1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 599: Master and Disciple (2)

Since they were eating out, Yang Mo needed to be careful about the impact, so after much deliberation, the two finally chose a Mongolian restaurant that opened this year.

It is not known whether this kind of out-of-town specialty restaurant, where the per capita consumption is much higher than that of ordinary restaurants, will be able to open in Texas in the future, but at least, this is one of the few restaurants within Commercial Street where you don't have to wait in line.

"Your father's condition doesn't seem to be very good recently?"

Seeing his young apprentice staring at the huge plates, bowls and dishes brought by the waiter, Yang Mo laughed, scooped two spoonfuls of fried yellow rice into the white bowl, then slowly sliced ​​a few pieces of dried meat with a small knife and threw them in, added a few slices of milk tofu, then picked up the kettle and filled the ceramic bowl in front of his young apprentice, which was already piled with a lot of ingredients, with boiling hot milk tea.

Bai Mengmeng looked at the bowl of food in front of her, which was considered very novel to her, but her eyes were a little evasive: "Master, how... did you know that?"

Seeing this, Yang Mo glared at her unhappily: "After all, I, your master, deal with the administrative system every day. When I saw your father getting off the bus and lining up the team that day, he consciously found the second seat on the left. How can I not see the reason?"

According to custom, in such reception occasions, the team leader is in the center, and the second person on the left is position 4. Although this position is not actually considered low, specific issues still need to be analyzed specifically.

Firstly, since they are only going to Dezhou, a prefecture-level city of the same level, for observation and study, it is basically impossible for the delegation to be led by a member of the local five-member team. In other words, the level cap of this delegation is locked.

Secondly, although in many regions the Poverty Alleviation Office is just an ordinary important department, the situation is quite different in areas like Tongren, which once made important historical contributions, is currently economically underdeveloped and relies mainly on organizational transfer payments for its finances. The reason is not difficult to understand.

Therefore, as the person who made and was responsible for explaining the PPT, Bai Yong, as the director of the Poverty Alleviation Office, should not be qualified to stand in the middle of an inspection team of this level, but he should be able to easily take the second or third position.

But he didn't. When getting off the bus and lining up, Bai Yong subconsciously went to look for position 4, which explained too many problems... Even though it was very fast, he was enthusiastically pulled to position 2.

Bai Mengmeng, who had lived in the Tongren compound for ten years, naturally knew that the gap between positions and the signals released were far from as simple as they seemed. He could only sigh helplessly, "Master, there is nothing I can do. My father's situation is really difficult. It has been two years since he took office. Despite countless efforts, apart from the property rights financial trading center with precious wood as the subject matter, there has been no decent achievement."

Yang Mo smiled in understanding, then prepared a small bowl of snacks and placed it in front of her: "Although the basic conditions in Tongren are much better than those in Qiandongnan, the foundation is weak after all. Poverty alleviation is a comprehensive job with many changing factors. It is indeed not easy to achieve some results."

Bai Mengmeng scooped a spoonful of chewy food and put it in her mouth. She squinted her eyes at the unfamiliar sour milk taste, then put the spoon down, shook her head, and sighed softly: "Master, now I finally understand why you repeatedly emphasized that sentence to me in the first place."

Yang Mo was stunned: "What sentence?"

Bai Mengmeng looked at him strangely. "That's what Schumpeter said... The social process itself is a whole and inseparable. The so-called economy is nothing more than some facts artificially extracted from this torrent. The economy itself is an abstraction, and the brain must go through several more abstractions before it can be reproduced and realized. So nothing is purely economic. Other dimensions always exist and are often more important."

After reading this golden sentence that he didn't understand at all two years ago but is very touching now, Bai Mengmeng sighed and said, "Master, you know, in fact, in the past two years, my father has been trying to selectively copy and improve your projects and models in Tongren, but without exception, all of them have not adapted to the local environment."

Yang Mo looked at her with interest: "Oh?"

Bai Mengmeng was somewhat disinterested as he stirred the milk tofu slices in the bowl that showed no signs of melting. "Although Master became famous for his fried chicken, it was actually based on the 817 broiler project that helped him get to where he is today. So as early as the beginning of last year, my dad also introduced a large number of 817 broiler chicks... There were all kinds of sub-models. My dad also applied for a special fund from the province and opened several medium-sized chicken farms with Heping Township People's Commune as the main body."

Yang Mo picked up a piece of soaked dried meat and put it in his mouth: "And then?"

