The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 221 Three Solutions
The smile on Deputy Factory Director Hou's face was a little stiff. He had been working at the Second Machine Tool Factory for two months and had put a lot of thought into coming up with a policy that would benefit the factory's production.

As a result, one or two of them didn't even dare to try it out.

Deputy Factory Director Liu was at least unsure about the changes in production, which Deputy Factory Director Hou could understand, given the current high production pressure and the possibility of failure in making changes leading to accountability from higher-ups.

But Deputy Factory Director Sun essentially used Zhou Zhiqiang as a shield.

Deputy Factory Director Hou took a deep breath, suppressing his displeasure, and continued to smile as he said, "I understand that Deputy Factory Director Sun has concerns, and perhaps my thinking was a bit inconsiderate."

This matter can be put on hold for now, and I'll conduct more thorough research before trying to discuss its implementation; however, there's another matter, which is the welfare of senior cadres.”

The last thing was something Deputy Director Hou hadn't originally planned to mention, but since the cadre incentive mechanism hadn't been approved, he had no choice but to bring it up.

Having just rejected the cadre incentive system, Secretary Li, after hearing this, can no longer deny the factory's preferential treatment for senior cadres.

Otherwise, if they refuse to agree to the incentive mechanism for middle and lower-level cadres in the factory, but are unwilling to stop the preferential treatment for senior cadres, wouldn't that be like the left and right brains fighting each other?

If word got out, the workers and lower-level managers in the factory would all think that Li Younian only cared about the senior managers in the factory eating, and didn't care about others.

After Deputy Director Hou finished speaking, Secretary Li hesitated for a moment before agreeing to the matter and ordering the factory to stop providing special treatment to senior cadres.

However, he also emphasized that everything in the factory was shut down, but he had no control over the departments.

Secretary Li had also figured it out; it seemed that Deputy Factory Director Hou's proposal was aimed at Zhou Zhiqiang, who was not at the factory.

What do other senior managers in the factory get? They only receive more gifts during holidays, and their salaries are slightly higher than those of the workers and other managers.

The only senior cadre in the factory who received special treatment was Zhou Zhiqiang; he received a subsidy for technical research and development personnel, which was required by the ministry.

Because it was troublesome for the ministry to allocate common and small quantities of supplies such as fine grains and meat every month, the task was entrusted to the Second Machine Tool Plant.

Other supplies were allocated and delivered by the ministry, and Zhou Zhiqiang would collect them every month.

Deputy Leader Wu and Director Ren had no objection to the special treatment given to Zhou Zhiqiang. Since Zhou Zhiqiang started working, the industrial products he developed have been used to pay off debts and generate foreign exchange through exports, creating hundreds of millions of yuan in value for the country.

What's wrong with giving these talented people special treatment? This foreign exchange can basically be exchanged for millions of tons of wheat and rice, and even more corn.

However, no one else knew about the subsidy; only a few people in the factory who handled it knew that it was specially approved by the ministry.

But they could only guess why the ministry made the special approval, and they didn't even know who made the special approval; in fact, several leaders in the ministry knew about this, after all, Zhou Zhiqiang now even had a full-time assistant and a driver.

After the meeting, the cadres who attended left one after another. Some workshop directors, after leaving, expressed their approval of the suggestions made by Deputy Factory Director Hou.

They are among the hardest-working managers in the factory, having to oversee the workshop every day and be responsible for everything within the production area.

The wages for material transportation, production safety, task scheduling, etc., are relatively high, so they were most happy to hear about the cadre incentive mechanism mentioned by Deputy Factory Director Hou.

However, it was not approved at the meeting, which disappointed them somewhat.

After returning to his office, Deputy Factory Director Hou sat in his chair and pondered for a while before quickly picking up the phone and dialing: "Section Chief Zhao, I'd like to inquire about the factory's production arrangements."

Could you arrange for someone familiar with the factory's production processes to accompany me on a tour of the various workshops?

"Okay, thank you for your help, Section Chief Zhao."

After hanging up the phone, Deputy Factory Director Hou remembered what the leaders of the Second Machine Tool Plant had said to him before.

To achieve results, results are the most important thing. However, without understanding production, it will always be difficult to achieve results. He needs to take this time to understand everyone in the Second Machine Tool Plant.

First Ministry of Machine Building, Machine Tool Administration Bureau.

After listening to Secretary Li's report, Director Ren sighed and said, "Comrade Younian, how could you agree to such an outrageous thing?"

Didn't you tell Comrade Hou Yufeng that this was a decision made by the ministry? It wasn't an arrangement made by your factory.

Putting aside the shift work and the cadre incentive mechanism, Director Ren actually went against the Ministry's decision to take charge of the factory. Director Ren thought the Second Machine Tool Factory was really "getting bigger and bigger".

