Beijing, the large conference room of the National Equipment Industry Corporation.

The ceremony announcing Luo Xiangfei's retirement and appointing Feng Xiaochen as general manager of the Equipment Industry Company was very simple. After the officials of the Organization Department read out the appointment and dismissal decision, Luo Xiangfei and Feng Xiaochen walked to the front of the conference room at the same time, Luo Xiangfei stretched out his hand, held Feng Xiaochen's hand, and said solemnly:

"Xiao Feng, I will hand over this burden to you. I hope that you will not let down the cause that Chinese people have been fighting for for generations, and I hope that China's equipment industry can be among the top in the world in the hands of your generation. ”

Feng Xiaochen reversed his previous relaxed demeanor, held Luo Xiangfei's hand with two hands, and replied in the same solemn tone: "Don't worry, Mr. Luo, our generation will definitely not disgrace our predecessors." Your legacy will surely be carried forward in our hands. ”

Warm applause rang out, which contained both respect for Luo Xiangfei and recognition of Feng Xiaochen. In the past ten years, Feng Xiaochen has won everyone's respect with his ability, character and professionalism, not to mention Wang Genji, Zhou Mengshi, Huang Ming, these colleagues of the same age, even Wu Shican, Xue Ducang and others also admire Feng Xiaochen and are willing to accept his leadership.

Luo Xiangfei left, Feng Xiaochen moved into his office, and the equipment industry company entered a new era, and everyone was looking forward to Feng Xiaochen's first "three fires" after taking office.

"Carry out research and development of high-tech equipment for the first half of the 21st century. ”

This is the plan put forward by Feng Xiaochen at the first meeting of middle-level cadres after taking office. This plan did not surprise everyone, in fact, before Luo Xiangfei left, the company's middle-level cadres had many rounds of discussions on this issue, but it has not been implemented. The research and development of high-tech equipment is a long-term work, and the initial stage of running-in is crucial, involving a lot of aspects, and the work is very complicated. Luo Xiangfei, as a leader who was about to leave, was really not suitable for presiding over such work, so he left this task to Feng Xiaochen.

Feng Xiaochen had already seriously thought about this issue, and when he organized experts from the National Industrial Laboratory to go to Yubei to help, he had repeated discussions with Zhang Lubin and others. These experts in the national industrial laboratory usually do not have a hard and fast task, which is equivalent to the state spending money to support a group of idlers, and these people are not born to be idle, so they think about various things every day, and their horizons are much broader than those front-line scientific researchers. Feng Xiaochen took the experience of two lifetimes, combined with the opinions of these experts, and gradually formed a relatively complete idea. After completing the business handover with Luo Xiangfei, he can put these ideas into practice.

"In the early 80s, when the Heavy Equipment Office was just established, our main task was to introduce technology, learn from the advanced experience of the West, and shorten the gap with the developed countries in the West in the equipment industry. At that time, our goal was very clear, and the road was also trodden by others, and we just needed to follow this road.

After more than ten years, we have initially achieved the expected goals, and the gap with the developed countries in the West has been shortened from the original unattainable to the sound of their footsteps. Although our technology is still at the backward level in general, I believe that in another ten to fifteen years, we will be able to keep up with foreign countries.

At that time, we will lose the object of chasing and imitating, the goal is gone, the road is gone, what should we do next? We should not wait until that time to consider the development direction, but should take precautions and lay out in advance, so that we can maintain the current momentum and achieve overtaking in corners. ”

Feng Xiaochen talked eloquently to everyone. Among the cadres, he is the one with the most confidence in the future, and for no other reason than because he has witnessed China's technological catch-up. He knew that even without his crossing, China would have been able to catch up with the developed countries in the first half of the 21st century by following its original path, and now that he is here, all he has to do is to shorten the process and avoid some mistakes that should not have occurred.

"Xiaochen said it well. Wu Shican, Minister of Strategic Planning, nodded in praise.

When the equipment industry company was first established, the setting of departments and positions followed the structure of the heavy equipment office, and each department was still called a certain department, and the person in charge was called a certain director. In the past two years, in line with the development of the times, the company has changed the title of the department, the technical department has become the technical department, the collaboration department has become the collaboration department, and the heads of each department have been renamed ministers. This change in title is not superfluous, it can reduce the traces of administrative in the company, so that internal employees and external customers no longer measure the company's managers according to their official position. In addition, in the future, if the level of the equipment industry company is upgraded, the various functional departments will no longer be at the division level, and the director will be renamed the minister, and the flexibility will be much greater.

