114: Are you content with the status quo? No! Our journey is to the stars and the sea!

[Compared to Director Lu scolding the crowd, the subsequent award winners' speeches were as bland as plain water.]

[There wasn't even a hint of gunpowder; what were they even saying?]

[Director Lu's philosophy is: If people don't offend me, I won't offend them; if they do, I'll root them out completely!]

[Offend Director Lu today, and you don't even need to wait for tomorrow; he'll wipe out your whole family in the middle of the night. Does it feel like that to you?]

Having experienced the excitement of the first half of the meeting, the second half, though grand, felt somewhat lackluster.

After the meeting adjourned, Lu Shenwei was asked to stay behind.

Zhou Wen felt anxious, and Lu Shenwei couldn't quite grasp what the leaders were thinking.

However, judging from the leaders' applause earlier, even if they intended to reprimand him, it wouldn't be too harsh.

"Lu Shenwei, Chairman of Julong Steel, your speech just now was quite explosive," said an elderly man with a square face, dressed in a cadre uniform, with a chuckle.

Lu Shenwei hurriedly replied, "I got a bit carried away, but I was just speaking the truth."

"Good lad, you've got personality! Qinchuan has chosen a great benchmark."

The leader's words affirmed Lu Shenwei's speech, but Lu Shenwei humbly replied, "I was just babbling; please forgive me for making a fool of myself."

"What babbling? You were speaking the absolute truth. If this were before I transferred from the Army, I would have gunned down those traitorous dogs." The leader spoke with an effortless air of authority.

Zhou Wen whispered, "The leader is a veteran from the Army."

So that was it. Lu Shenwei said with indignation, "Traitorous dogs deserve to be executed by everyone."

"Don't be too hot-headed, kid. Industry revitalizes the nation, and industry builds the country. Keep up the good work."

The leader patted Lu Shenwei on the shoulder, as if he were his own nephew.

"To be appreciated by the Great Leader, this kid has a boundless future."

"It's just a pity he's an entrepreneur. If he were in politics, he'd at least start as a Round Table Leader in the city."

"There's a seat for every person; are you complaining that there's too little competition?"

The crowd whispered among themselves, and their perception of Lu Shenwei rose even further.

"Qinchuan City reported the expansion plan for Julong Steel, saying your factory space isn't enough? You want to expand by a few hundred mu?" the leader said casually.

Lu Shenwei nodded immediately, "The city has taken great care of us and has already made arrangements."

"How is a few hundred mu enough? I say at least 1,000 mu. Julong Steel is not just a key enterprise in Qinchuan City, but also the leader in our province."

"Ah? 1,000 mu? That's too much."

Lu Shenwei was astonished. Based on Julong Steel's current development needs, 600 mu at most would satisfy the requirements for the next few years.

"Is 1,000 mu a lot? Look at the Tesla Electric Car factory introduced in Shanghai; it occupies 2,000 mu, and it was practically given away."

Comparing Julong Steel to the Tesla Electric Car factory—it seems the leader has a lot of confidence in us.

Lu Shenwei didn't hesitate, "Since you've given the word, we will certainly go all out!"

The market prospects for the longmao small car and the Longying Drone are very broad. Currently, the Q-version longmao small car has 400,000 orders; if a full version is launched in the future, it will likely sell like hotcakes.

"Young man, having drive is a good thing. When you run into difficulties, don't hesitate to ask your uncles for advice. Don't worry, us old folks aren't afraid of trouble."

The leader said with a chuckle, and without waiting for Lu Shenwei's reply, he walked away.

Lu Shenwei was lost in thought. The location of the Julong Steel Factory is in an advanced manufacturing zone, a place where every inch of land is worth gold.

Since the leader gave 1,000 mu of land at once, he must produce results worthy of 1,000 mu. This requires careful planning.

