In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 102: Principal Li, who passed the test of manned space flight, was blackmailed by Xie Wei
"Leader, you are wronging me!"

Li Rui had an expression of being wronged on his face and loudly defended himself.

"Oh? Tell me how I wrongly accused you? Does the fighter aircraft technology project belong to aerospace rather than aviation? You guys started a project that the State Planning Commission didn't have in mind, just to show off your ability?"

Minister Zheng looked amused.

No leader will be dissatisfied when subordinate units cooperate with other units.

All departments belong to the state, and although they are in charge of different areas, they form a close-knit whole.

Li Rui used the policies given by the ministry to bypass the Third Ministry of Machine Building and directly establish the project with the State Planning Commission. He drew on the elite forces of the subordinate units of the Third Ministry of Machine Building to carry out the advanced fighter aircraft project. This not only squeezed the funds of the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building, but once other units followed suit, they would bypass the superiors to establish the project and use the units with policies to get the project started first.

It's a mess!
One school cannot support such a large-scale advanced project research.

After the research reaches a certain level, will the Third Ministry of Machine Building support it or not?
Support will squeeze out the planned project funds and affect the progress of other projects.

Without support, capable personnel will be withdrawn and the initial investment will be wasted.

This is why the leaders of the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building were dissatisfied.

"Leader, aerospace is not much different in basic technology, this is one of them."

Li Rui knew that if his explanation failed to satisfy his superiors, not only would he not be able to get funding from them, even the policies he had requested might change.

Even your own position will be transferred.

"According to what you said, the Third and Seventh Machine Ministries should not be divided into the three ministries responsible for aviation and aerospace."

A leader questioned Li Rui with a cold face.

The basic theory is similar, but the actual application is quite different.

Didn’t the country consider separating aviation and aerospace?

"no!"

Li Rui hastily denied, "Leader, our cooperation with several units of the Third Ministry of Machine Building is ostensibly to study fighter-related technologies, but in fact it is mainly focused on rocket and missile-related technologies. For example, the quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire control system required for fighter aircraft requires not only advanced data processing computers, but also highly sensitive sensors. Rockets and missiles have higher requirements in these aspects..."

The remarks that had been prepared long ago eased the sternness on the leaders' faces.

"17 years ago, the Soviet Union sent astronauts into outer space; 10 years ago, Apollo 11 landed on the moon... The gap between our technology and that of foreign countries is getting bigger and bigger... The space shuttle is a project that combines aerospace..."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the leaders were stunned.

Li Rui, this is for...

Even Minister Song, who knew Li Rui well, was surprised: "Li Rui, do you know how huge this project is?"

"Yes! Our technology is still far from this level, but we can't stop making preparations just because of our poor technology... In the past ten years, who knows how far the Soviet Union and the United States have developed their aerospace technology! The moon is a springboard for exploring the universe. It's too late. We don't even have the land to build a base..."

"..."

All the leaders fell silent.

Which leader of the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building, which was mainly responsible for the development of aerospace technology, did not want to send Chinese people to the moon or even more distant planets and let the five-star red flag fly in the solar system?

Li Rui was very clear about the attitude of his superiors.

He did it anyway, knowing the consequences.

It's impossible not to do the preparation work.

"To realize such a great project, not only a huge technical support is needed, but also the efforts of countless talents."

"At present, the department is short of people. As the frontier of talent training, the school itself bears the burden of talent training. The department cannot transfer capable personnel to the school... For the development of the school, we have no choice but to find ways to seek capable personnel from other units to fill the school's faculty and improve scientific research capabilities..."

"Computers are becoming more and more important in various advanced equipment. At present, the school has completed the design of an advanced general-purpose chip, but the Shanghai Radio Factory 14 cannot produce it because the quality is too poor and the cost is too high. The school is working on solving the problem, but it lacks funds..."

"You are also aware of the lack of funds?"

Minister Song interrupted Li Rui coldly.

He was almost laughed at by Li Rui: Even at this point, he still did not forget to seize the opportunity to ask for funding!
"Comrade Li Rui, the chips from the 771 Institute cannot meet your needs?"

Minister Zheng frowned again.

