Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 210: Rectification and Inquiry for Foreign Trade Opinions (Subscription Request)
The Huaxia Machine Tool Factory held a cadre meeting, and several leaders from the Security Department also participated in it, and were criticized in a sarcastic manner at the meeting.

Section Chief Wang and Deputy Section Chief Chang's faces turned red and they were unable to speak, but it was a fact that five people swaggered into the factory to arrest the leaders without notifying the Security Department.

They deserved to be scolded.

Even if there was a formal arrest order, Kang Hongnian should have been notified; but this arrest was so illegal that the security department not only let anyone in, but also did not notify him.

After the meeting, the two section chiefs went back and became furious again. Then they found two people in the security department, demoted them directly from team leaders to night patrollers, and gave them a reprimand.

Some people are still unwilling to accept this. The factory's dull production means no trouble, and without trouble there are no opportunities. So how long will it take them to get promoted and take power?
So when they see the sports soldiers, they want to curry favor with them, but this time they have failed to curry favor with the horse's hoof.

In addition to the security department, a director of the factory committee was also given a serious warning and transferred to another position; this is temporary, and he will probably have to retire due to illness next year or the year after.

The matters in the factory were temporarily concluded. Zhou Fengnian had been waiting for a call from Deputy Leader Li, but there was no response after two days.

So he put it aside for the time being and continued to do research and development in the workshop.

He also arranged a job for Zhou Xiaomei, as a warehouse clerk. A junior high school education was enough. The salary was not very high, but it was a blessing to have a job at that time.

Now that the policy of going to the countryside to receive re-education through labor has been finalized, people are scrambling to do even a job as a night soil collector.

After the machine tool factory transferred dozens of people to the electronic computer factory, dozens of workstations became vacant. Now all the calls for begging for jobs have come to Gao Zhiyuan, asking for a job for their children that does not require them to move to the countryside.

At the beginning of the new month, Zhou Fengnian used a new number of simulations. This time, he finally succeeded in experimentally manufacturing a personal computer in the simulation space, combined with a monitor, and also created a simple graphical operating system.

There are not many functions, only four: calculation, document record storage, file transfer and a simple game.

The game was created by Zhou Fengnian on a whim. It is similar to Whack-A-Mole, except that the name was changed to Whack-A-Landlord.

The first generation of personal computers can only be made like this for now. If you want to continue to improve the performance and functions of the computer, you need to continuously improve the performance and optimize the control system.

As for technical personnel related to computer programs, there are still too few talented people now; but this is normal, after all, this year is only 1969, and only a dozen years have passed since the birth of computers.

Zhou Fengnian himself relies on constantly brushing up his proficiency to improve his skills, otherwise he would also be a beginner.

Computers are still a new thing. From research and development to manufacturing to the present, they have all been developed step by step. Only Zhou Fengnian can rely on bugs to continuously improve his abilities and become a computer expert from a novice.

However, just when Zhou Fengnian summarized the technology of personal computers and was preparing to go to the integrated circuit workshop, Gao Zhiyuan suddenly came to him.

After knocking on the door and entering the house, Gao Zhiyuan said to Zhou Fengnian with a grin on his face: "Fengnian, I just talked to Deputy Leader Li on the phone, and he asked you to go to the ministry. Don't ride your bike now, let the factory driver take you."

The last time he went to the ministry, he was scolded by his leader for half an hour. This time it was his turn to inform Zhou Fengnian.

"Did the leader say anything?"

Zhou Fengnian looked up and asked, and when he saw the expression on Gao Zhiyuan's face, he guessed that it was not a good thing.

"The leader didn't say, but you should go quickly, Fengnian, maybe there's something urgent."

After hearing this, Zhou Fengnian had to put down what he was doing for the time being, and then called the security guard to ask for a car from the driver's class.

After getting on the car, Zhou Fengnian went all the way to the Ministry of First Machine Building, and after getting off the car, he went to the office of Deputy Leader Li.

After knocking on the door, I heard someone shouting from inside, so I pushed the door open and walked in.

Seeing that the person coming was Zhou Fengnian, Deputy Leader Li said with a sullen face: "There is no tea today, sit there."

"Boss, why are you trying to scare me right away? I'm a coward and tend to forget things when I'm scared."

