Feng Xiaochen didn't know that the old man sitting next to him was not the director or chief engineer of the Coal Research Institute, but the oldest deputy minister of the Ministry of Coal. He was a person who could cause an earthquake with just stomping his feet in the coal industry and even the entire industrial system. His old man was almost 70 years old this year and had participated in many major battles in the coal system. His disciples and old friends were spread all over the central and local institutions at all levels. In other words, Feng Xiaochen, a naughty young man who didn't know him, would have been Wang Weilong, Cheng Xiaofeng and others, and he would probably kneel down as soon as he saw him.

Meng Fanze came to the Coal Research Institute today to check information. Logically speaking, he could have let his secretary do such things, but he happened to be a little idle today and wanted to exercise his muscles, so he left his secretary and went to the Coal Research Institute himself. The Coal Research Institute is also an organization of the Ministry of Coal, so the secretary doesn't have to worry about the inconvenience of the old minister in this place.

The information Meng Fanze checked was some historical materials on coal construction in the early days of the founding of New China. These materials reminded him of those passionate years and felt a lot of emotion in his heart. After checking the information, he was about to leave the information room, when he suddenly found a young man reading foreign journals attentively, which made him feel a little proud of his talent. So he went up to ask, intending to encourage him a few more words to show the old leader's care for the young people.

What he didn't expect was that although the other party was young, he was quite young. He attacked the 25-mile excavator project he was responsible for starting. This project really made Feng Xiaochen say that it was indeed a leadership project, and it was a project advocated by Meng Fanze himself. Meng Fanze's original intention was certainly not to use this project to establish a monument for himself. For example, the old leaders of their generation had very high awareness.

His idea was that the country urgently needed such equipment. The successful development of the 12-mile excavator also showed that Chinese workers have the ability, courage and determination to overcome various technical difficulties. He thought that he was already very old, and the central government had already put forward the requirement of rejuvenating the cadre team. Leaders of his age would leave their posts one after another. Before retiring to the second line, he wanted to take on another big project, which was an explanation for himself.

His reasons are relatively sufficient. He has experience in this kind of large-scale research project, and his prestige can also give the project more support. If he retires and replaces a young cadre who lacks experience and foundation, the research and development of this project will be delayed by at least three or five years.

With this idea, he put forward this suggestion at the Party Group Meeting of the Ministry of Coal and immediately received support. Now, it may be because of his qualifications that other leaders of the department could not bear to refuse his proposals or were inconvenient to veto him. In Feng Xiaochen's words, this kind of thing was a typical decision-making, so Feng Xiaochen had already offended Meng Fanze as soon as he opened his mouth.

Meng Fanze had a bad temper when he was young and had a very tough work style, which was also the reason why he was able to bite a lot of hard bones. After getting older, his temper became better, especially in front of young people. He always tried hard to restrain his emotions and avoid being too harsh to young people. Feng Xiaochen was lucky to meet Meng Fanze at this age. If he had not finished speaking out 20 years earlier, he would have been slapped by Meng Fanze before he could finish his words.

Meng Fanze's original plan was to listen to Feng Xiaochen's words and tell him the principles of hard work, educate him to learn more from the workers and not stay in the agency without being down-to-earth. But I never thought that Feng Xiaochen's words could not refute him, and some of the reasons also touched him. Meng Fanze is an open-minded person, and he has always been respectful to those who are convinced. Although Feng Xiaochen is young, he has extraordinary knowledge, so Meng Fanze made a gesture of compromising, allowing Feng Xiaochen to fully explain his views.

"As for large excavators, the three countries abroad are mainly the United States, West Germany and the Soviet Union have relatively advanced technologies. The Soviet Union's large excavators have a relatively high output, but their technology is slow to develop and their quality is not as good as those of the United States and West Germany. Moreover, the Soviet-style technical specifications are different from Western technical specifications. The future development direction of our country should be in line with the Western technical system. Soviet technology has little meaning for us." Feng Xiaochen said.

"I agree with this point of view." Meng Fanze said. He had unconsciously taken out the cigarette box and lit it. Feng Xiaochen could do nothing to see. This was the information room of the other person's unit, and the information officer ignored it. He, an outsider, had no reason to interfere.

