In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 220 No contract, no pay, and you want priority? What are you thinking!
"The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications approved our project to accelerate the construction of the domestic communication network... Harbin Institute of Technology is just a university; even if they have research and development capabilities, building large-scale production capacity cannot be accomplished in a short time..."

"The reason why our project was approved by the higher authorities is to introduce, digest, absorb, and promote the growth of related technologies in China."

Luo Dong's tone was full of helplessness.

If he hadn't been aware that their project was related to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications' future development plan, wouldn't he have wanted to sign a contract directly with the Harbin Institute of Technology's Industry-University Cooperation Office?
Who wants to be this pathetic attempt at being fashionable? Let them be.

"Director Luo, none of the overseas suppliers are willing to budge!"

“We’ve talked to eight companies in seven countries, and they’re all the same. None of them are willing to lower their demands even a little. Even if we tell them that we have the money domestically, they won’t believe us… Why should we send them money when our country’s foreign exchange reserves are already tight?”

“If we don’t take on this project, other post and telecommunications bureaus can do it too. Besides, it’s only by letting them know that we can’t be manipulated at will, and that we can also meet the ministry’s planning requirements.”

Everyone was clearly impressed by the offer from the school-enterprise cooperation office.

700 yuan for a single-line train!

Not only does it save a lot of money, but it also eliminates the need to search for ways to raise foreign exchange.

"Actually, we could also start by cooperating with the Harbin Institute of Technology's Industry-University Cooperation Office. Only when we take action will Fujitsu's people not think that this is a negotiation tactic we're using."

"It was a cadre in his early forties who said in a deep voice."

All eyes immediately turned to him.

"How to cooperate?"

Luo Dong looked at the person who proposed partial cooperation with Harbin Institute of Technology.

The other party was Qi Feiyun, a senior technician at the post office.

The main purpose of coming with the team is to evaluate the Harbin Institute of Technology's switch system.

"We plan to introduce a high-capacity 10,000-line PBX. The smaller PBXs also need to be replaced; otherwise, the overall call quality improvement of the telephone network will be insufficient..."

Qi Feiyun explained his idea, "We can combine the solutions provided by Harbin Institute of Technology to Chengdu and Harbin. The head office's computer room can use imported equipment, while the branch offices and sub-offices can use equipment from Harbin Institute of Technology. As long as they reduce the price by half, our entire telephone network can achieve the highest communication quality in the country with the same budget..."

When Qi Feiyun presented his plan, everyone's eyes lit up.

"What if they still won't budge and won't lower the price?"

Luo Dong raised an eyebrow, quickly considering the benefits that Qi Feiyun's proposal could bring.

They are also worried that companies like Fujitsu will still not budge.

"Let them drag it out then, there's no need for us to rush. Let's start with replacing the most basic ones, and use the extra old switches to expand capacity... until Harbin Institute of Technology's 2000-line switch is ready..."

"This plan is great! As long as we cooperate with Harbin Institute of Technology, we will have the initiative in our own hands."

"That sounds good, but how much will it cost to upgrade the entire telephone network?"

Some people have raised their concerns.

"We've imported high-capacity switches from abroad, and other switches also need to be replaced. We can't have the most advanced program-controlled switches already in use, and still have basic ones with manual transfer switches! But now it's the other way around... Harbin Institute of Technology's switches don't cost foreign exchange."

Qi Feiyun answered calmly.

Everyone nodded in agreement as they listened to his words.

After a brief exchange in hushed tones, they looked at Luo Dong, who was in charge.

"Qi is right, these are different funding sources. The province will definitely help raise the money to support the imported switches; if that doesn't work, a loan is also an option!"

If Fuzhou wants to become one of the second batch of pilot cities for reform, it must have a solid foundation.

With a solid foundation, it is easier to become a pilot project.

Once a pilot program is established, not only will the province provide policy and financial support, but the state will also offer various resources and preferential policies.

"If there's no problem with funding, then there's no problem."

"That's what the person who started the question said."

"I agree!"

"I have no opinion."

"..."

"Now it depends on the attitude of the city and the province. So, we'll leave two people here to continue communicating and get more details. We'll go back first. If the city and the province agree, we'll sign a contract with Harbin Institute of Technology. Engineer Qi will have to stay here and discuss the specific plan with them, especially the issue of whether the domestic switch system is compatible."

Luo Dong did not raise any further objections.

Qi Feiyun nodded in agreement.

There is currently no unified standard for international PBX systems, so it would be troublesome if the systems were incompatible.

"I'll stay here with Engineer Qi... We can finalize the cooperation plan first. As long as the city and province agree, we'll sign the contract directly and get them to provide the switches as soon as possible..."

Qi Feiyun's plan quickly gained unanimous approval from everyone.

