Chapter 11 Chapter 1 "Climbing and falling in love" with Shanghai...

In my childhood memory, Kunshan was very shabby among the many wealthy brothers in Suzhou. Changshu, Wuxian, and even small neighbors like Taicang did not take it seriously. I went to Kunshan when I was very young, and my parents called it "low-lying land", which means a low-lying land dominated by lakes.It is usually flooded nine times in ten years, even if rice is planted, there will be no bumper harvest.Compared with Changshu, where I was born, the county seat of Kunshan is even more insignificant. Men say: the streets of Kunshan can be poured from head to toe with just one piss.

Old Kunshan was indeed very poor and shabby. In 1980, according to Suzhou people, the industrial output value of Changshu and Wujiang was almost twice that of Kunshan. At that time, Kunshan had few decent township enterprises.At that time, there were already many state-owned factories in Suzhou and Wuxi, and many communes and teams in Jiangyin, Changshu, Wuxian, Wujiang and Wuxi counties (Jiangyin and Wuxi counties were still under the jurisdiction of Suzhou at that time) set off a hot "marriage". People can afford it.Kunshan people feel depressed and sad.Anyway, in the eyes of Kunshan, urbanites like Suzhou and Wuxi would not move their "associated factories" to Kunshan. Moving to Kunshan would be a waste of time—it would be easy to be flooded.

At that time, Cai Changlin, secretary of the Kunshan County Party Committee, was very unconvinced. After he took power, he proposed that Kunshan should not always be the "little eight son" (Suzhou had 8 counties under it at the time), but should be the eldest son of Suzhou.Some people ridiculed Cai Changlin in private whether he wanted to brag before "going" to Suzhou City.Secretary Cai Changlin laughed and said, have you ever heard of a family where the "eldest son" can leave his parents, siblings and enjoy the glory and wealth alone?I, Cai Changlin, can leave a sentence for everyone: I love Kunshan more than I love myself.In the Kunshan County Party Committee and the county government team at that time, Cai Changlin was looking for a figure like Gu Yanwu who shouted "the rise and fall of the world, everyone is responsible".

Will there be such a person in Kunshan?Cai Changlin silently fixed his eyes on Wu Kequan, the deputy magistrate. "This man is brilliant!" Cai Changlin praised secretly.Look at Wu Kequan, his mind is full of topics such as "nothing" in Kunshan, why don't we "borrow" or "want" from other places, such as Shanghai. "Suzhou and Wuxi have been pulled away by Changshu, Jiangyin and Wu County. No matter how hard we try to squeeze in, we may not succeed. Why don't we look east? The east is the big Shanghai, the big Isn’t Shanghai several times bigger than Suzhou and Wuxi? As long as we get close to Shanghai, we are afraid that our little Kunshan won’t get rich?” This is Wu Kequan’s point of view, and the deputy county magistrate often hears such eloquent remarks at the county party committee standing committee meeting.

"Kequan, I also agree with your point of view, but some people say that our Xiaokunshan is married to Shanghai, can they think of us? You can show everyone your Longmen formation." Cai Changlin hoped that Wu Kequan could do it at the county standing committee meeting. Cleared everyone's doubts. "As the saying goes: Marriage means getting married in the right family. When we marry in Shanghai, it seems that some people are not in the right family. In fact, the big Shanghai has the advantages of the big Shanghai, and our small Kunshan has the advantages of the small Kunshan. Our small Kunshan has its own advantages. It’s not too small. Don’t you see that we have a good geographical location and convenient transportation? Some counties in Shanghai are much farther from the People’s Square in the center of Shanghai than ours. We are next to the suburbs of Shanghai. Half an hour from the center of Shanghai is absolutely convenient. Second, compared with Shanghai, we have more land, more water, and great potential for the development of agricultural and sideline products. Cheap. The above three points are things that Shanghai people want but are not easy to solve. If you marry us in Kunshan, you can make up for the "three deficiencies" in Shanghai. This is an optimized combination and cannot be simply regarded as our relationship with Shanghai. Our relatives must be our high-ranking relatives, and he is also a Shanghainese. This is called 1+1, but 1+1 does not necessarily equal 2, it may be 3, or it may be 4. What I said is still It is just addition. I think as long as we sincerely marry with Shanghai and make use of the advantages of both parties, our marriage may also be multiplication, and it will never be subtraction and division. I have this confidence!" Wu Kequan's words were like throwing a piece of boiling iron into a cold crock, and the pot exploded at once. There are also objections, mainly because they think that Shanghainese are too smart, and when dealing with Shanghainese, the "country people" always suffer the majority.

