Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1177 Plowing is also an art: Jiang Zhiyu, I'm in the lead.

There are transportation companies in Ma County, and now there are also private individuals buying trucks to run transportation businesses, not to mention the surrounding Shicheng and the more distant Beiting.

So Li Long meant that finding a truck capable of hauling fifty tons of sugar should be easy. Now that he was off work, he planned to call the county transportation company the next day to see if they would take the job.

Liu Gaolou was exhausted from running around all day. Li Long wanted to treat him to a meal, but he declined, saying he had already eaten at a roadside restaurant in Shawan. Then he took his men to the guesthouse, saying he needed to rest quickly.

Li Long didn't forget to call Gu Boyuan to let him know that the goods had been delivered.

It wasn't dark yet on Gu Boyuan's end. He told Li Long that they had just finished get off work and were taking inventory. He said everything would be fine once the items arrived, and then he hung up.

Li Long then realized that although it was only separated by the Tianshan Mountains, it got dark in Ma County half an hour earlier than in Yining.

Li Qingxia looked at the two huge tractors and sighed:

"Hey, this looks really exciting! Such a big machine, it must be fast at plowing. But it's fine normally, but in the spring when the fields are wet, will the tractor wobble into the ground?"

"No," Li Long shook his head and said, "One of these things has the horsepower of two tracked tractors, it can easily haul it away."

He plans to talk to the transportation company tomorrow and then drive the machine back to the fourth team so that it can be used for plowing and other tasks.

Actually, the main function of this thing is to plow and level the land. It has plenty of power and can plow 400 acres in a day and a night. At the current prices of the fourth team, that's a gross income of two to three thousand yuan a day.

As long as the plot of land is big enough, even though the tractor is expensive, you can earn it back in a year if you work hard.

Of course, the premise is that they can let you work on the land. The Fourth Team already has more than 3,000 mu of land. If you include everything, a complete set of plowing, leveling, and harrowing costs about ten yuan. They plow once in the spring and once in the autumn, and they can earn fifty or sixty thousand yuan or even more a year.

Of course, with Li Jianguo's connections, if things go well, it won't just be limited to the Fourth Squad area. It all depends on what he plans to do next.

In terms of pure mechanization, this high-horsepower wheeled tractor is a game-changer compared to tracked tractors; there's no comparison.

Of course, how things actually go about it is up to Li Jianguo himself. Li Long is doing this partly because he has a real dream of agricultural mechanization, and partly because of his passion.

He runs his own purchasing station and has no time to engage in agriculture. Since his elder brother has this plan, he will definitely give it his full support.

After the fritillaria bulbs were unloaded, they were piled up in a temporary warehouse and will be cleaned up tomorrow.

Li Long and Li Qingxia returned to the courtyard for dinner. It was quite late by then. Gu Xiaoxia and Sister Yang were waiting for them in the courtyard.

When Li Long and the others didn't return, Gu Xiaoxia called and, knowing they were busy, left some food for them.

At this point, they took the food out of the pot, and Li Long and Li Qingxia ate while explaining the situation to Gu Xiaoxia.

"Looks like my dad and his team are doing well over there," Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile when she heard that her father had sent over a batch of hides and fritillaria bulbs, and quite a lot of them.

"Yes, it's great." Li Long said while eating. "There are many middlemen over there, but no large-scale private purchasing stations. We opened the first one, and the government came to congratulate us. All those shady people know about it."

Besides, they were the first to advertise on television for seven days, in three languages, which immediately made them known to many people. People from the county who had goods at home came to sell, and they bought more goods.

Everything is difficult at the beginning. If you do well at the start and get things going, as long as you establish your brand and maintain good service, you will definitely continue to thrive if nothing unexpected happens.

Gu Xiaoxia smiled and nodded, then went to take care of Mingming and Haohao.

Li Long and Li Qingxia continued to discuss the advantages of this high-horsepower wheeled tractor.

Although Li Qingxia didn't understand why his youngest son knew everything about the tractor so well after it had only just arrived, it didn't stop him from being proud of his son.

"Are these the only two in the county?" Li Qingxia asked.

"Yes, Shicheng got it last year, it's brand new. Ours is second-hand, but according to the county, this is the first one."