"Director Ren, I didn't want to get involved either, but many cadres were watching. I had just pushed down the incentive mechanism for middle and lower-level cadres at the meeting, and if I didn't address the special treatment for senior cadres..."
If this gets out in the factory, it will have a very bad impact. Besides, the higher-ups have repeatedly emphasized that cadres should not be given special treatment.

“We can’t give special treatment to cadres, but Comrade Zhiqiang is still a technical research and development personnel. Who led the research and development of your factory’s machine tools? Have you forgotten so quickly?”

Director Ren was almost about to point at Li Younian's head and say those words, but he held back his hand gesture.

Li Younian was two ranks lower than him, so it wasn't appropriate for him to do this. However, Director Ren was very angry with Li Younian, a party official in the factory, for not showing the courage a party secretary should have at a critical moment.

After a moment of silence in the office, Director Ren asked, "Has the news spread throughout the factory by now?"

"It hasn't spread widely, but people are talking about it."

"It's only been a few days? Less than a week since your meeting, and the news has already spread. Can't you, as the Party Secretary, set a good example?"

When Director Ren saw Li Younian's state, he couldn't help but think, "Why don't I suggest to Deputy Leader Wu that we replace the Party Secretary as well?"
But this idea is just a thought. There aren't many suitable cadres in the country. If Li Younian is really removed, he really can't find a suitable one in a short time.

Secretary Li was reprimanded and didn't dare to say a word. He also felt wronged, as it wasn't his fault.
Director Ren rummaged around for a moment, then quickly picked up the phone and said as he dialed, "I'm not sure if your factory is suitable for a shift system, but I need to discuss this with Comrade Zhiqiang."

"You come and talk to him later, tell him everything that happened at the factory, and see what Comrade Zhiqiang has to say."

Although they were both subordinates, Zhou Zhiqiang and Li Younian gave Director Ren two completely different feelings.

When dealing with Zhou Zhiqiang, all you need to do is tell him your needs and the difficulties your department faces, and Zhou Zhiqiang will guarantee that the rest will be resolved at any time.

Subordinates who dared to make solemn pledges in research and development made him, as the bureau chief, feel comfortable and at ease, and they also continuously shared the burden for the department.
However, when facing Li Younian, he felt really angry.

Director Ren now understands why the Second Machine Tool Factory failed to develop; it was definitely not just the original factory director's problem, but also related to Secretary Li Younian to some extent.

"Hello, this is Ren Licheng from the First Ministry of Machinery. Please connect me with the director of the Liaoyang No. 1 Heavy Machinery Plant. Yes, it's urgent."

After a while, Director Ren heard the call connected and said, "Director Zhong, this is Ren Licheng from the Machine Tool Administration Bureau of the First Ministry of Machinery. How is Comrade Zhou Zhiqiang from the Heavy Machine Tool Project Team doing at your factory?"

"That's good. Is he still at the factory? Then send someone to let him know I need to speak with him."

"Yes, don't hang up. I'll wait for him to answer the phone." Director Zhong on the other end of the phone quickly asked his assistant to call him, while Zhou Zhiqiang was busy finishing up some parts design drawings.

Upon hearing that Director Ren was looking for him, he temporarily put down his work and rushed to Director Zhong's office.

Upon arriving at Zhong Zhishang's office, Zhou Zhiqiang greeted him, "Director Zhong."

"Director Zhou, you're here. Director Ren is still on the phone. You can take the call here. I'm going out for a smoke."

After Director Zhong finished speaking, he vacated the space and went outside to smoke.

After picking up the phone, Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Director Ren? This is Zhou Zhiqiang."

Director Ren on the other side said, "Zhiqiang, I'm sorry to bother you while you were busy with the project. The Second Machine Tool Factory has some matters that require your advice as the factory director."

"Your factory's Party Secretary Li is here with me. I'll have him talk to you."

After he finished speaking, Director Ren handed the phone to Li Younian.

After taking the phone, Li Younian said, "Director Zhou, the factory held a meeting a few days ago and discussed a few things that I need your consideration. The first is the factory's production system."

It didn't take long for Li Younian to finish recounting everything discussed at the factory meeting.

After listening for a while, Zhou Zhiqiang on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment before speaking: "Secretary Li, let's go through this one by one, starting with the simplest thing; let's stop the benefits the factory is giving me for now, I don't really need them anymore, so let's stop these subsidies if possible."

The supply of goods will be restored later. With his and his wife's salaries of just over two hundred yuan a month, the factory's subsidies are really unnecessary.

It doesn't matter if Zhou Zhiqiang doesn't really need it, or if he stops.

