Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1178 Wang the Money-Grubber: You already have a big one, why don't you sell it to me for 75 yuan?

Because many people were watching the high-powered tractor and asking questions and making comments, Jiang Zhiyu and Li Long walked south together, conducting interviews as they went.

"Look at your yard, there's this huge, high-horsepower wheeled tractor now—by the way, what brand is it, and where is it made?"

“John Deere, made in the USA, 150 horsepower,” Li Long explained. “It has plenty of power.”

"Yes, we have this John Deere, the Dongfanghong 75 tracked tractor, and a small four-wheeler. In addition to plows, harrows, and seeders, we also have a cultivator and the sprayer you mentioned before."

Now that we have so many, does that mean it's already mechanized?

In Jiang Zhiyu's eyes, Li Long's family had so many farming tools, which was definitely mechanized farming!
"This is just the beginning," Li Long said, shaking his head. "This is only the start."

Jiang Zhiyu turned to look at the Li family's courtyard and the farm tools parked outside, then looked at Li Long. Confirming he wasn't talking nonsense, she asked in return:

"You're saying this is just the beginning? Are you sure you're not just being deliberately modest?"

“Be modest? There’s no need.” Li Long waved his hand and said, “Our northern border and northeastern regions, and also many places in North China, have flat land suitable for large-scale cultivation, so they have the basic conditions for mechanized planting.”

Here, it's quite normal for a family to have dozens or even hundreds of acres of farmland and contracted land, which would be unimaginable in some of the more populous areas with limited land.

But that's not unusual here. However, having too much land makes farming more troublesome. Right now, even though I have a lot of farm machinery, it's only enough for my own land, so it barely qualifies as basic mechanization.

But looking at the bigger picture, the overall level is still not good enough. For example, as I told you about cotton farming, the Americans have already achieved mechanized cotton harvesting, but we haven't done that here yet.

"So you mean we can just buy another cotton harvester?" Jiang Zhiyu asked, not quite understanding.

"Of course not, I was just giving an example. Take cotton picking, for instance—a cotton picking machine costs over a million yuan, which I can't afford." Li Long smiled. "What I consider true mechanization is when everything from planting to the final harvesting is done with almost no human intervention. That's what mechanization is."

"How could that be possible?" Jiang Zhiyu didn't think such a scenario was feasible. She counted on her fingers: "I've also learned about cotton cultivation and know a little bit. You see, plowing and sowing are mechanized, but thinning can't be mechanized, right?"

“Currently, the row seeders, spot seeders, and seeds don’t work very well together, so thinning is indeed necessary after the seedlings emerge. But I believe that with the development of technology, one seed per seeding plant will eventually be enough to ensure the survival rate of the seedlings, and thinning will no longer be necessary.”

"Okay, let's skip that. What about watering? Fertilizing? These can't be mechanized, can they?"

"Drip irrigation is a technology that has become widespread in Europe and America, especially in Israel."

When sowing, drip irrigation tape is laid on the ground. When watering, simply turn on the tap at the gate pump room at the edge of the field and pour the fertilizer into the inlet.

The water dissolves the fertilizer, which is then delivered through the drip irrigation system to each seedling. Each seedling has an opening in the drip irrigation system, allowing the fertilizer to be absorbed directly by the water dripping onto it.

"Hey, now that you think about it, it really does seem quite automated... but isn't it a bit of a hassle?"

"Troublesome? Not at all, it's much easier and saves water. We're used to flooding the fields with water now, which is wasteful of water and money, and we don't even always get the soil thoroughly wet."

Especially for those plots on higher ground, current irrigation methods may not be able to reach them, but drip irrigation will definitely ensure they do.

“That makes sense.” Jiang Zhiyu gradually understood the technology Li Long was explaining and continued to ask, “Then weeding—oh, modern cultivators can suppress the weeds in the middle of the rows, but what about the weeds that grow out of the plastic film along with the seedlings?”

“Herbic herbicides,” Li Long laughed. “Just because current weeding technology isn’t good enough doesn’t mean it won’t be in the future. When we grow cotton now, the most annoying things are reeds, wild privet, black nightshade, and weeds that pull at the seedlings. Current herbicides can’t kill them.”

I believe that future herbicides will be able to kill all the weeds without harming the seedlings.

"That's great? What about topping? You should know that you can't completely suppress cotton growth with chlormequat chloride, so you have to top it, right?"

