1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 292 Little Su, this old man really can't keep up with your tricks, you have to give me a break!

By the time Lei Bailiang took Su Wenchen back to the compound on his bicycle, it was already dark.

I stepped across the bluestone path in the courtyard.

As soon as Su Wenchen opened the door to the house, the warm yellow light, mixed with the faint sour smell of hangover soup, wafted out.

At this moment, Jiang's father was wearing reading glasses and reading the newspaper, while Jiang Li sat on the sofa next to him, flipping through a magazine that was almost worn out.

Upon hearing the muffled thud, his eyes immediately turned towards the doorway.

After Su Wenchen came in and changed his shoes, he spoke with a hint of alcohol on his face.

"Dad, Ali, you're still awake! Didn't you say not to wait for me?"

Father Jiang glanced at Su Wenchen.

"How can I go to sleep when you're not even back!"

"He didn't even call back beforehand."

“If we go to sleep, and you're all drunk and staggering, I'm afraid you'll fall down the stairs halfway down the stairs.”

"Your aunt made some hangover soup in the kitchen, Xiaoli, could you ladle a bowl for Xiaosu?"

Su Wenchen waved his hand dismissively.

"No need, I can get myself a bowl."

Mr. Jiang slowly folded the newspaper in his hand and pointed directly at the sofa in front of him.

"Come sit down, I have something to tell you!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen's heart skipped a beat, and he sobered up considerably. He had thought his father-in-law was going to scold him for coming home late!

As soon as he sat down, Mr. Jiang asked directly.

"When will you go back?"

Su Wenchen paused for a moment before speaking.

"I discussed it with Ali yesterday. After I finish my work report tomorrow, we should leave the day after tomorrow if there are no unexpected events."

Mr. Jiang nodded. He knew in his heart that neither his son-in-law nor his daughter could stay in Beijing for long.

"I understand. I will book your train tickets for noon the day after tomorrow."

After saying that, he pushed a piece of paper on the table in front of Su Wenchen.

"Keep this! This is the contact information for Lu Sideng, the stationmaster of Xuzhou Railway Freight Station. The Longhai, Jinpu, and Beijing-Shanghai railway lines all pass through their station."

“I’ve looked at the map. Your branch farm isn’t that far from their train station. It’s only an hour or two’s drive away.”

"I heard that you're going to start construction at your branch site. If you need anything, you can contact him."

"I've already spoken to him. As long as it's not contraband, it shouldn't be a problem for me to help you carry some things."

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen swallowed hard.

To be honest, this is actually quite beneficial for their branch farm, since these railway lines are all important routes now.

One is the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, which runs from north to south, and the other is the Longhai Railway, which runs from east to west. With these two lines, he can transport his products to most parts of the country as quickly as possible.

This way, at least we can be self-sufficient without any problems!

Just as Su Wenchen was about to say something, Jiang's father saw this and immediately waved his hand and stood up.

"You don't need to thank me. I was instructed by my superiors to have our railway department take care of your farm as much as possible, within the limits of the railway lines."

"This is something your farm fought for yourself!"

"Work hard. I don't know much about pig farming, but eating meat is the most fervent hope of the people across the country, so the benefits of this for you will become more and more apparent in the future."

Su Wenchen understood what Jiang's father meant.

Tell him not to be stingy or deliberately block other units, but to spread out the white pigs as much as possible. The faster they spread out and the wider the coverage area, the greater the benefit to him.

Su Wenchen naturally understood this principle: the more people he influenced, the higher his reputation would gradually become.

"By the way, when it comes to the subsequent transfer of white pigs from various regions to other places for promotion, our ministry has also prepared special trains."

"At that time, the people at the Lan City Railway Freight Station will probably come to your site to coordinate."

"At this point, you can go back and arrange for someone to check if it's suitable. Alright, it's getting late, you and Ali should go to sleep early too!"

After saying that, Jiang's father went straight back into the house.

A moment later, the sound of slippers clattering came from the corridor. Jiang Li came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of hangover soup. She frowned as she looked at the empty sofa and Su Wenchen, who was deep in thought.
"Hey, where's my dad?!"