After finalizing the cooperation plan with the Harbin Institute of Technology's Industry-University Cooperation Office, Luo Dong, Qi Feiyun, and others visited Harbin Institute of Technology again.

"Cooperation? No problem! Absolutely no problem..."

Zhang Mingqiu looked surprised.

I never expected the Fuzhou Post and Telecommunications Bureau to place an order.

"Compatibility? This issue needs to be discussed with the technical team. Director Luo, Engineer Qi, would you please sit in my office for a while and have some tea? I'll call the person in charge of the school-enterprise cooperation office and the technical lead to come over."

Principal Zhang was extremely enthusiastic towards customers who brought him money.

He personally brewed tea for the two of them, and then, in front of them, dialed the phone numbers of the switch project office and the school-enterprise cooperation office in succession.

Almost without waiting, under the watchful eyes of the two, Zhang Mingqiu dialed the number and immediately asked the person on the other end to come to his office.

"Xie Wei, where are you going?"

Meng Kun and Lu Guangliang had just stepped out of the earthen building when they saw Xie Wei rushing over and greeting him.

"Go to Principal Zhang's office. I heard that the Fuzhou Post and Telecommunications Bureau is planning to cooperate with the school."

As Xie Wei followed the two men toward the 212 jeep beside them, he explained the situation.

Xie Wei was quite surprised when the other party proposed to cooperate with the school.

Previously, his view was the same as Li Rui's: the Fuzhou switchboard import project was responsible for the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications' planning for the construction of the entire national telephone network.

When the group arrived, Wang Zheng had not yet come.

When Xie Wei heard the other party suggest that the school-enterprise cooperation office provide small-capacity switches while the General Administration's computer room uses imported ones, he couldn't help but admire the person who proposed the solution.

He didn't feel any dissatisfaction that the other party was only giving him small-capacity switch business.

The more orders, the better.

Now that you've just developed an entry-level, small-capacity switch, do you think you can take on all the orders nationwide?
They'll absolutely stuff themselves to death.

"Compatibility? That's not a problem. As long as they open the ports and the connection protocol..."

Hearing the other party's concerns, Meng Kun laughed and said, "If they don't open up the ports and connection protocols, even if you use the high-capacity switch they provide, you won't be able to connect to the national telephone network!"

Thanks to Professor Meng's explanation, Luo Dong's last doubts dissipated.

Xie Wei didn't even bother to speak. These days, international telecommunications companies, even within the same country, use different standards—and different companies in the same country may use different standards—who would dare to compete for more business?
"Principal Zhang, you wanted to see me?"

Just as Meng Kun and Qi Feiyun were having a lively conversation, feeling like they had known each other for a long time, Wang Zheng, covered in sweat and panting heavily, appeared at the office door.

Upon hearing Luo Dong's request, he immediately frowned: "Sign the contract and I'll immediately provide you with the switches and install them?"

"has a problem?"

Zhang Mingqiu looked at Wang Zheng with a puzzled expression.

They're practically handing money over to my door!
Moreover, this could be considered as robbing a foreign telecommunications supplier with more advanced technology and stronger resources.
"This is a huge problem!"

Wang Zheng immediately objected, "Principal, let's not even talk about the fact that we haven't signed a contract yet. Even if we had, there should be a first-come, first-served principle, right? Harbin and Chengdu have already paid. If we supply the products to the Fuzhou Post and Telecommunications Bureau first, what will happen to the contracts with Harbin and Chengdu?"

"Besides, the factory in Rongcheng is only just beginning construction, and the school's training workshops only have small-scale production capacity..."

"Uh~"

Zhang Mingqiu immediately looked at Luo Dong awkwardly.

Luo Dong felt somewhat embarrassed upon hearing Wang Zheng's words.

They've already paid me.

They haven't even signed a contract, and it's not even certain whether they'll get approval.

But he was unwilling to give up. Without the switchboard, and without letting those foreign companies see it, the negotiations still couldn't continue.

Especially at Harbin Institute of Technology, they have absolutely no intention of promoting themselves.

He could understand: they had just finished developing it and already secured two major projects, which couldn't be completed in a short time.

The factory needs to produce, the switches need to be installed and debugged, and we even help the post office train maintenance personnel...

"The situation is like this..."

Although Wang Zheng made his point very clear, he still did not want to give up and hoped that the other party would give priority to supplying them, considering that they bore the heavy responsibility of planning the future development of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and driving down the prices of similar foreign products.

"Director Luo, regardless of whether it's the project in Chengdu or Harbin, once it's completed, foreign telecommunications companies will also proactively lower their prices after they know there are domestic competitors..."

Xie Wei was unhappy.

What the hell!
It's fortunate that Luo Dong put it so eloquently.

Before we even signed a contract, it was uncertain whether we could get their business at all, yet they made such a demand.

