บท 4: Chapter 4 Facing the Gap_1
It wasn't just New Yuan Town, even the higher-level New Yuan City soon heard about the news of the America engineering team.
The idea that the town tractor factory had actually connected with an America machinery company left every city leader feeling somewhat dazed.
They knew about the New Yuan Town tractor factory; it was once considered an economic leader, but now it had become a burden.
But now, not only were American engineers providing guidance, but American workers were also renovating the factory, which was simply astounding to people.
What stunned them even more was the speed of the American workers' construction, which was not slow at all: various construction machines operating simultaneously, working shifts day and night, and the entire factory visibly transforming.
Each day for the past three days, leaders had come to inspect, then took photos with the white contractor Kate, and at last, delivered a few canned statements about supporting township enterprises' advancement into high-tech.
The city's media, on the other hand, were focused on the patriotic overseas Chinese Guo Shen, especially after inadvertently learning that he previously worked at the American Aerospace Bureau, they hastily wrote articles overnight: "From the Aerospace Bureau to the tractor factory, patriotic overseas Chinese builds his hometown."
This wasn't just talk; according to the system's data, Guo Shen's grandfather was from New Yuan, who went to America when he was young, and New Yuan Town was the ancestral home Guo Shen had never seen.
After the continuous construction day and night by the system's engineering team, by the third night, the entire factory's upgrade and renovation tasks had been completed, and the scaffolding was already being dismantled.
Lin Ju simply pulled the leaders still present to hastily hold a completion ceremony and cut the red ribbon.
Then the entire crew from the Connecticut Oak Engineering Company packed up their belongings, and dozens of vehicles vanished into the night, heading back to America overnight.
Vice-President Wan, accompanying the town leaders on the tour, stared in amazement and said to Lin Ju with some emotion,
"They say that Americans are lazy, that developed countries have low efficiency, but that's completely a one-sided impression!
They haven't stopped working for one minute in 72 hours; the construction is fast and orderly, and as soon as inspection is finished, they leave without any dawdling.
We must acknowledge the gap and not be blindly arrogant!"
The town leader with thinning hair nodded as he listened and instructed the office director beside him,
"Comrade Wan has a point, when I was young, I always learned from America, and it seems we still need to learn.
Compile all the photos and notes taken these three days and later submit them to the city. Send a learning document to our construction companies, learn from the professionalism of American workers!"
Lin Ju watched the group seriously summarize their experience, trying to suppress the smile on his face, coughed twice,
"Leaders, it's so late now, and the upgrade is over, how about we end today's tour here?"
Who knew the town leader would sweep his hand and say,
"No, I want to see your new factory building. Lin has mentioned the high-end equipment brought in from America with great difficulty; it's capable of producing a production line for rain-inducing machines worth five million each—I must take a good look!"
Lin Ju was helpless; he originally wanted to slowly compare the differences in the upgraded base on his own, but now he had to study it with everyone.
Guo Shen also accompanied them on the tour; he had participated in the transformation here and knew the factory like the back of his hand.
When he led everyone into the factory, the entire group, including Lin Ju, were stunned.
The factory, originally composed of steel frames and metal sheets with a gloomy color scheme, was now covered with a named insulating and flame-retardant material, bright white and clean, and even the lighting system had been replaced, brightly illuminating the entire facility.
The floor was covered with insulating rubber and further demarcated into work areas by lines of different colors; various pieces of equipment were organized into sections by operation, everything orderly and systematic.
This was a far cry from the previous dusty, oily cement floor and the dirty mix of machines and parts scattered about.
As for the old equipment, almost all of it had been replaced by new machines.
Numerous highly integrated CNC machining centers, resembling small rooms, had replaced old, exposed lathes, and to the visiting leaders, cleanliness and LCD screens signified high-tech!
By the time they reached the final assembly workshop and saw seven or eight orange robotic arms, the group was even more excited, touching and inspecting everything up close.
The town leader stroked a robotic arm, reminiscing about his youth:
"I know this; the Japanese had this thirty years ago—it's much more convenient than humans, isn't it? Handling parts weighing over a ton as if they are tossing them around, right?"