Shanghai Electronics Factory No. 14 is affiliated to the Ministry of Electronics Industry.

Although it also provides military chips, its technology and strength cannot be compared with the 771 Institute, which specializes in designing and developing chips for aerospace use.

Li Rui's behavior is to miss the forest for the trees. He ignores the advanced chips and seeks cooperation with units with less solid foundations.

Even finding Shanghai Component Factory No. 5 would be more reliable.

"The chip of 771 is indeed advanced. But it is a special chip, different from the general chip needed by the school. In addition, the purpose of 771's chip makes it impossible for the school to use it. The general chip developed by the school is not only used for military technology research, but also to obtain follow-up research and development funds from the civilian market..."

Li Rui's explanation smoothed out the wrinkles on Minister Zheng's brow.

For good reason.

771 is mainly used for aerospace applications, and the various advanced chips designed and developed are used for ballistic control, missile and rocket attitude control, etc.

Li Rui's explanation fully demonstrates that other choices were made out of necessity due to considerations of technology confidentiality.

"How far has the chip progress been?"

Another leader asked.

"The 8-bit chip has been designed and needs to be manufactured to test its performance and improve it. If there is sufficient funding, a finished product will be available within three months. Now there is insufficient funding..."

Li Rui once again emphasized the lack of funds.

"..."

"Although the foundation of Factory 14 is relatively good, its production equipment is too backward, the quality is too poor, the product yield is low, and the cost is very high. You can ask 771 to help you produce your chips."

Minister Song once again raised the key question.

Since we cannot use 771’s dedicated chips for rockets and strategic missiles, can’t we hand over the design and production to 771?

Minister Song is about to leave the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building to take charge of work in other units, so naturally he does not want to leave a mess behind.

As Li Rui's old leader, he knew very well what kind of character Li Rui had: without a leader who could suppress him, this guy would be like a wild horse running out of control, or in layman's terms, he would just mess around.

Minister Song convinced many leaders who were opposed to the policy that Li Rui wanted, namely, independent project establishment, self-financing, independent operation, and self-financing.

How would I know why not go find 771!

Principal Li felt helpless.

Xie Wei never mentioned 771 from the beginning, and he didn't even look for the Fifth Factory with a better foundation. He went directly to Shanghai to look for Radio Factory 14.

"Leader, we are looking for Shanghai Radio Factory No. 14, mainly for the development of the department..."

Principal Li's mind raced, thinking about involving the school-enterprise office first.

After talking for so long, I still haven't asked about the joint venture between the school and enterprises, all thanks to Principal Li's ability to change the subject.

"Oh?"

Many leaders looked at Li Rui with suspicion.

Waiting for him to explain how he considered the development of the department.

"The chip is a project of the School-Enterprise Office... The School-Enterprise Office is a newly established department to raise funds for independent projects. In the two months since its establishment, it has reached four cooperation agreements, bringing a total income of 4 million to the school..."

When Minister Song heard this, he felt more and more that something was wrong.

Let Li Rui explain, this guy started reporting the results?

Just as he was about to interrupt, he heard Li Rui say that it had brought in "110 million" in revenue!
All the leaders were shocked.

110 million!
For everyone here, the funds they usually handle are in the hundreds of millions or even tens of millions, so this amount of money is actually not much.

But they were still shocked: the 110 million yuan was not allocated by higher authorities nor by the national treasury.

The school earned this money in less than three months by taking advantage of the policies given by its superiors!
If other units followed suit, wouldn’t the department’s lack of funds be solved?

"Comrade Li Rui, please tell us in detail about the joint venture between the school and the enterprise..."

Minister Zheng spoke up.

At this moment, I don't have time to blame others.

Many leaders put aside their busy work and came to see Li Rui, mainly for the pilot issue.

There is nothing to learn from for reform.

Li Rui went to the ministry two months ago to ask for a policy that met the requirements of the reform and could be further used as a pilot. If the effect is good, it can be promoted to other subordinate units.

It worked so quickly!
"The purpose of establishing a joint school-enterprise partnership is to transform the school's scientific research results and ask the market for scientific research funds..."

So, Li Rui talked endlessly about the situation of the school-enterprise office, adding more details to it.

