Chapter 46: Rural Reform: Xiaogang Village; Factory Reform: Qingshan Factory

Qin Miao's home.

Qin Miao, this is the place where you've lived since childhood! Which room is yours?

It must be this room; I smell a scent of books.

Your desk is worn smooth—how many books have you read!

Sigh, Chu Miaomiao, when do you plan to go back? If you're later… the last bus will leave!

No rush, I'm waiting for someone to pick me up.

Who's picking you up? At the station today, a secretary-type person came to get you—looks like your old man holds a high office.

Parents' achievements are their own…

You put it simply—all roads lead to Rome, some are born in Rome; if I had a father who was a high official, I'd just lie back for life, unlike now, where I still have to help my father rise.

Ding ding ding… Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside.

San Shui, San Shui! A big leader from the capital has come for an inspection! Factory Director Qin is calling you over!

That fast? Those market people are really on the ball! Qin Miao looked at the person at the door: 'Uncle Zhao, I got it! I'm heading over now! Um… Aunt Liu, please take my classmate to the cafeteria for a bite.'

All right, go ahead—I'll take good care of your wife.

Not a wife—we're not married… sigh, just ordinary classmates!

Factory meeting room.

Welcome, leaders, to our Qingshan Machinery Factory—our factory was just transferred to local jurisdiction, and now so many leaders have come, truly making us feel honored and surprised.

Lao Qin, don't be nervous—tell us, how did you come up with the idea of pursuing high-pressure cookers?

Well…

Leaders, the situation is thus. Qin Miao arrived just in time to rescue his father.

Before this, others in the factory had proposed various unrealistic military-to-civilian plans, like refrigerators and washing machines; as a pure machinery plant we couldn't make those, only import them at great cost, but the factory is in a mountainous area and can't compete with big cities, so our Factory Director Qin had a brainwave and came up with making high-pressure cookers.

This is simple—mainly using stamping presses, which we have, and thanks to our military factory connections we coordinated stainless steel, differentiating our product from other civilian factories.

At the head table, Zhang Wanhe kept nodding: 'Not bad, not bad—what's next?'

Now high-pressure cookers are selling like hotcakes; our Qingshan Factory has made a tidy sum, and with this money we can develop other projects.

Oh? What projects?

Electric rice cookers.

Qin Miao looked at the assembled leaders and spoke at length—even if it got out, he wasn't afraid; other factories couldn't copy it!

In 1956, Toshiba developed the world's first true automatic electric rice cooker; from then on, no need to worry about burnt rice—just add the proper ratio of rice and water, press the power switch, and everything heats automatically, switching to keep-warm when done; thus automatic electric rice cookers became bestsellers worldwide, while in our country no factory makes this product—it's all imports, a market gap.

In 1963, a southern enterprise made an electric rice cooker, but it was a simple model—just an electric hot pot—that couldn't automatically switch off after reaching a certain temperature, so it had little practical value.

The first domestically produced automatic electric rice cooker in the East appeared in the 1980s; Qin Miao doesn't know the exact date, but it certainly isn't now.

That's right—right now it's all imports; if your factory produces them, you'll surely fill the market gap! Our city strongly supports you! Zhang Wanhe nodded: "Your Qingshan Machinery Factory has already been recognized by the city as a key enterprise pursuing a market economy; the city will pay close attention! If you ever face power cuts again, just call me directly!"

Thank you, leaders!

Your factory must not only have top-notch products, but also find a suitable system for a market economy!

Well, this is actually simple: for a factory to adapt to market competition, the proportion of frontline workers must be no less than 95%! Nowadays, many factories have less than half of their staff creating value—such enterprises are bound to go under eventually!

Many present turned grave—this is a criticism of today's state-owned enterprises!

Qin Miao also couldn't help sighing—it's only 1980, saying this is a bit premature! People's ideas need time to change.

Now, once you're in the factory, it's an iron rice bowl—food, drink, bodily functions, birth, aging, sickness, death—all managed by the factory! But such enterprises can't adapt to market competition; future state-owned enterprises will either rely on monopolies to keep earning or undergo painful reform.

Sorry, leaders, this is just my personal, superficial view—our Qingshan Machinery Factory doesn't intend to keep idle workers; the ten people Zhao Guoqing recruited this time are all idlers—whether at movie theaters, supply depots, etc., they just show up to collect a salary, and since we get no funding from above, we have no need to keep such people…

Zhang Wanhe nodded: 'Exactly, you're right—many state-owned enterprises are overstaffed, few do actual work while many eat; such enterprises indeed can't develop long-term, but to let workers work in peace, we must have workers' hospitals, workers' children's schools, and so on!'

Of course they're needed, but… we can do it another way. Qin Miao said: "Workers' hospitals can be opened to society, letting the public seek treatment there—increasing hospital income; treating workers also requires charging and billing, with workers reimbursed by the unit after treatment. This way the hospital operates independently, without factory subsidies, and can be more profitable."

Workers' children's schools should be transferred to government departments; when enrolling, priority goes to workers' children, and if there's spare capacity, we can also take in children from society.

Movie theaters, supply and marketing cooperatives, etc., should be fully opened to society, spun off from the factory to operate independently.

Of course there will surely be problems, but reform requires someone to take the first step; our Qingshan Machinery Factory is willing to take that step, and if we fail, we can at least provide a failed example for later generations to learn from.

Zhang Wanhe recorded these points one by one; after Qin Miao finished his summary, he gave Qin Miao a meaningful look: 'Young man, your ideas are quite ahead of the times—our city needs to hold a meeting to discuss, form an official decision, then notify you; regardless of whether it can finally be implemented, I, on behalf of the city, thank you for proposing these reform plans!'

Qin Miao felt pleased—these are all proven successes from later eras; if the higher-ups truly agree, Qingshan Factory will become famous! Rural reform has Xiaogang Village; factory reform has Qingshan Factory!

Within three years, the ordinary workers of Qingshan Factory will earn more than those district government leaders!

Where, where, leaders, it's getting late—let's have dinner at the factory!