Chapter 236: Courage and Determination

Capital, the Seven Saints Temple outside Chaoyang Gate.

The factory covering over a million square meters stands here, the roar of machinery incessant; on the factory's open ground, rows of military-green off-road vehicles are ready to go, the rear, the characters "BJ212" very clear.

This is Shoudu Qiche Chang!

In 1954, to support FAW, the Capital invested 10.75 million, built the First Automobile Parts Factory; in that special era, the factory emancipated its thinking, dared to think and act, hand-forged its first automobile, named Jinggangshan.

This vehicle attracted the attention of higher-ups; Comrade Zhu waved his hand, wrote several large characters for Shoudu Qiche Chang, hung them at the factory gate—from then on, the Capital also had automobile production capability!

After many twists and turns, the factory finally focused on producing the BJ212 jeep; over the years, this vehicle was only for county-level leaders to ride, widely equipped in the military—this is what the Shoudu Qiche Chang workers are most proud of.

By rights, this should have been just an ordinary day, but when they heard the news, they were all shocked!

"What?"

"Qingshan Factory wants to build trucks? And even Mercedes-Benz?"

"A factory that makes pots, how can it build trucks? If it's to be built, it should be our Capital Automobile Plant doing it!"

"Exactly, how are the higher-ups thinking? This is just pointless fuss! Our negotiations with AMC Company have been difficult, the higher-ups don't come to help, but instead they go support a small factory!"

"This Qingshan Factory is no simple matter; with Leader Zhang backing it, this cooperation surely has hidden motives!"

"Which Leader Zhang?"

"The one in charge of the Capital's industry—you all don't know, the son of the Qingshan Factory director is his son-in-law..."

Soon, rumors of backroom dealings spread throughout the factory.

Conference room.

"Director Zhao, this is clearly bullying!" Fang Guangming, the deputy director in charge of negotiations with AMC Company, his face full of displeasure: "Our talks with AMC Company, from 1979 to now, have been full of problems; even if Leader Zhang doesn't help, that's fine, but with a new cooperation project, they didn't even call us!"

"Yes, that Mercedes-Benz heavy truck is world-class! Only our Capital Automobile Plant is worthy to cooperate with Mercedes-Benz; their Qingshan Factory merely makes pressure cookers and rice cookers, even if they earned some foreign exchange, they're still a small factory—build vehicles? They lack the capability!" Section Chief Luo Ziqiang also chimed in.

Everyone was furious; for such a major undertaking as vehicle manufacturing, why not come to our Capital Automobile Plant? To go to a factory that makes pressure cookers—isn't that a joke?

The director of the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, Zhao Nailin, looked at the crowd with a complex expression: "You're all going by hearsay; do you know the actual situation?"

"Isn't it just Leader Zhang..."

"Old Luo, watch your words; the consequences of casually slandering a national senior cadre are not something you can bear!"

Luo Ziqiang stared, then hastily shut his mouth.

"Everyone, the times have changed! Our domestic automobile industry is no longer what it used to be; the introduction of Steyr heavy trucks, you've also heard—whoever wants a project must raise their own funds, the state won't spend a penny! The Mercedes-Benz heavy truck is the same; the Capital government can offer some necessary support, but the money will absolutely not come from them."

Director Zhao looked at the crowd: "So, if you think our Capital Automobile Plant can raise funds, even if it means borrowing tens of millions, and want to fight for this project, I'll go ask the Fifth Machinery Ministry's leadership for approval; if we lose money later, we'll all share the responsibility! If you lack the courage..."

Tens of millions!

Everyone widened their eyes.

They were very dissatisfied that Qingshan Factory got the project, but they dare not take the risk themselves and borrow money to do it; now, going by the book, with no merit nor fault, if they mess up, who can bear the responsibility?

Within the system, there's a lot to consider!

"Old Fang, you speak!"

Fang Guangming shook his head: "We can't take risks; we should keep pushing the cooperation with AMC Company—this is forming a joint venture, treading a path no one has taken before! In terms of reform, we're also very proactive!"

"Old Luo, what about you?"

Section Chief Luo also quickly shook his head: "The technical level of the Mercedes-Benz heavy truck is high; even if we import it, with our current production capacity, we may not be able to produce it; we should proceed step by step, first striving to digest and absorb AMC's technology..."

"Alright, you others, still want this cooperation?"

No one spoke up; as soon as they heard they'd have to put up their own money, they all gave up.

"Hmm, then let's continue discussing the cooperation with AMC Company—how far have the talks progressed?"

"The basic framework of our cooperation has already been settled; in the agreement reached, we both will form a joint venture to operate together for twenty years, but on the investment side, the Americans are clearly playing tricks, they want to value their patent technology at eight million dollars for equity—what patent, bullshit..."

Speaking of these, Fang Guangming's face was full of displeasure: "We've been reverse-engineering surveying and mapping for so many years—when did we ever hear that technology could be counted as money? This clearly is bullying us for not understanding! Since it's all technology equity, let's say we want to use our currently produced BJ212 model as technology equity—those damned Americans, you guess what they'd say?"

"How would they say?"

"They say our BJ212 model has no technical content at all, at least twenty years behind global automobile standards... Damn it, back when my father fought on the Korean battlefield, he should have killed a few more Americans!"

The others present also became angry.

"Hmph, these Americans just don't have good intentions!"

"Exactly, even Shen Jianbai probably doesn't have good intentions!"

"Why not just not cooperate? Anyway, our BJ212 can still keep being produced!"

Director Zhao shook his head: "No, we're currently undertaking reform; as pioneers, we must persevere, no matter how many difficulties we face, we must overcome them... Speaking of cooperating with foreigners, that Qin Miao seems quite formidable..."

Having said that, Director Zhao stood up: "Old Fang, Old Luo, let's go to Qingshan Factory!"

"What for?"

"To seek Qin Miao's teachings!"

"What?"

Qingshan Factory, conference room.

"Building the workshop, purchasing equipment, hiring workers, especially foreign employees, plus a three-year construction period." Qin Miao made a rough calculation: "Even with government help, our Qingshan Factory alone would need an initial investment of seventy million yuan and at least three million US dollars. Later we might have to keep adding tens of millions or even a hundred million in funds, everyone—this is no small sum; if we think the risk is too great, we can decline the project."

Zhang Wanhe sat in the seat of honor, watching the reactions of those below.

"San Shui, you say we do it, we'll do it—what are we afraid of?"

"Exactly, worst case we go back to the days before liberation—we've experienced that before!"

"Building Mercedes-Benz heavy trucks—that's exactly what Qingshan Factory ought to do; support, we must support!"

On site, no one was fearful, no one anxious; at this moment they were like howling wild wolves! With this vigor, Qingshan Factory's development knows no bounds!

Reform requires courage and determination!

Wait, am I overthinking? Everyone's just acting out of... absolute trust in San Shui?