Reborn in 1950: Shorting the Federal Reserve at the Start

In winter, the wind on the Songliao Plain is as hard as a knife, stinging your face.

But at this moment, the Sartu Wasteland was a scene of bustling activity. Dozens of towering drilling rigs stood like steel giants on the snow-covered land, red flags fluttered in the cold wind, and the roar of engines shattered the silence of millennia.

This place is no longer the place of hardship where "a single star shines in the blue sky, and a bonfire glows red across the desolate plain."

Heavy trucks loaded with drill pipes and casings drove over the frozen black earth, kicking up clouds of snow, and drove directly to the base of the derrick.

Wang Jinxi stood on the drilling platform, holding the brake lever in his hand. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, yet they shone with an alarming intensity.

"Wow! This foreign gadget is awesome!"

He looked at the rapidly spinning turntable beneath his feet, feeling the powerful vibrations emanating from his skin, and couldn't help but roar:

"Back in Yumen, moving a drill bit was a laborious task, requiring people to pull and carry it on their shoulders, shouting slogans as they pushed it up. Now, it's so much better! A giant crane hooks it up, and 'whoosh,' it's up there! This isn't work, it's pure bliss!"

His apprentice, Xiao Ma, who was recording data nearby, cheerfully chimed in:

"Captain, the hydraulic system Director Shen provided us is incredibly powerful! The progress we made in one day is equivalent to what we used to do in half a month!"

"Stop talking nonsense! Keep your eyes on the pressure gauge!"

Although Wang Jinxi praised the machine, he remained vigilant for a moment. He knew that what lay beneath the ground was treasure, but also a tiger.

The deeper you drill, the greater the pressure from the ground; a slight mishap could result in well destruction and loss of life.

"1200 meters deep!"

"The mud's specific gravity is 1.5!"

"Keep drilling! Increase the pressure!"

Wang Jinxi's roar drowned out the machine's hum. He was like a general commanding a vast army, his eyes fixed on the drill rod that was constantly drilling deeper into the earth.

Shen Jinghong stood by the command vehicle not far away, wrapped in a military overcoat, holding a thermos in her hand, quietly watching this scene.

"Chief, Captain Wang has been working himself to the bone these past few days."

Chen Weiguo stood to the side, exhaling a puff of white breath. "He hasn't left the drilling platform for three days. He's been eating whatever's available up there. You should talk to him and tell him not to ruin his health."

"You can't persuade them otherwise."

Shen Jinghong shook his head, his gaze deep:

"He's an iron man. An iron man doesn't need rest; what he needs is oil. Only when he sees the oil gushing out can his soul return to his stomach."

Just then.

"Buzz—!!!"

A chilling, eerie howl suddenly emanated from the depths of the well.

Immediately afterwards, the drill rod, which had been rotating smoothly, suddenly trembled, as if it had been bitten hard by some monster underground, and emitted a piercing metallic scraping sound.

"Oh no! A well is gushing out!"

Wang Jinxi's expression changed drastically, and he roared, "Lift the drill! Lift the drill now! The pressure gauge has exploded!"

The high-pressure oil and gas layer at the bottom of the well was drilled through, and the enormous formation pressure surged wildly up the wellbore. The surface of the mud in the mud pit began to churn violently, like boiling water.

This is a sign of an impending blowout!

If it's not stopped immediately, the well will be ruined, and the entire drilling rig could even be blown away!

"Add more crystal powder! Quickly add mud! Push the pressure back down!"

Wang Jinxi threw down the brake and ran wildly toward the mud pit.

The scene was in complete chaos.

The soldiers and laborers carried heavy bags of barite powder and stumbled as they poured them into the mud pit.

However, the mixer in the mud pit suddenly started emitting black smoke due to overload, and then "clicked" and stopped!

If the mud is not mixed evenly, it cannot form a sufficient specific gravity to control the well.

Looking at the rising mud level and the wellhead that was about to spiral out of control, Wang Jinxi's eyes turned red with anxiety.

"Damn it! They let us down at the crucial moment!"

He flung off his sheepskin coat, revealing his undershirt, and reached for his belt, clearly intending to jump into the icy mud pit and use his body as a mixer, just like in history!

"Get out of the way! I'm getting off!"

Wang Jinxi roared, already stepping one leg onto the edge of the pool.

"Stop right there!"

