1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 362 You can earn two billion US dollars a year?

The end of the memorial service did not discourage Su Wenchen.

Instead, it made him more aware of his responsibilities and direction.

Back to the Ministry of Railways' residential compound.

Su Wenchen's outward calm was quickly replaced by inner tension.

Under the light.

He immersed himself in the data again, making a final report on the benefits of saline-alkali land reclamation, comparing data on golden-feathered chickens and fast-growing chickens, and calculating the benefits after the introduction of equipment.

He could only mobilize all available resources to try and win them over.

Since it's a special economic zone, it should have some special features.

Then Su Wenchen went straight into his room to make final preparations for the preparatory meeting the next morning.

10 a.m. the following morning.

Meeting room of the State Planning Commission.

The long, large mahogany conference table was already filled with deputy representatives from various ministries.

Some were even personally visited by their direct superiors.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was heavy.

The winter sun shone through the window, casting its light on the blackboard covered with numbers and project names.

Many people had half-extinguished cigarette butts piled up in the brass ashtrays on the tables in front of them.

Because Su Wenchen was seated at the back, he witnessed round after round of verbal sparring between different departments.

"Next up, the representative from the Ministry of Industry!"

Upon hearing this, a middle-aged man straightened his clothes and stood up.

"Distinguished leaders and comrades, our Ministry of Industry has applied to import a high-precision seamless cold-drawn steel pipe production line from West Germany to the Northeast Industrial Base."

"This is the preliminary data we have collected. If we can introduce this equipment, our domestic special steel smelting technology will make a great breakthrough."

"The level of basic materials in our industry will also be greatly improved."

"Our military industry and machinery manufacturing will also benefit from this."

The representative from the Ministry of Industry finished speaking.

The planning commission leader at the head of the table flipped through the other party's materials.

What are your opinions?

Upon hearing this, the energy sector representative sitting opposite him interrupted first.

"I don't think this matter is urgent. The data for the cold-drawn steel pipe written above is indeed excellent."

"But the problem is, how much basic steel do we have?"

"Even if we import them, how many can we produce in a year?"

"Is it necessary to use this high-end steel pipe in some ordinary mechanical manufacturing?"

Upon hearing this, the other party's face clearly showed some dissatisfaction, and they immediately said...

"Old Liu, the situation is changing."

“Our latest research found that this equipment is crucial for improving the manufacturing process of precision bearing steel pipes, and even has great potential in fields such as petrochemical exploration.”

"It also has a significant impact on your energy-related sectors."

Upon hearing this, the representative from the Ministry of Energy opened his mouth, as if to say something.

But in the end, he remained silent.

But on the other side, an official with a Ministry of Light Industry nameplate on his desk stood up and spoke very quickly.

Moreover, it's very direct.

"Old Gao, we all know that every foreign exchange transaction now is squeezed out by tightening our belts."

"The applications you mentioned in the field of high-end equipment are indeed important, but that's part of the Seventh Five-Year Plan, the Eighth Five-Year Plan, or even the Eighth Five-Year Plan and beyond, or even more distant goals!"

"Right now, our light industry departments are eagerly awaiting the loading of various chemical fiber raw materials into the furnace, their eyes practically popping out of their sockets."

"Your steel pipeline system is very advanced, but compared to solving the most pressing needs of people's livelihood and basic industries, doesn't it seem like icing on the cake?"

"I think your project can definitely be included in the reserve project list. We can wait in terms of urgency."

His words sparked a murmur of discussion in the room, with many people nodding silently.

The representative from the Ministry of Industry's face flushed slightly.

He looked directly at Director Li Zhenlin of the State Planning Commission, who frowned, paused, and continued.

"It will be temporarily included in the reserve project list, and we will see how it goes during the Seventh Five-Year Plan period."

He clearly agreed with the previous representative's rebuttal.

Because of the heated debate that had just taken place, the leader from the State Planning Commission, sitting at the head of the table, emphasized this point directly.

"There's only so much foreign exchange available this time, so every foreign exchange quota must be like a tightly closed faucet; we have to be very careful with every drop."

"Therefore, the projects introduced this time are mainly those that will greatly benefit the country and the people and have high subsequent returns."

"Those projects that need improvement can wait. We need to take advantage of this window of opportunity to solve the problem of starting something from scratch."

