1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 253 They have to be the ones to earn this money from now on!
As night fell, two large stoves had already been set up at the entrance of the Yangzhuang brigade headquarters.

In the firelight, everyone looked expectantly at the canned rabbit meat in Su Wenchen's hand.

With a forceful thrust of the short knife in Su Wenchen's hand.

"Crack!"

The sealed lid, secured with a sheet metal cap and rubber gasket, was pried open, and a rich aroma of spices mixed with the smell of meat wafted out of the can.

The commune members not far away unconsciously kept swallowing.

"Come on, lift the lid and add it in. Everyone, have a taste. This is canned food made from rabbits we raise ourselves."

"The taste is quite good."

The commune members over there immediately looked at their brigade leader, Yang Jingfu.

The old man who had brought Su Wenchen over in the oxcart immediately reached out to stop him.

"Boss, it's such a waste for us to eat such valuable things. You can eat them yourselves!"

Su Wenchen waved his hand.

"It's just a few cans of food, why bother with whether it's expensive or not? As long as it goes into your stomach, there's no such thing as waste."

He then spoke to the militia captain standing by the stove.

"Comrade Yang Weidong, lift the lid off the pot."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Yang Weidong first glanced at their brigade leader, Yang Jingfu, but his hand remained unconsciously on the pot lid.

When the pot lid was opened, Su Wenchen was stunned for a moment after seeing it.

Because there was only one big pot of stewed cabbage inside.

However, if Su Wenchen were to describe it, it would be more apt to describe it as boiled cabbage in plain water.

To be honest, Su Wenchen originally thought that when the brigade organized a group meal, they would usually add some good food, cook it all together, and then give each member of the brigade a bowl.

But if even a pot of boiled cabbage can only be eaten at a group meal, what do the commune members eat on a regular basis?
However, Su Wenchen did not hesitate for long.

Once a can of broth is added, the once clear pot is instantly churned up.

Su Wenchen handed the can-opening knife directly to Yang Weidong.

"You've opened three cans left, put them all in! Divide each pot into two cans."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Yang Weiguo's eyes lit up and he immediately took the can opener.

"Boss, do you still want this jar?"

Su Wenchen waved his hand.

"Your brigade can handle the arrangements!"

After seeing Su Wenchen walk towards their brigade leader, the members who were initially hesitant to approach immediately surged forward.

"Weidong, let me help you. You can have one of these glass jars."

Several other people immediately chimed in.

"Captain, let me help you too! You have to share this jar with me!"

Clearly, when faced with a leader as young as Su Wenchen who could ride in a car, both Yang Weidong, the militia captain, and the others in the brigade felt pressured and even somewhat reserved when speaking.

But it was much better when facing Yang Weidong, who was one of their own. Many people had even started competing for ownership of the glass bottles.

Su Wenchen walked to Yang Jingfu's side.

"Captain Yang, is it really that difficult for you to get vegetables here?"

Why would you stew just a few cabbages together?

Yang Jingfu sighed.

"There's nothing we can do. The commune can't provide much support either. There's not enough to distribute one to each family."

"So we had no choice but to cook communal meals, one bowl per family."

"Actually, this cabbage wasn't relief food. It was saved from our own food by the commune. The brigades closer to the commune had more good land than we did."

"So every year when we go to the commune to collect the relief grain allocated by the county, the commune will also give us some cabbage and radishes."

"These were all saved from the commune's production brigade. Although they were better off than me, the improvement was still limited."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Weiguo, who was standing nearby, asked in surprise.

"Haven't you considered relocating?"

"We couldn't survive here, so we didn't think of moving to your commune?"

Yang Jingfu shook his head.

"We can't move there. How will we survive if we do?"

“Here, we still have fields that our ancestors have cultivated little by little to cultivate, and with the relief grain, no one will starve.”

"But if we move elsewhere, we won't have land to farm and we won't be able to survive!"

Su Wenchen also understood that at this point, unless it was due to a national project, the entire organization would not be relocated.

Otherwise, you won't have anywhere to move to.

Because if someone else has already cultivated the land, will the locals agree to you taking advantage of it?
Even if they were from the same commune, other brigades wouldn't agree to their relocation.

Even from the perspective of the county officials, he felt that relocating these people would be a losing proposition.

Because these people are stationed here, they can manage a few more acres each year, and over ten or eight years, it will amount to a considerable sum.

