Chapter 253 They must earn this money in the future!
As night fell, two large stoves had been set up at the entrance of the Yangzhuang Brigade.
In the light of the fire, everyone looked at the can of rabbit meat in Su Wenchen's hand with anticipation.
As Su Wenchen exerted force with the dagger in his hand.
“Crack!”
The sealed lid with a tin cover and a rubber gasket was pried open, and a rich smell of spices mixed with meat wafted out of the can.
The members not far away kept moving their throats subconsciously.
"Come on, open the lid of the pot and add it in. Everyone, have a try. This is canned food made from the rabbits we raised on our farm."
“It tastes pretty good.”
The members over there immediately looked at their team leader Yang Jingfu.
The old man who brought Su Wenchen here in an ox cart immediately reached out to stop Su Wenchen.
"Leader, it would be a waste for us to eat such an expensive thing. You can just eat it yourselves!"
Su Wenchen waved his hand.
"It's just a few cans. Why bother talking about whether they're expensive or not? As long as we eat them, there's no such thing as waste."
Then he said to the militia captain standing next to the stove.
"Comrade Yang Weidong, please lift the lid of the pot."
Hearing Su Wenchen's words, Yang Weidong first looked at their team leader Yang Jingfu, but his hand still unconsciously rested on the pot lid.
As the lid of the pot opened, Su Wenchen was stunned when he saw it.
Because there was only a big pot of stewed cabbage in it.
However, if Su Wenchen were asked to describe it, it would be more appropriate to use "boiled cabbage in water."
To be honest, Su Wenchen originally thought that when the brigade organized a group dinner, they would usually add some good food, prepare it all together, and then give a bowl to each member of the brigade.
But even a pot of boiled cabbage can only be eaten at a gathering, so what do the members eat on a regular basis?
But Su Wenchen did not hesitate for long.
As soon as a can of broth was poured into the pot, the originally clear water was instantly muddied by the broth.
Su Wenchen directly handed the can opener to Yang Weidong.
"There are three cans left that you've opened. Put them all in! One pot for two cans."
Hearing Su Wenchen's words, Yang Weiguo's eyes lit up and he immediately took the can opener.
"Leader, do you still want this jar?"
Su Wenchen waved his hand.
"Your team will take care of the arrangements!"
After seeing Su Wenchen walking towards their team leader, those members who were originally a little afraid to step forward suddenly rushed forward.
"Weidong, let me help you. I have one of these glass jars."
Several other people also spoke up immediately.
"Captain, I'm here to help you too. Please give me this jar!"
Obviously, facing a leader like Su Wenchen who was able to ride in a car at such a young age, both the militia captain Yang Weidong and other people in the team felt pressured and even restrained when speaking.
But facing Yang Weidong, who was one of them, things were much better. Many people had even started competing for the ownership of the glass bottle.
Su Wenchen walked to Yang Jingfu's side.
"Captain Yang, is it difficult for you to eat here?"
"Why do we have to stew just a few cabbages together?"
Yang Jingfu sighed.
"There's nothing we can do. The commune can't provide much, and with so little, there's no way we can distribute it to every household."
"So we can only cook from a big pot and each family has one bowl."
"Actually, this cabbage isn't relief food. It's something the commune saved from their own food. The brigades closer to the commune have more good farmland than we do."
"So usually every year we go to the commune to collect the relief grain allocated by the county. Usually the commune will also give us some cabbage, radishes and other things."
"These are all the food that the brigade over there saved from eating. Although they are better off than I am, the quality is still limited."
When Zhao Weiguo, who was standing next to him, heard this, he asked curiously.
"Have you ever thought about relocating?"
"Since you can't make a living here, have you ever thought of moving to your commune?"
Yang Jingfu shook his head.
"I can't move it. How will I survive if I move it?"
"Here, we still have the land that our ancestors have cultivated bit by bit to plant, and with the relief food, we won't starve to death."
"But if we move somewhere else, we'll be left with nothing but poverty and poverty!"
Su Wenchen also understood that at this time, unless it was due to a national project, the entire organization would have to relocate.
Otherwise, you won’t have anywhere to move even if you want to.
Would the locals agree if you were to eat the land that others have cultivated?
Even if they are from the same commune, if they want to move there, other brigades will not agree.
Even from the perspective of a county official, he felt that relocating these people would not be worth the cost.
