Chapter 81 Food Stamps
Li Jiandong originally wanted to wait until later when they were drinking and then slowly chat with everyone, but since everyone was very interested, he just said:

“In fact, I also heard from others that the leaders above seem to be studying a method of unified purchase and sale.

To put it simply, no matter what you buy in the future, you will need a ticket, just like we need a grain book to buy grain now.

It just so happens that Dongxu wants to buy a bicycle today, so I thought I would tell you in advance. If you don’t buy it now, it will be difficult to buy it when the tickets start to be used. "

Regarding coupons, some say they were implemented nationwide in 55, while others say that shopping with coupons began in October 53.

In fact, food coupons have existed since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

However, unlike those issued later, food coupons could initially be exchanged directly for food without paying money.

Li Jiandong had indeed heard rumors about unified purchase and sales recently. October would be just a few months away, so he would rather believe it than not.

He Daqing, who was packing the ingredients, suddenly raised his head and said:

"You know what? When I was cooking at Lou Bancheng's house a few days ago, I seemed to have heard about tickets. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time. Now that Lao Li mentioned it, I remembered that it seems to be true."

Xu Fugui already had a bicycle, so he didn't care about this topic.

Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui began to consider it seriously.

A bicycle is not cheap, but it is easy to buy one with Liu Haizhong's salary.

However, he had just bought a radio some time ago, so asking him to buy a bicycle seemed like it would cost too much all at once.

Yan Bugui had wanted to buy a bicycle for a long time.

You know, he went fishing every weekend. It was a long walk from Nanluoguxiang to the Grand Canal. If he didn't catch any fish, it would be easier to come back empty-handed. If he caught any fish, it would be very tiring to bring back both the fish and the water.

It would be different if he had a bicycle. Not only could it save him a lot of energy, but it could also save him time and allow him to fish longer. He could also rent it out and earn extra money.

"Since Lao Li has said so, I have to buy a bicycle before I use the ticket."

Yan Bugui had wanted to make this decision a long time ago, and Li Jiandong's words gave him a push.

"Then I'll buy one too."

Liu Haizhong also said.

He is the second uncle, and he can't just watch the third uncle Yan Bugui have a bicycle while he doesn't. If he is short of money, it's fine. He has a high salary and also has income from the tavern and kindergarten. Even if he spends a lot of money temporarily, he can save it up quickly.

The most important thing is that Li Jiandong revealed this information to him.

If I don't take some action to express my gratitude, wouldn't I be wasting my leader's affection?
He Daqing started a fire and burned oil, and soon the courtyard was filled with the aroma of food.

The deaf old lady who lived opposite Yi Zhonghai's house smelled the aroma of the food and swallowed hard, cursing,

"You bastards, you deliberately cooked outside to tempt me. You don't know how to respect the elderly. Sooner or later, you will be taken away by the little devils."

"And that useless Yi Zhonghai, why hasn't he come back so late today? He collects junk and doesn't even eat. Does he want to starve me to death?"

Just when the deaf old lady was drooling over the food at Li Jiandong's house.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai was walking on the street carrying a bag of rags.

He deserves the people around him pointing fingers and laughing at him.

He was assigned to Courtyard 40, the same courtyard as Li Jiandong. Instead of enjoying the welfare benefits of the courtyard, he had to have evil intentions.

Now he is disabled and has lost his job, and can only make a living by collecting scraps.

But despite the ridicule, everything is valuable these days and junk collecting is a very common profession.

Yi Zhonghai was quite shrewd and even collecting scraps was something he could do in a variety of ways.

Arriving at a house with its own courtyard, Yi Zhonghai knocked on the door, which was soon opened.

An elderly man in his sixties stood at the door and asked, "Did you receive any good things today?"

Yi Zhonghai smiled apologetically and put the sack down from his shoulder.

Then, he untied the strap on top with one hand, opened it, and carefully took out a second wrapped object from inside.

"Please look, old man. This is something I collected from Yandai Street. It is said to be something that came from the palace. I don't know much else, but it is definitely made of copper. How much do you think you can give me?"

Yi Zhonghai put the things on the ground with an apologetic smile and opened the package to show the other party.

At the beginning, he really just wanted to collect junk to earn some money for food.

Until one day, when he collected a copper ware and was about to sell it as scrap copper, it was discovered by the old man in front of him and bought by him at a high price.

Yi Zhonghai suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with a new idea.

Gold in troubled times, antiques in prosperous times.

Although the war was over only a few years ago, because North City was liberated peacefully and was once the site of the emperor, some people here still value antiques.

Having tasted the sweetness, Yi Zhonghai no longer collected ordinary junk, but instead collected old items under the guise of collecting junk.