"Hey? You were very brave when you locked people up, and now you're using the same trick on me."

Deputy Leader Li put down his pen and then scolded, "Your factory has already completed the formal procedures, why do you have to do this in the end? Fortunately, they are not good people, no one is willing to protect them, so they just do it.
If it were someone else, they would probably fight you to the death. Your crude and incompetent methods can only harm yourself. From now on, you should just focus on research. Other things are not suitable for your brain."

After hearing what Deputy Leader Li said, Zhou Fengnian felt relieved and quickly apologized with a smile, saying, "I was just mad at them. I wasn't emphasizing status, but they were too arrogant and just kicked the door in to arrest me.
I didn’t do that. If I hadn’t been at work that day, they would have gone straight to my house to arrest me. They were really going too far.”

"I said this in my office, and I was criticized for saying it outside."

Deputy Leader Li sighed and said, "The people above have warned them again that they are not allowed to enter confidential factories, so this kind of thing will not happen again. In addition, you have formal procedures, so it is difficult for them to hold Zhong Xingling and his gang responsible for the incident.

It’s just that the procedures are a bit too formal, one formality after another, it’s like a storytelling.”

"No other way, we have to proceed step by step."

Zhou Fengnian scratched his head and laughed, "But it's a bit surprising that they would suffer in silence."

"What a dumb loss, it's because you are so capable.

I originally only went to see Minister Su, but Deputy Director Bai from the Foreign Trade Department also spoke up for you, so the matter was finally brought to light. They were also warned not to bother you again. "

Deputy Leader Li smiled and continued, "You must find a chance to thank him. At that time, Deputy Leader Bai took the initiative to come over and showed them the foreign trade orders for the past five years, saying that these were all related to you.

He doesn’t care whether anyone is arrested or not, but at least the export orders cannot be reduced, otherwise there will be no money to buy things, and the entire Foreign Trade Department’s mission will not be completed.”

Over the past five years, nearly $400 million in export orders were all related to Zhou Fengnian; the electric blankets from eight years ago were not mentioned at all, and the calculation started from 1989.

CNC machine tools, portable music players, washing machines and FAW cars, etc.; if 70% of the credit should be given to the production workers, then the remaining 30% belongs to Zhou Fengnian.

Without the inventor Zhou Fengnian, there would not be so many export orders.

It is also because of these foreign exchanges that their Ministry of Foreign Trade can buy so many things to develop the domestic market.

"They wanted to hold you accountable, at least to punish you, but the Ministry of Foreign Trade also spoke up for you, and they immediately became obedient. Plus, the leader spoke up, and the matter was over."

Deputy Leader Li smiled and said that Zhou Fengnian was safe and sound because he had good interpersonal relationships and strong abilities.

Otherwise, if other people tried to frame someone like this, they would at least get themselves imprisoned. Only Zhou Fengnian could get the other party imprisoned.

"Those five people went to the Great Northern Wilderness. They will be back in at least ten years."

Zhou Fengnian's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said with a smile: "Thank you for your care, leader."

"Be more peaceful in the future. I should find you a mature and steady person to keep an eye on you. Otherwise, you will get into trouble if you slam the table."

Deputy Leader Li said unhappily that he usually doesn't cause trouble, but when he does, it's a big one. So it seems that he hopes Zhou Fengnian will just cause some small troubles usually, and not cause big ones from time to time.

"How is the preparation going for your computer factory?"

"Don't worry, once the factory starts operation, you will be invited to come and see the results within four months."

Deputy Leader Li blurted out, "Two months? Are you so sure?"

"What two months? It's four months!"

Zhou Fengnian repeated that two months was too tight and he had to leave some time for himself.

Two months is enough, but we cannot just force it to be produced. We must at least test it repeatedly for a period of time to ensure that it is correct before we can report.

Moreover, Zhou Fengnian also planned to develop broadband to achieve Internet-connected office work, which would show the advantages of personal computers; otherwise, the single office record and calculation functions would not show the advantages of computers.

After reporting some work to Deputy Leader Li, Zhou Fengnian took the bus back.

