Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

"Xiao Qian, you're here? Come, this way!" When Nie Xiaoqian arrived at the cafeteria, she indeed saw Qin Yang. He was sitting at a table against the wall, with four dishes in front of him: stir-fried pig liver, shredded pork with Peking sauce, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and peanuts. These four dishes were definitely a VIP-level reception.

It was past mealtime, and 960 Factory was busy, so many workers took their meals directly to their workstations. Not many people remained in the cafeteria to eat.

"Who are you waiting for?" Nie Xiaoqian asked as she sat down. "Could it be Director Wang and the others? Should I call them in for you?"

"No, I'm waiting for you. Didn't we say we'd have something good to eat today? But something came up, so it's inconvenient for me to go out. Let's just eat here in the cafeteria."

Nie Xiaoqian looked at him in surprise. "You're waiting for me? Four dishes for just the two of us, isn't that a bit wasteful?"

She suddenly remembered what had happened last time, and her face flushed slightly.

"I'm drinking to find joy in bitterness. Alas, those who know me understand my worries, those who don't know me ask what I seek. I'm wholeheartedly serving the country, but I didn't expect to be smeared with dirt!"

"Yang-ge, it's just a misunderstanding. It was the sales section chief of 617 Factory acting on his own. Now, Director Wang and Chief Engineer Nie of 617 Factory are waiting outside to apologize to you." Nie Xiaoqian said, "Can we just let this matter pass? You can't keep acting like this."

"Let it pass? It's not that easy!" Qin Yang said, "Those who smear me won't have a good ending!"

"Then what do you plan to do?" Nie Xiaoqian asked, "Are you really going to hand over the tank production to First Tractor Factory?"

"If First Tractor Factory had large-scale production capabilities, I would have given it to them long ago. This deal still belongs to 617 Factory, but they absolutely can't think it's their right! We need to introduce a competition mechanism into the system!"

"Competition mechanism?"

"Yes, do they think the meat is theirs? That they can make money lying down? Don't even dream about it!"

...

Liu Qing returned to 617 Factory, covered in dirt and ash, his heart full of anger.

Why should 960 Factory earn so much money just for doing modifications! What's wrong with me trying to secure benefits for 617 Factory?

However, he didn't dare to continue stirring up emotions at 617 Factory. After all, there was a lesson from the past. The commotion at the diesel engine factory was so big, but Qin Yang went and easily calmed everyone down. If Liu Qing continued to cause trouble at 617 Factory, Wang Lin would be even less likely to spare him when he returned.

However, there were always solutions. His eyes darted around, and he thought of something. He rode his bicycle straight to a brother factory.

447 Factory.

"It's impossible. The difficulty of automatic loading is too great. We've already thought of eight design schemes, and all of them have been rejected!" A technician said, "Engineer Zhuang, we really can't think of a better way!"

"Yeah, maybe a semi-automatic loading scheme is acceptable, after all, we don't have to select the shells."

"Even the West doesn't have mature bustle-mounted autoloader, let's just give up."

"What are you saying? What are you all saying?" Zhuang Shuren said angrily, "If eight schemes don't work, we'll think of a ninth! A tenth, even a hundred! We'll definitely find a way to solve it! How can we be discouraged by a little difficulty? Now, everyone, continue to consider new schemes!"

"Engineer Zhuang, Section Chief Liu from 617 Factory is here."

"Which Section Chief Liu?"

"Liu Qing from the sales section."

"I won't see him, I'm busy! Didn't I say? During the development of the 120mm smoothbore gun, I won't see any outsiders!"

"He said it's about the tank gun."

Zhuang Shuren stood up. "Okay, then call him to my office."

In the office, Liu Qing was exaggerating the situation: "960 Factory is already squeezing the light weapons factories to the point of misery, but they're still not satisfied. They're even targeting the idea of making guns! Speaking of tank guns, that's 447 Factory's specialty. Now it's being snatched away by 960 Factory. It's not fair!"

"We're competing fairly. Our 120mm tank gun will definitely not be worse than theirs!" Zhuang Shuren said.

"No, that's not what I'm talking about." Liu Qing realized that Zhuang Shuren had misunderstood and quickly explained, "I'm talking about the 105mm tank gun. They installed a 105mm tank gun on their export-type tank! This gun is a national import project, and 447 Factory is the designated manufacturer. What does it have to do with 960 Factory? Now, they're actually trying to steal this business!"

960 Factory wants to snatch the main gun of the domestically produced third-generation tank, and they also want to snatch the main gun of the export-type tank. Are they going too far? Are they even leaving a way for brother units to survive?

Zhuang Shuren's face instantly turned ugly. This was indeed a big problem!

"That Qin Yang is both the general manager of Fangbei Company and the deputy director of 960 Factory. He's basically covering the sky with one hand! They want to transfer everything from their left hand to their right hand and eat all the benefits, not leaving any way for brother units to survive!" Liu Qing said, "Engineer Zhuang, we have orders for at least a thousand tanks from this new customer. This is a big deal!"

Zhuang Shuren nodded. "Yes, it seems I have to go to the capital to ask what's going on!"

Having successfully incited Zhuang Shuren, Liu Qing was satisfied. He didn't know how big of a mistake he had made.

The cold winter had passed, and the grasslands were still cold, but the capital was already full of green spring, with singing birds and fragrant flowers.

After Zhuang Shuren arrived in the capital, he received news: A conference hosted by Leader Fang, where Fangbei Industrial Company would give an important report, was about to be held!

Luckily, he had come in person, otherwise, he would only be able to hear the spirit of the conference conveyed.

Their 447 Factory was, after all, a key factory in the military industry. The system was holding a meeting without them!

Zhuang Shuren was very dissatisfied.

The conference room was full of people.

After Leader Fang said a few simple words, the microphone was placed in front of Qin Yang.

"Recently, the arms export trade led by our Fangbei Company has been subjected to a lot of criticism." Qin Yang was young, but he was giving a meeting to so many old people. He wasn't embarrassed at all, and was very generous: "Some people have criticized that 960 Factory is only responsible for modifications, but it wants so much profit, which is unfair, and they even sued to Leader Zhao. After careful consideration, I decided to make some improvements to make it fairer, more open, and more just!"

Wang Lin sat below, his face dark. It was all that damn Liu Qing, stirring up trouble! Now, he had a bad feeling.