The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 108 The Police Station's Admonition Main Research Direction [Please Subscribe]

"Professor Fei, how are you?"

Upon arriving at the hospital, Zhou Zhiqiang discovered that Professor Fei was not alone in the ward; there was also a middle-aged woman and two men and women who were slightly older than him, as well as Chen Li.

It should be Professor Fei's wife and children.

"Zhiqiang, I'm fine, just a slight fracture in my leg from being run over by the bicycle. I have to thank you for that."

Fei Yunzhi said in a strong voice, and then introduced the people in the ward: "Hongmei, this is my colleague who saved me, Zhou Zhiqiang;

"Zhiqiang, this is my wife, Liu Hongmei. These are my son, Fei Zhengze, and daughter, Fei Qingqing. They came to see me after hearing I was hospitalized. I told them I'm fine, so you should all go back to work quickly and not be away from your posts for too long."

"Dad, we took leave to come here. We don't have anything to do today."

After explaining, Fei Qingqing came to Zhou Zhiqiang and said gratefully, "Comrade Zhou, thank you so much. If you hadn't taken down those people, my dad would have been in danger."

Fei Zhengze also stepped forward to express his gratitude. His father was quite old and had suffered a fracture after being bumped and falling.

If no one had intervened in those robbery, who knows how many more people would have been injured.

Zhou Zhiqiang waved his hand and said, "Of course, I was a little distracted at the time, otherwise I should have been able to react and subdue those people first."

Fei Yunzhi, lying on the hospital bed, interrupted, saying, "Don't say that, Zhiqiang. Who could have predicted that a few robbers would suddenly appear from the alley? Without you, the data would have been in danger."

If the data had been lost, I would have been a terrible sinner. You've helped me make amends for my mistake.

Fei Yunzhi paused for a moment, then continued, "Now I not only owe you two servings of fried liver, but I also have to thank you properly after I'm discharged from the hospital."

Zhou Zhiqiang quickly waved his hand, casually placed the pastries on the cabinet near the hospital bed, and then talked to Fei Yunzhi about the follow-up matters.

The data has been sent back, and data stored elsewhere is being transferred to the main research project team in batches. The next period of time will be spent organizing and summarizing the data.

It's a tedious and busy task, so there's no need to immediately get into the research and development work. Besides, they haven't even determined the technical route yet.

By the time the results are confirmed, Fei Yunzhi might already be discharged from the hospital, and he will definitely be able to participate in the research.

Zhou Zhiqiang chatted with Fei Yunzhi in the ward for a while, then prepared to get up and say goodbye, telling Professor Fei to get some rest.

He also wanted to go back and review all the information about hydraulic presses, and then start to deduce the best-performing large hydraulic press that they could currently manufacture.

Zhou Zhiqiang's current level of understanding of hydraulic presses is that he knows some technical processes, knows the technical routes, and understands industrial applications.

However, he is not sure which specific manufacturing processes need to be improved or broken through, and he dares not make any rash statements.

Only after understanding all the current information about hydraulic presses and deducing the most suitable process improvement route can Zhou Zhiqiang be confident.

Otherwise, one mistake could waste months or even a year, and also waste a lot of resources.

Given the current state of the country, it's best to avoid making mistakes if possible; otherwise, there will be no way to resolve the serious losses.

"Professor Fei, I'll be going now."

After waiting for a while, Zhou Zhiqiang felt that it was about time, so he got up and said, "You should rest well. I'll come to see you again in a few days."

Fei Yunzhi waved his hand from his hospital bed and said, "No need to waste your time here. The project is important. I'll be discharged in a few days."

Zhou Zhiqiang chuckled, then said goodbye to the others and left the ward to return to his project team.

However, not long after Zhou Zhiqiang left the ward, he heard someone calling him from behind.

When he turned around, he saw that it was Chen Li who had called him.

When Chen Li came up to him, Zhou Zhiqiang asked, "Deputy Section Chief Chen, is there anything I can help you with?"

"It's nothing serious. I've finished visiting the teacher and was just about to leave, so I thought I'd go with you, Section Chief Zhou, and we can talk about things at the factory."

After taking a deep breath to calm down, Chen Li said in a calm tone, "Section Chief Zhou, I have already spoken with those people you mentioned, and all three of them are willing to join the technical training group."

The factory also publicized this issue over the loudspeaker, but Mr. Zhao from Workshop Six felt that working overtime every day would be too tiring and would affect daytime production targets.

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "There's no need to work overtime every day. The three jobs are different, and the apprentices they train are also different."

