In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 203: Local forces surround the city and the 7000 million order

“Not low, a little high.”

Xie Wei didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "We are all in the same city. I'm afraid that the Harbin government will find out and cause trouble for us."

"Don't be afraid of shit. By the time it's done, it'll be years later. Even if they knew about it, they might have been transferred to somewhere else long ago."

Liu Debao comforted Xie Wei.

"This is Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province. Even though the city was promoted to province, it is still in Harbin."

Xie Wei reminded the two.

He didn't want to sell it at such a high price.

In the 1980s, when China's communications market was dominated by seven countries and eight systems, domestic switches all had small capacity and could not compete with international products at all, so the prices were very high.

Since the reform and opening up, the national economy has been growing rapidly at a double-digit rate, and a lot of funds have been invested in the construction of economic infrastructure such as communication networks.

A lower price can also save the country a lot of money.

"Don't worry about that. Even if we quote 700 per line, it's only 467 dollars when converted into US dollars, which is only one-third of the current price the devils are asking for... If the price is higher, more funds can be recovered, and you will have more funds for research."

Zhang Mingqiu also spoke.

Xie Wei nodded silently.

I am too lazy to remind you two that the Post and Telecommunications Bureau also needs money to repair the computer room and so on.

The new programmable switch can't just be placed in a room like the previous switches, right?

"Two leaders, do you know the current status of the negotiations between Fuzhou Post and Telecommunications Bureau and Fujitsu?"

Although it was past four in the morning, Xie Wei was not sleepy at all.

The two woke up drunk, feeling weak all over, but they didn't want to go back to sleep, so they chatted until dawn.

"How long will it take us to complete such a large project? And how can we solve the problem of the large-capacity switches needed for the switch rooms of the headquarters and branches?"

Early in the morning, Wang Zheng and Luo Cheng, who had changed their itinerary, came to Xie Wei. They saw that the three of them looked tired but in high spirits, and they didn't know what they were talking about.

After knowing the situation, Luo Cheng frowned and expressed his concerns before Wang Zheng could get excited.

Luo Cheng's words alerted Wang Zheng, who had not yet had time to be happy. He immediately expressed his doubts:
"Since we want to build a model project for other customers to refer to, but now we only have a small-capacity switch, which can't even be used in the branch's computer room. It can only be used in various units..."

It can only be used in the computer room of each unit.

There are a total of ten branches in the entire Harbin city, and the problem cannot be solved by distributing them evenly. Just having 20 small-capacity switches in each branch will not solve the problem.

All switches need to be integrated into one system.

If we can’t build an automatically controlled telephone communication network, what’s the point of bringing customers to see it?
"Call a meeting of the core project personnel later and discuss it."

Xie Wei actually has a plan.

However, that plan would use too many switches and would have no advantages in terms of energy consumption, etc. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he did not want to use 256-port small-capacity switches to network Harbin's entire telephone network.

The cost will definitely be lower than imported ones, but it also reveals its disadvantages.

"Even if all 256-port switches are used, they can meet the needs of the city's telephone network..."

Huang Huiqin suggested, "Our switches can be networked."

"No, the capacity is too small, there is too much waste, and it takes up too much space. Moreover, once we successfully develop a larger capacity 2000-port switch, it will need to be replaced, which is too troublesome. No unit will be willing to pay for it."

As Huang Huiqin's mentor, Meng Kun directly raised his objections.

"In a short period of time, everyone has seen the requirements of the project plan. It is difficult to develop a 2000-port programmable exchange in a short period of time. We are short of manpower..."

Lu Guangliang opened his mouth to refute Meng Kun.

In his opinion, since there is already a small-capacity switch with 256 ports, it is entirely possible to further train the team and familiarize them with the technology by upgrading Harbin's telephone communication system.

"Our cooperation with Harbin Post and Telecommunications Bureau is not just about us helping to build the telephone exchange network, but also providing some technical personnel to the team."

When Liu Debao heard that there was a shortage of manpower, he spoke up.

Hearing this, Xie Wei, who knew the inside story, looked at Zhang Mingqiu in surprise.

The usually low-key and elegant acting principal is a complete representative of high-level intellectuals.

I didn't expect it to be so vigorous.

