1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 593: Disease in the stomach and intestines, affected by fire (1)

There is a famous saying in the system: It is easy to mobilize the masses, but difficult to unite them.

Perhaps it is because they have suffered for too long, but in most rural areas, especially in the three provinces of Central China, as long as there is a little motivation and hope, people will work hard. Such fighting spirit and tenacity can make those people in Europe and the United States, who have become relaxed to the point of laziness, exclaim that this is impossible.

Have you ever seen someone who gets up at three o'clock in the morning to sign up at the village brigade just to earn two yuan and twenty-seven cents, and then walks more than twenty kilometers to transport a full flatbed truck of river sand to the county?
Have you ever seen someone who, for less than eight dollars, risked being beaten and bleeding, bent over for more than ten hours a day, with his legs immersed in the cold water of the Yellow River, and used the most rudimentary magnetic bar to collect iron ore?
Many, very many.

At least there were many of them in the Central Plains region in the 1980s and 1990s.

Compared with the hungry wives and children behind them, the sweat and bodies of the men in the Central Plains are worthless.

But at the same time, the extremely poor growing environment, the humanistic ecology that is completely different from that in the city but more pure and direct, the generally low culture, and the relatively narrow vision have also led to a series of problems at the grassroots level in rural areas, such as easy formation of path dependence, haste for quick results, being content with small gains, easy complacency, nepotism, and lack of long-term development vision.

It is precisely because of these objective shortcomings that one of the core reasons why township enterprises quickly declined after experiencing a glorious decade in the 1990s.

As a reborn person, Yang Mo was naturally well aware of these problems; so from the moment he decided to launch the Hundred Village Revitalization Plan, he had been thinking about how to avoid these problems as much as possible.

Although he was just an ordinary jack of all trades in later generations, he had at least learned the story of the three Bian Que brothers.

Therefore, he has always believed that, at least in the Qilu region, whether it is possible to give some preventive shots to those township enterprises and strong village companies before the end of 92 and set the tone for some things may be the key to solving the problem.

At that time, Tugou, who was still living together but had already started to take charge of various grassroots external liaison projects, was naturally Yang Mo's only person to communicate and discuss with.

Therefore, there is probably no one in this world who knows better than Tugou what Yang Mo’s obsession is and what he really wants.

Therefore, taking advantage of the fact that Dahua Company and Xialiu Sales Agency had gained countless goodwill and reputation in the process of rushing to help the disaster-stricken areas in East China, even though she still had six nails in her arm, she said hello to Yang Mo and ran out despite someone's strong opposition...

………………

In Songlou Town, Xiajin, there is a very old concrete building.

In the conference room, Lu Yingying, with her right hand still in a plaster cast, faced a room full of people of all kinds and spoke in a very firm tone:

"no!"

"As a special consultant to Qinghua Investment Promotion Company and a special representative of Songlou Town Suhua Textile Factory, I would like to express my position..."

"I can try to secure $120 million in foreign exchange for the county to introduce new blending equipment from abroad;"

"We also agree to reorganize and merge textile enterprises in six nearby towns, including Beicheng Street, into an industrial cluster with Songlou Town as the center and Suhua Textile Factory as the main body, so as to make it bigger and stronger;"

"but……"

"I am against retaining the existing basic organizational framework of these textile enterprises!"

"Oppose the retention of all employees in these enterprises!"

“I am even more opposed to the county’s decision to classify the new cluster as a county-owned township enterprise and to appoint the party secretary directly from the administrative system!”

After dealing with various competent departments in DZ City for more than a year, Tugou finally overcame the fear that came with his nature. If people who didn't know the situation saw this scene, they would probably think that Tugou was the leader present.

Hearing Tugou's three consecutive "objections", the middle-aged man sitting in the middle couldn't help but frowned: "Manager Lu, the city has officially issued a document requiring all counties and townships to actively seek transformation and expand corporate production to meet the new opportunities brought by the 10 billion aid plan;"

"[First make it bigger, then make it stronger] is the city's established policy for the future development of township enterprises. Our Xiajin Enterprise Office proposed that Songlou Town's Suhua Textile Factory and similar township enterprises nearby form a textile cluster in order to actively respond to the city's call... Just to get other township textile factories to agree to use Songlou Town's Suhua Textile Factory as the main body of the reorganization, we don't know how much effort we put in, how many pairs of shoes we wore out;"

"But the result is good. The work has finally been advanced to the stage of the reorganization communication meeting, but Manager Lu opposed this and that. Your company's statement has seriously hurt the feelings of our Xiajin Enterprise Office staff and the vast number of employees of the township enterprises that have finally agreed to be incorporated into the cluster... Isn't it also contrary to the spirit of the city's documents!"

