The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 289 Another Day of Dazzling Achievements

"To pursue accountability, my suggestion is to discuss the matter with the labor union, dismiss the employee, and then directly submit the case to the court for sentencing."

Before Yue Ruifeng could finish speaking, Wu Youcai couldn't help but say, "Director Yue, isn't this too harsh? Is it really necessary to dismiss him and send him to court for just one offense?"

“This wasn’t a one-time thing; it was something they did many times before they were caught. If Secretary Zhou hadn’t suggested a self-investigation and hadn’t asked our disciplinary inspection department to get involved, do you think they would have admitted it, Director Wu?”

Yue Ruifeng glanced at Wu Youcai and continued, "And you also have to write a self-criticism, Director Wu. Although what you did was a so-called 'industry practice,' it doesn't mean that the factory rules and regulations support you doing so!"

This is enriching oneself at the expense of the public and undermining socialism.

"Director Yue, you..."

Upon hearing this, Wu Youcai was immediately furious, but he didn't dare to say anything more. There was indeed something stuck to his butt, which made him lack confidence in his speech.

"Director Yue, we can't do this. You're essentially laying off the purchasing department from our factory all at once, which will paralyze at least half of our logistics work."

Zhou Zhiqiang offered his advice, saying that although he had a strong personality, he still preferred to punish those who knew how to admit their mistakes and to learn from their mistakes.

"You need to come up with a punishment plan and resolve it within the factory, so that they learn a profound lesson, but don't paralyze the purchasing department."

For comrades who voluntarily admit their mistakes, we should focus on helping them correct their errors; as for those in the canteen and warehouse, my suggestion is to make them return the stolen goods, and then subject them to rigorous labor reform until they understand the meaning of repentance.”

Although Director Yue felt that this was too lenient, he could not completely ignore what Zhou Zhiqiang said.

"Secretary, I will present you with a solution for your consideration, but I still hope that the discipline inspection department can intervene in the investigation."

"Okay, that's fine. How long will it take?"

Zhou Zhiqiang asked, "Send me a report after this is over. The solution needs to be sent to me first."

"I understand, Secretary."

Yue Ruifeng nodded and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll go and get back to work, Secretary."

Zhou Zhiqiang nodded and said, "Go ahead."

After Yue Ruifeng left, Wu Youcai said with some remorse, "Factory manager, this is all my fault for not supervising properly."

"Be more careful in the future, and make sure nothing like this happens again."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "It's just that the matter was discovered early, so it's not too serious yet. If a few people from our factory were sent to the firing range, then I, the Party Secretary, would be truly famous."

"Alright, go ahead and get busy. Cooperate with Director Yue's investigation, and don't resist."

"I understand, factory manager."

After Wu Youcai finished speaking, he got up, said goodbye, and left.

After Wu Youcai left the office, Zhou Zhiqiang continued to work.

The Party Secretary and Factory Director didn't seem to keep Zhou Zhiqiang too busy. He delegated many of the tasks under his supervision to the Deputy Factory Director, leaving Zhou Zhiqiang to oversee everything.

Right now, I'm actually busiest on car manufacturing research and development.

Zhou Zhiqiang's desk is quite large; it's almost big enough to be used as a single bed.

The desk is now covered with densely packed drawings and calculations, the most eye-catching of which is the engine assembly design drawing by Zhou Zhiqiang.

However, there are still many areas that need improvement. There are too many components involved, and Zhou Zhiqiang needs to review and finalize them one by one before he can complete the final design that night.

Once he had finished dealing with the factory's affairs and was not disturbed, Zhou Zhiqiang began to continue researching and designing car engines.

"If the cylinder diameter is 92 mm and the stroke is 95 mm, the displacement will be around 2.5 liters."

Zhou Zhiqiang did the mental calculation once, but felt he needed to be on the safe side, so he recalculated it on the draft paper.

It was indeed too time-consuming for Zhou Zhiqiang to be in charge of such a large project by himself, but there was no other way, as this was what Zhou Zhiqiang wanted to do.

There's no support available now. There's no one in the Jiuzhou Machine Tool Plant who knows how to manufacture cars. It's already quite good that the technical department can spare three technicians for him.

"There are still quite a few problems to be solved with carburetors."

After clicking his tongue twice, Zhou Zhiqiang thought to himself that building cars is not an easy task, otherwise a large number of car factories would not have emerged and then a large number of them would not have gone bankrupt.

