Apocalypse Rebirth: 3000 million won at the beginning

Chapter 2073 When will the apocalypse end?
"drive--"

On the pasture, Li Yu was riding a tall horse, galloping around the ranch.

The evening breeze, carrying the sweet scent of pasture, made Li Yu feel refreshed.

This was his first time riding a horse, both in his past and present lives.

But thanks to his excellent balance, he learned to ride a horse in a very short time.

In the distance, Wei Yun stared in astonishment at Li Yu, who was skillfully riding a horse, and asked Li Tie beside him:

"Captain Li, is this really the city lord's first time riding a horse? It doesn't look like it."

Li Tie nodded and said:
"This must be the first time. I've never seen the city lord ride a horse before, but the city lord learns things very quickly."

Wei Yun closed his mouth, clicking his tongue in amazement.

Li Yu rode the white horse in circles along the edge of the ranch, which had two layers of protection.

The first layer is an outer wire mesh barrier, and the second layer is a concrete wall.

The first layer of barbed wire fencing was built during the previous leadership's era, and they later made some simple repairs.

The second layer of concrete wall is six meters high and one meter thick.

Originally, this layer of the wall was only two meters high, and even the smart mobile switch was not installed.

However, after the high-ranking members of the camphor tree faction confirmed the large-scale grazing in the northwest, the walls on this side were raised and a layer of intelligent mobile gates was installed.

A height of six meters is the minimum installation standard for intelligent mobile switches.

Below this height, the intelligent mobile switch is not suitable for installation.

Dada-da-da-da

Li Yu galloped wildly on his horse, running around several times before finally stopping in front of He Liangwei and the others.

As the horse raised its head, Li Yu jumped off the horse decisively.

He stroked the horse's head and laughed:

"This horse is very good, excellent."

Wei Yun quickly came over and said:

"Lord, this horse doesn't have a name yet. Would you like to name it if you like?"

Li Yu glanced at him, shook his head, and said:
"Never mind. Just focus on running the ranch well."

He's not a good horseman; he can ride for a short time, but his backside can't take it after a while.

Looking at the water sprinklers in the ranch, he asked:
Who came up with the idea for these water sprayers?

He Liangwei pointed at Zheng Hanbing and said to Li Yu:
"This was made by Master Zheng."

Li Yu nodded and said, "That's right."

He had just checked the crops growing in the greenhouse, and they were all growing very well.

Growing crops is a technical job, especially with the fifth-generation intelligent greenhouses that are now being used.

Zheng Hanbing belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture and previously worked in planting in the oil city.

He used to run a greenhouse company before the apocalypse, so this is a return to his old profession.

Hearing the city lord's commendation, Zheng Hanbing was quite pleased.

He came from the oil city to the northwest to be in charge of planting at the Zhangye agricultural and livestock base, and his status was upgraded.

He was promoted from senior agronomist to master agronomist.

In the agricultural system of Dazhangshu, the planters are also divided into many levels.

The most basic level is technician, then there are junior agronomist, intermediate agronomist, senior agronomist, expert agronomist, and finally the highest level is professor-level agronomist.

Currently, within the Great Camphor Tree faction, there are only three professor-level agronomists:

An Ya, Zhang Qiwu, and Chu Juan.

Zhang Qiwu and Chu Juan were already top experts in the agricultural field before the apocalypse.

Anya, on the other hand, has been deeply involved in planting within the camphor tree's forces for many years. Although her theoretical knowledge is not as advanced as the previous two, her practical skills and planting techniques in the post-apocalyptic environment are quite remarkable.

In the evening, the sun sets.

The vast grasslands are dotted with grazing cattle and sheep.

As the campfire was lit, He Liangwei threw dried cow dung into it.

"Lord, today I'll let you try the stuffed pork belly and lamb breast with skin here. They're delicious!" He Liangwei placed a large pot on the earthen stove.

This pot is over a meter in size.

He Liangwei picked up two large pieces of lamb breast with skin on from the side and put them into the large pot.

Then he took a steel basin and poured in a whole basin of stuffed pork belly.

He Liangwei looked around and called out into the distance, "Xiao Song, bring the water over."

Pour the melted snow from the Qilian Mountains into an iron pot until the stuffed meat is completely submerged.

He then produced a bag of coarse salt from who-knows-where and sprinkled it down in two handfuls.

Watching He Liangwei's fluid movements, Li Yu joked:

"Old He, your movements are quite skilled. Looks like you eat mutton often."

He Liangwei blushed and said awkwardly:
"Actually, it wasn't only when the city lord came that we killed these sheep."

"Normally, we only deal with sheep that die occasionally due to various accidents, in order to avoid waste."

