Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

At the same time.

In Beijing, a thousand miles away, at the Ministry of Heavy Industry, in the First Senior Conference Room.

A high-level, yet oppressively tense, joint working meeting between various ministries is being held here.

In addition to the core leadership of various departments of the Ministry of Heavy Industry, the meeting was attended by several high-ranking representatives from the State Planning Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Revolutionary Committee of Sijiu City.

Smoke swirls around the huge oval mahogany conference table.

Lin Yang, dressed in a sharp dark Zhongshan suit, sat in the main seat. A black confidential folder sat in front of him, his hands crossed on the table, his eyes calm and expressionless, yet radiating an iron-blooded pressure that instantly lowered the temperature of the entire conference room.

Zhao Lichun, dressed in faded military uniform, stood stiffly behind Lin Yang, holding a data report that was dozens of pages long. He looked like a cold-faced judge.

"Everyone."

Lin Yang finally spoke, his deep, resonant voice echoing in the empty conference room, carrying an undeniable sense of control.

"Over the past ten months, taking advantage of the window of opportunity presented by the easing of the international situation, our Ministry of Heavy Industry has spared no effort and achieved a remarkable turnaround."

Lin Yang opened the folder in front of him, his tone as cold and hard as a knife: "The three sets of complete synthetic ammonia equipment with a capacity of 300,000 tons each, imported from the West, have been fully put into operation in the major Third Front bases in the southwest and northeast. The domestically produced high-efficiency urea and compound fertilizer have filled dozens of large warehouses converted from arsenals."

"At the same time, major machinery factories such as FAW and Dongfeng in Luoyang and Changchun are working day and night to successfully produce 12,000 high-horsepower 'Dongfanghong-75' tracked tractors and 8,000 wheeled tractors. The output of various supporting deep tillage plows and rotary tillers far exceeds the expected targets."

Lin Yang's gaze swept over everyone on both sides of the conference table as if it were a tangible object.

"Our molten steel was not wasted, and the workers' sweat was not shed in vain. Now, we have sufficient food and supplies, and our ammunition is in storage."

Snapped!

Lin Yang slammed the folder shut with a loud bang, making the hearts of the officials present jump.

"I've invited you all here today not to hear a report, but to jointly sign a strategic-level action plan—the 'Nationwide Forced Direct Delivery Plan for Industrial Products to Rural Areas'!"

Lin Yang stood up, placed his hands on the table, and leaned forward slightly.

"I want to create an absolute green channel. Utilize railway transport brigades and military trucks to bypass the layers of approval and material interception at the provincial, municipal, and county levels, and deliver these 12,000 tractors and hundreds of thousands of tons of fertilizer directly to the poorest, most impoverished, and most in need of land reclamation brigades across the country! The first batch of designated targets: the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi, the arid regions of Northwest China, and the saline-alkali lands of northern Jiangsu!"

These words immediately caused an uproar in the conference room.

This not only disrupted the conventional material allocation process, but also directly deprived local administrative agencies at all levels of their privilege to distribute agricultural machinery and fertilizers!

In this era, whoever controls the distribution of resources holds absolute power. Lin Yang's actions were undoubtedly like using a heavy hammer to smash the rice bowls on which those bureaucrats and rebels depended for their livelihood.

One of the deputy directors sitting in the Ministry of Agriculture's representative section was named Wang Jinbiao.

This person was a key member of the rebels who rose to power by posting big-character posters and engaging in armed struggle. He was highly regarded by several radical bigwigs in the city and was used to running rampant and being domineering among various ministries.

Upon hearing Lin Yang's plan, Wang Jinbiao's face turned pale and then red. He slammed his hand on the table and abruptly stood up.

"Minister Lin! What are you up to!" Wang Jinbiao pointed at Lin Yang and shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to suppress him with his usual theory of class struggle.

"The unified allocation of resources has always been arranged by the Planning Commission and the local Revolutionary Committees—that's the rule! Now you want to bypass the local organizations and directly distribute strategic resources to the lowest levels—that's anarchism! That's a serious error in the line!"

Wang Jinbiao became more and more excited as he spoke, spitting as he spoke. He grabbed the Little Red Book from the table and held it high.

"Furthermore, this is a typical case of 'productivity-only' thinking! Do you think our peasant brothers rely on cold, impersonal machines and chemical fertilizers invented by the bourgeoisie to farm? You're so wrong! We rely on the revolutionary spirit of fighting against nature and the invincible ideological armament! By throwing so many industrial products down the drain, you're trying to use material things to corrupt the revolutionary will of the vast number of poor and lower-middle peasants, and you're trying to restore the material stimulus of capitalism!"

As soon as Wang Jinbiao uttered his high-sounding and masterfully accusatory remarks, several officials in the meeting room who were deeply involved with local interests nodded in agreement and whispered among themselves.

They thought that by bringing out this impeccable politically correct rhetoric, they could force Lin Yang, a military leader who only knew how to forge iron and manufacture guns, to back down.

However, they were facing an unparalleled ruthless man who had crawled out of piles of corpses and personally forged a nuclear shield in the Northwest.

Lin Yang did not get angry.

He didn't even raise his voice in rebuttal. He simply stood there, watching Wang Jinbiao's performance with the indifferent gaze one would give a clown.

Lin Yang only walked slowly around the large conference table and stepped up to Wang Jinbiao when Wang Jinbiao stopped shouting, his throat dry and his chest heaving violently.

The overwhelming aura of authority, forged in the crucible of countless deaths, emanated from the very core of his being and crushed him like a tangible force. Wang Jinbiao involuntarily swallowed, his legs began to tremble uncontrollably, and he stumbled back two steps, his lower back slamming against the edge of the conference table.

"You're saying that farmers rely on their spirit, not chemical fertilizers and machines, to cultivate the land?"

Lin Yang's voice was terrifyingly low, each word sounding like ice shards squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Okay. Zhao Lichun."

"Here!" Zhao Lichun strode forward immediately, holding an investigation report stamped with a top-secret red seal.

Lin Yang stared intently at Wang Jinbiao's deathly pale face and coldly ordered, "Read it to this Deputy Director Wang, who's always spouting revolutionary spirit. Let him know what spirit really means."

Zhao Lichun opened the report, his voice loud and clear, each word piercing to the heart.

According to on-site investigation data from the Ministry of Heavy Industry's undercover investigation team, in the Qinghe region of northern Jiangsu, due to the lack of deep-plowing machinery and chemical fertilizers to neutralize the saline-alkali soil, the autumn grain yield this year is less than 70 jin per mu. Local commune members work for 12 hours a day in icy water, and their daily ration consists of only three cornbread buns mixed with tree bark. Currently, large-scale edema has occurred in the Qinghe region, and the proportion of school-age children suffering from stunted growth due to malnutrition is as high as 40%.

After Zhao Lichun finished reading, he slammed the document shut and looked at Wang Jinbiao with a cold smile.

Lin Yang approached Wang Jinbiao, his eyes burning with a fury that could reduce the other to ashes.

"Did you hear that? This is what you call revolutionary will! When ordinary people can't even afford to eat tree bark, when children are so hungry their bellies are round and their legs are as thin as sticks, you want me to talk to them about the political line? To talk to them about the spirit?"