The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 657 New Year 1990
Gathering together brings good luck, and the sound of firecrackers welcomes the New Year.

On New Year's Eve, Liu Tao's family gathered neatly in the courtyard. Dozens of people made it very lively. The children were playing in the yard, and the adults were chatting while watching the children.

Except Liu Ziyu who is still unmarried, Liu Hongying, Liu Honglei and Liu Tao each have four children, totaling 4 children alone.

The older one is already in college, and the younger one is still in elementary school.

Liu Ziyu is about to graduate with a doctorate and is facing tremendous pressure during this Spring Festival - pressure to get married!
After all, Liu Ziyu is 26 years old after this year, and 27 years old in terms of age. In this era, 26-year-old women and children can all help with soy sauce.

Before, Liu Ziyu was still studying, so naturally he didn't face this problem. But now that he is about to graduate, Chen Fang has already started urging him to get married.

Liu Ziyu ran to play with the children as if he was escaping for his life and became the leader of the children.

Liu Zhenbang was smiling. He had become fatter over the years. His life had improved a lot and he had more social engagements. Liu Zhenbang had gained a lot of weight. What he was most proud of was not that he was a bureau-level cadre, but his four children!

As the eldest sister, Liu Hongying stayed in Beijing. Although she didn't have a formal job, she managed the family very well. The eldest child was admitted to Peking University, and the second and third children went to key middle schools with excellent grades. Liu Hongying helped the family and helped with the store business in recent years. The eldest son-in-law, Qian Huaqiang, was poor at first and had an ordinary family background, but after working hard for a few years, he made a name for himself and became a real billionaire with a net worth of more than 10 billion yuan.

Liu Honglei's family works at Panshan Group. Over the years, Liu Honglei has also served as deputy director of the office, director of the labor union, deputy leader of the party and mass work group, and a deputy department-level cadre, almost catching up with his father. The second son-in-law is the director of the tank engine factory and was just promoted to a full department-level cadre this year.

As for Liu Tao, there is no need to mention that he is the pillar of the entire family. It can be said that if he succeeds, the whole family will benefit. If it were not for Liu Tao, it is estimated that as a father, he would have been a deputy-department-level cadre at best in his lifetime.

Liu Ziyu is the youngest, but has the highest academic qualifications. He is the first graduate student in the Liu family and will soon be the first doctor!
When eating the reunion dinner, everyone first raised their glasses to celebrate the New Year, and then toasted Liu Zhenbang with the second glass.

Just a few days ago, the organization had a talk with Liu Zhenbang. If nothing unexpected happens, Liu Zhenbang will take another step up after the New Year and his position in the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics Industry will be raised to a higher level.

Although it is only one level, there is actually a world of difference between them.

According to the latest "Interim Regulations on National Civil Servants", men should retire when they reach the age of 60 and women when they reach the age of 55. If Liu Zhenbang does not move up a step, he should prepare to retire this year, or at least retreat to the second line.

But it’s different if you move up a step. Liu Zhenbang can work until he is 65 and then retire, and his voice will also be greatly enhanced.

At this time, everyone should naturally toast Liu Zhenbang and congratulate him.

The reunion dinner was lively and the whole family was together. Everyone was eating the reunion dinner and watching the Spring Festival Gala.

When it was New Year's Eve, everyone couldn't help but count down.

"10, 9, 8,,,,0!"

When the pointer pointed to 00:00, everyone couldn't help cheering and applauding.

This represents the arrival of 1990, the Year of the Horse!

Liu Tao and others lit the fireworks, which instantly rose up into the night sky and bloomed, exceptionally bright.

At that time, there was no ban on fireworks and firecrackers in the capital.

At this time in Shichahai, every household is setting off fireworks and firecrackers, the atmosphere is full of the festive atmosphere, and it is a prosperous scene.

The children looked at the fireworks, cheered, and were very happy.

Liu Tao and his friends set off 20 fireworks in the courtyard before the event was over.

But there are still other families that continue to set off fireworks.

Ten years ago, few people set off fireworks because everyone was poor and couldn't afford to buy them.

But now, a group of people have become rich, and even ordinary people are living a much better life than before.

In ten years, wages have increased more than tenfold!
That night, I don’t know how many people chose to stay up all night.

The next day was the first day of the new year.

On the afternoon of the first day of the new year, Liu Qi and others came to Liu Tao.

The Liu family would choose this day to gather in the courtyard, and this is the only time in the year when they get together the most.

Liu Qi and others have been making their way in the north and have become quite wealthy in recent years. For example, Liu Qi's personal wealth exceeds 1 billion RMB, which is no less than Qian Huaqiang. The other few who followed Liu Qi to the north have become multi-millionaires at best.

Every year Liu Qi transported a large amount of light industrial products and daily necessities to the Soviet Union. After exchanging them for rubles in the Soviet Union, he bought a large amount of steel, timber, iron ore, copper ore, gold, diamonds, etc. from the Soviet Union and shipped them back to China.

Relying on trade with the North, as the relationship between the two sides becomes increasingly relaxed, the trade volume is rising rapidly.

Of course, Liu Qi and his colleagues are doing formal business, but there are also many people who are doing informal business and become profiteers.

There are too many loopholes to exploit on the long border between China and the Soviet Union.

These people make huge profits.

The Soviet Union's demand for light industrial products and daily necessities was frighteningly huge, like a bottomless pit that could never be filled.

Over a few years, Liu Qi and his team had also woven a huge network in the Soviet Union.

In the past, many people had many friends with the Soviet Union, and now these friends have been activated one after another.

And the Soviet Union was also undergoing reforms, not like before.

Unfortunately, the Soviet Union’s reforms were not successful and are currently somewhat chaotic. However, amidst the chaos, there are naturally huge business opportunities.

Liu Tao listened to Liu Qi's introduction to the situation in the Soviet Union, and looked thoughtful.

He did not expect that the Soviet Union earned huge profits every year by relying on the oil trade, which made the situation of the Soviet Union far better than the impression he had.

Although the Soviet Union is in a state of chaos now, there is no sign of it falling apart.

"You said the situation in Yugoslavia is not good?" Liu Tao asked.

Liu Qi said: "Yes, after Tito's death, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and others have been unwilling to submit to each other. It is a miracle that they are not fighting now."

Yugoslavia is a federal state. The six republics all gained autonomous status in 1974, and each of these republics has its own dominant ethnic group.

When Tito was in power, things were naturally fine. With Tito's prestige and skills, he could bring everyone together. But after Tito's death, the drawbacks became apparent. Every leader would step down in disgrace within three years of taking office.

As for the economy, it is naturally not good.

Less than ten years after Tito's death, the economy of the once wealthy Yugoslavia was in tatters and the inflation rate was alarmingly high.

The West disliked Yugoslavia, and the relationship between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia was not good, or even very bad.

Tito often opposed the Soviet Union in the past. He was one of the founders of the International Non-Aligned Movement. Moreover, Tito was an outstanding proletarian revolutionary and activist in the international communist movement, and enjoyed an international reputation.

(End of this chapter)