Chapter 73: Two Armies Confronted
Indeed, although both are second-hand, this tractor is more than one size smaller than the tractor of the Red Flag Brigade.
Especially the nose.
Han Jing explained: "The walk-behind tractor has a simple structure, low power and low fuel consumption. Its main function now is sowing and tilling the land. It is more suitable for small-scale cultivated land and is more adaptable to the environment where the Wangjiagou production team is located."
He also suggested: "Pingquan Commune is now in Hebei Province, and the First Tractor Factory is in Hebei Province. The commune can try to contact the First Tractor Factory to see if it can apply for more small walk-behind tractors, even second-hand ones."
The commune chief's eyes lit up when he heard this.
They stayed in the commune for quite a long time, mainly because the commune chief held Han Jing's hand and talked for a long time.
The two chatted about imagining a better future, and Han Jing was most interested in agricultural mechanization.
Ye Yu didn't want to pour cold water on others, but when Han Jing finally remembered that there was one more person in the office, he asked her, and she still answered honestly: "It will be difficult in ten years."
"Why?"
Elm leaves:
“There’s a productivity mismatch.”
Pingquan Commune's land resources are capped, and agricultural machinery is regulated by the state at a macro level. Resources must be prioritized in grain production areas, such as the Northeast, plains, and tropical regions, so that benefits can be maximized.
Unless tractor production catches up, there should be no problem in the late 1970s, or the land in Pingquan Commune has a higher yield, hybrid wheat was not developed until the 1990s, or there are other production economies.
Therefore, Pingquan Commune probably would not have been able to apply for even a second-hand walk-behind tractor. The fact that Wang Jiagou was able to apply for it was related to the background of Han Jing and his group and the reputation created by Xu Fei, and it was a special case.
Of course, Pingquan Commune can purchase it in the name of the commune, but the purchase price... the commune may not be able to afford it. If it is distributed to each production team, it is not easy for the production team to make money, and the team members will definitely not agree.
After hearing this, the enthusiasm of the others finally waned, at least not to such an extreme level.
But that doesn't mean there is no hope, and what people of this era lack most is not drive.
The commune president will still apply to his higher authorities, but considering the final result, he will not be disappointed even if he fails, nor will he be angry with Han Jing who made this suggestion.
This is not Ye Yu's alarmist statement.
Rumors spread quickly in the countryside. Today, Pingquan Commune applied for agricultural machinery, and tomorrow the major production teams can expect tractors next month. Once this hope is dashed, even if the cadres know the reason, the members of the production team will definitely complain. When it comes to interests, there will definitely be people who maliciously speculate why Wangjiagou was able to apply for a tractor.
Han Jingxin has good intentions, but sometimes, starting a business cannot rely solely on one's heart.
Ye Yu actually didn't understand entrepreneurship, but he had seen many human natures, fighting for kindness and creating hatred.
We had lunch at the commune.
Now that the Spring Festival had just passed, the commune's grain stores were still relatively abundant, so we asked the chef from the state-owned hotel to stir-fry shredded potatoes and pork, as well as two vegetarian dishes, cabbage vermicelli and winter melon and tofu soup. The staple food was sorghum and sweet potato steamed buns.
The other distributions were easy enough. Ye Yu bought up all the remaining sorghum and sweet potato steamed buns and didn't ask for them to be cooked again. This was not a treat, but rather a public canteen.
Han Jing glanced at Ye Yu secretly.
Ye Yu knocked on the table four times, meaning that she was about 40% full. The upper limit of her food intake was very high, and her stomach could recover quickly if it was injured, but the lower limit was actually not low.
There are rumors that an ordinary person will die of thirst if they do not drink water for three days. This is indeed life-threatening, but not eating for seven days will lead to starvation to death. The human body's endurance may be stronger than imagined. Pushed to the limit, an ordinary person can only hold on for half a month to a month before their organs slowly fail and die, or even take longer.
The organs of people with special abilities have stronger self-repair capabilities. Some can last for three months or even half a year. Their spirits often collapse before their bodies, and many of them commit suicide. Being able to eat only half as much as they can now is a rare opportunity in the end times.
Don't ask Ye Yu why he knows these useless statistics in peacetime. Ask people today; they will understand as they have experienced famine.
The commune president and his colleagues had seen Ye Zhiqing's appetite. They had heard rumors about this before. After all, Ye Yu and his colleagues were "big customers" of the state-owned hotel. The hotel's cooking skills had even been published in the newspapers, and they were warmly entertained every time.
After dinner, Ye Yu and Han Jing went to the state-owned store again. They took advantage of the fact that some New Year goods did not require tickets at the end of the Chinese New Year and bought a lot of food and some daily necessities.
Then the two drove the tractor back to the village.
Their route this time was somewhat different from their usual return to the village. They took the road that the large tractor of Hongqi Village had passed by, which could significantly reduce the number of mountain roads that the tractor could not drive on.
Although it is not impossible for Ye Yu to carry it alone, it is more or less a bit too ridiculous. Besides, he cannot use space teleportation, and it is really stupid to hold a tractor with both hands by himself.
But Ye Yu regretted his decision not long after he got on the road, mainly because the tractor was too noisy, even stuffing cotton in the ears couldn't stop it, and the fumes were also very heavy and smelled bad.
"From now on, you can drive!"
Ye Yu's tractor driver's license was not for driving a tractor, but to get a motor vehicle driver's license at the same time. The sooner you take the test, the less time it will take.
"good."
