Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 416 The Minor Oppression of Power
I originally wanted to go to the research institute to check on the progress, but he didn't make an appointment in advance, and it's almost three o'clock now.

Zhou Fengnian then had his driver take him to his nephew Tai's private biological clinic to check on the progress of the diabetes drug.

I was a bit annoyed by those shameless foreigners, otherwise I wouldn't have argued with them.

The research progress here is within Zhou Fengnian's expectations. He has already paved the way and provided the most suitable chemical composition optimization. If we proceed step by step, we can enter the next stage of clinical trials.

Once the company becomes profitable, Zhou Fengnian will begin developing drugs for some intractable diseases, which will then be sold domestically at cost and sold overseas via bone marrow extraction.

Now that Zhou Fengnian has mastered human evolution, researching effective drugs for certain diseases is not a difficult task.

The difficulty lies in the lack of manpower to help him. There are too few graduate students these days, and graduate and doctoral students in related fields are like precious treasures.

Various organizations are vying for them; they're already booked before graduation. It's too difficult for Zhou Fengnian's private biopharmaceutical company to compete with other organizations for talent.

The system of guaranteed job assignment is still in place. People like Zhou Xianyang, who went to university for several years and then refused to accept the assignment, are a minority. You could say they are somewhat unconventional.

To recruit on a large scale, the only way would be for the state to abolish the job allocation system and let them fend for themselves; but that would be difficult, even though Zhou Fengnian remembered that the job allocation system had been abolished.

But with the domestic economy developing well now, he really wasn't sure when it would be abolished.

As things have developed to this point, many of the existing methods are no longer applicable. The Shenzhou Computer Factory and Computer Research Institute alone have absorbed almost all the graduates from various universities.

Moreover, after opening many domestic branch factories, Shenzhou Computer Factory also planned to expand overseas, resembling a behemoth, and its operations were very healthy.

At least Zhou Fengnian doesn't see any signs of decline at Shenzhou Computer Factory. Perhaps it will decline in more than ten years, but for now it is thriving.

After making his way around, Zhou Fengnian decided to go home. He left Jishi Biopharmaceutical Company to his nephew to keep an eye on, assuring him there wouldn't be any problems.

When Zhou Fengnian returned home today, he happened to catch Zhou Yan pulling Zhou Linlin by the ear, scolding her as she walked home.

Upon getting out of the car and seeing this scene, Zhou Fengnian couldn't help but step forward and ask, "Deputy District Chief Zhou, has Linlin gotten into trouble again?"

When Zhou Linlin saw her father return, she immediately cried out for help, "Dad, Mom hit me again for no reason. Please talk to her."

“He’s the deputy district head now, and I’m just a researcher. I can’t persuade her.”

Seeing his daughter break free from Zhou Yan's grasp and hide behind him, Zhou Fengnian couldn't help but ask, "Did you fail your exam again?"

“This time it’s not just a failure; your daughter got into a fight at school. Fengnian, you’re just spoiling her. Let’s see what she does in the future.”

After Zhou Yan finished speaking, she stared at Zhou Linlin and scolded, "Come in and stand here. Don't stand outside."

After saying that, he walked into the house, looking as if he was going to find a bamboo stick.

"I've never spoiled you."

Upon seeing this, Zhou Fengnian turned his head and asked, "What did you do at school? Did you bully your classmates? Why are you also learning to fight like your brother? Every time he finishes a fight, I make him copy books as punishment. Do you want to copy books too?"

In the past, when he had free time at home, he would occasionally practice martial arts, and his son would see this and pester him to learn from him.

Zhou Fengnian thought this could be considered a form of physical exercise, so he taught Zhou Xianyang countless lessons. However, he didn't expect that after learning the techniques, the boy would often resort to fists and feet to solve problems.

As a child, he fought his way through Nanluoguxiang, and as an adult, he fought his way through the school. He was punished a lot for this, but he also developed beautiful handwriting by copying books. It wasn't until he was about to graduate from university that he gradually stopped using his fists to solve problems.

Unexpectedly, after Zhou Xianyang stopped fighting, his youngest daughter started learning martial arts again. Zhou Yiyi and Zhou Linlin had both learned martial arts, but the two daughters hadn't studied as long as their son.

"No, I don't bully my classmates. They insulted me first, so I hit them."

Zhou Linlin said, feeling wronged, "They were being verbally abusive, and they were even laughing and jeering at us."

"I see. Next time something like this happens, call your brother and let him handle it. He's a professional."

After Zhou Fengnian finished speaking, he whispered, "Go to your grandfather's house now and bring your nephew over. Maybe then everything will be alright."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Linlin's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed, "Dad, you're so smart!"

After saying that, he turned around and ran towards the house where Zhou Fugui and his mother lived. They also lived in a two-courtyard house in Nanluoguxiang, which was only two hundred meters away from here. He could get there in just a few steps.

After Zhou Fengnian entered the house, he saw Zhou Yan waiting for her daughter in the yard with a bamboo pole. He couldn't help but say, "Why don't you just let it go? Our daughter was also bullied. She can't be bullied and then not fight back."

