Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, Technical Department.

This is a two-story red building located in the heart of the factory area. Compared to the noise and dust of the workshop, it is exceptionally quiet here, even exuding a scholarly atmosphere.

But today, beneath this quiet surface, an uneasy undercurrent is surging.

The conference room was filled with smoke.

A dozen or so technicians, dressed in Zhongshan suits with pens tucked into their pockets, sat upright. Their gazes, intentionally or unintentionally, drifted toward the empty chair at the head of the table, and onto Zhang Defa, the head of the technical department, sitting in the second seat with a face as gloomy as the bottom of a pot.

Zhang Defa is in his early fifties and is a veteran in the factory. He studied in the Soviet Union in his early years, and although he only learned the basics, he has always been the highest technical authority in the steel rolling mill area.

But today, his authority has been challenged.

The factory just issued an official document: appointing Comrade Su Zheng as "Special Technical Advisor," fully responsible for the factory's technological innovation and equipment upgrades. His technical decision-making authority surpasses that of the head of the technical department.

This isn't an advisor; this is clearly an emperor emeritus!

"Section Chief, is Su Zheng... really going to come and take charge of us?" a young technician asked in a low voice.

"Hmph, mind your own business?"

Zhang Defa sneered and slammed his teacup heavily on the table. "A greenhorn who started as a fitter, what does he know about engineering mechanics? What does he know about metallurgy? He can grind a couple of parts and thinks he's an engineer? What a joke!"

Zhang Defa pointed to a stack of blueprints piled up like a small mountain on the corner of the table.

"These are all 'scrap drawings' that our department has been accumulating for half a year. They either have design flaws or are incomplete copies left by Soviet experts. I'll give them to him when he arrives later."

A sly glint flashed in Zhang Defa's eyes. "Isn't he capable? Isn't he a 'special advisor'? If he can't even solve these problems, I'd like to see what face he has to sit in this position!"

As they were talking, the meeting room door was pushed open.

Factory Director Yang accompanied Su Zheng as they entered.

Today, Su Zheng wasn't wearing his military uniform; instead, he was dressed in a neat gray work uniform. But his aura was even more imposing than when he was in uniform.

That was the confidence and authority of a top-tier technical expert.

Let me introduce it to you.

Factory Director Yang, beaming, announced, "This is Comrade Su Zheng. From today onward, he will lead everyone to improve the technical level of our factory!"

Sparse applause broke out.

Most of the technicians were watching with suspicion in their eyes. After all, Su Zhengtai was too young, and his background as a "fitter" always carried a hint of "country bumpkin" in the eyes of these formally trained intellectuals.

Su Zheng ignored these cold reactions. He walked straight to the head seat, but instead of sitting down, he scanned the entire room with his gaze.

Finally, his gaze fell on Zhang Defa.

"You're Section Chief Zhang, right?"

Su Zheng spoke calmly, "I heard the technical department has a lot of problems piling up lately? Let me take a look."

Zhang Defa was taken aback, thinking to himself that he was just looking for an opportunity to make trouble, but the person himself had delivered himself to his doorstep.

"Advisor Su is truly efficient and decisive."

With a forced smile, Zhang Defa picked up the large stack of blueprints and slammed them down in front of Su Zheng with a "bang".

"They're all here. A total of forty-two drawings, covering a series of persistent problems such as a broken rolling mill drive shaft, a malfunctioning heating furnace temperature control, and an oil leak in a hydraulic shearing machine. Our entire department has been researching these issues for half a year without any clues. Since Consultant Su is here, would you please take the trouble to offer some guidance?"

The surrounding technicians all gasped in shock.

This isn't guidance; this is deliberately making things difficult!

These were long-standing problems that even the Soviet experts hadn't solved before they left. Let alone one person, even if the entire department worked non-stop for a month, they might not be able to figure them out.

Su Zheng looked at the pile of yellowed blueprints and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"That's all?"

"That's all!" Zhang Defa sneered. "Advisor Su, take your time looking at it. There's no rush. We can wait..."

"No need to wait."

Su Zheng interrupted him.

He took out a red and blue pencil from his pocket and casually picked out the top sheet of paper.

The Eye of Truth is opened.

In an instant, the originally complex mechanical structure diagram transformed into a three-dimensional, transparent model in his eyes. Red lines marked stress concentration points, and blue lines marked structural interference zones.

error.

error.

It's still wrong.

In Su Zheng's eyes, this drawing was nothing more than a primary school student's doodle full of flaws.

"Swish swish swish—"

Su Zheng moved the red pen in his hand.

The speed is astonishing.

"The chamfer radius here is too small, and the stress concentration factor exceeds 2.5. It would be strange if the shaft didn't break. Change it to an R5 fillet."

"In this area, the gear module was chosen incorrectly, resulting in excessive meshing clearance and causing vibration. Replace it with a helical gear with m=4."

"This place..."

Su Zheng was drawing and throwing things around at the same time.

