Chapter 82: Ecological Farm

Chapter 82: Ecological Farm

Although Shen Jiaming had clearly expressed his stance, the leader still refused to budge. He was the old director of the city's Agriculture Bureau and would be retiring in two years; now, much of the work was being handled by Deputy Directors like Guo Yan.

With an attitude that suggested he had nothing to lose since retirement was imminent, he said, "Mayor Shen, even if it means offending someone, I must express my views. Given our city's current situation, the best solution is to transfer Little Tang Teacher to the Municipal Committee and have her work with Guo Yan to take full responsibility for this project."

In his view, no farmer would refuse the opportunity to move to the city. If there were any chance at all, they would do everything possible to relocate, but simply lacked the opportunity.

Transfer Tang Yuan to the Municipal Committee, give her a position as a junior officer, and have her oversee the city-wide biogas ecological agricultural breeding program.

Establish a cannery in the city, have the suburban commune raise pigs and grow mushrooms, while other brigades should cooperate in building biogas digesters, raising pigs, planting medicinal herbs, and growing mushrooms. This way, the city can concentrate its manpower, material resources, and finances on this new ecological agricultural construction.

The Forward Brigade will serve as an experimental brigade. If the experiment succeeds, it proves the model is viable and can be promoted throughout the city, thus completing their task.

Of course, the Forward Brigade can continue raising pigs, growing mushrooms, and cultivating medicinal herbs, with the higher-ups responsible for procurement.

However, establishing a cannery within the brigade seems impractical, primarily due to the high initial investment costs.

The Forward Brigade is located in a remote mountain area with poor transportation. To build a factory there, roads would first need to be constructed.

Constructing roads requires conscripted labor, which would require money and food, right?

Building the factory would require funds for construction, cold storage, and trucks, right?

Would electricity be available?

Each of these tasks is a major undertaking.

Even in the city, power supply is tight, with power outages one-third of the day. Other electrified communes also experience 20-hour blackouts daily. How could they bear the additional burden of supplying power to a rural factory?

What they can achieve in the Forward Brigade, they could accomplish more cost-effectively in the city. Why go through the trouble?

According to his plan, transferring Tang Yuan to the city would benefit the entire city, requiring only a small sacrifice from the Forward Brigade. Sacrificing the interests of a few for the benefit of many is reasonable.

Establishing a cannery in the Forward Brigade would mean having the entire city support the brigade, sacrificing the majority for the benefit of a few. This is unreasonable.

Many attendees were convinced by his analysis and began to waver.

Seeing this, Shen Jiaming sighed inwardly, knowing that the Forward Brigade would not be able to establish a cannery at least in the short term.

Ji Hongyue, still young, became angry upon hearing this.

At that moment, Director Han addressed him, "Little Ji, you are in charge of the experimental brigade. Work with Little Tang to get her transferred to the city and give her a formal position."

Ji Hongyue barely managed to control himself from rolling his eyes, receiving silent warnings from Shen Jiaming and subtle reminders from Guo Yan, knowing he couldn't lose his composure.

But how he wished he could flip the table!

He suppressed his anger and forced a slightly mocking smile, "Director Han, Little Tang Teacher is dedicated to her hometown and its people. She is a pure-hearted individual. A long time ago, I suggested transferring her to the county biogas office, but she refused. She said she wanted to share the hardships with her fellow villagers and implement her innovative ideas on her hometown's land, then promote them elsewhere once successful. Since the experiment hasn't fully succeeded yet, we've only seen a few pigs, baskets of mushrooms, and carts of herbs. How can we directly replicate this model in the city?"

He paused and continued, "Establishing a cannery in the brigade is indeed more complex than in the city, but we have the confidence and determination to overcome these difficulties. Initially, we only need a basic canning production line. Leaders have said, 'Don't forget those who dug the well when drinking water.' I believe we should let the experimental brigade dig this well deeper."

Han Shourong interrupted him, "Their brigade doesn't have electricity. With the current oil crisis, diesel is expensive and scarce, insufficient for running a factory."

Ji Hongyue responded, "The brigade generates electricity from biogas, which is self-sufficient."

Tang Yuan had mentioned that next spring, they would expand the biogas digesters, pig farms, mushroom greenhouses, and chicken coops. They would use these assets as collateral to obtain loans from credit cooperatives and banks in phases, purchasing new generators, crushers, boilers, and tractors.

Biogas-generated electricity is sufficient for the cannery's needs. Once it reaches a certain scale, they could include other brigades, with excess electricity to spare.

