In the 1980s, if people in the countryside wanted to buy something, they would mainly purchase it from the big market. Every big market was well stocked with goods, and there were people coming and going. Young men and women would use the big market to look for potential partners, or two people would come to the big market to buy engagement items such as cloth and cotton after they fell in love and decided to have a relationship. Others would prepare items for their weddings, and would not only go to the supply and marketing cooperatives to buy thermoses and washbasins, but also go to the market to buy furniture such as wardrobes, dining tables and wooden stools.
At that time, there were circus performers, storytellers, people making meat soup pots, and fried dough sticks in the market. Children liked to follow their parents to the market so that they could ask their parents to buy them rice balls, candied haws, and ox tongue candies. Those who were rich could buy a bowl of meat soup and a steamed bun, and on the way home, buy two fried dough sticks and tie them with straw to take home.
There is only one big market in Honghua Township, Honghua Market, which is held every five days on the sixth day of every month.
In the past year, four or five factories have been established in Honghua Township. Workers spend their wages on shopping in the township. Things they could not afford before are now available, and things that were not available in the market before are now available. Many of the houses near the main street in Honghua Village have new doors and windows. Some people open small shops to earn some money, while others rent them out to others, earning 70 to 80 yuan a year.
Today, Sun Zongyuan finished his work and looked at his watch. It was only eleven o'clock. He heard the hawking sounds coming from the big market outside the township government, and he felt like going to the market to have a look.
These businessmen are really bold. They set up stalls and left only three meters of space in front of the gate of the township government. If the people from the Party and Government Office had not been arranged to drive them away, they might have blocked the gate of the government.
The safflower market after autumn is packed with people. Stalls set up by vendors are lined up on both sides of the road, some of which are covered with cloth tents and some of the ropes stretch very far.
Sun Zongyuan walked in the narrow streets, looking at the goods sold on both sides and moving slowly with the flow of people.
Suddenly there was a commotion up ahead and people crowded over to watch the excitement. Sun Zongyuan did not go over but waited nearby. After a while, the crowd gradually dispersed and two people came over and were still talking excitedly. Sun Zongyuan then realized that a thief who was cutting a bag was caught on the spot by a plainclothes policeman when he was putting in money. The people around came forward and slapped and kicked the thief to vent their anger. The plainclothes policeman could not stop him and ended up being kicked several times by the people who could not tell who the thief was. There were several obvious footprints on his clothes.
After a while, I saw two people escorting a person towards the police station. Along the way, some people punched the thief from time to time, some spat, some pointed at his nose and cursed, and one person even stretched his leg under the thief and tripped him to the ground.
On the way, they met Director Miao Changqi of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. He was checking a vendor's scale with two people. When they saw Sun Zongyuan shopping, Miao Changqi made some arrangements for the two people and then continued to stroll along the street with Sun Zongyuan.
Although there were a lot of people at the market, which only had a few streets, they finished visiting the whole market in less than an hour. Miao Changqi led Sun Zongyuan to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau.
Miao Changqi respects Sun Zongyuan very much. Not only because he is a young leader, but more importantly, at the end of last year, Sun Zongyuan proposed to solve part of the office expenses for several county-level stations. The living conditions and working environment of the stations have been significantly improved, and the prestige of the station chiefs has also increased a lot. They can now walk steadily when attending meetings and doing things in the competent bureau.
We had lunch at the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. Miao Changqi arranged to stew a rooster, boil a silver carp, stir-fry a few dishes, and opened a bottle of Ganhe Tequ.
After two drinks, Sun Zongyuan asked:
“Is this the only market in our village?”
"Village Chief Sun, every township in our county only has one big market, and more than half of the large markets have far fewer people than ours."
"Then half of the villages in the eastern part of our township are so far away from Honghua. It's a long way for them to come to the market."
"Yes, some people have to walk twenty miles to get to the market. They usually come in the morning and leave in the afternoon, and it takes them a whole day to go there and back."
"Director Miao, can we open a market in Fushan Village or somewhere near Kunhe? This would not only meet the shopping needs of the people in the eastern villages of Honghua Township, but also attract people from the western part of Ganhe City?"
"There are no other towns in the county that have opened two markets in one township, but I can report to the bureau and try to get us to open another one according to your idea."
As they talked, the two began to discuss the location of the market. Finally, they decided to locate it on a barren rock stall on the east side of Lingan Village, 1.5 kilometers west of Kun River and 2 kilometers south of Zhenxing Road. The preliminary estimate was that it would occupy 120 mu of land. Sun Zongyu drew a big circle: 120 mu for the first phase, 500 mu for the second phase, 2,000 mu for the third phase, and 5,000 mu for the fourth phase.
Miao Changqi looked at Sun Zongyuan doubtfully and thought:
What is this village chief Sun thinking? I guess there is no such a large market in the whole country or even in the whole world.
Not to mention Miao Changqi's doubts, Li Jianguo and Zhao Yuncheng were also confused, the county industrial and commercial bureau was also confused, and the report was sent to the county party committee and county government, and the secretary and county magistrate were also confused.
A phone call was made to Honghua Township, asking Li Jianguo and Sun Zongyuan to come to the county to report on the opening of the market.
"Dear leaders, my idea is this: opening a market here will solve the shopping and material exchange problems of the 15,000 people in the eastern part of Honghua Township. Crucially, it can also serve as a wholesale market for the Ganhe region in the future, where goods from all over the country can be wholesaled. Our market will also generate a lot of tax revenue."
Sui Gang asked:
"Even a wholesale market doesn't need to be this big, it's 5,000 acres."
"We will gradually expand the market size. If we don't plan well now, the cost of demolition and construction will be very high in the future," Sun Zongyu explained.
"We are now building a large market. Businesses in Honghua Township can set up marketing points here and bring their goods for wholesale. County and regional businesses can also do the same. In the future, as the wholesale market grows in size, we will establish specialized wholesale markets according to industry. For example, for food wholesale, we can build a non-staple food wholesale market, for hardware and machinery a hardware and machinery wholesale market, for plastics a plastics products wholesale market, and so on. This way, shoppers no longer have to run around the market looking for sources of goods. They can go directly to specialized markets, saving time and facilitating management."
"With such a large construction, will any merchants come? We don't want the market to be built but no one comes to do business, otherwise it will become a joke." The director of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau said worriedly.
"That's easy. We'll repair the surrounding roads and plan the market. We can temporarily divide the market into sections based on commodity. We'll build cement counters on the hardened ground. The Industrial and Commercial Bureau will assign a few people to set up a supervision station to ensure the quality of goods and fair transactions."
Sun Zongyuan continued:
"When the market opens, we can organize some cultural and artistic activities to attract more visitors. We can also offer discounts to those who come to trade in the market. For example, we can exempt stall fees and transaction taxes for six months, and reduce them by half after six months. The county can study these preferential policies."
Everyone expressed their own opinions on the preferential policies, but selectively ignored the feasibility of establishing a market.
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