Major Heavy Industry: Starting with a Fake Marriage

"Comrade Li Zhiyuan," he said, "you're right, scraping is inefficient. But it has one advantage—it requires no investment. Any factory, as long as it has fitters, can do it. When we do research, we can't just focus on the most advanced technology; we also need to think about the most practical technology."

The meeting room fell silent. Li Zhiyuan wanted to argue, but Professor Fang waved his hand, saying, "Jiang Cheng is right. Our research direction needs to consider both advancement and practicality. There's no conflict in pursuing both paths."

From that day on, Jiang Cheng immersed himself in the laboratory. He attended classes during the day, conducted experiments at night, and returned to the factory on weekends to consult with Huang Deqing. Huang Deqing had been a fitter for decades and possessed exceptional skills—how to scrape guide rails, how to adjust clearances, how to adjust parallelism—he knew all the things that weren't in books.

"Master, when scraping the guide rail, how do you judge how much scraping is appropriate?" Jiang Cheng asked.

Huang Deqing squatted in the workshop, holding a scraper in his hand, demonstrating on a scraped guide rail: "Look, when scraping, you need to apply a layer of red lead powder to the guide rail. Then take a standard flat plate and grind it on it. The places where the red lead powder is ground off are the high points. Scrape off the high points, apply more, and grind again. Repeat this several times until the red lead powder is evenly distributed, which means it's flat."

Jiang Cheng watched as Huang Deqing's scraper moved steadily and rhythmically, scraping away only a tiny fraction—0.01 millimeters. After a dozen or so scrapes, the guide rail surface gleamed with a bluish light, like a mirror.

"Master, how do I control the pressure?"

Huang Deqing handed him the scraper: "Give it a try."

Jiang Cheng took it and, imitating Huang Deqing, scraped it with a knife. The cut went too deep, leaving a clear groove on the guide rail.

"Be gentle," Huang Deqing said. "Don't use your arm strength, use your wrist. Like writing, move your wrist, don't move your arm."

Jiang Cheng tried a few more cuts and gradually got the hang of it. By the tenth cut, he could control the depth. Huang Deqing watched from the side and nodded: "Not bad. Practice more when you get back."

Jiang Cheng brought the scraper back to the academy and practiced on discarded guide rails every night. After practicing for half a month, calluses formed on his hands, and the guide rails he scraped became so smooth they reflected light like a mirror.

Meanwhile, he is also researching a more efficient repair method—coating. This is an electrochemical repair technique that deposits a layer of metal on the surface of worn parts, restoring them to their original dimensions. This method is already well-established abroad, but it is still a novelty in China.

Professor Fang found several English articles in the library and gave them to Jiang Cheng. After reading them, Jiang Cheng felt confident—this method was theoretically feasible, but it required a dedicated power source and electrolyte. The power source could be made himself, but the electrolyte required a formula.

"Professor Fang, the electrolyte formula isn't written in the literature."

Teacher Fang thought for a moment and said, "You'll have to try it yourself. Go to the Chemistry Department and find Teacher Zhou; he has the equipment."

Jiang Cheng went to the Chemistry Department and found Professor Zhou. Professor Zhou was an old man in his fifties with gray hair, who spoke slowly. After hearing Jiang Cheng's purpose, he pushed up his glasses: "Coating? I've heard of that, but I've never done it. What kind of electrolyte do you need?"

"It's nickel-based," Jiang Cheng said. "The literature says it's a mixed solution of nickel sulfate, nickel chloride, and boric acid."

Professor Zhou nodded and led him into the laboratory. The two of them worked together, one preparing the solution and the other adjusting the parameters. After more than ten attempts, they finally found a suitable formula.

The first experiment was conducted on a discarded shaft. Jiang Cheng cleaned the shaft thoroughly, connected it to a power source, and immersed it in the electrolyte. As current flowed through it, tiny bubbles emerged from the electrolyte, and a layer of silvery-white metal slowly coated the surface of the shaft.

Twenty minutes later, he took the shaft out and measured it with a micrometer—the coating thickness was 0.03 millimeters, uniform and dense, and well bonded to the substrate.

"It's done!" Jiang Cheng almost jumped up.

Teacher Zhou smiled and said, "Not bad. But can your method be widely adopted? The electrolyte needs to be prepared, and the power supply needs to be adjusted. Can a typical factory manage that?"

Jiang Cheng thought for a moment and said, "It can be simplified. The electrolyte can be prepared in advance before shipping, and the power supply can be made into a standard device. Workers only need to know how to operate it; they don't need to understand the principles."

Teacher Zhou nodded: "Then you should give it a try."

Jiang Cheng compiled the experimental data into a report and handed it to Professor Fang. After reading it, Professor Fang remained silent for a long time before saying, "Jiang Cheng, your method is ten times more efficient than scraping and a hundred times cheaper than imported equipment. If it can be promoted, old machine tools all over the country can be revived."

Jiang Cheng felt a surge of warmth in his heart: "Teacher Fang, then I'll continue."

For the next few months, Jiang Cheng practically lived in the lab. He attended classes during the day, conducted experiments at night, and went to the factory on weekends to verify his findings. He applied the coating technology to different types of parts—shafts, holes, guide rails, gears—repeatedly testing each one, recording data, and analyzing the results.

Li Zhiyuan and Wang Xuemei were also inspired by his enthusiasm. The three of them divided the work: Li Zhiyuan was responsible for theoretical analysis, Wang Xuemei for data processing, and Jiang Cheng for experimental verification. Professor Fang held a meeting every week to check progress and discuss problems.

"Jiang Cheng, how's the hardness of this coating?" Li Zhiyuan asked.

"It's been tested; the Vickers hardness is 450. That's about the same as quenched steel."

"What about its abrasion resistance?"

"We conducted a wear test, and it's even better than the original chrome plating."

Li Zhiyuan nodded and said nothing more. Although he was verbally unconvinced, he was inwardly convinced. This classmate, who came from a fitter background, did everything meticulously and flawlessly.

In early July, the project concluded. Professor Fang took Jiang Cheng to Beijing to give a presentation. The presentation was held in a small conference room at the Ministry of Machinery Industry. There weren't many people present, but they were all of high rank—Director Zhang, Professor Zhou, and several experts from research institutes.

Jiang Cheng stood on the stage and spoke for forty minutes. He started with scraping and grinding, then moved on to coating, experimental data, and promotion plans. He spoke very practically, without any empty theories, just solid, useful information.

After he finished speaking, the conference room was quiet for a moment. Then Old Zhou spoke up: "Xiao Jiang, what is the cost of your coating technology?"

Jiang Cheng said, "Repairing a spindle costs less than ten yuan in materials. Including labor and equipment depreciation, it won't exceed fifty yuan."

Professor Zhou then asked, "How much accuracy can be guaranteed?"

"A difference of one micrometer."

A murmur rippled through the conference room. A single thread—0.01 millimeters. This level of precision is difficult to achieve even with imported equipment; yet, it was accomplished using rudimentary methods.

Director Zhang tapped the table: "Comrade Jiang Cheng, could your technology be piloted in more factories?"

Jiang Cheng said, "Yes, it's possible. But we need to train the workers. The coating process isn't difficult, but it requires meticulousness. Workers need to be trained to master it."

Director Zhang nodded: "I'll arrange that."