The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 262 Two Solutions: Group Toasting

"Secretary Liu, I have a few methods, but they may not be correct; and I will definitely consult with relevant technical experts after I return to Beijing."

Zhou Zhiqiang prepared a backup plan for what he was about to say, to avoid giving Liu Danian too much hope.

"Let's start with what's easier to do. How many women in Hongqi Village know how to weave bamboo mats and baskets? Our factory can buy them long-term. During the off-season, they can weave bamboo mats and baskets and sell them all to our factory."

"It will save you from not being able to sell your finished products. After our machine tool factory buys them, we can also use them to provide welfare for our workers."

Bamboo baskets are used as vegetable baskets, and bamboo mats are used by every household, and they need to be replaced almost every few years.

Their main factory plus branch factories, and two supporting factories, total more than 16,000 workers, which means more than 10,000 families.

Even if all the households in Hongqi Village were to weave, it might not be enough to meet the needs of all the worker families at Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory.

Bamboo mats are something everyone needs; in the summer, who doesn't prepare a few bamboo mats at home?

As for the bamboo baskets, they were a small perk for the workers' families. Having a bamboo basket was better than having none, and who would complain about something the factory gave out?

"Director Zhizhou, can your factory buy things from our village? Every household makes bamboo mats and baskets. If you can buy them, it could significantly increase the village's income throughout the year."

Upon hearing this, Liu Danian immediately asked excitedly, "In this day and age, it's a bit shameful if there are still people in the village who don't know how to weave bamboo mats."

Even if a child doesn't know how, they can learn it after following along twice; it's not difficult.

Upon hearing this good news, Liu Danian, the village party secretary, even changed his address and started calling Zhou Zhiqiang by his title.

"Director Zhou, every household in our village knows how to weave, and some can even start after the New Year."

Zhou Zhiqiang nodded after hearing this and said, "Okay, then this will be a stable source of income for your village."

"And then there's farming, Comrade Danian. To be honest, besides farming and sideline jobs during the off-season, I can't think of any other way to help you."

It's impossible to recruit workers from Hongqi Village on a large scale, given the current food shortage and the importance of rural labor.

The labor force for farming has been recruited by factories in the city, so what will happen to the farmland in the countryside? You have to understand that China just experienced a period of famine, and it has only been in the last two years that we have slowly recovered.

Recruiting one or two people is possible, and even a dozen or so is acceptable; but recruiting dozens of people is beyond Zhou Zhiqiang's capabilities.

The only options are sideline jobs during the off-season and farming. All other avenues are completely blocked.

"Comrade Danian, I know a method, greenhouse and shed cultivation. It seems the Ministry of Agriculture is already experimenting with it. I can help Hongqi Village take the lead; Hongqi Village might have the opportunity to become a pilot site."
"I can't guarantee it will work. If it doesn't, then Hongqi Village will have to raise the funds for the experiment themselves. But I feel that greenhouse cultivation and shed planting will definitely be fine."

Zhou Zhiqiang thought about it for a moment, and it seemed to be a technical idea that came about two years ago. This year, it has begun to be promoted and tested in the suburbs.

Then they discovered that the vegetable harvest in the greenhouse could increase by about 50%, and this was still in the north.

The harvest from experimental greenhouses in Northeast China is unstable and requires more maintenance. The situation in Beijing is slightly better than in Northeast China.

The increase in vegetable yields from greenhouses in the south is truly astonishing, at most around 80% higher than that from open fields.

Sixty-five years later, greenhouse technology was gradually promoted. Now, in 1963, greenhouse cultivation in the suburbs of Beijing is still in the experimental stage.

Seeing that Liu Danian looked hesitant and was about to speak, Zhou Zhiqiang guessed what he wanted to say, so he waved his hand and interrupted, "If Hongqi Village doesn't have money, it can borrow some money from Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory in the name of worker-peasant mutual aid."

However, I want to make this clear first: you absolutely must repay this loan, even if it takes a few years.

“The expenses for a greenhouse experimental field are not very high, but if you take good care of it, the harvest will be great. So I suggest you give it a try. Of course, your production team should discuss this internally first. If everyone agrees, come to the factory to find me next year.”

The last time was during those difficult years, when the rural areas and communes were in dire straits, and the machine tool factory helped out.

