Meng Guangming originally thought that it would take Xu Qiang at least one to two years to complete the research and development and assembly of the entire production line, but he never expected that only two months later, Xu Qiang's project had reached the final production line trial stage.

"We have confirmed with the manufacturers of the cooperative project that the Mechanical Equipment Factory No. 1 has indeed completed the assembly and preliminary commissioning of the entire production line. Other manufacturers have also completed the processing of all related equipment parts half a month ago. In addition, Deputy Director Liu and I have just finished our inspection at Factory No. 1. Comrade Xu Qiang's project has indeed met the conditions for starting the trial run..."

"Uh..." Hearing this, Meng Guangming thought for a moment, then said: "Notify Factory 1 to seal and protect this new production line. I may bring experts from the department to Shanghai in the next few days to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of this production line."

"Okay, I'll notify Factory 1 right away to get ready!" said the person in charge on the other end of the phone.

"We also need to notify Xu Qiang and others to prepare a trial run plan, as well as the product's production process instructions. We also need to train the workers involved in the trial run so that they can master the basic operating procedures before the experts arrive," said Meng Guangming.

Meng Guangming has participated in the acceptance of many major domestic technical equipment, so he is very familiar with the relevant processes.

If nothing unexpected happens this time, the First Ministry of Machine Building will definitely let him lead the team to Shanghai to inspect Xu Qiang's project. In order to ensure the efficiency of the inspection, a lot of work must be prepared in advance.

"Understood. I'll arrange it."

"That's it." Meng Guangming said and hung up the phone.

Sitting on a chair, Meng Guangming lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, put it out, stood up, put on his coat, and left the office directly...

……

At the same time, in the office of the Minister of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, Zhang Zhen took the report handed over by Secretary Luo Ping and read it carefully.

"How is Professor Xu now?" Zhang Zhen asked with a frown after a moment.

"After the accident, Professor Xu was immediately sent to the PLA General Hospital. He has just been rescued and should be out of danger, but his left eye is blind, his right arm was blown off, and he has multiple fractures all over his body. He is currently in a coma. The doctor said he may be at risk of hemiplegia in the future..."

"Hey!" Hearing this, the usually calm Zhang Zhen couldn't help but sigh, and then asked: "What about the other people present?"

"In addition to Professor Xu, three other people were injured in this laboratory explosion, but their injuries are not fatal. One of them had two fingers blown off and is currently in the PLA General Hospital. The other two only suffered some minor injuries and have been discharged after simple bandaging." Luo Ping said.

"Go back and tell Director Yang of the main hospital to tell them to make sure the hospital does its best to treat Professor Xu. Also, ask the Industrial College to arrange a few more people to keep Professor Xu by his side. If Professor Xu's injuries worsen, report to me immediately." Zhang Zhen instructed Luo Ping in a serious tone.

"Okay, I'll let you know right away."

"Also... call Director Guo over. I have something to discuss with him."

"Okay." Luo Ping said, and turned away.

Seeing Luo Ping leave, Zhang Zhen took another look at the report. After a moment, he took off his reading glasses and wiped his eyes, which were already beginning to become moist.

Just at this moment, there was a knock on the door, and then a man in his fifties appeared at the door.

This person was Guo Tiemin, director of the General Office of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building.

Guo Tiemin participated in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea in his early years. Because of his repeated military exploits, he was promoted to regiment commander after the war. After demobilization, he came to the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building. With his pragmatic and resolute style, he gradually gained a high prestige within the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building. Now he has become the director of the General Office of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building.

"Minister Zhang, you're looking for me?"

"Old Guo, please sit down." Zhang Zhen motioned for him to sit down, and then asked, "Do you know about the Industrial College?"

"Ah, I know about this. I just got the news that there was an explosion in a laboratory at the Industrial College last night, and many people were injured..." Guo Tiemin glanced at Zhang Zhen and continued, "I don't know the specific situation yet. I was planning to call their college to ask."

"The preliminary report on the accident is out. Take a look." Zhang Zhen said, pushing the report that Secretary Luo had sent him in front of Guo Tiemin.

"Uh." Seeing this, Guo Tiemin picked up the report and started reading it. Soon, Guo Tiemin's expression became serious.

"Professor Xu was seriously injured!? I'm going to the hospital to visit him right away!" Guo Tiemin said as he was about to stand up.

"Old Guo, please sit down! Old Xu is still in a coma. If you go to the hospital now, it will only cause trouble!" Zhang Zhen frowned and continued, "I have already arranged everything at the hospital. We will make arrangements after he wakes up."

"Well... okay." Hearing Zhang Zhen's words, Guo Tiemin had no choice but to sit down. He sighed and said, "When I visited the Industrial College last month, I chatted with Lao Xu for a long time. I didn't expect something like this to happen..."

