Chapter 1276

With the matters settled and many relationships involved, Wang Yan personally went to the county seat this time to communicate directly with County Magistrate Xu, expressing his idea of merging the construction company.

Xu frowned in thought and looked at Wang Yan suspiciously: "You have already merged the agricultural machinery factory and are in the process of merging the shoe and clothing factory. Now you want to merge the construction company as well? Do you want to merge everything that has to do with your factory's business? Chemical plants, machinery plants, steel plants, brick kilns, cement plants, power, water conservancy... even hospitals and schools—are you textile factory people going to merge everything?"

"If it's possible, that would of course be the best."

"Wang Yan, you are digging up the county's foundation. If I really let you go on like this, what will this Jin Ling need a county government for in the future? You don't need a construction company either; you might as well just have your textile factory set up the organization here in the county!" County Magistrate Xu tapped the table lightly, expressing his dissatisfaction.

"The textile factory always works under the leadership of the Party. We are a county enterprise, under the direct leadership of the county. Leader, you are overthinking it. Even if it were really as you said and we merged all the companies in the county, we would absolutely still need the government to lead the work."

"You can let the county lead, but only if you allow it to be led. If you don't let it lead, this county official can't do the job. Can Secretary Gong lead you? Do you let him lead?"

Seeing Wang Yan laughing heartily, County Magistrate Xu, who seemed a bit angry just a moment ago, also laughed. He reached out and pointed at Wang Yan, took the cigarettes from the table, lit one for himself, and tossed the rest to Wang Yan.

He said: "Right now, you are the model for the city, and the province is also paying attention. It's not easy for our poor place to have such a big money-maker that drives the development of our Jin Ling. Give me the bottom line—what exactly do you want to do?"

"I couldn't possibly be reactionary or counter-revolutionary, could I?" Wang Yan shook his head with a smile. "I want the construction company because I want to build buildings, so that our workers can also achieve the dream of electric lights and telephones in their homes."

"You don't think about expanding manufacturing capacity, introducing new equipment, and taking the opportunity to make more money, but instead you're thinking about building houses to enjoy yourselves? I don't agree!"

"This requires a process. The money for building isn't spent all at once, and those buildings won't be completed in a day. With long-term investment, our factory's current efficiency can afford it, and at the same time, it won't hinder the task of improving manufacturing capacity. This is our main business; of course, we can't give up eating for fear of choking and abandon our own martial arts."

"It's not like you don't know—you're living a good life, but the other factories are still struggling, and the county needs money everywhere. If you have spare money, why not..."

Xu said halfway, then suddenly looked up and stared straight at Wang Yan: "You don't want to give the money to the county?"

Among those who can be officials, there are relatively few idiots. County Magistrate Xu is also quite young and is a person with a real future. It is not surprising that he can turn his mind around and think of the textile factory's purpose.

"Can the leader understand?" Wang Yan said with a smile, "Just now, the leader also mentioned our textile factory's contribution to the county. We have over eight hundred workers, and behind them are eight hundred families. Even if a considerable portion of them are from the same family, it still radiates to a population of three thousand. The other factories in the county are now eating behind us; how many people is that?

At the end of last year, not only were the county's bicycles, sugar, biscuits, canned goods, and the like almost sold out, but when has our county ever had such a thing? Why? It's because of the leading role of our textile factory.

Last year the time was short, and the factory's efficiency hadn't risen much yet; after all, it was all full payment from others, so it wasn't easy to settle in advance. This year is a full year. The taxes and fees we pay aren't much, but the profit delivery quota set for us by the county at the meeting last year wasn't low, and at that time, I didn't even frown and agreed readily."

"Don't think I don't know what little schemes you're playing. Are you trying to get your textile factory into debt? So that in the future, you won't give the county a single cent?"

That is exactly what Wang Yan is thinking, but he won't say it.

"How could that be, Magistrate." Wang Yan firmly denied. "Buildings are always necessary; it's just a matter of time. Now that we have the conditions, what's wrong with building a house?

