Chapter 148 Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers
On Saturday afternoon, Liu Biao convened leaders of various factory departments for a month-end summary meeting as usual.

"...Our factory still has a heavy production task in the fourth quarter. I hope you can mobilize the workers' enthusiasm for production and strive to deliver the last batch of orders smoothly before the end of the year. In addition, we must strictly control production safety issues, which is also the top priority of our factory..."

At the summary meeting, Liu Biao made an impassioned speech and first gave instructions on production arrangements for the new quarter.

However, other leaders in the conference room did not seem to be very enthusiastic about such a meeting. On the surface, they were taking notes seriously, but in fact, their eyes were perfunctory and they did not show any interest at all.

There are many large and small meetings in state-owned enterprises. For a large factory like Shengli Machinery Factory with tens of thousands of employees, the years of glory and comfort have made many of the veterans who originally built the factory gradually become lazy. Only Liu Biao is a true fighter. No matter what time, he is always so energetic and motivated.

"...I have finished what I wanted to say. Now, starting with workshop one, please report on your work this month." After finishing his opening remarks, Liu Biao handed the microphone in front of him to the workshop leader next to him.

"Recently, our workshop has begun to organize employees to thoroughly study and implement the instructions of their superiors, and to carry forward the spirit of not fearing hardship and daring to make sacrifices..." After taking the microphone, Xiao Ming, the director of the workshop, picked up the manuscript that had been prepared long ago, and began his speech.

"Captain Xiao, we have limited time, so please be brief and tell me the specific completion status of your production tasks last month." Liu Biao glanced at the watch on his wrist and said to Xiao Ming with a frown.

"Last month, our workshop completed the processing task of 57 artillery shell primers and shell bodies, including 85 107 anti-aircraft gun shells, 130 cannon shells, and each of and howitzer shells..." Hearing Liu Biao's reminder, Xiao Ming began to report the factory's production situation in detail.

At this time, Shengli Machinery Factory is still in a state of full orders. Two years ago, it was rumored that superiors wanted to cut military orders, but until now there has been no substantial action, and all workshops are operating at full capacity.

"Last month, our tool shop completed the production of 120 molds, 36 fixtures, and more than 1,300 various parts..."

Soon after, several other workshops also began to report on their work progress from the previous month.

"Compared with last month, the production tasks of each of your workshops have been completed well. I hope everyone will keep up the good work." When each workshop reported their production tasks, Liu Biao recorded them while comparing them with the output of last month. It was not until the last workshop finished reporting that a smile appeared on his face. He then turned to Li Cunzhu who was sitting on the other side of him and said, "Old Li, tell me about the situation of your technical department this month."

Liu Biao was still very polite when facing Li Cunzhu. After all, the two had a good personal relationship, and the factory was now facing transformation, so the role played by the technical department became more and more important.

"Last month, our technical department mainly cooperated with various workshops in the factory to solve various product and technical problems encountered in production. We solved several minor problems that occurred in the production process of products. In addition, our department is also developing the electric-22 fuse and the slippery-3 fuse firing mechanism. At the same time, there is also a non-staff project under development..." said Li Cunzhu.

"Extra-staff project? What kind of project is this?" When Liu Biao heard what Li Cunzhu said, he was stunned for a moment and then asked.

"Actually, it is the new artillery fuse battery project developed by Xu Qiang. However, he is not currently in our technical department. But he does have collaboration with our technical department, so it can only be regarded as an off-staff project." Li Cunzhu explained.

"Uh." Upon hearing this, everyone including Liu Biao suddenly understood.

"How is Xu Qiang's project going?" Liu Biao asked casually.

Liu Biao has been busy with other things these days and has not had time to find Xu Qiang. When he saw Li Cunzhu talking about it, he asked.

"Xu Qiang said his sample is ready..."

"Ok?"

Hearing what Li Cunzhu said, everyone in the conference room showed expressions of surprise.

Everyone knew about Xu Qiang's project since the military order was announced. Almost no one believed that Xu Qiang could succeed. After all, it was obvious that a military battery product that even the technical department and the national military industrial enterprises and research institutes could not handle could not be handled by a temporary worker with only a junior high school education. This was simply a fantasy!
But now, Li Cunzhu said that the sample of Xu Qiang's project had been made, which undoubtedly shocked everyone in the conference room. Moreover, there was only more than half a month left before the military order was issued. Even the leaders in the factory who were not engaged in technical work felt that this time was too short. After all, they had seen or participated in the development of new products in the factory before. Without half a year to a year, it was impossible to produce anything good.

"Are you saying that Xu Qiang's new product has been successfully developed?" Liu Biao asked with a serious face.

