Chapter 108 The So-Called "Three No's Principle"

The meeting room also erupted into a commotion.

"Aren't these conditions a bit too harsh? No self-directed research allowed?"

The Director of Modu Machine Tool Factory immediately caught the key point and frowned.

"Harsh? That's embracing international standards!"

The Director of Fengtian Second Machinery Plant immediately retorted,

"That stuff we've been messing around with ourselves..."

"...is just for fooling people at home. Who would recognize it abroad?"

"Bullshit!"

Cui Yushan slammed the table and stood up, pointing at the man's nose and cursing,

"You're a spineless coward!"

"This is proactively stretching the nation's neck under someone else's blade!"

"How did we get our start back then?"

"Wasn't it by relying on a spirit that refused to believe in the impossible?"

"Cui the Bearded! Stop labeling people like that!"

Deputy Factory Director Ma was not to be outdone,

"I'm doing this for the big picture!"

"Refusing to use readily available advanced technology and insisting on treating a clod of dirt like a treasure."

"This is isolationism! You are a criminal obstructing industrial modernization!"

"You're the comprador!"

"You're a hillbilly!"

The two sides argued heatedly; some supported importation, believing it could allow them to overtake on the curve;

others supported self-reliance, believing they must keep their rice bowl in their own hands.

Spit was flying everywhere; if it weren't for their statuses, they probably would have started swinging chairs long ago.

Vice Minister Liu's brow was furrowed, the pencil in his hand creaking under his grip.

Reason told him that importing technology was the fastest shortcut to quickly resolve the urgent need for production capacity.

But emotionally, he maintained an instinctive wariness toward the "kindness" of the Japanese.

It was indeed a difficult dilemma.

Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control and the voices of the importation faction were gradually drowning out the self-reliance faction...

...Vice Minister Liu's gaze fell upon the young man in the corner.

From beginning to end, this young man had been sipping tea and watching the show.

As if none of this had anything to do with him.

But those eyes of his were terrifyingly calm.

"Clang, clang."

Vice Minister Liu picked up his enamel mug and tapped it hard against the table twice.

The crisp clanking sound brought silence to the meeting room.

Vice Minister Liu extended a finger and pointed straight at the corner.

"Lin Xi."

Lin Xi, having been called upon, put down his tea mug and slowly raised his head.

"Red Star Technology is the inventor of the M1 and the source of this controversy."

Vice Minister Liu leaned back in his chair, his gaze torch-like,

"Tell us your thoughts."

Swish!

Dozens of gazes.

Filled with scrutiny, contempt, expectation, and doubt.

Like dozens of searchlights, they all focused on Lin Xi at once.

Deputy Factory Director Ma sneered, crossing his arms with a look of pure mockery in his eyes.

What kind of waves could a lowly section-level cadre possibly make?

Lin Xi slowly stood up and straightened his collar.

On his retina, a line of bullet comments was particularly eye-catching:

[Streamer, teach these people a lesson! Let them know what a "Dimensionality Reduction Strike" is!]

[Don't back down! Tell them that truth only exists within the range of a Big Cannon, and technology is only technology when it's in your own hands!]

Lin Xi smiled.

He was in no hurry to defend himself.

Instead, he looked at Deputy Factory Director Ma and spoke in a calm tone:

"Director Ma,"

"Fengtian No. 1 Machine Tool Plant has been cooperating with Japan's Yamazaki Iron Works for about a year now, hasn't it?"

Deputy Factory Director Ma frowned.

Although he didn't understand why he was being asked, he still nodded:

"One year and three months."

"We have already imported three prototypes and established a constant-temperature laboratory."

"Very good."

Lin Xi nodded, then his tone suddenly shifted,

"Then I would like to ask, in these one year and three months..."

"...besides learning how to press that start button..."

"...exactly what core technology have you learned?"

Deputy Factory Director Ma's face stiffened, and he immediately retorted:

"You have to eat your meal one bite at a time!"