To be honest, it's just that Yang Mo is too popular at the moment, and everyone knows that the pretty girl in front of them has a special relationship with Yang Mo. If someone else from Dahua Company came here, no matter whether you are a state-owned enterprise or not, they will definitely slam the table in front of you... This is not DZ City, and your Dahua Company doesn't have that much face.

Hearing that the other party was actually accusing her, Lu Yingying smiled calmly: "Director Liao, your joke is a bit too much. I can't bear the accusation of violating the spirit of the city's documents."

"In fact, during this period of time, all documents related to the 10 billion yuan aid plan in the city were formally written only after fully consulting a number of expert units including Dezhou Urban Real Estate Fund Company."

"And Dahua Company is the sole operator and manager of Dezhou Urban Property Fund Company. Therefore, as a special consultant to Dahua Company's vertical management unit, I am confident that I understand the spirit of the city's documents in this area better than most people!"

After using a simple and convincing logic to throw back the hat thrown at her, Lv Yingying looked around at everyone and said, "Yes. The city has given instructions to local township enterprises to expand first and then strengthen their development plans; labor-intensive industries such as textiles and needlework do need to achieve economies of scale as soon as possible... So we have never objected to the idea of ​​forming a cluster proposed by the county."

“However, I think there may be some misunderstandings… The city’s instructions to grow big first and then become strong, the emphasis is on the word ‘strong’ rather than the word ‘big’!”

"If the scale is increased but the product competitiveness and cluster effect are not improved, what is the point of just being bigger?"

"Dezhou is an important cotton-producing area in China, and Xiajin is one of the top cotton-producing counties in Dezhou. But ask yourself, when it comes to the quality and cost of traditional cotton textiles, can we really compete with the Jiangnan region and the Guangdong and Guangxi regions?"

"Let alone Jiangnan and Guangdong and Guangxi, even the traditional cotton textiles of nearby Tianjin are far ahead of us in terms of comprehensive competitiveness!"

After bluntly exposing the scars of the cotton textile industry in Dezhou, Lv Yingying sighed: "You should all know that the embarrassing situation we are facing now is at least partly due to the local climate conditions and cotton varieties in Dezhou... With the reform and opening up, the short-staple cotton produced here is indeed becoming less and less advantageous."

“But that’s only part of the story.”

"With the official launch of the 10 billion yuan aid plan, the city is not only helping to build infrastructure in the disaster-stricken cities in East China, but is also helping to rebuild the commercial circulation system in those cities. Therefore, it is foreseeable that all kinds of cotton textiles from Dezhou will flood into East China in the short term. This is also a major reason why the city urgently requires all regions to expand production capacity...Opportunities are rare and will never come again. Once we miss this opportunity, we will never have a second chance."

"But if our cotton textiles remain of the same quality, price and style, what will happen even if they are flooded with them?"

"In less than two years, we will be squeezed out of the East China market by the Jiangnan and Guangdong textiles, which are of higher quality, more cost-effective and more attractive styles... East China is a relatively wealthy place with geographical advantages. With the enthusiastic support from all walks of life, in less than two years, the economy there will return to its original level, or even be better than before the disaster. Those consumers who are used to seeing good things will still be interested in the antiques produced here when their lives get better?"

Patting the table lightly with his left hand, Tugou's face was full of regret: "So, in our opinion, facing the current wealth, we can't just be happy blindly, but we need to have a sense of crisis, we must focus on the future, and we must fully consider the competition that will inevitably come in a year or two... From our point of view, the focus of this cluster reorganization has never been on simply establishing economies of scale, but taking this as an opportunity, relying on the chemical industry foundation that is gradually showing its advantages in the Dezhou area, taking blended spinning as a breakthrough, starting business upgrades, and starting drastic management reforms!"

"Relying on the advantages of chemical raw materials in Dezhou and the future North China Chemical Industry Zone, we in Xiajin can largely avoid the original disadvantage of pure cotton raw materials and bring our starting line to the same level as the Jiangnan region, Guangdong and Guangxi regions, and Tianjin region... But this only narrows the innate gap. In this case, the future competition will be about people and management!"

"This is the [Strength] that the city wants to pursue!"

"So, this is the direct reason why I raised three objections just now... Given Xiajin's current actual situation, simply expanding the scale of the cluster and merging the six textile factories together without any changes does not make much practical sense!"

Although Tugou only elaborated an industrial logic that couldn't be simpler, it was enough to intimidate the factory managers present who had always followed their feelings. The resentment and indifference on their faces gradually disappeared, and they began to become a little uneasy.

