Chapter 82

Capital, Grand Hall.

Ha Sang, as the prince of Yue Tuo, the nominal person in charge of this procurement, solemnly signed his name, then exchanged documents with Zhao Gang of Northern Industry Company beside him, and continued signing.

After the contract was signed, warm applause broke out at the scene.

One hundred million US dollars, the first big deal Northern Industry Company has made since its establishment!

For the big sponsor, of course we must warmly entertain; after signing the contract, we will go next door to hold a state banquet.

Looking at the table full of exquisite dishes, Ha Sang finally spoke: "Where's Qin? The one who came back with us, and his wife—please invite them to eat here together, how about that?"

Zhao Gang's expression was stern: "Sorry, they cannot come."

"Why?"

"Because... come, eat the vegetables, eat the vegetables!"

"What exactly is the reason?"

"Because... they made a mistake and are currently under isolation and investigation."

"What?" Ha Sang almost stood up: "How could you..."

Beside him, Ha Shim quickly grabbed him; such matters, we'd better not get involved; when we have a chance later, we'll compensate them.

Distant Ha Cheng, train station.

Ah-choo!

Qin Miao sneezed.

"San Shui bro, what's wrong with you?"

"It's fine, I guess someone is badmouthing me behind my back." Qin Miao looked at the familiar surroundings: "Let's go, we'll take the tram back to school; today we won't do anything, we'll go to the cafeteria for a big meal, then go back to rest; during this time, your studies have fallen behind quite a bit..."

"San Shui bro, when we get back, could you help me catch up on lessons?"

Although Qin Miao's identity is that of a student, he is actually more capable than many teachers! So, having Qin Miao give tutoring is naturally the best.

"Sure." Qin Miao nodded.

The next second.

"San Shui, it's really you! You're back just in time! Come, let's board the train together!"

Qin Miao looked at the person appearing before him, somewhat curious: "Professor Yuan, where are you headed?"

"Come, we'll talk on the train; this train is about to depart..."

Chu Miaomiao looked at Qin Miao with a complex expression.

"San Shui bro, I'll head back to school first."

She can't keep goofing off with Qin Miao anymore; she's fallen behind on her studies, so when she returns she must hurry to make up the missed lessons.

"Oh, then be careful on the way."

After boarding the train, Qin Miao bought an extra ticket, waited until he squeezed into a seat, then Professor Yuan began to introduce.

"We have completed the design of the vertical metal extrusion press; funds are about to be in place, so next we should manufacture it. Ha Gong Da can't make it, Ha Cheng's steel plant can't either; the Grassland No. 2 Machinery Factory makes cannons, but can't produce industrial mother machines. Therefore, we plan to go to First Heavy Machinery and entrust them with the production task."

First Heavy Machinery, full name Eastern First Heavy Machinery Plant, built in 1954; just looking at the time you know it was a key construction project during the First Five-Year Plan, one of the 156 projects, the entire factory construction took five years, with an investment of ten thousand yuan.

Correct, the investment was 450 million, and that's the currency value of the 1950s!

As for the main products of First Heavy Machinery, they include steel, non-ferrous metals, power supporting equipment, etc.

Of course, don't think First Heavy Machinery is just a steel mill; it indeed has a steel mill, but the steel produced by their steel mill is used directly by themselves; as for products… steel-making furnaces, blast furnaces, rolling mills, continuous casters…

Correct, First Heavy Machinery's products are for use by steel mills; they are the core equipment producers of metallurgical equipment.

Just as a machine tool factory produces industrial mother machines, First Heavy Machinery also makes industrial mother machines! Besides these, they also produce petrochemical equipment, those large tower-like equipments such as fractionation towers, distillation towers, etc., which they manufacture.

Moreover, they also manufacture nuclear reactor equipment and the like! There are also some secret, cannot-be-disclosed supporting works for major national defense projects…

In the third year after breaking ground, the factory had only built half when they received the task to design and manufacture a 1150-millimeter initial rolling mill for Baogang; in the second year, they accepted another task to design and manufacture a 12,500-ton free forging hydraulic press.

In the year the factory was completed, these two key projects were also finished; from then on, the East had a ten-thousand-ton hydraulic press!

The completion of First Heavy Machinery finally allowed the East to develop industry independently, no longer subject to others!

First Heavy Machinery is located in Qicheng, over three hundred kilometers from Ha Cheng; fortunately the railway connects them, so one can get there by nightfall.

On the train, Qin Miao had no chance to rest; Professor Yuan unfolded the drawings and began explaining to Qin Miao the design concept of this set of machinery equipment.

Although the machinery is for the Grassland No. 2 Machinery Plant, if Ha Gong Da wants to mass-produce Truck Cannons subsequently, they would need the No. 2 Machinery Plant to help make the gun barrels; having our own lab make the cannons would be wasteful and too expensive—professional work should be left to professional factories.

As for Ha Gong Da keeping this machine themselves… that was a promise Qin Miao made initially; otherwise Old Zhang would not have agreed to export the Truck Cannon—one must be honest in conduct!

Qicheng, Fulaerji District, First Heavy Machinery.

Factory buildings everywhere, as far as the eye can see; red brick walls everywhere, those tall smokestacks give a feeling of soaring straight into the clouds.

Machinery roars, the earth trembles; this is the Fulaerji Industrial Zone, this is First Heavy Machinery, this is the leading enterprise of Eastern industry!

Next to the factory area is a four-story small building; at its entrance hangs a sign for the Design Section of First Heavy Machinery; at this moment, on the second floor, the conference room.

"The containment vessel of a 300,000-kilowatt pressurized water reactor can be built by our First Heavy Machinery, but the high-pressure piping needed for this nuclear reactor cannot be produced by us," said Guo Baomin, an experienced senior engineer in the Design Section, helplessly.

"Why?" asked Zhao Dong, the first deputy factory director.

"Such high-pressure piping can only be made from thick-walled seamless steel pipe; if we roll and weld steel plates, there will be seams that cannot withstand sufficient pressure, so we must use a single piece of steel, forge it, and then manufacture it like a gun barrel."

The inertial guide used in the nuclear reactor of earlier nuclear submarines was made this way, but nuclear submarines are compact and use only a small quantity, whereas this commercial nuclear power plant requires a large amount of such piping!

Zhao Dong furrowed his brows: "This would require deep-hole drilling, which our First Heavy Machinery truly cannot do; however…… our nuclear power plant needs a large quantity of thick-walled seamless steel pipe, and if we relied on this primitive method, even without counting costs, there simply aren't enough craftsmen, making it impossible to guarantee commencement of construction in 1985."

"Yes, we can only purchase it from abroad," Guo Baomin said.

"Imported? That would cost how much foreign exchange!"

"Yes, it's not cheap; foreign P92 thick-walled seamless steel pipe costs tens of thousands of dollars per ton, but…… since we cannot make it ourselves, we have no choice but to import it; the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant is our first domestically built nuclear power plant, and it cannot have any quality issues, so even if we spend a bit more foreign exchange, that…"

"No way! Foreigners mock us, saying Easterners can't build nuclear power plants; we refuse to believe that! We must design, build, and operate it ourselves! If we use foreign pipes, they'll still mock us; Easterners have backbone!"

The Old Factory Director's words silenced the conference room once again.

"Factory Director, Factory Director!" At that moment, a voice sounded from outside: "People from Ha Gong Da have arrived, saying they want to entrust us with a new production task!"