"Oh, by the way, speaking of which..."

Ho Leung Wai said solemnly:

“Lord, it’s a bit troublesome for us to transport live cattle and sheep over here. The transport team has also reported this. I think it would be great if we had refrigerated trucks and a cold storage room here. That would make cold chain transportation much easier.”

Li Yu nodded slightly and said:
"Just follow the application process and submit your application to the higher authorities as usual."

"I'll put in a word with the management committee."

"Okay." He Liangwei put the lid on the pot.

"Lord, the mutton will take two hours to arrive. Let me grill some mutton skewers for you first."

Li Yu waved his hand and said:

"Let them be busy for now. You sit here and chat with me. How many people are there in the Zhangye agricultural and pastoral base now?"

Upon hearing this, He Liangwei stopped what he was doing, put the mutton back into the bowl, and replied:

"Currently, the entire Zhangye agricultural and pastoral base has 3100 people."

"Among them are 1200 former prisoners of war from the Northwest, 1000 support personnel from the oil city, 200 members of the militia brigade, and some survivors who have come from ALSYQ and Qinghai in the last three months."

There aren't many people, only a few hundred or so.

Li Yu was not surprised when he heard the number, after all, the Northwest is a vast and sparsely populated area.

Even with a large-scale publicity campaign, only a handful of survivors were attracted.

It only attracted a few hundred people in three months, which is less than the number of new residents added in a single day in Dazhangshu or the oil city.

"What have you been busy with lately?" Li Yu asked.

When he came here today, he saw that the defensive walls, guillotines, greenhouses, and even the zombie generators were all completed.

So I'd also like to know about their staff's work assignments and next steps.

He entrusted the management of the Northwest region entirely to Ju Tianrui.

It now appears that the basic infrastructure in the Northwest region is largely complete.

Faced with Li Yu's question, He Liangwei remained silent for a moment before saying:

"Lord, this is how it is now."

“There are 2,000 greenhouses here, and we need 500 permanent planting staff, with each person responsible for about 40 mu (approximately 6.6 acres) of greenhouse area.”

"The rest of the manpower is mainly used to build the breeding farm and raise the walls."

Although it's very hot now, at least we're spraying water to cool it down. I'm just worried about what kind of natural disaster might happen later.
So we're thinking of continuing to build the farm, so that if anything happens, we can easily move the cattle and sheep to the farm."

"Also, we are also raising the height of the perimeter wall in different sections. You may not have seen the construction team inside the agricultural and pastoral base today; they are all building it outside on scaffolding."

"There aren't many people here, and the area is large, so most of the building materials can only be transported from other bases. Therefore, raising the wall can't be rushed; we can only do it little by little."

Li Yu listened quietly without interrupting. As He Liangwei continued talking, the conversation drifted to other topics.

“Lord, I think we should give these Northwest prisoners stationed at the Zhangye agricultural and pastoral base a chance.”

"They were taken over by the big shots in the Northwest. They lived here before the big shots took over this place."

"Moreover, from my interactions with them, I found that they don't seem to have any ulterior motives. I suggest that we give them a chance to formally join the camphor tree faction."

Li Yu hadn't thought about the issue of the several thousand prisoners in the Northwest before.

I had initially thought of killing them without a second thought, but there are few people in the Northwest, and reconstruction requires more people, so I decided to keep them.

These prisoners of war were assigned the most arduous manual labor during the reconstruction of Northwest China.

They were given the dirtiest and most tiring jobs.

But the treatment they received was always the worst: two meals a day, one cornbread per meal.

The room we stayed in was also one of those super large dormitory-style rooms, with dozens of people sleeping in one big dormitory.

There are no points or any benefits.

The reason they were willing to give them two cornbreads a day was because they were afraid they wouldn't have enough energy to work.

These corn tortillas, about the size of a face, can be quite filling if you soak them in water.

However, this kind of life, compared to that of the support personnel also working at the Zhangye agricultural and pastoral base,

They received vastly different treatment.

Putting aside other things, these support personnel traveled all the way from the oil city to the Northwest, and having meals and accommodation provided was the bare minimum.

The accommodation is an eight-person dormitory.

In terms of food, they can eat relatively fresh sweet potatoes and corn, and make their own corn fritters, etc.

After all, this area produces a lot of grain, making it a sub-base for grain export.

In addition,

They can also use points to buy sugar, flatbread, pickled vegetables, dried meat, and other items delivered by the transport team. They can also buy new clothes and even electronic products.

But to the prisoners staying at the Zhangye agricultural and pastoral base, they were like old oxen kept in the base.