At the end of the tour, Lin Ju and the leaders all felt the factory had indeed undergone a radical transformation; it was not much different, and perhaps even a bit more advanced, than the rocket assembly workshops they had seen on television.
When the town leaders left, they were completely satisfied and very friendly toward Lin Ju.
"Lin, the tractor factory has truly turned from a turkey into a phoenix! I've been around, seen so many factories—they don't hold a candle to this one in terms of advancement and cleanliness, despite there being many that are larger.
Rest assured, I'll immediately draft a report to list New Yuan Town Tractor Factory as a high-tech enterprise!
By the way, it can't be called the tractor factory anymore, right? Prepare a new name and report back to us. And Wan, let's hold off on that loan—the high-tech enterprise is at the stage where spending money is essential, and we can't drag them down."
"Don't worry, leader. Now that the tractor factory has been transformed, we'll repay the loan after selling a few machines. There's no rush."
Although the town's credit cooperative didn't have much money, the leaders still decided to hold off on the loan, which Lin Ju greatly appreciated.
It must be said that half the credit goes to the "American Engineering Team"; without them, this success wouldn't have been possible.
After sending all the outsiders away, Lin Ju took another tour around the workshop and the more he saw, the more satisfied he became. He pulled Guo Shen aside and asked:
"Now that the base has been upgraded, can we start producing rockets?"
Guo Shen had already received the DX-1 rocket data and had the answer ready:
"One first-stage 120-ton engine, two second-stage 30-ton engines, and one third-stage 30-ton engine. All of them use liquid oxygen and kerosene fuel, full-flow staged combustion cycle, which is the most time-consuming part.
To account for testing, we need to build five engines in total. Along with some parts, using intermittent shift work, we expect to complete it in about 28 days. The rest can be outsourced to regular factories, significantly reducing our time.
While we have most of the materials in stock, including fuel and other processing costs, we still need 4 million yuan."
But boss, what's our payload? This rocket's near-Earth orbit maximum carrying capacity is 430 kilograms, which is already considered a medium-sized satellite."
Lin Ju was not worried about the money; if worse came to worst, he could mortgage the land. In his previous life, he had sold it for over 4 million yuan, so getting a loan shouldn't be too difficult.
As for the payload?
It was then that Lin Ju remembered the system's requirement to send a scientific payload into orbit. But what kind of object would qualify as a scientific payload?
Satellites definitely qualify, but it seemed unlikely that the tractor factory had the technical ability to build one. He asked Guo Shen, and indeed, the answer confirmed his thoughts.
Protecting from radiation, vibration, and functioning normally at hundreds of kilometers above the Earth, not to mention carrying scientific detection equipment—it obviously wasn't a small project.
Suddenly Lin Ju had an idea and asked Guo Shen:
"I heard that the backup satellite for Dongfang Hong I is still on the ground; can we buy it? It weighs only 300 kilograms, right?"
The look Guo Shen gave him was as if he were looking at an idiot.
"Boss, that's a museum piece now. Besides, it doesn't even have any scientific detection capabilities."
"Then contact the American Aerospace Bureau again, see if they have any defective satellites they don't want?"
"..."
Lin Ju, deep in thought and unable to come up with a solution, squatted on the ground and complained after a long while:
"Others like Ma Yilong are making money by launching rockets, how come I have to... hmm? I've got it!"
Lin Ju had an epiphany and suddenly jumped up from the ground.
He might not have a satellite, but others did!
Using his rocket to launch satellites for others would bring in money; why would he need to spend any of his own?
As Lin Ju's perspective broadened, various ideas popped into his head and he quickly formed a plan.
Directly advertising satellite launch services would certainly go unnoticed, but he could start with someone he knew.
Suddenly, he remembered that during his common undergraduate studies in China, he had collaborated with a 985 university on a satellite project. Sadly, another more prestigious school took over the rocket slot and the project fell through.
But they had built a satellite, which might still be around and usable with some refurbishment!
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