Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Because apart from cadres like Gao Kelin, Bai Rubing, and Yao Zhe who were originally from the Suiyuan base, most of the other cadres were former subordinates of Wei Hongjun. Many of them were still directly under Wei Hongjun because they were affiliated with the North China Military Region.

Wei Hongjun is a member of the Political Bureau.

So he was in the middle of the action when the ribbon was cut. Afterwards, Wei Hongjun looked at the excited soldiers and civilians and said, "Comrades, Comrade Li Fuchun and I are here on behalf of the Central Committee and the State Council to celebrate the early production of Baotou Steel's No. 1 blast furnace. In such a once barren place, it is precisely because of the great cooperation between the military and civilians and the efforts of our comrades that we were able to put the No. 1 blast furnace into production ahead of schedule, laying the foundation for industrialization in Baotou. You are not only heroes in the construction of Baotou Steel, but also heroes in the construction of the Republic. Comrades, I hope that you will continue to demonstrate your sense of ownership and make Baotou Steel even better."

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the No. 1 blast furnace began to operate.

Wei Hongjun was thrilled as he watched the molten iron pouring out of the No. 1 blast furnace. This was molten iron, which would eventually become steel. The central government had plans for Baotou's transportation, and many railways were planned for construction around the city in the coming years.

Now that we have Baotou Steel, we can contract to produce the steel rails for the railway construction.

This is a huge support for the construction of Northwest Railway.

Historically, Baotou Iron and Steel didn't build its No. 1959 blast furnace until 1953. Although Suiyuan had been peacefully liberated at the time, it remained the stronghold of the Suiyuan warlords. Despite the peaceful liberation and peaceful transformation of the troops, the Suiyuan warlords remained the more powerful. Therefore, the central government didn't truly gain control of Suiyuan and begin developing it until after 1954. Consequently, the central government didn't establish the Baotou Iron and Steel Preparatory Committee until 1959 to begin planning its construction. Exploration and preparations only began at this time, but due to ongoing tensions between China and the Soviet Union, the No. blast furnace wasn't completed until .

But this time and space were different. North China's liberation was rapid, and its foundation was much stronger than it had been historically. Wei Hongjun had been considering Baotou Steel since 1947, establishing a preparatory committee. By the time Soviet experts arrived, the North China Bureau had already done extensive work. Groundbreaking took place in 1948, leading to the fact that blast furnace No. 1951 was already producing molten iron at the end of .

This is change.

During China's Second Five-Year Plan, a large number of industrial projects were completed midway when Soviet experts withdrew, leaving many projects unfinished. Many factories originally planned for completion during the Second Five-Year Plan weren't completed until the 1970s. This was a devastating blow to the Chinese economy.

Wei Hongjun wanted to complete the industrial projects of the historic Second Five-Year Plan as soon as possible before 1960. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Li Fuchun spoke with cadres from the Suiyuan Provincial Party Committee, because Li Fuchun's visit this time was not only for Baotou Steel, but also for the industrial development of Baotou as a whole.

Baotou is an important city built with Soviet aid.

Currently, four Soviet-aided projects have been established in Baotou: Baotou Iron and Steel, Baotou No. 1 Thermal Power Plant and Baotou No. 2 Thermal Power Plant, and Baotou No. 1 Machinery Plant.

Baotou Steel officially broke ground in early 1948, and by then, its No. 1949 blast furnace was already producing molten iron. Baotou's No. 5 Thermal Power Plant broke ground in May 1950 and was connected to the grid in December 12, becoming the largest power plant in Suiyuan.

As for the Baotou Second Thermal Power Plant, its construction only began in July 1950. According to the construction schedule, it would take until around April 7 for it to be connected to the grid.

The Baotou No. 1950 Machinery Factory was a military factory, specifically a tank factory, but it was simply named the No. 6 Machinery Factory. Construction began in June 1956, long before it began producing tanks. According to Soviet experts, tank production at the No. Machinery Factory would have taken place around .

And this is just the beginning.

According to the cooperation with the Soviet Union, the second machinery factory was to be established in Baotou, which was also a military factory and produced artillery. In addition to the second machinery factory, Bao Aluminum was to be built.

These are all heavy industrial projects.

There were also cooperative projects in light industry. The Ministry of Light Industry and the Soviet Union had already reached an agreement on a partnership to establish the Baotou Sugar Refinery in Baotou. The Baotou Sugar Refinery was built with Soviet technical assistance, using machinery imported from East Germany. The refinery processed sugar beets, with a designed daily processing capacity of 1000 tons, producing white sugar.

Of course, these are all large-scale aid projects.

Around these large factories, more than 30 small and medium-sized factories will be built to support them. By then, Baotou will become a major industrial city in Northwest China.

