Chapter 231
When Ye Manzhi led his men to the Municipal Revolutionary Committee, the banner at the door had already been taken down.
The employees stood in groups of three or four on the sidewalk opposite, their eyes fixed on the courtyard, as if ready to act at any time.
Ye Manzhi walked around the red armbands that were there to maintain order and walked quickly into the office building.
Before she pushed open the door of the conference room, she heard the sound of slamming the table.
"Public servant Yu! Does Lihua Factory still have organizational discipline?" Peng Jingyun's voice rang out from inside. "How many times has this happened this year? Are you still capable of serving as the director of the Revolutionary Committee?"
Another woman's voice, tinged with tears, said, "The workers are coming. What can I do? If the city could resolve the Lihua factory's problems, who would bother to keep coming back to trouble the leadership?"
"You still realize this is causing trouble for the leadership?" Peng Jingyun was so angry that his temples were throbbing. "Don't think the leadership doesn't know what's going on! Without your instructions, would the workers dare to repeatedly cause trouble at the Revolutionary Committee door?"
"This is such a shame!" Yu Gongpu continued to cry. "When the workers came to the city, I was negotiating with several nearby neighborhood committees. Even if I had eight eyes, I couldn't keep an eye on so many people! Director Peng, this can't be entirely our fault. The workers have no wages, no jobs, so they have to come to the city to seek help from the leadership!"
"That's right!"
Several worker representatives echoed this, saying that if they were allowed to resume production and receive wages, who would be willing to look at the leader's face?
When Ye Manzhi pushed the door and entered the meeting room, the discussions inside stopped slightly.
After taking their seats in the empty seats, the workers' representatives started shouting again.
"Boss, the Lihua factory has been shut down for seven months. When can we return to work?"
Peng Jingyun raised his hand to suppress it. "The Lihua factory is polluting with waste gas and waste residue, and the land is surrounded by residential areas. The residents of Lihua Street are very resistant to the redevelopment of the factory. Didn't you try this before? The construction materials were stolen as soon as they were brought in..."
Yu Gongpu wiped away his nonexistent tears and choked up, "Then what should we do? The city has to find a solution for us!"
"Stop acting like that! What's the point of crying like that?" Peng Jingyun scolded.
The director of the Revolutionary Committee's office responded, "Public servant Yu, you bear primary responsibility for this situation! The entire nation is striving hard and relying on self-reliance, yet how come only your Lihua factory is asking for money?"
The city leaders are really fed up with Yu Gongpu.
The burning of the Lihua factory was closely related to this public servant Yu.
Lihua Food Factory was originally just a steamed bun workshop nestled in a shantytown. With the support of the Great Leap Forward, it worked hard and expanded its scale in those years, and gradually became a food factory with 300 employees.
They mainly sell flower buns, traditional cakes and snacks, which are mainly sold within the province. The factory has been doing well in recent years.
Until last year, Yu Gongpu suddenly came to the city and said that he wanted to increase the variety of products and learn from Tianjin and Shanghai to produce malted milk and chocolate.
The production of these two products in Binjiang is very low and they have to be transported from other places.
Some children from well-off families may have drunk malted milk, but they could not eat chocolate.
Apart from the wine-filled candies, Binjiang has no other chocolate products.
In front of the city leaders, Yu Gongpu patted his chest and said that he wanted to let the people of Binjiang eat locally produced malted milk and chocolate. The production equipment could be provided by the factory itself and the city’s finances would not need to spend a penny.
Since enterprises have this revolutionary enthusiasm, the city will certainly not hinder it.
After reading her plan, I agreed to let them expand their product range.
This should have been a happy occasion for everyone, but Yu Gongpu applied to the city for 25 recruitment quotas.
Jobs in cities are in short supply, and the Labor Bureau is very strict on employment targets.
A large factory like Shuguang Factory with 2,000 employees only has a dozen or twenty job openings each year.
Lihua Food Factory only has 300 employees, but the city approved 25 indicators for it at once, which was really a strong support.
