Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

The two had talked about ambition before, and Fang Wei insisted that he would rather stay in the brigade than become a commune director.

Wu Yaoyang knew the other party wasn't lying, because he knew very well that Fang Wei had no interest in becoming an official.

If Fang Wei really had such a request, places like Qinghe County and Chenzhou would have already extended olive branches. If he had just agreed, he would have been a state cadre long ago.

Faced with a Party Secretary who possesses cutting-edge breeding technology and can unite the entire brigade as one, even county leaders cannot sway him.

Just like now, Fang Wei completely ignored Wu Yaoyang's words, as if he hadn't heard them at all.

Seeing the other party's attitude, Wu Yaoyang realized that he had been a bit impatient.

He then stopped bringing up the topic, went to look at the well again, and then returned to the brigade headquarters.

At the brigade headquarters, he made several demands in front of the brigade officers.

The Xiatang brigade is crucial to the county's rice production. Everyone must ensure the supply of high-yield rice seeds, overcome difficulties, and strive for a complete victory in the drought relief efforts.

After finishing his speech, Wu Yaoyang left in a hurry.

"Third Brother, you really don't need to stand up to Director Wu. Let us pump more water if he tells us to. It's no big deal."

After everyone left, Zheng Hu followed Fang Wei to the other party's office and offered a few words of advice.

“You don’t understand. If I listen to him and increase the pumping volume today, he’ll arrange for us to support other brigades with the pumps tomorrow. We don’t have that kind of awareness. We need to ensure the agricultural production of Xiatang Brigade first, and then we can talk about other things.”

Fang Wei shook his head, gave a perfunctory reply, and was too lazy to say more.

He knew Wu Yaoyang quite well. The other party did have a good relationship with him, but don't forget that he was the director of the county. He was used to considering issues from a holistic perspective and would never take into account the interests of any particular brigade.

For example, just like the previous two times, the other party wanted to pass the county furniture factory to the brigade's bamboo ware factory.

The county furniture factory is a huge pitfall; once you get stuck there, it will definitely drag the bamboo ware factory down.

Therefore, sometimes it's not good to be too soft in front of Wu Yaoyang; in many situations, you must stand up and protect the interests of your brigade.

"Oh, then you go ahead with your work, I'm leaving."

Although Zheng Hu didn't quite understand, he knew that his third brother was doing it to protect the interests of the brigade.

What else is there to say? Just ignore them.

Unfortunately, he didn't dare to confront Wu Yaoyang directly. Fortunately, he didn't need to get involved in these matters; his third brother handled everything on his own.

A few days passed quickly.

The Dragon Boat Festival has arrived.

In previous years, it often rained heavily around the Dragon Boat Festival, but this year not a single drop fell.

However, life had to go on, so the team decided to slaughter 100 pigs and give each person a chicken, a duck, and 10 jin of eggs.

[New pigs born, points +28300]

[Produces Muscovy ducks, points +9000]

[Produces broiler chickens, +8000 points]

[Eggs produced, points +20000]

Total points: 6752970.

The pig farm previously had 938 adult pigs, but recently, 260 pregnant sows have given birth, adding 2980 piglets.

After subtracting the 100 pigs that were just slaughtered, the pig farm still has 4078 pigs left.

The team no longer sells live pigs, but mainly sells improved breeds, since the spotted pigs they have bred are very popular in the market.

Since Xiangyang Commune introduced this breed of spotted pig, the profitability of pig farming has gradually increased, and it has become very popular.
Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua received pork and other supplies, and the family took a tractor to the Yao village to celebrate the festival. Otherwise, it would be too lonely for Grandpa to celebrate alone on the mountain, and Pan Lianhua also wanted to go back to the village to visit him.

Grandpa was naturally very happy to see them, and the family happily spent the Dragon Boat Festival together.

However, Fang Wei returned to the brigade early the next morning.

The current situation is quite unique. As the drought worsens, the team has stopped afforestation activities and devoted all its efforts to ensuring agricultural production.

The irrigation water in the canal was almost gone, so Fang Wei ordered the agricultural machinery team to turn on all the water pumps and start drawing groundwater from the well.