Not long after returning to the factory, Zhou Fengnian had just sat down when Gao Zhiyuan curiously approached him and asked, "Fengnian, how is it? Did the leader say anything?"

When Zhou Fengnian saw the smile on Gao Zhiyuan's face, he knew what he was up to, so he took out the tea he had just brought back, sighed and said, "The leader is really angry. He usually gives me 4 taels, but this time he cut it in half and only gave me 2 taels."
This isn't enough to drink, I'll just taste it slowly, Brother Gao."

After hearing this, Gao Zhiyuan's face was a little distorted. Why was he scolded when he went there, while Zhou Fengnian just brought back the tea with a smile?

In all his visits to ministries and commissions, he had only drunk tea twice, and both times he went with Zhou Fengnian; when he went to report on his work, he only had boiled water.

"Forget it, forget it. I can't compare with you. I'm here to give you the factory construction drawings. Except for the workshop, there are no other problems. Just work according to this."

After Gao Zhiyuan finished speaking, he gave Zhou Fengnian a construction drawing. Most of the area had been leveled and they were ready to start construction.

"After you finish writing it, have your assistant give it to Director Liu in the factory office."

"Okay, I understand." Zhou Fengnian took it and looked at it carefully. There were no other major problems except that there was a lack of accommodation. A small factory with several hundred people should not have dormitories for its employees, but their factory had Zhong Xingling and his gang.

It is very difficult for them to go home. If they go back, they might be arrested and their families would be implicated, so it is better for them to stay in the factory.

Building a few rooms and connecting them to water and electricity was an easy task for the construction team.

"Xiao Pan."

After calling Pan Heng in, Zhou Fengnian handed him the construction approval and said, "Give this to Director Liu and ask him to start work as soon as possible. By the way, you also keep an eye on it and tell me if you have any questions."

"Yes, I understand, leader."

After hearing this, Pan Heng took the documents and went out.

Zhou Fengnian felt it was quite convenient to have such an assistant. Ninety percent of the chores could be handed over to Pan Heng, and he did a good job.

Otherwise, Zhou Fengnian would have to waste a lot of time on things that have nothing to do with research and development.

------

It was a rare two months of stability, and in early April, a major event worth celebrating happened across the country.

The big satellite that we talked about before has now really been launched into space.

Zhou Fengnian was a little surprised when he heard the news from the radio. It was a year earlier than he remembered.

However, thinking of the various computing equipment needed for this project, the project team that Zhou Fengnian had previously worked for also sent a large computer to that place.

With more computers, the research and development progress will naturally be much faster. When there were fewer computers before, everyone was scrambling to use them, but now they are much more abundant.

Zhou Fengnian also celebrated with his family that day. At that time, the entire city was celebrating that the country had its own big satellite.

When returning home, Zhou Fengnian also bought Zhou Yan a pair of stockings. They were so expensive that Zhou Yan felt distressed and complained that he was spending money recklessly.

However, at night, the children rushed to the front yard, and the couple's bed shook for a long time.

Zhou Fengnian has also made considerable progress. The integrated circuit workshop has produced a projection lithography machine, which is the second one in the world.

In addition, a lot of professional instruments and equipment were delivered. Zhou Fengnian was wondering at the time when the efficiency of the ministry became so fast.

The workshop became a little crowded, so we had to carefully store some instruments and equipment and make other arrangements after moving to the new factory.

Zhou Fengnian also made some phone calls and inquired everywhere, and finally found out that these were all sent by the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building.

The Electronic Computer Factory was a joint venture between the two ministries, so the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building also had to send a deputy director.

Originally, for a small factory with several hundred people, one deputy factory director was enough, but now there are two deputy factory directors.

After listening to this, Zhou Fengnian thought about it and felt that it was a good thing.

The Fourth Ministry of Machine Building manages all factories in the electronic industry. With their support, the electronic computer factory will have two powerful backstage supporters in the future.

Zhou Fengnian made some inquiries and finally learned from Deputy Leader Li that the people in the Computer Research Institute were becoming more and more noisy and now they could not even complete the tasks assigned to them.

Although it would not cause a major disturbance like the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building, it would still bring shame to the department in charge.

So when he heard that Zhou Fengnian was planning to set up a computer factory similar to the Computer Research Institute, he asked for half of the quota, making it a joint factory between the two departments.

