Scholars in the courtyard.

Chapter 2918 Adjusting the Steel Industry
After Chen Gong finished speaking in the conference room, Yang Xiaotao was taken aback.

"What's been hollowed out?"

"Old Chen, no, it's been emptied out?"

"Because of that ship?"

Yang Xiaotao stood up abruptly, his expression one of unwavering conviction.

"I remember, this shouldn't be the case!"

As Yang Xiaotao said this, Chen Gong immediately shook his head and sighed, "Director Yang, don't you know about the orders you approved?"

Yang Xiaotao was stunned again!
Then it dawned on me that during my time in the West Garden, I had indeed approved quite a few orders, but at the time I was only focused on completing the tasks and handled some things according to routine.

Furthermore, during his time there, he had little contact with the outside world, was unaware of what was happening in the Nine Departments, and had no one to discuss it with. All his actions were based on his own perspective.

The decision made was indeed somewhat biased.

After the initial shock, Yang Xiaotao quickly calmed down.

Now that the deed is done, the most important thing is to solve the problem, not to dwell on it.

Seeing that Yang Xiaotao's expression had calmed down, Li Hongfeng asked, "This is just the beginning. If this continues, it will not only affect our own development but also the construction mission!"

"Therefore, we must come up with a practical and feasible solution as soon as possible that can both take care of the mission and ensure our sound development!"

"At the very least, we shouldn't wait to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs!"

Li Hongfeng's opinion is the opinion of everyone.

Yang Xiaotao frowned, pondering a solution.

Seeing this, Lao Hong also spoke up, "Now, almost all the infrastructure work for the entire mission is on our shoulders."

"Of course, I'm not saying that the Sixth Ministry of Machinery Industry is deliberately shirking its responsibility; it's just that they don't have the capability!"

"We have no choice but to take on the lion's share!"

After Lao Hong finished speaking, Xu Yuanshan also chimed in, "Lao Hong is right. The biggest problem this time was that we were just making assumptions."

"It wasn't just their assumptions; we were careless ourselves, and even our superiors didn't expect it to be this difficult!"

"We thought we could make it with the existing manpower and resources, but in reality, according to the other party's design concept, it's not like that at all!"

Seeing that everyone had spoken, Wang Guodong added, "The most important thing here is the demand for steel."

"This steel is not ordinary steel; it is a high-strength alloy that requires processing."

"Moreover, the demand is too high, and our steel mills also have to take care of other aspects."

"We simply can't take care of everyone!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Gong immediately added, "Regarding steel, if our steel mills cannot complete the task, we will have to delegate the task, which will require a large amount of funds to support production."

"Even so, there are still not many qualified steels."

Several people shared their opinions in the meeting room, and Yang Xiaotao found himself even more overwhelmed.

Finally, Li Hongfeng said, "During your absence, we discussed this with Elder Zhou and Elder Chen from the Sixth Ministry of Machinery Industry!"

"We can discuss it. There's no other way but to postpone the construction period!"

"Now that you're back, I was thinking of discussing this together and seeing what we can do!"

After Li Hongfeng finished speaking, Yang Xiaotao immediately asked, "Construction period? I remember the original plan was three years, how many years has it been now?"

"Five years!"

Old Hong said, then added, "It could be six years!"

After he finished speaking, the conference room fell silent.

"Let me take a look at this matter first!"

Hearing Yang Xiaotao say this, everyone knew that the matter could not be resolved in a short time.

The matter has been explained clearly; now all we need to do is figure out a solution!
The meeting ended in silence.

When Yang Xiaotao returned to his office, he saw Liu Lixue and Lou Xiao'e with their heads down, as if they had done something wrong.

They were also aware that they hadn't done their jobs well these past few days, especially by not explaining things clearly.

If Chen Gong hadn't found them a few days ago and told them that the warehouse was almost empty and that they shouldn't go looking for Yang Xiaotao, they might still be delivering documents these next couple of days!

Yang Xiaotao glanced at the two of them and naturally understood what was going on.

