this man is not calm

Chapter 494 Cause and Effect
Since the financial situation began to improve, the importance of paying off debts, which Jin Shang used to worry about, has been relegated to the back burner. Making money is no longer the top priority, and spending the money in hand on practical things has become more of a headache.

During the next one-hour flight, Jin Shang and Li Xuan, in addition to killing time, also seriously discussed what kind of school to start and where to start.

The conclusion is that it is better to stay near Gyeonggi Province, where you can reach and take care of it.

Under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Zhao, Jingxi Metropolis Daily has become a very influential newspaper in the north. The subscription volume in the capital region has been rising steadily. Its focus on local characteristics is deeply loved by the people.

The most surprising thing is that the selection that has been held for several years has become more and more influential, especially the essay competition. Some universities are even willing to give priority admission to students with special talents, thus attracting more attention from students, teachers and parents.

This development reminded Jin Shang of the New Concept Essay Contest in his previous life. Although there was no first prize qualification for admission to a prestigious university, it was still a very anticipated event.

Furthermore, the high schools under its jurisdiction had very good test results this year. Against the backdrop of expanding university enrollment, the admission rate has increased significantly, and it has really become a hot topic again.
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After getting off the plane, Jin Shang couldn't help but tighten his collar and let Li Xuan put on a thick coat.

We already knew that the temperature in Julunbo today was relatively low, only around four degrees. With the cold wind from the north, it became even cooler.

"Who says winter in the south is colder than in the north? It is a little dry, but when there is a breeze, the perceived temperature will not be much higher."

"It is said that it is quite warm today, the wind is not strong, and the sun is very bright..."

Li Xuan said as expected.

"Two months earlier, the scenery here was completely different."

The sky is blue, the wild is vast, the wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep!
Nowadays, after gusts of cold wind, the greenness has faded a lot.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at their second uncle's house and drank some hot goat milk tea, which finally warmed them up a lot.

"I thought I was from the north, but I didn't expect that after coming here, I would experience what the Great Northern Wilderness is like."

Jin Shang held the teacup in his hand, warmed his hands and complained,
"It's not four degrees here, it must be below zero."

Zhang Hua responded with a smile:
"The highest temperature is four degrees. Now..."

The weather forecast in the 1990s was not as accurate as it would be more than 20 years later. It could not accurately predict the time when wind and rain would start, and different districts in the same city could be monitored quickly.

It is now 1998. The so-called weather forecast is really just a forecast. It's fine as long as it's roughly right. The upper and lower limits of the daily temperature are basically guessed, and ordinary people don't have such high requirements. A higher accuracy rate for windy, rainy, sunny or cloudy days is fine.

"We have successfully planted winter wheat this year. We will add a crop of sweet sorghum next year, and then we will rotate crops to cultivate the land."

To be honest, the land near Julunpo is still a little barren and far less fertile than the black soil of the Songnen Plain. Farming requires not only the right time and place, but also attention to maintaining the soil fertility.

It is impossible to increase production sustainably simply by applying chemical fertilizers.

"Sweet sorghum, uncle still took my words to heart, don't worry."

Jin Shang couldn't help but laugh.

The global biofuel market mainly relies on corn as its source of energy. The highest production and demand are in South America, followed by North America. The consumption of ethanol gasoline there is extremely high and increasing. The land and climate there are also very suitable for the growth of corn.

There is a slight difference in Northeast China. Although the corn yield is acceptable, it is not as good as sorghum, which is more suitable for the local area, cold-resistant and has low requirements for water and fertilizer. The specially cultivated sweet sorghum is an ideal biofuel crop, and it is perfect for making fuel ethanol.

"I saw on the news that you signed an agreement with the oil company and are about to roll out ethanol gasoline. Aren't you in a hurry?"

"It can be imported instead! The domestic bioethanol industry chain is not mature yet, the scale effect has not been achieved, and the cost is relatively high. Local production is more expensive than importing from overseas."

Having said that, we must definitely promote local products as much as possible, and imports are just another option.

"It has to be rolled out eventually. Wouldn't it be nice to try out the new varieties that your lab is promoting?"

"It's OK. We can plant it on a large scale in Julunbo all at once, but I don't know what the yield will be. My original plan was to plant sweet sorghum as the main crop and genetically modified corn as the supplement. Of course, we can't produce all of it for ethanol, and we can't eat into the production of staple food."