The irrigation canals of the entire brigade have long been connected into a network, and with the continuous operation of 10 high-powered water pumps, a steady stream of groundwater is being pumped into the canals.

The irrigation water supply for Xiatang Brigade is sufficient. Excess water in the irrigation canals is diverted into the main irrigation canals and flows to other brigades.

The beneficiaries are likely to be only a few nearby brigades, making it difficult to cover more areas.

in the afternoon.

Fang Wei was about to go home when Zheng Hu rushed in.

"Third Brother, this is great news! For some reason, the well in our brigade has suddenly started gushing water on its own. We don't even need a pump; the water can be directed into the irrigation ditch with just a little guidance."

This was a very magical thing. The deep well, which originally required a pump to draw water, suddenly became an artesian well. He had never seen anything like it before.

This is definitely a good thing, because it means the water pump won't have to run non-stop, and it won't even need to be turned on most of the time.

No wonder Zheng Hu was so happy.

"It's possible that there have been some changes in the underground structure, but we don't need to investigate that in detail. At least we don't have to worry about what to do if there's a power outage. This way, the irrigation canal will have water 24 hours a day, which can also help other production teams."

Fang Wei gave a few casual replies, but he knew the real reason best.

Due to the effect of [Water Pressure Enhancement +1], the pressure inside the well increases sharply, causing the well water to gush out automatically. This eliminates the need for a water pump, saving electricity and reducing wear and tear on the machine.

At the same time, Fang Wei also adjusted the water volume, which greatly improved both the water output and the water output speed.

This was the real reason why we didn't agree to Wu Yaoyang's request in the first place. Good steel should be used where it's needed most. Now that all 10 wells are supplying water at full capacity, it would be good if we could solve the water problem for one more production team.

Within two days, Wu Yaoyang received the news.

"This Party Secretary Fang, in the end, still had some awareness. Perhaps he was right at the time. Relying on a water pump for twenty hours a day would not only result in high electricity costs, but the machine itself would also be unable to withstand it."

Wu Yaoyang knew that Fang Wei couldn't even get an advanced award all year round, so he must be upset, but he could still rely on him in critical moments.

Fang Wei consciously controlled the rhythm: during the day, the water pressure decreased, requiring the use of a water pump. In the afternoon, the water pressure increased, and water could gush out without the pump.

As a result, everyone accepted Fang Wei's explanation that this situation was caused by changes underground.

Everyone considers these wells a wonder, and people often come to watch them.

With the Xiatang brigade adding water to the irrigation canal, several surrounding brigades benefited greatly. However, even with a large output from 10 cans, it was impossible to provide irrigation water for the entire county.

In short, agricultural production in Xiatang Brigade was almost unaffected, but in other communes and several surrounding counties, a reduction in grain production this year was almost a foregone conclusion.

Fang Wei has been constantly going to the Yao village. Pan Lianhua and her sister had already returned with the two little ones. He came to the village to guide the drought relief work.

The Yao village built irrigation canals many years ago; otherwise, where would all these terraced fields come from?
The mountain spring water shows no signs of drying up and looks like it can last for several more months.

Fang Wei was relieved. He returned to his team and immediately wrote a disaster report, which he submitted to the capital. This was one of the advantages of being a national representative—having a smooth channel to directly report problems to higher authorities.

In fact, Wu Yaoyang had also written a report to the region, but more than one county in the region had suffered from drought. Zeng Qing and others were busy working on it, and by the time the situation was reported to the province, the higher-ups had already responded.

This drought is localized, mainly concentrated in the southern part of Hunan Province; other provinces have not experienced this situation.

Therefore, upon learning of the drought situation in Xinlin County, relevant authorities immediately requested assistance from other provinces and cities. The first batch of relief supplies quickly arrived in Xinlin County, including 350 water pumps provided by neighboring provinces and cities.

In addition, several technologically advanced well-drilling teams arrived in the county and began searching for groundwater for the severely affected communes.

