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

Fang Wei was very satisfied, then picked up his travel bag and went to the capital for a meeting. Even he didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, he would have been a representative for so many years.

The only topic of this meeting is "openness," and all work must revolve around economic development.

Fang Wei felt that the company's decision to relocate the hardware factory to the coastal area was the right one, as there would be more opportunities there in the future, and it might be possible to grow bigger and stronger.

As for how to absorb the surplus labor force, he felt it was all the same; even without the commune and brigade enterprises, the first batch of migrant workers would still go south to work.

Your own company can recruit as many of its own employees as possible, and the treatment and living conditions will definitely be better than those of other factories.

After a week of meetings, Fang Wei flew directly to Guangzhou.

This was his first time flying in his life, but he didn't feel particularly excited. After getting off the plane, he went straight to Fragrant Hills to meet up with Zhang Wenyuan and the others.

Zhang Wenyuan and others reached an agreement with the local authorities on investing in and building a factory. Fang Wei came to sign the agreement on behalf of the cooperative.

Attracting investment is the top priority for the local government. Although the Nanguang Electric Fan Factory is not a large project, Fang Wei still received a warm welcome from the locals.

People had already inquired about it; the Yaoling Seed Industry Agricultural Cooperative was very powerful, with an annual output value of several hundred million yuan. In this day and age, it was definitely a money-making machine.

He signed an investment agreement to build a factory, and the local government was very generous, allocating a large tract of land to the factory. This land was at least five times larger than the original factory area in the commune.

Zhang Wenyuan plans to build a factory and some ancillary facilities, including employee dormitories.

The design and construction teams have already reached an agreement. Once the land for the factory site is secured after the contract is signed here, construction can begin there. The original hardware factory is still in production; once the new factory is nearly completed, the machinery and equipment will be dismantled and transported over.

Of course, the new factory will also need to add some machinery and equipment, and Zhang Wenyuan has already placed an order.

"Old Zhang, keep up the good work, we all have high hopes for you. But there are some things we need to make clear upfront: the factory belongs to the cooperative, now and in the future, and I will not allow it to be privatized. Understand?"

Fang Wei planned to go back, and Zhang Wenyuan personally escorted him to Guangzhou.

Before boarding the train, Fang Wei talked with Zhang Wenyuan, hoping that he could stay true to his original intentions and not have too many other ideas.

"Secretary Fang, please rest assured, I will definitely work hard to make the factory a success."

Zhang Wenyuan immediately expressed his opinion, appearing very sincere.

Fang Wei then returned home. From then on, the cooperative would strengthen its supervision of the two factories and send people to participate in their operation and management, so as not to give Zhang Wenyuan and Fang Ping any chance to make mistakes.

When he returned from his trip, all the brigades had already completed the rice planting work.

this day.

Fang Wei had just finished lunch when Fang Tao suddenly walked in from outside.

"Tao Tao, why did you suddenly come back? You didn't even call ahead."

Fang Wei couldn't help but complain when she saw her nephew.

Tao Tao handed some things he was carrying to his older sister and then sat down.

“Manman, I’ve come here on a mission. The institute leaders asked me to come back and talk to you. They plan to cooperate with the breeding center to establish a large-scale breeding laboratory.”

With the opening of the country's doors, some of the world's advanced agricultural technologies and equipment have begun to enter the country.

In line with the development of the times, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences plans to establish an advanced breeding laboratory and cooperate with cooperatives to form a powerful alliance and strive for greater achievements.

The successful cultivation of the "Nanguang No. 3" rice variety brought great honor to the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Subsequent papers by Fang Tao and others caused a sensation, and the project won several national awards.

Therefore, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences sent Fang Tao back to talk to Fang Wei about this matter.

"Do you have a specific plan? Show it to me."

Fang Wei did not respond directly, but instead had Fang Tao bring out the specific plan, which he carefully reviewed several times.

In fact, the terms of this plan are very favorable to the cooperative. The Academy of Agricultural Sciences only needs the academic achievements, while the actual ownership and economic benefits belong to the cooperative.

The Academy of Agricultural Sciences has limited funding, so 70% of the construction funds for the laboratory came from the cooperative, and 30% came from the Academy itself.

The technical personnel are mainly dispatched by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, while the cooperative can send a small number of personnel to participate in various experiments.

"Manman, the conditions are alright, right?"

After Fang Wei finished reading the plan, Tao Tao asked a question with a smile.

