The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 216 Instructions for Preparation, Departure

"Alright, my task is now complete. Next, you can discuss the division of labor within the factory."

After Director Ren finished explaining the appointment and arrangements, he got up and left. Zhou Zhiqiang had intended to see him to the door, but Director Ren patted him on the shoulder and left.

After Director Ren left, the atmosphere in the conference room became somewhat awkward.

Although Secretary Li, Deputy Factory Director Sun, and Deputy Factory Director Liu all applauded to welcome the newcomer, Comrade Hou Yufeng, they didn't really think so.

Strictly speaking, the factory director's responsibilities and powers can be divided into three parts: technology and production. He is mainly responsible for production scheduling and technology research and development. Currently, Deputy Factory Director Liu is helping Zhou Zhiqiang share this part of the task.

The second part is logistics management, which used to be in charge of Deputy Factory Director Sun, and it is still in charge of him now.

The third part is team management and ideological and political work. In the difficult two years, in order to revitalize the factory, a lot of power was delegated to the factory director.

However, no matter how much power the factory director has, he must be under the leadership of the Party Committee; it's just that Secretary Li doesn't manage things much, and Zhou Zhiqiang also has the support of leaders from ministries.

The newly arrived Deputy Factory Director Hou is now in charge of political and ideological work, personnel matters, and safety supervision within the factory. This immediately elevates him to the top position among the three deputy factory directors.

If Zhou Zhiqiang weren't around, then this Deputy Factory Director Hou would practically be considered the de facto factory director, though only in terms of status. If Deputy Factory Director Hou wanted to boss the other two deputy factory directors around...
Once you break off all pretense of civility, they can completely ignore you.

Who are you? I'm just the deputy factory director. If you didn't know better, you'd think I was Director Zhou.

Not everyone at the Second Machine Tool Plant had the same prestige as Zhou Zhiqiang, especially when the workers trusted him.

Previously, Deputy Factory Director Sun was not very convinced by Zhou Zhiqiang, but since Zhou Zhiqiang didn't do anything, Deputy Factory Director Sun didn't dare to show any dissatisfaction.

"Deputy Factory Director Hou, you should assist Secretary Li in taking charge of the political and ideological aspects of the factory from now on. As for production safety, you should discuss it more with Deputy Factory Director Liu."

After Director Ren left, Zhou Zhiqiang began to chair the meeting: "In the past, when the factory was training production processes, it also focused on production safety training."

For over two years, there hasn't been a single production accident; therefore, we can continue to maintain the existing production process. As for the CNC machine tool workshop, it will remain unchanged, similar to the precision workshop.

After he finished speaking, Zhou Zhiqiang saw that everyone nodded without saying anything, so he turned to Hou Yufeng and asked, "Deputy Factory Director Hou, do you have anything to say?"

"I'm new here and I'm here with the attitude of learning and working hard. I don't know much about the factory yet, so I won't talk about it for now."

Deputy Factory Director Hou said with a smile, "Let me familiarize myself with the factory's affairs and handle the tasks assigned by the organization under Secretary Li's leadership before reporting to the factory's Party Committee."

His words were very well-considered, and he adopted a very humble attitude.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang looked around and said, "Alright, if no one else has anything to say, let's leave it at that for today."

"Director Liu, please arrange an office for Deputy Factory Director Hou. Also, please handle any necessary matters for him. Secretary Li?"

When Secretary Li Younian saw Zhou Zhiqiang looking at him, he said, "If there's nothing else, the meeting is over for today. Everyone, please go back and get back to your work."

The cadres then left the meeting room one by one.

Zhou Zhiqiang had just returned to his office when Zhang Yaoguo knocked on the door and came in, saying that Deputy Factory Director Liu wanted to see him about something.

"Quickly let Deputy Factory Director Liu in."

After Liu Wenzhou came in, Zhang Yaoguo, with his keen eye, brewed a pot of tea and left only after bringing the teacups to the table.

After the person left, Zhou Zhiqiang asked, "Deputy Factory Director Liu, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Factory Director, you're about to go on a business trip, and the ministry has suddenly sent a deputy factory director over. I'm a little worried. Isn't this completely unnecessary?"

Deputy Factory Director Liu asked, somewhat puzzled, fearing that the person who came to the Second Machine Tool Factory was the kind who was vying for power and profit.

If that's the case, then with factory director Zhou Zhiqiang absent, wouldn't the factory's production be in trouble?