After getting the quota, Yu Gongpu did not buy any equipment, but instead recruited 25 children of factory workers into the factory.
The educated youth who were supposed to go to the countryside stayed in the city.
There is nothing to criticize about this matter. Many factories do this and recruit children of their own employees first.
However, some things are more problematic when they are not in short supply than when they are not distributed equally.
The 25 recruitment quotas were allocated not only to recent graduates, but also to educated youth who had already gone to the countryside to work, giving them the opportunity to return to the city.
To those who are concerned, this matter is extremely unfair!
Every year the city mobilized educated youth to go to the countryside, but not all of them were obedient. Some people were stubborn and refused to go to the countryside no matter how they were mobilized.
Even if you don't have a job, you should wait for opportunities in the city.
There was such a child in Lihua Factory. He had graduated from high school for three years. First, he pretended to be lame after falling down, and then he pretended to be sick intermittently. Anyway, he just refused to go to the countryside to join the production team.
He waited a long time for the Lihua factory to recruit workers and thought he could get a quota. However, the factory felt that his thinking was not progressive and would rather give the quota to the educated youth who had already gone to the countryside than give it to him.
This child is very left-wing. Seeing that many educated youth have returned to the city to work in factories, he always feels that everyone in the factory is targeting him and feels sorry for him.
So, if he had a hard time, no one else could have a hard time either. In the middle of the night, when he went to the public restroom, he waved his hand and threw a lit firewood toward the warehouse.
Everyone was asleep in the second half of the night, and it was not until the flames shot up into the sky that people discovered that the factory was on fire.
The arsonist has been brought to justice, but the damage caused by the fire is incalculable.
When the city took inventory of the Lihua factory's assets after the disaster, it discovered that there was not enough money in their account to purchase equipment.
Producing chocolate and malted milk is even more nonsense.
Yu Gongpu made such a solemn promise to the city leaders, most likely in order to cheat for the 25 indicators of staying in the city!
But the fire burned everything, and Lever Factory insisted that a large amount of cash was lost in the fire. The city could do nothing about them except verbal criticism.
The main reason was that the employees of the Lihua factory were too noisy, and the city had to use the factory leaders to appease the employees.
…
When the meeting room was noisy, the door opened again and the leaders of several food factories were brought in by their secretaries.
Peng Jingyun's expression relaxed a little and he asked several comrades to take a seat.
Then he looked at Yu Gongpu and asked, "If the city arranges for the employees of the Lihua factory to work in other food factories, would you accept that?"
Yu Gongpu has worked at Lihua Factory for 20 years, starting as a steamed bun maker and rising to the position of director of the Revolutionary Committee. She certainly hopes that Lihua Factory can complete its reconstruction.
She glanced at Peng Jingyun, blinked her droopy eyelids, nodded, and said, "As long as we can pay the employees, anything is fine!"
But the leaders of those food factories may not agree.
As she expected, these people were indeed unhappy.
If the Lihua factory were to merge with us, along with its personnel and equipment, everyone would definitely welcome it with open arms.
But now Lever Factory has nothing, which factory can bear so many personnel burdens?
The person sent to the meeting from Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory was Chen Qian. In front of the leadership, he simply said, "Our factory is already saturated with workers. We're suddenly being asked to take on so many workers. I'm not prepared for this. I need to go back and discuss this with Director Zhu and other comrades."
After Yu Zhijiang was transferred, Zhu Kehai became the head of the First Food Factory.
Suddenly, they received a meeting notice from the city, and heard that the employees of Lihua Factory had come to the city again to hang banners. Everyone knew that the meeting would not be a good one, so the factory sent Chen Qian over.
The situation in the other four factories was similar. All those who came to the meeting were deputies, and none of them was the top leader who could make the final decision on the spot.
Peng Jingyun didn't give them a chance to prevaricate. "Then you should go back now and explain the situation clearly to the factory. Tomorrow morning, you must clearly inform the city how many people you can each accept."