Many leaders nodded continuously as they listened.

Didn’t the reform proposed at the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee require all units to find ways to obtain the scientific research funds they need through the market in addition to national financial appropriations?

"… Considering the difficulty and poor quality of processing special-shaped parts in the department, the school is developing PLC programmable controllers for industrial automation and CNC numerical control systems for processing single-piece, small-batch complex parts… Limited by high-performance chips and sensor technology, and due to lack of funds, progress is slow…"

"…Similarly, due to the lack of funds, the development of the school-enterprise office is greatly restricted…At present, the core materials AES and flavors of several products in cooperation with Huadu Oil and Fat Chemical Factory cannot be produced by ourselves, and we can only seek cooperation with other units; the funds for further research on polytetrafluoroethylene have not been settled; as the core material perfluoroalkyl compounds related to production quality in the chip lithography process, many experiments cannot be carried out due to funding reasons…"

"..."

Many leaders who had been thinking about how other units in the ministry could learn from Harbin Institute of Technology were dumbfounded.

Originally they were blaming Li Rui, but it ended up being Li Rui finding different ways to cry poor to the department?
In desperation, everyone could only let Li Rui leave first.

"Everyone, please share your opinions."

After Li Rui left, Minister Song sighed silently.

Li Rui tried every possible means to raise funds, which gave him a headache.

The reason Li Rui has put forward now seems to make it seem like the department’s failure to give money is restricting their development. Which leader can accept this?
"HIT's achievements are encouraging. The research on rocket fuel was done without any funding from the ministry. The ministry should make up for the research funding."

Deputy Minister Ren spoke up.

Even if they don’t understand the technology, leaders in the department know clearly what the increase in fuel energy density means.

Everyone nodded.

"Minister Song, the school received 300 million yuan in funding before, right?"

Minister Zheng asked Minister Song.

The ministry’s slush fund does have money, which is mainly used for technology research and development projects that are not in the queue and do not receive support from the State Planning Commission.

"They gave 300 million. The school's expansion in 58 was not completed, and the money was used to build teaching buildings, student dormitories, technical buildings, etc. I didn't expect them to use it for scientific research."

Minister Song nodded.

He approved the note and persuaded other leaders as well.

If schools want to provide much-needed talents to relevant units, they must expand enrollment.

Expanding enrollment requires expanding building area. "The ministry has a huge shortage of technical R&D personnel and engineers, and it is not just necessary to restore the aerospace major. Since their school-enterprise operation is successful, I think it can be used as a pilot to see the effect, and then consider the reform of other units..."

Minister Zheng nodded and said.

Reform requires a long process.

People have said that we need to prepare for the moon landing.

If the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building had proposed such a project, it would have been opposed by all the competent departments: it would have cost too much money. For the leaders who did not understand, it would have been enough to just develop a carrier rocket to launch satellites and research missiles that had deterrence and could protect national security.

The country is poor now!

The leaders of the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building, which specializes in aerospace-related technologies, naturally know that the returns from investment in aerospace technology are far greater than those from investment in any other field.

It not only promotes rapid technological development, but also achieves very high economic benefits.

After the Dongfanghong-71 was launched into space, President Qian proposed a manned space program in order to accelerate the development of aerospace technology. In 714, he proposed Project . However, due to many factors such as large-thrust launch vehicles, poor control technology, and insufficient technical reserves, after several years of development, it was discovered that the current level of technology was simply not enough to support it.

The funding gap is even larger.

In March 75, Project 3 had to be discontinued.

The reasons Li Rui gave were irrefutable.

Although no one in the school had proposed such technology or projects, he knew what the leaders wanted.

"Chips are becoming more and more critical. The cooperation between Harbin Institute of Technology and Radio Factory 14 must go through the Shanghai Instrument Bureau. If the Instrument Bureau does not support it, it will affect subsequent development. We might as well take Shanghai Radio Factory 14 over..."

A leader suggested.

Once Shanghai Radio Factory No. 14 is affiliated to the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building, all issues will be internal matters and cooperation will not be affected.

"The production capacity of 771 is not full at present..."

"Radio Factory 14 has a poor foundation and weak technical capabilities. It will require a lot of investment to come here!"

