A great Chinese writer once said that there is no road in the world, but when there are more people walking, it becomes a road.
What celebrities say always makes sense. Nowadays, on the Hetao Plain in the direction of the Helan Mountains in Ningxia, the wilderness that has been empty for many years now has many people. With the people, there are naturally more roads.
At this time, a Willys MB Jeep drove up from a dirt two-lane lane. In this car, a scholar-type man in his fifties with a pair of black-rimmed glasses sat. Next to me was a middle-aged man who looked like an official in his forties.
They were Li Daxia, then Chairman of Ningxia Province and Director of the Department of Agriculture, and Xi Hanqian, Secretary-General of Chahar. Today Li Daxia accompanied Xi Hanqian to check on the progress of the Loop development project.
In Ningxia, the weather is still a bit hot in November, and the air in the car is stuffy, which makes people speechless.
Sitting in the shaking car, Xi Hanqian looked at the endless golden waves of wheat and the occasional combine harvester on the roadside, with a look of approval on his face. He was silent for a while before slowly speaking: "Zhong Nian Brother, you have worked really hard these past six months,”
Li Daxia smiled softly, and the wrinkles on his face seemed deeper: "I, Mr. Li, as the vice chairman of Ningxia Province, it is my unshirkable responsibility to benefit the people, not to mention hard work. As long as those relocated people who originally had no food and clothing can If you settle down here and live a happy life, everything else will not matter."
"You have been able to open up five million acres of fertile farmland in just six months, which is a great thing in itself. When the grain is harvested next month, it will be more than 1.2 million tons." Food. Putting aside the food needed by the 300,000 people who moved to Ningxia, it can also supply the needs of our Chahar army of 700,000 for several months. This is an amazing progress."
There was excitement in Xi Hanqian's tone. As the general manager of the four Chahar provinces, the food issue has always been his biggest worry. Chairman Su didn't know how many times he had talked to him alone about the food issue. I don’t know how many times I woke him up from his sleep in the middle of the night.
For a long time, the food and army needs for the huge number of immigrants in Chahar have been weighing on Xi Hanqian's heart like a big mountain. In order to supply food for the army and immigrants from the four provinces of Chahar, Xi Hanqian has been wasting his time in the past two years. Now that the first phase of the large-scale development of the Loop can be completed, it will relieve a huge burden on the Chahar government. It is no wonder that after Li Daxia reported the report, he immediately came all the way from Chahar. Inspection.
To put it bluntly, the large-scale development of the Hetao is a large-scale farm model. The Hetao Plain is divided into large and small farms, and then contracted to the people who immigrated to farm. After the harvest, the government will purchase it according to the market price. Of course, before this, The initial investment is advanced by the government and deducted after the grain is grown.
Jeep soon came to a large farm, which covered an area of more than 3,000 acres. It was also the largest farm they had visited today.
After getting off the car, Xi Hanqian came to the field and reached out to pick up a heavy ear of wheat. Feeling the fragrance of the ear of wheat, he couldn't help but feel good. He raised his head and smiled and said to Li Daxia: "Brother Zhong Nian, the completion of this first phase of the project." Very good. What do you think of the upcoming second phase of the project? Or do you have any requirements?"
"Oh" Li Daxia's eyes turned slyly and asked: "Secretary-General, I told you, can you promise me?"
"Not necessarily, it depends on the situation." Xi Hanqian would not fall into this guy's trap. He shook his head, "It depends on the situation. If you want money, I can allocate some to you, but it won't be too much." That’s it.”
"I don't want your money. We in Ningxia have saved some money this year. I want something else." Li Daxia's expression at this time became more and more like a cunning old fox.
"Oh, you might as well tell me." Xi Hanqian said casually, but he became more vigilant. Every time this old guy showed such an expression, it was time to make a decision.
As expected, Li Daxia startled Xi Hanqian as soon as he opened his mouth. "My requirements are not high. I want a college student and a bachelor's degree from an agricultural university. I'm not greedy either. Just give me five hundred."
"What, five hundred?" Xi Hanqian was prepared in his heart, but he couldn't help being startled by Li Daxia's big mouth. Five hundred college students are not asking for much.
"Why don't you go grab it?" Xi Hanqian reacted and couldn't help but get angry. "Do you know how many college students we graduate from Chahar every year? What's more, those majoring in agriculture are even rarer."
"Hey." Li Daxia's expression at this time was cunning like a Chinese farmer. "I don't want graduates from Chahar University. I know that there are nearly 500 graduates from the Department of Agriculture of Peking University this year. You still want to divide it." Give me some."
