Courtyard House: Starting as a mediocre engineer

On the street, Director Wang was receiving several important guests. Apart from Zhuang Zhongchen, the other two were leaders from the Equipment Department of the Public Security Bureau.

"Director Wang, Section Chief Qian and Section Chief Zhang are here to discuss cooperation. They want to establish a new police equipment factory to specialize in producing stun batons."

"Cooperation? Police equipment factory? Electric batons?"

"Yes, that's what we're thinking..."

After testing the stun guns, the police officers immediately fell in love with them. Their use against some tough criminals even led to the cracking of several major cases. This delighted the entire Public Security Bureau, and they immediately decided to purchase a batch of stun guns.

The equipment department then found Zhuang Zhongchen, who then recommended his own street.

However, after the initial contact, the parties had a new idea – could they simply establish a police equipment factory in one step?

"Director Wang, we really do need such a specialized factory. Besides supplying powerful departments like the public security, procuratorate, and courts, it can also serve the security departments of enterprises and institutions. There's no need to worry about the market prospects, and we can even develop new products."

"Developing new products?"

"Exactly! For example, shields can effectively protect frontline officers. We can't just be carrying around small firecrackers while investigating cases, can we?"

Director Wang nodded, seemingly lost in thought. They were all foxes from the same mountain, why were they singing tales from *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio*? Director Wang already knew perfectly well what Zhuang Zhongchen and his group's true intentions were.

This involves factory investment. This period was quite special. If a new state-owned factory were to be built, approval from higher authorities was required, along with the establishment of staffing and job positions.

In this day and age, the first step in building a new factory is to determine its organizational structure—where will the investment come from? What will be the factory's level? How many departments will the factory have? How many managers will there be? How many ordinary employees…

To be honest, the investment funds are relatively easy to secure. The local government is a major consumer of dogs anyway. If all else fails, the Public Security Bureau can also squeeze out some funds for equipment.

But the key issue is staffing and job allocation. There are only a tiny number of available positions each year, so why would the higher-ups approve a new factory for you?

This is precisely why the Public Security Bureau was completely clueless when faced with the staffing and posting system. Should they reduce the number of police officers and allocate the quota to this police equipment factory? That was clearly impossible.

Therefore, it is essential for the local government to step in and find a way to secure a number of positions.

Of course, the local government also benefits considerably. At the very least, it helps create jobs for a number of unemployed young people.

Therefore, after hearing the introduction, Director Wang was clearly tempted. However, she still hesitated: "To be honest, I can help you draft the application report and personally handle the procedures for you. But this is a very large opportunity, one that our subdistrict can't handle. It's at least a district-owned enterprise, and might even be a city-owned enterprise. So we need a better reason."

"Reason? Why not use an electric baton?"

"Let's be frank, it's a difficult situation. I understand that stun guns are very important to your police force. But other factories are equally important! Generally speaking, the priority is either national defense or foreign trade. Otherwise, there might be a long waiting list. After all, stun guns are still civilian products. Police equipment is still a civilian product, right?"

Several people frowned slightly. After a moment of silence, Zhuang Zhongchen suddenly had an idea: "Director Wang, and Director Qian, I have a preliminary thought!"

"It's nothing. Tell me what happened."

"Since it's a police equipment factory, we can add a new product—stab-proof vests and stab-proof gloves. They can withstand controlled knives used by adults."

"Oh? You have this too?"

"Of course, we can study it! Judging from the current technological conditions, it is relatively easy to achieve."

"That's good. But isn't that also police equipment?"

"Yes, they can be categorized by level! The lower level is stab-proof vests, while the higher level becomes bulletproof vests. From protection against grenade fragments to pistol bullets, to protection against submachine gun and rifle bullets, they can also be divided into several levels."

"Huh? Can you really do that?"

"Of course it has drawbacks, and its practicality is not great at present. But it can still be very useful in special situations. The military will definitely purchase a small amount, and it can also be used as a technical reserve. Once there is a breakthrough in materials, wouldn't it be possible to popularize it? To put it bluntly: it will definitely be a good reason."

At that time, there were no new bulletproof materials such as Kevlar or composite materials, but the principle of bulletproof vests was the same; it was simply a matter of finding some alternative materials. Widespread adoption was certainly impossible, but some prototypes could still be produced.

To be honest, having these military samples would greatly improve one's chances of passing the qualification review.

Upon hearing this, Director Wang was equally pleased: "Zhuang Ke, how confident are you?"

"I can provide the design drawings, as well as the complete design data for the stun baton. If it's just an attachment to the application report, there shouldn't be any problem. But for specific research, a professional research institution will definitely be needed. I can't do it all by myself."

"That's good! Director Qian, Section Chief Zhang, once the police equipment factory approves, we will definitely give priority to your family members and children."

Qian and his colleagues smiled; this was exactly what they wanted. Which organization wouldn't go to great lengths to secure jobs for its own personnel?

"That's wonderful. Director Wang, we look forward to your good news."

"Sure! I have many old comrades-in-arms and a few former superiors in the district and city. I'll ask them for help."

"..."

In the early days of the People's Republic of China, many street-level cadres were military dependents, and these older women wielded immense influence. Their influence cannot be simply measured by rank; many of their relationships were forged through years of war and camaraderie.

Sure enough, just one week later, the police equipment factory received approval. The approved staffing was 220 personnel.

To clarify: these are all people with official government positions. There are also large collectives with at least 2-300 positions outside of these positions. These require separate approval.

What's even more exciting is that I've actually completed all the main quests?! Holy crap, I've completed them all!

[Task Settlement]

First, 23 good deeds were recorded;

Second, it created 52 jobs.

Third, seven criminals were arrested.

Task completion rate: Grade A.

Rewards: 171 shopping vouchers. 83 skill points.

Note 1: This special intelligence has been fully completed, and new special intelligence purchases are now available.

Note 2: Existing side quests can continue. However, new side quests will no longer be available.

Of course, for the police equipment factory, this is just the beginning of preparations, and formal production is still a long way off. They need to build new factory buildings, purchase new equipment, and also need to transfer cadres, recruit workers, and so on.

For Zhuang Zhongchen, there was also a lot of after-sales service to be provided. He needed to perfect all the documentation, draw all the blueprints…

Therefore, in the days leading up to the Spring Festival, Zhuang Zhongchen suddenly became very busy...