Siheyuan: Start with a Truck Driver

The design drawings of the minicomputer were drawn by Wang Weidong. Of course he knew how difficult it was to develop a personal computer abroad in this era.

He patted Fang Mu on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Relax, I don't value these. Now please tell me, the 8086 processor I gave you is used in this big box?"

Fang Mu couldn't help but frown when he mentioned the 8086 processor.

Seeing that there was no one around, he hesitated for a moment and whispered: "Director, is the performance of the 8086 processor you created too weak?"

Thinking of this, Fang Mu felt a little confused.

The 8086 processor is clocked at only 4.77MHz, has an instruction set of only 300 operations, contains approximately 28 transistors, and has a capacity of only 000 MIPs.

There is a big gap from the mainstream mainstream processors in the world.

In particular, IBM had produced advanced central processing units at this time.

Isn’t the launch of the 8086 processor at this time just waiting to be bombarded?
Faced with Fang Mu's question, Wang Weidong was not angry. Instead, he smiled and patted Fang Mu on the shoulder: "Old Fang, your point of view is interesting, but now I want to ask you a question. What is the central processing unit currently produced by IBM?" How much does it cost?”

Because Fang Mu was studying minicomputers, he had been exposed to the latest foreign scientific research results in the past two years, and he gave the answer at that time.

"Because the computers of big companies such as IBM use an integrated architecture, they do not sell central processors to the outside world, but we can see some clues from their selling prices."

"For example, the price of an IBM mainframe using System/360 is around US$100 million, and the price of the processor is generally one-third of the price of the whole machine, which is US$30."

Fang Mu's flexibility attracted Wang Weidong's admiration.

The reason why he chose Fang Mu to be the leader of the minicomputer research team was not because he had the highest IQ. Now, the laboratory of Lanhua Automobile Factory has gathered the best scientists in the country, many of whom have won domestic and foreign awards several times. In contrast, Fang Mu had no academic achievements worth showing off.

It's not that Fang Mu has strong leadership.

Within Lanhua Automobile Factory, there are countless outstanding workshop directors and department leaders.

The most important reason is that square wood has a unique ability to adapt.

It's like a chef who, when cooking, doesn't have an iron pot or shovel, will come up with the idea of ​​dismantling a round iron bucket as an iron pot and cutting a piece of iron as a shovel.

This is particularly important given the current lack of equipment.

Wang Weidong continued: "$30, do you think ordinary families can afford such an expensive price?"

"Absolutely impossible, even wealthy families in developed countries cannot afford a processor." Fang Mu said immediately.

You must know that the US dollar is linked to gold in this era. US$30 is roughly equivalent to US$3000 million in later generations.

"Do you know how much the production cost of our 8086 processor is?"

Fang Mu shook his head.

The production of processors is handled by a separate department, and the laboratory is only responsible for the design and production of supporting equipment such as motherboards.

"Less than a thousand dollars!" Wang Weidong gave a price that shocked him so much that he couldn't close his mouth.

"One thousand dollars."

Seeing Fang Mu's surprised look, Wang Weidong crossed his arms and said, "In other words, we have sacrificed less than 50.00% of the performance and reduced the cost by more than 30 times. Even if we sell an 8086 processor for [-] US dollars, , the price of a small computer is only about [-] US dollars.”

Fang Mu finally understood at this time, clapped his hands and said: "The price of thirty thousand US dollars may still seem very high, but it is already acceptable to those in the securities industry, lawyers, doctors and other high-income earners in developed countries. Moreover, they do not need such high performance in their daily work!

Director Liu, your idea is really brilliant. "

It is always the most difficult thing to buy something in the world. The factory director who is a chef is able to keenly perceive people's needs and create a new product. This ability has to be convincing.

Wang Weidong looked at Fang Mu, shook his head and said: "Not only that, the biggest feature of the 8086 processor is that it has a framework. In the future, when we develop more advanced processors, we can directly transplant the framework. Be backward compatible so programmers don’t need to write new programs for this processor.”

In this era, each processor has different working functions and internal parameters, so the programs are also different.

