Chapter 2657
Borrowing a Passage Through Zhang Kingdom
Chapter 2657 Returning Home via a Transit Point
Mr. Chen's office.
Yang Xiaotao sat at the lower end of the table, his back straight and his face serious.
His hands, which were resting on his lap, were fidgeting with his pants.
He had been sitting in the office for quite a while, but Old Chen neither spoke nor looked at him, which made him very anxious.
"Stop pretending. You're acting like a good boy in front of me. Who are you trying to fool?"
Old Chen twirled a pencil in his hand, getting annoyed by Yang Xiaotao's honest appearance.
Upon hearing what Elder Chen said, Yang Xiaotao immediately bent down and smiled, "Commander, you really know me. This collapse has been going on for too long, it's really tiring."
"Get lost, you little brat, you little brat."
Old Chen reached out and pointed at Yang Xiaotao with a pencil, looking rather disappointed in him—no, disappointed that this piece of steel was causing him so much trouble.
Yesterday, he received a call from an old comrade-in-arms in Nanjing. He thought it would be a chance to catch up after not seeing each other for so long, but he was unexpectedly scolded by the other party.
Later I found out that it turned out that those little bastards from the Ninth Division had actually collaborated with Jinling on some kind of helicopter project.
Originally, this was not a big deal, but who would have thought that a helicopter design plan would involve two groups of people, and even two groups with disagreements and disputes.
One group insists on following the alliance's path and developing helicopters in accordance with the alliance's development model.
The advantages are obvious: there is a lot of domestic experience in imitation, making it easier to manufacture and quickly fill the gap in the helicopter field.
Another group thought the United States helicopters were better, for a simple reason: their performance was superior to that of the Alliance helicopters, a fact acknowledged by the Alliance.
Therefore, they believed that if they were to do it, they should find a capable person to conduct the research.
So the two sides started arguing about it.
The final decision was that both sides would build their own helicopters and then compare them to see which one was better.
Whoever wins will represent the direction of development for the next few decades.
But no one expected that someone would actually start hiring outside help.
The key is that this foreign player is very strong and could very well determine the outcome of the game.
This greatly angered another group of people.
"Can't you just calm down and get things done one by one?"
Old Chen sounded quite helpless at the end.
Having such 'unruly' subordinates isn't a good thing either.
Yang Xiaotao smiled and said, "Commander, isn't it because Team Han needs helicopters to improve their combat effectiveness?"
"It just so happens that we have a cooperative relationship with the Aviation Academy of Jinling University. We made that engine, so when they came to us, we couldn't very well refuse."
Old Chen glanced at Yang Xiaotao after hearing this, and said, "I don't care about these things. If you ever do something like this again, you must report it to me first. You are not allowed to make decisions on your own."
"Yes, I promise it won't happen again."
Yang Xiaotao quickly stood up and assured him.
Old Chen snorted coldly, while Yang Xiaotao grinned and prepared to leave.
However, the next second, Old Chen's voice came again, "Since you've agreed, do it well."
"We cannot let down the reputation of the Nine Departments."
Yang Xiaotao immediately straightened his back, "Yes, I guarantee it will be done perfectly, without disgracing the Ninth Department."
"Go."
"okay."
As they were talking, Yang Xiaotao walked out of the office.
At the door, Secretary Guo greeted us with a smile.
"Minister Yang, I told you there wouldn't be any problems."
Yang Xiaotao strode out, saying, "Come on, you're just a Monday morning quarterback. You don't know what happened when you went in."
Secretary Guo laughed even harder upon hearing this. He had been by Old Chen's side for quite some time and was naturally familiar with some of Old Chen's habits.
If he were truly dissatisfied, Old Chen wouldn't have called anyone over.
This kind of face-to-face 'education' can only be described as 'care'; otherwise, why don't we see them 'educating' others?
"Minister Yang, slow down, there's no one behind you."
Secretary Guo called out, but Yang Xiaotao quickened his pace, saying, "I'm in a hurry to get back to work, we'll talk about it later."
Secretary Guo shook his head, watching Yang Xiaotao quickly disappear at the end of the corridor, then turned back and walked towards his office.
"Chief!"
Old Chen looked up. "Well, did you talk to him?"
Secretary Guo shrugged and said, "Before I could even say anything, Director Yang ran out."
Old Chen was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"Looks like I went a bit too far."
Secretary Guo didn't know what to say.
"Alright, tell him when you have time, so he doesn't try to take advantage of you later."
Secretary Guo nodded, then hesitated, "Sir, is what we're doing appropriate?"
"We should at least keep half of the money from this patent. If we give away only 10%, people will think we're stingy."
Old Chen looked up abruptly, and Secretary Guo smiled awkwardly and took two steps back.
"You think I don't know."
"Do you think I wanted to?"
Suddenly, Old Chen relaxed again. "The Sixth Ministry of Machine Building urgently needs money and steel. Where do we have any surplus right now?"
"Tell me, if we don't take some from them, where are we going to get it from?"
"If the others had performed even slightly better, would I have needed to fleece just one sheep?"
Secretary Guo sighed and nodded, "Yes, only their ninth department can squeeze out some; the others..."