Although he knew nothing about antiques, he knew who might have good stuff.

Moreover, he always offered the lowest price. Even if he couldn't buy it, he would not take the risk of paying a high price. So in the end, he really made a lot of money.

Of course, this behavior is considered stealing, and if you get caught, you're doomed.

"Well, the details and quality are indeed good, but this kind of bronze is very common. Even if it comes from the palace, it is not valuable. I'll give you 8 yuan. If you are willing to sell it, keep it. If not, forget it."

After looking at the bronze ware, the old man gave a price directly.

Yi Zhonghai's heart was beating wildly.

He bought the bronze ware for two dollars and fifty cents, but he did not expect to make five dollars and fifty cents by reselling it. If it were not possible to find one every few days, this job would earn him much more than being a laborer.

"Old man, you see I walk around the streets, it's not easy to get a good item, 8 yuan is not enough for me to collect from people, you can give me a little more."

Yi Zhonghai said this not because he was greedy, he just wanted to show that he didn't make any money.

The old man shook his head and said, "This is the price. It can't be higher. You charged too high a price. That's because you are short-sighted. If I buy it at a higher price, I will be the one who gets laughed at if others find out."

"Well, this isn't the first time we've done business together. Consider these two dollars as my tuition fee for you. Take it."

Yi Zhonghai sighed and said, and only after he got the money and walked away did a disdainful smile appear on his face.

"Li Jiandong, you asked the steel mill to fire me just to wait until I ran out of money and then sell the house to kick me out. Unfortunately, you miscalculated. I, Yi Zhonghai, am not that easily defeated."

…………

After eating and drinking, Li Jiandong stood at the door and watched He Daqing, Yan Bugui, and Liu Haizhong go home.

Just then, Yi Zhonghai came back from outside carrying the torn sack on his back.

Li Jiandong glanced at him and found that after a few months, Yi Zhonghai was not depressed but seemed more energetic. He didn't know whether it was because he ran outside all day to exercise or because he really made so much money by picking up scraps to let him eat and drink well.

As Yi Zhonghai walked into his home, the deaf old woman's angry curses suddenly rang out in the house.

Li Jiandong also retreated back into the house and closed the door. No matter what opportunities Yi Zhonghai had, as long as he behaved himself and didn't cause any trouble, otherwise he would suffer the consequences.

The next few months were uneventful.

With the fall of an autumn rain, the hot season finally passed.

Not long after Li Jiandong arrived at the steel rolling mill that day, a ding sound suddenly rang in his mind.

[Ding~ Your apprentice Yan Jiecheng has completed a mechanical maintenance operation, and will reward you with 100 maintenance experience points.]

[Your maintenance level has been upgraded, and the current level is advanced technician (maximum level!)]

[Special skills rewarded at full professional level: Mechanical proficiency/master, Truck proficiency/apprentice.]

……

Li Jiandong was stunned. He didn't expect that the second person to reach the maximum level would be a maintenance profession.

You know, this is not a main job at all. It's just that Yan Jiecheng occasionally repairs and maintains his own car besides driving for the fleet.

Maybe because the professional skills are simple, so experience is gained quickly and it is upgraded early.

Open the system interface.

【Mechanical Mastery】

You have an innate understanding of all things mechanical, and can pinpoint equipment flaws and find reasonable solutions.

--------

Truck Mastery

Your apprentice is very well versed with the truck and can easily repair all faults related to it.

--------

There are two skills, one is a reward given to the master, Li Jiandong, and the other is a reward given to Yan Jiecheng.

Although they are both unique skills, Li Jiandong's skills are still a hundred times stronger than his apprentice's. He actually has a natural understanding of all machines.

The system's explanation of machinery is that any device that can move is considered a machine.

To put it simply, even bicycles count.

"This skill is pretty good, more practical than pixel eye."

Li Jiandong's baby has been breaking down frequently recently. With mechanical proficiency, he can now fix it.

As for the pixel eyes, in daily life, there is no need to see so clearly.

Sometimes when eating, you can even see insect eggs on the leaves, which affects your appetite.

"Director Li, someone is looking for you."

Xiao Guo from the production department suddenly walked in from outside and said, and behind him, a woman walked in.

This is Qin Xiaodan, an engineer from Nangang. He has been researching independent steelmaking equipment since he returned after the Chinese New Year.

However, there has been no substantial breakthrough so far. Although it is called research, it is actually imitation. However, no matter how similar they imitate, the products they make are always different from the imported ones.

"Mr. Qin, do you have something to talk to me about?" Li Jiandong asked.

