1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 257 When the east wind rises next year, I wish to see this land with fertile fields stretching for thousands of miles, and livestock thronging the fields.

Time passed, and the hour hand on the wall clock had quietly moved three notches.

The two finally stood up and shook hands at the same time, with Liu Guangde speaking in a relatively relaxed tone.

"Director Su, it's really not easy to take advantage of your farm!"

Su Wenchen replied with a smile.

"Director Liu, what are you saying? Even between different organizations, mutual assistance is still necessary for long-term development."

"If you only think about taking advantage without putting in any effort, I believe that even if you gain some benefits in the short term, it will not be worthwhile in the long run."

However, even though Su Wenchen said that, he knew that people in that position must be doing their best to secure benefits for the local area.

Just like the Bluewater Farm he represents, the interests of the farm must also be given priority.

So Liu Guangde replied helplessly after hearing these words.

"Which family's mutual assistance uses our grain as capital, our labor to clear land, and in the end, we still have to pay for the rabbits produced?"

However, he waved his hand halfway through his sentence.

"But it's definitely better than leaving it deserted."

There was nothing Liu Guangde could do. He knew that he couldn't find any cadres in his area who dared to take over the job, or even if someone did step forward and confidently say they could, he might not agree.

After all, such a large allocation of grain, if successfully implemented, would indeed be a remarkable political achievement.

But if it fails, it will naturally be a huge stain on one's record.

If he really had to choose, he would probably still choose to have Su Wenchen's farm take the lead, because that way it would be a unit under the ministry taking the lead.

That way, even if things don't work out in the end, the blame won't fall on him, since it was the higher-ups who asked them to provide as much support as possible during the construction period.

They also provided their greatest support: three million catties of grain and ten hand tractors. Even their city-owned farms couldn't get such a level of support.

So if problems arise in the end, it definitely won't have anything to do with them. If it develops, that would be even better, as it would solve their problem of lacking meat supply.

Thinking about it this way, Liu Guangde felt much better. So what if they used our grain as capital and our labor to reclaim wasteland? In the end, we still had to pay for the rabbits they produced!

As long as we can produce something in the end, we'll spend the money!
When Su Wenchen heard what the other party said, he knew the reason why the other party felt awkward. It was because he felt that he had been taken advantage of. However, this time the other party had given him ten more farm machines.

What's wrong with venting a little? If venting once would earn you ten tractors, Su Wenchen felt he could come over every day.

So Su Wenchen picked up the teacup directly.

"Director Liu, thank you for your support this time. At the latest, you will see the first batch of meat rabbits ready for market by next autumn."

Upon hearing this, Liu Guangde immediately picked up his teacup.

"No need for thanks, just supply us with more rabbits later."

Their teacups gently clinked together.

Su Wenchen looked out the window at the sunset with a faint red glow, which, through the glass, seemed to have dyed the entire sky orange-red.

So he said goodbye directly.

"Director Liu, it's almost time. I have to go back to Huanglou Commune soon, or I'll have to drive in the dark."

Now that the matter has been settled, Su Wenchen naturally doesn't want to linger here. He's planning to get things sorted out here before the New Year and then go back to Lan City for the holiday!

Especially since Jiang Li is pregnant this year, it's understandable that she's not around during the year, but she still wants to be with us for the Lunar New Year.

Liu Guangde put down his teacup and glanced at the wall clock.

"I didn't realize time had flown by. Director Su, why don't we have dinner here in our cafeteria tonight?"

"Look at you, you've come all this way, and in the end, you're still helping us here to deal with and manage large areas of saline-alkali land. I haven't even had a chance to entertain you!"

"I'll ask the cafeteria to figure something out tonight; they'll definitely treat you to a good meal."

Clearly, after both sides had finalized the general terms, Liu Guangde realized that this was not the time to complain.

After all, the general content had been decided, and complaining would only add difficulties for both sides. Moreover, if things really went wrong, it wouldn't be a good thing for him. So now Liu Guangde was generous with his praise.

Su Wenchen waved his hand.

