Restarting life in Siheyuan

Chapter 434 Leakage
"Please don't be angry after hearing this. The two leaders are very worried now and have been worried that you can't accept this."

"Go ahead." Zhu Xuefeng didn't understand what the big deal could be.

"That's right. Last night, Director Shao was arrested. Our factory's casting method has been leaked. Now the Municipal Bureau and the confidentiality unit have arrived."

Zhu Xuefeng was startled. How could it be Director Shao? If he really wanted to leak the information, who could stop him? How could he be caught?

"Did you catch it back?"

"I was busy all night yesterday, and only confirmed in the morning that I didn't catch up."

"broken!"

Zhu Xuefeng slapped his thigh in regret and stopped talking. It was most likely that the remnants of last time were responsible. He did not expect that the other party was so powerful and underestimated them.

If Xiaozi gets this technology, the technological advantage will be gone, and the business war will definitely be more brutal. This is the most profitable project in Hong Kong now.

Seeing that Zhu Xuefeng's face turned dark and he stopped talking after hearing the news, Xiao Ma didn't dare to say anything either. He knew that this technology was developed by the person in front of him, and he must be very unhappy to know that it was leaked.

When we arrived at the steel rolling mill, we found that the security was indeed tight. Police officers in white clothes and white hats could be seen everywhere, and there were also many people in plain clothes. We did meet a few of them, so it seemed that this matter was quite a big deal.

The factory office building is also heavily guarded at this time. There is no other way. The Technical Department is in the factory office building. Since there is a problem with the director of the Technical Department, this place must be under control.

The two arrived at the factory office, but could only wait because the two leaders were being questioned and could not come out for a while.

After a while, the two leaders came out. They saw Deputy Director Zhao and Deputy Director Jiang being called in for questioning again. It seemed that the matter was more serious than they had imagined.

The two leaders hadn't seen each other for a few days and seemed to have aged a lot. They were less than fifty years old, but now they looked like they were almost sixty. When they saw Zhu Xuefeng coming over, they forced a smile and greeted him.

Zhu Xuefeng tactfully followed the two men into the secretary's office.

"Xiao Zhu, we were negligent in this matter. We are sorry for you and for the country."

"Both leaders, no one wants this to happen, but since it has already happened, we still have to think of ways to keep the losses within a controllable range."

Secretary Chen sighed heavily. He was well aware of the losses that this leak had brought to the motorcycle project. Director Yang's eyes widened, as if he had not yet accepted this fact.

"We called you here to help assess the impact of this leak on the motorcycle project and what remedial measures we can take. The motorcycle project is a top priority and is taken very seriously. If we mess it up, we can't afford the responsibility."

Zhu Xuefeng also knew that in less than a year, he had earned several million in foreign exchange, far exceeding what he had imagined at the time. His superiors were very satisfied and attached great importance to it.

"It's just that we lack a technological advantage, which is very important, but not the decisive factor. Our production cost is low, which they can't compare with at all. The advantage is still on our side. As long as we make good products and update them in time, there will be no big problem."

"We are better than them in exterior design, but I heard that they have already started to imitate us, so this advantage will no longer exist."

Secretary Chen's heavy look was a little unbearable. It seemed that he had really done a lot of work and even understood something about the sales war in North America.

"Who has the information been leaked to? Is it really impossible to get him back? Didn't they catch him last night? Our country is so big, he shouldn't be able to escape in such a short time. Should we let the relevant departments think of a solution?"

Zhu Xuefeng did not give up. It must be very unpleasant to fight with Fuso's motorcycle factory, but he still had some hope.

"That's impossible. Wasn't this technology leaked last night? The other party took the technology and spread it out. It should have reached Fuso by now."

It turned out that someone, in the name of the machinery factory, found Director Shao's relative to take the lead, wanting to learn about the casting method for use in the engine production of the machinery factory. After a few drinks, they had a very pleasant chat. The other party was also a technical veteran and he felt that he had met Director Shao too late.

Director Shao did not pay much attention to the other party's request. Relevant domestic units had organized concentrated study, but the machinery factory was not invited, so he did not take it seriously and directly dictated a report.

After hearing Director Shao bragging about how advanced the design and performance of the steel rolling mill's new motorcycle were, the other party also expressed his desire to learn. Director Shao was happy to do so and agreed to copy a complete set of drawings. This thing was not classified as confidential and was commonly circulated among various units, so it was not a big deal.

