Siheyuan: I am different He Yuzhu

He Yuzhu spent a day thinking it over and over again, and finally wrote out the project application for the Red Star Steel Plant to establish a factory-owned farm in Xiyu Province before leaving get off work. Then he picked up the phone and called the office director Liu Weijie, "Hello, is this Director Liu? Come to my office."

He Yuzhu had just put down the phone when there was a knock on the office door. He casually said to the door, "Come in."

Fan Youxiang pushed the door open and walked in. "Director He, there is a document that needs your signature." After saying that, Fan Youxiang put a document on He Yuzhu's desk. He Yuzhu picked up the document and took a quick look at it. After confirming that there was no problem, he signed his name on the document.

At this time, Liu Weijie saw that He Yuzhu's office door was not closed, so he walked in directly, "Director He, I'm here, Deputy Director Fan is here too!" Fan Youxiang nodded at Liu Weijie and responded.

He Yuzhu picked up the project application he had written on the table and handed it to Liu Weijie, "Director Liu, I asked the document room to print five copies of this document. It's almost time to get off work now, so I rushed to send it to me today. I'll give it to me tomorrow when it's done."

"Okay, I understand." After saying that, Liu Weijie turned and left He Yuzhu's office.

"Deputy Director Fan, is there anything wrong? If not, please sit down and let's talk." He Yuzhu looked at Fan Youxiang and said with a smile.

"It's almost time to get off work, and there's nothing to do." After saying that, Fan Youxiang sat on the sofa in He Yuzhu's office.

He Yuzhu then came and sat down beside the sofa. "Deputy Director Fan, today I reported to Secretary Gao and Director Yang of the main factory a method to place the children of factory employees. Secretary Gao and Director Yang also agreed. We just need to wait for the approval of the higher authorities before we can implement it." After that, He Yuzhu told Fan Youxiang about his proposal to establish a farm under the steel plant. "Deputy Director Fan, what do you think?"

Fan Youxiang thought for a moment and said, "Director He, your idea does sound good, but I don't think it will be easy to promote! Not to mention going to a place as far away as the Western Regions, even in the rural areas of Lower Sijiu City, I don't think many people would be willing to engage in agricultural production."

"Deputy Director Fan, I know what you're worried about, but there's nothing we can do about it! Under my strong suppression, our factory has been expanding its production scale as planned, and has not blindly recruited workers in pursuit of increased production capacity. But other factories are not like this. After the steel production surpassed John Bull in 1958, the Central Committee delegated the management of many factories to local governments. In order to expand the benefits of their own regions, local governments led many factories to blindly expand their scale and recruit a large number of workers, many of whom came from rural areas. Our factory is in a special situation, so the management rights remain in the First Industrial Machinery Department."

He Yuzhu paused for a moment and continued, "So many workers poured into the cities all of a sudden, and a drought that hadn't happened in a century hit many provinces, making the food supply extremely tight. In order to speed up the recovery of agricultural production, the Central Committee held a working meeting at the end of last year and decided to reduce the steel production target for 1961 from the original 1800 million tons to 1500 million tons. At the same time, it required local governments not to expand the scale of factories, and to fully organize manpower to fight drought and disaster relief, so as to restore normal agricultural production as soon as possible."

"I read about this in the newspaper, but what does it have to do with your proposal to organize children of factory workers to go to the Western Regions to engage in agricultural production?" Fan Youxiang asked curiously after hearing He Yuzhu's words.

Deputy Director Fan, you should know that our country is currently implementing a planned economy! The factory's production plan must be strictly implemented in accordance with the instructions of the superiors. If we do not follow the plan and blindly expand production, we are likely to face the problem of insufficient supply of raw materials. Moreover, the reason why the Central Committee decided to lower this year's steel production target at last year's meeting was that it could not ensure that there would be enough iron ore and coal to meet the demand for 1800 million tons of steel production. "

"Once the steel production target is lowered, many factories that rely on steel will find it difficult to continue operating, and a large number of factories will inevitably be shut down. I predict that by June or July at the latest, the Central Committee will issue relevant documents aimed at reducing the size of the urban population. The only way to achieve this goal is to divert some of the workers in existing factories and let them return to the countryside, and mobilize some unemployed young people to go to rural areas to support construction. In this way, we can solve the problem of urban resource shortages and promote rural development, which is a two-pronged approach."

"If the urban population is to be reduced on a large scale as rumored, then the workers in our factory will be in big trouble! At that time, not only those workers who are already working, but even their jobs may not be kept! Not to mention the unemployed children of our factory workers. They are likely to be diverted to the countryside! So, I came up with this idea - to open a farm belonging to our factory. In this way, we can take the initiative to solve the employment problems of some of the workers' children! Although it is not certain whether this situation will really happen, we still have to prepare for it! It is always better to prepare early, right?"

"Let's start preparing for the farm now. If the Central Committee really needs to reduce the city's population, the children of workers in our factory won't have to worry about being like other young people in society and not being able to choose the area they support! Moreover, it's a farm built by our own factory, so the living and housing conditions will be more reliable than in other uncertain places." He Yuzhu patiently explained to Fan Youxiang.

"Director He, you really think long-term. The workers are so lucky to have a director like you." Fan Youxiang said sincerely.

"Deputy Director Fan, stop flattering me. Don't make public what I told you today. Wait for the higher authorities to agree before announcing it. Well, it's almost time to get off work. Go back and pack up and get ready to leave!"

"Then I'll be leaving. Director He, you should also leave work early." After saying that, Fan Youxiang stood up and left He Yuzhu's office.

After Fan Youxiang left, He Yuzhu held a teacup and began to ponder. The Red Star Steel Plant's Red Steel Experience, which he had summarized, was promoted nationwide by superiors. In the actual promotion, many factories used this excuse to reform, abolish and simplify many reports and systems, which reduced the burden on grassroots workers and improved the factory's production efficiency. However, there were also factories that, in the process of promoting the Red Star Steel Experience, abolished all important departments such as production planning, product design, technical inspection, technical safety, equipment power, and technology, causing chaos in factory production.

In addition to the liberation of grassroots workers, some factory leaders have also been liberated. The factory director responsibility system has been abolished, which means that accountability has disappeared. Collective responsibility means no one is responsible. It is no longer important to complete production tasks with quality and quantity. On the contrary, we must try our best to avoid the charges of "bureaucracy" or "conservatism", so factory production has become "Buddhist".

According to the information obtained by He Yuzhu, a steel plant in Shanghai abolished the inspection department, and the steel placing and pouring visa system, the violation of regulations assessment system, and the steelmaking and pouring supervision regulations were successively abolished, and other formal production systems also existed in name only. The result was a surge in costs and a decline in quality. The first-class rate of steel products in the whole plant dropped from 1958% in 81.66 to 1960% in 63.64. The cost per ton of steel in the open-hearth workshop increased from less than 1957 yuan in 246 to 1960 yuan in 352, and the cost of the converter workshop soared by 206 yuan. In 1959 and 1960 alone, the whole plant lost as much as yuan.

There are countless examples like this. It can only be said that the Honggang experience that he summarized at the beginning was still not perfect. However, He Yuzhu was not discouraged or frustrated, because he knew that the management method he implemented in Hongxing Steel Plant and Hongxing Machinery Manufacturing Plant was correct. Otherwise, Hongxing Steel Plant and Hongxing Machinery Manufacturing Plant would not have developed to such a scale in just a few years. It’s just that he did not summarize the experience he promoted at the beginning. As long as he continues to improve the Honggang experience, then the Honggang experience in the future will definitely be able to promote the progress of the factory more effectively and enable the national economy to develop better.