When Feng Xiaochen just took over the position of general manager, Wu Shican, Xue Ducang, Liu Yanping and other old people changed their words to call him Mr. Feng, which not only made Feng Xiaochen feel uncomfortable, but Wu Shican and others were also quite awkward. Feng Xiaochen tried to get everyone to keep his original title and still call him Xiao Feng, but this title also had a problem, that is, it was difficult to form the necessary sense of authority. After all, Feng Xiaochen is now the person in charge of the company, and he is always not very serious when he is called "Xiao Feng" by his subordinates.

In the end, everyone tacitly chose a compromise plan, that is, to call Feng Xiaochen by his name. This is not only close, but also able to show some respect, which is also a more common way in the system. Of course, those who can call Feng Xiaochen by his name are all middle and high-level cadres with certain qualifications in the company, and ordinary employees like Zhou Mengshi and Huang Ming can only be commensurate with Mr. Feng in a proper manner.

Wu Shican shouted hello, interrupted Feng Xiaochen's words, and simply continued, he said:

"In the past, we were isolated from foreign countries for too long, and we were pulled out of a long distance. When people come over with a random technology, we all have to learn it seriously, and sometimes we can't learn it. But over the years, we have slowly caught up, and the gap between some technologies and others is not so big. Take the matter of the Hezhou Power Plant last time, the young engineers of Longjiang Electric Machinery Factory are no worse than the engineers of Xiyi Company, and in some places they are even stronger than them. ”

Xue Ducang, vice minister of administration, took over the conversation and said: "Americans are also human beings, and they also have a head on both shoulders, so they are not necessarily smarter than us. In the past, we were left behind because we were blocked by others, and we completely relied on ourselves to find out what we did, and we took a lot of detours. Over the years, we have opened the door to the country, and many young people have returned from studying abroad, and their horizons are very broad, plus they are smart and studious, and it is not a great thing to surpass the Americans. ”

"Minister Xue, you're too optimistic, aren't you? Just now, Mr. Feng just said that we can hear the footsteps of others, and when we come to you, we propose to surpass the Americans, which is a bit too radical. Zhong Qifan, deputy minister of the Ministry of Laws and Regulations, half-jokingly and half-seriously, choked Xue Ducang, this benevolent brother is a person who admires the West, and has always believed that there is still a big gap between China and the West, which is somewhat incompatible with the optimism and self-confidence prevailing in equipment companies. However, he is still very dedicated, as the deputy minister of the Ministry of Laws and Regulations, he has presided over many negotiations with foreign companies, but there has been no harm to the interests of the state.

"Qifan's words make sense. Feng Xiaochen agreed, and then said to Xue Ducang with a smile: "Old Xue, sooner or later, we will surpass the Americans, but before that, I am afraid we will have to bury our heads in studying for more than ten or twenty years, after all, they are old industrial powers, and there are a lot of good goods under the box." ”

Xue Ducang changed his words very quickly, and when he heard Feng Xiaochen say this, he immediately responded: "I admit this." A few days ago, I went to the Pujiang Shipyard and heard them talk about the steel plates used in the United States to build aircraft carriers, which have a yield strength of 700 megapascals, which is twice as high as the best steel we use today. Our current level is equivalent to the level of the United States in the forties and fifties, and this gap is really very large. ”

"High-strength steel, that's what we're going to include in our R&D plan. High-strength steel is not only used on aircraft carriers, but also in pressure-resistant shells, large pressure vessels, rails, and construction machinery in nuclear power plants. At present, almost all of the high-strength steel we use depends on imports, and this problem must be solved. Wu Shican said.

Feng Xiaochen said: "New energy, new materials, information technology, biotechnology, these are the key industries determined by the state. In the first half of the 21st century, we will compete with developed countries in these areas and finally determine our leading edge in these industries. All these industries should develop and be competitive, and in the final analysis, it depends on what kind of high-end equipment our equipment manufacturing industry can provide them. Without high-end equipment, it is impossible for any industry to occupy a leading position in technology. The research and development of equipment must be ahead of the development of various industries, which is the challenge we face. ”

"The high-tech equipment facing the first half of the 21st century is really unimaginable. Wang Genji, Minister of Cooperation, said with a bitter face, "How do we know what kind of equipment we will need in the future? When I was young, I watched science fiction, and by the end of this century, every household would have robots, and everyone would not have to take a car when they went out, but would fly in the sky in a spaceship." But now that we have only a few years left until the end of the century, what about our spaceship?"

The words made everyone burst into laughter, thinking of everyone's imagination of the "four modernizations" more than ten years ago, which is really a bit outrageous. At that time, everyone couldn't imagine what it would be like in 20 years, so how sure is it to predict what will happen in 20 years now?