Shi Conglin, deputy director of Yangfeng Village in Dushan County, leads the masses to prosperity through entrepreneurship

Shi Conglin is a villager of Balang Group in Yangfeng Village, Baiquan Town, Dushan County. In his early years he ran a chicken farm, and after that failed he started a distillery. In 2013, after Shi Conglin became deputy director of the Yangfeng Village committee in Baiquan Town, he invested over a million yuan to try growing Isatis indigotica (woad) and Sophora japonica (Chinese scholar tree), actively exploring industries that could bring prosperity.

"My wish is to lead everyone to prosperity together." When asked about his future plans, Shi Conglin said this.

On the early days of entrepreneurship: success and failure are unavoidable

In 1999, after graduating from high school, Shi Conglin worked in a rubber shoe factory and then a school uniform factory. After several years, he had saved up some money. In 2005, he used the more than 70,000 yuan he had saved to start a chicken farm, beginning the first entrepreneurial venture of his life. The chicken farm developed smoothly, and through careful management and operation, the following year he had an income of more than 70,000 yuan, getting an initial taste of the joy of entrepreneurial success.

Fortune is unpredictable, and a sudden turn of events poured a basin of cold water on Shi Conglin, who was at the height of his entrepreneurial enthusiasm. In 2009, avian influenza broke out, and all several thousand chickens on the farm died. Due to difficulties in cash flow, Shi Conglin's first entrepreneurial venture ended in failure.

Afterward, he went to work in Guangdong, Zhejiang and other places.

Although he had experienced one failure, Shi Conglin always held on to his entrepreneurial dream. After the 2012 Spring Festival, he used the money he had saved from working over several years to start a distillery. Relying on a fermentation starter made from a family recipe, the liquor Shi Conglin brewed was very popular, with demand exceeding supply, and annual profits of more than 100,000 yuan.

"Whatever you do, there is failure and success; the same goes for entrepreneurship. This is very normal." Speaking of his feelings about entrepreneurship, Shi Conglin was very calm.

To achieve common prosperity, he dares to be the leader

Shi Conglin is usually enthusiastic about all kinds of matters in the village, big and small, and is quite capable. He has long been recognized by the masses. In 2013, with the strong recommendation of village leaders, Shi Conglin was elected deputy director of Yangfeng Village in Baiquan Town.

After becoming a village cadre, the first thing Shi Conglin considered was how to lead the masses to common prosperity. "One person becoming rich is not wealth; only when everyone is rich is it true wealth." Shi Conglin has always believed this.

So how should an industry be chosen according to local conditions? Through his inquiries, Shi Conglin learned that growing Isatis indigotica (woad) is very promising, with one mu of land able to yield an income of more than 10,000 yuan per year, and the local growing conditions are also quite good.

Checking the growth of the Isatis indigotica (woad).

After growing his own seedlings, in 2015 Shi Conglin planted 140 mu of Isatis indigotica (woad). At present, the Isatis indigotica has grown to nearly half a meter tall, and it can be harvested in another two months.

"Now I am preparing to build 32 soaking pools, and next year I will plant another 200 mu, while also encouraging the surrounding masses to grow it together. In the future I will strive to establish an Isatis indigotica planting cooperative." Speaking of his future plans, Shi Conglin seemed very confident.

Besides Isatis indigotica, Shi Conglin also wants to plant Sophora japonica (Chinese scholar trees). Sophora japonica is a leguminous plant, and its flower buds are called huaimi, which has fairly broad medicinal value.

As early as 2004, Shi Conglin had some understanding of huaimi. In recent years, he has always followed the market trends for huaimi. After tracking and learning about it for a long time, he found that the price of huaimi is relatively stable and has an upward trend.

In 2015, Shi Conglin gathered several friends and took out part of a loan to plant more than 100,000 Sophora japonica seedlings on a contracted hillside. Together with the costs of manual land preparation, planting and fertilizing, he spent over a million yuan in total.

"Planting Sophora japonica requires a relatively large investment and a somewhat longer cycle. If you want to lead everyone to plant it, you have to grow it successfully first and let everyone see that there is money to be made; only then will it work." He said this.

Inserting support poles for the Sophora japonica trees.

The author saw on the hillside that the newly planted Sophora japonica seedlings were growing well, already more than half a meter tall, and some had already bloomed.

"Next year we can harvest about 30,000 jin of huaimi. If calculated at 30 yuan per jin, we can pay off the loan first." Shi Conglin was pondering.

Under Shi Conglin's leadership, the surrounding masses also began to develop the planting of Isatis indigotica and Sophora japonica. Everyone signed agreements with him one after another. Up to now, the area planted with Isatis indigotica by the masses has increased from a few mu before to more than 100 mu now, and the planting area of Sophora japonica is also more than 80 mu.

How to strengthen the village-level collective economy and shed the label of "empty-shell village" is an important task for rural grassroots organizations at present. Through loans and finding partners, Shi Conglin has invested over a million yuan and taken the lead in planting Isatis indigotica and Sophora japonica precisely in order to lead the masses in developing industries and achieving common prosperity, laying the foundation for eliminating "empty-shell villages." It is believed that with his efforts and the support of the masses, the wish that "starting a business is to lead the masses to common prosperity" will surely be realized.