"Do you know that she broke someone's nose? If I hadn't paid a lot of money in compensation, the other party would have called the police."

Zhou Yan showed no mercy to Zhou Fengnian today, pushing him into the inner room and saying, "I have to teach her a lesson today. If you want to interfere, wait until after today."

Seeing his wife's firm attitude, Zhou Fengnian had no choice but to hide in the back room. He couldn't afford to argue with his wife and escalate the conflict.

Anyway, he came up with the idea. If his daughter were smart, she should have known to call her grandparents over, otherwise she would have gotten a beating today.

Back in the backyard, Zhou Fengnian hid in his study.

Before long, some shouts and reprimands came from the middle courtyard. Zhou Fengnian also heard his father's voice, but he did not go out and stayed in the room to read.

A short while later, after the commotion in the courthouse subsided somewhat, the phone in the study suddenly rang.

This is a telephone line they installed themselves; the previous secure line was cancelled.

Zhou Fengnian picked up the phone and said, "Hello, Zhou family, who are you looking for?"

"Dad? Why are you back so early?"

Zhou Xianyang's voice came from the other end of the phone: "It's good that you're back. I was just about to look for you. I'm helping my two cousins ​​at their factory right now. They were almost ready to start production, but something's been stalled by an auto parts alliance."

"Auto parts alliance?"

Zhou Fengnian initially thought the name sounded very familiar, but after thinking for a moment, he remembered that he had mentioned it once when he went to help FAW's car manufacturing plant.

Based on FAW's export volume, the annual production of heavy trucks and fuel-efficient cars is at full capacity, directly supporting more than 60% of the factories in the entire city.

The cars produced by FAW are now extremely fuel-efficient, and are not only exported in large quantities abroad, but also purchased by many places in China.

The combined output of a car factory and an entire auto parts alliance directly propelled the city's GDP to become the highest in Northeast China.

"Why are they blocking you? I remember it was a loose organization back then; anyone could join as long as they didn't engage in malicious competition."

Zhou Xianyang on the other end of the phone said, "Dad, that's outdated. Now it's under the jurisdiction of the Industry Bureau. Without their approval, you can't even sell it."

"Huh? What happened? Did the reform and opening up fail on their part? Shouldn't these things be led by FAW, with each auto parts factory and enterprise discussing them themselves?"

Zhou Fengnian immediately frowned and said, "I was the one who formulated the reform and opening-up policy in CC City, which gave the factory a lot of freedom. I didn't expect that they would go against the grain now."
Is it back to the planned economy system?
Zhou Xianyang said, "Who knows? Xianzhe and Xianrui's two factories happen to be in the suburbs of CC City. I was thinking of transporting the semi-finished products over and processing them directly into auto parts. That would be the most time-saving and labor-saving approach."

"But if we go through the proper channels, we won't even qualify. Dad, I think we'll have to go through some roundabout way to get in." Zhou Fengnian pondered for a moment before saying, "Here's what we'll do: you go directly to FAW and find Yang Tianbing. Solve your cousin's factory problem first, and I'll call and ask about the others."

If the Industrial Bureau really violated the regulations on enterprise reform and opening up, then he would have to use his connections to deal with a number of cadres.

His former boss, Li Hetong, has also been promoted to a full-fledged position in the Ministry of Machine Building. He might as well ask him.

It was probably something done by the lower-ups themselves, a little trick to generate revenue for the bureau. Zhou Fengnian didn't believe the CC government hadn't noticed; they probably tacitly approved it.

But this affects corporate development policies; if it causes some damage today, it can cause more damage tomorrow.

Now that Zhou Fengnian knew about it, he wouldn't allow it to happen.

"Okay, then I'll go find someone to sort out the sales channels for my cousin's factory. They suddenly left and handed this matter over to me, but I also have things to do on my end. I haven't been back to Feiyang Electric Factory for two months."

Zhou Xianyang complained to his father that he had done a lot for his two cousins.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Xianyang asked his driver to take him to the FAW car factory.

The influence of FAW is now basically equivalent to that of the Industrial Bureau; its scale is too large, with many export orders, making it arguably the number one automobile brand in China.

Apart from a few people in the leadership team, no one else could command Yang Tianbing, the factory director of FAW's automobile manufacturing plant. Even the director of the Industrial Bureau was practically on par with Yang Tianbing.

However, Yang Tianbing owes Zhou Fengnian a considerable favor. Without him, FAW would certainly not be as successful as it is now. If Zhou Xianyang mentions his name, he will definitely be treated as an honored guest.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Fengnian called Li Hetong and told him about the matter.

The First Ministry of Machine Building had the responsibility to guide industrial bureaus across the country, and if they acted recklessly, the First Ministry of Machine Building could issue orders to stop them.

After making the call, Zhou Fengnian explained what had happened. Li Hetong, on the other end of the line, said in a strong voice, "Is that so? I understand, Fengnian. I'll have someone investigate."

If anyone tries to satisfy their own desires and act recklessly, undermining enterprise reform policies, I will be the first to punish them.