After all, it was not appropriate to copy the drawings openly. Director Shao felt very regretful after he sobered up. Why did he agree to this for no reason? But since he had agreed, he could only draw it secretly. He didn't expect that when he handed it to someone last night, he was caught by the security department.

Director Shao didn't take it seriously at first, but the person who received the goods was found out during interrogation that he was not a technician from the machinery factory at all, but just a middleman. He also confessed that he had sold the casting method and received 8,000 yuan for it.

The security department was furious. They went out at night and reported the incident immediately. After a busy night, several parties finally arrested several middlemen and a Japanese.

It didn't take long for the Fuso man to confess under the interrogation of the police. A week ago, another companion had sneaked back to Fuso with the casting method, and this matter suddenly became a big deal.

Even though it seemed like he really couldn't catch up, Zhu Xuefeng still didn't give up.

"Did you tell me which route we're going to take? There are no direct flights now, so we can only take the sea route. It will take a week, and if they don't find a suitable ship, they might still be waiting at the beach."

"The police also made the same judgment and are continuing to interrogate us. We don't know the specific details."

Seeing the two leaders suffering so much, Zhu Xuefeng felt very distressed. After thinking for a while, he comforted them.

"Leader, I have an idea. It may involve a lot of things. If it can be successful, it doesn't matter if this technology is lost. The bottleneck of this technology is there. The upper limit of accuracy has been determined. There is no possibility of further improvement. Sooner or later, it will be eliminated. The current situation is also an opportunity to force us to research new technologies and improve the accuracy of the engine. Even if they get the casting method, they will still lag behind us."

"You are really confident. Improving precision is not that easy. Although we are not a professional unit engaged in mechanical processing, we are still clear about this. The most advanced machine tools in the world are from Germany. The next ones are Bald Eagle and Fuso. They don't sell them."

Director Yang has been dealing with the motorcycle project for more than a year and has learned a lot about this aspect.

"You're not entirely right. The two leaders should have some impression of the development plan for high-precision machine tools formulated by the country a few years ago." Secretary Chen hesitated, as if he couldn't believe it. "You mean, that plan has also achieved good results now?"

"I'm not sure how big the achievement was, but there was an introduction in the magazine Machinery and Processing. I didn't pay much attention to it, but I remember it said that there was a great breakthrough in precision."

In fact, in the few years after 1956, China developed as many as 26 types of high-precision machine tools, which was not far behind the most advanced foreign ones. Even Fuso's variety of high-precision machine tools at that time was not as complete as ours.

It was not until the 70s and early 80s that traditional metal cutting machine tools began to move towards CNC. At this time, countries such as Germany, Bald Eagle, and Fuso successively made their machine tool products fully CNC.

The four major machine tool giants in China had to leave the market in disgrace. There was nothing they could do about it. A certain national activity was delayed for too long and they fell behind. They have been suppressed ever since until the successful development of the New Century seven-axis five-linkage machine tool, which broke this situation.

The seven-axis five-axis turning and milling compound machine tool is a high-end machine tool that can process large parts with complex shapes. Its technical level and manufacturing difficulty are very high. Only Germany, Fuso and China can produce it in the world. The bald eagle has no chance.

It is not realistic to have a seven-axis machine tool now, and a five-axis machine tool is the most advanced one.

"Yes, if that's the case, why worry about technology leaks? I remember that the higher-ups decided to build three machine tool manufacturing plants in Beijing, Shencheng, and Bingcheng. The Beijing Machine Tool Plant was designated as a key manufacturer of domestic CNC machine tools. That was about five or six years ago."

"Yes, I remember it too. At that time, the higher-ups organized a visit to our factory. They also brought in a lot of German product research. Maybe they can come up with something really good."

"What are you waiting for? Call and ask!
The two leaders also became excited. The casting method is very good, simple, easy and low-cost, but if there are suitable special machine tools, it will be more convenient, lower cost and more efficient.

"I'll call." Secretary Chen had lost his usual composure. After calming down, he called the Beijing Machinery Factory directly. They were all from the area and he knew almost all of them.

"Old Wei, I have something I want to consult you about. Yes, that's right, your high-precision machine tool research, what's the current situation? Yes, yes, yes, we want to use it in the production of motorcycle engines, um..."

Secretary Chen listened to the phone patiently, and Director Yang stared at it nervously, not daring to make a sound, because this was their hope.