Because these people are settled here, they can manage a few more acres every year, which will be a considerable number in ten or eight years.
When the county has more resources, they will pour them into this area. With this foundation in place, it will save a lot of effort.
If all these people were relocated, it would not only increase the financial burden on the county, but would also result in the problem of managing a few more acres of land later on.
If no one manages them, the fields that have been managed for more than ten years will gradually desalinate and become high-concentration saline-alkali land again.
So no matter how you look at it, someone needs to be stationed here.
Su Wenchen asked directly.
"Captain, how many acres of land do you have that can be used to grow crops?"
Yang Jingfu thought about it.
"About a thousand acres! But this place is often treated and then the salt returns, and then treated again, so basically we can only maintain this much."
Hearing this, Hou Guozhong was a little confused.
"With over a thousand acres of land, why is your brigade still facing such difficulties?"
Before Yang Jingfu could say anything, Cao Jiwen, who was next to Hou Guozhong, explained directly.
"Although their land has been managed, it's still not as fertile as normal land and is still slightly saline."
"So it's normal for grain production to decrease. In Dongfeng Commune, even with well-managed land, the yield per mu for staple crops like corn is only around 200 kilograms."
Yang Jingfu nodded.
"This comrade is right. Our management here is to knock off the saline crust in the spring, then divert water for irrigation, and try to suppress the salt that has returned over the winter before we start sowing."
"But even so, there's no way to clean up the salinity, so our yield per mu is even lower than that in the county, only about 100 kilograms per mu."
Su Wenchen calculated and then looked at the crowd around him.
"If you have a thousand acres here, even if the yield per acre is 100 kilograms, that would be 100,000 kilograms, right?"
"I think your team has only about 200 people at most! Is there anyone who hasn't arrived yet?"
Yang Jingfu shook his head.
"This is our Yanglou Production Team. There are also Xiaoyanglou, Malou, Tangzhuang, Qianlijing, and several other production teams around here. There are probably around a thousand people in total!"
"Because they were so scattered, each production team had to send its own people to the commune to collect relief grain."
When Su Wenchen heard this, he nodded in understanding.
Not only does each brigade here have a larger population than theirs, but the land is also much poorer, so naturally they can't live together.
As a few people chatted, time passed little by little.
After four cans of rabbit meat were added to the pot, a very rich meaty aroma leaked out from the steam along the edge of the pot.
The members of the Yangzhuang Brigade who were guarding the pot also sniffed fiercely, as if they didn't want to miss even the smell of meat in the air.
When the food was almost cooked, Yang Weidong directly lifted the lid of the pot.
boom!
The boiling steam in the pot suddenly burst out, and the rich fragrance floated over the entire brigade.
The members who were originally sitting in the back immediately began to squeeze forward with their big bowls.
"Don't push, don't push, if you push any more, no one will be able to survive."
As he spoke, Yang Weidong took out a small basin and filled it with as much meat as he could, almost picking out all the meat in the pot.
Then he walked towards Su Wenchen with it. Although the other members looked at him eagerly, they didn't say anything.
"Leader, Captain, please go to the team headquarters and eat! I asked my wife to steam some steamed bread and will bring it to you later."
Looking at the overflowing small basin, Su Wenchen felt that the other party had picked out almost all the meat in the pot.
"Why did you pick up all the meat?"
The other person shook his head.
"Boss, we're already enjoying your broth, how can we still eat the meat?"
"Besides, there are only a few pieces of meat in total. How can we take advantage of you, the leaders?"
Su Wenchen took a deep breath and understood what the other party meant.
Just take the small basin.
He looked around and waved to the children in the distance who were looking at him with burning eyes.
He smiled and waved and shouted.
"Come, come here, I'll give each of you a piece."
After hearing Su Wenchen's words, a group of children in the distance first looked at their parents.
Then a child was pushed.
He immediately ran towards Su Wenchen quickly, and in a moment the other children also surrounded him cheering.
"Let's eat meat!"
Su Wenchen took a look and shouted with a smile.
"Don't push! Line up one by one, and then use chopsticks to divide the meat in the bowl."
Looking at the group of little kids, some of them stuffed the food into their mouths directly, while others smelled it and held it in their hands as if it were a treasure.
Su Wenchen felt a little jealous when he saw it.
After watching the little girls finish eating, their eyes narrowed like crescent moons, revealing a very satisfied look. It was obvious that they had rarely eaten meat since they were young.
