I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 80 Chen Changzai's Successful Retirement
The engine roared to life as the overhead crane lifted the converter body and slowly moved the towering furnace to the top of the converter base.

After everyone used ropes to slowly pull and straighten it, the crane operator, under the command of the supervisor, began to slowly lower the converter body.

After a sharp whistle, the inspectors confirmed that the rotating lugs on both sides of the furnace body were perfectly fitted onto the base.

This converter is like a pointed-bottom wine glass suspended in mid-air on a base by trunnions on both sides.

It can be used like a swing, swinging its bottom back and forth to pour out the molten steel from the furnace.

In an air-blown converter, the air comes out from the air passage in the middle of the left trunnion support.

Then it passes through an air groove formed by the central groove on the column and the bearing cover, which encircles the furnace body trunnion.

There is an air inlet on the furnace body's lifting lug.

This air intake is located precisely on the annular groove formed by the support pillar and the roof tile.

High-pressure air enters the trunnion air inlet through the annular groove.

The air inlet has a channel that connects to an air passage that surrounds the inside of the furnace.

Inside the air passageway surrounding the furnace, there are several air nozzles made of high-nickel-chromium alloy that are extremely resistant to high temperatures.

The nickel and chromium in this were obtained by our comrades from the Special Branch.

These nozzles are located two-thirds of the way from the top of the furnace bottom.

During steelmaking, molten iron will overflow the nozzle.

The high-pressure air blown out of the nozzle will bring a large amount of oxygen to the molten iron.

Oxygen fuels the combustion of molten iron, causing it to burn intensely.

The phosphorus and sulfur in the molten iron, which is burning fiercely, are separated by slag-forming agents such as lime, iron ore powder, or iron oxide scale that are added to the furnace.

Finally, the impurities in the molten iron float to the surface, and the molten iron below these impurities becomes a furnace of crude steel.

At this point, the furnace body tilts due to the drive of chains and gears.

The slag on top of the molten steel will be removed first.

Then the ladle was put in place.

The molten steel in the furnace is poured into a ladle, and the ladle carries away the newly produced molten steel.

After the converter pours out the molten steel, it still needs to dump the slag, clean the furnace, and wait for the second batch of molten iron to enter.

The whole process is very fast; it takes only a little over an hour to smelt a batch of crude steel.

Including the time for cleaning the furnace, it takes about two or three hours.

If the furnace needs repair, then you can just replace the furnace.

Steel produced in this way is purer and faster than steel produced by frying in a steel frying tank.

A small converter like this, with a capacity of three tons, can produce four to five furnaces of molten steel per day.

Fourteen or fifteen tons of crude steel were produced.

In the entire converter steelmaking process, the most important part is the high-pressure air blown into the molten iron.

High-pressure air, as the name suggests, is compressed air.

However, this air was not ordinary air; it was oxygen-rich air.

It has a molecular sieve installed at the air inlet of the high-pressure air compressor to first filter impurities and nitrogen from the air.

This oxygen-rich air is then compressed into high-pressure air by a piston air compressor.

When air is compressed, it becomes high-temperature compressed gas.

After the hot and cold air circulates inside, a large amount of moisture will be released.

Water is absolutely not allowed to get into molten iron.

Water will explode when it gets into molten iron.

Therefore, the high-temperature, high-pressure hot air coming out of the compressor will first enter the condenser for the first step of dehydration.

After initial dehydration, the air becomes room-temperature high-pressure air and will then enter a mechanical centrifuge.

High-pressure air drives the centrifugal impeller.

The centrifugal impeller rotates at high speed, which throws out the moisture in the air.

The high-pressure air that has been centrifugally dried still needs a third drying process, which is an air adsorption drying tower equipped with multiple layers of molecular sieves.

This is the same molecular sieve used in the air compressor inlet.

There are many raw materials that can be used as molecular sieve filtration and adsorption materials.

However, Chen Changzai chose zeolite.

Not for any other reason, but because there are zeolite deposits here.

After the high-pressure air has been dried and adsorbed by multiple layers of molecular sieves, there is basically not much moisture and impurities left in it.

This allows the air to enter the molten iron in the converter, causing it to burn intensely.

In fact, almost half of the work done by this air-blown converter is dedicated to serving this air system.

But this is already the simplest method.

If industrial oxygen is produced using cryogenic separation, then it becomes even more complicated.

