Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 886 Endless Aftermath
As is well known, for a long period before the 90s, my country's supply of goods was in a state of "relative abundance".

The so-called "relatively sufficient" means that the supply can basically meet the "quantitative" needs of urban residents.

In the 1970s, each adult received 24 jin of staple grain, 4 liang of oil, 1 jin of meat, and 20 jin of coal per month, and 12 chi of cloth per year. The wages were based on an industrial coupon of about 20 yuan per coupon...

By the 1980s, after the reform and opening up, the ration of staple food had increased to over 30 jin (15 catties), and for those engaged in heavy physical labor, it could even reach over 40 jin (20 kg). In addition, starting in 1977, the pork supply in Beijing increased to two jin (1 kg) per person per month, and other supplies such as oil, coal, and cloth also increased.

These quantitative requirements can generally be met.

But as anyone who has experienced it knows, relative abundance cannot mask the fact that resources are scarce.

While each person in Beijing is allotted two catties of meat per month, some places are still implementing a standard of half a catty per month. Apart from the standard for staple food, which is relatively uniform, almost all other non-staple food supplies are being reduced.

Oh, except for Shanghai.

Even so, let's not talk about rural areas, let's just take cities as an example.

Before the widespread adoption of hybrid rice, staple food supplies had to be mixed with some coarse grains, and it was extremely rare for them to consist entirely of refined grains. It was around 84, after the widespread adoption of hybrid rice and the household responsibility system, that urban residents basically achieved a "refined grain" staple food.

That was just the staple food; not to mention the supply of non-staple foods. Even in Beijing, where supplies were most abundant, meat rationing was not abolished until the end of 92, and "pork freedom" was not achieved until the following year, 93.

In terms of vegetables, once winter arrives, Chinese cabbage is the main vegetable in Beijing, and even radishes and potatoes are scarce, not to mention other vegetables that are relatively common in southern regions.

Keep in mind that this was in the 1980s, when the reform and opening-up policy was sweeping across the country, and regardless of whether the policy was relaxed or tightened, the income of urban residents generally increased.

In 1980, the average income of low-income groups such as junior workers and temporary workers in Beijing was 28 yuan per month. By 1984, this standard had reached 75 yuan per month, while the wage level of ordinary workers had reached about 150 yuan per month.

By 1992, the wages of low-income groups had risen to 120 yuan per month, while the wages of ordinary workers had reached about 300 yuan per month.

Against this backdrop, the supply of non-staple foods for urban residents did not increase much compared to the 1970s.

Ordinary people have money, but they can't buy many good things. How can they tolerate this?!

Therefore, in 1988, in order to alleviate the social contradiction of tight supply of non-staple foods, the Ministry of Agriculture proposed to build the "vegetable basket project".

From the very beginning of the project, the principle of "municipal responsibility system" was clearly established.

From then on, ensuring access to fresh produce became a matter of responsibility for the city's second-level leaders.

Later, when farmland was occupied and grain production fluctuated, the higher authorities added a sentence before it: "The province is in charge of the rice bag."

To this day, the core responsibility system of "the province being responsible for the rice supply and the city for the vegetables" remains unchanged, and it is estimated that it will not change in the future.

Therefore, if this matter is successfully accomplished, the repercussions for the city leader who first proposed it will be endless.

……

Now that Yang Kangnian has been transferred to a local position, if he follows his own plan, he will definitely face many difficulties. Although others may not necessarily comply, there are too many interests involved in industrial enterprises. A good plan may not be well implemented, let alone achieve the results he wants.

It's different if it's a "vegetable basket project".

This is tantamount to bypassing the existing system of vested interests and starting from scratch, all under the guise of serving the people, so absolutely no one will object.

As long as Yang Kangnian isn't all talk and no action, using this as a foundation, he can almost guarantee that he won't lose his position as a special commissioner.

Even if his industrial reform plan went wrong, with this achievement as a foundation, he will not become a pitiful scapegoat in the future.

It was precisely because Yang Kangnian saw this that he was so excited.

Seeing that he understood the significance of the project immediately, Chen Fan smiled and continued to discuss the implementation details with him.

Initially, the goal was not to pursue large-scale or comprehensive development, but rather to "have" a stable supply base for vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. Based on existing vegetable markets and farmers' markets, the aim was to expand and solidify these markets, increasing their number and the variety of non-staple foods.

