Soon, the bearing factory ran into a problem. It was not a production problem, but a problem with the raw materials. The steel for manufacturing the bearings was gone. The remaining steel could only sustain production for less than a month. If the steel was not imported, half a month later
Production will be discontinued.
This situation would not have happened in previous years. Now it is a planned economy. The province has already announced the annual production volume at the beginning of the year, and all steel has been reserved. However, due to the increase in production this year, the original steel production exceeded the plan.
Everyone acknowledged it and ignored it. Since there was no steel, they reported it to the province.
It will be coordinated and deployed, but the bearing factory's request to the city has not been answered yet. Seeing that there is not much steel left to produce, the leaders of the factory are a little anxious, so they find the city, and after asking, they learn that the city's
There was a shortage of steel. When I reported it to the province, the reply I received was to wait.
Wait? How to wait? The task orders issued by the city may not be completed 100% even if the work is started at full capacity. If we really wait for another month, it will not be completed at all. Who will bear the consequences then?
?
The workers in the factory didn't care. They worked as hard as they could and rested. But the factory director couldn't stand it anymore. If the factory couldn't complete the tasks, he would be punished. So he rode his bike to the city every now and then to ask questions.
, not only him, but also the directors of the surrounding factories kept going to the city's supply and marketing office to look for it, but the result was that it was out of stock and they had to wait.
It took half a month to wait, and all the steel in the factory was exhausted. You must know that this steel is not only supplied to bearing factories, but also to mining equipment factories, machine tool factories, gear factories, spring factories, etc. These factories all need it.
For steel, the bearing factory doesn't have it, and they don't have it either. All factories have stopped working.
As soon as these factories stopped working, the production in the coal mines immediately slowed down. All the machinery in the mines were left over from the Soviet era in the 1950s. They are still in use thirty years later. There may not be many major faults, but minor problems are definitely there.
Normally, repair something here today and patch something up here tomorrow. If production is normal, there will be no problem.
However, due to the increase in production, all the equipment in the mine was operating at high load, which exceeded the service limit of the machinery. Due to high-intensity wear and tear, a large number of machinery broke down, especially those parts that were easily damaged, and they were replaced within two days.
To replace new ones, it would be better for other factories to operate at full capacity. Now they are stuck and cannot keep up with parts and components. The machinery in the mine can only return to normal production status. At this rate, the provincial targets can be completed by the end of the year.
Thank God for half of it.
The directors of the factory are worried, and the mayor of Fucheng City is even more worried. They have simply become an ant on the hot pot. The director of the Mining Bureau comes to the city every day to urge them, but what can they do? All the steel products are from the province.
What should we do if the province does not provide them with unified allocation? We can only call the provincial supply and marketing department to inquire, and the news we get is that the province is in short supply of materials, and all materials are given to key cities first.
What are the key cities? Simply put, they are the top five cities in Northern Liaoning Province, Shenyang City, Lianhai City, Anhe City, Jindong City and Fuyang City. These five cities have a higher status in Northern Liaoning Province than
In Fucheng, it was natural for them to come first.
In fact, this is the contradiction caused by insufficient productivity. It was like this when the country was making steel. On the one hand, it wanted to work hard and quickly to expand production capacity, but on the other hand, the technical level was not up to par. In the end, it could only produce a bunch of scrap products.
It has caused huge waste. The current situation is that the raw materials are not enough, but the ending is the same, so this unrealistic plan is simply not feasible.
But so what if it’s not feasible? Administrative orders have no bargaining power at all, and you’ll be in trouble if you don’t complete them.
In the Fucheng City Government, Mayor Lu Jianshe was holding a meeting with the city's cadres.
"Everyone, we all know the situation in Fucheng City. Raw materials are in short supply. If we go like this, we will definitely not be able to complete the tasks assigned by the province. I asked Senior Official Chen for help, and the result was that we should find a way ourselves and help everyone gather together.
Together, I just want to ask everyone and if anyone has a solution, please put it forward."
Lu Jianshe went to the provincial capital several times to ask the Supply and Marketing Department to send materials to Fucheng, but they ignored him at all. He was completely helpless now.
Everyone present said nothing, everyone was drinking tea from a teapot, and some people didn't even raise their heads.