“…”
All arrangements were made in front of the Lihua factory. Peng Jingyun told the worker representatives, "You've seen the city's arrangements. Go back and wait for news. The city will respond to you as soon as possible."
The employees looked at each other and thought that this was a good idea. They would wait for two days and see what the city said.
So, after the company representatives left, the employees also left in a hurry.
The only people left in the conference room were Ye Manzhi and Zhang Baineng, who had never spoken, and Chen Teye, who was sitting quietly in the back.
"You've all seen the situation, right?" Peng Jingyun said. "Now that the Light Industry Bureau has been established, the affairs of the Lihua Factory will be handed over to the Light Industry Bureau. You will take over the arrangements."
Zhang Baineng: "..."
The Light Industry Bureau was just established today, and there are only two people in the leadership team.
There is no money and no people. Even the city leaders can’t do anything about this factory. What can they arrange?
Ye Manzhi said, "Director Peng, very few factories have vacancies these days. Those food factories can only employ 20 to 30 people each, which is the limit. If there are too many surplus workers, it will be a burden on these factories. Lihua Factory is already in this situation, so we can't drag down other factories as well, right? Can the city find a way to help Lihua Factory rebuild?"
Peng Jingyun shook his head and said, "The products of the Lihua factory are highly repetitive with those of other factories. Relocating personnel to other factories will allow them to expand their production scale. Since the Lihua factory has burned down, there is no need to duplicate it."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
It’s not about having more employees, it’s about expanding the scale of production.
If we don't add more equipment, we will only end up with redundant staff and won't be able to increase production.
If these companies can add new equipment, that’s another matter.
But which company would spend money to purchase new equipment just to recruit people from outside factories?
Ye Manzhi asked, "Director Peng, if these food factories can't absorb these 300 workers, what will the city do?"
"Then it depends on the arrangements of your Light Industry Bureau."
Peng Jingyun stood up with his notebook, patted Ye Manzhi on the shoulder and left.
Looking at the closed door, Zhang Baineng frowned and said, "The Light Industry Bureau has just been established and doesn't even have much office funding. There's really no need to take on such a hot potato. Since the city doesn't plan to rebuild the Lihua Factory, then the Lihua Factory is a non-existent enterprise. Our Light Industry Bureau has no control over it. The employees should be arranged by the Labor Bureau."
After thinking for a while, Ye Manzhi sighed and said, "Since our superiors have given us the task, let's take it on."
Zhang Baineng: "..."
Although Ye Manzhi was quite capable when he was working in the enterprise, he has too little experience in government agencies.
The Lihua factory is a huge burden and it is not something that can be taken over casually!
*
In the following days, three other deputy directors also reported to their new units.
After all the staff arrived, Ye Manzhi held a team meeting with the new team members and introduced the situation of the Lihua factory.
However, everyone agreed with Zhang Baineng's attitude and believed that he should not take on this hot potato.
The Light Industry Bureau had just been established and was in urgent need of making achievements. If it was dragged down by the Lever Factory, it would be very likely that the new officials would fail as soon as they took office.
The most important thing is that the city obviously wants to give up Lihua Factory. After the factory is disbanded, its output value will no longer be calculated into the total output value of light industry. It is really a waste of effort for them to worry about the personnel arrangements of Lihua Factory.
Ye Manzhi was a little upset that he encountered such a trouble just after taking office.
While taking a walk after dinner that evening, I couldn't help but tell Wu Zhengrong, "I went to the Lihua factory today and I felt very sad."
"Um?"
"Their factory is located in the city center, nestled in a residential area. It's truly unsuitable to rebuild on the original site, and I can't blame the nearby residents for their complaints. But regardless, the workers are innocent, having lost their good jobs. Some couples, both working at the factory, have gone six months without income, and with many children at home, they can't even afford good food and vegetables, instead picking up discarded vegetable leaves at the market."
She had only encountered this situation during the years of famine.
Wu Zhengrong listened to her share the work of the unit every day, and he knew a lot about many things. He was already qualified to be a non-staff deputy director.
