Chapter 106 Village-run Enterprises
The next morning, Xu Qiang, Erhu and Da Heiniu came to the village committee of Xiazhuang Village.

"Hey, Boss Xu, welcome, welcome!" Seeing Xu Qiang and others arriving, a white-haired old man walked out of the village committee and greeted them with a smile on his face.

"You must be Village Chief Yang, hello!" Xu Qiang already knew yesterday that the village chief of Xiazhuang Village was named Yang Dong. He is sixty-five years old this year, but looks very energetic.

"Come, sit down!" After entering the room, Yang Dong arranged Xu Qiang to sit down, and then asked someone to pour a cup of hot tea and placed it in front of Xu Qiang.

"Come to think of it, I used to come here to play when I was a kid, and I even stole a few radishes from your village's vegetable fields. After so many years, it feels like this place is still the same as before." Xu Qiang said with some emotion.

"Hahaha!" Yang Dong burst into laughter upon hearing that. After a moment, he said, "That's all old news. Erhu has already told me about the situation at your peat field. I never thought that Shangzhuang Village could produce a big boss like you..."

"I can't say I'm a big boss. My stall is just a small business, mainly producing fertilizers. I just don't have any equipment, so the quality is very average and the price is cheap." Xu Qiang paused and continued, "You know, it's not easy to do business these days. The main reason is that we have little capital and no formalities. We can only sell things secretly and sporadically, so the business can't be expanded."

"You are actually operating without a license, which is illegal..." Yang Dong said in a low voice while sitting next to Xu Qiang.

"Yes, I also know it's illegal, so I came to you." Xu Qiang smiled and continued, "My idea is very simple, that is, I will cooperate with your village committee and we will jointly set up a village-run fertilizer factory. I will provide the technology and equipment, you will provide the people, and we will split the profits 50-50. What do you think?"

Facing Yang Dong, Xu Qiang went straight to the point.

In Xu Qiang's opinion, the traditional method of extracting humic acid is too simple. Even if he doesn't tell others, others will know about it sooner or later. So, while this technology is still "valuable", he uses it as a bargaining chip to negotiate good terms with the head of Xiazhuang Village.

In fact, even if Xu Qiang does not sell fertilizers, he can still make money by producing daily chemical products. But what he really needs is a piece of land to open a workshop, and at the same time, he needs the name of a village-run enterprise as a cover to produce other things.

"You are a very honest young man." Hearing this, Yang Dong smiled and said, "But since you want to cooperate with our village to build a factory, we also have our conditions..."

"What conditions?"

"First of all, since it is a village-run enterprise, the peat field must be managed by our village committee. This is also stipulated by the law. I have seen relevant documents before, which clearly require that the property of the village-run enterprise belongs to the collective ownership of all farmers within the township or village where the enterprise is established. It must be a socialist commodity production and operation unit that operates independently, keeps independent accounts, and bears its own profits and losses. So from this point of view, both the management rights and the enterprise assets belong to our village." Yang Dong said seriously.

It was obvious that as the head of the village, Yang Dong was quite familiar with the policies of his superiors. It was estimated that after learning that Xu Qiang wanted to seek cooperation with their village, he "made up lessons" overnight. So as soon as the two began to negotiate, Yang Dong used national policies to gain the upper hand.

"I agree with this!" Xu Qiang nodded.

"Hmm?" Yang Dong was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Xu Qiang to agree so easily, so he said, "Of course, after the peat field is handed over to our village committee, we will give you a portion of the money every year as a bonus..."

"We'll talk about the money later." Xu Qiang interrupted Yang Dong and heard him say, "Since the state stipulates that the peat field is operated independently by your village, and Erhu is also from your village, then in principle, letting him be the director of this fertilizer factory should be in line with national regulations, right?" Xu Qiang had long expected that Yang Dong wanted to compete for the operating rights of this peat field. This is why he brought Erhu and Da Hei Niu with him during the negotiations this time.

"This..." Yang Dong obviously didn't expect Xu Qiang to say that. He was stunned for a moment, then said: "But the village committee is the representative of all the villagers..."

"I know that the village committee is the representative of all villagers, but the state does not stipulate that village-run enterprises must be led by the village committee, right? In principle, it's OK as long as they are villagers of the village." Xu Qiang raised his eyebrows and continued, "In addition, regarding village-run enterprises, various forms of management responsibility systems are implemented. Without changing the nature of collective ownership, investments can be absorbed. In other words, village-run enterprises can also have shareholders. As I said just now, I want to own half of the shares of this peat farm, and half of the money earned every month will belong to me!"

"That's impossible!" Yang Dong's face darkened when he heard this, and he said, "You should know that if your peat farm does not cooperate with our village, it will be considered illegal operation, and the industrial and commercial department will investigate you!"

Yang Dong's words obviously had a threatening tone. In the final analysis, he still wanted Xu Qiang to accept the conditions he proposed. Otherwise, he might very likely turn from a collaborator into a whistleblower!

The negotiations between the two were somewhat tense from the beginning. When it came to issues of interest, both of them were trying their best to get more benefits.

"Village Chief Yang, I heard that you are a fair person, so I chose to cooperate with your village, but I didn't expect that you wanted to take advantage of me right from the start..." Xu Qiang's mouth curled up, and he said, "In this case, I will tell you the truth. I do run a small business that violates some regulations, and I do want to use your village to create a legal shell for my workshop, but I really don't lack partners. If I don't see your sincerity in cooperation today, then I can only look for someone else..."

"What do you mean?"

"The meaning is very simple. The location of my peat bog is not under the jurisdiction of any village. It belongs to the state. So I can cooperate with your village or find other villages. There are many villages like yours around us. I believe there will always be one that offers better conditions than you!"

What Xu Qiang said was actually very clear. That is, if you don't want to cooperate, I can find someone else to cooperate with. Anyway, this is money delivered to your doorstep, and no one will take it even if you don't want it!

"You're not sincere when you say that." Yang Dong said with a frown.

"I have always been sincere. I will be as sincere as the other party." Xu Qiang glanced at Yang Dong and said, "If it really doesn't work, forget it. I have other things to do. I won't waste your time, Village Chief Yang."

After Xu Qiang finished speaking, he turned around and was about to leave.

"Wait a moment!"

Seeing Xu Qiang about to leave the village committee compound, Yang Dong suddenly stood up and said with a smile: "Boss Xu, don't leave yet, we can talk more..."

(End of this chapter)