When the county has more resources, it can then channel those resources here. With this foundation in place, it will save a lot of effort.

However, if all these people are relocated, it will not only increase the county's financial burden, but also create the problem of managing several more acres of land later.

Without management, the fields that were treated over the past decade or so will gradually become saline again, turning back into highly saline-alkali land.

So no matter how you look at it, someone needs to be stationed here.

Su Wenchen asked directly.

"So, Captain, how many acres of land on your side are suitable for growing grain?"

Yang Jingfu thought for a moment.

"It's probably over a thousand acres! But this area is constantly being treated and then the salt content rises again, so it can only be maintained at this level."

Hou Guozhong was somewhat puzzled upon hearing this.

"With over a thousand acres of land, why is your brigade still facing such difficulties?"

Before Yang Jingfu could speak, Cao Jiwen, who was standing next to Hou Guozhong, explained directly.

"Although their land has been treated, it is not fertile enough to be considered normal soil; it still contains a slight degree of salinity."

"So it's normal for grain production to decrease. In Dongfeng Commune, even on well-managed land, the yield of staple grains like corn is only about 200 jin per mu."

Yang Jingfu nodded.

"This comrade is right. Our approach to treatment is to knock off the salt crust in early spring, then irrigate with water to suppress the salt that has accumulated over the winter, and then start sowing."

"Even so, there is no way to clean up the saline-alkali soil, so our yield per mu is lower than that of the county, only about 100 jin per mu."

Su Wenchen did some calculations and then looked at the crowd around him.

"If you have 1,000 mu here, even if the yield is 100 jin per mu, that's still 100,000 jin!"

"I see your brigade only has about two hundred people at most! Are there people who haven't arrived yet?"

Yang Jingfu shook his head.

"These are the people from our Yanglou production team. There are also Xiaoyanglou, Malou, Tangzhuang, Qianlijing, and several other production teams around here, totaling about a thousand people!"

"Because they were very scattered, each production team sent its own people to the commune to collect relief grain."

Hearing this, Su Wenchen nodded in understanding.

Each brigade here not only has a larger population than their brigade, but the land is also much more barren, so naturally they can't live together.

As the group chatted idly, time passed little by little.

After four cans of rabbit meat were added to the pot, a very rich meaty aroma leaked out along the steam around the pot.

The members of Yangzhuang Brigade, who were standing by the pot, were also sucking in the aroma of meat in the air, as if they didn't want to miss a single bite.

After it was almost cooked, Yang Weidong lifted the lid of the pot.

boom!
The boiling steam in the pot suddenly burst forth, and a rich aroma filled the air above the entire brigade.

The members who were originally sitting at the back immediately started pushing forward with their large bowls.

"Don't push, don't push, if you push, there won't be anyone left."

As he spoke, Yang Weidong took out a small basin and filled it with as much meat as possible, almost taking out all the meat from the pot.

Then he carried it and walked towards Su Wenchen. Although the other club members were also watching longingly, they didn't say anything.

"Leader, Captain, please go to the brigade headquarters to eat! I had my wife steam some cornbread, I'll bring it over to you in a bit."

Looking at the small bowl that was filled to the brim, Su Wenchen felt that the other party had picked out almost all the meat from the pot.

"Why did you pick all the meat out?"

The other party shook his head.

"Boss, we've already been very kind of us by having some of your meat soup, how can you expect us to eat more meat!"

"Besides, there are only a few pieces of meat in total, how can we take so much advantage of you leaders?"

Su Wenchen took a deep breath, understanding what the other party meant.

He took the small basin directly.

He looked around and then waved to the children in the distance who were staring intently at him.

He waved and called out with a smile.

"Come here, everyone, I'll give each of you a piece."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, a group of children in the distance first looked at their parents.

Then a child was pushed.

They immediately ran towards Su Wenchen, and in an instant, the other children cheered and surrounded him.

"Eat meat!"

Su Wenchen glanced at it and called out with a smile.

"Don't push! Line up one by one, and then use chopsticks to divide the meat in the bowl."

Watching the group of children, some stuffed the food directly into their mouths, while others smelled it and held it in their hands as if it were a precious treasure.

It made Su Wenchen feel a little jealous.

