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

The fourth brother was a bit sharper. He'd been pondering things for days in the detention center, and something felt off. They later found out who had wronged them—the people who beat up their brothers were from the Xiatang brigade—so they connected it to the relationship between Tian Bingyi and Fang Wei.

"Possibly! However, we can't afford to mess with the Xiatang Brigade. Everyone should keep a low profile and avoid trouble."

The most prominent characteristic of villains is that they bully the weak and fear the strong; when they retaliated against Tian Bingyi, they didn't care about anything.

Now that he had suffered a loss, he suddenly remembered how formidable Tian Bingyi's brother-in-law was, and all his arrogance vanished.

However, people like this are destined to forget their mistakes and remain obedient for a while, but they will definitely revert to their old ways. They don't want to suffer, but they still want a good life, so they can only resort to crooked means.

Upon hearing this, Tian Bingyi drank half a bottle of wine at home and was overjoyed.

The Wu brothers were beaten up by the people from Xiatang Brigade. He didn't even need to guess to know that something must have happened.

That was handled brilliantly. Not only did it bring trouble upon himself, but it also left the Wu brothers with a bitter pill to swallow. Just thinking about it makes me feel satisfied. When it comes to getting things done, Fang Wei is the best. Tian Bingyi knows he can't compare.

This matter did not cause Fang Wei any ripples.

He has no time to think about these things now. These past few days he's been busy preparing for the summer harvest and planting, keeping himself extremely busy.

Besides this matter, Fang Wei also needs to discuss the purchase of the "Nanguang No. 3" rice seeds with the purchasing station. He definitely won't be happy if they still buy them at the original price.

"We can't determine the yield and quality of the rice seeds, so it's difficult to set a price."

The leaders of the purchasing station didn't distrust Fang Wei; they just didn't know much about the [Nanguang No. 3] rice variety.

Fang Wei then led the other party to the second team, which had experimental fields where they had been planting [Nanguang No. 3] for several seasons.

Planting records, yields, and a large number of existing rice seeds provide a true account of the situation.

Finally, the purchasing station reported the matter, and the final purchase price was set at 1.58 yuan per kilogram, which was the same as the price of the [Nongyou 76] rice variety.

Fang Wei did not continue to haggle and accepted the acquisition price.

Next.

The busy summer harvest and planting season has begun. In the past, it was impossible to see everyone working together. Instead, all kinds of agricultural machinery were busy at work.

Combine harvesters have greatly increased the speed of rice harvesting, and the use of a large number of threshers and dryers has significantly reduced the intensity of manual labor.

The complexity lies in organization and coordination. With the cooperative as an institution, the summer harvest can proceed smoothly and in an orderly manner under the planning and arrangement of the council.

The harvesting progress is much faster than in other communes, and the threshing, drying, and storage can be completed quickly, without worrying about losses caused by weather changes.

After the brigades and production teams were basically disintegrated, other communes were no longer able to organize this kind of division of labor and cooperation. The utilization rate of agricultural machinery dropped significantly, and production labor was basically carried out independently.

After the summer harvest is completed, the land needs to be plowed again.

Prior to this, the cooperative's centralized seedling raising base was successfully completed and put into operation. This base adopted a closed greenhouse design and a modular seedling raising method, which can greatly improve the speed and quality of seedling raising.

While full automation is not yet possible, relatively constant temperature and humidity can be achieved through technologies such as manual monitoring.

It will take some time before all the statistics are available. Fang Wei took a rare day off and brought some things to visit her second brother-in-law, Tian Bingyi.

"Third brother, what brings you here? Have you finished your work over there?"

When Fang Wei arrived at his second sister's house, his second sister and brother-in-law were harvesting rice in the field.

They are harvesting by hand. The farm machinery in the team was sold when the fields were divided, so growing rice has now become purely manual labor.

Those families with many able-bodied members are fine, but those with insufficient members can only hire help or form mutual aid groups.

Tian Bingyi used to have a decent reputation in the team, but after the Wu brothers incident, many people were unwilling to offend those guys and naturally distanced themselves from him.

Fortunately, Tian Bingyi was in good health, and Fang Mei was also very capable. The couple decided to grit their teeth and harvest the rice themselves.

"Second sister, you go back and cook, I'll do it."

Without saying a word, Fang Wei went down to the field to help his brother-in-law with the work. He was actually quite good at farm work, but he did less of it after becoming the Party Secretary, but his skills were still there.

