A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Li Huaide became anxious upon hearing this.

Good heavens, haven't I just let a wolf into my house?

He immediately grabbed Liu Mingzhong, intending to throw him out.

"No, the Ministry of Machinery has backups of the blueprints. Why don't you just go to the Ministry of Machinery and get the blueprints and make them yourself? Why are you always targeting our people?"

"Let me tell you, Jiangxia is not lent out!"

"Even the deputy minister of the Ministry of Machinery Industry tried to borrow it yesterday, but he still failed."

Seeing that he couldn't pull Liu Mingzhong, Li Huaide simply used his fat belly to push against him.

Jiang Xia chuckled and stopped him, then looked Liu Mingzhong up and down with interest.

He was dark-skinned and thin, with a slightly puffy face. He wore a Zhongshan suit with four pockets, but it was made of blue cotton, making him look somewhat bulky. One corner of his suit was smeared with engine oil.

Compared to Li Huaide's woolen outfit, it looked somewhat cheap.

However, he does seem like someone who gets things done.

Jiang Xia has always held the senior colleagues who get things done in high esteem.

Of course, whether Liu Mingzhong deserves this respect is something Jiang Xia will have to test.

"Director Liu, may I ask why you want me to go? Do you think there's anything wrong with it?"

Liu Mingzhong slapped his thigh: "That's right! I went down to take a look. Your power steering system is a rack and pinion system, right? And it's based on the FAW CA10 truck."

"The front wheel of our Yellow River truck is different from that of the Jiefang truck. Trying to copy it exactly from the blueprints would be a disaster!"

“Our trucks are wider, and the front wheels are also bigger than those of the Jiefang trucks…”

Alright, from these few words, Jiang Xia knew that this factory manager was a man of action. At the very least, he knew that different sizes required different hydraulic assistance.

This is enough!

Jiang Xia pulled Director Liu toward the office, ready for a detailed discussion.

After all, power steering is a really good thing, and it's a shame to let it go to waste.

Although you can modify it yourself, it's always more reasonable to have it pre-installed from the factory.

Yang Youning went out to a meeting early in the morning, and Jiang Xia unceremoniously occupied his office. Anyway, he said he had the receipts in his office and that Jiang Xia could pick them up when he had time, so this way he could get things done in one trip.

Secretary Liu was used to this, and quietly brewed two cups of tea before sitting down with Jiang Xia.

Li Huaide was worried, fearing that Jiang Xia, whom he considered simple-minded, would be deceived by outsiders. He encouraged his coworkers in the small workshop, saying he would help them get credit, and then followed closely behind.

Factory Director Liu sat down and began to pour out his grievances.

It turns out that they had recently copied the Skoda 706RT and made two heavy-duty trucks. Unfortunately, they used rudimentary methods, and the relevant data did not pass the Ministry of Transport's inspection.

"Hey, the engine is no good! Our truck uses engines supplied by the Shanghai Diesel Engine Factory, and they're incredibly heavy! We later found out that they just modified the ones used on ships and handed them over to us!"

Can marine modifications be directly applied to trucks?

Jiang Xia grinned. It really suited the current situation. Regardless of whether it was good or not, he would use it as soon as he had it.

With this setup, it's no wonder it won't pass inspection. I bet half the engine's power is wasted on its own weight.

Hey buddy, why are you bringing up engines again?

This heavy truck must have a six-cylinder engine, right? We don't have any here.

Fortunately, Jiang Xia wasn't in a hurry. He offered Liu a cigarette, indicating that he should speak slowly.

Through Director Liu's explanation, Jiang Xia finally understood what he wanted.

It turns out that even after failing the inspection, the car factory in Jinan did not lose heart and has been trying to find ways to improve the car.

However, the engine cannot be modified too much in a short time, so they can only explore improvements in some peripheral areas.

There was some effect, but it wasn't very noticeable.

Sure enough, at a large meeting of the Ministry of Machine Building, Director Liu saw this new "steering assist device" from the steel rolling mill in the materials distributed at the meeting.

Isn't this exactly what they need?

You have to understand that the Yellow River 150 is an 8-ton heavy-duty truck; turning its steering wheel is no lighter than that of a Jiefang truck. At that moment, they didn't care whether there was a major meeting or not; they found a break and headed straight for the steel rolling mill.

"You're amazing! You even dare to skip a large meeting!"

"Hey, we're just a small factory that hasn't even passed inspection, who would care?" Liu Mingzhong rubbed his hands awkwardly.

"The main problem is that the inspection team from higher authorities is coming again next month, and we're in a hurry! If we fail the inspection again, all the hard work of the hundred or so people in the factory will be for nothing!"

Uh, so he's just desperately trying anything. If it's just to pass the tests, Jiang Xia feels there's not much point in talking to him.

"Director Liu, if I may be frank, simply adding a steering system shouldn't be enough to make your vehicle pass the test. Although this is a steel rolling mill, we've still gone through the process of having tractors inspected by the ministries. Just making turning easier doesn't seem like enough!"

Seeing the change in Jiang Xia's expression, Li Huaide knew that Jiang Xia was unhappy.

Quickly take over the conversation, lest this brat offend someone again.

"Yes, if that's the case, then give me the relevant data and I can revise the drawings for you!" Jiang Xia nodded.

Forget it, if it's just to pass an inspection, then I'll just change the blueprints and get rid of this factory manager. I have a ton of my own things to do; I don't have time to waste on him.

As he spoke, he picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

Seeing Jiang Xia's expression turn cold, Director Liu was still wondering what he had done to offend this engineer.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him: "Hey! Engineer Jiang, I'm inviting you not just for an inspection, no, it's for an inspection, but it's not just that..."

Perhaps he was in a hurry, because Director Liu's words were somewhat incoherent. After calming himself down, he began to narrate again.

It turned out that while they were repairing and patching up the Yellow River heavy truck, they discovered an important problem.

Bearings!

The bearings in the heavy trucks have serious quality problems, which not only affect the load capacity of the heavy trucks, but also their speed.

It's important to understand that a car contains not only gear bearings and shaft support bearings, but also wheel hub bearings, suspension ball joints, and more. When they can't find suitable manufacturers to supply the parts, their bearings are all hand-made.

Hand-grinding wouldn't work, and the Quancheng Automobile Factory wasn't stupid, so they begged and pleaded until they got their hands on an internal grinding machine that had been used countless times before, and started making their own bearings.

Unfortunately, the precision of this grinding machine is really poor. If ten bearings go in to grind, at least eight of them will come out with uneven thickness.

That thing, you can't even fit a steel ball in.

Upon hearing this, Li Huaide seemed to understand, and said with an "oh":

"So, you've come here to ask us to develop a grinding machine?"

Factory Director Liu waved his hand and nodded, "It would be great to have a new bed."

"But hey! That's not going to be in time."

"Actually, we discovered a problem with the grinding machine and thought we could fix it ourselves... but then..."

"As a result, we replaced all the replaceable parts and cleaned everything that needed cleaning, but when we put it back together..."

"They've gone on strike!"

As he spoke, Director Liu looked annoyed.

I should have just left that machine alone. Even though it had a bunch of problems, at least it could produce a qualified finished product, right?

It was a bit of a waste though.

"So, you've asked me to fix this machine?" Jiang Xia suddenly realized.

Factory Director Liu rubbed his hands together and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his bag, which had a big rooster printed on it.

"We'd like to ask you to take a look at this grinding machine, and while you're at it, could you also help us install the power steering? And while you're at it, could you also take a look at the engine?"

Before Jiang Xia could react, Li Huaide slammed his hand on the table.

"You are beautiful!"