The Suhua Textile Factory in Songlou Town is not only one of the strong village enterprises incubated by Dahua Company, but also one of the winning enterprises in the procurement of textile materials for the reconstruction of the disaster-stricken areas in East China. If it cannot be reorganized into a new cluster, it will not be able to catch the express train of the 10 billion yuan of aid, and will not be able to drink this mouth-watering soup comfortably;

Their original thought was that since the county's enterprise office had taken the lead, the matter should be settled, right?
But now it seems that this may not be the case. Not only may the reorganization of the cluster not be implemented smoothly, but even if it is implemented, it may not be the situation they want.

Thinking of this, several factory managers who were invited turned their eyes to the middle-aged man, looking somewhat at a loss, as if to say: Director Liao, you have to make the decision for us.

The middle-aged man looked at Tugou with some dissatisfaction: "Manager Lu, from different perspectives, everyone's understanding of the spirit of the city's documents will be different. This is an objective fact, but this is not the focus of today's meeting... The focus is whether the three objections raised by your company are reasonable and compliant!"

As he spoke, the middle-aged man knocked on the table lightly: "First of all, let me say the first objection. You are against continuing to maintain the existing basic organizational framework of these textile enterprises;"

"If I understand correctly, what you mean is that if we reorganize into a new cluster, then all the managers and workshop leaders of the six newly merged textile factories will be laid off, right?"

"In addition, organizations such as the labor union, party group, and pension office of the original unit will not be merged into similar departments of Suhua Textile Factory according to the principle of integration and continuation, but will be abolished on the spot, right?"

"Manager Lu, you are making a fuss!!"

"Let me ask you, Manager Lu, if you abolish these departments and lay off these teams, how will Suhua Textile Factory manage such a large cluster?!"

It should be pointed out that the six textile mills that the county plans to merge into the new cluster along with Suhua Textile Mill are all township-run enterprises.

Although small, it has all the necessary departments. Even though these textile factories are small units with only a few hundred people, they have all the necessary departments like state-owned enterprises.

More importantly, according to the county's original opinion, although this cluster reorganization was based on the supply qualifications of Suhua Textile Factory and there was no objection to Suhua Textile Factory being the main body of the reorganization, out of consideration for uniting the masses, the six textile factories would continue to exist as branch factories after being merged, and the original management teams and subordinate departments would also continue to exist... The only difference would be that the original factory directors would have their titles and ranks slightly changed, downgraded by half a level, and become deputy factory directors.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this plan means nothing has changed, save for the addition of a new leader who is far away and the loss of some operational autonomy.

Well, it must be admitted that this plan is indeed a bit bullying, and it can be regarded as a model of "putting the overall situation first". Therefore, the middle-aged man had considered it before he came. If the objections from Dahua Company are really big, then the county can actually make some concessions. For example, it can agree to appoint a second deputy director from Suhua Textile Factory and make some concessions in production management and procurement management... Anyway, those township-run enterprises have always had many loopholes in these aspects, and it is appropriate to hand them over to a village collective enterprise like Suhua Textile Factory for management.

However, Tugou not only opposed retaining the original leadership team, he even opposed retaining the existing basic organizational framework of these textile companies. This really caught people off guard.

This means that Dahua Company has no intention of allowing these textile factories to continue to exist as branches, but plans to completely merge and absorb them. Otherwise, it would not even intend to retain these basic organizational frameworks... Whether it is a township-run enterprise or a village collective enterprise, they are all publicly owned economic entities. Therefore, unlike private enterprises, these basic organizational frameworks must exist.

Therefore, the middle-aged man’s last question was very clear: Although the six textile enterprises are only small and medium-sized factories, they together employ enough people to work at a scale of 2,000. Suhua Textile Factory is, after all, a village collective enterprise that has just emerged. Do you have the capital to swallow such a big piece of cake?

Lu Yingying just smiled and said, "Director Liao, this is what we think about the cluster reorganization."

"Based on our past experience at Dahua, whenever it comes to restructuring and mergers, if we don't bring all the employees together to work together, but leave them scattered around, it will be difficult for them to develop a sense of collective identity in a short period of time, and it will also be difficult to effectively dispatch them at work... There is no way we can take advantage of scale in the short term."

"So, if this cluster reorganization can finally be promoted, then I, as the shareholder representative of Suhua Textile Factory, will state that Suhua Textile Factory will plan a textile industrial park with an area of ​​no less than 300 acres in the town through the method of financing from Dahua Jincang, and will relocate all the employees and equipment of the other six textile factories to work together with Suhua Textile Factory in this newly built industrial park... This cost will be included in the special debt of Suhua Textile Factory, included in the scope of this asset assessment, and reflected in the share distribution in the cluster reorganization."