With his addition, the harvesting progress immediately accelerated.

Fang Wei is at least twice as fast as Tian Bingyi; the other side simply can't keep up with his speed.

Fang Wei, who came to visit her sister and brother-in-law, did farm work all day, leaving Tian Bingyi speechless and even wondering if he was useless.

"Third brother, you don't need to worry about what happens next. I can handle it all by myself. Come on, let's have a toast!"

The family didn't have much land. The eldest son got married and moved out to live separately, while the second son went to study in another city.

The eldest brother had originally told the family to delay the harvest by two days, saying he would come over to help once he finished his work. Tian Bingyi was too lazy to wait, so he and Fang Mei started harvesting. If Fang Wei hadn't happened to come, the two of them would have been busy for several more days.

After today's quick harvest, there's really not much work left to do.

“Brother-in-law, if you ask me, we should just lease out the farmland we have to cultivate. You can go to a breeding center or a hardware factory, it will definitely earn you more than if you stay and tend to the farmland.”

There's basically no need to worry about food supplies now; they're readily available everywhere in the market area.

This was a change brought about by the abolition of the management functions of brigades and production teams, which opened up a loophole in the unified purchase and sale of grain. Although negotiated grain was a bit more expensive, the price wasn't outrageous, and as long as one's income was decent, it was still affordable.

Besides, Fang Wei's family never runs out of food rations, so her sister and brother-in-law never lack food.

"You're worried that the Wu brothers will retaliate in the future, right? I've thought about that too. The problem is that even if I leave, my eldest son will still be in the team. That kid is very honest, and I'm afraid he'll suffer."

The second child in the family is studying in another city, and he definitely won't come back after he finishes his studies. He's a vocational school graduate, after which the government guarantees him a job, and he's destined to be a government-subsidized employee.

The eldest son is rather dull and not good at studying, so he can only stay at home and farm.

Tian Bingyi helped his son get married and even offered to let his son and daughter-in-law live separately, all for his own good. But now, with the Wu brothers watching him like hawks, he and Fang Mei were worried about leaving their son behind.

I'm really torn.

"What's there to be afraid of? I'll deal with those five brothers sooner or later. Send your eldest nephew and his wife to the bamboo ware factory. His uncle is the factory manager, he'll definitely be able to take care of them."

Fang Wei naturally had the confidence to say this. He wasn't the kind of person who would turn his back on his family. He could lead the commune members to get rich, so he would naturally help his sister's family live a good life as well.

Tian Bingyi spoke first, then shook his head. "My situation in the team isn't as bad as you think, otherwise wouldn't I be a terrible captain? Although some people are afraid of getting into trouble, quite a few people are still on my side."

I've spoken with about ten members, and they're willing to form a cooperative group with me. The question now is whether you're willing to accept me into your cooperative, even just nominally.

Tian Bingyi remains optimistic about breeding. He plans to cultivate high-yield vegetable seeds and then drive the formation of vegetable planting bases in the surrounding areas.

The brigade is very close to the county seat. In the past, half of the fish produced by the brigade was supplied to the county, and the same will be true for vegetables in the future. He is not afraid of the Wu brothers. As long as this mutual aid group is established, the Wu brothers are nothing.

“It’s probably not possible to really accept you into our cooperative; the county wouldn’t agree either. But if it’s just in name, we can use the guise of cooperation, and I’ll provide you with technical support.”

Fang Wei listened and felt that her brother-in-law made sense. For a dignified captain to just leave like that, anyone who didn't know better would think he was afraid of those thugs from the Wu family.

In fact, cultivating high-yield vegetable seeds or supplying vegetables to county towns is more profitable than growing grain.

A dozen or so households also lived together, growing some grain to fulfill their quotas, and using the resulting land to cultivate vegetable seeds. Since Tian Bingyi was willing to operate under the banner of the "Yaoling Seed Industry Cooperative," he could designate this portion of land.

This has been verified in previous breeding bases and in Northeast China, and there are no problems.

“That’s enough. We were very weak at the beginning, and we needed your reputation and technical support to develop. Why don’t you stay tonight? I’ll go and call everyone over. Having you here will give them a lot of confidence.”

Tian Bingyi had originally planned to settle this matter before the summer planting season, but now that Fang Wei had given him his assurance, he couldn't sit still any longer and got up to go find someone.

