The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 151: The rest is classified.
Not long after Zhou Zhiqiang went downstairs, he happened to catch several cars driven by the leaders arriving in front of the factory office building.

After several cars opened their doors, a group of people got out of the cars.

"Zhiqiang, it's only been less than half a year, right?"

After getting out of the car, Deputy Leader Wu didn't greet anyone. Instead, he walked up to Zhou Zhiqiang with a hearty laugh, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "You really did it in just over five months."

I knew it! My decision to bring you to the Second Machine Tool Plant was right. You've really given me a pleasant surprise.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang smiled and said, "It's all thanks to the support of the leaders and the hard work of my colleagues and fellow workers in the factory."

Before he could finish speaking, Deputy Leader Wu, Director Ren, and another unfamiliar leader all burst into laughter.

After laughing, Deputy Leader Wu said, "See? I told you Comrade Zhiqiang would say these words."

I like his humility; he never takes credit for himself. Listening to him talk makes it seem like he's never been involved in developing the machine tools.

Director Ren then laughed and said, "Comrade Zhiqiang, don't be too modest. What's yours is yours. We shouldn't be greedy for credit, but we shouldn't erase our own contributions either."

"Come on, let's put everything else aside for now and let me introduce you to this person; after receiving your call yesterday, I called him overnight, and we came over to see him together today."

Deputy Leader Wu gestured to the unfamiliar leader who had come with him, and then continued, "Secretary Bai Yonghua of the Ninth Bureau of the Second Ministry of Machine Building, the Russians withdrew half a month ago. Let's not talk about that. You should get to know Comrade Yonghua."

"Secretary Bai, hello. I am Zhou Zhiqiang from the Second Machine Tool Plant. This is our plant's Party Secretary, Li Younian, and Deputy Plant Director, Sun Yifei."

Zhou Zhiqiang not only introduced himself, but also introduced the factory leaders around him.

Although they had been somewhat marginalized just now, the leaders went straight for Zhou Zhiqiang as soon as they got out of the car.

As for the matter that Deputy Leader Wu mentioned, those present probably already know the details.

The Russians are withdrawing their support. This year, they first stopped supporting advanced defense projects, and next year, they will completely withdraw their support.

"Comrade Zhou, you are truly a promising young man."

Bai Yonghua said with a smile, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I really wouldn't believe that such a young comrade was the one who developed and manufactured high-precision machine tools in our country."
Our bureau has many projects that urgently need high-precision boring machines to manufacture precision parts. If what Comrade Jianhong said is true, then our bureau will probably need a large quantity..."

This high-precision machine tool can manufacture many precision parts. Previously, the precision of domestic boring machines was insufficient, and these precision parts were all provided by the Russians.

But now that they're no longer providing support, we have to build it ourselves.

Unfortunately, the boring machine's precision was not up to standard, so it could not be manufactured.

Some time ago, after the Second Ministry of Machine Building held a meeting, they approached the First Ministry of Machine Building and made a request; however, the Machine Tool Management Bureau of the First Ministry of Machine Building was also in a dilemma. They did not say that it was impossible, but could only say that they would try their best to gather manpower to study and solve it.

Unexpectedly, only half a month later, they produced a finished boring machine.

When he arrived, Bai Yonghua was still saying that Ren Licheng, the director of the Machine Tool Bureau, was really good at keeping things under wraps, not revealing a single word.

Director Ren had grievances he couldn't express in the car; he genuinely didn't know anything about it. He only knew that the Second Machine Tool Plant was developing new machine tools, but he hadn't received any reports on what type they were.

Moreover, Zhou Zhiqiang had only been there for less than half a year. His and Deputy Leader Wu's bottom line was the end of the year or next year, so achieving results at this time would be considered fast.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Zhiqiang informed them in the middle of the year that the research and development had been completed and manufactured.

"You flatter me, sir."

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, he gestured and said, "Why don't we go to the workshop first to take a look at the boring machine and do an actual inspection so that the leaders can have a better understanding of the situation?"

Upon hearing this, Deputy Leader Wu said, "Alright, let's go take a look first."

The group then headed towards Workshop 8, with Secretary Li Younian and Deputy Factory Director Sun following behind.

Although the leaders somewhat ignored them throughout, they felt no anger whatsoever.

Deputy Leader Wu was too high-ranking, and they had never even heard of Bai Yonghua, the secretary of the Ninth Bureau of the Second Ministry of Machine Building. They only knew that this department was in charge of classified military industry.

Their usual direct supervisor is Director Ren Licheng, but today Director Ren barely spoke.

Deputy Factory Director Sun Yifei walked behind, even taking out a handkerchief to wipe away his sweat.

He used to think he would see Zhou Zhiqiang make a fool of himself, but today he really realized that Zhou Zhiqiang had such a good relationship with the leaders that it seemed like they often joked around with each other.

He should focus on his work from now on. Why is he, an older comrade and senior, arguing with young people?

Deputy Factory Director Sun quickly convinced himself, and increasingly felt that way. After all, he had joined the revolution several years earlier than Zhou Zhiqiang, and it would be beneath him to be serious. He should help the younger generation.

It's definitely not because of the leader!
Before long, the group arrived at the new workshop and quickly began to tour the new boring machine.