"He just made a sample, but it hasn't been tested yet..." Li Cunzhu took out the responsibility statement that Xu Qiang gave him, handed it to Liu Biao and said, "Director Liu, I just wanted to talk to you about this today. Since you asked about it at the meeting, I will tell you about his situation..."

"What is this?" Liu Biao asked with a frown when he saw the statement of responsibility.

"I have always disagreed with Xu Qiang sending the samples that have not been tested and evaluated directly to the provincial government, but Xu Qiang insisted that there was no problem with his samples and insisted on writing this statement of responsibility, guaranteeing that he would take full responsibility if there was any problem with the provincial test." Li Cunzhu also frowned and continued, "But our factory has never had a precedent for such a situation. If the sample test fails, the superiors will definitely hold us accountable..."

When people heard what Li Cunzhu said, there was an uproar at the scene. It was obvious that sending a product that had not been tested at the factory to the province was a serious irresponsible behavior, and it would even be a matter of accountability for superiors!
"Then why don't you dissuade him? This is no trivial matter! We are a key military industrial enterprise in the province. How can we do such an irresponsible thing!?" Liu Biao said with a serious face.

"Director Liu, I tried my best to explain the situation to him, but he just wouldn't listen!" It was obvious that Li Cunzhu couldn't take the blame for Xu Qiang. He just said, "Besides, I can't do anything about what he did..."

"How could you not have a solution?"

"First of all, we don't have any chemical engineering technicians in our factory. Old Shen has always been the head of the laboratory, but his major is engineering mechanics, which has nothing to do with chemistry. Other technicians have taught themselves some chemistry, but their level is really limited and they are not enough to undertake the testing of chemical products such as military batteries." Li Cunzhu paused and continued, "In addition, the battery product developed by Xu Qiang this time is a military battery that claims to be able to work normally under extreme temperatures, and our factory does not have such extreme temperature testing equipment. This equipment is only available in the provincial research institute. Therefore, whether it is talent or equipment, Xu Qiang's products cannot be deeply tested in the factory."

"Forehead……"

After hearing this, everyone present suddenly understood, and for a moment, the entire conference room was silent.

"…Is there really no way?" After a moment, Liu Biao broke the silence and asked Li Cunzhu.

After all, Liu Biao is not a technical person. In the current situation, he can only rely on Li Cunzhu. After all, this is a highly professional matter and Liu Biao cannot make hasty decisions.

"I think since Xu Qiang has already written a statement of responsibility, we should just send the samples directly to the province. We can explain the situation to our superiors in advance. I think they will understand." Li Cunzhu said after a moment of hesitation.

"But if it fails, Xu Qiang will..."

"Then the responsibility can only be borne by Xu Qiang alone. I think he considered the consequences when he issued the military order." Li Cunzhu said with a raised eyebrow.

"This Xu Qiang is really a young and brave man who is not afraid of tigers." At this time, the deputy director Xie Changjiang, who had been sitting silently next to him, finally spoke. He still had his signature smile on his face and said, "In fact, I admire this young man very much. He has just joined the factory for more than a month, but he has caused so many big things. To be honest, our factory has been profitable over the years, and everyone has been used to a comfortable life. We really don't have the sharpness and drive we had when the factory was founded. Xu Qiang dared to stand up and innovate at this time. This is a very rare thing. So I think, whether he succeeds or not this time, we should support him..."

Xie Changjiang is a well-known "good guy" in the factory. Although he holds the position of deputy factory director, he does not actually have much real power in the factory. He rarely speaks in meetings. After all, he will retire in two years and is unwilling to get involved in factory affairs.

But no one present dared to offend him. After all, Xie Changjiang was the deputy director appointed by the Provincial Defense Science and Technology Office to be parachuted into the factory. He had been responsible for managing the daily work of several military representatives in the factory. If the products of Shengli Machinery Factory could not pass the quality acceptance of the military representatives, it would be impossible to deliver the order.

"Director Xie, you are right. Xu Qiang's spirit is indeed worthy of encouragement. We have always supported him..." Li Cunzhu saw that Xie Changjiang actually stood up to speak for Xu Qiang, and then said: "But the failure of Xu Qiang's project will also bring certain economic and reputation losses to the factory. Apart from other things, the 30 ampoules for acid filling that he requested to be customized this time are worth more than 8,000 yuan, not to mention the other parts he processed in the factory. In addition, it also gave the superiors the impression that the R&D work is not rigorous, and this invisible trend is even greater! So if Xu Qiang's project fails this time, he must be severely punished. Otherwise, once this precedent is set, there will be more wasteful unfinished projects in the future!"

(End of this chapter)