"You've seen the situation this year. Rice can't be grown anymore, and wheat can't be grown every year. We still have to mix it with legumes and nitrogen-fixing plants for rotation. Why is alfalfa so popular? It's really ideal. If you don't have a lot of money to invest in large-scale mechanized farms, it's still the most cost-effective and risk-free way for herders to raise cattle and sheep."

Please note that the area near Julunpo is not actually the Northeast Plain, but the edge of the Mongolian Plateau. The altitude is quite high, as evidenced by the fact that many cold-resistant beets are grown locally.

Although many crops can still be grown, their yields are nearly one-third lower than those on large farms in the Northwest. Only a few are less affected. Sorghum, corn and potatoes are the crops that adapt relatively well.

"Is it really not a loss? The price of biofuels is not too high now. The international crude oil price has risen a lot this year, but it is still at a low level."

"It's definitely not a loss. The price of ethanol is also acceptable. Besides, the demand for fermented feed in dairy farms is also extremely high. The leftovers from brewing potato vodka are really not enough."

"It's good as long as you can handle it."

Seeing that his second uncle was so confident, Jin Shang stopped trying to persuade him.

If you control each link well, you will definitely make money. It just depends on how you operate it.

Looking at the problem from one perspective, many industries are loss-making, for example, growing soybeans. The greatest value of this crop is oil extraction. However, with the current price of soybean oil at home and abroad, it is definitely impossible to make a profit. But if the soybean meal, soybean seedlings and stems are processed into feed, and the nitrogen fixation effect after one season of planting improves soil fertility, it will definitely make money.

This is the advantage of having an entire industrial chain from top to bottom. Large companies can allocate resources at a higher level and maximize the value of land, instead of relying solely on their current small-scale planting, scattered herdsmen and oil workshops, which have too low an ability to withstand risks.

"It's the alpacas you got in Beijing. They don't seem to be well adapted to the extreme cold weather in the north and don't grow as well as the local goats, sheep, cattle, and horses." "I know. It may be due to the climate and soil. We should slowly select the breeds and get high-quality varieties in the future."

The price of an alpaca baby is at least ten times, or even dozens of times, that of a lamb, which shows how profitable it is to raise it. Alpaca wool is a high-end product in the cotton fur market, and alpacas that produce a lot of wool are almost "walking gold."

However, alpaca breeding is more troublesome and the technology is not as mature as raising cattle and sheep.

At present, it seems that it has adapted well to the slightly dry and warm areas north and south of the Yellow River. The south is too humid and the northeast is too cold.

"It's not that we can't raise them, but they're not as easy to raise as sheep. It would be very painful to see one freeze to death. If we take good care of them, the cost will go up again."

"After all, it is not a native species. Besides, alpaca breeding in our country started relatively late, so we don't have much experience. We can only take it slow."

Judging from the current situation, the production of alpaca wool is just mediocre. It is quite good in a few breeding bases, but the conditions for large-scale promotion are not yet mature.

As for the internationally famous specialized alpaca breed, it is really priceless. Let alone buying it, it is not easy to even see it.

Although agriculture and animal husbandry are traditional, the technical content is not low at all. When it comes to the ultimate, the threshold is frighteningly high, and there are no shortcuts. The so-called overtaking on a curve almost does not exist in this industry. If you can do it, you can do it, and if you can't do it, you can't do it. The difference in level is obvious at a glance.

Even with the help of the "golden finger", the problem cannot be solved in a short time.

"I checked it out on the way here. The new drip irrigation technology integrates water and fertilizer, is energy-saving and environmentally friendly, and is really good. The climate this year is a bit abnormal, but the harvest doesn't seem to be affected much."

"The water conservancy projects are in place, and the situation is improving steadily. It was still sandy and barren in the past two years, but it has improved a lot now. However, the sandstorms seem to be getting stronger, and I am a little worried. The area around Julunbo is actually not bad, but the situation in the northern desert, northwest and far north also needs to be managed."

It is not enough to develop only one area in the entire northern plains. When a sandstorm sweeps across the area downwind, no matter how well it is done, it will be of no use.

In his previous life, Jin Shang had heard of the name of the "Three North Shelterbelt Project", but the territory in this life is so large and there are so many areas that need to be governed. Just relying on Jin Shang to spend money and his second uncle Zhang Hua to plant trees and reclaim land is just a drop in the bucket.

