The train driver in the courtyard

This is the workshop at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

After lunch, Li Aiguo went to his office and lay down to rest for a while.

To make their work easier, Professor Qi and his team of experts set up reclining chairs and slept in their offices at night. Li Aiguo also learned this good method.

But his mind was preoccupied with work. The Qianmen Locomotive Depot was producing more and more mechanical products and had more and more workshops.

Motorcycle workshop, final assembly plant, engine manufacturing workshop, hydraulic press workshop.
Too many people will lead to chaos, and too many workshops will bring more trouble.

During lunch, the automotive expert reported that the logistics department had delivered the No. 3 screws needed by the motorcycle workshop to the engine workshop, which caused a significant delay.

This may seem like a small matter, but it exposes a problem: the standardization of spare parts is insufficient.

One of the key reasons why industry can produce on a large scale is the standardization of components.

The universality of screws, gears, and drive shafts not only reduces a significant amount of manpower and material resources but also improves the quality of parts.

In those days, the machinery in China was incredibly diverse, including pieces made from various countries before liberation, as well as those bought from Russia and Eastern Europe. To manufacture and repair the spare parts, we often had to organize a team to tackle the challenges.

If the parts were standardized, such incidents wouldn't happen.

"You mean, standardize gears and screws?" Section Chief Xing asked upon hearing this.

"It's not just gears and screws; we need to set up dedicated workshops for all commonly used parts. These workshops receive orders from other workshops and manufacture qualified parts according to the requirements. The dimensions and processes of the parts need to use the same standards."

"This has an advantage: by doing the same job year after year, your skills will become more and more refined, and the quality of your parts will become higher and higher."

Li Aiguo briefly explained his idea.

Section Chief Xing had heard plenty of complaints from the logistics department about unsuitable parts, so he nodded and said, "That's a good idea. We happen to have some workers from the batch we recruited recently who haven't been assigned to any positions yet, so let them help make the parts."

In other factories, because of issues involving design, materials, and processes, achieving standardized practices would require a complete overhaul and redesign.

However, most of the products produced at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot were made by the workshop and Li Aiguo, and only required some changes to the blueprints.

"The new workshop needs approval from the department. You should submit a report, and I'll go to the department to report it later." Section Chief Xing didn't take this matter seriously and nodded in agreement.

However, we still need to go through some procedures and reach a collective decision. This is both a responsibility to the organization and a protection for individuals.

Li Aiguo turned around and went back to his studio to plan the standardization of parts.

The current standardization is limited to products from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, but it will continue to be promoted in the future.

Li Aiguo didn't intend to achieve everything at once; he only set himself a small goal: to first promote it throughout the entire railway system.

This standard is called the Railway Parts Standard, or simply Railway Standard.

The iron standard currently only covers a few major components used by the Qianmen Locomotive Depot; other components can be added later.

In addition to improving quality, Li Aiguo focused on discussing how Tiebiao could improve production efficiency.

This thing was created by Li Aiguo, and it was very easy to modify. It only took him about half an hour to finish.

In the afternoon, Section Chief Xing took the iron standard report to the ministry to report.

At this time, Teng, the leader of the Ministry of Railways, was also facing another report, which was a real headache for him.

Hextech is currently receiving an overwhelming number of orders.

Especially after scooter motorcycles became bestsellers worldwide, Hextech seized this opportunity to unite its dealers and form a large interest group.

What are the identities of these distributors in the local area? They are all local bigwigs and doers.

Initially, they only distributed scooter motorcycles, but later other products from Hextech also caught their attention.

They've become agents for seemingly insignificant items like instant noodles and diapers; making money is no small matter.

Previously, these locations were too remote to be suitable for opening a Hextech store, but now that problem has been solved.

Goods were shipped all over the world, and sales increased fivefold.

The little notebook has recently started producing these things too. Seeing that the products here are selling well, it got a little envious and wanted to do something sneaky. It planned to bribe a local bigwig to investigate.

But in the end, nothing came of it because those who clamored to investigate didn't dare to do so at all.

Those local bullies can run rampant in the area not just because of their words, but because they dare to investigate. If you dare to investigate, you'll find a bomb under the bed the very night you sleep with your mistress.

In this day and age, without surveillance cameras, anything can happen.

Furthermore, Hextech also manufactures large off-road vehicles and special-purpose vehicles.

