Great Power Reclamation

Chapter 2751: Commander Wei Changgeng

On the way back to Junken City, the two talked about their feelings during the past few days.

Yang Geyong sighed: "Yuze, why are you so tired these days, but I am so satisfied?"

Ye Yuze smiled: "Maybe this is the reason why you do good things? It gives you a sense of accomplishment compared to drinking and picking up girls."

Yang Geyong nodded: "It seems to be true. Why don't we go to the Seventeenth Division instead of going back?"

Ye Yuze thought about it and nodded. In fact, he was also very curious about this brother unit known as the First Division in the Southern Northern Frontier.

This division has a glorious history, and our teaching staff cannot be compared with theirs. After all, they were newly established in the 1960s.

The 17th Division was founded during the Agrarian Revolution. Its predecessor was the Red Sixth Army Corps, which was successively known as the Southeast Hunan Independent First Division of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the Red Eighth Army.

During the Anti-Japanese War, it was renamed the 359th Brigade of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and later went through such names as the Southward Detachment, the Hunan People's Anti-Japanese and National Salvation Army, and the 359th Brigade of the Second Column of the Central Plains Military Region.

During the War of Liberation, the 1949th Brigade was affiliated with the Second Column of the Northwest Field Army. In January 1, it was renamed the Fifth Infantry Division of the Second Army of the First Corps of the First Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

In November 1949, the 11th Infantry Division entered the defense zones of 17 counties and prefectures including Aksu and Hotan in Xinjiang.

After the founding of New China: In June 1953, it was reorganized into the 6th Agricultural Construction Division of the XJ Military Region, and in October 1954 it was affiliated to the XJ Production and Construction Corps.

On January 2013, 1, it was renamed the 16th Division of the XJ Production and Construction Corps.

Their base is in the middle section of the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains and the northern part of the Tarim Basin. It starts from the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains in the north, extends to the northern part of the Taklimakan Desert in the south, borders SY County in the east, and reaches KP County in the west.

The climate and climatic conditions are the same as those of the 16th Division, with a warm temperate extreme continental arid desert climate, little rainfall, little snow in winter, and high surface evaporation.

Such places are naturally short of water, but I don’t know how they are called the First Division of the Corps?

As we drove along, the most eye-catching thing was the vast cotton fields. Those who know know that the long-staple cotton in northern Xinjiang is world-famous.

But at this moment, under the scorching sun, the cotton trees that had already taken shape were wilting, and even their leaves were curled up.

The level of mechanization here is very high, even the cotton picking is mechanized.

But what can you do about the water shortage, no matter how developed your country is?

Looking at the soldiers sitting by the cotton field sighing, Ye Yuze's mood suddenly turned sour. The Corps was too big, the Northern Frontier was too big, and he really didn't have that much ability.

It was not until the evening, when the two men felt hungry, that they realized that the car had arrived at a very desolate place.

This place is close to the northern end of the Taklamakan Desert. Although the 17th Division has reclaimed a large amount of land, there are still countless Gobi deserts that cannot be utilized because of the water shortage!

Today, the 200th Division has acres of cotton fields alone, but this only occupies a part of the th Division’s territory, which shows that the land utilization rate is not high.

After driving for a while, we found a company. The Corps’ company was very different from the local villages and could be recognized at a glance.

An old man drove a flock of sheep and came from a distance. The sheep here were naturally no match for those in the north, as the grasslands there were much more lush.

Looking at them, the old man stopped to say hello. When he heard that they were looking for a place to eat, he waved his hand generously:

"We are all family, why should we look for a restaurant? Let's eat at home!"

The two men were not polite. They were comrades-in-arms, so having a meal together was no big deal.

There are four people in the old man's family, including the old couple and their son and daughter-in-law. Yang Geyong took down a few bottles of sorghum from the car, and the old man was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.

"Haha, you guys are from Junken City? I've only heard of this wine but never tasted it. You're taking advantage of me."

The meal was simple, with lamb stewed with potatoes, steamed buns, and a pot of cornmeal porridge.

While eating, I learned about their family situation. The old man was called Wang Desheng, and he was the old instructor of the company.

Their family has 160 acres of cotton fields, and because most of them are mechanized, there is not much work for people to do.

So, he raised another flock of sheep, no more than thirty, and let them graze when he had nothing to do, just to increase his family's income.

After dinner, Ye Yuze asked about the problem of irrigation of the land here, and Wang Desheng sighed:

"If there is sufficient water, cotton production can be increased by one third."

It turned out that this company was one of the most remote companies under the 17th Division, and their land was severely salinized.

The only canal has serious water leakage due to soil problems. Even using concrete is not feasible, as the little water we get each year is lost by half along the way.

