Chapter 1304: Agreement

This inspection tour covered Jin Ling's pillar textile industry chain, agricultural machinery production, and the leveled fields already undergoing large-scale mechanized farming. He ate in the workers' Dashitang and engaged in cordial exchanges with the staff.

He visited the nursing home and the Fuli Academy to comfort the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled. He reviewed the historical culture organized by Jin Ling, went to the Martyrs' Cemetery to examine detailed records of various martyrs, and offered condolences to their families.

He also inspected the living conditions of workers allocated housing, checked the environment of those living in prefabricated houses within the city, visited the outskirts to see the conditions of those responsible for agricultural production, and went to the villages to observe the circumstances of the elderly and children who remained behind.

In this process, he naturally gained an understanding of the people's standards for food, clothing, and daily necessities, the grain output, the level of road construction within the county, and so on.

He expressed approval for Jin Ling's development situation, offered encouragement to Jin Ling's leadership, and inquired about some of the current difficulties they were facing.

Of course, such a good opportunity would not be missed; whether the problems could be solved was aside, but difficulties had to be stated, and if there were none, difficulties had to be created just to state them. Thus, Wang Yan launched into a lengthy discourse.

Besides the previously mentioned matter of merging the two surrounding counties, he provided more detailed reasons, fully explaining the benefits, and additionally raised the issue of infant formula. He expressed a desire to establish dairy companies in the Inner Mongolian grasslands and at Tianshan in the Western Regions to research dairy cows and develop better formula, supplying it to Jin Ling's children and subsequently benefiting children across the nation.

At the same time, he explained the future research and operations, stating that they would launch the most basic tier of formula, as cheap as sanitary pads and toilet paper, holding the bottom line for formula and guaranteeing its integrity.

Furthermore, there was the critically important issue of sales channels, an urgent matter needing resolution. He proposed opening direct-sale stores under the Jin Ling brand, forming a national chain with unified distribution and unified management. This would not only facilitate the sale of Jin Ling products but also provide tens of thousands of jobs, and so on...

As the year reached its root, the county town of Jin Ling became even more lively.

The market specially established for outside vendors once again could not accommodate the outsiders coming here to make money; the queue stretched from the market location all the way to the government office building. Compared to previous years, the stalls were even more densely packed.

The reason remained the same: Jin Ling's wealth was known throughout the nation. Too many people had made money in Jin Ling over these past few years, resulting in bold individuals traveling great distances from all over the country every New Year. Moreover, Jin Ling never drove people away; pay a fee to set up a stall, pay a fee for lodging, pay a fee to eat in a restaurant. Therefore, the scale here grew larger year by year.

It was not just the single street filled from the market to the government building; adjacent streets were equally packed with stalls. If not for this arrangement, the main thoroughfare in front of the government could be lined with vendors from east to west.

To provide good service and prevent these outsiders from sleeping on the streets, Jin Ling had built several hotels in recent years; of course, these hotels were prepared for the usual influx of outside population, so during the New Year rush with so many people, it was impossible to house everyone.

Thus, they provided tents, hot water, and so on, while others were placed in abandoned factory buildings not yet demolished. With the housing issue resolved, the remaining matters of food and drink were easy to handle. Jin Ling's state-run restaurants sold boxed meals; besides this, in the past two years Wang Yan had further enriched the cuisine, with grand dishes, small dishes, famous foods, and snacks—both long-standing and newly created—now quite complete.

Regarding food alone, Jin Ling's current conditions could be said to be basically mature; in terms of variety, it was no worse than forty years later. In terms of taste, the staff were all selected individuals who had undergone training, so there was no lack in quality.

Regarding service, when crowds made it impossible to keep up, retired old workers would help out as needed. Under normal circumstances, two people working in a shop were quite sufficient. When slightly busier, they could even propose that diners clear their own tables and wash their own dishes. Even idle individuals could directly help work in the shop, registering later to collect payment.

The operation was quite flexible; of course, this was mainly because the ideological awareness of the Jin Ling people was online—they all understood the concept of the 'collective' and clearly grasped Jin Ling's mode of production and life.

In summary, the large influx of outside vendors presented some problems for Jin Ling, but all were properly and well resolved...

The streets were surging with crowds; police, militia, and even the county's internal guards were deployed to stand guard and patrol. At such a time, vigilance could not be relaxed; the safety of the people had to be guaranteed. All public officials had no holiday and were all maintaining order.

The county's fire department was also entirely on standby to prevent various fires. Whether it was fireworks and firecrackers in the city or various accidents in the factories, such times were high-risk periods requiring active prevention and rapid response.

Ultimately, it was the end of the year; the people relaxed, and some negligence was inevitable. This was understandable and could be overcome.

As lively as the market area were the bus station and the train station; some people were heading to other places, while others were returning to their hometowns. It was truly shoulder to shoulder, a surging tide of humanity.

