In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 353: One vice principal and one factory director stepping down is not enough!

"Should the ministry communicate with the Third Ministry of Machine Building?"

The secretary was not surprised by Minister Zheng's arrangement; he was equally angry and hoped to use this opportunity to force Harbin Institute of Technology to shut down all its aviation-related projects.

Aerospace organizations should focus their efforts on missiles, rockets, and satellites.

If all else fails, we could use long-range rocket artillery or spaceships.

The entire aerospace field has so much to research. Look at the Soviet Union; they were preparing to send space weapons into space and land on Mars. And look at the United States; they landed on the moon more than a decade ago and are now developing technologies for Star Wars...

What about China?
Even remote sensing satellites have only just solved the return problem...

The more Harbin Institute of Technology develops, the further it gets from the former Ministry of Machinery Industry.

"What's there to communicate? We'll just wait and see what mess their people have made! If they can't handle it, then we'll talk."

Minister Zheng said coldly, "I don't know what their department is thinking!"

The consequences are too severe.

The agreed-upon cooperation was that Harbin Institute of Technology would be responsible for technology research and development, vehicle design, and production processes, while Factory 122 would be responsible for production. Sales channel development and profit sharing were also agreed upon. But what happened?

They saw huge profits.

The agreement was immediately nullified.

Who would dare to continue cooperating with us in the future?
If the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry doesn't handle this well, it will not only affect the cooperation between Harbin Institute of Technology and Factory 122, but also put other cooperation between R&D units and production units on hold.

"Nonsense! Utter nonsense! Even if we wanted to support the Y-10, couldn't we have done it another way? If we do it this way, who will dare to cooperate with any unit under the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry in the future?"

Minister Lü of the Third Ministry of Machine Building received the news not much later than Minister Zheng.

no way.

Harbin Institute of Technology, which had been giving its all to support Project No. 10, has directly stopped the research and development of fighter jets, and even suspended funding for medium-range air-to-air missiles and supporting active phased array radars!
Where will the Third Ministry of Machine Building get the money to keep the project going?

"Sir, they are disregarding the national interest..."

"Bang~"

The sound of a hand slamming heavily on the table silenced the secretary who wanted to shift the blame to Harbin Institute of Technology.

"Disregarding national interests? Who exactly is disregarding national interests? If it weren't for our department's people disregarding cooperation and tearing up the agreement for the sake of profits, would they have acted this way? Harbin Institute of Technology is a subordinate unit of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry; their business area is aerospace, not aviation!"

Minister Lü's face was extremely grim.

The secretary wanted to defend the department, but seeing the minister's expression, she immediately shut her mouth.

"Give the order: conduct a thorough investigation immediately! Whoever was involved will be dismissed without exception! Regardless of which department was involved, all profits earned, no matter how much, must go entirely to Harbin Institute of Technology..."

Minister Lü was well aware of how serious the consequences would be if this matter were not handled properly.

He knew absolutely nothing about this before.

Otherwise, things wouldn't have come to this.

"Minister, wouldn't this be..."

"What if? Make the arrangements. Also, pick out my most important tasks for the next few days and arrange my schedule; I need to go there personally!"

"what?"

Is it really that simple that the minister has to personally handle this?
The secretary felt that the minister's handling of the matter was inappropriate.

"Harbin Institute of Technology has already made its stance clear. If this matter isn't resolved properly, cooperation will be difficult! Don't use national interests as an excuse! Their aerospace technology development is also contributing to national defense; the military is waiting for advanced fighter jets, and the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry was never happy about Harbin Institute of Technology's resources being channeled into the fighter jet field..."

If it weren't for the fact that this secretary was usually diligent in his work and never offered his own opinions when making decisions, Minister Lü would have fired him immediately.

"Ok."

The secretary didn't say anything more.

Harbin Institute of Technology.

Qu Hongtao tried to talk to Xie Wei for several days in a row, but Xie Wei was always busy and unwilling to talk to him.

With the combined efforts of Zhang Mingqiu and Liu Debao, the school has suspended all funding for research projects related to the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry.

Research needs to be paused.

However, the funding for each project team is currently insufficient to last even a month.

This made Qu Hongtao even more anxious—if Xie Wei didn't budge, given Liu Debao and Zhang Mingqiu's nature, they wouldn't care about the big picture.

In their eyes, the school's interests are paramount.

"Principal Qu, this is serious. Xie Wei is completely unwilling to talk to us! What should we do?"

Looking at Qu Hongtao, Huo Guoqiang said anxiously, "At the time, we only thought about saving the 100-ton domestically produced large aircraft, and we didn't expect it to affect Project No. 10 and other supporting projects!"

He was really anxious.

They hadn't expected Xie Wei's reaction to be so intense. They had assumed that Xie Wei's all-out support for the fighter jet project was a sign of favoritism towards the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry and the military projects, and that even if they discovered it, they would eventually abandon the project because it involved the future development needs of the military.

The result was the complete opposite of what they expected.

"Minister Lü will come to Harbin in a couple of days."

Qu Hongtao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, stared out the window, lost in thought.

"..."

