The train driver in the courtyard

Qianmen Locomotive Depot Workshop.

Li Aiguo met with Zhao Xinnian, the chief engineer from the Beijing Lighting Factory.

Speaking of Zhao Xinnian, he is a figure similar to Edison.

Zhao Xinnian came from a poor family. After graduating from primary school, he went to work as an apprentice in a light bulb manufacturing workshop, during which time he joined the organization.

He attended night school organized by the organization, which laid a solid foundation of cultural knowledge. He later rose step by step from a skilled worker to an engineer, and then to chief engineer.

Currently in charge of the light source laboratory of a lighting factory, mainly engaged in the research and development of lighting fixtures.

"Comrade Aiguo, take a look at these two lamps our factory made." Zhao Xinnian asked the workers to open the box, inside which were two large, round, and bright lamps.

Li Aiguo had the headlights placed on the rack, wires connected, and the controller plugged in.

While they were busy, Section Chief Xing came in after hearing the news. Looking at the two lamps, he smiled and asked, "These are the lamps we traded for two cows? I want to see what's different about them."

This story begins with Li Aiguo needing car lights. Section Chief Xing thought they were just ordinary car lights and didn't pay much attention, so he sent the blueprints and documents to the Beijing Lighting Factory.

Unexpectedly, after studying the materials, the lighting factory said that the difficulty was too great and it would take about six months to manufacture.

Since Section Chief Xing had already made his promise, he could only resort to a beef offensive, offering two cows to persuade the lighting factory to abandon its original research and development plan and instead manufacture these two lamps.

Li Aiguo had already connected the wiring harness and nodded to Zong Xianfeng: "Turn it on."

Zong Xianfeng pressed the switch with a click.

next moment.

Its daybreak.

Indeed, the previously dimly lit workshop was now brightly lit. Section Chief Xing squinted, and it took him a while to realize how bright it was: "This thing is really bright!"

"Turn it off." Li Aiguo tested the lights a couple of times and, seeing that there was nothing wrong with them, turned them off.

Section Chief Xing felt that the two cows were well worth the money, and looked at Zhao Xinnian, asking, "Engineer Zhao, why is this light so bright?"

Zhao Xinnian was still checking the car lights, saying as he did so, "There aren't just five bulbs in here, they're all high-powered, of course they're going to light up."

"No, even if it's five light bulbs, you can't ask me for two cows!" Section Chief Xing felt like he'd been ripped off.

Zhao Xinnian rolled his eyes at him: "Big boss, here, I'll give you five light bulbs now. You put them in this glass box, and if you can make the light bulbs work stably for two minutes, I'll give you five cows, how about that?"

Section Chief Xing was speechless.

Zhao Xinnian continued, "This time, we are very grateful to Comrade Aiguo for suggesting the idea of ​​adding miniature fans to the lights. Otherwise, even if you had ten cows, our factory wouldn't have accepted the job."

Faced with a chief engineer like Zhao Xinnian, Section Chief Xing could only force a smile, while Li Aiguo stood by and watched the scene with amusement.

In this era, Zhao Xinnian would probably have been expelled by now.

"Ahem, Chief Engineer Zhao, you guys keep going. I just remembered I have some work to do, so I'll get back to it." Section Chief Xing didn't say a word to Zhao Xinnian after all, and turned around and ran off in a flash.

"Was I too angry just now?" Zhao Xinnian realized at this moment.

He looked around, then rubbed his forehead: "I forgot this isn't our lighting factory."

Li Aiguo: "."

He felt a little sorry for the leaders of the lighting factory.

If you encounter a chief engineer like Zhao Xinnian who is capable but has a terrible temper, you'll probably need to take a lot of blood pressure medication.

However, Zhao Xinnian's technical skills were first-rate. The light was large and bright, but the only drawback was that it could not be turned and its brightness was not as good as the matrix headlights of later generations.

"Patriotism, how can I not be satisfied? Let me tell you, there are no better headlights in the world," Zhao Xinnian said confidently.

To manufacture this lamp, the lighting factory assembled more than ten engineers and employed top-notch master craftsmen.

Li Aiguo stroked his chin: "It has nothing to do with the lamp, it's a problem with the light source. This lamp is still an old-fashioned halogen lamp."

