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

Pei Yihong walked step by step to the front of the conference table, coldly looking at Deputy Director Li who was jumping around.

"No need to shout anymore. Your security team is all squatting on the playground reflecting on their actions right now." Pei Yihong's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a power that penetrated people's hearts.

He slowly pulled out the red-headed document bearing the national emblem and the personal seal of Lin Yang, the Minister of Heavy Industry, from his jacket pocket and slammed it directly onto the table in front of Deputy Director Li.

"Open your eyes and see clearly. Starting at six o'clock this morning, the Fengtian No. 1 Heavy Machinery Plant has been completely taken over by the Ministry of Heavy Industry. I, Pei Yihong, am currently the deputy director of the Northeast Heavy Industry Restructuring and Reorganization Vanguard Office. The world in this plant has been turned upside down."

Deputy Director Li lowered his head tremblingly. When he saw the bright red seal and the two flamboyant signatures of "Lin Yang," his legs suddenly went weak, and he collapsed into the chair.

Lin Yang's name is like a Damocles' sword hanging over everyone's head in the entire Northeast industrial system.

"This...this is impossible...you're just a boiler operator..." Deputy Director Li's face turned ashen, and his whole body trembled like a leaf.

"Where is the head?" Pei Yihong was too lazy to waste words on such an idiot and turned his head away.

"Here!" He Yuzhu stepped forward.

"Take down this liar and parasite. Seize his office and home, and find out just how much special steel from various countries he embezzled to exchange for hostages!" Pei Yihong ordered sternly.

Two officers in black pounced on him like wolves, twisting Deputy Director Li's hands behind his back and dragging him out of the conference room. His desperate pleas for mercy echoed down the corridor, but they elicited no sympathy whatsoever.

Pei Yihong turned around, his gaze sweeping over the silent cadres in the conference room.

He walked to a corner and personally helped up an elderly engineer with a full head of white hair who was trembling with excitement.

"Chief Engineer Zhang, I'm sorry to have wronged you these past three years." Pei Yihong's eyes welled up with tears. This Chief Engineer Zhang was stripped of his right to sign off on technical drawings back then because he insisted on his principles.

"Yihong...you're back...our factory is saved!" The old engineer cried, tears streaming down his face, as he gripped Pei Yihong's hand tightly.

Pei Yihong straightened up, faced the entire audience, and spoke in a booming voice.

"From today onwards, all reports with inflated production figures are invalid! All substandard steel must be immediately recycled! The technical department will regain control of production scheduling. Anyone who dares to falsify data, I, Pei Yihong, will personally send him to prison!"

Swift and decisive.

Under the absolute power granted by Lin Yang and the intimidating force of He Yuzhu, Pei Yihong, like an unparalleled scalpel, carried out a brutal and thorough overhaul of several major heavy industrial enterprises around Fengtian in just a few months.

Time flew by amidst the roar of steel.

The snow melts, spring arrives and flowers bloom, and another harsh winter has come.

In the blink of an eye, the calendar has turned to the early spring of 1975.

Over the past year, the heavy industrial base in Northeast China has undergone a dramatic transformation. Pei Yihong's "three-step" strategy has been a great success: inferior production capacity has been eliminated, key technical personnel have regained control, and the entire supply chain has become more efficient and streamlined under the iron-fisted supervision of the Ministry of Heavy Industry.

Fengtian, the First Heavy Machinery Plant.

The huge blast furnace spewed out blinding flames, and molten steel poured down the guide channel, sparks flying everywhere, illuminating the entire workshop.

Pei Yihong, dressed in work clothes stained with oil and scalded with holes, and wearing thick asbestos gloves, stood on the observation platform on the second floor, his eyes fixed on the color of the molten steel. He had been working three consecutive all-nighters in this workshop.

"Director Pei, the carbon equivalent test has passed! The yield strength fully meets the requirements of military special armor plates!" Chief Engineer Zhang excitedly ran up to the observation platform with a freshly printed test report in hand.

Pei Yihong finally smiled, taking off his gloves and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Good! Immediately arrange for the steel rolling line to complete the final shaping. This batch of plates is for the Northwest Armored Division to upgrade its equipment; we cannot afford to be careless in the slightest."

As soon as he finished speaking, the workshop director hurriedly climbed up the iron ladder.

"Director Pei, there's a leader from Beijing looking for you. He says he's from the General Office of the Ministry of Heavy Industry."

Pei Yihong was slightly taken aback, then nodded: "Take him to my office. I'll wash my face and come over."

Ten minutes later, in the factory office building, in the director's office, a simple room that didn't even have a sofa, only two hardboard chairs and a wooden table.

Zhao Lichun stood by the window with his hands behind his back, looking out at the orderly, noisy factory area.

Today he was wearing a smart, dark blue Zhongshan suit, his hair was neatly combed, and his gold-rimmed glasses gleamed with a wise and reserved light in the sunlight streaming through the window.

The door was pushed open, and Pei Yihong strode in. He had only washed his face briefly, and there was still some grime on his neck that hadn't been washed off. He also carried a strong smell of engine oil and sweat.

"Director Zhao, it's an honor to have you here. I'm so sorry I didn't greet you sooner." Pei Yihong strode forward and extended his rough, calloused hands.

Zhao Lichun turned around and looked at the unkempt industrial powerhouse in front of him. He showed no disgust whatsoever. Instead, he solemnly extended his hands and shook hands tightly with Pei Yihong.

"Comrade Yihong, I've long admired your name. Minister Lin in Beijing talks about you every day, you sharp knife from the Northeast." Zhao Lichun's smile was gentle and kind, like a spring breeze.

Within Lin Yang's camp, Zhao Lichun and Pei Yihong are two completely different individuals.

Zhao Lichun is a master of political maneuvering, shrewd and ruthless, serving as Lin Yang's black glove in handling political storms and personnel infighting. Pei Yihong, on the other hand, is a pure technocrat, unyielding and intolerant of injustice, acting as Lin Yang's anchor in suppressing industrial corruption.

This was the first formal meeting between the two.

"Director Zhao, you're too kind. Without the minister standing up for me, and without you helping me fend off those backstabbing accusations in Beijing, even if I, Pei Yihong, had the greatest abilities, I would have been torn to shreds by those local bureaucrats long ago." Pei Yihong pulled out a hard chair and invited Zhao Lichun to sit down.

He was well aware that his year-long killing spree in Northeast China had offended numerous vested interest groups in various provinces and cities. Countless letters of complaint flooded into Beijing. But Zhao Lichun suppressed them all at the Ministry of Heavy Industry's General Office. He even used his influence to fabricate some incriminating material, bringing down the most vocal local leaders.

After the two sat down, Pei Yihong took out a chipped tea mug and poured Zhao Lichun a glass of plain water.

"The conditions are simple; we've even run out of tea. Please don't mind, Director Zhao."

Zhao Lichun picked up his teacup and took a sip without a care in the world.

"What's tea? Seeing the heavy industry in Northeast China revitalized is the best thing about Longjing tea." Zhao Lichun put down his teacup, his expression turning serious.

He took out a top-secret letter sealed with sealing wax from his briefcase and pushed it in front of Pei Yihong.

"Yihong, I came to Fengtian this time not for inspection, but with a secret order from Minister Lin. It is also to formally connect our covert network in Northeast China with you."

Pei Yihong's expression hardened as he opened the letter.