Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 237 Voltage Regulator

It was May again, and Sang Yang'an brought his son and daughter to the farmland.

The wives were going to visit their friends from the production team to catch up, and after giving them a few instructions, Sang Yang'an went to the repair shop by himself.

A group of people were smoking in the repair shop. When they saw Sang Yang'an coming over, they stood up and greeted him.

"team leader!"

The term "Wanhu" is generally used to refer to Lord Wanhu, or it refers to the official title itself.

Sang Yang'an is the production team leader, and the title of team leader better represents his status among the Shan Nong ethnic group.

Moreover, since he was not a hereditary lord and his subordinates were in a superior-subordinate relationship, he was more suitable to be a captain.

The production team leader position was not hereditary. Beijiwu assigned them to whatever they needed to do. Sang Yang'an went from Tongzhou to Wuzhou, from Wuzhou to Jizhou, from Jizhou to Luoyang, and then to Jiangxia.

Each transfer was to resolve issues that the Arctic Army needed to address. After arriving, they would be followed by mountain farmers, making them hereditary officials or members of noble families.

Sang Yang'an took the cigarette offered by the driver, lit it for his subordinate, and took a puff.

Cigarettes and alcohol are stronger forms of hard currency than newspapers, especially when you're out fighting or working overtime at night; cigarettes and alcohol are more important than women whose faces you can't see clearly.

The cigarettes and alcohol are all from past stock; no new ones have been produced this year.

Because the demand is extremely high and the production is low, even Sangyang'an needs to be used sparingly.

Sang Yang'an took a puff and could tell that the cigarette was from last year.

"Has this year's data been collected yet?"

"They're out now. Each harvester can harvest 30 mu (approximately 2 hectares) of wheat fields per day."

Sang Yang'an frowned, a cigarette between his fingers as he looked at the workers.

"How is it less? I remember the data we were given before was that we could harvest 100 mu per day."

Feng Degong smiled and said, "It is His Majesty's decree."

Sang Yang'an just returned this year and is not very familiar with the situation in Luoyang.

Regarding internal combustion engines and agricultural planning, Luoyang has its own arrangements, and Xiacheng has its own arrangements.

"What did His Majesty say?"

Sang Yang'an and Beiji Wu met much less often. It had only been two years since he went to Jiangxia, but he felt very uncomfortable after returning.

After much thought, I still want to come back to retire; I don't want to stay in the south.

Once you're far from the center of power, you get far less intelligence and far less to manage.

Furthermore, obtaining cigarettes and other special items has become much more difficult.

For Sang Yang'an, smoking with his former subordinates now is a step backward in terms of equality.

Feng Degong, the captain of the machinery team, gave an overview of the current situation.

"His Majesty said that we should not pursue high power like trains and ships, but should streamline things and reduce our dependence on livestock as well as on manual labor."

“In the past, a horse-drawn harvester was initially pulled by more than a dozen horses, but later it was reduced to three or four horses pulling a slightly smaller harvester.”

"Steam engines need to be heated by burning coal before they can be started, and they always break down. It takes twenty or thirty people to operate one machine."

"The current gas-powered harvester can reliably harvest 30 mu (approximately 2 hectares) in eight hours a day. It only requires two people, does not require raising or feeding horses, and is not as expensive as a steam engine. However, there are only about twenty of them at present, and most of them are still using the old harvesters."

"In terms of the daily harvest, it is definitely not as good as a large steam engine. Its advantages are that it is smaller and cheaper, not as bulky as a steam engine, easier to turn, and easier to operate."

Sang Yang'an looked at the gas-fired combine harvester parked next to him and asked, "This also burns coal?"

Feng Degong nodded. "We also eat coal, but we use kerosene. In recent years, we've had more kerosene production than we could use, so we've been using this."

During this period, the main product of petroleum was kerosene, which was primarily used for lighting and replaced expensive animal and vegetable oils.

