The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 163 Zhou Zhiqiang's Appeal

Zhou Zhiqiang's words stunned the more than two hundred workers present. Seeing that they remained silent, he continued...

"The factory does have some tough tasks, and I really don't want you to work overtime unless absolutely necessary."

Think about it yourselves. In the past, when some people worked overtime and went home late, it wasn't because I rushed them. And last time, during the research and development of the new machine tool, who was the last to leave?

"Comrades, the country is currently in a stage of development. Because of this development, we owe favors and debts to other countries."
Our factory's machine tools are of high performance and are essential for national development. They are needed everywhere, so we must expedite production.

"I know that all the frontline workers are very tired, so from now on, every night I, as the deputy factory director, will be working alongside you in the workshop to try and complete the tasks assigned by our superiors as soon as possible."

They might not believe what other cadres said, but when Deputy Factory Director Zhou said these words, probably few of the workers present would believe him.

Zhou Zhiqiang said that when he came to the production line, he really worked hard, and he worked harder, more efficiently, and with better quality than many workers.

And when working overtime, I am indeed the last one to leave.

Furthermore, it was a task assigned by superiors, and it was for the sake of national development.
“Deputy Factory Director Zhou, we’ll listen to you. If you say we’ll work overtime, then we’ll work overtime.”

"Yes, factory manager, I don't believe what other leaders say, but I believe you."

"Factory manager, we weren't arguing just now. We've just been hungry and were worried we wouldn't be able to keep going if we worked overtime. But if you ask, we'll definitely work overtime to catch up."

Zhou Zhiqiang now understands what personal charisma is; a few words from him can make the workers trust him, and he can't help but feel moved.

Then Zhou Zhiqiang waved his hand, signaling the workers in front of him to stop, and continued to say to them, "The factory will provide a meal for those who work overtime, and you don't need to worry about not eating well."

The factory harvests 20,000 jin of mushrooms every month, and we plan to use them to supplement everyone's supplies. We'll make sure you all eat well.

"However, the delivery of mushrooms to your homes will have to be temporarily suspended. This meal must be prioritized to ensure that the workers who are working overtime get to eat."

Previously, whenever it was time to harvest mushrooms, the Second Machine Tool Factory would distribute some mushrooms to everyone in the factory, about two or three pounds each, so that each person could take them home and let their families have a taste.

This time it's different. After the harvest, everything will be stored and used to distribute supplies or to provide extra meals for the workers who work overtime at night.

This actually sacrifices the mushroom quota for mental workers and clerical staff, who were originally entitled to receive it, but are now excluded.

"The factory belongs to all of you. If the Second Machine Tool Plant develops well, all the workers in the factory will benefit from it."

This is my guarantee to you as the deputy factory director.

That's absolutely right. Now it's collective ownership, and the factory belongs to all the workers in the factory.

Zhou Zhiqiang already had an idea in mind: if the Second Machine Tool Plant had a significant surplus by the end of the year, he would distribute the profits to the workers.

The factory's self-retained funds are determined by the factory itself. As long as the factory's Party Committee approves them, even higher authorities cannot interfere or change them.

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, he quickly won over the workers gathered there.

It was getting late, so Zhou Zhiqiang told everyone to go home and have dinner, and that the workshop directors would notify everyone about the overtime assignments later.

The workers who had been gathered nearby dispersed and went home.

After everyone had almost left, Chen Weiguo stepped forward and said, "Deputy Factory Director Zhou, thank you so much. I thought they might do something rash in their excitement."

"No, what can they do to me? At most, they'll just get a little agitated."

Zhou Zhiqiang sighed and said, "If we're talking about working overtime, I'm the last person who wants to. My son has hardly ever seen me since he can remember."

When I got back, he was already asleep. The next morning, I left before he even got up. Last time on my day off, I was in the yard, and when he got up and saw me, he thought I was a stranger.

Upon hearing this, Chen Weiguo immediately laughed and said, "Then you've had it tough, working even longer hours than our security department."

After saying that, Chen Weiguo recalled what his father had told him: "Don't think that you are stronger than Zhou Zhi. Apart from your age, you are really not as good as him in every other aspect."

"If you don't believe me, just look. You two are in the same factory now, and see what Zhou Zhiqiang does there."

Now Chen Weiguo has seen it and is convinced; the Second Machine Tool Factory can do without him as deputy section chief, but it really can't do without Zhou Zhiqiang.

"There's no other way. There are so many things to do in the factory, and there are few people who can take charge of everything. Old Ding from the technical department is capable, but I can't rely solely on him."

Zhou Zhiqiang sighed inwardly, thinking that there were very few qualified "hard-working oxen" these days.

Previously, there was a woman named Chen Li at Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory. She was just as young as him, and she was also very hardworking. She was a college graduate majoring in mechanical engineering, so Zhou Zhiqiang felt at ease entrusting things to her.