"Leaders, look, this is the high-precision coordinate boring machine developed and produced by our factory. These are the parts and data processed yesterday and today."
Meanwhile, we're rushing to finish manufacturing, and we've also notified the Henan Provincial Research Institute to put the research results into production as soon as possible.

As Zhou Zhiqiang explained, he took out the precision parts he had processed last night and today, as well as the precision testing records.

Bai Yonghua was the first to take it and carefully inspected it; it was indeed a rather precise part, and one could tell from the look that it was very precisely machined. He then personally measured it, and after confirming that the error matched the factory's records exactly, Bai Yonghua nodded and said, "Not bad, indeed not bad."

"Comrade Zhiqiang, clear the area a bit, let everyone who is not involved leave, and then have a part processed on-site so I can take a look."

After Bai Yonghua finished speaking, he took the briefcase from his secretary and continued, "I've brought the blueprints and materials. We'll talk about other things after they're finished."

"okay, I get it."

After Zhou Zhiqiang agreed, he turned to the people in the workshop and said, "Everyone stop what you're doing. Everyone in the workshop, go outside for a smoke. You can come back and continue working whenever I tell you to."

Upon hearing Zhou Zhiqiang's words, the workers in the workshop didn't even ask any questions. They packed up what needed to be packed and put away their tools, and soon everyone had left.

Bai Yonghua, Ren Licheng, and others were somewhat surprised to see this. Why were these workers so obedient to Zhou Zhiqiang?

However, Bai Yonghua quickly realized that Zhou Zhiqiang hadn't even left any workers behind, so who would process these parts?

Bai Yonghua asked, puzzled, "Comrade Zhiqiang, everyone's gone, who's going to process the parts?"

"I'll just come."

While looking at the blueprints, Zhou Zhiqiang said, "These are the bearing housing and the casing. It's not difficult; I can process them myself in a short time."

Bai Yonghua was stunned after hearing this. He knew that Zhou Zhiqiang was a level 5 engineer, but when he heard that Zhou Zhiqiang wanted to process the parts himself, he couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity.

However, before he could speak, Deputy Leader Wu explained, "Comrade Yonghua, you don't know this, do you? Comrade Zhiqiang is not just a Level 5 Engineer."

His processing skills were also outstanding; I think they were at least at level eight.

As Zhou Zhiqiang started the machine tool, he continued, "Level 8 machining technology mainly tests one's understanding of the relevant industry's technical knowledge. Once you've reached a certain level of proficiency, you can pass the Level 8 exam."
I happen to be good at both, and after some practice, I've reached level eight.

After finishing the conversation, Zhou Zhiqiang stopped chatting and began processing the material blanks that Bai Yonghua had given him; these were materials that could be directly precision-machined and could be operated directly after being mounted on a machine.

The workshop quickly quieted down; apart from the sizzling sound of processing, no one spoke.

After a long while, everyone breathed a sigh of relief after Zhou Zhiqiang stopped the machine.

Zhou Zhiqiang removed two precision parts and handed them to Bai Yonghua, saying, "Boss, take a look."

After taking the parts, Bai Yonghua smiled and said, "Comrade Zhiqiang is so confident, doesn't he even bother to check them?"

"I'm still a young person, and the big boss has said that young people should be energetic. I can't speak for other things, but I have a lot of confidence in my skills."

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, he waited for Bai Yonghua to inspect the parts. He had just observed that this leader, Bai, also had some technical knowledge.

Both testing instruments and tools were used very well.

Bai Yonghua carefully checked it several times, confirming that it matched the data on the drawings he had given him, and that the error was completely within an acceptable range. He then breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

Bai Yonghua then walked around the high-precision coordinate boring machine again, becoming more and more pleased with what he saw. He looked up at Deputy Leader Wu and said, "Comrade Jianhong, let's talk about the supply issue."

"Okay, but this isn't the place to talk."

Deputy Leader Wu said to Zhou Zhiqiang, "Comrade Zhiqiang, arrange a quiet place for us, and you can join us."

"Comrade Younian, please take charge of the factory's operations. Don't let things stop just because we're here."

The implication was that they weren't suited to participate in what was to come; they should just focus on their work at the factory.

In the entire Second Machine Tool Plant, Zhou Zhiqiang was probably the only one who could get involved.

In other factories, they basically just wait for production orders from their superiors.

However, this boring machine was newly developed and manufactured, and Zhou Zhiqiang needed to explain to them how to produce it and how many could be produced.

After Zhou Zhiqiang cleaned up all the material scraps, packed them up, and took them away, he allowed the other workers to return to the workshop to work.

Afterwards, Zhou Zhiqiang led Deputy Leader Wu and his entourage to his office, which belonged to the former factory director. The place was quite large, with sofas and coffee tables.

It's big enough for them to discuss things; if they were to go to a conference room, it would be too big.

"Xiao Li, you stay outside and let us know if anyone wants to come in."

Deputy Leader Wu told his bodyguard that what they were about to discuss was confidential. There were only four people in the room: himself, Ren Licheng, Bai Yonghua, and Zhou Zhiqiang. No one else had come in.

　Third update.

　　It seems like there will be double monthly votes the day after tomorrow. I'm asking for your votes for that day.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)