Rebirth of the Industrial Tycoon

Chapter 677: Worry not about scarcity but about inequality

Twenty to thirty thousand people gathered together, and the road in front of the Agricultural Association was already blocked.

However, the rally was very peaceful, which is in line with the character of the Thai people. They do things in a leisurely manner, and even the protests are Buddhist-like.

Look at the demonstrations in Thailand. Sometimes they are very funny. Some protestors kneel directly to the people being protested, as if to say, I kneel for you, just agree to my request!

Then the people being protested also knelt down towards the protestors, saying that I will kneel down for you too, but I just won’t agree!

The demonstrations and protests instantly turned into New Year greetings for Shandong people.

As a reporter for the newspaper, Papin was sent by the editor to conduct interviews on the spot.

Papin came to a farmer and asked, "Where are you from?"

"We are from Lopburi Province, Wan Mian District." The farmer answered.

"You came here to rally, do you have any demands?" Papan then asked:

"We want agricultural machinery!" the farmer continued: "The Agricultural Association spent 5 billion baht to buy agricultural machinery, but we didn't get a share. We ask the Agricultural Association to allocate agricultural machinery to us!"

"As far as I know, the contract for this 5 billion baht order has just been signed, and production of the products has not yet started! Is it too early for you to come here and ask for agricultural machinery?" Papin asked.

"Morning? I feel like it's a little late already! The Agricultural Association has promised to give priority to providing agricultural machinery to Dacheng Mansion. The number of this batch of agricultural machinery is only 4,000 units. If you don't come to ask for it, I'm afraid you won't be able to get even one. "Yeah," the farmer said.

"4,000 agricultural machines? How did you know?" Papin asked.

"Agricultural experts said so!" the farmer replied.

"What the experts say may not be right! What if they are wrong?" As a reporter, Papan's word "question" is engraved in his bones.

The farmer answered: "How much does a rice harvester cost? Agricultural machinery companies also clearly mark the price. How many agricultural machinery can be bought with 5 billion baht? You can know how many agricultural machinery you can buy with just one calculation. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division can also deceive people!"

Papan nodded. The mathematical question was indeed irrefutable, so he then asked: "Then how many of these 4,000 agricultural machines do you think should be allocated to you?"

"Our rice planting area in Lopburi Province is so large. If you want me to see it, we should give us all 4,000 agricultural machinery." The farmer said.

"Then have you ever considered what the farmers in other provinces should do?" Papan asked.

The farmer also felt that this request was a bit excessive, so he said: "Then give us half of Lopburi House!"

There are a total of 77 provinces in Thailand. Except for those provinces in the south with relatively small rice planting areas and the remote mountainous areas of the Golden Triangle, there must be 50 provinces that are the main rice-producing areas. If half of the agricultural machinery is given to Lopburi House, the other forty-nine houses will not be in trouble!

Obviously, this farmer’s request is simply impossible.

"It seems that this opportunity to protest will not be over for a while!" Papan thought to himself.

…

"Yes! Please rest assured, I will solve it as soon as possible." President Song'en put down the phone with a sad face.

Then President Song En said: "The minister said that the Prime Minister has begun to pay attention to this matter, and he wants us to resolve the farmers' protest immediately."

"Just like how we dealt with the farmers in Dacheng Prefecture, we said that we would allocate farm machinery to them first and send them away?" Nakun asked.

President Songen pondered for a moment and then said: "It would be okay if it was just a farmer from Dacheng Prefecture. Now farmers from several prefectures are here. We cannot promise that everyone will be eligible for priority distribution. And farmers from some prefectures , one or two thousand units at a time, how can we have so many agricultural machines to share with them?”

"This farmer's rally is nothing more than a worry about not being able to get agricultural machinery. Speaking of the quantity of agricultural machinery, the contract we signed with Kubota is not for 4,000 units, but for the supply of a minimum of 10,000 agricultural machinery."

Nakun continued: "Why don't we tell the farmers in the assembly this news first? In this way, more farmers will be assigned farm machinery, and maybe they will disperse and go home."

