Chapter 713

Just as Li Long had expected, Wang Cai Mi was repairing a tractor outside the courtyard.

The Dongfanghong-75 crawler tractor truly played a huge role in agricultural production in Northern Xinjiang.

Without this kind of tractor, there wouldn't have been the subsequent million acres of cotton fields, grain fields, rapeseed flowers, and the like.

At the very beginning, the Production and Construction Corps people started reclaiming wasteland by pulling plows themselves; at that time, they mainly reclaimed reed marshes and swampy land.

Later, with tractors, the speed of land reclamation picked up, and the efficiency of plowing increased several times over. Grain yields went up, more people could be fed, and that was why large numbers of people from the interior could come over.

But to be honest, after using these tractors for a long time, they naturally had many problems; if it wasn't one thing going wrong, it was another.

When Li Long drove the jeep over, Wang Cai Mi was using a grease gun to apply grease to the tractor. This grease naturally wasn't the kind you eat, but a type of lubricant.

The worn-out work clothes Wang Cai Mi was wearing were covered in oil stains; it was estimated that this set of clothes had never been washed, and the original color could no longer be seen.

"Xiao Long is here, something up?" Wang Cai Mi wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and asked with a smile.

"I remember your tractor has a bulldozer blade; can it be used?"

"It can be used, what for?"

"I plan to raise more cattle and sheep. You see, I applied for land next to the Old Ma Hao, and I plan to build some more sheds and pens. That place is a saline-alkali flat, it's hard to deal with. I want your bulldozer to push away the saline-alkali layer on that patch, and then I'll haul in sand and gravel to lay a foundation, so it won't return to alkali after I build on it."

"Heh, only you could afford to spend so much money on this." Wang Cai Mi said with a smile, "Ma Jinbao's sheep pen was just fenced off casually, and it's been used just the same."

"That's different. I'm going to raise a lot, and I'm prepared to raise them for a long time." Li Long explained briefly, not wanting to say more, and asked definitively, "Can it be used? How do you calculate the cost?"

"It can definitely be used. How much do you want to push? How deep?"

"Starting from the foundation of the Old Ma Hao and going west, the same length as the Old Ma Hao's wall. Calculating it, it should be at least five acres. Deep... half a meter." Li Long had a rough idea in his mind and gave the standard.

"Calculating it this way..." Wang Cai Mi did the math and said, "You'll have to pay one hundred yuan. This pushing is different from plowing; it consumes fuel, and you can't push half a meter in one go, you have to push it several times."

"Fine." Li Long knew that pushing was really strenuous, perhaps even more strenuous than Wang Cai Mi thought, so he didn't bargain.

"You're still the capable one, you got it approved as soon as you applied." Wang Cai Mi said with a smile.

Although he didn't raise those things, it didn't stop him from envying Li Long. Wang Cai Mi actually felt quite unbalanced in his heart; he worked himself to the bone, yet it felt like he wasn't making money as fast as Li Long.

And more than half of the hard-earned money he made had to be poured into this broken tractor.

Not only was it time-consuming and laborious, but it also caused misunderstandings among everyone.

Look at Li Long, how good he had it; just move his lips, run back and forth a few times, and the money was in his hands.

"Hi, how could it be that easy? I have Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu help raise them, and I pay him wages too." Li Long waved his hand, "Although there are five acres of forage land, the things grown on that land aren't enough for those livestock to eat."

"Wasn't your brother's five acres of forage land taken back?" Wang Cai Mi asked, somewhat puzzled.

"That's my brother. My brother isn't a specialized pig farmer anymore, now isn't it my turn to be one?" Li Long said with a smile, "I'm raising much more than my brother was. Besides, why would the team approve a piece of land for me? I'm going to raise hundreds of cattle and sheep later on."

Li Long vaguely remembered that the country was going to launch the "Vegetable Basket Project" later, mainly to enrich the supply of non-staple food for the common people.

He was currently laying the groundwork in advance. To be honest, in the next few years, money would become increasingly worthless, and prices would keep rising, so it was better to engage in real industry.

Although the jade seeds, antiques, and gold nuggets in his home might make him a millionaire in twenty or thirty years, without a solid physical foundation, it was hard to say whether he could hold onto them.

Therefore, Li Long felt it was necessary to build such a breeding base; of course, it could also be considered a channel for Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu to realize his ideals.

Although Wang Cai Mi envied him, he knew he couldn't do this.