After achieving certain results, we can then consider establishing a stable wholesale market and logistics channels for non-staple foods in the Yunhu area, expanding the product coverage to surrounding areas, and even considering developing a fresh food transportation system that directly supplies major cities.

At the same time, policies will be adopted to modernize facilities, diversify products, and scale up production in supply bases, and to connect nodes in urban-rural fringe areas and county-city fringe areas, laying the foundation for "ensuring supply" and "expanding supply".

As for what comes next..., Chen Fan said that we shouldn't be too ambitious and should focus on doing the first two parts well first.

If the plan can be fully implemented and the expected results achieved, it is not impossible not only to guarantee the food supply in the Yunhu area, but also to establish a food supply system that "supplies the whole country".

Of course, this doesn't mean that the area around Yunhu can meet the country's food supply needs, but rather that the produced food products can be supplied to all parts of the country through a modern logistics system.

After listening to Chen Fan's description, Yang Kangnian immediately said, "Some of the content of your proposal is very similar to the advice given by Soviet experts in the 1950s. They advocated large-scale farms, large-scale construction, and ensuring supply."

However, our situation is different. On the one hand, the terrain is diverse, and apart from a few plains, most other places lack the geographical environment for large-scale agriculture.

On the other hand, my country's population situation is also different from theirs. The small-scale peasant economy has a history of two thousand years in my country. Although it has undergone commune reform, due to the lack of modern agricultural machinery and planting technology, the output has not reached the effect expected by Soviet experts. Therefore, it was not copied and implemented later.

In retrospect, it was the right decision not to copy their methods.

This "vegetable basket project" aims to increase the variety of agricultural products available to urban residents through our own methods, thus enriching their "shopping baskets." Perhaps this is the direction for increasing income in rural areas.

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Let's not talk about grand principles. Instead of talking about grand principles, let's focus on doing things. As long as we can ultimately achieve the goal of increasing farmers' income and benefiting urban residents, this vegetable basket project will be a great success."

You treated this as one of your top priorities after taking office, and your success will form the foundation of your career. This will provide you with more flexibility when undertaking other tasks later.

Yang Kangnian nodded, silently making a mental note of it. After a while, he looked up at him and asked expectantly, "You said you had two suggestions. What's the other one?"

He didn't expect it to be better than this "vegetable basket project," just something similar would be a huge win for him. ...No, he already was!
Yang Kangnian wanted to hear the second suggestion, but Chen Fan gently shook his head and said, "Before we talk about that, I'd like to discuss industrial reform with you." Hearing this, Yang Kangnian's expression turned serious, and his brows furrowed. "You have a different opinion?"

Chen Fan nodded, took a puff of his cigarette, and said, "Since the 1950s, we've carried out countless technological innovation activities, sometimes a few times a year, sometimes once every few years. Why do you think that units that couldn't produce results before can suddenly come up with new technologies just by giving you an order?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Kangnian's tightly furrowed brows instantly relaxed, and he smiled, "I've also considered the question you raised. I've worked in the machinery factory for twenty years, and I've encountered this situation countless times."

In the past, it was said that we were going to engage in technological competition and product innovation, but most of the time it was just empty talk. You would get an order from above to carry out technological innovation, but you wouldn't get any support. At most, you would get a notice about which new products the ministry had, and then you would have to apply for the technical data yourself.

This is treating the technical staff and frontline workers like gods.

He paused for two seconds, took a drag of his cigarette, and then continued, "This time, I have a complete plan."

He pointed to Chen Fan and said, "The approach taken by Lujiawan here has given me a lot of inspiration."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow, looking at him with some surprise, "Lujiawan?"

Yang Kangnian smiled and nodded, saying, "Lujiawan has also made some significant moves in the past two years. In agriculture, they have partnered with the agricultural university in the provincial capital, as well as the agricultural schools in the region and the agricultural technology stations in the commune, forming an agricultural technology innovation group with Lujiawan as its training base."

Whenever the agricultural university has new technologies, they always conduct experiments in Lujiawan first. With these agricultural college teachers and students there, Lujiawan is good at making use of them to provide technical support for the agricultural production and aquaculture of the production team.

The situation was similar in industry. Their food processing plants and garment factories had hired many retired skilled workers from the region. It was thanks to these technicians that production in Lujiawan was running so smoothly, leaving them with the capacity to help other production teams.

Chen Fan's eyes darted around slightly as he said, "So, you plan to use this method as well to provide technical guidance and support to factories in the Yunhu area?"