A temperature of -196 degrees Celsius, which requires air cooling to liquefy, could kill Chen Changzai.

Even if you beat him to death, he still couldn't produce those devices.

Watching the converter body sit steadily on the furnace base.

Chen Changzai smiled and said to Xu Yaojie, the deputy factory director, "Factory director Xu, you deserve great credit for the steel plant's successful establishment this time."

Without your hard work and dedication over the past year, this steel plant could not have been built so quickly.

Director Xu, you deserve the most credit this time.

"Political Commissar He, don't you think Factory Director Xu should be credited with the greatest credit this time?"

Political Commissar He said with a smile, "Director Chen is right. This time, the steel plant will be able to take shape."

Deputy Factory Director Xu truly deserves the greatest credit.

For more than a year, Deputy Factory Director Xu has been living and working almost entirely at the steel plant's construction site.

Every refractory brick and every rivet here embodies the hard work and dedication of Deputy Factory Director Xu. That's why when our first batch of molten steel came out...

I will submit a commendation report to headquarters, and you'll need to sign it, Director Chen.

After listening to Political Commissar He's words, Chen Chang laughed heartily and said, "That's for sure. I must sign this commendation report."

There is a very subtle difference in how Chen Changzai and Political Commissar He address Xu Yaojie as factory director.

From the very beginning, Chen Changzai called Xu Yaojie "Factory Director Xu".

As for who Political Commissar He was, he knew it just by listening to Chen Changzai's choice of words.

When the steel plant produced its first batch of molten steel, it was the time for Chen Changzai to retire gracefully and hand over the reins to a more capable leader.

But we're not there yet.

Therefore, Chen Changzai can call Xu Yaojie "Factory Director Xu," but Political Commissar He cannot call him that.

He still has to call him Deputy Factory Director Xu.

If he is also called Director Xu.

Regardless of whether Chen Changzai intended to step down and yield the position to a more capable person, everyone would feel uncomfortable.

This is not just a problem for Chen Changzai; even Xu Yaojie will have a grudge against it.

But Xu Yaojie, the deputy factory director, wasn't stupid either.

He was also educated and had experienced the baptism of war.

Through decades of ups and downs.

I have experienced all kinds of hardships and seen all kinds of people.

I've been to the gates of hell several times.

How could he not understand what Chen Changzai and Political Commissar He were saying?

Although Chen Chang is only twenty years old this year, he is able to handle everything from mining and smelting to finished product processing.

This is a group of nearly 10,000 people, supported by a large industrial operation.

Even though he is only ten years old, no one dares to underestimate him.

Especially in their team, there are quite a few outstanding individuals who are in their twenties and can assume the important role of legion commander.

Although Xu Yaojie has not only been working diligently with his head down since taking on the important task of building the steel plant, he has also been very dedicated to his work.

During the day, he directed and supervised the construction of the steel plant at the construction site.

In the evenings, he would seize every opportunity to learn about steel plant construction and production.

He didn't just learn from the textbooks and professional books on steel plant construction that his comrades in the Special Branch had obtained.

He also consulted with Master Zhang, the leading expert in smelting and casting, and other smelting and casting masters, seeking their advice on various aspects of smelting.

Moreover, whenever he had the chance, he would ask Chen Changzai for advice on theoretical knowledge that he could not understand from books.

Chen Changzai was always open and honest with him, never hiding anything from him.

In a way, Xu Yaojie was practically Chen Changzai's student.

For Xu Yaojie, the construction of this steel plant over the past year has been a significant undertaking.

It can be described as a complete transformation.

Over the course of more than a year, Xu Yaojie seemed to have undergone an extremely intensive period of study.

He felt that he had learned more in this year than he had in the first half of his life.

When the first batch of steel came out of the steel plant, that was when he graduated from the junior class.

By then, his goal would be to build an even larger steel plant.

But when Chen Changzai suddenly called him factory director instead of deputy factory director today, he was still taken aback.

As long as someone is human, they will have emotions and desires.

These people, however, use their ideals to suppress their personal desires.

They forge ahead for the ideals that everyone upholds.

But having personal desires is not shameful.

This is human nature.

However, within this team, he couldn't control his personal desires.

It is shameful to destroy everyone's ideals for personal gain.

But there are people like Chen Changzai who, just when they were about to achieve success, gracefully withdrew from the scene.

Xu Yaojie truly admired him from the bottom of his heart.

