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

“Secretary, Qianjin Township won’t let us directly buy rice from farmers. They say we’re speculating and profiteering, and they’re even going to report us to the county.”

Zhao Jinsheng was furious; the cadres from Qianjin Township were deliberately picking a fight.

He held the contract in his hand but wouldn't let him buy rice, even though the cooperative had this right to operate.

He came back to find Fang Wei, hoping that more people from the commune would go with him to the county to seek justice. If the other party still didn't know what was good for them, then they would fight the case to the end.

“Old Zhao, don’t be angry. You should go to Yaoling Township and let them talk to Qianjin Township. If they can’t reach an agreement, then we can step in. It’s the township’s responsibility to resolve this kind of thing; they have to do something.”

Fang Wei frowned after listening. He didn't know what Qianjin Township was planning to do, but it was clear that they were acting recklessly.

However, it's unnecessary for the cooperative to directly clash with Qianjin Township. It would be more appropriate to first report the issue to Yaoling Township and then have Yaoling Township handle it.

Zhao Jinsheng immediately understood Fang Wei's intention and then prepared to go to the village.

Fang Wei thought about it and decided to go with them to see what Zheng Xianfa and the others had to say.

So he drove with Zhao Jinsheng to Zheng Xianfa's office and explained the current situation to him.

“Secretary Zheng, please ask the township to negotiate with Qianjin Township. We have signed contracts with the local farmers, and what they are doing is illegal.”

Zhao Jinsheng finally made a request, hoping that the township would step in to resolve the issue.

"What are those people from Qianjin Township up to? Secretary Fang, Lao Zhao, don't worry, the township will definitely help you get justice."

Zheng Xianfa was furious. He then summoned Zheng Hu and ordered him to take people to negotiate with the Qianjin Commune.

Fang Wei and Zhao Jinsheng returned to the cooperative, and everyone decided to temporarily bypass Qianjin Township and continue purchasing rice from other townships. The cooperative's previous purchase price was very competitive, higher than what others had offered.

Overall, the rice procurement process went smoothly.

Two days passed.

Zheng Hu brought back the conditions from Qianjin Township. They agreed to let the cooperative continue to purchase rice, but the price had to be increased by 15% on top of the existing price.

Hearing this answer, Fang Wei was so angry she laughed.

"Are they trying to rob us? I can't agree to this condition. At worst, we'll just give up the rice from Qianjin Township and let them bear all the consequences themselves."

"No, if we do it this way, the farmers will ultimately suffer. Third Brother, don't worry. Secretary Zheng has already gone to the county, and I believe the county will come up with a proper solution."

Zheng Hu was also helpless. Almost all the people in Qianjin Township had been replaced, and the other party was difficult to deal with. It was obvious that they saw that the cooperative was making a lot of money and wanted to take advantage of the situation to make some extra money.

The other party knew that the cooperative did not produce rice, which is why they dared to do this.

Fang Wei shook his head. He had already guessed Qianjin Township's intentions, and he would never compromise. Otherwise, unless the rice mill was shut down, everyone would follow suit, and the cooperative would become a sucker.

"Tiger, go ahead and get busy. The township has done its best in this matter, thank you."

He sent Zheng Hu away and then called Zhao Jinsheng in.

"Old Zhao, have someone spread the word that Qianjin Township is obstructing the process, and that the local rice purchasing work has been suspended indefinitely, with Qianjin Township bearing all the farmers' losses. Of course, if the farmers deliver the rice to their door, we are still happy to purchase it."

Fang Wei was too lazy to get entangled with the group from Qianjin Township, so he decided to give them a hard time.

On the surface, it seems that the cooperative was unable to do anything to Qianjin Township and thus gave up on purchasing the local produce. In reality, it made the conflict public and let the local farmers argue with the township.

In addition, he wasn't really that heartless; he still made an exception for the farmers in Qianjin Township.

As long as the rice is transported to the cooperative, the cooperative will buy it. How it is transported there is not his concern; he believes the farmers in Qianjin Township will find a way.

The news spread, immediately igniting everyone's emotions, and everyone wanted to see who would ultimately compromise.

The farmers in Qianjin Township were waiting for the results of negotiations between the township and the cooperative, but the cooperative abandoned its obligation to purchase the crops, citing interference from Qianjin Township.

This is tantamount to abolishing the contracts signed with local farmers, and all responsibilities will be borne by Qianjin Township.

