Back to 1978

Chapter 176: Don’t Let Peasants Take Over the Reasons
Not long after Xie Hushan sent Li Xingyuan away, Zhang Cheng came to the steel rolling mill with Feng Chunlai and Yang Liming to borrow his car.

In fact, this car has no real use for Xie Hushan. He goes to the county town two or three times a month at most, mainly for the supply and marketing work of the steel rolling mill. After the young widow understands the job and is able to take over, he doesn't even have to make two or three trips.

Just like stone lions, they are placed in the factory as a facade.

Moreover, although this 212 jeep was a rare treasure in the eyes of Zhang Cheng and the leaders of the commune, for Xie Hushan, who was used to driving good cars in his previous life, the driving experience was not as comfortable as a cheap BYD family car.

This kind of jeep has hard seats and poor shock absorption. Driving it on muddy roads in the countryside will make your gallbladder shake out after driving two miles.

No wonder the leaders of the Mining and Metallurgical Bureau changed to a Shanghai brand small sleeper car.

To put it bluntly, this car is actually just a facade for bragging in front of outsiders. When he goes to the county town to deal with someone, when the other party sees that Xie Hushan is driving this kind of foreign trade jeep, they will wonder what kind of Buddha is behind a factory director of a team-run enterprise that he can drive out every day in a foreign trade jeep that even the county magistrate can't handle.

Of course, this was just Xie Hushan's inner thoughts. Facing his master, Lao Zhang, his face was filled with reluctance:
"I'm not bragging, Master. Ask Lao Yang. My car is the special car of the director of the Yaoshan District Mining and Metallurgy Bureau. You and Secretary Yin, the leaders of the commune, are small-time cadres. Don't make organizational mistakes and get fired for riding in my car!"

"Can you please hope that Secretary Yin and I will be nice?" Zhang Cheng was so angry at Xie Hushan's words that he kicked him in the air: "Do you think I'll be beaten just for riding in your car?"

Xie Hushan took out two peonies from his drawer and handed them to Zhang Cheng and Lao Feng respectively, saying jokingly:

"Other places have villagers going to cadres to ask for money, but in our commune, it's the other way around. The cadres are going to the people's homes to ask for money."

Feng Chunlai took it and exclaimed: "Good fellow, your master and I came to borrow your car, but you gave each of us a peony first? Is this how you spend money as a factory director? Aren't you afraid that the workers in the factory will rebel?"

"Just smoke it. Smoking his cigarettes does not conflict with arresting him. Anyway, if the team accuses him of falsifying accounts or embezzlement or something, I will skin him alive even if you don't arrest him. Just smoke it if you want to smoke it. Just keep it if he gives it to you." Zhang Cheng took over and said to Lao Feng.

"Without a farmers' association or a trade union, what can I use to rebel? This is all my hard-earned money. If anyone really wants to rebel, it must be Secretary Han of the brigade who leads the villagers to deal with me, not the workers." Xie Hushan looked at Yang Limin who was holding out his hand and said impatiently:
"Don't stretch out your hand. It's gone. I can't even do a job for the steel mill, and you still have the nerve to stretch out your hand for cigarettes?"

If the two peonies had been given to the farmer Xie Hushan, he would naturally be reluctant to give them away. However, tobacco, alcohol and non-staple food are now very convenient for Xie Hushan to obtain. Although the steel rolling mill is only a team-run enterprise, the factory has a formal official seal and various procedures, and can conduct public-to-public procurement through the county supply and marketing system. To put it bluntly, now that it has an official seal and a relationship with the supply and marketing outlets, it is easy to meet the indicators for food, drink and clothing.

The factory of the production brigade is also a factory. As long as you are not a farmer, you can enjoy many conveniences.

"Oh, he asked you, Secretary Yang, to do something for him? You haven't helped him yet? No way." Zhang Cheng tucked the pack of Peony cigarettes under his armpit, looked at Yang Liming, and asked curiously.