Gasoline and heavy oil were hazardous waste products generated during the oil refining process at the time.

Gasoline was considered to be almost useless because it was too volatile and explosive.

The main fuels in the current era are coal and kerosene. Animal fats and vegetable oils require too many materials, and the production of honey and beeswax is too troublesome.

Feng Degong began to explain strange things like kerosene and petroleum to Sang Yang'an, things he couldn't understand at all.

Sang Yang'an took a drag of his cigarette, his gaze somewhat profound. "I haven't been back for a few years, and I feel like I can't keep up."

Feng Degong asked, "Captain, aren't you a high-ranking official in Xia City, assisting the Crown Prince?"

Sang Yang'an gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Being an official isn't easy. I came back to take a look."

Sang Yang'an clearly didn't want to talk about Xiacheng, so he casually asked about the production brigade.

What is the yield per mu this year?

"410 pounds."

Sang Yang'an was stunned, and looked up at Feng Degong, "How much?"

“410 jin.” Feng Degong replied with a solemn expression, “I weighed hundreds of acres of land today and the results were all about the same.”

Sang Yang'an felt that this number was terrifying; it was almost catching up with the rice production in the south.

"How can there be so many? Did you calculate it correctly?"

Sang Yang'an still felt there was something wrong.

Feng Degong replied, "I didn't believe it at first either. I personally led people to harvest a mu (unit of land area) with sickles to measure it. In reality, it was much more than 410 jin (unit of weight). We calculated it as 410 jin after removing the shells."

"The reasons are simple: soil fertility, pesticides, and high-yield seeds."

“Every year when the wheat seedlings are young, people are pruning the ears of wheat in the fields to select high-quality, high-yield seeds.”

"We've applied a new pesticide to kill the insects, and fewer insect eggs have been dug up from the soil."

"Fertilizer is being developed, specifically nitrogen fertilizer. It's not the 'egg' in 'chicken,' but a new character. The emperor has a son named Arctic Nitrogen."

A middle-aged man next to Feng Degong laughed and said, "What's four hundred catties? The potatoes in the neighboring field are yielding two thousand catties per mu. We're all having trouble writing a report now, afraid that the Emperor won't believe it."

As a high-yield crop, it has greater adaptability than wheat and rice.

Potatoes' adaptability to the environment has led to an astonishing yield in fertile soil regions.

This production volume is revolutionary and will change the recipes on our tables.

Feng Degong nodded, making sure to memorize these figures.

Not only did he remember it clearly, but everyone else did too.

King Wu will definitely ask about these things. If you answer incorrectly or stammer, your whole family will be exiled, which would be the least of your worries.

Whether it's a woman or a child, they must understand that if their husband or father doesn't do well at work, they will suffer along with him. They shouldn't have the idea that they can act out and not take responsibility.

If the husband is an official, then he works outside every day, and the wife must support him.

This is pressure, pressure from King Wu.

The pressure did not distort families; on the contrary, it made many families stable and harmonious.

Without external pressure and without wise people within, a family is doomed to perish.

These people don't understand the good intentions behind King Wu's actions. Neither Sang Yang'an nor Feng Degong truly grasped the extent of the protection King Wu had provided over the years.

Even for the jobs they are responsible for, these people are only slightly better than the average person; others can quickly become competent in these jobs after just a few months of learning.

Feng Degong smiled and said, "Potatoes only take a little over three months to mature, and their yield is much higher than that of wheat."

Upon hearing this, Sang Yang'an replied, "The yield of potatoes is indeed high, but they don't taste very good."

Feng Degong said with a smile, "We can't possibly eat all the potatoes. The extra ones will be used to brew wine. This year, tobacco and liquor factories have started operating. We also planted some potatoes in the mountainous province this year, but the main focus is still on industry. The potatoes are all grown in the mountainous areas."