On the asphalt road connecting the county to the city, the flow of people was equally dense. Some went to the city to shop, some to stroll, some to visit relatives and friends; people from the city also came here to stroll, to shop, to visit friends, and even to sell goods.

Jin Ling was already on holiday; except for positions that could not halt operations which arranged shift swaps, all other posts had five days off. There was still ample time; with the people idle and nothing to do, they all took to the streets. Everywhere was full of people, extremely lively.

"Aiyo, Factory Director Wang, are you diving deep among the masses to discover problems?"

Chen Pingyuan bumped into Wang Yan, who was holding a camera and taking photos everywhere on the street.

"Ah, that's exactly it. The New Year is a test for our Jin Ling; we absolutely cannot relax," Wang Yan laughed heartily, raising his camera to beckon, "Come, look at the lens, let's take a photo for everyone. From now on, these will all be part of our county's history. Now that we can take photos, we must take many; this year's scenery won't exist again next year."

"Our Jin Ling will definitely get better and better; if there's no record, so be it. I feel there's nothing in the past worth missing. Unlike now, where the people eat well and dress well, looking spirited," Chen Pingyuan also laughed happily.

The current bustle in the city was all managed by the county; Jin Ling was a purely service-oriented government, dedicated to solving livelihood issues.

Wang Yan chatted with Chen Pingyuan and the others for a while, then, not wanting to disturb their work further, continued into the midst of the people...

After the New Year, in March, the request regarding Jin Ling merging with the two surrounding counties received approval from Beijing. First, implementing what Wang Yan had said, they merged all factories of the two counties and integrated resources, while Jin Ling simultaneously transferred out a portion of its industries. The set timeline was ten years; that is, by the end of 1993, the work of merging the three counties to establish a city was to be thoroughly completed, to be directly administered by Anhui Province.

Once the news broke, others felt little, but the most injured party was Jin Ling's superior city. Originally unable to control it, now it was to become a county-level city directly subordinate to the province, completely stripping the affiliated city of its management authority over Jin Ling.

The happiest were the leaders at all levels of the three Jin Ling counties; they were instantly promoted half a rank on the spot, collectively ascending to heaven.

Beijing showed more boldness than Jin Ling; Wang Yan wanted a slow merger, and Beijing agreed, but at the same time directly approved comprehensive reforms of the other two counties with Jin Ling as the lead.

In other words, the other two counties now had to obey Jin Ling's orders. Put another way, Jin Ling would have to spend money. Jin Ling would have to build up all kinds of infrastructure for the two counties.

This was a good thing, because the mobilization of resources within Jin Ling was equivalent to the mobilization of resources within the nation; it was all left hand to right hand. Anything within the three counties, on the land of the three counties, including the land itself, cost nothing; the cost was merely labor expenditure, so it was truly cheap.

The overall planning still centered on the current Jin Ling; in the future, the population of the two counties would also mainly concentrate in Jin Ling. At the same time, there would be concentrated industrial zones, acting as satellite cities. All township units below would be abolished; agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries would implement workstations, with each station having several hundred people responsible for production and related matters in their corresponding areas, under unified management by relevant departments.

In the process, they would follow the path of Jin Ling's own development. That is, step by step allowing rural population to enter the city, granting them the same treatment as Jin Ling workers, reducing rural distribution, increasing rural income, while urban workers could support themselves and subsidize their families with relatively higher incomes. Everything would follow the path Jin Ling had walked, coordinated with grand planning for gradual adjustment.

In short, with the merger of the two counties put on the agenda, adding hundreds of thousands of productive forces, Jin Ling possessed even stronger production capacity, its supply capability was enhanced, and naturally, it earned even more...

For a time, the land of the three counties was all working with red-hot enthusiasm, everyone looking forward to better days ahead...

In May, Beijing issued an official document permitting Jin Ling to construct direct-sale stores nationwide, resolving Jin Ling's urgent need for sales channels.

Wang Yan personally designed the decoration plan; of course, it still followed the minimalist style common in later times, with large, bright glass windows on the exterior so people could see the goods inside the store at a glance.

At the same time, a logistics system was built to match; freight trucks had long been in preparation. On one hand, they would handle delivery themselves; on the other, they would utilize existing freight services. There was both road and rail transport. Of course, they could not achieve the speed of later times; this was a national transportation issue, after all, as conditions were relatively immature at present.

By this time, graduation season was approaching; besides those assigned by the state, many university students were still writing letters to recommend themselves.

Jin Ling's situation this year differed from before; after all, with the added population of two counties, there were too many people in line, making it impossible to let university students cut the queue for housing allocation. They could only try to provide some care, waiting slowly as buildings were constructed one by one.