"Okay, let's talk to the leader of the farmers first and tell us that the purchase this time is 10,000 units, not 4,000 units. Let them go home and wait in peace." Song En gave instructions.

…

The Thais are not taken advantage of. They also know that Japanese agricultural machinery is so expensive that only 4,000 units can be sold for 5 billion baht.

Therefore, when signing the contract, the Thais were the first to request that the quantity of this agricultural machinery order should not be less than 10,000 units.

Thais also want to take advantage and buy high-quality Japanese products at low prices.

The labor cost in Japan is so high. Kubota will definitely lose money if it accepts orders at this quantity, so Kubota thought of a trick and transferred the order to Dayang Machinery Group.

Kubota is responsible for providing core components such as engines, and Dayang Machinery Group is responsible for production. This can greatly reduce production costs and complete the supply quantity of 10,000 units.

At that time, the price of Chinese agricultural machinery of the same specifications was only about one-third to one-half of that of Japanese products. Moreover, with a huge order of 5 billion baht, the production scale is relatively large, and the cost can be further reduced.

Therefore, with this order, Kubota can still maintain a good profit, and it can also occupy the Thai market, and Dayang Group also makes a profit.

However, those agricultural experts did not know the details of the contract. They calculated based on the normal quotation of Kubota agricultural machinery, so they came to the conclusion that 5 billion baht could only buy 4,000 agricultural machinery.

…

In the conference room of the Agricultural Association, Nakun showed the agricultural machinery purchase contract to the farmer representatives from each province.

"Not 4,000 units, but 10,000 units?" a farmer representative asked doubtfully.

"Of course, this is a contract. It's written in black and white! Just look at it if you don't believe it!" Nakun pointed at the contract and then said: "We have 10,000 agricultural machines to distribute to everyone, so there is no need for you to be in a hurry. Why not go home first?" . As for the distribution of agricultural machinery, let’s wait until the agricultural machinery arrives.”

"If there are 10,000 units, our Suphan province will not be able to get 3,000 units!" a farmer representative said immediately.

"We in Surin Prefecture also need 3,000 units!" The farmer representative next to him also said.

"The land area of ​​our Nakhon Ratchasima Province is larger than that of your Suphan and Surin provinces, so we need 4,000 units!" said the third farmer representative.

"There are only 10,000 farm machines in total. If you three houses are divided, what will happen to the rest of us?" the fourth person said.

The fifth person immediately said: "Ten thousand agricultural machines, on average, there are 200 in one house. You just say three or four thousand. Do you really think we are transparent?"

"Our rice planting area in Nakhon Ratchasima Province is so large, how can we get enough points for 200 agricultural machinery? Even the village chief can't get enough points!"

"Your Nakhon Ratchasima Province has a large rice planting area, and our Prachinburi Province has a large rice planting area! It is normal for us to ask for more."

"According to what you mean, we guess a small place like Nauvoo can't be divided!"

Several farmer representatives started to argue.

Looking at this scene, Nakun's heart was filled with helplessness.

“It seems like there’s no way to send these farmers away unless the distribution issue is settled!”

…

In the hotel room, Yue Ping An was on the phone with Li Weidong, reporting on the situation in Thailand.

"Don't worry about scarcity but worry about inequality, don't worry about poverty but worry about insecurity. The wisdom of Confucius more than 2,000 years ago is still full of philosophy even today."

Yue An'an said with a long sigh, and then said: "Thailand has 77 provinces, of which there are about 50 provinces, all of which use rice as the main crop. There are 10,000 rice planting agricultural machinery, divided into 50 provinces, where Enough points?

When it comes to dividing things, you are not afraid of getting a small amount, but you are afraid of uneven distribution. If some people get a lot and some get a little, the people who get a small amount will naturally have objections.

I remember when I was still in the company 20 years ago, the factory had to pick and choose the fat and thin pork during the Chinese New Year. Anyone who got the lean meat would definitely be unhappy. In the end, all the lean meat was given to us young people. Regarding this matter, I complained to the logistics section chief for a whole year! "

Li Weidong smiled and replied: "I was better than you at that time. Although I was still young at the time, I was the dispatcher of the transportation company. Any good things would pass through our hands first and be taken care of first. The general manager of the company has to line up behind our dispatcher."