"There's too little flat land. His Majesty said it's for preparing housing for those who are returning. He's reclaimed all the original private land to build houses, parks, schools, libraries, hospitals, activity rooms, and so on. In short, it's quite good. We have no use for that land anyway, so we might as well give it to His Majesty."

Sang Yang'an had not heard of this matter and was increasingly understanding the disadvantages of being far from Luoyang, as well as why many people gave up hereditary positions to become officials in the capital.

“Yes, the private land is useless anyway.” Sang Yang’an felt that it was the right thing to do to reclaim the private land.

When something happens, a few acres of land are of no use at all.

When nothing goes wrong, given the farming capabilities of the mountain people, the price of grain mainly comes down to transportation costs.

Moreover, the Mountain Farming Kingdom has indeed guaranteed the survival of everyone. It has been doing so for the past ten years, and this has long been deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people.

The deputy captain smoking next to Feng Degong looked at Sang Yang'an and said softly, "His Majesty said that sweet potatoes should be planted in the south and potatoes in the north, and that the yield of sweet potatoes should be higher than that of potatoes. What is the yield of sweet potatoes per mu?"

Sang Yang'an felt very embarrassed.

Who the hell are you? You're asking me this?
"Two thousand catties."

Sang Yang'an gave a brief reply, then grew increasingly frustrated, casually chatted with someone, and left.

In reality, the first batch of sweet potatoes only yielded 1,300 to 1,400 jin (750-800 kg), and we just planted a small amount to see how it went.

The high yield in the Huanghuai Province is due to the importance attached to Arctic weapons.

The task assigned to Feng Degong and others by Beijiwu must be taken seriously and handled with utmost care.

The arrangements for Xiacheng were hampered by numerous affairs in Xiacheng, resulting in a lack of attention paid to this grain matter from top to bottom.

Xiacheng is bordered by Luoyang to the north, Lingnan to the south, Sichuan to the left, and Jiangnan to the right. It was a hub for canal transport and a land of plenty.

These advantageous regions have no shortage of food, so they wouldn't care about so-called high-yield crops.

Everyone is busy with government affairs and city matters; these small matters can be left to the farmers.

Feng Degong and others were farmers, and this was a crop that King Wu had been searching for for many years.

If they mess things up, more than 10,000 families will have to go to the Northwest desert to plant trees and create forests.

We provide the best land with carefully accumulated fertilizer, pest and weed control, irrigation, and professional management.

The production team had more than 10,000 households and more than 200,000 people. Many children were taken to the fields from a young age to familiarize themselves with farm work, horses, and machinery.

More than 100,000 children are crying for food, and the livelihood of the whole family depends on one household registration.

Cadres like Feng Degong stayed up late to compile and memorize various data. The women were also very understanding of their husbands' work, taking the initiative to cook and deliver meals, trying their best not to disturb the men's work.

From the very beginning of tasks such as road construction and factory building, Beijiwu has consistently provided household registration and employment opportunities to those who perform these tasks.

King Wu never mistreats those who work, but you'd better do what you're told, otherwise it's not enough for more than half of them to die.

At the end of May in the tenth year of the Common Era, Beijiwu came to inspect the farm.

Looking at the women and children digging sweet potatoes in the field, Bei Jiwu then looked at the fresh sweet potatoes that the cadres had dug up from an acre of land.

Forgery will get you killed.

Beijiwu always believed in seeking truth from facts. He wouldn't blame his subordinates if the yield was only a little over 100 jin per mu, nor would he doubt them if the yield was only 400 jin per mu, as long as it was true.

As long as there is reason and evidence, Arctic Military has always respected the facts.

"Your Majesty, after washing and measuring, one mu of sweet potatoes weighs 2112 jin, and one mu of potatoes weighs 2205 jin."

Because Beijiwu had said that sweet potato yields should be higher than potato yields, this data caused some concern among those present.

Arctic Martial Arts was quite satisfied with the result.

"good."

