Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

The next morning.

The delegation traveled in a business van and drove out of the bustling city of Tokyo.

Head to the Tokyo Heavy Steel Works, located in the coastal industrial area of ​​Chiba Prefecture.

The car was driving on a flat coastal highway.

From afar, you can see rows of towering blast furnaces and a dense network of transport pipelines.

There's none of the coal dust and pungent sulfur dioxide smell that you find in steel mills in China.

The entire factory area was incredibly clean, and even the roadside green belts were blooming with vibrant flowers.

"So clean." Pei Yihong pressed his face against the car window and murmured to himself.

As a veteran metallurgist, he knew all too well how much environmental protection cost and how advanced the dust removal equipment were required to maintain such an environment in a steel plant.

The van stopped in front of the steelworks' administration building.

Yuichi Watanabe, the vice president of Tokyo Heavy Steel, was already waiting at the door with several senior executives.

Although they inwardly looked down on the delegation from a less developed country, they outwardly maintained impeccable bowing etiquette.

"Welcome Mr. Lin and Mr. Pei to Tokyo Heavy Steel."

Yuichi Watanabe, dressed in a sharp suit, greeted everyone in fluent Chinese.

Lin Yang nodded slightly, without any further formalities.

"President Watanabe, time is precious, let's go straight to the workshop and see the production line."

Watanabe Yuichi was taken aback, clearly not expecting that the other party would even skip the procedure of going to the conference room for tea and a report.

But he quickly resumed his smile.

"Of course, please put on your safety suits and follow me."

The group changed into blue anti-static work clothes and put on safety helmets.

Led by Yuichi Watanabe, we entered the huge converter workshop.

Upon entering the workshop, a huge wave of heat, mixed with the smell of molten metal, hit you.

But to Pei Yihong’s shock, there were hardly any workers in this workshop, which was the size of several football fields!

"This is our latest 500-ton oxygen top-blown converter."

Yuichi Watanabe pointed to the steel behemoth-like device in front of him, his tone filled with undisguised pride.

"In conjunction with a fully automated continuous casting and rolling production line."

"From the moment the molten iron comes out of the furnace to the final rolling into high-strength automotive steel sheets, no human intervention is required in between."

"The entire process, from temperature control to dimensional cutting, is performed precisely by computers in the central control room."

Pei Yihong strode to the guardrail and stared intently at the bright red steel plate gliding rapidly across the roller conveyor.

The two senior engineers from Hanjiang behind him couldn't help but pull out notebooks from their pockets and start quickly recording the tilting angle of the converter and the vibration frequency of the crystallizer.

"President Watanabe, what is the casting speed that your continuous casting line can achieve?" Pei Yihong suddenly asked, asking for a highly professional and crucial piece of data.

Watanabe Yuichi glanced at Pei Yihong, a hint of contempt flashing in his eyes.

"Mr. Pei, this is our trade secret."

"However, I can reveal that our pulling speed is at least three times that of your country's current highest level."

Pei Yihong's fingers clenched white on the railing, but he was powerless to refute her.

Because what the other party said was true.

Lin Yang stood aside, looking at the arrogant Watanabe Yuichi, and suddenly spoke up.

"President Watanabe, this line is indeed very advanced."

"But if I'm not mistaken, your blast furnace feedstock is high-grade iron ore imported from Australia, right?"

Watanabe Yuichi turned his head and looked at Lin Yang with some surprise.

"Mr. Lin has a good eye; that's certainly true."

"Japan has no iron ore in its own country, so we have to rely on imports."

Lin Yang smiled faintly, but that smile concealed a sharp blade.

"In the past few years, the yen was weak, and you made a lot of profits by importing iron ore and then exporting automotive steel sheets."

"But since the Plaza Accord last month, the yen has appreciated by 15 percent."

Lin Yang stepped forward, his gaze fixed intently on Watanabe Yuichi's eyes.

"What if the yen continues to appreciate by 50%, or even doubles?"

"You buy ore from Australia, and the cost is reduced on the surface by settling in yen. But when you roll out the steel plates and sell them to the US, can you still earn US dollars?"

Watanabe Yuichi's smile froze on his face instantly.

The muscles at the corner of his eye twitched uncontrollably a few times.

This is precisely the most alarming issue currently plaguing the entire Japanese steel conglomerate!

The cost advantage is being gradually eroded by the strong yen.

Lin Yang gave him no chance to catch his breath and continued to exert psychological pressure.

"No matter how advanced Tokyo Heavy Steel's equipment is, it doesn't change the fact that you are a company from a resource-poor island nation."

"Soaring labor costs, coupled with shrinking export markets."

"In less than three years, these blast furnaces at your Chiba Steel Works will be forced to shut down due to overcapacity."

Lin Yang's voice wasn't loud, but in the empty workshop, it struck like a series of heavy blows into the hearts of every Japanese executive.

"Mr. Lin, you're being far too pessimistic," Watanabe Yuichi said, forcing a cold laugh.

"We in Japan have the world's best engineers and management teams."

"Is that so?" Lin Yang shook his head dismissively.

"Even excellent engineers cannot save the macroeconomy from a dead end."

Lin Yang turned around with his hands behind his back, looking at the rapidly operating production line.

"China has an inexhaustible supply of cheap labor, a vast inland market, and abundant mineral resources that have not yet been fully developed."

"President Watanabe, when you can't hold on any longer, you can consider selling these low-end blast furnaces and continuous casting lines to us as a package."

"Or, we could establish a joint venture factory in our Hanjiang region."

Lin Yang turned around and delivered the final, fatal blow.

"This is your only way out to survive in the future."

Leaving behind this prophecy that sounded like a curse, Lin Yang didn't look at Watanabe Yuichi, whose face was ashen, and walked straight towards the workshop exit.

Pei Yihong and Lin Jianguo quickly followed.

Stepping out of the workshop, Pei Yihong felt the pent-up frustration in his chest vanish.

"Commander, what you just said really hit the nail on the head for the Japanese!" Pei Yihong said frankly.

"I saw it very clearly just now. Their core is not in the blast furnace, but in that Siemens industrial control system and servo motor."

"Give me time, and we at Hanjiang will definitely be able to replicate it!"

"Imitations will only ever leave you trailing behind and eating dust," Lin Yang coldly poured cold water on the idea.

"I want the whole pot served."

in the afternoon.

The delegation's vehicles drove into an office park on the outskirts of Tokyo.