Those large technology companies have to organize a large number of programmers to write programs for the mainframe every time they release a mainframe.

This workload is huge, and at the same time, it also makes customers feel bored because of the lack of the same ecosystem.

Think about it, you finally learned a typing software, and a few days later, the company changed to a mainframe, and you had to learn another typing software again.

Fang Mu's eyes gradually lit up, looking at the ugly small computer as if he saw a treasure.

He can be sure that once this thing is released in developed countries, it will definitely sweep the entire market.

At that time, there will be a massive amount of foreign exchange flowing in from outside.

At this time, Wang Weidong had already inspected the minicomputer. Although the workmanship was rough, the design was quite good and could guarantee a lifespan of at least 20 years.

"Very good, you did a good job, but we can't bring the minicomputer to the market yet. We still have to write software for the minicomputer."

Wang Weidong stared at Fang Mu and said, "Have you studied the compilation system I taught you last time?"

"Not only have I studied it, I have mastered it now. There are at least eleven researchers in the research team who have mastered this compilation system." Fang Mu paused here, looked at Wang Weidong and said, "Liu Chang Sir, should we give this compilation system a name, otherwise we will always call it this and this, which is not respectful enough."

When Fang Mu said this, he couldn't help but admire in his heart.

The compilation system is the language of the computer. Only through the compilation system can people control the computer.

Because the computer's processor can only recognize changes in voltage, that is, common 0s and 1s.

You can imagine how difficult it is to design a language to control the computer through the ordering of 0s and 1s.

It can even be said that designing a compiled language is no less difficult than designing and producing a minicomputer.

And all this was done by the chef in front of me.

Wang Weidong nodded: "We should definitely give it a name. We are Orchid Lab. Let's call that compiled language Orchid Language!"

Hearing this name, Fang Mu immediately didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He knew the importance of this language system, and once it was released, it would definitely shock the world.

I thought that if I continued like this, I should give it a mighty and domineering name, such as Long Teng, Tiger Leap and so on.

But just thinking about it, Fang Mu felt that he was superficial.

Whether a name is loud or not does not depend on its own meaning, but on the meaning people give it.

Once the Orchid System is sold all over the world, the name will become extremely loud.

"Okay, I'll notify the researchers when I get back." Fang Mu was about to turn around, but suddenly stopped and turned to look at Wang Weidong: "Director, what programs do we need to compile? After all, we have limited manpower."

Wang Weidong had already thought about it: "First we need a DOS system, then a language input program, and an office program, if possible."

Wang Weidong thought about building a music software or video player software, but he immediately rejected it.

Regardless of whether there are music and video resources in these years, the 8086 processor cannot handle those things.It can be said that the processors on later Xiaobawang learning machines are faster than the 8086 processor.

This is also the reason why Wang Weidong is not in a hurry to develop a window system.

"Okay, I'll go back and prepare right away, and try to get it done within a month." Fang Mu nodded, and then left quickly.

Now that the minicomputer is ready, as long as the corresponding program is compiled, you can make money abroad.

It can be said that for every day of delay, he might lose millions of dollars in earnings. How could he not be anxious!
Back from the lab.

Wang Weidong first walked around the workshop and saw that everything in the factory workshop was running normally, then returned to the office to prepare for the workshop to produce minicomputers.

According to the plan, Lanhua Automobile Factory needs to build a processor factory that can produce 8086 processors, a factory that produces motherboards, and a factory that produces power supplies and memory storage.

Building four large factories at the same time would be difficult for Lanhua Automobile Factory to support even if it has strong financial resources.

In particular, these factories are all high-tech factories. Many of the equipment required in the factory are the most advanced equipment in the country, and some even need to be brought in from abroad.

These all require support from above.

For others, this is unthinkable.

Fortunately, Wang Weidong had already had experience. He first hung up the phone with the comrades in the ministry and commission, and after getting the reply from the other party, he started writing the application report.

This matter is very big, and the level of the person who reviewed the application report is also very high.

Wang Weidong must ensure that there are no errors in the application report.