But with the added population of two counties, the construction speed was actually faster. After all, manpower was abundant, and with Jin Ling's factories expanding, they earned more money, allowing more funds to be invested in worker housing construction. Comprehensive view aside, it was essentially just normal queuing, not dragging on as long as imagined.

Therefore, the first batch of university recruits was akin to buying a horse's bone with a thousand gold. During this recruitment, these issues were explicitly stated: come if you love it, or don't.

Jin Ling now had this capital, because there were too many university students wanting to come to Jin Ling, to the point of affecting the allocation work of universities everywhere. Finally, the state had to intervene; synthesizing the situations of various universities, they drew a line for Jin Ling: besides the five hundred assigned, they could recruit at most another five hundred undergraduates and one thousand junior college students.

That is to say, to recruit one undergraduate, one had to take two junior college students. Otherwise, Jin Ling simply would not take junior college students...

Although this was somewhat unfair to Wang Mou's own junior college degree, such was the fact. In times of fierce competition, junior college degrees lost out just like that.

Of course, junior colleges now were different from those in the future, and the students were different too. Students attending junior colleges now truly studied. They were truly capable of working and truly possessed relevant knowledge.

In comparison, Wang Mou had to feel ashamed; he merely held a junior college diploma...

Amidst this hustle and bustle, in late June, Wang Yan was summoned to the capital.

This matter concerned the application Jin Ling had previously submitted to establish the Jin Ling Bank. Relevant departments had been deliberating for over half a year and had roughly formed a strategy; they summoned Wang Yan to Beijing to make the most comprehensive and final presentation, providing supplementary opinions for the relevant departments' final decision. At the same time, there were other matters related to Jin Ling, and he had to report on his work again.

In short, the written report was still insufficient; Beijing wanted to know exactly what Jin Ling intended to do and how they planned to do it.

The matter was quite urgent; upon arriving in Beijing, Wang Yan was dragged into meetings before he could even seek out Song Yunping. Meetings continued for several days, and although he delivered another report, no final conclusion was reached regarding the matters at hand.

Wang Yan, however, was not anxious, because the timing of this summons to the capital was quite good; it coincided precisely with Song Yunping's graduation. Coming for one trip and accomplishing two tasks was not bad.

"Is everything done?"

"The graduation defense is in a few days; after that, we can leave," Song Yunping said, lying in Wang Yan's embrace. "How long will you be staying in Beijing this time?"

"I don't know; anyway, they haven't let me leave, saying they might even call me to meetings from time to time, so what else can I do but wait? Since there's nothing urgent, staying a few more days is fine. You've been so focused on your studies while in Beijing that you probably haven't visited many places or tried much local food; it would be good for the two of us to stroll around together."

"Alright, I'll follow your lead."

Song Yunping agreed readily, even though she had already visited those places and tasted that food.

Previously, Song Yunhui had escorted her to the university, and the two siblings had wandered around; over these past few years, she had also walked about with her classmates. As for eating and drinking, Wang Yan had given her plenty of money, so there was nothing she couldn't afford to eat or drink.

Yet she did not say this aloud, because every corner she visited with Wang Yan felt like the first time; she was willing to accompany him as he wandered aimlessly...

How could Wang Yan not know Song Yunping's thoughts? But just as he had said, since there was nothing pressing, they might as well stroll the streets. Come to think of it, it had been some time since he last saw Beijing in the eighties; now that he had leisure and was already in the city, he naturally decided to wander about...

Thus, after Song Yunping completed her defense and received her graduation certificate, she packed her luggage, bade farewell to the classmates and roommates who had accompanied her for four years, and followed Wang Yan to the hotel where he was staying. It was nothing particularly special—the Anhui Provincial Office in Beijing; whenever he came to the capital, he basically stayed there.

In this way, they remained in Jingcheng for another half-month or so; Wang Yan and Song Yunping spent every day wandering everywhere. They even arranged a vehicle through the Provincial Office, drove to climb the Great Wall, and visited several surrounding sites. Wang Yan, camera in hand, snapped photos everywhere, preserving many images.

Truth be told, although the two had been married for years, this was their first real leisure time together—a belated honeymoon, one might say.

After attending several more meetings, Wang Yan finally received the result: the Jin Ling Credit Union and Cooperative were to be abolished, and Jin Ling was permitted to establish a bank named "Jin Ling People's Development Bank," abbreviated as "Jinfa." This name was quite auspicious and catchy. The bank would belong to the Jin Ling County Government, while state-owned capital would hold a thirty percent stake.

Various equipment and other necessities for the bank had been purchased last year, and preparatory work had long been underway, awaiting only Beijing's approval.

The moment Wang Yan received the news, he placed a call back, instructing the Jin Ling side to accelerate progress.

He and Song Yunping then took up their large and small bags of luggage and departed Beijing...