Siheyuan: Taking over the steel mill

The group moved quickly, and under the leadership of Su Chen, they soon arrived at the production line of water pipes. Compared with the complex gas tanks, the various small parts made the ** leaders feel boring, but their interest in water pipes increased a lot.

Since the location of the water pipe production line is remote and they had not received any notice of the visit, the workers were surprised to see a large group of people. However, after recognizing that the leader was in the front, they immediately put themselves into a more intensive work state to prepare for the inspection.

The skills of these workers generally reached the level of **-level fitters or above. The pipes in their hands turned red after being roasted by the flames. With their skilled movements, they instantly formed the pipe parts. The workers operated skillfully and controlled the rhythm skillfully. The newly produced water pipes were bent and deformed rapidly in their hands with residual heat.

The leader was very impressed by the busy and orderly production scene and could not help but stop to take a closer look. Although there were also skilled workers working beside the gas tank assembly line, it still felt less real and intuitive than here.

Seeing the water pipe spinning flexibly in the hands of the workers, the leader was very interested and even wanted to try it out. Before he left, he asked one of the workers, "Hello, comrade, can I try to operate it?"

The person who asked him the question was a senior fitter with gray hair and a grade 7 job. He turned around and saw that it was a leader. He handed the other person a pair of protective gloves without hesitation and said, "No problem. Just watch me do it. Making water pipes is very simple."

He began to demonstrate as he spoke, and after a series of precise and quick operations, a complete pipe was presented to everyone. Such a high-level display of craftsmanship impressed all the people present.

He put on heat-insulating gloves, picked up a piece of still hot water pipe rough material with great interest, and rubbed it a few times casually.

Although he was a military leader, he was obviously not as adept as a skilled worker in this regard, so the movements of rubbing the water pipe seemed a bit unfamiliar and clumsy.

Fortunately, the process itself was not particularly difficult, and he found the trick in a short time. From the initial sluggish movements, he gradually became free, and mastered the technique in just five sections of the steel pipe.

Soon, he had produced ten water pipes. The others watched and let him do it himself. The leader of the Ministry of Industry seemed to be hesitant to speak, but in the end he just stood aside silently.

The accompanying personnel also followed closely behind, fearing that the leader would be injured during the operation.

But this military leader had strong operational capabilities. In less than a quarter of an hour, the water pipe in his hand became straighter and smoother.

When the last water pipe was completed, he finally took off his heat-insulating gloves, stepped back a few steps, and looked at the finished product he had made with a satisfied smile on his face.

If he had not been required to participate in the battle, he would have hoped to be a proud worker. Now this small sense of accomplishment made him feel very happy. He nodded and examined how many of the water pipes he made were unqualified.

In addition to the production process, this tap water production line also has a special quality inspection section. Even the water pipes made by military leaders themselves need to pass this process inspection.

Due to the poor quality of the first few pipes, they were quickly picked out and placed aside for discarded pipes.

The pipes were not discarded but sent back to be melted down and remade. Military leaders were embarrassed when they saw some of the pipes being picked out.

"It turns out that there are differences in professions. My technical level needs to be improved." He said with a smile, but found that the proportion of qualified products was actually not low.

Except for the first few that did not meet the standards, the remaining six were completely qualified and were sent to the next stage of processing along with other finished products. The military leaders were full of curiosity and followed closely behind, only to see that the qualified products were neatly stacked together.

These water pipes are not used directly, and rifling is required to improve performance.

Su Chen said verbally that these were ordinary water pipes, but in fact they could not be sold at all without rifling.

After the qualified products are gathered together, they are handed over to the workers in the next production line who are responsible for processing the rifling. These workers are skilled and efficient, and they can easily add rifling even if the inner wall of the water pipe is extremely smooth.

In just a few seconds, they can carve the entire pipe and put it back on the assembly line for further assembly.

Although this process can theoretically be completed by machinery, it is still necessary to rely on manual labor due to the high cost and the fact that the factory has not yet purchased a batch of equipment specifically for rifling processing.

Although the workers do everything manually, their movements are extremely precise.

Although the rifling inside each water pipe is subtly different, from a single angle, they are almost as accurate as if they were precision-made by a machine.

The military leaders' eyes widened when they saw the workers' delicate operation.

After inspecting the water pipe production line all the way here, the military leaders quickly understood Su Chen's intention.

At a glance, he saw through the nature of the so-called "water pipe" - this was not just an ordinary water pipe, but actually contained rifling, which was obviously suitable for use as a high-quality gun barrel.

This "water pipe" is nothing more than a **. The military leaders expected that Su Chen would probably insist again that it was an ordinary water pipe.