Before long, nearly twenty commune members arrived at my home.

Fang Wei reiterated his willingness to help them cultivate superior varieties, and also agreed to allow them to engage in production activities under the guise of a cooperative.

This is essentially the idea of ​​having a powerful backer; on the one hand, the seeds they cultivate are easy to sell, and on the other hand, no one dares to bully them.

For Fang Wei, it was just a small favor; as long as he didn't misuse the cooperative's name, everything would be fine. If he didn't trust others, how could he not trust his second brother-in-law?

"But I must make this clear from the outset: you cannot take any shortcuts. If I discover any such problems, our verbal agreement will be null and void, and the cooperative will hold you accountable."

"No way. If you help us and we still mess around, then we're not human."

Fang Wei nodded, agreeing to lead everyone to prosperity.

Such alliances can only be based on shared interests. To give people hope, there must be constraints. This would make Tian Bingyi's work easier.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Tian Bingyi immediately took out paper and pen, and everyone wrote a document, signing and pressing their fingerprints on it. This was the form of contract at the grassroots level, ensuring that no one would break the contract.

For Fang Wei, this was just a trivial matter.

The next day, he went to the fields with Tian Bingyi and had to admire his brother-in-law's foresight.

The fields of these people in the mutual aid group are all connected, which will make future production much easier.

"Brother-in-law, what are your plans for the next stage of production?"

As Fang Wei expected, he directly designated these lands. Including these fields in the planting area made things much easier; whether for breeding or rice cultivation, yields would be guaranteed.

"We plan to plant some rice to pay the grain tax and ensure our own food supply, and use the rest of the land to cultivate vegetable seeds."

Of course, it would be even better if we could cultivate high-yield rice varieties. I'm confident I can exchange them for grain, which would further increase everyone's income.

As Tian Bingyi answered, he looked at Fang Wei with anticipation.

In fact, he had tried to cultivate rice varieties and helped the breeding base cultivate breeding materials in previous years, but all of them ended in failure.

He had given up hope, but the achievements of the breeding center and the entire Yaoling Commune in breeding rekindled his hope.

Fang Wei had no doubt about the other party's ability to exchange rice seeds. In the past, the commune members did not have control over the means of production, and many things had to be done through the production team, so an order from above could be executed.

Now that the household responsibility system has been implemented, it's very easy to exchange rice seeds for grain. It's entirely a private matter, and the authorities have no way to stop it.

As long as there are benefits, no one can stop this kind of trade-in program.

“I don’t think it’s a big problem. The cooperative has already started cultivating the Nanguang No. 3 rice variety. You can give it a try.”

Fang Wei agreed to the other party's request and then asked Tian Bingyi to find as many more related members as possible to form an alliance.

Breeding requires economies of scale.

"Okay! I'll go to your cooperative to buy breeding materials tomorrow."

Once Tian Bingyi made up his mind, he acted immediately.

Fang Wei didn't linger and returned to the team. This kind of small-scale cooperation was limited to family and friends; she wouldn't bother others.

Time flies.

The cooperative's rice yield results are in, with a total output of 11200 million jin and an average yield of 1400 jin per mu.

According to feedback data, the yield of "Nanguang No. 3" on a large scale is approximately between 1250 and 1400 jin per mu. The specific yield depends on other factors, such as fertilization and field management.

This is a remarkable breakthrough. If it can be successfully promoted, the rice yield in the province will reach a new level in the future.

morning.

Fang Wei received a new document.

As required by higher authorities, the purchase price of grain will increase by 20% starting from the summer harvest this year, and the purchase price of cash crops such as soybeans will increase by 30%. The purchase price of grain outside the procurement quota (also known as over-procured grain) will increase by 50%.

The grain procurement work for this season is about to begin, and this document has arrived at a very opportune time.

Correspondingly, the purchase price of rice seeds has also risen. For example, the purchase price of the "Nanguang No. 3" rice seed was previously set at 1.58 yuan per jin, but now it has risen directly to 2.05 yuan per jin.

The selling price of grain has also increased to some extent; these are all measures to encourage agricultural production.

Low grain prices hurt farmers; if grain prices remain inverted for a long period, it will not be conducive to increasing grain production and collection.

Currently, control over farmers at all levels is gradually weakening; the only way to encourage them to grow more grain is through economic means. (End of Chapter)