“Hey,” Li Qingxia was also quite excited. What did this mean? It meant that their family’s situation had already ranked among the top in the county.

"Two units? These are such expensive things, you could have just gotten one, why did you get two?" Li Qingxia asked, puzzled.

"My older brother drives one of the cars in our team, and I'm thinking of getting another one to make money. Dad, think about it, nowadays a whole set of plowing, leveling, and harrowing costs more than ten yuan."

A tracked tractor can plow a hundred or two hundred acres a day at most. In reality, most of the tracked tractors in each team are old and outdated, and many break down in the field after plowing only a few dozen acres.

If it's early spring, plowing the land early isn't a problem, but what about autumn? Some people are in a hurry to plow the land to prepare winter wheat after harvesting, which means the old Dongfanghong 75 plow in the village will probably have to work non-stop, and even then, it might not be able to meet the expected results.

"So my idea is to have Junfeng or someone else drive this tractor out to plow the fields and earn money," Li Long said. "That way, we can recoup our investment sooner. This not only makes money for us, but it also helps the villagers get their land planted faster."

Li Long wasn't exaggerating; he was telling the truth.

In this life, his butterfly wings flapped, and with the money he made, he bought a new tractor for the fourth team, and also bought one to keep with Meng Hai.

In the original timeline, the Fourth Squad always used the same machine that Wang Caimi used in the team. Later, someone bought an 804, which was also an old machine, but the technology wasn't as good as Wang Caimi's, so they just kept using it.

Not only the fourth squad, but all the other squads were basically the same, using old machines and almost no one bought new ones.

Before 2010, the job of plowing was almost entirely monopolized by tractor drivers from the old production teams and collectives; no one else did it.

At first, Li Long didn't think about the reason. Later, when he had nothing to do, he analyzed it. Most of these production teams were gradually established in the 1960s and 1970s. The first generation had relatively deep feelings for each other, after all, they had worked and lived together in the team.

So once a habit is formed, it's hard to break, or rather, people won't fight for it even if they have the chance, just to save face. This means that after the household responsibility system was implemented, the original tractor drivers tacitly accepted and occupied the field of plowing and sowing, and even if someone wanted to get involved, they couldn't bring themselves to do so.

Another reason is that plowing is a technical job, and the old-fashioned Dongfanghong 75 tracked tractor with a five-furrow plow had a fixed plow head, requiring someone to sit on the back of the plow and operate the plow.

Plowing is not as simple as just circling around in the field as most people imagine. If you do that, the soil turned up will all be in one direction, and if the ground is uneven or has potholes, farming will be very difficult.

Why did things change so suddenly after 2010? Firstly, the government began to implement large-scale agricultural machinery subsidies at that time, with a 30% subsidy for purchasing agricultural implements. Large tractors like the 1254 cost over 300,000 to nearly 400,000 yuan each, and the government subsidized over 100,000 yuan of them.

I won't buy a spoon!
The fourth squad bought three units in less than six months!

Another reason is that by around 2010, most of the older generation of farmers had retired to the second line, and people of Li Qiang's age had grown up and become the main force in farming.

The old-fashioned relationships of the older generation are not as strong anymore. Under the influence of social trends and environment, whoever gets rich first is considered capable, and money in one's pocket is what really matters. As for personal relationships, they take a back seat.

Back then, there were so many tractors that people would rush to plow the land, sometimes even plowing the wrong fields. At that time, the fourth team had already cultivated seven or eight thousand mu of land. The price for plowing was twenty-five yuan per mu. Three tractor drivers worked around the clock, and sometimes they would even plow the land without the landlord's permission.

Most people accept this outcome; once the plowing is done, so be it, as long as it's not damaged, they'll pay.

However, one family had originally promised to plow for someone else, but ended up having someone else plow for them, so they refused to pay.

Another tractor driver was a novice who didn't use the reversible plow properly and ruined the land—plowing also requires paying attention to the direction the soil is turned; doing it the wrong way can cause problems.

Here's a basic explanation of rural plowing for those who haven't farmed before. When plowing is needed after planting, there are several technical terms, such as splitting the ridges, covering the ridges, and covering the ridges, which older generations of farmers are generally familiar with.

