Chapter 85

After the Germans offered the most favorable terms and left, as for how to respond, it required discussion by the First Heavy Machinery; once the discussion yielded a result, it would form a resolution and be reported to superiors.

"This is a rare condition: eighty thousand dollars per ton, the lowest price in ten years." Song Ming spoke: "I believe we can completely purchase from Germany; this price is also acceptable to our superiors."

"Exactly, it's much lower than we previously expected! Factory Director Zhao's plan is really good."

Zhao Dong's face fell: "No, this isn't a scheme; the teachers and students of Ha Gong Da are here, and that Qin Miao has come too—the one who constantly argues with heaven, earth, and air in the foreign exchange department……"

Everyone was stunned; is this really true?

If we really have to do it ourselves……

After a moment's thought, Song Ming spoke: "I think the Germans are right; manufacturing this class of vertical metal extruder is extremely difficult, we are likely to fail, and even if we built it, without the corresponding steel we still couldn't produce P92 steel tubes meeting international standards."

If you put ordinary steel ingots—even the best ones on hand—into this machine, you still couldn't produce tubes that meet the ASTM A335M standard!

The Old Factory Director looked at Song Ming, his eyes showing deep disappointment.

"Nuclear power plants—we might build only one in ten years, but subcritical units are already the international mainstream, and later there will be supercritical units; our domestic industrial development needs vast amounts of electricity, needs mainstream fossil-fuel power plants, needs large quantities of P92 steel tubes; if we buy now, will we still have to keep buying forever?"

The Old Factory Director's words silenced everyone; they knew he had always opposed buying—before because it was expensive, now even if it's cheap, he still wouldn't buy!

After all, the other side's low price is only because we want to make the same tubes ourselves; once we stop making them, they'll raise the price again!

Moreover, even if they kept giving this price, as fossil-fuel power plants keep being built, we'd need to keep purchasing! That would be a huge sum of money; if we could make it ourselves, we could save a lot of foreign exchange!

"Back when our country was dirt poor, after a five‑year plan we had everything, didn't we? In recent years we've indeed fallen behind, but that's nothing to be ashamed of; if we're behind, we should strive to catch up—if we lack something, we should rely on our own efforts to make it and fill the gaps! This time we're afraid of difficulties and want to buy, but what about next time, and the time after that?"

The Old Factory Director looked at the crowd: "Everyone, the First Heavy Machinery is the cornerstone of our nation's industry; if we all support buying, who will still trust domestic industry? If we just buy, what's the point of having us?"

Everyone lowered their heads.

"Little Song, what do you think?"

Little Song!

Hearing that address, Song Ming instantly recalled countless memories; back then he was just an apprentice, and it was the Old Factory Director who brought him up. Now……

"Master, I was wrong; you're right!"

The Old Factory Director nodded: "Now that the gates are open, we've all seen the gap; society has also seen the trend of 'better to buy than make' spread, but in our First Heavy Machinery I don't want to hear such talk! If even we support buying, our nation's industry……will completely lose hope!"

"Well, Old Factory Director, rest assured—with Ha Gong Da's help we will surely complete the task satisfactorily; their design thinking is truly unique, opening our eyes—for instance, to increase the strength of the columns, they designed wrapping steel wire around the outside of the columns……"

"Wait, Old Zhao, shouldn't we call the Ha Gong Da teachers and students over to study together?"

"Sure!" Zhao Dong's eyes lit up: "Everyone, wait a moment; I'll call the guesthouse."

Guesthouse.

"What vertical metal extruder? With the East's capability, they simply can't make it!" Beside Karl Yus, the accompanying engineer Weitman said: "Just the steel needed for those few columns—the East doesn't have it!"

"Yeah, you say—were they just trying to deceive me earlier?" Karl Yus began to reflect; if the Easterners were using this tactic to haggle……that would be truly hateful!

"Very possible." Weitman said: "They don't have this machine, they don't have the steel—I just don't believe they can make it themselves!"

"Well, then when they come to sign the contract, I'll tell them our company won't agree; we still have to stick to the price of 150,000 per ton—no, the price has already risen to 160,000 dollars per ton!"

Karl Yus had already made up his mind; this time if the Easterners dare to fool him, he'll also have to ruthlessly fleece them a bundle!

Boom boom boom!

"Come in!"

The translator walked in: "Gentlemen, we just received word from the First Heavy Machinery—they thanked us for our goodwill in lowering the price, but they've decided to develop their own P92‑class thick‑walled tube; to avoid wasting our time, they promptly informed us, so next we can wander around here, take a little tour, and……

"Impossible, impossible—the Easterners can't make it!" Karl Yus gritted his teeth: "Tell them they missed this opportunity; next time they'll have to come to Germany on their own to order from us, and by then the price could rise to 200,000 dollars per ton, or even higher!"

His words were bravado masking fear; deep down he was a little scared—damn, if the Easterners really pull it off, how will we make money in the future!

"Alright, I'll go tell them right away."

The translator left, and Karl Yus sat dazedly on the nearby sofa; a deal worth several million dollars just went up in smoke—his yearly bonus might be gone!

First Heavy Machinery, conference room.

"The R&D and production funds for this vertical metal extruder will be provided by our Ha Gong Da, to be installed at the Grassland No. 2 Machinery Plant; this is our promise to the superiors, and also a supporting project for a key export program, so we hope the First Heavy Machinery will quickly review our design, then rush production, aiming to have this big guy built by the end of the year!"

In the conference room, many people's heads were buzzing: Ha Gong Da, that rich? Normally such a major project would require the relevant enterprises to propose demand, superiors to discuss, countless experts to convene for review, after approval be included in the fiscal year plan, and only then are funds allocated.

Going through that process usually takes three to five years.

Now, Ha Gong Da says in one sentence they'll fund it themselves—what a wealthy and imposing……

"As long as the funds are in place and the drawings are sound, our First Heavy Machinery will prioritize this project even if it delays other productions!" The Old Factory Director nodded.

"Well, we still have many chances to cooperate……By the way, on the phone I heard Factory Director Zhao mention P92 steel—this chromium‑molybdenum‑tungsten‑vanadium heat‑resistant martensitic steel's production process—I actually saw it in an international journal……"