Courtyard House: I Rely on Time-Space Trade to Build a Nation

Fire in July.

When the first batch of molten iron was produced in Anshan Iron and Steel Group's No. 7 blast furnace, the workers and technicians watching erupted in thunderous cheers as the red-hot iron flowed down the trough. On July 7, 1949, the first modern integrated iron and steel enterprise in the People's Republic of China began trial production.

At the same time, in the control room of Fushun Power Plant, the pointer on the instrument panel steadily pointed to 300MW.

The supercritical power units are operating smoothly, and the electricity they generate is being transmitted to Anshan, Shenyang, and Benxi through the newly built power grid. Factories that had previously shut down due to power shortages have now turned their lights back on.

Zhao Ping'an stood in front of the observation window of the central control room of Ansteel, looking at the lights scattered throughout the factory area.

Over the past five months, he has been "deploying" the equipment modules redeemed through the system one by one:

Large electric arc furnaces, continuous casting and rolling lines, seamless steel pipe units...

Now, this 21st-century steel production system is finally up and running.

"Commander Zhao, the molten iron composition of Furnace No. 1 is up to standard!" came the technician's report over the walkie-talkie. "Sulfur content 0.008%, phosphorus content 0.012%, meeting the standards for high-quality steel!"

"Received. Proceed to the next step as planned." Zhao Pingan put down the walkie-talkie.

He turned to look at the progress chart on the wall.

The steel, power, and machinery sectors are progressing smoothly.

But the red text in the "Chemicals" column was particularly jarring.

Although the equipment at Jilin Chemical and Lanzhou Chemical has been installed, the commissioning process is slow.

There are too few skilled workers. People who understand chemical principles and can operate modern equipment are few and far between nationwide.

There are also fertilizer plants.

The urea production unit redeemed by the system has been in place for nearly two months, and has been tested three times, failing each time.

It's either leaking air here or the pipe is blocked there.

The workers looked at the complex pipes, towers, and reactors as if they were reading a book written in a foreign language.

"Talent..." Zhao Pingan muttered to himself, "That's the biggest bottleneck."

However, two gifts for July have already been prepared.

The special train bound for Beijing arrived in Beiping on the morning of July 15.

This time, Zhao Ping'an brought two special carriages—not passenger carriages, but freight carriages.

The carriages were covered with canvas and securely tied with ropes, and soldiers were on duty along the route.

In the reception room at sea, Zhao Ping'an met ** for the first time. (Sorry, dear readers, this was unacceptable and had to be revised.)

When that figure walked in through the door, Zhao Ping'an felt his breath catch for a moment.

Having arrived in this era, Zhao Ping'an has already met many important figures, unlike those described in textbooks.

As the characters in movies and TV dramas interacted with him in various ways, Zhao Ping'an gradually went from being cautious at the beginning to being calm and straightforward, "speaking the truth."

But at this moment, all composure vanished. Zhao Ping'an instinctively stood at attention and saluted, his hands trembling slightly.

"Comrade Ping An, please have a seat." The leader's voice was gentle, with an accent.

He waved his hand, sat down on the sofa, picked up the cigarette case from the coffee table, took out a cigarette, and said, "I heard you prepared a few gifts for the Republic?"

"Yes...yes." Zhao Ping'an tried to calm himself down, but his voice was still a little tight.

Leader Zhou chuckled, "Comrade Ping'an, don't be nervous. Just tell the truth whatever Comrade Desheng asks you."

Zhao Pingan took a deep breath and took out two documents from his briefcase.

"The first gift is here." He pushed the first document over, "The first airplane we assembled."

The sun was blazing at the western suburbs airport.

When the canvas was lifted, everyone held their breath.

It was a silver-gray monoplane with a streamlined fuselage, a wide wing, and a four-bladed propeller on the nose.

Sunlight shines on the aluminum alloy skin, reflecting a dazzling light.

"This is the Type 1 fighter jet we assembled." Zhao Ping'an stood beside the aircraft and began his explanation, "Performance parameters: maximum speed 700 kilometers per hour, service ceiling 12000 meters, range 1600 kilometers. With external fuel tanks, the range can reach 2800 kilometers. It is equipped with four 12.7 mm machine guns and can carry bombs or rockets."

He paused, then added, "Its performance is close to that of the American P-51 Mustang."

A low gasp of surprise rose from the surroundings.

Everyone present was knowledgeable about military affairs and knew what level the P-51 was at—one of the best piston-engine fighters of World War II.

"Did we really assemble it?" one asked.

"Yes," Zhao Ping'an answered truthfully. "The engine, instruments, and special materials are obtained from overseas channels, while other parts are processed domestically and assembled in a special workshop of a machinery manufacturing plant in Shenyang."

More than 300 workers are involved in the assembly, all of whom have been trained over the past few months. Currently, we can assemble 10 aircraft simultaneously, and 30 aircraft per month.

Zhao Ping'an wasn't lying; it's just that this channel has now become an unspoken secret among everyone.

"What about the cost?" That hit the nail on the head.

"If all the materials are added together and converted into RMB..." Zhao Ping'an mentally calculated the exchange rate of the system currency, "it's roughly equivalent to less than one and a half Type 59 tanks."

Yes, Zhao Ping'an was also quite surprised when he redeemed it in the system; a car worth 59 to 200 million.

A civilian-grade alternative to an airplane costs 248 million, less than 250 million!

This led Zhao Ping'an to decide on a whim to set aside a separate area in the machinery manufacturing plant to create an aircraft final assembly workshop.

Zhao Ping'an's words caused the others to exchange glances.

Although the prices of Zhao Ping'an's various weapons and equipment are kept secret, the leaders had already calculated the costs through clues, and the price of one and a half Type 59 tanks was by no means high.

"Can it fly?" the leader asked.

"It can fly." Zhao Ping'an turned around and waved to the distance.

A young man in a flight suit ran over and saluted the crowd.

His name is Liu Yucheng. He was originally a flight instructor at the Northeast Old Flight School. He had flown Japanese trainer aircraft and American transport aircraft.

Over the past month, he has secretly trained for twenty hours under Zhao Ping'an's guidance.

"Everyone, please step back behind the safety line," Zhao Ping'an said.

Everyone retreated to the viewing platform. Liu Yucheng climbed the gangway and sat in the cockpit.

The ground crew removed the wheel chocks, and the propeller began to spin, gradually increasing in speed until it became a blurry blur.

The roar of the engine was deafening.

The plane began its runway roll, increasing its speed. At two-thirds of the way up the runway, the nose lifted, the nose wheel left the ground, and then the entire fuselage lifted off the ground, soaring into the blue sky.

A burst of applause erupted from the viewing platform.

The aircraft performed several simple maneuvers in the air: circling, climbing, diving, and rolling.

The movements weren't flashy, but they were steady and precise. The performance ended with a clean and crisp landing.

Liu Yucheng jumped off the plane and ran to the reviewing stand: "Report! The aircraft is handling well, and all systems are functioning normally!"

Leader Li led the applause. He walked to the side of the plane and reached out to touch the cold skin.

"Good, good." He said "good" twice. "Finally, we have our own plane."