So, the phone on his desk rang four or five times before he heard it.

Wang Weidong put down his pen, shook his head, and picked up the phone.

"Hey, who is that?"

"Director, this is the security department. There are two workers from the steel rolling mill who want to see you."

"Rolling mill workers? What are their names?"

"Let me take a look at Nan Yi and Zhang Xiaoyan."

Hearing these words, Wang Weidong frowned slightly.

Did these two people go through the resignation procedures so quickly?

However, since they are here, they cannot be ignored.

Wang Weidong valued Nanyi very much.

"Okay, let them come in."

"Yes!"

Because there were guests coming, Wang Weidong did not continue writing the application report.

At present, everything about the minicomputer is confidential and cannot be leaked.

For this reason, Wang Weidong specifically asked Yu Li to work in the office outside today. She could not come in unless necessary.

Although he believed in Yu Li's character.

But as the old saying goes, the enemy is always pervasive.
After putting the application report in the safe, Wang Weidong just sat down again when there was a sound of footsteps outside.

Seeing Yu Li opening the door and Nan Yi walking in with a strange girl, Wang Weidong stood up and said, "Is this Comrade Zhang Xiaoyan?"

Despite Zhang Xiaoyan's usual carefree attitude, she still seemed a little timid when it came to such an occasion.

"Director Liu, I am Zhang Xiaoyan, Nanyi's partner."

At this time, Yu Li poured tea for the two of them, placed it on the table, then turned and left.

Wang Weidong motioned for the two of them to sit down and said with a smile: "Master Nan, I didn't expect that your procedures could be completed so quickly."

After all, Nan Yi came from a family of royal chefs and had seen the world, so he had calmed down by now.

He put down the enamel jar and said with a wry smile: "Director Liu, I'm really sorry. This is what we came here for today."

"Why, the canteen of the steel rolling mill doesn't approve it?" Wang Weidong frowned. He still had a good impression of Director Zhou.

That man didn't look like a petty person.

It is normal for workers to adjust in these days, especially if they know that the other party has a good place to go, most people will not stop it.

Nan Yi said: "It's not my side, it's Zhang Xiaoyan."

He tried to explain the reason, his mouth opened, but he couldn't speak.

He really had no choice but to tell others that his partner was attracted by the workshop director.

Wang Weidong turned his attention to Zhang Xiaoyan.

Zhang Xiaoyan had woken up by now, holding the enamel jar tightly with both hands, and whispered: "Director Liu, this matter is a bit disgraceful. The workshop director of our workshop is named Ma Erpao. He seems to have taken a liking to me. , I went to go through the resignation procedures yesterday afternoon, and he got stuck."

After finishing speaking, Zhang Xiaoyan saw that Wang Weidong remained silent and lowered her voice and said: "Director Liu, we know that this matter has nothing to do with you. It is really presumptuous for us to trouble you, but we really have no other choice but you."

Ever since he got rid of a deputy director, Wang Weidong felt that the atmosphere in the steel rolling mill was still unhealthy.

Originally, the steel rolling mill had nothing to do with him, but now he is preparing to use the new workshop as a basis to gain control of the steel rolling mill bit by bit.

Although the machinery and equipment of the steel rolling mill are old and the rolled steel products produced are not competitive at all, the steel rolling mill has more than 1 professional workers.

No matter what era you are in, talent is always the most important.

Now if there is an opportunity to set off a wave within the steel rolling mill, which can not only purify the atmosphere of the steel rolling mill, but also further gain control of the steel rolling mill, that would be great.

Thinking of this, Wang Weidong looked at Zhang Xiaoyan even more eagerly.

"That's not it!"

He tapped his fingers lightly on the table and asked slowly: "Tell me about this Ma Erpao situation."

"Director Liu, although Ma Erpao's position is not high, he is just a workshop director, but many people in his family work in the steel rolling mill, and some of them are middle-level leaders in the steel rolling mill. Even Director Yang If you want to touch them, you should think twice before doing so.

Also, I have no real evidence. "

In order to get Wang Weidong's help, Zhang Xiaoyan told all the situations.