Li Fuchun was the deputy director of the Planning Commission and the deputy director of the Finance and Economics Committee, which was responsible for heavy industry. Therefore, he came here to discuss the next steps with the cadres of the Suiyuan Provincial Party Committee and the Suiyuan Military and Political Committee.

Wei Hongjun discussed with other cadres of Baosteel.

"Baosteel is able to produce molten iron so quickly. You have created a miracle."

Baotou Steel was the first large steel mill built after the founding of the People's Republic of China. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, most steel mills were under renovation and expansion.

Wei Hongjun was very happy that he chose Lai Jifa.

He is indeed an outstanding cadre.

The construction of Baotou Steel involved not only Soviet experts, but also cadres from North China, infrastructure troops from the North China Military Region, teachers and students from universities across the country, and technicians and workers from Northeast China.

Lai Jifa was able to gather them together in a short period of time, that's his ability.

"Secretary Wei, this is all thanks to our comrades. You don't know how the people of Suiyuan have supported us over the past few years."

Lai Jifa shook his head repeatedly.

Ma Changgeng, standing nearby, said, "Commander, it's true. The people of Suiyuan have always been very dedicated to Baotou Steel. And the herders, men, women, and children, all worked together to build the No. 1 blast furnace."

"Ah."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Dao: "The masses possess infinite power, and history is created by the masses."

"That's what the commander said."

Several of them were Wei Hongjun's old subordinates, so they were more casual with him. Wei Hongjun didn't hesitate and said directly: "I know Baosteel's designed production capacity is 300 million tons. I want to ask, can we do that?"

This is what Wei Hongjun wanted to ask.

A few decades later, a steel plant with an output of 300 million tons would not be considered a large one. But for the newly established People's Republic of China, 300 million tons was a large steel plant.

The Soviet Union assisted in the construction of Baotou Iron and Steel, with a designed output of 300 million tons.

Although Wei Hongjun hasn't seen specific documentation, he knows that Baotou Steel experienced numerous historical problems. During its intensive construction phase, Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, and Soviet experts withdrew. Consequently, the subsequent construction of Baotou Steel was completed independently by China. It wasn't until the 300s, with the introduction of new technologies and equipment, that Baotou Steel surpassed its designed production capacity of million tons. There must be something wrong here.

“It can’t be done in a short time.”

"what happened?"

When Wei Hongjun heard Lai Jifa's words, his face turned serious.

Lai Jifa said: "We have communicated with Soviet experts. According to the Soviet experts and our technicians, the iron ore here is not rich and there are too many associated minerals, making it difficult to refine.

“Is there any solution?”

“What the Soviet experts meant was that we need to beneficiate the ore.

"Ore dressing? What should we do then?"

"We need to build a dedicated ore dressing plant. Only in this way can we increase Baosteel's output."

"I see."

Wei Hongjun understood that Lai Jifa was asking for money. However, as long as it was for the benefit of Baosteel, Wei Hongjun would help them. Currently, China's mineral processing technology was very poor, and there were no modern mineral processing plants. If they could cooperate with the Soviet Union to establish a mineral processing plant, it would also benefit other steel mills.

"Is there anything else you want to address?"

"Yes. The iron ore in Bayan Obo contains many precious and rare associated minerals. The Soviet experts and our technicians suggest that we conduct a more detailed study of the ore here. Then, based on the situation of the associated minerals, we can build a specialized factory to extract these rare earth ores."

There are a lot of rare earths in Bayan Obo.

Rare earths had already been discovered during previous exploration. The Soviet Union was also interested in the rare earths and was willing to develop rare earth mines in Baotou. In fact, the Soviet Union valued many of China's minerals more than China did.

Because China's current industrial capacity meant that many of its ores were unavailable, the Soviet Union, in contrast, needed these ores for its industrial development. Therefore, the Soviet Union helped China establish numerous mining operations and then purchased these ores from China.

Of course, China knows that it will suffer losses in this way.

But China has no other options now. China owes the Soviet Union so much money that selling the mines is out of the question.

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and said, "I'll discuss this with others when I get back."

"Commander, we have something to do here too."

"What's up?"

Ma Changgeng spoke.

He said, "Commander, you've mentioned several times that you want to expand the infrastructure engineering corps. But there's been no accurate information. Right now, we're needed everywhere in Baotou, but we're too few in number."

Ma Changgeng led the North China Military Region's infrastructure troops, making significant contributions to the construction of Baotou Iron and Steel. They built a large portion of the existing buildings there. Baotou is now entering a major construction phase, requiring a significant number of infrastructure troops.

