1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 256 Without knowing the bright future prospects, how could anyone possibly invest?
XZ Municipal Office Site.

A jeep slowly drove up to the gate of the camp and was immediately stopped by the guards. However, once they learned that it belonged to Blue Water Farm, they let it pass.

Su Wenchen knew that this matter had obviously been instructed in advance.

soon.

Su Wenchen was then led to the office of the director of the regional revolutionary committee.

The door was half-open, and the secretary who brought Su Wenchen there knocked on the door.

"Boom! Boom!"

"Director, Director Su from Lanshui Farm is here!"

Su Wenchen walked to the door and looked inside through the half-open door. The person inside had slightly graying temples and was about forty or fifty years old. He was writing something on a document with a pen.

Upon hearing the secretary's words, he first looked up at the door, then immediately put down his pen, got up, and walked over from his seat.

He spoke enthusiastically as he walked.

"Director Su, what are you doing at the door? Come in, come in!"

After saying that, he waved his hand toward the door.

The secretary standing at the door immediately understood and closed the office door.

Hearing the warm greeting, Su Wenchen stepped into the room with a smile.

"Director Liu, I'm sorry for the sudden visit, I hope it didn't disturb your work!"

Although he knew the other party was waiting for him, Su Wenchen still exchanged a few polite words.

Liu Guangde walked directly toward the cabinet on the side of the office and said something.

"Director Su, what are you saying? I'm telling you, you've come at just the right time. I just got a packet of Biluochun tea from our provincial leaders a while ago."

"People in our area drink like cows, they can't taste the difference at all."

"You can also taste it to see if it's authentic or not. I always feel like my old boss is trying to fool me with a packet of loose tea!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen raised his eyebrows slightly, clearly understanding the hidden meaning behind the other person's words.

This is a subtle way of emphasizing something to oneself!
Although he had support from above, he also had assistance from the province.

So Su Wenchen smiled.

"Oh, Director Liu, then I'm really fortunate to be able to enjoy your hospitality. You know, I've never actually tasted this kind of Suzhou Biluochun tea that requires special tickets to purchase."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, the other party immediately laughed.

"Haha, if Director Su is to say who's benefiting, it's our region that's benefiting from your farm!"

"You have no idea how much we've been looking forward to this since we received the news that your farm was coming!"

"Your farm has gone to so much trouble to help us with the saline-alkali land treatment. This cup of hot tea is nothing."

"Just let us know what your farm needs, and we'll do our best to help you solve it as soon as possible."

As they were talking, a freshly brewed teacup, steaming hot, was placed in front of Su Wenchen.

"Director Su, please!"

Seeing this, Su Wenchen also picked up his teacup, took a sip, and after a moment put it down, made a pointed comment.

"Beautiful in appearance, fragrant in aroma, and sweet in taste, it truly deserves to be called a fine tea!"

"The only slight drawback is that it's a little too hot to eat, what a pity!"

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Liu Guangde sat back down in front of Su Wenchen and said the same thing.

"Director Su, since that's the case, I won't beat around the bush with you anymore."

"This time, our region was in a hurry, but you have to be understanding of us!"

“We are an important coal production base in East China. If there is a problem here, at least half of the factories in East China will have to shut down and stop production.”

"So no matter what, our region's priority is to ensure stable production in the mining area, right?"

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen rubbed his fingertips along the rim of the teacup twice.

"So, the region is determined to dump all three of those huge burdens on our farm?"

The atmosphere in the office suddenly froze upon hearing this.

After a moment of silence, the other party suddenly laughed.

"Director Su, look at what you're saying, how can this be a burden? I'm just thinking that your farm needs enough space to develop!"

“These three communes are all located on the south side of the Dasha River, and they can be connected to form a single area, which is at least several hundred thousand mu.”

"That way, your farm will have enough room to grow!"

Su Wenchen rolled his eyes upon hearing this and bluntly stated.

"Director Liu, this land does indeed cover hundreds of thousands of acres, but two-thirds of it is saline-alkali land that has not been properly managed."

"The remaining third is only treated with simple methods, and the yield per acre is far from reaching the yield of other people's good land."

"If that's how you are, then we can't talk anymore!"

"We can only go to northern Anhui or eastern Henan to take a look."

For Su Wenchen, if enough food could be provided in the early stages, then these hundreds of thousands of acres would indeed be very attractive to him.

But if you give him 300,000 catties of millet and ask him to take over the business directly, he definitely won't do it!

After all, even a skilled cook can't cook without rice, and this little bit of grain will probably be used up by the end of the year.

After all, these three communes together probably had tens of thousands of people, so this amount of grain was really just a drop in the ocean.

Therefore, because of the poverty in this area, Su Wenchen is willing to invest his energy in promoting its development.

However, it's impossible for someone to control you directly.

