Chapter 34

Time quickly entered the end of December 1977.

Deng Lao delivered a series of speeches within the year, and after a period of preparation, he finally returned to the central leadership.

The events at the top seemed distant, but the provincial Party Secretary Liu took a crucial wrong step.

As a result, he was removed from all his positions within the province and was transferred away from Longjiang to retire elsewhere.

Such a sudden decision caught everyone off guard. Secretary Liu had only been in charge of the province for less than a year, and his downfall was due to his improper attitude towards the higher-ups. Liu himself had thus directly alienated the people of Heilongjiang.

Yang Hongjian, the military representative at the automobile factory, was suddenly in a difficult position. With his main support gone, Yang Hongjian immediately became a dog without a home.

Such gossip spread particularly quickly. As soon as the person fell, the relevant departments in the provincial capital knew about it.

The news naturally reached the Jiang'an Automobile Factory. Around eight in the morning, the factory gates, which should have been wide open, were now only partially open.

"Yang Hongjian is here!" Someone hiding inside the gate was looking for the military representative.

With a "bang," even the small gate was closed.

Yang Hongjian rode his bicycle and saw from afar that the factory gates were sealed, with workers looking at him indifferently.

He sighed, turned his bicycle around, and slowly rode back.

Lin Xiangrong stood at the back of the crowd and saw Yang Hongjian's dejected figure, sighing as well. He turned and walked back to the workshop, saying to Lin Qiangsheng, "He's gone."

Lin Qiangsheng was still laying out blueprints on the table, drawing something. Zou Xue and a few others occasionally came over to look, surrounding Lin Qiangsheng and asking various questions. They looked particularly happy; their young master was finally back.

Hearing his father's voice, Lin Qiangsheng turned around and said, "It's better that he's gone. Father, you should hurry up and get the workers to focus. Also, talk to the workers about their children. Tell them that the factory will allow their children to work here. This will both clear the air and boost morale!"

Lin Xiangrong looked at his son and finally said, "Son, next time you do something, make sure to tell Dad!"

Lin Qiangsheng scratched his head and smiled at his father, "Okay."

Lin Xiangrong approached the table and looked at the new blueprints his son was drawing, asking curiously, "What machine are you drawing?"

Lin Qiangsheng said, "I plan to draw a set of radial tire processing equipment. The cars produced by our factory currently use bias-ply tires, which have a short lifespan and poor safety. I want our factory's cars to use real radial tires!"

Lin Xiangrong asked with interest, "Is this a blueprint for radial tire production equipment?" He quickly flipped through the blueprints his son had drawn, studying each mechanical diagram for a while.

On the blueprints, Lin Qiangsheng had annotated the production process for radial tires, which first required setting up a rubber mixing workshop with a carbon black conveying system, a small material weighing system, auxiliary equipment, a mixing mill, and an open mill.

Next was the component workshop, which included a tread extrusion system, other pure rubber component extrusion systems, a calender, a cutting machine, a steel bead winding machine, and a steel bead forming machine. There was also the forming workshop with forming machines and the vulcanization workshop with vulcanization machines.

Many of the equipment, Lin Qiangsheng had only drawn rough sketches. Some of these machines were already used in the production of bias-ply tires and could be modified for use. This saved Lin Qiangsheng a lot of time in drawing the blueprints.

The development level of tires in the country was very backward! According to Lin Qiangsheng's knowledge, there were only one or two factories producing radial tires, and they were still in the research stage, not on a large scale. Ordinary vehicles could not use them, as they were produced by military units.

"What are these?" Lin Xiangrong asked his son while looking at the blueprints. Even as an old draftsman, he didn't understand some of the equipment his son had drawn.

Lin Qiangsheng glanced at them and said, "These are finished uniformity testers, dynamic balance testers, and X-ray inspection machines. The first two are essential for a radial tire factory. The last one can be bought from a medical equipment manufacturer and modified."