"We can take turns, and I'll be going this month too, so each person will have a maximum of seven days of training."

"Okay, I'll go back and tell them."

After Chen Li finished speaking, she was silent for a few seconds before asking again, "Section Chief Zhou, will you come back to the factory in the future?"

Only the Party Secretary and the Factory Director knew that he had joined the project team.

Secretary Yan was handling the secondment procedures, while Director Zhao needed to know because of the factory's production needs.

The others knew only bits and pieces. Liu Fuhua, the deputy factory director, knew some things, but Zhou Zhiqiang didn't tell him much, since the main research project team also needed to keep things confidential.

"Of course I will. I'm still with Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory, but I need to take care of things on the other side. Once I'm done, I'll go back."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "I'm leaving the technical section in your care while I'm away, Deputy Section Chief Chen."

There shouldn't be any new R&D work for the next year or so; just focus on producing small tractors. Maybe next year we'll even be producing seeders.

As Zhou Zhiqiang walked, he explained the tasks for the technical department for the next year or two. It could be said that Zhou Zhiqiang had completed all the research and development work for the next three years. The next step was to focus on production.

By the time the two of them slowly walked to the hospital entrance, Zhou Zhiqiang had finished explaining what he needed to say.

"Okay, that's settled then. Deputy Section Chief Chen, if you need anything, just contact me and ask Secretary Yan. He knows where I am."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "If there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

"Ah."

Chen Li nodded, took a deep breath, and said, "Section Chief, be careful on the road. There are plenty of street thugs in Beijing."

"Do not worry."

Zhou Zhiqiang laughed and said, "Don't let my tall and thin appearance fool you. If a few people don't have weapons, they can't do anything to me."

Yesterday's fight with those thugs showed Zhou Zhiqiang his strength.

After receiving the simulation reward, his physical abilities improved significantly. His base stats were too high, making him strong and thick-skinned. He wouldn't feel pain when others hit him, but he could knock others unconscious with a single punch.

Moreover, he was full of energy. Zhou Zhiqiang used to draw blueprints after returning home, staying up until late at night almost every day, but he didn't feel tired at all.

Chen Li reminded her again, "You still need to be careful; those who aren't carrying weapons are a minority."

"Okay, I understand."

Zhou Zhiqiang paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Deputy Section Chief Chen, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now. Be careful on your way back."

After saying goodbye, Zhou Zhiqiang got on his bicycle and headed towards the ministry; he still had tasks to complete and couldn't afford to take leave all the time. "Hello, Technical Department of the First Ministry of Machine Building."

The phone rang, and Director Cai put down the document he was reading, picked up the phone, and announced his identity.

"Director Liu, what's the matter?"

Director Liu on the other end of the phone said, "Director Cai, I need to inform you about the robbery that happened to your people yesterday."

There were five of them, street thugs from Chaoyang South Alley. They were looking for a new place to make their fortune, and they just happened to run into your people.

"But Director Cai, are you sure the person robbed was a researcher? Of the five thugs who committed the robbery, three died on the spot, and the remaining two are still in the hospital."

If it's delivered late, those two won't be angry anymore.

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Director Cai was immediately surprised and quickly asked, "Three people died. Three of the five people who robbed yesterday died?"
"Director Liu, you're not kidding me, are you? Professor Fei from Tsinghua University here was hospitalized with a fracture after being hit by those five people."

Director Liu said, "Director Cai, how could I joke with you about human lives? But your researchers are fine too. They committed robbery first, and what they stole was important national data."

Even if they survive, they won't escape target practice. Next, we'll need to launch a crackdown on crime to reduce their harm to society. But your researcher is quite capable; tell him to be more careful when he fights with others in the future.

After their investigation, they basically pieced together everything. The five street thugs thought Zhou Zhiqiang and Fei Yunzhi were rich, and then, in a moment of impulsiveness, they immediately took action.

As a result, two of the three men who tried to rob Zhou Zhiqiang were killed on the spot, and one of the two men who tried to rob Fei Yunzhi was also killed by Zhou Zhiqiang.

Furthermore, Zhou Zhiqiang and his team also investigated and found that the head of the technical department of Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory was a graduate of an industrial university, with solid achievements and a good reputation.

Not only have I never seen him fight, but I've never even heard of Zhou Zhiqiang fighting with anyone before. This time, he must have acted impulsively and hastily, which is why he caused three deaths and two serious injuries.

Director Liu didn't seem inclined to pursue the matter. Why would he bother investigating street thugs for the sake of two robbers? Only someone with a screw loose would do that.