However, the immediate priority is to resolve the issue, so he said, "Bring me all the documents and lists from these past few days!"

"well!"

The two nodded and quickly left.

Yang Xiaotao sat down in the chair and picked up the phone, but then put it down again.

My mind is a bit confused!
After a while, Liu Lixue brought the documents over, and Yang Xiaotao glanced at them and said, "Pick out the documents about steel!"

"it is good!"

The two quickly selected the relevant documents and then compiled the steel plant's production information for Yang Xiaotao to review.

Yang Xiaotao spent the entire morning in his office looking at documents and organizing materials.

At noon, Yang Xiaotao asked Guan Zhiyong to report the situation to headquarters.

Upon receiving Yang Xiaotao's call, Guan Zhiyong brought the prepared materials to the headquarters.

"Minister Yang, you're back."

Guan Zhiyong looked exhausted, as if he hadn't rested for several days, but a smile appeared on his face when he saw Yang Xiaotao.

This made Yang Xiaotao feel guilty.

"Xiaoxue, make a cup of tea."

Liu Lixue quickly made tea, while Lou Xiao'e organized the materials on the side.

"Old Guan!"

"Tell me about the situation at the steel plant."

Yang Xiaotao looked serious, but Guan Zhiyong smiled and said, "Minister Yang, don't worry. Our comrades at the steel plant are all tough guys. As long as you trust us, we will definitely complete the mission."

"Old Guan, I know, the comrades are all great."

"But now, I want to know the truth."

Yang Xiaotao said again in a serious tone.

Upon hearing this, Guan Zhiyong's resolute expression vanished, replaced by deep weariness.

"Minister Yang, I've really been a bit too busy lately."

Yang Xiaotao nodded. "Explain in detail. Only when we have a clear understanding of the situation can we find the right solution."

"Yes, I understand."

Guan Zhiyong took a document out of his backpack. "Minister Yang, take a look."

"This is our task list until next spring."

"Of course, this is only part of it."

Yang Xiaotao took a look and then frowned. "It's increasing every month?" "Yes, not every month, but every day."

“Especially since we took on the shipbuilding task, the requirements are even greater.”

Guan Zhiyong said with a bitter face, "And that's not even the most important thing."

After saying that, he took out another document and said, "Please take a look."

Yang Xiaotao accepted the task, which involved high-strength alloy steel.

This type of alloy steel was developed long ago and is not difficult to produce.

But there are just too many of them.

"This is the main material for shipbuilding, so it is used in very large quantities."

"In order to complete our monthly targets, we need to occupy more than half of the production line. In addition, we also need to take care of other tasks. Sometimes we can't even finish the production even if the machines are running non-stop."

"Our headquarters has increased its titanium alloy production this month, because we need to research engines and machine tools, so we need more than before."

"It's a bit difficult for us to do this."

"There are also tungsten alloys and aluminum alloys; the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry has sent quite a few missions."

"In addition, there's the ship's keel, which requires the addition of a special alloy material. This still needs research and experimentation, and it also requires space."

After Guan Zhiyong finished explaining each point, Yang Xiaotao basically understood what he meant.

"If all your production capacity is used to produce these materials, how will you guarantee the output of steel?"

At this point, Guan Zhiyong blushed slightly, "Minister Yang, we can only delegate the extra tasks to other steel plants for production."

Yang Xiaotao nodded; this method was also within acceptable limits.

According to what Chen Gong said, the steel produced might not meet the requirements of the Nine Ministries.

"Director Yang, I know that doing this may affect product quality, and we have made adjustments and are now strictly controlling quality."

"Of course, there may be some shortcomings, and we will increase our supervision efforts in the future."

Seeing that Yang Xiaotao's expression was not good, Guan Zhiyong quickly began to explain.

Yang Xiaotao picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "I've heard about this."

"To put it bluntly, the problem is that the positioning is unclear."

As he spoke, Yang Xiaotao got up, walked to the side, picked up a document from the desk, and said, "Take a look."

Guan Zhiyong took the document with both hands, opened it, and immediately froze.