"Of course, considering that these six textile factories are township-run enterprises, and their employees are mainly local township residents, we will also plan an accommodation area that can accommodate 3,000 people in the newly built textile industrial park;"

"It will take at least a year for the textile industrial park to go from planning to land acquisition to basic completion. During this year, we can discuss in detail how the various units will take over and transition, but I hope this tone can be set in advance... And it needs to be emphasized that we hope that once this tone is set, the county can allow Suhua Textile Factory to immediately organize key personnel to move in and guide the production and operation of these brother enterprises as soon as possible, and then participate in the subsequent asset evaluation work."

After hearing the last sentence, the expressions on everyone's faces suddenly changed.

Tugou seemed not to notice the expressions of the crowd, and continued, "Of course, I need to emphasize that although we insist on restructuring the original management team, this does not mean that all the management personnel of the six textile factories will be laid off as Director Liao thinks."

“In short, once the tone is set, I hope the county will agree that our investment promotion company will send a management reform guidance team to carefully evaluate the future cluster size and market competition level and issue a new set of requirements for each management position;”

"At that time, all members of the seven units including Suhua Textile Factory, regardless of whether they were engaged in management work before, as long as they are interested in this, can participate in the evaluation to compete for the position, and then get a six-month probation period... From team leaders to workshop directors, and even factory directors and deputy factory directors, all are like this."

"That is to say, although the main body of this cluster reorganization is Suhua Textile Factory, as long as you are strong in business, have a broad vision and clear ideas, even if you were just a workshop director of Beicheng Street Textile Factory, you can still become the general manager of the new cluster... as long as you can prove your ability during the six-month probation period."

hiss~!

Hearing this, everyone in the room couldn't help but gasp, and looked at each other in doubt about their lives.

After carefully glancing at the two representatives of Suhua Textile Factory next to Tugou and finding that they only had complicated expressions but no signs of dissatisfaction or opposition, everyone realized that they were serious this time.

I'm a darling!
Marveling at the amazing influence of Dahua Company on the incubated village collective enterprises, many people began to be eager to try it out.

If Dahua does not take sides in the evaluation process;

This issue……

Doesn’t seem like a loss?

Tugou saw the reactions of these people and resisted the urge to curl his lips. "Of course, considering that some brother units have focused more on production in the past and are relatively lacking in modern enterprise management and marketing theory, it is not fair for them to accept the evaluation of the professional team together with the management cadres of Suhua Textile Factory right away;"

"So, my opinion is that Dahua Company will provide a six-month intensive training, or a three-month off-the-job training. During the training period, the production and operation management of each factory will be temporarily handed over to the backbone of Suhua Textile Factory. After the training is completed, a three-month competition will be immediately launched to fairly and impartially determine the candidates for all management positions in the cluster."

After a slight pause, Tugou looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with a determined face: "As for the salary system reform that Director Liao opposed before, I still stick to my point of view... If enterprises, especially township enterprises, want to achieve better development, talent is the key. If we don't greatly widen the income gap between various positions based on professional level, actual value and contribution value, how can we retain talents!?"

If these words were said half an hour ago, they would probably be met with a lot of opposition or disapproval, but when Tugou proposed an opportunity that seemed extremely fair and open, the factory director and deputy director in the room just wanted to clap their hands and applaud.

That's right, everyone makes a living based on their own abilities. Being a manager in a township-run enterprise is not only exhausting, but also very annoying. The damn eight-level wage system should have been changed long ago (the township-run enterprises now still set wage levels based on the standards for workers in the six regions).
The middle-aged man looked around and knocked on the table in dissatisfaction. When the noise in the conference room died down, he turned around and said, "Manager Lu, you are willing to carry forward the spirit and allow the cadres of the sister companies to compete for the positions. As long as you can truly be fair and open, our business office will still support this."

"but……"

"I would like to ask about your second objection, which is your objection to retaining all the employees of these enterprises."

The middle-aged man had a gloomy expression. "Manager Lu, I need to remind you that these township-run enterprises were originally established by the townships and towns with great difficulty. In order to pull these enterprises up, the townships and some villages have also paid a lot. Now that you are not going to accept all those employees, how will the employment problem of local residents be solved?"

"more importantly……"

"Among the six companies that were reorganized and merged into the cluster plan, two of them directly occupied land in the village, and the area was not small. The township also promised that these lands would be converted into shares. Later, a rural joint development account was established in the village based on this, and it was also promised that villagers from the village would be hired first;"

"Now Manager Lu first demanded that all enterprises, including employees and equipment, be moved to the new park, and then opposed retaining all employees of these enterprises. I just want to know, how will the employment problems of those villagers be solved, and how will the problem of the two village joint development funds be handled!?"

Rural joint development account?

After hearing these words, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense...

(End of this chapter)