Chapter 195 "Small Goals"

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Agricultural machinery station.

Xie Yun is personally assembling the engine according to the new design.

The technicians at the agricultural machinery station couldn't do this job, and Pan Changqing and the experts were all older. Xie Yun couldn't blame them, so he had to do it himself.

Their research started a few months ago. The research data they collected included tractor engines, truck engines, 212 domestic jeep engines, Phoenix car engines, and GAZ-69 engines. They found all the engines of various car models they could find. He Zeshan begged for help from everyone before he was able to get the car models together.

What Pan Changqing and his team do is reverse research and development, commonly known as "imitation". There are also more unpleasant terms, but we won't talk about them.

At present, domestic engines are quite backward, we have no way to conduct technical exchanges with foreign countries, and they are unwilling to provide us with various research materials. In this case, reverse research and development is an inevitable process. Only after thoroughly understanding the existing technology can we have the possibility of original design and research and development.

It’s not that we don’t support originality, but that we don’t currently have the conditions for original research and development.

They disassembled and assembled the engines. At first, the technicians at the agricultural machinery station were worried that they would damage them and could not be restored. Gradually, they gave in. No matter how fragmented the engines were, they were finally put back together and could be used normally.

Most of the borrowed cars have been returned.

The engine they are currently assembling is a model of their own design. Following the same path as the Rencheng Tractor Factory, they commissioned various parts processing factories to produce parts according to their requirements, and then assembled them to test the results.

At this moment, Xie Yun is an engine assembler.

She sat on the floor in her work clothes, concentrating on her work. The parts weren't precise enough to begin with, and if there was even a slight deviation during the assembly process, it would be a disaster.

A group of elderly people sat next to her, checking various data and observing her assembly progress.

While working, Xie Yun complained to them, "We got the order wrong. We should have worked on the machine tools first. With high-precision machine tools, we can produce better parts, and our success rate in making engines will be higher."

Pan Changqing said, "We should try all of them. We are too few. If you want to build an engine, you must at least understand mechanical engineering, engineering mechanics, and thermodynamics before you can start researching. Just understanding isn't enough; it's best to be proficient in it."

He stopped there, but Xie Yun and the others understood what he meant.

There are already few people in the country engaged in research in this area. The few who are there may have gone elsewhere, and there is no training for successors. The investment in research and development is even pitifully small.

Automakers are doing what they did in the early days: disassembling and reconstructing their cars one-to-one. The lack of precision in their own parts leads to low yields and high failure rates. Every driver must know how to repair their car, or they might be stranded mid-sentence! This mid-sentence doesn't necessarily mean a city or a rural area; it could easily be a remote mountain valley. This is because domestically produced cars are primarily transport vehicles.

The outer shell is quite strong, because the metal shell is very thick and heavy. This is not intentional, but because we can't make a thin and strong metal that meets the requirements. The thick shell means that the vehicle is heavy, and the engine performance is poor, it can run slowly, is noisy, and breaks down easily.

Xie Yun sighed as he assembled the machine.

Pan Changqing said to her, "Don't sigh so much. You've only been researching for so long. You're a genius to have made it this far. We used to do research for years or even decades without producing any results, but we still had to keep going!"

Xie Yun narrowed his eyes and said, "You do it!"

Pan Changqing smiled and said, "Forget it, forget it. Just keep sighing."

He is not as good as Xiao Xie! Mainly because he is not as careful as her.

Xie Yun: “…”

She has a lot of information related to energy and power engineering. In theory, she can build an excellent automobile engine, but it is difficult to operate in practice. She lacks the supporting high-performance materials, high-precision manufacturing processes, and quality control systems.

This is what is most worrying.

Pan Changqing patted her head and said, "Xiao Xie, don't be anxious. We can't become rich overnight. We have to take one step at a time and do our work one step at a time. Let's set a small goal for ourselves first."

Xie Yun was feeling impatient and a little stressed when he heard the words "small goals". "What small goals?"

"Let's design and build a car ourselves. From design to finalization, we'll do it ourselves. We've done a lot of reverse engineering, this time we're going to create something original!"

Xie Yun: “…”

She said, "Small goals" sounded a bit strange. A goal is a goal, so why is it called a small goal?

But it’s not impossible.

"Let's get this engine out first. This is the first engine we made ourselves."

Tractor engine.

Xie Yun worked hard and tirelessly.

Zhao Hongxia came in with Wang Qingli.

"Hello teachers, you are all busy."

"Xiao Zhao, is there something you need from Binbin?"

"Qingli has returned to work, come and see her."

Pan Changqing glanced at Wang Qingli and said, "Xiao Wang! You were the one who helped us deliver the documents to Beijing last time! You've worked so hard, thank you."

Wang Qingli smiled and said, "You're welcome."

Xie Yun said to them, "Please wait for two minutes while I finish this part."

"No rush, just go about your business. You're...pragmatic enough!"

Xie Yun laughed heartily, "Who made me young?"

Pan Changqing said, "Binbin, take a break. Go for a walk with your friends and get some fresh air. You've been working all day. It's a good time to relax and change your mood."

"Okay."

After Xie Yun finished assembling one part, he put away the rest of the parts according to their numbers and arranged them neatly. Then he took Wang Qingli and Zhao Hongxia out.

Wang Qingli said, "I didn't expect that you, the deputy county chief, would have to do it yourself."

Xie Yun laughed and said, "That's nothing. Secretary He is still desilting the river. Our Secretary Li and Director Zhong often work in the fields, carrying manure and composting. The so-called leader is to take the lead in work. Besides, if I don't do it, are the old men and women going to do it? I can't bear it."

"That makes sense."

"Binbin, I'm going to work at the commune's animal husbandry and veterinary station. Deputy Station Chief, do you have any suggestions for me?"

Xie Yun looked at Wang Qingli and smiled, "That's true. It can be summed up in four words: it all depends on human effort."

Wang Qingli thought about it, then nodded with a smile. "I understand. I've studied at a livestock and veterinary station before, and the work there was quite passive. I hope to make a difference when I go there. I need to think carefully about what I can do."

Xie Yun said, "A few days ago, the provincial party secretary came to visit us and visited our brigade. He was full of praise for our farm and said he wanted to promote our breeding experience. Sister Qingli, you built that farm single-handedly, and now you're going to be the head of the animal husbandry and veterinary station. Do you want to think about how to promote large-scale breeding? Your jurisdiction now covers the entire commune, not just Liushu Village."

"I'll consider it. The success of breeding in Liushutun is inseparable from the support of the entire team. If we want to promote it in other brigades, mobilizing members is also very important."

"You can get Secretary Li and Director Zhong to join us. Let me tell you, our commune has a lot of capable people. And none of them are particularly conservative, focusing only on their own affairs. They are all open-minded. As long as it benefits the country and the people, they are willing to get involved. You will find a good laborer right away. Right, Hongxia?"

Zhao Hongxia smiled and said, "Right, right, right. I've noticed too. Sometimes, it's not that people don't like to work, but rather that there's 'no work'. This 'no work' doesn't mean there's no work in the literal sense, but rather that they don't know what to do. As long as you can assign work to everyone, and it's good work, there's plenty of people to do it. Even if our commune compound doesn't have enough people, we can still recruit people from other places, and we'll definitely find the right one."

Wang Qingli's confidence suddenly increased!

In 1961, Yinan County Magistrate Zhu Fusheng worked with members of the commune. Cadres at that time were still very down-to-earth.