Chapter 28 Chapter 7: Great Responsibility from Heaven—2 Don't argue, show them

In Guoyang, He Kaiyin found the county magistrate Wang Bingyu who had dropped his notebook at the enlarged county party committee meeting in support of the tax and fee reform.County Magistrate Wang received him warmly, but when He Kaiyin asked about the tax reform in Xinxing Town, Wang smiled meaningfully and said, "You'd better go down and have a look yourself." Then he called the information department The elder, Wang Wei, asked Wang Wei to lead him to the comrades in Nongkou to accompany him. After leaving the county magistrate's office, He Kaiyin couldn't help asking Wang Wei what happened in Xinxing Town.Wang Wei quietly told He Kaiyin that rumors of the tax reform in Xinxing Town had spread far and wide, not to mention the nearby counties and cities, and even the research teams from Jiangsu and Sichuan provinces, and in some places even a township The four teams of the party committee, the government, the National People's Congress, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference have come here to study and learn from the experience, but this matter has been kept secret in Guoyang.

He Kaiyin was even more surprised when he heard this.So there are rumors all over the place, but he never heard of it in the provincial capital. Is this called "dark under the lamp"? He Kaiyin followed Wang Wei to find the comrades in the county farm.I never thought about it. When they heard that they were going to Xinxing Town, they either excused that they were too busy with work or that it was inconvenient to go out due to illness, which made Wang Wei quite embarrassed, so they simply told the truth to He Kaiyin: "No one dares to accompany you down now. , I'll find another person, if it really doesn't work, I'll go with you!"

He thought of Niu Miao, deputy director of the county agricultural committee, who came from the post of secretary of the township party committee.Niu Miao is only in his thirties. Not only is his mind free, but he also happens to be in charge of rural research work.He found Niu Miao on the phone, and after learning about the situation, Niu Miao readily agreed to accompany him, which did not embarrass Wang Wei too much. The three of them arrived at Xinxing Town together. In Xinxing Town, He Kaiyin met Li Peijie, Secretary of the Town Party Committee. When Li Peijie knew that the provincial government counselor who came here was the one who first put forward the idea of ​​this reform, he excitedly held Lao He with both hands, and kept holding on for a long time, saying repeatedly: "This is great. You can't find it even with a lantern. The teacher is here today!"

Li Peijie did not tell lies in front of the real person. He told He Kaiyin that the reform of taxes and fees in Xinxing Town has been done secretly, but this kind of reform is of great importance. Relying on a single township to fight alone is like a small boat sailing through the sea. Big, too risky, too difficult.Originally, the town stipulated that only 30 yuan per mu per year should be charged as a "contract tax" to farmers, but many departments above still changed their ways to suppress tasks and apportioned randomly. The town couldn't stand it, and the reform was greatly impacted. , and sometimes it's almost impossible to keep going!

Although He Kaiyin was worried about the situation in Xinxing Town, he still couldn't restrain his excitement. He thought, just do it!Although the reform of the tax collection method carried out by Xinxing Town is the same as the reform of the public grain system carried out by Zhengding County in Hebei Province, in the final analysis, it is only an unsatisfactory repair to the old system, and it is still legal The administrative power to include the interests of some government departments and collective organizations that are not legal at present is included in the tax and fee items, and even with the changes in the grain market, it seems helpless. However, this bold reform attempt has been curbed after all. The increasing burden of farmers has mobilized farmers' enthusiasm for farming and improved the relationship between the party and the masses and the cadres to a certain extent.In particular, the problems that any reform can solve are often far less numerous, broader, and sharper than the problems it raises. Because of this, the lessons and inspiration it provides us are more important than anything else. precious!

Undoubtedly, this unprecedented breakthrough is an immeasurable milestone in the journey towards the second stage of reform in rural China! What surprised him was that Wang Zhaoyao, the former Secretary of the Fuyang District Party Committee who first established the China Rural Reform Experimental Zone, had already served as the executive vice-governor of Anhui Province.This change in personnel gave He Kaiyin a premonition: Anhui, as a large agricultural province, has reason to deepen rural reforms and will bring a little surprise to the people of the country. Not long after returning from Guoyang County, He Kaiyin went to Hefei Daoxianglou Hotel to participate in the provincial rural work conference. During the break of the conference, a participant named Ma Mingye approached him and introduced himself as the magistrate of Taihe County. , said that they have identified this year as "the year of increasing farmers' income and reducing farmers' burdens". The county party committee and county government also proposed a strategy of "seeking development through reform and reducing burden through reform". Research, and finally the reforms to be carried out will be determined on the "positive tax exemption".