A sharp shout rang in his ears like a thunderclap.

Shen Jinghong had somehow rushed to the edge of the mud pit. He grabbed Wang Jinxi's arm with astonishing strength and pulled the Shandong man back.

"What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?!"

Shen Jinghong glared, her face full of anger:

"This mud is highly alkaline. If you jump in in the dead of winter, do you even want your legs anymore?"

"Chief! We can't worry about that now!"

Wang Jinxi was so anxious that tears welled up in his eyes, and he pointed at the well and roared:

"Without a mixer, the mud will settle and won't be able to hold the well shut! If this well is abandoned, how can we explain it to the country? How can we explain it to Chairman Mao? Even if I, Wang Jinxi, lose both my legs, I will save this well!"

"Who said we don't have a blender?"

Shen Jinghong snorted coldly, but didn't let go. Instead, he turned and shouted at the truck convoy behind him:

"Vehicle number two! Bring me that spare 'Shenzhou-1' automatic concrete mixer pump! Immediately! Right now!"

"boom--"

A heavy truck quickly reversed and stopped beside the mud pit.

On the truck bed, a uniquely shaped red machine with thick pipes was revealed.

"Take over! Activate!"

Following Shen Jinghong's command, several technicians quickly inserted suction pipes and nozzles into the mud pit.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—"

The high-powered diesel engine roared like a beast.

The automatic mixing pump instantly started running at full speed, and the enormous suction and high-pressure jet created a terrifying vortex in the mud pool. The originally settled barite powder was evenly stirred up within seconds, and the specific gravity of the mud rapidly increased.

"What...what is this?"

Wang Jinxi was stunned, pulling up his pants and staring blankly at the machine that was working frantically.

"This was prepared especially for you."

Shen Jinghong picked up the sheepskin coat from the ground and draped it over Wang Jinxi's shoulders. Although her tone was stern, it carried a reassuring warmth.

"Wang Jinxi, listen to me carefully."

"You are an iron man, a banner for our oil front. Your body is the nation's capital, not something to fill mud pits!"

He pointed to the roaring machine, his eyes resolute:

"This is the new China now. We have the technology and the equipment. This kind of desperate, clumsy method must never be used again!"

"Keep your good health on your side, drill more wells for the country, and extract more oil—that would be the greatest contribution!"

Wang Jinxi looked at Shen Jinghong, then at the machine that was more effective than ten people mixing things, his lips trembled, and he couldn't say a word for a long time.

After a long silence, he wiped away the tears and sweat from his face and nodded heavily.

"Chief, I'll do as you say! I'll keep my life to drill for oil for the country!"

"The mud gravity meets the standard! Control the well!"

With Wang Jinxi's command, the high-density mud was blasted into the bottom of the well along the pipeline.

The once restless wellhead gradually calmed down.

The earth's pressure, which seemed capable of destroying the world, was forcefully suppressed.

The crisis is over.

Everyone collapsed onto the snow, panting heavily, but their faces wore smiles of relief.

"That was close..."

Wang Jinxi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and was about to take out a cigarette from his pocket.

Sudden.

The ground beneath their feet trembled violently once again.

This time, it's not a warning sign of a blowout.

Rather, it is a joyful rhythm from the depths of the earth.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The drill rod sounded like it was being struck hard from below, producing a series of dull, loud noises.

Shen Jinghong's eyes suddenly lit up.

He strode to the derrick, stared intently at the dark well opening, and a wildly joyful smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

coming.

finally come.

"Everyone back off! Quickly!"

Shen Jinghong shouted and pulled Wang Jinxi away.

"Director, what's wrong? Is another gushing out?" Wang Jinxi hadn't reacted yet.

"It's not a blowout!"

Shen Jinghong turned around, her smile brighter than the sunshine, her voice filled with barely suppressed excitement:

"It's a dragon! A black dragon is about to set sail!"

Before he could finish speaking...

"boom--!!!"

A deafening roar shattered the tranquility of the wasteland.

The blowout preventer at the wellhead was forced open by the enormous pressure.

A jet-black, viscous liquid column, emitting a pungent odor, roared like an angry black dragon, breaking free of its restraints and shooting straight into the sky a hundred meters high!

Black raindrops fell from the sky.

That's oil.

It is the lifeblood of industry.

It's the oil that this country has been hoping for for a century!