Chapter 432 Equivalent Exchange 2
Wang Zhengguo did not agree directly.
His silence made Shao Jiandang's heart grow colder. Just when he felt completely cold, he heard Wang Zhengguo say, "You can borrow it."
"Really?" Shao Jiandang couldn't believe his ears. He scratched his ears hard. "Old Wang, are you really willing to lend us food? Really?"
Several strong laborers who were standing or squatting raised their heads at the same time and looked at Wang Zhengguo with surprise.
Lu Jiang and Wang Dachun felt very unhappy.
"I agree to lend you food, but I have one condition."
After hearing what Wang Zhengguo said, Shao Jiandang hurriedly said, "I agree to any condition. Not to mention one, I'll agree to eight or ten! I really have no other choice but to find you."
Wang Zhengguo said seriously: "There is no such thing as getting something for nothing in the world. If you get something for nothing, it will easily breed laziness, and you may not be grateful for the efforts of others. So my condition is equal exchange. I will lend you food. I know you have no money. I don't want your money, and I don't need you to return it, but there must be something else that can be used for exchange, right?"
When Shao Jiandang heard that he didn't have to pay back the borrowed grain, he was as happy as a child. But when he heard Wang Zhengguo's next words, he frowned, "Our production team only has this mule and some farm tools, nothing else, what can we exchange? Old Wang, you can't have any ideas about this mule, it's my life! Without this mule, I have to work twice as hard during the busy farming season."
"Earth." Wang Zhengguo said.
"What did you say?"
Wang Zhengguo said, "I said I would lend you food, and you would give me land. You can use a large piece of land that your brigade cannot cultivate to grow food for our brigade. Your land is mountainous, and I know that mountainous land has the highest yield when growing sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn, and is also suitable for growing cash crops such as cotton, sunflowers, and peanuts."
"This..." Shao Jiandang pondered in silence.
"Your brigade has more than 4,000 mu of land. Can you cultivate it with just 200 to 300 people? Do you have enough seeds? Do you have enough farm tools for livestock? None of them? What a pity to leave it barren! You gave it to us, but it certainly doesn't belong to us. The land is still yours, you just lent it to us to grow crops. I don't farm your land for nothing, and you don't have to pay back the borrowed grain. When the harvest comes, we will help you pay the public grain for those lands, and we will leave some of the rest for you to grow, which will be beneficial to your future development."
Shao Jiandang was very excited. "But will the commune allow you to do this? The land belongs to the state and the collective. Individuals only have so much private plots. If I lend you the land to farm, will it violate any laws? I also know it's a pity to leave so much land uncultivated, but we are really helpless without rice."
Wang Zhengguo glared at him and said, "I am trying to find a way to help you. I don't want you to get something for nothing, so I proposed a method that is mutually beneficial and can contribute to the country!"
Shao Jiandang understood it all at once.
"Okay!" Shao Jiandang agreed readily. He held Wang Zhengguo's hand and said, "Let's go to the commune to find the cadres and ask them to testify for us that your Wanglou Brigade is helping our Huoguang Brigade to develop. You are helping us!"
The Huoguang Brigade is located in the southwest corner of the Wanglou Brigade. A lot of its land borders the Wanglou Brigade and they both belong to the Shuguang Commune.
In fact, the commune cadres were also very worried. There was nothing they could do. Too many people starved to death under their rule. Not only was there no way to explain to their superiors, but the reduction in the labor force also led to no one cultivating the land, leaving large areas of land barren, and the public grain collected did not meet national standards.
(End of this chapter)