industrial overlord

Chapter 144 Modular Design

"Xiao Lin, I understand your choice a little bit now. This country needs someone to do scientific research and someone to make money. Without money, nothing can be done." Liu Xianghai said with emotion. When talking about money, his face showed Some looked embarrassed and said: "By the way, Xiao Lin, I may not be able to repay you the 1 yuan you lent me for the time being."

Lin Zhenhua said disapprovingly: "You can take it and use it. I didn't say I borrowed it from you, but gave it to you."

Liu Xianghai said: "Let's count it as a loan. If you don't get paid for nothing, how can I take your money casually. When I have more money in the future, I will definitely pay you back. To tell you the truth, your 1 Yuan money, but it really helped me a lot.”

Lin Zhenhua asked strangely: "Why, you, a big director, still rely on this 1 yuan for emergency?"

Liu Xianghai said: "I can only use public money within the scope permitted by the system. But in reality, there are many things outside the system. Not long ago, the father of a researcher fell ill and needed to borrow 800 yuan Surgery. But according to the regulations in the institute, he can only borrow 200 yuan at most. He came to my house, a seven-foot-long man, and said in tears. But, this is how the system stipulates, what should I do?"

"So you lent him your own money?" Lin Zhenhua said.

"Isn't it?" Liu Xianghai said, "Only my own money, I have the right to use it. Xiao Lin, I realized at that time what you said when you lent me money, you said that sometimes the money can For emergency use."

"I didn't expect you to use this money to do good deeds." Lin Zhenhua said.

"Then what do you mean by emergency?"

Lin Zhenhua did not answer this question. When he first gave money to Liu Xianghai, it was out of respect for the old military workers, and he felt that not giving out some money was not enough to show his heart.The other is thinking that Liu Xianghai will return to Shanghai for the first time, maybe he will leave some old relationships, treat guests and give gifts.However, how can these words be said clearly?
"It's right to do good deeds, it's equivalent to buying people's hearts from Xunzi." Lin Zhenhua said, "Old Liu, I have another sentence, I don't know if you remember it or not."

"What?"

Lin Zhenhua said: "I said I was so poor that all I had left was money. If you need money for anything, you can go to Huaihai Road to find the Shanghai distribution office of Hanhua Industrial Company. Xiong Lijun is the manager there now. You can ask him to borrow money." That's it. I will settle with him in the future. However, I have also figured it out. I can't afford the money you need to do the experiment. At best, I can only lend it to you as a favor."

Liu Xianghai shook his head: "I can't borrow any more money from you. If I borrow too much, I won't be able to pay it back in the future."

Lin Zhenhua said: "Old Liu, if you are really short of money, just ask Xiong Lijun for it. Anyway, I will replenish him. I forgot to tell you, I have already applied for the five-leaf fan you designed for me." An international patent, but in my name. This patent should actually belong to you, and if I can make money in the future, I should pay you the patent fee."

Liu Xianghai said: "How can this be done? I said I will give it to you, and I will give it to you. Whether this five-leaf fan makes money or not, it has nothing to do with me. Besides, there are so many things in the public house. How can I pay for everything personally. By the way, it’s not me who pays for it personally, but you are helping us pay for it. What’s the matter?”

"Well, no matter how poor you are, you can't be poor in national defense. The country shouldn't let you be poor." Lin Zhenhua cried out for Liu Xianghai.

Liu Xianghai said: "You can't say that. The common people have been poor for so many years, and now it's time to give priority to solving the living problems of the common people. The above policy has been set. In the next few years, the national defense expenditure will be greatly reduced. Many Projects are all facing the threat of discontinuation. We are doing better here, but we can only maintain it. By the way, you can just listen to these things and don’t spread them outside, you know?"

"Of course I know." Lin Zhenhua said.

As a time traveler, Lin Zhenhua is quite familiar with what Liu Xianghai said. In the early 80s, the central government made a judgment on the international situation at that time, and believed that it was impossible for a large-scale armed conflict to occur in a short period of time.Based on this judgment, the central government drastically reduced military expenditures and cut down 100 million troops.Many military-industrial projects were also put on hold during this period, only to be restarted 20 years later.

