Soldiers Assault: Starting from the 7th Steel Company

Chapter 230 Old Bai Revisited
"Gentlemen, what are your opinions?"

At the leadership meeting, Brigade Commander Long Kaifeng, holding the inspection report submitted by Chen Jiang, asked with a serious expression.

Seeing that all the attendees remained silent, his voice noticeably rose.
"It's shocking. The results of the spot checks are not optimistic. Some people might say that some of the sites passed the quality test. That's true. If we look at it by civilian standards, the quality of this batch of projects is already quite good. But are we doing civilian projects? We are an army that is always ready to fight tough battles and win victories! The quality of the projects must be 'absolutely foolproof, one mistake and everything is lost'."

Long Kaifeng also attaches great importance to engineering matters. Although the project is not shoddy now, what about in the future? If there is any mistake and a non-combat casualty accident occurs later, he will be in big trouble.

“Deputy Brigade Commander Chen, you are in charge of this work. If you have any good suggestions, please share them with us. In any case, situations like the one found in the spot checks are absolutely not allowed to happen in our brigade.”

Long Kaifeng was not familiar with this work, so the best way was to pass the buck to Chen Jiang, which would also fully motivate his subordinates.

Chen Jiang had anticipated this, and he had made thorough preparations for today's meeting.

He calmly opened his notebook, which was filled with his thoughts and insights.

"Gentlemen, I have a few preliminary thoughts on standardizing project management."

"First, we must strictly enforce the bidding process. Although our current engineering projects have a bidding system, I've found that its implementation is still too lenient and lax, with some aspects even being compromised. To ensure that the bidding process is implemented effectively, we must strictly regulate this system. We must resolutely eliminate the phenomenon of arbitrarily splitting bids, and for any cases where splitting bids is truly necessary, it must be approved collectively by the leadership team."

"Secondly, the crackdown on bid rigging and collusion must be severe! Once such a situation is discovered, it should be made public to the whole society, making it impossible for such companies to survive! After winning the bid, changes to the project are not allowed in principle. If changes are absolutely necessary, they must be made collectively by our leadership team. In this way, everyone can collectively supervise me."

"Thirdly, there's the issue of project quality. We can invite experts and scholars in engineering and civil engineering from nearby universities to conduct random inspections and supervision of our bidding process and construction quality. This would avoid the problem of laymen supervising experts. To close loopholes, we can establish a pool of experts and scholars, and conduct random inspections regularly or irregularly!"

Chen Jiang's words were truly astonishing.

Although none of us are experts in this field, upon closer examination, we discovered that once Chen Jiang's three rules are implemented, they will be able to completely control the project, making it extremely difficult for outsiders to exploit loopholes.

First of all, splitting bids and colluding in bidding have always been major challenges in engineering.

Those who understand are unwilling to manage, and those who don't understand can't manage. However, scholars and experts in universities often have no vested interests with them. If they are truly randomly selected, once discovered, it would be a disaster. Who would dare to defy the law?

As for supervising the quality of the project, it's unrealistic to expect Chen Jiang to keep an eye on it. Where would he get the energy? Besides, even if Chen Jiang lived and worked on the construction site 24 hours a day, he would still be completely ignorant about many aspects, practically "blind to the truth."

However, those people in the school are quite knowledgeable in this regard. As long as they are paid a little "service fee" and given some recognition and support in their professional title and rank evaluation, they are naturally happy to see it happen.

“Deputy Brigade Commander Chen, although this approach may be effective, isn’t it putting too much pressure on us?” Political Commissar Li Haiguang, who had been transferred from another unit, had more to consider.

Long Kaifeng and the others immediately understood Li Haiguang's meaning. With this move, the profits of those construction companies would be greatly reduced. On the one hand, it was uncertain whether they would still be willing to work for them, and on the other hand, they probably knew quite a few people, which would bring a lot of social pressure. Could they withstand the pressure?

"Political Commissar, I've also considered the issues you're looking at. Let's submit this plan directly to our superiors and let them make the decision. Our brigade is essentially learning by trial and error, so if we can achieve something outstanding in this kind of project management, it will set an example for the entire army group."

Chen Jiang's words were very tactful; he directly handed this difficult problem over to the higher-ups. However, if they managed the project well, it would be extremely beneficial to the future of all the brigade's officers.