The leaders of the Post and Telecommunications Bureau have been fired, and now they are expected to not only give projects but also give people?

"Also, Principal Li has requested 30 young computer and communications technicians from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Ministry of Electronics Industry. They will arrive in the next two weeks. Don't worry about the personnel."

Zhang Mingqiu saw Xie Wei looking at him strangely, responded with a faint smile, and then told Xie Wei a piece of news that surprised him even more.

Wasn’t Li Rui dealt with?

Not only did he work outside, he also went to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Ministry of Electronics Industry to get the personnel most needed for the project.

"The person sent by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, won't it be..."

As soon as Lu Guangliang opened his mouth, he found that Meng Kun and Huang Huiqin were staring at him, and hurriedly explained awkwardly, "Professor Meng, Comrade Xiao Huang, I'm not talking about you."

"Then you are talking about me~"

Luo Cheng looked unhappy, but he still knew his own limitations and didn't say it out loud.

Fortunately, Xie Wei is a good comrade who is trustworthy. He knows that his technical level is poor and it will be easy to be exposed if he does not succeed in the project. Then not only will he be embarrassed, but his family will also be embarrassed, so he asked him to go to the school-enterprise office.

It would be great to become a department-level cadre in a very short time.

These indirect accusations could not penetrate Luo Cheng's thick skin.

"No, this time it was Principal Li who personally picked the person with the file."

Zhang Mingqiu glanced at Xie Wei again.

Clearly, he knew something.

Indeed, after hearing Zhang Mingqiu say that Li Rui was still recruiting people outside, Xie Wei understood what lesson Li Rui was teaching him with his political future: Although the school's finances were in crisis due to the reckless project, it was not a matter of principle. Once someone was found to take the blame, it would be a real irreparable mistake.

Look, old man Li is still robbing the Ministry of Electronics Industry and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

Is this a promotion?
Even if there is no promotion, it will definitely be a lateral transfer. Otherwise, how can Old Man Li get the person?
Or do you choose people yourself with the files?

"Even if we have enough manpower and funds, we can't produce a 2000-line program-controlled switch in a short period of time. It can only be used by each branch office. And the Harbin Post and Telecommunications Bureau needs at least a 5000-line program-controlled switch, not to mention a -line program-controlled switch."

After the 256-port programmable switching system was tested without any problems, the project team, which was short of manpower, did not move forward step by step, first with 500 ports and then with 1000 ports, but instead directly challenged the 2000-port programmable switching system.

For a 2000-port programmable switching system, the number of control lines is eight times that of a 256-port switching system, and the data processing and other issues involved are not just eight times.

The processing program must also be optimized, and even higher requirements are placed on the computing speed of the chip serving as the core processor.

"We can first come up with an overall switch network plan and design the required large-capacity switches according to demand. The 256-port programmable switches are indeed only suitable for some public institutions. Even for larger units, these switches are not enough. Comrade Xie Wei has been emphasizing that we cannot only consider the present, but also consider that with the development of the economy, telephones will be popularized to every household... The computer rooms of post offices in various places must have at least 500 or even -port switches."

Yu Guofeng expressed his own views.

"Given the current situation, there is no need for such a large capacity!"

Lu Guangliang was very conservative. “If we follow this plan, the entire telephone exchange network will take years to complete!”

"If you can't do it, then don't do it?"

Meng Kun refuted without hesitation.

Seeing that the meeting had turned into a quarrel, Xie Wei knew that if he didn't speak up, a quarrel would really break out.

He was the one who forced the launch of the 2000-port switch.

"Everyone, when we develop technology products, we can't just focus on the present. The national economy is developing rapidly, and residents' income will also increase with economic development. It seems that the growth is not much now, and even many units that have lost national planned orders can't even pay wages... If technology only considers the present, how can we compete with competitors who have developed more than a hundred years earlier than us?"

Xie Wei's words drew everyone's attention to him.

"We should consider the need for switching technology when telephones enter every household!"

Most of you here don't believe that telephones can be distributed to every household.

Not to mention the 2000 yuan initial installation fee for a phone, the monthly rental of just 9 yuan is a considerable expense for an ordinary family with an average monthly salary of 30 to 40 yuan.