After the little girls finished eating, their eyes narrowed like crescent moons, revealing a very satisfied expression. It was clear that they had probably never eaten meat much in their lives.

After all, conditions here are already poor, and most members of the commune might not even get to taste meat once a year, let alone girls who grow up in such an environment.

The others, seeing the group of children still slurping their bones even after they had finished eating, swallowed hard.

However, no one came forward to say anything, such as it was unfair that he didn't have children.

Su Wenchen felt that this team was actually quite united.

However, after thinking about it, he understood that in such a difficult environment, if people were disorganized, they might not be able to survive.

They were probably eliminated by natural selection long ago.

Only with sufficient material resources can people have the ability to face things alone.

After Su Wenchen finished distributing the food, the others also started lining up to receive their share.

As night deepened, kerosene lamps were lit in the earthen houses of Yangzhuang Brigade.

Su Wenchen and his group were sitting around the earthen kang (a heated brick bed), listening to the howling wind outside the window.

Yang Jingfu walked over carrying a small basin of cornbread.

"Boss, just make do with this!"

"We really don't have any fine grains to offer you, so we'll have to make do with these."

Su Wenchen waved his hand.

"Don't call me 'leader' anymore. Just call me Comrade Su Wenchen, or you can call me Director Su."

"And don't complain about feeling wronged, this is already quite good."

"It's our farm canteen. We usually eat cornbread as our staple food."

"Don't even mention refined grains anymore."

After saying that, Su Wenchen opened his pocket and took out a few grain coupons, placing them on the table.

"Captain Yang, take these grain coupons. As for whoever provided this cornmeal, give them the grain coupons according to the proportion."

After saying that, he pushed the grain coupons on the table over.

Yang Jingfu waved his hands repeatedly, hurriedly refusing. "Director Su, we can't accept this. It's just a few cornbread buns; how can we accept your grain coupons!"

"And you also opened four cans of meat. If we calculate it that way, our brigade won't be able to pay back the money."

Su Wenchen said with a smile.

"Captain Yang, we get subsidies when we leave the grain ration station. Didn't you see I didn't give you any money?"

"Take it! Consider the canned food as our food and lodging expenses."

Yang Jingfu still refused.

"We can't charge for this accommodation, and there are only a few steamed buns in total. We can't possibly take so many of your food coupons."

Seeing the words "nationwide applicable" on them, Yang Jingfu knew very well that these national grain coupons could be exchanged for grain coupons from their county on the black market.

That means you can exchange for at least half more, and even if you exchange for grain coupons from the Xuzhou area, you can exchange for much more.

Su Wenchen pushed the grain coupons from the table in front of Yang Jingfu and then picked up a cornbread.

"Alright, stop refusing. Maybe your brigade will be under the jurisdiction of our farm in the future."

Consider this our gift to each other!

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Yang Jingfu was immediately overwhelmed with emotion, because he had discussed this with Su Wenchen when he gave him a ride earlier.

They are farms directly under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

They do have farms here, because the county has set up several cotton farms along the north bank of the Dasha River. If there's one thing they envy most, it's the production teams that have been incorporated into the farms.

Because once you're assigned to a farm, you can receive a stable salary and a fixed supply, just like the employees in the county.

That's what city people are like!
Although the work is still farming, compared to the past when we relied on the weather and relied on relief food, having a stable salary and rations is a life we ​​could only dream of.

Upon hearing this, Yang Jingfu's voice trembled involuntarily.

"Boss, is what you just said true?"

"I hope that old man isn't joking!"

To be honest, after having hope, he was especially afraid that Su Wenchen would give him another huge disappointment.

Su Wenchen had just picked up a piece of cabbage when he heard Yang Jingfu's words and nodded with a smile.

"Don't worry, I'm not joking. But whether it will work out or not, I'll still write a research report and get it approved from above before discussing it with your county."

"But there shouldn't be any major problems, and right now your county is probably eager to get rid of this burden of yours."

“After all, the annual relief grain is provided by your county. If it is allocated to our farm, your county will not have to worry about it, and the conditions will be a little more comfortable.”

What Su Wenchen didn't say was that once the ministry approved it, county-level units didn't really have much room for negotiation.

The differences are too great. There might be room for negotiation at the provincial level, but it's practically impossible at the county level.

Not to mention, this place is a dilapidated place that receives relief grain every year.