Hearing this, he asked, "Aren't there a few food factories that can accept workers?"
"We can accept 140 people in total, but what about the remaining 100 or so?"
It was already dark, and the small park was deserted. Ye Manzhi, her arm around his, said, "When I went to the Lihua factory today, I saw many workers gathered in that vacant lot. Some were picking up old bricks from broken houses and carrying them to the construction site. Everyone wants to rebuild the Lihua factory, but the city is about to give up."
The situation at the Leverh Factory is similar to that of the original First Food Factory.
However, only the canning workshop of the First Food Factory was burned down. Most of the factory's assets were still there, and they could provide funds for the reconstruction of the canning workshop.
The workers at the food factory still have hope, but the workers at the Leverh factory see almost no hope at all.
Wu Zhengrong asked in a firm tone, "Do you want to help them rebuild the factory?"
"Of course I've thought about it, but the funding issue is hard to resolve. In fact, as long as the city doesn't have to pay, the leaders don't care whether it's duplication of construction."
Ye Manzhi really wanted to use the Lihua factory as a starting point to open up the situation.
She was transferred from a company to the government agency, and many people had doubts about her abilities.
Being able to manage one company does not mean she can manage hundreds of companies.
She needs to achieve results as soon as possible and gain a firm foothold in the Light Industry Bureau.
Being a director is actually nothing special. Even if you are a director, you may not be able to command the companies under your command.
Peng Jingyun was still the deputy director of the Municipal Revolutionary Committee. When he convened a meeting of food factory leaders, some people still pretended to obey and sent their deputies to attend.
If she has no ability and cannot bring resources and benefits to the company, why should others listen to her orders?
Ye Manzhi herself came from a business background, so she is very familiar with how to deal with superiors.
What's more, there are more than a dozen professional companies under the Industrial Bureau, such as the Municipal Food Industry Company, which is responsible for managing all food production enterprises in the city.
If her words were ineffective, she would most likely be sidelined by these professional companies and would only be able to drink tea, read newspapers, and convey instructions from her superiors in the office.
Ye Manzhi muttered, "I'm not familiar with other industries, but food is my forte. While the Lihua factory's problems are thorny, they present a good opportunity."
Wu Zhengrong hummed absentmindedly.
"What are you looking at?" Ye Manzhi followed his gaze and looked forward.
They had already walked out of the small park and were preparing to go home. They were now standing opposite the compound.
The dim streetlights had just come on. Ye Manzhi squinted ahead and asked uncertainly, "Is that Youyan and Yiyi? Didn't they say they were rehearsing for the cultural performance? Why are they back so soon?"
"She's just going to sing a song. It won't take long."
"Are there two boys following behind them? They look unfamiliar to me, and don't seem to be from our school."
"Well, I haven't seen it before."
The couple didn't say anything, but they both increased their walking speed and kept a distance of ten meters from the two boys.
Then I saw one of the big idiots come over and talk to her family with a joking look on his face.
The couple: "::::::"
Raising a daughter is really a hassle.
Ye Manzhi was actually mentally prepared. Her daughter Youyan perfectly inherited the beauty of the old Wu family. Her long eyelashes fluttered and she looked very much like her eldest aunt.
Pretty girls are bound to be popular.
However, seeing that brat getting close to my daughter, I felt quite awkward.
In her heart, Youyan is still a child.
I don’t know what the boy said to Youyan, but Youyan ignored him and took a few quick steps with Yiyi.
Then the brat grabbed the little girl's schoolbag strap and almost made Youyan stumble.
Ye Manzhi and Wu Zhengrong: "::::::"
You really deserve it!
They don't interfere much in their daughter's friendships and rarely care about what she does outside.
When he saw his daughter being pulled by a boy, he just fell behind and watched secretly.
I saw their classmate Xiao Wu snatch back his schoolbag, and regardless of the other party's smiling face, he punched the boy in the lower abdomen. He just heard the other party groan, and then kicked him in the leg.
