Chapter 58: Dry Dock, CA Mortar

Corner Restaurant.

Everyone had eaten and drank their fill, and Yu Yang designated the three rows of large tile-roofed houses in the township compound as the offices for the three major construction engineering companies.

Then, according to the factory zone layout plan, he assigned each company its respective area of responsibility.

The First Construction Engineering Company near the brick kiln.
The Second Construction Engineering Company north of Yu Family Village.
The Third Construction Engineering Company near the highway.

The projects included: building drainage ditches, installing utility poles, and laying railway roadbeds.

"These projects do not involve contracting fees or the procurement of building materials. As long as you strictly adhere to the construction standards, everyone will get paid."

"However, if anyone tries any funny business—such as secretly reselling Sanyuan Agriculture's cables or utility poles—I believe that besides me, Director Dong will not let them off the hook either."

The executives of the three major companies, already intimidated by this bandit-like demeanor, turned pale once again.

Yu San-yuan would at most make people suffer, but if Director Dong stepped in, even three generations down the line would suffer.

"Alright, get to work!"

Yu Yang waved his hand and walked out of the Corner Restaurant.

The township head, the deputy township head, and the director of the investment promotion office, who had been waiting outside, hurriedly crowded around.

The three major construction engineering companies of the Taishi Road and Bridge Group were of a much higher tier than Shiliying.

In the eyes of the trio from the township compound, the corporate executives sitting inside were all high-ranking officials and big shots.

With so many high-ranking officials leading over two thousand people pouring in, if communication wasn't established in advance, given Shiliying's current social climate, it wouldn't be long before chaos broke out.

For instance, villagers might pocket a few wrenches or steal a few tires.
For instance, construction workers passing through the village might casually snatch a few chickens and bring along a few dogs.

Though these seemed like trivial matters, many major conflicts accumulated precisely from such small beginnings.

And once a major conflict arose, with so many people involved on both sides, casualties would be inevitable.

The township head produced a soft pack of Huaxia cigarettes he had swiped from the Western-style villa and offered one. "How did it go?"

"Done. They're all quite obedient, especially the Municipal Third Construction Company, which has high prospects of staying here with us."

"That's fantastic news!"

"Also, I secured the appropriations for the parking lot and the secondary road."

"How much?"

"Twenty-five million."

"Hiss..."

For Shiliying, whose fiscal revenue had never once exceeded one million, this sum of money was nothing short of astronomical.

The township head worriedly asked, "With this funding passing through Director Dong's hands, will it end up being halved?"

Yu Yang was slightly stunned.

Indeed, with Director Dong personally allocating the funds to their account, how much would actually be left?

Just at that moment, the former business manager of the county branch, now the deputy president of the county branch, called.

"Chief, the Municipal Second Construction Company and the Municipal Third Construction Company remitted ten million and fifteen million to my side respectively, with your name noted in the remarks."

"The amounts are correct."

"What about this money?"

"Keep it in the account for now. Don't touch it randomly, and don't take advantage of other banks lacking loan quotas to lend it out for interest spreads."

"Understood, you can rest assured on that."

Yu Yang hung up the phone and fell into deep thought.

After a long while.

Watching the various machinery continually moving into the factory zone and the numerous corporate executives issuing orders...

Yu Yang understood.

Although Director Dong was greedy for wealth, achievements were equally important.

Judging by Director Dong's frantic injection of capital and his move to bring in the three mainstays of the Taishi Road and Bridge Group, he was likely planning to use Sanyuan Agriculture as a stepping stone for his own promotion.

For his own side, this had both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage was that their future standing in Taishi would be met with green lights all the way.

The disadvantage was that the closer they got to Director Dong, the more likely they were to face future liquidation.

What did it matter if they were a large agricultural company? Trillion-dollar real estate giants could collapse overnight.

Fortunately, the distant future was too far off; if worst came to worst, Sanyuan Agriculture could go bankrupt halfway and fleece Director Dong thoroughly.

Yu Yang crushed out his cigarette butt and looked at the township head. "Director Dong still treats us quite well."

"No deductions made?"

"Not a single penny missing."

"Could that man have taken the wrong medicine?"

"Since we're working under Director Dong, try to say less of that kind of talk from now on."

"Oh, right, but why are you allowed to call him Director Dong the bandit?"

"I am holding firm to my original intentions."

The trio from the township compound collectively curled their lips.

The township head asked again, "What about this money?"

"When the storm passes over, we'll tear down that highway bridge underpass and rebuild it."

"We've made it through several years, no need to rush for the moment. It's better to strengthen Sanyuan Agriculture first."

"It's about as strengthened as it can be. Vegetable vendors coming in bulk to buy bean sprouts are increasing by the day. Although bean sprouts aren't heavy, they take up an extraordinary amount of space, and to make the long trip worthwhile, vendors always want to haul as much as possible, stacking their truck beds higher and higher."

"That bridge underpass is both narrow and low, and it's already causing some traffic jams. When we put another thirty plastic greenhouses into operation, customers will increase even further, and entering and exiting Shiliying will become a major problem by then."

The township head nodded. "I wonder if superiors will approve the reconstruction."

"We have Director Dong. We'll write the paperwork ourselves and approve it ourselves."

"Ah, right!"

Everyone had a sudden realization.

The highway in Taishi was indeed under Director Dong's direct jurisdiction.

"Also, from now on, be bolder in how you do things. Just like today when coordinating with the three major construction engineering companies—you could have handled that yourselves."