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Yang Jingfu immediately stepped off the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

As he spoke, he immediately knelt down before Su Wenchen.

"Leader, you are our Yangzhuang brigade's savior!"

Su Wenchen was caught off guard for a moment, then immediately raised his hand and said.

"Captain Yang, what are you doing?"

"Get up, get up."

Then he glanced at Zhao Weiguo, who was sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) eating in silence.

The other party instantly understood.

He put down the cornbread in his hand, grabbed Yang Jingfu's arm, pulled him up, and said something as he did so.

"Captain Yang, it's fine to be grateful, but kowtowing is going too far!"

"It's been so many years since liberation, why are you still kneeling!"

"You're deliberately trying to harm our director!"

Upon hearing Zhao Weiguo's words, Yang Jingfu quickly waved his hands and looked at Su Wenchen with some trepidation.

"Boss, I really didn't mean that, I just couldn't control myself for a moment."

He choked up as he spoke.

"Boss, you don't know, almost every year during the spring planting season, some people can't keep going. Many of them don't have enough to eat and end up working themselves to death."

"But even so, we can't stop spring planting, because as long as we plant, we can still produce some crops."

"If we don't plant any, we won't even be able to last until the second half of the year when relief grain is distributed."

"We don't need wages or anything, we just need enough to eat."

Su Wenchen sighed.

"We'll decide on the benefits later, but if it's approved from above, we'll definitely have enough to eat."

"In your commune, don't you need tractors to help with spring plowing?"

Yang Jingfu shook his head.

"How could a commune have tractors? Our county only has three tractors in total, and the communes around the county are already too busy to handle them all!"

“How could they possibly come here? Besides, we’re more than 40 miles away from the county. Just driving here would take a lot of gas.”

Hearing this, Su Wenchen was surprised to find that the county was so poor.

"Alright, Captain Yang, let's eat!"

“These past few days, you’ve had someone take us around the neighborhood, and I’m compiling the actual situation into a report.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Jingfu immediately nodded.

"Leader, no problem. As long as the higher-ups can allocate grain, the men in our brigade will work with top-notch effort as long as they are well-fed."

After dinner.

On the kang table of the earthen bed, Cao Jiwen sighed as he flipped through a map.

"Director, if we expand our operations here, we'll probably need manpower support from above."

“The communes around the county are in a better position, but judging from the situation of this brigade today, even if the higher authorities allocate grain, it will be difficult to recover.”

"They can't do physical labor right away either; they have to be rested until spring planting."

"Otherwise, after such a long period of hunger, one cannot immediately engage in strenuous physical labor after eating a full meal."

"Moreover, the salinization in this area is more serious than I expected. The first batch of alkali-tolerant forage grass was fine, but if we want to grow grain later, we will have to transport soil to make raised fields."

"Otherwise, the groundwater would easily bring up the saline-alkali soil, resulting in a significant reduction in yield per acre, just like the saline-alkali land here now."

Su Wenchen nodded.

"The people are actually fine; we just need more educated youth."

"I'm just thinking about how to quickly revitalize this branch. When we ask for resources from above, we need to come up with a sufficiently attractive plan."

"Otherwise, even if the higher-ups approve it, the amount of supplies provided won't be much."

Su Wenchen knew very well that the higher-ups also had to consider expectations. If the proposal he submitted couldn't impress them, then the resources they would provide would naturally be limited.

In Su Wenchen's view, this place is much more difficult to develop than their Blue Water Field was back then.

After all, the only problem there is that the members don't get to eat much meat.

It's not a problem to fill my stomach.

However, even filling their stomachs is difficult here. If they can't get enough to eat, they naturally won't have the strength to build irrigation canals. As a result, the alkaline water in these saline-alkali lands can't be drained, leading to reduced or even no harvest.

Then they continue to go hungry, creating a vicious cycle.

In this situation, external intervention is necessary to break the vicious cycle; if it develops slowly on its own, it will be a long and arduous process.

Hou Guozhong thought for a moment after hearing Su Wenchen's words.

"Director, do you mean to build a breeding farm here as well?"

Su Wenchen nodded.

"Chickens are definitely not something we can raise here. We can't even feed the people, let alone give them extra grain. But rabbits, I think we could raise some."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Cao Jiwen responded.

"Director, the Dongfang Commune once experimented with and introduced the Moonflower Rabbit from our farm."