"You want to use fluorescent lights? We can do that too, but the brightness of fluorescent lights won't be nearly as good."

"No...it is." Li Aiguo originally wanted to say "LED" lights, but he stopped himself from saying it.

Because at that time, Xiaomei's family was developing the most basic red LED, and there was still a long way to go before LEDs could be put into practical use.

Even if you wanted to buy it, you couldn't.

Just now.

A flash of inspiration crossed Li Aiguo's mind.

Yes, LED technology can be developed!
From the moment primitive humans lit the first torch, the history of human civilization is essentially a history of the pursuit of light.

Torches, kerosene lamps, white paper light bulbs, fluorescent lamps, halogen lamps, and finally, people invented LED lights.

LED, also known as light-emitting diode, works on a simple principle: it emits light by releasing energy through the recombination of electrons and holes.

Its structure is not complicated; it is simply a solid semiconductor chip as the light-emitting material. Now that a semiconductor laboratory has been established within the Red Star Computer Research Institute, it will come in handy.

The real challenge in developing LEDs lies in the materials used to manufacture the diodes.

Foreign laboratories spend countless funds, yet they can only try to find suitable materials as if searching for a needle in a haystack.

Li Aiguo, however, knew that gallium arsenide diodes emit red light, silicon carbide diodes emit yellow light, and gallium nitride diodes emit blue light.

By simply combining red, yellow, and blue light, a white light source can be obtained.

With LED light sources, not only can the problem of vehicle lights be solved, but they can also be used for household lighting, greatly reducing energy consumption, which is of great importance to us who are in dire need of energy.

LED lights represent a huge market; if successfully developed, they could generate profits for decades to come.

A real man does what he says he will do.

Li Aiguo looked at Zhao Xinnian and asked with a smile, "Old Zhao, have you ever heard of gallium arsenide phosphide semiconductor compounds that can emit light?"

“I’ve heard of it!”

"what?!"

“I saw a paper in a foreign journal about a joint lab of GE, Monsanto, and IBM that’s developing this thing, but it doesn’t seem to have succeeded yet.” Zhao Xinnian was puzzled as to why Li Aiguo was surprised.

IBM was Red Star Computer's long-time rival.

Monsanto is no good either.

Now there is something good to watch.

Li Aiguo wondered why Zhao Xinnian would be interested in LED lights.

Li Aiguo then asked, "Old Zhao, are you interested in this new type of luminescent material?"

Zhao Xinnian couldn't understand Li Aiguo's thoughts, so he honestly replied, "Of course I'm interested. My teacher mentioned before that this material is a mainstream research direction abroad, and it is said to be able to save energy. It's just that our lighting factory doesn't have the conditions; it requires a semiconductor laboratory."

It's obvious that Zhao Xinnian has some knowledge of LEDs.

Li Aiguo laughed: "Old Zhao, your lighting factory doesn't have a semiconductor lab, but our Red Star Computer Research Institute does."

"Really? That's great! If we can develop this new light source, we'll definitely be able to save society a lot more energy." Zhao Xinnian had also heard of the Red Star Computing Institute's reputation, and he himself owned a computer.

Afterwards, Li Aiguo and Zhao Xinnian had an in-depth discussion, and once the project made progress, they reported it to Section Chief Xing.

"There are lights brighter than the one we just saw?" Section Chief Xing was also stunned.

"To put it simply, if halogen lamps make car lights that are light bulbs, then LEDs make searchlights." Li Aiguo handed a cigarette to Section Chief Xing.

"Those searchlights are really bright." Section Chief Xing had been shone by Xiao Mei's searchlights on the northern battlefield and still felt lingering fear.

He took the cigarette and lit it: "If your LED is really developed, it can be used for lighting in our locomotive depot and on trains. But will the lighting factory stop asking us for cows?"

"No, absolutely not." Li Aiguo chuckled to himself; Section Chief Xing was quite vengeful.

"In that case, I'll report it now." Section Chief Xing also felt that this LED project had potential. After putting on his coat, he left the locomotive depot and headed straight for the ministry.

"This light can save energy?" When Teng, the leader of the ministry, saw the report, his eyes lit up.

There is a nationwide power shortage, including in the railway sector.

After the electrification upgrade of the Lingguanxia section of the Baoji-Chengdu Railway was completed, only a small section was opened before the power supply could not keep up, forcing them to borrow electricity from local sources.