This move angered the farmers in Qianjin Township.

The truth of the matter is very clear; the cooperative is not to blame at all. It was entirely the local people who created this mess. If things could have been resolved peacefully, that would have been fine, but the cooperative went so far as to overturn the agreement and halt the rice purchases from Qianjin Township.

You have to understand that this directly affected the fundamental interests of farmers, so many people went to the township to make a scene.

On the other hand, some resourceful farmers transported their rice directly to the cooperative. What's a little transportation cost? They didn't care, since the cooperative offered the most favorable purchase price.

Once the rice is transported to the cooperative's territory, they immediately begin inspection and grading without saying a word, and then pay for it and put it into storage.

As a result, more and more farmers adopted this method. By the time the officials of Qianjin Township realized what was happening and tried to stop them, it was too late to turn back.

The so-called checkpoints were completely destroyed by farmers selling rice, and it wasn't until the county government dealt with several people directly responsible that the turmoil was finally quelled.

Zheng Xianfa was deeply moved. He and Zheng Hu went to the county to file a complaint, but the matter dragged on and was difficult to resolve.

I didn't expect it to be solved in this way.

After some time, the cooperative successfully completed the purchase of rice. Yaoling rice was continuously shipped to all parts of the country, and sales soared.

“Secretary, I just don’t understand what some people in Qianjin Township are thinking. Shouldn’t their job be to protect the interests of local farmers? Why are they acting recklessly?”

The matter was resolved, but Zhao Jinsheng and the others were still puzzled.

In fact, after the communes were changed into townships, the number of workers suddenly surged, and many of them had no understanding of the characteristics of rural work. They didn't understand their role and only wanted to "manage" without any service awareness.

This leads some people to act on a whim, which in turn exacerbates the conflict.

"Let's not talk about that anymore. There are always some strange things that happen. Old Zhao, you need to ensure the supply of raw materials to the chili sauce factory from now on, and we absolutely cannot allow similar problems to occur again."

Fang Wei didn't want to discuss this issue, so she changed the subject.

The demand for raw materials from chili sauce factories is increasing, and the yield of chilies grown by the cooperative itself is far from meeting production needs. Therefore, to make up the shortfall, purchase contracts must be signed with farmers in other townships.

Theoretically, this is a win-win situation, but who knows if the same thing that happened in Qianjin Township will happen again?

Fang Wei was very vigilant and gave Zhao Jinsheng a special reminder.

"I understand, and I will definitely pay attention to it in my future work." Zhao Jinsheng was also thinking about this issue, but there was no time to discuss it further today. He would talk about it at the council meeting in a few days.

noon.

Fang Wei went to the village and had lunch with Pan Lianhua.

He then went to find Huang Zhigang. To be honest, he was very dissatisfied with the county's handling of the dispute with Qianjin Township.

"Secretary Fang, don't get so worked up. Come and try some of the tea someone just gave me, how does it taste?"

Huang Zhigang let Fang Wei rant and rave, listening with a smile without paying any attention to Fang Wei's attitude.

"The tea is good tea, but the county has been trying to smooth things over. Don't they owe us an explanation?"

Fang Wei seemed a bit aggressive, and anyone could tell he was in a bad mood.

"Haven't we already dealt with the responsible parties? What else do you want to say? Secretary Fang, all the townships have only been established recently, and the expansion of personnel will inevitably lead to many people being completely unfamiliar with rural work."

At a time like this, you can imagine how many things the county has to deal with. Let's put it this way, your matter is really a minor one, a very low priority.

Huang Zhigang then revealed the truth: it wasn't that the county didn't want to get involved, but there were simply too many other matters to handle, and such a trivial matter couldn't be addressed.

He can't make all the decisions, can he? If he did, he'd be worked to death.
He only learned about the incident afterward, and he dealt with the responsible persons in Qianjin Township without hesitation, hoping to serve as a warning.

"Indeed, we can't blame the county, but this small matter almost ruined the brand of 'Yaoling Rice.' Why did Qianjin Township dare to do this? It's because they saw the shortcomings of the cooperative, so we still need to mitigate this risk in the future."

Fang Wei smiled and shook his head, as if he were complaining or summarizing his experience and lessons learned.

Huang Zhigang didn't take it seriously, thinking he had successfully persuaded the other party.

Half an hour later, Fang Wei took his leave.

Leaving the county, his mood suddenly improved. He'd already spoken to Huang Zhigang, so if any problems arose later, no one should complain.