Regarding transportation issues, Binxian County organizes conscripted labor annually to build roads. This year, they are already constructing a road connecting Shuangmen Mountain Commune to the Forward Brigade.

Han Shourong ignored Ji Hongyue's examples and began lecturing, "Young comrade, as leaders, we must have a sense of balance, a greater love, and a stronger sense of responsibility. We must emphasize the spirit of sacrifice. The minority must serve the majority, and small groups must contribute to the larger collective. This has always been our policy."

Ji Hongyue nodded, "Indeed, so let the Forward Brigade conduct the experiments first. If successful, promote this model to other regions to benefit more people. If it fails, they will bear the consequences themselves."

The funds for the factory are loans, not free handouts. If it fails, the Forward Brigade will have to repay the loans year after year.

Of course, he and Tang Yuan, Feng Chen, and Guo Yan had carefully calculated that, based on current development, the cannery would not incur losses.

Especially after opening export markets, profits would only increase.

Exporting and earning foreign exchange is true dedication to the country, isn't it?

He knew Han Shourong was dissatisfied with him, urging him not to cling to these achievements and instead prioritize the bigger picture.

But isn't he prioritizing the bigger picture?

If the experiment hasn't succeeded yet, how can you start harvesting the fruits?

Fortunately, Tang Yuan had prepared some data and information for Ji Hongyue, anticipating other brigades or leaders might try to claim the credit.

She explicitly expressed her desire not to move to the city, wanting to contribute to her hometown's development and help her fellow villagers escape poverty and have enough to eat while serving the country.

Her presence in the city would merely be icing on the cake, neither hindering nor accelerating the city's development. However, for the Forward Brigade, she is indispensable, providing essential support to help them escape poverty and have enough to eat.

This difference is significant.

She provided a vision for the development of ecological agriculture, including biogas production, the benefits of slurry and liquid waste, and the prospects of accompanying pig farms, medicinal fields, and orchards.

Within three to five years, the Forward Brigade's ecological farm could reach an initial scale, relying on loans and fundraising to establish a small-scale cannery.

Ji Hongyue presented these data points to the attendees, gaining their favor and approval.

The meeting continued, and under Shen Jiaming's guidance, they reached a consensus—reassess the experimental brigade's progress next year. If all goes well, consider allocating funds the following year to help them build a cannery.

Ji Hongyue accepted this outcome.

Ji Hongyue didn’t stay long in the city, to avoid seeing Han Shourong eating the fragrant pork and mushrooms he had brought, which would upset him.

The County Party Committee was also conducting year-end reviews, praising outstanding individuals, and setting plans for the coming year.

The county government always mobilized volunteer labor during the agricultural off-season to build roads and water channels, and this year was no exception.

This year, their focus was on connecting the road from Shuangmen Mountain to the direction of Qianjin Brigade, including a section through the mountains.

Once the road is connected, passenger buses can run. A journey that used to take half a day will now take less than an hour.

Building roads in this era is arduous, but it has improved significantly compared to the 1950s and 1960s. In the past, thousands of people would work together using human labor alone.

Manual stone carving, digging soil, carrying loads by hand, and manual compaction—it couldn’t get any harder.

Now, with trucks, tractors, rollers, and even hydraulic excavators assisting, building roads, especially mountain roads, is much faster.

Binxian County doesn’t have excavators, so they borrowed them from the city’s construction bureau.

With the help of machines, the road from Shuangmen Mountain Commune to Qianjin Brigade was built more smoothly.

By the end of the ninth month of the lunar calendar the following year, the road connecting Shuangmen Mountain to Qianjin Brigade, Yuejin Brigade, Xiangyang Brigade, and several other brigades was finally completed. For rural folks, this was a significant event, even more joyous than the New Year.

After planting wheat, the brigade members entered a brief period of agricultural downtime, and people from nearby brigades rushed to visit the new road.

Although it wasn’t a concrete or asphalt road, just a compacted dirt and gravel surface, it remained passable even in rain or snow.

The key point was that vehicles could now travel directly from the commune to this area!

Feng Yi, He Jianhua, Qiu Jinping, and other educated youths rushed to the road to watch.

"If the road is open, wouldn’t it be easier for us to go home?"

"Previously, it took two days to get home by going around the east side. Now, although it seems farther, it’s actually quicker!"

At this moment, Feimao Tui ran over, shouting, "Our brigade is also organizing members to build a village road this year, from the pig farm to the main road. Large vehicles will be able to enter directly."