Old Chen naturally understood the meaning behind Secretary Guo's words, and then sighed and said, "In this situation, the higher-ups also wanted to make changes during the meeting."
Secretary Guo immediately perked up his ears, after all, this could very well be the 'weathervane' for the future.
"At the meeting, someone suggested transferring some of the factories and projects of the Ninth Division to other machine divisions to maximize profits."
"Many people agreed at the meeting."
"But later, after some investigation, we found that this was simply not feasible."
Secretary Guo looked on with curiosity, and Old Chen continued to explain, "We want to separate the production of the J-8 and J-10 and hand it over to the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry for expansion."
"The production of the aircraft requires the Ninth Division to provide engines, special alloys, and even some processes that require the Ninth Division's personnel to operate, as well as a large number of machine tools to meet production needs."
"According to the comrades' investigation, if the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry wants to take over the production of the J-10, it needs to replace all the machine tools in the factory with Morningstar machine tools, and also needs to have a certain number of Mercury machine tools."
"As for the people who operate the machine tools, there are also many."
"But do you think the Third Ministry of Machine Building can replenish so many machine tools in such a short time?"
Secretary Guo immediately shook his head upon hearing this, "Sir, I'm not familiar with the other machine tools, but as for this Mercury machine tool, apart from the machine tool factory of the Ninth Department, there isn't another one like it in our country."
"Yes, that's the problem. Now you understand, right?"
Old Chen said helplessly, and Secretary Guo nodded, "I understand. What you mean is that the miracle of the Nine Departments cannot be replicated."
Old Chen nodded. "Unless, another guy like Yang Xiaotao appears."
After saying that, the two looked at each other and laughed.
They felt the idea was somewhat impractical.
"Alright, go there when you have time. Oh, and by the way, tell them about the Persian plane."
"I estimate it's about time to go back to China."
"Yes."
On the other side, Yang Xiaotao left the office building and immediately got into a jeep and drove towards the Ninth Department.
After staying there for a while, Yang Xiaotao always felt like he was being schemed against.
It's better to go back sooner rather than later.
Little did Yang Xiaotao know that he had actually been tricked, and by quite a bit.
After driving back to the Ninth Division, Yang Xiaotao ran straight upstairs.
in the office.
Liu Lixue was talking to Lou Xiao'e.
"Xiao'e, have you noticed that the atmosphere at the research institute has been a bit off lately?"
Liu Lixue carefully wrote the copy with a fountain pen in her hand. This was a task assigned to her by Yang Xiaotao: copywriting for a car advertisement.
When Li Shengli couldn't find anyone to help him, he asked Yang Xiaotao for advice. Yang Xiaotao then came up with a plan and passed it on to Liu Lixue.
Who told her to be a secretary?
The secretary does the work, doesn't that right?
"Research institute? I don't think so."
Lou Xiao'e is organizing the reports submitted by the internal audit department. After October 1st, Secretary Liu is preparing to launch the second round of internal audits this year.
This includes not only new internal audit projects, but also a review of the issues raised in the last internal audit to see if they have been effectively addressed.
Meanwhile, this year's mission will begin at the Hongxing Machinery Factory in the Northwest, so they need to set off as early as possible and try to return before the end of the year.
Seeing Lou Xiao'e say this, Liu Lixue put down her pen and said solemnly, "You haven't gone to see for yourself, but I've been there a few times and I always feel that the people at the research institute have become somewhat... somewhat taciturn lately."
"What do you mean?"
"He's just talking less." "What's so strange about talking less? Maybe he just doesn't want to talk anymore."
Lou Xiao'e didn't take it seriously, but Liu Lixue felt differently.
But if you asked her to explain why it was different, she really didn't know.
Just as he was hesitating whether to tell Yang Xiaotao, the office door opened and Yang Xiaotao walked in.
"I'm finally back."
As soon as he entered, Yang Xiaotao sighed with emotion.
The two exchanged a glance and chuckled softly.
They naturally knew where Yang Xiaotao had gone, and they could also guess his purpose.
He'll definitely get a scolding.
Judging from Yang Xiaotao's current state, he's bound to get criticized, but nothing will happen.
What are you two laughing at?
Yang Xiaotao said irritably, then picked up his thermos, opened it, and took two gulps of water. "Let me tell you two, this is a very serious matter. If you dare to laugh again, I'll make you both work overtime every night without pay."
Upon hearing this, Liu Lixue and the other woman quickly lowered their heads. They didn't want to work overtime, otherwise how could they watch the movie?
"Director Yang, General Manager Peng just called and asked you to call back immediately after you return."
Lou Xiao'e quickly changed the subject to avoid causing trouble for the two of them.
"I didn't tell you earlier."
Yang Xiaotao muttered something, then picked up the phone and dialed.
The call was quickly connected, and Mr. Peng's voice came through.
"President Peng, I just got back from Old Chen's place."
"Yes, okay, I'll be right there."
After hanging up the phone, Yang Xiaotao sat in a chair, looking utterly helpless.
"I'm destined to be a restless person, I never have a moment to rest."
