Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

Lin Hanyang felt that there was no future in working in a small collective enterprise. Inspired by Yu Hao, he also wanted his wife to open a furniture store in the city.

Fang Wei agreed to everything; credit was possible, but only for the first batch. The second batch could only be shipped once the payment for the first batch was settled.

The supply principle will remain the same going forward.

This is because Yu Hao and Lin Hanyang will continue to work at the factory, while others will not receive this treatment.

For example, some educated youth who returned to the city also had this idea. But the factory wouldn't give them credit; to become a distributor, they had to put up a sum of money to purchase the goods first.

This morning.

Fang Wei met Jiang Xia in the office.

"Jiang Xia? It's been years since we last met. Please have a seat."

Jiang Xia was one of the earlier educated youth recruited to return to the city and worked in a machinery factory in the provincial capital.

The two hadn't seen each other for many years, so the other's arrival was a pleasant surprise for Fang Wei.

“Secretary Fang, my brother-in-law has nothing to do after returning to the city. My husband and I wanted to find him something to do, and then we remembered our bamboo ware factory.”

Jiang Xia came for her family. The bamboo ware factory's products were very popular in the provincial capital. After discussing it with her husband, she decided to help her brother-in-law open a furniture store.

She came to Fang Wei not to ask for credit, but to make another request: she hoped the factory could take back the unsold goods.

"That probably won't work, because there's no precedent for it. If everyone does it this way, the factory will be under too much pressure."

Given her relationship with Wu Di, Fang Wei patiently explained the situation to Jiang Xia.

This request is indeed a bit excessive. How can someone not want to take any risks in business? Manufacturers also have limited risk tolerance; they cannot make that demand.

Jiang Xia clearly didn't understand business matters. What she thought would be a simple matter turned out to be quite complicated.

She was feeling down and then decided to leave.

“Jiang Xia, it’s rare for you to come back, don’t rush to leave. I’ll go with you to the team to take a look. The team has changed quite a bit in the past few years.”

Fang Wei could tell what the other woman was thinking just by looking at her expression.

So he took the initiative and led Jiang Xia to the territory of the second team for a walk. The old village was no more, but the few remaining wells still gave a vague impression of what it used to be like.

The original homestead has been turned into a fishpond. The former dormitory for educated youth is still there, but it is now deserted.

The old facilities of the Second Team have been demolished, and all the members of the brigade are now living together in the new houses. The rows of neat and tidy houses left a deep impression on Jiang Xia, making her sigh with admiration.

noon.

Fang Wei took Jiang Xia to the cafeteria for a meal and specially asked the head chef to prepare two delicious dishes.

“Jiang Xia, doing business requires a steady stream of income. Which shop doesn’t have some unsold inventory? To recoup funds, unsold inventory can be sold at a discount. In addition, the factory can help you adjust the inventory.”

While eating, Fang Weiyi talked to Jiang Xia about the ins and outs of opening a shop and doing business.

Nowadays, the individual economy is just emerging. Without a clear leader, everyone is feeling their way across the river, and few people know how to do business properly.

Fang Wei explained the tricks to cash flow to the other party: selling overstocked goods at a discount is a common practice, and the purpose is to recover funds.

Furthermore, goods that are slow to sell in location A may sell very well in location B. In this case, manufacturers can step in to adjust the supply and demand, share information, and avoid wasting resources.

"Secretary Fang, now that you mention it, I realize there are so many intricacies to doing business. I understand now, and I'll explain it to them when I get back. If they're still willing to do this business, I hope you'll take good care of them then."

It was already quite remarkable that Jiang Xia could say those words; little did she know that Fang Wei's guidance was invaluable.

The individual economy is still in its infancy, with no experience to draw upon, and many people are simply acting on gut feeling. In this era of rapid, unregulated growth, besides being bold and meticulous, mastering some business skills will make you virtually invincible.

Jiang Xia didn't fully understand what Fang Wei was trying to say, but she remembered it firmly. After the meal, Fang Wei had someone take Jiang Xia to the county town, where she took a long-distance bus to Chenzhou.

To be honest, the gradual liberalization of the individual economy has provided employment opportunities for a large number of unemployed people in the city and educated youth returning to the city.