"Whether we suffer or not, the key is to see whether we are honest, sincere, and have our own advantages. Besides, Shanghainese are not naturally superior. Many of them are from Kunshan! As the saying goes, whether you are close or not, a fellow countryman is better than a nail in the door. As long as you work hard, there is no way you can’t lose 10,000 catties! I agree with Ke Quan’s opinion. On the one hand, we must do our own work well, on the other hand, we must Show some affection to the Shanghai people. The big brother of Shanghai is inseparable from the great development of Little Kunshan. Even if the family is rich and powerful in the process of dating, this is a normal phenomenon, and we have to be psychologically and mentally prepared , the key point is that we have to make good use of our own advantages. Advantages are the weight of all cooperation, and it is time for Kunshan to make good use of our own advantages!" Cai Changlin said such impassioned words in his conclusion, which made Kunshan look outward. "Expansion" means the general mobilization order.

If we hear a local "top leader" now, we won't feel that it is a new thing, but in the early 1980s, such a "mobilization order" was definitely a very passionate call to battle.Especially between Jiangsu and Shanghai, two rich cities and powerful provinces in southern Jiangsu. As far as I know, since the founding of New China, especially after the abolition of the East China Bureau, the two brothers of Jiangsu and Shanghai have not been very harmonious. , the reason is not complicated, there is some inconsistency between each other, to put it bluntly, no one buys anyone else's account.Shanghai is the economic, cultural and financial center of East China and even China. However, Shanghai has the limitations of Shanghai—small land, lack of labor, and lack of agricultural and sideline products. The county is interested and looks forward to one day claiming these places as its own.How could Jiangsu agree to cede these two pieces of "fat meat"?Conflicts sometimes end in such things.Of course, Jiangsu people cannot be blamed for being "stingy". Think about it, the division of district boundaries and provincial boundaries was determined by the central government or the former emperor. Who would dare to change hands easily?For this reason, it is very difficult for Suzhou people: if you are too close to Shanghai, the city of Nanjing in the north will have a problem; Tight, Suzhou people don't know how much they will suffer!

This has always been the case, and I deeply felt this delicate relationship between the two provinces and cities when I was a child.This situation is of course a thing of the past. Now Shanghai and Jiangsu have long been like a family, and the relationship is inseparable, let alone the relationship between Suzhou and Shanghai.Shanghainese call the little brother from Suzhou a "good brother", and Suzhou people sincerely call the Shanghainese "big brother".Suzhou calls Shanghai a paradise for getting rich, and Shanghai calls Suzhou its "back garden" and "open-air bank."

But the process of completing this relationship is complex and delicate.Kunshan people played a direct and leading role in the process of establishing the "brotherly" relationship between Suzhou and Shanghai. By this time, Wu Kequan of Kunshan had changed from a "supporting role" to a leading role in the team - in 1984 he was the county magistrate of Kunshan.According to the division of labor in the team, the county magistrate is mainly in charge of the economy, so his energy has been fully demonstrated. In addition, the secretary Cai Changlin is also a pioneering party leader, and Wu Kequan has the opportunity to show his ambitions.

Marriage with Shanghai is the main idea of ​​Wu Kequan's "powerful Kunshan" strategy. His first goal after taking office as county magistrate was to join forces with the Shanghai textile factory.Choosing a textile mill co-op is a conscious choice. Speaking of textile factories, Kunshan people in different eras have different feelings. This textile enterprise established during the Great Leap Forward era once brought a lot of glory to Kunshan people who had no industry.However, 20 years have passed, and its appearance and output have not changed in the slightest. By the early 1980s, the year of reform and opening up, this state-owned enterprise was dying, and its only vitality was maintained by tax exemption from the tax department.A minister of the Ministry of Textile Industry sighed after seeing it: "After walking through so many textile factories across the country, I didn't expect there to be such a dilapidated factory in Kunshan. One day, after you undergo technological transformation, you must try to keep an old factory. The workshop is good as a cultural relic of the textile industry for future generations to see."