At the same time, add a sentence, "You are itching to do it!"
After saying that, he walked into the gate of the family compound with Yi Yi in his hand, like a victorious little rooster.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Ye Manzhi took a long time to find his voice, "Well, our Youyan is still young and has not yet figured it out!"
Wu Zhengrong's tone was tinged with smile: "The military boxing training is not in vain, it is very effective."
In order to grow taller, Youyan has been doing morning exercises with him every day in the past year.
He is a little taller, but he is better at military boxing.
The couple walked slowly home, passing the young man who was being laughed at by his friends.
As soon as she entered the door, Ye Manzhi asked with concern: "My daughter, have you had dinner? What do you want to eat?"
"I ate in the school cafeteria," Wu Yuzhuo poured the milk into the pot, "I just need another drink of milk. Mom, do you want to drink with Dad?"
Ye Manzhi waved her hands quickly: "Just drink it all."
Drink more and you’ll have more strength to hit people.
*
Ye Manzhi has not yet told her family about her job transfer.
She wanted to go back to the military industrial compound and tell her parents in person, but her work at the new unit had just started and she couldn't spare the time.
On her way to work this morning, she was wondering when to go home. As a result, as soon as she arrived at the office door, she saw Chang Yue'e waiting there.
"Mom, why are you here?"
"You're looking for Director Ye to help you," Chang Yue'e glared at her. "You didn't even bother telling your family about such a big thing as a job transfer. I only heard about it from Yu Lindi!"
"Well, I wanted to give you a surprise. I'll be back this weekend!" Ye Manzhi led her in and asked, "Who is Yu Lindi?"
"That's the director of the Lihua Food Factory, now known as Yu Gongpu!"
Ye Manzhi: “…”
Changing names has become quite common in recent years, but people have changed their names to "Weidong", "Weihong", "Weibing" and so on.
This was the first time she heard of someone changing his name to "public servant". Director Yu really had great ambitions.
"How did you two meet?"
"We just met at work. It's been tough for the Lihua factory; everything was destroyed in a fire. Can the city help us find a solution?"
Chang Yue'e has retired from the position of deputy director of the First Food Factory branch.
Now I am receiving a pension.
She actually didn't want to interfere in her daughter's work, but Lihua Factory and Yu Gongpu really made her unbearable, so she came to find her daughter early in the morning.
Of course, my main purpose is to see my daughter’s new unit.
Anyway, she has nothing to do now that she is retired, so she just wanders around.
Ye Manzhi took her mother into her office, brewed her a cup of her best tea, and then said, "Even if you didn't come, I would have talked to Director Yu. She's been coming to the bureau every day lately to block the door, but what good is it for her to block me? It's such a complicated matter, don't I have to think of a solution first?"
"She's just like that. She relies on persuasion to get work done," Chang Yue'e said. "She came from a poor family and started working at the age of nine. It was only after she started working at Lihua that she learned to write in a literacy class. Xiao Yu has little education and doesn't care about face. Lihua was able to grow from a small workshop into a food factory thanks to her and the old factory director's persuasion and persuasion with the leaders. So, don't be fooled by her acting like a street shrew. In fact, she has a lot of power at Lihua."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
She also discovered that wherever there were more public servants, it always seemed like they were in the fields.
She has seen many female cadres over the years, but Yu Gongpu is the first one who dares to cry, make a fuss, and even threaten to commit suicide in front of the city leaders!
She shouted "Yingchun" to the secretary's office outside the door.
The new secretary Xi Yingchun quickly said "Hey" and pushed the door open.
"Director Yu from Lihua Factory, is he here today?"
"I'm here," Xi Yingchun said with a strange expression, "I'm chatting with someone in the office."
"..." Ye Manzhi sighed, "Please ask Director Yu to come over. I want to talk to her."
Yu Gongpu quickly trotted in, called out "Director Ye", and gave Chang Yue'e a look that said "It has to be you".
It seemed that it was all thanks to Chang Yue'e that Ye Manzhi was willing to see her.