"In the United States, the manufacturers of large excavators are mainly BE Company, Marion Company, Shiyi Company, etc.; West Germany is mainly Dimarlo Company, and its main products are large hydraulic excavators. In addition to these companies with the largest output, there are more than 20 companies producing large excavators around the world, and the largest bucket capacity has reached 35 cubic meters."

"Yes, your information is done very well." Meng Fanze praised.

Feng Xiaochen said: "My idea is that our country can choose excavator companies in the United States and Germany for negotiations to introduce large excavators that are urgently needed by large open-pit mines. At the same time, it is required that these orders must be jointly produced by both China and foreign parties. The foreign party has the obligation to provide us with a full set of technical drawings and important processes, and is also responsible for training our workers and technicians to ensure that they can master advanced manufacturing technology from abroad."

"Wait, your idea is a bit whimsical, right?" Meng Fanze said, "Why should I teach you the skills of others? Aren't they afraid of teaching their apprentices to starve the master to death?"

Feng Xiaochen said: "My reasons are two. First, we pay. We can pay for technology alone, and at the same time use transfer of technology as a prerequisite for equipment introduction. If Western manufacturers want to obtain the Chinese market, they must exchange technology. The Chinese market is a big cake, and we don't worry that they are not moved."

"But we also need equipment? Isn't this something that is afraid of hitting both sides of the wolf?" Meng Fanze reminded.

Feng Xiaochen said: "This is different. There is only one China in the world, but there are more than 20 companies that can produce large excavators in the world. For smaller companies, survival is already a problem. Will they still care about technology loss? For larger companies, they cannot tolerate such large orders falling into the hands of small companies, because this will allow small companies to grow and become their new competitors. As long as we are good at using their competitive relationship, it will not be difficult to open a gap among them."

"Well, it makes sense. Just like when we fought in wars in the past, we used the conflicts between the enemy factions and defeated them one by one, so we were able to defeat the strong one by one." Meng Fanze concluded that their generation has come from the war era, and it is easy to use war to compare them to think about problems.

"So, this is just one aspect you mentioned, and another aspect?" Meng Fanze was not confused at all. He clearly remembered that Feng Xiaochen had said before that there were two reasons.

Feng Xiaochen smiled and said, "This second reason is even more interesting. Whether it is the United States or West Germany, they don't think China will be their competitor at all. The concern you mentioned about the church apprentice starving the master to death does not exist in their hearts. They think that transferring some outdated technology to China will not make China threatening. I'm afraid in your mind, you don't think China can threaten these Western countries, right?"

"..." Meng Fanze was speechless. He kept saying that Chinese people were no worse than foreigners, and that what foreigners could do was also possible. However, the huge technological gap between China and foreign countries reminded him that it was very difficult to catch up with the level of foreigners. Within thirty or fifty years, China would definitely not have such an opportunity. Maybe in another 100 years, China could barely be comparable to foreign countries?

This understanding was extremely common among the leading cadres back then. They had to talk about national confidence at various meetings, but they were full of helplessness. Feng Xiaochen directly asked Meng Fanze if he had such an idea and how did he answer? It was quite against his will to say that he believed that Chinese companies could catch up with foreign countries soon; it was indeed unsuitable to say that he did not have confidence in Chinese companies, and it was not suitable. The only way was to smile bitterly.

Feng Xiaochen knew Meng Fanze’s difficulties and did not press on him. Instead, he said: “Old comrade, I can pat my chest and tell you that I firmly believe that we can catch up with and surpass the United States and Germany within 30 years, and oppress all such companies such as BE and Dimalo to survive. However, at present, we still need to keep a low profile and take advantage of the other party’s lack of vigilance against us to obtain as much technology as possible from them. Just like the high manganese steel casting problem we just mentioned, if we can get Dimalo’s guidance, we only need half a year or a year to overcome it. Why wait three or five years?”

"Something makes sense." Meng Fanze was moved by Feng Xiaochen. He nodded and said, "And what else do you have any ideas? You might as well say them together to open my eyes, the old man. Well, I'll get a piece of paper and record it."

Meng Fanze got up and went to Wang Yaru to ask for paper and pen. Feng Xiaochen accidentally looked up at the big clock hanging on the wall, and couldn't help but shout: "Oh, no, time has passed!"

Before Meng Fanze came back with paper and pen, Feng Xiaochen had quickly packed up his things and ran to the outside of the information room.

"Hey, young man, why are you running away? We haven't finished talking yet!" Meng Fanze shouted anxiously.
Chapter completed!