Chapter 1093: It's Such a Waste to Have a Talent Like This Farming

Hui-Three Agricultural Hall Director, ordinary person Yang Benming, was a pragmatic official promoted by Base Commander Qi Zhongye only this spring after Vice Base Commander Tang Zhengrong fell from power.

He emphasized real, hands-on work and solving practical problems, so after he took office, the Agricultural Hall discarded many formalistic work styles — for instance, the practice of all staff standing and applauding to welcome visiting leaders had long been done away with. So when he heard everyone applauding, he knew something was up.

Glancing at Zhao Baolin, who was sweating and leading the applause, Yang Benming invited the Base Commander to take his seat, confirmed everyone was present, then nodded to signal the Vice Hall Director presiding over the meeting that they could begin.

After the Vice Hall Director introduced the attendees, the meeting moved to its first agenda item.

After staff reported the damage and casualty statistics from each department of the Agricultural Hall during this Calamity Rain, the Vice Hall Director stressed in particular: "At 19:00 on the evening of August 26, on the three passageways of the Northern Sector One territory, maliciously broadcast attack-type Calamity-evolved plant seeds at intermediate risk level sprouted, grew rapidly, and reproduced, ultimately spreading across an area of 3,240 mu. Under the command of Director Xia Qing of the Ninth Center, the military and civilians of Northern Sector One territory worked together to contain the disaster, bringing it under control within two hours."

"Next, please welcome Director Xia Qing of the Ninth Center to give everyone a summary of the disaster relief work in Northern Sector One."

Amid sparse applause, Xia Qing, wearing a gold identity badge, stood up, gave a slight nod of greeting to the leaders opposite and colleagues around her, then sat back down and began to speak: "Respected Base Commander, Director Yang, fellow colleagues, good morning. I am Xia Qing of the Ninth Center. On behalf of Northern Sector One, I will now describe our disaster relief work on August 26…"

The speech, drafted by Yan Yue — former head of the Comprehensive Support Department of the Military Region, now Office Director of the Ninth Center — and polished by Green Dragon Brigade Commander Yang Jin, was crisp in language, rigorous in logic, and clear in narrative. Paired with an equally excellent PPT, Xia Qing used her ten-minute speaking time to give a thorough account of the sudden disaster in Northern Sector One during the third Calamity Rain.

During her presentation, Xia Qing downplayed her own role and emphasized the major contributions made in this disaster relief effort by the lords of Northern Sector One territory — including the idol — the investigation team members, and the staff of the Ninth Center.

Aerial photographs of the three passageways, each three meters long and over sixty meters wide, overgrown with attack-type Calamity grass, were shocking; the overwhelming flocks of birds drawn by the Calamity grass and the countless wild beasts electrocuted outside the wire-mesh walls made people involuntarily hold their breath; and within minutes of spraying, the half-man-tall Calamity grass was melted by the blood-red agent into a frozen river of blood — a sight even more horrifying.

Just seven days later, a video of a battered patrol car stopping on a cleared passageway in Northern Sector One, its doors opening as children with backpacks hopped out and walked into clean, tidy classrooms, warmed everyone's hearts.

When Xia Qing finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted in the hall.

Both the Base Commander and the Hall Director applauded Xia Qing with faces full of praise. Although Base Commander Qi Zhongye already knew what had happened, seeing the footage of Xia Qing risking being struck by lightning as she stood atop the tall signal tower, using a crossbow to shoot down the flock of birds, also made his blood surge.

Having led troops for decades, he knew better than anyone that a commander like Xia Qing — one who, at the critical moment, has both the ability and the courage to lead from the very front line of the fight — is precisely the kind of leader most needed in a natural disaster.

A person like this commands trust and admiration. The harder and more perilous the moment, the more outstanding her role becomes.

When a great battle is about to begin, the moment she takes her stand at the front, her subordinates will believe that following her will see them through the crisis and on to victory. The moment she raises her arm and calls out, her subordinates will howl and charge forward without a thought for their own lives.

