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

There is no never-ending feast.

Zhao Lichun, Pei Yihong, and Chen Feng bowed deeply to Lin Yang in the living room.

"Take care, sir."

"Go ahead. When you get there, do a good job." Lin Yang nodded slightly.

The three turned around, strode out of the mansion, and got into their respective jeeps.

Lin Yang, wearing a woolen overcoat, stood on the high steps of the Western-style building's porch. Li Yunlong and He Yuzhu stood behind him.

The early spring night breeze carried a slight chill as it rustled through the pine trees in the courtyard.

Lin Yang watched intently as the three jeeps started up, their headlights slicing through the darkness like sharp swords.

They drove out of the sentry post one by one and disappeared into the vast night.

Even after the last taillight disappeared completely, Lin Yang remained standing quietly in place.

The night was as dark as ink, and the stars twinkled.

Lin Yang slowly pulled an old, pure copper kerosene lighter from his pocket.

A crisp "click" sounded.

At that moment, the cap of the lighter in his hand popped open, and a cluster of bright yellow flames stubbornly danced in the night wind.

It illuminated Lin Yang's face, which was as cold and resolute as if it had been carved by a knife and axe.

He lowered his head slightly and lit the cigarette he was holding in his mouth with the flame.

Then, Lin Yang closed the lighter cap without hesitation, making a crisp metallic clanging sound, and strode into the house.

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In the early summer of 1979, Beijing experienced its most severe heat wave in ten years.

Cicadas chirped incessantly in the century-old locust tree in the compound of the Ministry of Heavy Industry, and the air seemed to be filled with an unyielding restlessness. With the gradual opening of the country's doors and the comprehensive acceleration of economic construction, the entire nation was like a heavy locomotive that had just been fully fueled and was speeding wildly across the vast land of China.

However, the faster the speed, the sharper the friction and resistance inside the machine.

Ministry of Heavy Industry, Third Conference Room.

A heated argument, of considerable intensity and unusually sharp, has lasted for a full two hours.

"Old Liu! You people from Jiangnan Province are going too far! That 120,000-ton cold-rolled steel production line imported from Japan was something our Central Plains Province was the first to contact with foreign businesses about! How dare you intercept it halfway and steal our foreign exchange quota!"

The director of the Central Plains Province Heavy Industry Department slammed his fist on the table, the veins on his neck bulging, his voice trembling with extreme anger.

The provincial governor of Jiangnan Province, sitting opposite him, sneered and retorted without backing down: "What's the use of early contact? Your Central Plains Province doesn't even have a decent deep-water port! Who will bear the losses and exorbitant transportation costs of transporting such massive and sophisticated equipment from the coast to your inland areas? The country's foreign exchange reserves are saved by the people tightening their belts; good steel should be used where it's needed most! If this equipment is located in our Jiangnan Province, it can directly leverage the port's advantages to start production, and we'll see benefits within six months!"

"Bullshit! Our Central Plains Province is an old industrial base, with skilled workers and industrial support systems a hundred times more advanced than yours! You're just making excuses!"

The two were locked in a fierce argument, neither willing to back down, their spittle almost splattering onto each other's faces.

Just as tensions were rising, the heavy soundproof door to the conference room was pushed open from the outside.

The once noisy venue instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Lin Yang, dressed in a crisp white shirt, strode in. He carried no documents and had no entourage. His deep, cold eyes merely swept across both ends of the conference table, and the imposing aura of a superior, forged in the crucible of death, instantly crushed all anxiety and anger.

The two department heads, who had just been arguing heatedly, immediately stood up straight, not daring to even breathe loudly.

"Have you had enough of arguing?" Lin Yang walked to the head of the table, but instead of sitting down, he placed his hands on the table and looked down at them.

"One of you is the head of a major city in the Central Plains, and the other is an industrial leader from a major economic province in the south. How can you act like two shrewish women fighting over cabbages in a market, banging on the table like this?" Lin Yang's voice was not loud, but it carried a chilling aura.

The provincial director wiped the cold sweat from his brow and reported with a wronged expression, "Minister Lin, it's not that we're not considering the bigger picture. It's just that the factories below are desperately waiting for this equipment to save their lives. But the Ministry of Foreign Trade is holding back the import permits, the Ministry of Finance is holding back the foreign exchange reserves, and we finally got the technical approval from the Ministry of Heavy Industry, only to have the quota blocked by the Planning Commission's balancing of accounts. This whole process took seventeen official stamps! By the time the equipment actually arrives, it'll be too late!"

The director of the Jiangnan Province department also complained, "Minister, what he said is true. Although our country has liberalized the economy, there are too many administrative departments at the higher levels. Each manages its own area, and they all pass the buck. The Ministry of Heavy Industry approves a project, but the Land Bureau won't approve the land; the Ministry of Transport approves a road, but the Construction Bank won't release the loan. We lower-level staff are like people stuck in a quagmire, full of energy but unable to get out!"

Lin Yang listened quietly without getting angry.

Because he knew better than anyone else that what these two department heads had said was precisely the most fatal bottleneck facing China's economic development.

The old planned economy system was like a complex, outdated, and rigid spider web.

In the past, in a closed environment, this network was able to barely keep the country running.

But now, faced with the surging market vitality and the huge wave of foreign investment, this net has become a noose tightly strangling the country's neck.

Although the Ministry of Heavy Industry wielded immense power, it could only oversee industrial production. When faced with cross-ministerial issues concerning finance, land, foreign trade, and transportation, even Lin Yang had to expend considerable energy on lengthy coordination and negotiations with other ministries.

Economic reform has reached a critical juncture where a fundamental breakthrough in the system is necessary.

"Regarding the ownership of this cold-rolled steel equipment, the Ministry will consider the actual situations in both provinces and provide an absolutely fair quantitative assessment plan within three days. Whoever has the higher capacity conversion rate will get the equipment. Until then, get back to your posts and focus on production. Anyone who dares to make a fuss in the Ministry again, I'll skin them alive!" Lin Yang coldly uttered these words and turned to leave the conference room.

As soon as I returned to the minister's office, the red secure telephone on the desk rang urgently.

Lin Yang picked up the receiver.

"Yangzi, it's me." The gentle yet solemn voice of Zhao Gang, the head of the Ministry of Machine Building, came from the other end of the phone.

"Brother Zhao, what happened?" Lin Yang asked.

"Immediately drop everything you're doing. In ten minutes, a Hongqi car with a special pass will pick you up at the back gate of the Ministry of Heavy Industry. Head straight to the meeting." Zhao Gang's voice was low, but every word carried immense weight. "The key leaders are all here. This major adjustment concerning the direction of national development will be officially finalized today."

Lin Yang's eyes narrowed sharply. He didn't ask any more questions, only replied "Okay," and then hung up the phone.

Twenty minutes later, a black bulletproof Hongqi sedan silently drove through the heavily guarded gate, passed by rows of pine trees, and smoothly drove towards the conference building deep inside the compound.