"Yes, you are a transportation company. In the era of shortage of materials 20 years ago, truck drivers were more popular than university professors. You have no shortage of oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, sugar and tea!" Yue Ping An said.

Li Weidong continued: "What is that saying? Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. We front-line drivers and dispatchers are quite wealthy in material terms, but the things we receive in the logistics department are not very good.

When I first started working, I was doing car repairs. I remember that during the first Mid-Autumn Festival, the mooncakes given to me were all burnt. My dad retired at that time, and the mooncakes given to me were fresher than those given to me. .

However, the company cafeteria was also criticized by the leaders because of the pastry of mooncakes. Later, the company cafeteria simply stopped making mooncakes and directly issued mooncake tickets and asked us to go to the supply and marketing cooperative at the grain and oil station to collect mooncakes. "

"Yes. Later, when I arrived at the ministry, all I was given were shopping coupons from shopping malls, and I rarely gave out physical items." Yue Puan paused and continued;

"This is what Confucius said, don't worry about scarcity but inequality. If you give out pork directly, there will definitely be some fat and some lean, and it won't be evenly distributed. If you give out shopping vouchers, even if you give less, it will at least be fair. Employees won’t have a problem.”

Li Weidong continued: "Some people get more and some get less. This situation is better. But if some people get it and some people don't, then it will be a big trouble!

When others eat meat, I drink soup. When others eat meat, I am hungry. There is a big difference. If others eat meat and I drink soup, at most I will be dissatisfied, but dissatisfaction will most likely accumulate until it reaches a critical point before erupting.

But if others eat meat and I’m hungry, that’s a fatal thing! In ancient times, those hungry peasants would have dared to rebel directly! How many dynasties in China were eventually destroyed by hungry peasants!

Although farmers in Thailand will not go hungry, will those farmers who cannot get farm machinery really recite a few words of Amitabha and then accept it calmly? In the face of real benefits, I don’t believe that Thai people are really that Buddhist! "

Yue An'an asked: "Chairman, when do I go to talk to someone from the Thai Agricultural Association?"

"Don't worry, aren't there 10,000 agricultural machines now? Let's find those experts to write a few articles and reanalyze how to distribute the 10,000 agricultural machines. Let the bullets fly for a while." Li Weidong replied.

…

The number of agricultural machinery increased from 4,000 to 10,000, and a new distribution plan given by agricultural experts immediately appeared in the media.

But after careful calculation of these distribution plans, they all came to the conclusion that they were not enough!

Don’t worry about scarcity but inequality. If you distribute one million to one million people, and each person has one dollar, then these one million people will not have any objection;

If you pick one person among these one million people, and give him all the one million, then the 9,999,999 people who did not receive any money will all curse him!

Three people become a tiger. When most people criticize shady at the same time, even if it is not shady, it becomes shady!

Thai farmers can accept that no one gets a share. But some people can get it, and some people can't, which is completely unacceptable.

More importantly, only a small number of people can receive agricultural machinery, while the vast majority of farmers cannot receive agricultural machinery, which exacerbates the unfairness.

The more unfair it is, the more dissatisfaction it will arouse, and the more farmers will gather to protest.

If I don't make a fuss, I will definitely not be able to get the share of the farm machinery, so why not make a fuss and take a gamble on "what if".

Different voices gradually emerged. Some farmers said that it would be better to cancel the agricultural machinery contract and use the 5 billion baht directly as a subsidy to rice farmers on a per-person basis. Then everyone would be happy.

Of course, the ruling party will not do such a thing. If it does, it will be tantamount to handing over the evidence of "vote bribery" to the opponent party, and it will also use taxpayers' money to openly bribe the vote.

After all, it is too blatant to directly use taxpayers' money to buy votes for yourself. Smart politicians will not do this.