At noon that day, the official website of Julong Steel announced the donation details and remittance vouchers for the Yu Zhong flood disaster, and also posted proof of the donation of 1,000 longmao agricultural vehicles sent by Qinchuan City.

That evening, many provincial channels reported on the heroic feat of Qinchuan Julong Steel in sacrificing their own assets to help during the disaster, drawing widespread praise.

In the capital, at the headquarters of Nifeng Express Group.

"Lu Shenwei played this move of retreating to advance well; the public intellectual lackeys all fell for it," Wang Jiawei exclaimed in admiration.

"Make arrangements. This week, we'll visit Director Lu in Qinchuan and, by the way, check on the R&D progress of our large commercial unmanned transport aircraft."

The assistant nodded and said, "The president of Crazy Rabbit Express is coming to visit you next week; the schedule might conflict."

"Can the Crazy Rabbit president be compared to Director Lu? Cancel it; meeting Director Lu is more important," Wang Jiawei said.

Crazy Rabbit wants to split the Dragon Xia express delivery market with Nifeng Express, but through this matter with Lu Shenwei, Wang Jiawei has seen the broad prospects of cooperating with the authorities.

As for foreign capital, cooperation is naturally best, but if it's not possible, it's no great loss.

Now, the most important thing is to consolidate the relationship with Julong Steel, so that if anything happens in the future, it will be easier to ask Lu Shenwei for help.

The next day, Lu Shenwei called for Ma Quanlin.

"The province is going to approve 1,000 mu of industrial land for us. You should start planning it out."

"The province? Didn't you say before that the city was approving it?"

"The province thought it was too little, so they gave us more—the kind allocated free of charge."

"Allocated free of charge? Isn't that a privilege only state-owned enterprises get?"

"The province said this makes the process faster, and if we don't use it, we can just return it."

"Xiao Lu, since it's just the two of us, I won't hold back: biting off more than you can chew will only lead to trouble."

1,000 mu of industrial land is no small amount. Once developed, if we fail to achieve results, it could easily disrupt the development rhythm of Julong Steel.

In the whole factory, Ma Quanlin is the only one who dares to speak the truth to Lu Shenwei like this.

Lu Shenwei pondered, "Uncle Ma, your concerns are not unreasonable, but the province is clearly trying to make us their flagship. It wouldn't be appropriate to refuse their kindness."

"Besides, I have a few ideas myself, but we just revitalized the steel mill, so we didn't have the energy to pursue them."

Hearing Lu Shenwei say this, Ma Quanlin mused, "I'm just being an old-timer here, but as long as you know what you're doing, that's best."

"Don't worry, Uncle Ma. I won't let go until I've steered Julong Steel onto the fast track."

"You still want to let go? Who would you hand over such a big operation to?"

"Once we're on the right track, I want to further pursue aerospace, artificial intelligence, and things like that. That's the direction for the future of technology. Of course, I won't let go of the steel mill's foundation."

Revitalizing the steel mill and ensuring the workers have security in their old age and can live a life of dignity is the first step.

Saving up 10 billion to redeem the Artificial Sun and helping the Dragon Xia Navy move toward the deep blue is the second step.

Creating an AI similar to MOSS, building White Emperor aerospace fighters and aerospace aircraft carriers, letting Dragon Xia dominate space, seizing space resources, and realizing the centennial rejuvenation of Dragon Xia is Lu Shenwei's ultimate goal.

Of course, on the road ahead, it's inevitable that some stumbling blocks will need to be cleared.

"It's good that you have a plan. We old folks can't work for many more years, so you need to cultivate more new talent, especially a successor for the factory manager," Ma Quanlin reminded him.

"What do you think of Zhou Cun?" Lu Shenwei asked.

Ma Quanlin thought for a moment, "He's quite smart, but his consideration of matters is not yet thorough enough; he needs a few more years of training."

"I also think the kid is good. Once Deputy Factory Manager Zhao and the others retire, I'll first promote him to factory manager assistant," Lu Shenwei said seriously.