He just asked Director Cai to casually remind him that if he gets into a conflict with someone in the future, he should never rush to take action, otherwise it could result in more deaths.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for your help, Director Liu."

After hanging up the phone, Director Cai wanted to continue reading the documents, but he kept thinking about what Director Liu had said.

Normally, Zhou Zhiqiang seems like a very amiable person, always smiling at everyone. I never expected him to be so fierce when he gets into a fight.

After a while, Director Cai put down the documents and got up to walk towards Deputy Leader Wu's office.

Although the police station isn't pursuing the matter, it's now closed, and I still need to inform my superiors.

------

"No, we can't replicate the technology our elder brother uses here; they can forge entire pieces because they have large hydraulic presses, but we lack those."

"Let alone forging large hydraulic presses as a whole, we can't even forge these medium and small hydraulic presses as a whole."

After Zhuang Guodong sighed, he looked up at the other person and said, "Engineer Lin, if you ask me, we can't 'copy' the older brother's work. We lack the conditions to implement it, so we can't learn from them."

Engineer Lin took a deep breath and said, "There are only a few countries that have large hydraulic presses, either America or Big Brother. If neither of these two countries will give us any, then Big Brother still has some hope. We can continue to try."

Small and medium-sized hydraulic presses are the only template we can refer to. If we were to research it ourselves... how many days would it take? How many materials? How much manpower?

At that time, only two or three countries possessed large hydraulic presses: the US and Russia.

There seems to be another country in the same camp, but that can also be considered part of the Russian camp.

We've discussed this issue several times in the past two days, but everyone has their own reasons, and no one has convinced anyone else.

As for Team Leader Shen, he wasn't sure either.

"Mr. Lin, since we can't copy the older brother's homework, we'll have to do it ourselves."

Zhou Zhiqiang also looked up and said, "The reason we can't take the first step right now is simply because of the supporting structure of the columns. Once that's solved, we can move the project forward. Engineer Lin, Engineer Zhuang, Team Leader Shen, how about we try segmented welding?"

How do you weld it?

"Let me think about it. I need to study it further."

Zhou Zhiqiang didn't say immediately. He roughly knew how to solve it, but the specific technology would have to wait.

Team Leader Shen then spoke up: "We need to recommend the next two directions. Engineer Lin, you and your team continue to try to replicate the forging process from other aspects."

Comrade Zhiqiang, let's explore segmented welding. I don't think our Big Brother side will provide much support; they're supporting us while also being wary of us.

Although they are in the same camp, they are willing to acknowledge the Russians as their elder brother.

But the Russians weren't willing; what they wanted were obedient satellite states, and even ultimately, states that would be incorporated into them.
Moreover, replicating a solid forging is too difficult, and Shen Changlin felt the hope was slim. In comparison, segmented welding offered some hope. Once the welding problem was solved, it could be erected.

As for structural and pressure safety issues, those are problems to be addressed after the structure is erected.

"understood."

"Okay, I'll keep running tomorrow."

After Zhou Zhiqiang and engineer Lin Tian agreed, the room fell silent again.

After a while, Zhou Zhiqiang glanced at his watch, then got up and went to Shen Changlin's side, asking in a low voice, "Team Leader Shen, may I take some documents home to look at?"

Shen Changlin asked, "Comrade Zhiqiang, is there anything I can help you with?"

Zhou Zhiqiang explained, "My wife is pregnant, nine months along now, and she's all alone at home, so I'm a little worried about her."

However, I won't delay the task. I'll continue to summarize and organize when I get back, and I'll definitely make sure the task is completed by tomorrow morning. I just wish someone at home could be there to keep an eye on things.

It's past eight o'clock now, and Mao Pingping should go home too, since she only spends time with people during the day.

"Nine months is indeed something to be careful about. It was my oversight, Comrade Zhiqiang."

Upon hearing this, Shen Changlin continued, "Then go back and organize it. You can leave at six o'clock from now on, as long as it doesn't delay the progress the next day."

We cannot put family members in danger because of the project. The pregnant woman is nine months along and is close to giving birth. She cannot be left unattended.

"Thank you, Team Leader Shen."

"By the way, have the driver take you home. Don't ride your bicycle by yourself. If something like last time happens again, it will be terrible."

Shen Changlin instructed, "You and the data are of utmost importance; you must not have any problems with either of them."

"Okay, I'll go find the driver in a bit."

Zhou Zhiqiang readily agreed, and Director Cai assigned an assistant and driver to the project team to be ready to meet their needs at any time.

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(End of this chapter)