"Considering that you are currently studying at a TV university, the department will arrange a special tutor for you to ensure that your studies are not delayed." Zhang Zhen smiled slightly and continued, "In addition, if you have any personal requests, you can raise them. As long as I can help you solve them, I will definitely help you solve them."

"Thank you for your concern for my studies. The thing is, I want to place the project team in Shanghai. Also, there are several colleagues from the factory who are currently studying with me. Their living conditions in Shanghai are very poor. Can I bring them along as well..." said Xu Qiang.

In fact, for Xu Qiang, he is sure that this project will be successful. After all, he has been engaged in aramid paper projects for many years in his previous life and is quite familiar with all the processes and equipment of aramid products. As long as the funds and equipment of the department are in place, he is confident that he can complete this project within a year.

However, Xu Qiang does not want to carry out this project in BJ at the moment, and there are many reasons for this.

On the one hand, BJ is too far away from Jiangxi, and Xu Qiang is still in the stage of accumulating start-up capital. If he works in BJ for a long time, it will be difficult to estimate the business in his hometown. Right now, Xu Qiang's monthly income from the dye business alone is as high as more than 20,000 yuan, which is a huge sum of money. No one will give up easily.

On the other hand, compared to Shanghai, BJ has very strict controls on private business. Various harsh policies and rules discourage many businessmen. The government in Shanghai is much more flexible, and surrounding cities provide great support to private enterprises in towns and villages. These are crucial for Xu Qiang's future supply chain selection for his chemical products business.

As for improving the living conditions of him and his companions in Shanghai, it was purely Xu Qiang's personal need. Moreover, Li Siying and Xu Qiang had collaborated on projects before. She had a high level of electronic technology and had helped the factory successfully develop the third-generation electronic fuse. So Xu Qiang also wanted to bring her into his project team. After all, it was easy to get along with acquaintances.

"You don't want to work in BJ?" Zhang Zhen said with some surprise.

"It's not that I don't want to, but it's a little inconvenient right now. As you know, my relatives and friends are all in Jiangxi, especially my mother. She is currently farming alone in the village. If she works in Shanghai, it's relatively close to my home, and I can go home quickly to take care of her if anything happens. But if she works in BJ, it's too far..."

"You are quite filial." Zhang Zhen smiled and continued, "Actually, if you want to bring your mother to BJ, I can also arrange it for you, including housing and work. But if you want to work in Shanghai so much, that's fine too. You can work in Shanghai."

"Thank you so much."

"Actually, our Fifth Ministry of Machine Building does not have any directly affiliated research institutes in Shanghai, but we can cooperate with the First Ministry of Machine Building. They have directly affiliated universities and research institutes in Shanghai, as well as provincial enterprises such as the Shanghai Paper Mill. As for the accommodation problem of your team, you can also let them solve it." Zhang Zhen said after thinking for a while.

Xu Qiang insisted on conducting research and development in Shanghai, which actually made Zhang Zhen somewhat embarrassed.

Because the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building currently does not have any directly affiliated scientific research unit in Shanghai.

The famous 'Seven Ordnance Industries' of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, that is, the seven universities directly under the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, namely the later BJ University of Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, North University of China, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Shenyang Ligong University, Xi'an University of Technology, and Chongqing University of Technology, are basically all in the north. The reason is very simple. After all, the Northeast is currently the largest heavy industrial base in the country, and the 156 projects assisted by the Soviet Union in the early years were mainly in the Northeast, and some were in the Northwest, Central Plains and other regions. Most of the 'Seven Ordnance Industries' are located in the north, which is also due to practical considerations.

However, the scientific research institutes and colleges under the First Ministry of Machine Building are also widely distributed in the south. In fact, there are many highly overlapping industrial projects between the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building and the First Ministry of Machine Building, including heavy machinery, chemical materials, etc., but one focuses on military use and the other focuses on civilian use.

The two ministries had often cooperated before. In fact, in 1986, the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building (Ministry of Ordnance Industry) and the First Ministry of Machine Building (Ministry of Machinery Industry) finally merged to become the State Machinery Industry Commission.

So Zhang Zhen finally decided to cooperate with the First Ministry of Machine Building and use their research institutes and subordinate enterprises to complete the research and development of aramid paper.

"That's great." Xu Qiang's eyes lit up when he heard that.

It would be the best thing to be able to develop projects in Shanghai without affecting my studies and business.

In fact, if we look at it from the perspective of later generations, since Xu Qiang was able to participate in national scientific research projects, there was no need for him to go into business.

But in fact, these days even if you are a well-known scientist, as long as you are in the system, your income is still very meager.

There was also a saying circulating in this era: "The one who holds a scalpel is not as good as the one who holds a razor, and the one who makes the atomic bomb is not as good as the one who sells tea eggs."

In theory, people who work with scalpels and atomic bombs are in industries with high entry barriers, high technical content, and high knowledge input, and should enjoy higher salaries. But the reality at the time was that people in these fields often received compensation according to the national wage standard, which is commonly known as a "fixed salary."