When plowing a piece of land, the first stroke of the plow will create a furrow, which is called "split the soil". This furrow must not be left, otherwise it will be difficult to plant. After turning the plow over, another stroke of the plow will be used to level the furrow, which is called "close the soil". This is all done at once. Then the plowing can begin in sequence.

In other words, when plowing, the two outermost edges and the middle part need to be plowed repeatedly; otherwise, either virgin land or deep furrows will be left, neither of which is acceptable.

Experienced tractor drivers usually ask the homeowner whether they want to plow outwards or inwards before they start, depending on the condition of the land. If the land is low in the middle, it's generally plowed inwards.

Plowing a field requires not only the skill of the tractor driver, but also the skill and coordination of the person operating the plowshare. After all, old-fashioned tractors with plows are not very automated; when plowing, the person operating the plowshare needs to manually press the plowshare down and then lift it up again when plowing to the end of the field.

While high-horsepower wheeled tractors also need to consider the issues of splitting, combining, and covering soil moisture when plowing, the plow can be operated from the cab, eliminating the need for a person to operate the plowshare. Moreover, because it is equipped with a reversible plow, the plowshare can be adjusted at the edge of the field simultaneously, without needing to make a large turn to maintain a consistent plowing direction.

It saves a lot of labor, time, and effort. Of course, the point of all this explanation is that older tractors and older generations of farmers value this more; if the plowing is not done well, they will scold the farmer. Novices may not care about this, and a reversible plow might still create open or closed furrows and uncultivated land, which the farmer might not understand and simply overlook.

The next day, after breakfast, Gu Xiaoxia drove to work, dropping Mingming and Haohao off at kindergarten on the way. Li Long went to the recycling station and called the transportation company.

The transportation company did have some spare trucks, and after consulting with their superiors, they immediately agreed.

Li Long drove to the guesthouse and told Liu Gaolou about it. Liu Gaolou was quite happy and told Li Long that the money for this batch of sugar would definitely be brought back later.

Li Long was naturally in no hurry; the level of trust between the two parties was very high, and he had no worries.

Liu Gaolou took the driver to the recycling station, while Li Long went to the casual labor market and called about ten people to come and load cement.

Liu Gaolou and Liang Shuangcheng were in charge of loading cement at the purchasing station, while Li Long drove his high-horsepower wheeled tractor back to the fourth production team with a plow.

Liu Gaolou initially thought he would have the two tractor drivers who came with him help Li Long drive, but Li Long started the engine and drove off very skillfully, which startled him.

Li Long couldn't drive two cars by himself, so the other one was driven by a driver.

The farm tools on the trucks hadn't been unloaded yet. These people first loaded cement onto the empty trucks, and for the trucks loaded with farm tools, Li Long told them to follow him directly to the fourth team to unload the farm tools there.

Less than half an hour after he left, Ma Xiaoyan arrived at the purchasing station on her bicycle.

After searching around and finding out that Li Long had gone to the fourth squad, she realized she was too late.

Considering that the fourth team was quite far away, Ma Xiaoyan had no choice but to go back first and planned to come back in the afternoon.

She heard about the strange tractor that had arrived at the recycling station after she went to work, and rushed over after finishing her work.

Ma Xiaoyan guessed that this should be the beginning of Li Long's dream of agricultural mechanization.

As the high-horsepower tractor drove out of the county town and headed north, turning east again in the township, it attracted the attention of many people.

Li Long sat in the driver's seat, skillfully operating the tractor, quite excited. The tractor's roar was slightly louder than the small four-wheeled tractor, but quieter than the Dongfanghong 75.

But it brought a much greater shock to the people in the village. This thing looked like a Dongfanghong 28 tractor, with a driver's cab, but it was much bigger.

One of the large tires is almost as tall as a person. This thing is really big and looks extraordinary!
It wasn't just the locals who were drawn to come and see; even government employees working in the village were called out to watch, including Jiang Zhiyu.

As she watched the tractor turn a corner and head east, she almost immediately concluded that the tractor was heading to the Li family's house, and that one of the drivers was Li Long.

So Jiang Zhiyu turned around and ran into the yard to tell the township head, then got on her bicycle and followed him.

Some children ran after them, but were left behind after a few steps, while others just stood there smelling the exhaust fumes.

