Chapter 229

Capital.

"Ah, Lao Wang, why go through all this trouble? This is just offending people!"

"Exactly, we've come this far over many years; even if we really need to reform, we can let the younger generation take the lead."

"Hmph, if you ask me, Qin Miao should go; he's hiding in the back, letting Lao Wang rush to the front—Lao Wang is being used as a pawn!"

"They shout every day about taking bigger steps, unafraid of pulling something..."

"All kinds of discussions are everywhere: some feel Factory Director Wang is being treated unfairly, some suspect a conspiracy behind the scenes, and others just complain..."

"An office."

"Senior leader, the reform at the Yellow River Factory has sparked a strong nationwide reaction, especially after Factory Director Wang was hit with a brick, making public opinion even more heated, with most opinions opposing it..."

"The senior leader raised his head, looking at the secretary reporting work: 'Has the person who hit him been punished?'"

"This…… Factory Director Wang hasn't really been dealt with, after all, if he were punished, public opinion would likely turn even more against him..."

"He could ignore it, but the superior supervisory department cannot; lately, the social atmosphere has become somewhat chaotic, and assault must come with a price!"

"Yes." Secretary Wang immediately understood: "I will issue a document to that side demanding strict handling; this is sabotaging reform, and the assailant should at least receive a ten-year prison sentence."

"This is actually already lenient; in the 1980s, to deter societal miscreants, stealing fifty cents could get you shot!"

"Right, senior leader, recently Benz approached Ha Gong Da on its own; it looks like they might be able to negotiate cooperation with Ha Gong Da, but the First Machinery Department already has the Steyr project, and the Fifth Machinery Department suggests placing the Benz heavy-truck cooperation within military-industrial enterprises..."

"The senior leader stood up and paced back and forth a few times."

"Just like with the introduction of Steyr, the factory raises its own funds; our country won't spend money. Let's see if pressuring them will forge a new path; if the military-industrial enterprises dare not take it, we'll hand it over to the Capital government—Lao Zhang previously wanted to build a factory under a new model, after all. Let's see if this road can work."

"Reform means we must try; we cannot fear failure!"

"Reforming old enterprises is one aspect; establishing new enterprises is another! We must create enterprises truly adapted to market competition, set a benchmark, and those still clinging to the old almanac... if they don't change, they're just waiting to go bankrupt."

"We must give them a sense of crisis; enterprises that cannot break free from the state's embrace will forever only think of being fed by the state!"

"By the way, why haven't we seen any news about the establishment of Ha Gong Da's microelectronics company?"

"This…… the project is still going through the procedures."

"The senior leader's face turned stern: 'Let's see who is holding things up; there's always someone who thinks highly of themselves, goes against the central spirit, obstructs reform—such a person is unfit to be a leader!'"

"Yes."

"Not letting the state spend money can still drive national technological progress—isn't that a good thing? Whose interests are being touched, prompting covert obstruction?"

"Chinese Academy of Sciences, Computing Institute."

"Lao Zhou, the Ha Gong Da microelectronics project has been placed with us for over a month now; shouldn't we..."

"Ah, Lao Wang, you should also know that once Ha Gong Da's microelectronics company is established, a large number of our Computing Institute's scientific staff will go over; I'm holding back, too, for the sake of our Computing Institute!"

"Lao Zhou, times have changed; the state doesn't allocate funds, so we must find our own ways. The higher-ups value Ha Gong Da's reform, but if we keep pretending to comply while secretly opposing, we'll likely..."

"... run into big trouble!"

"Our Computing Institute is the leader in China's computer field; we must strictly oversee this Ha Gong Da project, and spending more time discussing it is perfectly normal, given its importance—we cannot afford any slip."

"Ding-ling-ling…… Just then, the phone rang."

"Director Zhou picked up the phone: 'Hello, Receptionist Xiao Zhao? What's up? What, Secretary Wang has come? Okay, okay, I understand.'"

"The Computing Institute's compound is not large, with main gates on the east and west sides facing the street, and no one guards it; upon entering, the main buildings are two north-south towers, simply called the South Building and the North Building."

"In front of the South Building is a basketball court, the favorite spot of the institute's young people; second favorite is the library, the large reading room, with tall shelves holding many foreign-language materials, and without machine heat dissipation, it's even cooler."

"Having hung up the phone, Director Zhou had just stepped out of his office door when he saw Secretary Wang approaching with a grim expression."

"Secretary Wang, what wind blew you here..."

"... hadn't even finished speaking when Secretary Wang interrupted: 'Are the review materials for Ha Gong Da's microelectronics company with your Computing Institute?'"

"Whoosh! Director Zhou only felt sweat breaking out on his back; he never expected Secretary Wang to come in person to handle this—could this be the senior leader's intention?"

"Well..."

"What you're doing is obstructing reform! Lao Zhou, you're muddle-headed!"

"Director Zhou's face turned ashen: 'No, no, certainly not; we know Ha Gong Da's microelectronics company is of great importance, so we've been very cautious, holding several meetings to discuss it, after all, other units consider the issue from a reform perspective, whereas our Computing Institute looks at it from a technical angle...'"

"Then have your discussions reached a conclusion?"

"Well..."

"Secretary Wang, please come to the meeting room; we'll give you a detailed report." Meanwhile, Lao Wang stepped in to mediate.

"Meeting room."

"Director Zhou took a long breath, trying to relax a bit."

"According to Ha Gong Da's idea, they plan to make a general-purpose processor; currently, the most successful general-purpose processor worldwide is Intel's 8086 series..."

"At this point, Director Zhou had clarified his thoughts and felt more confident."

"To expand its market share, Intel also licensed the X86 architecture to other allies like AMD, Cyrix, etc. —all big-name high-tech firms in Silicon Valley; if we want to make a processor, we need the architecture and instruction set, but Intel won't license them to us, which is the first major hurdle."

"Furthermore, producing a processor requires top-tier manufacturing equipment; we lack this technology domestically and can only import it, but abroad they're unwilling to sell us the most advanced equipment, so we can only use second- or third-tier gear, making processors that can't compete with imported ones—we might as well just buy them outright!"

"You mean it's better not to make but to buy?"

"Given our current situation, it's really unnecessary." Director Zhou said: "Foreign processors perform well, are cheap, and are quite mature..."

"No, I disagree with Director Zhou's view!" Just then, a woman's voice sounded.

"Director Zhou's heart gave a sudden jolt—uh-oh, Engineer Huang!"