Ye Yuze suggested going to take a look, and Wang Desheng did not hesitate and took them to the canal.

The cold moon shines on the Gobi Desert. Although it is summer, it is still cold at night.

Ye Yuze squatted beside the seeping earthen canal, rubbing the rapidly disappearing water marks with his fingertips. Wang Desheng came over with a lantern, and the flying salt and alkali dust in the light looked like fine snow.

"This is the 'Loyalty Canal' built in the 1960s. It can last for three days if it is irrigated thoroughly.

"The old instructor kicked the cracked channel side and said, "Later, gerbils dug holes and it became a sieve."

Yang Geyong suddenly grabbed a handful of red willow branches and inserted them into the leak point. The turbid water immediately formed a natural filter between the roots.

"My father taught us to use reeds to tie up the bottom of the canal. Maybe we can try the ecological anti-seepage layer?"

Wang Desheng thought for a while, then his eyes lit up: "It seems that I can really try it. Anyway, that thing is not worth much."

Ye Yuze communicated with the leaders of the 17th Division. When they heard that Ye Yuze and Yang Geyong had arrived, the division leaders attached great importance to it and immediately ordered the regiment headquarters of the first company to tell them to obey Ye Yuze's arrangements in everything.

At noon three days later, twenty tractors pulled into the drying yard pulling stacks of red willow.

All the people in the company, regardless of age or gender, sat under the poplar tree, and with their nimble fingers they wove the branches into a two-meter-wide straw mat.

Soldiers of the first company scattered moldy alfalfa feed on the canal bed, and Kazakh herdsmen drove their sheep back and forth to trample on it.

"Are you going to use three layers of wood ash to prevent leaks?"

Wang Desheng grabbed a handful of clay mixed with sheep manure. Ye Yuze smiled and opened the design:

"It has a three-layer structure, with Achnatherum splendens mat at the bottom to absorb moisture, red willow branches in the middle to guide water flow, and cement magnesia on the surface."

The sound of an accordion suddenly rang out in the cold wind. The motor vehicle regiment transformed five scrapped Dongfanghong tractor heads into rollers, and the head of the Uyghur driver Reheman popped out of the cab:

"Boss Ye, would you like to try our 'Music Rolling Method'?"

Ye Yuze and Yang Geyong smiled and nodded, it’s great to be young.

The construction site under the moonlight turned into a boiling starry sky. Kazakh youths directed the road rollers with the rhythm of the dombra, and Kirgiz girls sang "Manas" as the straw mats were laid.

It took a week to reinforce the 50-kilometer canal.

When the first stream of water flowed through the test section, Wang Desheng suddenly jumped into the canal, letting the cold water flood over his rubber boots:

“The water seepage is 40% less than that of concrete channels!”

"It's not enough." Ye Yuze took out his phone and said, "Lao Wang, buy the drip irrigation tape production line from the Qingdao factory. Yes, assemble it in the drying yard."

Half a month later, in the early morning, twelve donkey carts dragging reels of drip irrigation tape entered the cotton fields.

Contractor Ayiguli was pleasantly surprised to find that the newly installed drip arrow would automatically increase the pressure at noon:

“This solar controller.”

"It was modified by Xiao Zhang, an electrician from the Eighth Company."

Yang Geyong pointed to the wheelchair-bound youth debugging equipment in the distance: "He used the remote control of the model airplane to make an intelligent irrigation system."

Watching the drip irrigation equipment being rolled out across the cotton field, Wang Desheng burst into tears:

“Now I can retire with peace of mind.”

Ye Yuze handed the gate key to Wang Desheng's son and patted him on the shoulder.

"From now on, it's up to you young people. The world is changing so much, science and technology are advancing with each passing day, and your father's generation won't be able to learn."

Wang Desheng's son laughed and clenched the keys in his hand tightly. He thought his father was about to die.

Before he finished speaking, the commander came with a group of people and watched all this excitedly...

It was not until someone reminded him that he quickly ran over, grabbed Ye Yuze's hand and shook it vigorously:

"Boss Ye, thank you so much. I haven't thanked you once since I came here. I will treat you to a meal today no matter what."

Ye Yuze nodded: "Okay, let's go to the soldier's house to eat. I have been eating here these days."

The teacher's smile froze for a moment. He hadn't come all this time, not because he couldn't afford the meal, but because he had some small thoughts. He was afraid of being criticized.

After all, the relationship between officials and businessmen is too sensitive. Sometimes, even if you do things sincerely, you will be criticized for trying to gain benefits.

Although he has not made any great achievements in his life, he still has a good reputation. He cherishes this reputation, even though Ye Yuze came to help them.

But since he was helping, he felt that it didn't matter whether he came or not. After all, he didn't ask for any benefits. He was helping the Corps, not an individual.