With the Second Machine Tool Plant showing signs of prosperity, it is likely to continue to be the largest heavy industrial plant in the country in terms of output value this year. If it is delayed by the struggle for power and profit, then they will all be sinners.

Moreover, political ideology and personnel matters can be entirely managed by Secretary Li. In the past, when Zhou Zhiqiang did not take charge, he reported directly to Secretary Li.

"Don't worry too much, the factory's production will definitely not be delayed. The ministry will continue to invest more than 20 million yuan in the second half of the year to help the Second Machine Tool Plant expand its production."
"Investing so much money, surely it's not just to see production at the Second Machine Tool Plant delayed?"

After taking a sip of tea, Zhou Zhiqiang continued, "You just need to focus on production. For the second half of the year and next year, production is the most important thing."

The tasks for the second half of the year are set and cannot be changed. I may not be able to come back next year. The focus is on both non-CNC and CNC machine tools, with a slight bias towards CNC machine tools.

"But we still have to wait until the Canton Fair in October. Our factory's CNC machine tools will definitely be taken there. Do you want to go?"

Liu Wenzhou was taken aback and said, "Go to the Canton Fair?"

"Yes, the factory has to send someone to go with us. The department has been asking me if I want to go, but I hate taking long train journeys."

Attending the Canton Fair allows us to immediately know the number of foreign trade orders, which we can then notify the factory. It's also a chance to gain exposure.

After saying all this, Zhou Zhiqiang had one more thing he didn't say: he didn't really want Hou Yufeng to go.

I don't like this person, nor do I like the leaders on his side.

Those who share the same ideals and goals are comrades; those who do not share the same ideals and goals are not comrades.

However, under the current system, he still needs to work well with this Deputy Factory Director Hou.

"When completing the remaining production tasks, we should try to produce as many CNC machine tools as possible, and also improve the treatment of the workers who work overtime on the front line."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Try to urge Deputy Factory Director Sun more often. He won't run away unless you urge him. He usually just completes the tasks at most."

If urging him doesn't work, then go directly to Director Tian and ask him to come up with a solution; his methods are sometimes a bit unorthodox, but he can definitely come up with ideas.

"For example, our factory finds some machinery factories and spends money to buy their unplanned 'production tasks' so that they can help produce some agricultural tools or products for rural use."

Then they would take it to trade with the communes around Beijing, hoping to get some supplies in return.

It's a bit cumbersome, but making a few more trips can achieve a win-win-win situation.

Moreover, mushroom cultivation gradually spread from Sanhe Commune.

The commune and the village's production brigade did not have the resources to build a planting workshop, so they could only dig cellars or find some shady places to grow mushrooms. Although the yield was not high, it could still alleviate hunger.

Especially after the years of famine have passed, mushrooms can continue to be grown, and the commune and production brigade will gradually become richer, at least they will not go hungry like before.

Once the commune became wealthy, it was able to exchange goods with the Second Machine Tool Factory.

Previously, the Second Machine Tool Factory had implemented a worker-peasant mutual aid program, providing several communes with supplies and funds for mushroom cultivation, initially helping them with tens of thousands of yuan. They have no intention of asking the communes for the money back. Those communes have recovered somewhat thanks to mushroom cultivation, but if they were asked to repay the debt immediately, they would likely return to a period of hardship.

Although the debt doesn't need to be repaid, the worker-peasant mutual aid program must continue. In the future, after the commune completes its tasks, any surplus grain and other harvests can be exchanged with the Second Machine Tool Factory, which would be mutually beneficial.

Zhou Zhiqiang and Liu Wenzhou talked a lot about production tasks. In this era, there is a spirit and drive in production and construction that other countries do not have.

Under the leadership of the leader, this spirit can be fully committed to the construction.

If these cadres can provide proper guidance and assistance, productivity can be doubled.

After talking with Deputy Factory Director Liu, Zhou Zhiqiang went to see Secretary Li.

He didn't say anything else, he just hoped that Secretary Li could take on some of the responsibilities of the factory director, and that he could call him anytime if there was anything he was unsure about.

Secretary Li readily agreed. In the past, he thought Zhou Zhiqiang could manage things well, but now Zhou Zhiqiang and the leaders of the department hoped that he could take on more responsibilities, so naturally he would not neglect the affairs of the factory.

Zhou Zhiqiang felt a little relieved after arranging everything at the factory.

------

Monday morning.

Zhou Zhiqiang had just finished eating at home when a driver came to pick him up.