After all, a person only has two hands, and his brother didn't have time to do it either, as he still had to help him out.

So even if he envied him, there was no way to do it.

Thus, the topic returned to the main point.

"What about the pushed soil?"

"Just pile it on the north side." Li Long said, "If anyone wants that saline-alkali flat later, it just happens to border my land; if no one wants it, piling it there won't affect anything."

"Who would want that saline-alkali flat?" Wang Cai Mi shook his head.

He thought to himself that only someone as wealthy and generous as Li Long would include a saline-alkali flat under his own contract.

Saline-alkali flats couldn't grow grain; everyone knew this point very well. Wheat wouldn't work, corn was even pickier about the soil, and oil sunflowers wouldn't grow either.

Of course, he didn't know that in another ten years or so, saline-alkali flats would become highly sought after. Who would have thought that saline-alkali flats could grow cotton!

Cotton actually wasn't afraid of saline-alkali; of course, that was also a later improved variety.

Li Long and Wang Cai Mi agreed to go push that side tomorrow; he still had to contact others.

After all, just pushing those saline-alkali flats open wasn't enough; they also needed to haul sand and gravel to pad them. It wasn't easy to hire large trucks right now, so Li Long thought about gathering the existing tractors in the team to haul sand and gravel for him.

If they accepted money, that would be best; if they didn't, then just one wild boar per family would do.

Anyway, when harvesting wheat, these few tractors in the team—except for Tao Daqiang's—had brought him quite a bit of income.

Compared to a wild boar, that was really much better.

Li Long wasn't a stingy person either; a wild boar really didn't count for much.

Xie Yun Dong, Tao Daqiang, and Liang Dacheng all patted their chests and said no problem when they heard Li Long mention this. After all, the autumn harvest was basically over, and like Xu Chengjun, they were all waiting to see if Li Long could get this task of reed bundles.

If he could get it, of course that was good; if he couldn't, it didn't matter much, it would be like icing on the cake.

Li Jianguo heard Li Long say this, thought about it, and said:

"That saline-alkali flat isn't easy to transform. I heard that the Production and Construction Corps digs drainage ditches in saline-alkali land, which is digging a large ditch on the edge of the saline-alkali land, and then flooding the land with water to carry the salt and alkali in the soil into the ditch."

The drainage ditch thing was truly useful, and later every production team implemented it.

It was just that Li Long didn't intend to use this; he thought of something more direct: one was soil testing and fertilization, and the other was directly planting cotton—

He had obtained thirty acres of land west of the Old Ma Hao, five of which were to be used for building livestock pens, the remaining could be considered five acres of odd bits, and at least twenty acres of land were left there.

Li Long felt it was a waste to leave it there, so it was better to conduct experiments. If it could work, then he would simply start the land contracting model in advance.

Of course, there was no need to rush this matter; currently, regarding land contracting work, every production team didn't dare to make the path too wild.

For example, at the beginning of the 21st century, there were production teams that directly contracted saline-alkali land to people for seventy years at the price of one yuan per acre per year.

Was that a bit insane?

Of course, it wasn't known whether this idea was thought up by the contractor or set by the production team, but this was indeed a bit too bold.

Of course, it was eventually voided.

It was also a muddled account.

Now Li Long just wanted to contract a few hundred acres of saline-alkali flats for seventy years; the production team couldn't possibly let him contract it, or the township wouldn't approve it either.

And Li Long would also be looked at as a fool.

There would be plenty of such opportunities later, no rush.

Hearing Li Long talk about soil testing and formula fertilization, Li Jianguo didn't understand, but knowing that Li Long had connections at the Agricultural College, he didn't think too much about it.

True soil testing and formula fertilization were only proposed at the beginning of the 21st century and then developed. At present, no one had thought of this.

Li Long felt that when he went to the August 1st Agricultural College later, he would talk to Professor Wu about this matter; she would definitely be interested, right?

Li Long went to the Old Ma Hao again.

Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu wasn't there, and neither were Seventy-Six and the horse cart. Li Long estimated that he must have gone to cut grass.

Sure enough, not long after, Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu came back leading Seventy-Six. On the horse cart was a high pile of green grass, including reeds, barnyard grass, and goosefoot, etc.

After Li Jianguo drove the tractor back, Seventy-Six was returned to the Old Ma Hao to continue exerting its remaining heat. Seeing Li Long, it was quite excited, constantly raising its head and snorting.