People in Kunshan feel bad after hearing such words, but this is the status quo. As the county magistrate, Wu Kequan felt even worse.How to save the textile factory and revitalize Kunshan was what he thought about most when he took office.And he has been thinking in his mind: if Kunshan wants to develop, the key is the way to go. Those who are familiar with Wu Kequan know that this Kunshan native from Wujiang, Suzhou, had an experience that ordinary grassroots cadres did not have before he became the county magistrate of Kunshan: he was a graduate of Zhongnan University of Finance and Economics in the late 1950s, when the country was employing people. The State Planning Commission left Zhongnan University of Finance and Economics to leave this high-achieving student who had previously stayed at the school. He did not stay in the State Planning Commission building in Sanlihe, Beijing for a few days. The three-year difficult period in the early 1960s came. Something happened in Gansu, and the blood The son Wu Kequan put up a big-character poster strongly demanding to go to Gansu, the most difficult place. "At that time, cadres at the 17th level refused to go, so I signed up." It was against this background that Wu Kequan went to Gansu to participate in the "Rectification Movement and Society".The organization Uehara said that their group of people would return to Beijing after the "rectification and social organization" was over, but after Wu Kequan completed the task, the central government issued a notice of "simplifying the organization", Wu Kequan was "simplified" in this way, and he chose to return to his hometown Suzhou.But he failed to work in Suzhou City, because the "downsized" people need to obey the organization and go to places where they are more needed, so he was assigned to Kunshan, the most difficult place in Suzhou. In this way, Wu Kequan took his wife and children and became a native of Kunshan. never left... A few years later, Wu Kequan, who took office as the county magistrate, returned to his old business: planning (or planning)——became the ability and unique talent he could show most when he became the county magistrate. "In the early 1980s, the overall situation in Suzhou was very good. Compared with other places in the country, Hu Yaobang, the then general secretary of the party, highly appreciated the phenomenon of "impermanent river" in Suzhou when he inspected southern Jiangsu. "Wuchangjiang" refers to the three counties of Wuxi, Changshu, and Jiangyin. At that time, Wuxi and Jiangyin were under the jurisdiction of Suzhou. The industrial and agricultural output value of "Wuchangjiang" has exceeded 2 billion, while our Kunshan is very poor, only 600 million. Our The result of the discussion is: Kunshan will always fall behind relying on agriculture alone, and must have industry. But objectively, Kunshan has a traditional problem. There are too many fields and less labor, and the industry has never had the energy to do it. Second, the agricultural output of Kunshan is not high, but The income of farmers is not low in Suzhou, and they are often ranked first or second, so Kunshan people do not want to engage in industry in their hearts. At that time, Kunshan people had a few catchphrases: the output is not high, the income is not high, and life is pretty good , the contribution is better. The contribution is better because we sold a lot of grain in Kunshan to the country. At that time, in the county-level units that were mainly agricultural, selling more grain was the greatest glory. Therefore, Kunshan wanted to break through the industrial structure in the early stage of reform and opening up. The difficulty and resistance of this revolution are not small, mainly because of conceptual issues. Although I became a "Little Bazi", I still have a sense of pride like Ah Q in my heart, and I am even a little unconvinced about the big brother "Impermanence Jiang". But At the same time, everyone knows one thing clearly: It is impossible to catch up with the "impermanent river" only by engaging in agriculture. Only industry can increase the total output value of a place's social production. At the same time, as Deng Xiaoping said, the road to industrialization is the only way to achieve The only way for China to modernize. Whether Kunshan can engage in industry, this question is before us and needs to be analyzed. The result of my investigation is: Kunshan can not only engage in industry, but also has more advantages in prospects than other counties and cities. First of all, it is far away from Shanghai. Recently, the second question is whether we have any agricultural labor to spare for industry? My investigation found that at least 100,000 people in Kunshan can be spared for industry. What would it be like for 100,000 people to engage in industry? I come from a planning background Yes, thinking of