But he couldn't let Hongqi Village and Sanhe Commune develop the habit of coming to the machine tool factory for help whenever they encountered hardship.

Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory belongs to the state, not to Zhou Zhiqiang personally. If they really develop the habit of coming to the factory to ask for help, then the factory workers will be dissatisfied.

"We will definitely repay it, we will definitely repay it. We are truly grateful for your help, Director Zhou."

Liu Danian quickly expressed his gratitude, saying that if they weren't still at the market with so many people around, he would have bowed deeply to Zhou Zhiqiang to express his heartfelt thanks. Seeking advice from capable people is effective; if he relied on his own intellect, he wouldn't be able to come up with a way to improve the villagers' lives even after a year of racking his brains.

After asking Zhou Zhiqiang, he quickly received two solutions, and Liu Danian felt that he had made the right decision to seek help from Zhou Zhiqiang.

Even if the greenhouse experimental field method doesn't work, the simple act of weaving bamboo mats and baskets during the off-season can earn each household in Hongqi Village two or three yuan a month.

Although bamboo mats and baskets are cheap, costing only a few cents, they still attract many idle people in the household to weave them.

Afterwards, Zhou Zhiqiang chatted with Liu Danian about other ways to increase rural income. He said that only by solving the problems of agricultural machinery and fertilizers could rural areas gradually improve.

Furthermore, agricultural machinery also needs to address the issue of fuel shortages; otherwise, diesel fuel is too expensive for rural areas to afford.

Everything else is secondary; the most fundamental thing is farming. Grain is the red line, and we must ensure its stability.

------

After browsing the market for a while, Zhou Bocai and Guo Chenghua bought some things, but they quickly got tired of it.

Rural markets are lively, but the variety of goods is limited; the two kids were just looking for something new and exciting.

The group then set off for Hongqi Village. Liu Danian even offered Zhou Zhiqiang a ride in the oxcart, but Zhou Zhiqiang refused.

It's one thing for kids to ride in an oxcart, but adults these days would never ride in one; oxen are far more precious than people.

The oxcart bumped along the road, with adults following behind.

Liu Danian continued to ingratiate himself with Zhou Zhiqiang, but Zhou Zhiqiang finally couldn't resist letting him talk about today's celebration, thus stopping Liu Danian's endless 'work report' along the way.

He could offer an idea or get some help from the machine tool factory, but the agricultural production tasks were completely irrelevant to him, the director of Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory.

They quickly arrived at Hongqi Village.

The atmosphere in the village is lively right now. Tables and chairs have been set up in the village, and stoves have been built at the entrance of the village, where people are cooking.

As soon as you enter the village, you can smell the aroma of vegetables.

When they saw Zhou Zhiqiang return, some of the elderly people in the village excitedly went up to greet him.

In their eyes, Zhou Zhiqiang is the most capable person who has left their village.

Although his background was somewhat complicated, it was all the fault of that bastard Zhou Liumu's family. No one else in Hongqi Village ever spoke ill of Zhou Zhiqiang, and some even stood up for the original owner of this body.

However, it's not good to get involved in family matters. After saying a few words, they realized the Zhou family wouldn't listen, so they didn't want to interfere anymore.

After Zhou Zhiqiang and others arrived, the celebratory banquet at noon was quickly set up.

Zhou Zhiqiang's family was seated at the main table, where the dishes were the most plentiful, including a large pot of pork stew with cabbage and a large pot of roast chicken.

Before the banquet officially began, village party secretary Liu Danian stood up, raised his glass, and loudly addressed everyone from Hongqi Village who had come to attend:

"Fellow villagers! Today, Hongqi Village is slaughtering a pig for the New Year. Why are we so happy?"

Because our lives are getting better and better. Why are they getting better? It's because we listened to Director Zhou's idea: growing mushrooms, doing side businesses, and exchanging goods with big factories in the city!

Without Director Zhou, there would be no banquet in Hongqi Village today!

For this first toast, I suggest we raise it to Factory Director Zhou! To this great hero of Hongqi Village!

Upon hearing this, the other villagers happily raised their glasses in unison and said, "To Director Zhou."

Zhou Zhiqiang also stood up, raised his glass, and said, "Don't say that, everyone. If you ask me, the reason why Hongqi Village has such a good harvest this year is the result of the joint efforts of all the production team members and villagers!"

(End of this chapter)