Qi Tongwei delivered a brief opening statement and sat down.
After roughly half an hour of outlining precautions, Wang Kang finally got down to business.
"Today we have three agenda items," Wang Kang said. "Let's discuss the first item: the restructuring of Shitou Village. Chen Jian, please come up and give everyone a report."
Chen Jian was no longer acting clueless.
Armed with a folder of documents, he launched into a fluent presentation...
The brickyard in Shitou Village began construction in 1961.
It had grown from a scattering of primitive earth kilns back then into its present scale.
It currently employed one hundred and seventy-three workers.
Its annual output exceeded 7.2 million raw bricks.
Its output value was over 1.152 million.
Qi Tongwei nodded.
These figures were completely accurate.
At this point, Wang Kang turned to Qi Tongwei.
"Logically speaking, Mayor Qi should be the one reporting to us on the specifics of the restructuring work."
"However, since Mayor Qi is newly arrived in our locality, I will be presenting the relevant background today. I trust Mayor Qi has no objections to this arrangement."
Qi Tongwei smiled. "Having arrived in Qingping less than a month ago, my seniority is still shallow, so Secretary Wang's guidance is definitely needed."
Wang Kang nodded with satisfaction, his tone turning impassioned.
He addressed the room: "Due to the local soil composition, Shitou Village was able to build such a massive brickyard."
"However, traditional methods caused heavy environmental pollution, many workers contracted pneumoconiosis, and in numerous areas the earth had been hollowed out, leading to soil erosion and a host of other issues."
"That is why the proposal was put forward to introduce new equipment and upgrade and renovate the brickyard."
"Led by the government, two batches of equipment were brought in from the provincial capital, totaling around 710,000 in cost, to be paid off within 18 months based on the brickyard's previous monthly profit standards."
"Am I right, Branch Secretary Zhang?"
Qi Tongwei had specifically invited Zhang Hongshan to attend today as an observer.
Since Wang Kang also recognized him as the collective representative of Shitou Village, he had agreed to let him sit in.
Listening to Wang Kang's words, Zhang Hongshan knew things weren't being exaggerated beyond reason, so he could only nod and say, "Yes."
Chen Jian chimed in at this point: "Because the previous mayor failed to conduct a proper assessment, this restructuring resulted in living beyond our means, leaving four months of equipment payments still unsettled."
Chen Jian continued: "When the installment payments for the equipment fell behind, the brickyard was used as collateral. With the brickyard on the verge of being seized, the former mayor sought out a businessman from another county to take it over in order to cut our losses."
"Next, our Branch Secretary Zhang will report on the specific details."
Zhang Hongshan had not expected to be called upon to give a report; for a moment he felt uncertain and glanced at Qi Tongwei. Seeing Qi Tongwei nod, Zhang Hongshan regained his footing and spoke directly: "At the time, the government and Wen Lijun—the businessman from the other county—promised us compensation of 2,000 yuan per person."
"Furthermore, no one would lose their job; everyone could continue working at the plant, except that he would take a seventy-thirty split of the profits, meaning he would take seventy percent of the shares. That is why the village collective signed the contract."
"But for reasons unknown to us, later on, all the construction projects in the township stopped needing our bricks, and construction in the neighboring areas stopped needing them too... For a period of time, the plant was completely shut down!"
Zhang Hongshan concluded: "So that Wen Lijun ran off after operating for less than a month, and the contract became nothing more than a piece of waste paper."
After all this tossing and turning, we had even less money, and as the final deadline approached, Wang Jun went ahead and sealed the machinery...
If we had known it would turn out like this, why would we have ever brought in new equipment? We were burning bricks just fine on our own!
"Zhang Hongshan, control yourself."
Wang Kang tapped the table.
Though Zhang Hongshan had wanted to say more, he was forced to hold it back.
In other words, a factory with an annual revenue of over a million had been snatched away for twenty thousand.
Qi Tongwei took a deep breath. This was sheer highway robbery—just like that, collective assets had been plundered.
At this juncture, Wang Kang spoke up: "At the time, Deputy Mayor Chen negotiated externally, and the equipment supplier is willing to fork out another one hundred thousand yuan to compensate the workers, along with refunding sixty percent of the money you previously paid, while only cutting half the workforce. Does everyone consider this proposal workable?"
Unable to hold back any longer, Zhang Hongshan stood straight up and said, "How can this possibly work? A family's entire livelihood depends on this place! We wanted to develop precisely so we could live a better life, but instead of the benefits reaching us, it brought down a heap of disasters upon our heads."