"Director Liu, please keep this hospitality!"

"I'll personally deliver the first batch of meat rabbits from our farm next year, and you can treat me to a good meal then."

"Back then, you treated me to food willingly, and I ate it with a clear conscience!"

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Liu Guangde immediately laughed heartily.

"Then it's a deal. Director Su, you must do me the honor of attending."

"To be honest, if we were to host them in the cafeteria right now, they probably wouldn't be able to prepare anything really good for the time being."

"I'll pay for it out of my own pocket beforehand and prepare a good meal to entertain you."

After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, Su Wenchen got up to take his leave.

Li Guangde personally escorted him to the door.

Only after Su Wenchen started his car did the other person wave and go back.

Clearly, after the two parties reached an agreement, the other party had also done a lot of work, and was no longer the same as before when he and Su Wenchen in the office would argue for half a day over the smallest things.

In the car.

Su Wenchen closed his eyes and leaned back in the passenger seat, beginning to plan the construction of subsequent branch sites.

Although only one commune is now under the management of their farm, the number of people is five or six times that of their previous farm.

Moreover, the situation of these commune personnel is quite different from that of the previous personnel in their field.

Their former employees at Blue Water Farm were mostly recruited, and the majority were young, strong men and women.

Even if there are older people, they are all in good health and can participate in manual labor.

But things were different in Huanglou Commune.

Half of them were in a state of semi-starvation.

Only a few brigades near the commune had slightly better conditions, because the commune organized the treatment of slightly saline-alkali land there, resulting in significantly more land being reclaimed.

Moreover, just like the Yangzhuang production brigade that Su Wenchen initially went to, it basically relied entirely on its own brigade, so the governance effect was predictable.

In particular, the saline-alkali land here, even after being treated, will still revert to salt, resulting in low grain yields. This leads to the extremely dispersed living conditions of the villagers.

They all lived together in scattered groups, organized according to the production team system, with a dozen or so households living together in a scattered manner.

It's completely unlike their Pingcun brigade, where the entire brigade lives together.

It's clearly all due to the land's capacity. Because the grain yield here is low, if everyone lived together, there would be even less arable land, and most of the time would be wasted on traveling.

Therefore, Su Wenchen now also needs to consider the management of the production team personnel who have been incorporated into the farm.

Furthermore, wages still need to be paid to the farm workers, which is also a significant expense.

Thinking about this, Su Wenchen understood that the local authorities were reluctant to do it themselves, as the investment was too large and the future was very uncertain.

In the world of aquaculture, there's a risk of losing everything if things go wrong. If he didn't have some kind of magic touch, he might not have dared to start large-scale farming right away.

On the other side of the car, Zhao Weiguo noticed that Su Wenchen had been frowning ever since he got in.

After hesitating for a long time, he cautiously asked.

"Director, don't they agree?"

"If you ask me, we should just go back to Lan City, or maybe we can go and look around somewhere else."

Upon hearing Zhao Weiguo's voice, Su Wenchen opened his eyes and shook his head.

"No, the talks went well. They only transferred one commune to the area initially, and will provide 3 million catties of grain rations annually for the next two years."

"They also allocated ten hand tractors, which is enough for a commune for the time being."

Hearing Su Wenchen's conditions, Zhao Weiguo was even more puzzled. Weren't these all favorable conditions? Why was he still unhappy?
Does the director want more?
Therefore, Zhao Weiguo hesitated before speaking.

"Director, this isn't a small number! Ten hand-held tractors—that's more than the entire Beiwan Commune in Lan City!"

"Although it's a small agricultural machine, it can handle tasks like plowing, transporting soil, and pumping water without any problems."

"Plus, the food ration problem will be solved within two years, so can't we just roll up our sleeves and get to work?"

Su Wenchen shook his head.

"It's not as easy as you say. How do you organize the commune's population to dig canals? How do you distribute food rations to avoid fostering laziness? And what about the wages for the farm's planting and breeding departments?"

"Even the diesel fuel for agricultural machinery is limited, and we have to find ways to solve this problem."