Seeing that Secretary Chen's complexion was getting better and better, Director Yang couldn't help but clench his fists. It was a while before he heard Secretary Chen laughing and thanking him.

Secretary Chen put down the phone, his eyes full of surprise.

"Old Yang, you are lucky. The machinery factory said that our five-axis CNC machining machine was successfully developed in 1960, two years ago. They are now producing it, and its precision is even higher than ours. Moreover, Fuso doesn't have this machine yet, only Germany and we have it. Tell me, is this good news?" (Historical fact: it is indeed five-axis CNC machining. It's surprising, isn't it?)
"Lao Wei said that this machining center is very large and it is very complicated to produce one set, but we only use it for engines and don't need so many functions. They are willing to cooperate with us to develop a special five-axis machine tool."

Old Yang finally let out a long sigh and punched Secretary Chen heavily, "Old Chen, from yesterday to today, you finally let me breathe a sigh of relief. You don't know how I spent this day. You have also completed your merits. Now if you want to run away, I won't stop you."

"Old Yang, I am sorry for this. You had to deal with something like this at the last minute. We have been working hard for almost two months, but who would have thought that Old Shao would collapse? He is so stupid and has no vigilance at all."

"Who says it's not? This is hurting others and ourselves, the factory and the country. I heard that Lao Shao wanted to commit suicide when he heard that the information was bought by the Japanese. What do you think?"

Speaking of Director Shao from the Technical Department, the three of them could only feel regretful. He was a very responsible old comrade, but he confessed everything after a few drinks and even when he was arrested he didn't even know how much trouble he had caused.

"It's hard to guard against this. The one who took the lead was his brother-in-law. This time both families are affected. Old Shao has been a revolutionary all his life. I feel really bad."

Although the two were still in a heavy mood when talking about Lao Shao, they were much better than before. Secretary Chen opened a cigarette and the few of them started smoking again.

"Old Yang, I have to make a self-criticism for you. This time, you were almost dragged down as well. Fortunately, the machinery factory came to the rescue. It seems that there are big loopholes in my confidentiality work. If the security department hadn't arrested Lao Shao this time, I would never have thought that the technology that I was closely watching would have been leaked. We have to think of new ways to do some work. Also, the awareness of confidentiality, especially for cadres, must be emphasized at all times."

Both of them lowered their heads and thought. This was indeed a big blow to the steel mill. Zhu Xuefeng, on the other hand, had nothing to do.

"Two leaders, since the factory has an idea, I don't have anything to do. I have to go back to school. I have classes in the afternoon." Secretary Chen raised his hand to check the time.

"It's really late, almost half past eleven. Xiao Zhu, I really have to thank you. The information in your magazine really helped us a lot."

"Reading is such a good habit. Let's sit for a while and eat before we go. You won't be able to catch up with the meal if you go back to school at this time. Let Xiao Ma run over and we'll eat here. I just happened to have something to ask you."

Zhu Xuefeng had no choice but to sit down and listen to what questions the two leaders had.

Director Yang smiled mysteriously and asked, "Xiao Zhu, guess who arrested Lao Shao this time?"

Zhu Xuefeng's mind raced. He had not thought about this problem just now. When he saw Director Yang asking about it, he spoke hesitantly.

"It can't be Lin Yilan."

"Yes, it was her. She brought two security officers with her to arrest people. She is truly a heroine. The people were arrested and brought back, but Deputy Director Ma still doesn't know about it."

"She did tell me that Director Shao's actions were suspicious, and I advised her to give up, saying that Director Shao was a responsible old comrade and would not do such a thing. I'm ashamed, but fortunately she didn't listen to me."

"You are also guilty of empiricism, boy. If we had arrested Lao Shao at that time, we might have been able to recover the information."

Old Yang glared and stood up, and Secretary Chen quickly stopped him.

"He was drawing in the office, why did you arrest him? He was drawing in front of you, and you wouldn't suspect anything. Don't be a hindsighter."

Zhu Xuefeng was very embarrassed. Indeed, according to the time, the other party should have just obtained the information about the casting method at that time, and it was completely in time. Who knew it would be like this.

"Before I leave, I want to get this done. Miss Xiaolin has not been here long, less than a year, but she has made meritorious contributions twice, especially this time."

"Secretary, what do you mean before leaving? What are you doing?"

(End of this chapter)