The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 133 Returning to the Factory for a Dinner, Changing Rank [Please Subscribe]

"Comrades, you've all worked hard during this period."

Director Cai said happily to the entire hydraulic press project team: "In just one and a half years, you have successfully developed a large hydraulic press."

Neither Vice Leader Wu nor I expected that you would not only promote the development of the country's heavy industry, but also save our country a large amount of resources.

If the original plan is followed, each project will need to undergo two more tests before final assembly.

It would take at least another 450,000 yuan in material expenses, but now all projects have undergone one test and are going directly to final assembly and inspection.

Moreover, it was a complete success without a single mistake, which can be described as a great achievement.

"Comrades, you have worked hard during this period, but there are still some finishing touches that require your cooperation."

However, this time it's not as busy as before, and there won't be any more overtime until midnight. To be honest, even the two assistants from our First Machine Tool Department who are running errands are a bit exhausted, haha.”

Director Cai's smile made everyone else laugh as well.

However, recalling the intensity of their previous work, many of them grimaced. If they had to do it again, at least a few of them would be so exhausted that they would have to go to the hospital.

"The technologies related to electroslag welding and electromechanical materials need to be summarized and organized, and a special talent training program needs to be launched. Comrade Zhiqiang, you need to pay more attention to this."

However, it's expected to take three or four days a week, and the location is also in Beijing. I'll let you know once I have a detailed plan. Also, Team Leader Shen, our team needs to be reorganized.”

Director Cai then went on to talk about many plans.

What Zhou Zhiqiang needs to do is compile the electroslag welding technology into a book and then carry out a special talent training program.

Furthermore, this technology should be integrated into a complete welding system and then promoted nationwide.

To be honest, this technology can be used in submarines, as well as airplanes and tanks.

Shen Changlin will continue to serve as the team leader for a period of time to complete tasks such as technology transfer and talent cultivation.

However, he was originally the dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering, so he was well-suited to do these things.

After Director Cai finished speaking, Zhou Zhiqiang raised his hand and asked, "Sir, if I'm coming to the ministry, then I'll stay at the factory."

Director Cai said, "Comrade Zhiqiang, don't worry about that. I will send an official letter to Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory, stating that you are cooperating with our work."

You only need to work three to four days a week; the rest of the time you can stay at the Dafa factory.

"I see."

With that, Zhou Zhiqiang had no objections and could simply follow the arrangements obediently.

The meeting covered a lot of things, all related to the follow-up arrangements for the large hydraulic press.

However, the earliest it will take place is next week, and we will call you to inform you then.

The meeting ended around noon. After having lunch at the ministry, Zhou Zhiqiang, seeing that there was nothing else to do, decided to return to Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory.

However, before he returned, Director Cai arranged for him to obtain a Level 6 Engineer certificate.

Register directly, and then issue the certificate.

After returning to the factory, Zhou Zhiqiang could directly report his new technology level to the factory, and from then on he would be a technical cadre in an administrative position, receiving the salary of a level six engineer.

creak.

The door to the technical department office opened, and someone instinctively looked up at the doorway.

Upon seeing who it was, he exclaimed with delight, "Section Chief? You're back!?"

"Who?"

"Section Chief?"

Ping Yanchang's shout roused everyone in the technical department. When they saw Zhou Zhiqiang standing at the door, they immediately stood up and went forward to ask, "Section Chief, when did you get back?"

"Section Chief, are you leaving again this time? The factory needs you so much."

Without Zhou Zhiqiang around, they always felt a little guilty in the technical department.

It wasn't that I felt guilty for making a mistake, but rather that I felt there was no one to fall back on; Zhou Zhiqiang was capable and technically skilled, and if any technical problems arose, as long as Zhou Zhiqiang was there, he could definitely solve them.

Without Zhou Zhiqiang, the remaining people were quite worried about encountering technical problems within the factory.

Although Zhou Zhiqiang is very young, in their eyes he is no different from a senior engineer or professor; they are all pillars of technology.

"I'm not leaving for now; all the projects are finished."

Zhou Zhiqiang smiled and said to everyone, "I've been away from the department for a while, and you've all worked so hard at the factory."

How about this, I'll cook a special meal at the cafeteria tonight, it's my treat for everyone.
Jiabao, go talk to the cafeteria manager and arrange three tables. Invite the maintenance crew to come along too. Tell Director Yu that any overpayment will be refunded, and any underpayment will be collected.

After saying that, Zhou Zhiqiang took out four ten-yuan bills and handed them to Zhao Jiabao, asking him to run a errand to the canteen.

"Okay, Section Chief, I'll go right away."