Moreover, we are building houses, and many people will benefit. Our county's concrete, steel, brick kilns, cement, and glass—a whole bunch of factories related to building materials will benefit. The peasants in the communes below can also come to the county to work. We will raise wages a bit, they will earn more money, and their lives will be easier.

In addition, we will improve the food, buying it from the county, and all related units in our county will be able to make money. What difference does this have from giving money to the county?"

"Coming back to the point, actually, our factory didn't agree to merge the construction company. Why? Because merging the construction company means taking on some of our county's construction tasks. When the time comes, the county will see us rolling in money and, on one hand, assign tasks, and on the other, not pay us. Where would we go to reason? So everyone's opinion tends toward us building a construction team ourselves."

"It was still me who pushed against the tide, saying that the leaders in our county have it hard, and every factory and company is having a difficult time, so let's not add to the chaos and merge the construction company. Even if the county assigns tasks in the future without paying, as long as it's not too excessive, we'll just swallow the bitter pill; it's all for the good of the county."

"Stop talking nonsense. I think you kid have bad intentions."

"I just want the leader to reach a higher position sooner to serve the people. What did I do wrong?"

"Fart." County Magistrate Xu shook his head. "Wang Yan, don't play dumb with me. You have to know that once this opening is made, it will be extremely difficult to take it back. Even if I get promoted higher, I won't be able to stop the officials of Jin Ling from stabbing me in the back."

"Those are all mediocre people. They only think about the power in their own hands; they still have the mindset of local emperors. I don't listen to what such officials say."

Wang Yan said, "Leader, to be an official for a term is to bring benefits to one side. You are in Jin Ling, the textile factory has risen, the workers are living well, and you have driven the development of the whole county. Now you are going to drive the development of the peasants. This is all because of your wise leadership."

"You are flattering me."

"Leader, we have known each other for several months. Don't you know what kind of person I am? I have always been the most honest and the most practical. I only speak the truth, only speak from the heart."

"What if I don't agree?"

"The leader is joking. This is a win-win good thing. It's good for the county and good for you. There's no reason not to agree."

Xu snorted: "Don't take me for a fool. The precedent of the shoe and clothing factory is right there. If I don't agree today, I'm afraid that by the time you return to the factory, the eight hundred workers will know you want to build houses and distribute them, right?"

"The masses yearn for a better material and spiritual life and to live a better life. I believe the leader can understand that." Wang Yan laughed heartily.

The news that the textile factory was going to merge the shoe and clothing factory had already spread, and it was also revealed that the factory leadership did not agree to the merger. For the past few days, the workers of the shoe and clothing factory have been making a fuss, and it can no longer be suppressed.

The shoe and clothing factory is a more labor-intensive factory, supporting more than five hundred people in total. It is no small matter for so many people to make a fuss.

It was just today that the inspection team formed by the three parties set off. Before setting off, they appeased the workers of the shoe and clothing factory, saying that they would talk about the merger after investigating the sales. It was still Factory Director Qi who spoke, saying that the textile factory couldn't afford to support so many people and asking everyone to understand. After saying all the good things and becoming hoarse, the situation was stabilized.

Otherwise, this matter wouldn't be over; it would have to be merged even if they didn't want to.

"You..."

County Magistrate Xu scolded with a smile but still loosened his mouth: "I agree to the merger of the construction company. In the next few days, find the people from the Industry and Commerce Bureau and the construction company, and let's hold a meeting together to determine the specific matters."

"Many thanks for the leader's support."

"It's because you have the ability yourself. Work hard."

County Magistrate Xu waved his hand, signaling that Wang Yan could leave.

He had already realized that Wang Yan would inevitably become too big to be controlled. But right now, it was beneficial to him, and the benefits were quite large, so he compromised. On the other hand, he thought this was actually a kind of exploration. The situation of a county was not that important at the national level and would not affect the overall situation.