Local power is also in short supply, and in order to support the railway, power outages are frequent.

Although the general public has no objections, the railway workers are feeling terrible.

One light bulb may not save much electricity, but what about ten, a thousand, or ten million?

“That’s what Comrade Aiguo thinks, but since this thing hasn’t been built yet, no one can say for sure. Also, this project is very difficult, and it’s not guaranteed to succeed.” Section Chief Xing immediately protected Li Aiguo.

Leader Teng knew his little scheme and laughed: "There's no research project that doesn't fail. If you're afraid of this and that, then we shouldn't be developing it. Let Comrade Aiguo do it with confidence and boldness. If it fails, it's the responsibility of the Ministry of Railways."

"Understood!" Section Chief Xing stood up to leave.

Leader Teng called him back: "We were having a meeting at the lake just now, and the foreign trade department praised your Qianmen Locomotive Depot."

The sales of rice cookers far exceeded expectations, earning more than ten million US dollars in foreign exchange in just a few months.

"Perfect timing! South Asia just sent back another batch of beef; we'll allocate a portion to your Qianmen Locomotive Depot."

Over the past six months, supplies have been arriving from South Asia, including various fruits, rice, and other agricultural products. The main meat is beef, and it's said that people there don't eat beef, so it all benefits Li Yunlong.

These supplies, known as victory supplies, are not for sale.
A portion was sent to various cities and communes, where it was distributed free of charge to citizens and commune members as welfare items.

The remaining portion is reserved for rewarding those who have made meritorious contributions.

The Qianmen Locomotive Depot had already asked for it several times, but Section Chief Xing still happily agreed.

This is Victory Beef, you can't miss it.

Section Chief Xing returned to the locomotive depot with over 2,000 jin of beef and told Li Aiguo in detail about the new project approved by the ministry.

The plan is to establish a tripartite joint research and development team.

The Qianmen Locomotive Depot workshop, the Hongxing Computer Research Institute, and the Lighting Factory jointly mobilized technical personnel.

The research and development team was led by Li Aiguo, with Zhao Xinmin, Professor Xia Zhongsu, and Zong Xianfeng as deputy leaders. There were dozens of researchers under them.

Li Aiguo has a lot on his plate.

Manufacturing sports cars, modifying armed helicopters, preparing for motorcycle races against Japan, and so on.

Now that we have these top-notch technical experts from all over the country, he only needs to be responsible for the general research direction and provide technical support at critical moments, so he is not too busy.

After the research and development team held a plenary meeting and determined the general research and development plan, Professor Xia and others immediately got to work.

Zhao Xinmin then went to Li Aiguo's office.

"Aiguo, I'd like to recommend someone to join our research and development team." Li Aiguo had just picked up his enamel mug, then put it down and picked up his pen.

"Which factory or research institute is it? I'll figure something out."

The reason why the locomotive depot's workshop was able to hire so many talented people over the years was due to two key strategies.

One reason is the attention from higher authorities, and the other is their arrogance.

You won't release them, huh? Here's two thousand catties of refined wheat flour, still not releasing them? Here's five thousand catties!

Few research institutes and factories in China can withstand such treatment.

Zhao Xinmin's expression turned somewhat unpleasant: "They're not from our side."

“??” Li Aiguo tilted his head.

"He's a Russian professor," Zhao Xinmin said in a low voice.

Li Aiguo squinted, put down his pen, and asked, "What's going on?"

Zhao Xinmin sat down, sighed, and said, "Right after liberation, a Russian expert named Oleg Lossev came to the lighting factory. To be honest, the reason I paid attention to LED research was because of Oleg Lossev's influence."

“Oleg Losev.” Li Aiguo seemed to have heard of this name before, and after thinking about it carefully, his eyes widened instantly.

In fact, Oleg Lossev was the first person in the world to invent the LED light source.

In the 1930s, he discovered that certain crystals would emit light when an electric current was applied to them.

This should have been a groundbreaking discovery, but no one paid attention to Losseff's discovery, and his manuscript was destroyed in the chaos.

Bringing in someone like that would definitely be a huge help.

Where is Oleg Lossev now?

Zhao Xinmin continued, "Oleg Lossev is currently working at Marconi's laboratory, and his situation is not good. I wrote him several letters recently, but I haven't received a response. I heard things are quite chaotic on the Russian side right now."