"What did he say about you? You don't need to pay attention to him, we're leaving the day after tomorrow anyway."

Su Wenchen snapped out of his daze and smiled.

"No, it's great news for me!"

After speaking, he stood up and took the hangover soup from Jiang Li's hand. The strong sour taste made him frown slightly, but Su Wenchen drank it all in one gulp.

"Let's go back and rest!"

The fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and a thin layer of frost covered the holly trees in front of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry building.

Su Wenchen walked into the building on the icy blue brick steps. The corridor still had the festive atmosphere of the New Year. Many people in the offices were still cleaning and greeting each other.

He had just turned the corner of the stairs when he saw Guo Xiangyang standing at the end of the corridor like a telephone pole, clutching a meeting minutes notebook and constantly checking his watch.

Upon seeing Su Wenchen approach, Guo Xiangyang rushed forward to meet him.

"Brother Su, you've finally arrived! The leaders are all here and are already having a meeting in the small conference room."

"You're the only one left. The boss specifically told me to wait for you here, and to go straight over here after you arrive!"

"Come on, come on, I'll take you there!"

After saying that, before Su Wenchen could even speak, she turned around and led Su Wenchen at a jog, heading straight for the small conference room.

Su Wenchen didn't expect his boss to be in such a hurry, calling people over for a meeting so early in the morning. Wasn't that a bit too much of a rush?
Soon, Su Wenchen followed Guo Xiangyang to the door of the small conference room.

After pushing open the conference room door.

Suddenly, a strong smell of smoke wafted out. At that moment, the old man was pointing at the map on the table and saying something to the leaders of the Animal Husbandry Bureau and the State Farms Bureau.

Upon seeing Su Wenchen enter, the old man immediately waved.

“Xiao Su, you’ve come at the right time. I’ve already explained the tiered development plan you mentioned to me a few days ago to them.”

"However, there are still many things I don't understand."

"I just asked those two to speak, and one of them stammered and couldn't explain clearly, while the other was completely clueless about the data."

"You've come at the perfect time! It's perfect that you're here to tell us!"

At this moment, Zhang Qianjin and Yang Fusheng, who were sitting below, were sitting upright. Su Wenchen didn't know when they had started.

However, judging from their posture and slightly sweaty foreheads, it seems they've been sitting together for a while.

Clearly, these two were asked quite a few questions, but probably couldn't answer many of them.

However, Su Wenchen could somewhat understand Yang Fusheng. As the leader of a county-level farm, it would be an anomaly to not be excited when reporting directly to the leaders of a ministry.

Of course, it's probably also because they didn't make a mental plan beforehand.

They had discussed this matter at dinner last night.

The agreement was that Su Wenchen would come to report this morning, and the leaders would probably meet with the two of them to ask about some specific details after the meeting.

In that case, the two of them can naturally find time to prepare during the day.

Su Wenchen had no idea that his boss was in such a hurry; he hadn't even come to report yet!

First thing in the morning, they dragged these two people over for a meeting.

Su Wenchen guessed that the two of them must have been completely bewildered when they were woken up from their beds in the guesthouse!

Hearing the old man say that, Su Wenchen went over and found a seat next to Lu Anguo, the leader of their agricultural reclamation bureau.

Just as Su Wenchen sat down, Director Xu of the Animal Husbandry Bureau, sitting opposite him, stroked his chin and said...

“Xiao Su, your plan is indeed feasible after descending from an altitude of over 2,000 meters in Eryuan County to over 500 meters in Ya’an and acclimatizing through various transition stations.”

"but."

As he spoke, he pointed to the location on the map on the table where Yunnan and Sichuan provinces meet.

"The transportation conditions in the Yalong River Valley between Panzhihua and Shimian are poor. What if the cattle herd suffers from altitude sickness and cannot retreat in time?"

Su Wenchen took out a thick stack of documents from his briefcase.

This is climate data he asked Yang Fusheng to find for him during a meeting before the Lunar New Year. It was provided by the meteorological bureaus of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

At the time, this route was also devised by him and Yang Fusheng after checking some data, because Su Wenchen was not a local, so he was definitely not as good as the locals in this regard!

Then he answered directly.

