

1On New Year's Day in 1996, Wang Hongcheng was examined and arrested. At the end of the year, he was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment by the court 10 years. At this time, this farce that lasted for more than ten years caused hundreds of millions of losses to the people.