After all, he had been around guns for many years, and at a glance he could confirm that these were all parts of ** real ammunition.

But since Su Chen flatly denied it, he didn't point it out.

Watching the water pipes rolling on the production line, every step from processing to packaging is very standardized and orderly, just like a ** factory.

However, the workers seemed unaware of this and there was no strange expression on their faces.

The military leaders couldn't help but sigh secretly: Only a shrewd businessman like Su Chen can run a steel mill so successfully.

He turned to Su Chen with a slightly complicated look.

At this time, Su Chen remained calm and praised the water pipes for being well made, saying that the quality was almost up to the level of mid- to senior-level technicians.

He still firmly claimed that it was an ordinary water pipe and refused to admit that he was producing gun barrels.

The Red Star Steel Rolling Mill is absolutely just a regular civilian manufacturing plant! Indeed!

It was not until Su Chen suddenly came to his senses that he realized that the military leaders were staring at him.

Seeing the leader's meaningful expression, he quickly coughed twice.

Just by eye contact, he knew that the military leaders might have noticed his little trick. "This is a new technology we developed."

“Rifled water pipes can speed up the flow of water and help conserve water.”

"Not only that, it can also reduce the weight of water pipes, making them more effective in arid areas."

Su Chen's explanations were obviously untenable, but the military leaders could hear his intentions and did not expose them to his face.

In his heart, he couldn't help but secretly think that Su Chen was really quick-witted and could conceal the matter of producing gun barrels so secretly.

Although there was a hint of sarcasm in his heart, he looked at Su Chen with a rather gentle gaze.

Times have changed. After all, it is no longer the era of planned economy. In the context of market economy, the old methods, such as the production methods of the previous state-owned factories, are no longer applicable. Su Chen pointed out a new development path for the steel rolling mill, so it is best to follow Su Chen's method.

Although this young man looked a little cunning, he did help the steel mill workers to make a living to a great extent and also made a great contribution to the country.

According to materials previously reviewed by the military **, Suchen rehired a large number of laid-off workers and some retired old workers.

Putting aside the fact that those retirees are older, the fact that so many laid-off workers have been absorbed into the steel rolling mill that Su Chen is in charge of has greatly alleviated the employment pressure in the community.

The military authorities are well aware of the negative impact on social stability if these able-bodied workers lose their jobs.

Therefore, since Su Chen had not violated any law and had done a lot of practical things, the military authorities would not make things difficult for him for no reason.

However, compared with the military's knowledge of weapons and equipment,

Several officials from the Ministry of Industry had no idea that the water pipes could actually be gun barrels.

After all, outwardly these seemingly ordinary water pipes have nothing in common with real gun barrels, which are usually black and cold.

Although this dark blue water pipe is also made of seamless steel, it looks rather simple in appearance and does not display the traditional industrial beauty; not to mention it is similar to the smooth, dark and metallic gun barrels that several cadres from the Ministry of Industry have come into contact with in the past.

Even if these people have held a rifle before, they have never carefully examined the inside of the rifling;

And they have all gone through basic safety training and understand that the muzzle of a gun cannot be pointed at anyone at will, even at someone of a high status like themselves. Therefore, they are not familiar with the actual structure of a gun barrel.

After hearing Su Chen's far-fetched explanation, several officials from the Ministry of Industry actually believed it.

"Think about it, it is true. Could it be that the spiral water flow can really flow faster?" an official said thoughtfully. "I didn't expect that there is so much knowledge in the water pipes."

"I learned something new," he continued. "Director Su is indeed very knowledgeable."

Su Chen smiled and did not accept the compliments directly. Instead, he modestly said, "Thank you for the compliment. This is the result of everyone's joint efforts. I just made some suggestions."

Su Chen then summarized this statement, "The biggest feature of this new type of water pipe is that it is particularly suitable for use in countries with scarce resources."

This statement hinted that Su Chen was selling this type of water pipe to places with scarce resources, which he called the black continent market. He knew very well that if he did not mention the ins and outs of this foreign exchange, it would make the upper management speculate even worse, so he simply made it clear.

The military leaders had obviously also received the intelligence and knew the whole process of the matter; seeing that he explained it frankly, the military leaders nodded in agreement.

It is true that on the surface there are no major problems with the products sold to the Black Continent, but after careful inspection it is not difficult to discover that this is actually a disguised arms deal.

However, Su Chen cleverly hid all of this under the general civilian goods trade and handled it cleanly.

When Su Chen mentioned the countries in the Black Continent, he couldn't help but think of the task of sending several workers to assemble **.

I wonder how they are progressing?

Su Chen quickly left the Yangcheng Military Exhibition, and Assistant Zhang returned to the factory after finishing the work at hand.