Courtyard Houses: Starting with Li Yunlong's Comrades-in-Arms

Before we knew it, it was May.

The weather was neither too hot nor too cold, the most comfortable time of year, but Liu Yuheng's pace these past few days had been much more hectic than in the previous months. With the Two Sessions just concluded, all the department's work had entered a phase of intensive advancement, with stacks of documents piled up on his desk, and he barely stopped from morning till night.

That morning, Liu Yuheng was sitting at his desk working on a report about a factory's precision machine tool procurement plan. His pencil was scribbling along the edges of the paper, occasionally underlining key numbers, and his brow was slightly furrowed, as if he was calculating how much spare capacity could be squeezed out of this batch of equipment to allocate to other key projects.

The black telephone on the desk suddenly rang, its ringtone sounding particularly crisp in the quiet office.

Liu Yuheng put down his pencil, reached for the receiver, and heard the voice of Minister Song's secretary, Xiao Zhou, coming from the other end. Her tone was concise and efficient: "Minister Liu, Minister Song has asked you to attend a meeting in the small conference room. Please come now."

Liu Yuheng responded, put down the receiver, picked up the notebook and pen on the table, got up and left the office, walking down the corridor towards the small conference room.

The small meeting room was located at the end of the second-floor corridor. It wasn't used much, only when the minister convened a small meeting with the vice ministers. When Liu Yuheng pushed open the door, the other two vice ministers, Zhang Ru and Lin Jiang, were already seated inside.

Zhang Ru, in his early fifties, was in charge of logistics, while Lin Jiang, two years younger than Zhang Ru, was in charge of technology. When Liu Yuheng entered, both men looked up and nodded to him in greeting. Zhang Ru also gestured to the empty seat next to him, indicating that he should sit down.

Liu Yuheng sat down next to Zhang Ru and had just opened his notebook when Minister Song pushed the door open and entered. The three of them stood up at the same time. Minister Song waved his hand, indicating that everyone should sit down, and then took his seat in the main seat. He then gestured to his secretary, Xiao Zhou, who was standing at the door.

Xiao Zhou immediately pulled out several documents from the folder and distributed them to Liu Yuheng and the other two. Each person received a copy. The paper was thick, and the cover had a short title printed on it, with the department's red seal stamped below.

Liu Yuheng took the document, opened it, and his gaze lingered on the pages for a moment. The cover read: "Project 596 Documents".

He turned to the first page of the main text, which contained the official approval opinion from above regarding the independent development of the atomic bomb. The wording was solemn and clear, and the gist of it was: In the absence of external assistance, we must make every effort to develop our own atomic bomb in the shortest possible time.

Liu Yuheng's eyebrows twitched slightly, then he regained his composure. He continued flipping through the pages, his fingers lightly tracing the edges; he already had a general idea of ​​what those pages contained.

Although he has not been directly involved in the specific work of the atomic energy project in recent years, as the vice minister of the Second Ministry of Machine Building, he reads every issue of the relevant briefings and progress reports and is familiar with the overall situation.

The experts from the senior party began to withdraw one after another last year, and by the beginning of this year, they had basically all withdrawn. The Second Ministry of Machine Building had already organized people to make a large number of copies of the project documents and technical data that were left behind. However, the technical data is just something on paper. To actually build the atomic bomb, a lot of manpower and material resources, as well as a determination to do it all by ourselves without any external assistance, are still needed.

Minister Song and the other two finished reviewing the document, cleared their throats, and began, "This document was officially approved yesterday. Let me briefly explain the gist: Big Brother is no longer helping us. He withdrew his experts, took the blueprints, and stopped supplying equipment. But we can't give up on developing the atomic bomb because of this. The higher-ups have decided that even without Big Brother's help, we must develop our own atomic bomb. This is Project 596." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the three men. "I've called you here today to formally announce the order."

He opened the document in front of him and announced the contents one by one: "Vice Minister Liu Yuheng is responsible for coordinating with the First Ministry of Machine Building, selecting senior technical workers to participate in the mission, and is also responsible for the corresponding material allocation, as well as the production arrangements of the factories under the Second Ministry of Machine Building. Vice Minister Zhang Ru is responsible for logistics, including personnel placement, material transportation, and daily support for the base. Vice Minister Lin Jiang is responsible for technical work, including process plan review, equipment debugging, and technical data compilation."

All three responded with a "Yes." After Zhang Ru and Lin Jiang finished speaking, their eyes involuntarily glanced at Liu Yuheng. This glance carried a deeper meaning than their greeting when they entered.

Minister Song entrusted Liu Yuheng with the two most crucial and demanding tasks: external coordination and production arrangements. The two of them, one in charge of logistics and the other in charge of technology, had relatively independent and discreet work scopes.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this division of labor arrangement is a deliberate move by Minister Song to gradually transfer the ministry's core business to Liu Yuheng.

Zhang Ru and Lin Jiang exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with even more envy.

There had been rumors in the ministry that Minister Song might be transferred to the Northeast Bureau this year, and Liu Yuheng would take his place. At the time, everyone was skeptical, but now, looking at this division of responsibilities, the rumors are probably true.

Both of them had spent half their lives working in government offices, so although they felt a little envious, they didn't show it on their faces. They simply memorized their work scope in their minds and waited for further arrangements.

Minister Song gave a few more instructions, emphasizing the importance of confidentiality and coordination among all parties, then waved to the three men: "Alright, you can go back and implement the specific work arrangements. Lao Zhang, Lao Lin, you can go back now. Yu Heng, you stay behind."

Zhang Ru and Lin Jiang stood up, nodded to Minister Song, then gestured to Liu Yuheng, and left the small conference room one after the other. The door closed softly behind them, leaving only Minister Song and Liu Yuheng in the conference room.

Minister Song picked up the enamel mug in front of him, took a sip, and when he put the mug down, his expression was more relaxed than before, with a casualness that only comes after giving instructions.

He looked at Liu Yuheng and smiled: "Yuheng, I estimate that I will be going to the Northeast Bureau in August. During this period, you will gradually take on the work of the ministry. 596 is just the first part. There are several other key projects to be promoted at the same time. You need to keep that in mind and arrange the pace in advance so that you don't end up in a mess."

Liu Yuheng sat up straight and nodded earnestly: "Minister Song, rest assured, I will arrange the work well, and I will consult you promptly if there are any problems." He paused, then added with a sincere blessing in his tone, "In your years in the ministry, you have laid a solid foundation for the Second Ministry of Machine Building, and we will continue to do a good job in the future. I wish you all the best in your work in the Northeast."

Minister Song waved his hand, his expression carrying the understanding and casualness of an old comrade: "Alright, why bother with all this polite talk? I've told you what I needed to tell you, and I've given you what I needed to give you. The rest is up to you."

He picked up the mug and took another sip, then, as if remembering something, his tone became more serious: "By the way, the personnel selection can be arranged now. Construction has already begun on the base in the Northwest. Two divisions of engineering troops have been deployed there, and site leveling, road paving, and factory foundation construction are all progressing simultaneously. They can't wait for us, and we can't hold them back here."

Liu Yuheng immediately nodded: "I'll go back and issue a notice to all factories to arrange a temporary worker assessment tomorrow to screen out the senior workers. First, we need to get a clear picture of the situation, and then we'll gradually screen them out, trying to finalize the first batch of names as soon as possible."

Minister Song nodded, said nothing more, and simply waved his hand at him: "Go."