Courtyard House: Initial Donation of 50 Million

The joy of Hongxing United Industrial Corporation's (hereinafter referred to as "Hongxing General Factory") upgrade had barely faded when the intense and demanding tasks of expansion and production came one after another. According to the instructions of the Ministry of Industry and the Central Government, the expansion projects of the Hongxing brand automobile manufacturing branch and the confidential workshop of the three-axis CNC machine tool had to be accelerated! Large-scale production had to be achieved as soon as possible to meet the growing international and domestic demand, especially to ensure the supply of equipment for key national projects.

Newly appointed Party Secretary Yao Jianghe demonstrated strong organizational and coordination abilities. He personally oversaw the project, establishing a command center and drawing on top personnel from various partner units, prioritizing the supply of building materials and construction machinery. At the construction site, red flags fluttered, and slogans abounded: "One hundred days of battle to build a new workshop!" and "Build cars for the motherland, dedicate machine tools to the revolution!" The construction workers worked in three shifts, day and night, creating a vibrant and bustling scene.

Factory Director Yang Weimin was in charge of production scheduling and material supply. Orders for Hongxing brand cars from Southeast Asia were pouring in, and the existing production lines were already operating at full capacity. Workers were working overtime, but demand still couldn't keep up with the demand. The construction speed of the new branch factory was directly related to foreign exchange earnings and the country's reputation. Director Yang spent every day at the construction site and in the workshop, and his voice became hoarse from shouting.

Li Huaide, the deputy factory director in charge of logistics and general affairs, faced immense pressure. He had to coordinate the food, lodging, and transportation of thousands of construction workers and newly added employees. He made full use of his expertise in "getting things," running around to procure grain, oil, vegetables, and meat, and setting up temporary sheds. Although he was extremely busy, he enjoyed it, as his scope of authority had expanded.

The true core and soul of the company, Deputy Factory Director Wang Huanbo, focused his main efforts on tackling technical challenges, especially the mass production of three-axis CNC machine tools and the dilemma of electron tubes.

The newly built, secure workshop, located deep within the factory grounds, is heavily guarded with high walls and electric fences. Wang Huanbo personally planned and approved the workshop's layout, equipment installation, and technological processes. He spent almost every day in the workshop, guiding technicians and workers in installing and debugging equipment and resolving various technical challenges. Mass production differs from developing individual machines, involving a series of complex issues such as process stability, component interchangeability, and quality control. Relying on his profound theoretical foundation and exceptional practical skills in mechanical engineering, Wang Huanbo overcame each obstacle one by one.

However, the most pressing issue remained the vacuum tubes. Although a new batch of vacuum tubes had been secretly delivered through family channels, alleviating the immediate crisis, this was ultimately only a stopgap measure. Wang Huanbo knew that core technologies must be in his own hands. He increased his attention to the construction progress of the Beijing Vacuum Tube Factory (Factory 774) and, through Assistant Zheng, continuously conveyed the urgency of accelerating the process to his superiors.

Meanwhile, the upgrading of the Hongxing General Factory and Wang Huanbo's prominent position also attracted more hostile attention. Foreign forces' covetousness of three-axis CNC machine tool technology only intensified. The security department, under Secretary Yao's leadership, thwarted several espionage attempts to infiltrate the factory or bribe internal personnel, creating a tense atmosphere.

That day, Wang Huanbo was debugging a newly assembled CNC machine tool core control cabinet in the confidential workshop when his assistant Zheng Yunfeng hurried over and reported in a low voice: "Director Wang, we just received a confidential telegram from the Ministry. The Soviet-aided electron tube factory project may be delayed by at least six months due to issues with the scheduling of Soviet experts and equipment supply."

Wang Huanbo frowned deeply. A six-month delay? This would be a heavy blow to the expansion plan for CNC machine tools, which desperately needs electron tubes! It would also affect other electronic projects currently being planned.

"Understood," Wang Huanbo said in a deep voice. "Report back to the Ministry that Hongxing Factory will rely on its own resources and find ways to overcome the difficulties. At the same time, we will reiterate the extreme importance of the localization of electron tubes."