"There are still many problems to solve one by one!"

For Su Wenchen, this is indeed a challenge, after all, there are suddenly five or six thousand more people to manage, and that many more will be added every year thereafter, so his pressure is indeed much greater.

However, he also knew that as long as they could get through this, the world for their Blue Water Farm and for him personally would become much broader.

The more people and land their farms have, the higher their status will naturally rise.

Because power itself is essentially about how many people and how many resources you can ultimately control.

Furthermore, the former is more important than the latter, since resources ultimately need to be mobilized and transported by people.

When Su Wenchen's jeep came to a complete stop in front of the Huanglou Commune office compound after rolling over the frosty dirt road, it was already completely dark.

After getting off the car.

Su Wenchen looked up and saw that the houses around the commune were only dimly lit by kerosene lamps.

Especially when you hear a lonely dog ​​barking beside you.

This made Su Wenchen sigh, because the only dog ​​kept in the entire commune was at the entrance of the commune's granary.

Su Wenchen believed that if it weren't for the importance of the grain depot, this dog might not have been kept.

Upon hearing the barking of the dogs, commune secretary Yang Zhenye, holding a flashlight, jogged towards Su Wenchen.

"Director Su, you're finally back!"

"It's cold outside, so I heated up some sweet potato porridge on the canteen stove. Why don't you go over and have a sip to warm up?"

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen rubbed his stomach.

Fearing they wouldn't make it back in time, they rushed back without eating in the city, which is why Yang Zhenye said that.

Su Wenchen did feel a bit hungry, so he replied directly.

"Then I'll have to trouble Secretary Yang!"

Yang Zhenye shook his head.

"Director Su, what's the trouble? By the way, there was a letter that your farm forwarded this afternoon. It said the address was Yangzhuang Brigade, but the postman couldn't find the person there, and their brigade leader didn't dare to accept it, so it was delivered to me!"

"You guys go to the canteen to fill your stomachs first. Two of your farm's cadres are over there. I'll go to the office to get the letter."

In the cafeteria.

On the peeling paint of the eight-immortal table sat a lone kerosene lamp. In its dim light, two figures could be vaguely seen sitting by the stove on the side, warming themselves by the fire. The two men, both nearing fifty, were chatting idly.

"Old Cao, do you think the director will be able to reach an agreement this time?"

"If you ask me, no farm is as good as directly choosing Dongfeng Commune, which supplies us with pasture."

"Many things are readily available over there, and the foundation is much stronger than here."

"They're all just pilot projects, so why did the director choose this difficult one?"

"To be honest, it's not only easy to draw water from the Yellow River, but at the very least, you can form a fishing team to catch fish and alleviate the pressure on food supplies."

"After walking around here for the past few days, I found that there are basically no fish in the Da Sha River next to it. I guess they've all been fished out."

Cao Jiwen smiled when he heard this.

“Master Hou, the director’s plans are much bigger than you think. He definitely wouldn’t be interested in the ten or twenty thousand mu of land in Dongfeng Commune.”

As he spoke, he picked up a fire poker from beside the stove and drew a circle on the ground.

"Based on the survey conducted in the past few days, it seems that the director wants all of these hundreds of thousands of acres."

"Finally, we circled it on the other side as well."

“There are also more than 200,000 mu of lake beaches in Peixian County. When I went to investigate, I saw that the director was also quite interested.”

Hou Guozhong was somewhat surprised when he heard this.

"But the director still looked unhappy this morning!"

"They don't seem particularly willing to take it on!"

Cao Jiwen shook his head.

"If he really doesn't want to, the director would probably just get in the car and leave; there's no need to waste time here."

"I think the director actually really wants this place."

"After all, they are both pilot projects. Which one do you think is more valuable for reference, and which one has a greater contribution, the one that improves 300,000 mu or 10,000 or 20,000 mu?"

Hou Guozhong swallowed hard.

"Three hundred thousand mu, Director, you really dare to dream!"

"How many rabbits would that take?!"

Cao Jiwen shook his head.

