"Commander Zhang, with so many people, it's impossible for them to all be falsifying their production figures, right?"
Li Huimin couldn't say it, so Qiu Huiyong spoke up to help his leader.
"Secretary Li, Director Qiu is a student from the city, and may not be an expert in farm work, but you should be a cadre who came from among the farmers, right?
It is hard to tell when it will rain or blow, so don’t you know how much grain you can harvest from the fields?
And you team leaders, in order to get praise from the leaders today, you gritted your teeth and reported such a high output. What are you going to do when you pay the public grain tax?
If we hand over all the grain, what will the people eat? Will there be any wild vegetables left in the mountains? Will the Guanyin soil behind the house still be edible?
Zhang Xiangnan's voice was not loud, but every word he said hit everyone's throat.
To be honest, the people have had such a hard time in the past three years. Natural disasters are only one aspect of the reason. The most fundamental reason is man-made disasters.
If the production volume had not been falsely reported and all the limited grain had been handed over, no matter how difficult the situation was, people would not have starved to death.
Today, Zhang Xiangnan directly exposed the lie. The commune cadres and the team leaders present felt ashamed, but more importantly, relieved.
"Chief Zhang, the country's construction is in full swing, and the non-agricultural households in the city are crying out for food. The country needs it, and everyone has an obligation to do their part.
I don't know if you've read a report that says the yield per mu in some places has reached 100,000 catties, while ours is only reported at 3,000 to 5,000 catties per mu. I think that's too little."
In the entire meeting place, only Qiu Huiyong was still persisting.
As a young cadre, he really wants to make progress.
"Director Qiu, do you know what it means to produce 100,000 catties per mu? If you spread 100,000 catties of grain on one mu of land, the pile would be one meter high.
How tall are grain stalks? Even though you're from the city, you've been in Liulin Commune for over a year, right? Think for yourself, is that even possible?
They say practice makes perfect. Does your commune have private plots or experimental fields? Don't just shout slogans. Experiment with it yourself, from planting to harvesting, to see how much grain you can produce per acre.
The newspaper that Qiu Huiyong mentioned was also preserved in the Zhangzhuang Brigade, and Zhang Xiangnan had also read it.
After reading the famous report, Zhang Xiangnan, who came from a peasant family, commented on it with just four words: it was nonsense.
"Director Qiu, please sit down." Li Huimin waved his hand and asked Qiu Huiyong to sit down.
"Chief Zhang is right. The current yield per mu of land is 500 to 600 kilograms, which is considered a high yield.
The three to five thousand kilograms reported by other captains are indeed somewhat exaggerated."
…
At this autumn harvest summary meeting, because of Zhang Xiangnan's participation, everyone re-reported the actual output.
The phenomenon of exaggeration in Liulin Commune ended a year earlier than in other communes because of Zhang Xiangnan's intervention.
After the meeting, Zhang Xiangnan and a group of team leaders walked out of the venue together.
"Thank you, Commander Zhang! You saved the lives of our production team members!"
"This year everyone will have food to eat."
…
A group of people surrounded Zhang Xiangnan and expressed their gratitude from the bottom of their hearts.
Now the public grain payment is basically one tenth. If we follow the output they reported for the first time, there will be basically nothing left after paying the public grain.
No one understands how those places that report an acreage yield of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of catties pay their public grain.
"You are all production team leaders and representatives of the farmers. No matter what, you must always put the lives of the farmers first."
That’s all I have to say. Let them experience the rest for themselves.
Zhang Xiangnan got on the jeep and took Zhang Xiangyang back to Zhangzhuang.
Another month passed by the time the members finished plowing the fields, sealing the ridges, and planting winter wheat.
Zhang Xiangyang led the members to drive the ox cart and handed over the public grain to the commune grain management office. The next day was the most important day for the farmers: the distribution of grain.
On the day of grain distribution, everyone in the village had a happy face.
From planting to harvesting, they poured so much effort and sweat into the fields.
Throughout the year, the people look forward to two days: one is the distribution of money at the end of the year, and the other is the distribution of grain in autumn.
In the past two years, due to drought and false reporting of production, there was no grain surplus at all. Today's grain distribution is the first real grain distribution in the past two years.
In the entire Zhangzhuang, perhaps only Zhang Chenguang and Zhang Shengguang were not particularly happy.
Zhang Chenguang and Zhang Shengguang, covered in scars, followed Zhang Xiangdong and his wife, their faces filled with sorrow and unspeakable grievances in their hearts.
Last time, the two brothers proposed to draw a clear line with Zhang Xiangdong and his wife. Bai Yanniang first calmed her two sons down, and then called several brothers from her natal family.
Several uncles tried to persuade them kindly at first, but when they saw that the two brothers were determined, they began to suppress them with force. They beat Zhang Chenguang and Zhang Shengguang so hard that they ran away in fear, crying for their parents.
The two brothers ran out of the house to ask for help, but no one paid any attention to them.
Good shoes don't step on smelly dog shit. No one is willing to take care of Zhang Xiangdong's family affairs.
Zhang Shuguang also heard about this matter, but did not pay much attention to it.
If the two brothers could use their own abilities to draw a clear line between themselves and Zhang Xiangdong and his wife, and let Zhang Xiangdong and his wife suffer the consequences, Zhang Shuguang would certainly be happy to see it happen.
If the two brothers didn't have this ability, Zhang Shuguang wouldn't have bothered with this matter.
It is better to let these selfish people be bound together and hurt each other than to harm others.
Zhang Xiangdong stood in the crowd, and from time to time he would burst into violent coughing.
This was the aftereffect of Zhang Shuguang's kick last time. Zhang Xiangdong himself felt that the cough was only temporary and would go away after some rest.
Only Zhang Shuguang knew that this kick had already hurt him fundamentally.
Zhang Xiangdong's health will only get worse, and his cough will become more severe.
Zhang Shuguang's family didn't get much food because he didn't let his grandfather and mother go to work in the second half of the year. Anyway, the family didn't rely on this little food to survive.
After the autumn harvest and winter planting are completed, there is less work to do in the fields.
The county's annual river dredging and silt removal work has begun again, and almost all young and strong laborers have signed up.
Digging a river is a physical job, with ten work points a day and only one meal at noon.
Although it was just a steamed bun made of mixed grains, it was enough to fill me up.
For ordinary people, this is already a very good thing. Even if they are not given work points, as long as they can have enough food to eat every day, there will be people willing to work. At least they can save food for the family.
Farmers are very stingy and are reluctant to waste a grain of food. Farmers are also very generous and never feel sorry for their efforts.
The new house built by Zhang Shuguang's family has almost dried out, and the big trees that were cut down on the mountain are almost dry as well.
The old man went around to several surrounding villages and invited old carpenters from villages within a few miles to make furniture for the new house.
Zhang Xiangnan went to the county again and installed glass in the three new courtyards.
Time always slips away inadvertently. After the furniture was built, Zhang Xiangnan's vacation was about to begin.
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