Chapter 38: Excerpts from Notes on a Trip to the Countryside (Part 3)

After visiting the farmers in the village, I feel that the work here is still too soft, and many tasks are not being properly implemented. Old Huo is well-liked in the village, but he lacks authority. The villagers generally say he is “easy to talk to.”

Being well-liked and easy to talk to should be a virtue, but in grassroots rural work, it is actually a weakness. The fact that many policies are not implemented properly in Tankou fully demonstrates the lack of “governing consciousness” among the grassroots cadres. The failure to properly implement policies and the distortion of policies during execution are common problems.

I learned that Old Huo and most of the villagers come from several nearby villages in Huang County, and many people in the village are related. This relationship has led to “favoritism” and “being unable to refuse a fellow villager” in specific work. This is a problem that we need to focus on overcoming in the education and training of our grassroots cadres. Grassroots cadres should talk less about personal relationships and more about principles. Especially in the implementation of policies, they should strive to be uncompromising.

During my visit, I discovered a large-scale breeding farm on the edge of the village, with the words “Heaven and Earth Society Intensive Pig Farming Project” written on the wall. It occupied more than ten mu of land, but it was not in use. A rusty lock was on the gate. I had Old Huo open the gate, and when I walked in, I saw it was full of weeds and garbage, without a single building, only a large pit that was said to be for a biogas digester, which was now filled with water.

Old Huo seemed to have some dissatisfaction with this. “This was something the county told us to do. The county allocated a portion of the funds first to get the project started, saying it would be easier to secure a Heaven and Earth Society project this way. But the village’s self-funded portion couldn’t be collected. Our village is economically weak, and it’s very difficult to raise funds from everyone. In the end, the project fell through and was just left here.”

This padlocked project illustrates from one side that the success rate of Heaven and Earth Society agricultural projects in previous years was not very high. Some projects were poorly managed and operated, resulting in wasted investment and loss of assets. I feel that the reason why some of our comrades have failed to do good deeds with good intentions is mainly because two problems are often ignored: first, how to transform government investment projects into collective economic entities, and second, how to enable farmers’ cooperative economic organizations to undertake government investment projects. I discussed with the comrades in the county that we must find ways to “activate” these unsuccessful projects and make them as effective as possible.

In the afternoon, the sun grew stronger. Three or four people wearing straw sandals (the local people usually go barefoot), red armbands, and bamboo hats walked in from outside the village. One of them was a policeman. It turned out that these people were from the township and had come to the village to inspect the sanitation and epidemic prevention work. As we were talking, one of them recognized me. He was the village chief of Borang, whom I had met before. This cadre had been temporarily drafted to participate in the inspection of the entire Longtang Town. He was very surprised to see me and turned to criticize Old Huo, “A central Chief is here. Why didn’t you report it to the county?” Old Huo repeatedly apologized. I said, “Don’t blame Old Huo. I was the one who forbade him from telling you.”

Since the comrades from Longtang Town knew I was here, I decided to go to the town government for some research. The road from Tankou to Longtang Town is not far, only three kilometers, a short walk. The main cadres of the town had all gone to the neighboring villages. What I was most concerned about was the farmers’ production situation and income. I found the cadre in charge of statistics in the town, looked at some statistical reports, and inquired about the relevant situation.

To be honest, the town’s statistical work is not done well. The reports are incomplete and the filing is messy. This further reflects our current situation of a serious lack of qualified grassroots cadres.

I inquired about the statistical methods. The comrade in charge told me: the statistics on the income of immigrant village farmers mainly come from two channels: the sample survey of the rural investigation team and the village and township level-by-level reporting. On the one hand, the sample size is small, and the data coverage is poor; on the other hand, the data reported by the township and even the county and city are easily subject to human interference. For example, to launch a high-yield “satellite” and strive for an advanced “red flag,” they will intentionally inflate the data.

This was also within my expectations. In response to the problems in this area, the agricultural department is designing a new target assessment system, focusing on strengthening the policy orientation of increasing farmers’ income and striving to improve the accuracy of statistical data.

About an hour later, several of the main naturalized citizen cadres of the town rushed back to the town office, obviously informed by the town comrades. This compromised my idea of “not disturbing the officials.”

I said to them, “You go and get busy. I’m staying in the village this time to experience rural life firsthand. I don’t want to trouble the grassroots comrades, and I certainly don’t need you to accompany me.” The few cadres still wanted to have dinner with me in the town. I said, “If you really want to accompany me, then come to the villagers’ symposium tonight to discuss the plan for doubling farmers’ income. We will dissect the ‘Shandong sparrow’ of Tankou Village together.”

My host for the night was also named Huo. Dinner had a little more “content” than lunch. In addition to rice and sweet potato, there was also dried fish. A farmer’s meal without company is delicious no matter what you eat.

