Chapter 82 Contract Responsibility System

"Andrei, you did a good job in Sokolovka." This time when Andrei returned to Moscow, he followed Ekaterina and did not stay in a hotel. He then learned that Ekaterina also had a small apartment here, with one bedroom and one living room, where she lived alone, which was just right for Andrei to stay temporarily. At the same time, knowing that Andrei was back, Yelena kindly invited Andrei to have dinner at Yelena's house.

Not long after, Andropov came back, saw Andrei, and actually praised Andrei.

"Serving the Soviets," Andrei said. "It's a pity that I left again before the new rules and regulations were established."

Of course Andrei knew that Andropov was not talking about the fact that he shot down the Blackbird reconnaissance plane. This incident actually caused a sensation and made him the pride of the Soviet Union again. However, the old man in front of him was most concerned about the country's reform.

Reform! Without reform, the country will sooner or later go into a dead end. The power of the people is strong! Andropov, who had dealt with the Hungarian incident, knew what kind of storm the power from the bottom would bring to the Soviet Union.

"Andrei, you have set a good example. After your rectification, the order of the Sokolovka base has improved greatly and the bad habits have been curbed." Andropov said: "How did you come up with those ideas?"

Andropov has always been concerned about Sokolovka. Andrei, this is a reform, a mini reform with remarkable results! After Andrei's rectification, the Sokolovka base has regained its integrity. The grassroots staff have focused on their work, and the road to climbing up by relying on connections has been blocked. They have to show their real abilities!

"Sokolovka Base is the key garrison base of the 513th Regiment. The ability of the base's ground staff is directly related to the deployment of the entire base's aviation regiment. In the past few years I have been at the base, I have been witnessing some current situations. Unfortunately, I did not have the ability at that time. Now, I can finally rectify the order of the base according to my own ideas. Thank you for your support." Andrei said: "If there were no ugly phenomena in our base, Belenko's defection might not have happened. This is a dark wave. Perhaps something similar will happen again."

Andrei was deeply impressed. The incident of defection within the Soviet Union became famous in later generations. Just one month later, another defection occurred.

Although it is related to the ideological quality of the parties involved, it must be admitted that the overall environment also has an impact.

"Andrei, what do you think if your current model could be brought to our country for large-scale promotion?" Andropov asked Andrei.

"Don't mind my identity. What you said last time was very true and I liked listening to it," said Andropov.

Last time, Andrei didn't know Andropov's identity, so he could speak freely. This time, now that he knew it, Andrei felt less pressure. There was no barrier in the conversation between the two of them, and they could say whatever they wanted. After all, although Andropov was the chairman of the KGB, Andrei knew Andropov's thoughts!

Now, the two seemed to be having a normal chat, which might be normal in later generations, but in the Soviet Union, it was absolutely forbidden to discuss national affairs casually.

Only with Andropov could he speak freely. Andrei had a scholarly spirit and a sense of being able to do whatever he wanted.

"Such reforms can be carried out within the military," Andre said. "We can hold technical competitions in the military, and weed out those who are outdated and unqualified. We should use technology as the hard indicator and get rid of those backdoor soldiers."

The Soviet Union has the largest army in the world. Now, there are many intertwined interests within the army. Many incompetent people have been promoted to leadership positions, while those who are capable cannot display their abilities. Andrei's practices, if promoted to the entire army, can give the army a new look.

Unfortunately, this is just an idea. If I do this, I will affect many people's interests.

"As for other sectors, this may not be true." Andrei continued, "For example, in agriculture, our Soviet Union has the most fertile black soil in the world, but our own agricultural production cannot feed our Soviet people. Every year we need to import large quantities of food, wasting the country's precious foreign exchange reserves."

This is absolutely ironic. Europe is small in area and crowded in population. The remaining land can still feed Europeans and export food! However, the Soviet Union has vast land, but it can't grow enough food!

Of course, Andre knew that there were such examples in later generations. North Korea was a representative example. Although the country was small, North Korea had a lot of arable land. If China were to cultivate it, it would be no problem to feed the entire peninsula. However, everyone in North Korea was hungry, and there was only one fat man in the country.

In the current Soviet Union, this problem is not prominent. After all, the current Soviet Union relies on oil exports, has a large foreign exchange reserve, and has no worries about buying food. However, in a few years, when the Afghan war overdraws the Soviet Union's national strength, the Soviet Union suddenly finds that buying food from Europeans requires political conditions. And when there is no money, borrowing from Western Europe requires additional conditions!

If people cannot even solve the basic food problem, then society will be in chaos.

Why did he come to power in the first place? Because he was in charge of agriculture. In the eyes of the Soviet leaders, he was the one who could solve the Soviet Union’s food problem!

Hearing Andrei's words, Andropov opened his eyes wide, reflecting an embarrassed look through his glasses: "Andrei, what do you think should be done to reform agriculture?"

"Change the current big-pot system," Andre said. "Implement the contract responsibility system in agriculture! Carry out land reform and divide land property rights into ownership and management rights. Ownership still belongs to the collective and the state, while management rights are subcontracted to farmers by collective economic organizations for independent management. Collective economic organizations are responsible for supervising the implementation of contracting contracts, the unified arrangement, use and dispatch of public facilities, and land adjustment and allocation, thus forming a two-tier management system with both centralization and division. Transforming farmers from simple laborers to both producers and managers in the collective economy can greatly mobilize farmers' enthusiasm for production and better tap the potential of labor and land."

What Andre was talking about was naturally the land reform and the household contract responsibility system that were first carried out in the early stages of China's economic reform!

Now that the Soviet Union had just been established and the most difficult years of World War II had passed, the new generation did not have deep feelings for the Soviet Union, and their enthusiasm for work was no longer as high as before. It can be said that there were too many people in the collective farms who worked but did not put in any effort and just spent their days idling around, just like the old hands in the base logistics.

Therefore, if we want to thoroughly develop agricultural production, we must break this system! Why do these farmers have no motivation? Because it is the same whether they work or not, and it is the same whether they work well or badly! Then who would still work? Only fools would do it.