Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Xiao Han reports to Wei Hongjun.

"Oh?"

Seeing Wei Hongjun's interest, Xiao Han continued, "It was Comrade Yang from Jiangsu who suggested it. He believed that a large project like the Liuzhou Industrial Zone would be a training exercise not only for our cadres, but also for these rural construction teams."

"So we have a special night school in our industrial zone, with a cadre class, that specializes in studying urban planning, industrial construction planning, etc."

"We also have engineering classes. They are specifically designed to teach basic engineering knowledge to people working in engineering teams in rural areas of our county and townships."

"Comrade Yang from Jiangsu said that we should take advantage of the current large-scale construction in Liuzhou to improve the level of engineering in Liuzhou. In the future, our Liuzhou construction team can become the best in Guangxi and even in the entire southwest province."

"well."

Wei Hongjun nodded repeatedly.

Li Fuchun, standing beside him, nodded repeatedly. Liuzhou, as Guangxi's industrial city and transportation hub, was a key southwestern city for central government development during the Second Five-Year Plan. In the eyes of the central government, Liuzhou held a far higher status than Nanning. Coupled with the Soviet Union's support, Liuzhou was arguably facing its greatest development opportunity in history.

But what surprised and satisfied Li Fuchun even more was that Liuzhou officials did not accept this opportunity without hesitation, but instead considered the future development of Liuzhou.

The plan to redefine the Indochina Peninsula will take several years, and so will the construction of the southwestern provinces. By then, the entire southwestern province will need a large number of engineering teams. Once these Liuzhou engineering teams, which have experience in industrial construction, are integrated, they will undoubtedly flourish in the future.

No wonder among so many graduates of the Central Party School's class for young and middle-aged cadres, Wei Hongjun specially arranged for Yang Lai from Jiangsu to work in Liuzhou.

He is just a grassroots cadre, but he has such strategic thinking.

Wei Hongjun said happily, "Comrade Yang from Jiangsu, your idea is very good. The night school in the industrial zone is well run."

"Many of our cadres know that the country must develop industry for growth. But many of them don't understand what industry actually is. This isn't their fault, though; it's because they haven't seen industrial cities or truly modern factories."

"Liuzhou is currently facing an important historical opportunity. Our cadres can take advantage of the great industrial development in Liuzhou to personally participate in the construction of Liuzhou's industry and understand what industry is and what industrial construction is."

"And our construction teams, especially those from rural areas, can gradually become formal, skilled construction teams if only one percent of them learn real skills in night school and apply them to construction projects."

"Our country needs to develop rapidly in the future. We need a large number of skilled engineering teams for industrial, transportation and urban development. Liuzhou is ahead of the curve."

Wei Hongjun was really very satisfied.

The rapid development of Liuzhou's industry is an opportunity for Liuzhou. It is not only an opportunity for Liuzhou's economic development, but also an opportunity to train a large number of industrial cadres.

But Liuzhou thought further, and even thought of setting up night schools for construction teams from all over the country to teach them some basic engineering knowledge.

Wei Hongjun doesn't expect all construction workers to attend night school. With so much exhaustion from daytime work, many simply can't afford to attend. But if even a small number of them learn genuine engineering knowledge and skills, then there's a good chance that some professionally capable teams will emerge from among those rural construction teams.

"This night school model is very good. Even if we don't see results in the short term, we must persist. Many of our cadres, workers, and farmers haven't had the opportunity to learn before. So for those who are willing to take out their limited time to learn real skills, we must not hesitate to give them any opportunity."

In the old society, knowledge was a semi-monopoly, and many people lacked the opportunity to learn. But now, in the new China, this situation must change. Those unwilling to learn need not be forced to do so. But those who are willing should be given the opportunity to learn.

"Yes."

Jiangsu Yang nodded.

"What's that over there?"

Wei Hongjun took a look around and was very satisfied with the industrial development of Liuzhou.

Liuzhou's industrial layout is also very good. Although a large number of factories have sprung up, it does not seem messy at all.

The layout of the entire Liuzhou industrial zone was based on a plan by Soviet advisors, though Liuzhou and Guangxi later made some adjustments. Overall, the Soviet advisors' plan was still in place.

"That's the Liuzhou Construction Machinery Factory. It was originally the Shanghai Huadong Steel Construction Factory, but later moved to Liuzhou. Their main product was bulldozers, and they produced 1958 bulldozers in 12."

"And the 500-cubic-meter blast furnace at the Liuzhou Iron and Steel Plant was built by their factory. It was their first time building a blast furnace for a steel plant, but they built it in less than 100 days."

"However, after receiving support from the Soviet Union last year, we are currently expanding. The Soviets believe that my country's logistics and transportation mechanization is too backward, relying entirely on manual loading and unloading. Therefore, the Liuzhou Construction Machinery Factory's main product in the future will be the production of loaders."

Yang from Jiangsu introduced Wei Hongjun.

Wei Hongjun couldn't help but take a closer look at the factory. If his memory served him correctly, this was the predecessor of the later famous Liugong Group.