this makes my blood boil! And I found that Kunshan has such a precedent, such as Luyang Town, which is also a place with many people and few fields, but their small industries are doing well. On the contrary, Zhouzhuang has many people and few fields, but due to If you don’t engage in industry, you’re still poor! At the county party committee meeting, everyone’s opinions were unanimous: to develop Kunshan, the tertiary industry must be grasped together. At that time, the industry was called “grasp the tertiary industry”. I was in charge of the industry, so I presided over the grasping earlier Industrial development in Kunshan..." Wu Kequan recalled the "Road to Kunshan" back then, and talked about this process of changing thoughts and concepts. The above questions seem to be very simple now, but at that time it was definitely a profound and unknown historical revolutionary test.The difficulties facing Wu Kequan and Kunshan people in completing this revolution are: lack of money, equipment, management experience, professional talents, and industry direction. "We lack almost all the five elements of industry. What should we do? We first thought of Shanghai. Shanghai has all these five elements. But Shanghai is Shanghai, and whether we can 'borrow' these things in Kunshan has become a controversial issue. Some people say, why do Shanghai people want to 'borrow' these things from you in Kunshan? And for many years, due to the inexplicable and inexplicable mutual ignorance between Jiangsu and Shanghai, the relationship between the two brothers who are close neighbors It is not so harmonious, especially because we are influenced by the above "not allowed to look around", we have not dared to cooperate with our neighbors like Shanghai for a long time. This is the problem above, but the people-to-people relationship between us Kunshan people and Shanghai people has always been Very friendly and intimate! We have warmed up this kind of relationship from people-to-people diplomacy, so as to realize the possibility of development from Kunshan to Shanghai." Wu Kequan's thoughts are well-founded, and the conditions are ripe. Since the spring breeze of reform and opening up swept across the land of China, although the reforms of the industrial revolution in big cities like Shanghai had not yet fully rolled out, Shanghai citizens with a little money on hand had already come alive.Every holiday, they go to the countryside in groups to purchase agricultural and sideline products, and naturally the most go to Kunshan, and this new form of "going to the countryside" makes both Kunshan people and Shanghai people happy. One can get cheap, fresh and Delicious agricultural and sideline products, the two earned not only the money of the Shanghai people, but also the friendship with the city people. "Start our plan with this enthusiasm!" Wu Kequan is a very caring person. He wants his cadres to seize this opportunity and attack Shanghai in an all-round way. So the Kunshan cadres made a conscious effort to build friendly relations with every Shanghainese. "You guys are the big brothers in Shanghai, it's cheaper, it's cheaper! Haha, I will come here often in the future, and I will sell you better things next time! You just treat us as relatives and leave!" The real thing and fresh fish and live crabs from rivers, lakes and ponds come to entertain Shanghainese for their own purposes. So more people from Shanghai come to Kunshan in groups... The east wind has blown.Wu Kequan started to do what he dreamed of—— His first heart trouble was the textile factory.Thinking of textile factories, Wu Kequan thought of Gong Zhaoyuan, a Shanghai native from Kunshan. "Both husband and wife were underground party members before liberation, and I would definitely be willing to let them do something for their hometown." Wu Kequan thought so, so one day, two unexpected guests came to the home of Gong Zhaoyuan, a consultant of the Shanghai Municipal Economic Commission who lived on Urumqi Road in Shanghai. "Okay, if my family doesn't help my family, who else can help?" Although Mr. Gong has retired at home, he has never given up the idea of ​​making some contributions to the revolution. All that comes out of my heart is joy. "Wait a minute, I'll contact Yan Yongsheng, the director of the No. 2 Textile Machinery Factory." Mr. Gong was quick to do things. When the guest was still sitting in the room, he immediately picked up the phone to find his subordinates and said he wanted "help." . "Mr. Gong, this is a matter of your hometown. In a word: we will do whatever we want." Factory Manager Yan Yongsheng readily agreed to the request of "Kunshan people".So Gu Pinyuan from the Second Industry Bureau of Kunshan County got in touch with Factory Director Yan in Shanghai within a few days.But contact does not mean that the marriage is successful.It was very difficult at