After Zhou Fengnian has achieved results, the tasks assigned by ministries and commissions may be gradually handed over to them.

It's like starting a new business! It's a new business supported by the ministries.

"Fengnian, please come to the ministry."

One day, Zhou Fengnian was busy in the office when he suddenly received a call from Deputy Leader Li.

He didn't explain what was going on on the phone at all. After telling him to go to the ministry, he hung up.

Zhou Fengnian had no choice but to ask Pan Heng to arrange a car to take him to the ministry.

When Zhou Fengnian arrived at the First Ministry of Machine Building, he had just reached the door of Deputy Leader Li's office when he was taken to another room by Secretary Liu.

In addition to Deputy Leader Li, there was also Deputy Leader Bai from the Foreign Trade Department, and another person holding paper and pen, who should be responsible for taking notes.

"Hello, Fengnian. Please sit down. I have something to consult you about."

Deputy Leader Li greeted Zhou Fengnian, and after he sat down, he introduced him, "Deputy Leader Bai from the Foreign Trade Department, you met him last time, the one who spoke up for you, you have to thank Deputy Leader Bai."

"Don't be so polite. My daughter and nephew have a good relationship with Commissioner Zhou. A few words are nothing. And those are all true. Commissioner Zhou's contributions are real."

Deputy Leader Bai said with a smile that it was the first time he talked about the relationship between Zhou Fengnian and their family in front of outsiders.

Before, when our relationship became cold after we had a fight, I pretended that I didn’t know each other well, but now there’s no need to do that.

However, this was the second time he and Zhou Fengnian met, so he addressed Zhou Fengnian in a more official manner, directly addressing him by his highest academic title.

"It was my idea to call Commissioner Zhou here this time because the Ministry of Foreign Trade received several trade applications from France, West Germany, and the Russians in the north. They planned to purchase five-axis machine tools."

After hearing what Deputy Leader Bai said, Zhou Fengnian was stunned for a moment, then asked, "How did they know? Isn't this kept secret?"

Deputy Leader Li said, "It was indeed kept secret at the beginning, but it's not realistic to keep it completely secret if they want to find out. After all, it's been five years."

There are different levels of confidentiality. For someone like Miss Qiu, even her name will not be leaked before the explosion.

But five-axis machine tools are different. They have been in production for more than five years and are used in many factories across the country.

The confidentiality at this time only meant preventing the machine tool parts and drawings from leaking out. It was a bit difficult to keep even the name completely confidential.

Zhou Fengnian pondered for a while and asked, "So, then, leader, why did you call me here?"

"I want to ask for your opinion."

Zhou Fengnian said without thinking: "I definitely don't agree. This is already the most advanced machine tool in our country. It is first-class in the world. Who would export this?"

"Eh? Didn't you want to export the machine tools?"

Deputy Leader Li immediately asked, "This is your suggestion to me."

"Leader, I support exporting under the premise of maintaining technological leadership. We will always have more advanced machine tools, so we will sell slightly inferior machine tools to them. This way we can make money and maintain technological leadership."

Zhou Fengnian shook his head after saying this and continued, “But five-axis machine tools are different. If they learn how to use them, it will be our loss.

Besides, how dare France and West Germany ask for it? They have hundreds of banned items for sale to us, and they are more strict with us than with the Russians."

Their coordinating committee has four embargo lists, of which China has one alone, which is the most stringent.

"My opinion is to ignore the first two. The Russians can be relaxed appropriately. After all, they can exchange the necessary technologies with us."

Zhou Fengnian vaguely remembered that the Russians paid less and less attention to the development of heavy industry as time went on. Even if they bought the machine tools back, they would not think of imitating them for production.

Although relations with the Russians are strained and they do often do beastly things, the future of this behemoth is already doomed and it does not pose much of a threat.

Try to shave as much flesh as you can.

Zhou Fengnian added: "However, the specific decision is still up to you leaders. My opinion is just for reference."

Deputy Leader Bai nodded and said, “You are the inventor of the five-axis machine tool, so your opinion is certainly important.

Trade with other countries is not something that can be decided on a whim; it must be decided after consulting with multiple parties.”

(End of this chapter)