Huo Guoqiang was speechless. Didn't he know?

It was only because Minister Lü personally intervened that he had no choice but to go to the school to discuss the matter with Huo Guoqiang.

Qu Hongtao was the one who first approached Huo Guoqiang about this matter. With instructions from the leaders of the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry, and the fact that Factory 122 was dissatisfied with Xie Wei's harsh cooperation conditions and taking away most of the profits, they agreed without much hesitation after Qu Hongtao and Wu Quan, the person in charge of the Shanghai Large Aircraft Factory, came to them.

“Someone has to take responsibility for this, and it’s definitely me at the school. I’ve already submitted my early retirement application to the school.”

His eyes were lifeless, but his tone was calm.

The school was thriving, and he could have retired with honors.

Knowing Xie Wei's personality, Qu Hongtao was well aware that this wouldn't end so easily. He even harbored some resentment towards Li Rui, who had been promoted but didn't treat himself like a cadre at all, all for the sake of Xie Wei's influence!
I've already refunded it!
Upon hearing this and seeing the expression on Qu Hongtao's face, Huo Guoqiang's heart sank, and he felt utterly disheartened.

"Do I have to withdraw too?"

"It might not just be you. The Third Ministry of Machine Building needs to have a few influential people. Otherwise, Minister Lü wouldn't have come here personally."

"..."

Qu Hongtao suddenly felt an urge to curse.

What the hell!
Where's the promised progress?

Even without this, the current momentum of Factory 122's development would allow him to advance further. He's only in his early fifties now. Even if he doesn't get promoted two more times, he can at least take on more important responsibilities before retirement!
"There's no room for discussion on this. You'd better be prepared. We were only thinking about supporting the Y-10 at the time, and we never imagined that doing this would have such a terrible impact on all our cooperation with the university and the enterprise..."

"Old man, you tricked me?"

Huo Guoqiang instantly realized what was going on.

Damn it, if Qu Hongtao hadn't asked me to do this, I wouldn't have done it.
"I've already withdrawn. Besides, if it weren't for your department's intervention, would I have harmed the school's interests just because of my past friendship with Wu Quan? Xie Wei must have his reasons for doing things. Luckily, we didn't take any personal benefits, otherwise..."

Qu Hongtao's tone was full of helplessness.

Wu Quan, the director of the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, was his classmate. They had a good relationship during their two years of study and kept in touch regularly.

In the years when Qu Hongtao was in the cowshed, Wu Quan took good care of his family.

If that were all, Qu Hongtao would only owe Wu Quan a favor, not betray the school's interests to repay it. However, Li Rui, like a persistent ghost, found him and told him that Xie Wei and the school-enterprise office both needed chickens to scare away monkeys.

There aren't any available right now, so we can only arrange for one.

Only Li Rui and Qu Hongtao knew about this; Qu Hongtao didn't know if there was a third. What kind of "killing the chicken to scare the monkey" is this?!
I've become this chicken.

Who would be willing?
"Secretary Lin and Chief Engineer Liu have always been against it, surely they wouldn't go that far?"

"I don't know what the arrangements are."

"Isn't that Xie Wei's attitude?"

Huo Guoqiang said irritably.

Qu Hongtao did not answer the question. He did not know what outcome Xie Wei wanted before he would stop—the more he remained silent now, the more serious the consequences would be.

Li Rui is like that.

Xie Wei is the same.

Xie Wei, in particular, surpassed his predecessors, making him far more unpredictable than Li Rui.

"What extent? This has nothing to do with me, right?"

Xie Wei raised an eyebrow, looking at Zhang Mingqiu with displeasure. "Principal Zhang, if you're not too busy, why don't you urge the school's construction project to speed things up? We're already overflowing with experimental equipment..."

Pointing to the crowded and busy electronic testing workshop, the school's teaching buildings, laboratory buildings, and dormitory buildings have not yet been topped out, internal construction has not yet begun, and heating systems and other facilities have not been installed.

To date, due to the sheer number of projects, Harbin Institute of Technology has been putting new buildings into use every year since construction began in 79, yet it still hasn't been enough.

"They're urging us! The construction company has increased its manpower several times over. It was too cold in the winter before, and it was difficult to carry out construction. If the architecture department hadn't solved the problem of construction in cold weather, we really wouldn't have been able to finish before the start of the fall semester."

Zhang Mingqiu hurriedly said.

"I'm busy right now. The 2000-line PBX has completed all kinds of tests, and the next step is to put it on the market... We must get the production line up before we can put it on the market, otherwise the telecommunications giants that are entering the market will immediately surround and suppress us."

Xie Wei knew why Zhang Mingqiu had come to see him.

I don't want to talk about it.

Let's wait and see how the relevant authorities handle this.

"Also, the leaders from Factory 14 and Huafeng Factory will be arriving soon, and the matter of launching the microcomputers to the market needs to be put on the agenda..."

"Minister Lü will be coming to Harbin the day after tomorrow."

Zhang Mingqiu knew why Xie Wei was acting this way and didn't want to waste Xie Wei's time, so he said, "Qu Hongtao submitted a request for early retirement to the school... The leadership at Factory 122 has been replaced..."

