Chapter 13

The car factory construction team held meetings for two consecutive days, but the leaders still hadn't finalized the construction plan.

Clearly, everyone, including those from the provincial government, had underestimated the difficulty of building a car factory!

Lin Qiangsheng hadn't expected that under the current domestic conditions, constructing a specialized passenger car production plant would require so many considerations.

Firstly, there was the issue of the factory building. The existing workshops were not large enough to accommodate a car production line.

Secondly, there was the problem of production equipment. What equipment was needed, and how to install it, were issues that the factory leaders couldn't figure out.

Xu Ranxue, the chief engineer from Harbin Engineering, was nearly 70 years old but still energetic.

He enthusiastically provided the construction team with all the information he could find on domestic car factory construction and offered his own suggestions.

"We should request the provincial government to approve the construction of our car factory, to be undertaken by the 5th Construction Division. The provincial government should also request the state to dispatch a construction engineering unit to complete the work. The 5th Construction Division has been involved in the construction of the First Automotive Works from start to finish and has extensive experience in building car factories! We should fully coordinate with local enterprises, allocate steel, bricks, and cement through the provincial government, and also contact the provincial heavy industry enterprises to build supporting facilities..." Xu Ranxue spoke for half an hour, leaving Qin Qidong, Zheng Yongmin, and Chang Yuanting with headaches.

Lin Qiangsheng sat at the door of the meeting room. As the car designer, he was the only one allowed to attend this meeting; even his father, Lin Xiangrong, wasn't present. Otherwise, given his age, he wouldn't have been involved at all.

Seeing that the old man hadn't finished speaking and was making the construction issue overly complicated, Lin Qiangsheng felt that he couldn't let him continue. Otherwise, the 5 million yuan budget wouldn't be enough!

If the 5 million yuan was exhausted and the car factory still wasn't built, the provincial government's enthusiasm would surely wane. The construction of the car factory might then be left in limbo!

"Cough," Lin Qiangsheng coughed loudly, interrupting Xu Ranxue's speech and drawing the attention of Qin Qidong and the factory leaders.

Lin Qiangsheng stood up, and the young secretary who had accompanied Qin Qidong stopped writing, looking at him in surprise.

Lin Qiangsheng turned to Xu Ranxue with a polite smile and said, "Please allow me to interrupt, Mr. Xu. I have something to say."

Xu Ranxue was quite displeased. How could such a young man casually interrupt others!

He knew that Lin Qiangsheng was the designer of the passenger car, otherwise, he would have shouted at him to leave.

Qin Qidong smiled and said, "Oh? Comrade Lin, what do you have to say? Feel free to share your thoughts."

The two factory leaders immediately felt relieved. They picked up their cups and took a sip of water to calm down.

They had been so stressed by Xu Ranxue's speech that their foreheads were sweating.

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "Director Qin, Mr. Xu, and the leaders present. How much money does our construction team have for building the car factory?"

Without waiting for a response, Lin Qiangsheng continued loudly, "It's 5 million yuan! I won't comment on whether 5 million yuan is enough for Mr. Xu's requirements. But with this 5 million yuan, we need to be very careful with our spending! Only by saving every penny can we truly build the car factory!"

Qin Qidong nodded silently, while Xu Ranxue stared at Lin Qiangsheng with wide eyes. Zheng Yongmin and Chang Yuanting secretly cheered him on.

What 5th Construction Division, what heavy industry department, could they even consider such things! These large units were busier than their small car factory! Would they even pay attention to them!

Lin Qiangsheng continued, "I may be inexperienced, but my point is clear. We must use the 5 million yuan carefully. We should do as much as we can ourselves. There are over 500 employees and their families in the factory. To build a factory with a capacity of 3,000 cars, covering several hundred square meters, is entirely feasible! We can build it ourselves, be self-sufficient, and there's no need to invite the 5th Construction Division! We can't afford to support their thousands of people!"

Zheng Yongmin and Chang Yuanting nodded in agreement. This was exactly what they wanted to hear.

Xu Ranxue, frowning and glaring, slapped the table and pointed at Lin Qiangsheng, saying, "How can you say that? Do the workers and their families know how to build a car production factory? The 5th Construction Division has experience and technology, why not invite them!"

Qin Qidong quickly intervened, "Oh, Old Xu, don't scare the young man!" He quickly calmed down the chief engineer.

