Siheyuan: After becoming a traitor, first let the Huai Ru River overflow its banks.

Director Li regretted saying those words; Li Jianjun was really impolite.

The words have already been spoken, how can they be taken back?

"Brother Jianjun, hurry up and park the car, let's go inside."

Li Ying came over and tried to grab Li Jianjun's arm, but Li Jianjun skillfully dodged her.

Zhang Jian was still watching intently from the side, not wanting to give him the image of a love rival.

"Director Li, who are these three?"

As Director Li walked inside, she introduced the place to him.

"This is Zhang Xinsheng, a close friend of mine. This is his wife, and this is his son, Zhang Jian."

Li Jianjun greeted them politely, and Zhang Jian's anger slowly subsided.

However, he became increasingly eager to find out what the relationship was between Li Jianjun and Li Ying.

It's good that you come over for dinner; it'll give me a chance to observe you more closely.

With just a few words, the other person poured him a drink.

"Old Zhang, this is Li Jianjun, the head of the security department of our Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill."

Zhang Xinsheng had a very good first impression of Li Jianjun, and that wasn't because he was good-looking.

Rather, to be able to become the head of the security department at such a young age, one must possess some extraordinary abilities.

When Zhang Xinsheng was his age, he was just an ordinary worker.

He worked diligently until he was thirty-five years old, when he was promoted by chance and then rose steadily in his official career.

"Li Jianjun, that's a good name."

"Nice to meet you."

Unlike Zhang Jian, Zhang Xinsheng admired the young man. In contrast, his own son, Zhang Jian, was already in his twenties and still did nothing all day.

"Young man, please, let's have a meal together today."

With Zhang Xinsheng's approval, Li Jianjun felt even more confident.

Following Zhang Xinsheng into Fengzeyuan, this time they requested a private room.

The group slowly walked to the private room on the second floor, where the ordered dishes were served one after another.

After a few rounds of drinks, Mr. Zhang became quite talkative.

There had been rumors from above that he would be transferred to the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

This is a very difficult problem for him.

Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill is a large factory with 10,000 employees, and now it is state-owned. In theory, it should be thriving.

It is precisely because everyone knows that Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill was acquired from a private individual.

In the beginning, the managers were clueless and directed their employees like headless flies.

Most of the employees below were also brought in through nepotism.

Over time, this led to a situation where there were too many people and too little actual work. There seemed to be a lot of people, but very few of them were actually capable of doing real work.

The steel output of the entire Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill has been declining year after year, while a large number of people still need to be supported.

The production tasks assigned by the higher-ups were extremely heavy, which explains why Director Yang was overwhelmed.

In other words, when he was transferred to Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, he faced a series of long-standing and difficult problems.

“Sigh, Lao Zhang, if I had known the current situation at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, I would never have transferred here.”

Factory Director Zhang said jokingly.

This also reveals the anxiety in Director Zhang's heart.

Yes, whoever takes over the mess that is Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill will be in trouble.

"That's not entirely true, Director Zhang. As long as you have a keen eye, our Hongxingzhao Steel Plant still has the potential to succeed."

Li Jianjun was full of optimism. After all, he had been given a second chance at life, and he had also conducted specialized research on the steelmaking industry.

This era is one of moving away from manual labor and towards semi-mechanization.

In the 1960s, the steel industry was struggling.

The aftermath of the Great Leap Forward's steel production campaign led people to start thinking about practical and effective measures to truly increase steel production after the initial frenzy.

In 1960, the Ma'anshan Steel Rolling Mill had already begun to gradually replace manual labor with semi-mechanized processes.

This is the only way to significantly increase steel production.

Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill also sent people to learn from others, but the results were minimal.

Therefore, Zhang Xinsheng was filled with various anxieties about the upcoming transfer.

"Young man, tell me. How can we increase steel production?"

Zhang Xinsheng asked Li Jianjun curiously.

Zhang Jian dismissed Zhang Xinsheng's unusual attitude toward Li Jianjun with disdain.

"Dad, do you think a security chief would understand anything about production?"