"If you already have something, or if it's not urgent, put it aside for now."

"Next up, a representative from the Huang-Huai-Hai Special Economic Zone!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen's spirits lifted.

He quickly tidied himself up and stood up.

Moreover, the name of the special economic zone now reflects its development over the past six months.

The name given to the special economic zone gradually changed from the original "Saline-Alkali Land Management Special Zone" to the "Huang-Huai-Hai Special Zone".

This clearly indicates that their special economic zone has already entered the planned area outlined above.

This also indicates that the authorities intend to plan a central city in the Huang-Huai-Hai region to drive the development of surrounding areas.

Thinking of this, Su Wenchen quickly got up and distributed the prepared "Special Economic Zone Agricultural Modernization Supporting Introduction Plan".

"Distinguished leaders, our special economic zone has applied to introduce four production line projects related to agriculture and animal husbandry."

"First of all, it is a complete large-scale fertilizer production line, including ammonia synthesis reaction tower and urea granulation tower."

"The second item is a large-scale feed amino acid production line!"

No sooner had Su Wenchen finished speaking than the representative from the Ministry of Industry, who had just been refuted, looked directly at the documents Su Wenchen had distributed and questioned him.

"Your special economic zone is trying to take advantage of us!"

"They immediately introduced four types of projects. I won't go into detail about the fertilizer plant, but we just gave you an agricultural sector job, and now they've brought in more than a dozen."

"Shall I start by mentioning the introduction of feed mills?"

"Or is it a large feed mill?"

"I don't understand what you mean by amino acids, but I do know one thing: how many livestock farms are there in total in our country?"

"Besides, we're just feeding livestock with grain anyway, why should we spend such a large sum of US dollars?"

"Feeding livestock directly with grains doesn't prevent them from gaining weight."

"Tell me, where is the necessity?"

As questions arose, all eyes in the room turned to Su Wenchen.

Su Wenchen remained completely calm, knowing that it would be strange if no one questioned it, since every application from previous departments had faced such scrutiny.

It depends on whether you can convince the public and make most people feel that your project is indeed important.

This could also be beneficial to their department in the future.

So he calmly flipped through the documents.

"Distinguished leaders, you can take a look at the materials I sent out earlier; there are various data on the third page."

"This is the actual corn yield report of Lanshui Farm in the Special Economic Zone this year, as well as a comparison chart of the weight gain of broilers fed with our self-prepared feed and ordinary feed."

"The leader just asked me why it's necessary to introduce feed mills when there aren't many livestock farms in the country."

"Then let me explain it to you all."

"First of all, in some parts of our special economic zone this year, the highest yield of corn per mu has reached 900 jin."

As soon as this number was announced, a slight gasp rippled through the room—because it was far higher than the national average.

Of course, this was just a clever trick by Su Wenchen; he never mentioned the average yield per mu.

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, many representatives from various provinces looked at him with curiosity.

They were clearly taken aback by this output.

Only the representatives from Jiangsu and Anhui provinces looked at Su Wenchen with somewhat strange expressions.

However, they didn't say much, even though they knew it was lab production.

But for them, the hope is still that the special economic zone will develop.

Especially Jiangsu Province.

In this way, they can absorb the resources spilling over from Shanghai to the south.

The north can absorb the spillover resources from the special economic zone, which would be fantastic.

Su Wenchen continued.

"One of the key reasons is the rational fertilization plan that we explored under the guidance of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, which is inseparable from the help of a large amount of organic fertilizer."

"The production of organic fertilizer requires a large number of poultry."

"In addition, we have tried that feed mixed with amino acids can increase the weight gain rate of broilers by at least 30%."

"This means we can convert grains such as corn and soybean meal into meat more efficiently."

"Therefore, a large feed mill is equivalent to a continuous grain production plant."

Su Wenchen turned to the cadre who had asked the question.

"Therefore, chemical fertilizers enhance the land's potential, while high-quality feed can reduce livestock consumption of grain and convert grain into meat, eggs, and milk more efficiently."

"Moreover, this large-scale production line can achieve large-scale, standardized production, ultimately reducing unit costs. Combined with the two subsequent projects, we even plan to form a complete industrial chain, rather than just introducing a feed production line." "If the project is implemented, I believe it will enable our people to eat meat at the lowest possible cost."