"We have learned the assembly process for precision machine tools."

"We have learned the international standard operating procedures."

"Is this not progress?"

"Assembly?"

Lin Xi laughed, but the smile didn't reach his eyes,

"Do you mean putting together the parts they shipped over like building blocks?"

"Or do you mean following that thick Japanese manual so closely that you wouldn't dare deviate by even half a unit of torque on a single screw?"

"Lin Xi! You're twisting words! Science is rigorous!"

Deputy Factory Director Ma slammed the table, flying into a rage out of shame.

"Rigorous?"

Lin Xi took a sudden step forward, his aura instantly exploding,

"Then let me ask you a few 'rigorous' questions."

Lin Xi held up one finger:

"In this past year, have the Japanese given you even a single blueprint?"

Deputy Factory Director Ma opened his mouth but made no sound.

Lin Xi held up a second finger:

"That meter-thick stack of control code—can your technicians understand even a single line of it?"

"Or is it just a black box that is off-limits to you?"

Cold sweat trickled down Deputy Factory Director Ma's temples.

Lin Xi held up a third finger and pointed it directly at Deputy Factory Director Ma's nose:

"And those three so-called prototypes—do they really belong entirely to you?"

"Of... of course they belong to us!"

"The state spent foreign exchange to buy them!" Deputy Factory Director Ma blustered, masking his weakness.

"Is that so?"

Lin Xi sneered, his pace of speech suddenly quickening,

"Then what's the deal with the 'Three Noes Principle'?"

"No unauthorized disassembly of the machine tool; even if a single screw is removed, the system automatically locks down."

"No moving the installation position; if the machine tool detects a tilt of more than 5 degrees or a displacement of more than 20 centimeters, the system automatically locks down."

"No unauthorized personnel allowed within one meter of the core processing area; the infrared sensor will trigger an alarm and the system will automatically lock down."

As Lin Xi's words fell...

...Deputy Factory Director Ma's face turned from red to white, and finally to a deathly gray.

His eyes widened in terror.

"How... how do you know?!"

Deputy Factory Director Ma cried out in shock.

These were the requirements the Japanese had imposed on Fengtian No. 1 Machine Tool Plant.

They were an absolute taboo within Fengtian No. 1 Machine Tool Plant.

Even ordinary technicians didn't know about them.

How did this kid from way out in the Northwest know?

In the livestream, the bullet comments were already flooding the screen.

[Holy crap! The famous scene! The "Three Noes Clauses"!]

[This is a history of blood and tears! We spent money to buy an ancestor to worship!]

[The Streamer's backstab this time is too brutal! Look at Old Ma's face; it's like he swallowed a fly!]

[This is the foreigner's routine that's well-known to later generations, specifically designed to cheat honest people like us!]

"And this is your so-called 'regular army'?"

Lin Xi turned to face the dozen or so big shots sitting along the long table who held the lifeblood of China's machine tool industry.

His voice was sorrowful and cold.

"In this past year, you haven't learned how to build machine tools."

"You've only learned how to be an obedient puppet."

The meeting room was in an uproar.

"Old Ma, is this true?"

The Director of Modu Machine Tool Factory asked with a livid face, turning his head.

If it were true, how was this importing technology?

This was clearly spending a fortune to act as a free processing workshop and after-sales nanny for the Japanese!

Deputy Factory Director Ma looked as if all his strength had been drained, slumping into his chair.

But in those cloudy eyes of his, a light mixed with humiliation and determination suddenly surged.

"Lin Xi, do you think I, Old Ma, am a spineless coward?"

Deputy Factory Director Ma gave a miserable laugh, his voice hoarse:

"Do you think I want to bow and scrape to those Little Devils?"

"That I want to watch them bossing people around in our workshop?"

He suddenly tore open his collar and pointed to his less-than-straight spine.

"I endure it because we must have that technology!"