"When we lose this, families will have no choice but to go out and do migrant labor. Those people are definitely not going to let this rest—something is bound to happen!"
Chen Jian, who had been looking for an opening, glared at Zhang Hongshan and slammed the table. "Zhang Hongshan, what is that supposed to mean? Are they actually daring to oppose the government?"
Unable to contain himself any longer, Zhang Hongshan's face turned beet red, his fists clenched tight as he stared directly at Chen Jian. "If your family's money was stolen under unclear circumstances, whether those villagers will acknowledge the government is something I cannot guarantee!"
The atmosphere turned tense in an instant.
Legal awareness was still relatively weak in those days, and Zhang Hongshan's words were already quite restrained.
Unfazed, Wang Kang said unhurriedly, "Deputy Mayor Chen, please sit down. Branch Secretary Zhang's remarks are biased. Didn't you sign those documents yourselves?"
"And is it the government's fault that you couldn't pay back the money? At the time, the entire Shitou Village gave unanimous consent."
"Later on, it was because of your own mismanagement that the subsequent problems arose. Are you trying to pin all of this on the government?"
"Branch Secretary Zhang, please weigh your words carefully when saying things that damage unity. You are a cadre of the Party and the state—is this how Party and state cadres conduct themselves? Can you disregard Party discipline and state laws simply because your interests have been harmed?"
With that, Wang Kang let out a cold laugh. "Behind us stand the People's Police and the People's Army. Let's see who dares to instigate anti-government sentiment again!"
Wang Kang's verbal onslaught left Zhang Hongshan speechless.
This was precisely what he found so deeply frustrating.
It was true that he had been the one to lead the charge in bringing in the equipment.
He had wanted to make things less grueling for the workers and bring about better development.
Yet who possessed divine foresight to see how things would turn out later?
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Qi Tongwei hurriedly signaled Zhang Hongshan with his eyes.
Zhang Hongshan's remarks were already treading close to the bottom line.
Qi Tongwei was terrified he might do something even more out of line.
Catching Qi Tongwei's signal, Zhang Hongshan refused to sit down.
He was afraid that if Qi Tongwei buckled under the pressure, he would sell them out.
He wanted to stand his ground. If they really insisted on seizing the plant, at worst it would be a fight to the death; there wasn't much hope left to look forward to anyway these days.
Left with no other choice—though he had originally intended to observe how the situation played out—Qi Tongwei saw that current developments had far exceeded his expectations.
Qi Tongwei stood up, composed his thoughts, and said to Zhang Hongshan, "Branch Secretary Zhang, this matter is currently just a proposal. Different opinions can be raised, but there's no need to say anything further. You were just too emotional; sit down and calm down first."
Seeing that both the top leaders had spoken, Zhang Hongshan could only sit back down resentfully, though his eyes remained fixed on Chen Jian.
Chen Jian, however, remained nonchalant. If Zhang Hongshan insisted on pushing the issue, a couple of accidents happening these days wasn't out of the realm of possibility.
At this point, Qi Tongwei stood up, straightened out his thoughts, and spoke.
"The restructuring of Shitou Village cannot proceed as it stands. It's not just a matter concerning over two hundred households in Shitou Village; at the very least, the pricing is grossly unfair."
"Are we just going to hand the factory over to those businessmen over twenty thousand yuan worth of equipment? We must exercise caution. This is the loss of state-owned assets—this is a political issue!"
Chen Jian let out a sneer. "Mayor Qi, this isn't a sale; it's a mortgage. When the collective failed to repay the money, the other party repossessed the collateral. It's reasonable, sensible, and completely legal."
Qi Tongwei smiled faintly. "Mayor Chen puts it well. This matter is very simple: it's a mortgage. If the Shitou Village brickyard can pay back the money, at worst it's just a minor debt dispute over collecting a bit more interest, and it doesn't even rise to the level of a sale."
"At worst, the government can figure out a way to pay off the money, right?"
At this point, Aidan chimed in: "Paying back the money is no small sum either—it's around two hundred thousand-plus, plus a month of workers' wages."
Chen Jian seized the opening. "Mayor Qi, things aren't as simple as just talking about it. Where is the money supposed to come from?"
"The township has no money. Salaries for places like the hospital haven't even been secured this year."
"How could we possibly have the energy to manage this?"
"Besides, the plant cannot operate in its current state anyway."
"Even if it did resume operations, who can guarantee that the previous problem of unsalable inventory won't happen again?"
"I wonder what high insights Mayor Qi has? Do enlighten us!"
With that, Chen Jian burst out laughing.