Han Jing couldn't understand why Ye Yu was so disgusted with it, considering how glorious it was to be a tractor operator, and tractor operators usually didn't have to work in the field to get full work points.
Before reaching the first destination, I saw a large crowd of people gathered at the Hongqi Brigade intersection from afar.
There were Captain Ding and villagers from Hongqi Village, Captain Wang and villagers from Wangjiagou, and people from other teams watching the excitement.
All I can say is that news spreads fast.
Although there were no people from Wangjiagou in the town today, there were people from other villages and teams. The crowd at this time was not just there to watch the show. Even though it had nothing to do with their interests and they would not get any benefit from it, there were still people who took the trouble to spend two hours running to Wangjiagou to help with the notification.
Maybe it’s because I had too much free time during the Chinese New Year. After lying down for more than ten or twenty days, I always wanted to move my muscles.
When the people in Wangjiagou got the news, they were of course incredulous. They actually could own a tractor?
From the age of sixty to children of three and a half, anyone who could walk, except the forest rangers in Nanshan, set out one after another and rushed to the Red Flag Brigade.
When they arrived at the Hongqi Brigade, the villagers of the Hongqi Brigade looked from a distance and thought that someone had come to their house to cause trouble.
Indeed, there are many conflicts between villages nowadays, especially those involving water resources, fish resources, land resources, marriage, etc. It is not uncommon for the whole village to fight. Even if the conflict is reported, both sides will be punished and the matter will be resolved through negotiation.
There are many flaws in the campaign to destroy the four olds, but as far as the promotion of ancestral halls and the dispersal of clans is concerned, given the current situation and environment, it is not entirely without benefits.
A team member immediately reported to Captain Ding.
In just a few minutes, Captain Ding gathered dozens of strong men, who squatted at the entrance of the village with weapons such as sticks and hoes in their hands. More villagers retreated to the second line to help and shout.
Wangjiagou people:
"???"
Captain Ding also soon discovered that something was wrong, because among the crowd, the one rushing in the front was not a strong young man, but a child around ten years old.
There were elderly people in their seventies and eighties who risked their lives to fight for the interests of the brigade. During the three years of famine, when the authorities came to collect grain, the elderly people in their village lay down at the entrance of the village, as if the authorities were going to collect the grain and step over them.
But I've never seen anyone pushing a child out.
The sticks, clubs, and even hatchets frightened the children in Wangjiagou so much that they started running back, screaming, "Murder! Murder!"
The ones who were shouting the loudest were from Wang Gousheng's house, because the shouts were mixed with the words "Save the two cats in the sea!" The big ones were roaring, but the little ones didn't understand anything and thought something bad had happened, so they started crying and making a lot of noise.
Some even sang out several changes of key; even folk songs were not as beautiful as theirs.
Red Flag Villagers:
“…”
Who killed someone?
The captains of both teams finally met.
As soon as we started talking, we realized how ridiculous this matter was, and the screams turned into laughter.
Wang Xiaoxi, who cried the loudest in Wangjiagou, was spanked twice on the buttocks by Captain Ding, who then stuffed a handful of peanuts into his mouth. This kid was really good, his ears were even deafened by the spanking.
Captain Ding was very jealous of the purpose of Wangjiagou people gathering in the Red Flag Brigade: "Why didn't our Red Flag Brigade get this good thing?"
Look at the name they changed after the founding of the People's Republic of China. How festive and legitimate it is!
Captain Wang was usually quite serious, but now his face was filled with joy. He replied, "It's all thanks to Ye Zhiqing and Han Zhiqing."
Captain Ding was even more upset.
In fact, the educated youth in their team could not be said to be bad, especially around the Spring Festival. Their Red Flag Team was published in newspapers twice. Zhao Chunjiao, who wrote one of the articles, was not transferred to the town, but stayed in the team to teach in the primary school.
But they still cannot compare with the educated youth from Wangjiagou, who even got a tractor.
Captain Ding had been in office longer than Captain Wang and had more acquaintances. Not only the Pingquan Commune, but also the captain of the neighboring commune had asked him about the situation in Wangjiagou. Everyone was eager to snatch the educated youth from Wangjiagou back to their own village, no matter which one.
Captain Wang replied modestly: "I heard it's just a small tractor, not as good as your team's."
That's true.
Captain Ding felt a little relieved.
It was for the above reasons that when Ye Yu and Han Jing arrived, they saw so many people welcoming them.
Xu Fei mixed in and waved his hands continuously. Han Jing jumped down and gave him a warm hug. Ye Yu also stretched out his hand and high-fived Xu Fei.
“It’s really a tractor!”
The children jumped and danced around the tractor. Even touching the tires or rubbing the wheels was something they were particularly excited about.
Han Jing also dotes on children. He was about to carry the kids one by one into the car, but was stopped by his aunt and grandfather. "Children are so careless. What if the car gets damaged?"
“…”
This is not a glass toy.
It can also be seen from here that the villagers value and cherish the tractor.
After the excitement, the captain once again thanked Han Jingyeyu and his team for bringing the tractor to the village.
Ye Yu said she didn't help much.
Han Jing also replied that it was nothing, the country's approval showed that it valued Wang Jiagou, and they must make production and construction better to be worthy of the country's trust.
Public speaking ability is back online.
After these passionate words were spoken, the crowd around applauded.
Xu Fei in the crowd had just chatted with Han Jing and Ye Yu for a few words, but when he saw this scene, he quickly took out his notebook to record it. He was almost an on-site reporter who witnessed the educated youth in the production team, and his writing style had improved significantly.