At 6:30 in the evening, the symposium was held in the main room of the farmer’s house where I was staying. The host had specially borrowed an Australian oil lamp from the village office, which illuminated a room full of people. Although they had worked hard all day, everyone was in high spirits. The villagers spoke enthusiastically. They all expressed that coming south from Shandong was a great kindness of the Senate, and they wanted to work hard to repay it.

Regarding how to develop the countryside, most of them said that the climate and soil of Shandong and Hainan are different, and they are not good at rice cultivation. They need the support of the Heaven and Earth Society, but the number of agricultural technicians from the Heaven and Earth Society is too small, and they only come once or twice a month. Crop problems can’t wait! Some people have developed a blind trust in the technology of the Heaven and Earth Society and want them to help solve everything. Some villagers reported that it is too hot here in the summer, with many mosquitoes and a relatively high incidence of malaria. Although the town health center now provides free medicine, it is very troublesome to go to the town to get it. They asked if a health worker could be sent on a circuit to provide treatment. Regarding the farmers’ mutual aid associations and the issue of establishing intensive farms that the Heaven and Earth Society is promoting, the villagers had many questions, both policy-related and economic.

I could generally understand the local dialect spoken by the villagers. It seemed that their main concerns were concentrated in two areas: first, after the establishment of the agricultural association, would the land that joined the association still be their own? Second, in intensive management, how would the harvest be distributed?

From these two points, it can be seen that everyone is interested in increasing their income through intensive management. The economic capacity of the farmers in this village is generally low. Although they have achieved “food and clothing,” the level is relatively low, and the proportion of households using “melons and vegetables as substitutes” is large. The motivation to improve the current situation is actually greater than in several model and advanced villages.

Many issues were discussed at the meeting, about how to produce better. Whether it was intensive management or developing side businesses, in the end, the most difficult thing was the lack of start-up capital. Most families had basically no savings. There were many mosquitoes and insects at night. I had my guard give each villager a bottle of mosquito repellent, and they were very happy.

The symposium lasted until after 10 p.m. There were arguments and laughter. The village cadres and villagers reached a consensus on focusing on production and promoting development. I promised to help Tankou Village coordinate and implement the water pump installation project and to complete the supporting projects for the Thousand Women Dike as soon as possible. The task of implementing these two projects is quite heavy.

It was a very sunny day.

At a little after 4 a.m., the gong for starting work sounded in the village. We had breakfast with our host: rice porridge with pickles. After the meal, I paid for two days’ worth of food as required.

This time, my stay in the countryside involved both in-depth investigation at one point and a broader survey. At a little after 8 a.m., I left Tankou and began a survey by boat along the river of the other three villages in Longtang Town. Just before noon, I arrived at Meibao Village. Since the town mayor was with us, lunch even included a small plate of Lingao-produced “Tianchu Pickles,” which may have been bought from Qiongshan on the spot. This meal was not as comfortable as the ones in Tankou. When someone accompanies you, even an assigned meal tastes different.

Six kilometers east of Meibao Village, I arrived at the area of the former Hainan Tropical Crops Research Institute. From the materials in the Great Library, I found and read some development materials about the research institute, as well as its Qingfeng class, sixth team, fourth team, first team, and Yougai class.

Here, I unexpectedly met the students of the Senate Youth League cadre training class. After talking with the team leader, Yuanlao Lin Ziqi, I learned that they were conducting a field study, which is an important course for the Youth League cadre training class.

“Although almost all the students are from farming families, they rarely leave their own villages, and even rarely go to the town,” Lin Ziqi told me. “Such an investigation helps them broaden their horizons and increase their knowledge.”

They had already been investigating in Qiongshan for a week, and their next destination was Wenchang, to compare the differences in the natural and social environments of the two places and produce an investigation report.

Seeing these young boys and girls full of curiosity, I deeply felt that our future rests on their shoulders.

After bidding farewell to the students, I climbed Lingjiao Ridge and made a landscape sketch of the research institute area. Afterward, I came to a spring that was said to be famous since the Song Dynasty. Women were washing clothes by the spring. I asked, “Was the spring bigger in the past?”

They vied to answer, saying that when they were young, the spring was much bigger. When they were young, during the Wanli era, it never snowed on Hainan Island. Since the Tianqi era, the winters have become colder and colder, and it has even snowed. The spring water is not as abundant anymore.

Standing by the spring, I had a deeper feeling of the extreme climate of the late Ming Little Ice Age. If even Hainan could feel the extreme climate, how much worse must it have been in the Nine Border Regions! Thus, I became more determined and confident in accelerating the development of modern agriculture and building a disaster prevention and relief system.

The sun was about to set. I bid farewell to the villagers and took a boat back to Qiongshan on the Nandu River. This trip to the countryside lasted two days and one night. Although the time was short, the harvest was great. Goodbye, Tankou! Goodbye, Longtang! I will come again in a few days and strive to help Tankou implement its rural development.