As soon as it was proposed, it was opposed by many leaders.

Minister Song sighed silently and asked everyone:

"Everyone, the Ministry of Electronics Industry has begun to work on introducing color TV production lines. Are there any comrades who know the situation?"

"Minister Song, are you referring to the Ministry of Electronics Industry's plan to develop domestic semiconductors and consumer electronics through the color TV industry, thereby promoting the development of electronics and semiconductor-related technologies?"

A leader asked immediately.

"Yes. Integrated circuits have great development prospects... The chip production lines introduced for color TVs are relatively backward... The high-performance integrated circuits needed for scientific research are not exported to us internationally... If we cannot supply high-performance chips, the research and development of basic technologies will be greatly affected. The ministry also has a huge demand for high-performance general-purpose chips..."

"Then take Shanghai Radio Factory No. 14 over here!"

"Regarding the school's research funding?"

Someone asked a question.

Li Rui talked about a lot of the school’s current achievements, which made the leaders feel that the scientific research funding given to the school was too little.

"Let's send someone to the school to find out the real situation first! Understanding the school's scientific research foundation will facilitate the allocation of subsequent projects. In addition, we can take a look at the situation of the school-enterprise joint operation and arrange for people to study there..."

Minister Song is well aware of Li Rui's nonsense personality.

There is not much that Li Rui says that is reliable. Making a rocket model may mean that the basic conditions for building a lunar base are in place and there is a complete plan that can be implemented.

"If the school agrees with what he said, how much funding would be appropriate?"

Minister Zheng asked Minister Song.

There is only a limited amount of money in the department's treasury, and all the subordinate units are eyeing it covetously.

"No more than 1200 million. I will communicate with the First Ministry of Machine Building in the next two days and transfer Shanghai Radio Factory No. 14 to Harbin Institute of Technology."

"what?"

Everyone was stunned.

Even if it is allocated, it should belong to the department.

However, no one present questioned the huge amount of funding of 1200 million.

It’s nothing, Li Rui is talking about going to heaven!

No one has mentioned this now, and everyone knows the reason.

The ministry can't do it, so the subordinate units have to do it themselves, and it's not too much for the ministry to give some support, right?

"Li Rui has been crying poor and has no funding. As a pilot project, the school-enterprise office needs to get some policy and funding support. Apart from anything else, if they succeed in making what they call high-performance integrated circuits, the annual profit will be more than this amount. The Shanghai Radio Factory No. 1378 made a profit of million last year, and it will grow further this year... In addition, Comrade Li Rui's position will not be adjusted for the time being."

Minister Song’s words made everyone fall into deep thought.

Tomorrow, Minister Song will leave the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building to take charge of work in another unit, and he plans to take Li Rui with him.

······
"Strengthen the school-enterprise joint department? What does the school's affairs have to do with me?"

Looking at Liu Debo and Zhang Mingqiu, Xie Wei shrugged to show that he was powerless.

Just kidding!
Li Rui doesn't let go and wants me to run the school-enterprise business?
The more energy you spend, the more upset you will be when your blood is drained too much and the school-enterprise office cannot develop.

No one wants an industry that they have spent countless efforts to build to be bankrupt by someone who may interfere at any time.

The school remains unchanged, but the principal changes frequently.

Xie Wei believes that Li Rui will not do so, but what about his successor?

Ever since Li Rui approached him last time and he refused to interfere, Xie Wei stopped paying attention to the affairs of the School-Enterprise Office.

I spend every day in the laboratory further improving perfluoroalkyl compounds.

"Xie Wei, the Ministry will soon come to the school to inspect the school-enterprise office. It is not only related to the development of the school-enterprise office, but also to the development of the school."

Zhang Mingqiu tried to persuade Xie Wei earnestly.

Li Rui called the school and asked them to quickly arrange an office for the school-enterprise joint office and allocate personnel. The leaders of the department would come with him to inspect the school.

The school leaders had no idea how to start.

In desperation, he could only find Xie Wei.

But Xie Wei didn't get the promise from the school leaders not to interfere, so he didn't care at all.

"Leaders, school development is something that school leaders need to consider. As students, we need to consider our studies more. The study pressure in the experimental class is very high."