Who loves this kind of high-end product the most? Flour tycoons in South America, officials in Eastern Europe, parliamentarians in Western Europe, and even the princes of the Bull family are waiting for orders from the Great Wall Motors.

If you take unorthodox methods, you won't be able to win.

If you go through official channels, you don't even have the right to speak.

After spending a large sum of money on lobbying, the small notebook ended up losing everything.

In this situation, there was a shortage of railway supplies.

What can we do? We can only continue to expand production.

Leader Teng convened a meeting with several leaders and decided to allocate another piece of land to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

Just as I was about to talk to Section Chief Xing, he arrived with a report.

After carefully reviewing the document, Leader Teng's eyes lit up: "We really overlooked this point. Standardized parts can greatly improve production efficiency."

The other leaders nodded in agreement: "Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. The iron standard is a good thing."

"Yes, leader, it was mainly our oversight. However, Comrade Aiguo also reminded us that the iron standard is suitable for our locomotive depot, but it may not be suitable for other factories. We should promote it according to the actual situation."

Now that Section Chief Xing is a leader in the locomotive depot, he is no longer intimidated sitting in front of Leader Teng and speaks fluently.

"Comrade Patriot has thought this through very thoroughly. I think we can announce the iron standard first, and use the old method for the old ones, and the new method for the new equipment and new products."

"Huh?" Section Chief Xing was somewhat surprised. The ministry was really going to promote the iron standard on a large scale.

"What? You're allowed to use the best stuff at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, but other depots aren't allowed to have a taste? Section Chief Xing, you need to have a broader perspective." Leader Teng was a leader with a big picture view and couldn't stand Section Chief Xing's petty-mindedness.

Upon hearing this, Section Chief Xing immediately sat up straight and said, "Sir, I need to make a self-criticism."

"What are you going to criticize? Criticize your locomotive depot for cultivating a genius for the country?" Leader Teng continued.

Section Chief Xing finally understood: Leader Teng was in a great mood and was just teasing him.

"Boss, is there some good news?"

Leader Teng handed over the report from the foreign trade department: "Take a look. Five times the orders! Your Qianmen Locomotive Depot's production scale is about to expand again!"

"Huh?!" Section Chief Xing looked at the report, speechless.

The Qianmen Locomotive Depot is already the largest locomotive depot in China. If it expands further, will it become the largest locomotive depot in the world?

Is it only the Western organic sector?
This is a big problem.

Section Chief Xing realized he was starting to have wild thoughts, so he quickly shook his head, stood up, and made a promise: "We will do our best to cooperate with the expansion work and meet the needs of foreign trade."

Leader Teng was quite satisfied with Section Chief Xing's attitude and nodded, saying, "Comrade Aiguo must be very busy lately, right?"

"Yes, the workshop just received an order from the military for a hundred oil tankers, and they also need to build helicopters. It's really tough work," Section Chief Xing replied.

Leader Teng took a sip of water and then said, "Let's leave the iron standard to the ministries. We'll set up a department to be responsible for setting the standards, so that our patriotic comrades can have an easier time too."

"Thank you so much, leader. My wife is about to give birth, and I really need time to take care of the family."

Section Chief Xing quickly stood up and poured a glass of water for his leader: "Then I'll go back now and tell Comrade Aiguo this good news."

"Go."

After Section Chief Xing left, Leader Teng instructed the ministry to establish a standard-setting group to immediately develop parts standards based on the recommendations in the report.

The work had just been assigned when the phone rang.

The assistant answered the phone, listened for a while, and replied, "Please wait a moment."

The assistant strode into Teng's office and reported, "Sir, it's a call from the equipment department of Sartu Station."

Upon hearing the name Sartu, Leader Teng asked, "Aren't they preparing for the crude oil transportation project from the Daqing Oilfield?"

"It seems to be related to crude oil transportation," the assistant replied.

After discovering crude oil, Daqing Oilfield has started producing crude oil after several years of development and construction.

Since Daqing Oilfield had not yet built a crude oil transportation pipeline, in order to transport crude oil to the refinery as soon as possible, the Ministry of Railways specially built a railway station in Sartu, which is the closest to Daqing.

A dedicated line was built to transport crude oil from Daqing to the Jinzhou chemical plant.