There were no suitable "hard-working oxen" to be found at the Second Machine Tool Plant. Chief Ding Zhike could barely be considered one, but he was already forty years old and had some health problems, so he couldn't work for long periods of time.

Zhou Zhiqiang had no choice but to take the lead himself.

Previously, due to a shortage of supplies, the factory's production workshops stopped working overtime, but technological research and development did not stop. It can be said that Zhou Zhiqiang has been working overtime almost every day since he came to the Second Machine Tool Factory.

After chatting with Chen Weiguo for a while, Zhou Zhiqiang returned to his office to continue working on the mechanical structure optimization of the universal grinding machine. The ministry and the Second Ministry of Machine Building quickly reached an agreement; this time, it was a discussion between Leader Sheng and the leaders of the Second Ministry of Machine Building.

The Second Machine Tool Plant had such high production efficiency, but the Russians showed a strong desire to use it as collateral for their debt.

Currently, the price of top-of-the-line high-precision coordinate boring machines in the world is generally in the range of 30,000 to 50,000 to 60,000 US dollars, depending mainly on the type, functional configuration, and brand price in the country.

Domestically produced coordinate boring machines can catch up with the world's top-tier machines in terms of accuracy error, although they are slightly inferior, but this has almost no impact.

Therefore, after discussions between the domestic authorities and the Russians, it was decided to make a deal with the Russians for 45,000 RMB.

This price is really cheap, only 18,000 US dollars; but the performance and accuracy are only slightly inferior.

The Russians made an outrageous demand for the first time, requiring them to deliver 1,000 units by the end of next year.

The Ministry of Machine Building immediately refused, saying they couldn't give it to them.

Their domestic demand for coordinate boring machines is much greater, and even if the Second Machine Tool Plant works overtime for a whole year, it can only produce 1,800 units.

The Russians want more than half of it right off the bat; are they kidding me?

After a long and heated debate, it was finally agreed that 900 units would be delivered to them by the end of next year.

Then they can make a small profit by transferring the outstanding payment for these 900 vehicles in advance, as it reduces some interest.

The Second Ministry of Machine Building was aware of this matter, since they needed this type of machine tool.

Zhou Zhiqiang wasn't quite sure what the specifics of the talks between the two department leaders were, but in any case, the production task had been assigned to the Second Machine Tool Plant.

Furthermore, the ministry also promised to provide the Second Machine Tool Plant with some 'overtime subsidies'.

Each month, an extra 100 jin of pork and 8,000 jin of grain will be added.

The workers at the Second Machine Tool Plant worked overtime to produce machine tools, which brought considerable profits to the country.

These 'overtime allowances' were specially approved by Mr. Zhou after he learned about them, and were specifically given to the Second Machine Tool Factory for use when working overtime at night.

With these subsidies, plus the 20,000 jin of mushrooms produced by the Second Machine Tool Plant itself, there will definitely be enough for dinner.

I can also have an extra meat dish every month, even if it's only less than an ounce, it's still good for my health.

After hearing this good news, all the workers at the Second Machine Tool Plant no longer had any resistance to working overtime.

Especially when they learned that Mr. Zhou had allocated them grain and meat, although the quantity was small, it excited every worker and filled them with energy.

Zhou Zhiqiang didn't even need to hold a mobilization meeting. After announcing the start of the overtime production task, all the workers in the factory worked like blindfolded oxen, without taking a break.

Zhou Zhiqiang didn't escape either; he had told all the workers in the factory that he would be the last to leave.

Now it's a contest of who can carry the load better than a bunch of excited, hardworking oxen.
The original plan was to work overtime until 9:30, and when that time came, it was time to go home and go home with friends.

However, workers often don't stop working and don't go home until 10 o'clock.

Every evening, after finishing his work on improving the technology of the universal grinding machine, Zhou Zhiqiang still had to go to the workshop to urge people to hurry up.

Overtime work should be done in moderation. Zhou Zhiqiang asked them to work overtime until 9:30 because he hoped that each of them could go to sleep before 10:30.

That way, I'll feel energetic when I wake up the next day.

If you work all night without any motivation, you'll definitely feel listless the next day.

Some people were even clamoring to come to the factory to work overtime on Sundays, but after being kicked by Zhou Zhiqiang, they stopped complaining.

With only one day off a week, if they really have to work overtime, the factory's production safety issues will multiply several times over.

Now Zhou Zhiqiang is considering not only speed, but also stability.

If any production accident occurs, all overtime work must be suspended for a period of time for safety training.

This is the city of Beijing, the place where you are most likely to run into high-ranking officials. No cadre dares to do anything to the workers or to bully their interests, because that would cause problems.

Zhou Zhiqiang also took the lead in rushing to the front line of production. He was considered half a worker, which is why he dared to call on all the factory workers to work overtime.

Secretary Li and Deputy Director Sun of the factory dared not say these things.

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(End of this chapter)