"Instead of the current situation where buying meat is like a battle, and some people in rural areas can't even afford to eat meat all year round."

"Boss, do you think this is necessary?"

The other person opened their mouth, but didn't say anything.

Although he felt that the matter was not urgent, he also knew that it would be inappropriate to say it out loud.

Especially after New Year's Day, the Spring Festival will be coming soon.

If word gets out, people who can't buy meat might throw stones at him.

He would never do such a thing!
Many others shared similar thoughts, since Su Wenchen was talking about people's livelihood, which might not be urgent in terms of pressing matters.

But we've suffered for so many years, it's no big deal to endure it a little longer.

But can I really say that?
Speaking out would only cause trouble for oneself, so the scene fell silent for a while.

The leader above nodded.

"Representative of the Huang-Huai-Hai Special Economic Zone, please continue!"

Seeing this, Su Wenchen began to explain the importance of the poultry incubation environment control system.

"Boss, although our fast-growing chickens grow very quickly, their reproduction rate still can't keep up with the current expansion rate."

"The hatching process is greatly affected by temperature and humidity, and the hatching rate in China fluctuates around 70%."

"However, the introduction of this system can steadily increase the hatching rate to over 90% and effectively control disease infection, which is crucial for expanding the scale of superior poultry breeding."

"With this equipment, we can quickly provide high-quality seedlings not only to our special economic zone, but also to nearby provinces."

“Especially the state-owned livestock farms and commune-run breeding farms in the four provinces of Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu and Anhui that are adjacent to our special zone.”

“They can directly purchase large quantities of chicks from us, and by combining them with our feed mill, we can also drive the rapid development of the livestock industry in the surrounding four provinces.”

Clearly, Su Wenchen knew that he couldn't fight alone, so he directly pulled in the four provinces that might be brought over as teammates.

Clearly, the other party had listened to what Su Wenchen said.

Looking at the detailed data described in the document, the feed conversion ratio of broiler chickens that can be slaughtered in forty days is about one to six.

This is also a great deal.

After all, the four provinces near Su Wenchen are also major production provinces.

They would be overjoyed if they could exchange coarse grains for grain at a ratio of 1:1.6.

Therefore, the representative from Jiangsu Province was the first to jump out and support Su Wenchen's words.

"I agree with what this representative of the Huang-Huai-Hai Special Economic Zone said."

The others were speechless upon seeing this.

However, the other three provinces followed suit.

After all, even though the project isn't located in our province, it's not far away, so we can still reap some benefits, right?
Seeing this, Su Wenchen also pressed on and gave his final statement.

"Distinguished leaders, the development of our animal husbandry industry has always been slow. Currently, the average annual meat and egg intake per person in the country is less than five kilograms."

"In the United States, the average annual meat consumption per person is already over 200 kilograms."

"Our main meat supply is concentrated in urban areas."

"The meat supply in rural areas is predictably poor."

"Is it that our people don't like to eat meat?"

"Then why is it that during holidays, almost every state-owned meat shop under the meat processing plant in every city only has scraps left when it opens?"

"Therefore, I believe that the development of animal husbandry is urgent, and we have already delayed too much."

"Now that we're catching up again, it will inevitably require more resources."

"Of course, if you, the leader, feel that we need too much funding, we can refuse to allow the funds from above."

“Give our special economic zone a temporary foreign trade window so that we can use all the US dollars we earn from exporting alkali fertilizer and golden pheasants to import equipment.”

Clearly, Su Wenchen didn't necessarily need funding from higher authorities to bring in this project.

If the authorities agree to allow them to use the special economic zone's foreign trade funds for their own purposes, he naturally wouldn't care.

That would actually lead to faster development.

The higher-ups were astonished to hear that Su Wenchen was so confident that he actually planned to use the funds earned in the special economic zone to attract projects.

He immediately asked curiously.

"Your fertilizer for treating alkaline soil is planned for export, and there are indications that the US is interested in purchasing it?"

After all, the leaders above were from the State Planning Commission, even though they knew that an advance team had been to the Special Economic Zone.

But he really didn't know the specifics.

