Chapter Fifty-two: The Roundtable Conference

  The conference room on the first floor of the county committee office building was packed with cadres and workers from the county fertilizer plant, including ordinary workers. On the table were melon seeds and sugar balls, and a secretary poured hot water for them. They enjoyed the treatment of the county committee leaders.

  The county fertilizer plant is holding a seminar on the implementation of the "factory director contract responsibility system" reform, presided over by Lu Zhong, member of the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee and Vice Mayor.

  In addition, the deputy county magistrate and director of the Planning and Economic Commission, Wang Dongsheng, was also present. He is an old man with white hair, and the position of Director of the Planning and Economic Commission should be his last post. After the original Director of the Planning and Economic Commission and Deputy Secretary of the County Party Committee, Shang Ronghua, took up the post of Minister of Organization, Wang Dongsheng, who was then deputy county magistrate, concurrently held the post of Director of the Planning and Economic Commission.

  County Party Committee Office and Policy Research Office Director Ji Chang'an, former Government Office Director, is considered an old friend of Lu Zheng's. Nowadays, no matter what work is carried out, the emphasis is on theory first. As a result, Ji Chang'an was also invited by Lu Zheng to attend the meeting.

  In addition, there are teachers from the county Party school and heads of relevant departments and bureaus.

  No matter what kind of impression Jiang Haiyan had on Lu Zhong, but Lu Zhong's idea for reforming the fertilizer plant was given a green light by her. She let Lu Zhong take charge and do as he pleased, perhaps this is where her cleverness lies.

  Among the staff representatives of the fertilizer plant, Lu Guobin also attended the meeting as a representative of old workers. Listening to Lu Zhong's talk, the county committee and government leaders, including the factory director and secretary, listened intently. He didn't know what to feel in his heart. Originally, he had found many excuses to avoid attending this meeting, but he couldn't resist the order from Factory Director Gao Dafu, so he had to come to the meeting with a stiff upper lip.

  Lu Zhong talked about the county's plan to contract out the fertilizer plant, focusing on the "Factory Financial Supervision Committee" that would be established if the contract responsibility system were implemented. He said with a smile: "Power without supervision is evil, so this committee will not become a constraint on the contractor's hands and feet, but rather will establish an open and transparent mechanism for the contract, which will to the greatest extent alleviate potential conflicts between the contractor and employees."

  After taking a sip of tea, Lu Zhong said: "Of course, now the county is just an initial idea, and we need to listen to everyone's opinions. If it's feasible, the city will also send a research team, and we'll gather our thoughts and discuss our views."

  Lu Zhong's voice had just fallen, and Gao Dafriend took the lead in applauding, saying even louder: "I represent all the workers in the factory to resolutely support the correct decision of the county committee and government! We will unite around the new leadership team of the factory, not afraid of hardship or fatigue, and contribute our strength to the reform of the factory!"

  Lu Zhong smiled and said, "We haven't taken over yet, you're still the director of the fertilizer plant. How can you help this new group take power? Let's just discuss our views."

  Among a burst of kind laughter, Gao Da You scratched his head and sat down.

  No one in the meeting room spoke, they all stared at each other with big eyes, whether or not they agreed to take on the project, it was all a county matter. The leader called you to attend the meeting, did he really want to hear your opinion?

  Besides, I've heard that some private entrepreneurs from other places have been arrested. Who knows when the wind direction will change? Today's careless remarks might become evidence of a crime someday.

  Lu Zhong did not expect such a result, thinking that in the future when visiting and making trouble, the masses would have a lot to say, but now that they are given the opportunity to speak, no one makes a sound.

  It's understandable considering the current year, Lu Zhong is also relieved.

  Zhang An coughed and said with a smile, "Comrades, let's do it this way. I'll take roll call, and you all come one by one. Gao Dafriend, you go first." Having been the director of the office for many years, he was always good at putting out fires.

  Gao Dafriend had already prepared his speech and began to talk eloquently. To be honest, he really wanted to take over the profitable factory and had put in some effort. He spoke about the benefits of implementing a contract system, finally concluding with a passionate sentence: "The rural land has been contracted out, and farmers have become rich! Our factory will be contracted out, and we workers will also achieve moderate prosperity!" The audience applauded repeatedly.

  The cadres and staff who were named to speak next all said a few words, more or less, which was nothing but supporting the county's decision, following the party, and following the county.

  Delegated.

