"To get rich, first build roads!"
"Director Liu, let me tell you, the future development trend is that machines will inevitably replace manual labor. How much can we transport carrying loads by hand in a day?"
"Now, if you use a donkey cart or an ox cart, and then look at it, productivity has been raised by a level. If you then replace the ox cart with a truck, you see, isn't one truck equivalent to a hundred of us? What if we upgrade to a train?"
"We can't afford to build railways, but we can afford to build a dirt road. With a spacious road, trucks can reach the factory to transport the spent grain fish, and then our spent grain fish can be quickly sold to its destination."
"It's not just spent grain fish, but also people. With roads and cars, we can go out, leave the commune, see a wider world, and give our children a better future."
It was only the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and a few days after the Spring Festival, the production line that Chen Yang had bought in Port City before the year had been transported over.
Accompanying them were Chen Yang's ten newly purchased large trucks, which were transporting the first batch of production lines for the spent grain fish factory.
There would be more production lines for televisions later, but these would not be transported to An Province, but rather to Shanghai and Chen Yang's factory in Jiangsu Province.
Chen Yang decided to establish his own transportation company. In the coming years, the number of self-employed individuals, handicraft workers, and even private entrepreneurs would increase, making it a great opportunity to make money by starting a transportation company at this time.
Currently, in China, trucks are basically only owned by units and large state-owned enterprises. The status of drivers and workers in the transportation teams and dispatch workshops of some large state-owned enterprises is even higher than that of cadres.
It was a time when trucks were hard to come by. To get priority for transporting their goods and materials, factories without transportation teams and vehicles had to go to great lengths to curry favor with dispatchers and drivers, just to get their goods scheduled sooner.
Limited by the domestic manufacturing level and the immaturity of automotive technology, private individuals could basically not afford trucks. However, Chen Yang was different. In Port City, an international port city, he had plenty of channels to purchase cars.
As long as he had money, those car suppliers would line up large trucks and invite Chen Yang to visit and purchase.
This was Chen Yang's advantage in development. With these vehicles, Chen Yang could establish a logistics company. With choices available, those smaller factories would definitely be willing to pay Chen Yang's vehicles to help transport their goods.
The only concern was that there had not yet been a severe crackdown, and some areas had a rough local custom, with frequent roadside robberies, which was still very dangerous for drivers.
"Chen Yang, I understand what you're saying, but building roads is no small matter."
"The manpower and resources required all need to be considered. The current roads are completely sufficient for our villagers to travel. If we build a new road, I'm afraid the masses will have opinions."
Liu Fuchun knew that Chen Yang was capable and had a broader vision than himself.
But even if what Chen Yang said was correct, he was afraid of encountering resistance if he tried to follow Chen Yang's ideas.
It was a turning point in social change, and he often didn't know if his actions would be supported by the masses.
"Director Liu, you can rest assured. I will mobilize the resources. The products of the spent grain fish factory need to be transported out, and I will definitely buy trucks. And roads must be built."
"To get rich, first build roads, this saying is not something I just made up."
"Only if our products can be easily sold can they be sold all over the world. Then, if the factory's business improves, its scale can be expanded. If the factory's business is good, more workers will be hired, and there will be more opportunities for everyone to make money, and life will naturally become better."
Chen Yang could also understand Liu Fuchun's difficulties. He had just helped him set up the rudimentary spent grain fish factory, and then Xiaogang Village had implemented household land contracts.
Whether he should continue with land contracts or maintain the status quo was a question for Liu Fuchun to ponder.
With this issue not yet resolved, Chen Yang was now proposing road construction and establishing a transportation company, so it was natural for him to be afraid of making mistakes.
"Chen Yang, I understand and support you when you say this."
"If the spent grain fish factory is to grow larger, it will benefit not only the people of our commune, but it can drive an entire region. Your factory's plan to purchase fish products this year has directly led the higher-level leaders to research and formulate a plan for pond contracting and fish farming, which is to be promoted city-wide."
"If, one day, the spent grain fish factory becomes a large factory with tens of thousands of employees like the Hongxing Machinery Factory, then perhaps several surrounding counties will come to engage in fish farming, and you will truly be supporting millions of people."
Liu Fuchun was not foolish. After interacting with Chen Yang for so long, he had actually grasped a lot of information and possessed a desire for progress himself.
"Director Liu, it's good that you think this way. To develop, we must abandon old ideas. Building dikes is contributing to the country, so isn't building roads also contributing?"
"With the roads built, where will it be inconvenient for the villagers to go in the future?"
"If the common people are satisfied, isn't that contributing to the country? Besides, we are not building gravel roads or cement highways. We are just filling in the roadbed, burning off the weeds, and compacting the mud with piles. That's also a road."
It was only the beginning of 1980, and it was still too early to promote cement roads. The investment was too large, and at least Chen Yang would not invest this money.
However, building a dirt road and widening it to five or six meters would be enough for trucks to travel on. As long as it didn't rain, hard mud was no worse than a cement road. If it really rained, there was nothing that could be done.
If the vehicle got stuck in a mud pit, one could only find someone to pull it out.
"Chen Yang, you little rascal, you can really talk."
"Alright, I'll report this matter to Secretary Chen later. Secretary Chen is very concerned about your affairs. Although he is about to be promoted, the successor leader will also respect his decisions."
"I am quite supportive of you, not for any other reason than because of you, I might also be able to advance further. If I don't support you, wouldn't that be denying myself?"
Liu Fuchun said with a smile. Chen Yang's promotion was not surprising. As for Zou Chenguang, there was no need to elaborate; in just two years, he had been promoted by two levels and had become the head of the An Province Department of Industry and Commerce.
Chen Shuibing and Liu Fuchun, having both promoted the "dao hua" fish and established the spent grain fish factory, any one of these achievements was worthy of commendation from their superiors, so promotion was not unexpected.
"Then it's settled. Let's find a piece of land, I need to build a factory building to serve as a warehouse, and then establish the transportation company."
"Same as before, we'll give the commune shares, and they'll get dividends from the profits. The commune won't be involved in management."
Chen Yang was not one to dally. Once a decision was made, he would start construction immediately.