"We definitely can't just raise rabbits. During the initial research, the director vaguely hinted in casual conversation that we would establish dairy and beef cattle breeding bases here later."

"I even heard from the director that we will introduce a milk powder processing production line so that we can produce milk powder ourselves."

Upon hearing Cao Jiwen's words, Hou Guozhong subconsciously touched his head.

"Is this okay?"

“Raising cattle is much more troublesome than raising chickens or rabbits. Those things take one or two years to mature, and our farm has never done it before!”

The voice just fell.

A voice sounded at the door.

"What? Old Hou, are you backing out?"

As the sound rang out, the wooden door of the cafeteria opened, and Su Wenchen walked straight in from outside.

Cao Jiwen and Hou Guozhong, who were warming themselves by the stove, immediately stood up.

Hou Guozhong shook his head upon hearing this.

"It's not that we're backing out, it's just that we initially thought it was just about planting pasture, so we were a bit surprised when they suddenly said they were going to do something this big!"

However, thinking back to when they encountered the Moon Rabbit earlier, none of them expected it to become such a huge incident, and Hou Guozhong became somewhat excited again.

After entering, Su Wenchen took off his hat and spoke slowly.

"Everything takes time. Who told you that you can't get fat in one bite?"

"How will you know you can't do something if you don't try?"

Su Wenchen naturally wanted to lend a helping hand to Hou Guozhong, a veteran who had followed him since the brigade's chicken-raising days.

However, although he was willing to lend a hand, he also wanted them to work hard on their own. If they were truly hopeless, Su Wenchen would definitely not interfere.

Feeling his slightly protesting belly, Su Wenchen waved his hand.

"Let me have a bowl of porridge first to warm myself up before I talk to you."

"How's it going? Have you all eaten? You didn't receive any messages from the county or the region during the day, did you?"

The two shook their heads, indicating that they had already eaten.

Seeing this, Su Wenchen served himself and Zhao Weiguo, who came in after him, a bowl of sweet potato porridge.

Standing right next to the stove, I ate a bowl of hot porridge with the sweet taste of sweet potatoes, and instantly felt much better.

Just as I was about to talk about what I had gained from this trip, Yang Zhenye, who came in behind me with a flashlight, spoke up.

"Director, you walked so fast. I grabbed the letter and chased after you, but I couldn't catch up even though I was running all the way."

As he spoke, he took a letter out of his pocket and handed it to Su Wenchen.

Su Wenchen held a bowl in one hand and took the envelope with the other. In the firelight reflected from the stove, he looked at the envelope, and in an instant, his relaxed expression became much more serious.

Since it was forwarded by Lan Shui, Su Wenchen originally thought it was a letter from Ali sent him from home, but he didn't expect it to be sent from Beijing.

Upon seeing the mailing address, Su Wenchen immediately put down the bowl in his hand.

He walked directly to the table. The other people next to him were curious about Su Wenchen's expression, but since Su Wenchen didn't say anything, they naturally didn't go over to take a look.

Under the dim light of the kerosene lamp, Su Wenchen unfolded the letter.

Comrade Wen Chen:

"I have read your letter and am very pleased."

"The current situation of Yangzhuang Brigade, a remote commune in Xuzhou, as described in your letter is worrying."

"The hardships of the commune members' lives and the obstacles to saline-alkali land management are heavy burdens on our hearts."

"However, your style of going deep into the grassroots and conducting in-depth research, as well as your vision of planning for the long term based on reality, also make us feel very gratified."

"Based on your thorough research, your proposed 'three-step' strategy not only solves the problem of food rations for commune members but also addresses the long-term issue of saline-alkali land management, demonstrating your sincere and patriotic heart."

"In particular, measures such as using alkali-tolerant forage grass to raise meat rabbits and using organic fertilizer to improve the soil are in line with the current national policy of 'turning waste into treasure'."

"After discussion by comrades from the State Farms Bureau and the Agriculture Bureau, it is preliminarily believed that your plan has pilot value, and in principle, all your requests for establishing the farm are approved."

"However, long-term plans such as white pig breeding, dairy and beef cattle breeding are related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and require scientific demonstration and steady progress."

