Chapter 1672 — Agricultural On-site Stay

Ma Qianzhu suspected the pettifogger was peddling his "Rule of Law" ideology again. "This is inadvisable. Even the Great Ming superficially declares 'If the Prince violates the law, he is punished the same as the commoner.' Writing the exception so explicitly—I fear that cannot be justified."

"Director General, it should be done precisely this way. The Rule of Law requires defined laws to follow. We had far too much ambiguity in the past, and excessive latitude for political maneuvering. This contradicts the spirit of legality."

Ma Qianzhu replied: "I have no objection to codifying this. My concern is whether mentioning it in every law is appropriate. The clause on Senator status could be listed as a Constitutional section; there is no need to insert it into each statute. Speaking of which—you have not even drafted a Constitution. The Common Program is only a Party Constitution; it cannot be conflated with a national one!"

"I agree," Wu Nanhai interjected. "Otherwise, naturalized citizens will be tormented by curiosity about the Common Program's contents. Besides, leaving this clause displayed for thirty or fifty years is clearly provocation—inviting resentment. Even 'Two Less, One Lenient,' which was never an actual legal article, drew criticism for decades. If we preach equality with one breath while proclaiming Senator superiority with the next, we appear schizophrenic—and hand future opposition parties a potent weapon. Confucius's ambiguous maxim about punishment and rituals has been used to attack 'Confucius the Second' endlessly. Creating a 'Senators are more equal' clause serves no purpose but painting a target on our backs. In my view, this should not appear even in the Constitution. Let everyone operate in the black box. Any Senator with legal troubles will never see an ordinary courtroom. Why write it down?"

Ultimately, the decision was to omit the clause. Instead, the Constitution would enshrine the Senate's exalted status as creator, leader, defender, and guide of the state.

Discussion then turned to relocating certain factories to Qiongshan. Bopu Port was not a natural harbor, and current cargo throughput had reached saturation. Further increases would require major port construction.

"Steam coal imports from Hongay now reach 120,000 tons annually—not including coking coal. Cargo is already detaining ships and clogging ports. Industrial enterprises in Lingao must be dispersed."

Because an industrial relocation plan for Guangzhou already existed, the primary focus was the shipyard. Except for a small contingent retained at Bopu Shipyard for repair and minor construction, the rest would relocate to Hong Kong Island. Additionally, the Lingao Glass Factory and Ceramic Factory—heavy coal consumers whose materials and products alike came from abroad—plus the Paper Mill and Wood Processing Plant would move entirely to Qiongshan County.

This would exploit Haikou Port's capacity, reduce Lingao's non-agricultural population density, ease housing pressure, and facilitate local food sourcing: Qiongshan and Wenchang were major agricultural counties.

"I have no objection to relocation, but the factory buildings and kilns that cannot be moved are a pity," Cheng Dong said with regret.

"There is nothing to regret. Most kilns were makeshift, with low standards and significant hazards. Remaining buildings can house other factories." Zhan Wuya was unconcerned. "Besides, after so many years, major repairs would be necessary. Relocation provides opportunity for industrial upgrading."

Discussion moved to Mainland Campaign details, then finally to arrangements for countryside "squatting" investigations.

"The general principle: Senators in industrial and mining enterprises will not normally be assigned squatting—mainly 'visits' concluding within three days. Senators in administrative departments will be grouped for week-long social investigations; those who apply personally may stay longer. Zishan has prepared a schedule—who goes where, for how long. Each department must maintain Senators on duty..." Ma Qianzhu explained.

"Everyone must go?"

"All must go. Roughly one-fifth are assigned each rotation, with everyone taking turns." Ma Qianzhu continued: "We should see conditions on the ground more often, and not become intoxicated by report numbers."

The autumn wind turned gradually chill. In Hainan during the Little Ice Age, cold-wave mornings brought thin frost. Now, as the busy autumn harvest wound toward completion, a convoy of freight wagons—including a two-wheeled carriage reserved for Senators—traveled the Lingao-Chengmai-Haikou Highway.

Countryside squatting in such weather was pleasant: clear skies, comfortable temperatures. A trip out, a few days in villages—Senators would not resist too strongly.

Few Senators willingly traveled during sweltering summer, when only Lingao offered ice blocks and water-cooled air. Even now, those assigned to distant, sparsely populated locations grumbled.

Yun Suji had been delighted to hear he was assigned to Qiongshan. For three or four years he had been stuck in Lingao, laboring in nearby water conservancy projects or falling asleep to food factory whistles. He had never even visited Haikou.

Although attached to the Ministry of Light Industry, his work at the food factory and concurrent role as Tiandihui agricultural technician had forged close ties to agriculture. He had asked Wu Nanhai to propose an investigation project—inspecting state-owned farms in Haikou and immigrant conditions—and approval came smoothly.

Before departure, he said: "Old Wu, we still have much to accomplish in Haikou."

He referred to the agricultural reclamation blueprint for Taiwan and Hainan carefully designed by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Historically, the Hainan State Farms established in 1952 became the country's third-largest reclamation system: 1.05 million total population, 213,000 employees. Production bases across the island cultivated over twenty tropical cash crops and fine fruits—coconut, betel nut, pepper, coffee, sisal, cocoa, oil palm, cashew, southern medicinal plants, lychee, longan, mango, pomelo, jackfruit—in addition to rubber and tea.

"Exactly. What we want is a single-crop economic belt as in America." Wu Nanhai became energized.

After three years, the Tiandihui—focused on improving traditional agriculture—had matured operationally. Though the system held potential, reaching the next level required patient effort. Once planning cadres could independently carry on, surviving agricultural Senators began contemplating another direction: large-scale plantations—essentially replicating the Hainan State Farm model.

Plantations are large-scale intensive commercial agriculture growing single cash crops in tropical regions. They operate on vast scales with comprehensive production and living facilities—not merely machinery, but road systems, processing plants, repair shops, power and water supply, education, and health. This integrated approach is beyond smallholder capacity. For the Senate, transporting people southward was not to perpetuate traditional farming—it was to create human resources. Plantations employ managers and staff directly, differing fundamentally from family farms. What emerges are industrial workers, not peasants—valuable whether for factory labor or colonization. This was why Human Resources used agriculture as a manpower reserve after Operation Engine.

When the first commune was established at Bairen Beach after landing, the state-owned farm model with enterprise management was promoted. But limited conditions meant that even today, those farms—aside from Nanhai Demonstration Farm—including later Kaohsiung establishments did not qualify as full-scale plantations.

Additionally, policies advocating "enterprise specialization" and prohibiting "enterprises running society" left plantation support facilities incomplete. Though the Tiandihui was established as substitute, under various restrictions the supporting infrastructure had far to go.

This was something Wu Nanhai brooded over. This Plenary Session merged state-owned enterprises under the Planning Agency, resolving ownership questions. "Enterprise specialization" was no longer mentioned. The policy of non-tradable shares under "mixed ownership" proved conducive to absorbing private capital. It was the moment to go big and fast.

In his view, the Tainan Plain was ideal for plantations, followed by Hainan's southern counties with abundant land, sparse population, and favorable conditions.

Given limited resources, the sector had just established several large plantations in Sanya and settled 30,000 immigrants in northern Hainan counties using scattered settlement.

(End of Chapter)