Moreover, Zhang Shanlin discovered that without hand-cranking, the machine actually ran much faster.
The water flow has also increased significantly.
Soon, the people at the canal entrance shouted in this direction, "The water is flowing in! Should we open the sluice gate?"
Lin Ying shouted, "Open one of the floodgates!"
And you, on the other side, shouted, "Open a floodgate!"
As the sluice gate opened, the water from across the road flowed into the irrigation ditch in the medicinal herb field. Then it flowed into the medicinal herb field from the ditch.
Everyone smiled upon seeing this: "Wow, this is so much easier! If it weren't for the girl, we would still be carrying water bucket by bucket."
"That's right, we've been carrying water back and forth all this time. Now it's all good, no one has to work so hard anymore."
Before everyone could even enjoy their happiness, Qiuyue, who was standing nearby, said:
"Pshaw, if we don't need you to water the plants, then we definitely don't need you to do any work. You still want to earn a wage?"
In an instant, the atmosphere calmed down.
Lin Ying finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Excuse me, are you a member of our group? We are a group working together, please leave here."
Qiuyue became even more smug: "What, am I not telling the truth? Why did so many workers lose their jobs during the Industrial Revolution? Wasn't it because machines replaced human labor?"
Seeing her like this, Lin Ying knew she had to say more: "You're right. The Industrial Revolution brought about large-scale mechanized production and the rise of the factory system. Capitalists pursued profit maximization by using machines to replace manual labor, causing workers to lose their autonomy and bargaining power in the production process. Workers were forced to accept low wages and long working hours, and even faced harsh working conditions and dangerous environments."
Fundamentally, it is the exploitative interests of capitalist countries that cause this. We are a socialist country, and naturally, we will not aim to exploit and suppress everyone's labor force.
In areas where machines can solve the problem, manpower can be freed up to perform other, more important tasks. Every individual is a valuable resource and should not be wasted on such tasks.
Qiu Yue paused upon hearing Lin Ying's words: "You, how do you know these things? Have you been to school?"
Zhang Shanlin, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but say, "Lin Ying is a college student! Of course she knows a lot."
Qiu Yue's face darkened further. She glared at Lin Ying and then fell silent.
Zhang Shanlin could only try to smooth things over: "Comrade Lin Ying, let me introduce you. This is an officer from our logistics department. He was transferred here from Beijing a week ago and is now a member of our planting team, just like everyone else."
Lin Ying nodded: "Welcome."
However, whether or not they would be welcome is another matter.
However, the military wives were worried about another issue. They had just heard Lin Ying say a lot but didn't understand it. Did she want them to continue working or not?
"Um, Lin Ying, can we still come to work tomorrow?"
Lin Ying immediately replied, "Of course we'll come! There's quite a bit of land between our compound and the military base, and our mission is very important."
Everyone was dumbfounded: "Wait, weren't these enough medicinal herbs? Do we need to plant more?"
Lin Ying explained, "That's right, and this time we're planting vegetables that everyone is good at! There are over three thousand people in three groups to feed, so there's a lot to grow!"
Everyone was delighted to hear this: "Growing vegetables is great, we all know how to do that!"
Lin Ying added, "Starting tomorrow, we'll continue clearing land using the same method as before, piece by piece, until we reach our clearing target. We'll strive to achieve self-sufficiency in vegetables for the entire border defense region this year! We military spouses are contributing to our unit, aren't we?"
The military wives all smiled broadly and exclaimed, "Yes!"
Zhang Shanlin added, "It's not just vegetables. If the vegetable cultivation is successful, we can also raise chickens, ducks, and pigs for our grain production! At that time, the food for our army will be able to improve! Everyone can see that although our border environment is harsh, our conditions are not bad! And all of this is the result of the joint efforts of our logistics workers and our military spouses!"
At this moment, a military wife said, "Oh my god, that means we'll have to clear a lot of wasteland!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Lin Ying also said, "Yes, with the current production level, it will take at least until next year to achieve that result."
Everyone was happy because they kept their jobs.
"We don't need to carry the water bucket by bucket anymore. Let's go and collect the stones in the open space so that it will be easier when we clear the land tomorrow."
"Yes, let's go, let's hurry over there."
No one looked at Qiuyue when they left. Nobody was stupid; this person clearly looked down on them, and they had no reason to go looking for trouble.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to Qiuyue, Zhang Shanlin took Qiuyue away.
Lin Ying went to the medicinal herb field to check on the condition of the herbs, and also took a look at the field that was being watered. She was relieved to make sure that there would be no water accumulation and that the herbs would not be soaked.
However, to ensure the medicinal herbs were of better quality, Lin Ying filled a bucket with water, poured in a bowl of well water, and then slowly poured it into the irrigation ditch.
The head cook, who was in charge of watering the fields, didn't understand what Lin Ying was doing and assumed she was washing water buckets, so he didn't pay any attention.
For a while after that, Qiuyue behaved herself a lot. However, apart from Suyun, no one else in the compound wanted to talk to her. As for the other staff members in the logistics department, they were all fairly acceptable to her.
Lin Ying wasn't needed for land reclamation for the time being; she was responsible for pesticide mixing, seedling cultivation, watering the medicinal herbs, and adjusting the herbs as needed. She was in charge of everything.
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