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

In early April in Northeast China, the ice and snow begin to melt.

Zhao Pingan sat in the jeep, watching the scenery rushing past the window.

Over the past forty-odd days, he has visited seventeen mining areas and three large forest farms, leaving his mark across Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces.

The modern mining equipment at Fushun Coal Mine has been fully installed—three fully mechanized mining units, five continuous transport systems, and a complete set of gas monitoring and ventilation equipment.

The domestically produced equipment redeemed by the system in 2006 demonstrated overwhelming efficiency in this era:

The production capacity that was originally planned to take three years to recover has now reached 80% of the design target in just one month.

The same applies to the Benxi iron ore mine.

Large crushers, magnetic separation equipment, ball mills... a complete mineral processing production line was built and put into operation within twenty days.

The first batch of high-grade iron ore has been transported to Ansteel by rail.

There are also coal mines in Fuxin, limestone mines around Anshan, timber harvesting sites in Liaodong... twenty basic mining projects.

Zhao Ping'an used the most basic method—supervising the installation, adjusting equipment, and training workers on-site one by one.

During the day I was on-site, and at night I was on the train. I didn't sleep in the same place for more than forty days.

But the results are real: the industrial base in Northeast China has begun to recover.

Coal, iron ore, and timber—these most basic raw materials—are being extracted from the ground and from the mountains at an unprecedented rate, flowing to factories under construction via newly repaired railway lines.

It was already evening when the jeep entered the city of Beiping.

Zhao Ping'an was taken directly to Zhongnanhai.

The reception room was simple, with a few old sofas and a coffee table. Zhao Ping'an had just sat down when the door opened.

"Comrade Ping An, thank you for your hard work." Zhou Gong walked in, carrying a folder.

"I've read all the reports from the Northeast. Forty days, twenty projects put into production—that speed is unprecedented."

Zhao Ping'an stood up and saluted: "Greetings, Duke Zhou. This is all thanks to the comrades' tireless efforts day and night."

"Sit, sit," Zhou Gong gestured for him to sit down, then sat down on the sofa opposite him. "I heard you've traveled over ten thousand kilometers in the past month?"

"Pretty much. It mainly relies on railways; in some places there are no roads, so you have to ride a horse."

Duke Zhou opened the folder: "I've reviewed all the data you submitted. The monthly output of the Fushun coal mine has recovered from 30,000 tons to 120,000 tons."

It is expected to reach 200,000 tons next month.

The grade of the Benxi iron ore mine has increased from 35% to 62%... To be honest, I couldn't believe these numbers at first.

He raised his head and looked at Zhao Ping'an: "I asked you to come here today because I want to hear your next plans."

The basic raw material issue has been largely resolved, so what's next?

Zhao Ping'an did not answer immediately. He opened his briefcase and took out a long, narrow object wrapped in oilcloth.

"Lord Zhou, my plan is still to focus on steel, get the steel mills into production as soon as possible, and then expand into areas such as military industry."

However, I'd like to show you a few things first. Also, I'd like to ask for your approval regarding some minor modifications I made to the military equipment without my consent.

The layers of tarpaulin were peeled back to reveal what was inside—a gun.

However, it was neither the Type 38 rifle commonly seen in this era, nor the Zhongzheng (Type 24) rifle.

The gun has sleek lines, a smooth wooden stock, and metal parts that gleam with a cold blue light.

The gun is 1.02 meters long and has a folding bayonet mounted on top of the barrel.

"This is..." Zhou Gong stood up and walked closer.

"Our newly developed rifle," Zhao Ping'an said, handing the gun over.

"Let's call it the 'Type 56 semi-automatic rifle' for now."

Zhou Gong took the gun and weighed it in his hand: "How heavy is it?"

"The empty gun weighs 3.85 kilograms, and the fully loaded gun weighs 4.2 kilograms."

"Ammunition capacity?"

"Ten rounds." Zhao Ping'an took a magazine out of his bag. "Use this to feed the ammunition."

Duke Zhou examined the gun carefully.

He participated in the Long March, fought against the Japanese, and led troops; he was extremely familiar with guns.

The craftsmanship of this rifle is significantly more refined than any current standard rifle; the precision of the barrel, receiver, and bolt is visibly high.

"Can we fight?" Zhou Gong asked.

"Yes. I brought 500 rounds of Soviet-made ammunition. Of course, there are also a few German-made guns in the vehicle, which are the same caliber as the Type 24 rifle."

Zhou Gong raised his head: "Let's go to the shooting range. Let's see what surprise Comrade Ping An has brought us."

Dusk was falling at the shooting range in the western suburbs.

When several jeeps drove in, the firing range had already been cleared.

In addition to the guards, there were also several high-ranking military officials who had been notified and rushed to the scene.

"Boss, you've arrived too." Zhou Gong greeted a tall leader.

"Heard there's something new here, come and see for yourself." The boss smiled and looked at the gun in Zhao Ping'an's hand. "Is this it?"

"Yes." Zhao Pingan handed over the gun.

The boss handled the gun very professionally. He first checked the chamber, then pulled back the bolt, examined the internal structure, and finally weighed it in his hand.

"Lighter than the Type 38 rifle, shorter than the Type 24," the boss commented. "This magazine... it looks a lot like Big Brother's SKS rifle, doesn't it?"

"Reporting to the boss, it's a copy of the SKS rifle," Zhao Ping'an said. "However, our rifle has a smoother feeding process and a lower jamming rate."

"Shall we give it a try?" said the Duke of Zhou.

Zhao Ping'an nodded. He walked to the firing position, took out a magazine from his bag, loaded a round, and chambered a chamber. His movements were clean and efficient.

100-meter chest target.

Zhao Pingan raised his gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

The crisp sound of gunfire echoed across the shooting range. The target announcer waved his flag: "Ten rings!"

The second shot came almost without any interval.

"Bang!" Nine rings.

The third shot, the fourth shot, the fifth shot… Zhao Ping'an fired at a steady pace, with less than a second between each two shots. All ten bullets were fired within thirty seconds.

The target reporter ran over to check and then held up a sign: Total score 96 rings.

The scene was quiet for a few seconds.

"Wait a minute," a commander suddenly spoke up, "You... you were firing very quickly just now?"

"This is a semi-automatic rifle." Zhao Ping'an removed the empty magazine and reloaded a full one. "One pull of the trigger fires one shot, but it automatically ejects the spent cartridge and reloads after firing. You just need to keep aiming and firing."

He raised his gun again, this time to a target 200 meters away.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Five shots were fired in quick succession, at a faster pace. The target reporter checked the score and announced: 47 rings.

"Two hundred meters, all five shots hit the target, averaging over nine rings," a staff officer calculated in a low voice.

The boss stepped forward: "Let me try it."

Zhao Pingan handed over the gun and gave a brief explanation of how to operate it.

The commander, as expected of a veteran, understood it after just one listen. He loaded the gun, aimed at the 100-meter target, and began to fire.

First shot, eight rings. The recoil was significantly less than that of the Type 24 rifle.

The second shot, nine rings.

The third shot, a bullseye.

The boss fired faster and faster, until he was firing almost one shot per second. After firing ten shots, he put down his gun, an expression of disbelief on his face.

"Precise firepower, high rate of fire," he murmured. "If these were equipped on the soldiers, one soldier could have the firepower of three."

Another commander also test-fired a few shots. Everyone discovered the advantages of this gun:

High accuracy, low recoil, and most importantly—high rate of fire.

A well-trained marksman can only fire ten rounds per minute with a Type 38 rifle, but with this gun, he can fire more than thirty rounds per minute.