He Kaiyin was naturally happy when he heard this, and said, "Okay, I can provide you with some information on this." Ma Mingye said: "Thank you so much. When will I see it?" "I'll hand it over to you after the meeting." "But I want to see it now." He Kaiyin couldn't help laughing, "Now?" Ma Mingye said seriously: "Today is the best." He Kaiyin didn't expect that he would meet someone as impatient as himself. When He Kaiyin returned home that night, he found a stack of research papers of his own and handed them over to County Magistrate Ma Mingye.

What was even more surprising to He Kaiyin was that Taihe County's actions were astonishingly fast. Within a few days, they reported a "Report on Agricultural Tax and Fee Reform Opinions in Taihe County" to the provincial government. Since this was an agricultural matter, the "Report" was in the hands of Wang Zhaoyao.Wang Zhaoyao received the "Report" from Taihe County, which was both unexpected and expected.Because, when he was the secretary of the Fuyang Prefectural Committee, he became very interested in the reform of taxes and fees. He said to He Kaiyin, "We decided to do it," and took Lao He down to find a place to experiment.When it was still difficult to unify the thinking of the leaders of Yingshang and Guoyang counties, he said to Lao He: "There is no rush for this matter. Don't worry about one thing. I support you in carrying out tax and fee reform in Fuyang area." Now , Taihe County in Fuyang area has finally come out, and the conditions are obviously more mature, so he wants to stand up and clear the way for this reform in Taihe.

He immediately issued an instruction: "Send it to Comrade Zhaoxiang for reading. I think it is feasible to reform the agricultural tax system in Taihe County. Please consider it." His attitude was very clear: "I think it is feasible"; as the executive vice-governor of the government, he not only helped himself, but also sought the support of Fang Zhaoxiang, the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee in charge of this work. Fang Zhaoxiang's opinion at the time was also very clear: "Carefully pilot, pay attention to summarizing, and maintain stability."

On the same day, four relevant leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government issued clear instructions in the "Report" calling for tax and fee reform in Taihe County, and the Office of the Provincial Rural Work Leading Group also sent the notice of the demonstration meeting together with the Taihe County's "Report" was sent to the relevant units and departments of the Provincial Economic Reform Commission, the Provincial Department of Finance, the Provincial Office of Burden Reduction, and the General Office of the Provincial Government.This kind of work efficiency in handling major reform events is rare in the history of Anhui Province.