Many of the educated youth who returned from Yaoling Commune began to contact hardware factories and bamboo ware factories to sell their products locally. At that time, the educated youth who came to the countryside came from all over the country, which inadvertently helped the two factories to further expand their sales channels.

The hardware factory and the bamboo ware factory produce products of good quality. In addition, under Fang Wei's influence, they attach great importance to marketing, and the two factories have developed exceptionally rapidly this year.

To avoid future problems during restructuring, Fang Wei ultimately decided to incorporate the two commune and brigade enterprises into the cooperative.

As time went on, many of the cooperative's projects were completed.

First, the newly built large granary has been put into use. From now on, all the output of the cooperative's various production teams will be stored in the large granary, and the previous granaries of each team will be gradually demolished.

The cooperative built rice mills, mills and other facilities in the 1st, 9th and 16th production brigades, and also rebuilt 6 large tobacco curing barns.

Construction has begun on the internal roads connecting the various brigades, with the project contracted to a professional construction company, eliminating the need for a large-scale, all-staff campaign.

The entire Yaoling Commune is undergoing profound changes that are dazzling to behold.

This morning.

Fang Wei received the meeting notice and immediately set off for Beijing.

"Secretary Fang, is your large-scale cooperative a step backward?"

He usually keeps a low profile when attending meetings, but this time was different. During the group discussion, many delegates focused their criticism on him.

Some questioned whether he was going back to the old ways, while others questioned whether he was resisting the practice of distributing land to individual households.

"There are some issues I need to clarify. The path we take is the choice of all members, and it is also a choice based on facts. The situation is different in each place. For example, we are mainly engaged in agricultural breeding work."

You should know what this means, right? It means that the work we do is not suitable for decentralized operations, but only for intensive production and the path of a collective economy.

Fang Wei naturally had to defend himself. Only the wearer knows if the shoe fits. These people attacked the members' choices based on appearances without any investigation or research, which is unfair.

In addition, breeding work has its own unique characteristics, requiring large investments and having high technical thresholds. Only by relying on the collective strength can it have a certain ability to resist risks.

"This can't be done alone." "Secretary Fang, that's just sophistry. Since the implementation of the household responsibility system, it has greatly stimulated the farmers' enthusiasm for labor, and we expect another encouraging increase in grain production this summer. Are you trying to deny that?"

I had barely responded when someone else jumped out.

This is just baseless accusation. Fang Wei only said that the path of collective economy was very suitable for the current situation of Yaoling Commune. He never said that distributing land to individual households was bad.

"I can't be bothered to answer your question. You can't even be truthful; all you do is spout empty words and label people. What's the point?"

Fang Wei figured that his representative status would soon disappear, so he spoke without any restraint.

During the group meeting, he engaged in heated debates, leaving many people embarrassed.

Of course, there are also quite a few representatives who strongly support Fang Wei, especially those from the grassroots level.

Finally, relevant leaders even came to participate in Fang Wei's group discussion and gave Fang Wei a very high evaluation.

"Discussions should be conducted in this way: presenting facts and reasoning, without labeling or attacking, and persuading people with reason. Comrade Fang Wei's speech was based on facts; he believed that the collective economy was beneficial to his commune and brigade, and his arguments were sufficient."

The higher authorities ultimately decided that the practices of the various brigades in Yaoling Commune were not considered heretical, but rather a concrete manifestation of seeking truth from facts.

There's a crucial premise here: Fang Wei's actions must have the support of all the members. This is very important; without it, it's going against the tide.

Only with this understanding can one make a self-chosen choice at the crossroads of history.

This was the most tiring meeting Fang Wei had ever attended.

He wanted to go home immediately after the meeting; he didn't want to stay even a day longer. This might be his last time attending a meeting in Beijing. He was about to face a leadership transition, and the notification suggested he was likely to be ousted.

"Comrade Fang Wei, please don't leave yet, the leader wants to talk to you."

Fang Wei went to the conference organizing committee to book train tickets, but a staff member stopped him and asked him to wait another day.

the next day.

Fang Wei got up early and was then led by a staff member to the leader's office.