"Director Li, we want to test the car again this afternoon. Can you help us find a few workers to operate it?"

What Qin Xiaodan meant by the test run was to turn on the equipment to test its effect, that is, to run what they had imitated.

They have run it many times before, but the results were not ideal each time. They have been dismantling and modifying it for half a year. From being full of confidence at the beginning, they are now a little embarrassed to trouble others.

"Okay, I'll take them there after lunch?"

"Yes, before two o'clock."

"I see."

"Then you are busy, I will go back first."

Qin Xiaodan turned and left after she finished speaking. Li Jiandong went to various workshops to find workers who were doing test runs and greeted their workshop directors in advance to avoid production being affected by a lack of manpower.

After lunch, Li Jiandong went to wait outside the test run workshop.

Watching the workers arrive one by one, Li Jiandong counted their numbers.

After a while, Chief Engineer Qin arrived with nine engineers from the steel rolling mill and Nangang.

"Director Li, thank you for your hard work."

Chief Engineer Qin had a smile on his face, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was worried at the moment. It seemed that he was not sure about today's test drive.

However, this is normal. The new country was established only a few years ago, and everything was foreign-made. Even matches were called foreign matches.

This shows how backward the productivity was at that time.

Large-scale machinery like steel rolling equipment cannot be easily developed with just enthusiasm. Even imitation requires a long trial and error process.

Any omission of details may lead to the failure of the entire experiment.

"Mr. Qin, you are too polite. This is all my job."

Li Jiandong nodded. To be honest, he admired the engineers in front of him very much. It was their unremitting efforts that would create the future national revival.

Without further ado, Chief Engineer Qin led the engineers into the workshop, and Li Jiandong followed with the workers.

The next step was for everyone to take their positions, and the equipment started up under the command of Chief Engineer Qin.

As the machine slowly accelerated, it gradually began to operate normally.

Li Jiandong listened to the chaotic sounds of machinery turning and colliding around him, and suddenly some strange yet familiar information emerged in his mind.
"Serious internal disturbance?"

"Incomplete heating?"

"The ingot fixing plate is not flat enough."

"The propeller lever is jerked."

……

This year's test run is for the front-end process of steel rolling, the second step of which is the heating process of the steel billet. The purpose of heating the steel billet is to improve the plasticity of the steel and reduce the deformation resistance for easy rolling. Excellent heating technology can even eliminate or reduce the internal structural defects of the steel billet.

The set in front of you is a three-stage heating equipment, the three sections are preheating section, heating section and equalizing section.

Li Jiandong could already tell that there were problems with many details just by listening.

Observing with my eyes, I was more certain of my judgment that the main problem of the equipment in front of me was in the heating section. The internal turbulence was serious, and the thrust rod was frustrated, which caused the heating of the billet to be seriously uneven.

In some places, overheating will affect the plasticity of the steel, which is also a problem often encountered during the heating process of the steel billet.

However, this problem occurred in the past mostly because of workers' improper operation and prolonged heating time, but this time the overheating was purely due to equipment problems.

"The billet was overheated and the surface was cracked. The heating was a failure."

Li Jiandong had already made a judgment, while Chief Engineer Qin and others beside him had their eyes full of expectations.

Soon the heating process was over, and Chief Engineer Qin and others couldn't wait to check the results.

Qin Xiaodan also took a notebook and followed closely behind, preparing to record data.

When they saw the steel billet with cracks on the surface due to overheating, the light in the eyes of the ten engineers suddenly dimmed.

Although you are prepared for failure, it is easy to get the same result again and again and not be able to find the reason, which can make you fall into decadence.

"Why, what went wrong?"

"Our equipment is exactly the same as the imported ones, even the position of the screws has been imitated as closely as possible. Why do we still fail every time?"

"What's the problem?"

Several young engineers looked frustrated. Failure is not scary.

The scary thing is not knowing why you failed.

Chief Engineer Qin said in a low voice: "Xiaodan, come here and record the data."

Qin Xiaodan walked forward silently, looked at the steel billet with almost the same result as the previous times, and wrote it down in the notebook helplessly.

At this time, Li Jiandong suddenly stepped forward and said, "Chief Engineer Qin, I have been a worker for so many years, although I have different positions in the workshop. But I have some understanding of the steel rolling process. The cause of steel billet cracking is usually due to overheating. I think that repeated overheating should be due to problems in the heating section."

Chief Engineer Qin nodded and said with some appreciation:
"Director Li is indeed a capable person who designed a hydropower station by self-study. Although you have never worked on the heating section, you are right. The cracking of the steel ingot is indeed due to a problem with the heating section. But the key is that we have disassembled it several times, but we still can't find the problem with the heating section."