He believes that this must be related to Vice Governor Wang Zhaoyao who came from the front line of reform, and also related to the aggressive reform situation in Henan and Hebei provinces.Of course, there is another important factor that should not be overlooked, that is, in the spring of this year, Ding Zuoming, a young farmer in Luji Village, Jiwangchang Township, Lixin County, Anhui Province, was beaten to death at the police station for complaining about the burden of farmers, and the case shocked the central authorities; Since then, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued emergency notices, special meetings, and the approval and handling of agricultural projects one after another. For a while, "burden reduction" became China's top priority. It can be said that Taihe County's "Report" calling for rural tax and fee reforms with the main purpose of reducing farmers' burdens took advantage of the timing, location, and harmony of people! Therefore, He Kaiyin felt that with the full support of the top and bottom, under such a situation, holding such a demonstration meeting should not cause any surprises. However, something he didn't expect happened. At 8:30 am on November 8, 1993, the demonstration meeting hosted by Wu Zhaoren, deputy director of the Provincial Agricultural Economic Commission, was held on time in the North Building of the Provincial Party Committee.Attending the meeting were not only the relevant persons in charge of the Provincial Restructuring Commission, the Provincial Department of Finance, the Provincial Burden Reduction Office, the General Office of the Provincial Government, the Director of Production, the Director of Research, the Director of the Office, and the Party Branch of the Economic Management Station of the Provincial Agricultural Economic Commission. The secretary and the station manager all attended the meeting one by one; Ma Mingye, the magistrate of Taihe County, Gong Xiaoli, director of the County Finance Bureau, Zou Xinhua, deputy director of the County Agricultural Committee, and Song Weichun, the chief of the county government's research section, also rushed from Taihe to the provincial capital to attend the meeting. this meeting. He Kaiyin came to the venue early. At the meeting, Pan Maoqun, Director of the Rural Division of the Provincial Restructuring Commission, made a passionate speech.He highly appreciated the bold reforms in Taihe County, and believed that their "Report" was clear, practical, and easy to operate, and fully affirmed it. At the same time, he also put forward specific suggestions for further revision and improvement.Mao Lihe, secretary of the Provincial Burden Reduction Office, then pointed out that the current burden on farmers is indeed too heavy and cannot be reduced. Therefore, he expressed support for the "Report" of Taihe County and believed that it could be tried.Zhou Xinsheng, director of the Provincial Agricultural Committee Research Division, said that when Comrade He Kaiyin proposed the idea of ​​tax and fee reform at the beginning, he raised his hands in favor of it. With constant exploration and practice, this work will be perfected day by day. He Kaiyin also spoke at the meeting.He mainly talked about his thoughts on tax and fee reform over the years, and pointed out that since it is a reform, it must involve specific issues of some departments. A lot of understanding and support for the reform. Everyone's speeches basically expressed a positive attitude of support, but no one expected that the representative of the Provincial Department of Finance, the department in charge of agricultural tax collection, put forward negative opinions, and they were very sharp. At that time, Zhang Guangchun, director of the Agricultural Taxation Department of the Provincial Department of Finance, was sitting in a seat far away from He Kaiyin. Suddenly he stood up impulsively, pointed at He Kaiyin, and reprimanded loudly: "Old He, don't stand and talk." No lower back pain! Random ideas! You have messed up taxes and fees, and if you can’t collect taxes, who will pay you in the future? If you can’t pay wages then, people won’t be looking for you, they’re looking for me!” His voice was loud, and he spoke very angrily. He suddenly stood up and pointed at He Kaiyin, all of which were very abrupt, which made all the participants stunned. The atmosphere at the meeting suddenly became tense. When we heard this episode in the demonstration meeting in the interview, we also felt incomprehensible.Because the Agricultural Tax Department deals with "agricultural tax" all day long. As the person in charge of this department, he should know better than anyone else the current burden on farmers in the countryside; the burden is so heavy that even Premier Zhu Jiji had to speak out : "Farmers are overwhelmed, this problem must be solved!" He even said "knocking out the bone" and "the people's grievances are boiling".However, a government official who specializes in "agricultural taxation" has no compassion for the 900 million peasants - the largest number of "taxpayers" in China, but acts as a spokesperson for "salary workers". This kind of feeling and sense of responsibility are serious. Misplaced, it is unbelievable. The first one who couldn't sit still was Ma Mingye, the magistrate of Taihe County. Ma Mingye is very clear that the "Report" prepared by Taihe County refers to He Kaiyin's many "ideas" for reform, but these "ideas" are not bad.Prior to this, the county also did a lot of investigation work. He admits that the "Report" still needs major revisions, and even needs to be overthrown and restarted, but there should be no doubt about the thinking and main purpose of its reform.The director of the Agricultural Taxation Department of the Finance Department rejected their "Report" without any analysis. Such extreme words and rude attitudes were unacceptable to him. Ma Mingye was about to stand up and fight back, but He Kaiyin gently held him down, signaling him to calm down. Because the director of the agricultural taxation department held a firm negative opinion, the debate at the meeting became very intense, but after