“Occasionally, we can go to distant places to cut some wild grass and collect some leaves to feed them.”

"We've walked all this way without finding a single tree, not even a single leaf to pick up."

"If rabbits only eat cultivated alkali-tolerant alfalfa, which has an extremely high calcium content, they are prone to developing stones once they reach adulthood if they eat too much of it."

"They die of disease before their fur can even grow properly."

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen simply waved his hand.

"If fur rabbits won't work, we can raise meat rabbits!"

“This place is different from the Blue Water Field. The first thing we need to solve here is the problem of self-sufficiency.”

"Let's put aside things like foreign exchange earnings and wealth for now. Our first priority is to get this area out of extreme poverty."

"Let's at least make sure everyone can be self-sufficient and have enough to eat first."

"The ministry can't keep providing support here indefinitely, so the current priority is to be self-sufficient."

"Since this type of forage has an extremely high calcium content, young rabbits can develop rapidly by eating it during their growth period."

"Therefore, we need to breed a special meat rabbit, which will alleviate some of the food shortage pressure, whether for our own consumption or when we need to exchange grain with Xuzhou."

"I think this is a very good way to alleviate food shortages in the early stages."

Upon hearing this, Cao Jiwen thought for a moment.

"I don't know much about rabbit breeding, but since our farm can breed such a high-quality rabbit breed as the Moonflower Rabbit, I think it shouldn't be too difficult to breed ordinary meat rabbits."

"However, Director, this alfalfa is an extremely high-quality forage for cattle. It is an excellent choice for feeding dairy cows or fattening beef cattle."

"At the time, I thought of cultivating this alkali-tolerant forage grass in order to help solve the feed source problem for the cattle farm of Longshan Farm."

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.

Rabbit meat is ultimately a niche meat, and relying solely on it is insufficient for this branch to develop.

Therefore, Su Wenchen also felt that in order to develop the industry, the focus should still be on large livestock such as pigs and cattle.

However, Su Wenchen had learned that cattle have a very long growth cycle. It takes nearly two years for a beef cattle to grow from birth to slaughter, and it takes about the same for a dairy cow to produce its first milk. The cycle is too long.

For now, this is just the goal for future development.

If no other aquaculture industry fills the gap, it will probably take several years of continuous support from above before we see any results.

This is clearly not conducive to the higher-ups approving the plan.

Therefore, in the early stages, the focus will definitely be on meat rabbits and live pigs, mainly supplying the domestic market in exchange for grain supplies and equipment support.

During this period, we must also continue to increase the breeding of beef and dairy cattle, because this represents the future.

The market prospects for beef cattle are very broad in the international market.

Especially top-grade beef cattle, each one is very expensive.

Su Wenchen thought it was all bullshit and that they were the ones who should earn the money in the future.

In his previous life, his country did not have its own top-quality beef cattle breeds. Now, Su Wenchen felt that since he had come all this way, he should leave something behind. How could he let the little Wagyu cattle run rampant on the international stage?

In the future, the finest ingredients must come from their country. In the future, their industry will be number one in the world. Now, Su Wenchen thinks that the aquaculture industry must also catch up, so that they can provide enough nutrition for the hardworking workers in their country!

As for things like milk powder, although he can't change other companies, Su Wenchen feels that he can at least ensure that the products produced on their farm are safe enough.

That's acceptable, giving future generations more options!
Thinking of this, Su Wenchen looked at Cao Jiwen and said.

"Professor Cao, you still need to put in more effort regarding the cultivation of alkali-tolerant plants in saline-alkali land."

"You need to cultivate the feed for cattle, and you also need to pay attention to the feed for pigs."

“We’ve experimented with this kind of pasture before, and if pigs eat a lot of it, they are very likely to get diarrhea.”

"Therefore, it would be best to cultivate a plant that is highly alkali-tolerant and very well adapted to pigs."

"If you have any needs, you can just tell me."

"Even if you need foreign varieties, I will try my best to import them for you."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Cao Jiwen took a deep breath. He hadn't expected Su Wenchen to value him so much, and he responded earnestly.

"Director Su, don't worry, I will do my best."

For Cao Jiwen, this is a life he never dared to dream of in the past few years.

Moreover, Lanshui Farm is a farm directly under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Cao Jiwen naturally wanted to use this platform to achieve some results.

(End of this chapter)