The train driver in the courtyard

On Monday, the ministry coordinated with the Changxindian Locomotive Factory to help produce oil tanker trains.

Changxindian Locomotive Factory is very interested in this project.

When Li Aiguo arrived with the untrained automotive experts, Chief Engineer Wang and the factory leaders were already waiting.

"Shall we take a break, or get back to work?" Chief Engineer Wang and Li Aiguo were old acquaintances, so he didn't waste any time with pleasantries and asked directly.

"Let's work first."

Li Aiguo exchanged a few pleasantries with Chief Engineer Wang before getting to work.

As it was a key project of the Ministry of Railways, the Changxindian Locomotive Factory specially vacated several offices in the technical department to facilitate the work of Li Aiguo and his colleagues.

Li Aiguo met with the technicians in the technical department and also saw Chen Xingyi in the crowd, but only exchanged a glance with him.

"These are Section Chief Chen and Deputy Section Chief Zhou from the Technical Department," Chief Engineer Wang introduced the two leaders.

Section Chief Chen had also worked with Li Aiguo before, and he was very enthusiastic when he saw Li Aiguo again.

Deputy Section Chief Zhou was recently transferred from another factory. He was probably in his thirties, and his hair was meticulously styled with hair oil so thick that flies could slip on it.

"Consultant Li, just give us the blueprints, and our technical department will guarantee to build the oil tanker train."

Deputy Section Chief Zhou's tone was noticeably stiff, and his expression was somewhat displeased.

It's easy to understand if you think about it. Li Aiguo and the untrained car experts were essentially parachuted into the Changxindian Locomotive Factory. They were all technical people, and Deputy Section Chief Zhou felt suppressed.

"Deputy Section Chief Zhou, is this from the Technical Department, or is it your factory's opinion?" Li Aiguo asked with a smile.

Deputy Section Chief Zhou was speechless.

He was just a deputy section chief; he couldn't represent the technical section, much less the Changxindian Locomotive Factory.

"Old Zhou, what are you doing? The comrades from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot are here to help us!"

Seeing that things were not going well, Chief Engineer Wang quickly reprimanded Deputy Section Chief Zhou and then took Li Aiguo's hand to tour the technical department.

He also explained Zhou's background.

"Old Zhou is a veteran technician at the Dalian Railway Research Institute. He was only recently transferred here, and he's a bit too focused on advancement."

Dalian Railway Research Institute? Technician?

Li Aiguo narrowed his eyes slightly. Before liberation, this research institute was also known as the South Manchuria Railway Technical Research Institute.

After the Japanese surrendered, their engineers left.

The remaining technicians were mostly assistants to those engineers who worked on small projects. After liberation, these people were called technicians.

The railway authorities transferred a group of experts from Beijing and Harbin to work at the Dalian Railway Research Institute; these people were called researchers.

Outsiders were unaware of this situation, but Li Aiguo learned everything clearly from his teacher, Liu Guozhang.

"A four-roll plate rolling machine?" The next day, Li Aiguo received news that the plate rolling machine that the ministry had dispatched for the production of oil tanks had arrived.

"Chief Engineer Wang, this plate rolling machine is an important piece of equipment. There is no suitable place to put it here at the locomotive factory. I think we can build a separate workshop for it."

Firstly, it's beneficial for production, and secondly, it can prevent accidents; this thing is still somewhat dangerous.

“That’s true,” Chief Engineer Wang agreed with Li Aiguo’s statement.

"We also need to build a wall around it and set up a guard post at the entrance, otherwise it will be difficult to keep things secret." Li Aiguo looked at the large open space to the east of the locomotive factory, which was the most suitable place to build a workshop.

Chief Engineer Wang nodded, then called over the construction department and gave them the order: "Do whatever Consultant Li tells you to do."

Li Aiguo explained his ideas, and the head of the construction department pondered for a moment before saying, "Advisor Li, this project is quite large, involving road construction and the building of three workshops."

"Can you finish it?"

These people didn't understand the value of the oil tanker train, but Li Aiguo understood it all too well.

This thing is a marvel for short-distance oil transportation. In the future, it may be exported to Russia and Eastern Europe, where the oil quality is similar to that of Daqing Oilfield.

"As long as the factory agrees, we have no problem." The construction section chief looked at Chief Engineer Wang, and seeing him nod, he quickly agreed.

“Okay.” Li Aiguo walked around the open space.

This plot of land is over 30 acres. In addition to producing oil tanks, it can also be used to build a locomotive assembly workshop to assemble new types of train cars.

Li Aiguo didn't care whether the locomotive factory supported him or not.

If they are unwilling to do it, the Qianmen Locomotive Depot can take over on its own; that's the confidence that comes from its strength.

As Li Aiguo had predicted, when the leaders of Changxindian Locomotive Factory learned that Li Aiguo was going to make great strides in the factory, although they hesitated for a moment, they eventually agreed.

"You must cooperate with Consultant Li to get the workshop built as soon as possible, and absolutely do not affect the production of the oil tanker train."

Changxindian is only 30 or 40 miles away from the capital. A round trip can be made in just one and a half hours by driving a large SUV.

At noon, Li Aiguo made a trip to the Railway Technology Research Institute to deliver medicinal wine to Liu Guozhang and also reported on his work at the Changxindian Locomotive Factory.

"You're up to something big again, kid." Liu Guozhang was also amazed by Li Aiguo's boldness and decisiveness.

"However, your idea is good. When doing things, you should have a long-term vision."

Liu Guozhang expressed his support for Li Aiguo's idea.

After chatting for a few minutes, Li Aiguo returned to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot workshop.