Lin Qiangsheng said sincerely to Xu Ranxue, "Mr. Xu, please calm down. I have no intention of targeting you. I know the 5th Construction Division is good, but we really can't afford it!"

Xu Ranxue huffed and leaned back in his chair, saying, "Since you say the workers will build it, I'd like to ask how you plan to build a car factory?"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and took out a rough sketch from his canvas bag.

He laid the drawing on the table and said to Qin Qidong, "This is the rough sketch I drew. I think our factory should learn from the spirit of Daqing. We may not be able to endure hardships, but we must be practical. I designed the factory like this. Please take a look, leaders."

Qin Qidong was surprised and said, "Oh? Little Lin, you can draw architectural plans?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and pointed to the rough sketch, saying, "It's a simple sketch. For a factory several hundred meters long, I think we should use a mixture of soil, bricks, and a small amount of reinforced concrete columns."

Qin Qidong and the factory leaders stood up with interest to look at the drawing.

Chang Yuanting laughed, "That's good! The materials for the soil mixture are easy to find. There's plenty of it on the wasteland by the river. This will save a lot on building materials!"

Qin Qidong and Zheng Yongmin also nodded in agreement.

They had to admit that this plan was feasible. With 5 million yuan, they couldn't buy much, and the material costs alone might exhaust the budget.

Xu Ranxue glanced at the sketch and shook his head in disappointment. This was clearly not the large-scale factory he had in mind.

"Good! We need to learn from the spirit of Daqing and be frugal! I think this soil mixture factory design is excellent and very suitable for our current conditions," Qin Qidong said, approving Lin Qiangsheng's plan. With his approval, everyone else had no objections.

Qin Qidong looked at Xu Ranxue and asked with a smile, "Old Xu, what do you think of Little Lin's plan? Any suggestions?"

Xu Ranxue had to pull himself together and asked, "Why is your design half a meter below ground level? Is this a double-layer wall design with an empty space in the middle for insulation material? And the reinforced concrete ring beam on the wall, is it for structural support? And the reserved concrete wall columns..."

Xu Ranxue pointed out several key points in Lin Qiangsheng's design.

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "Yes, Mr. Xu. The design below ground level is also for insulation. The space in the wall will be filled with furnace ash for insulation and moisture protection. Everything else you mentioned is correct."

Xu Ranxue, seeing that the young man was polite, retracted his finger and said, "This can work, but you might have to rebuild the factory in the future. Also, are you not afraid that the Songhua River might flood and inundate your factory?"

Zheng Yongmin laughed and said, "Why be afraid of that? The priority is to build it first, and we can improve it later. When we have money, we can add another layer of building around it!"

Xu Ranxue shook his head, speechless.

Qin Qidong looked at the sketch, then at Lin Qiangsheng, and patted his shoulder with a smile, saying, "Good job, Little Lin. I didn't expect you to know so much. You can design cars and buildings."

He looked around at everyone and said loudly, "Good! Since everyone agrees, let's go with Lin Qiangsheng's plan!"

He turned to Chang Yuanting and Zheng Yongmin and asked, "Can you gather the people? How many masons and wall builders do we have in the factory?"

Chang Yuanting laughed, "There are plenty of people who can do it. When our auto repair factory was first established, we built the factory ourselves."

Qin Qidong smiled and nodded, saying, "That's great. Go gather everyone and get started. Organize everyone to participate in the labor when they have free time."

Chang Yuanting and Zheng Yongmin stood up, ready to gather the people.

Lin Qiangsheng said, "Wait, leaders, I have one more request."

"Really? Comrade Lin, what else do you suggest?" Qin Qidong asked with a smile.

Seeing everyone looking at him curiously, Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "I want to ask if the factory can continue producing cars while we build. We can sell cars while constructing the factory."

Qin Qidong asked the group, "What do you think of Little Lin's suggestion? Can we really sell the cars we produce now?"

Chang Yuanting immediately said, "I think Qiangsheng's suggestion is good. Several units have already inquired about buying the sample car."

Qin Qidong laughed and asked, "Really? Someone wants to buy the car?"

Zheng Yongmin said, "Director Qin, indeed, some people have inquired about buying our sample car."

Qin Qidong laughed heartily and said, "If someone wants to buy it, let's sell it. Ask them what price they are willing to pay. If we can fund the factory construction through car sales, that's even better! Two birds with one stone!"

Chang Yuanting immediately said, "Good, I'll go ask them what price they are willing to pay."

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