Chief Engineer Qin sighed again as he spoke. They were all professionals and certainly knew why the steel billet cracked.

But the problem is that they know where the problem is but can't find it. This frustration once made them doubt the professionalism of the assets.

Li Jiandong felt that if he continued to remind them in a tactful way, they probably wouldn't understand.

In order to realize independent research and development of steel rolling equipment as soon as possible, he does not intend to hide his shortcomings.

So, after briefly considering the words, he said:

"Engineer Qin, since we already know that the problem occurs in the heating section, and there is no problem with the equipment in the heating section itself, then could it be that there is a problem with the pushing equipment?

For example, the push platform is not flat, resulting in blocked hot air flow, or setbacks causing some parts to be heated for too long while others are heated for too short a time? "

Li Jiandong's words were quite professional, and even an assistant engineer could understand what he meant.

After hearing his reminder, the ten engineers' heartbeats quickened.

Chief Engineer Qin suddenly realized something and shouted, "Yes, if it's not a problem with the heating section itself, then the problem is most likely with the push device."

"Director Li, you really helped us a lot. I didn't expect that all of our engineers combined are not as good as you alone.

Sure enough, the experience of you old masters is much better than our theoretical knowledge."
"Mr. Qin is too polite. Let's quickly dismantle the equipment and check to see if the problem lies with the push device."

Li Jiandong said with a smile.

Although I already knew where the problem was, I could only pretend to have guessed it.

Chief Engineer Qin and others could no longer wait. The heating problem had troubled them for several months, and after repeated disassembly, they still could not find the problem.

After being reminded by Li Jiandong today, I realized that my thinking might be wrong.

Now think about it, we were really stupid. Since we were sure that there was no problem with the heating equipment.

Then the problem must be somewhere else. Why don't we think about pushing the device?

Fortunately, they met Li Jiandong, otherwise they would have to dwell on this dilemma for who knows how long, and even slowly start to doubt themselves and wonder whether they are really professional.

"Quick, organize people to dismantle it."

Chief Engineer Qin waved his hand and immediately began to lead his men into action.

The machine was quickly disassembled and everyone gathered around to examine it carefully. Although there was a problem with the push device, it couldn't be very obvious, otherwise it would have been discovered during the previous disassemblies.

It was not until everyone measured it with a ruler that they discovered that the push platform was indeed slightly uneven.

Because the platform is uneven, slight errors occur during the pushing process. As the pushing goes deeper, the errors become larger and larger. The upper billet is too close to the heating furnace, which causes the temperature to be too high. In addition, the uneven heating caused by the pushing rod causes the billet to overheat every time.

Seeing that the facts were just as Li Jiandong said, Chief Engineer Qin and others all showed admiration.

Before, they, including Chief Engineer Qin, looked down on senior workers.

I think they are just quick-eyed and deft, and because they have been doing this for a long time, they have a little bit of operating experience.

Only when they met Li Jiandong today did they realize that they were only looking at the world from a narrow perspective.

Ten engineers studied the problem for several months but still couldn't figure it out.

As a result, people just took a look at the heated steel billet and analyzed the problem in detail.

"Director Li, I really admire you. So many of us have been stuck with this heating problem for more than three months, and we don't have any clues at all.

If you were not here today, this problem would have troubled us for a longer time. If the self-service equipment can be successfully developed, you will definitely have made a great contribution to it. "

Chief Engineer Qin held Li Jiandong's hand tightly and refused to let go. He was so excited and grateful.

Li Jiandong's actions not only solved their confusion, but also directly promoted the research and development speed of domestic independent steelmaking equipment.

Moreover, it corrected their previous arrogant mentality of looking down on senior workers.

Li Jiandong smiled and said:
"Engineer Qin, whether you have any credit or not, let's wait until the equipment development is completed. Now we have only found the problem, but it is not easy to solve it."

What Li Jiandong said is correct. For example, the problem of uneven propulsion platform is not because the propulsion platform is really bad, but because the standard of domestic equipment is like this, or the casting level is at this level.

If other people's equipment can achieve a flatness of 10, ours can only reach 3 or 4. It's not because we are not serious but because that's our ability.

Chief Engineer Qin also realized this problem and nodded, saying, "Yes, we never thought that there would be a problem with the push equipment before. The main reason was that our acceptance was qualified at that time. Now it seems that our standards are much lower than those imported from foreign countries."

Another engineer nearby also said:
"We don't have high-precision forging equipment. Unless we build a few more propulsion devices, we can take our chances and choose the one that is the smoothest. But this is not only time-consuming but also wastes too much steel."

(End of this chapter)