Previously, trucks and tractors could enter, but not via a shortcut; they had to take a long detour and navigate some dangerous mountain roads, which required skilled driving.

Only vehicles that needed to come to Qianjin Brigade, like buses, avoided this route.

Now, after the mountain roads were repaired, bridges were built where needed, and the road widened and compacted with gravel, large vehicles could run quickly and steadily.

If the village road is built, large vehicles can enter the village directly.

Zhang Guifen smiled and said, "That makes delivering our quota pigs much easier. We won’t have to worry about the pigs losing weight by defecating on the way."

Every time they delivered quota pigs, the weight measured at home was sufficient, but by the time they reached the commune’s pig station, it was short by a pound or two.

Because the pigs defecated on the way, their weight decreased, and to meet the quota, they had to feed the pigs extra meals, which was a loss.

Everyone laughed and said, "We should finish building the village road this winter so we can transport pigs, mushrooms, and herbs faster and prevent the mushrooms from getting damaged."

Previously, when transporting mushrooms, they had to be very careful, padding the baskets with soft grass and covering them with small blankets to prevent them from being damaged on the way.

It would be much more convenient in the future.

Cao Yannu glanced at the sky and hurriedly told her mother-in-law Zhang Guifen before rushing to the pig farm to feed the pigs.

Zhang Guifen said, "Oh, I need to check on the chicks in the incubator too."

As planned by Tang Yuan, this spring saw steady progress. They established a chicken farm, raised free-range chickens and pigs in the mountains, and dug two larger biogas pools. They also expanded the mushroom greenhouses and herb fields.

The brigade used the pig farm, chicken farm, mushroom greenhouses, and herb fields as collateral to borrow money in batches from the county and city banks. They bought a proper tractor with a trailer, two generators, two crushing mixers, and two boilers. The power generation now fully covers the brigade’s needs.

The pig farm steadily expanded, with a total of 308 pigs, including 40 free-range pigs raised in the mountains.

The chicken farm grew from 50 chickens to the current 128.

At its peak, there were over 180 chickens, but due to mink and rat attacks, lost chickens, and deaths from illness, the number stabilized at around 130.

Tang Yuan felt this was a manageable scale given the limited manpower and resources of the brigade. More chickens would require additional hands and feed, exceeding the brigade’s capacity.

Of course, once the canned food production line is operational, they would expand further, collaborating with other brigades.

One-third of these 128 chickens lay eggs, while the rest are sold once they reach the required weight.

She organized a dedicated chick hatching team, led by experienced elderly women, with Tang Zhonghe’s mother Zhang Guifen as the team leader, assisted by five other elderly women.

They specialized in hatching chicks to replenish the sold meat chickens and could sell excess chicks to other brigades for coarse grains.

Now, everyone in Qianjin Brigade, regardless of age or gender, has work to do, staying busy even in winter. There are no idle hands, even disabled people like Liu Laizi are involved in processing herbs.

The elderly and children formed a chicken farming team, feeding the chickens with insects in the mountains three times a day, collecting eggs, and harvesting artificially cultivated wild black fungus.

Tang Yuan was extremely busy this year, tired yet happy, living a fulfilling life.

The exhaustion came from hard work, but the happiness stemmed from the fact that everyone in the brigade trusted and appreciated her.

Now, she and Feng Chen, though not official brigade cadres, wield authority and prestige beyond that of the cadres, serving as the primary managers of Qianjin Brigade’s ecological farm.

Now, the brigade members can eat pork every ten days or so and frequently enjoy eggs. The faces of the elderly and children show signs of nourishment, no longer gaunt as before.

Seeing the tangible benefits the brigade members received, Tang Yuan felt deeply gratified.

Initially, Secretary Liu was terrified by the loans and wanted to tighten belts to repay them, making life harder for the people.

However, Tang Yuan insisted on regular slaughters and egg distributions, allowing members to purchase them with work points to supplement their nutrition and gain strength for farm construction.

Through a year and a half of experimentation and accumulation, she and Feng Chen continuously adjusted the earthworm breeding formula based on the brigade’s actual conditions, and also raised other insects, such as yellow mealworms, commonly known as breadworms, which are ideal for feeding chickens.

Feng Chen also developed a new pig feed formula, primarily adjusting the proportions of coarse grains, biogas residue, and earthworms to find the optimal mix that could stimulate the pigs' appetite, improve digestion, and promote growth.

With this new formula, the pigs could be ready for market in six months.

This formula was a secret of the Forward Brigade, and they wouldn't directly teach it to other brigades.

Unless the cannery opens, other brigades would need to provide live pigs first.