"I'll help you with this when I get back. It's not just Baotou Steel; the entire country needs major construction. Your infrastructure troops are in great demand right now. Comrade Zhao Zhensheng recently wrote a report to the Central Committee, stating that Beijing currently has a vast housing shortage. Even government workers can't find rental housing, so some construction is needed. So, there's still a lot for your infrastructure troops to do. But you also have to make good arrangements for the lives of the officers and soldiers in the infrastructure corps."

"Yes."

"One more thing. Although you are a military unit, your finances must be independent. Revenue and expenditure must be clearly defined. You must collect what you should, but you must control your expenditures."

The infrastructure force is the army.

But in the future it will definitely be separated from the military and run in a corporate model.

Therefore, economic accounting must be promoted in infrastructure forces.

"Commander, don't worry. We have made a good economic budget from the beginning. You know that there are still many educated people in our army."

"That's good."

Wei Hongjun continued to ask about their current difficulties.

After recording everything, he reunited with Li Fuchun. He handed over some questions to Li Fuchun, as some of them had to be solved by Li Fuchun and his team. After discussing with Li Fuchun, Wei Hongjun asked: "How much steel production can our country produce this year?"

Li Fuchun and Wei Hongjun, one is responsible for heavy industry and machinery industry, and the other is responsible for light industry and energy industry.

The two people are considered the two horses pulling the strings in China's current industrial sector.

Li Fuchun smiled and said, "This year, our country's pig iron production can exceed 350 million tons.

"Can it really exceed 350 million tons?"

Wei Hongjun suppressed his excitement and asked Li Fuchun in return.

How could Wei Hongjun not be excited?

After all, this is more than 350 million tons of pig iron. Historically, China's pig iron production exceeded 350 million tons in 1956, three years into the First Five-Year Plan.

“Yes, this is still a conservative figure.

Li Fuchun said, "Anshan Iron and Steel has seen the fastest growth. When we took over Anshan Iron and Steel in 1, although its production was low, the steelworks remained largely intact. In 947, after restructuring and expansion, Anshan Iron and Steel's pig iron production reached 1948 million tons that year, restoring the peak output of Anshan Iron and Steel during the puppet Manchukuo era. Over the past three years, with the guidance of Soviet experts and support from across the country, Anshan Iron and Steel has expanded three blast furnaces and four open-hearth furnaces. This year, Anshan Iron and Steel's pig iron production is expected to reach 130 million tons. This is even before the newly built blast furnaces reach their full design output. With further increases in production, Anshan Iron and Steel's pig iron production could reach 240 million tons. The Ministry of Heavy Industry hopes to reach that number by 300."

"There's also Xuanhua Iron and Steel. They've also expanded their two blast furnaces. We hope to reach 1952 tons of pig iron production by 70. The expansion of Shougang and Changzhi Iron Works is also going smoothly. And Wuhan Iron and Steel, which is currently under construction, should be operational around 1953."

"The Ministry of Heavy Industry plans to achieve pig iron production of 1952 million tons in 500."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Anshan Iron and Steel is the cradle of China's steel industry.

He initially stabilized Anshan Iron and Steel and prevented it from being destroyed by the Soviets, and finally took over Anshan Iron and Steel almost completely.

When Baotou Steel was established, Anshan Iron and Steel sent many technicians and workers to help build it. Of course, when Anshan Iron and Steel expanded, other parts of the country also sent people to support it.

The advantages of socialist countries in this regard are very obvious.

Just four years after the CCP took control of Anshan Iron and Steel, its pig iron production had already nearly doubled its peak output during the puppet Manchukuo era. Just look at its steel production to understand why Northeast China is considered the Republic's eldest son.

In addition to Anshan Iron and Steel, Northeast China currently also has Fushun Iron and Steel, Shenyang Iron and Steel, and Dalian Iron and Steel. While these steel mills cannot compare to Anshan Iron and Steel on a large scale, they were all built or expanded by the Japanese. In every respect, they are relatively well-established steel mills.

New blast furnaces are currently being built.

Many would go into production in 1952.

That's why Li Fuchun and his team dared to set a target of 1952 million tons of pig iron production for 500. It can be said that Northeast China's industrial foundation, untouched by the Soviet Union, was truly strong. Under the guidance of Soviet experts, the steel mills in Northeast China continued to expand. This expansion allowed for rapid growth in production.

Li Fuchun was also very happy.

Although for a big country like China, 500 million tons of pig iron is nothing.

But for someone like Li Fuchun, who had come from the old society and witnessed steel production at a time when it was only a few tens of thousands of tons, 500 million tons seemed like a dream. Wei Hongjun pondered, "Have we taken too big a step recently? 500 million tons—can our technicians and workers keep up?"