News of the situation in Russia has now reached China, and Zhao Xinmin is understandably worried.

"I'll think of a way." Li Aiguo wrote the name and address on a piece of paper with a pen.

"Can you really bring Professor Oleg Losev over?" Zhao Xinmin had only made a suggestion and never expected Li Aiguo to agree, since bringing someone from the Russians was no easy task.

“Of course, we need to figure out Professor Oleg Losev’s thoughts before we can make a decision, right?” Li Aiguo didn’t give a guarantee at this point.

If Oleg Losev really had any problems, he would never have let someone like that in.

These matters need to be verified by our comrades in Moscow.

"Of course, of course, but please rest assured, Oleg Losev is a good comrade."

During the retreat, he secretly handed over all the documents to me, without telling the other delegates.

Zhao Xinmin was so moved that he almost shed tears.

This is no exaggeration. A large part of the reason why Zhao Xinmin was able to make such rapid progress is due to the careful guidance of Oleg Losev.

In this day and age, the saying "a teacher for a day is a husband for life" is not just a saying.

After Zhao Xinmin left, Li Aiguo rode his motorcycle to the weather station and handed the paper to Lao Mao.

"Please ask your people in Moscow to help me find someone. Let me know as soon as you have any information."

Old Cat glanced at it and told the telegraph office to send a message immediately.

It's just a preliminary investigation, and it won't alert the Cheka. Such a task doesn't require the farmer's approval.

"By the way, Aiguo, I'm planning to get married." After assigning the tasks, Old Cat returned to his office and sat down.

"It's with the woman who helped you do your laundry, right?" Li Aiguo remembered the girl's name, slapped his forehead, and said, "That girl's name is Zhou Tao, isn't it?"

"Yes, Zhou Tao is also a girl with a tragic fate."

Before liberation, her father fell seriously ill, and the family was starving. They had no choice but to borrow money from a landlord at exorbitant interest rates.

As a result, the father was not saved, and the family's few acres of meager land were forcibly taken away.

That wasn't all. The landlord, accompanied by his servants, stormed into her house, forcibly took her back, and wanted to make her his son's wife.

"A child bride?" Li Aiguo lit a cigarette, took a drag, and said, "In the old society, this wasn't unusual."

"No, the landlord's son died of illness, and they planned to hold a wedding banquet for the dead, strangle Zhou Tao at the banquet, and make Zhou Tao the dead man's wife." Old Cat's tone was also somewhat angry.

Li Aiguo was stunned.

Even if it's a ghost marriage, it's just two dead people getting married.

Now, a living person is to marry a dead person, and then the dead person is to be buried alive with the dead.

That's worse than an animal!

It turns out I had underestimated the viciousness of these landlords and tyrants; their ruthlessness had no bottom line!

"Later, Zhou Tao sneaked into the kitchen under the cover of night, set fire to the landlord's house, and fled all the way to the liberated area to survive. He then joined the organization as a matter of course."

Li Aiguo stood up and patted Lao Mao on the shoulder: "Now that we're living a good life, this kind of thing will never happen again."

"Yes, what are we doing this for, braving gunfire and bullets? Isn't it for this?"

After a few casual words, Li Aiguo began to make plans in his mind.

Old Cat is getting married, and as his brothers, we have to prepare a decent gift.

He casually asked about wedding preparations, but to his surprise, Lao Mao waved his hand, looking blank: "Preparations? In my dorm room, there are two old quilts, nothing's been done."

Li Aiguo: "."

Li Aiguo was speechless for a moment, and only realized what was happening when he looked at Lao Mao's frank face.

This old fellow has been risking his life for his career all year round, so he has no time to think about these trivial matters of love and romance.

“Zhou Tao is a young, unmarried woman, and she's been forced to marry a rough, old man like you. How can we let her suffer like this? Listen to me, tomorrow I'll have Xue Ru accompany her to the Beijing Department Store and get her everything she needs!”

Old Cat was about to refuse, but Li Aiguo stopped him.

"Team Leader Lao Mao, you're my son's godfather, so after you marry Zhou Tao, Zhou Tao will be my son's godmother. She and Chen Xueru are sisters. What, can't you even do this little thing?"

These words struck a chord with the old cat.