Feng Chen helped her put on her coat. "Let's go home for dinner."

Tang Yuan patted the feed residue off her hands, went to the hand pump to wash them, and then walked out of the brigade laboratory side by side with Feng Chen.

As they were walking, He Songtao ran over like an excited husky. "Teacher Tang, Brother Feng, the road is open now. Cadre Ji is here."

Tang Yuan's face lit up, and she said to Feng Chen, "Maybe the cannery can be moved up on the schedule."

The two quickened their pace toward home.

Left behind, He Songtao rubbed his nose. Every time Teacher Tang and Brother Feng were together, he felt superfluous, as if they had no time for him.

Well, he could follow them back anyway.

He Songtao, He Jianhua, and Feng Yi were now the clerks at the ecological farm, serving as Tang Yuan's secretaries, essentially running errands and coordinating tasks for her.

Feng Yi was responsible for the pig farm and the earthworm breeding, He Songtao managed the medicinal herb fields and the chicken coop, while He Jianhua handled the mushroom greenhouses.

This arrangement worked well, suppressing He Jianhua's arrogance and self-importance, motivating Feng Yi to work harder, and keeping He Songtao grounded.

Now, the old and new educated youths were also effectively utilized by Tang Yuan. Last year, twenty educated youths were received, and this summer, Tang Yuan sent Feng Yi, He Songtao, and He Jianhua to the county to recruit another thirty educated youths.

They were so enthusiastic about recruiting that if Tang Yuan hadn't stopped them, they would have gone to the city and other counties too.

These educated youths were trained by the older ones, working hard in the mushroom greenhouses and the medicinal herb fields.

This year, they were busy planting and harvesting mushrooms, digging herbs in the fields, and now that the crops were almost planted, they were at their busiest.

When Tang Yuan and Feng Chen arrived home, they saw Ji Hongyue already there in a jeep.

After a year, Ji Hongyue had developed a certain air of authority. His handsome face remained stern, making people wary of acting frivolously around him.

But upon seeing Tang Yuan and Feng Chen, Ji Hongyue broke into a broad smile.

Tang Yuan teased, "Cadre Ji, you've really made it, riding in a jeep now."

Ji Hongyue replied, "Director Duan came along to visit our experimental pig farm."

He suspected Duan Zhangang just wanted to eat some pork dishes.

Hearing that Duan Zhangang was there, Tang Yuan became serious. "Where is Director Duan? He must stay for dinner."

Just then, Duan Zhangang walked out of the house with Old Lady Feng, hands behind his back.

Duan Zhangang was still the deputy director of the Binxian County Military Service Department, but Liu Guangming's father-in-law had retired, and the new director was his former rival.

A capable and resourceful military officer who was only in his early thirties.

Duan Zhangang had lost several rounds under his leadership and now served as a deputy without complaint.

Tang Yuan had also adjusted her approach to dealing with people. As her status and reputation in the Forward Brigade grew, her interactions with the members and outside leaders changed accordingly, becoming more tactful.

She was firm yet amiable internally and welcoming externally, always asking for support from the leaders.

Her smile towards Duan Zhangang was genuinely warm, not the official fake smile from before.

Duan Zhangang still spoke in an official tone but was less arrogant, having learned humility.

He had been disciplined by his superior.

"I'm here to visit our pig farm and buy a few pigs to improve the soldiers' diet."

In recent years, the structure of the county government had changed, ending the military management mode and restoring the roles of the county party secretary, county head, and organization minister.

The military service department was also restored, maintaining a contingent of county armed forces.

While these soldiers didn't have the same diet as active-duty troops, they still had meat daily, so they didn't lack for pigs.

However, Duan Zhangang wanted to build rapport with the Shuangmen Mountain Commune, especially the Forward Brigade's ecological farm, and impress his director, giving him more leverage.

He truly feared the current director of the military service department and the armed forces department.

The young man was like a black-faced judge, and Duan suspected he was forced to retire due to his dark heart.

Tang Yuan did not refuse, smiling. "We have a few pigs ready for slaughter. Director Duan can take them when he leaves."

Their armed forces department had its own compound and cafeteria, with chefs who could handle slaughtering pigs themselves.

She didn't kill any pigs to entertain Duan but had some smoked pork from previous slaughters, which she used to make stir-fried tofu and pickled vegetables, a delicious meal.

In the evening, she asked He Songtao to invite Tang Bingde and Secretary Liu to join Duan for dinner.

