Chapter 22 Figures in corporate history: "Model Contracting" Ma Shengli

The copper signboard of "Director Ma Shengli" at the entrance of the Shijiazhuang Paper Mill was ordered to be removed in 1994. In another year, 58-year-old Ma Shengli retired early, and the paper mill filed for bankruptcy with the Shijiazhuang Intermediate Court due to insolvency. Ma Shengli has always believed that his retirement was the product of a "conspiracy".Since "People's Daily" published the commentary "Thoughts from Ma Shengli's Defeat" in 1989, he had tense relations with some media and the government. He defended himself all day long and took up a lot of energy and time.In addition, 36 companies have successively joined the papermaking enterprise group, 2/3 of which are loss-making enterprises. The conflicts and disputes one after another also exhausted him.With the disintegration of the "Paper Trust" dream, Ma Shengli came to an end. In October 1985, the leader of Shijiazhuang No. 1 Light Industry Bureau talked to him and said, "If you resign, we will accept it. If you don't resign, you will be removed from office." Five minutes total.

After Ma Shengli retired, he was extremely lonely. He hid at home for three months and did not go downstairs because he felt ashamed to face others. He thought it was inconceivable that the superior department awarded him such a meritorious factory director so easily.He receives a retirement pension of 130 yuan per month, and lives in two small dilapidated bungalows with his old wife and two daughters.A few months later, he rented a house and opened "Ma Shengli Baozi Shop" on Mosque Street, north of Shijiazhuang Railway Station, with his sister, daughter and wife as helpers.At that time, Ma Shengli was well-known throughout the country. Many people took the opportunity to buy buns to visit him. He sold two buns for one yuan. Some kind-hearted people often put down 100 yuan and left without taking anything. At that time, I could sell more than 3,000 yuan a month! But I really can’t let go of papermaking.”

At the same time as the steamed stuffed bun shop was being opened, one of his former subordinates gathered dozens of laid-off workers to set up a paper mill, and asked Ma Shengli to contract it. The name of the factory was "Ma Shengli Paper Co., Ltd." The products of the new company have two very strange brands. The brand of toilet paper is "Yuanwang", and the brand of napkins is "June Snow". The meaning of "it's snowing" is full of grief and indignation, which is beyond words.The Industrial and Commercial Bureau refused to allow registration, but Ma Shengli used it anyway. He said with a smile, "No one will counterfeit this kind of name except me."

The new company languished, lingering for a few years before fading away.After that, he also went to Mancheng, Xushui, Shijiazhuang and other places to contract four factories successively, but all of them did not improve much, and they failed one after another.Ma Shengli was famous back then, and it can be said that "everyone in the world does not know the king". His every move attracted the attention of the media, and the expectations of outsiders and himself were high. It is more difficult than ordinary people. The era of Ma Shengli has passed in a blink of an eye, but he himself is still moving forward on the track of fantasy. In the winter of 2003, Feng Gensheng of Hangzhou Qingchunbao Group had a whim and invited all the survivors of the "First Chinese Outstanding Entrepreneurs" elected in 1987 to Hangzhou West Lake. Ma Shengli was also invited.When photos of Ma Shengli traveling across the country appeared on the big screen at the party, he couldn't help crying at the scene. "This is the first time I've shed tears!" he said sadly to the young reporter next to him.

After this meeting, Wang Hai, the president of Qingdao Double Star Group, who was also the first outstanding entrepreneur, invited Ma Shengli to join Double Star, and he agreed without hesitation, so in the next few months, the news broke that "Ma Shengli came back from the rivers and lakes". At that time, he was already 65 years old. Although his ambition was in the sky, the news did not fall in the aftermath. After Ma Shengli retired early, he wrote his autobiography "Ma Shengli in Wind and Rain" behind closed doors. He commented on himself: "I was born to like to stand out and do something, so my life is like walking a tightrope. I encountered many difficulties and turmoil. Ups and downs, ups and downs, difficulties always come one after another.”

Ma Shengli is a member of the Hui nationality, with a calm and easy-going appearance, but a heart that is unyielding.If he hadn't posted the "big-character poster" at the factory gate, he might have been a leisurely sales chief. If he hadn't thought about contracting 100 paper mills, he might have retired in glory. In the history of Chinese enterprises , Ma Shengli is known as "the first person in enterprise contracting". He won the national "May 1st Labor Medal" twice in 1986 and 1988. He is the only person in China who has won this honor twice.