Recently, the studio has started a new project: Zong Xianfeng and Professor Qi are manufacturing a high-tonnage punch press.

The armed helicopter project has reached a critical stage, and a military factory responsible for manufacturing the fuselage urgently needs a high-tonnage stamping press capable of stamping sheet metal. In the past, manufacturing such a thing would have been extremely difficult.

Now that we have milling and turning machining centers, it's like having unlocked a prerequisite skill tree.

As long as you have the blueprints and solve some technical difficulties, manufacturing it is not complicated.

In particular, the punch press produced for this trial production of tanker truck frames was only at the 1000-ton level.

There are also super punch presses with capacities of 2500 tons, or even 5000 tons.

Super punch presses are indispensable in high-end manufacturing.

Take the cancellation of the large aircraft project back then as an example. Some people felt that it was because of the lack of super presses, which made it impossible to manufacture high-quality parts.

The parts required for aircraft are of very high quality, and if there is a problem, it will cause a lot of trouble, let alone a problem in commercial flight.

Li Aiguo's work on the 1000-ton punch press wasn't particularly difficult; it was merely practice for building the 2500-ton one.

The studio was bustling with activity, and the leaders in the section were used to it, sending over all sorts of materials in a steady stream.

After Li Aiguo started developing the punch press, the project on the double-donkey-head oil pumping unit was suspended.

After returning to the State Farm, Section Chief Xu also reported the idea of ​​the double-donkey-head oil pump to the farm's leaders.

The leaders did not agree.

"The oil pump we're using was made by our big brother, and the related components were also imported from him. Wouldn't it be inappropriate to replace it rashly? Besides, there's no guarantee that this thing can be successfully developed; the risk is too great," Leader Zhang asked, taking a sip of his enamel mug, his breath reeking of alcohol.

“Old Zhang, as you know, our relationship with our big brother has been getting worse and worse in the last two years. Our big brother has doubled the price of oil pumps and is even demanding that we exchange them for grain,” a leader reminded him.

“We can copy it. Didn’t the technical department work on it for a while?” Director Zhang turned to Section Chief Xu: “Old Xu, what do you say?”

Section Chief Xu straightened up and reported, "Actually, due to some special reasons, the progress of the imitation work is not significant."

He didn't say it explicitly, but the leaders of the State Farms General Farm understood the reason.

The older brother is keeping an eye on the younger brother.

Actually, you can't blame the older brother. If you develop something good, you'll also try to keep the core technology in your own hands.

The oil pumps imported from Big Brother's company are actually old equipment from World War II, but the price is about the same as new ones.

If it breaks, it needs to be repaired by the older brother's family, and the parts need to be bought from the older brother's family.

Even now, the eldest brother's family still has a team of experts remaining at the State Farm, and those experts receive a daily allowance of up to ten yuan.

“We can no longer be controlled by others. I think this double-donkey-head oil pumping unit project can be launched.” Another leader raised his hand.

“Yes, we can’t always follow in others’ footsteps.” The other leaders agreed.

Leader Zhang was somewhat angry: "I have reservations about this!"

He always felt that his older brother's oil extraction machine was a good product, and even if he could make a copy, the quality wouldn't be as good as the original, but it would still be better than the one he made himself.

Some leaders also supported Leader Zhang's opinion.

Seeing this situation, the top leader of the State Farm contemplated for a moment, then looked at Section Chief Zhang and said, "Here's what we'll do: you contact the Qianmen Locomotive Depot first and send a group of people there to start the research. Once there's progress, we'll make a decision. At the same time, the imitation work must continue, and we should keep it a secret from the Russian experts."

Section Chief Xu felt that this method was somewhat inappropriate.

Isn't this taking advantage of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot?
They let others do all the hard and tiring work, while we just sit here and reap the benefits.

Although Section Chief Xu knew this was the best course of action, he still felt guilty.

He applied to the State Farm General Farm for a batch of supplies, intending to send them to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

After the meeting, Leader Zhang went to see the higher-ups.

"Boss, we have now sent people to the Novoklamatorsk Heavy Machinery Plant to discuss purchasing another batch of oil pumping units."

"We've followed Professor Selyov's lead this time, so there's a good chance we can get a price reduction. The oil extraction pumps from that big brother company are excellent; I don't think we need to take any risks."

The senior leader looked at Zhang and said earnestly, "Old Zhang, didn't you study that article published in the newspaper last year, the one about how only autonomy leads to independence?"

"I"

When Leader Zhang saw that the higher-ups were determined, he had no choice but to accept it, even though he was unwilling.

Back in his office, he drank two enamel mugs of tea, flipped through a few newspapers from his older brother's office, and the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.

After a moment's hesitation, Director Zhang knocked on the door of the Russian expert's office.

"Professor Selyov, it's me, Xiao Zhang."

The bright red flag on the flagpole outside was flapping loudly in the wind.

When Li Aiguo learned that the technical department of the State Farm was going to send someone over, the parts for the 1000-ton punch press had already been manufactured and transported to the Changxindian Locomotive Factory.

"Old Xu, you're leading the team yourself? We're certainly welcome, but we're afraid we might not be able to provide enough hospitality."

"There are also several truckloads of refined wheat flour and over ten tons of beef and mutton. Why didn't you say so earlier? Welcome, a warm welcome."

After hanging up the phone, Li Aiguo was marveling at how abundant the resources were at the State Farm General Farm when he received a call from the Locomotive Factory.

As Li Aiguo packed his things, he asked, "Chief Engineer Zhang, what kind of meeting is it?"

"Our deputy section chief, Zhou, has already led a team to assemble the punch press."

(End of this chapter)