"Secretary Fang, don't be nervous, sit down. I'm very curious, what prompted you to make this choice? Judging from the current situation, everyone still approves of the household responsibility system, and the results are quite good."

"We are only considering this based on our own circumstances. To be realistic, if we disperse our efforts, the advantages we have accumulated in previous breeding work will no longer exist."

Fang Wei wasn't actually that nervous. After sitting down, she clearly explained why she did it.

Neither side argued about the issue itself; both simply addressed the facts and stated the facts.

The two talked for about half an hour, and the leader finally said:
"Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. I hope we'll have another chance to talk in the future and see if your choices were correct. Go back and work hard, don't let outside influences distract you. That's all for today."

Fang Wei then got up and left the office.

This conversation was somewhat unexpected for him. The attitude from above was neither encouragement nor obstruction, and there was even a sense of waiting to see the outcome.

To be honest, Fang Wei suddenly felt the pressure and was no longer as carefree as before. If the cooperative failed, it would mean that their initial choice was wrong, and they would be written into textbooks as a negative example in the future.

The good news is that the development of Yaoling Seed Industry Cooperative will not encounter too much resistance in the short term.

After returning home, Fang Wei rested for two days before convening a council meeting.

He first conveyed some of the content of the meeting to everyone and explained in detail the attitude of the higher authorities towards cooperatives.

"Therefore, these next few years are our period of opportunity. If we succeed, everything will go smoothly in the future. If we fail, the cooperative will fall apart. Let's work together."

After discussing that matter, everyone began to talk about some production-related issues and the reforms that needed to be made next.

The key issue is the reform of income distribution. The reform plan has been revised several times, and a basic consensus has been reached. The first step is to change the work point system to a salary system, with the salary consisting of two parts: basic salary and performance-based salary.

The main purpose of this meeting was to determine the base salary for different positions. Performance-based pay is easy to handle; a unified standard can be set for its calculation.

The meeting lasted two days and finally completed all the agenda items.

Before the summer harvest, the new salary system was first implemented in the agricultural machinery brigade, and work points were no longer calculated. The cooperative no longer controlled the distribution of rations; members could purchase their own rations within the allotted amount.

Breeding units enjoy a ration of grain, and the market for negotiated grain is gradually increasing, so the grain problem may no longer be an issue in the near future.

"Secretary, I want to tell you about something that happened in Northeast China."

Zhao Jinsheng followed Fang Wei out of the conference room and into Fang Wei's office.

Everyone has been busy since the beginning of the year and hasn't had time to think about this. Previously, the team sent three technicians to be stationed in Northeast China for a collaboration on cultivating high-yield corn seeds, and there has been some progress so far.

Based on the first batch of corn seeds cultivated after last autumn's harvest, the average yield per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.067 hectares) this summer is estimated to be around 800 jin (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 0.5 catties).

"The first batch of seeds was consumed locally. We received a call from them in the past few days saying that the situation after sowing is quite good. We will have to wait until after the autumn harvest to make a final determination."

"Okay, Lao Zhao, keep an eye on things when you have time. If the cooperation over there doesn't go smoothly, we'll bring our people back."

Fang Wei casually replied that he couldn't worry about things outside for the time being; his priority was to sort out the cooperative's affairs.

The reform of the distribution system caused a stir among the members, who were all calculating how it would affect their own interests.

For several days in a row, Fang Wei stayed at the agricultural machinery brigade, having heart-to-heart talks with everyone to understand their views on the reform. Implementing salary reform first in the agricultural machinery brigade was inherently experimental; any unsuitable aspects would be corrected.

Based on observations over the past few days, this reform is generally acceptable to everyone.

Currently, the income of the members can be roughly divided into two parts: labor wages and year-end bonuses.

The year-end dividend ratio is fixed, which means that all the means of production and accumulated capital belonging to all members have been invested in the cooperative. Therefore, the dividends are distributed according to the proportion of investment.

It's like a joint-stock company where dividends are distributed based on shares and are not linked to work performance.

The other major component is labor compensation, which fully reflects the principle of "more work, more pay," resulting in a significant income gap. This is called earning money based on ability, which is fair and reasonable, and no one has any objections. (End of Chapter)