"You must have called me so soon, there must be something important. "Manturov did not guess what Stalin was looking for him, but certainly not because www.biquge.info of some trifle.

Before Stalin could give the answer, he handed Manturov a document.

Manturov, who was well-informed, took the thing with both hands, nodded politely in respect, and then dared to open it.

"Comrade Manturov," Stalin said, taking a pipe and taking a puff, "in 1939, the annual steel production of our country exceeded the level of 27 million tons, surpassing all European countries, including Germany.

Of these, 6 million tons were contributed by the Novosibirsk Manturov Steelworks, and another 3 million tons by the Kemerovo Bolshevik Steelworks. Both plants, both of which belong to the Manturov Metallurgical Complex of the Novosibirsk Region, were built by you when you were the secretary of the state party committee, and both applied the steelmaking technology you invented. ”

Stalin took a puff of his cigarette and continued: "It seems that I did not award the Lenin Medal to the wrong person, your contribution to the industrial development of our country is too great, and one Lenin Medal is not enough to recognize your contribution to the development of the Soviet Union, so you deserve a medal for the hero of socialist labor." ”

The medal that Stalin spoke of was actually the Golden Star Medal of the "Hero of Socialist Labor". The title of "Hero of Socialist Labor" was established at the end of 1938 and was on a par with the rank of "Hero of the Soviet Union". And at the beginning of 1939, Manturov became the first person to receive this title.

However, at the beginning of the establishment of the title of "Hero of Socialist Labor", the recipient of the title was awarded only the Order of Lenin, the highest medal of the Soviet Union, and a certificate issued by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and did not have the gold medal of the Sickle and Hammer, which was exclusive to Hero of Socialist Labor.

Later, since the recipients of the Order of Lenin were not necessarily Heroes of Socialist Labor, and the vast majority were not Heroes of Socialist Labor, it was necessary to distinguish between the two.

As a result, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet signed an order that whoever later received the title of "Hero of Socialist Labor" would receive an exclusive gold medal, and the two people who held this title at that time, Stalin and Manturov, were also awarded the Golden Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor.

"But before I give you this medal, I'll give you some work." Stalin unveiled his notebook and said: "The reason why we have appointed you as People's Commissar of Construction is that we want you to expand industrial construction from the Novosibirsk region to the whole country.

At present, although the Soviet Union ranks first in Europe in steel production and surpasses our potential enemy, Germany, it is still a long way from the United States, which ranks first with an annual steel output of 60 million tons. ”

Manturov quickly guessed what Stalin meant, he had just praised Novosibirsk for its contribution to steel production, and now he said that the Soviet Union's steel output was not as good as that of the United States, but the implication was that he wanted to build more high-capacity steelmaking facilities similar to the Manturov steelworks in Novosibirsk to greatly increase the steel output of the Soviet Union.

The number of constructions, in fact, does not need much. Based on the annual output of the Manturov steel mill in Novosibirsk and 60 million tons in the United States, the Soviet Union only needs to build 10 more steel mills of similar scale to the Manturov plant and using the top-blowing oxygen converter method to surpass the level of the United States.

"Comrade Stalin, you mean to build more enterprises similar to the Novosibirsk steel plant? Increasing China's steel production? Manturov was not sure what Stalin was thinking, so he asked first.

"yes, looks like you know what to do. The document I just gave you is some information about each iron ore mining area, including the number of iron ore mines in the local area, the output, and the list of local leaders. If you need to, you can always contact any person on the list and explain to them any work related to the steel industry.

My goal was simple: to increase the Soviet Union's steel production to 40 million tons per year within five years. This shouldn't be a problem for you. ”

"It shouldn't be a problem. If I could, I would exceed that target and try to increase steel production to 70 million tons a year, surpassing that of the United States. Manturov did not dare to promise to complete the task in front of Stalin, he was afraid that if he could not complete it, he would lose Stalin's trust in him.

At the same time, Manturov did not want Stalin to underestimate his abilities, so he threw out a larger goal, convincing him that he had a certain ability to work and was suitable to remain in the position of People's Commissar of Construction.

"Well, I never thought of increasing steel production to 70 million tons in five years. If you can do it, of course, it's best, but if you can't do it, you can't force it.

The most important thing is to maintain the quality of steel production while achieving quantitative targets. If you can improve the quality of production while increasing the quantity of production, then of course, it is the best, and you can't sacrifice quality because of the pursuit of quantity. ”

"Rest assured, this won't happen unless something goes wrong with the Ministry of Ferrous Industries." Manturov did not mean to shirk responsibility, he was only responsible for building the factory and setting up the production line. As for the management of the steelmaking industry, as well as the quality control of products, that is the matter of the Ministry of Ferrous Metal Industry, which basically has nothing to do with the Ministry of Construction.

"Of course, quality control and line management are all matters on the part of the ferrous industry department, but the construction work you are responsible for also has a lot of impact on output and quality. For example, the space of the factory determines the output, and the installation of the workshop and production line will also have an impact on the output and quality. Stalin said solemnly.

"Rest assured," said Manturov with a little confidence, "I will do my best to avoid anything unpleasant." ”

Stalin stood up and patted the young man on the shoulder, "I believe in your abilities and hope that you can do your best work, which is good for you, for me, for the party, for the country, and for the people of the whole Soviet Union." ”

Stalin cautiously opened a delicate-looking box on the table, and took out a golden medallion. "Comrade Manturov, this is what you won."

He personally presented Manturov with this medal of the highest honor of the USSR and, warmly, shook his hand as a sign of appreciation and trust.

From the strength of Stalin's handshake and the warmth of his palm, Manturov felt the leader's high appreciation and trust in him.

This high level of trust came too suddenly, which also made Manturov feel a little strange, and brought him a sense of crisis.