"Of course I know that a top-shaving procedure also requires medication... but I don't know when it will be available." Li Long vaguely remembered that the medication that didn't require artificial top-shaving was available when he had a cerebral hemorrhage in his previous life, right?
"If you put it that way, this isn't just agricultural mechanization, it's already modernization, isn't it?" Jiang Zhiyu suddenly realized, "Many of these things aren't even part of mechanization."

"So infrastructure construction is needed. For example, for drip irrigation, you need pumping stations at the field, as well as leveling the entire field and laying large pipes... Of course, after cotton is harvested, you also need threshing machines..."

Li Long immediately thought of a stalk-beating machine. Although cotton stalks are thin, they are very hard and cannot be left in the ground. They must be beaten off and taken away, otherwise it will be difficult to plant next year.

Jiang Zhiyu's eyes were now sparkling as she looked at Li Long, and she asked with a touch of admiration:

How do you know so much?

"Oh... Planting cotton was my idea. Although I don't farm, I came up with this idea hoping to make things go more smoothly for my family."

Therefore, I visited some professors at the agricultural college, researched some materials, and conducted on-site investigations of cotton farmers and workers in Beiwucha and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. That's how I gathered all this information.

Jiang Zhiyu looked at him with great admiration: "You're really amazing!"

The two walked and talked, going around in a big circle. When they returned, they found a large crowd still gathered in front of the Li family's house. The door of the high-powered tractor was open, and some people were looking at it with curiosity.

Li Long and Jiang Zhiyu walked over, and the whispers subsided a little as everyone's eyes fell on the two of them.

Jiang Zhiyu didn't feel there was anything wrong with it. She had been surrounded by people and all sorts of stares when she went to the countryside, and she was used to it because of the need for interview material.

She asked Li Long some questions about planting, especially about his insistence on growing cotton, which she found rather unusual. After all, cotton planting was not yet widespread in the whole township, so why was Li Long so determined and why was he investing such a huge amount of money in it?
Li Long repeated what he had said before: farmers rely on growing grain to eat their fill, but if they want to get rich, they must grow cash crops. The area of ​​Ma County in northern Xinjiang has unique natural conditions, with long hours of sunshine and cotton that is not picky about the soil. The combination of the two is almost enough.

Of course, the most important thing is that the county's cotton and linen company will buy the cotton, and with the government's guarantee, people can grow it with confidence.

Unlike harvesting melon seeds, where prices are high when there are buyers and the produce is worthless when there aren't, farmers at this time were still at the bottom of the social ladder. They lacked access to information, and everyone rushed to plant whatever they wanted, often resulting in stockpiles and losses.

This only began to improve with the advent of the internet age, and even then, it was only to some extent. After all, back then, no one could guarantee that someone who made money this year would make money next year.

The earlier example of cutting down jujube trees and leaving a field of watermelons is exactly like this.

Jiang Zhiyu asked many questions and remembered them quickly. Li Long, being tall, glanced at them and exclaimed in admiration:

"Officer Jiang, your handwriting is beautiful! It's amazing that you can write such beautiful characters while walking."

"Hehe, I specially chose this hardcover notebook," Jiang Zhiyu said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to write. When I was in school, my dad forced me to practice calligraphy, saying that I had to write well. It was really painful back then, but now I realize that he really did it for my own good."

These are things that people usually only realize after they've grown up and benefited from.

After the interview, Jiang Zhiyu asked some unrelated questions before riding away, satisfied.

As Li Long walked back to his front door, some people started to jeer and say:

"Xiaolong, why don't you drive that car around so everyone can see? This big guy's horsepower is different, isn't it?"

"Okay, let's go for a spin." Li Long wanted everyone to see the power of the high-horsepower tractor, so he climbed onto the ladder, closed the door, and started the tractor.

The electric start tractor immediately shocked these people. At first, they thought that this tractor was like the Dongfanghong 75, which needed to be started with a rope, or like a small four-wheel tractor that was started with a crank handle.

As a result, the tractor started right away when the button was pressed!
"I knew it! I searched for ages outside but couldn't find where the crank handle was plugged in," Xie Yundong exclaimed. "Turns out it's activated from inside."

“I’m right,” Lu Yingming said. “I just couldn’t find where the wheels turned. Hey, it’s like a car, you start it from the inside!”