Even Li Ying, who was trying to argue her point, felt she couldn't speak up for Li Jianjun at this moment.

Li Jianjun seemed confident.

"Mr. Zhang is right. I am indeed an outsider to steel production, but I do have a few suggestions."

Zhang Xinsheng thought Li Jianjun's humility meant he was inexperienced and an outsider.

Unexpectedly, Li Jianjun then began to speak eloquently.

"Currently, the domestic steel industry is developing from manual to semi-mechanized. I feel that our Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill should also learn from Ansteel's experience and introduce semi-automated machines to replace manual labor."

"Semi-automated machines can achieve more than ten times the efficiency of ordinary people, which can greatly increase steel production."

"On the other hand, to increase steel production, we need to start with some small tricks. For example, adding quicklime to sintered ore can increase the temperature of carbon fixation in the mixture and the temperature of the exhaust fan, which can increase steel production by at least five to six kilograms."

"Preheating of molten iron can be tested in the blast furnace to reduce the selenium content in the iron, which can shorten the refining time of each batch of steel by one to one and a half hours."

"Another method can be adopted: high-temperature, rapid smelting, layered mixing and thorough feeding in an open-hearth furnace, which can shorten the average smelting time of a furnace by nineteen minutes."

Chapter 202 Li Jianjun's Insightful View

After this long and eloquent discussion, Zhang Xinsheng listened with utter astonishment, as if he were witnessing a divine revelation.

As the saying goes, experts listen to the details, while laymen just listen to the spectacle.

Zhang Xinsheng is one of those insiders; he's worked in steelmaking his whole life.

He has worked in various positions in steelmaking.

That's why he has a better understanding of the entire steelmaking process.

Li Jianjun's words hit the nail on the head regarding the various problems that currently exist in steel rolling mills.

"Young man, is this really what you thought?"

Are you sure you haven't worked in the steel rolling mill?

Without twenty or thirty years of experience working in a steel rolling mill, one simply couldn't come up with such constructive suggestions.

Director Li has always worked in logistics, but he's not an expert in that area.

"Old Zhang, what's up? Did Little Li hit the nail on the head?"

Mr. Zhang, it's as if Columbus discovered a new continent, and he's now re-evaluating this young man.

"Old Li, he's not just hitting the nail on the head, he's bringing about a major innovation to the steel rolling mill."

This entirely new concept was impacting Zhang Xinsheng's mind.

Who would have thought that a mere security chief would possess such unique insights into increasing steel production, surpassing even those who had worked at the steel mill for two or three decades?

“This is really my own idea. Although I work at the steel mill, I also have to care about the steel rolling mill and consider its future.”

"To be honest, I've been following Technician Ran around to learn from others these past few days, and I've gained a lot of inspiration in the process."

"For this reason, I even consulted foreign books..."

This caused Zhang Xinsheng's attitude towards Li Jianjun to make a complete 180-degree turn.

"Xiao Li, you're really a talent."

"Come, come, let me pour you a glass of wine."

Director Li and his family of three were completely dumbfounded.

It just so happened that Jianjun happened to run into this person, and ended up chatting with Zhang Xinsheng.

Who is Zhang Xinsheng? He's a factory director in other places, and his position is very high.

The fact that a department-level official like him would pour wine for a young man speaks volumes about his respect for the young man.

"That won't do, I'll do it myself."

Li Jianjun stood up, picked up the wine pot, and poured a cup for Zhang Xinsheng first.

"Mr. Zhang, it is my great honor to meet you today."

"Then I'll toast you first."

Li Jianjun then poured himself a glass and drank it all in one gulp, which showed his sincerity.

At this moment, Li Ying had a lot of doubts in her heart.

She called Li Jianjun over just to spite Zhang Jian, that rich kid.

But he does nothing all day and keeps bothering me, it's driving me crazy.

But Li Jianjun chatted enthusiastically with Zhang Xinsheng as soon as they met, and Zhang Xinsheng didn't even have a chance to show off.

Zhang Jian, standing to the side, shared the same mindset.

The reason he kept pestering his parents to invite the Li family to dinner was simply to confirm his relationship with Li Ying.