Wang Yan, of course, also knew that County Magistrate Xu had already realized it, but the two were currently in a community of interests, so there was no problem. And the point of him becoming too big to be controlled was whether the county could still lead the textile factory after it grew stronger.

They only want to centralize power, unlike Wang Yan, who only serves the people...

The news that the textile factory was going to build houses for workers to achieve the dream of electric lights and telephones in their homes spread like wildfire.

The whole county was in an uproar, and one can imagine the commotion among the workers inside the textile factory.

This day, Wang Yan came to the production workshop and saw a group of people whispering, chattering, buzzing, and having no heart for work.

Seeing him standing there with his hands behind his back, not saying a word, the workshop gradually quieted down.

"What does this look like?"

Wang Yan started with a loud reprimand: "Did you memorize the factory's safe production regulations for nothing? Huh? What if you break your hand? The factory will pay for the treatment, but can that hand grow back? You over there screwing in bolts, have you screwed in enough? How can product quality be guaranteed? How can we let our customers use them with peace of mind?"

After reprimanding them like this, he said: "Comrades, I know you have all heard about the factory building houses. I'll give everyone a reassurance: we are indeed going to build. The reason why no announcement was issued is that the factory is studying how much money it will cost to build the houses and how many to build in the first phase. Once this is determined, we will study the list for the first batch of housing distribution."

"I'll reveal a little more to everyone: to avoid disputes, housing will be distributed according to the order of joining our textile factory. Therefore, the first batch of workers to receive housing will be the old workers of the original textile factory. The reason why we need to study it is because of the issue of children and the elderly. We must fully consider the problems that workers will encounter in the future regarding the occupation of living space. For example, marriage, elderly care, and having children."

"Others, don't be anxious either. Our buildings will be built continuously in the future, and we must let every worker in our factory live in a building. Even if everyone has moved in, we will continue to demolish and build larger and better ones in the future. Our lives are getting better, and our future pursuits must definitely be better. We cadres are here to serve the vast number of workers and lead everyone to live a good life."

"In addition, I want to emphasize one point: our current mechanical production department does indeed earn 99% of the factory's money. But you shouldn't use this to make a fuss. If you really want to say that, the machine was designed by me. You tell me, is it better that I designed it in our Jin Ling County, or is it better that I designed it in those big cities?"

"I guarantee that everyone will have a house; it's just a matter of time. Whoever can't hold back and harbors such bad thoughts, clamoring to be in the first batch of housing distribution, then I will deal with them. I don't ask everyone to talk about dedication, but your ideological awareness cannot be poor. We are a collective, and everything is for the betterment of our collective."

"Alright, that's all I'll say. Before the list is finalized, the factory will not issue any notices. Pass it on to each other."

After speaking, Wang Yan didn't care how these workers felt and went straight to the R&D workshop.

He actually didn't handle many factory affairs; he only controlled the general direction, and the various leaders in the factory executed it, so the power of the leaders was still very real.

He spent more time leading people to research machines.

After all, he was the only one in the factory with R&D capabilities, and everything relied on him.

Over the past period, he actually hadn't been without other achievements. Although no major best-selling machines had been researched, he had almost upgraded the processing and production equipment once, improving efficiency somewhat.

However, it couldn't be too efficient because there were no automatic machines, and it still relied on human labor. The industrial upgrading and industrial rise of New China were exchanged by three generations of people with diligence, sweat, wisdom, and even life...

Recently, the factory has increased the scale of recruitment because it wants to launch two manual production lines at the same time to increase output and earn more money.

Relatively speaking, in the entire textile industry, the most expensive part is the pre-weaving link. Now the looms made by the textile factory are already somewhat overwhelmed.

What Wang Yan wants to do next is to go straight to the source of chemical fibers, and in this process, conduct research on spinning machines to continue to expand his advantages.

This time still belongs to the early stage, and the domestic equipment renewal will not be that fast. His current set of water-jet looms is completely enough to be used for ten or twenty years. Subsequent upgrades will be enough to meet the current needs of the domestic textile industry. And then start to renew and gradually start automation.