He felt the task was simple, and from any perspective, the cooperative had no reason to refuse. It was inherently a win-win situation, beneficial to everyone.

"No rush, I need to discuss this with everyone. Tao Tao, has your company set a time limit for your business trips?"

"No, Director Li talked to me before I left and said not to rush things and to take it slowly."

Fang Wei was pleased to see that the Academy of Agricultural Sciences did not seem to be urging him.

This matter may be more complicated than Tao Tao had anticipated, because the investment in such a laboratory is actually very large, and the benefits are not visible in the short term.

The Academy of Agricultural Sciences appears generous, but in reality, it's only willing to invest 30% of the funds. The financial burden rests entirely with the cooperative; the other board members may not agree to this approach.

the next day.

Fang Wei took the proposal that Tao Tao brought and discussed the matter with the other directors.

As expected, most of the board members disagreed with the plan. This was because the cooperative required a large investment but had virtually no power in the laboratory, only the authority to assist in the experimental fields.

"What's the point of investing so much only to be controlled by others?"

"Yes, Secretary Fang, let's just forget about this project. If it really doesn't work out, we can set up our own lab."

At the meeting, the board members almost unanimously opposed cooperating with the Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

When the "Nanguang No. 3" rice variety was cultivated last time, it was mainly a cooperative effort, with Fang Tao and others only assisting in the research. But now that the Academy of Agricultural Sciences wants to completely take control of the laboratory project, everyone feels that cooperation is no longer possible.

"Alright, let's reject this project according to everyone's opinion."

Fang Wei wouldn't get caught up in it; the cooperative wasn't his alone, and he wouldn't insist on going his own way even if most people disagreed.

He wasn't optimistic about the collaboration project to begin with, so it's better that he rejected it.

night.

Fang Wei invited his nephew to his home for dinner, and after the meal, he told him about the cooperative's decision. Fang Tao was taken aback; he never expected the cooperative to refuse to cooperate. In his view, since the laboratory was located in Xinlin County, wouldn't it eventually belong to the cooperative anyway?
Having a laboratory is like adding wings to a tiger for the cooperative's breeding work.

Who would have thought things would develop this way?

"Manman, won't you reconsider?"

Fang Tao was still somewhat unwilling to give up. He didn't think about how he would explain things when he got back, since it was not something he could control.

He genuinely felt the terms of cooperation were excellent, and it would be a pity to give them up.

"Tao Tao, in the future, the cooperative and the institute can cooperate on specific scientific research projects, but they will not engage in such large-scale cooperation. When you go back, tell Director Li the truth, and he won't blame you."

Fang Wei smiled and told his nephew the council's opinion.

Tao Tao shook his head helplessly and stayed at home for three days before rushing back to the provincial capital.

After listening to his report, Director Li didn't say anything, and then threw the cooperation project proposal into the trash can.

Ten days later.

Yaoling Furniture Company officially opened in the provincial capital. In addition to the company headquarters, it also established a sizable franchise store in the provincial capital.

The company's main function is to be based in several provinces in central and southern China and to serve the whole country.

Fang Wei did not attend the opening ceremony, but instead sent a director instead. As the company's production base, the management of the bamboo ware factory was handed over to Lin Hanyang and Pan Lianhua, while Fang Ping spent most of his time in the provincial capital.

Tian Guihua resigned from her job at the nursery and transferred to a furniture company, where she became a logistics staff member.

The Fang brothers live in different places and rarely see each other, but in terms of his career, Fang Ping has undoubtedly made great strides.

The furniture factory also recruited some experienced talents in the provincial capital, and gradually began to step out of the small circle of commune and brigade enterprises, moving towards becoming a standardized enterprise.

Fang Wei has been spending a lot of time in the experimental field of the second team lately, quietly doing his own research.

Apart from some common vegetables, he has been focusing his energy on cultivating soybean seeds during this period.

Soybeans are less commonly grown in the south, but that's okay. He can adjust the attribute values ​​to make the soybean varieties he cultivates more suitable for the dry and cold climate of the north.

The focus of vegetable cultivation is on chili peppers; at least six varieties of chili peppers have already been basically developed.

The breeding of high-yield vegetable seeds has been underway for several years, with significant breakthroughs achieved in the last two years. Various varieties of chili peppers are prime examples, maintaining their original flavor while experiencing a substantial increase in yield and exhibiting high resistance.