the beginning, and the difficulty was that the people in Shanghai were very willing to set up a "branch factory" in Kunshan and other cooperation matters, but when it came to actual operation, they found that there were many problems, and some things seemed to be impossible to get over.For example, Shanghai and Kunshan belong to two different provinces and cities. Does such cooperation have to be approved by the "superior departments" of both parties?If there is a problem, who will judge?Is it the relevant departments in Shanghai and Jiangsu?Or the central department in Beijing?If there is a profit, how to divide it?If Shanghai gains profits, should they be included in the income of the general factory?If it is not allocated to the workers, will it mean that capitalism has gone the wrong way?Wait, wait, finally "research" and "research", I still feel that the "specific problem" is not easy to solve. Wu Kequan couldn't figure it out: everyone in this world is calling for reform and reform, but how can there be so many problems when the reform is actually carried out?It seems that it is not easy to be the first to eat crabs. Go ahead and try.Wu Kequan later thought of Qian Yiping from Shanghai.Qian was the orphan of a martyr, and was adopted by Premier Zhou Enlai.Qian Yiping is the deputy director of Shanghai Economic Cooperation Office.The Office of Economic Cooperation is a special agency established by the Chinese governments in the early 1980s to "invigorate" foreign economic cooperation.They might be able to get things done. Qian Yiping is worthy of being a "Kunshan fellow". He admired Wu Kequan's ideas and said that he would "contribute to the construction of his hometown". Besides, Gong Zhaoyuan, who failed to get married for his hometown for the first time, was still full of confidence. He personally took Wu Kequan to Jinshan Petrochemical General Factory and asked them to solve the slicing for the textile factory in Kunshan.Jinshan Petrochemical General Plant is a product of China's reform and opening up. The management here was liberated early, and with the face of the old leader Gong Zhaoyuan, they agreed to sign a 300-ton slice business with Kunshan.After learning about this, Qian Yiping said to Wu Kequan: "300 tons will definitely not make money! Old Wu, you can't do this! It's understandable if you don't understand, it's not interesting for them to do this!" Feeling ashamed and angry, "I'll go find them." "300 tons of course can only be a partnership." After Qian Yiping approached a factory manager in Shanghai to criticize him, the factory manager confessed his true feelings to him. "Since you want to help others, you have to let them do it. There is money to be made. Is it okay to add 300 tons of spare equipment?" Qian Yiping asked the factory manager when he saw the opportunity. "You are the leader, dare I not listen?" The factory manager smiled and said. Wu Kequan was overjoyed, and saw the opportunity to "heat up" Deputy Director Qian Yiping, so he finally got 1,000 tons.Haha, there is food for 1000 tons!Wu Kequan frowned, and then followed Gong Zhaoyuan to learn "underground work" - this time they were specifically dealing with some conservative and rigid rules and regulations in the policy at that time. The process of dating for the first time was very difficult and tortuous, almost carried out in a semi-public and semi-underground state.On December 31 of this year, Shanghai No. 2 Textile Machinery Factory, No. 1 Dilun Factory of Shanghai Petrochemical General Plant and Kunshan Industrial Bureau formally signed an agreement called "Agreement on Cooperative Construction of Spinning Machine Experimental Factory". Readers will inevitably feel amused when they read the name of this strange agreement, but the first cooperation agreement between Shanghai and Kunshan at that time was full of profound meaning.One is not called joint operation nor joint operation, but cooperation; the second is that the word experiment is very particular, and it can be retreated and advanced; the third is that the factory is the most delicate. It is an experimental factory, it is not considered a formal factory. "The reason why we wrote this is because there was still considerable resistance to such joint ventures at that time, especially joint ventures between two different provinces and cities, between a big city and rural people, it was like a big state-run factory. Who dares to take responsibility for the cooperative establishment of factories between enterprises and small township factories? No. Those of us who specifically advocate doing this may suffer a lot from it. Therefore, for the political and economic security of both parties, engage in Such an agreement." Wu Kequan said with a wry smile when talking about the agreement, "At that time, it was very difficult to accomplish one thing." Everything is difficult at