Courtyard House: Starting as a mediocre engineer

Before we knew it, the report meeting was coming to an end. The veteran cadre seemed to be in high spirits, and he chatted warmly with the trainees.

"...That concludes the recent international situation. It's been a turbulent and unpredictable affair. You are all young cadres here, and the central government and leaders at all levels have high expectations for you. You can discuss how to face this international situation, especially in the context of the Cold War between the two major blocs of East and West, in relation to your own work. Okay! This topic seems a bit broad, but this is an informal classroom discussion, so it's okay to say the wrong thing!"

After speaking, the veteran cadre began calling out names, directly pointing to Zhuang Zhongchen: "This young comrade, you're quite young, aren't you?"

"Reporting to the leader, my name is Zhuang Zhongchen, from the Municipal Labor Bureau. I am indeed only 20 years old."

"That's what it means to be young and promising. Relax, you can answer that question first."

"Yes, sir." Zhuang Zhongchen considered for a moment before replying, "It's actually very simple. Just implement the central government's general policy and work diligently!"

Everyone burst into laughter. That's a very versatile answer.

Even that veteran cadre was laughing and scolding, "You little rascal, be more specific."

"Commander, fellow elders, you have really wronged me. I have indeed given this matter serious thought. Perhaps my ideas are still very immature, but I am just offering my initial thoughts to spark discussion."

"It's nothing, go ahead and tell me."

"Our overall policy is to create a stable environment for development and promote the leapfrog development of industrial and agricultural production. To put it simply, a stable environment means time is on our side. Agricultural production is essentially industrial production. Modern agricultural technologies, such as seed selection, fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural machinery like tractors and harvesters, are also inseparable from industry. Therefore, if we focus on developing industry, time is on our side. Victory will ultimately belong to us!"

"Huh?" The veteran cadre's eyes lit up; he looked at him with newfound respect. "Where did you learn that?"

"Sir, I graduated from the training class for workers and peasants cadres."

"That's right, learning without thinking is futile. You've learned very well," the veteran cadre said with a smile. "Could you elaborate on that point?"

"I think we have two major advantages: First, the rapid development of industry will definitely expand the ranks of the working class. The vigorous growth of the vanguard of the working class will bring even greater strength to our cause."

Everyone nodded in agreement; this was undoubtedly the correct point. Throughout history and across cultures, this has always been politically correct—it's simply about increasing the employment rate, isn't it?

"Another point is the precious legacy left to us by our ancestors. That is to say, it is the crystallization of the wisdom of generations of ancient working people."

(⊙_⊙)(⊙_⊙)(⊙_⊙)……

Everyone else was taken aback. How could the tone suddenly change like this? What kind of thought process could connect these two things? But then a new perspective suddenly appeared, which made everyone's spirits lift.

"Actually, our country's greatest advantage lies in the construction efforts of our ancestors over thousands of years, which have resulted in a complete transportation and waterway network. Coupled with the railway and highway construction after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has become even more powerful. It's not that I look down on foreign countries, but do they have complete coastlines and ports? Do they have the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Pearl River, and other golden waterways? Do they have projects like Yu the Great's flood control, the Yellow River management, and the excavation of the Grand Canal? Not to mention, the construction of bridges, roads, and various other infrastructure has already connected the entire country into one."

"Of course, we must acknowledge that a century of humiliation has caused immense damage to our nation. Our industry is also relatively backward compared to those developed countries. But with this transportation network that far surpasses that of other countries, new products manufactured in the north will quickly appear in the south; new technological innovations in the south will be quickly learned by the north. This creates a virtuous cycle, and our pace of catching up will become quite rapid. We will gradually reach the level of developed countries, and eventually even surpass them, achieving a level of being far ahead..."

"When we truly possess an invincible force, we hope they will also possess an invincible will!"

The whole crowd laughed.

Almost everyone found it refreshing. And you know what? It actually makes a lot of sense! In any case, this argument is indeed self-consistent.

The veteran cadre's eyes flickered.

To be honest, there are indeed slogans like "Time is on our side" and "We will achieve final victory" in this era.

But simply shouting slogans is one thing, but how do we actually implement them? Many cadres and employees are still quite unsure. They don't know what to do!

However, Zhuang Zhongchen's words today were like a thunderbolt, suddenly filling a theoretical gap. They were of extraordinary significance.

As for whether the theory will be realized, experts can certainly verify it over time; at the very least, it's a good inspiration. It's much better than the old "blind men and the elephant" approach, isn't it?

Of course, in another dimension, they later learned valuable lessons from extensive practice: "To get rich, build roads first!"

Then they turned into an infrastructure powerhouse, building massive amounts of high-speed rail and highways. Even though most of these high-speed rail and highway projects were operating at a loss, why did they still go on this crazy, power-hungry rampage?

Do they really think decision-makers are fools? Of course not, because of the overall economic benefits. After calculating the total, it turns out to be a huge profit.

This proves that the theory is actually completely correct.

Zhuang Zhongchen was deeply impressed by this theory. Because that's how he made his fortune! A dozen or so small goals!

It's important to understand that in the early days of the People's Republic of China, the country couldn't even manufacture nails or wire. As you can imagine, it was practically a blank slate. However, by the 80s, when UN experts were invited to conduct a comprehensive investigation, it was discovered that most of the country's industries were about 15 years behind.

It's important to understand that this doesn't just involve a few industries, but almost all industrial categories. It's impossible to rely on just a few technological elites or great scientists; it requires a comprehensive improvement in the overall level of industry nationwide.

Okay! There may be many short essays, and there may be many misunderstandings. But even if we just rambled on and on, we still managed to catch up in only 15 years, right?

Another 40 years have passed, and China's industrial level has either caught up with developed countries or is very close. And only a handful of things are truly close, like chips and lithography machines—things we've heard so much about that we're sick of them.

However, by the time Industry 2025 was announced, domestic industry began to flourish across the board, with a massive influx of companies striving for Industry 4.0. It wasn't just about catching up with developed countries anymore; it was about complete domination. Almost all developed industries abroad were utterly crushed by these domestic scoundrels.

In Zhuang Zhongchen's personal opinion, the greatest invention of Industry 4.0 is the damn Yangtze River Delta region!

Damn! The Yangtze River Delta region (Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai) is known for having bad people!