Chapter 27 Chapter 7: A Great Mission from Heaven——1 A bosom friend

In fact, as early as February 23, 1990, when the "People's Daily Supplement" published He Kaiyin's reform proposals, it attracted the attention of Yue Qifeng, governor of Hebei Province. Hebei Province is also a large agricultural province and a large grain-producing province. It has also been troubled by many problems in the collection of agricultural taxes and fees for a long time. Interest has arisen in the idea of ​​reform, and it is necessary to mobilize the enthusiasm of the political research personnel on both sides of the party committee and the government, and conduct discussions and demonstrations immediately based on the situation in Hebei Province.

On the same day, the General Office of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee made a decision and asked the Political Research Office of the Provincial Party Committee to take the lead in handling it.Xiao Wanjun, the director of the provincial political research office and later transferred to the deputy director of the central political research office, immediately dispatched troops.Therefore, Yang Wenliang, a member of the Rural Division of the Political Research Office of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, a graduate of the 1968 and 2018 Department of International Politics at Peking University, is destined to become another important figure in the history of China’s rural tax reform. Inevitably came into our field of vision.

After receiving this task, he plunged into the research of the "public grain system", and produced the research result three months later: "Discussion on the Implementation of the Public Grain System".After the first draft was completed, he wrote a letter to He Kaiyin in Anhui. In his letter, he wrote with admiration: "I read your masterpiece with pleasure and benefited a lot. I think these suggestions you put forward are basically practical and feasible. If adopted, it will definitely increase farmers' enthusiasm for protecting cultivated land and growing grain, which will help stabilize the household contract system and help The development of the rural economy is of course more conducive to the political stability of the countryside.

"Anhui has made the first contribution in correcting the long-term 'Left' mistakes and implementing the household contract system. Farmers across the country thank Chen Tingyuan (former Secretary of the Fengyang County Party Committee); for your suggestion to stabilize and improve the household contract system-state-owned cultivated land, The initiator of the perpetual tenancy of peasants and the implementation of tithes will inevitably receive heartfelt thanks from the peasants of the whole country." The signature of the letter is: "Hebei bosom friend Yang Wenliang".

He Kaiyin was surprised and delighted when he received this letter.He never imagined that these reform ideas of his were silent in Anhui, but received so much attention in other provinces. It is not polite to treat someone as a confidant, and He Kaiyin replied frankly to Yang Wenliang's article "Discussion on the Implementation of the Public Grain System". When Yang Wenliang finished the final revision of the manuscript and was about to report it to Governor Yue Qifeng, the situation changed. At this time, Yue Qifeng was transferred from Hebei Province and became the Governor of Liaoning Province.Due to Yue Qifeng's transfer, Yang Wenliang's report was put on hold.

However, Yang Wenliang, who spent a lot of effort on this, has never been able to detach himself from it.It can be said that when he accepted this task, he was purely accidental and passive, but once he devoted himself to it, he clearly realized that this is a very meaningful and difficult to encounter major task. issues, and felt a sacred social responsibility.Therefore, the research on the public grain system has become the most important thing that he dreams of. During that time, Yang Wenliang successively published "About the Tithe", "The Double Burden Is Too Heavy" and other newspapers inside and outside the province, such as "Farmers' Daily", "Seeking Truth", "Decision-making Reference" and "County-level Comprehensive Reform Newsletter". , Problems Need to Be Solved Urgently” and “Fifty Million Peasants Call for the Third Emancipation——Research Report on the Reform of the Rural Tax System”.Like He Kaiyin, he also hopes that these articles will attract the attention of the higher authorities.

On September 18, 1992, Yang Wenliang and Qiu Shiyong co-wrote an article "The Public Grain System: The Fundamental Way to Reduce Farmers' Burden", which was published in "Comprehensive Research Information" sponsored by the General Office of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee superior.Unexpectedly, he published so many related articles, but this article was published in the provincial government magazine, which attracted the attention of Xing Chongzhi, secretary of the provincial party committee.Xing Chongzhi immediately approved the article to Li Bingliang, deputy secretary of the provincial party committee; he hoped that he would come forward to convene relevant responsible comrades to study and propose a reform plan, and strive to solve the problem of overburdening farmers from the law.

In fact, before that, Li Bingliang had already seen this article from the Political Research Office, and had already approved it to Wu Zhixiong, who presided over the work of the Political Research Office and also served as the director of the Office of the County-level Comprehensive Reform Leading Group.He commented on Yang Wenliang's article: "There are a lot of inspirations. How about choosing a comprehensive reform experiment county and experimenting with this matter together with the liberalization of grain and oil prices? Please consider." Li Bingliang was even more determined to experiment with the public grain system, so he gave Wu Zhixiong another instruction: "This is a very important issue. Please discuss it according to Comrade Chongzhi's instruction and discuss it at an appropriate time."