  The meeting didn't go as smoothly as expected. Lu Zhong nodded slightly, and said, "Alright then, let's just make a decision with one word."

  After the meeting was announced to be dismissed, Lu Zhong quickly walked a few steps to Lu Guobin's side, who was about to follow the crowd out of the conference room, and said: "Uncle, shall we have lunch together at noon?"

  Lu Guobin was taken aback for a moment, then said: "This... let's do it another day. You're busy with work, don't bother." His wife had been insisting on treating Lu Zhong to a good meal as a thank you, but Lu Guobin couldn't bring himself to accept this favor. At the moment, facing Lu Zhong directly and talking to him, he felt quite unnatural in his heart, and even more astonishingly, not long ago, he had only heard that Lu Zhong was the head of the county bureau, which was already surprising enough. Unexpectedly, just a few months later, he became one of the county committee's standing members, which was simply unbelievable.

  Lu Zhong could see his unnatural behavior and smiled, saying: "Alright, let's change the day." Turning around, he saw Ji Chang'an walking over and said with a smile: "Director Ji, want to go to the cafeteria to grab something to eat?"

  Ji Chang'an smiled and nodded in agreement.

  ……

  In the afternoon, Lu Zhong was pondering the reform of the fertilizer plant when the phone rang.

  The county fertilizer plant reform was a top priority for Lu Zhong, not just a small-scale reform of a county-owned enterprise, but also an attempt to establish a model for the contract system through the fertilizer plant's reform. This would allow the financial power of contractors to be restricted and supervised in the upcoming national contracting frenzy, preventing the loss of state assets. Moreover, many areas that implemented the contract system saw their enterprises quickly accumulate huge losses, only to be sold off at low prices, with the buyers often being the same contractors who had used state loans to acquire the state-owned enterprises at a low price, resulting in large-scale private appropriation of state assets.

  The state government operates enterprises through administrative orders, and there are indeed many problems. Handing over state-owned enterprises to private teams for operation is a common practice internationally, but such operations must be based on open and transparent mechanisms.

  Lu Zhong hopes to explore a suitable reform path for state-owned enterprises in the Republic, even if it cannot be responded to nationwide. At the very least, he wants to establish a model and compare who is on the more correct path.

  So, Lu Zhong has been putting all his mind into the reform plan of the fertilizer plant these days.

  The phone rang, and Lu Zhong answered it. On the other end of the line was a slightly stern female voice: "Is this Lu Zhong?"

  Lu Zhong heard it, Jiang Haiyan, now really don't even want to see each other's faces? Changed to just make a phone call when there's something to instruct?

  But Lu Zhong could feel the severity of this woman, some ideas he put forward should be in line with her mind, so she was a bit dismissive of him but supportive of his work. In this way, if his work achieved results, it would also be under her "wise leadership". If he made any mistakes, it goes without saying that the biggest scapegoat would already be hanging high above his head.

  "It's me, Haiyan County Magistrate. What's the matter?" Lu Zhong was also very polite, not like the bandit who lost his temper at the meeting two days ago.

  "In two days, the crew of the TV series 'Dream of Red Mansions' will come to our Ming Stone Mountain for filming. They'll probably shoot over a hundred scenes. Although it's not too many scenes, Director Wang told me that since the new drama has just started, the actors also need time to get familiar with each other. So they plan to stay in Guangning for more than a month before going to another county in the same province to film over 2,000 scenes of Rongguo Mansion. You should make psychological preparations in advance and arrange everything early to ensure the successful completion of the filming work of 'Dream of Red Mansions' in our Guangning."

  Hong Lou Meng crew? Lu Zhong was stunned for a moment, that Tong Su Su, will she come?

  Jiang Haiyan further emphasized: "You must personally take charge of this task, attach great importance to it and complete it as a political task."

  "Uh-huh, got it." Lu Zhong replied blandly, feeling a bit helpless in his heart. The status of the crew is really high now, unlike in later generations, where various crews ran all over the streets, who cared about them?

  Having no other choice, Lu Zhong had his secretary Xiao Zhou call Driver Ban to see if Jiao Kai was there and have him come pick himself up to take him back to the county bureau.

  Jiao Ye naturally stayed in, now the communication is not convenient, and it's unknown when the leader will use the car. He spent the whole day sitting in the county committee driver duty room drinking water and chatting, and gradually became familiar with several drivers of the county committee.