The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 80 The Big Boss's Opinion [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

"Boss, I have some ideas about exporting to earn foreign exchange, but they are not yet mature."

If I say anything wrong, you have to correct me.

Zhou Zhiqiang first patched up his own words, and then, seeing Leader Sheng nod and smile, continued speaking.

"I have some knowledge of foreign agricultural tractors. The Russians and Americans have the most advanced industrial levels, and their tractors are very similar in that they are mainly high horsepower."

One served collective farms, the other large-capital farms; their horsepower and scale of cultivation were very similar.

"But they rarely produce low-horsepower tractors. They don't consider small-scale farming areas, or rather, they are too lazy to consider them. However, the farming patterns in many countries do not require high-horsepower, high-energy-consuming tractors."

In many small countries, or in intensively cultivated farms and orchards, a low-horsepower tractor is more popular than a high-horsepower agricultural machine. Our country's decentralized farming model requires this type of tractor.

Although they also have state-run farms and forestry farms, at this stage, they mainly rely on individual farming.

Even when communes are established next year, productivity will be concentrated in one place, but the fields will not be concentrated together.

"Therefore, we can focus our attention on Southeast Asian and African countries that have a certain level of strength and a need to develop agriculture; as long as these two conditions are met, given their farming methods, they will definitely need our small tractors."

Zhou Zhiqiang spoke more and more fluently, not even noticing that Director Qiao was pouring him tea.

I was a little thirsty, so I picked up my teacup and chugged it down. Then Director Qiao noticed and picked up the teapot to pour me some tea.

However, if Zhou Zhiqiang noticed, he would definitely think that he has made something of himself now, having the director of the Municipal Bureau of Industry pour him tea.

"Based on the current production efficiency of our Dafeng Machinery Factory, we will definitely be able to meet the target of 1,000 units by the end of the year, and they will all be qualified products."
Once the factory expands and becomes more proficient in the production process, the annual output might reach three thousand or even six thousand units; at that time, it can not only meet the needs of some agricultural areas in our country, but also try to export the surplus to earn foreign exchange.

When Zhou Zhiqiang got to this point, he felt a little thirsty, and then suddenly realized that he had probably said a lot, and the table was now full of dishes, which had gone from two.

Zhou Zhiqiang then added, "Of course, I was just saying this offhand. If there's anything wrong with my thinking, the leaders can just listen to it casually."

Leader Sheng smiled and said, "It's very feasible to just say it casually. What if I let you actually investigate it? Xiao Zhou, I think the foreign trade department is also very suitable for you."

Zhou Zhiqiang quickly said, "Boss, let's forget about the foreign trade department. I still prefer researching technology. Doing other things doesn't make me feel as comfortable as researching technology."

"The idea of ​​export-oriented foreign exchange earnings was just something I came up with casually; the leaders just need to find it useful."

It would be a waste not to use his cheat code to research technology, and he can also receive rewards after collecting and deducing data.

Director Qiao suddenly asked, "Comrade Zhiqiang, what you just said, why not prioritize meeting domestic supply needs before considering exporting to earn foreign exchange?"

Zhou Zhiqiang immediately said, "Because small tractors use diesel engines, and our country is still somewhat lacking in oil resources, we can only promote the widespread use of small tractors once we have more oil reserves."

The problem of oil scarcity will likely only be alleviated after the discovery of the Daqing Oilfield in two years.

At that time, small tractors could not be promoted immediately. We had to wait another four or five years until there was no shortage of oil in the country before small tractors could be introduced.

Prior to this, Zhou Zhiqiang believed that the main focus should be on generating foreign exchange through exports.

However, these are all things that the leaders have to consider. Whether to export, how to export, and how much to export are not things that their factory can decide.

It's probably difficult to communicate with the Municipal Bureau of Industry regarding export earnings; the only option is to have the Ministry of Machine Building report it.

Leader Sheng didn't say much about this matter, but he was thinking that he would collect more information after returning home before making a decision. Based on what Zhou Zhiqiang said, it did seem very feasible, but there were many uncertainties in what Zhou Zhiqiang said; this kind of thing couldn't be decided on a whim, and besides, export-oriented foreign exchange earnings were a novel approach.

The matter was finalized at a meeting last year, and the first meeting was held in the Guangdong region at the beginning of this year. Although the results were good, most of the products that sold well were handicrafts.

They don't produce many industrial products, mostly just bicycles, and they don't have any domestically made machinery.

After all, most of China's heavy industries were established with the help of the Russians, and many industrial products are imitations.
The imitation is not as good as the original Russian one, but there is no other way but to imitate it, otherwise we can't even take the first step.

The small tractor was their first heavy industrial product that could be exported to earn foreign exchange, so even though Sheng Jianhui was a high-ranking leader in the Ministry of Machinery Industry, he didn't dare to give a complete guarantee that it could be used to earn foreign exchange.

It would be fine to go back to the ministry for a meeting to discuss it, but he personally prefers to try it out in Guangdong.

The lunch was fairly comfortable; at least Zhou Zhiqiang ate very well.

The twelve dishes were all very large, probably because Secretary Yan had his assistant give instructions. Today, all the dishes served by the kitchen were delicious and visually appealing.

It's hard to find this kind of dish even in state-run restaurants anymore.

Waste is no longer a good thing these days; by the time they finished eating and left the table, all the plates were empty.

After a short rest in the afternoon, Zhou Zhiqiang, along with the factory director and party secretary, led Leader Sheng and Director Qiao on a tour of the workshop and production line.

As they spoke, the people from the First Ministry of Machine Building were taking notes, treating the matter very formally; they also visited other parts of the Dafeng Machinery Plant, such as the warehouse, logistics, and transportation departments.

Fortunately, they didn't show any weakness, and the warehouse and logistics departments performed reasonably well.

After touring the workshop and production line, Sheng and his entourage suggested going to the conference room to rest for a while.

They did a lot of work today, and apart from lunchtime, they hardly stopped walking.

Upon arriving at the conference room, Leader Sheng and Director Qiao were speaking in hushed tones, but they didn't raise their voices, and Secretary Yan and Factory Director Zhao didn't dare to eavesdrop.

The others also consciously found seats and sat down, but they were quite far from Sheng Jianhui and Qiao Yong.

A dozen minutes later, Leader Sheng stopped talking with Qiao Yong and waved to Yan Junsheng and Zhao Guangzheng, saying, "Comrade Junsheng, Comrade Guangzheng, why are you sitting so far away? Come closer, so I don't have to shout to talk to you."

'You two leaders are whispering to each other, how can they get close?'

However, Secretary Yan and Factory Director Zhao showed no reaction on their faces. They immediately got up and sat down. Then, Secretary Yan said with a smile, "Leaders, what instructions do you have?"

"It wasn't really an instruction; I just chatted with Comrade Qiao Yong about the expansion of recruitment at Dafeng Machinery Factory."

Sheng Jianhui paused for a moment, then continued, "Expanding production is the right thing to do. Small tractors are qualified agricultural machinery in every respect, and the production volume must be increased in the future."

Comrade Qiao Yong is very supportive of this, but I have a suggestion that I need to discuss.

"That means we can have Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Factory, but we can't lose Dafeng Machinery Factory."

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)