The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 230 Zhou Zhiqiang's Demands
"Nothing major has happened at the factory. There's really nothing wrong. Right now, the factory is still focused on production, and that's what the weekly management meetings are all about."

After thinking it over carefully, Zhang Yaoguo said to Zhou Zhiqiang, "Deputy Factory Director Hou often manages things outside his responsibilities, but I heard that he mainly conducts investigations before making suggestions."
"But I only heard this from other people, and I have no way to ask the two deputy factory directors, so I can't guarantee anything to you, Factory Director."

"The factory's employee dormitories have been built, and more than a thousand people have already moved in. When selecting residents, the main criteria are usually 'far from home' and 'large family members'."

"There's another thing, boss. Some workers have reported that several temporary workers were not only assigned houses, but also two people sharing a dormitory room."

Some workers complained to the factory office and logistics department, but nothing was done in the end; I went to look into it, and it turns out those temporary workers were arranged by the head of the publicity department.

"According to regulations, they are not eligible to apply for accommodation, but they have already moved in, and there has been no investigation for three months."

Zhang Yaoguo told Zhou Zhiqiang a lot about things at the factory. He had been the deputy head of the personnel department for more than a year and had heard about and understood everything that happened at the factory.

Moreover, Zhang Yaoguo knew that Zhou Zhiqiang didn't like to hear things that weren't within his sight, so almost everything he said was based on fact.

He only used the phrase "I heard" when it came to Deputy Factory Director Hou. It was something he himself had heard about, that he had once caught Deputy Factory Director Hou chatting with Deputy Factory Director Liu.

As for the trouble he was caused by Deputy Factory Director Hou, Zhang Yaoguo felt there was no need to talk about it.

He couldn't produce any evidence that Deputy Factory Director Hou had made things difficult for him. In any case, he hadn't done a good job, so he deserved to be reprimanded.

After listening, Zhou Zhiqiang nodded. As long as production is not in chaos, that's the most important thing.

If anything goes wrong in production, Zhou Zhiqiang will be furious when he gets back. But other things are minor and can be dealt with one by one.

People with weak willpower are really annoying. Even as the factory manager, he has taken the lead in not taking advantage of the factory, and there are still people below him who are not behaving themselves. That is a slap in his face.

"Yaoguo, let's get back to the past. I'm back now, and the full-time assistant that the department promised before will be assigned to me. Do you want to come back and be my assistant?"

Zhou Zhiqiang asked, "If you'd rather be the deputy head of the personnel department, then I'll have the ministry assign me a new assistant."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yaoguo immediately said, "Boss, I'm willing to come back and be your assistant. To be honest, I can learn more by your side."

Zhang Yaoguo had been in the position of deputy head of the personnel department for a year, but he felt that it was just so-so; although he had been the factory director's assistant before, he had access to a lot of things, and Zhou Zhiqiang would also let him handle a lot of things.

Zhang Yaoguo learned a lot just by coordinating the various departments in the factory.

"It would be more tiring to be around me, hahaha, but if you're willing to come back and be my assistant, I'll register you today."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang smiled and said that he wanted to ask something else, but the office phone suddenly rang.

So Zhou Zhiqiang had no choice but to get up and answer the phone: "Hello, this is Zhou Zhiqiang."

"Zhiqiang, I guessed you went to the factory. Come to the department later and we'll have a short meeting at 9:30 to talk about your project team's achievements."

"Okay, Director Ren, I'll definitely be there."

"Okay, then I'll wait for you at the ministry."

After explaining the matter in just a couple of sentences, Zhou Zhiqiang hung up the phone.

It's just past nine o'clock now. I'll be at the factory for a few minutes before I leave.

"Yaoguo, go and call the driver for me. He'll wait for me downstairs at the factory office building at 10:10."

"We'll discuss your matter with Secretary Li when I get back; and while I'm at it, let's get to the bottom of the issue with those temporary workers the head of the propaganda department hired."

"Okay, boss, I'll go right away."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yaoguo immediately got up to prepare to take care of it.

After everyone left the office, Zhou Zhiqiang also took out a planning report from his briefcase, preparing to add some more details.

This is the plan report for applying to establish a CNC branch factory. It was compiled and organized by Zhou Zhiqiang when he was conducting long-term processing and testing of heavy CNC machine tools at Liaoyang No. 1 Heavy Machinery Plant.

At that time, he wasn't so busy anymore, and Zhou Zhiqiang didn't need to keep an eye on the workshop all day, so he took some time in the guesthouse to write a first draft of the plan report.

Without any research or specific implementation plan, it was at most an intention, but after the leaders of the First Ministry of Machine Building reviewed it, they could understand how important the CNC branch was to their Second Machine Tool Plant.

Although Factory 190 expanded, it still had to distribute a large portion of its semiconductor devices to other companies.

After a while, it was almost time to leave, so Zhou Zhiqiang picked up his briefcase and went downstairs.

After getting into the car, Zhou Zhiqiang instructed the driver to head towards the Ministry of Machine Building.

Not long after, they arrived at the Ministry of Machine Building, and Zhou Zhiqiang got out of the car and went upstairs.

Arriving at Director Ren's office, he knocked on the door and then pushed it open, saying, "Director Ren, I'm here."

"Zhiqiang is here. You're a bit early. Have a seat here for a while."