all, there are many supporters. At the end of the day, Wu Zhaoren, who presided over the meeting, made some conclusions.He said that the starting point of Taihe County's request for rural tax and fee reform should be affirmative first, and the idea is also good. This can not only reduce the burden on farmers, but also reduce cadres' mistakes and promote the development of rural economy. Besides, this is also approved by the Provincial Party Committee , Supported by relevant leaders of the provincial government.What is the name of this reform?How to change?We can learn from Guangdong's method, "Mr. gives the name after the child".He said, I agree to carry out this reform experiment in Taihe County, but the "Report" needs to be rewritten, and it can be made more detailed so that it makes sense in theory and works in practice, and then we invite Expert argument once. That night, He Kaiyin and Zou Xinhua who stayed behind had a preliminary discussion on the revision plan of the "Report".The next day, they got up early in the morning, and the two hurriedly grabbed a few bites of food, and then set off on the road in Ma Mingye's car.On the afternoon when we arrived in Taihe County, all members of the six major teams of the county party committee, county government, county people's congress, county political consultative conference, county discipline inspection committee, and county people's armed forces department, as well as the directors of relevant departments of the county government, gathered together.At the meeting, Ma Mingye first reported the situation of the demonstration meeting in the province; then, He Kaiyin expressed his opinions on how to formulate the plan for the reform of rural taxes and fees.The meeting was in full swing, and everyone offered their ideas and suggestions one after another.Zou Xinhua can be called a "quick shooter". That night, he didn't sleep all night, so he took out the reconsideration draft of the report. In the morning of the next day, the six major teams and the directors of the departments gathered again to have another round of heated discussions on the newly drafted "Report".At noon, Zou Xinhua gathered everyone's opinions, and then sat down to continue the discussion in the afternoon. Wang Xinyun, secretary of the county party committee, put forward the "three musts" requirements for the reform plan: "The goal of 'reducing the burden' must be achieved to satisfy farmers; it must be 'clear and easy to implement and simplify procedures' to truly improve the work efficiency of grassroots cadres. ; We must take into account the interests of the country, the collective, and the individual, and win the support of the superior leaders." Thanks to He Kaiyin's specific guidance, and after brainstorming from top to bottom, from all sides, and repeatedly, a "Report on the Implementation Plan for Agricultural Tax and Fee Reform in Taihe County" with four parts and 19 articles became clear. produced. The "Implementation Plan" decided: Starting from January 1, 1994, Taihe County canceled the task of ordering grain within the county, and instead began collecting public grain from farmers. , It can also be converted into the payment according to the market grain price of the year jointly approved by the price and finance departments. Coordination of taxes and fees, collection of discounts, payment of food according to regulations, cancellation of orders; Six in the afternoon and four in the autumn, pay the balance twice, it must be three years, no increase or decrease; The grain station collects grain, the financial settlement, the tax goes to the treasury, and the fee goes to the village; Expenses are lump-sum, villages have township management, strict revenue and expenditure, and open accounts. In short, the "Implementation Plan" should be as close to the people as possible, conform to the reality, not only have its seriousness, but also reflect a kind of humanistic care.In order to effectively stop the "three disturbances" and reduce the burden on farmers, two items have been specially added in the plan: First, "Anyone who violates the public grain contract, distributes apportionments, raises funds, or collects fees from farmers indiscriminately, the farmers have the right to refuse, to report, Appeal, the government protects and rewards whistleblowers." Second, "The county people's court, according to the Supreme People's Court's "Notice on Timely Hearing Cases Caused by Farmers' Overburden" and in accordance with the contract, illegally demands that farmers refuse to accept administrative organs and rural cadres. The people's court shall hear the case of administrative litigation for the payment of expenses or labor services in accordance with the law and try it in a timely manner. Unreasonable decisions shall be revoked in accordance with the law; economic losses caused to farmers due to random apportionment shall be compensated according to the law; Vicious cases, those responsible for causing heavy losses, shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the law." After the "Implementation Plan" was sent to the province, it was unanimously approved by the leaders of the Provincial Agricultural Economic Commission, the Department of Grain and the Department of Finance.Of course, while fully affirming it, they also put forward some very specific and good suggestions for revision. In the end, Wu Zhaoren, deputy director of the Agricultural Economic and Economic Commission, personally came out to finalize the "Implementation Plan". On November 16, 1993, the General Office of the People's Government of Anhui Province officially issued a reply. Taihe County, with a population of 1.75 million mu of arable land, kicked off the prelude excitingly! On January 1, 1994, when the reform of the public grain system in Hebei Province was still being piloted in the three townships of Zhengding County, Taihe County in Anhui Province had already rolled out the reform in the three townships of the county like thunder and lightning. Eleven villages and towns have been rolled out in an all-round way, thus becoming the first county in China's rural tax and fee reform!