Siheyuan: I am a trader in both worlds!

Chapter 486 The Soybean War
Upon hearing Ximen Lang's words, Lao Luo and Bai Ling's first reaction
"What? You're even short of soybeans?! And you have to spend huge sums of money importing them every year? You can't possibly be short of soybeans? Are you kidding us? How could you possibly be short of this stuff?!"

However, when they heard Ximen Lang's next sentence...
"We have to import hundreds of millions of tons every year, otherwise it's simply not enough."

Whether it's Lao Luo or Bai Ling.

Everyone present, except for Gao Cheng and others who were from later generations, was completely unsettled.

Bai Ling, who had just shown off to Ximen Lang, could hardly believe her ears.

Thinking he had misheard, he quickly grabbed Ximen Lang's shoulder and asked in a voice that was eight octaves higher.

"No, how much? Hundreds of millions of tons?! And hundreds of millions of tons every year?! Are you kidding me?! How could there be such a huge shortfall?!"

It's no wonder Bai Ling was so excited; the amount of soybeans imported every year in later generations was simply enormous.

There were so many that they were beyond her comprehension!

As mentioned above, Beijing is the world's largest soybean producer, with nearly 2 million mu of arable land planted with soybeans, yet the annual output is only about 500 million tons!

But in later generations, the shortage started at 100 million tons!

Good heavens, even a fraction of that is more than the annual output of the entire city of Beijing!
How could Bai Ling, who was originally planning to support the future generations and show off her skills, possibly hold back?

Unable to believe her ears, Bai Ling quickly asked.

"Wait, what are you going to do with all this soybeans? How can you possibly consume so many?"

Seeing that Bai Ling still didn't believe him, Ximen Lang counted on his fingers and explained things to her one by one.

“Our annual oil consumption is so high, why would we need it for oil extraction? And it would take at least tens of millions of tons! That alone would consume 20% of our soybeans, wouldn’t it?”

"And this feed is different from our livestock. They either grow fat or they don't, and there's nothing we can do about it. Back home, we rely on our livestock getting fat so we can slaughter them and eat them!"

“We don’t have as many high-quality natural pastures as those major livestock-producing countries. If we want our livestock to gain weight, do we have to feed them something good? Hmm? Do we have to feed them more nutritious food? Once we start feeding them, well, more than 70 or 80% of their weight is gone.”

"Besides that, there are also traditional soybean products that we often eat, such as tofu, soy milk, soy sauce, and fermented black beans. None of these can be separated from soybeans! Add to that industrial uses, such as biodiesel and industrial raw materials, and 100 million tons is simply not enough!"

While speaking, he quickly glanced at his phone.

Based on the numbers above, Ximen Lang spoke without hesitation.

"Take last year for example, we imported a whopping 10503 million tons of soybeans, and that was barely enough."

Halfway through his conversation, Ximen Lang realized something was wrong.

"Wait a minute, 10503 million tons! Hey, what's your soybean production again?"

"More than 500 million tons."

"Be more specific, how much exactly!"

"509.2 million tons, but that's data from when the country was first founded. Several years have passed, and it's definitely much more now!"

"A lot more? How much more?"

"It must be at least several million tons, right? It might even double!"

The words "it might even double" made Ximen Lang unable to hold back any longer. He chased after Bai Ling, whose face was already starting to look unnatural, and said irritably.

"Even if you double it, how much is that? 10 million tons? No, right? But how much land do you cultivate for soybeans? A full 200 million mu! A full 200 million mu of soybeans, and this is all you've produced?"

"And this is all you're bragging about, saying how amazing you are, and that the Americans are nothing compared to you! Are you kidding me? With this kind of production, how can you be number one in the world?"

Bai Lingxiong was so humiliated that she couldn't lift her head anymore, and she never dared to whimper and act like a pig with a scallion stuck in its nose in front of Ximen Lang again.

Seeing that his output was far less than the astronomical figures of later generations, which was indeed somewhat laughable, Lao Luo also put away his smug expression and said with a face full of embarrassment.

“We don’t want it to be like this either, but the problem is that the soybean yield is only so much. We want to plant well and produce more soybeans, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

"If there's no other way, then we'll have to find a way!"

"You make it sound so easy. You don't even look at our situation. We're so poor, and those damn Americans are still relentlessly imposing all sorts of sanctions. They won't sell us anything, they won't let us learn anything. We'd love to, but we can't learn anything, and we can't sell anything!"

"In addition, there are several other areas that require concentrated efforts, all of which are many times more important than increasing soybean production. These are all major undertakings that require tightening one's belt to barely meet supply. Soybeans, of course, are not given much attention."

Ximen Lang was utterly speechless.

Gao Cheng, who was standing to the side, didn't know what to say for a moment.

It made Ximen Lang feel depressed.

The conversation turned.

Luo asked about the point that he still couldn't understand.

"No, what's the situation over there? Let's leave aside the high demand—you explained that perfectly, and I understand. But how can you still rely on imports? And in such large quantities! You've always emphasized food security, so how can you still import so much from abroad?"

What's the key?
The key point is that agriculture was very advanced in later generations!

Compared to them, the people in the Four Nine Cities World are like toddlers learning to walk, not even children.

"But what was the result? You still spent huge sums of money, all of which benefited outsiders. Wasn't this a waste of money?"

"Yes, why?"

After Lao Luo asked him this, Ximen Lang also realized that something was wrong.

"Yes, you're right. We started out by farming, so why should we rely so much on imports and let foreigners benefit from all our hard-earned money?"

I really don't understand why it turned out this way, or why it had to turn out this way!

While muttering
"There's no reason why we should lose to them in soybeans, since we can handle wheat and rice!"

Meanwhile, Ximen Lang immediately pulled out his all-purpose mobile phone. Under the speechless gazes of Lao Luo and Bai Ling, Hao Pingchuan and Gao Cheng immediately activated the highest level of alert and began searching as if no one else was around.

The more Ximen Lang searched, the deeper his brows furrowed. The more he learned about this cruel history, the more frustrated he felt.

After a long while, Ximen Lang, having finally understood everything, let out a sigh of relief, full of regret.

"Although we have indeed been winning all the time in recent years, almost to the point of exhaustion, we have not always been the winners. We have also lost. In this invisible war over soybeans, we lost, and lost completely."

(End of this chapter)