Director Ren glanced at his watch; there were still ten minutes before the meeting started. He then called out to Zhou Zhiqiang, "Pour yourself a cup of tea. We'll go to Deputy Leader Wu's office later. It's just a few people from the project team; we don't need to go to the meeting room formally."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang sat back down on the sofa and said, "Then I'll make tea later. Deputy Leader Wu might have some good tea." Director Ren laughed and said, "Haha, Deputy Leader Wu gave you all his good tea. I didn't expect you to even take advantage of the tea he bought."

"Oh, how can you say we won't let it go? It's just two cups of tea."

Zhou Zhiqiang waved his hand and smiled, then asked, "Director Ren, is this all you need to report on for the heavy machine tool project team?"

Director Ren nodded and said, "Yes, it's mainly about your rewards, but don't be too disappointed when you hear it later. Your rewards will basically be just a few things."

There's nothing left to award; that's pretty much it.

Giving money as a reward is not out of the question, but Zhou Zhiqiang, who receives the treatment of a level four engineer and additional subsidies, is really not short of money.

Moreover, there were various tickets available normally. During those difficult years, Zhou Zhiqiang's family was able to buy pork from special supply stores, let alone at other times.

Zhou Zhiqiang had no shortage of other item rewards, so in the end he could only reward himself more with honors.

Even when Zhou Zhiqiang's rank is higher, everything from clothing, food, housing, transportation, medical care, and security can be provided for him.

"I don't care much about the reward, but could the ministry help us with the CNC branch factory issue today? I even brought the proposal, although it's not quite perfect yet."

Zhou Zhiqiang continued, "The factory's production efficiency for CNC machine tools is far from reaching its limit, but due to the limited supply of CNC system components from the Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry, we can only produce this much per year at present."

"Next year, I also plan to develop and manufacture other types of CNC machine tools. If the supply from Factory 190 and other semiconductor and electronics factories can't keep up, then our Second Machine Tool Plant's planned tasks will be hampered."

"The ministry has also considered the situation you mentioned."

After putting down his pen, Director Ren continued speaking to Zhou Zhiqiang, "We have also reported this to the Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry, and they have promised to increase the production efficiency of semiconductor and electronics factories in Beijing by more than 70% within two years."

"Director Ren, it's not the same thing. If they agree to increase our supply by 70%, that would be fine too."

But they guarantee that semiconductor electronics factories will see a production efficiency increase of over 70%, yet they haven't actually guaranteed anything. Will we actually receive that increased production? Probably not.

"Semiconductors are very important in the electronics industry, and there are so many applications; let me just name two, and we definitely can't compete with computer research institutes and aerospace and military projects."

After listening to Zhou Zhiqiang's words, Director Ren realized the situation and, after a moment of contemplation, said, "You're right."

In terms of priority, CNC machine tools are indeed inferior to the other two.

However, the perspective of the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building and its leaders might be different.

The Fourth Ministry of Machine Building felt that it had already given half of the production quota, which was indeed a lot, and therefore it should not ask for any more.

However, the First Ministry of Machine Building and even the Second Machine Tool Plant felt that it was far from enough. The Second Machine Tool Plant could clearly produce more, but the delays caused by semiconductor electronic components were a waste of productivity.

Moreover, Zhou Zhiqiang had other considerations, but those were not suitable to tell Director Ren.

"It's almost time. Let's go to Vice Leader Wu's office first and discuss it with him then."

Director Ren glanced at his watch again, and seeing that it was almost time, he called Zhou Zhiqiang over to come along.

When Director Ren and Zhou Zhiqiang arrived at the leadership office, Shen Changlin, Liu Nianjun, and Lin Tian were already there.

When Deputy Leader Wu saw that Zhou Zhiqiang and Ren Licheng had also arrived, he smiled and said, "Alright, now that everyone is here, we can begin."

"Actually, there's nothing particularly important to say. I mainly want to thank you for overcoming the challenges of the heavy machine tool project, which allows our Eleventh Research Institute to continue its submarine project."

Deputy Leader Wu made some official, polite remarks of thanks, and then talked about awards and commendations.

These are all honorary awards. I only mentioned the material rewards briefly; they are issued by the ministry, and the ministry will arrange for someone to deliver them to their homes.

There's no need to mention it in the office, and we won't talk too much about material rewards either; just know that the department won't treat you unfairly.

They also said that if they were tired, they could take two days off next week to rest, but they had to finish their work first to ensure that they could be found after the leave.

That's basically what I wanted to say. The heavy machine tool project really brought honor to the Ministry of Machinery Industry, as it exceeded its targets.

In particular, although the 11th Research Institute and Liaoyang Shipyard did not specify that they needed CNC machines, Zhou Zhiqiang developed and manufactured heavy-duty CNC machine tools, which greatly improved production efficiency.

Not only did colleagues from other departments call to express their gratitude, but even the deputy leader specifically praised them, giving the Ministry of Machine Building a real boost in prestige.

"That's basically all I wanted to say. You don't need to worry about the rest of the project team; the ministry has already taken everything into consideration."

Deputy Leader Wu said with a smile, "Is there anything else you'd like to add? If not, then we can have some tea now."

"Sir, Comrade Zhiqiang does have something to say about their factory."

Director Ren reminded him, "Do you remember that thing I mentioned to you before, sir?"

(End of this chapter)