The cloud of dust that rose up was huge, but few people paid any attention.

It's perfectly normal to have dust and dirt at this time.

When Jiang Zhiyu arrived at the Li family's house on his bicycle, he indeed saw two tractors parked at the entrance of Li Long's yard, and Li Long was telling Li Jianguo about the tractors.

Li Jianguo's expression was somewhat complicated.

My brother is really good at causing trouble!

I only bought this new Dongfanghong 75 tracked tractor two years ago, and now I've got two more of these huge machines.

How much money would that cost?!
But looking at this big guy is really impressive. After listening to Li Long talk about its advantages, and seeing the reversible plow hanging behind it, it would be so nice to have one less person.

"Can you plow 400 mu of land in a day and a night?" Li Jianguo was tempted just thinking about it, and Li Junfeng was even more so.

Li Long had vaguely mentioned to him before that if he really intended to settle in the northern frontier, then in addition to leading these people to farm, he would also need to expand outwards to make money.

Li Junfeng was of course fine with it. He compared his cousin Li Junshan, who stayed in the northern border region, and felt that he might be better off staying in the fourth team.

These high-powered tractors are really powerful, two of them! Uncle Jianguo definitely can't drive them all by himself. What's next? Maybe one of them will end up on his shoulders.

As for Li Long? He's unlikely to open one.

"Four hundred mu, think about it. The wheels turn, and when plowing, they can travel ten or twenty kilometers in an hour. How many mu can that plow?" Li Long said with a smile.

"The wheels are fast, but they can easily get stuck in the ground." Li Jianguo has been using a tracked tractor to plow the land since he started farming. In the spring, the ground is wet, and the tracks don't get stuck, just like a tank won't get stuck in a swamp.

"It has enough power. Look how wide these big tires are; it won't sink in at all."

Li Long explained one by one: "This tractor has twice the horsepower of 75, so it can't get stuck at all."

The arrival of the high-powered tractor immediately gathered the villagers who had finished sowing but hadn't yet started thinning. As they listened to Li Long's words and looked at the tall tractor, their eyes held envy, awe, and a little bit of jealousy.

Yes, why is it always the Li family that gets the good things?
Those who were close to Li Long or the Li family asked questions, wanting to learn more about the high-horsepower tractors.

However, upon hearing that the tractor was worth nearly $50,000, none of them said a word.

I can't even afford the Dongfanghong 75, let alone this one.

Li Long felt that for the time being, at least for the next ten years, not many private individuals would be able to afford this thing, so he would temporarily exist in a monopolistic manner.

Jiang Zhiyu's arrival surprised many people, including Li Long.

"Comrade Li Long, is this one of your agricultural mechanization efforts?" Jiang Zhiyu asked as soon as she arrived.

Li Long originally planned to unload the farm implements, explain the operation of the high-horsepower tractor to his older brother, and then go back.

Seeing that Officer Jiang was coming, he knew he couldn't leave.

“Yes, this thing can be considered a new beginning and foundation for agricultural mechanization.” Li Long had told Jiang Zhiyu about his dream of agricultural mechanization before, and there was no harm in explaining it a little more now.

"Can we talk more?" Jiang Zhiyu asked. "Is this something you just bought? It doesn't look brand new."

“These are secondhand goods imported from the Soviet Union,” Li Long said. “We can’t buy new ones yet; only state-owned enterprises can import them.”

Actually, you could buy it by using connections, but that would mean paying real US dollars, and it would be expensive. Li Long thinks the current situation is pretty good.

The truck driver came over and asked Li Long if he wanted to go back. Li Long told them to go back first, as he had other things to do.

"Well... Has Director Ma asked about this yet?" Jiang Zhiyu suddenly had a thought and asked.

"No." Li Long shook his head. "It only arrived last night, and I drove it over this morning. Feel free to ask me any questions."

"Could you first introduce the features of this high-horsepower tractor?" Jiang Zhiyu took out her notebook, ready to take notes.

The others watched as Officer Jiang interviewed Li Long and didn't come over to disturb him, instead focusing on observing the farm tools up close.

Hey, I used to think the Dongfanghong-75 was big and powerful enough, but now that I see this, it's even more impressive!
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(End of this chapter)