"Exactly, imported ones are just different!" Tao Daqiang exclaimed.

The tractor started moving, and the ground trembled. Everyone else scattered, watching the big guy steadily move forward with the plow.

Li Long drove straight past the Li family's front yard, and some people immediately followed. They watched as Li Long slowed down in a patch of saline-alkali land in front of the Lu family's house, and then watched as the plow went down.

"Is he going to plow the land?"

"Hey, this tractor is so convenient because no one has to plow from behind!" some people exclaimed as they watched.

Li Jianguo was also quite interested. He led Li Junfeng and the others to plow the fields with tractors, and to ensure smooth coordination, they needed to agree on the plan beforehand. In particular, when raising and lowering the plowshare, they had to rev the engine to remind them—because the Dongfanghong 75 tractor didn't have a horn.

Now, if you were to drive this high-horsepower tractor, one person could handle raising and lowering the plowshare entirely from inside the cab, eliminating the need for anyone else to assist.

How wonderful! Sure enough, the woman with the plow plunged it into the ground, the tractor revved up, and then quickly moved forward. The plow turned over the soil, carrying a patch of weeds to the right. After plowing fifty or sixty meters, the tractor almost turned around in a small circle, then the plowshare flipped over and plowed back to the same spot.

"Hey! See that? The plowshares are all facing the same direction! It's a reversible plow! Amazing!" someone shouted, having discovered the secret of plowing.

"Didn't you notice? It's really fast!" Tao Daqiang said excitedly. "It's much faster than the Dongfanghong 75 tractor, and it plows the ground very deeply."

"Why not call it 'high horsepower'? This is twice as much as the 75 horsepower of the Dongfanghong!" Xie Yundong was also very excited. "It plows this land so easily!"

Li Jianguo clenched his fist. Hey, this is really exciting!
The Dongfanghong 75 tractor, which I had always cherished, suddenly didn't seem so appealing anymore.

After plowing two furrows, Li Long drove the tractor forward a little, opened the door, and said to his older brother:

"Brother, come on, let me tell you, it's really easy to drive!"

Li Jianguo smiled and said, "Shall we start learning now?"

"What do you need to learn? I'll just explain the gear shift and the function of those buttons. If you can drive a car or a small four-wheeled vehicle, you can drive this."

Li Jianguo then pulled the ladder and climbed up.

After getting in the car and closing the door, Li Long said to Li Jianguo:
"Look, brother, this drives almost like a small four-wheeler, but it's much more comfortable..."

He showed Li Jianguo where the plowshare was raised and lowered, and where the air conditioner was turned on. The tractor's shock absorption system was excellent, and since the surrounding area was all wasteland, they simply started testing it out.

"Hey, this feels so comfortable! It's even more comfortable than that GAZ truck!"

As Li Jianguo drove, he said, "No wonder it's so expensive, it's worth it!"

That's what he said, but he started plowing the land, following the path where Li Long had just plowed.

At first, he wasn't quite used to plowing and was a bit far from the row that Li Long had plowed, but after plowing over it once, he immediately got used to it and the row was closed when he plowed over it again.

Li Jianguo was far more obsessed with this than Li Long; he plowed up the entire saline-alkali wasteland before reluctantly stopping.

When the tractor returned to the Li family's door, the two brothers got off, and the others came up to ask about the details.

"Is this high-horsepower tractor fuel-inefficient?"

Li Long said, "It's not that high, just a little higher than 75. The fuel-saving aspect is mainly due to its higher fuel efficiency."

"Won't the wheels sink into the ground?" This is a common concern.

"It won't sink, it won't sink," Li Long said with a smile. "People have tested it; it won't sink. It has a high horsepower and can drive straight out."

One question after another was posed, and after Li Long answered some, Li Jianguo said:

"Alright, alright, stop asking now. We'll take it slow later. Xiaolong has other things to do."

“It really is something,” Li Long said. “Brother, have Junfeng drive me to the county. I need to buy sugar for those people.”

Li Jianguo knew that Li Long was making money by selling sugar to those people, and he asked, "Would you like to eat before you leave?"

"I'm not eating anymore. I'll come back later," Li Long said. "There's a lot to it, let me explain it to you slowly."

There were no Chinese instruction manuals for the tractor and farm implements. Li Long had driven these things in his previous life and knew a little about them. So he would have to explain the details to his older brother.