"Leader, Comrade Yang Fusheng and I have done several simulations on this issue before the Lunar New Year. This is the meteorological data from that area. According to the data provided by the local meteorological bureau, there are basically no extreme weather events in the river valley area from February to April each year."

"Therefore, as long as our transportation time is within this period, it is almost impossible for transportation problems to occur."

"In the remaining months, it's actually quite easy to see whether someone is adapting or not."

"Because we have a stepped elevation, the descent is not particularly fast each time. Even if there is some discomfort, it won't be a big problem in the short term."

"In addition, our transition stations also include 20% vacant cattle pens."

"In other words, if a problem occurs at the next station, the equipment can be immediately isolated and transferred back to the previous station."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, the leader from the Agriculture Bureau on the other side shook his head.

"If you ask me, Lao Xu, your worries are unnecessary. Even if they can't adapt, at most there will be a few more sick cows. When you were transporting them directly, I didn't see you say anything about what to do if there was a reaction."

"They've already drawn up the route, why are you still worrying about this? If you ask me, this project is fine."

“There’s no problem with the people, I think the biggest problem is funding—” he said, turning directly to the old man.

"Boss, based on the current situation, this project will require at least three to five transitional transit stations."

"This would require at least 300,000 yuan in special funds! Which department would provide that money?"

"Anyway, our agricultural bureau is broke. This year, fertilizer production lines are being built in various places at the same time, which has almost emptied our savings!"

"And the ministry should be well aware of this."

He clearly understood that this was indeed a good thing, but it wouldn't have much impact on their agricultural bureau. The fact that he was called to the meeting meant they were probably going to have to spend money.

So he took the initiative to express his opinion: he supported the plan, but they didn't have the money.

Upon hearing this, the leader from the agricultural machinery bureau standing nearby chimed in.

"Boss, the ministry has been slow in promoting our agricultural machinery, so this year we need to allocate funds to agricultural machinery promotion. Our bureau doesn't have any money!"

He had just finished complaining about being poor.

Lu Anguo, the leader of the State Farms Bureau standing next to Su Wenchen, couldn't help but speak up.

"Old Zhao, back in '68, when your bureau's No. 122 Factory was being built, you didn't say that when you were begging our bureau!"

"Back then, you always said that our units were brother units and we should support each other!"

"What, now that our State Farms Bureau needs you, you're no longer our brother unit, are you?!"

Lu Anguo was clearly aware that the plan was proposed by Su Wenchen, and if it was ultimately approved, their bureau would likely have to pay the majority of the money.

This is no small amount, so naturally we should try to save as much as possible.

"If we could get a few old buddies to help out, that would definitely be better than paying out of our own pockets." However, upon hearing Lu Anguo's words, the other party retorted.

"Old Lu, you can't say that. The situation is different. Besides, in the past two years, when your state farm department needed agricultural machinery, have we ever refused?"

"Old Yu from the Agriculture Bureau is here today too. He's come to me several times about agricultural machinery. You asked him about it."

"I even allocated them to your state-owned farms first!"

Lu Anguo said irritably.

"That should have been given to us in the first place, otherwise our agricultural reclamation department would have to clear the land entirely by hand!"

“Their agricultural bureau manages cultivated land, which has already been cleared, so it is only right that agricultural machinery is allocated to our land reclamation department first.”

"Pah! Don't you have any shame, Lao Lu? We're all from the same area, aren't we?"

“Apart from the Great Northern Wilderness, aren’t all your other farms cultivated land now? You really have the nerve to say that.”

Lu Anguo raised an eyebrow.

"How can I be embarrassed to say it? Let's not talk about far-off places, but isn't most of the saline-alkali land near Xiao Su's Blue Water Farm barn abandoned?"

"How much of it has been properly managed and reclaimed? Tell me, isn't this wasteland?"

The other party clearly did not expect Lu Anguo to say that.

He paused for a moment before speaking.

"Blue Water Farm doesn't count; I'm talking about the other state-owned farms under your jurisdiction!"

Lu Anguo continued speaking.

"Why doesn't it count? What? Isn't Lanshui Farm a farm under our Agricultural Reclamation Bureau?"