After receiving the money, Zhao Jiabao ran towards the cafeteria with a smile. When the others heard that they could have a good meal tonight, they cheered and praised Zhou Zhiqiang for his generosity.

Forty yuan is allocated for three tables, averaging thirteen yuan and thirty cents per table.

The cadres received a small perk at the factory, where they could eat special meals at cost price, even though they still had to pay for it themselves.

Of course, you can also keep it on your tab. If the amount is small, the finance department will eventually find a way to reimburse you.

However, Zhou Zhiqiang was unwilling to do that. He could accept a little bit of benefit, but he couldn't abandon his principles.

A meal costing thirteen yuan can be prepared with more than a dozen dishes.

Zhou Zhiqiang is not short of money now. He has been receiving a subsidy from the department for the past few months while on business trips. It costs him 1.5 yuan a day, and meals are also provided there.

That means the 1.5 yuan is pure profit.

Moreover, the factory also paid him a salary, which was almost an extra 45 yuan per month out of thin air.

Arranging a meal to reward his technicians was no burden for Zhou Zhiqiang at all.

Zhao Jiabao returned shortly after and told Zhou Zhiqiang that Director Yu of the canteen had made arrangements, and that they could go directly to the canteen's private room at six o'clock sharp, as the kitchen had not arranged anything for them today.

"Alright, comrades, let's get back to work. After get off work today, everyone go to the canteen. Now, let's continue working."

Zhou Zhiqiang then said to Chen Li, "Deputy Section Chief Chen, come to my office."

After Chen Li followed him into the office, Zhou Zhiqiang asked about recent events at the factory.

He hadn't been at the factory for over a year, and although he knew about some major events, he certainly didn't know the specifics as well as Chen Li.

"There's nothing much going on at the factory. The foreign trade orders are there, so we just need to put in our best effort to produce. But the labor union and the women's federation have taken care of two things."

A worker in Workshop 3 was caught having an affair in the warehouse. The factory initially planned to fire him, but the union, considering the potential impact, gave him a chance to reform and instead deducted one month's salary.

Zhou Zhiqiang asked with interest, "And then what happened?" There wasn't much gossip these days; he rarely heard of such things before.

Chen Li, also becoming interested, continued, "Later, the wife of the man who had the affair got upset and came to the factory to make a scene, even blocking the workshop gate."
The delay of an hour in production enraged Factory Manager Zhao, who fined the worker two months' wages, to be paid out over a year. This time, the labor union didn't object.

"Also, Deputy Factory Director An was transferred, and a new Deputy Factory Director Li has arrived, apparently transferred from another factory."

There wasn't much to report on regarding work, but I did report quite a bit about the gossip in the factory.

After listening, Zhou Zhiqiang chuckled and clicked his tongue, saying, "It's a bit of a pity I missed so many things while I wasn't at the factory."

Chen Li asked, "Section Chief, are you done with your work over there?"

"We've finished one phase of the project. There's still some finishing touches to be done, which involves compiling and organizing the technical processes, teaching them to others, and spreading them throughout the country."

Zhou Zhiqiang casually said, "Going there only three or four days a week isn't a big deal. I'll still be working at the factory in the future."

"By the way, our technical department should have a pretty light workload coming up, right?"

Chen Li nodded and said, "Yes, in the worker technical grade examination organized by the ministry in March, more than 80% of the apprentices were converted into formal workers, and more than half of them were at level two or above."
Our technical department's workload has been greatly reduced; now we just need to ensure the production process doesn't go wrong.

Foreign trade orders are the largest, and right now we are mainly focused on completing foreign trade production; everything else can be put on hold.

Whoever delays production is a sinner in the factory.

For example, the wife of a worker who caused trouble and blocked the workshop entrance was punished twice by her husband for delaying production by an hour, and she also received two disciplinary actions.

Three offenses and the person is dismissed immediately; even the labor union cannot speak up for such a person.

Although workers are the owners of the factory, the factory cannot allow you to make unlimited mistakes.

Back to production, the main production force in the factory now consists of all the workshops, while the technical department has become somewhat sidelined.

Just make sure the production process is error-free.

"This is what I'm thinking: our technical department can take advantage of the extra time to develop a new type of agricultural machinery."

Even if we can't produce it this year or next, it can still be kept as a product reserve.

Zhou Zhiqiang said to Chen Li, "When we manufacture one, we can take it to the Canton Fair."

"If we can secure foreign trade orders, then our factory will have another type of agricultural machinery that can generate foreign exchange."

After hearing this, Chen Li nodded and then asked, "Section Chief, what are your thoughts?"

