The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 117 'Am I in a hurry?' [Please subscribe]

Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory, Technical Department.

“Deputy Section Chief Chen, we’ve already calculated it twice. According to the structural design you provided, these components should be used.”

Zhao Jiabao, holding the blueprints for the threshing machine, went to Chen Li's desk to report, then added with admiration for Zhou Zhiqiang, "..."

"The section chief probably already had it all planned out. Many of the parts needed are ones that have been used in small tractors and seeders. These three small agricultural machines have a lot of common parts."

If the leaders allow it, we can produce one next month, and then we can see how it performs.

"Next month won't work, because next month will be close to the Lunar New Year."

After thinking about the date, Chen Li shook her head and said, "Go back and prepare, write a report for me, and make sure it's produced within half a month."

I'll go see the supervisor later and try to finalize the experimental manufacturing plan today so we can produce the thresher before the end of the year.

Chen Li was also a decisive person. After receiving the lathe and pliers technical training manual from Zhou Zhiqiang, she returned to the technical department to organize and print it.

Five hundred copies were printed in the name of the factory and distributed to all lathe operators, fitters, and apprentices. The factory was also notified that literacy classes should be offered.

Most of the apprentices in the factory are literate, but some have not attended literacy classes.

After these people have learned basic skills, a lathe and fitter technology training manual will be distributed, along with an in-house technical training team.

The assessment next March will definitely produce a batch of first and second-level formal employees, and there may even be quite a few third-level employees as well.

Chen Li didn't forget the well-digger after she finished drinking the water; when she printed the Lathe and Mold Technical Manual, she noted at the back of the booklet that the author was Zhou Zhiqiang.

Moreover, Zhou Zhiqiang was the main contributor to the threshing machine, and Chen Li had no intention of taking credit for it.

After Zhao Jiabao submitted his report on manufacturing the threshing machine, Chen Li read it and then took the report to Deputy Factory Director Liu's office.

When experimenting with new equipment, they always have to inform their direct supervisor and get their approval before production can continue; otherwise, they can't even use a single screw.

dong dong!

Upon arriving at Deputy Factory Director Liu's office, Chen Li knocked directly on the door.

"Please come in."

Hearing the voices inside, Chen Li pushed open the door and went in. She went to the desk and reported, "Deputy Factory Director Liu, this is the next step of the technical department. We hope the factory can approve our trial production of a small threshing machine."

These are the design drawings that Section Chief Zhou gave to the technical department a few days ago. Now, after calculations and improvements, we can ensure that they can be manufactured smoothly.

This small threshing machine can thresh 1,000 to 2,000 kilograms of grain per hour.

After receiving the production report from Chen Li, Deputy Factory Director Liu listened to it and began to read it.

After hearing Zhou Zhiqiang's name, he already felt that the matter was reliable, but he still read it carefully.

After Chen Li finished her report, Deputy Factory Director Liu asked, "Deputy Section Chief Chen, what did Section Chief Zhou say about this matter?"

Chen Li said, "Section Chief Zhou said that small threshers may be popular abroad, and it should be a small agricultural machinery product that can generate foreign exchange."

“Earning foreign exchange?”

"Yes, I went to see Section Chief Zhou on Sunday."

Chen Li nodded and said, "Section Chief Zhou said that there are many kinds of small agricultural machinery, but threshers should be more popular and easier to earn foreign exchange than seeders."

The seeder is best suited for domestic adoption first, since it was specifically developed by Section Chief Zhou based on China's farming practices.

However, this is a way to make quick money. If it can be sold overseas, then people can enjoy it for the next ten years and have a good life every year.

However, once agricultural machinery is upgraded, this will gradually be phased out; but according to Zhou Zhiqiang's estimate, if it is developed and produced now, it can earn money for at least fifteen years in the future.

But this is enough for an agricultural machinery equipment factory, especially since it can be used domestically for a longer period of time, even into the 1990s.

As for the small seeders, they were manufactured, but the factory's production capacity had to meet the foreign exchange earnings targets for the small tractors.

Currently, apart from the few small seeders that are being tested and manufactured, none of the others have been produced.

Chen Li understood that there were priorities, but she felt uneasy that the hard work of Section Chief Zhou and the technical department was just sitting in the warehouse.

“Zhiqiang has indeed seen a lot about foreign exchange earnings. Now, whenever foreign exchange earnings are mentioned, all kinds of green lights are given and all needs are prioritized.”