Xu Qiang has lived in an era of rapid development of the market economy since he was a child, and has enjoyed a lot of happiness brought to him by material life. Naturally, he will not give up the opportunity to enjoy a superior material life for some false fame.

Besides, doing scientific research and making money are not in conflict. As long as Xu Qiang can complete the tasks assigned to him by the country on time, he can still gain fame and honor, and be favored and valued by his superiors.

"Then let's do this first..." Zhang Zhen thought for a moment, then said, "I'll arrange for you to stay at the guesthouse first. You can stay in BJ for the next two days. I have a meeting to discuss the aramid paper project, and I'll notify you to attend. Once the project plan is finalized, you can return to Shanghai."

"Okay!" Xu Qiang responded. "Secretary Luo!" Zhang Zhen shouted to the outside.

The next moment, the middle-aged man in a black and gray Zhongshan suit who had led him here appeared at the door of the office.

"Xiao Luo, take Comrade Xu Qiang to the guesthouse first, give him some meal tickets, and tell him where the canteen is." Zhang Zhen arranged.

"Okay." Secretary Luo responded, then helped Xu Qiang carry his luggage and led him out of the office.

The moment he walked out of the office building, Xu Qiang couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. Even though Zhang was very kind to him, Xu Qiang was still a little nervous.

With the resources provided by the department this time, Xu Qiang is confident that he can quickly complete the mass production project of aramid paper.

Thinking back to the past, Xu Qiang had repeatedly argued with the factory director Liu Biao for 100,000 yuan in research and development funds. In the end, it was only when the funds for the chemical workshop renovation were in place that Liu Biao finally agreed.

This time, Zhang readily agreed to an investment of tens of millions of yuan. The huge gap between the two sides made Xu Qiang somewhat emotional.

Moreover, Zhang obviously understands technology, so there is no problem in discussing technology with such a leader, which can also avoid obstacles and misunderstandings in the communication between the two.

Under Secretary Luo's arrangement, Xu Qiang moved into the guesthouse of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building.

The guesthouse is a three-story house just behind the office building.

There is a sofa, desk, TV, single bed and wardrobe in the room. It is obviously much cleaner than the hotels outside.

There is a small garden in the backyard of the guesthouse, with rockery and a pond. When you open the window, a breath of fresh air rushes towards you.

Looking at the scenery outside the window, Xu Qiang fell into deep thought. After a while, he sat down at the desk, took out paper and pen from his bag, and began to prepare a project plan...

……

At the same time, in Zhang Zhen’s office, Liang Huan, Director of the Technical Department, sat face to face with him.

"Do you mean to let Comrade Xu Qiang be in charge of the mass production project of this aramid paper?"

Liang Huan was shocked after listening to Zhang Zhen's account of his recent meeting with Xu Qiang.

Xu Qiang's successful development of aramid paper shocked the entire leadership of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, so they also knew some information and deeds about Xu Qiang.

However, Liang Huan still found it hard to believe that Xu Qiang would be the person in charge of this project. After all, this was a national key scientific research project with an investment of over 10 million yuan. It sounded a bit ridiculous to let a young man in his early twenties be the person in charge.

"Yes, this is my decision. Your company will also need to send some technical personnel to cooperate with us. I will have a meeting with you to discuss the specific work." Zhang Zhen said.

"But Xu Qiang is too young. If he is appointed as the person in charge of such an important project, it will easily attract attention." Liang Huan frowned slightly and continued, "I am not against your decision, but I think that since he has never been in charge of such a national scientific research project before, why not let him participate in it as a core technical personnel first? After accumulating enough experience and qualifications, it will be much safer for him to be the project leader..."

"Don't underestimate this young man." Zhang Zhen took off his glasses and put them on the table, saying, "As far as I know, when he was working at the 9304 Factory, he completed a military-to-civilian technical transformation and two military battery research and development projects in just over two months. He became a model worker in less than half a year. Even the research and development of aramid paper took less than three months from project establishment to successful research and development. I think it's hard to find another talent like this in the whole country, right?"

"I know that Xu Qiang has strong technical innovation capabilities, but I think he is a little too young to manage such a large project team. I am worried that he lacks management experience... In addition, I have seen some talented young people before, but most of them were short-lived and eventually became mediocre. Do you think Xu Qiang will become like this in the future?"

"Trust people when you employ them, and don't employ people if you don't trust them! Just because he was able to develop aramid paper in three months, he is fully qualified to be the person in charge of this project!" Zhang Zhen glanced at Liang Huan and said, "The gap between our country's technological level and that of developed countries is too big, so we must race against time. We must judge by seniority in everything. If we follow the rules, it may seem safe, but it will actually harm the country! Especially for those of us who are engaged in technological innovation, there is never anything that is 100% certain. Since no one can be sure of completing this project, why can't we let Xu Qiang be the person in charge!?" (End of this chapter)