After Zheng Yunfeng left, Wang Huanbo looked at the exquisite electron tubes in the control cabinet, a strong sense of urgency welling up inside him. He couldn't sit idly by! He had to adopt a two-pronged approach! On the one hand, he needed to continue ensuring current production through unconventional channels; on the other hand, he had to find ways to encourage the early involvement of domestic technical resources!

He returned to his office, closed his eyes, and pondered, his consciousness sinking into the system space. There, he found not only complete technical data on vacuum tubes, transistors, and even integrated circuits, but also blueprints for key equipment in a small-scale vacuum tube pilot production line! This was one of the rewards the system had given him upon completing a previous mission, but he had kept it sealed away at the time, feeling the timing wasn't right. Now, it seemed perhaps he could "work around" with it.

A bold plan took shape in his mind. He couldn't directly offer the complete technology (too shocking), but he could establish a small electronics laboratory within the factory under the guise of "technology pre-research" and "training a technical team." Utilizing some design concepts and process ideas from the system drawings, combined with existing domestic conditions, he could attempt to imitate and improve electron tubes. This would not only accumulate experience and train personnel for Factory 774, but also alleviate the immediate crisis to some extent, and lay the groundwork for the introduction of more advanced technologies in the future.

Without hesitation, he drafted a "Request for the Establishment of the Precision Electronic Devices Pre-research Laboratory of Hongxing United Industrial Corporation," which elaborated on the fundamental role of electronic technology and proposed the idea of ​​"learning by doing," conducting pre-research under the guidance of application needs, and reserving talent for national-level large factories.

The report was delivered to Secretary Yao and General Manager Yang's desks. Secretary Yao wasn't very knowledgeable about the technical details, but he keenly recognized its strategic significance in breaking the blockade and seizing the initiative, and expressed his support. General Manager Yang, however, was somewhat worried: "Huanbo, won't this distract you? Besides, our factory has no foundation in electronics."

Wang Huanbo confidently explained, "General Manager Yang, technologies are interconnected. CNC machine tools are inherently inseparable from electronics. We don't do large-scale production; we only conduct principle exploration and process verification. The key is training our team. This is crucial for our factory's future technological upgrades."

Ultimately, the plan was approved. A secluded old warehouse was cleared out and marked with a sign that read "Precision Electronic Device Pre-research Laboratory." Wang Huanbo selected several young and eager-to-learn technicians with radio backgrounds from the factory, and through connections, "poached" two electronics experts from universities and research institutes who were passionate about domestic production. They quietly began their exploration. This work was carried out under strict secrecy, becoming another hidden move in Wang Huanbo's future strategy.

While Wang Huanbo was busy working on the vacuum tubes, things weren't peaceful in the courtyard. Seeing the new Secretary Yao's tough style, Liu Haizhong hatched a plan. He wrote a thick "thought report" and "work suggestions," secretly slipping them under Secretary Yao's office door. The content was nothing more than expressing loyalty, belittling others, and elevating himself, hoping to get a position of some rank. As a result, Secretary Yao, after reading it, directly forwarded it to General Manager Yang and Li Huaide, commenting: "Focus your energy on the right path, and stop engaging in crooked practices." Liu Haizhong was rebuffed and even more frustrated.

Xu Damao inquired about the electronic laboratory everywhere, trying to find ways to send people there or to get some "insider information" to present to Wang Huanbo. As a result, he was spotted by the security department and given a warning, which scared him so much that he dared not make any rash moves for the time being.

Jia Dongxu struggled through the sea of ​​knowledge, but made remarkable progress, having already self-studied most of the high school physics and mathematics curriculum, surprising even Wang Huanbo with his perseverance. He Yushui, on the other hand, successfully entered high school, ranking among the top students, with her goal of attending Tsinghua or Peking University.

On the expansion site, the factory buildings are changing every day; in the confidential workshop, new CNC machine tools are rolling off the production line one after another; in the small electronic laboratory, the lights often stay on until late at night... Under the helm of Wang Huanbo, the giant ship of Hongxing General Factory is sailing at full speed towards the unknown but hopeful deep waters.