After Guo Yuting helped take the package out of the house, she asked, "Are you leaving? Let Bo Cai and I go to the train station to see you off."

"Bo Cai, come here, Daddy's leaving."

"No need, you don't need to go to the train station with the child. Besides, it's already a bit of a hassle to load these two big bags onto the train, and there's no room for you and your son to sit down."

Zhou Zhiqiang quickly advised that there was no need for such a round trip, and besides, the Jeep was only so big; the two large packages that Guo Yuting had prepared for him could fill the back seat.

Zhou Zhiqiang then said to his son, "Bocai, I'm going away on a business trip for a while. You have to listen to your mother and grandmother at home."

"When will dad come back?"

"I'll come back once you've learned all the words in the book I taught you before."

After speaking with his son, Zhou Zhiqiang said to his wife, "I'll be going now. Take good care of yourselves at home. If you need to find me, go to the Second Machine Tool Factory and find Secretary Li."

He had previously agreed with Secretary Li that if any of his family members needed to contact him, Secretary Li would relay the message to Director Ren.

Director Ren will definitely be able to contact him.

Guo Yuting said to her, "Take good care of yourself, and don't get cold over there."

After placing the two large packages in the car, Zhou Zhiqiang got in and told the driver to leave.

They quickly arrived at the train station. After showing his identification, the driver drove the car straight in and even helped Zhou Zhiqiang carry a large package after he got out of the car.

The driver, carrying the package, said to Zhou Zhiqiang, "Director Zhou, I know where to get on the bus. Come with me."

"Okay, I'll trouble you."

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, he followed the driver and headed into the train station.

Soon, the two squeezed through the crowd and arrived at the front carriage of the train.

The first few carriages of the train were sleeper carriages, but the ministry had prepared soft sleeper carriages for their group.

When Zhou Zhiqiang arrived near the carriage where he was to board the train, he immediately spotted Lin Gong and the others. There were more than a dozen people in total, all carrying luggage and waiting on the platform.

Zhou Zhiqiang quickly stepped forward and greeted him, "Sorry, Engineer Lin, we're late."

"It's alright, there's still an hour before departure. Comrade Zhiqiang, why are you carrying so much stuff?"

When Lin saw Zhou Zhiqiang's two large packages, he was genuinely surprised.

Each of them carried only one suitcase, but Zhou Zhiqiang carried enough stuff for four or five of them.

After seeing the driver off, Zhou Zhiqiang said with a smile, "It's my first time going on a long trip, and my wife was a little worried, so she packed a lot of things for me."

I have some dried meat here; I'll try it when I eat on the train later.

"Hehe, then we're in for a treat."

After finishing speaking, Lin looked around and continued, "Alright, everyone's almost here now. If there's nothing else, let's get on the bus."

Please don't get off the bus without permission after you get on. If you need to get off, please let me know.

After giving his instructions, Engineer Lin called everyone to get on the bus.

This entire carriage is filled with soft sleeper berths. Although the soft sleeper berths are comfortable, they are strictly managed and almost completely closed to the public. Moreover, there are railway police and train attendants patrolling 24 hours a day.

Even if they wanted to sit, it wasn't easy. Among their group, only Zhou Zhiqiang and Engineer Lin were qualified to sit in soft sleeper carriages. The soft sleeper carriage tickets for the others were bought by the Ministry of Machine Building.

After boarding the bus, Zhou Zhiqiang and Lin Gong were assigned to the same workshop. After putting away their luggage, Zhou Zhiqiang took out a few books and placed them on the table.

The trip to Liaoyang would take about a day, and Zhou Zhiqiang brought along some things to keep him entertained.

Upon seeing this, Engineer Lin asked with some surprise, "Comrade Zhiqiang, are you going to read these books on the train?"

On the table were several computer textbooks translated from Russian literature, including "General Description and Operation Methods of High-Speed ​​Electronic Computers" and "Storage Devices of High-Speed ​​Electronic Computers".

It was considered a relatively important reference for computer research and development in the country, and Zhou Zhiqiang borrowed it to make several copies.

"Since I'm bored on the bus, I'll study a bit; maybe I'll find it useful later."

Zhou Zhiqiang took out some tea leaves and said with a smile, "Moreover, some of this knowledge can also be used on CNC machine tools, as computers and CNC systems are universal."

"It's good to be learning all the time."

Lin Gong wasn't idle either. He took out several newspapers. He had been too busy to read them the past few days, so he decided to read them all in one go on the train today.

(End of this chapter)