Chapter 1031: Underground Water Network Proposal

Yang Qing went "pa", slapping the table.

"You don't know a damn thing."

"This matter depends on your father."

"For matters like this, you need to leverage momentum; relying only on you, what results could you possibly achieve?"

"And the money must be used wisely, not squandered recklessly."

"At first, whether it was the Ying Long, Tian Gate, or Hua Light, I refused from the start."

"Why did I later spend so much money and take over?"

"Is it really just that you father and I are flaunting style? Money is abundant?"

"Because at that time the authorities had begun to take these technologies seriously."

"Otherwise, if you father and I had carelessly taken over these industries from the start, do you know what cost we would have paid?"

"Would we encounter such massive resistance? Would the success rate be that low?"

"If things go wrong, the Yang Family could be dragged down."

"That's not how things are done."

"You only see the authorities beginning to focus on the West, but you miss the key point within it."

"What is the key? Is it water?"

"Without water, whatever you do is a castle in the air."

Yang Fan hadn't reacted yet.

"Agricultural technology is only part of what we promote; the other part is the Mars Farm."

"If we can achieve a breakthrough in this area, it also paves the way for the Heavenly Vessel's Mars colonization."

Yang Qing reclined in his seat and said leisurely.

"Since you mentioned Mars agriculture, do you know what the most essential thing in Mars agriculture is?"

Yang Fan said.

"Food that can grow normally in harsh environments?"

"Or fully automated Three-Dimensional Farm technology?"

Yang Qing glared at him.

"Just like that, what else are you still researching about the Mars Farm?"

"The most important thing is to obtain Mars's air and soil data."

"Without these basic data, whatever you do is going north while the cart goes south."

"You must understand a principle: a tiny error leads to a thousand‑mile mistake."

"That's Mars; any resources shipped there are extremely costly, making large‑scale deployment impossible."

"Only by using local materials can material production be carried out."

"Now that you lack these data, any research anywhere is a castle in the air."

"Doing some directional exploration in the early stage is fine, but conducting targeted research—are you kidding?"

Yang Qihang understood.

"Father, are you saying we must first start Mars research, and after obtaining sufficient data, then conduct related studies?"

Yang Qing nodded.

"It would be best to conduct targeted research after obtaining Mars samples."

"During this period, you should first focus on Desert Farm research."

"Because this is foundational research; through it, you can lay a solid base for Mars Farm research."

"Once the Desert Farm achieves results,"

"you can then launch Mars Farm research."

"That is the steady, step‑by‑step approach."

"Therefore, your early focus should be on Desert agriculture."

"Do you now understand what your biggest problem is?"

"To develop a Desert Farm, the main issue is still solving the water problem."

"But the northwest region is extremely water‑scarce."

"What will you do? Massively develop underground water resources?"

"Qing Feng is absolutely right; that would deal a huge blow to your reputation."

"It could even affect the Yang Family."

"So, either you choose locations with relatively abundant water resources for investment."

"Or, cooperate with the authorities."

"See if the authorities have a water‑resource allocation plan for the West."

"If they do, you can build farms near those routes."

"If the authorities lack such a plan,"

"I can offer you a proposal here."

Seeing Yang Qing's confident demeanor, the gray‑haired, dust‑covered Yang Fan, who had been rebuked by Yang Qing, instantly perked up.

"What proposal?"

Yang Qing took a sheet of paper from the desk, speaking while drawing.

"When planning your farms, don't use a flat approach."

"Instead, construct them in a funnel shape."

It's best to shape them into steps.

We also need to repair the water channels.

And the ends of these water channels, where they intersect, are the lowest part of the funnel-shaped terraces.

Bright Yang Fan had a sudden flash of insight.

Dad, you mean we should build a reservoir at this bottom?

Yang Qing looked at Yang Fan with the eyes of someone caring for a mentally disabled person.

Yang Qihang, meanwhile, fixed his gaze on the drawing Yang Qing was still sketching.

After he saw the structure Yang Qing had drawn, he suddenly understood.

Dad meant building an underground reservoir.

Collect the rainwater from the rainy season and use it for agricultural production.

The reservoir cannot be built on the ground, because it would evaporate.

Yang Qing gave Yang Qihang an approving glance and continued to add.

You want to study the Three-Dimensional Farm.

That is, an advanced version of greenhouse cultivation technology.

If you can achieve good environmental sealing, there's a high chance you can to some extent achieve water circulation inside the greenhouse.

During the day, desert temperatures are high, and water will evaporate.

But at night, desert temperatures are also much lower.

Water vapor will condense into water on the glass roof.

If this water is effectively collected, it can be well recycled.

Adding the water from the underground reservoir should be able to meet certain agricultural production needs.

Yang Fan more or less understood Yang Qing's method.

Dad, this is maximizing the use of water resources; your method is indeed much stronger than ours.

It's also much more reliable.

The key is that our water-saving technology is easy to gain public acceptance.

Dad, the old ginger is still spicy.

However, this way the investment becomes larger.

Just hearing about an underground reservoir sounds expensive.

Sometimes the desert's precipitation is also not small; if built too small, the inlet is easily flooded, and if it floods into the sandy belt, a large amount of sand could be swept into the underground reservoir.

So this reservoir should be made as large as possible.

This amount of money could rival building nuclear defense works.

According to the precipitation in desert areas, collecting 100,000 cubic meters of water would require about 20,000 mu of land.

And 100,000 cubic meters, even with extreme water-saving irrigation, can only satisfy 2,000 mu of land.

That is, a ratio of ten to one.

And building such a water-collecting farm might need around 5 to 10 billion.

Our plan is for 100,000 mu; that is, just the basic construction would cost nearly a hundred billion.

This doesn't even include the cost of the greenhouses.

Dad, you just said we were spending money.

Now you're making it even bigger.

You should know this region has about 500 million mu of land.

If we do all this, just the basic construction would need 25 trillion.