The division commander is Wei Changgeng, 48 years old and in the prime of life. He had hoped to be transferred to the headquarters to take up an important position, but now the headquarters has been occupied by the military reclamation city.

For three consecutive terms, people from the Military Reclamation City were promoted, while people from other divisions could only be deputy positions.

Just like Wei Changgeng, although he is only 48 years old, how old is the current top leader?

Ayijiang is 35 years old and Liu Junken is 32 years old. How could he possibly survive longer than them?

The only possibility is that he went to Beijing, where the headquarters would give him a term and allow him to show his talents.

It must be said that the 17th Division is really good, but this is only in the southern part of Northern Xinjiang. There are several divisions in the north that are stronger than the 17th Division.

But the higher-ups sympathized with their difficulties. After all, the natural conditions were much worse than those in the north. Therefore, Wei Changgeng was often commended.

Although the present status of the 17th Division is the result of the joint efforts of several chief officers, it is he who is in the position now after all, and the honor naturally belongs to him.

Wei Changgeng has someone above him and is very capable, so he is inevitably a bit arrogant. This is also one of the reasons why he did not take the initiative to find Ye Yuze.

Ye Yuze called him, and the support Ye Yuze currently gets here also includes the strong support of Wei Changgeng.

Although the money was invested by Ye Yuze and his team, the manpower and material resources were all provided by the 17th Division.

Originally, the regiment wanted to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony and invite the division leaders to attend. They also made a phone call, but Ye Yuze rejected it.

The main reason was that Ye Yuze didn’t know that the division leader was coming, and he felt that this formality was meaningless.

Then Wei Changgeng arrived, without any awareness, he just looked at the canal and that was it.

Of course they had to eat lunch, and they had to go to the regiment cafeteria. However, Ye Yuze and Yang Geyong declined and agreed to eat at Wang Desheng's house instead.

Because Wang Desheng killed a sheep to celebrate what happened today.

In fact, the renovation of the water channel did not cost much, and the sprinkler equipment was not free, but was purchased by the employees themselves.

Because the equipment did not cost much and they would all be used by themselves, this was the result of discussions between Ye Yuze and the soldiers in the regiment.

Moreover, the equipment was purchased with the help of Ye Yuze, at the lowest price.

The regiment had a sumptuous lunch. Wei Changgeng and several division leaders chatted with the people in the regiment in a friendly manner and congratulated the regiment on solving the major water problem.

It also provided ideas to the division. Drip irrigation equipment is very suitable for the climate and soil in northern Xinjiang, and saves a lot of water.

This can be said to be a historic innovation for the 17th Division, and its significance will be groundbreaking.

In other words, thanks to drip irrigation technology, the cotton production of the entire 17th Division will also have a historic breakthrough.

The regiment leaders kept congratulating Wei Changgeng and praising the division commander for his wise decision. If he hadn't transferred the supplies and equipment, there would be no result today.

As for Mr. Ye, he naturally made an indelible contribution, but it was only in terms of funding.

The reporter in the division kept recording, fearing that he would miss any details. As a journalist, he naturally understood the shock this report would cause.

He not only wanted to publish this article in the division newspaper, but also submit it to the Military Reclamation Newspaper and the People's Daily.

At this time, Yang Geyong and Ye Yuze were also toasting each other, and almost everyone in the company had come.

Wang Desheng slaughtered the sheep, and the others did not come empty-handed either. They brought delicious food from home and made it a big dinner.

Several young people kept taking photos and posting them on Weibo and Moments.

Wang Desheng's son is a talented person. He took the most photos and compiled all the photos from the beginning of construction to the present into an album.

Ye Yuze and Yang Geyong were both drunk. There was nothing they could do about it. The military settlers’ alcohol tolerance was no worse than that of the herdsmen. In such an occasion, they couldn’t avoid the wine table unless they were drunk, right?

They lived in the home of a single woman whose husband had gone to Guangzhou and never returned, leaving her and her daughter to grow 120 acres of cotton alone.

I still don't know if the man is still alive. Anyway, I have lost contact with him since he left.

The daughter is now eighteen years old. When the man left, she was only eight years old.

After searching for a long time in vain, the woman decisively filed for divorce.

The reason they were arranged to live here was because the house was particularly clean and the food cooked by the woman was delicious.

The woman's name is Zheng Qian and her daughter's name is Zheng Nannan. Because Zheng Nannan failed to get into college after graduating from high school, she stayed at home and farmed with her mother.

Life in the company is tiring and monotonous, but Zheng Nannan likes such days and has repeatedly stated that she will never get married in this life and will just stay with her mother.

It’s the last day of the month, clean up your house and don’t waste money!