Su Wenchen thought for a moment, then avoided mentioning that the treatment of alkaline fertilizer would affect the election results, and only talked about normal economic interests.

"We have reached a preliminary agreement on the purchase. Based on the current data, there are approximately five million hectares of saline-alkali land in the United States."

"The cost of treating one hectare of saline-alkali land in the United States is basically five to eight hundred US dollars a year."

"As for our costs, they would probably only be a few dollars."

"After all, our labor costs are actually not high."

"However, the export price is definitely not this price. My current target price is around one hundred to three hundred US dollars per year."

“If the price is too high, there will be no need for others to purchase it, and if people in the US don’t make a profit, they won’t travel thousands of miles to purchase it.”

"As for the Golden Feather Chicken, it's a bit more complicated. As a high-end broiler chicken, we plan to adopt a high-price model, just like the Moonflower Rabbit."

"As for pricing, it will range from tens to hundreds of dollars per animal. We ourselves are not sure, after all, we are not sure whether wealthy Americans can accept it."

After Su Wenchen finished speaking...

Someone below frowned and did some calculations with a pen.

He gasped in shock and couldn't help but exclaim.

"Your so-called alkali-curing fertilizer, even at a minimum of one hundred US dollars, can make more than 500 million a year?"

"At a price of three hundred dollars, you can earn 1.5 billion dollars a year?"

Upon hearing this, the conference room fell silent instantly.

Many people recalculated it and found that they had indeed made no mistakes.

They all stared at Su Wenchen in shock.

Wow, no wonder they're so confident they can announce four projects coming to fruition in one go!

They dare to talk so big when they claim they can earn 1.5 billion a year!
They even dared to apply for ten projects.

As for the Golden Feather Chicken, most people overlook it. They think that no matter how delicious the chicken is, Americans would actually spend hundreds of dollars to buy a chicken to eat!
They're really treating people like suckers, ripping them off!

Everyone is very confident in the cost-effective alkali-remediating fertilizer, because in their view, the land is everything.

There's no reason why a low-cost solution to the land problem shouldn't be possible.

As for these expensive chickens, nobody cares.

Even the leaders of the Planning Commission thought so, so they were accustomed to Su Wenchen's request.

He simply coughed lightly.

"So, what are everyone's opinions on these four projects proposed by the representatives of the Huang-Huai-Hai Special Zone?"

The leader glanced around.

Someone opened their mouth, as if to say something, but ultimately didn't.

After all, the latter two didn't actually cost much money, even though they felt it was unnecessary.

But who can argue with someone earning so much in a year? They have real confidence!
This could mean we'll have to ask them for help later.

Although the opponent is currently the lowest-ranked person in the entire arena.

But the other person was sitting at this table, not in the row with the clerk behind them.

This means that everyone already understands perfectly well what this means.

Looking at the crowd, none of them made a sound.

"Alright, due to the domestic shortage of livestock and meat supply, the four projects proposed by the representatives of the Huang-Huai-Hai Special Zone will be officially included in the procurement catalog of the '72 Plan'."

"The specific implementation details will be discussed in detail after the leaders confirm that there are no problems."

“Representative of the Huang-Huai-Hai Special Zone, now that the project has been implemented, you should also devote your efforts to the development of the feed industry.”

"We can't be satisfied with just introducing one production line."

"Just like you said, our people have too little meat supply; one large feed mill is far from enough."

Su Wenchen bowed slightly.

"Thank you, leaders! The Special Economic Zone is determined to complete the difficult tasks assigned by our superiors. After the project is implemented, we will do our best to promote the development of our own feed industry."

Since Su Wenchen was the lowest-ranking person present, after he finished speaking, the higher-ups glanced at the entire room.

"Do any other departments have projects to submit?"

"Or you can raise other opinions, otherwise it will be too late for me to submit the procurement catalog after the meeting."

After speaking, he paused for a moment.

After seeing that no one spoke up.

"Alright, that's all for today. Except for the representative from the Huang-Huai-Hai Special Zone who will stay, everyone else can leave the meeting."

Su Wenchen was somewhat surprised to hear this.

Why was I left alone?

However, he basically achieved his overall goal this time, although the process was a bit tortuous.

But basically nothing unexpected happened.

So I really don't know why this leader kept me here.

(End of this chapter)