Chapter 95

Zhang Kaishan asked Zhao Zhongfu, "Once the village has money, what do you plan to do with it?"

Zhao Zhongfu said, "Director Su suggested that, besides reinvesting profits from the livestock farm and bamboo weaving factory, we should allocate funds to improve village infrastructure, establish a reading room, build a basketball court, enrich the villagers' leisure activities, help them acquire more knowledge, and turn everyone into technicians."

Zhang Kaishan exclaimed in surprise, "You really plan to do this?"

Zhao Zhongfu nodded and said, "We think Director Su's suggestion is excellent. Once we have the money, we'll do exactly that—improving the villagers' living standards and raising their overall quality."

Zhang Kaishan looked at Su Xinghui with approval and said, "This idea of yours is excellent. Becoming wealthy only achieves material civilization; that alone is not enough. You must also achieve spiritual civilization. Only when both material and spiritual civilization prosper together is it truly socialism!"

Zhang Kaishan turned to Professors Luo Ping and Huang Chuanyong and asked, "You two said Ye Zhugou is suitable for growing cash crops. Which cash crops are best suited? Or, which ones would yield the greatest profit?"

Luo Ping and Huang Chuanyong exchanged glances; then Luo Ping spoke: "We believe, given Ye Zhugou's conditions, growing medicinal herbs is best. These herbs have high value, especially Du Zhong. We discovered a wild Du Zhong forest on the southwest slope of Meng Hu Ling. If we expand cultivation, it will surely generate substantial economic returns."

Du Zhong is both a rare tree and a precious medicinal herb, with very high value. Large wild forests of it are rare in China, but Luo Ping and Huang Chuanyong recently discovered a wild Du Zhong forest covering hundreds of acres on Meng Hu Ling—an extremely encouraging find.

However, they hope to cultivate Du Zhong on a large artificial scale to effectively protect it.

Because the medicinal part of Du Zhong is its bark, some people harvest it carelessly, severely damaging the trees and even killing them. Combined with Du Zhong's extremely long growth cycle, which makes it easily outcompeted by faster-growing trees, this is why Du Zhong is endangered.

To effectively protect Du Zhong, we need large-scale artificial cultivation, along with proper bark harvesting methods that avoid actual harm to the trees.

Zhang Kaishan pondered and said, "Growing Du Zhong?"

Luo Ping said, "The area around Ye Zhugou consists of hills several hundred meters above sea level, with a pleasant climate—warm and humid year-round—perfect for Du Zhong growth. But its growth cycle is very long; generally, it takes fifteen to twenty years, at least fifteen years before any return."

Zhang Kaishan asked, "Isn't the payback period too long?"

Luo Ping quickly replied, "Yes, the payback period is long, but once mature, the returns are substantial. Also, we can interplant other herbaceous medicinal herbs within the Du Zhong forest, so there's some return every year."

This way, we have both short-term and long-term income projects—a very reasonable path for economic development."

Zhang Kaishan asked again, "How difficult is it to propagate and plant Du Zhong?"

Luo Ping said, "It's not difficult. Given Ye Zhugou's climate, villagers can collect Du Zhong seeds from the wild forest and sow them in November. After more than a year, they can be transplanted. We'll provide on-site guidance for all technical steps."

Huang Chuanyong added, "This project can be submitted by our university to higher authorities as a Du Zhong cultivation and protection base project—it could secure substantial funding. So, aside from labor, the local government would need almost no investment."

As long as the initial investment is low, even less will be needed after transplanting—just wait fifteen years, and returns will come."

Luo Ping and Huang Chuanyong had pulled out all stops to push this Du Zhong protection project. Because wild Du Zhong forests are rare, they are confident this project will receive strong support from higher authorities.

After listening, Zhang Kaishan fell silent for a long while, then nodded and said, "I think this project is good, with great potential. I'll ask the two of you to prepare a survey report."

Luo Ping and Huang Chuanyong were delighted. Of course, this project couldn't be submitted solely by Jiangcheng Agricultural University—it must be jointly submitted with the county government. Zhang Kaishan's attitude now means the project has taken its first step toward success.

Zhang Kaishan added, "I also need you two to conduct a comprehensive survey of other areas in Meng Hu Ling, to see which places are suitable for what industries."

Luo Ping and Huang Chuanyong nodded eagerly in agreement. They had already been doing this work; as professors at an agricultural university, researching plants and helping local agricultural development were part of their duties.

Today's survey greatly pleased Zhang Kaishan. As the vice-county magistrate in charge of agriculture in Shangjun County, though a member of the county Party committee, his position within the county was unimportant—almost marginalized. He had long hoped to change this situation.

But changing it was not easy. In 1992, after Deng Gong's southern tour, economic development was elevated to unprecedented importance, yet many local leaders lacked ideas on how to carry it out.

Under these conditions, the "GDP-first" mentality emerged. How to grow GDP fastest? Obviously, by attracting investment. Across the country, a spectacle of mass investment recruitment arose—and Shangjun County was no exception.

Now, Shangjun County had its own investment fever. In the new urban area east of the county seat, vast tracts of farmland were leveled to build factories. But many of the enterprises brought in merely constructed factories, then applied for bank loans, and after securing the loans, vanished.

This situation worried Zhang Kaishan. Very few of the enterprises Shangjun County attracted were actually operating. Most had merely acquired land and left it idle.

Zhang Kaishan had always wanted to break through from his own domain—agriculture—since Shangjun County was a major agricultural county. But how easy was that? County leaders were all obsessed with attracting investment and developing industry, burning with ambition—who would even glance at agriculture?