What can a farmer do for his own era?

What can one farmer do for his own era? Get to know “Old Mao” and you will understand.

At the Eighth National People's Congress, Old Mao raised the problems of excessively high rural electricity prices and poor power grids. Three years later, the central government began intensifying rural power grid renovation, ultimately achieving the same grid and same price for urban and rural areas; at the Ninth National People's Congress, Old Mao pointed out that the agricultural specialty tax was unreasonable. Three years later, the agricultural specialty tax was gradually abolished nationwide; at the Ninth National People's Congress, Old Mao put forward a motion to abolish the agricultural tax. In the end, Premier Wen Jiabao announced the nationwide abolition of the agricultural tax when delivering the government work report at the third session of the Tenth National People's Congress……

“Attending the people's congress is not about raising fists and eating steamed buns”

“In the autumn of 1992, Secretary Mao brought me a few photographs and said, give these to the office of the Dandong City People's Congress in Liaoning Province. Back then everyone said, isn't that nonsense, a rural person serving as a National People's Congress deputy? It sounded like a joke.” said Shi Shuyun, who at the time worked at the Longfeng Hotel, an enterprise run by Daliushu Village.

“The first time he went to a meeting, the night before he left, he said, ‘What do you think I should do, this business has me worried sick.’ He meant that going to Beijing for a meeting meant wearing a shirt and a tie. In our village nobody had ever worn a tie, and in the end I found a guest staying at the hotel to tie the knot for him. Afterwards he even said, whatever you do, don't pull this knot too hard, pull it too hard and it will come undone.” Shi Shuyun remembers that Mao Fengmei was especially happy that day, and even had everyone make a batch of dumplings.

But at that time, Mao Fengmei was actually not at ease inside. Because he knew that this was not merely an honor, but an even heavier responsibility.

“He took it very seriously, visiting the masses, and one day he came to our home. He asked me if I had any thoughts. I said yes, I said electricity in the city is over 0.3 yuan per kilowatt-hour, while in the countryside it is over 1 yuan, and that is unreasonable.” said villager Yu Jinyang.

“At the time a kilowatt-hour of electricity in the city was 0.35 yuan, and in the countryside it was 1.2 yuan. As for farmers, some simply stopped using electricity and lit candles instead, and some even turned the mill by hand rather than using an electric mill, using a diesel engine to drive the mill themselves.” said He Jing, director of the Corn Research Institute of the Dandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences. “Old Mao said, how can the gap be this big? So he went to the Fengcheng Electric Power Bureau to learn about the situation, and they said the rural power grid was poor, and the electricity losses were all counted against the farmers.”

At this people's congress, Old Mao directly raised this issue. Over the following ten years, the state invested more than 300 billion yuan to launch a rural power grid renovation project, achieving the same grid and same price for urban and rural areas nationwide.

That same year, this black, thin rural old man who dared to speak out, together with his stubborn character, was revealed before people. And the resolution of the problem undoubtedly gave Old Mao confidence.

“This suggestion saved every household three or four hundred yuan a year.” Later, referring to this matter, Old Mao said, “I discovered that attending the people's congress is not about raising fists and eating steamed buns. If a suggestion is raised accurately, the central government will take it seriously, and others will also think I am no simple man.” “Through debate, everyone learns the truth”

At the first session of the Ninth National People's Congress, Old Mao proposed abolishing the agricultural specialty tax. At the second session, he again proposed abolishing the agricultural tax.

“In those years the state always talked about reducing the burden, but nationwide the average was 2 mu of land per person, with gross income of 800 yuan, while the urban tax threshold was 800 yuan per month, which is 9,600 yuan a year, more than ten times the difference.” Mao Fengmei was very cautious, not only understanding the situation around him, but also going to the major grain-producing provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang to learn about conditions. “I thought maybe there would be some preferential policies, but the situation turned out to be the same.”

But when Old Mao sought signatures from the deputies, none of them would sign, saying, “Old Mao, you are talking nonsense, it has been like this for thousands of years, how can farmers not pay taxes?” Old Mao argued with them, saying, “Why should farmers have to pay taxes? Growing grain simply does not make money, and then you still make them pay money to support civil servants, what kind of reasoning is that?”

At this meeting, Old Mao hit a wall, and afterwards he wrote motions to abolish the agricultural tax for 5 consecutive years, until finally at the third session of the Tenth National People's Congress he received news of the nationwide abolition of the agricultural tax, and was so happy he could not sleep well all night.

Old Mao said that rural matters and farmers' matters were too important, so year after year he helped make a fuss about them. But he had a habit at meetings, always saying whatever came to mind, and representatives at the venue sometimes considered things from a different angle, which often caused arguments. But Old Mao said, “Isn't it better for representatives to argue? Only through the process of argument does everyone learn the truth.”

Many of the people's congress deputies were provincial leaders, and Old Mao spoke bluntly. Some reminded him, saying that after the meeting you still have to go back to the countryside, you are still the village secretary, and you still have things to do. But Old Mao did not care. He said, “Who told you to give me this power? I have the right to speak. I don't care.” Old Mao also said that in fact true leaders are still willing to hear some real things.

“In 2004, besides paying the agricultural tax, we also had to bear the costs of road building, water conservancy and other rural basic construction, as well as raising funds to run schools. Farmers also had to ‘pay salaries’ to some units. For a farmer to keep a small four-wheel tractor, the annual fees alone were more than 2,000 yuan, and they were often fined. When farmers came to me, I asked, and the management department said, the county and township finances are in difficulty, we have no choice but to rely on fines to pay wages. Look at how hard it is for farmers!” In an interview that year, Old Mao said excitedly, “What did I come to (Beijing) for? I came to speak! The day before yesterday I said these words, and our provincial party secretary and governor both stood up and applauded me! Our governor said, Mao Fengmei, you are a worthy representative, you dare to speak the truth!”