Even if taxpayers' money is really used to buy votes, it cannot be so blatant and must be modified, such as proposing a subsidy bill, going through parliamentary procedures, etc.

Thailand's opposition parties also jumped out at this time and began to criticize the 5 billion baht agricultural machinery order. The matter was getting worse and worse.

…

Song En returned to the office with a gloomy expression.

He had just returned from the Ministry of Agriculture, and the minister scolded him in the face and asked him to solve the problem of farmers' protests within a week.

This 5 billion baht agricultural machinery order was originally intended to show goodwill to farmers and consolidate rural votes. Unexpectedly, it caused a large number of farmers to protest because of distribution issues.

If the matter is not handled properly, it will not only fail to show goodwill to the farmers, but will offend many farmers and lose a large number of votes.

Seventy percent of Thailand's population are farmers. If you offend farmers, why not choose a woolen yarn?

Therefore, Song En knew very well that if he could not resolve this matter satisfactorily, not only would he be unable to retain his position as Chairman of the Agriculture Council, but also the position of his superior, Minister of Agriculture.

But it’s hard for a clever woman to make a living without rice. Ten thousand agricultural machines are not enough to distribute to the farmers in 77 prefectures!

"Otherwise, just cancel this order. If everyone doesn't have it, there won't be any trouble!" Song En thought to himself.

At this moment, Nakun knocked on the door and walked in.

"Don't bother me if you have nothing to do! If something happens, don't bother me even if it's not important!" Song En said angrily.

Na Kun hesitated for a moment, and then said, "President, do you still remember Mr. Yue, the general manager of China Fukang Agricultural Machinery Company?"

Song En subconsciously looked at the closet behind him, where there was a set of designer suits, which Yue An had given him not long ago.

As the president of agriculture, there are many companies that come to give gifts, such as agricultural machinery companies, seed companies, fertilizer companies, pesticide companies, etc. Even construction companies will give big gifts to Nakun in order to build reservoirs and other irrigation facilities.

This kind of gift of famous brand suits is usually just to make acquaintance with Song En and leave a good impression on Song En, so that it will be easier to deal with Song En in the future.

If you really wanted to ask for help, you wouldn't be able to give him such a shabby gift as just a suit.

Song En is currently overwhelmed by the protesting farmers, so he has no intention to meet with foreign entrepreneurs, so he shook his head: "Don't you see so many farmers gathering outside? How can I have the intention to meet with foreign enterprises recently? Please help me find an excuse to push it off!"

"President, Mr. Yue said that he has a way to help us solve our current predicament!" Na Kun continued.

"What did you say? Say it again?" Song En immediately became energetic.

Na Kun had no choice but to elaborate: "Mr. Yue came to see me this morning. He said he had a way to help us solve this farmers' rally!"

"What can we do?" Song En asked immediately.

"Mr. Yue said that as long as the 5 billion baht order is given to their Fukang Agricultural Machinery Company, the problem will be solved." Nakun replied.

"It turns out he's an order rusher!" Song En curled his lips and continued: "You believe him when he says he can solve the problem? Nakun, you trust others too easily, especially businessmen, and you are even less trustworthy! I think he Just for this five billion baht order!”

"President, I have inquired about it. Fukang Agricultural Machinery is also a large-scale agricultural machinery company in China. I think their person in charge will not talk about it." Nakun said, leaning forward He lowered his voice and said:

"And we can't find a solution to the problem for a while, so why not spend some time to meet this Mr. Yue, just in case he can really help us solve the problem! Even if he really wants to deceive you , you will lose at most ten minutes!”

Song En frowned and thought for more than ten seconds. He felt that Na Kun's words made sense, so he nodded and said, "Okay then, arrange for me to meet Mr. Yue!"

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away." Nakun nodded and quickly walked out of Song En's office.

After closing the door to Song En's office, Na Kun touched his pocket, where there was an envelope containing money.

Then Nakun said silently in his heart: "Mr. Yue, you did not spend this money in vain. I have already taken care of the matter for you! Whether you can win this five billion baht order depends on your own ability!"

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