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

To be honest, seawater rice is more suitable for planting on coastal mudflats. The Northwest is short of water, and not every piece of saline-alkali land is suitable for planting seawater rice.

Fang Wei will next cultivate a variety of new salt-tolerant crop varieties, integrating breeding and planting into a complete process.

But his company is just a small company, so this needs to be done slowly.

This morning.

Professor Ma and Professor Lin came to the village; they had some things they needed to discuss with Fang Wei.

Fang Wei asked Yang Feng to lead the guests to the small meeting room first. He then prepared some documents and brought them over later.

"Professor Ma, Professor Lin, let me first tell you about the basic situation of Juli Agriculture."

After Fang Wei sat down, he opened the documents in his hand and introduced the various data of Juli Agriculture.

Currently, the company owns 400 mu (approximately 66.7 hectares) of tidal flats in Shenzhen, all of which are experimental fields. Additionally, it owns 30,000 mu (approximately 2,000 hectares) of saline-alkali land in Xiachu County in Northwest China, primarily used for planting salt-tolerant crops and also for cultivating salt-tolerant crop seeds.

The company has already invested 500 million yuan in Xiachu County, and with the previous investment in the Shenzhen experimental field, the total investment amount has reached 800 million yuan.

Fang Wei alone invested 560 million yuan.

"Currently, the sales of 1500 million jin of seawater rice are going well. The company settled accounts with Yaoling Sales Company at 3.2 yuan per jin, with a total payment of 4800 million yuan. So far, nearly 3000 million yuan has been received."

Of course, because seawater rice is a new technology, my price is relatively high. If future production increases, the profit margin will certainly be lower, but the price reduction won't be significant either.

Fangwei attributed the health benefits of seawater rice to its marketing strategy, so the price was set based on the price of health food rather than the price of rice.

The selling price from the sales company is higher, but the final market retail price will not exceed 8 yuan.

This price is not high for health food products.

"This method book is truly a brilliant tactic! We just couldn't come up with this idea. Scarcity increases value; it seems you've grasped the essence of marketing. It sounds excellent. Do we have enough funds for our development?"

Although it sounds encouraging, this season is expected to bring in 4800 million yuan in revenue.

Professor Ma clearly understood the rules of business operations back then. This money was not net profit; it included the investment of all shareholders and all expenses and costs.

Moreover, the company had no income until the autumn harvest this year.

Therefore, he was worried about whether the company's operating funds could be sustained.

"I'm very nervous! We need to purchase water-saving irrigation technology next. I'm thinking that we should set up a separate department to specialize in the research, development, production and sales of water-saving irrigation technology."

In addition, we need to establish a research and development center specifically to study salt-tolerant crops and cultivate new varieties. Considering all this, our funds are really stretched thin, so we might consider seeking policy-based loans.

Fang Wei originally just wanted to dabble in seawater rice in his spare time.

But as he progressed, it was as if he was being pushed forward, and once he started, he couldn't stop.

The company has grown to a considerable size without anyone realizing it. Its high starting point is due to its mastery of advanced technology, but the need for capital is unavoidable.

Therefore, he considered applying for a policy-based loan, since the government provides substantial support for researching and producing salt-tolerant crops and managing saline-alkali land.

"That's a good idea! I'm quite familiar with the Agricultural Development Bank, so I can contact them through acquaintances."

Professor Ma and Professor Lin exchanged a glance and then agreed to Fang Wei's plan.

Although they disagreed, they couldn't stop Fang Wei's decision, since the two of them together only owned 30% of the company's shares. However, Fang Wei still needed their help in many areas, and discussing important matters was a way of showing respect to them.

The three shared similar ideas, so they quickly reached a consensus.

"It's already noon. Come on, let me treat you two to lunch in the county town."

It was already noon, so Fang Wei took the two of them to Linhe Restaurant and treated them to a meal.

Professor Ma and Professor Lin stayed one night at the Yaoling Hotel and set off back to Beijing the next day.

Sure enough, Professor Ma quickly contacted the Agricultural Development Bank of China after returning home, and there's a high probability he'll be able to secure a special support loan.

Time flies.

With spring approaching, all units of Yaoling Agriculture have become busy.

Fang Wei did not go on inspection tours to various places, but instead handed over this task to Cai Tong.

He has now handed over more than half of his work to the other party, who is not just a figurehead vice chairman but has already wielded considerable power on the group's board of directors.

Fang Wei's signs of handing over power are becoming increasingly obvious, and many people have noticed it.

three days later.

Fang Wei went to the capital for a meeting and asked Yang Feng to meet him in Xiachu County later.

There wasn't much to say about this meeting; it was quite standard. However, many familiar delegates offered their congratulations in advance, wishing him a successful election as an academician.