This transport line is known as the East Oil Depot Railway Line.

The transportation of crude oil from Daqing Oilfield is a key task for the railway. Leader Teng nodded: "Put the phone in."

After picking up the phone and listening to the report from the Sartu Equipment Department, Leader Teng frowned: "Li Aiguo? You're very interested in the oil tankers he built?"

"Okay, send someone over as soon as possible."

After hanging up the phone, Director Teng asked his assistant, "Has Section Chief Xing left yet?"

"It seems like we're going through the procedures for receiving supplies at the logistics department."

"Call Section Chief Xing back."

Section Chief Xing returned to his office looking completely bewildered. After hearing the whole story, he was left speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Sir, you just lightened Comrade Aiguo's burden, and now you've added another one."

Leader Teng also felt a little embarrassed, coughed twice and said, "The crude oil transportation work of Daqing Oilfield is related to our energy strategy, so I can only trouble Comrade Aiguo to work harder. I will make it up to him when there is an opportunity."

Section Chief Xing was well aware that this was a rectification task, and upon hearing this, he quickly nodded: "I will go back and inform Comrade Aiguo immediately."

Inside the working room of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

After understanding the whole story, Li Aiguo immediately made a guarantee: "Section Chief, don't worry, I will do my best to cooperate with the equipment department of Sartu Railway Station."

"The comrades from Sartu probably won't be here for a few more days, so you should take a good rest these next couple of days." Section Chief Xing felt bad about it; even a donkey pulling a millstone wouldn't be used like this.

"The ministry just sent over another batch of sea fish, take some back with you."

The number of sea fish was about the same as last time, a dozen or so.

Li Aiguo kept some for the studio and sent some to the canteen to prepare special meals for Professor Qi and the other experts from the aircraft factory.

The remaining meat was being carried home by a rope tied to the handlebars when the security guard at the gate came and said someone was looking for him.

When Li Aiguo arrived at the door, he saw that it was Zuo Dongfang, who had sold him the big knife a couple of years ago.

This guy is Wang Wu's apprentice. The two became friends through selling knives, and Li Aiguo often sparred with him.

"Brother Zuo, what brings you here?"

Li Aiguo quickly extended his hand and shook hands, then led Zuo Dongfang to the studio while talking to him.

Li Aiguo poured tea for Zuo Dongfang, who said, "Brother, this tea is quite good."

"This is the tea served here," Li Aiguo said with a chuckle. Zuo Dongfang wasn't one to mince words either. After taking a sip of tea, he said directly, "Brother, I've come to ask you for a favor."

Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo was very direct: "Brother, please tell me, as long as it's within my power."

"It's wild boar heart. My old friend's son developed epilepsy, and an old doctor prescribed a medicine that required wild boar heart. I've had two doses prepared, and the effects were very good."

However, the wild boar must be an old wild boar from the mountains, at least five years old, which is very rare.

My old friend has been searching for it for a while, but hasn't found it.

"I know you have connections, but I'm just shamelessly asking you for a favor this time."

Zuo Dongfang explained the situation.

Li Aiguo had also heard that wild boar heart was effective against epilepsy, and asked, "Are you in a hurry?"

"Of course, the sooner the better. Just tell us where you found the wild boar, and we can do it ourselves." Zuo Dongfang said somewhat embarrassedly.

Wild boars are plentiful, but old wild boars are rare. It would be very dishonest to ask for the heart of an old wild boar directly.

"You go back first, I'll think of something." Li Aiguo already had an idea.

"That's a good feeling."

Zuo Dongfang didn't linger. He stood up to leave, glancing around the studio as he went.

"This place is really nice, the equipment is really advanced, you're much better than your older brother, bro."

"Compared to your brother's kung fu, I'm still far behind."

"Don't say that. This is no longer the era of sword fights. What you're doing, brother, is the right way."

After chatting for a few minutes, Zuo Dongfang left. Li Aiguo saw him to the door and returned to the station.

It was nearing the end of the workday, and the short-distance trains had already stopped at the station. The train drivers jumped out of the locomotives and stood in the shade of the trees, smoking and chatting.

Cao Wenzhi saw Li Aiguo walking over and waved to him: "Aiguo, what brings you here?"

The train drivers and stokers all stood up when they saw Li Aiguo.