Bai Mengmeng said in a depressed tone, "Then? Then the broiler chicken market rate was less than 70%, the carcass slaughter rate was less than 50%, the clean meat rate was less than 40%, and the feed-to-meat ratio was more than 3.5... Seven batches were marketed in two years, and each batch was at a loss."

Hearing this series of numbers far below the normal performance of 817 broiler chickens, Yang Mo's face showed no surprise: "Is the management lax, reporting damages at will, and the situation of taking, picking up, and touching serious?"

Bai Mengmeng hummed dejectedly: "During the breeding process, the loss rate of young chickens is seriously abnormal. During the slaughter process, the loss of chicken frames, chicken feet, internal organs and other side materials is serious. Even chicken feed is secretly taken home by members to feed pigs. There is a serious problem... But in contrast, the township and the commune concealed everything, and issued very few penalty notices and criticism notices."

After saying this, the young apprentice pinched his brows in a headache. "This situation exists everywhere. Almost all breeding projects cannot make a profit, and they can't even break even. Not to mention chicken farms, even scorpion farms, centipede farms, and five-step snake farms all have a seriously unreasonable loss rate... Either they take the produce home every now and then to improve their meals, or they secretly sell it directly to self-employed individuals."

"Even these special breeding industries that can achieve higher profits through industrial docking cannot achieve a break-even point, let alone those ordinary agricultural projects."

"So after just over a year, the provincial government's attitude towards my dad changed from full of expectations at the beginning to disappointment. In recent months, even when my dad applied for funds, it became difficult to get approval."

"But in contrast, someone suddenly proposed a plan with tourism development as the main idea. They planned to focus on the development of Fanjing Mountain and make it a well-known national scenic spot. In the process of development, they also sought more special funds and social funds, which would gradually drive the development of infrastructure projects and primary, secondary and tertiary industries in Tongren."

"The benefits of this idea are obvious, and the natural scenery and historical heritage of Fanjing Mountain Scenic Area are indeed sufficient, so this plan was quickly approved, and then a large transfer payment was obtained smoothly."

"After the success, Tongren's attitude became clearer. All of a sudden, poverty alleviation through tourism became the mainstream slogan, and the attitude towards my dad also gradually became more subtle."

"What's even worse is that as the resolution to develop the Fanjing Mountain Scenic Area was approved, those people started to talk about my father's achievements... Since the breeding route is not feasible, let's just concentrate the limited funds and develop the fruit planting industry in Dali." "Anyway, the quality of the grapefruit in Tongren is not bad, and the resources of various fruits such as plums, apricots, pears, loquats, etc. are also very rich. Vigorously developing fruit planting can not only serve as a beneficial supplement to the tourism consumption industry, but most importantly, since the people there have lived in mountainous areas since childhood, their interest in fruits is far less intense than that in meat. Therefore, if the fruit planting industry is vigorously developed, the abnormal loss rate of these crops can be effectively reduced."

At this point, the young disciple's tone was full of frustration: "They actually brought up the term abnormal loss rate at the meeting, and even took it as an important consideration. This shows that they really have no way to deal with some of the folk practices... As expected, oranges grown north of the Huai River become bitter oranges."

Yang Mo naturally understood the crux of the matter, and immediately pursed his lips: "The fruits grown in Tongren are of good quality?"

The young apprentice rolled his eyes. "There's always a saying in Guizhou that there's no flat land for three miles, and no clear sky for three days. Even though Tongren is close to Hunan, the rain is slightly less than Guiyang, but it's limited... With too much rain and insufficient sunlight, how can the fruits grown there be as good as those in southern Yunnan and Guangxi?"

"So, although the grapefruit from Tongren tastes good, it's just average at best. As for other fruits... forget it."

This is true. Tongren area once developed the fruit planting industry, but not only were the planting and management costs high, but sales were also very problematic... That was in the future, and after the completion of major infrastructure projects, transportation in Guizhou was no longer a problem. This only shows that the fruits grown in Tongren lacked cost-effectiveness.

Yang Mo smiled and said, "So, you think Tongren doesn't know its own geographical and climatic conditions? Do you really want to grow fruits because of the high added value of fruits and want to promote poverty alleviation through tourism?"

Bai Mengmeng was choked when he heard this, and shook his head in frustration: "Two years ago, I would have thought so, and even been eager to try, but now, I don't think so... The objective situation in Tongren determines that various forms of transfer payments are their mainstay, so whether the project is beautiful and whether there is a gimmick is very important."

