Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

It took Chief Engineer Wang a while to catch his breath.

He snapped out of his daze and asked the exact same question to the leader of the 17th Ministry of Machine Building: "This 3Z-591, you didn't just bring it here to cheer me up, did you? Does such a thing really exist?"

The leader glanced at him and chuckled: "Worried? That's easy. Come on, Director Yang, let's go to your factory and see for ourselves. Seeing is believing, and it'll put Chief Engineer Wang's mind at ease."

People these days have this kind of temperament when it comes to work: if they feel there's a chance, they don't want to wait a minute longer and can't wait to get started.

Factory Director Yang and Chief Engineer Chen exchanged a glance, as if struck by a lucky coincidence, and immediately nodded: "No problem, leaders, General Manager Wang, let's go to our factory!"

Factory Director Yang borrowed a leader's phone to call the factory office and asked them to go to the performance testing laboratory in the technical department to keep Fang Xiufang and Liu Weiguo there and not let them leave, and to wait for them to return to the factory.

And so, a large group of people rushed back to the Third Rolling Mill. In addition to the leaders of the 17th Ministry of Machine Building and Chief Engineer Wang, they also brought their accompanying staff.

By the time we arrived at the No. 3 rolling mill, it was well past dinner time.

The leaders and Chief Engineer Wang directly blocked Director Yang's invitation to eat first, and rushed to the laboratory without even touching the ground. Director Yang had no choice but to ask the canteen to send boxed lunches over.

Fang Jie and Xiao Liu had been busy all day and were already used to this kind of situation. They knew it must be something good again, and they were full of energy.

The people from the 17th Ministry of Machinery Industry and the LYP-6 aero-engine department were eating their boxed lunches, but their eyes were glued to every step of the test process.

They would ask questions every now and then, and Gao Jianguo, Sister Fang, and Xiao Liu would answer them one by one.

The more the experiment progressed, the wider the smiles on their faces became.

When they finished the last test, their faces were beaming with uncontrollable smiles.

The people on lyp-6's side cheered loudly.

The leader spoke first, setting the tone: "Old Yang! Good! You've done a great job this time. I think this stuff isn't just useful for Chief Engineer Wang; it's indispensable in aerospace, metallurgy, and chemical industries! Chief Engineer Wang, are you relieved now? Hahaha."

Chief Engineer Wang's tears came down, and they were real tears.

He took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes which were sore from staring at the high-temperature samples, and spoke.

"I got a little too excited, sorry for making you all laugh. You have no idea how long we've been waiting for this."

Everyone understood his thoughts, and no one interrupted him.

He gathered his thoughts and scribbled down what he could say: "Our Lyp-6 replication project has been going on for quite some time now, and we've barely passed the trial production stage and solved some of the problems."

"But the materials couldn't keep up. No matter how much we tweaked the design of the prototype or modified the combustion structure, the turbine inlet temperature just wouldn't go up. It couldn't even reach 900 degrees Celsius, and it just couldn't withstand the 100-hour test for the engine's entire lifespan."

"The most critical issue is the material of the turbine disk. It operates at high speeds and temperatures, with strong airflow, and its structure is thin and long—it's incredibly difficult to handle. We know perfectly well that even raising the turbine inlet temperature by just fifty degrees Celsius would increase the thrust by four or five percent under the same conditions, thus improving the aircraft's thrust-to-weight ratio."

"With good materials, even without considering temperature control and taking a conservative approach, we can extend engine life by a significant amount. The problem is, we don't have them."

"The 3Z-591 you guys developed this time is far superior to the materials you got from the target company. You're all tech-savvy, and I'm telling you this: with this new alloy, I dare say we can push the turbine inlet temperature to over 1000 degrees Celsius, and the lifespan will at least double!!! I won't let all that hard work go to waste!"

Mr. Wang couldn't hold back any longer and swore, letting out all the pent-up anger he had been holding in for so long.

The leader clapped his hands, and everyone joined in.

After the applause subsided, the leader moved on to another matter: "Old Yang, the secrecy surrounding the 3Z-591 must be maintained. This thing is advanced. As General Manager Wang just mentioned, this alloy is far superior to the materials used in similar advanced engines internationally, so you need to pay close attention to this."

When it came to secrecy, Director Yang became very enthusiastic: "Don't worry, leaders. Secrecy has been a top priority from day one. Before yesterday, even I didn't know the alloy's proportions; it was only in the hands of Chief Engineer Chen and Jianguo. We will continue to manage it in accordance with secrecy requirements."

Old Chen added, "I only know the proportions; only Jianguo knows the complete process."

The leader was quite satisfied and nodded: "Hmm, not bad. You've always maintained a high level of secrecy; it seems you've laid a solid foundation. You need to organize the production of this stuff well. I reckon once the other units get wind of it, your doorstep will be overwhelmed with customers."

Upon hearing this, Chief Engineer Wang became agitated.

What's wrong with you guys in the 17th Ministry of Machinery Industry system? You treat messing with people's mentality like it's second nature? You just filled the performance hole for me, and now you're digging a production capacity hole for me?

He didn't care about anything else and immediately shouted, "Hey, boss, let me tell you this first, I'm the first one here, so there has to be a first-come, first-served rule. You guys need to get this done for me first before you think about other units."

Gao Jianguo knew what was going on; he was the one who had to answer this question, since he was the one who knew the process best: "Leaders, to be honest, the process for this material isn't that complicated, and expanding production isn't difficult. However, we might need to ask for support from above for a batch of larger vacuum induction furnaces and other equipment to get production going. After all, we're a steel rolling mill, and we are indeed lacking in metallurgical equipment."

Gao Jianguo's plan was to first acquire the vacuum induction furnace, and then, when the time was right, naturally introduce the electroslag remelting technology.

Factory Director Yang was extremely pleased to hear this. It was true that the people in his own factory knew how to talk. They not only mentioned the benefits of convenient production, but also gave a good reason to address the issue of insufficient production capacity, and even managed to get a batch of new equipment. This young man knew how to handle things.

The leader mentally assessed the situation: "Hmm, don't worry about the equipment. We can always squeeze some out. Since Chief Engineer Wang is prioritizing this, let's focus on him first, everyone work together to get our warplanes wings!"

Everyone clapped again, with Director Yang and Chief Engineer Wang clapping the most enthusiastically.

The smiling faces were bathed in the reddish glow of the high-temperature samples, their surfaces gleaming with a golden-red light.

Despite the joyous occasion, the leader was still in high spirits. He glanced at his watch; it was past nine o'clock. He said to Factory Director Yang, "Today is a good day. I noticed everyone just had a light snack, their minds probably completely focused on the products. They didn't really eat their fill. Old Yang, why don't you arrange a small celebration? We'll take advantage of your factory and have a drink, consider it a small-scale victory celebration."

After he said that, many people's stomachs started growling.

Factory Director Yang smiled and agreed, then sent someone to the kitchen to tell them to prepare the meal.

The food and ingredients have always been prepared, and Sha Zhu has always been waiting, just in case everyone wants to celebrate after finishing their business. Director Yang knows all about this.

With everything arranged, Director Yang led the group, chatting and laughing as they walked toward the small canteen.