Deputy Factory Director Liu said with some emotion, "Our country is so short of foreign exchange. We must seize this opportunity."
The Party Secretary has also heard some news. Never mind, Deputy Section Chief Chen, I'll report this to the factory director. Go back and wait for my reply; I'll give you an answer today.

Liu Fuhua suddenly realized that the person in front of him was Chen Li, not Zhou Zhiqiang, which made him immediately stop his idle chatter.

If it's Zhou Zhiqiang, then Liu Fuhua can really say whatever he wants, even about things like foreign trade.

Thinking about it this way, Liu Fuhua now misses Zhou Zhiqiang very much. It's a pity that Zhou Zhiqiang was seconded to a higher-level department, and he probably has a bright future ahead of him now.

He was Zhou Zhiqiang's introducer, and they were very close; but with Chen Li, let's stick to official business.

"By the way, Deputy Section Chief Chen, there's something I need to discuss with your technical department."

Just as Chen Li was about to leave Liu Fuhua's office, Liu Fuhua suddenly called her back.

"The higher-ups are aware that this new agricultural machinery, the small seeder, is 'gathering dust' in our factory, so they want us to take it out and supply it to other factories for production."

Liu Fuhua paused for a moment, then continued, "However, the Party Secretary and the factory director are not very willing."

Logically, the superior unit could directly issue an order, and then, under the pretext of prioritizing the overall situation, instruct Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory to produce small seeders.

But even so, we must also consider the feelings of Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory.

The factory develops its own products, intending to benefit the factory's profits. But if they take them away for the sake of the bigger picture, the factory will definitely be upset.

Therefore, the higher-level unit only sent a signal and then did ideological work with Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory.

Upon hearing this, Chen Li didn't think much of it, but simply asked, "Deputy Factory Director Liu, is there anything the technical department can do?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Fuhua chuckled. If it were Zhou Zhiqiang, he would definitely understand what he meant.

Liu Fuhua pointed to the documents on the table and said, "The technical department doesn't need to do anything. Now that we have a small threshing machine, the Party Secretary and the factory director will most likely agree. You just need to prepare in advance."

With another product that can generate foreign exchange, Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory no longer needs to hold onto the small seeder.

After all, it's acceptable to hold onto two, but if you hold onto too many and don't produce anything, that would be a real waste of resources.

Moreover, compared to small threshers that can generate foreign exchange, agricultural machinery equipment like seeders, which are suitable for the domestic market, should be left to other manufacturers.

For non-defense and military factories, earning foreign exchange is the greatest honor, taking precedence over meeting domestic demand. After Chen Li left, Liu Fuhua took the report requesting the trial production of a small threshing machine to the factory director's office.

After knocking and entering, Liu Fuhua sat opposite Zhao Guangzheng's desk and recounted what Chen Li had just told him.

He then continued, "Factory manager, we now have both small tractors and threshing machines, so we won't have to worry about production for the next five years or even longer."

Even if we expand later, it'll be the same. Besides, the higher-ups didn't say that we can't produce them ourselves just because we sent out the blueprints for the seeder, right?

Factory Director Zhao nodded and said, "You're right. Then I'll write back to Director Qi of the Planning Department today."

After saying that, Director Zhao picked up the phone and called the Planning Department of the First Ministry of Machine Building.

After the call was connected, Zhao Guangzheng quickly explained their factory's decision: they would compile and organize the manufacturing drawings and relevant experience for the small seeder as soon as possible and then submit them.

They also solemnly stated that this was a voluntary act by their factory, and that everything was done to satisfy the overall situation.

"Hehe, good, Director Zhao, you have a good understanding. When planning production, you should take other aspects into account."

If everyone only focuses on their own little corner of the coin, then the work of the ministries will be too difficult.

Director Qi of the Planning Department said with a smile on the phone, and then revealed a piece of information to Zhao Guangzheng: "Some time ago, Deputy Leader Wu asked us for our opinion, which I had not thought about before."

But now I can reply to Deputy Leader Wu that I support this matter.

"Boss, what is this suggestion about? Is it for our factory? Is there some production task coming up again?"

The person on the other end of the phone said, "Don't worry, Director Zhao, just wait for news. It'll probably be today or tomorrow. Deputy Leader Wu will talk to you then."

After saying that, Director Qi hung up the phone.

Factory Director Zhao immediately clicked his tongue and said, "These leaders speak in such a cryptic way that it's impossible to understand them. Comrade Fuhua, was I just being impatient?"

Liu Fuhua truthfully said, "You're so anxious you could practically crawl through the phone. This isn't just urgent, it's extremely urgent."