"A combine harvester, that's the only one I can think of for now."

Zhou Zhiqiang began, “Our factory has always produced small agricultural machinery, which gives people a feeling of small and exquisite, but it is undeniable that large agricultural machinery is the mainstream of agricultural production.”

Even in our country, large agricultural machinery can play a very good role.

Of course, the main purpose is to generate foreign exchange. The combine harvester market is now almost monopolized by Aramco, but their harvesters do not have an absolute advantage in terms of technology.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been surpassed by Xiao Rixing more than a decade later, and wouldn't have taken a large share of the market.

Chen Li trusted Zhou Zhiqiang completely; at least in terms of research and development, she basically did whatever Zhou Zhiqiang said.

This time was no different. After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, Chen Li nodded in agreement. After hearing the reasons, she directly asked...

"Section Chief, is there anything you need me to do for the Technical Section?"

"Collect information. Our factory has limited information. Go to several places and, on behalf of our factory, copy down all the information about harvesters and bring it back."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "If you don't have enough people, you can arrange for more. If a unit doesn't allow it, you can go to Deputy Factory Director Liu and ask him to inquire on behalf of our factory."

If that doesn't work, we can go directly to the higher-level authorities.

"Once we've retrieved all the data, we'll conduct a detailed analysis and study to strive for technological breakthroughs and develop a combine harvester that leads the times."

They were a large factory directly under a ministry, and their superior unit was naturally the Ministry of Machine Building.

Chen Li nodded and said, "I understand. I'll look into this matter tomorrow. I'll resolve it as soon as possible, Section Chief."

"Okay, I'll trouble you."

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, he remembered something and asked, "I haven't had a chance to thank Uncle Chen yet. It seems he said a lot of good things to Deputy Leader Wu."

I'll prepare some gifts to thank him another day, but I don't know what he likes yet—cigarettes, alcohol? Or something else?

He knew that Yu Zhongguo must have asked him to do this, but Zhou Zhiqiang didn't know how to thank Yu Zhongguo.

Aside from calling him "father," he and Yu Zhongguo had a pretty good relationship. Even when they disagreed on some things, Yu Zhongguo would eventually listen to him.

It's not appropriate to express gratitude too readily if we're too close, but we should at least thank Chen Junfeng, an outsider who spoke kindly.

Yu Zhongguo's request was due to Yu Zhongguo's connections, while Zhou Zhiqiang's gratitude was Zhou Zhiqiang's responsibility.

"Moutai, I guess? He likes to have a drink or two occasionally, but you don't need to buy him something so expensive, just buy him a couple of bottles of Erguotou."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang chuckled to himself, thinking to himself, "You really are your father's little darling."

After Chen Junfeng developed a taste for alcohol, Zhou Zhiqiang stopped thinking about it. He figured he could just get some liquor coupons someday, buy a couple of bottles of Moutai, and visit him to express his gratitude.

After finishing his conversation with Chen Li in the technical department, Zhou Zhiqiang got up to report to several leaders one by one.

The main purpose was to inform everyone that he had returned and to discuss the matter of becoming a Level 6 engineer.

Otherwise, it's not a good thing if the personnel department notifies the leaders and they only find out afterward.

Zhou Zhiqiang went to Liu Fuhua's place first. Many people in the factory knew that Deputy Director Liu was the person who introduced him to the company and was also a friend of his father-in-law.

After spending some time in Deputy Director Liu's office and finishing a cup of tea, Zhou Zhiqiang originally intended to go to Deputy Director Li's office.

However, after thinking about it, he realized that he and Deputy Factory Director Li had no direct interaction and had never met, so he didn't know what reason to give if he went to visit them rashly.

You can't exactly knock on the door, go in, and tell the deputy factory manager in charge of logistics that you're back.
So Zhou Zhiqiang went directly to Director Zhao's office, reported to Director Zhao, and then went to Secretary Yan's office.

After reporting to several key leaders, Zhou Zhiqiang went to the personnel department to update his information.

After the personnel department updated his Level 6 engineer status, Zhou Zhiqiang will be able to receive 154 yuan next month.

Including his wife Guo Yuting's salary, the couple's combined income is almost over two hundred.

I'll spend fifty each month, save fifty, and then pay my father-in-law one hundred.

As soon as it was time to leave work, the technical staff cheered and headed to the cafeteria, but Chen Li quickly scolded and reprimanded a few of them, telling them to keep a low profile.

"Why are you making such a fuss about the section chief treating you to dinner? It won't end well if this gets out. Just enjoy your meal."

　Second update, please vote for me!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)