"Old Sun, you are the director of the supply and marketing cooperative. Is there anything you can do?"
When Lu Jianshe saw that he was ignored, he could only point out.
"This...Mayor Lu, I have something to say that I don't know whether to say or not?"
"What should I say or not? If you have something to say, say it quickly!"
Lu Jianshe was a little angry.
"It's like this. I've been in contact with the Provincial Department of Supply and Marketing many times. They control the supply of production and living materials in the province. This plan is set at the beginning of every year. It's just that this year is a bit special. The country suddenly issued an order to increase production. In terms of raw materials,
Of course it’s a little tight…!”
"Okay, everyone knows this. I'm just asking you if there is any way to get steel. If you can, tell me. If not, don't talk nonsense. It's so long-winded!"
Lu Jianshe was a little angry when he interrupted the other party.
"Mayor Lu, there is a way, but I don't know if it works or not!"
He answered with a trace of embarrassment on his face.
"What? Is there a way? What way? Say it quickly!"
Lu Jianshe's eyes lit up.
"This method is to let those factories that are short of materials use the money to buy steel in provincial cities!"
The other party gave an answer.
"Buying steel with your own money? What's the idea?"
Lu Jianshe almost pointed at the opponent's nose and yelled.
This era is an era of planned economy. When factories lack raw materials, they are all allocated by the provinces and cities. How can there be a situation where factories use their own money to buy them? This situation has not happened in recent years! Besides, I went to the provincial capital several times to find it.
It's useless even if you go there, so how can it be useful just by taking money? He doesn't believe it at all.
"Mayor Lu, listen to me. You will understand after I finish speaking...!"
Seeing that Lu Jianshe was about to get angry, the other party hurriedly explained.
"you say!"
Lu Jianshe suppressed his anger.
"Mayor Lu! There are many secrets in the supply of raw materials that cannot be known to outsiders!"
"Secret? What secret?"
"Mayor, our country now encourages companies to work more and get more. Many companies in the south can produce excess products after completing the goals assigned by their superiors. They can sell them directly to the market, set the price themselves, and get more income.
It can also be yours."
"Oh! I know about this! It seems to be called... a dual-track price system, but it seems that we have not implemented it in Fucheng!"
Lu Jianshe nodded.
"Of course it can't be implemented. The tasks given to us by the state are basically small and large. Wherever there is excess material, we can use it to produce other products. But it is different in other places... Last year, I went to the provincial capital for a meeting and saw that
Outside many supply and marketing stations, there are many southern individual merchants. These merchants are waiting to buy raw materials, such as cotton yarn, cloth, and even steel. They can make a lot of money by transporting raw materials back to the south to make goods.
money."
"Oh? Is there such a thing?"
Lu Jianshe was very puzzled.
You must know that in this era of planned economy, all materials are controlled by the state. If you want to get excess materials, they can only be uniformly allocated by the state and provinces. This requires quotas. It cannot be obtained by just whoever can get it, let alone
It’s bulk materials such as steel and coal. Food stamps are also needed for daily necessities such as grain and meat. Food stamps are a kind of quota. Without quotas, you can’t buy them even if you have money.
So when the other party said that individual merchants in the south could obtain cotton yarn, cloth, and even production materials such as steel and coal, Lu Jianshe felt that such a thing was simply unimaginable.
"Mayor Lu, there are some things that we can't even think of, but they did happen. I don't know how these merchants were able to get these things. And I also saw some companies from provincial capitals going there.
When it comes to buying goods, they can buy them, and I think we can buy them too. Now it’s better to let those companies give it a try, and maybe they can actually buy them.”
"this………?"
Lu Jianshe was in trouble. He had never even thought of this method, but what other ideas did he have? No, not at all. The government would spend money to buy it? This is even more impossible.
If the province knew about it, he would probably be the end of his job as mayor.
"Immediately notify the companies below and ask them to go to the supply and marketing hall in the provincial capital to buy as much as they can. Anyway, they must complete the tasks assigned by the city. If they fail to complete it, I will be punished and the factory directors will not be fine either!
"
Lu Jianshe finally made up his mind. As for whether it would be useful, he could only treat it like a dead horse.