Li Long went over to pet Seventy-Six, followed Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu into the courtyard, and while helping to unload the grass, he explained the situation of the land.

"Thirty acres, that's too much to use." Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu was very clear about the size of the plot, "Our Old Ma Hao only has five acres and eight-tenths of land."

"It's fine, I plan to build five acres of livestock pens on the west side, and I plan to plow out the remaining land first, then see what can be planted later."

Regardless of whether he planted or not, or whether it could be planted successfully, plowing it out first was equivalent to declaring sovereignty.

The reason Xu Chengjun was so generous in approving thirty acres for Li Long was actually largely because this saline-alkali land wasn't worth much.

It wasn't like in later generations where one could dig pits and release water to simulate a marine environment for raising shrimp.

At this time, even if they were raised, not many people could afford to eat them.

Better to honestly plant things.

After the grass was unloaded, Seventy-Six was led into the pen and released, and after green grass was put in, Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu came out and listened to his ideas together with Li Long.

"There will be a lot of things raised later. Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu, you'll be the manager of this breeding farm, and I'll raise your salary to forty a month. If others want to come over to work, they'll have to get your and my consent, and they'll get twenty a month."

!

"Heh, why would I take so much?" Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu felt he was taking too much, "You bring me meat from time to time, and the work I do is easy, it's my old profession..."

"You're a technical talent." Li Long said half-jokingly, "If it were someone else, how could they manage these livestock so obediently? Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu, don't underestimate yourself, it's settled."

"Fine, they'll definitely be willing to do it." Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu didn't say anything more, just thinking that since Li Long offered such a high salary, he had to make a name for himself.

"The team gave us another five acres of forage land, I plan to plant alfalfa on all of it next year." Li Long continued, "Then it can be used whether raising cattle or sheep."

"That'll work." Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu also meant the same. Among forage, alfalfa was naturally more nutritious than wheat straw and much better.

After the matter was discussed, Li Long declined Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu's invitation to stay for a meal; he had to rush back to the big courtyard.

If he could go home to eat, he would try to go back. The children were slowly growing up and needed the company of their family more.

When Wang Cai Mi was repairing the tractor, his younger brother Wang Dagui came over, wanting his brother to lend him some money, as he planned to buy a small four-wheeled tractor.

"Buy what tractor? You follow me and drive this Dongfanghong-75 well, practice your skills, and in the future, the plowing and harrowing work in this team will all be our brothers'. What's the point of driving that small four-wheeler?"

"But that can make money." Wang Dagui was reluctant, "I heard Xie Yun Dong say that he drove it to harvest wheat during the wheat season, and he made two or three thousand in one season! Later he went to cut grass and made quite a bit more!"

Wang Dagui followed Wang Cai Mi to drive the tractor, working day and night, but at the end of the year, his big brother only gave him about a thousand yuan.

The land in the team was limited, plowed two or three times a year, and also needed sowing, harrowing, and leveling; these were all done by the two Wang brothers.

No matter how you looked at it, the annual income could be tens of thousands, but he was only given a thousand-plus, so Wang Dagui was naturally unwilling.

But his brother also said that the bulk of this money went to repairing the vehicle and buying fuel.

Wang Dagui admitted this point; that tractor consumed too much fuel, and the parts that needed to be replaced after it broke down weren't cheap either; tens or hundreds of yuan was a very normal thing.

Just the crawler tracks that broke and were sold as scrap metal were quite a lot in a year.

But Wang Dagui felt that no matter what, it shouldn't be just this little bit given to him, so he planned to buy a small four-wheeled tractor and work alone.

He had saved up more than three thousand yuan, but he was still short of money to buy a tractor, so he thought of asking his big brother to lend it to him.

Wang Cai Mi was naturally unwilling. His younger brother was a qualified helper; he worked with all his might, and although he didn't understand much about the technology, he did whatever he was told.

Now that he wanted to work alone, Wang Cai Mi certainly wouldn't let him go, and he said:

"Let me tell you, that small four-wheeler will only make money this year. Look, everyone knows it makes money now, so the team will definitely buy more next year. When everyone competes, the price for cutting wheat will go down.

That's nothing like our plowing, which is the only one in the whole team; there's simply no one competing with us. Don't worry, when the plowing money comes back this year, I'll give you five hundred more! As your big brother, could I let you suffer a loss?"

Hearing his big brother say he would give him five hundred more this year, Wang Dagui, although still slightly dissatisfied, didn't say anything more.