Only a few dozen car factories survived in the past, and only a dozen or so were actually capable of manufacturing cars. The rest were parts factories and assembly plants.

a few days later.

The disciplinary inspection department also uncovered a detailed investigation, and then Director Yue brought the investigation results and proposed disciplinary actions to Zhou Zhiqiang's office to report.

"Secretary, most of the people's situations are similar to what they voluntarily confessed. For those who do show remorse, I think we can give them lighter punishments and focus on education."
However, some people show no remorse, embezzling large amounts of public resources and then trying to cover it up and get away with it. For such people, my suggestion is to severely punish them!

While giving his report, Yue Ruifeng handed Zhou Zhiqiang a report on the findings of the disciplinary inspection department's investigation.

Most of the other cases were handled according to Zhou Zhiqiang's instructions, except for two people in the procurement department who had some issues.

They were essentially making a living from both ends, earning a salary from the factory and the commune below, which allowed them to earn over a thousand yuan.

"Alright, proceed according to your suggestion. Have the security department arrest these two and then send them to court."

Zhou Zhiqiang said without any objection that he could give those who repented a chance to correct their mistakes, but he would let those who were stubborn and unyielding go.

Yue Ruifeng said, "Okay, Secretary, I'll go to the security department to get the person right away."

Their disciplinary inspection department doesn't have many people, so it would be bad if they encountered resistance when making arrests. It would be better to let the security department handle it.

That's good. With these two examples to make an example of, the factory should be more peaceful for a while and there shouldn't be so many messy things happening again.

"Director Yue, your discipline inspection department can set up more mailing mailboxes in the factory and inform everyone in the factory."

If you encounter any related issues, send a report to your designated email address; please consider the placement of the email address so that the whistleblower feels comfortable refusing to report.

Upon hearing this, Yue Ruifeng's eyes lit up and he said, "Secretary, your idea is great. Our discipline inspection department is too conspicuous, and there are very few people who actually dare to come and report us."

But if I were to write a letter to report it, I'm sure many people would be willing to let me go back and make arrangements.”

"However, there are downsides as well. Someone might report you with a retaliatory mindset, thinking that a letter is worthless anyway, so you need to carefully verify the information."

Zhou Zhiqiang instructed, "Don't make any mistakes. If your discipline inspection department makes a mistake, it will be a huge blow to the image of our organization."

Yue Ruifeng quickly assured him, "I understand, Secretary. We will definitely verify the facts thoroughly before reporting to you to make the arrest."

Zhou Zhiqiang nodded and said, "Okay, then you go ahead and get busy." With this reporting channel, similar to the secret memorial system, some bad practices can be curbed to some extent.

The disciplinary inspection department will be busy from now on. This anonymous report will definitely make some people think about retaliation, and there may even be someone else reporting him, the secretary and factory director.

------

Time flies, and autumn is almost over.

Ring ring ring!
The phone in the factory manager's office kept ringing, but the office was empty at the moment, as Zhou Zhiqiang had just left.

But the phone kept ringing, and Zhang Yaoguo happened to hear it outside, so he pushed open the door and came in.

Upon reaching the desk, he picked up the phone and said, "This is the office of the factory director of Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory. Director Zhou is out. May I ask who you are?"

On the other end of the phone, Deputy Factory Director Hou spoke up: "Section Chief Zhang? This is Hou Yufeng. Where is the factory director?"

Zhang Yaoguo said, "The factory director has either gone to the workshop or the technical department. Deputy Factory Director Hou, is there something urgent?"
I can go to the factory manager now and have him call you back later.

Deputy Factory Director Hou said, "I'm quite anxious. The results of the foreign trade orders from the Canton Fair are in. If the factory director isn't too busy, please have him call me back. I'm back at the hotel now, waiting here."

"Okay, Deputy Factory Director Hou, I'll go to the factory and find the factory director right away."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yaoguo immediately went to find Zhou Zhiqiang.

The release of the summary results for foreign trade orders from the Canton Fair is indeed a major event for their factory.

What made Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory famous was its formidable ability to generate foreign exchange.

One factory can generate more foreign exchange than an entire province.

Zhang Yaoguo didn't actually know where Zhou Zhiqiang had gone. He had just seen Zhou Zhiqiang come downstairs and assumed he was either going to the restroom or the workshop.

However, after looking around, he couldn't find Zhou Zhiqiang. Then he thought that he might be in the office on the fourth floor.