Although this statement was obscure, it said everything and directly pointed out the key point why Bai Yong had been neglected during this period - whether it was the development of the Fanjing Mountain Scenic Area or the large-scale fruit planting, the operating space left was much larger than those special breeding projects that were completely based at the grassroots level.

Yang Mo hesitated for a moment, chewed the fried yellow rice in his mouth into a paste and swallowed it, then took a sip of milk tea before asking, "Does your father think that Tongren has the intention to make achievements? Or does it plan to just live off its past success?"

Bai Mengmeng naturally knew what his master meant by "living off past achievements". After thinking for a while, he said, "Tongren is directly under the provincial government after all, and there are so many autonomous counties for ethnic minorities under it. The province actually wants to achieve results. Otherwise, the city would not have sent an inspection team this time, let alone let my dad go with them... More importantly, since May, the city has talked to my dad several times, hoping that I would be transferred there as soon as possible. The meaning behind this is self-evident."

Bai Mengmeng has a special identity. She is Yang Mo's only disciple, and she has performed the apprenticeship ceremony. There is probably no one in the world more suitable to be the communication node with Yang Mo's faction than her. Therefore, Tongren hopes that she can go back earlier. It is nothing more than hoping to mobilize the resources of Yang Mo's faction and bring some vitality and changes to the economy of Tongren area.

Yang Mo nodded: "As long as you really want to achieve results."

After saying that, Yang Mo put down the spoon in his hand, wiped his mouth, and his expression became serious: "Qian Ya, I will be leaving in a few days. Being a master is like being half a father. The situation in Tongren is a mess now. I have to make some plans for you."

He took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. After organizing his words, Yang Mo said softly, "Since you have now realized the truth that oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while those grown in the north of the Huai River are bitter oranges, then the past two years have not been in vain... In fact, this is also the main reason why I have never agreed to establish a formal cooperative relationship with your father. It's just that my previous experience and resources are not enough to make the cooperative project between the two parties go smoothly."

Bai Mengmeng was cheered up when he heard this.

You weren't sure before, does that mean you are sure now?
Yang Mo glanced at her and said, "In fact, I have been paying attention to and understanding Tongren over the past two years. I can say with certainty that the situation in Tongren is more complicated than you think, and the problem is more difficult to solve than you think."

"But what you said just now is correct. On the surface, the biggest difficulties in Tongren are a series of objective problems such as lack of location advantages, poor transportation conditions, lack of funds, lack of industrial foundation, backward education level, and shortage of talents... But in fact, the most troublesome thing there is the problem of impetuous people."

"When people become impetuous, they think about making a lot of money overnight. They are not interested in real industries that require calmness and steady progress. Even if they are forced to do something, they are often absent-minded and just do their job. In contrast, gambling, finance, lottery, reselling goods, and reselling projects, which can make them rich overnight, are what they are most interested in."

"In fact, this is the underlying reason why your father's special breeding project there suffered losses. How could there not be problems in a place like yours where clan values ​​are strong but the atmosphere is impetuous?"

In his previous life, Yang Mo had been to many places. As the region that received the largest amount of transfer payments and the most return investment requirements during the period of large-scale infrastructure construction, he had naturally been to Guizhou, especially Weining, Chishui and Tongren. In fact, he was not unfamiliar with these three regions.

Thinking of what he had seen in later generations, Yang Mo sighed imperceptibly: "In fact, for areas like this where the overall ecological environment has problems, the best way is to improve the level of education while waiting... Wait for 30 or 40 years, until a new generation that has received a complete education grows up and gradually becomes the backbone of the region. After the blood is replaced, the situation will turn around."

"But it is obvious that this is the best choice at the macro level, not the best choice for your father and his friends, and certainly not the best choice for you, Qianya."

"so……"

"Seeing that you are about to be transferred back, if the province really wants to use you two to achieve something, as long as you act quickly and start before the Chinese New Year, there is still a chance... although there is only about a 30% chance."

At this point, Yang Mo sighed: "Actually, I have never wanted to say this, but based on the simple working principle that whoever raises a problem should solve it, I have never been able to say it out loud... In fact, in my opinion, your father's work direction in the past two years has been fundamentally wrong!"

Is my dad going in the wrong direction?
Hearing his master's comments, Bai Mengmeng did not show any anger, but his eyes lit up: "Master, what do you say?"

(End of this chapter)