"..."

Xie Wei, who was like a piece of tough meat on a rolling knife, made the two of them helpless.

"Leader, the physical and chemical analysis of perfluoroalkylation has been completed, and the production formula and process have also been perfected. I have to go to Shanghai Radio Factory No. 14 in the next two days."

In order to avoid being bothered by his leader every day, Xie Wei simply decided to go to the Shanghai Stock Exchange in the next two days.

"nailed it?"

Zhang Mingqiu asked Xie Wei in surprise.

"Yes, I have produced a batch and we can start the experiment right away when we get there."

Xie Wei nodded.

I hadn't planned on going over so quickly.

If the production quality of Radio Factory 14 is improved, the benefits will increase many times.

Xie Wei has always considered taking this opportunity to discuss cooperation and profit sharing with Shanghai Radio Factory No. 14.

There is a huge market gap for 8-bit general-purpose chips. Once they are developed, the annual profit will be much higher than that of the most efficient Shanghai-listed component factory, Factory No. .

It is impossible for Xie Wei to let the School-Enterprise Office give up such a huge source of profit.

What’s more important is that we need to find ways to influence the decision-making of Factory 14 and even the Shanghai Instrument Bureau.

In another year or two, international chips will enter the domestic market. Factory 14, which cannot keep up with the development due to its low production capacity and high costs, will switch to producing color TV picture tubes or even black and white picture tubes in order to survive!

The integrated circuit industry in Shanghai, which has a good foundation, will be shattered by the impact of the international market in the next few decades...

"Don't rush to Shanghai. The principal reported the situation to the ministry, and the ministry leader said that he would ask the Ministry of First Machinery to transfer Radio Factory 14 from the Shanghai Instrument Bureau to the school..."

Liu Debao told Xie Wei happily.

Xie Wei was stunned.

Li Rui's actions were beyond his expectations.

Is this the reason why Li Rui is unwilling to give up the power of the school-enterprise office?
14 is assigned to the school, which is not a big problem these days.

Although Factory 14 developed a 1024-bit shift memory, which was almost generational behind that of foreign countries and was even more advanced than Japan and South Korea, which only acquired related technology through technology transfer from Europe and the United States in the 80s, its production quality was too poor, its cost was too high, its product market size was small, and the entire factory only made a profit of more than yuan per year.

It can't be compared with Component Factory 65, which produced the first integrated circuit in China in 5.

The current Component Factory No. 1500 has an annual profit of over million.

Component Factory No. 5 is more suitable for producing the chips that Xie Wei needs. He didn't come to them because they might not respond. Component Factory No. 5 would not allocate its elite forces to research and update the process just for the sake of a few hundred thousand dollars.

There was no way Xie Wei could negotiate profit sharing with the powerful Component Factory No. 5.

In an era without patent protection, Component Factory No. 5 would produce the chips that Xie Wei needed and supply them to the market, and the school would not get a penny of profit.

Under the current circumstances, the School-Enterprise Office cannot be separated from the school, and Xie Wei will not do it!
"Factory 14 should be assigned to the school, and the school-enterprise office needs to be independent! If the school disagrees, there is no room for negotiation!"

Xie Wei said firmly.

"Xie Wei, how about we receive the delegation from the ministry first? We can discuss whether the school-enterprise office should be operated independently or not later."

"Impossible! Secretary Liu, please don't talk to me about enlightenment..."

"..."

Seeing Xie Wei's determined expression, neither of them knew what to say.

The higher-level inspection team will be here soon.

When the principal went to the ministry, he sent a telegram asking Wu Tao and Wang Zheng to come back.

Without Xie Wei's participation, Wu Tao and Wang Zheng were also unaware of the operation of the joint venture between the school and enterprises.

"Call the principal."

In desperation, Zhang Mingqiu put forward his suggestion.

This kid Xie Wei is really good at choosing the right time.

But I don’t know whether the principal will agree.

"Blackmail! He's blackmailing!"

Li Rui was furious after receiving the call.

I never expected that Xie Wei would once again put forward the condition that I should not interfere with the operation of the school-enterprise office at such a critical moment!
(End of this chapter)