Wei Hongjun had no idea that the factory that had moved from Shanghai had such strong technical capabilities. They could not only produce bulldozers, but also blast furnaces for steel mills.

Suddenly, Wei Hongjun became very interested in Liugong's predecessor. So he said, "I want to meet the Party Secretary and Director of this factory."

Soon a strong, tall and bearded man came to Wei Hongjun.

Seeing Wei Hongjun, he immediately saluted and said, "Li Yu, director and party secretary of Liuzhou Construction Machinery Factory, reports to the commander."

"Comrade Li Yu is a cadre from the military."

Wei Hongjun also returned a salute to Li Yu and asked.

"Secretary Wei, Comrade Li Yu is from Guangdong. He served in the Guangdong-Guangxi Column. He later participated in the suppression of bandits in the Guangdong-Guangxi region. Everyone called him the 'Bandit Suppression Commander.'"

Su Zhenhua briefly introduced Li Yu's history to Wei Hongjun.

Wei Hongjun smiled and said, "Comrade Li Yu, many retired military cadres find it difficult to adapt to industrial construction. What do you think?"

"Commander, I only lead troops in battle and have zero industrial knowledge. So I only do three things well in the factory."

"Talk about it."

"The first thing is ideological work. We need to let everyone know that what we are doing is part of the great cause of socialism."

Li Yu was indeed a military man, and he spoke very fluently.

"The second thing is to do a good job of logistics. Many factory workers used to work in Shanghai, Northeast China and other places, where their living conditions were better. But here we often have power and water outages, and our supplies are not as good as those in Northeast China and Shanghai. So I have to do a good job of providing them with logistical support."

"The third is to respect talent. For some technical issues, we should listen more to the opinions of technical personnel. We should also hold meetings frequently to listen to the opinions of front-line workers."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Li Yu is a capable cadre. Although he only focuses on three things, it's easier said than done. A cadre who doesn't understand industry will face many difficulties as a factory director.

Many military officers struggle to adapt to the local climate after arriving in rural areas. This is partly due to objective factors, but more often due to their own personal struggles. Instead of adapting to their new work environment, they often complain about it.

Of course, there were also military officers who took the initiative to adapt to their new jobs. For example, Li Wen from Anshan Iron and Steel, who transitioned from a propaganda officer to an industrial officer, didn't have to resort to much nonsense, and his mindset shifted quickly, as he began to relearn industrial knowledge.

"After the factory expands, we'll ask you to produce loaders. Are you confident?"

"Commander, we will definitely complete the task. During this period, our technicians and workers have been learning from Soviet experts and studying Soviet loaders."

The Soviet Union not only brought Soviet loaders to the factory, but also transferred the technology to China. The Soviets helped expand the factory, with a planned annual production of 1000 loaders, primarily for loading logistical supplies.

"This is a good opportunity. We must seize it, thoroughly master loader technology, and produce our own loaders. There is a huge demand for loaders across the country right now."

"Yes."

If it weren't for Khrushchev's drive to communistize Indochina, China wouldn't have had the opportunity to secure Soviet aid and produce its own loaders. LiuGong produced its first loader in 1966, and ten years later, annual production in China was only around 1000 units.

But with the support of the Soviet Union, the production plan of a factory was 1000 units.

"It's not just loaders. I heard you built two 500-cubic-meter blast furnaces for the Liuzhou Steel Plant."

"It was hammered out by hand by our workers."

Li Yu is still very proud when talking about this.

After all, the factory had never made a blast furnace before. But after receiving the task, they actually built a 100 cubic meter blast furnace in less than 500 days. It can only be said that this factory's technical strength is really strong.

The factory's relocation to Liuzhou was the result of several rounds of negotiations between the central government and Shanghai. Unlike the smaller factories that had previously relocated, this one had been established for nearly 20 years. It possessed strong technical expertise, and its technicians and workers were highly qualified. Consequently, Shanghai disagreed with the factory's move to Liuzhou.

Therefore, the central government communicated with Shanghai several times, and finally Shanghai agreed to relocate the entire factory to Liuzhou.

"You can't waste this technology. Steel mills are being developed across the country, and many are stagnant precisely because they can't solve the blast furnace problem. You have such a strong technical foundation; you should boldly collaborate with other provinces."

"Comrade Gu Mu, you must strike more boldly. Don't just focus on Guangxi Province, but on the whole country. Our state-owned factories cannot just be satisfied with completing national tasks. They can also develop beyond national tasks."

"Just like the Hongdu Machinery Factory, they developed three-wheeled motorcycles outside of their national mission, and they are now selling well across the country. Your factory can produce 500 cubic meter blast furnaces, and you can definitely cooperate with other steel mills in the country. Once you make a profit, you can continue to build 1000 cubic meter, 1500 cubic meter, and even 2000 cubic meter blast furnaces. At that time, the development of large-scale steel mills in my country will be completely independent."

"Yes."

Gu Mu nodded.

There was indeed some regret in his heart. If Wei Hongjun hadn't said it, Gu Mu would not have thought about expanding outside.