"You know what I mean, other state-owned farms haven't opened branch farms in the Yellow River flood area!"

"I don't know!"

"Boss, I knew it! Our State Farms Bureau is in a terrible state! All the money we have goes to support our brother units."

"Even the chickens we bought for the New Year to give as welfare to the bureau's cadres, half of them were taken by the ministry!"

"How are we supposed to live like this?!"

The old man was speechless upon hearing this.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

He tapped the table directly, interrupting Lu Anguo's complaints.

"Alright, this is a meeting to discuss the Dengchuan cattle tiered breeding program, not a grievance session for your agricultural reclamation bureau."

"If you keep complaining about being poor, I'll send you to cry in front of this building!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Anguo immediately stopped, because it would be too embarrassing to leave the conference room.

The old man was clearly aware of the character of his subordinates, and turned to look at the livestock bureau leader who had remained silent.

"How's things going at your animal husbandry bureau? Do you have any money? Don't tell me you're not contributing a single penny."

“I can understand that those departments don’t have much to do with each other. It’s impossible for your livestock industry to contribute nothing.”

Upon hearing this, the leader of the Animal Husbandry Bureau immediately responded.

"Boss, we have no problem covering the costs, as long as the Lanshui Farm is allocated to us, our bureau can cover the entire expense! The Agricultural Reclamation Bureau won't have to pay a single penny, how about it?"

"Moreover, Lanshui Farm used to be a livestock farm, so it is reasonable for it to be under the jurisdiction of our Animal Husbandry Bureau."

Before the old man could say anything, Lu Anguo, who was standing nearby, couldn't hold back any longer.

"Not good at all! Old Xu, you're shameless! You're taking advantage of my misfortune!"

“We just allocated all kinds of agricultural machinery and grain resources to Lanshui Farm. Now, to transfer them to the Animal Husbandry Bureau, leaders, our bureau absolutely disagrees.”

"Moreover, the state-owned farms have always been managed by our Agricultural Reclamation Bureau!"

"If what Lao Xu said is true, those large farms were originally production teams in various places!"

"Does that mean we all have to be under the jurisdiction of the Agriculture Bureau?"

"In that case, we might as well just disband our State Farms Bureau on the spot!"

As soon as Lu Anguo said this, the leaders from the Agriculture Bureau next to him immediately agreed, eager to see what would happen.

“I think it’s a good idea. After the dissolution, the land of state-owned farms across the country can be managed by our bureau.”

"The livestock department of the farm is assigned to the Livestock Bureau, and the agricultural machinery department is assigned to the Agricultural Machinery Bureau."

"It just so happens that our department has also been streamlined!"

Upon seeing this, Lu Anguo spoke directly to the old man.

"Boss, look, they've even figured out how to divide the plan."

"This is absolutely outrageous! Our agricultural reclamation bureau is in a terrible state! Not only do our fellow units not give us any support, but now they're even discussing dividing us up!"

The old man also spoke to the others in a rather irritable manner.

"As soon as you ask me to contribute money, you start bringing up other things. Stop talking nonsense."

The old man clearly understood that it was impossible to directly disband the state-owned farms; the resettlement of the farm workers alone would be a huge problem.

Moreover, compared to local people's communes, state-owned farms could implement policies from above more quickly, and a large portion of the emergency grain allocated to various regions was also produced by state-owned farms.

There are even special materials like rubber and cotton; if all of them were distributed to production teams, the production efficiency would not be as high as that of farms.

Obviously, the other leaders knew this as well, so this was just a tacit understanding between them to change the subject.

The old man knew it was probably impossible to get them to contribute money voluntarily, so he spoke directly.

"The institute already knows about this, so this project must be pushed forward."

The room fell silent as soon as he said this, and the old man looked around at everyone.

"In addition, when I went to report, the senior leader said something: 'The supply of fresh milk is closely related to the physical health of our next generation of children.'"

"Therefore, this project must receive sufficient attention! Because children represent the future of our country."

Then he looked at the leader of the Animal Husbandry Bureau and said.

"Thus, this project is now being led by a ministry to establish a Dengchuan cattle breeding project."