"Two hundred at most, no more." Xi Hanqian glared at Li Daxia angrily, "You Li Zhongnian, I just came here for a walk and you took away two hundred college students. I think you are acting like a rogue." The methods are becoming more and more powerful."
Li Daxia smiled and then sighed, "Secretary-General Xi, it's not that I'm being a rogue, but there is actually a shortage of college students everywhere now. Look at my Agricultural Research Institute and Technical Guidance Station, there is no need for people anywhere. If It’s impossible to complete next year’s second phase of the project just by relying on the people allocated.”
Xi Hanqian also understood Li Daxia's difficulties, and then nodded and said: "I also know your difficulties, so a group of Jewish immigrants will move over in a while. They have knowledge and skills. I plan to allocate some of them to Ningxia. I believe it will be helpful to you, but whether you can keep them or not depends on you."
Through the unremitting efforts of the Chahar government, by the end of 1937, the number of Jewish immigrants arriving in Chahar had reached more than 600,000. They were knowledgeable, differentiated, and most of them were well-educated. Except for a small number who have entered the army for military service, most of them have entered various walks of life in Chahar. They have made great contributions to the rapid development of Chahar's industry, agriculture, commerce, finance and other industries. contribute.
Li Daxia was overjoyed when he heard this. He patted his chest and promised Xi Hanqian that he would create good opportunities and conditions for them and keep talents in Ningxia.
"Haha, okay, it's useless for you to promise me. You also know that Chairman Su only looks at the results and doesn't ask about the process. If you can't complete the task, you can explain it to Chairman Su yourself." Xi Hangan waved his hand indifferently.
"Okay, now that we're here, let's go over and visit the owner here."
At the door of a big house next to the farm, a little girl hugged a big yellow dog and was sitting in front of the door in a bored daze. When she saw a car driving far in front of her, she quickly called out, "Grandpa, hurry up." Come on, we have a visitor in front of you."
"Woof woof woof" saw an outsider coming into his territory, and the big yellow dog at the door roared desperately.
"Big yellow, be good, don't bark." The little girl quickly hugged the big yellow dog to prevent him from moving.
After a while, Xi Hanqian and Li Daxia got out of the car one after another and shook hands with a middle-aged man in his fifties who looked like a farmer who had been waiting in front of the door for a long time. According to Li Daxia, this middle-aged man's name in Chinese characters was His name was Fang Siyi, and he had two sons. One of his two sons worked with him in farming, and the other became a soldier. It is said that he was an armored soldier under General Sun Liren.
"Okay, Uncle Fang, you are a member of the military. According to the policy, you can enjoy a 30% tax reduction." Xi Han dried Uncle Fang's cigarette and then lit the cigarette and said with a smile.
"Haha" Uncle Fang smiled and took a puff of cigarette and said: "I don't care about 30% or 30%. Growing grain and paying taxes has been a natural thing since ancient times. I just want to know when the technical personnel promised by Governor Li will come. In the past, we were waiting for you. When I had dozens of acres of land, I could barely make do with it, but now look at it, the area of my farm alone has reached several thousand acres, and there are so many farmers in it. On weekdays, if nothing happens, it's fine, but if there is any disease, My whole family has been blinded."
"Old Fang, don't worry. Secretary-General Xi is here to solve our problems this time. You are right to come to him if you have something to do." Li Daxia, who was on the side, did not forget to fan the flames.
Xi Hanqian glared at Li Daxia and pondered for a while before saying, "Uncle Fang, actually I think you should let your family members learn about this kind of thing. It's really inconvenient to always call technicians, what do you think?"
"Who says it's not the case, but there is really no one at home. The eldest son is fighting in Siberia, and the younger son is busy working all day and has no time to learn this stuff." Uncle Fang was really helpless.
"Uncle, as you said, a living person can suffocate to death with urine. Don't you have two daughters-in-law? Why don't you let them learn from it?" Xi Hangan looked at the two harvesters driving in front of him. The middle-aged woman said with a smile.
"What kind of technology do two girls need to learn? All they need is to be able to drive a machine twice. Isn't it a waste to learn that stuff?" Uncle Fang looked at the two tractors in the distance and said indifferently.
"Uncle Fang, what you said is wrong. Men and women are equal. Women can do the same things that men can do," Xi Han said with a smile.
Seeing Uncle Fang agreeing with a smile on the surface, but with a look of disapproval flashing in his eyes, Xi Hanqian sighed secretly in his heart. Xi Hanqian did not expect that this cheerful farmer still had such serious patriarchal thoughts in his heart. It seems that the government's propaganda efforts are still not in place.