Li Long went to the county to get cement for Liu Gaolou, while Li Jianguo and Li Junfeng slowly studied the tractor.

After Li Long left, some people dispersed, while others stayed, each with their own thoughts.

Li Jianguo was looking at the tractor when Wang Caimi pulled him aside and asked in a low voice:

"Brother Li, you've got two high-horsepower tractors at once. How much does one cost?"

"Xiaolong said it was 300,000, right? That's money being wasted..." Li Jianguo said, half-jokingly.

"So expensive?" Wang Caimi was also tempted, but upon hearing the price, he immediately gave up the idea. "Hey, really expensive! But it looks reasonable. It plows the land really fast, and there's no need to have someone behind it pressing down the plowshare."

"Yeah, it saves one person, which is convenient, but I don't know when I'll be able to earn that money back."

"That depends on how you plan to make money. If you go out and earn it, you can make it back in a few years. A set of plowing, harrowing, leveling, and sowing equipment costs more than ten yuan now. Your tractor can plow two or three hundred acres a day, right? That means you can earn several thousand yuan a day. If you calculate it like that, you can make it back in two or three years."

"Look at your calculations, doesn't that mean no fuel costs? No depreciation?" Li Jianguo chuckled. "Our team is alright, but who would want you to plow their fields outside?"

Upon hearing Li Jianguo say "our team," Wang Caimi's eyes twitched. Li Jianguo had plowed and sown four-fifths of the team's land, and the remaining small plots, along with the land from people who didn't get along with the Li family, were left to him to plow, essentially leaving him with scraps.

Now that they've brought in two more advanced machines, wouldn't that be wiping them out completely?

However, Wang the money-grubber had other ideas, and he whispered:
"Brother Li, you've got two of these big machines, but what about your Dongfanghong 75? It's just a waste to keep it."

"What? You want to take over?"

“If the price is right, I’ll take it,” Wang the money-grubber said with a smile. “No matter how many people you have, it’s just sitting there doing nothing, so it’s not worth it.”

"How much money can you offer?" Li Jianguo asked directly.

Wang Caimi was right. Once the high-horsepower tractor returned, the Dongfanghong 75 tractor would be useless.

If Li Long manages to bring back one unit, then the Dongfanghong 75 can still serve as a backup. But if he brings back two units at once, then there's no need for a backup at all.

"Look, your tractor has been running for two years, and you've almost recouped your investment. The machine is getting a bit old though. How about 15,000? If it's a good deal, I'll drive it home today!"

"Forget it, it's not suitable." Li Jianguo refused outright. "Even if you sold this thing as scrap metal, it wouldn't be worth more than this. Why don't you go check out the Production and Construction Corps? The agricultural machinery teams there are currently phasing out old machines. Go and have a look, you might be able to find a bargain."

You think you can buy your own tractor for 15,000? Dream on!

They won't sell it to him even if they leave it there!
Wang Caimi didn't expect Li Jianguo to refuse so directly, and immediately stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and said:

"How about I add another thousand? Fifteen thousand?"

Seeing that Li Jianguo remained unmoved, he gritted his teeth and said:

"Add three thousand? How about eighteen thousand? That's the most I can offer!"

"No, no, I think you should think about other places."

Li Jianguo knew Li Long wasn't short of money. With a high-powered tractor, just as Wang Caimi had said, if they really put in the effort, making the money back would be easy. Although he had just told Wang Caimi that it would be difficult to find land after the fourth team, his situation was different.

Before the Fourth Team was established, he had worked in the county's farmland measurement unit, so he had some acquaintances in the dozens of production teams near the county seat.

It's quite easy to find work plowing the fields if you really want to. The main problem is that during the rush to plant in the fall and the sowing in the spring, the surrounding production teams are facing similar issues as the Fourth Team did before, using old tractors.

Some tractor drivers use old machines as long as they can, and replace parts when they can't be used anymore. Basically, very few people buy new machines.

Therefore, high-horsepower tractors have a significant competitive advantage!
P.S.: Thank you so much for the generous donation from Spring Warmth Eleven States!

I actually finished writing both chapters last night, but I forgot to publish the latter. These past few days I've been a bit distracted with parent-teacher meetings and exam preparation for my child. I just checked, and I almost forgot to publish these two chapters I wrote today as well.

I'm getting old, please forgive me.

(End of this chapter)