After returning to the company, Fang Wei convened a council meeting to discuss expanding the scope of rice procurement.

“Secretary, I understand this is to mitigate risk, but our Yaoling Rice has a certificate of origin. How can the origin change?”

The incident in Qianjin Township has angered the board members. The cooperative originally wanted to help everyone get rich, but instead encountered a few unreasonable individuals.

This serves as a reminder that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket.

The same applies to rice and chili peppers, which necessitates having backups. However, in practice, this presents numerous challenges.

"Why not? Local designation of origin registration is based on geographical concepts, not administrative divisions. Any area related to the Dayao Mountains can be considered an extension of the designation of origin."

Fang Wei smiled slightly; this was his main purpose in going to see Huang Zhigang today.

Since the county failed to stand up for justice at the time, it shouldn't be blamed on the cooperative for extending the rice supply chain.

“Is that so? Secretary Fang has a long-term vision. Then let’s not hesitate. We can start talking about cooperation with the surrounding areas now. Whoever is willing to unconditionally protect our interests, we will sign an agreement with them.”

The board members were pleased, as expanding the scope and increasing the volume of acquisitions was imperative.

As sales of Yaoling Rice continue to improve, the problem of insufficient supply is becoming increasingly apparent. Developing new supply channels at this time is timely and there's no need to overthink it.

Therefore, the meeting approved the proposal, and two directors went out to investigate and try to finalize the matter before the Spring Festival next year.

Fang Wei breathed a sigh of relief for the time being, then turned back to the township, where some procedures still needed to be prepared in advance.

Time slipped away in a flurry of activity, and the cooperative finally chose to cooperate with the neighboring Zhiyuan County, with both parties signing a comprehensive cooperation framework agreement.

The rice seeds are provided by the cooperative, which also provides technical guidance. The harvested rice is purchased by the cooperative at the agreed price.

Meanwhile, the cooperative invested 1000 million yuan to build vegetable greenhouses in Zhiyuan County, providing off-season vegetables to the local area. Various high-yield vegetable seeds are also provided by the cooperative, which also creates employment opportunities for some local residents.

Investing in vegetable greenhouses is a requirement in Zhiyuan County. What they value is the high-quality vegetable seeds from the cooperative, which were previously unavailable for purchase.

After careful consideration, Fang Wei agreed to the other party's conditions. This would bind the interests of both parties more closely, which would be more conducive to long-term cooperation.

After this agreement was signed, the supply of Yaoling Rice will no longer be a problem.

By changing the share of purchases, the cooperative can make each township feel the power of the cooperative and prevent them from easily causing trouble.

After finishing all these tasks, Fang Wei finally had some free time to inspect the breeding center.

"Secretary Fang, this year we've added a batch of agricultural machinery and built a 100-mu (approximately 6.7 hectares) experimental greenhouse field. The center's irrigation system has been further improved, and 16 new wells have been added."

The deputy director of the breeding center gave a detailed report to Fang Wei, saying that the center had done a good job in all aspects and its overall strength had been further enhanced.

Fang Wei nodded, feeling very satisfied.

He then reviewed the production records for this season and also checked some of the accounts, but found no problems.

"I plan to continue producing the [Nanguang No. 4] rice seed next spring and the [Nongyou 76] rice seed in the summer, while appropriately reducing the supply of the [Nanguang No. 4] rice seed."

Fang Wei held a summary meeting at the center and took the opportunity to arrange the production plan for the coming year.

He had previously discussed with the board members the idea of ​​adjusting the yield of [Nanguang No. 4] appropriately to further increase the yield of [Nongyou 76] rice.

【Nongyou 76】rice seeds are now sold throughout the country, enjoying a good reputation not only in the southern provinces but also in the north.

Fang Weiyi had always felt that this hybrid japonica rice had a better future, and its development has now proven his idea correct. Due to overwhelming demand, he had to increase the planting area of ​​the [Nongyou 76] rice variety.

"Understood! We will make the necessary preparations in advance and will not make any mistakes."

The center's management is very obedient; whatever Fang Wei says goes, and basically no one will disagree.

Fang Wei nodded and then announced the meeting adjourned.

At this time, high-yield rapeseed had already been planted in the fields of the cooperative and the breeding center. This was in response to the county's call to plant rapeseed for the winter, and also to increase economic benefits. (End of Chapter)