Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

The people from the ministry arrived much faster than expected.

Less than an hour after the summary was submitted, the 17th Ministry of Machine Building sent a notice saying they would send someone down to take a look at it.

And it wasn't just one or two, it was a whole group.

The commotion completely baffled everyone at the No. 3 rolling mill.

To be honest, I was a bit flustered and had some doubts. The product is indeed good, but in terms of weight, it's not quite as good as the 3z-591. Is it worth making such a big fuss?

However, it's still a matter of pride that people are eager to come.

What are you standing there for? Just grin and smile.

Anyway, having solid assets in hand gives me confidence.

The more people from higher up come, the bigger the spectacle, the less the No. 3 Rolling Mill will suffer.

People are afraid of being embarrassed in public, but they'd love to see a whole trainload of people doing something impressive.

Factory Director Yang sent someone to relay a message to the technical department while greeting them with a smile.

"Boss, why did you come all this way in person again?"

The leader beamed with joy.

"I'd love to do these errands as often as possible."

He waved the thermocouple project summary document in his hand.

"I need to see this with my own eyes."

"The comrades Zhang Jianguo behind me also want to see it for themselves."

"Only when things are settled can I feel at ease."

As for what exactly was causing his concern, the leader didn't elaborate, and Director Yang didn't press for details.

All they want is to see the actual results, isn't that easy?

You can rest assured.

Director Yang didn't waste any time.

"Okay, boss, please rest assured, we'll head over right away. Gao Jianguo's group's materials are all with the technical department."

The group headed straight for the technical department.

Inside the performance testing laboratory, Gao Jianguo's four-person team, Deputy Section Chief Wu De, and key personnel like Yi Zhonghai were all present.

Who wouldn't want to get exposure?

The leader immediately spotted Gao Jianguo and reached out his hand before Gao could even speak; it was warm to the touch.

"Jianguo, you've stirred up quite a commotion again."

"This is the third time now, great!"

Gao Jianguo quickly reached out and clasped his hands with Gao's.

"You flatter me, sir! It's all thanks to the factory's support; a commander without his own resources couldn't have accomplished so much."

After he finished speaking, he introduced each of the key personnel behind him to the leader, explaining clearly who was responsible for which part of the work.

The leader nodded repeatedly as he listened, quite satisfied with the combination of these people.

"They have people for research, processing, coordination, and testing—everyone's there. Especially valuable are the experienced frontline workers who played a crucial role."

"You've done a good job organizing your team; you know exactly who's doing what."

Gao Jianguo didn't stand on ceremony this time and asked directly.

"Sir, shall we begin? Let's first go over the situation, and then have a few comrades like Zhang Jianguo take a look at the verification experiment?"

Everyone found seats and scattered around the room, but all eyes were on Gao Jianguo.

He was the main speaker, and Liang Jianguo, Fang Xiufang, and Liu Weiguo were responsible for conducting the experiments.

The report and the experiment took almost two hours in a row.

The comrades Zhang Jianguo who came with the leaders listened and watched, their smiles growing wider and wider.

"This temperature range can indeed be achieved; it's about two hundred degrees higher than the average K-type on the market."

"This protective tube material is something special; its performance is so good!"

"Accuracy, precision, and repeatability are all excellent, and it can withstand most high-temperature measurement applications."

"The thermoelectric potential output curve is even more impressive than that of the K-type made with imported materials."

"Imported products require six pairs of electrodes, while ours only needs one pair to achieve the same effect, reducing production difficulty and significantly lowering costs."

After several comrades surnamed Zhang Jianguo exchanged views, the leaders were finally relieved.

He turned his head toward one of Zhang Jianguo's men and blurted out something completely nonsensical.

"Is everything alright?"

The man was laughing quite happily.

"It's better than I expected."

The answer was also truncated.

The two exchanged a glance, and only they understood the meaning behind their smiles.

The soil beneath Malan has gained a little more substance.

The leader turned his head and waved his hand with great enthusiasm.

"Old Yang, you did a great job! These comrades all deserve a reward; the ministry will give them awards. Your factory shouldn't be so stingy, right? Haha."

Factory Director Yang responded.

"Boss, the factory is already discussing it, but this matter definitely won't go through."

The leader gave further instructions.

"This thing needs to be mass-produced immediately, don't delay. The whole country will need it, so you all need to do this job with all your might."

Factory Director Yang immediately patted his chest in assurance.

"Leader, please rest assured, we've already started mass production. To ensure there are no technical issues, the technical department has set up a special 'Special Steel Mass Production Technical Support Group,' headed by Gao Jianguo. The group currently has four members, all of whom are top talents who have emerged from the recent major research projects."

In crowded situations, Director Yang didn't mention the name 3z-591 often, only referring to it as a "major project."

These words added another layer of prestige to Gao Jianguo's group, further strengthening their foundation.

The leaders were extremely satisfied with the factory's arrangements.

"Yes, you've thought things through and done the work ahead of time."

"Jianguo, you'll have to work hard from now on. You can't stop innovating, and you must firmly grasp the task of commercializing your research results."

Gao Jianguo was decisive.

"Yes, sir! I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

The leader asked again.

Are there any bottlenecks in mass production? Do we need external support?

Gao Jianguo shook his head.

"Not right now. The amount of this material needed isn't large. As long as we can maintain a certain supply of nickel raw materials, Corey's medium-sized vacuum induction furnace can meet production demands."

The leader nodded.

"Alright, don't worry about the nickel. We can always squeeze some out."

After saying that, he turned to face Director Yang.

"Old Yang, then this mess will fall to you guys."

Factory Director Yang retained the staff according to the old rules.

"Boss, let's have a simple lunch at the factory. It'll be a good boost for everyone."

The leader waved his hand.

"Haha, I'll skip dinner today, I need to spread this good news right away."

He came in a hurry and left in a hurry, and a group of people followed him away in a flurry.

After seeing the people off, Director Yang noticed that it was almost time to leave work, so he asked the clerk in the factory office to run an errand and notify all the factory leaders to hold a short meeting at 11:00 a.m. the next day.

When Lao Chen received the notification, he had a general idea of ​​what was going on; it was about to involve the reward issue for the thermocouple research group.

The 3z-591 part was decided long ago by the ministry, without any discussion. But the thermocouple part needs to be discussed and debated.

Logically speaking, if we really want to analyze this, Old Chen, as the team leader, should have avoided any appearance of impropriety. However, the person who shares the spoils is different from the person who shifts the blame, so nobody is fixated on this.