After all, the conditions here are poor. Most members may not be able to taste meat in a year, let alone girls growing up in such an environment.
The others, seeing a group of kids still chewing their bones even after they had finished eating, swallowed their saliva.
But no one jumped out to say anything like it was unfair that he didn't have children.
Su Wenchen felt that this team was quite united.
But after thinking about it, he understood that if they were to live in such a difficult environment and act in a scattered manner, they might not be able to survive.
It is estimated that it has been eliminated naturally long ago.
Only with sufficient material conditions can people have the ability to face things alone.
After Su Wenchen finished distributing the food, others also started lining up to share the food.
As the night deepened, kerosene lamps were lit in the mud houses of Yangzhuang Brigade.
Su Wenchen and his group were sitting on the earthen kang, listening to the whistling wind outside the window.
Yang Jingfu came over with a small bowl of steamed bread.
"Leader, you guys just make do with it!"
"We really don't have any fine food to offer you, so we have to inconvenience you."
Su Wenchen waved his hand.
"Don't call me leader, just call me Comrade Su Wenchen, or tell them to call me Director Su."
"And don't say anything about being wronged, this is already very good."
"It's our farm cafeteria. Our staple food is usually steamed bread."
"Don't talk about fine grains or anything like that anymore."
After saying that, Su Wenchen opened his pocket, took out a few food coupons and placed them on the table.
"Captain Yang, take these food coupons. Give them to the families that provided the cornmeal according to the proportion."
After saying that, he pushed the food coupons on the table over.
Yang Jingfu waved his hands repeatedly and quickly refused.
"Director Su, we can't accept this. It's just a few steamed buns. How can we ask you for food coupons?"
"And you opened four cans of meat. If we calculate it that way, our team won't be able to pay it back."
Su Wenchen said with a smile.
"Captain Yang, we all get subsidies when we come out to the grain coupon market. Didn't you see that I didn't give you any money?"
"Here! These cans will cover our board and lodging expenses."
Yang Jingfu still refused.
"How can we charge for accommodation? Besides, there are only a few steamed buns in total. How can we ask you for so many food coupons?"
Especially when he saw the words "valid nationwide" on it, Yang Jingfu knew very well that if he went to the black market to exchange this national food coupon for food coupons of their county.
Then you can exchange at least half more, and even if you exchange it for food coupons in the Xuzhou area, you can exchange it for a lot more.
Su Wenchen pushed the food coupons from the table to Yang Jingfu and picked up a steamed bun.
"Okay, don't refuse. Maybe your brigade will be under the management of our farm in the future."
"Just consider this as our greeting gift!"
Hearing Su Wenchen's words, Yang Jingfu's heart was suddenly filled with a huge wave of emotions, because he had talked about this when he brought Su Wenchen here before.
They are farms directly under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Actually, they do have farms here, because the county has set up several cotton farms along the north bank of Dashaha River. What they envy most are the production teams that are incorporated into the farms.
Because once they are assigned to the farm, they can get a stable salary and rationed supplies just like the county employees.
This is the city people!
Although the work is still farming, compared to the previous life of relying on the weather and eating relief food, this stable salary and rationed supply is a life that can only be dreamed of.
So when he heard this, Yang Jingfu's voice couldn't help but tremble.
"Leader, is what you just said true?"
"Don't let that old man be joking!"
To be honest, after having hope, he was particularly afraid that Su Wenchen would give him another huge disappointment.
Su Wenchen had just picked up a piece of cabbage when he heard what Yang Jingfu said, and nodded with a smile.
"Don't worry, I'm not kidding. However, I'll still write a research report to the higher-ups to see if it will be successful. After they approve it, I'll discuss it with your county."
"But there's basically no problem. Besides, right now, your county is probably eager to get rid of this burden of yours."
"After all, the annual relief grain is provided by your county. If it is allocated to our farm, your county will not have to take care of it, and the conditions will be slightly more favorable."
What Su Wenchen didn't say was that as long as the ministry approved it, the county-level units actually had no room for bargaining.
After all, the difference is too big. If it is at the provincial level, there may be room for negotiation, but it is basically unlikely at the county level.
Not to mention, this is a shabby place that has to be supplied with relief food every year.
Hearing Su Wenchen say this, Yang Jingfu got down from the edge of the kang.