Regarding the gains and losses of this period of compression of military expenditures, later generations have mixed opinions.Appreciators believe that China has decisively diverted a large amount of military expenditure to civilian use, which has promoted economic development and laid the foundation for China's rapid economic growth in the next 30 years.Critics believe that due to the compression of the project during this period of time, the stagnation of technology and the loss of military talents have been caused. The value of this loss is incalculable.

Is it really so easy to evaluate the merits and demerits of a policy?
"In this way, your yearly funding of one million yuan can be used for research? To complete the trial production of propellers, this amount of money is really enough." Lin Zhenhua sighed.

Liu Xianghai smiled wryly and said, "Where is there a research funding of more than a million yuan? This 200 million yuan also includes the headcount of our institute, medical expenses, and subsidies for the New Year and holidays. I have to find a way to squeeze out tens of thousands of yuan to give The staff in the institute build houses. Now the housing problem in our Naval Academy is even tighter than that in Hanhua Factory, and there are many cases where three generations of researchers live in the same room. Which institute can’t squeeze out some scientific research funds to build some houses?"

"This is too much!" Lin Zhenhua couldn't help but want to run away violently, "Then what else can you do research? You might as well go back to Fenghua to be your wood model worker. The research funds I spent in Hanhua Company are also More than you."

Liu Xianghai said: "You can't say it like this. In fact, the headcount fee can be regarded as investment in scientific research. Our researchers, after getting paid, still have to work. Our current theoretical research is making good progress, but when it comes to experiments, I was caught blind. As you know, our experiments are very expensive. We want to modify a large milling machine capable of processing propellers. The cost of materials for the modification alone costs more than 100 million. We have already sent a report to the central government Military Commission, we are waiting for the money to be approved from above.”

"The more I talk about it, the more discouraged I become." Lin Zhenhua said depressingly, "Old Liu, if I had known that you were here to eat and die every day, I should have persuaded you to stay in Hanhua Factory. At least you can help me solve some problems. technical problem."

Liu Xianghai laughed. He patted Lin Zhenhua on the shoulder and said, "Xiao Lin, you can't say that. We are still working on things. Things will get better in the future when the country gets over this period of difficulty. Forget it, I won't tell you about these unhappy things, Xiao Lin, are you interested in going to see the warship?"

"Interested!" Lin Zhenhua raised his hand and said, "How about it, is it a new drive? Is there any 8000 tons?"

Liu Xianghai said: "How can there be a new 8000-ton ship? Are you out of your mind? It is a new guided missile frigate we built, with a full load displacement of 2000 tons, which is very good."

"It's only 2000 tons?" Lin Zhenhua said disappointedly. He seemed to take care of Liu Xianghai's emotions and said, "Well, it doesn't matter if it's 2000 tons. Let's go and have a look. By the way, it doesn't involve leaking secrets, right?"

Liu Xianghai said: "The secret level of this thing is not high, so it doesn't matter if you look at it, just don't go out and talk about it."

The two of them wandered around the factory area, and the Hudong factory had always sent people to follow behind to accompany them.Hearing that Liu Xianghai was going to see the frigate, the accompanying staff quickly led them to a huge factory building.

This factory building is nearly 200 meters long and tens of meters high.In the center of the factory building, there is a warship about [-] meters long.The construction of the warship has not yet been completed, and groups of workers are busy on the scaffolding.The sound of smashing rivets is continuous, and the brilliant welding sparks are constantly falling from the heights, which is a busy production scene.

Liu Xianghai led Lin Zhenhua up the stairs to the high platform next to him. From there, he could overlook the whole picture of the warship.Liu Xianghai proudly introduced to Lin Zhenhua: "Look, this is a new type of frigate newly designed and finalized by our institute. The standard displacement is 1674 tons, and the full load displacement is 1924 tons. The ship is equipped with two ship-to-ship missiles and two 2-mm main guns. Seats, 100 double 2 anti-aircraft guns, anti-submarine rockets, depth charges, anti-submarine torpedoes, with various functions of air defense, anti-ship, and anti-submarine."