If we really want to prevent and improve the problem at its root, we need to plan from a higher level and make it a long-term systematic project.

With the current domestic scientific and technological level and agricultural technology, as long as there is no particularly extreme weather disaster, it will not have much impact on the output of major food crops.

Several major grain-producing areas have basically said goodbye to relying on the weather for their livelihood, but changes in macro-climate trends will still have long-term impacts and pressures.

"Let's do our best and leave the rest to fate. Let's do our job well and then see if God will bless us."

Jin Shang sighed and shook his head gently.
"I think the sweet wine and fruit juice drinks here are selling well and are very popular among young people in the workplace. Agricultural and animal husbandry side dishes and semi-processed products are also selling well. In addition, the demand for infant formula milk powder, diapers, high-grade cotton and linen and other plant fiber underwear and maternal and child health products will continue to rise. We need to make more preparations. If my uncle is too busy, we can join hands with other merchants."

On the one hand, the offline distribution volume has increased, and the proportion of online sales with large quantities and good discounts is increasing, especially for milk powder and diapers. The number of newborns has been increasing in recent years. Judging from the trend, there will be at least twenty years of significant growth.

Jinxi Culture's early childhood education books, comics and animations, educational toys and early education supplies have been opened one after another, and works have been released one after another. Even the career of Jin Shang's mother Mei Xinghong has reached a new peak.

"Food, daily necessities, entertainment, education, training, and vocational training are all pretty good."

Listening to the conversation between the two, Second Aunt Jin Lanyun, who was turning the grill, interrupted and said,
"I heard from your father that the vocational and technical training class we started two years ago merged with two other peers and obtained the qualification of a specialist this year?"

"Well, it's not easy. Running an education group is very tiring. Editor-in-Chief Zhao has asked many people to come over to help, but it's still not enough. In the end, it must be separated and put in charge by someone else."

Private schools, especially higher education, are extremely troublesome and costly, so tuition fees are not low, but fixed expenses cannot be saved. In addition, it is not easy to recruit students, so it is a bit difficult to balance income and expenditure.

Fortunately, academic qualifications have not depreciated significantly in the past two years. The first batch of college students after the expansion of enrollment have not graduated yet, and the reputation of junior college students is still good. Even technical secondary school students are academic qualifications that can be shown off in many places.

“It’s very difficult to develop step by step.”

"So, I plan to take the path of mergers and expansion, build up the scale and volume, and then gradually improve the education level and qualifications."

If we really rely on influence and reputation to improve slowly, I don’t know how many years it will take. In the information age of the new century, speed is required in everything we do. This is the best opportunity to catch up. If you miss this window of opportunity, it will be gone.

"You have a hand in almost every industry now, and you even want to expand and strengthen second-hand recycling."

"This... doesn't require my special care..."

Jin Shang smiled calmly.

"In order to survive the difficulties in the early years, CSSC did everything. Shipbreaking is tiring and polluting, and it is not just about recycling scrap steel and cables. It must be combined with certain basic waste recycling and pollutant treatment. For example, the recycling and reuse of lead-acid batteries, mechanical parts and electronic components is quite profitable. We have been doing it for more than ten years and are very familiar with it."

When a large shipbuilding company that was once glorious has fallen to the point where it needs to save itself, you cannot guess how low it can lower its profile. Let alone these conventional businesses, according to Hong Renquan, CSSC Mechanical & Electrical once resold seafood, opened a tourist guide subsidiary, repaired small hydropower stations, engaged in house renovation and maintenance, and partnered with others to raise scallops. In the most difficult times, it even wanted to raise pigs and chickens, open a farm, and contract ponds to raise fish.

Compared with this, second-hand waste recycling, garbage sorting, sewage treatment, etc. are actually nothing.

What Jin Shang is doing now is to tidy up the business that was originally not worthy of being accepted by the public, and then expand its scale after formalizing it.

The previous extensive management style is definitely not feasible. The efficiency and utilization rate are very low and do not meet the requirements.

Now that we have specialized departments and laboratories for research and development, it is no longer like before when we just went wherever we wanted.

In order to promote the recycling of kitchen waste and waste cooking oil to refine biodiesel, and even deep processing into aviation fuel, so much manpower and material resources have been invested, and the cooperative units are also pushing it hard. It is definitely impossible to give up halfway.

(End of this chapter)