Chang Yue'e stood up and said, "You guys go ahead and chat. I really came all the way here for nothing today. Director Ye was going to talk to you anyway!"
Yu Gongpu pretended to go out to see her off. The two of them exchanged polite words several times. Finally, Ye Manzhi couldn't bear it anymore and asked Xi Yingchun to help her see her mother off.
She didn't want to waste any more time, so she got straight to the point: "Director Yu, the city's position is very clear. Lihua Factory has product overlaps with other food factories, and they don't want to continue investing in factories in the city."
"Then what shall we do with our 300 employees?"
Ye Manzhi asked, "Director Yu, is the plan to produce chocolate and malted milk that you promised the city leaders true?"
"Of course it's true! For these two products, I specially took engineers to Tianjin and Shanghai to learn!" Yu Gongpu said with a spit. "Some people say that I deceived the city leaders to get the city's retention quota. How could I have such courage! Director Ye, let me tell you the truth, the funds on the Lihua factory's books are indeed not enough to add two products at the same time, but there is enough money to buy malted milk equipment. I originally planned to recruit people first. If everyone has no work, then the city can pay for some new equipment! I didn't expect that such a good plan would be ruined by that bastard Zhang Zhifeng!"
"If we had malted milk equipment, could your workers start production immediately?"
Yu Gongpu paused, glanced at Director Ye who had a serious expression, and after struggling for a moment, he chose to tell the truth.
"The workers haven't been trained yet, so how can they start working right away? But we already have the malted milk formula, and our engineers know how to make it. We can let the workers learn it when the time comes."
Ye Manzhi nodded and said, "I also hope that the Lihua factory can be rebuilt and all the original employees can be reinstated. But I still need to think of a way to contact other units. Director Yu, you can go back first. I'll call you when I have news."
Yu Gongpu had been working outside since he was a child and was very good at observing people's words and expressions. He intuitively felt that Director Ye was not trying to put him off, so he didn't bother to bother anyone. He said a lot of words of thanks and left in a clean manner.
Ye Manzhi spent several days looking through the information of major food factories in the city and studying the industrial development of all districts and counties in the city.
Then, she began her formal research after taking office.
The first stop of the investigation was not the city’s key industrial zone, nor those large state-owned factories, but her hometown - Tonglan County.
Director Qian of the County Revolutionary Committee, who had received the notice, greeted him early at the gate of the county party committee compound.
As soon as he saw Ye Manzhi, he smiled and shouted "Welcome".
Ye Manzhi exchanged a few polite words with the other party, then looked at Tian Chunshan next to him and smiled familiarly, "Old Tian, am I being nice? The first stop of my investigation is Tonglan County."
Tian Chunshan clasped his fists towards her.
Everyone knows that they were colleagues in the same team. Director Ye Manzhi came to Tonglan County for research as soon as he took office, which was considered to be giving him enough face.
Director Qian knew the two were acquaintances and would undoubtedly have something to discuss. He gave Tian Chunshan a look and politely said, "Director Tian is in charge of industrial affairs. You two are old colleagues. Let Director Tian accompany you around the county. I'll treat Director Ye to a simple meal at the county party committee cafeteria at noon."
Ye Manzhi agreed with a smile.
After everyone left, she asked, "How is it? Is it difficult to develop industry in Tonglan County?"
"Hey, we're ranked last in the city. Our foundation is too weak," Tian Chunshan said. "You said you had something to talk to me about on the phone. What was it?"
"Have you heard of Lihua Food Factory?"
"Yeah, I've heard of it. It's the one that gave the city a headache."
"Haha, it's a headache for the city, but it's a real boon for Tonglan County," Ye Manzhi said seriously. "Tonglan County is a major agricultural county. Besides agricultural machinery and pesticides, the food industry is actually the most suitable for development. Lihua Factory has workers, mature technology, formulas, and ready-made products. And your county has land, development needs, and some money. Why can't we cooperate? Developing this large state-owned food factory will also drive the development of many supporting industries."
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