As he said that, he knelt down in front of Su Wenchen.
"Leader, you are the savior of our Yangzhuang Brigade!"
Su Wenchen was caught off guard for a moment, then immediately raised his hand and said.
"Captain Yang, what are you doing?"
"Get up, get up."
Then he glanced at Zhao Weiguo, who was sitting on the kang and eating silently.
The other party understood instantly.
He put down the steamed bread in his hand, grabbed Yang Jingfu's arm and pulled him up, while saying something.
"Captain Yang, you may express your gratitude, but kowtow is too much!"
"It's been so many years since liberation, why are you still kneeling?"
"You are deliberately trying to harm our director!"
Hearing what Zhao Weiguo said, Yang Jingfu quickly waved his hands and looked at Su Wenchen nervously.
"Leader, I really didn't mean that. I just couldn't control myself for a moment."
He choked up a bit as he spoke.
"Leader, you don't know that almost every year during the spring plowing season, some people can't make it. Many of them don't have enough to eat and die from exhaustion."
"But even so, we can't stop spring plowing, because as long as we keep planting, there will still be some yield."
"If we don't plant anything, we won't even be able to get relief food distributed in the second half of the year."
"We don't want any salary, as long as we can have enough food to eat."
Su Wenchen sighed.
"The welfare benefits will be decided later, but if it's approved from above, there will definitely be no problem with having enough food to eat."
"Don't you need tractors to help you with the spring plowing in your commune?"
Yang Jingfu shook his head.
"How could the commune possibly have a tractor? Our county only has three tractors, and the surrounding communes alone are overwhelmed!"
"How could they possibly come to our place? Besides, we're more than 40 miles away from the county. It would take a lot of gas just to get here."
Hearing this, Su Wenchen didn't expect that this county was so poor.
"Alright, Captain Yang, let's eat!"
"In the next few days, find someone to take us around the area. I'll compile a report on the actual situation."
Hearing this, Yang Jingfu nodded immediately.
"Leader, no problem. As long as food is allocated from above, the men in our team will work very hard as long as they are well fed."
After dinner.
Sitting on the earthen kang table, Cao Jiwen sighed as he flipped through a map.
"Director, if we want to develop our business here, I'm afraid we'll need manpower support from above."
"The communes around the county are better off, but after looking at the situation in this brigade today, even if food is allocated from above."
"They can't do manual labor right away. They have to be kept alive until spring plowing."
"Otherwise, if you're in this state of prolonged hunger, you won't be able to do strenuous physical labor right after you've eaten a full meal."
"Also, the salinization in this area is more serious than I expected. Planting the first batch of alkali-resistant forage grasses is fine, but if we want to grow crops later, we have to transport soil and terrace the fields."
"Otherwise, groundwater will easily bring up salt and alkali, and the yield per mu will be greatly reduced, just like the saline-alkali land here now."
Su Wenchen nodded.
"People are actually pretty good. We just need more educated youth."
"I'm just wondering how we can quickly revitalize this branch. If we ask for resources from above, we need to come up with a sufficiently attractive plan."
"Otherwise, even if the higher-ups approve it, the support supplies won't be much."
Su Wenchen knew very well that the higher-ups would also look at expectations. If the proposal he submitted failed to impress them, then naturally there would not be much support resources.
In Su Wenchen's opinion, it is much more difficult to develop here than their Blue Water Field.
After all, the most they can get is that the members can't eat much meat.
It's no problem to fill your stomach.
However, it is difficult to even fill one's stomach here. Without enough food to eat, one naturally has no energy to build canals. Then the alkaline water in these saline-alkali lands cannot be drained away, and grain production will be reduced or even completely lost.
Then you continue to go hungry, which is a vicious cycle.
In this case, external intervention is necessary to break this vicious cycle. If you develop slowly on your own, you will have a hard time.
After hearing Su Wenchen's words, Hou Guozhong thought about it.
"Director, do you mean to build a farm here as well?"
Su Wenchen nodded.
"As for chickens, there's no way we can raise them here. People can't even get enough to eat, so how can we have extra food to feed chickens? But as for rabbits, I think we can raise some."
Hearing Su Wenchen's words, Cao Jiwen said.
"Director, the Oriental Commune has conducted experiments before, and the ones they introduced are the Yuehua rabbits from our farm."