After revising one sheet, he tossed it to the dumbfounded technician next to him. Then he drew the next sheet.

brush brush --

The only sound in the conference room was the scratching of a pencil across paper.

Zhang Defa's smile froze on his face.

At first, he thought Su Zheng was just scribbling. But when he picked up a drawing that Su Zheng had modified and took a closer look, his hand began to tremble.

A true expert's skill is immediately apparent.

Su Zheng's modifications were all crucial! Moreover, his proposed modifications were extremely ingenious, not only solving the problem but also simplifying the processing technology!

"This...how is this possible?"

Cold sweat broke out on Zhang Defa's forehead.

ten minutes.

In just ten minutes.

Su Zheng reviewed all forty-two "discarded drawings" that had given the entire technical department a headache for half a year. Each one was covered with dense red annotations.

"Smack."

Su Zheng threw the red and blue pencils on the table and patted the graphite dust off his hands.

"Is this the result of your six months of research?"

Su Zheng's voice was as cold as ice. "You're making endless elementary mistakes, and your basic theoretical knowledge is a complete mess. Section Chief Zhang, are you just a section chief for drinking tea and reading newspapers?"

"I..." Zhang Defa's face flushed red as he tried to retort, "Advisor Su, although your revisions were quick, they may not be correct! This involves complex materials mechanics..."

"Material mechanics?"

Su Zheng smiled.

He walked to the blackboard and picked up the chalk.

"Since Section Chief Zhang wants to talk about mechanics of materials, then let's have a chat."

"Regarding the fatigue limit of 40Cr steel under alternating loads, and the inhibitory effect of surface carburizing treatment on crack propagation."

Su Zheng turned around, and chalk flew across the blackboard.

Complex differential equations and precise SN curves (stress-life curves) gradually filled the entire blackboard as he explained.

From microscopic lattice dislocations to macroscopic fracture toughness.

From traditional Soviet craftsmanship to the latest Western finite element analysis theory.

Su Zheng's voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear and forceful, and his logic was impeccable.

The entire conference room was completely silent.

The technicians who had initially looked down on the show were now completely engrossed in the conversation, some even unconsciously pulling out their notebooks and frantically taking notes.

This isn't just giving a lecture; it's opening the door to a whole new world for them!

Zhang Defa, who was standing to the side, turned from red to white, and then from white to green.

He discovered that he could understand half of what Su Zheng was saying, finding it incredibly insightful; but he couldn't understand the other half at all! It was a more advanced theoretical system that transcended the understanding of this era!

Cold sweat streamed down his back, soaking his shirt.

He finally realized that he was not facing an ordinary fitter, but a true genius, a monster who completely overwhelmed him in terms of knowledge.

"……In summary."

Su Zheng put down his pen, turned around, and stared at Zhang Defa with piercing eyes. "Section Chief Zhang, now you understand why your drive shaft keeps breaking, right?"

Zhang Defa's legs went weak, and he almost lost his balance.

He shakily pulled a pen and notebook from his pocket, and like a schoolchild who had made a mistake, he lowered his head and said, "I...I understand. It's...it's a problem with the heat treatment process, and...and that formula for stress concentration, I...I've never seen it before..."

I'm completely convinced.

Faced with absolute technical strength, all seniority, arrogance, and jealousy become laughable bubbles.

Looking at the room full of stunned technicians, Su Zheng knew that he had achieved his goal of establishing his authority.

He threw the chalk into the chalk box and clapped his hands.

"Now that you understand, let's get to work."

Su Zheng took out a brand-new blueprint, which smelled of ink, from his briefcase.

"Snapped!"

The roll of blueprints was slammed heavily onto the table.

"Modifying obsolete images is just a warm-up."

Su Zheng surveyed the room, his voice becoming more impassioned, "Starting today, all staff in the Technical Department will have their vacations cancelled and will work in three shifts."

"We are going to start a new project."

Code name: Tiangong.

"Goal: To fully automate all key equipment in the steel rolling mill within three months. I want to transform this old factory into the first 'semi-automated' lights-out factory in China!"

"What?!"

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

Automation upgrade? Lights-out factory?

In this day and age, this is practically a term from science fiction!

But looking at the exquisite formulas on the blackboard, and at Su Zheng's burning eyes, no one dared to question them. On the contrary, an unprecedented surge of passion welled up in everyone's hearts.

Following such a master, perhaps... it really can lead to success?

Zhang Defa stared at the rolled-up blueprints and swallowed hard. He knew his era was over. From this day forward, this technical department, and indeed the entire steel rolling mill, would have only one voice.

That was Su Zheng's voice.

……

That night, the technical department of the steel rolling mill was brightly lit, and no one was off duty.

Inside the courtyard, Yan Bugui was peering out the window at the lights off in Su Zheng's house (Su Zheng was staying at the factory that night), pondering how he should apologize to Su Zheng the next day.

Unbeknownst to him, this neighbor he admired was stirring up a storm that could reshape China's industrial landscape.

And at the center of the storm was the little fitter who they had once looked down upon and who lived in the backyard.

……