That's it?

Xie Wei looked at Zhang Mingqiu with amusement. This old guy got involved too?

"I had absolutely no idea about this before!"

Stung by Xie Wei's amused gaze, Zhang Mingqiu hurriedly tried to explain.

In all honesty, I did not participate.

Isn't this just a test to see how Xie Wei wants to handle things?

"Alright, I need to go see Professor Yu first to find out about the improvements to the microcomputer. Whether it's the processor, the graphics card, or the memory, there are still some things that can't meet the usage requirements..."

After saying that, Xie Wei greeted Lu Guangliang: "Professor Lu, since the 2000-line program-controlled exchange can already be put into the market, let's keep up the good work and start the 5000-line program-controlled exchange directly. If we have enough manpower, we can also start the 10,000-line program-controlled exchange."

"what?"

Lu Guangliang was stunned.

Is Xie Wei planning to shift the school's funding towards program-controlled telephone exchanges?
Aren't the schools planning to reduce their shareholding in the factories they cooperate with in Chengdu?

Before the 2000-line program-controlled exchange had even gained market share, and with no idea when the R&D expenses would be recouped, they were now proposing to launch not only 5000 lines, but also 10,000 lines simultaneously!

But after seeing Zhang Mingqiu keep giving him meaningful glances, he didn't ask any more questions.

"Principal Zhang, what's this?"

After Xie Wei left, Lu Guangliang, looking puzzled, asked Zhang Mingqiu, "Xie Wei is usually so good-tempered, did the school come up with some money-devouring project that provoked him this time?"

“How could that be possible…”

Zhang Mingqiu sighed and told Lu Guangliang about the situation at Factory 122.

Currently, only a few people know about this matter, but it will eventually spread. The school may even need to deliberately spread it, otherwise how will the school-enterprise cooperation office cooperate with other units in the future?
"Factory 122 did something really underhanded! The university funded the technology research and development, developed production processes, and even provided funds to build production lines. The university did everything, but they reaped the benefits and then kicked the university aside?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Guangliang's face immediately darkened.

Could it be that Xie Wei reduced his shareholding in Rongcheng Switch Factory for the same reason?

The more I think about it, the more worried I become.

The development of a 500-line program-controlled exchange only cost a few million yuan, while the development investment for a 2000-line program-controlled exchange exceeded 2360 million yuan. This is even after the school had many supporting materials and components with the same development projects, and many costs were spread out to other projects.

For 5000 or 10,000 doors, the R&D investment would be at least 50 million.

As Xie Wei requested, it must also have digital signal conversion capabilities to transmit digital signals to the surrounding area, which would increase the cost even further!
If Chengdu follows the example of Factory 122, will the school continue to invest in program-controlled switches?

No organization is willing to continue investing in projects that cannot recoup their investment.

"Who knows what they're thinking! It seems that just the vice principal and the factory director stepping down isn't enough."

Zhang Mingqiu sighed.

He knew that simply removing Qu Hongtao and Huo Guoqiang from their posts wouldn't be enough to resolve the issue.

Was the Third Ministry of Machine Building not involved?

Who would believe that?

"The school should take strong measures, otherwise the subsequent commercialization of our technological achievements will be problematic."

"Qu Hongtao and He Jinguo have been suspended from their duties immediately. We have no authority to interfere with Factory 122, but I have already reported this to the ministry..."

Zhang Mingqiu explained, then looked embarrassed: "Professor Lu, if you have the chance, please also help persuade Xie Wei..."

"I can't persuade them."

Without even thinking, Lu Guangliang interrupted Zhang Mingqiu, "Principal, I have something to do, I'll go now."

Ignoring Zhang Mingqiu's reaction, he turned around and went to attend to his own business.

"Ugh, what a mess!"

Having been rebuffed by Lu Guangliang, Zhang Mingqiu could only sigh helplessly.

It wasn't that he wanted to speak up for the Ministry of Machinery Industry, but rather that he didn't want Xie Wei to take his anger out on the school's research projects.

Without the most advanced fighter jet projects and supporting technologies, will the school really only develop in the aerospace field in the future?

In the development of the aerospace field, the space shuttle also requires aircraft technology.

“I wanted to advise you before that since the school-enterprise cooperation office was established, it should be managed by the office, just like Factory 14 and Huafeng Factory, instead of being a cooperative entity… But you, on the other hand, thought about developing together and making progress together. But others have different ideas from you…”

Looking at Xie Wei, Yu Guofeng's face was also full of heaviness. "If this matter is not handled properly, the school-enterprise cooperation office will not be able to cooperate with other units in the future."

According to Yu Guofeng, although Xie Wei appears very mature, he still sometimes seems a bit naive.

"They'll handle it; we don't need to worry at all."

Xie Wei smiled and comforted the angry Yu Guofeng.

"How can you not be worried? The school has so many huge projects that cost a fortune. You wouldn't really want to see Project No. 10 stop working, would you?"

"Maybe."

Xie Wei grinned, "We dare to gamble, but does the Air Force dare to gamble? Does the Third Ministry of Machine Building dare to gamble?"

(End of this chapter)