Chapter 17: Not Selected

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the interviews officially began.

Li Mingyuan sat at the table, with Chen Dezhong and several heads of the technical department beside him.

Each worker would enter, introduce themselves first, then answer a few technical questions, and finally, Li Mingyuan would decide whether to hire them.

When Yi Zhonghai entered, he was full of spirit, and after a self-introduction, he looked at Li Mingyuan with full confidence.

"Master Yi, how long have you been at the Rolling Mill?" Li Mingyuan asked.

"Seventeen years. I am a veteran master in the factory; there isn't a machine I've repaired that didn't behave," Yi Zhonghai answered proudly.

Li Mingyuan nodded, then the corner of his mouth tilted: "Then may I ask, what is the working principle of the Propeller-style Striking Hammer?"

Yi Zhonghai was stunned, beads of sweat seeping from his forehead: "This... I haven't usually come into contact with this kind of equipment..."

"Then what about the basic structure of the Single-tube Refrigeration Compressor?"

Yi Zhonghai opened his mouth, speechless.

"Alright, thank you Master Yi, next please," Li Mingyuan said calmly.

Yi Zhonghai walked out of the room with a livid complexion, and Liu Haizhong greeted him: "How was it, Old Yi, what did he ask?"

Hearing this, Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth: "Some propeller striking hammer, some single-tube compressor, how would I know these things!"

Liu Haizhong's expression changed: "No way, this..."

"Master Liu, it's your turn," the staff member called out.

Liu Haizhong bit the bullet and walked into the room, but the result was the same as Yi Zhonghai's; he was left speechless by several professional questions and came out looking dejected.

Jia Dongxu couldn't even answer the basic questions; his face was pale when he came out, knowing he definitely had no chance.

By the evening, the list was announced, and among the thirty people, the names of Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Jia Dongxu were indeed missing.

"This is impossible!" Liu Haizhong looked at the list, trembling with anger, "What do those youngsters know? How many years of experience do they have?"

Yi Zhonghai's face was livid, his eyes flashing with fury: "This Li Mingyuan is clearly doing it on purpose! We are all neighbors, and he won't even give us this bit of face!"

Jia Dongxu was a picture of frustration.

"Let's go, let's go find Li Mingyuan to reason with him!" Liu Haizhong pulled Yi Zhonghai, intending to rush to the office.

Xiao Wang from the technical department stopped them: "Chief Engineer Li is in a meeting, no one is allowed to disturb him."

The two had to return in low spirits, and Yi Zhonghai said bitterly: "This kid is arrogant; just because he has a little skill, he doesn't put us old workers in his eyes! Sooner or later he will stumble!"

Liu Haizhong had a gloomy face: "Let's wait and see!"

At this time, in the technical department conference room, Li Mingyuan was explaining the renovation plan to the thirty selected young Technical Workers.

"This is the full set of renovation blueprints I designed," Li Mingyuan pointed to the large design drawing on the wall, "We must complete the renovation of all equipment within one month and begin trial production of samples."

The workers looked at the complex blueprints, each one dumbfounded.

"Chief Engineer Li, this... what equipment is this? It looks so complex," a young engineer asked cautiously.

Li Mingyuan smiled: "This is a brand-new steel pipe drilling device, using Deep-hole Drilling Technology, which can greatly improve production efficiency and precision."

"But we have never seen this kind of structure..."

"It doesn't matter, I will teach you step by step," Li Mingyuan pointed to a certain part on the blueprint, "Look here, traditional drilling machines can only process in one direction, while this design can perform two processes simultaneously, doubling the efficiency."

The engineers listened in awe; although they didn't understand many things, they were all shocked by Li Mingyuan's professional knowledge.

"And this," Li Mingyuan turned to another blueprint, "This is the improved design for the Rifling Lathe, using an Automatic Feeding Device, which can precisely control the depth and angle of the rifling."

A technician couldn't help but ask: "Chief Engineer Li, how do you know so much advanced technology? These... seem to have never been used in the country."

Li Mingyuan smiled without answering and continued to explain: "This project is not just as simple as producing a few guns; we are going to build a complete production line, from raw materials to finished products, with full-process standardization and modernization."

The engineers listened, mesmerized; although many concepts were heard for the first time, they could all feel the revolutionary changes contained within.

When Li Mingyuan spoke about the vision of an automated production line, the entire conference room was silent; everyone held their breath, afraid to miss a single word.

"Alright, let's stop here for today, everyone go back and digest this well," Li Mingyuan closed the blueprints, "Starting tomorrow, we will begin modifying the equipment."

The engineers could not recover for a long time, as if what they had just heard was not a technical lecture, but a fantasy.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, several military jeeps drove into the factory area, and several people got out of the cars; leading them were the bald Lao Li and the expert with the goat beard.

Lao Li's name was Li Shouzheng, in his early sixties, a famous materials expert in the country. The goat beard was Cheng Yanhai, in his fifties, also a mechanical engineer who returned from studying in the Polar Bear country; he spoke straight and did not beat around the bush.

Behind them followed three young people: the tall Zhao Jianguo, a ballistics expert; the thin Zhang Wenming, a heat treatment expert; and Wang Decai, who wore thick glasses and was a control system expert.

"Old Li, long time no see!" Li Mingyuan walked up quickly and shook the old expert's hand cordially.

Li Shouzheng smiled and patted Li Mingyuan on the shoulder: "Xiao Li, how has the preparation been during this time?"

"Everything is proceeding according to plan; I have just given a preliminary explanation to the technical team," Li Mingyuan pointed to the factory building behind him, "We are preparing to modify two pieces of equipment first, the Rifling Lathe and the Gun Barrel Rolling Machine."

Cheng Yanhai interjected: "The equipment in this Rolling Mill are all old antiques, can they be modified?"

Li Mingyuan nodded confidently: "Absolutely no problem. Moreover, I plan to install a Continuous Rolling Mill directly to thoroughly solve the problem of production efficiency."

"Continuous Rolling Mill?" The several experts were stunned at the same time.

Li Shouzheng frowned: "Xiao Li, what is a Continuous Rolling Mill? Why have I never heard of it?"

"Chief Engineer Li, is it some kind of new equipment?" Factory Director Lou and Chen Dezhong were also at a loss.

Li Mingyuan smiled slightly, took out a design drawing, and spread it on the table: "This is the design drawing for the Continuous Rolling Mill. Traditional rolling mills can only roll one pass at a time, while a Continuous Rolling Mill can perform multiple passes of rolling continuously, increasing efficiency by at least three times."

Everyone gathered around, staring at the blueprint for a long time, and Li Shouzheng's hands began to tremble slightly.

"This... this design..." He looked up, his eyes wide, "If this can be realized, it will thoroughly revolutionize our country's steel rolling technology! Xiao Li, where did you get this design concept?"