This kind of thing is public anyway; there's a public announcement process, and everyone will find out sooner or later. Fang Wei expressed his gratitude and then promised that if he were elected, he would definitely treat everyone to drinks.

After the meeting, he went directly from the capital to Xiachu County.

While spring planting was in full swing in the south, it was still chilly in Xiachu County. Therefore, Wang Muqi and his team were taking their time, preparing to sow the seeds only when the weather warmed up.

According to the plan, 20,000 mu of seawater rice and 10,000 mu of alfalfa will be planted this spring.

Alfalfa can be harvested four or five times a year, and sometimes five or six times, making it quite profitable. The economy of Xiachu County and its surrounding areas is mainly based on animal husbandry and agriculture, so alfalfa sells very well.

When will the applicants arrive?

The stove was still burning in the office, and tea was being brewed on the iron stove, filling the room with a fragrant aroma.

Fang Wei sat in the chair and looked at Wang Muqi. The main reason he came early this time was for recruitment.

Xiachu County is relatively remote and living conditions are quite harsh. I wonder if we can recruit some capable people.

The interview is scheduled for three days from now.

Wang Muqi wasn't very optimistic about this recruitment. He thought it would be easy to hire farm workers; he could find them in the local area or surrounding counties and cities.

However, recruiting qualified managers and technicians is quite troublesome, as it requires recruitment throughout the entire Northwest region, and so far only about twenty resumes have been received.

"Okay, let's go take a walk in the fields first."

This year there are new construction plans, such as the construction of a research and development center including experimental fields, a breeding center, and new staff dormitories.

The office building is already in use, and there are still some staff dormitories left, but they are definitely not enough for the newly recruited staff, so we need to continue building more dormitories.

In addition, a boiler room will be built. Once the boiler room is completed, the offices and dormitories will no longer need to use stoves, as they can be heated by water.

All the projects added up to a large expense, but fortunately, labor is cheap here and there is no shortage of various building materials, so the cost is still acceptable.

“Secretary, the R&D center and experimental fields cover 500 mu, the breeding center covers 2000 mu, and there is room for expansion. The county has also specially approved 200 mu of residential land for the company, so we can build apartment buildings or even villas.”

The county is quite generous; there is plenty of land outside the county seat, and as long as it's not basic farmland, you can have as much as you want.

They even allocated residential land to the company to build employee housing and management housing, and they could even build some villas if they wanted.

"Wow, the county is really generous."

Fang Wei looked around and saw that the surroundings were still desolate. Who would build a villa here?
However, we could build some bungalows with yards, mainly for management and technical staff. Since they're all from out of town, their families will need a place to stay when they visit, right?
There's no need to worry about the local employees; just make sure everyone has a dormitory.

The dormitory is a four-person room, and the entire dormitory area has several public bathrooms, washrooms and toilets, so the conditions are quite good by local standards.

The company is still in the startup phase, so we should save money where possible.

A few days passed quickly, and the day of the interview arrived. Fang Weiyi arrived at the conference room early.

A group of job applicants arrived yesterday afternoon, and the company has temporarily arranged accommodation and meals for them.

Fang Wei's interviews will begin soon, and another batch of applicants are expected to arrive today, so time is still very tight.

He was busy from morning till night, and then all the interviews were finished.

A total of 27 people came to apply for jobs here, and even the least qualified had a bachelor's degree and some work experience. The high salary was naturally the primary reason why they were willing to come to such a remote place to work.

In addition, due to the close relationship between Juli Agriculture and Yaoling Agriculture, they are optimistic about the company's future development.

Among these, three stand out: Qi Cheng, who is in management; Feng Xiaojiang from the Northwest Academy of Agricultural Sciences; and Ma Yuchen, who specializes in water-saving irrigation technology.

The others weren't as outstanding, but they were all useful.

Fang Wei hired all 27 people, assigned Qi Cheng to cooperate with Wang Muqi to manage the company's overall operations, assigned Feng Xiaojiang to be in charge of the R&D center and experimental fields, and assigned Ma Yuchen to be in charge of water-saving irrigation.

The remaining personnel were assigned to various departments based on their respective expertise.

The head of the finance department is Fang Qiming from the village. He studied finance in college and has been working at Yaoling Group ever since.

Fang Wei talked to him during the Spring Festival, and the other party was willing to come to work in Xiachu County. This was partly because the two were relatives, and partly because Fang Wei offered a high salary.

Soon, the framework of Juli Agriculture was set up.

"Everyone, we don't have time to work out, so let's work out during the spring planting season."

Time flies.

Juli Agriculture has finally ushered in the spring planting season.

The research and development center wasn't finished yet, but that didn't matter; the experimental fields were readily available. Feng Xiaojiang immediately began work. They would conduct research on salt-tolerant alfalfa, with two objectives: first, to increase yield, and second, to raise the critical value for salt tolerance. (End of Chapter)