Wu Yaoyang quickly learned the details of the incident and personally went to the Xiatang Brigade to express his gratitude to Fang Wei. The province was also currently studying disaster relief efforts, but the disaster affected almost a third of the province, inevitably slowing down the response. However, agricultural production waits for no one; the summer harvest and planting season would begin soon, and any delay would affect the entire year's yield.

If Fang Wei hadn't written the disaster briefing directly as a representative, some things wouldn't have been possible to proceed so quickly.

"Secretary Fang, on behalf of all the people of the county, I express my gratitude to you!"

Wu Yaoyang bowed deeply to Fang Wei with all his heart, feeling somewhat ashamed.

Fang Wei knew that this was not the other party's fault. In this day and age, the response speed to disasters is not that fast, especially for droughts, which are not sudden emergencies. Some people are always a step behind.

Xinlin County is not actually short of water; its groundwater resources are extremely abundant.

The key issues are inadequate well-drilling technology, outdated equipment, and over-reliance on the Yaojialing Reservoir, which makes it difficult to withstand a once-in-a-century drought.

In fact, Yaojialing Reservoir has made a great contribution to local agricultural production. If it weren't for the existence of this reservoir, many communes wouldn't have survived to this day.

If the rice crops die from drought, what's the point of disaster relief now?
"Director Wu, you flatter me! It's my duty to fulfill my responsibilities in this position. Besides, the entire county's disaster relief efforts depend on your command right now, so there's no need for you to waste your time here with me, is there?"

Fang Wei didn't take credit for anything, and then pushed Wu Yaoyang into the car.

Wu Yaoyang didn't say anything, just waved to the other party, and then rushed back to the county.

We have to thank Tang Ze, who built many water conservancy facilities in the county, including wells, canals, and the Yaojialing Reservoir.

These facilities played a significant role during this year's severe drought.

In addition, with the spirit of mutual assistance in times of trouble, the impact of this drought was minimized thanks to everyone's hard work.

It is estimated that the total output of Xinlin County will decrease by 10% this year.

This result is much better than everyone expected. Of course, Xiatang Brigade and Yao Village are completely unaffected, and the total rice yield is estimated to be the same as last year.

Before we knew it, it was harvest time, and everyone seemed to realize that the Nanguang No. 2 rice variety has excellent drought resistance. Some production teams had even run out of water, but the growth of the rice was not greatly affected.

They persevered until support came from all sides, and then they dug deep wells to ensure that the yield per mu of rice would not decrease too much.

“Secretary Fang, the rice varieties you have cultivated are truly remarkable. If we had used the old rice varieties from before, this year's harvest would not only have been a complete failure, but the yield would probably have been reduced by more than half.”

this day.

Fang Wei went to a meeting in the county, and as soon as he arrived at the venue, he was surrounded by the brigade leaders and party secretaries of various communes.

The entire county is now cultivating the second-grade rice variety "Nanguang No. 2". This is the first time they have gained a deep understanding of the superior traits of this rice variety.

Previously, everyone was concerned about the yield and taste of this type of rice, but some very important indicators were overlooked.

【Nanguang No. 2】is highly resistant to drought, lodging, pests and diseases, and so on. All of these indicators have reached the advanced level in China, and may even have reached the advanced level in the world.

The only drawback of this rice variety is its poor resistance to adverse conditions. After the next generation of rice, obvious trait segregation will occur.

However, its merits outweigh its flaws; [Nanguang No. 2] is undoubtedly one of the best rice varieties currently available.

This meeting was a "mobilization meeting for the summer harvest". The whole county has entered the summer harvest season. The county has made unified arrangements and clarified some details of the summer planting work.

Fang Wei rushed back to the team immediately after the meeting, without even having lunch.

early morning.

The agricultural machinery team of Xiatang Brigade was mobilized, and Zheng Hu gathered a group of strong laborers from the team to start the harvesting work.

The Xiatan Brigade now has 21 harvesters, and large threshers and dryers have been put into production, greatly improving production efficiency.

The scenes of large-scale battles involving thousands of people, which used to be commonplace, are no longer seen; instead, they are replaced by the roar of machinery.

Of course, this production method is not replicable in Xinlin County at present. The Xiatang Brigade's wealth was built on a massive investment of funds; no one else could afford it.