Eat, sleep, wake up, work, and then eat again.

There is no freedom, no entertainment, and no future.

Their only purpose in staying here seems to be doing hard labor.

Li Yu listened as He Liangwei rambled on about the prisoners.

These prisoners are different from those in Jiayuguan and Jiuquan in the northwest; these prisoners are all peripheral members of the big boss.

They weren't combatants, just a group of people who specialized in production.

After listening patiently, Li Yu pondered for a moment and then said:

"I will give this matter a good consideration."

He Liangwei pointed to Wei Yun in the distance and said to Li Yu:
"Actually, there are quite a few capable people among these prisoners."

“Take Wei Yun, for example. The reason why the livestock here was able to double in such a short time is mainly due to his efforts. He is very professional in breeding.”

Li Yu nodded indifferently, "Okay, I understand."

He still needs to consider restoring the prisoners to normal human status.

After all, these people were once enemies, even though they did not participate in the battle at the Zhangye Agricultural and Livestock Base.

"Li Tie!" Li Yu called out towards the distance.

Li Tie rode up on his horse and almost fell off his backside when he stopped.

"Ahem, Lord City Lord."

"Notify the management committee tonight that a new round of standing committee meetings will be held tomorrow at noon."

What is the topic?

"Regarding the issue of prisoners of war from the Northwest."

"Ok."

He Liangwei, who witnessed Li Yu's instructions firsthand, was secretly thrilled; it seemed the city lord had taken his advice to heart.

In his view, there were many talented people among these prisoners who could still be put to good use.

Given the current way these prisoners are being handled, the most likely outcome is that they will die from exhaustion while working.

There is also the possibility that, due to a lack of hope, they may eventually rebel.

Suppressing this group's rebellion isn't difficult; just take a shot and shoot them.

But that's too wasteful.

Time flows slowly by.

The campfire illuminated everyone's faces. Li Yu ate lamb skewers wrapped in lettuce, drank lamb soup, and smiled as he looked at the starry sky.

Night falls slowly in the Northwest.

They arrived here at 16:00 PM and then patrolled for another four hours until 20:00 PM.

The mutton stew has been simmering for 2 hours, and it's already 10 PM.

The Milky Way was dazzling, and searchlights twinkled on the distant walls.

The searchlight occasionally swept across the cattle and sheep in the pasture, but the cattle and sheep remained silent, simply grazing.

They sat on the banks of the Black River, with seven or eight bonfires burning.

Li Yu saw the assault team members still protecting him behind him and said:
"It's alright, you all go and have something to eat."

The assault team remained motionless. "We must protect the city lord 24 hours a day!"

Li Yu rolled his eyes and handed over the dozen or so grilled lamb skewers.

"Kill them all!"

He knew that the two commandos wouldn't leave unless he gave them a firm order.

So he had no choice but to use this method to let them also enjoy the little pleasures of this patrol.

The camphor tree assault team has a total of 100 people. On this trip, Li Yu came out on patrol, and 24 of them came out with him.

These 24 people provided full-time, 24-hour protection for Li Yu's personal safety.

They are divided into visible and covert sentries, and they take turns on duty.

In addition to these 24 people, there are also six inspectors from the Inspection Department.

They are mostly from auditing and actuarial backgrounds, and they can quickly understand the situation of each branch base they visit by looking at details and data.

After clarifying the situation, I will report to Li Yu separately.

Li Yu would compare the information provided to him by the supervisors of these branch bases with the information provided by the inspectors.

Let's see if these managers have embezzled or concealed anything.

"Tiezi, divide that mutton among the brothers," Li Yu said, pointing to a whole roasted lamb that was being grilled nearby.

"Alright!" Li Tie didn't stand on ceremony and immediately called two people to carry the whole roasted lamb away.

Seeing this, He Liangwei awkwardly withdrew his hand; he had wanted to personally cut two of the tenderest pieces of mutton for the city lord.
Li Yu took a sip of mare's milk wine, crossed his arms, and lay on the pasture, gazing at the starry sky.

Seeing this, He Liangwei and the others nearby did not dare to disturb Li Yu's enjoyment.

They each lowered their heads to eat their meat, occasionally glancing at Li Yu's movements.

Li Yu smiled. The mutton freshly slaughtered in the Northwest did indeed taste quite different from the mutton raised at the Dazhangshu Farm.

Once things have settled down, he'll bring his whole family here for a visit.

or.
Once the apocalypse is over and there are no more zombies, he'll definitely take his RV out for a spin.

Picnic and swimming by the lake.

Camping on the mountaintop, watching the sunrise and sunset.

Fishing and drinking on the vast river.

(End of this chapter)