Yang Limin was the support of Xie Hushan, the bastard disciple, in Zhongping Commune. Basically, as long as Xie Hushan asked, Yang Limin would help. But today, from what Xie Hushan said, it turned out that he asked Yang Limin to do something, but Yang Limin did not help.

Yang Limin looked at the jeep in the yard, then at Zhang Cheng: "He asked me to extort money from the commune in the name of lending the jeep to the commune."

"Pah~" Zhang Cheng immediately slammed the cigarette under his armpit back onto Xie Hushan's desk, and angrily pointed at Xie Hushan and cursed:
"Look at your behavior, you are just like a poor guy who just picked up a gold ingot. The commune wants to borrow a car from you, but you are still holding back to ask for benefits?"

Feng Chunlai, a public security special commissioner, was very cunning. When he saw that a feud between master and apprentice was about to break out in the office, he quietly left the office, cigarette between his teeth, and went to the cafeteria to talk to his wife.

Anyway, it doesn't matter who fights between Zhang Cheng and Xie Hushan in the end, as long as he doesn't return the cigarettes.

"Nonsense, a country bachelor knocking on a widow's door in the middle of the night must bring some food with him, and the commune wants to drive away my farmer's broken car in broad daylight with nothing in its hands?" Xie Hushan looked at Zhang Cheng who was about to pull out his belt to hit him, and then looked at Feng Chunlai who was retreating. He felt that he should pay attention to the tone when talking to his master, so he slowed down his voice and smiled:
"Well, I won't let you, Master, give me any benefits."

"You can't just take advantage of the commune!" Zhang Cheng held the belt buckle and saw Xie Hushan picking up the cigarette he had put down and putting it in the drawer. He glared at him and said, "Put it down! That cigarette is mine!"

Xie Hushan put down his cigarette and said like a bullied child:
"The steel mill can't let you occupy a foreign trade vehicle for nothing, but in the end you didn't even get the benefits of a slut's shoes. A bachelor sleeping with a widow still has to buy a piece of flowered cloth to make a bellyband for someone..."

Han Hongzhen was about to come in from outside. She was originally going to inform Xie Hushan to return to the headquarters of the third team, as Ma Laowu was going to hold a small meeting with their sideline group. When she heard this, her face turned red with embarrassment, she glared at Xie Hushan, turned around and walked out.

Yang Limin, who was watching this scene nearby, said to Xie Hushan speechlessly:

"I'm telling you, kid, can you watch your words? You're a brigade cadre and a factory director. How can a good person compare a commune to a bachelor and a good car to a slut? And a bachelor or a widow... I've told you so many times. If you talk like that, you'll easily commit a mistake..."

"Stop giving me political lessons. It's not your car that the Commune wants to seize. What's my purpose in buying a car from your mother-in-law? It's just to get some benefits from the Commune. Otherwise, I can just ride a tractor into the city." After Xie Hushan finished speaking to Yang Limin, he looked at Zhang Cheng:

"The commune is free to drive the car. You, the master, Secretary Yin, or any other leader can ride in it, but you can't ride for free."

"What do you want to say?" Zhang Cheng said to Xie Hushan while gritted his teeth.

Xie Hushan whispered two words: "Electricity bill..."

"Dream on! The electricity bill is the power station's business. It's impossible. I tell you, I'm going to drive your car for free. After all, you are my apprentice. Using backdoors won't work with me." Zhang Cheng cursed at Xie Hushan.

This bastard really dared to ask for his car and he even wanted to pay for the steel mill's electricity bill.

"I didn't ask the commune leaders to help me waive the electricity bill. You see, the steel mill is now broke and almost penniless." Xie Hushan explained to Zhang Cheng in a serious tone:

"What I mean is, can we ask the commune leaders to help us do some work and let the steel mill use coal to pay for electricity? This is a reasonable condition, right? The power plant also needs coal to generate electricity, and they won't suffer any loss if I use coal to pay for electricity."

"Is that all?" After listening to it, Zhang Cheng felt that there seemed to be no problem. The steel rolling mill always had coal in stock for steelmaking all year round. If the electricity bill was not paid, there seemed to be no problem in using the coal to pay off the debt.