Factory Director Zhao shifted the blame, saying, "You can't blame me. Deputy Leader Wu asked about our factory, so naturally I had to find out the details. But Director Qi just wouldn't say anything."
"Forget about this for now, let's wait for instructions from higher up; Comrade Fuhua, have the technical department prepare the blueprints for the small seeder and send them to the Planning Department of the First Ministry of Machine Building."

Then Director Zhao remembered something and added, "By the way, ask the Planning Department if they need any finished seeders. I remember we have two in our warehouse. If they need them, we can send one over later."

I've also agreed to the trial production of the thresher. Let the technical department ask the workshop director for personnel; I'll have the factory office issue a notice later.

"Okay, I'll talk to the technical department about this later."

After saying this, Liu Fuhua did not move, but continued to ask, "Factory Director, if the trial production is successful and the threshing machine performs well in practice..."
"So, what should our factory do about Comrade Zhou Zhiqiang, who is a key R&D personnel?"

Upon hearing this, Director Zhao stroked his chin and pondered: "Now that you mention it, it's true. Although Section Chief Zhou hasn't been at the factory lately, he's still managed to achieve success one after another."

The training manual for lathe and milling technology, as well as the R&D drawings for a small threshing machine.

As for whether the threshing machine was effective, neither Director Zhao nor Liu Fuhua doubted it. This trust was built up by Zhou Zhiqiang's repeated surprises.

'As long as it's developed by Zhou Zhiqiang, there's definitely no problem.'

This idea was almost a theorem in the minds of Zhao Guangzheng and Liu Fuhua, and that if the matter was handed over to Zhou Zhiqiang, there would be almost no problem.

Liu Fuhua nodded and said, "Yes, especially since Comrade Zhiqiang used his own rest time to help the factory complete additional research and development and training tasks."

Zhao Guangzheng was even more troubled after hearing this. What kind of praise and reward could the factory give him?

"The outstanding individual at the end of the year?"

"He was already an outstanding individual last year, so let's add icing on the cake this year."

"The factory still has some surplus coupons; we'll use them as rewards later."

Upon hearing this, Liu Fuhua shook his head and said, "To be honest, Comrade Zhiqiang's family has two working parents and a professor father-in-law, so we don't need to worry about material things."

Upon hearing this, Director Zhao threw his pen on the table and said in a somewhat shameless manner, "Then what do you suggest, Comrade Fuhua? You can't raise a problem without solving it."

"So, this problem is yours. You write the note, I'll sign it, and we'll send it to Secretary Yan together."

Liu Fuhua immediately said, "Factory director, aren't you being unreasonable?"

"What kind of shamelessness is this? This is a reasonable division of labor arranged by the factory manager, so it's settled."

After Director Zhao finished speaking, he began to urge people to leave, saying, "Alright, alright, Comrade Fuhua, I'm busy here. If there's nothing else to report, you can go back and get back to work."

"Hey"

Seeing that Zhao Guangzheng was pretending to be deaf after saying those words, Liu Fuhua had no choice but to leave helplessly.

However, after returning to his office, Liu Fuhua pondered that the factory didn't seem to have much of a reward left for Zhou Zhiqiang.

He'd already earned a good reputation, but a promotion was unlikely. The next step up from the head of the technical department was his position as deputy factory director, and he couldn't very well be asked to give way to Zhou Zhiqiang.
As for material rewards, giving too much would not match the level of enthusiasm, while giving too little would seem a bit stingy.

It's not appropriate to give them nothing at all. Although we say that labor is the most glorious and dedication is paramount, we should reward those who dedicate their labor. Otherwise, it would seem like capital is exploiting workers.

"Forget it, never mind. Let's report this to the Party Secretary and give him a headache."

Liu Fuhua wrote "Advanced Individual" and "Model Worker" on the paper and considered it done.

It's not common to receive two honors at the same time; let the secretary worry about the rest.

------

in the afternoon.

Chen Li and Zhao Jiabao, each carrying a backpack, arrived at the gate of the Ministry of Machine Building.

They wanted to go in, but the gatekeeper hadn't received any notification from above that someone was coming to the Planning Department today, so he didn't let Chen Li and the other person in.

Tell them to contact their superiors; otherwise, without orders, even if they can register work and personal information, they can't just go in.

Just as Chen Li was about to go back and ask the factory manager about the situation, she suddenly heard someone calling her from behind.

"Deputy Section Chief Chen, Jiabao?"

The two looked back and saw Zhou Zhiqiang, who had stopped his bicycle, and another person beside him.

"What brings you to the ministry? Is there something you need?"

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(End of this chapter)