"The Animal Husbandry Bureau and the State Farms Bureau will each contribute half of the funds and provide policy and financial support."

"For this project, Eryuan Farm is responsible for the initial relocation work, while Qianjin Farm is responsible for the mid-term site construction and local coordination."

"Blue Water Farm is responsible for the specific breeding and cultivation work after the cattle are planted on the plateau."

After speaking, he looked at the others.

"You can raise any objections now, or we will proceed as planned."

Obviously, after the old man finished speaking, the other departments had no objections.

Since it's not really their concern, and they don't need to contribute any money, they naturally have no objections whatsoever.

When the leaders of the animal husbandry bureau heard this, they knew that the matter was settled, because as the animal husbandry industry was under their jurisdiction, they knew that they could not escape this responsibility.

However, since this matter was initiated by Blue Water Farm, if he doesn't fight for it, he will eventually become the farm's prize again.

Now that the ministry is taking the lead and they are working with the State Farms Bureau to fund it, he thinks it's acceptable.

Since the breeding was ultimately successful, the Animal Husbandry Bureau would also get half the credit, which is better than letting the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau take all the credit.

So I said it directly.

"Leader, our animal husbandry bureau has no objections and will definitely cooperate fully to complete the relocation work."

Lu Anguo knew that the leaders had said that although they were asking for opinions, offering opinions at this time would only make things difficult for him.

"We have no objection. We just want to wait until the breeding is successful. The final promotion plan will be based on the farm department."

The leaders of the nearby animal husbandry bureau immediately retorted.

"No way, you should just focus on clearing the land properly. Why are you always trying to take over our livestock farming business?"

The old man simply rubbed his head.

"Alright, we haven't even started cultivating them yet, and you're already dividing up the credit!"

"We'll decide on this matter once the seedlings are developed, based on the actual conditions in each region."

Then he looked at Su Wenchen and the other two.

"What opinions or needs do you have from your farms?"

Su Wenchen himself didn't, because he wasn't responsible for the preliminary work at all, so he spoke directly.

"Boss, our Blue Water Farm will be responsible for the later stages of the work; we don't need anything for the earlier stages."

After saying that, he looked at the two of them and indicated that they could make their requests if they needed anything, because this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Even after today's meeting, although officials from various ministries will follow up with the two individuals, the demands they raise then will certainly not receive the same level of attention as those raised at the meeting.

Seeing that everyone was looking at them, the two of them simply shook their heads.

Zhang Qianjin was the first to guarantee this.

"Leader, we will definitely do our best to complete the construction of the transition station at Qianjin Farm and safely send the cattle down from the plateau."

Yang Fusheng also took a deep breath.

"Leader, our Eryuan Farm will definitely complete the initial relocation and care work well."

Upon seeing this, the old man immediately stood up and said.

"Alright, that's all for today! After you go downstairs, just submit the list of personnel from each department directly to the ministry, and the political work group will send someone to investigate their family backgrounds!"

"Once the review is over, you need to get started as soon as possible, and all departments need to cooperate well to win this tough battle that requires teamwork!"

"This is not only for yourselves, but also for the future of the country and for all children, to build a strong physical fitness."

Upon hearing this, everyone readily agreed.

"Rest assured, leader, all departments will definitely provide full support."

"Alright, if there's nothing else, let's adjourn the meeting!"

"You guys have been making my head hurt since early this morning! You're all such tightwads, always spouting nonsense whenever money comes up!"

After saying that, he closed the notebook on the table and got up to leave.

Seeing this, Su Wenchen followed immediately, and said in a slightly embarrassed voice.

"Sir, do you have a moment? I have something I'd like to report to you about!"

The old man looked at Su Wenchen with suspicion.

"Don't try anything new this time!"

"This old man really can't keep up with your tricks, you have to give me a break!"

Su Wenchen nodded seriously.

Then he stretched out his little finger to compare!
"Don't worry, sir. It's just a tiny little thing. I'm just giving you a heads-up."

"I guarantee the ministry won't have to spend a single penny this time!"

The old man's face immediately relaxed when he heard that he didn't have to pay.

"Let's go! Let's go to my office."

(End of this chapter)