“Minister Yang, if we make this adjustment, it will delay the progress of some projects, especially the shipyard.”

Guan Zhiyong looked at the requirements on the document: in the future, one-third of the steel plant's capacity will be used to produce steel, one-third to produce various alloys, and one-third to produce alloys for headquarters use.

In other words, the shipyard can only obtain the alloy materials it needs from one-third of the total, and this one-third also includes other alloys.

If this requirement is followed, the amount of alloy material used in shipbuilding will be reduced from 80% to 10%.

The gap is too big.

"It's okay, keep reading."

Upon hearing this, Guan Zhiyong quickly looked down.

After reading through the documents, he looked at Yang Xiaotao in shock and asked, "Minister Yang, you want to restructure the steel industry?"

Yang Xiaotao nodded, "I've had this idea for a long time, especially after the popularization of oxygen top-blown converters, I've been thinking about making the steel industry more standardized and regulated."

"Originally, I was thinking of waiting a few years until our steel plant had trained enough people before implementing this plan."

"It seems that it is time to make a change."

Guan Zhiyong opened his mouth; he was not unaware of the situation at the steel plant below.

Although oxygen top-blown converters are used in various steel plants, the reality is that most steel plants operate them improperly during use, resulting in inconsistent quality of the steel produced.

Moreover, many steel mills supply raw materials to local machinery factories, rolling mills, and machine repair shops. These factories do not have as high quality requirements for steel as the Ninth Department, which has led to a slack mentality among steel mill workers.

"In addition, I also want to set up a separate factory for alloy production."

"So, you have two things to do when you get back."

Yang Xiaotao didn't give Guan Zhiyong much time to consider or a chance to offer his opinions, and directly assigned him the task.

This is something Guan Zhiyong is happy to see.

He was just an executor; he only needed Yang Xiaotao to tell him what to do.

When it comes to making decisions, he feels unsure.

"Minister Yang, please speak."

Guan Zhiyong took out paper and pen from his bag and took notes carefully.

"First, we selected key employees to form a working group to provide technical guidance to the steel plants below."

"Make it clear to the factories you are guiding: give them three months to raise the steel production qualification rate to 90%."

"If the task cannot be completed, the factory director will be dismissed, the director will be demoted, and all members of the work group will have their salaries reduced by one level."

"If the task is completed, the team members will receive an extra month's salary."

Guan Zhiyong carefully took notes, afraid of missing a single word.

"Second, separate the alloy production line."

"Among them, the production of titanium alloys, tungsten alloys, aluminum alloys, and tin-plated iron are all set up in separate factories."

"What you need to do is select four steel plants in and around Beijing for renovation, and then send key personnel to train talent."

"I will have Director Wang Guodong cooperate with you on the specific plan."

"Similarly, it must be completed within three months!"

After Yang Xiaotao finished speaking, Guan Zhiyong immediately nodded.

"Minister Yang, Director An Zhongsheng and I have already discussed this alloy factory project and considered it. We have some progress, but we still need headquarters to issue a decision."

Yang Xiaotao smiled with satisfaction, "That's good. Thinking ahead about some things will help you walk more steadily."

"You need to get these two things done as soon as possible."

"As for production capacity, we will produce according to the 333 model. I will communicate with all parties later. You just need to do it."

Guan Zhiyong immediately stood up and said, "Okay, I'll go back and relay the message right away."

Yang Xiaotao stood up. "You haven't had lunch yet, have you? Let's eat together."

Guan Zhiyong immediately stopped talking about leaving and followed Yang Xiaotao toward the cafeteria.

During lunch, Yang Xiaotao met with Li Hongfeng and the others in the cafeteria and discussed their plans regarding the steel plant. Li Hongfeng and the others naturally had no objections, and they all knew a little about the steel plant.

Making adjustments now is only natural.

Of course, such an adjustment will definitely have risks. The reason we didn't do it before was because we were overthinking and had too many concerns.

It's actually a good thing that we're forced to make changes now.

After exchanging information at the dinner table, Yang Xiaotao immediately began to implement it.