Xie Hushan said to Zhang Cheng aggrievedly: "Well, that's it, what else do you think?"

Zhang Cheng picked up the Mudan cigarette and walked outside: "Then I'll think about it and talk to Secretary Yin."

After Xie Hushan watched his master Zhang Cheng drag Feng Chunlai away, he returned to the office, took out his cigarette box, gave one to Yang Limin who was left beside him, lit one himself, walked to the door of the office, and leaned outside and shouted:
"Fuck the horse!"

"Third brother! You called me?" Cao Ma took off his tattered work gloves, wiped the hot sweat from his face, walked out of the workshop, and answered loudly.

"Remember, Secretary Yin will definitely go to the county once a week. You should arrange a boy who doesn't go to school to stand guard. On the day he goes, you should drive the car back in the morning and say that the factory director needs the car for an urgent matter." Xie Hushan told Cao Ma. Cao Ma grimaced and said, "Good fellow, Third Brother, are you trying to blackmail Secretary Yin?"

Otherwise, Xie Hushan could become a leader among his third brother's group. There is nothing he dare not think about.

"Nonsense, I just have something urgent to do! If he wants to use the car, that's fine. The commune canteen will give him 100 kilograms of flour to pay for it." Xie Hushan said to Cao Ma:
"Secretary Yin will definitely agree. When the time comes, we'll send the flour to the headquarters of Team 3 and have Er Mianfei organize the women to steam buns and make dumplings. It's up to them. Anyway, with my car, we can improve the food for every family in Team 3 once a week."

"I understand, Third Brother." After listening to Xie Hushan's words, Cao Ma nodded.

Yang Liming listened to what Xie Hushan said, lowered his head to light a cigarette, and did not stop him.

It takes two to fight. If the commune uses the steel rolling mill's vehicles, it will have to bear the consequences of being taken advantage of by Xie Hushan.

Moreover, Xie Hushan was not trying to take advantage of himself. Even if Secretary Yin knew about this, he would definitely not object. The rice and flour in the commune canteen were all provided by the state. It wouldn't be a problem if there was one hundred kilograms more or one hundred kilograms less. Besides, the rice and flour sent out would eventually be eaten by the farmers.

Yang Liming discussed with the commune secretary Yin Qianfeng what a good production brigade cadre should be like. In Yin Qianfeng's mind, Han Laogou was the perfect example of a production brigade cadre.

Although this old dog always made him so angry that his liver hurt, as Yin Qianfeng himself said, he felt that as the secretary of a commune, he was being bullied like a wronged young wife in such a rural area where many big families gathered, and Old Dog Han was like a scoundrel.

But even though Han Laogou had many faults, he had one good thing: he could solve various problems arising at the grassroots level in rural areas for the country and the commune. The problems that the brigade had to solve would never be left to the commune.

Therefore, Yin Qianfeng feels that a good brigade cadre must be open and honest, confident, and stand tall when facing the government and the people, and must not let the country down or the people down.

However, Yang Liming felt that under the current social situation, a good brigade cadre should be like Xie Hushan, a bastard, who is good at defending the traditional interests of the brigade and knows how to cooperate with the administrative system to gain as much benefit as possible for the masses.

Secretary Han is too upright. He believes that farmers should have backbone and not take advantage of anyone.

Xie Hushan always believed that the whole world was conquered by peasants, and that it was only right for us peasants to have something to eat and drink. We should take advantage of any advantage we could get, and even if there was no advantage we would create one to take advantage of it.

"You are not even going to pay the electricity bill, and you are using coal to pay it off. This is clearly taking advantage of the country. You must owe electricity bills when the coal price is low, and you will settle the debt when the national coal price is high, right? I'm not saying anything bad about you, but the steel mill has made money, so you should do less of these crooked things." Yang Liming knew exactly what Xie Hushan was thinking.

Xie Hushan retracted his head back to the office and looked at Yang Limin: "Cheating? How can I be cheating? I have a sincere heart for Zhongping. If I don't try to take advantage of it, how can I have the money to develop Zhongping?"