It's not like he absolutely has to stay here, and to be honest, once their farm develops, the local area will definitely benefit the most.

You can't expect to get something for nothing if you don't want to put in any effort.

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Liu Guangde immediately offered words of comfort.

"Director Su, look at you, you were having such a good talk, why are you in such a hurry!"

"We're still discussing this! Why bring up other people!"

Su Wenchen raised an eyebrow and took out the documents he had sent them that morning from his briefcase.

"Director Liu, they've already sent us a notice, but they didn't discuss it with us beforehand!"

Liu Guangde gave a wry smile.

"Director Su, there's nothing we can do. Ever since we received the information from Fengxian County about your research in the area..."

"I've been eagerly anticipating your farm coming."

"But since you haven't come, there's nothing I can do!"

"Plus, with the documents sent from above, and since I couldn't find anyone for the time being, I thought I'd allocate you some more land!"

Su Wenchen rolled his eyes. You guys are really kind-hearted. If you're really that kind, why don't you allocate more food?

There are other people in Feng County, not on the border. If you really want to find them, how could you not find them?

To put it bluntly, I just wanted to see his reaction!

Of course, Su Wenchen didn't care about any of that and just said it directly.

"Director Liu, let's not mince words. First of all, our Blue Water Farm absolutely cannot afford the three communes at this stage."

"Unless your region can provide these three communes with two years' worth of food."

"However, the supply I'm referring to is not the standard for relief grain, but rather the ration stipulated by the state, with each person receiving at least 300 jin of grain per year."

"Because the supply is less than this, most people cannot participate in manual labor such as digging ditches and transporting soil."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words and the earlier news that only two years' worth of rations would be provided, Liu Guangde felt a surge of joy.

Thinking about it, I realized the other person is indeed still young.

The next sentence, however, broke his defenses.

After all, the relief grain allocated to their region was based on a standard of fifty catties per person, mainly to help commune members get through the food shortage period as quickly as possible.

If this were based on the normal per capita ration, it would be six times the original amount.

So he looked directly at Su Wenchen with a bitter expression. "Director Su, I'm not making excuses, but go and see for yourself in our region's grain depot. Even rats would starve to death if they went in."

"If each person consumes 300 jin (150 kg) of grain, then at least several million jin (1.5 million kg) of grain per year would be needed."

"Where am I supposed to get this done for you?!"

He then tentatively asked Su Wenchen.

"How about you try to come up with a solution from within your department?"

"Or perhaps we could transfer some from your main plant? I believe that for someone as accomplished as Director Su, this shouldn't be a big deal."

Su Wenchen was completely unmoved by such flattery and looked at the other person with a half-smile.

"Director Liu, if even your local area isn't willing to take charge, do you think other places would be?"

"If other places were short of coal and had nothing at all, and hoped you could provide some free assistance, what would you say?"

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Liu Guangde was speechless.

What could he say? He could just tell them to get lost. If they wanted coal empty-handed, unless they had approval from above, what business was it of his?

However, at this point he also sensed that Su Wenchen was difficult to deal with, and it was probably unlikely that he would take advantage of their farm.

He was also afraid that if they continued talking, the other party would lose patience and simply walk away, which would be a loss for them.

So after a moment of contemplation, he laid his cards on the table.

"Well, Director Su, let me be frank with you, we really can't afford to supply the rations for the three communes."

"This adds up to nearly 30,000 people, which means an extra 10 million catties of food will be needed each year, which is about the same as the supply from the mining area."

"To be honest, this area is not a grain-producing region. We basically rely on the province to allocate grain."

“If you take over these three communes, we will provide three million catties of coarse grains a year. This is the most food we can squeeze out!”

"To be honest, if we had enough food, we would have arranged for them to start governing the region long ago."

"They wouldn't have waited until now; they can only rely on the little surplus grain that the county saves up each year to cultivate land little by little around the county."

Su Wenchen looked at the other person's serious eyes and remained silent for a moment.

He knew he had probably reached the other party's bottom line, or if not, it was probably close.

If there were truly enough surplus grain here every year, then we could have organized people to dig canals and manage the area long ago.

Because it's practically impossible to say that we're short of staff.

If you're willing, you can submit a report to your superiors, and you can be assigned a batch of educated youth immediately.

However, the prerequisite is that you have to support them.

Three million catties is enough to feed three communes, but it's not enough to organize them for tasks like digging ditches and carrying soil.

After a moment of contemplation, Su Wenchen slowly spoke.

"Director Liu, how about this?"

"In the past two years, you supplied three million catties of grain per year to three communes. We will take over in batches, one per year, gradually in three phases. What do you think?"

"But Director Liu, I heard that there's a tractor manufacturing plant in your area?"