This time, the Xiatang brigade completed the summer harvest in less than six days.

Excluding the 70 mu of experimental fields, the team harvested a total of 462 million jin of "Nanguang No. 2" rice seeds, laying a solid foundation for the county's agricultural production in the coming year.

If the yield of the "Nanguang No. 2" rice variety does not decrease, there will be major problems with agricultural production next year.

Subsequently, the data for this season in Yao Village was also released. The entire village harvested a total of 67.15 jin of Nongyou 58 rice seeds, with no reduction in yield at all.

Harvest crops, points +4620000

Harvest crops, points +671500

Total points: 7444470.

Both Xiatang Brigade and Yao Village quickly sold their rice seeds. Xiatang Brigade received 591.36 million yuan in cash and a purchase quota for 462 million jin of rice.

According to Fang Wei's suggestion, the team should keep at most a few hundred thousand kilograms of rice in stock; there's no point in keeping more.

In any case, the team can purchase rice from the grain department at any time according to the supply quota, and there is no need to pile the grain in the granary.

According to news reports, 13 large-scale fertilizer plants imported into China are gradually going into operation, and the future fertilizer supply will increase year by year, while grain production will also steadily improve.

While we won't say there's an abundance of food, the situation could be as tight as it was in previous years.

"Tiger, hand over the team's grain rations first, then distribute the rations to everyone. This time, distribute them at an average of 800 gold grains per person, and keep 50 jin of rice in reserve for emergencies."

Fang Wei's views changed because the domestic situation was also changing.

In recent years, the national grain output has steadily increased, unlike the decline seen in previous years.

Therefore, the rice reserves decreased significantly for the first time, and everyone gradually got used to this situation. Anyway, there was plenty of food stored at home, and even in the event of a major disaster, if people were frugal, their stored food could last for two years.

The same is true in the Yao village. This season's rice harvest brought in nearly a million yuan in cash, and they also have more than enough grain supply quotas.

After the grain was handed over to the public treasury, the village also distributed its own rations, with an average of 500 jin of rice per person. Similarly, the village's rice reserves were significantly reduced, saving them from tying up capital and incurring storage costs.

"Grandpa, I've come to take you back."

Fang Wei took some time to bring her grandfather back to the team. The old man also wanted to go down the mountain, so he returned to his granddaughter's side.

Next, summer planting began, and everyone got busy again.

This season, Xiatang Brigade continued to cultivate the "Nanguang No. 2" rice variety. Apart from the 70 mu of experimental fields, the remaining 4200 mu of paddy fields were used for breeding.

The Yao village continues to cultivate the [Nongyou 58] rice variety, a practice they are very familiar with, ensuring a stable income.

Water is scarce both on and at the foot of the mountain, but it does not have a significant impact on agricultural production.

Rice cultivation consumes a large amount of water, but due to the excellent drought resistance of varieties such as Nanguang No. 2 and Nongyou 58, water consumption can be reduced by more than 30% compared to ordinary rice varieties.

This drought has provided the perfect opportunity to promote these two rice varieties. Word-of-mouth has continued to spread, and their fame has already spread beyond the province, becoming widely known in the south.

With the arrival of midsummer, a sudden downpour struck.

A week of continuous rainfall has greatly alleviated the local drought.

Personnel and equipment that came from various places to support drought relief and disaster relief gradually withdrew. For example, water pumps were left to Xinlin County, and various production teams, brigades and communes were scrambling to get them.

In the end, it was Wu Yaoyang who personally devised the distribution plan, and only then did everyone stop their little schemes.

Only the Xiatang brigade, without vying for power, also received 10 water pumps. These water pumps were all powered by electricity, and the production teams without electricity could only watch these machines with despair.

However, with the successful completion of the thermal power plant's renovation and expansion project and the commissioning of the new units, the county's power supply shortage was greatly alleviated.

"Third Brother, your judgment was accurate. This drought has not caused serious damage to the whole county. The yield of rice has only declined slightly."

Zheng Hu and the others greatly admired Fang Wei's foresight and judgment, and while the team was in a meeting, they all started praising him. (End of Chapter)