"Potatoes are prone to degeneration after being grown for a long time, so it is necessary to detoxify the seed potatoes. In the future, we should pay attention to the improvement of seed potatoes."

Arctic Wu shared his understanding of potatoes, stating that both are underground crops and potential stabilizers for the future era of population explosion.

The group walked under a melon shed, eating watermelon and chatting about the farm while watching the women and children working in the fields in the distance.

"I will give 1,000 people a place to become public households in Luoyang. Once they are admitted, they will be provided with a 30-square-meter residence, their children's eligibility for school enrollment, and all the benefits of public households."

"They are mainly responsible for logistics and transportation, laundry, cooking, transporting vegetables and moving things. They are under 25 years old and are selected from families where servants have been serving for more than ten years. This opportunity is given to young people who have no right to inherit."

Just as everyone expected, Arctic Martial Arts also provided farmers with more household registration quotas.

It is now the tenth year of the Common Era. Families that have been slaves for more than ten years... must be those who came with us back then, the first group of mountain farmers to enter Luoyang.

The primogeniture system is not only reflected in the succession to the throne, but also in the distribution of jobs, household registration, and welfare benefits, where giving these benefits to the oldest son is indeed the most stable arrangement.

Arctic Martial Arts cannot find any key figures who played a crucial role in turning the tide and acting as a lifeline in this incident.

Since it is the achievement of everyone, and there is no one indispensable, in order to prevent the allocation of positions for personal gain or abuse of power, the only way to stabilize everything is to follow the time of loyalty.

In an era without heroes, the interests of the majority cannot be ignored.

The rules of the Mountain Farm Kingdom have always prioritized their own people. Arctic Martial's decision is reasonable and can be accepted by all the people of the Mountain Farm Kingdom.

Given that everyone is one of our own, the people in the capital are definitely more like family.

Since they were all from Luoyang, the servants and attendants around King Wu became even more like his own people.

Unfairness can also be a form of fairness. As long as this rule is consistently recognized and enforced, it is the fairest rule.

Anyone who tries to challenge this rule will face a backlash from the pyramid structure.

The people of Shan Nong Ren (山农人) and those who call themselves Shan Nong Ren will compete for quotas and benefits internally, but they will definitely unite to deal with outsiders if they try to take advantage of them.

The knife used to distribute the pork was always in Beijiwu's hands; no one else was allowed to touch the bloodstained knife.

The Arctic Martial Arts Association distributed its benefits slowly and deliberately, ensuring that not only those inside the courtyard but also those queuing at the entrance received a share.

These people also pay taxes and provide live pigs for Arctic hunting and livestock.

An organization needs a leader; without an emperor who can stabilize everyone, the country cannot unite.

No matter how excellent a system is, it still needs strongman politics; a powerful leader is the key to making it bigger and stronger.

Beiji Wu was an emperor recognized by the mountain farmers, Han people, and Hu people. He was able to handle matters between different ethnic groups relatively fairly and ensure that everyone could live a good life.

Whether they were nomads of the steppes or barbarians of West Asia and Europe, everyone could tolerate the brutality of an ever-victorious emperor, but they would never accept a cowardly, incompetent, and merciful emperor who lost battles!
He killed tens of thousands of Khitans and tens of thousands of Mongols, but the Northern King Wu had the highest prestige among the two tribes, and both tribes felt that they were closest to King Wu.

The central part of the cloud region, which was not killed by Arctic martial arts, is actually quite ordinary. It is just an accessory in every aspect and lacks confidence at all.

The people of Liaodong and Guihua were very confident. Returning to Shannong Kingdom was like coming home for them, unlike the people of Yunzhong who seemed like country bumpkins.

After the Huanghuai production team gained an extra thousand Luoyang household registrations, people became even more concerned about the orders issued by King Wu.

Bei Jiwu didn't have much to do. He took his wife and children on a special train that had passed numerous tests and was working perfectly, and headed to a hot southern island to escape the summer heat.

(End of this chapter)