The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 53 The Private Deputy Factory Director Speaks Out [Requesting Monthly Tickets!]

Inside the factory office conference room, all the cadres had gathered for the first day of work.

There were quite a few people who came. Level 18 is the cadre position. All the workshop directors are at this level, including Zhou Zhiqiang.

Other cadres also arrived one after another, including the union leaders who had just been established.

Even the deputy factory director from the private sector came, but he kept a low profile, didn't talk to anyone, and waited for the factory director and secretary to arrive after taking his seat.

After Director Zhao and Secretary Yan arrived, the meeting officially began.

After Secretary Yan took his seat, he announced the start of the meeting.

"Comrades, in the past year, our Dafeng Machinery Manufacturing Plant has achieved excellent results, with an annual output value of 1237 million yuan, an average output value of 9562 yuan per person, and a factory retained profit of 49 yuan."

Nowadays, most factories have to hand over their profits. Dafeng Machinery Factory has an annual profit of more than 1.4 million yuan, but it has to hand over 1 million yuan.

The remaining portion consists of private dividends, and only after these are distributed to the private sector does the factory's finances become truly prosperous.

Only the factory director and the party secretary can use this money to purchase some welfare benefits for the factory and workers, or to add something to the factory.

In the end, I'll probably have about 300,000 left.

It seems like a lot, but when averaged out to each worker per month, it's really not much, and it's impossible to use all of that money to buy benefits for the workers.

The factory has to pay for all of these things itself, including machinery repair, factory maintenance, and holiday benefits.

Moreover, Dafeng Machinery Factory plans to purchase three vehicles this year: two trucks and one jeep. Although it seems like the profits will increase significantly, the factory's finances are actually a bit tight.

However, Zhou Zhiqiang made a discovery: when he heard that the private sector could receive a dividend of 180,000 yuan, he specifically glanced at the other cadres.

Many officials were found to be dissatisfied.

They worked hard all year, and in the end, they still had to give the capitalists this much.

With these tens of thousands of yuan gone, their factory's welfare benefits will be significantly reduced for the next year. If the workers become dissatisfied because of the reduced benefits, it will be the managers who are always on the front lines who will appease them.

Moreover, Dafeng Machinery Factory was just a small factory before, with only two or three hundred employees. If it weren't for the public-private partnership and the continuous allocation of production tasks by the state, could Dafeng Machinery Factory have developed into a factory with thousands of employees in just two years?
The deputy factory director representing the private sector didn't say a word throughout the entire meeting. Even when he heard about the money allocated to them, he simply picked up his water glass and took a sip.

They are able to see the situation clearly.

However, they are not among the most discerning. If one is truly exceptionally astute, then one must learn from the Rong family.

Donating all dividends and profits directly to help the construction of domestic heavy industry would be a way to lose money but gain friendship and protection.

Although he might not become the vice mayor like Rong Jia did, he could probably become a people's representative.

After the Party Secretary and the Factory Director finished speaking, it was the turn of the other cadres to report on their departments' plans for the year.

There hasn't been much change from last year. About 70% of their production tasks are assigned by their superiors, while the remaining 30% are either taken on by themselves or come to them by other factories.

Moreover, there are only two important production tasks scheduled for this year, both of which involve confidentiality, enough to keep them busy until the middle of the year.

When it was the turn of the technical department, the department head, Lü Yi, said, "Secretary, factory director, and fellow workers, our technical department plans to develop and produce a unique agricultural machinery product for our factory this year."

This agricultural machinery product was developed by Zhou Zhiqiang, the deputy head of the technical department; it's a small hand-held tractor. The main consideration was that all current tractors are imitations of the Russian DT series.

Zhou Zhiqiang, who was standing to the side, nodded in agreement. Section Chief Lü had asked him a lot of questions in the office earlier, and now he had memorized them all.

In a simple and easy-to-understand way, a comparison between domestically produced tractors and domestic farming methods quickly clarified the necessity of producing small walking tractors. What they needed was agricultural machinery adapted to domestic farming practices.

Just because it's Russian doesn't mean we should blindly copy everything they say; they love drinking vodka, but not many people in China are used to it.

"We need to develop and produce our own products."

After listening for a moment, Secretary Yan asked, "Section Chief Lü, have you prepared a detailed plan?"

Lu Yi said, "It's all ready. Deputy Section Chief Zhou has been thinking about this since last year and has already prepared most of the technical drawings."

This was a bit of an understatement. Lü Yi knew that Zhou Zhiqiang had already prepared all the technical drawings, but in order to leave the technical department a way out, he still didn't say it outright.

"Very good, it seems your technical department has made thorough preparations."

After Secretary Yan finished speaking, he changed the subject, turned to look at Factory Director Zhao, and said, "Comrade Guangzheng, do you have any opinions? After all, you have a lot of say in production matters."

"My opinion."

Director Zhao quickly realized that Secretary Yan didn't seem to want to support this matter.

As for the reason, he could probably guess it: the factory was short of funds.

Once this new project starts, we'll need 20,000 to 30,000 yuan in support, and it will last for three to four months. We'll also need to transfer some senior workers. Hmm, considering all this, even Director Zhao himself is a little apprehensive.

But once it's successful, the benefits will be enormous. At the very least, their factory will have a flagship product, and their profits will increase significantly.

It's all about the initial expenses. Director Zhao himself rubbed his chin.

They had too much to hand over this year, so they only left 300,000 yuan for their factory. Without this small hand tractor project, their factory would be struggling financially.

"If the technical department has absolute confidence, then we can give it a try. After all, small tractors do fit our country's farming methods, and I personally prefer to develop new agricultural machinery."

"However, let's wait and see. Let's discuss it after we finish our current production tasks, Section Chief Lü. Is that alright?"

Upon hearing this, Section Chief Lü's eyes widened. He felt as if he had misheard; was he being rejected?
Why refuse such a good opportunity, which Deputy Section Chief Zhou is confident he can develop and manufacture?

"Factory manager, how about we reconsider? This small hand-held tractor."

"Section Chief Lü, I understand what you mean, but please also understand the factory's situation."

Factory Director Zhao interrupted Section Chief Lü, saying that it wasn't that he didn't support it, but that the factory was currently facing a shortage of funds and manpower.

"Section Chief Lü, wait until April. The factory will be more financially secure then, so bring this report to me."

Upon hearing this, both Section Chief Lü and Zhou Zhiqiang couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed.

Zhou Zhiqiang was thinking of asking Deputy Director Liu about this project after the meeting, as it would not only benefit the country's development but also him personally.

It can increase achievements and enrich one's resume.

Waiting four months would involve too many variables. What if we have to wait even after four months?
"Secretary Yan, Factory Director Zhao, and other comrades."

An Xiangjie, the usually quiet deputy factory manager, suddenly spoke up: "I'm quite optimistic about this project. If it's due to financial issues, how about we take a portion of my profits to support it? What do you think?"

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(End of this chapter)