"Master, Qingquan, Lao Zheng, Master Zhou," Li Aiguo took out cigarettes from his pocket and distributed them in a large circle, almost finishing off a whole pack.

"Master, where around Beijing can we find old wild boars? The older the better."

These train drivers frequently travel around the area and are quite familiar with the surrounding conditions.

However, there are not many mountains around the capital, and with the dense population, such old wild boars are really rare.

However, Chen, a driver who runs a freight route, provided some information: "Last month, when we passed through Zhangjiakou, we made an emergency stop to get out of the car and almost got attacked by a group of wild boars. The lead boar had particularly long tusks, probably about five years old."

Li Aiguo asked for the exact location and felt it was a bit far, but at least he had some news. He would tell Zuo Dongfang another day and ask him to make a trip there.

After chatting with the train drivers for a while, Li Aiguo rode his motorcycle back to the courtyard house.

As soon as Li Aiguo entered the courtyard, he noticed something was wrong. Liu Haizhong's door had been dismantled, the windows had been smashed, the house was in a mess, and even a few eggs had been smashed on the ground.

"this?"

"Brother Aiguo, you're finally back! Aunt Er has been beaten up!" Xu Damao said as he came out of his house.

Li Aiguo was confused: "Who hit him? Where is he?"

"They're all at the police station," Xu Damao explained the situation.

"Liu Guangqi is getting a divorce again. He ran away from Baoding and is hiding somewhere. His wife's family is unhappy and thinks that Liu Haizhong and his second aunt are stirring up trouble behind the scenes. So they brought a bunch of people to Liu Haizhong's house to demand that he be released."

"Gangzhu was at the slaughterhouse, and I was at work. Several residents from the compound rushed to help. When I came back, the police officers had already arrived and taken everyone back to the police station."

Liu Guangqi is planning to get a divorce again. I don't know where he's gone. Is he really that unreliable?
The Huang family has come to fight in order to find a son-in-law?

What a mess of things every single day.

Hearing this, Li Aiguo asked, somewhat puzzled, "Going all the way to the capital to fight? Where are you from?"

"Huang Chunlan's father came from Huangjiazhuang Commune in Baoding. He was quite influential in the area and had seven or eight brothers."

This time, he brought more than a dozen nephews to demand an explanation. He didn't necessarily want to fight, but he didn't expect Liu Haizhong to have such a volatile temper. They started fighting after only a few words.

Li Aiguo was speechless: "These people still think of the present as the pre-liberation era."

"It's not what."

The fight was the responsibility of the neighborhood patrol team, so Li Aiguo went to the police station.

Goodness, there are so many people. A small portion of them are residents of the compound, and the other group are people from Huangjiazhuang Commune in Baoding.

Xu Damao called out, "Make way, make way, Aiguo is here."

Li Aiguo was being stared at by everyone. Liu Zhenshan came out of the office and waved to Li Aiguo: "Aiguo, come in quickly."

The Huang family didn't recognize Li Aiguo; they just thought he had some prestige.

"Who is this? He seems to know the police officers quite well."

"Yes."

“Li Aiguo, a train driver in our compound, is a national model worker and is famous throughout the country.”

"Really? We've never heard of that."

"There are many things you don't know!" The residents of the courtyard house looked down on the people of Huangjiazhuang Commune.

Li Aiguo went inside and saw that the leaders of the police station were also there. After greeting them with a smile, he asked, "Where are Liu Haizhong and Aunt Er?"

"in hospital."

"Huh? Are you alright?" Li Aiguo was a little surprised. Fighting can be a big deal or a small deal. If someone gets hurt, then it will be a big problem.

"There are injuries on both sides. Aunt Er broke her arm, and several young men from the Huang family's side were knocked down by Liu Haizhong with sticks. They probably have concussions."

"The tricky part now is how to handle this? There are too many people involved. The Huang family is now insisting that they were just seeking justice for their daughter and did not lay a hand on anyone; Liu Haizhong was the one who started it."

Liu Zhenshan gave a brief introduction to the situation.

Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo said, "We can't just let it go like this. These people traveled hundreds of miles to this place, beat people up, and then we just let them go?"

"We've already notified the leaders in Baoding. They'll send someone over to coordinate. I guess it'll just be a matter of paying compensation. Liu Guangqi is a bastard." Liu Zhenshan was also a little angry.