"It's really a good thing!" Lin Zhenhua admired. He had never been in such close contact with a warship. Although it was only a 2000-ton frigate, it was enough to make him feel bloody.

Liu Xianghai said: "The only problem with this type of frigate now is that the cost is still too high. We have considered whether to cut down some weapons and equipment, so as to reduce the displacement. Under the condition of the existing two diesel engines driving , to further increase the speed. However, after all the calculations, there is no way to reduce any of them. This unit says it needs air defense, and that unit says it needs anti-submarine. There is only one ship type, but it must take care of all aspects. This is our biggest headache at present. problem."

Lin Zhenhua said casually: "Isn't it easy? You have designed various weapon systems in a modular manner, and you can install whichever you want. The same hull design can be adapted to different purposes. Isn't this a very simple idea?"

Liu Xianghai looked at Lin Zhenhua: "What did you just say? Say it again."

"Didn't you hear clearly?" Lin Zhenhua asked strangely. The noise in the workshop was indeed quite loud, but they couldn't hear clearly when they were standing together.

Liu Xianghai shook his head desperately: "No, no, I felt like a ray of light flashed in my mind when I heard what you said just now, but I couldn't catch it all at once. No, you must have said just now A very, very important concept, but I didn't catch it."

Lin Zhenhua thought about it himself, and couldn't help laughing. He said, "Old Liu, what I'm talking about is actually not complicated. What I mean is that you can standardize and modularize each system, and then warships The main body of the weapon is fixed, and the weapon system can be installed according to the needs. It can even be handled in this way. Units with money can install more, and units without money can install less.

In addition, if a modular design is adopted, all weapon modules can be subcontracted to various units for manufacturing, and the shipyard only needs to manufacture the hull.At that time, the various modules will be shipped over, and a new warship will be completed if we work together. "

"Yes! That's the concept!" Liu Xianghai shouted excitedly, "You are so right, modular! Xiao Lin, I really admire you, how could you come up with such a genius idea?"

Uh... It seems that I didn't propose this, but it was proposed by the Germans, right?Lin Zhenhua argued in a low voice in his heart.However, he didn't dare to say that his idea was borrowed from other places. This is a matter related to military intelligence. If he said it, it would be a ghost if the security department didn't check him out.Just check it out, the problem is, where can I check this kind of unreasonable thing?

"Old Liu, in fact, my idea is just borrowed from the idea of ​​machine tool design. Do you think it is also feasible to use it in the design of warships?" Lin Zhenhua said hesitantly, the concept of modularization in the industry is already relatively popular, he This explanation is also reasonable.

"Of course it's possible, it's really necessary!" Liu Xianghai said, "Xiaolin, you don't know that the power of our marine main engine is small, which determines that the displacement of our warships should not be too large. According to your idea just now, we can The mission of the troops is to quickly design warships with different configurations, which is much more effective than redesigning them one by one."

"So, I can also be a warship designer?" Lin Zhenhua asked excitedly, this is an ideal he has had since childhood.

Liu Xianghai said with a smile: "You are not qualified, you just provided a very valuable idea. Modularization... This sentence is easy to say, but how to design various weapon systems into modules with standard interfaces is not easy. . On a larger scale, it may bring about a major change in the design concept of the entire ship. You, a layman who knows nothing about ships, can still do this?"

"Isn't it?" Lin Zhenhua was very unconvinced, "Old Liu, you are only engaged in thrusters, how can you do this kind of thing?"

Liu Xianghai said: "I didn't say that I would do it. I am the director of the propulsion institute and a member of the expert committee of the Naval Academy. Naturally, I want to participate in the overall design of the ship. The next time the Naval Academy meets , I will put forward such an idea, and all experts will be needed to demonstrate it. If this idea is finally approved by the expert committee, various systems will be organized to jointly tackle key problems. The outstanding experts in our various systems, their capabilities But you can't imagine it. Kobayashi, maybe your idea can really come true."

Lin Zhenhua asked: "Then, wouldn't I be able to win an award or something?"

Liu Xianghai laughed loudly: "No problem, we will forge a one-ton medal for you out of thick ship plates."

(End of this chapter)