Chapter 26 The Blizzard Arrives

For the Chinese, the most important economic activity in 1981 was to combat "speculation".

In order to improve the survival and vitality of state-owned enterprises, the government is taking a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, it restricts the business scope of small and medium-sized enterprises and private enterprises in the form of legal provisions and establishes a strict access system; On the one hand, set the threshold, increase the production cost of small and medium-sized private enterprises, and reduce their competitiveness.

At the beginning of the year, the price of steel was raised by 130%, and the price of coal was raised by 500%. The market prices of various means of production all increased significantly to varying degrees.

The sharp increase in production costs has immediately increased the production costs of small and medium-sized enterprises and private enterprises several times. For most small and medium-sized enterprises and private enterprises that have only been developed for less than two years, it is tantamount to worsening the situation and becoming a burden that crushes camels. The last straw.

And another major measure is to levy high taxes on profiteering industries, not only new ones, but also additional ones.

Many people who started their businesses at this time and later became the richest people on the Forbes China list encountered the most difficult period in their lives. The cost of production rose sharply, and at the same time, many originally signed contracts were suspended. It stipulates that state-owned enterprises can no longer purchase products from township enterprises or private enterprises.

The most direct one is to restrict the development of township enterprises within a certain local area, strictly control the transformation of the agricultural population into non-agricultural population, and control the migration of rural population to work in cities, so as to avoid the pressure of employment in cities that are already under great employment pressure by returned educated youths. "Harassment" of the rural population.

These measures have directly led to the development of many small businesses started in the past two years have fallen into a quagmire, stagnated or directly closed down.

Sure enough, not long after, people from the economic investigation team came to Chunguang Canlan Pig Farm again.

"You have to explain your problems honestly. Our policy is consistent. We are lenient for confessions and strict for resistance." The head of the investigation team said to the three brothers very seriously.

What is lenient for confession and strictness for resistance? I am afraid that it is lenient for confession, sitting in prison, and strictness for resistance. Let's go home for the New Year! The three brothers had already made up their minds, and dealt with the people in the investigation team, but they didn't say a word of affirmation, which made the other party very angry.

"It's useless for you to do so. Cooperating with the government is the only way out. Since you haven't done anything wrong, you don't have to be afraid of being called." The investigation team said when they saw that the three brothers didn't want to get in.

Wang Laosan, however, has a bit of language skills, so he replied calmly, "Although I have done nothing wrong, but Gui Lao is knocking on your door, can life be easier?"

When the people in the investigation team heard this, they immediately choked back.

This is not over yet, the investigation team hadn't stayed in the village for half an hour, and a large number of villagers surrounded the pig farm.

The pig farms use migrant workers, and there are a lot of them, which directly solved the problem of surplus labor for the village. Therefore, many people in the village became rich by relying on the pig farms. At this time, I heard that the investigation team wanted to mobilize Everyone quit the pig farm immediately.

The old men in the village came to question the inspection team with sticks, "We just had a few good days, and you came here. Why didn't you come when we were starving?"

Some young men who worked in pig farms also came to bombard them, "We have been single for many years, and we just found a partner, and you broke up as soon as you came. If this daughter-in-law can't find you, you will be responsible!"

The investigation team immediately fell into an unbearable people's war. In the end, they couldn't stay in the pig farm anymore, so they had to withdraw their troops in despair. Since they didn't get any negative materials about the pig farm, they had to give up.

Just like that, the Spring Festival is over in a blink of an eye.

However, the limelight of this investigation campaign has intensified instead, and the air in Panshi City is still very dignified.

Banners saying "Severely Crack Down on Crimes in the Economic Field" were hung everywhere, and the loudspeakers that hadn't been played for three or four years were blaring again, and tough editorials were being broadcast every day.

The small sales offices of Wujinjiaodian in the city have all been notified by the taxation department that the business tax will be raised in the future, from 0.35% in previous years to 6%. Double the penalty.

This move was ruthless enough, and many people were stunned. The little hard money earned by working day and night for the past two years may not even be enough to pay back the taxes. It seems that this business cannot continue.

As for those unlucky ghosts who were identified as "speculators and disturbing the normal order of the economic field", it was even more miserable. Some were directly locked up and sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from five to ten years, and their illegal income was confiscated. empty.

There was a shop owner with a relatively large business scale, who was restricted by the tax department and was not allowed to go out. As a result, he rolled up 500 catties of food stamps, 2,000 yuan in cash and various documents, and even his wife fled Panshi City in a hurry without saying goodbye. It's a pity that the public security system across the country has already taken action. In less than a week, he was arrested in a neighboring province and was escorted back. Panshi City even held a public trial meeting for them "opportunists". Taiwan, accepted criticism and reviled by the masses, and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Coincidentally, during this struggle in the economic field that lasted for more than a year, the so-called "Eight Kings Incident" occurred in Wenzhou City, which has the largest concentration of individual businesses. In early 1982, the central government issued a crackdown on the economic field. The urgent notification of criminal activities has arrested a group of people who are on the cusp of the market economy for the "crime of speculation".

In Wenzhou, the birthplace of the private economy, Hu Jinlin, the king of hardware, Cheng Buqing, the king of miner’s lamps, Liu Dayuan, the king of screws, Li Fangping, the king of contracts, Wang Maiqian, the king of second-hand goods, Ye Jianhua, the king of catalogs, Zheng Xiangqing, the king of coils, and Zheng Yuanzhong, the king of electrical appliances, were listed as important Hit the object. This is known as the "Eight Kings Incident".

In fact, the "Eight Kings Incident" is just the tip of the iceberg of this economic purge campaign. By the end of 1982, 164,000 cases of various economic crimes had been registered nationwide, 30,000 people had been sentenced, and 320 million yuan had been recovered. In the more than two years after the "Eight Kings Incident", the pace of Wenzhou and Zhejiang has slowed down a lot. The economic rectification caused the private sector to encounter the first cold wave, which greatly delayed its growth momentum, especially the impact and pressure on the first-developed southern Zhejiang and the Pearl River Delta regions.

The "Eight Kings Incident" was not accidental. The state used government machinery to contain the "vanguards" who broke through the old system by non-government forces, which obviously meant something beyond the economy.

Until three years later, Yuan Fanglie, then secretary of the Wenzhou Municipal Party Committee, deeply felt that "the case of the Eight Kings has not been overturned, and there is no hope of revitalizing Wenzhou's economy." He organized a joint investigation team to review all the case files. Only a few people who were arrested were released on bail or acquitted, and then their reputations were restored and the property that had been confiscated was returned.

It's just that time has passed and the situation has changed, and things are different.

Throughout the whole year, Fan Wubing maintained a very low-key lifestyle, or raised pigs, or planted flowers, or went to the clothing factory to give advice, and provided one or two genius ideas to Wuzhi Xiaoji, and obtained corresponding benefits. All in all, this year has been really depressing.

Fortunately, reform and opening up is the general trend, and this depression will not last long.