After Liu Guangqi got divorced, he cut off all ties with Baoding, so nothing happened.
They insisted on remarrying.

Now she can't stand it anymore, she wants a divorce, and she even ran away, dragging Liu Haizhong and her second aunt into this mess.

Li Aiguo also sighed; matters involving family disputes are really difficult to handle.

Even in later generations, when two large families were fighting, there was no way to resolve the situation; you couldn't just arrest them all.

Moreover, things are different now than in later generations. A village can mobilize at will, regardless of who is in the right, but rather who has the most people and who fights the hardest. If you lose, you can only accept your bad luck.

As we were chatting, a commotion broke out outside.

"These are the guys who beat up Master Liu, beat the bastards up!"

“If you dare to act tough on the grounds of the steel rolling mill, you won’t know how many eyes Lord Ma has if we don’t teach you a lesson.”

"You dare hit my master? You've got a death wish!"

Without a doubt, the workers from the steel rolling mill must have received the news and rushed over.

Workers of that era, especially those in large factories, were particularly fond of sticking together and were not afraid of trouble; they would fight if necessary.

Liu Haizhong has just become a leader and has so many apprentices. People will definitely come to help him if they find out.

Li Aiguo rushed out of his office and saw dozens of steel mill workers rushing into the police station.

They were carrying steel bars and pipes; there was no other way, these things were too common in steel rolling mills.

Several young people have already raised their arms high.

"Stop!" Li Aiguo rushed over and kicked out, knocking the steel pipe out of the young man's hand.

The young man immediately flew into a rage, but when he saw that it was Li Aiguo, he quickly stopped in his tracks.

"What are you doing? Are you unhappy that Comrade Liu Haizhong wasn't arrested?!" Li Aiguo's anger was quite intimidating.

Those young people couldn't help but take a step back.

"Patriotic comrade, we're trying to help Master Liu, how could we possibly harm him?"

"Yes, Master Liu was beaten up by them, so we have to help him get revenge."

"Idiots! Where is this? This is the local police station, which was a government office before liberation. If you dare to make a move, Liu Haizhong will be charged with organizing people to storm the government office tomorrow. Get back to what you were doing and stop causing trouble here," Li Aiguo said irritably.

Liu Zhenshan was also startled by these workers. If these people got carried away and started fighting, there was no way to stop them.

Seeing that Li Aiguo had brought the situation under control, he quickly said, "Everyone, please disperse. With Comrade Aiguo here, please rest assured that we will handle this matter fairly."

Xu Damao chimed in, "Go back, all of you. If you cause trouble here, Jia Dongxu will probably file a complaint against you later."

The workers also came to their senses.

In particular, several of Liu Haizhong's apprentices knew about their master being targeted by Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu.

Liu Haizhong has just become a cadre and is at a critical stage; he cannot be implicated.

"With patriotic comrades here, we can rest assured. Everyone, please disperse."

After everyone left, Liu Zhenshan and the director both breathed a sigh of relief. They had a feeling that two of the workers had something tucked into their waistbands.

However, figuring out what to do next is a bit tricky.

“Grandma, this is a matter for the compound. I’m the eldest son, so I have to go and take care of it.” Yi Zhonghai looked at the deaf old lady, seemingly asking a question, but more like interrogating her.

Yi Zhonghai was working overtime manufacturing oil tanks today and came back a little late. As soon as he got back, he heard that something had happened in the compound, so he rushed to the deaf old lady's house to find a solution.

The deaf old woman, however, looked at Yi Zhonghai with a gloomy face and disdain.

"You've lived to such an old age, it's all wasted. This is a good opportunity for you."

"Please enlighten me, madam." Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked.

The deaf old woman propped herself up on the bed, took a couple of breaths, and said, "The Huang family and the people in the compound are fighting. This is a very tricky matter. If it's not handled properly, Liu Haizhong will lose face, and Li Aiguo will also suffer the consequences."

Most people would avoid this kind of thing like the plague, yet you took the initiative to do it.

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai sighed inwardly, "Old foxes are spicier."

"Grandma, I'll listen to you."

After leaving the deaf old lady's house, Yi Zhonghai straightened his collar and managed a slight smile.

If Li Aiguo and Liu Haizhong fall because of this, his position as an elder will be even more secure.

(End of this chapter)