the beginning, and the difficulty lies in the fact that you don't know how to deal with some things at that time.After the agreement between the two parties is signed, it must be approved by the superior unit, right?Kunshan went to Suzhou.Suzhou told them: Shanghai is a provincial city, I can approve enterprises in Kunshan County, but how can we approve enterprises in Shanghai?When I went to Nanjing, Nanjing told them: There is no precedent for cross-provincial cooperation in setting up factories in Jiangsu. Besides, what do you call a "factory"?Kunshan replied that workshop means factory.The voice of the Nanjing side became louder: You did not report in advance about such a big matter as cooperating with Shanghai to set up a factory.How can we criticize you!Besides, even if we approve you, you are a joint factory with Shanghai. How can we in Jiangsu have the right to approve an enterprise run by others in Shanghai! What Nanjing said is not unreasonable.So Wu Kequan and the others asked Shanghai to seek approval from relevant departments.The relevant departments in Shanghai widened their eyes when they heard this: Well, you Shanghainese don’t work for Shanghainese, so why go to Jiangsu to set up a factory?What, why do you want to be a traitor?Besides, even if I approve you, I can't get you the plan from the Beijing Ministry!Play the piano randomly. After a large circle, Wu Kequan and the Kunshan people including Gong Zhaoyuan and Qian Yiping were very depressed.A simple sentence: Free love has finally come true, but I can't get a "marriage certificate".You can't live together without a "marriage certificate"!Many Kunshan people began to shrink back, but Wu Kequan, who had stayed at the State Planning Commission in Beijing, said: What can't be done in Shanghai and Nanjing, Beijing may not be able to do it either.I'm going to Beijing! In this way, Wu Kequan took relevant comrades from the county office to go north many times to find acquaintances and relationships in the Ministry of Textile Industry, from the director, to the director, and then to the minister, looking for it layer by layer... Finally, this "marriage" Finally, I officially got the "marriage certificate" two years later. "This factory was jointly built by Shanghai's Baoshan, Jinshan and our "three mountains" in Kunshan. I jokingly called it the "Three Mountains Factory". It is definitely not an easy task to move together. Unlike the opening up now, regional cooperation is like visiting relatives. In the early 1980s, our regional cooperation was indeed like underground work. To tell the truth: A few years later, Kunshan was withdrawn from the county and established as a city, and many leaders came from Shanghai, but our own Jiangsu Province only came to have a deputy secretary-general. At that meeting, someone asked me half-jokingly: Is Kunshan already assigned to the Shanghai? I said with a smile: It’s really possible if it doesn’t go well. It can be seen that the process of developing the regional economy is just like the country’s reform and opening up. It is also full of contradictions and complicated social backgrounds in the initial stage. The reason why Kunshan was able to become China’ Innovation has always been the basic driving force for our progress." Wu Kequan said when summarizing Kunshan's experience. At the time of the "marriage" with Shanghai, Wu Kequan also successfully became the county magistrate.Through the success of the textile factory and the practical results of the children's printing factory, cement factory and other units, Wu Kequan gradually formed an idea at this time: if he finds a kind of support, find a suitable one. The way Kunshan actually develops its economy may be very promising. So Wu Kequan, together with Cai Changlin, secretary of the county party committee, and other team members, began to plan a grand blueprint for Kunshan to take off—to build a number of key projects in Kunshan with a total investment of more than 5 million yuan, and an economic development zone with a total investment of 150 million yuan. "We just want to build a development zone like Shekou." This year, Wu Kequan specially went to Shekou, Guangdong for inspection and visit. He received a strong inner shock there, and secretly vowed to build such a vigorous economy in his hometown development zone. At that time, the State Council approved the construction of economic development zones in 14 coastal cities, but Xiaokunshan did not have this kind of treatment. Some people joked that Wu Kequan was "a carp trying to overturn the boat" - tantamount to daydreaming. "I just want to dream in the daytime, and this dream must come true!" Wu Kequan looks weak on the surface, but his will is very strong.He publicized his views at the cadre meeting, which also boosted the confidence of his subordinates. Since then, the land of Kunshan has been surging...