This tough guy, who was used to seeing bloodshed and violence, had his ears turn red. He scratched his head and smiled embarrassedly: "Then... I'll have to trouble you, sister-in-law."

“That’s more like it! By the way, Zhou Ke is your apprentice, so we should inform him about this and ask him to give us a generous gift.”

Old Cat knew Li Aiguo meant well, and silently nodded in agreement.

When Li Aiguo returned home, Chen Xueru and Aunt Liu were comforting the child.

He told Chen Xueru about Lao Mao's marriage.

"This is wonderful news! Tomorrow morning I'll take Miss Zhou Tao to the Beijing Department Store and buy some good fabric to make her a couple of nice new clothes!"

Li Aiguo knew that Chen Xueru was reliable, so he didn't give her any more instructions. He rolled up his sleeves and went to the kitchen to help with cooking.

Just as I reached the stove, there was a soft knock on the door.

When I opened the door, I was surprised to find an older woman there.

"Patriotism, oh, even the older ladies are a little too embarrassed to come knocking."

"Look at what you're saying. We're neighbors. Even if some people cause trouble, it has nothing to do with you. Auntie, come in quickly." Li Aiguo let the auntie in and asked Chen Xueru to pour hot water and add brown sugar.

However, after only two days, the middle-aged woman had developed quite a few gray hairs at her temples, and her face was as pale as a sheet of paper.

Li Aiguo knew very well that Yi Zhonghai must be feeling extremely anxious after being arrested and imprisoned in the steel rolling mill's security department.

An older woman held a cup of warm brown sugar tea, took a couple of sips, and only then did a little color return to her face.

She hesitated for a long time before finally speaking with difficulty: "Patriotism, ah, I don't know what mistake Lao Yi made."

But he's definitely not a bad person... Could you please plead with the steel mill to release him and the deaf old lady?

Li Aiguo said sincerely, "Auntie, it's not that I don't want to help. The matter hasn't been investigated clearly yet."

The security department has rules for handling cases: it will neither wrong an innocent person nor let a guilty person go free.

Please wait a little longer; the family will definitely be notified when there are results.

Aunt Liu chimed in, "Hai Zhong's family, don't be too hasty. Now that this matter has been handed over to the authorities, it must be handled according to the established procedures."

Aiguo is from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, which has nothing to do with the steel rolling mill. How could he possibly interfere in their affairs?

"That's true. Sigh, that old Yi." An older woman shook her head with a wry smile. She had tried to persuade Yi Zhonghai many times before, saying that they were neighbors in the same compound, so why couldn't they get along amicably?

Yi Zhonghai felt that Li Aiguo was threatening his position as an elder statesman and wanted to drive him away.

Now look what happened; instead of being kicked out, he's been locked up in the security office.

There was also a deaf old lady who claimed to have a close relationship with someone, but now she's locked up in the security department and no one is even speaking up for her.

The older woman sat at home for a while, and Chen Xueru made noodles for her to stay for a meal before sending her home.

Li Aiguo was unaware of the investigation conducted by the steel rolling mill's security department, but there were spies within the steel rolling mill.

That evening, Xu Damao sneakily knocked on the door and said, "Guess what? The deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai might have been scammed this time."

"Hmm?" Li Aiguo hadn't taken it to heart and was planning to go back to his room to work.

Hearing this, he stopped and offered Xu Damao a cigarette.

"Brother Da Mao, what's going on?"

"He brought it up when I was drinking with Deputy Section Chief Zhao."

After boasting about his connections, Xu Damao continued, "It's said that the guy who handled the property paperwork for Sha Zhu wasn't a formal staff member in the property department at all; he was just a temporary worker. That kid took a large sum of money from the deaf old lady, but he didn't get the job done and could only give her a fake certificate."

"A temporary worker, how dare he?" Li Aiguo frowned. "This will be exposed sooner or later. Isn't he afraid of being caught and going to jail?"

"I don't know the specifics, but this time, the deaf old lady really lost out. I heard she spent over a hundred yuan." Xu Damao was grinning from ear to ear.

In the past, when he fought with Sha Zhu, the deaf old lady often bullied him because of her status.

Now that the deaf old lady has run into Li Aiguo, she's finally met her match and is in trouble.

It's so refreshing.

(End of this chapter)