60s: I have a store

Chapter 169 Fertilizer Industry
It's not just foreign liquor, there's also this big lobster. They're probably the first people in Zhoujiazhuang to eat it, right?
Many people in the village have never been out of the capital, and some have never been out of the surrounding area, especially the older generation. So how can we say that we eat lobsters?
Thinking of this, Zhou Xuqiang was even more grateful for his original decision to get close to Zhou Yimin.

Without the persistence back then, there would be no “happiness” today.

Zhou Yimin talked to his grandparents about the purchasing agent of the research institute again.

The old man thought about it and thought that since he was going to be a buyer in a research institute, it would be better to find someone with some knowledge and etiquette to avoid bringing shame to Zhoujiazhuang.

Of course, there are not many educated people in Zhoujiazhuang, and there are only a handful of people who have finished junior high school.

"Let Zhiwen go! He has attended junior high school, is a smooth person and knows his limits." The old man said finally.

Zhou Yimin was a little embarrassed. He had been back in the village for so long, but the villagers didn't know all of them. For example, Zhiwen, as his grandfather mentioned, seemed to be of the same generation as him.

Grandma explained: "Zhiwen is the son of the mute. He used to study with your father and was a good student. But the family couldn't afford to support him, so he had to come home to help."

As soon as he heard the word "dumb", Zhou Yimin immediately knew which family it was.

There is only one mute in Zhoujiazhuang.

Zhou Yimin felt more relieved when he learned that the other party was studying with his father.

"Okay!" Zhou Yimin said straightforwardly.

In his opinion, as long as they are from Zhoujiazhuang, it doesn't matter who they go to.

"I'd better go to his house and talk to him!" The old man stood up and walked out.

Soon, the old man came to the mute's house and explained his purpose. The mute immediately knelt down and kowtowed to the old man, saying that his son should be grateful to the old man and Zhou Yimin for having such a good fortune.

Zhou Zhiwen has a wife and children, and at this moment he also followed his mother in kowtowing to the old man.

"Okay, I'm not dead yet, why should I kowtow? The research institute is not an ordinary place. Once you enter, you must be careful with what you say and do. Don't ask around. Do your job honestly and don't bring shame to our Zhoujiazhuang." said the old man.

Zhou Zhiwen made a guarantee immediately.

After finishing the business, the old man did not stay any longer.

After respectfully escorting Mr. Zhou out, the mute woman began to use gestures to signal her son. Most people would not understand what she was saying, but this family basically understood.

"Mom! Don't worry! I will listen to my Sixteenth Brother from now on. I will do whatever he tells me to do."

Zhou Zhiwen was not an ungrateful person, so how could he not guess that this job was found by his Sixteenth Brother? Like the villagers who got the job quota before, he would also take out a part of his salary every month to repay his Sixteenth Brother.

……

In the afternoon, when Zhou Yimin woke up from his nap, he saw a group of women making rice dumplings in his home.

"Sixteenth brother, did we wake you up?" someone asked embarrassedly.

Zhou Yimin waved his hand: "No, I basically wake up at this time every day. You guys packed so much? I can't finish it in one pot. I'll pick some and you can take the rest to the village canteen!"

The pot in the village canteen is bigger.

"Okay! Yimin, this pile is meat dumplings, and this pile is..." They started introducing.

Zhou Yimin picked a few of each.

"This is enough?"

Zhou Yimin smiled and said, "My family can't eat much, that's enough!"

He didn't plan to eat a lot, just one meal would be enough.

Zhou Yimin put the rice dumplings into the pot and asked Lai Cai to watch the fire while he went out for a walk.

Looking at the green vegetables on the riverbed, Zhou Yimin thought: It's a pity that fertilizers are not easy to get now. my country is seriously lacking in fertilizers. Otherwise, it would not only accelerate the growth of crops, but also increase yields.

Chemical fertilizers have been around since the 40s.

At that time, humans attempted to produce fertilizers artificially to supplement or replace natural fertilizers. The production of phosphate fertilizers and potash fertilizers began earlier than nitrogen fertilizers because agricultural cultivation had long been implementing a rotation system of green manure crops and grain crops and using a large amount of organic fertilizers, so the demand for nitrogen fertilizers was not very urgent.

my country, on the other hand, only started to develop the fertilizer industry at the beginning of this century.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country was well aware of the importance of fertilizers and accelerated the development of the fertilizer industry. In the 50s, we built four nitrogen fertilizer plants in Jilin, Lanzhou, Taiyuan and Chengdu.

In general, although our country can produce fertilizers now, the output is extremely limited and cannot be used on a large scale.

The fertilizers farmers use now are basically organic fertilizers such as livestock manure, wood ash, etc.

In fact, nitrogen fertilizer and phosphate fertilizer are not bad, at least the raw materials are relatively abundant in my country. But potash fertilizer is not so good, and the Northwest Water Potash mine has not yet been discovered.

When talking about the Northwest Potash Mine, Zhou Yimin thought of the documentary he had watched in his previous life.

China paid a lot of effort to finally unearth the world's largest sulfate brine potash deposit.

But even so, in later generations, about half of my country's potash fertilizer raw materials still need to be imported.

"What are you thinking about?"

At some point, the old branch secretary came to Zhou Yimin.

Zhou Yimin smiled and said, "I'm thinking about how to increase production."

"Leave it to fate!"

In the eyes of the old branch secretary, farming depends on the weather. If the weather is good, there will be a good harvest. Like in the past two years, if the weather is not good, everyone will go hungry.

Zhou Yimin remained silent.

Even in later generations, when faced with situations like drought, people were somewhat helpless, let alone in this era.

In the future, artificial rainfall can be created, but for a cloudless sky, all humans can do is to extract as much groundwater as possible. So many dams have been built, but many of them do not release water during droughts, and only start releasing water when the reservoirs can no longer bear the heavy rains. This is simply bizarre.

"After the wheat is harvested, let's take advantage of the drought and build a reservoir on the back mountain in our village!" Zhou Yimin suggested.

In short, the villagers cannot be left idle.

Zhou Yimin observed the terrain and found that there was a small valley behind the mountain, which was a good place to build a reservoir.

There are many benefits to building a reservoir.

On the one hand, it can make use of idle labor; second, it can store water to prevent drought; third, it can generate electricity; and fourth, it can engage in breeding.

"Build a reservoir? In our village?" The old party secretary was stunned.

That’s no small project! Even if it’s not a big reservoir, the quality must be guaranteed, otherwise if the reservoir collapses, the whole village will suffer.

The old branch secretary naturally knew that the small valley behind the mountain was a good location for building a reservoir.

He heard that Miyun was also planning to build a reservoir this year, and it was a very large reservoir. Some villages and villagers were transferred there.

Zhou Yimin nodded: "I think this drought will continue for a long time, let's make more preparations!"

The old branch secretary thought: That’s right, I’ll be free anyway by then.

(End of this chapter)