Sure enough, Long Kaifeng understood what Chen Jiang meant as soon as he heard it. At his age, he had already reached the position of brigade commander, and naturally he wanted to move up the ranks. This was a risky move, but it was also definitely a great opportunity.

"I think Deputy Brigade Commander Chen makes sense, and I personally support him!" With Long Kaifeng's statement, the brigade leadership naturally had no reason to object, and the resolution was quickly passed at the meeting.

Moreover, Chen Jiang proposed to further improve the troops' meals so that the officers and soldiers in the brigade would feel a greater sense of belonging!
Long Kaifeng was somewhat troubled after this suggestion was made.
"The food standards in our brigade are already quite high; if we improve them further, the budget will be too high."

"Yes, the brigade's budget is already quite tight."

Because it involved money, everyone was surprisingly in agreement and felt it was a difficult situation.

With the establishment of a new unit, the higher-ups certainly hope to improve combat effectiveness as soon as possible, and they are probably willing to allocate funds for improving combat effectiveness. However, they are unlikely to approve funds for food, drink, and other expenses.

Long Kaifeng even had a feeling that if he made such a request, he would be in trouble if he didn't get scolded.

What to do?

You think your army's food is comparable to the navy's or even the air force's?

"Don't worry, everyone. Who said the higher-ups have to come up with this money?" Chen Jiang chuckled to himself. He had anticipated this situation long ago. The country's economy is not yet wealthy enough, and limited funds must be used wisely. Not to mention, that large aircraft carrier is extremely expensive. In addition, new fighter jets such as the J-11B need to be upgraded, which will cost a lot of money. How could we possibly let this brigade solve its food and drink problems?

"No way, you're going to pay all that money yourself?" Li Haiguang was getting impatient. Their unit's funding had always been allocated by higher authorities. The only thing they could manage on their own was growing some vegetables and raising some pigs. What else could they do?
Chen Jiang smiled faintly, "Political Commissar, I don't have any money!"

"But those big companies that do infrastructure projects have money!"

Upon hearing Chen Jiang's words, Li Haiguang's expression changed drastically. "Deputy Brigade Commander Chen, we must clearly distinguish between ourselves and those business owners. You are still young, and you cannot make mistakes in this regard."

"Haha, thank you for your concern, Political Commissar," Chen Jiang quickly explained, realizing Li Haiguang had misunderstood. "I understand this, I won't cross the line. What I mean is, if they do a good job on the project for us, we'll give them some publicity and enhance their company's reputation. Wouldn't that be a huge benefit for them? Since there's a benefit, can't they sponsor us a little? The military and the people are one family!"

Chen Jiang's idea really left everyone dumbfounded. But upon closer inspection, it seemed to make some sense. The military's propaganda work could indeed achieve this. With the military's endorsement, the credibility and quality of such enterprises could be trusted, making it much easier for them to undertake other projects or bid on projects.

Looking at it this way, it's true that some of the money has been given back, which makes sense.

After all, as long as the money doesn't end up in someone's pocket, everything can be clearly explained.

Undoubtedly, after Chen Jiang's explanation, his suggestion was successfully approved.

"That Chen Jiang really has a lot of tricks up his sleeve!"

When Cheng Guoqiang saw the materials submitted by Chen Jiang and his team in his office, he couldn't help but applaud them.

Putting aside the open-source method that doesn't require them to spend money, the stricter rules and regulations for bidding are indeed quite interesting.

He had also been in charge of infrastructure construction in the military, so he naturally knew the intricacies involved. This had always been a major problem that plagued the logistics personnel, but now Chen Jiang had actually come up with a solution.

After consulting with others, Cheng Guoqiang decided to let them give it a try!
Chen Jiang was unaware of these things. He only focused on conducting research and making suggestions within his scope of responsibility. As for whether his superiors agreed or not, that was beyond his control.

Today happens to be the weekend, and Bai Tiejun, whom I haven't seen for many years, actually called me and invited me to get together.

Chen Jiang hadn't seen Bai Tiejun since he was discharged from the army, so he was naturally very happy and went out without saying a word.

But when he entered the private room, he found that besides Bai Tiejun, there was another person he didn't recognize.

"Old squad leader, I told everyone that you would definitely give me face and come out to see me." After not seeing him for several years, Bai Tiejun had obviously gained weight, his beer belly had grown quite a bit, and even the amount of hair on his head had decreased significantly.

