Scholars in the courtyard

Sijiucheng, Red Star Steel Plant.

Yang Xiaotao stood aside and watched the busy people, his face calm.

Beside him, the old Taoist An Zhongsheng and others were excitedly looking at the rolling mill that was about to be formed in front of them.

Since the machinery factory made the first four-roller rolling mill, after the test of the Third Machinery Department, the results were good. The pressed steel strip met the other party's needs and was even closer to the theoretical data.

According to the news sent back by the Third Machinery Department, the four-roller rolling mill can fully meet the steel plant's demand for tinplate production.

So the machinery factory made another one in the past two days.

It's just right to try it today.

"Mr. Yang, it's done!"

Hou Baowei came up and reported to Yang Xiaotao with a smile.

"Thank you for your hard work. Comrades, check it again. It will be used in a while. Don't let anything go wrong."

"Okay!"

Hou Baowei agreed and turned to check, while Yang Xiaotao glanced at An Zhongsheng.

"Director An, how are you preparing?"

An Zhongsheng looked serious, "Boss Yang, we are ready! As long as there is no problem here, we can start production immediately."

"Okay, then I'll leave this to you!"

Yang Xiaotao knew that he was just a spectator here, and professional matters should be handed over to professionals.

An Zhongsheng took over the command of the scene, and Yang Xiaotao took the Taoist priest and Guan Zhiyong to the rest area on the side.

There, Yang Youning was chatting with a middle-aged man.

"Taoist priest, how is the output of alloy now?"

Taoist priest Zhang stroked his beard, "It's more than last month, mainly because there is more raw material supply, technology improvement, and output will increase accordingly."

"This needs to be continuously improved."

"The steel production of the steel plant has now reached saturation, and there is still room for improvement in alloy production. You must improve the process as soon as possible and increase production."

"This alloy will be in more and more demand in the future."

As Yang Xiaotao walked and talked, the Taoist priest on the side nodded, and then thought of something and asked again, "The people from the Metallurgical Bureau came last time and said they wanted to deepen cooperation and study what kind of high High-strength alloy steel. You were busy with greenhouses in Yangjiazhuang at the time, so I didn't tell you. "

"High-strength alloy steel? Isn't this already made?"

"I don't know. They just mentioned it. It seems that they received a big order to make a big ship."

"But there is no steel that meets the requirements in China now, so they made the request."

Zhang Laodao shook his head and said, and then without waiting for Yang Xiaotao to ask, he continued, "At least it must be anti-corrosion and anti-magnetic."

"I'm not saying discouraging words. With our current research strength, it will be difficult for three to five years."

Hearing what Laodao said, Yang Xiaotao also nodded.

Shipbuilding is far different from carbuilding.

At least the consumption of steel is hundreds of times.

"What plans do we have for United Star?"

The old Taoist shook his head, "There is no problem with research and development, but the process improvement has been ongoing."

"Then next, it's just right to find something to do!"

The old Taoist stroked his beard and did not object, and then heard Yang Xiaotao say again, "Just a good opportunity to get some research funds!"

Instantly, his eyes lit up, "Wulian Tianzun!"

"I'll arrange it right away!"

Afterwards, Yang Xiaotao talked to Guan Zhiyong about the expansion of the steel plant.

Because the demand for steel from the machinery factory is increasing, the output of the steel plant has been saturated, and changes need to be made to meet it.

Nowadays, except for some of the open furnaces used for research, the transformation of other converters has been completed.

If you want to increase production again, it is imperative to expand the scale.

Fortunately, this matter has been put on the agenda for a long time, and the steel plant has also made preparations.

"We plan to build two more 100-ton converters and start in the spring of next year."

"Most of the machinery and equipment are in place. As long as there is no shortage of manpower, I believe it will be completed in less than a year!"

Guan Zhiyong said with pride, and Yang Xiaotao felt the same way.

The production environment of the steel plant is more severe than that of the machinery plant. It is a test for workers in terms of safety and environment.

"The comrades in the steel plant are all great. This not only guarantees the demand for steel in the machinery plant and other branches, but also builds other industries through alloy production. The superiors all affirmed this during the meeting of the First Ministry of Machinery and praised you many times."

Guan Zhiyong's face became more excited after hearing this.

"However, when expanding, we must also focus on ensuring production tasks. After the New Year, it will only be busier than now. You must be mentally prepared."

"Don't worry, Mr. Yang, we have already done ideological mobilization."

Guan Zhiyong said seriously. Now he is no longer the director of the dilapidated steel plant, but the director of the steel plant under the Red Star Machinery Plant. He has begun to look at the problem from the perspective of the director.

"We produce more steel, which means that the revolutionary construction is faster. I am very happy."

Yang Xiaotao smiled and nodded, then came to Yang Youning and sat down beside him.

On the other side, a middle-aged man crossed his legs, looking very smart, which made him look more like a greasy uncle.

In fact, this man's job is really related to greasy.

This is the director of the Great Wall Canning Factory in Tianjin. It is said that the canned food produced is sold to the alliance and has a very good reputation.

The most famous one is the braised pork canned food, which is a good thing that cannot be bought in domestic supply and marketing cooperatives.

When I came to the steel factory this time, I also heard that the machinery factory had solved the tinplate quality problem. Although I hadn't confirmed it yet, I couldn't wait to come over.