"I hope you will guard against arrogance and impetuosity, and gain the trust of the public with solid data and practical results."

"The Ministry has instructed the State Farms Bureau to coordinate the allocation of the requested food rations, educated youth, and agricultural machinery. The amount to be allocated will be determined after discussions with the regions."

"We must know that the country is going through a difficult period, and we should be even more careful in our calculations to ensure that every grain of rice is stored in the granary and every piece of iron is made into a useful tool."

"The National Agricultural Reclamation Work Conference is scheduled to be held on the 24th of this month. We hope that you will bring a complete governance plan to Beijing to present it in detail."

"At that time, I can discuss with my colleagues the advantages and disadvantages of managing saline-alkali land."

"The revolutionary cause is not accomplished in a day, and the governance of the saline-alkali land in the Yellow River, Huai River and Hai River basins requires the spirit of the Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains."

"I hope you will take root in this place and benefit the local people, maintain your courage to innovate and be down-to-earth. When the east wind rises next year, I hope to see this place with fertile fields and herds of livestock."

January 8, 1971.

After reading it, Su Wenchen pondered for a while.

He found several useful pieces of information in the letter. The first was that the higher-ups were in favor of raising meat rabbits from the very beginning.

However, regarding future development directions, especially the development of white pigs and dairy/beef cattle, it seems like he's just bragging.

However, his promises regarding cattle breeding are indeed just empty words.

However, the white pigs are not like that. After all, the third-generation white pigs are almost three months old. Whether they have inherited the white pigs' fast growth rate is actually easy to tell at a glance.

So he really didn't make empty promises to the White Pig.

However, Su Wenchen still agreed with the letter's point about gaining others' trust with solid data.

This was also his idea. He originally planned to wait patiently until the third generation of hybrid white pigs grew up, obtain accurate data, and then report to the ministry.

As for the fact that he eventually went to Beijing to attend the meeting, that was something Su Wenchen hadn't expected.

Because when he wrote to his superiors earlier, it was just out of politeness; after all, superiors don't have the time to personally send you over to report every day.

I never expected that they would actually send me there, especially to attend such a national-level conference.

Although it was just an internal meeting within the agricultural system, it already revealed a lot of information.

After all, the attendees of this kind of meeting are definitely the main leaders within the agricultural system.

Even if he was just there to make up the numbers, your mere presence there is a signal in itself.

Therefore, for Su Wenchen, attending this meeting was more useful than a lot of material support.

Because the network of connections you make at that time is already a wealth that most people can hardly achieve in a lifetime.

Su Wenchen took a deep breath and checked the meeting date again.

The problem is to turn your head directly.

"What's today's date?"

"what?"

Hearing Su Wenchen ask this question, the others didn't react for a moment. Finally, it was Zhao Weiguo, who was holding a bowl and showing it off, who spoke up.

"Director, today is the 16th, exactly half a month since we were released."

"The Lunar New Year is on the 27th, there are still eleven days left. If we go back to Lan City for the New Year, we should have enough time!"

Su Wenchen frowned slightly upon hearing this. He hadn't expected the time to be so tight. If a meeting were to be held, he would most likely have to stay in Beijing for the Chinese New Year.

However, Su Wenchen also understood that there was no such thing as statutory holidays at this time. Although they would usually celebrate and have holidays, when it conflicted with work, all holidays had to give way to work.

Su Wenchen even heard that some places specifically took advantage of the mobilization aspect of the Spring Festival, holding meetings before the festival to encourage everyone to not forget production during the holidays.

However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do; this is not something he can decide right now.

Therefore, he had to make arrangements for things here in advance, so Su Wenchen spoke directly to Yang Zhenye, the secretary of Huanglou Commune.

"Secretary Yang, I've already reached an agreement with Director Liu of the region during my recent trip."

"Your Huanglou Commune will be directly placed under the management of our farm."

"In the next few days, you need to organize your commune personnel as soon as possible and complete the transfer of land, population, and material inventory."

(End of this chapter)