Chapter 336: Inspection Team

The blood‑red steel sparks from Workshop Three had not fully cooled, and the arguments in the Steel Rolling Mill over the cause of the accident still lingered like echoing after‑shocks in the conference room; Li Huaide's long‑planned second move of his "combined punch" was already launched, swift and precise, riding on the still‑lingering smoke.

He was no longer satisfied with verbal accusations and fruitless debates in meetings. On the third day after the accident, a rigorously worded, highly vigilant proposal titled "Proposal Report on Establishing a Safety Production and Technological Innovation Inspection Team for the Steel Rolling Mill," drafted in his own name, was formally submitted to the factory Party Committee office.

In the report, he elevated the accident's "profound lesson" to a "policy‑level" issue, lamenting the "serious blind spots" and "conservative tendencies" within the current management system, and stressed that only by establishing an independent, authoritative, permanent inspection body—directly led by the factory leadership and broadly involving workers and technical staff—could similar tragedies be fundamentally prevented and obstacles to the factory's "technological innovation" be cleared.

The report was like a massive stone thrown into an already murky pond. Supporters cheered loudly, calling Li "concerned leader of the workers" and "far‑sighted"; opponents sneered that he was "seizing the opportunity" and "harboring malicious intent."

Nevertheless, at the moment the safety accident had just occurred, any speech opposing "strengthening safety production" was politically incorrect and unsafe.

Yang Weiguo stared at the report, his complexion so gloomy it seemed it could drip water. Could he not see Li Huaide's calculations? This so‑called "Inspection Team" was clearly a dagger aimed at the core of his management system, a "royal sword" that Li Huaide could lawfully wield to intervene in the concrete production affairs of each workshop.

He attempted to rebut and stall by citing reasons such as "respecting the existing management system," "avoiding institutional overlap," and "the current priority should be restoring production and handling the accident aftermath."

However, Li Huaide this time was unusually well prepared. He no longer fought alone; he had already conducted intensive private activities before the meeting.

He located the families of the few workers lightly injured in the accident, offered "cordial condolences," and his words revealed sorrow over the "current shortcomings in safety management," implying that only a new inspection body could ensure their relatives' future safety.

He reached out to several mid‑level technical cadres and young backbones in the factory who habitually criticized Yang Weiguo's "emphasis on production over innovation," promising them "significant roles within the Inspection Team."

Li Huaide even used his contacts in the Ministry of Industry to have a superior leader, while taking a report, "casually" ask, "What are your factory's deep‑level reflections and systematic improvement measures regarding this accident?"

Under multiple pressures, Yang Weiguo's resistance grew increasingly difficult. In another enlarged meeting, when Li Huaide once again spoke generously, tightly linking the "establishment of the Inspection Team" with "responsibility for workers' lives" and "responsibility for the factory's future development," the wind in the hall began to shift.

Finally, after fierce bargaining and compromise, the factory Party Committee reluctantly passed a resolution: to establish the "Steel Rolling Mill Safety Production and Technological Progress Supervision Team." Li Huaide would serve concurrently as Team Leader, while the deputy leader would be a relatively neutral deputy factory director responsible for technology and the union chairman.

The team set up an office and was authorized to conduct regular or irregular safety production inspections of all workshops and departments across the factory, to issue remediation suggestions on "outdated processes" and "potential hazards," and to be responsible for collecting and promoting "advanced production experience."

That afternoon, when the resolution was passed, Li Huaide's face broke into an uncontrollable smile mixing triumph and malice. He sprang into action, swift and decisive.

First, he appointed members of the team office. He carefully selected a few confidants: a hard‑nosed, policy‑savvy officer from the Publicity Department to handle written materials and media propaganda; and a person from the Logistics Department (whom he deliberately placed there) adept at reading the room and well‑informed, responsible for "information gathering" and "liaison coordination."

There were also two young foremen who held some influence among the workers and were dissatisfied with the status quo; they were brought in as "worker representatives," both to embellish the façade and serve as his eyes and ears on the ground.

Next came the drafting of the inspection plan. Li Huaide unsurprisingly set the target of the first "Supervision Inspection" on Workshop Three, where the accident occurred, as well as two other workshops overseen by workshop chiefs promoted by Yang Weiguo, bearing heavy production tasks and relatively aging equipment. The inspection was grandly titled: "Reflect on the Pain, Conduct Comprehensive Checks, Learn from One to Apply to All."

When the news reached Workshop Three, the newly appointed Director Liu's face turned ashen, yet he was helpless. He could only steel himself, ordering his subordinates to compile all operation procedure records, equipment maintenance logs, and safety training records, preparing to face the inspection.

The workers in the workshop also chattered, their morale wavering, uncertain what changes the newly formed "Supervision Team" would bring.

Yang Weiguo's faction felt increasingly aggrieved and wary. They knew this "Supervision Team" was a "special envoy" sent by Li Huaide, sent to look for trouble.

But faced with the grand banner of "Safety Production," they could only respond passively, tread carefully, fearing any leverage might be seized and turn them into another projectile for the opponent to use against Factory Director Yang Changzhang.

When the Supervision Team made its first visit to a workshop, the scene was nothing short of "grand." Li Huaide personally led the team, all dressed in tidy Zhongshan suits, steel pens pinned to their chests, notebooks in hand, expressions solemn.

They did not delve into specific production operations, but rather moved through the workshop like inspectors, pointing here, asking there.

"When was the last major overhaul of this saw machine? Bring the records for me to see."

"Have the workers memorized the safety operating procedures for this post? Do a spot check."

"I heard that to meet quotas you sometimes simplify the operating steps here. Is that true?"

"Workers have reported that labor‑protective supplies are not distributed promptly. Is your workshop aware of this issue?"

Some questions were specific, some vague, some hit the core, and some were clearly nitpicking. The accompanying workshop cadres and foremen were extremely tense, answering with dry mouths.

The accompanying publicity officer kept scribbling on his notebook, the rustle of the pen tip across the paper sending shivers down one's spine.

Li Huaide stood with his hands behind his back, occasionally pausing to watch the roaring machines and busy workers, his gaze deep and unreadable. He did not voice opinions easily, but each furrowed brow and each pause tightened the nerves of those beside him.

After the first inspection, the Supervision Team office quickly produced a "Preliminary Supervision Opinions on Workshop Three and Other Departments," listing several "identified issues" and "improvement suggestions"; some were genuine, others were exaggerated, even tinged with subjective conjecture.

Although this opinion did not issue direct mandatory orders, it was copied to the factory Party Committee and all relevant workshops, and the pressure and implied meaning it exerted were self‑evident.

Li Huaide stood by the window of his office, gazing at the vast factory grounds, a look of satisfaction on his face. His reach, finally using the impeccably legitimate pretexts of "safety production" and "technological progress," had successfully and lawfully extended to the front line of production.

This is only the beginning; he will use this "Supervision Team" to gradually lever the stronghold Yang Weiguo has managed for years, gather "ammunition," cultivate influence, bide his time, and deliver a lethal strike.

The smokestacks over the plant still belch white smoke, and the machines' roar continues day and night. Yet beneath this seemingly unchanged rhythm, a current named "Supervision" has already begun to surge, bringing not genuine safety and progress but a more complex, more perilous power struggle and widespread anxiety.

Li Huaide's counterattack, in this grandiose manner, officially opened the curtain. And everyone at the Steel Rolling Mill will, under this newly raised banner, re‑align their allegiances and make new choices.