Lin Xiangrong nodded and smiled, asking, "Qiangsheng, how did you think of drawing this? Where did you see it?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "I estimate that the province will still assign people to our factory, but the number will be smaller. This way, with two factories, Father, you will have more flexibility in allocation, won't you?"

Lin Xiangrong smiled, patted Lin Qiangsheng's head, and nodded in satisfaction, saying, "It's good that you think this way. Just try to cause less trouble for Dad in the future!"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled awkwardly, avoided his father's gaze, and picked up a pen to continue drawing.

Sure enough, the province still planned to send people to the factory. Zheng Yongmin and Chang Yuanting were called to the Industrial Bureau for a talk. Both agreed to return and calm the workers, contributing to solving the province's difficulties.

Director Qin Qidong personally talked to them, earnestly persuading them. They had no choice but to return and talk to the workers.

At the end of 1977, the province's agricultural sector suffered a significant blow. A once-in-a-decade drought in the spring and summer caused considerable trouble for agricultural production, leading to a severe reduction in the province's grain output.

In this situation, many educated youth in the countryside could not endure and demanded to return to the city. The farmers had no surplus grain!

The educated youth, those with connections sought help, and those without connections fled back to the city.

The influx of educated youth into the provincial capital put considerable pressure on families and society. Social order began to show signs of instability.

Lin Qiangsheng pondered whether the sudden drought that year was the catalyst for the return of the educated youth to the cities!

After considering many immature ideas, Lin Qiangsheng had to quickly put them into action!

In this situation, the establishment of the automobile factory was undoubtedly highly valued by the provincial leaders. Such a large-scale enterprise could solve many problems!

Due to the manipulation of certain individuals, the recruitment process had become a means to win people's hearts. It was now time to get back on track.

The city officially announced the recruitment news for the Jiang'an Automobile Factory, which was featured in major provincial newspapers, bringing unprecedented hope to the educated youth returning to the city!

The provincial leaders listened to the reports from Zheng and Chang, as well as the suggestions from experts and scholars. After deliberation, they decided to appropriately reduce the recruitment scale, avoiding rash actions and not burdening the enterprise.

They especially decided to reserve slots for the families of the original factory workers, a benefit that all major units tacitly accepted. They also had to consider some provincial connections, which could not be avoided. Thus, they planned to recruit 500 people from society, bringing the total number of workers in the automobile factory to over a thousand.

"Director Qin, for this social recruitment, we plan to adopt a merit-based selection process. We will not accept those who are unsuitable. Please communicate this with the leaders!" Chang Yuanting said to Qin Qidong.

Qin Qidong, sitting in his chair, thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "That's reasonable. The quality of the recruits will inevitably vary. Those you find unsuitable can be sent back to the bureau."

After saying this, he looked at Zheng Yongmin and Chang Yuanting and smiled, saying, "Old Zheng, Old Chang, you must work hard! You must manage and build our province's only automobile manufacturing plant well! When our industrial comrades go to meetings outside the province, they feel very proud when they talk about our automobile factory! Although we don't produce many cars now, we don't need to apply for scarce foreign exchange to buy imported cars, do we? And your cars are not bad; after continuous improvements, their performance has greatly improved, which is very good!"

Qin Qidong laughed loudly, took a sip of water, and continued, "The second-in-command of the province, Secretary Yang, is about to become the top leader! He places great importance on your automobile factory and has mentioned it multiple times in meetings. You must focus on the work in the factory!"

Zheng Yongmin and Chang Yuanting nodded, knowing that this second-in-command, Secretary Yang, was the one who had come to inspect their factory, not the same as the former Liu Lao.

They were still grateful to Secretary Yang for supporting the automobile factory at a critical moment.

"Yes, Director Qin! We will definitely manage the work well!" Zheng Yongmin and Chang Yuanting promised.

Qin Qidong did not mention sending more people to the factory. After hearing their assurances, he smiled and saw them out of the office. During this period when the top leader had just stepped down and the second-in-command had just taken over, Qin Qidong decided to be low-key for the time being.

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