The cooperative has established a "seed bank" inside the large grain warehouse to ensure that these high-quality seeds can be passed down.

morning.

Fang Wei, wearing a straw hat, was busy working in the experimental field when Zhao Jinsheng came looking for him.

“Secretary Fang, I have already arranged for people to visit chili growers in other communes. They are very satisfied with the new variety of chili. One reason is that it tastes very good, and the other is that the yield has increased significantly compared to before.”

"That's good! I've named these chili peppers from Yaoling No. 1 to Yaoling No. 6. Now that the design is finalized, they can be sold in large quantities."

Fang Wei plans to further enhance the competitiveness of the cooperative and intends to cultivate "Yaoling Chili" as a flagship product.

Next, some land will be allocated for the production of seeds for various varieties of chili peppers, while reducing the area planted with vegetables. The vegetable fields of the 17 brigades combined are quite large; they can't possibly feed tens of thousands of commune members.

This amounts to waste, so we will be more careful with our spending in the future.

In addition, Fang Wei also plans to reduce the supply of soybean and peanut seeds, as there is currently a trend of oversupply for these two cash crops.

Therefore, the breeding of cooperatives will move towards diversification in the future, no longer relying on a single variety.

After exchanging a few words, Fang Wei left the experimental field and returned to the office with Zhao Jinsheng. The cultivation of soybean seeds still requires time, but the finalization of the six types of chili pepper seeds will also bring considerable profits.

"Old Zhao, once the Yaoling chili peppers become famous, we won't just limit ourselves to cultivating seeds. We can also cooperate with farmers in other communes who grow chili peppers and sign purchase contracts."

Upon arriving at the office, Fang Wei made two cups of tea, then sat down and shared her thoughts with the other party.

He plans to establish another brigade-run enterprise to produce chili sauce, and he's already thought of a name for it: "Yaoling Chili Sauce".

However, the prerequisite is to establish a strong reputation for [Yaoling Chili] to lay a solid foundation for future marketing efforts. With high-quality raw materials and a local tradition of making chili sauce, we are quite confident in the product's quality.

“Your idea is good. I’ll let the chili farmers know about it later and see how they react.”

Zhao Jinsheng strongly supports Fang Wei's idea. He believes that the deep processing of agricultural products is what the cooperative should be doing, and he has never been very enthusiastic about developing a hardware factory.

For example, bamboo ware factories rely on the abundant bamboo resources of the Yao villages and the abundant timber resources of the cooperatives.

The hardware factory used to produce small items, and even some agricultural machinery parts. But now that they've opened an electric fan factory in Guangdong, he finds it all very strange.

However, both venues had been reserved in advance, which is why he did not object.

"Okay, you go ahead and get busy, I'll look at some documents."

Fang Wei smiled, got up, and saw the other person out. Then she sat down at her desk and began working.

He actually knows Zhao Jinsheng very well. After all, they've been together for many years, and he knows that Zhao is only suited to work in agriculture.

Not everyone has the pioneering spirit of Fang Ping and Zhang Wenyuan, who ask questions when they don't understand and learn when they don't know how. Many people are not easy to accept new things, and some may never step out of their comfort zone in their entire lives.

However, this is not really a drawback. Fang Wei only uses people's strengths and will not force them to do things they don't like or are unfamiliar with.

Time flies.

The standard factory building in Xiangshan was completed quickly, and the hardware factory dismantled the machines and equipment used to produce electric fans and transported them to Guangdong.

In addition, the new equipment ordered by Zhang Wenyuan has arrived, and the new factory has entered the equipment installation and commissioning phase. A large number of electric fans will be produced before the peak summer season, ensuring they don't miss out on the sales peak.

Fang Wei spends his days riding his bicycle around. There's nothing major going on at the commune lately; Zhao Jinsheng and others can handle it all.

He began to learn about the situation of chili farmers, and even made several trips to neighboring counties to buy back local specialty chili sauce. Deep processing of agricultural products is also one of the cooperative's future development directions, and they could start with chili sauce.

According to his understanding, the machinery and equipment for producing chili sauce are actually not expensive, and investing in a bottling plant does not require much capital.

The key is sales channels. Fortunately, he has attached great importance to sales from the beginning, and the cooperative has even established a "sales department." The cooperative will need more sales talent in the future, and he is already considering recruiting from outside.

Despite the cooperative having tens of thousands of members, only a small percentage actually meet the eligibility criteria. (End of Chapter)