For ordinary people, if they have important matters to attend to but a telegram is not enough, they still have pay phones, right?
Besides, there are paging services in big cities: call the local post office. If you don’t need to talk to the recipient, you just need to convey the message and tell the staff of the post office directly. Someone will help deliver the message to your door. This is the so-called "transmission"; asking someone to answer the phone is called "call".

For a dual-income family, the initial installation cost would require two people to save money for two years without eating or drinking!

So what if I install it?
Ordinary people don’t have many opportunities to use the phone.

However, no one refuted Xie Wei's opinion at this time.

"Xie Wei, if we can't come up with a plan, we may not be able to undertake Harbin's switching system project." Yu Guofeng reminded Xie Wei.

There must be a plan, and it must be a plan that can convince the Harbin Municipal Government and the Post and Telecommunications Bureau.

"The Harbin Post and Telecommunications Bureau does not have sufficient funds at the moment, and it is unrealistic to completely replace the entire switch system. According to what Secretary Liu and Principal Zhang said, Harbin's telephone network needs to build a capacity of 700 households, and each line costs 7000 yuan, so the switches alone will cost million yuan. In addition, although the newly added program-controlled switches are compatible with the original old switches of various shapes, the computer room is no longer suitable and needs to be rebuilt... The entire project will cost hundreds of millions..."

Having said that, Xie Wei paused and observed everyone's reactions.

Seeing that no one raised any objections, and no one questioned the 700 yuan per line, he continued, "First, use our program-controlled switches to help expand Harbin's telephone network. First, use our switches to replace the switching systems of each branch office..."

After hearing Xie Wei's plan, everyone was stunned.

Aren't the telephone exchange systems of post and telecommunications bureaus in various places all operated from top to bottom first?
Xie Wei is great!

Start from the bottom up.

"Xie Wei, the Harbin Post and Telecommunications Bureau won't agree, right?"

"Yes, the computer room of the headquarters is the transit point for all communications in the city. It is the busiest place."

"With this plan, not only will the Post Office not agree, the city will not agree either..."

Everyone expressed their opposition.

Good steel should be used on the blade.

The connection center of the Harbin Post and Telecommunications Bureau is already extremely busy. If there is money, it must first improve the call connection capacity of the bureau. The local branches are just small relay stations. No matter how much investment is made, it will not improve the call connection capacity of the bureau's computer room.

After everyone expressed their opinions, and no one spoke, Xie Wei spoke up: "I understand everyone's concerns. Think about it, if all local branches and sub-branches use programmable switches, the only one left in the transfer process is the headquarters... The extra operators and equipment can be moved to the headquarters computer room for expansion... When our large programmable switches are developed, they can replace the old equipment in the headquarters computer room..."

Xie Wei's proposal immediately made everyone understand his idea.

According to his plan, Harbin would first replace the switches at each small local node. In this way, the entire network would only have the connection centers between each branch and the headquarters.

The extra manpower and equipment can just share the pressure on the branches and the headquarters.

"In this way, no matter how many lines are added in each place, the main office and branch offices can just increase the number accordingly. When large switches are developed, the expansion of branch offices and the main office can also be considered according to demand... As long as the main office is replaced, the entire system will be replaced, which can not only save money, but also effectively alleviate the problem of line shortage."

After listening to Xie Wei's speech, Meng Kun was the first to support Xie Wei's proposal.

In this way, the initial investment does not need to be too much, and the quality and efficiency of Harbin's telephone network calls will be greatly improved.

At the same time, it can also meet the needs of newly opened telephone users.

"This is like the locals surrounding the city..."

Xie Wei said with a smile.

"Will the Post Office agree?"

Lu Guangliang asked worriedly.

"Why not agree? Not only does it save money, it also meets demand, and it even allows them to open up phone lines and raise funds!"

Zhang Mingqiu said calmly.

"But what should we do? How can we let other post offices in other places visit if it's like this?"

Luo Cheng became worried.

Post and telecommunications offices across the country need to upgrade their telephone communication systems.

Everyone wants to be a core node.

"Let's make a sample first and see the effect. Our school's manual switching system will be directly replaced with our program-controlled switching system."

Zhang Mingqiu looked at Xie Wei and said, "The school can still afford this little money."

