Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 39: Vision from the Future

"But I found that the people have changed. They are not like before. They are not united. Some work without effort, some are cunning and lazy, and some are greedy. I don't know what went wrong, and I don't know how to solve these problems." Mr. Huang took a long puff of his cigarette and turned to look at Ma Qing. "Little scholar, you are from the old city, and you have a high political awareness. What can you do?"

Ma Qing watched Grandpa Huang smoking one cigarette after another, and his heart was full of admiration for this revolutionary who represented countless ordinary village secretaries on the land of China. Maybe he was limited in knowledge, experience, and culture, but his mind was so broad.

"Old man, I'm just an ordinary technical secondary school student, what can I do?" Ma Qing thought carefully and decided to put forward his own humble opinion on this era: "But, I have a little shallow opinion, please correct me if it's right."

Ma Qing turned a page in the notebook and gestured on the paper: "Suppose Majiagou Village has 1000 acres of various fields. First, set up a villagers' agricultural reclamation association, invite all the respected farmers to come, and distinguish the best fields, medium fields, and low-quality fields. Then, distribute the medium and low-quality fields according to conditions such as per capita yield and labor input, and keep the best fields as public property of the village. Then divide the fields into shares that can be contracted by individual families."

"For example, among the 1000 mu of land in Majiagou, only 100 mu are top-quality. We first distribute 900 mu of medium and low-quality land to individuals. Each family takes care of themselves and is subject to the supervision of the Villagers' Agricultural Reclamation Committee. They cannot leave the land uncultivated, trade it, or mess around with it. The Villagers' Agricultural Reclamation Committee has the right to hold a village meeting for a vote by the whole village to decide whether to punish them."

The remaining 100 mu of top-quality land is divided into shares that can be contracted by individual families. The villagers' agricultural reclamation association sets an annual production base and invites villagers to bid for contracts. For example, we set the top-quality land to produce 350 catties per mu and bid it out to villagers. A villager bids 360 catties and the deal is closed. The yield per mu at the end of the year is 420 catties, so the excess belongs to the villagers, and the base yield of the 100 mu of top-quality land is shared by all villagers. "

Ma Qing looked at Mr. Huang, whose eyes were getting brighter and brighter, and said in a more serious tone: "There are several aspects that need to be paid special attention to in this matter. First, the villagers' agricultural reclamation meeting must be democratic, authoritative, and fair;"

"Second, we need to be moderate when setting the base price for top-quality farmland. We need to leave room for profit for the contractors, but also ensure the collective interests. We also need to set an upper limit to prevent the contractors from getting carried away and not doing what they can. We need to find a good balance."

“Third, the collective must keep its word and not go back on its word. It cannot regret after seeing a good harvest. It must at least complete one cycle, otherwise it will greatly damage the government’s prestige;”

“Fourth, the base price of the best fields cannot be absolute. If a natural disaster does occur that year, the contractor should not be held responsible for failing to meet the base price;”

"Fifth, a small amount of the harvest from these 100 mu of top-quality land should be distributed to the members of the villagers' agricultural reclamation committee and the advanced role models of the village that year;"

"Sixth, contractors are not allowed to win consecutive bids. If there is a situation where there is no contractor, party members should charge forward. If there is a contractor, party members should give way."

"Seventh, if this policy is implemented well, the number of contractors can be tilted towards the poor households in the village, and the villagers' agricultural reclamation association of the village will be obliged to help the backward villagers."

"To sum up, this can not only stimulate the enthusiasm of each household to work, but also prevent land annexation, and at the same time provide a very low guarantee for the poor. Of course, this method is not perfect, but under the current circumstances, it should not be a bad method."

Ma Qing finished speaking in one breath, saying that this was all he could think of, and that he had no idea about other details, after all, he had never been to the countryside to farm. Ma Qing looked up and found that the Huang family father and son were staring at him, and he panicked. Huang Dapeng joked, "How do kids nowadays grow up? They really have great brains." He then pretended to pull Ma Qing's head.

Mr. Huang slapped his son's hand away and shouted, "Heroes have always emerged from youth. In ancient times, Gan Luo became prime minister at the age of twelve. When I was fifteen, I dared to shoot the Japanese."

The old man is mighty, Ma Qing thought to himself.

Mr. Huang continued, "I think this is a plausible thing. I'll discuss it with some old friends later."

Huang Dapeng poured cold water on the sidelines: "What are you village party secretaries doing here? Do you have any say in policy matters?"

"Little bastard, I've made up my mind. Can't I just write a letter to the old man to report to him? I'm an old party member, so why can't I do this?"

Ma Qing was shocked when he heard this. They were just chatting with their own family, so how could this happen? He was anxious to speak, but Mr. Huang said to Ma Qing, "Don't worry, this matter has nothing to do with you. I have also seen over the years that things change so fast. Success or failure has nothing to do with you. With your current knowledge, this matter will not be a big deal in the future. I just don't accept it. I don't believe that we can't find a correct path, a path where the weak can survive."

The old man had already said so, what else could Ma Qing do? But he didn't regret it either. He thought, since the old man had already said so, what could he do to him?

When everyone was in high spirits, dinner was ready. The dishes were quite rich, especially the chicken stewed with mushrooms, which was really a pleasant surprise. Ma Qing didn't expect that he could still eat this dish in this day and age. Although Ma Qing was from the Northeast in his previous life, he grew up in Sichuan and Chongqing, and his taste was authentic Sichuan flavor. When he returned to his hometown, he was quite unaccustomed to the food, except for this chicken stewed with mushrooms.

Ma Qing even felt that this was the only Northeastern dish that beat Sichuan cuisine. Ma Qing couldn't wait to pick up a piece with his chopsticks. The meat was tender, the soup was rich, the fatness of the chicken and the sweetness of the dried mushrooms formed a particularly fresh taste.

"This chicken stewed with mushrooms is so delicious, it lives up to its reputation." Ma Qing praised repeatedly.

"Haha, this isn't chicken stewed with mushrooms. You're lucky, kid. Your uncle shot a flying dragon in the mountains yesterday. This is hazel mushroom stewed with a flying dragon. Ordinary chicken stewed with mushrooms doesn't taste this good. This is the only thing that makes us mountain people better than you city people. When I was asked to work in the city, I despised it. The place I lived in was small, the food was bad, and I had to report to work every day. It was really uncomfortable. Apart from having lights at night and occasionally watching a movie, what else was there? It's not like here. When we are greedy, we go fishing in the river, catch loaches in the fields, and go up to the mountains to pick mushrooms, wild fruits, flying dragons, and stupid doves. There are great treasures buried in the mountains."

The old man was in high spirits. What else could Ma Qing say? He said that in the future the city would not only have electricity, but also toilets, home appliances, TV programs, and... countless modern convenient lives. Ma Qing could not say anything, and did not dare to say anything. Anyway, there are some things that cannot be said for sure.

(End of this chapter)