When Zhang Yaoguo arrived at the fourth-floor office, he knocked on the door and then pushed it open. He saw Zhou Zhiqiang talking to three other technicians.

The room was also filled with blueprints, and there were even stacks of blueprints and books on the sofa.

"Factory Director, Deputy Factory Director Hou called you. He wants to report to you about the Canton Fair."

"Deputy Factory Director Hou? Okay, I understand. Wait a moment."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang said to Liu Jingchuan and the other two, "Next, I need to arrange for you to go on a business trip. Two of you will go to Jilin Province, and one of you will stay behind to coordinate with the Second Machine Tool Factory and the Steel Plant."

Jingchuan, you need to go with the purchasing department. Who else is willing to go? It's mainly to check the quality of some parts; just spot checks are fine. Once you've made sure there are no problems, the rest is up to the purchasing department.

"I'll go, factory manager."

Another technician, Wei Daming, said, "Mingchuan just got married, let him stay in Beijing. Jingchuan and I will make the trip."

"Alright, you can go and discuss the itinerary with the purchasing department. Prepare everything you need to bring in advance, and let's set off soon."

After giving a few instructions, Zhou Zhiqiang left the office with Zhang Yaoguo.

Back in his office, Zhou Zhiqiang picked up the phone and dialed Hou Yufeng's number.

After the call connected, Zhou Zhiqiang asked directly, "Deputy Factory Director Hou, the Canton Fair is over, right? How was it?"

"It's still great news, Factory Manager. Our machine tools are very popular, and we've attracted visitors from many more countries this year than last year. I heard that eleven European countries alone have sent us."

After listening for a while, Zhou Zhiqiang couldn't help but interrupt and said, "Let's get down to business, get straight to the results!"

"Oh, factory manager, the foreign trade department has placed an order for 4,700 units, of which only 700 are composite CNC machine tools, and the rest are G1 model CNC machine tools."
If it were in US dollars, it would be about 170 million US dollars!! Factory manager, even if it were in Chinese yuan, it would exceed 400 million!

That is, the CNC machine tool that was first developed.

Zhou Zhiqiang breathed a slight sigh of relief when he heard that the order for the composite CNC machine tool was only for 700 units.

If they were to produce two thousand units or even more at once, their factory would be working itself to the bone again.

Because of its technology and functions, the price of composite CNC machine tools is slightly higher, at about $42,000 per unit, but even so, 700 units have been produced.

Then I heard from Deputy Factory Director Hou that France was the largest buyer, ordering 600 units at once.

Hearing that country was not surprising to Zhou Zhiqiang; it could very well be France.

At this time, they would use the alternatives to Amer products if available, and only use Amer products if none were available.

America may have also developed composite CNC machine tools, but when their functions and quality are roughly equivalent to those of composite CNC machine tools produced in China, France will probably choose theirs.

"Factory manager, our factory is number one in the country again, still number one! This time we've secured an order worth a whopping $170 million."

"Hehe, Deputy Factory Director Hou, you're getting ahead of yourself. It's not like all of this was produced by our factory."

Zhou Zhiqiang smiled and said, "This is the total production that our factory and other machine tool factories will produce. Next year, including our factory, at least four machine tool factories will be producing CNC machine tools."

However, their factory is still the main player, and other machine tool factories have also invested in expanding their workshops and facilities to produce CNC machine tools.

However, in terms of production efficiency, it is far inferior to Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory.

Their Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory was the first machine tool factory to develop CNC machine tools and make large-scale investments in the renovation of its workshops.

"It's alright, it's alright, our factory will still take the lion's share anyway; Factory Director, you didn't see what happened just now, our factory's people are the center of attention wherever they go, they're just too... too eye-catching."

Deputy Factory Director Hou couldn't help but say that this feeling was really comfortable for him.

The deputy-level leaders of the foreign trade department always greeted him with smiles, and when other units heard that they were from Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory, they exclaimed in surprise and looked at him with envy.

In the past two days, Deputy Factory Director Hou has even given two interviews to the newspaper.

"Then enjoy it. This is an honor that our factory deserves. You are also representing our factory."

After Zhou Zhiqiang smiled, he asked, "Deputy Factory Director Hou, when will it be finished over there?"

"About a week later, although our booth has been dismantled, the foreign trade department still needs our factory's people to cooperate and communicate with some foreigners."
This will probably take three or four days; we've already bought tickets for five days from now.

"Okay, then be careful on the road."

"Yes, Factory Manager!"

(End of this chapter)