······
Wenmin's office.

After sobering up, Wen Min and Wang Cheng met each other as soon as they got to work.

Even if Zhang Mingqiu and Liu Debao were too drunk to remember the dinner they had yesterday, someone still reminded them.

"It's tens of millions of dollars! All of it depends on loans. Let's not talk about whether the provincial government and the State Planning Commission will approve it. How can we repay this loan?"

Wang Cheng, who was smoking, had a worried look on his face.

"There is no possibility of seeking a loan from Japan. Otherwise..."

Wenmin exhaled a puff of smoke and sighed.

The scene of Zhang Mingqiu hitting Jin Xiaolian with a wine bottle yesterday is still vivid in my mind.

Just because Jin Xiaolian said that he would ask the Japanese to help him develop in order to atone for his sins...

Both sides are right.

The Post and Telecommunications Bureau had no money, but continued to upgrade and expand the telephone exchange network.

"If the switching network is not expanded, the Post and Telecommunications Bureau will not be able to open accounts for new users and collect initial installation fees to make a profit; if new users are not opened, there will be no money to expand capacity. It's difficult~"

Wang Cheng sighed, holding a cigarette in one hand and grabbing his hair with the other.

Wenmin was also troubled.

Everyone agreed with Zhang Mingqiu's request to hand over the project to the school-enterprise office. If this fails, given Zhang Mingqiu's character, which is even more sinister than Li Rui's, he will probably report it to his superiors in the end.

"Secretary Wen, Mayor Wang, Zhang Mingqiu is going too far! We can't give them the project!"

Jin Xiaolian, with gauze wrapped on his head, was not on sick leave in the hospital. It was hard to understand why.

Zhang Mingqiu bribed him with a bottle of wine, but he still had to agree to give them the project.

It would be nice if the Post and Telecommunications Bureau could get funding from above.

How can it be enough just relying on the telephone surcharges for urban maintenance that the municipal government returns to the post and telecommunications bureau?
Currently, Harbin collects less than 90 yuan per year in this regard.

The one-time loan is tens of millions or even hundreds of millions, and the money returned by the municipal government is not enough to repay the loan interest.

"Comrade Xiao Lian, it has come to this. What good will it do for us to regret it? Li Rui has not been officially transferred from the school yet."

Wang Cheng reminded Jin Xiaolian.

It’s all Jin Xiaolian’s fault for letting the secret slip, otherwise how could it have turned out like this?

"But they are all small-capacity switches! They are not suitable for the computer rooms of the headquarters and branches..."

Jin Xiaolian was anxious. "If we don't have Japanese ones, we can also look for ones from other countries... I heard that many international giants are in contact with the Fuzhou Post and Telecommunications Bureau..."

“Will other countries provide loans?”

Wen Min frowned. "Director Jin, as Comrade Zhang Mingqiu said, even if foreign companies are willing to provide loans, the interest rate is very high. At the same time, if we use foreign equipment, domestic developers will lose this part of the market. Harbin Institute of Technology not only trains talents for national construction and national defense construction, but also undertakes a lot of technological development..."

"..."

Jin Xiaolian didn't know where Wen Min got so angry.

I didn't say anything.

Can the city government come up with the money, or can the post and telecommunications bureau come up with the money?

"We must support the development of Harbin Institute of Technology!"

Wenmin expressed his opinion.

"But we have no money!"

Jin Xiaolian gritted his teeth and said, enduring the pain from the wound on his head.

"Let's wait for them to come up with a plan, and then we'll try to raise funds..."

Wang Cheng glanced at Jin Xiaolian and immediately asked Wen Min, "How do we submit the report to the provincial government?"

"We have to wait for the school to come up with a plan, otherwise how can we write this report?"

Wenmin said with a bitter face.

Want to ask your superiors for money without a plan?
Not to mention the State Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance, I'm afraid even the provincial government won't agree.

The funding issue did not cause Wen Min and others too much trouble for long. Zhang Mingqiu and Liu Debao brought a plan the next day.

"Who came up with such a brilliant idea? Now we don't even need to submit a report to apply for project funds! We can gradually raise funds to replace the city's telephone exchange system!"

Wenmin was overjoyed after reading it.

(End of this chapter)