It's not that Xie Wei has become arrogant and raised the bar just because he has more business now.

Being the first post office in the country to build a program-controlled telephone exchange system—that was an achievement!
It's also a form of city promotion; which city wouldn't want that?

Chengdu provided 800 million yuan and, according to Xie Wei's requirements, provided land, factory buildings, and even transferred relevant technical personnel and skilled workers. Wasn't this all to accelerate the construction of the first city in the country to fully utilize program-controlled telephone exchanges?
After Harbin provided funds to Chengdu, it raised 600 million yuan, which has already been deposited into the school-enterprise office account. Isn't that also for this purpose?
If Xie Wei really agrees to what the other party said, he won't be able to get by in Chengdu or Harbin, let alone fool anyone.

"This is also a new cooperation model for us. As long as the Fuzhou Post and Telecommunications Bureau's plan is successful, it can be promoted nationwide... bringing you more orders."

Luo Dong did not believe that Xie Wei and Wang Zheng opposed the project in order to monopolize it.

Currently, the other party only has a small-capacity program-controlled exchange with 256 lines.

"Also, Principal Li came to see us personally..."

Since the other party was unwilling to provide priority, Luo Dong simply brought up Li Rui directly.

The other party should give Principal Li face, right?

"Director Luo, don't even mention Principal Li, even if it were the leaders of our Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry, it wouldn't work. The program-controlled switchboard was developed independently with funds raised by the university-enterprise office, and everything is done commercially... If you insist that we give priority to it, unless the post and telecommunications bureaus of Harbin and Chengdu agree, it can only be coordinated internally by you..."

Xie Wei directly retorted to Luo Dong.

Once the projects in Harbin and Chengdu start, foreign telecommunications suppliers will know that those foreign suppliers who suppress domestic competitors in order to seize the market will not only lower prices, but may even directly establish joint venture factories.

This puts enormous pressure on the Chengdu switch industry, which currently lacks production capacity: other companies have large-scale production capabilities and strong economic strength.

Although the university-enterprise cooperation office has many tasks, it is already short of funds to invest in research and development.

Are you hoping the Chengdu municipal government will provide more loans?
The Chengdu municipal government will agree to capacity building, but what about research and development?

No matter what Luo Dong said, Xie Wei's attitude was very firm, leaving no room for negotiation.

Luo Dong had no choice but to leave with his men.

After Luo Dong and his group left, Zhang Mingqiu asked Xie Wei directly, "If we talk to Rongcheng and Harbin, they should agree, right?"

Production is handled by Chengdu.

The city of Harbin supports the development of schools.

"Principal Zhang, what do you think will happen if we give the switchboards to the Fuzhou Post and Telecommunications Bureau ahead of schedule? Once they have them domestically, they will definitely lower the price, or even directly use the technology to form joint ventures with domestic companies to produce them... At that time, the post and telecommunications bureaus that need them will not have to worry about their foreign exchange sources... And how can we compete with so many international giants?"

Xie Wei asked Zhang Mingqiu seriously.

"Isn't it?"

"How could it not be! Although the capacity of the 256-line program-controlled exchange is small, it is our technological achievement. Principal Li had planned to publicize it beforehand... At the very least, it will have a great promotional effect on the school's reputation."

Xie Wei said calmly.

"Many of the technological achievements of our university in the civilian field are not publicized, which is something I've always wondered about. Our university has a great reputation in Northeast China, but not nationwide..."

Zhang Mingqiu sighed.

Domestically produced chips, without any advertising.

The domestically produced CNC system was not advertised.

Even now, program-controlled switches are not advertised.

"If we don't advertise, only our competitors will know; but once we advertise, companies all over the world that want the domestic market will be watching us... With the school's current strength, do we have the funds or the technology to compete with the giants around the world who are eyeing the domestic market?"

Xie Wei's words were also filled with helplessness.

Who doesn't want fame?
Look at sanitary napkins; they were sued by Unicharm as soon as they were exported, and the two sides are still in court.

"Since we're not strong enough, we can only lie low for now and develop slowly. That's why we don't do any publicity..."

Seeing that Zhang Mingqiu understood, Xie Wei added a sentence.

"..."

Xie Wei's serious expression made Zhang Mingqiu, who was staring at him speechlessly, instantly understand why Li Rui had chosen Xie Wei as his successor when Xie Wei was still just a student and had only been in school for a short time.

Zhang Mingqiu admitted that he had never thought about the question Xie Wei raised before.

"Xie Wei, since you say we should play it safe, cooperating with Fuzhou will also attract the attention of foreign giants."

Wang Zheng, standing to the side, looked completely bewildered, like a primary school student.

I always felt that Xie Wei's words were contradictory.

The Fuzhou Post and Telecommunications Bureau has had contact with all the world's international telecommunications companies.

(End of this chapter)