The door of the courtyard house has been welded dead

Li Feng was not surprised at all by Jiang Defu's visit, assuming he already knew about it.

But the fact that Li Xuewu came with him surprised Li Feng.

After listening to Li Xuewu's story, Li Feng smiled, wondering how to handle the relationship between the security department and the factory, and between the security department and the public security department if the security department were to become a security police team.

He waved his hand, gesturing for the two to sit down.

It is evident that not only Li Xuewu was bewildered by the future, but Jiang Defu was as well; both of them had already "lost their way" at the very beginning of this reform.

Secretary Gao is right. Looking at Guo Ru is far more important than looking at the future. We need to see things clearly. Excitement and confusion are intertwined in everyone's heart.

“We are a populous country, and in recent years, the population growth has been explosive. However, the number of jobs in cities can be said to have reached saturation, or rather, exceeded the total number of employees required for the normal operation of a factory.”

"In the past, the practice was to guide educated youth to go to the countryside and work in rural areas, so that the surplus labor force could be transferred into rural production and life, and the vast farmland could be used to absorb these young people. This was the only way to maintain a fragile balance."

"But can this situation continue? It can't be maintained for long, because most of the educated youth who went to the countryside were there to develop their ideas, not to settle down in the countryside. They all knew that rural life was hard, and they were all from the city and had seen urban life. It was hard for them to accept that they would spend their whole lives facing the loess soil and turning their backs to the sky."

"But cities cannot accommodate 20 million educated youth, at least not enough jobs. We also need to note that there are children in rural areas, and they have grown up as well. The high birth rate after the 1960s has resulted in a youth population that is actually over 100 million."

Upon hearing this data, not only was Jiang Defu moved, but Li Xuewu's mouth also slightly opened.

The size of the youth population, in general, represents the future of a country. Too few is undesirable, but too many can also cause problems.

As 20 million educated youth began to return to the cities, it was impossible to arrange jobs for them all. There was also an even larger rural adult population. Even if the farmland could consume some of them, the remaining number of people far exceeded 20 million educated youth.

"You can feel the pressure, right? And all this pressure has accumulated. When young people are unemployed for a long time, it will create instability and social security problems. This is because they tend to stick together. If they get together and a brilliant idea comes out, they will cause all sorts of trouble."

"You can't block it. What the country needs to do is to clear the way. The only solution is to increase jobs in society and guide these young people there. That's the purpose of reform and opening up and developing the economy."

"The way to increase jobs is to open up the individual economy and open up to the outside world, attracting foreign investment to invest and build factories in our country. As long as the problem of jobs can be solved, the problem of social security will naturally be solved."

Li Feng's description was very down-to-earth, not the kind of formalized rules and regulations spoken in meetings, but rather a step-by-step analysis of the two people based on the current reality.

Because of their different ranks and perspectives, after Li Feng's general explanation, the two gained a basic understanding of the fundamental reasons for the gradual changes in policies and trends during this period.

It turns out that the reconciliation between the two countries didn't happen suddenly, nor did the social order deteriorate overnight. The seeds of this had already been sown a decade or two ago, with the increase in the birth rate.

"So now even the military is starting to make plans...!"

"You mean a planned economy, right? As for other plans, they're definitely to maintain a relatively healthy population growth, rather than continuing explosive growth. For an agricultural country, the burden is even heavier. It's a last resort, unless..." As soon as Jiang Defu uttered the word "plan," Li Feng guessed what he was going to say next and gestured for him to stop, implying that he understood and that the country's strength wasn't enough to support so many people.

"Unless there are more factories, unless there are more jobs to accommodate more people, I think I understand now. It turns out that all the problems are about population."

"You're still missing one 'unless': unless grain productivity increases. Grain is the ballast stone, so rural areas took the lead in reforms and began implementing the household responsibility system, where each household is responsible for its own profits and losses."

Li Feng nodded. With Li Xuewen's level of education, he didn't need Li Feng's guidance; he could naturally see through the reasons behind these things.

"The goal is to increase grain production, because when land is distributed to individuals, they will be more diligent in farming and put their energy into the harvest, striving to increase grain production."

Li Xuewu wasn't stupid. After Li Feng's guidance, he was able to draw inferences from one instance to another. After a thorough understanding, he looked at Director Li with admiration. This was the reason why Director Li was able to become the factory director; his vision was simply too broad.

"Therefore, the emergence of the security police is not surprising, as social and economic development cannot be separated from stable public security, and public security problems will seriously affect the stable development of the local area."

"Good public security is the cornerstone of economic development. If the market is filled with forced buying and selling and market manipulation, foreign investors will not dare to invest, individual businesses will find it difficult to operate with peace of mind, and market vitality will be severely stifled."

"Maintaining social stability is an inevitable trend. Reforms have a painful period, and many people will feel uncomfortable at the beginning. However, if we want to adjust the industrial structure, improve people's living standards, and enhance our international standing, other police departments will emerge even if economic police are not available."

Li Xuewu breathed a sigh of relief. He had initially worried that he would be using the factory's funds but end up working for the police outside, making him a lose-lose situation. Now that he had a broader perspective, he realized that this was the inevitable trend.

Introducing foreign investment and opening up individual business operations, although the future is uncertain.

However, some initial signs of development can already be seen at the entrance of Hongxing Community. The fights and arguments over stall locations have happened more than once or twice. If foreign businessmen see this, they will probably experience some growing pains for a while.

"The curtain has been raised. There's a saying in traditional Chinese opera that once a song begins, it must be sung to the end, regardless of whether there are people in the audience. You absolutely cannot stop halfway through!"

"The same applies to reform. Whether it's you, Li Xuewu, or him, Jiang Defu, or me, Li Feng, the role we cadres must play is to ensure that it can go further and allow the people to live a better life."

"We are all in the midst of a great tide, and we must learn to adapt. Former enemies can become friends. As long as they are willing to open factories in our country and bring advanced technology, we can shake hands and make peace."

"Compared to the basic needs of so many people, saving face is not important. What matters is whether it can bring social benefits and increase youth employment. Therefore, ensuring economic stability and social stability, and then promoting development, has become the direction that all our cadres need to understand in the next stage!"

As his thoughts gradually broadened, Jiang Defu felt as if the "lock" in his heart had suddenly been opened by a "key".

"Li Xuewu, your future role as economic police is to maintain internal stability and gradually release pressure. As for external stability and external pressure, that's up to Jiang Defu and you to ensure!"

"Former enemies can become friends because they can bring benefits and help us solve the problems caused by the large population on this land. But when former friends become enemies, we need a sharp sword to hold their throats." (End of Chapter)