After saying that, he stood up, looked at the two people in the room, and said helplessly, "I'm going to the airport. If you need anything, find Secretary Li."
Lou Xiao'e and the other woman quickly agreed, and then they saw Yang Xiaotao leave the office with a thermos.
When Yang Xiaotao drove to the airport, he saw two planes taxiing on the runway.
It is the J-8C, which is called the Persian Scimitar here.
Yang Xiaotao sped up, parked the car below the airport, got out, and, led by a staff officer, went to the aviation building.
At this moment, the two planes came to a stop, and the two pilots got out and smiled at each other.
Kalimi, dressed in the Chinese anti-Japanese uniform, came up behind him with great respect.
Just now, the two sides conducted a 'simulated combat' exercise in the air.
Both sides were driving the same Desert Scimitar, but the final result was unexpected.
In the first round, Kalimi was on the offensive.
During the chase, the opposing pilot, with his superb piloting skills, maneuvered left and right, not only failing to lock onto the target but also being outmaneuvered by the opponent's high-altitude maneuver, thus achieving a counterattack.
In the second round, the two players switched positions.
Then, he was like a mouse being toyed with by a cat, no matter how he ran, the other side could see him, and the radar lock-on warning light on the fighter jet never stopped.
After a contest, he was completely convinced.
Not to mention competing with the white horse.
That thing can accelerate and leave you behind, then suddenly appear out of nowhere. It's simply not in the same league.
No wonder the United States nicknamed it 'The Ghost'.
There are indeed names that are given incorrectly, but nicknames that are never wrongly used.
The two walked into the aviation building chatting and laughing, and then met their respective pilots.
A group of people came forward to greet them.
"Kalimi, how about it? You lost, didn't you?"
Captain Aziz smiled and put his arm around Kalimi's shoulder, because he had won two bottles of wine in this match.
You should know that this is a miraculous Chinese liquor.
It's really strong.
"I'm convinced. I'm completely convinced."
Kalimi had no resentment; he was simply convinced of his defeat.
If the other side has a better plane than him, he will accept it.
As for training duration, in his mind, a talented pilot is never limited by the amount of time spent training.
And he was a talented pilot.
I never expected that Chinese pilots would be so talented.
"Captain, when are we going back?"
"I can't wait."
Kalimi asked in a low voice, and Aziz replied in the same low voice, "Mr. Bandung is discussing it, and it should be soon."
"That's great."
"However, this time we should pilot the plane back ourselves."
Aziz said something, and Kalimi's eyes immediately widened. He then asked incredulously, "How...how is this possible?"
"Our planes don't have that much range, so even adding external fuel tanks wouldn't work."
"By the way, aerial refueling tankers... but how much fuel will these thirty-odd planes need?"
Kalimi was somewhat confused, feeling that the news was a bit unreliable.
Aziz smiled smugly, then lowered his voice again and said, "I've heard that Kazakhstan has a very special relationship with this place."
"We might transit through Kazakhstan before flying back."
"Kazakhstan? Really?"
Aziz grinned crookedly, "Really? Who knows?"
On the other side, Yang Xiaotao followed the staff officer to the conference room in the aviation building.
Upon entering, I saw President Peng sitting at the head of the table.
"President Peng."
Yang Xiaotao greeted them, and Boss Peng pointed to a seat for Yang Xiaotao to take.
"I called you here today because I have something to tell you."
Mr. Peng spoke directly, then took a document from the table, "Take a look at it first."
After taking it, Yang Xiaotao glanced at it and saw that it was an official document with an official header. His heart sank, and he quickly flipped through it to read it carefully.
Yang Xiaotao quickly finished reading the two or three sheets of paper, and was somewhat speechless.
"Peng, does Kazakhstan want our J-8C fighter jets?"
"Haven't they always been using MiGs?"
Mr. Peng nodded, "That's how it used to be, but after this incident, they took the initiative to change."
"After all, when it comes to handling MiG, the Japanese are the ones who are more skilled."
"They also suffered a loss this time, so they took the initiative to make changes and wanted our J-8C."
Yang Xiaotao placed the documents on the table, but in his mind he was calculating how much money he could make from this deal.
These days, the expenses of the Ninth Department are considerable, and the whole family has to live frugally.
He wouldn't pass up the opportunity to nourish his body.
"There's another matter. The Persian planes are going back this time, and the higher-ups have communicated with the Kazakhstan to allow them to transit through Kazakhstan."
"At that time, the twelve J-8C fighters that flew away with us will stay behind."
President Peng calmly said again, "Therefore, you need to build twelve more airplanes."
Yang Xiaotao suddenly realized.
Is that all?
That's really fast.
"When do you want it?"
November 11th.
Boss Peng gave a timeframe, and Yang Xiaotao calculated it to be thirty-five days. It was definitely too late to make it now, but it could be taken out from the orders produced in Persia.
Since the time span is long, there's still time to increase production later.
"Okay, I'll go back and inform them right away. We'll work overtime to get it done."
"Yes, there's more to discuss regarding Kazakhstan. You should be prepared."
"understand!"
Yang Xiaotao immediately perked up when he heard this, as long as there was something to talk about.