However, before Zhou Zhiqiang could finish speaking, Director Ren, who was peeking over to listen to the phone call, overheard him and interrupted him.

"Comrade Zhiqiang, this is a subsidy issued to you by the ministry. It's just that your factory's logistics department has been assigned to help with some fine grains and meat."

Since your factory has objections, then from now on, we'll use the ministry's benefits and subsidies, which will be delivered directly to your home.

Zhou Zhiqiang chuckled after hearing Director Ren's words, and then said, "Thank you, Director Ren."

Secretary Li, let me address the second matter. I remember considering a shift work system before, but it didn't quite fit the factory's current high-energy production atmosphere. Didn't Section Chief Ding mention it?

He told Ding Zhixue that it wasn't suitable to implement a shift system, so Zhou Zhiqiang didn't tell anyone else, and he also handed over the results of the investigation to Ding Zhixue.

"After Section Chief Ding raised his opinion on the task classification, nothing else happened."

"Have Ding Zhixue find out the conclusions of my investigation, then show them to Deputy Factory Director Hou. Tell him that if he still thinks the shift system is better, we can select a workshop for a half-month pilot program, and then see the results."

"As for the issue of incentivizing cadres, I still stand by my decision: no. There is no room for discussion on this matter. Anyone who has objections should come to me first to report. Then, we will hold a factory-wide vote, and the final decision will be based on the vote."

The workload is different, so why bother with incentive mechanisms? If someone's eyeing the year-end bonus, they can apply to be transferred to a worker's position; I'll agree unconditionally.

As I said before, if you're envious, go work on the production line. No one in the factory will stop you, and Zhou Zhiqiang will even promote it extensively, since labor is the most glorious thing nowadays.

If you're envious of the rewards but don't want to put in the hard work, then go eat farts.

He couldn't control the workers, but when it came to managing the cadres, Zhou Zhiqiang would make them experience what absolute power a factory director truly meant.

After listening to Zhou Zhiqiang's words, Director Ren quickly understood the method Zhou Zhiqiang was talking about.

What kind of people are the most numerous in a factory? Workers, of course!

If all the workers participated in the vote, the result would be self-evident.

The rewards they've already received are so limited, and now they want to allocate a portion to the cadres? I object! I object!
The workers had no choice but to oppose it.

“Secretary Li, the only thing that is uncertain right now is the shift work system. Go back and have Section Chief Ding report to Deputy Factory Director Hou. Then, if he decides that the shift work system is better, we can select a workshop in the factory as a pilot project.”

"To be honest, I've been away from the factory for two months now, so I might be a little unfamiliar with some of the things going on here. If the workers are really feeling exhausted and the product qualification rate is declining, then implementing a shift system would indeed be a good option."

Everything was for the sake of the factory's production. When Zhou Zhiqiang first considered shift work, he thought that the front-line production workers might not be able to keep up.

However, after further investigation, he discovered that the workers were indeed able to maintain a high product qualification rate through their passion for production.

After that, Zhou Zhiqiang kept trying to find ways to supplement the workers' nutrition and physical health so that they would not overwork themselves.

But he's not sure now. After all, he hasn't inspected the workshop for two months. If he can't keep going, he might consider a shift system.

As I said before, everything is for the sake of production.

"That's settled then, Secretary Li. Is there anything else?"

"That's all, Director Zhou, that's all."

After Li Younian finished speaking, Director Ren reached out and took the phone from him, then said to Zhou Zhiqiang, "Comrade Zhiqiang, thank you for your hard work. You have to come over to handle things at the factory while I'm busy with the project."

"Director Ren, you're too kind. To be honest, I'm really worried about the condition of the workers on the front lines of production. After all, not everyone can endure as much as I can."

He strengthens his body every now and then, and now he's almost at the level of a freak, so Zhou Zhiqiang can stay up all night without restraint, and not sleeping for two days is nothing to him.

But the other workers are different. He is now aware of this behavior, so when he sees someone in the project team who is too tired, he will persuade them to go back and rest, and he will take over that person's work and continue working.

Zhou Zhiqiang said with a smile, "Secretary Li's notification this time is just right. From now on, we can inspect the factory every three months and conduct a survey of the workers."

As for the other two things, they're nothing. Besides, I'm at the Liaoyang No. 1 Heavy Machinery Plant every day; it's just a matter of coming over to answer a phone call.

"Alright, I won't bother you anymore. You can go ahead and get busy, Comrade Zhiqiang."

After hanging up the phone, Director Ren exhaled and looked at Li Younian. After a moment of silence, he said, "Let's do it according to Comrade Zhiqiang's method."

However, I'll say it again: Comrade Younian, take responsibility! You must shoulder the responsibilities of a factory party official!

(End of this chapter)