But one thing is certain: this guy is living a good life; everything he wears and carries is clearly designer brands.

Bai Tiejun greeted him warmly, shaking Chen Jiang's hand excitedly. "Old sergeant, you're as impressive as ever! You're doing incredibly well in the army, I've heard so much about it here!"

Chen Jiang smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries with him, but his gaze involuntarily drifted to the unfamiliar, well-dressed middle-aged man in the private room.

Bai Tiejun immediately understood and quickly stepped forward to introduce, "Come, come, old squad leader, let me introduce you to a friend. This is General Manager Wang, Wang Hongliang. He's in big engineering and has a very large business. He's my business partner and also my benefactor! General Manager Wang, this is my old squad leader, Chen Jiang, whom I often mention to you. He's now a deputy brigade commander, young and promising, with a bright future!"

Wang Hongliang immediately stood up, his face beaming with a warm and humble smile, and handed over an exquisitely crafted business card with both hands: "Deputy Brigade Commander Chen, I've heard so much about you! I've often heard Tie Jun mention you, saying that you are one of the people he admires most in the army. Meeting you today, I can confirm your extraordinary demeanor!"

"Mr. Wang, you flatter me. It's a pleasure to meet you." Chen Jiang maintained a polite smile, his handshake perfectly measured, but he instantly understood seven or eight parts of the situation. This was probably no ordinary reunion of old comrades.

During the meal, Bai Tiejun and Wang Hongliang were extremely enthusiastic, reminiscing about the past and talking about their friendship.

The food and drinks on the table today were very plentiful, especially the wine, which looked quite expensive. Chen Jiang made an excuse that he had recently upset his stomach and did not drink their high-end wine. Instead, he warmed up a pot of yellow wine and took a few sips.

After a few rounds of drinks, Wang Hongliang gradually steered the conversation toward the current economic situation, especially the "difficulties" faced by their construction industry.

"Deputy Brigade Commander Chen, to be honest, the competition in this industry is fierce these days, and the profit margins are as thin as paper." Wang Hongliang sighed, sounding completely candid. "Especially for companies like ours that do business honestly, winning a bid is incredibly difficult!"

Bai Tiejun chimed in from the side, "Yes, old squad leader, General Wang is an honest and reliable person, but he's not good at those underhanded tricks. If only everyone could be as strict, standardized, fair, and just as your army."

Chen Jiang listened, nodding occasionally, but didn't say anything, though the tension in his heart grew tighter and tighter.

Sure enough, seeing that the atmosphere was set, Wang Hongliang leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice: "Deputy Brigade Commander Chen, I heard that your brigade has recently been focusing on engineering quality management and has introduced some new measures? Are you going to establish an expert database and conduct random inspections?"

Chen Jiang understood immediately; the news had spread incredibly fast.

His expression remained unchanged as he calmly said, "Yes, that's true. It's all to ensure the quality of the project and eliminate potential hazards."

"This is great news! Fantastic news! I admire the military's decisive and pragmatic work style the most!" Wang Hongliang immediately gave a thumbs up, his tone extremely sincere. "Unlike some companies these days, which only know how to engage in underhanded tactics. Deputy Brigade Commander Chen, to be honest, our company has always wanted to cooperate with the military, but we've struggled to find the right connections and were afraid of those malpractices. Now, with you in charge and with this new approach, companies like ours that rely on quality have a real opportunity!"

He paused, observed Chen Jiang's expression, and continued, "Our company has all the necessary qualifications, strong technical capabilities, and an impressive track record in past projects. If the brigade has any suitable projects in the future, we hope that Deputy Brigade Commander Chen can give us a fair opportunity to participate. We will definitely repay the army's trust with the best quality and the most reasonable price!"

Bai Tiejun quickly added, "Old squad leader, I can vouch for the strength of General Manager Wang's company! They're absolutely legitimate. If we can get involved, they'll definitely do a fantastic job for our unit!"

Having said all that, the intention is quite clear.

They had their eyes on the soon-to-be-standardized engineering market of the military and wanted to "register" with Chen Jiang in advance to become familiar with him, and perhaps even hoped that Chen Jiang would "favor" them in the future in the event of a possible "random" turn.

If Chen Jiang gives his approval, it will definitely be much easier for them to take on projects in the future.

(End of this chapter)