"I've calculated that it would cost at least 40,000 yuan to turn all the main roads within the Zhongping Brigade into ballast roads. The brigade can't possibly pay all that. It would be good if Han Laogou could pay 10,000 yuan on behalf of the brigade. The final big chunk of the bill will definitely have to come from the steel mill."

"If the primary and secondary schools run by the brigade want all children to go to school, they should not charge tuition fees from each family, nor deduct dividends from everyone. Instead, they should let the brigade advance tuition and book fees, and then pay the teachers' salary subsidies. This would cost at least 5,500 yuan a year."

"For agricultural production, second-hand tractors are 2,000 yuan each. There are 19 brigades, so 20 tractors are not a lot, right? Another 40,000 yuan."

"Harvesters, seed drills, threshers...everything costs money. I have to be frugal this year and think of ways to save money."

"If you really do nothing, cook for yourself, and travel in a jeep, are you really waiting for everyone to rebel?"

"and……"

When he said the last two words "and", Xie Hushan stopped talking and sat down on the desk, sucking on his cigarette.

Yang Limin looked at Xie Hushan and continued what he hadn't said: "Moreover, the way you got started cannot be criticized. You got started by killing the rich and helping the poor, so you want to be quick and produce results quickly. You want the results to be so dazzling that they will shock everyone."

Xie Hushan was sitting at his desk, leaning forward. He raised his eyes slightly and looked at Yang Liming who was standing opposite him, grinning.

"Stop showing your teeth, you're like Dahei." Yang Liming said with disgust.

He did not persuade Xie Hushan that the country's development still required a five-year plan or that one should eat one bite at a time. At this time, he could not persuade him to stop because he could not stop anymore.

Just like what the leaders said in the newspaper, reform is change and innovation. First and foremost, the most important thing is that the cadres must have the courage to make revolution, play a leading role, try resolutely, break through boldly, and fight their way out.

Xie Hushan and the commune were determined to plot against Li Xingyuan and to get such a large sum of money, this matter could not be delayed.

Therefore, both Xie Hushan and the commune had reasons to change the appearance of Zhongping so that the higher-ups would see that Xie Hushan's merits outweighed his faults. This way, when Li Xingyuan or the people behind Li Xingyuan wanted to deal with him, it would be difficult for them to find an opportunity.

"The newspaper said that the Dayuzhuang Production Brigade in Tianjin, led by the owner Qiu, earned 160,000 yuan last year from hot-rolled steel strips." Xie Hushan said calmly:
"I received honors such as outstanding party member and national model worker. Most importantly, the neighboring village was directly merged into Dayu Village. At the same time, Tianjin began to provide policies and support. I think within this year at most, Dayu Village will be transformed from a village to a town, and the profit will be increased from 160,000 to at least one million. When I read the newspaper, I realized that we must let the higher-ups see the positive changes brought about by the reform, and the bigger the better."

Yang Limin turned his head away: "I will assume that you are giving Secretary Han a difficult problem."

"How cunning." Xie Hushan laughed, but then nodded: "Only Han Laogou's party spirit and human nature can hold up, you really may not be able to stand it. By the way, let's talk business. You asked Secretary Yin to open a stamping procedure for the loan. I don't understand it. Anyway, I boasted to the surnamed Li that you can help me get it secretly, and then he went to apply for a loan. This guy is careful in his work. He must be waiting for the money to be in my hands before turning against me and convicting me of a crime."

Yang Limin nodded:

"I understand. Let's take advantage of the situation. At the steel mill and the pipe factory, Ma Da Nao and I will perform with Director Li, while Lao Feng will arrange for you to take a vacation."

"But Director Li is capable and can make money. The loan will be charged to him in the end. The county should also consider whether dealing with him will cause anger among other factory officials."

Xie Hushan spoke slowly:
"He will definitely not be punished, and he will definitely be able to endure this for the time being. But I guess he will definitely not be able to hold back and punish Ma Da Nao. As long as he punishes Ma Da Nao, it will give us the opportunity to be right and punish him."

“Don’t let the peasants have the upper hand.”

(End of this chapter)