"A room full of high-ranking officials, how could we measure up?"

"What of it if they're officials? Haven't you heard the saying 'even a doorman to a prime minister holds the rank of a seventh-grade official'? Behind you stands Director Dong. You are Director Dong's direct lineage—the genuine direct lineage whose funding wasn't clipped even after passing through his hands. What is there to fear?"

"That makes sense!"

The trio also had an epiphany.

At that moment.

The township head caught sight of the chairman of the Municipal First Construction Company, and remembering that the man had been putting on airs all along, his face immediately chilled. "Hmph!"

The latter had originally intended to find Yu Yang to voluntarily surrender management rights and the twenty million yuan in funding for building residential blocks, but faced with this scene, he broke out in a cold sweat and no longer dared to step forward.

Seeing that the effect was good, the township head raised his chin, puffed out his chest, and strode toward the grain station.

The deputy township head and the investment promotion office director didn't imitate the township head, but instead glared fiercely to bolster their own courage before also heading toward the grain station.

The chairman of the Municipal First Construction Company stood frozen in place.

As for Yu Yang?

He had long since walked away.

The addition of the three major construction engineering companies accelerated Sanyuan Agriculture's factory construction speed by more than a dozen times.

Take the drainage ditches, for instance. Previously, it required a thousand people digging side by side, then piling the excavated earth into embankment walls to allow the drainage ditches to hold more water.

Now, it only required a large tractor equipped with a large triangular shovel attachment to drive right through, plowing a V-shaped trench, while a second attached device tamped down the excavated earth—accomplishing the task in one smooth step.

There was also the railway roadbed construction, and the drilling, expanding, and pouring of pile foundations for utility poles...

The application of various mechanical equipment, combined with the high-quality standards of state-owned enterprises, left Yu Yang, a man who had worked as a general engineering contractor, utterly unable to find a single flaw.

He soon realized that Director Dong's current position was secured not only through operational efficiency, but also because of his capable subordinates.

However, compared to the future, the building materials and construction techniques of the current era lagged quite a bit behind.

For example, laying their own steel rails required a track bed and wooden sleepers.

Yet, purchasing crushed pine was difficult in Shiliying, and pine timber was completely unavailable.

To address this, the three construction companies devised a steel-concrete slab track bed system for the railway.

There was no need to lay gravel for shock absorption, nor was there any need to lay sleepers; instead, they directly used custom-cast steel-concrete slab beams to replace the old-fashioned design for supporting electric locomotives.

This seemed unproblematic at first glance, but steel rail joints have gaps. Even with electric locomotives, the rails would transmit vibrations, which would eventually crack the steel-concrete slab track bed and trigger accidents.

Yu Yang recalled the construction plans, parameters, and characteristics he had obtained while contracting high-speed rail sections in another era.

He therefore returned to the township compound, summoned all the material personnel from the three major companies, and initiated a discussion.

"I once heard a technician mention a ballastless track suitable for electric locomotives, where the main material is CA mortar."

"It is mixed from water, cement, fine aggregate, emulsified asphalt, and additives in varying proportions through a specific process."

"It possesses characteristics such as a certain level of strength, low elastic modulus, high environmental sensitivity, and stable working performance. In the field of electric locomotives, it can completely replace sleepers and gravel roadbeds."

"Furthermore, according to the proportion of organic matter, it can also be divided into positive ion type and negative ion type to adapt to different environments."

The chief technical engineer asked, "Do you happen to know the mix proportions for these materials?"

"The technician said he forgot."

"..."

"Really, it's not that the technician wouldn't say; he genuinely forgot."

"Without the mix proportions, we can only experiment. But composite material experimentation—from solidification to characteristics, stability, durability, lifespan, and so on—takes several months per round, and it might require dozens or even hundreds of rounds of experiments."

"Let's just build and see." Yu Yang had no other choice; he really had forgotten.

"Very well, I'll have someone send the materials over." The chief technical engineer turned and left.

Yu Yang sat at the makeshift conference table, gazed out the window, and furrowed his brows to recall carefully once more.

After a long while.

"It seems I really have forgotten."

However, catching sight of the distant military camp, a thought stirred in his heart.

He summoned the semi-transparent interface and located the shipyard.

[Primary Shipyard: Capable of building fishing boats; raw building materials must be provided.]
[Fishing boats: Specifications, characteristics, and lifespan are affected by the building materials...]

Yu Yang carefully read the prompt, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

This wasn't a shipyard; this was a building material experimentation center!

Take the ballastless track, for instance.
Although he didn't know the mix proportions of the primary material CA mortar, he could casually stir the raw ingredients of CA mortar together and churn out a concrete fishing boat.

Then, based on the figures displayed by the shipyard—such as characteristics and lifespan—he could adjust the raw material ratios, and finally make the concrete fishing boat's figures meet the requirements for bearing a railway track. Wouldn't that solve the problem of figuring out the true CA mortar?

"That being said..."

Yu Yang turned his head to look at the DIY Blacksmith Shop.

The shipyard could experiment with CA mortar, and the DIY Blacksmith Shop could manufacture metal molds.

Then, by pouring the CA mortar into the metal molds, wouldn't he be able to produce 'prefabricated ballastless tracks'?

Centralized manufacturing, batch transportation, segmented splicing, followed by laying the steel rails and mounting the electric locomotives...

At this rate of construction, wouldn't they surpass even the China Railway Construction Corporation?

"Can I go ahead and shout 'far ahead' right now?"

"This is dedicated high-speed rail technology!"