Yang Xiaotao believes that if it really succeeds, he will probably be able to come up with a bunch of task orders immediately.

"The experiment has already begun, and the results are expected to be available soon."

As soon as Yang Xiaotao finished speaking and sat down, the middle-aged man smiled cheerfully and said, "You are personally guiding me. No wonder the machinery factory is developing so rapidly."

"Director Xu made a serious statement, I'm just going to cheer for the comrades!"

"You are being too modest. I have heard about the machine factory, otherwise I wouldn't be here now."

Director Xu laughed, and then looked at Yang Youning aside, "Old Yang, think about what we can do at our age?"

"Except for fighting on the battlefield with a hundred pounds of meat, that's all it can do for revolutionary construction."

After hearing this, Yang Youning shook his head, "You are a little bit better, but I am a little bit less than you."

"What's missing?"

"Of course it's one less scar."

"What's there to say?"

The two are also old acquaintances, and their conversation seems to be close to each other.

Yang Xiaotao watched from the side without disturbing the two of them from reminiscing, while the experiment below had already begun.

Below, after some preparations, An Zhongsheng confirmed that the experiment has started.

Soon, the production process of tin-plated iron began, and the processing part of the rolling mill has become the focus of everyone's attention.

This was the problem before. The tin-plated iron produced by the Alliance's rolling mill was unsightly and extremely thick.

Later, the machinery factory developed a three-roll rolling mill, but after some experiments, it was found that although it was better than the one produced by the alliance, the thickness was once reduced to about five millimeters, but compared with the tinplate used to make cans abroad, its thickness was less than one millimeter.

This gap represents the efficiency of material utilization and production costs.

Now, it depends on whether this four-roller rolling mill can bring this technology to within one millimeter.

"Be careful and stay safe."

Wearing a safety hat, An Zhongsheng gave instructions loudly. His palms became sweaty as he looked at the plates that were about to enter the rolling mill.

squeak

Bang bang

The sound of the rolling mill was heard, and the two movable rollers were changing the shape of the plate bit by bit. Zhou Hong, who was supporting the operation on the side, was on guard. If something went wrong, he would immediately cut off the power supply to ensure the machine's operation. intact.

Fortunately, the quality of the steel rolling mill was decent, and the stamped plates quickly became thinner. Moreover, Zhou Hong's observation found that the thickness of the steel plates this time was much thinner than before.

A smile suddenly appeared in his eyes.

At this time, Yang Xiaotao and others also focused their attention below, waiting for the result.

"The can skins we use now are all imported from abroad."

"Each can can earn one dollar, and four points must be earned by this piece of iron."

"If our country solves this problem and uses tinplate produced by ourselves, then these four points can be purebred."

"If this happens in a year, I will earn an extra ten million yuan."

"This is an alliance currency."

Director Xu sighed with emotion, but his eyes never left the production line below.

This is what he came here for.

If you can use domestic canned skins, it doesn't matter even the key points.

After all, it is purely domestically produced.

"Don't worry, Lao Xu. The Third Level Department has already tried it and made a millimeter thick iron sheet. It will definitely be successful here."

Yang Youning opened his mouth to comfort him.

Yang Xiaotao also nodded, "Yes, I have confidence in our workers."

bang bang bang

While several people were talking, applause came from one side. Everyone in the steel plant immediately gathered together, and Yang Xiaotao and the other two people also looked forward.

At this time, the steel plates that have just been processed by the rolling mill are entering the pickling process, and there are more plates waiting for finishing.

After a series of processing, Yang Xiaotao asked someone to hold a vernier caliper while looking at the boards being dried on the table not far away, "Quickly measure it."

An Zhongsheng took over the truck but went into battle himself.

At this moment, everyone's attention was immediately attracted.

Quickly clamp the cross section of the tinplate, and then look at the scale on it.

"0.81mm!"

After An Zhongsheng finished speaking, his eyes immediately became blurry.

"I'll try somewhere else."

An Zhongsheng then went around to do some testing, and came to the same conclusion: "0.82 mm!"

This shows that the precision of this steel rolling machine is very high, and the materials used did not cut corners and met the requirements.

Otherwise it would be impossible to achieve such uniformity.

"Okay, good job."

When Director Xu heard the results, his mouth dropped to the back of his head.

"0.8, that's enough, that's enough."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to shake Yang Youning's hand, "Old Yang, what we discussed earlier is settled."

"Don't worry, I brought a few boxes of cans with me when I came this time, as a reward for the efforts of the comrades in the steel plant."

"That's not okay. This is what revolutionary workers should do."

Yang Youning refused repeatedly, but Director Xu was indeed firm, "Old Yang, this is our intention."

"Oh, we are still doing this!"

Yang Youning squinted his eyes with a smile. The previous negotiation was naturally to provide tinplate if it was successful, and the other party would give the order to him and then submit it to his superiors for approval.

In fact, after the order was handed over to the machinery factory, there was no objection from above when it was submitted.

And these canned foods are obviously "hard work fees".

"Well, I'll thank the workers in the canning factory on behalf of my comrades."

"You're welcome. We'll have a lot of cooperation in the future."

Yang Youning said without hesitation, and smiled at Yang Xiaotao, meaning that there would be canned foods for lunch today.