No wonder Zhang San, Luo Pei, and Yan Long have been so keen to cultivate and protect her. A talent like this, stuck farming inside a territory, is truly a waste.

The shrewd Zhao Baolin felt a prickling sensation down his spine when he saw the Base Commander staring at Xia Qing — a very bad sign.

Xia Qing, who had been writing briskly, keenly sensed Qi Zhongye across the round table observing her. She raised her head expressionlessly and looked back, meeting the Base Commander's righteous gaze — a look of a broken-legged wolf eyeing meat, of Sheep Boss eyeing a fresh green bamboo shoot. Xia Qing gave a slight nod, lowered her head, and continued taking notes.

What Xia Qing was writing was not the meeting minutes.

Yan Yue behind her would handle the meeting minutes, and after the meeting the main content would be distributed to each department in document form, so Xia Qing did not need to record the meeting's content. She was listening carefully to each attendee's remarks, jotting down anything in their statements that had an impact or value on the Ninth Center or her territory, as well as the thoughts that flashed through her mind as she listened.

If she didn't write these thoughts down right away, she might forget them.

After the Safe Zone Planting Center, the Breeding Center, and the Territory Management Department had each presented their work summaries from the Calamity Rain, the meeting finally reached today's main event — the deployment of post-disaster reconstruction work.

Director Yang Benming once again affirmed the disaster relief efforts of personnel in each department, then put forward the first work plan: "From February of Year Eleven of the Calamity, when the first batch of lords moved into the territories up to now, the 200 territories across our base's five sectors have experienced a total of 387 disasters requiring investigation team assistance. Deaths within the territories have reached 1,420, with 55 lords killed; 45 territories have become unowned and have been re-recruited, and of those, 8 territories have changed hands three times. The casualty rate within the territories far exceeds that of the Safe Zone…"

Within the territories, lords can indeed get natural food that is simply unobtainable or unaffordable in the Safe Zone, but farming in the territories carries a far higher risk factor than working in the Safe Zone. Apart from the relatively well-developed Northern Sector One territory, the other four sectors of Hui-Three have all experienced labor shortages.

Just as the Director said, the moment has come when policy adjustments must be made, or more lords will abandon their territories and return to the Safe Zone.

Xia Qing set down her pen and listened intently.

"In this Calamity, the 'private territory + public planting center' mutual-aid disaster relief model in Northern Sector One territory has demonstrated stronger risk-resistance capability."

Hearing this, everyone looked up. Seeing Base Commander Qi Zhongye's expression remain calm, they knew that Hui-Three's territory policy was about to undergo a major change.

"After requesting instructions from the Base Commander, I propose using Northern Sector Three as a pilot, and gradually advancing the construction of planting centers across four sectors: Northern Sector Three, Northern Sector One, the East Sector, and the South Sector."

Yang Benming paused briefly, waiting until the PPT displayed the Northern Sector Three map with the two unowned territories marked on it, then continued: "The Northern Sector Three planting center will be named the Second Planting Center. It will be staffed and allocated construction materials and funds according to the construction plan of the Ninth Planting Center. Before the second Calamity Rain next year, planting centers in the remaining three sectors must be set up; by August next year, each center must have effectively reclaimed no less than 150 mu of farmland."

Hearing this, the minds and pens of the attendees spun at once, each thinking how to secure greater benefits for their own department or themselves in this wave of reform.

Xia Qing, meanwhile, was admiring the far-sightedness of the leadership. While she had been focused on her own little plot, the base leadership had already identified the advantages of the "planting centers outside the Safe Zone + territory planting model," and within seven days had formulated policy adjustments and set a timeline.

If all four new planting centers outside the Safe Zone are built to the scale of the Ninth Center, their combined labor demand will be no less than 1,200 people. Xia Qing felt a sense of urgency — she had to secure Territory Number Fourteen today, and then snap up outstanding talent before the other centers launched large-scale recruitment.