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

This is top-quality steel that can be used to make the hulls of warships and the armor of heavy tanks!

With this machine and the ability to produce this type of steel, the Hanjiang No. 3 Factory was like a stabilizing force firmly planted in the national heavy industry landscape, a pillar that no one could remove. Their jobs were completely secured.

Pei Yihong stood in front of the control panel, his face stained with blood, the muscles trembling slightly.

His eyes, which were always bloodshot, were fixed on the coiled steel, as if he were looking at his newborn child.

To ensure the machine could be successfully installed and ignited, he offended countless people in Hanjiang Province and withstood immense pressure from the provincial party committee compound to the factory workshops. Today, he was even nearly beaten to death by the rioters incited by them.

But now, looking at the industrial crystals coming out of this assembly line, he feels it was all worth it.

"Did you see that?"

Lin Yang's deep, resonant voice rang in Pei Yihong's ears.

Pei Yihong turned her head and looked at the man beside her who was as unshakeable as a mountain.

Lin Yang's gaze did not linger on the cheering workers, but rather pierced through the workshop's ceiling, looking towards a more distant future.

"This is the source of our nation's confidence to stand tall." Lin Yang's voice, clear even amidst the roar of machinery, came through his hands behind his back. "Without this cold steel, no one would listen to us at the negotiating table. Today, the first roll of steel has come out. You've truly reconnected the industrial lifeline of the Han River."

Pei Yihong took a deep breath and suddenly stood up straight.

"Chairman, the situation at Hanjiang has stabilized. As long as the production lines keep running, I guarantee that within six months, the production capacity of Hanjiang Plant 3 will be able to cover the special steel demand of the entire Central and Southern China region!"

"Let's go." Lin Yang turned around, his black cashmere coat drawing a sharp arc in the air. "To your office. Forging good steel is only the first step; how to play this game well is the real test of skill."

Night fell, and before anyone knew it, completely enveloped Hanjiang City.

After the earth-shattering purge during the day, the entire officialdom of Hanjiang Province was as if it had experienced a magnitude 12 earthquake.

The provincial party committee compound was brightly lit, with countless phones being dialed and answered frantically. The news that Liu Tieming, the powerful vice governor, had been taken away on the spot by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Internal Security Department spread like wildfire to every corner.

Those local officials who were usually close to Liu Tieming were now trembling at home, burning all sorts of shady account books and notes overnight.

However, these political upheavals did not affect the internal operation of the Hanjiang No. 3 Factory in the slightest.

The factory office building, the director's office.

The furnishings here are still simple; there isn't even a decent sofa, just a few hardwood chairs and a large old desk.

He Yuzhu, accompanied by two bodyguards, stood guard outside the office door like an iron tower. The corridor was deathly silent; no one dared to approach even a step closer.

Inside the office, an incandescent light bulb emitted a slightly glaring glow.

Shen Yan sat at a single table in the corner, taking out documents from his black confidential briefcase and quickly classifying and annotating them.

Lin Yang unbuttoned his coat and strode over to his desk, where he sat down.

Pei Yihong then filled the enamel mug in front of Lin Yang with boiling water from a thermos. Because of the limited space, there wasn't even a single tea leaf.

"President, have some hot water." Pei Yihong put down the thermos and sat down opposite Lin Yang.

Lin Yang picked up the teacup, gently blew on the rising steam, and took a sip.

"Shen Yan, how's the situation outside?" Lin Yang put down his teacup and asked casually.

Shen Yan, who was in the corner, immediately stood up, his voice crisp and precise: "Chairman, the riot squad of the Hanjiang City Public Security Bureau has been completely disarmed, and the riot squad leader and the city bureau chief are under investigation. Liu Tieming has been secretly taken to the provincial military district guesthouse for a surprise interrogation overnight by a special task force from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection."

"In addition, the more than 140 key members who participated in the riot outside the factory area have all been taken into custody by the internal security forces. The local garrison has sent a battalion to take over the security of the factory area. Now, not even a fly can get into the Hanjiang Third Factory."

Shen Yan adjusted his glasses and added, "The top leaders from the provincial party committee have called you three times via the confidential hotline, wanting to visit you and report on the province's ideological trends."

"Tell him I don't have time for those empty platitudes," Lin Yang sneered, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt. "Have him put a list of all the officials in Hanjiang Province involved in Liu Tieming's case on my desk before dawn. If even one name is missing, I'll personally go to the provincial party committee compound to get it from him."

"Understood." Shen Yan immediately turned around and made a phone call.

Lin Yang's gaze returned to Pei Yihong.

"Yihong, you should have the factory doctor treat your head injury." Lin Yang looked at the blackened scab on Pei Yihong's forehead.

"It's nothing, just a superficial wound, it's already scabbed over." Pei Yihong wiped his forehead nonchalantly, his fierce and courageous aura emanating from his very bones drawing attention.

He leaned forward slightly, his eyes gleaming with a burning light under the lamp.

"Chairman, now that you've taken down the tigers blocking our path, the stagnant waters of the Han River have been completely stirred up. Next, shouldn't we expand production capacity? I plan to immediately apply to the committee for funding to set up two more supporting roughing mill lines. As long as the raw material supply is sufficient, the Han River Third Plant will definitely become the number one steel behemoth in the country!"

Pei Yihong's tone was filled with fervor for industrial expansion. In the eyes of this pure technocrat, producing more steel and building more machines was the only truth for economic development.

However, Lin Yang looked at him and slowly shook his head.

"wrong."

Lin Yang's single word was like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing Pei Yihong's fervor.

Pei Yihong was stunned, looking at Lin Yang with some confusion: "Wrong? Chairman, we finally got a 120,000-ton special cold rolling line. Are we just going to let the machines sit idle instead of expanding production?"

Lin Yang took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket and pulled one out. Pei Yihong quickly struck a match and lit it for Lin Yang.

Grayish-blue smoke swirled in the shabby office.

Lin Yang took a deep drag on his cigarette, his gaze fixed intently on the industrial sketch of Hanjiang Province spread out on his desk.

"Yihong, you're still looking at the new era with outdated perspectives."

Lin Yang pressed his fingers, which were holding a cigarette, twice on the map.

"In the past, we were blockaded by imperialism, and the country was extremely poor. At that time, we lacked steel and iron. All the steel we produced had to be used to make guns and cannons, build bridges and railways. That was the survival logic of the planned economy era. The country could consume as much steel as it had."

"But now, times have changed!"

Lin Yang's voice gradually rose, carrying a grand strategic vision that could pierce through the fog of history.

"The original intention of establishing the Modern Reform and Development Committee was not to compete with local governments for a few tons of steel production, but to revitalize the entire country's economic lifeline! If the Hanjiang No. 3 Steel Plant only blindly expands its crude steel and cold-rolled steel production capacity, even if you produce a million tons or ten million tons, what then? Will it all just pile up in warehouses and rust?"

Pei Yihong was suddenly taken aback. He had spent years working in the workshop, his mind filled with technical parameters and production targets, but he had never thought about the problem from such a macro market perspective.

"President, what do you mean...?" Pei Yihong's voice was somewhat hesitant.

"What I mean is that Han River Province must completely transform its role from a mere 'raw material provider' to a 'high-end manufacturing hub'!"