Especially after Wei Hongjun's words, Gu Mu also understood the strength of Liugong's technology. After all, there are not many companies in China that can independently manufacture 500 cubic meter steel blast furnaces.

Therefore, many local steel mills have blast furnaces with a capacity of 200 cubic meters or 300 cubic meters. This type of blast furnace is a problem for steel mills in some provinces.

For example, in Guizhou, despite receiving support from Sichuan, the steel plant construction encountered many difficulties, one of which was the construction of the blast furnace.

If this could provide other steel mills with 500 cubic meter blast furnaces, how much profit could it generate for the mills and how much tax revenue could it bring to Guangxi. More importantly, it could also make a significant contribution to the development of the national steel industry.

In particular, the 1000-cubic-meter and 1500-cubic-meter blast furnaces Wei Hongjun mentioned are currently imported from the Soviet Union. If China could manufacture them itself, it would save a lot of foreign exchange.

A few hours later, Wei Hongjun and his team returned for dinner. At the table, Wei Hongjun remarked, "The higher the level of industrial development, the more detailed the division of labor. This is because a detailed division of labor can improve production efficiency. Liuzhou's industrial development should also avoid excessive ambition. A single factory shouldn't try to dominate the market and produce everything itself. Industrial development should prioritize division of labor and cooperation."

"So you should take advantage of this opportunity to develop large-scale industries and develop corresponding supporting enterprises. Some things don't necessarily need to be produced by large state-owned enterprises themselves. As long as they can ensure quality, you can give parts orders to county and township enterprises. This way, the entire Liuzhou will develop together, not just Liuzhou itself."

Many state-owned companies in China currently face this problem: they want to dominate the market and produce everything themselves.

The country publishes technical standards to enable everyone to work together. Parts that meet the same technical standards can be used throughout the country.

However, there are still many large state-owned enterprises that have to produce even parts themselves, which in turn slows down the company's production efficiency.

It would be better to give some parts production orders to small businesses so that we can develop together.

"We'll keep an eye on that."

1087

After Wei Hongjun visited Liuzhou, he had originally intended to meet with Gao Gang. Ever since Gao Gang's problems began, he had been in the southwestern provinces, rarely returning to Beijing unless he had a meeting.

Gao Gang had been in the southwestern provinces for nearly five years, and the industrial and agricultural development plans he submitted were becoming increasingly detailed. Wei Hongjun knew Gao Gang hadn't been derailed in his work there, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to produce such detailed development plans. The next Three-Five Plan would undoubtedly include a portion of resources allocated to the southwestern provinces, so Wei Hongjun wanted to discuss this with Gao Gang.

He was currently in Kunming, negotiating with a team of Soviet experts. Perhaps he didn't want to meet with Wei Hongjun, so when he learned that Wei Hongjun had come to Liuzhou, he deliberately stayed in Kunming and didn't come back.

When Wei Hongjun was considering whether to go to Kunming, Chairman Mao wanted to discuss some issues with Wei Hongjun in Jiangxi, so Wei Hongjun went to Jiangxi instead.

The Chairman has frequently traveled abroad for inspections in the past two years. One reason was to see the industrial development in various places, and the other was that the drought in the past two years was severe, and the Chairman wanted to personally see the disaster situation across the country.

Since the Ninth National Congress, the various members of the Central Standing Committee have each had their own division of labor, resulting in less overlap and fewer conflicts than before. Most of the work of the President was then handed over to Song Qingling. This gave the President more time to observe and consider theoretical issues.

Wei Hongjun rushed to Nanchang just as the Chairman was visiting the Nanchang Motorcycle Factory, especially the three-wheeled motorcycles which were currently selling very well.

The Chairman seemed very happy, chatting and laughing with the Jiangxi cadres and factory officials who accompanied him on the inspection tour. He even went on to experience the rear three-wheeled motorcycle himself.

After the tour, the Chairman was still in high spirits. In a private conversation with Wei Hongjun, he said happily, "This is great. The lowest market price is only 910 yuan, and the more expensive is only 1300 yuan. Many small and medium-sized factories and rural production cooperatives can afford it. We have orders for hundreds of thousands of units a year, and we may need millions in the future. We should vigorously develop it to solve transportation problems."

Three-wheeled motorcycles are truly inexpensive. At around 1000 yuan, even a moderately wealthy rural cooperative can easily afford one. This is roughly the same price as selling kilograms of grain. Rural cooperatives that sell tens of thousands of kilograms of grain to the state annually are considered normal, while some even sell hundreds of thousands of kilograms.

Because they're cheap, most businesses can afford them. As a result, three-wheeled motorcycles are in short supply, and as many as they can be produced, they can be sold. If it weren't for the requirement that a certain percentage be sold to rural cooperatives, they wouldn't even be able to buy them.

"Mr. Chairman, based on the development of our country's transportation, we need to develop a system of medium- and long-distance transport using trains and trucks, and short-distance transport using three-wheeled motorcycles and bicycles to complement each other."

Wei Hongjun spoke.

The Chairman nodded and said, "Our country's transportation conditions are not good. We must develop transportation according to specific conditions."