"Who could have foreseen such a thing?" Zhang Zhen shook his head and said, "But fortunately, Professor Xu is no longer in danger of death. This is a blessing in disguise."

"But with such an injury, I guess he won't be able to engage in scientific research in the future." Guo Tiemin looked regretful and continued, "Professor Xu's accident this time is also a major loss to our Fifth Ministry of Machine Building and the country. It seems that the 8702 project will have to be terminated indefinitely..."

The Professor Xu that Zhang Zhen and Guo Tiemin were talking about is actually Xu Yuanming, the director of the laboratory of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at BJ Industrial College.

Xu Yuanming can be said to be the most prestigious expert in explosion theory and explosives application technology in the country. His previous research results on military explosives have played a major role in the modernization of the national defense industry.

In the autumn of 1951, Xu Yuanming graduated from Jinhua Middle School and took part in the national college entrance examination in New China. He was admitted to both the School of Engineering of Nanjing University and the Northeast Ordnance School in Shenyang with excellent results.

When the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea broke out, Xu Genguang, who was unable to join the army, chose the first military school after the liberation of my country - Shenyang Northeast Ordnance School with full enthusiasm.

In 1953, due to the needs of national defense construction, Northeast Ordnance School merged with BJ Industrial College (the predecessor of BJ University of Science and Technology), and Xu Yuanming transferred to the Chemical Engineering Department of BJ Industrial College to study pyrotechnics and explosives.

In 1962, Xu Yuanming joined the research team of the "Project 032", a major national and defense scientific research project. His main task was to develop new high-energy explosives to meet the needs of nuclear weapons development.

After three years of unremitting efforts and countless practical explorations, the team led by Xu Yuanming invented a new formula of explosives. High-energy plastic explosives (HBJ and HJJ) came into being, and the innovative use of the additive glass glue (БФ glue) solved a series of problems.

At that time, the nuclear weapons development project did not adopt their research results, and used high-energy explosives developed by another unit. However, in the later use, the explosives always had cracks and poor formability. The nuclear weapons development project adopted Xu Yuanming's scientific research results and added glass glue as an additive to solve the problem, which also made the development of my country's new generation of nuclear weapons a complete success.

Due to the confidentiality requirements of nuclear weapons development, it was not until more than 30 years later that Xu Yuanming learned that his research results had contributed to the development of my country's new nuclear weapons.

Even the warhead explosives of the 9304 rocket launchers produced by the 69 Factory where Xu Qiang worked were developed by Xu Yuanming.

The 69 explosives used in the domestic 8321 rocket launchers earlier had problems and were easily corroded, causing misfires.

In 1971, Xu Yuanming served as the director of the laboratory of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (Department 8) of BJ Industrial College, and received the task from his superiors to develop new explosives for armor-piercing shells. This task was named 8701, which means the first major task of the Department 70 in the s.

After two years of practice and exploration, Xu Yuanming figured out the use of dinitrotoluene (DNT) instead of No. 8321 explosive in 4, solving the thermal stability problem of the explosive. This also marked the successful development of the 8701 high-energy explosive.

In 1978, this achievement won the National Science Conference Award, which was the first national award received by Xu Yuanming as the main developer.

The national honor did not stop Xu Yuanming from pursuing scientific research. During the production process at the 8701 factory, he discovered that the acidity and alkalinity of water in different regions would slightly affect the stability of certain substances in explosives. To this end, he conducted in-depth research and innovatively introduced a buffer system into the explosives to automatically absorb the acid and alkali precipitated from the ammunition, thereby ensuring the long-term stability of the explosives.

It can be said that Xu Yuanming is a legend in the domestic explosives field and a national treasure-level expert.

Naturally, he felt very sad about losing such a top expert, who was also an old friend of Zhang Zhen.

As for the so-called 8702 Project, it is a new third-generation high-density explosives project that Xu Yuanming took over at the beginning of last year. The project has not yet made any breakthroughs, and such a major accident has occurred.

"Project 8702 cannot be terminated easily. It is related to our progress in catching up with developed countries in Europe and America in terms of third-generation improved high-density explosives. Once the project is terminated, the gap between us and foreign military products will be further widened." Zhang Zhen said to Guo Tiemin with a serious face, "You often inspect scientific research institutes in China. Based on your understanding of domestic technical talents, is there anyone suitable to replace Professor Xu in charge of Project 8702?"

"This..." Guo Tiemin was embarrassed when he heard this. He said, "In fact, there are many excellent chemical experts in China, but I have not found an explosives expert who can reach the level of Professor Xu..." (End of this chapter)