Chapter 132

What? Old Master is willing to come to our Ha Gong Da? Great, the school now has another academician professor! Even a nominal position is fine! What, there's also a research project? Support, the school must support it!

Putting down the phone, President Liu, who was still working at his desk, excitedly paced back and forth in the office. He needed to hold a meeting tomorrow—no, right now, call the mid-level leaders, announce this good news, and at the same time discuss the treatment for Old Master.

Although Old Master doesn't care about repayment, the treatment our Ha Gong Da gives him absolutely cannot be subpar!

President Liu quickly thought over the next arrangements; in Ha Gong Da's office building, there was also a flurry of activity. Fortunately, because it was near the end of term, most leaders were still at work, otherwise they'd have to go back to the residential area and then come again.

Half an hour later, the meeting room.

"Let's welcome Old Master into our Ha Gong Da with warm applause!"

President Liu led the applause, others quickly joined in, the applause was warm and sustained.

Comrades, I can stay here only because Qin Miao fooled me; if you want to thank someone, thank him." Master laughed and said: "I don't know whether Ha Gong Da will honor the conditions Qin Miao promised me."

Master, rest assured, Qin Miao can represent Ha Gong Da! San Shui, tell us, what specific conditions have been agreed upon?

Leaders, our domestic fighter jets lack advanced landing-gear steel; foreign landing gear can withstand thousands of cycles without issue, while ours cracks after just a few hundred hours, which not only adds burden to the troops but may also cause accidents. Therefore, we need to launch a landing-gear steel project to develop world-class 300M steel.

President Liu nodded: "No problem, our school will fully support!"

Then we need to undertake construction and install steel-smelting equipment in the school-run factory; the scale need not be large—producing a few hundred tons per month of this grade of steel is sufficient.

Northeast China is vast and sparsely populated; factory sites are usually large, and the Red Star Steel Plant also has ample open space. Although two projects are underway simultaneously, the plant remains quite empty, so we can easily plan another specialty steel plant.

President Liu blinked, then nodded: "Fine, no problem!"

Qin Miao's meaning was instantly clear to him: the steel we develop at Ha Gong Da must also be produced by ourselves—don't let the profits flow to outsiders, achieving a seamless production chain from research to product.

After we smelt qualified steel, it still needs processing; the Mechanical Engineering Department must develop matching CNC machine tools to directly turn the steel into landing gear.

This is not a simple research project; it is a huge undertaking combining research and production!

Researching a brand-new steel usually takes place in a steel plant; often one cannot experiment with a small lab furnace, requiring continuous smelting and adjustment using the plant's equipment.

Now that the country is reforming and opening up to develop the economy, steel production constantly lags behind demand; every steel mill runs at full capacity and is unwilling to support research, which would be a waste of time!

So, even if Master wanted to conduct research, he had no venue—until Ha Gong Da finally satisfied all his demands!

But… upon hearing that Qin Miao wants to take over the landing-gear production himself, not just provide blanks, he gave a wry, complex smile: "You're not leaving any domestic supporting firms a way to survive."

Master, those enterprises that just wait for handouts from above—even if we gave them the advanced M300 steel, it would be wasted, not to mention the waste in production; the landing gear they produce would still meet only Soviet standards, thus ruining good steel. Moreover, with our technology, we can supply not only domestic firms but also foreign companies, continuing to earn foreign exchange for the state.

Leader Li listened throughout; at this moment, his heart was filled with mixed feelings.

Ha Gong Da, capable of both research and market awareness, will surely be like a catfish that makes the complacent feel uneasy, spurring them into action…

The old way of thinking truly cannot adapt to the forthcoming market economy; one's mindset must change!

Of course, installing this equipment and constructing the factory will take time; before it's completed, please have Master stay in the Materials Department to do preliminary theoretical research, and also take charge of our joint project with France……

Master nodded: "Hmm, since I'm staying, I'll certainly help where needed. You at Ha Gong Da must also hurry to resolve the equipment and factory issues—don't make me wait too long."

Don't worry, we'll start tackling it tomorrow!

The meeting had gone on for over half an hour; Chief Mao looked at the dark night sky outside and said, "Everyone's tired and hungry; let's go to the cafeteria for something to eat, and we'll charge it to the Materials Department's account."

Inside the cafeteria.

Glug glug… Beidahuang liquor poured into the cup; Qin Miao raised his glass, looked at the person opposite, and said: "Leader Li, I speak plainly—I may have offended you today; please be magnanimous and don't take it to heart. This drink is my apology."

When things happen, we should retort if needed, but afterward we must finish up—at least out of respect for Master.

Leader Li raised his cup: "Comrade Qin Miao, you've given me a lesson today; my shift in thinking over this single day surpasses that of the past few years—I owe you thanks. Come, I toast you!"

After downing a cup each, today's unpleasantness is considered settled; seeing this, Chief Mao kept nodding—this kid Qin Miao handles things with flexibility, absolutely not like a freshman; he's practically a seasoned old hand who's been slipping through officialdom for years.

Leader Li, who was in charge of Shenyang industrial work, had indeed entertained selfish motives, wanting to plagiarize the electric rice cooker technology, accompanying Shenyang's enterprise development; from his perspective, his choice was not wrong.

Leader Li and Qin Miao have made peace, or rather, under Qin Miao's combined soft and hard approach, they had no choice but to give up.

"Come, San Shui, let's have a drink!" Old Master raised his wine cup; then Qin Miao quickly raised his own cup as well: "Old Master, welcome you to stay and work at Ha Gong Da; in the future, we will also develop more advanced materials……"

Another cup of wine went down.

"San Shui, give me the lowdown, where exactly do you want to take Ha Gong Da?"

"Old Master, I'm just a freshman; what ability do I have to lead Ha Gong Da forward? Actually, I'm merely dissatisfied with the status quo and want to change; our country is the same—if we don't change, we'll go downhill……"

Qin Miao's topic drifted onto reform again.