Xu Yaojie quickly said, "Director Chen and Political Commissar He, please be lenient."

At best, I was just a messenger, responsible for relaying messages and doing odd jobs.

How dare I claim any credit?

If we're talking about hard work, then this steel plant was designed by Director Chen from the very beginning, starting with the blueprints.

If we're talking about manpower, then Political Commissar He has never missed a trip here.

For the past year or so, I've just been living a life of leisure here.

He's gained several pounds.

If someone like me dares to take credit, I'll be laughed at and ridiculed to death.

No, no, that won't do.

Chen Changzai, speaking to his old partner Political Commissar He, said with a smile, "Old He, look, there's someone here who doesn't dare to accept credit even though he has done something great."

You'd better work on him a bit.

Political Commissar He laughed at this moment, but when he started speaking to Xu Yaojie, his face suddenly darkened.

Political Commissar He said, "Deputy Factory Director Xu, do you think we're recommending you for merit so you can enjoy a life of luxury?"
What is the merit?
What does merit represent?
As a veteran, have you forgotten even this basic awareness?
If you've forgotten, then I'll tell you again.

Here, merit has never equated to enjoyment, nor does it mean fine clothes, delicacies, mansions, or beautiful women.

Here, merit only means greater responsibility, harder work, and more effort and dedication.

Do you remember it? "

Xu Yaojie immediately stood at attention and said, "Reporting to the political commissar, I understand. Merit means greater responsibility, harder work, and more dedication and contribution."

I will resolutely obey the organization's arrangements.

"Alright, do your job well. When the first batch of molten steel comes out, I'll recommend you for credit. But if anything goes wrong with you, I won't let you off the hook either."

"Yes, I promise to complete the mission."

Chen Changzai watched Political Commissar He reprimand Xu Yaojie, and simply smiled slightly and shook his head gently.

Chen Changzai, who later became the vice president of a large enterprise with tens of thousands of employees.

If someone doesn't have a good grasp of human nature, then the position he holds would have been set on fire long ago.

As a senior leader in a company, if your subordinates make great contributions, but you don't let them take the credit, it's a bad situation.

If you try to take all the credit for yourself, then you, as a leader, will be in trouble sooner or later.

Chen Changzai had seen many people like this.

As a senior leader in a company, when you discover that a capable person has emerged under you.

Then let him do the work. If he needs help, then do your best to help him.

When he makes a contribution, you should promptly and proudly report his achievements.

As your subordinate, if he performs meritorious service, you will naturally also receive credit.

If one of my subordinates makes a mistake, as long as it's not a matter of principle, I will take care of it.

Then you have to help your subordinates take on this responsibility.

Only in this way will your subordinates be willing to risk their lives for you.

Managers who only want to claim credit and not take responsibility will never go far.

Such people are surrounded by sycophants who will abscond with your money before the tree even falls.

Or it's someone who harbors a secret hatred towards you.

These people are always thinking about how to set you on fire.

Whether they gain anything or not is not important; what matters is that they can burn you to death.

Today, Xu Yaojie can be considered the most meritorious contributor in the construction of this steel plant.

If Chen Changzai still thinks of others as just a construction foreman.

Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble later?

Besides, with so many things to do right now, how could I possibly have the time or energy to carefully manage the steel mill?

Just like all the factories, big and small, that he owns now.

He almost always trained them and then handed them over to people who were good at managing the factory.

At most, he can only provide technical support.

What he is increasingly eager to do now is to find a way to improve the team's technical equipment as soon as possible.

Now, he and his factories have gradually formed a pattern.

That is, Chen Changzai was mainly responsible for the design and development of new equipment.

Meanwhile, the managers of the various mines and factories below were doing everything they could to increase production capacity.

If Chen Changzai were to manage all these matters by himself, even if he were split into eighteen pieces, it wouldn't be enough.

Just like the nearly ten iron mines that have already been opened, and dozens of coal mines of various sizes, as well as copper and molybdenum mines in Daqingshan.

Other small mines have also been discovered.

The issues involved here are truly numerous and complex.

From mining to primary processing, to transportation, to protection.

It would take Chen Changzai half a year to travel through all these places.

And this is just the beginning.

The various factories that follow this production line...

They can scare people to death.

If Chen Changzai doesn't even understand delegating authority and division of labor, then he is in trouble.

He wouldn't have been able to become the company's vice president in his past life.

(End of this chapter)