It was a brigade tradition to have the secretary accompany guests. Tang Bingde was invited to greet Duan and enjoy a meal of stir-fried smoked pork.

After dinner, Ji Hongyue stayed overnight at the Feng family as usual, while Duan Zhangang followed Secretary Liu to the farm guesthouse.

With the arrival of thirty more educated youths, the brigade built an additional row of houses to serve as a guesthouse, where visiting officials and extra educated youths could stay.

Tang Bingde also arranged for three rooms of blue brick and tile houses to be built for Tang Yuan's family next to the Feng family, with a gate connecting the two yards, making them feel like one family.

Mother Tang and Dad Tang moved over.

Tang Yuan still lived with Grandma Feng. Subconsciously, she had come to regard Grandma Feng as her own grandmother because Grandma Feng gave her the feeling of being with her grandmother from her past life.

Feng Yi pulled Daya to live in Tang Yuan's room. She didn't want to see her second brother and Sister Yuanyuan being all lovey-dovey anymore.

Her second brother usually had a cold face, looking like an abstinent old cadre, his expression clearly saying "keep away." But privately, he was so clingy with Sister Yuanyuan that it was hard to watch.

Every day, he would offer to wash Sister Yuanyuan's clothes, always asking, "Do you need your clothes washed?"

One day, she even heard Feng Chen say that he could wash her socks too.

Feng Yi suspected that if Sister Yuanyuan agreed, he'd even wash her underwear.

At first, she naively thought her second brother was willing to do laundry, so she asked him to help wash her pants and shirts, only to receive a speechless look as if she were a lazy fool.

He didn't wash them at all!

Also, several times at night, she accidentally caught him kissing Sister Yuanyuan in a corner.

Tsk tsk, how unreserved!

Sigh, originally, she had some feelings for He Jianhua, but ever since watching Feng Chen and Tang Yuan date, she lost interest in men around her.

Who among them would wash her clothes every day?

They all wanted someone else to wash their clothes for them.

Forget it; for the sake of her future, she decided to move out.

He Songtao and He Jianhua didn't want to live with other educated youths, finding them either petty, noisy, or unhygienic, so they moved into the house previously occupied by Dad Tang and Mother Tang.

Tang Yuan charged them rent without hesitation, one yuan per person per month.

As soon as Duan Zhangang and Secretary Liu left, Ji Hongyue called Tang Bingde, Tang Yuan, and Feng Chen for a small meeting.

He threw a handful of shelled fragrant pine nuts into his mouth and said, "Go with me to the city tomorrow. Report to the Municipal Committee yourselves. Maybe the Cannery will be approved."

Tang Yuan: "Is Director Han retiring?"

If he doesn't retire, I doubt it will happen.

Last year, they said they would reassess after a year, but I think it was just a delaying tactic.

Ji Hongyue shrugged: "He definitely doesn't want to retire, but Guo Yan is pushing hard. He's getting on in years, so... probably."

He didn't say it definitively.

Feng Chen silently took the small wooden bowl in front of Ji Hongyue away. These were the pine nuts he had specially gathered from the mountains for Tang Yuan, with the help of the monkeys.

After gathering them, he used a clean roller to crack them open, then soaked and steamed them before drying and roasting them, finally making the fragrant pine nuts that Tang Yuan praised.

Whenever he had time, he would shell pine nuts for Tang Yuan.

What are you eating for!

Last year, after harvesting wheat, they replaced it with medicinal herbs, fruit trees, chestnuts, and walnuts. He and Tang Yuan managed the mountain regularly, sometimes going alone to work with the monkeys.

These pine nuts were only for Grandma and his wife; even Feng Yi couldn't have any.

Seeing the stingy Feng Chen take away the fragrant pine nuts, Ji Hongyue couldn't even chew anymore. He opened his mouth, "Feng Chen comrade, aren't you being too stingy with me? I thought we were brothers after knowing each other for so long."

Feng Chen handed a small cloth bag of raw pine nuts to Ji Hongyue, "Eat as much as you want."

There are more in the mountains.

Tang Bingde now refrained from smoking in front of Tang Yuan, feeling a bit itchy in his throat. He smiled and grabbed a handful of raw pine nuts, crushing them with his hand, and told Ji Hongyue, "Cadre Ji, raw ones are good too, oily and sweet."

Ji Hongyue looked at Tang Yuan with a grievance, "I'm so upset I don't know what to say about business."

Tang Yuan laughed heartily, completely unreserved.

Ji Hongyue sighed, "After so long, I'm still not close enough, still a stranger."

Maybe half-stranger?