"Occasionally, we can go to a distant place to cut some weeds and pick up some leaves for feeding."
"We've been walking all the way here, and there aren't even any trees, not even leaves to pick up."
"If rabbits only eat alkali-tolerant alfalfa, which is high in calcium, they can easily develop kidney stones if they eat too much once they reach adulthood."
"They die of illness before their fur grows back."
When Su Wenchen heard this, he waved his hand.
"If leather rabbits don't work, we can raise meat rabbits!"
"This place is different from the Blue Water Field. The first thing we need to solve here is actually the problem of self-sufficiency."
"Let's put aside those things like earning foreign exchange and becoming wealthy for now. Our first phase is to lift this area out of extreme poverty."
"At least let everyone be self-sufficient and fill their stomachs first."
"The ministry can't provide us with continuous support, so the current priority is to be self-sufficient."
"Since this kind of grass is extremely high in calcium, eating it during the growth period can help young rabbits grow rapidly."
"So we need to breed a special kind of meat rabbit. Whether we eat it ourselves or exchange it for food in Xuzhou, it can alleviate some of the pressure of food shortage."
"I think this is a very good way to alleviate food shortages in the early stages."
Hearing this, Cao Jiwen thought about it.
"I don't know much about rabbit breeding, but since our farm can breed high-quality rabbits like the Yuehua rabbit, I think it shouldn't be difficult to breed ordinary meat rabbits."
"But Director, this alfalfa is an extremely high-quality forage grass if used to feed cattle. It is a very good choice whether it is used to feed dairy cows or fatten beef cattle."
"At that time, I wanted to cultivate this alkali-resistant forage grass because I wanted to help the cattle farm at Longshan Farm solve the problem of feed sources."
Hearing this, Su Wenchen touched his chin and fell into deep thought.
Rabbit meat is still a niche meat, and relying solely on it is not enough to develop this branch."
Therefore, Su Wenchen also felt that in order to develop, the focus should still be on large livestock such as pigs and cattle.
But Su Wenchen knew that the growth cycle of cattle is very long. It takes nearly two years for a beef cow to be born and slaughtered, and the first milk production of a dairy cow is about the same. The cycle is too long.
For now, this is just a goal for future development.
If there is no other breeding to fill the gap, I am afraid it will take several years of continuous support from above before we can see any results.
Obviously, this is not conducive to the approval of this plan.
Therefore, in the early stage, the main focus will definitely be on meat rabbits and live pigs, which will be mainly supplied domestically in exchange for food supply and equipment support.
During this period, we must continue to increase the breeding of beef cattle and dairy cows, because this represents the future.
In the international market, the market prospects for beef cattle are very broad.
Especially top-quality beef cattle, each one is very expensive.
Su Wenchen thought it was bullshit and bullshit, they would have to earn this money in the future.
In the previous life, their country did not have its own top-quality beef cattle breeds. Now Su Wenchen feels that since he has come here, he must leave something behind. How can he allow the little Wagyu cattle to be so rampant internationally?
In the future, the best ingredients must come from their country. In the future, their industry will be number one in the world. Now Su Wenchen feels that the breeding industry must also keep up, so as to provide enough nutrition for the hard-working workers in their country!
As for things like milk powder, although he cannot change other companies, Su Wenchen feels that he can at least ensure that the products produced by their farms are safe enough.
This is also acceptable, as it gives future generations another choice!
Thinking of this, Su Wenchen looked at Cao Jiwen and said.
"Professor Cao, you still need to pay more attention to the subsequent cultivation of alkali-resistant plants in saline-alkali land."
"You have to cultivate cattle feed, and you also have to pay attention to pig feed."
"We've experimented with this kind of grass before, and if pigs eat it in large quantities, they're very likely to get diarrhea."
“So it would be nice to be able to develop a plant that is highly alkali-tolerant and very adaptable to pigs.”
"If you have any needs, you can ask directly."
"Even if you need foreign varieties, I will try my best to import them for you."
Hearing Su Wenchen say this, Cao Jiwen took a deep breath. He didn't expect Su Wenchen to value him so much, so he responded directly and seriously.
"Director Su, don't worry, I will do my best."
For Cao Jiwen, these days are now something he has never dared to imagine in recent years.
Moreover, Lanshui Farm is a farm directly under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Cao Jiwen naturally also wanted to use this platform to achieve some results.
(End of this chapter)
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