Subsequently, Wang Cai Mi told him about Li Long's work tomorrow. He didn't say how much money Li Long gave him, only saying that he and his brother would take turns working together tomorrow, striving to finish this work in three to five days. He also mentioned that Li Long wanted to be a specialized breeding farmer and that the team gave him forage land, speaking of it as gossip.

Wang Dagui went back after hearing it. Anyway, it was almost the end of the year, so he would wait until his big brother collected the money.

On the way, he ran into Ma Jinbao driving his sheep back. Wang Dagui remembered what his big brother had said earlier, so he asked Ma Jinbao half-jokingly if he had any forage land and if the team had approved any shed and pen land for him.

Ma Jinbao said no, so Wang Dagui told him about Li Long building new sheds and pens and being approved for forage land.

"Li Long only has a few livestock and he has forage land, you have forty or fifty sheep here, and you don't have any forage land; that's unreasonable." Wang Dagui said, seemingly dissatisfied on Ma Jinbao's behalf.

Actually, he just wanted to see a joke.

Ma Jinbao drove the sheep back with a dark face.

After the sheep were driven into the pen, Ma Jinbao didn't wait for his family to call him for dinner, but hurried to Xu Chengjun's house.

Xu Chengjun had already returned from Xu Haijun's house. Ma Hongmei had finished cooking, and the two were planning to eat lunch.

"Yo, our team's shepherd is here," Xu Chengjun joked, "Something up?"

"Something is up." Ma Jinbao asked with a dark face:

"Did you give forage land to that Li Long of the Li family?"

"Hmm, you know fast," Xu Chengjun nodded, "What's wrong?"

"Then why didn't you give it to me? He only has a few livestock? I have forty-seven sheep alone!"

"Heh, you also know you're only raising sheep." Xu Chengjun put away his smile, "Do you know what Li Long is raising?"

"Roe deer, red deer, and wild boars, I've seen them, they don't add up to thirty in total."

"Right, you also know that what he's raising are roe deer, red deer, and wild boars. Then do you know that what he's raising is registered in the county and township, and has been in the state newspaper; it's considered special breeding, do you know that?"

"This... I didn't know." Once Ma Jinbao heard "special breeding," his momentum weakened a bit; what he was raising was indeed a bit ordinary, but he still couldn't help but say:

"But I'm raising more!"

"More? Does forty or fifty count as more?" Xu Chengjun sneered, "Li Long plans to expand the sheds and pens and bring in two hundred cattle and sheep to feed next year; can you compare to that? If you can raise two hundred, I'll approve forage land for you too!"

"Two hundred?" Ma Jinbao was stunned, "Can he really get that many?"

"Haven't you seen the wheat straw piled up at the Old Ma Hao? He's preparing now, and after autumn, when the livestock in the mountains are transferred, he's going to buy cattle and sheep to fatten them up."

"Then how can he have land for sheds and pens?" Ma Jinbao thought of another thing, "I want to raise more, but I need a place."

"Do you think he got it for free? He promised to give the team eight hundred yuan; will you give it? If you give it, I'll approve a piece of saline-alkali land for you too!"

"Then I don't want it!" Ma Jinbao turned and left. Who would take eight hundred yuan to buy a piece of saline-alkali land? That would really make one a fool.

Watching Ma Jinbao hurry away, Xu Chengjun spat, despising this coward.

Thinking about comparing treatment with others every day, why not think about how others are more capable than you? When people come to ask for treatment, they first think about what they can do for the team.

This guy is good, he thinks about what he wants first! People like this deserve to live worse than others.

Although Li Long only promised meat, not money, Xu Chengjun didn't intend to elaborate.

Calculating the ten kilograms of meat per household that Li Long promised, over four hundred kilograms of meat, at the current price, would be about eight hundred yuan.

That's quite a lot!

In the big courtyard, Li Long told his family about this matter while eating.

"Eight hundred kilograms, that's quite a lot." Gu Bo Yuan was somewhat worried, "It's not easy to handle. Even if you put in all those wild boars in your horse yard, it might not be enough."

"I plan to get some in the mountains." Li Long said, "Anyway, there are plenty of things in the mountains; getting a group of wild boars or a group of wild goats will be about enough."

In the afternoon, the opportunity came—He Yuqing and Meng Hai drove a horse cart, pulling a cartload of things over.

On the cart was a big and heavy thing. (End of chapter)