Upon hearing the previous statement, Liu Guangde, who was about to agree, suddenly froze in mid-air with his raised hand, and finally helplessly touched his hair.

“There is indeed a state-owned tractor manufacturing plant in our area that can only produce 12-horsepower hand tractors, but its production capacity is so limited that it is not even enough for us.”

Su Wenchen heard this.

Knowing that you have to use your old tricks to get the other party to back down in this kind of situation.

Without knowing the bright future prospects, how could anyone be willing to invest?

Therefore, Su Wenchen directly described...

"Director Liu, I know your difficulties. We won't take these extra agricultural machines for free. We will use the rabbit meat produced from them to pay for them to your region."

"Based on what we currently know about alkali-tolerant forage grasses, here is the approximate yield when planted on saline-alkali land."

"On slightly saline-alkali land, we have been able to harvest pasture three to four times a year, and the yield per mu can basically be maintained at two to three thousand jin."

"And in areas like the Yellow River and Huai River basins where the water and heat conditions are better, the yield should be slightly higher."

"Even in severely saline-alkali land, we can still achieve an annual yield of 800 kilograms of forage."

"So based on the current pasture yield, each acre of pasture can basically feed more than 30 meat rabbits."

"So in the first year, we plan to reclaim 30,000 to 50,000 mu of saline-alkali land and build a large-scale breeding farm with an annual output of 100,000 meat rabbits."

"Director Liu, think about it. You only need to invest three million catties of grain, and you can produce at least four hundred thousand catties of meat in the first year."

"While this cannot completely solve your predicament of lacking meat, it can at least alleviate it to some extent."

“If you provide more agricultural machinery, we can reclaim more saline-alkali land, and then our region will naturally have a greater supply of meat.”

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Liu Guangde's eyes flickered.

"Director Su, can this pasture grass survive on saline-alkali land?"

"I don't know if it can be grown in our area!"

Clearly, Liu Guangde prefers to control things himself rather than rely on others for supplies. They don't have much else, except for a lot of saline-alkali land.

So if he could, he would definitely want to build his own farm and raise livestock.

Su Wenchen naturally understood what the other party meant, but since he said that, he was not afraid that the other party would do it themselves.

Because most research on forage grasses stopped a few years ago, the reasons were basically the same as those of Cao Jiwen, except that many people did not encounter Su Wenchen.

So they are among the first projects to restart, and Su Wenchen doesn't think they can find suitable people here.

Moreover, even if the rabbits could be successfully raised, raising them isn't as simple as just opening your mouth and letting them grow.

From basic feeding to disease prevention and control and later fattening and slaughtering, each of these requires breeding experience.

It is very difficult for an industrial city to launch a large-scale aquaculture project directly, because it is difficult to find enough talent in the aquaculture industry.

After all, this isn't the future, where you can just post a job and a bunch of talented people will automatically come to you waiting to be chosen. At this point, you basically have to rely on yourself to train them slowly.

So Su Wenchen said it directly.

"Director Liu, what if you also want to raise meat rabbits yourselves?"

"I have no objection, but do you have enough experience in large-scale farming?"

"With this kind of large-scale farming, if not properly controlled, a large number of animals can easily die."

“If your local area wants to do it on its own, there’s no need to rush. The higher-ups sent us here to conduct a pilot project.”

"If our pioneering system for controlling saline-alkali land is successful, it will definitely be promoted nationwide. After all, there are tens of millions of acres of saline-alkali land across the country, and we can't possibly manage them all."

"When it comes to promotion, our local area will definitely be the first to receive the promotion plan, based on the experience we've gained in our field."

Su Wenchen's words instantly dampened Liu Guangde's newly formed thoughts, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over them.

Thinking about it more carefully, if they were to build their own farm, it would require a huge investment of manpower and resources. If it succeeds, that would be fine, but if, as they say, a major disease kills a large number of people, that would be no joke.

It would be better to just support the development of Blue Water Farm directly.

After all, as a farm under a ministry, the other party must have its own experience in breeding, especially rabbit breeding.

After thinking for a moment, he said it directly.

"Director Su, in this way, our region will provide you with ten hand tractors, so you don't need to pay with rabbit meat."

"However, the rabbit meat from your farm must be supplied to our local area first."

What do you think?

Su Wenchen readily agreed.

"No problem! The meat rabbits produced by our farm will definitely be mainly supplied to our local area in the future."

"After all, I heard before I came that the miners in our area can earn over a hundred yuan a month!"

"Many miners' families receive their wages but cannot get enough nutritional supplements. We definitely need to solve these problems."

As Su Wenchen had previously investigated, Xuzhou, as an industrial city, has relatively high wages for its employees, resulting in a strong demand for meat.

In addition, given the proximity, he will definitely focus on supplying the local Xuzhou area in the short term.

(End of this chapter)