Yang Kangnian nodded, looked at him and smiled, "Do you still think technological innovation is not feasible?"

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, thought for a moment, and said, "Your plan is indeed a solution, but it is very likely to lead to a waste of resources."

He gestured and said, "For example, if every county has an agricultural machinery company, and you assign technicians to each of them for guidance, then a dozen or so agricultural machinery companies will focus on researching the same type of machinery. Wouldn't that be a waste of resources?"

Yang Kangnian frowned slightly, then relaxed and smiled, "You're worrying about this for nothing. I'll have them submit their reform plans later. If there are any overlaps, we can integrate them directly, or they can switch projects themselves. There won't be any waste."

Chen Fan's eye twitched. Sure enough, this was still the era of planned economy. You had to submit a report and apply for approval before you could take action. Companies like Yunhu Machinery Factory, which didn't submit a single report, just buried themselves in hard work and still managed to achieve results, were extremely rare exceptions.

flicked his cigarette ash, then shook his head with a smile. "Instead of letting the various units below find their own direction, you should assign them tasks."

Yang Kangnian was slightly taken aback. "What do you mean?"

With a cigarette dangling from his mouth and a teacup as a prop, Chen Fan gestured as he spoke, “Currently, there are four main large factories in the Yunhu area: a machinery factory, an automobile factory, a home appliance company, and a cotton mill. Although there are other strong companies, they are still slightly weaker than these four.”

Yang Kangnian nodded, looking at the "prop" in thought, without saying a word.

Chen Fan continued, "Leaving aside other factories, you definitely know Yunqi Factory better than anyone else. How many parts are needed to assemble a complete car? In the automotive industrial zone north of Yunhu Lake, how many parts are produced in-house, and how many are produced by smaller, outsourced factories?..."

At this point, Yang Kangnian suddenly slammed his hand on the table, looked at Chen Fan with excitement, and said, "I understand, I understand what you mean."

He stubbed out his cigarette in a flash, gestured with his hands, and said, "I remember you mentioned to me once before that a single tree cannot make a forest. If Yunqi Factory wants to grow and develop, it must not ignore the establishment of the automotive industry chain in the Yunhu area."

It was because of your suggestion that we later separated some products from Yunqi Factory and formed those auto parts factories.

Now, I want to promote and expand Yunqi Factory's industrial chain approach to the entire Yunhu area, including cotton mills, machinery factories, and home appliance factories, to create their own supporting industrial chains.

For example, the cotton production of Gufeng County accounts for a significant proportion of the Yunhu area. At the same time, almost every commune in the county has its own cotton mill. So, Gufeng County can be developed into a supporting production base for cotton mills, specifically supplying cotton yarn to them.

This approach, by splitting off parts and components, allows for targeted upgrades to existing factories, far surpassing my proposed independent technological innovation. Furthermore, by outsourcing parts and components to these downstream factories, and ensuring quality control, they can immediately become essential suppliers to the main factory, significantly enhancing its production capacity.

After he finished speaking, he suddenly turned to look at Chen Fan, his eyes full of expectation, "Am I right?"

There's one more thing he didn't mention: in the process of building the industrial chain, neither the reformers nor the conservatives will become obstacles to this plan.

Just like when the home appliance factory was separated from the machinery factory, a large factory was created, and countless people benefited. Moreover, the nature of the unit did not change, and even the conservatives had no basis for opposition.

Such a plan will certainly be implemented thoroughly as soon as possible.

Chen Fan smiled slightly and flicked off his cigarette ash. "That's it."

Yang Kangnian suddenly clapped his hands, rubbed them together vigorously, and laughed, "I can't wait any longer, I wish I could go back and revise the plan right now."

He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "However, you have one more suggestion you haven't mentioned. I need to hear it before I can leave."

Chen Fan made an "uh" sound before slowly saying, "This second suggestion is related to the tertiary industry."

Yang Kangnian was slightly taken aback, "The tertiary industry?"

He frowned slightly and looked at Chen Fan, asking, "Is it culture, or film?"

In his view, these are the only two industries that are related to Chen Fan.

"Yes, we have them all."

Chen Fan grinned and said, "It also includes tourism, commerce, and so on. If this project is built, the effect will be immediate, and it will also increase the popularity of Yunhu and make Yunhu famous throughout the country."

Yang Kangnian immediately perked up and stared intently at him. "Tell me quickly, what project is it?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Yunhu. My idea is to build a film shooting base on the north side of Yunhu."

(End of this chapter)