Of course, Wang Yan couldn't just develop in textile machinery; he still had to make progress in multiple industries. Otherwise, he couldn't support so many workers and earn enough money.

Just like him expanding the textile link and planning to produce ready-made clothing, it is to compress costs, use as much labor as possible, and earn as much money as possible...

Wang Yan was at ease doing his research, and the news about the textile factory building houses continued to intensify, especially after he gave a speech to the employees and spread it around, it became even more lively.

The workers of the textile factory were all excited, especially those who were determined to be in the first batch of housing distribution. The workers of other factories were envious, jealous, and hateful, and then they greeted their own factories, saying that they also wanted to build houses and also wanted electric lights and telephones in their homes.

But where would they have those conditions?

Even the wealthiest steel plant couldn't afford to build, let alone other factories. Moreover, at present, there is indeed no need to build buildings. The location of the county seat is very spacious, and everyone is living okay.

Originally, everyone was doing fine, but someone just had to be flashy.

Some leading cadres didn't feel very good about the textile factory, and even the cadres in the county were the same; after all, they also lived in bungalows, and they were also unbalanced.

But what does that have to do with anything?

The textile factory wants to build, and they can't stop it. They still have to sell cement, concrete, and steel bars.

Wang Yan has always been very particular. Although the dual-track system has not been implemented yet, the materials he uses are never calculated into the plan, but are calculated as the extra wealth of each factory, with the price appropriately increased, so that everyone can get rich together.

Therefore, all related units love and hate the textile factory...

"Are you really going to build houses?"

In the Song family, Song Yunping asked like this.

Wang Yan nodded with a smile and asked: "Have you heard about it here too?"

"It's not just here; the whole county knows. Everyone envies your textile factory."

"The country has reformed and intends to develop the economy. Life will definitely get better and better in the future. As long as it continues to develop, the people in our county will sooner or later be able to live in buildings."

"Actually, I don't think buildings are good." Song Yunping shook her head. "Didn't we see it when we went out before? There's nothing good about it. It's not as good as my home, where there is a yard, and the river is right outside the door. How good is that?"

"It's more convenient to go to the toilet in a building, and it's cleaner to tidy up. In general, there are pros and cons." Wang Yan laughed. "Then do you want to live in a building?"

"Having it is definitely better than not having it; I'm just saying." Song Yunping's voice was gentle. "You are really amazing. In such a short time, you have led the workers of your textile factory to live a good life."

"You study hard, get into university this year, and when you come back, it will be the two of us leading them to live a good life together."

"Even if I get in, it won't be easy to get into the textile factory when I come back, right? Others will have opinions."

"That's narrow-minded."

Wang Yan shook his head and laughed. "You have to think about it the other way around. At a time when the country is employing people, where would a university student not have a future? Why bother returning to our poor and bitter Jin Ling? Isn't it to build the hometown and make the people's lives prosperous?"

"Our Jin Ling also lacks talent, and the place where Jin Ling lacks talent the most is the textile factory. If you join in, give full play to your subjective initiative, apply the knowledge you learned in university, and help our textile factory develop faster, is this still a mistake?"

Song Yunping was silent for a while and said: "You really know how to talk."

"This is a fact. In short, I say it can be done, and if I say there is no problem, then there is no problem."

"It's like you're the leader."

"Don't take the factory director as not a cadre. If you count the construction company, the textile factory now has over a thousand workers. When the old factory director and the others finish their inspection and we merge the shoe and clothing factory, it will be heading toward two thousand people." Wang Yan raised his eyebrows. "This scale, let alone in the county. Even in the city, it ranks high."

"Xiao Hui said don't get carried away. At this time, the policy is unclear, and reckless actions are prone to trouble."

"Is he teaching me now? What is called reckless? Who defined it as reckless? He is still far behind. Alright, that's enough talk, continue studying."

Wang Yan was tutoring Song Yunping in English. With only a few months left before the college entrance examination, Song Yunping had become increasingly diligent recently...