Zhou Fengnian said, "Okay, then I'll leave this matter to you. I only found out by chance."

"Come visit me sometime, I'll take your pulse and see if you need any treatment."

"Haha, okay, I'll pay you a visit at the end of this month. But you're really something, kid. Your self-taught results are much better than any of the health doctors I know. They've examined me several times and still insist that I'm perfectly healthy!"

Li Hetong said with a smile that he and Zhou Fengnian had been friends for more than 20 years. When Zhou Fengnian was promoted to engineer and academician, it was all because he reported to his superiors.

Given their friendship, Li Tonghe had no idea that Zhou Fengnian would harm him; when he heard that Zhou Fengnian wanted to examine his health, he immediately offered his arm.

The effect is very good. Now, after taking two doses of the medicine every week, Li Hetong feels that his energy is quite good, and he can even eat two steamed buns at each meal.

Although he's almost seventy, he can still work for another four years before retiring.

The two were practically comrades-in-arms, so if Zhou Fengnian asked Li Tonghe to give his son some special treatment, Li Tonghe would definitely agree without hesitation.

Now that he was only asked to investigate matters within the First Ministry of Machine Building, Li Tonghe naturally agreed without hesitation.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Fengnian lost interest in continuing to read in his study, so he went to the central courtyard to take a look.

When they arrived at the Intermediate People's Court, they saw their daughter standing pitifully under the eaves as punishment. Although there was no sign of her being beaten, she looked like she had been scolded quite badly.

Zhou Fengnian wanted to say a few words of advice, but before he could speak, his wife shut him down. Zhou's father, who was standing nearby, probably felt the same way; he wanted to plead for his granddaughter, but his daughter-in-law refused.

However, when Zhou's father saw Zhou Fengnian come out of the backyard, he took out his pent-up anger on him and found an excuse to scold him a few times.

Zhou Fengnian didn't reply. He picked up his grandson Zhou Zeqian and planned to go out for a walk, and on the way, he would buy a roast duck that Zhou Linlin liked to eat, as a way of making up for the scolding she had received.

However, before leaving, Zhou Fengnian told the security personnel, and then one of them followed behind him.

This is also a regulation of the Security Bureau. Except at home and work, whenever Zhou Fengnian goes out, at least one person is with him. If he goes outside Beijing, the number of security personnel will be increased to two or even three.

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The Ministry of Machine Building was quite efficient; less than half a month after Zhou Fengnian made that phone call, all the rectification work had been completed.

Li Tonghe dealt with eight people, which shows he used some serious methods in this matter. The local government even came to plead for leniency, but he didn't give face to anyone.

This was mentioned by Li Hetong when he came to Zhou Fengnian's house. The atmosphere there was not good, but after this action, it should be better for a few years.

Recalling the unpleasant experiences of oppression by power in his memory, Zhou Fengnian suggested that Li Hetong go back and propose a policy to protect the healthy development of enterprises.

Moreover, inspections are conducted every few years, and a petition channel is established.

Otherwise, let alone the revitalization of private enterprises, it would be a miracle if they could even survive.

The factory owned by the Zhou brothers, Zhou Xianzhe and Zhou Xianrui, was considered to have some backing. If they didn't have backing, they would have been skinned alive, which would have been considered a sign of their compassion.

Zhou Fengnian's suggestion was serious, and Li Hetong listened attentively. They used to be superior and subordinate, and even the most offensive things were said in private, so they didn't hold back at all.

After the Ministry of Machinery Industry conducted an inspection, the so-called auto parts alliance in CC City immediately returned to normal.

However, Zhou Xianyang didn't need to wait that long. He went directly to Yang Tianbing, who was pleased to hear that it was Zhou Fengnian's son who had come in person, and that the factory was Zhou Fengnian's nephew's factory.

Needless to say, I agreed immediately.

Even if the quality is slightly substandard, Yang Tianbing probably wouldn't care. However, Zhou Xianyang's factory is for export, and he emphasizes quality when managing his two cousins' factories.

The high wages weren't meant to let them ruin the factory. The wages that Zhou Xianzhe and Zhou Xianrui paid to the workers were comparable to those of FAW (First Automobile Works) in the entire Northeast region.

If there are quality issues, they also have a legitimate reason to discipline their employees.

Zhou Xianyang returned after working in Northeast China for more than a month, as his own factory desperately needed someone to look after it.

In other words, there was nothing important, the factory was stable, and people could communicate by phone frequently.

Otherwise, with the factory manager gone for over two months, the factory would probably be in chaos.

However, after Zhou Xianyang returned, he did not completely ignore the family property of his two cousins. He did think of a suitable person, his uncle Zhou Hao.

He started out as a reseller and owns eight stores. If he were to partner with his two cousins ​​to handle the reselling, they would definitely be the most suitable candidates.

However, he had to wait for Zhou Xianzhe and Zhou Xianrui to return before making any decisions. He couldn't let his two cousins ​​make decisions on their own, especially since the decision would involve the distribution of profits.

(End of this chapter)