Wu Zhixiong was connected to Li Bingliang's two instructions. He didn't dare to neglect, and immediately went to Yang Wenliang, hoping that he would come up with something more specific as soon as possible. Yang Wenliang was very excited when he finally got the affirmation from the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee. He quickly wrote "Suggestions on Implementing the Public Grain System" and felt dissatisfied. Later, he drafted a "Hebei Province Public Grain System Reform Plan".To be cautious, as soon as the plan was written, he went to seek opinions from the Ministry of Agriculture and Industry of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial Reform Office, the Provincial Department of Finance, and the Department of Agriculture, and then went to Zhengding County, a major grain-producing county, to solicit opinions from the following .He found that the Zhengding County Party Committee and the county government were very positive about this kind of pilot project, so he, together with Xie Lusheng, a deputy researcher at the Provincial Party Committee's Political Research Office, worked with Xu Xiangxi, Xiao Yuliang, Han Gensuo, Zhang Yinsu, and Ye Zhengguo from the Zhengding County Comprehensive Reform Office. After four months, they went to the homes of 100 farmers in ten villages in five towns and towns in Zhengding County to investigate and visit.In the end, the draft was changed seven times and it was written into the "Trial Draft for the Reform of the Public Grain System in Zhengding County".

It was May of 1993.The reform plan has been drafted and is about to be officially reported to the Provincial Party Committee, but Yang Wenliang feels that there is still one important thing that has not been done, that is, he should go to Anhui to visit He Kaiyin, the initiator of this reform, and listen to his opinion. On May 24, 1993, Yang Wenliang boarded a train going south from Shijiazhuang to Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province. He Kaiyin was so happy to see Yang Wenliang coming so far, and also brought Xiao Yuliang and Han Gensuo from Zhengding County Comprehensive Reform Office, and Li Heihu from Zhengding County Grain Bureau.Originally, he also planned to make the life of these Hebei guests more relaxed and happy during their stay in Fei, at least to accompany you to go shopping and have a look around, but he learned that the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government attach great importance to the reform of rural taxes and fees. He Kaiyin decided not to go anywhere, closed the door, and studied "official affairs" with them wholeheartedly.

He very much hoped that his research results would actually be of better help to the reform that Hebei Province will soon pilot. Yang Wenliang and his party stayed in Hefei for two days, and they also talked like this for two days.Both of them felt that it was too late to meet each other, so naturally there were endless topics to talk about. When Yang Wenliang returned to Hebei Province, he soon completed the final modification of the reform pilot implementation plan. After the "Implementation Plan" was reported, Yang Wenliang learned that the main leaders of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee had changed, and he couldn't help beating his heart, because at this time, Xing Chongzhi was replaced by ××× as Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee.Will there be troubles in the pilot work of rural tax and fee reform? Yang Wenliang's worries are not unreasonable.We have not formed an effective system to ensure the continuity of a job without changing personnel, and it is no surprise that things vary from person to person. Fortunately, Li Bingliang, deputy secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, still supported Yang Wenliang as always. He read the "Implementation Plan" and was very satisfied. a few words: "Comrade ××: This plan was developed by the comrades of the Comprehensive Reform Office and the comrades of Zhengding County. I went to hear it once. Its main feature is to implement the public grain system while liberalizing the price of grain purchases and sales. Farmers are taxed in cash Changing to tax in kind, one tax, one-time clearing, high transparency, easy to accept by the masses, may be a permanent solution to reduce the burden on farmers, and it can also ensure the necessary expenditure in the countryside and a certain amount of grain controlled by the state. First, it will be piloted in three townships in Zhengding County , intends to agree to its trial implementation.” In fact, Yang Wenliang's worries were unnecessary. When the new leader carefully read the "Pilot Program of Zhengding County Grain Purchase and Sales Reform Pilot Program", he simply approved four words: "Agree to the pilot program." The leaders of the provincial party committee decided to agree to the pilot project, which made Yang Wenliang finally heave a sigh of relief.But he still didn't dare to neglect. In order to make the reform plan more perfect, he traveled to Beijing again with comrades from Zhengding County.They went to the Central Political Research Office, the State Planning Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Internal Trade, and the School of Agricultural Economics and Management of Beijing Agricultural University to solicit opinions extensively. When Yang Wenliang told He Kaiyin about the progress of their work, He Kaiyin was very excited, and even felt a little jealous of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee's reform spirit and thoughtful work. It was at this time that He Kaiyin accidentally learned the news that Xinxing Town, Guoyang County, this province had secretly carried out tax and fee reforms. This news made He Kaiyin dubious, even unbelievable.Because he once went to Guoyang County specially for this matter, the scene of Guoyang County Party Committee Expansion Meeting is still fresh in his memory, how could this happen? Half surprised, half curious, He Kaiyin took a long-distance bus and decided to go to Guoyang to find out the facts.