Instructor Wang Hong's eyes were shining. He was frightened by the data given by Li Hao and Peng Chang.
With a look of shock on his face, he shouted: "Batalion Commander, we can really collect so much public food!"
"Let me do the math. Our independent battalion plus recruits has about 1,500 people. Each person eats two kilograms of food a day, which is 3,000 kilograms a day. It only costs 1.1 million kilograms a year. 3.5 million
One kilogram of food is not enough to last us three years!"
Li Hao shook his head and replied: "Instructor, this is not your plan!"
"In addition to food, the troops also need to eat vegetables, oil, and salt. They also need to wear clothes and take medicines in daily life. They also need to pay some allowances during the New Year and holidays!"
"These all require money, but apart from public grain and battlefield seizures, we have no other income!"
"Seizes on the battlefield can only meet temporary needs and cannot last long. Therefore, the large amount of funds we need can only be obtained through the realization of public grain!"
"Calculated this way, if the vegetables, oil, salt, clothes, medicines, allowances, etc. that the soldiers need to eat every day are all taken into account, four kilograms of food per person per day may not be enough!"
"In addition, we will also use part of the food to exchange for weapons and ammunition, and provide pensions to the soldiers who died on the battlefield!"
"Three and a half million kilograms of grain seems like a lot, but in real terms it might not be enough by then!"
Wang Hong was stunned for a moment before he realized: "It's true!"
Then his face became solemn again: "I originally thought that after the autumn harvest, our lives would be easier, and I, the instructor, would be more relaxed. Now it seems that these are just dreams, and I can't relax at all!"
"Even if we have food in our hands after the autumn harvest, we still need to split one ocean into two to fund our independent operation. Save whatever you can!"
Li Hao nodded and affirmed: "In addition to saving money, we also need to find ways to open source!"
Wang Hong understood everything and immediately replied: "Battal Commander, you are talking about the wasteland that we let the prisoners reclaim in the mountains!"
"So far, we have reclaimed 3,400 acres of wasteland: 2,800 acres of sloping land and 600 acres of flat land. If all of them are planted with grain, it will be no problem to harvest 3.4 million kilograms of grain from more than 3,000 acres of land.
, it can be considered a considerable gain.”
Li Hao shook his head and replied: "The output is too low!"
"There are so many sloping fields, and if they all rely on wheat, they will have to rely on the weather. The risk is too high!"
"In this way, 600 acres of flat land will be used to grow wheat, and the remaining sloping land will be used to grow sweet potatoes."
"Sweet potatoes have a high yield and are easy to preserve. From more than 2,000 acres of land, you can easily harvest more than two million catties!"
After finishing speaking, without waiting for Wang Hong to speak, Li Hao turned his attention to Peng Chang and said in a commanding tone: "In addition to growing sweet potatoes on the land we have reclaimed, we also encourage everyone to grow sweet potatoes on the slopes within the base area to produce better yields."
And more drought-resistant sweet potatoes!
Peng Chang was frightened and took a long time to react.
"Battal Commander, although we have not made detailed statistics, I estimate that the slope land you mentioned is no less than 10,000 acres! If all sweet potatoes were planted, we would be able to produce at least 7 to 8 million kilograms of grain, and maybe more than 10 million kilograms.
It’s possible to weigh a kilogram!”
"However, although the yield of sweet potatoes is very high, they cannot be used as food, and the price is pitifully low, making it difficult to sell them for money. People don't like to grow them. If it is promoted forcefully, I am worried that it will cause resentment among the people!"
"If you can't sell it for money, the Eighth Route Army will pay for it!" Li Hao made the decision unexpectedly.
Then he asked Peng Chang: "If we plant all those slopes with wheat as usual, how much yield will we get?"
Peng Chang thought for a while and replied: "The slopes are barren and there is no water source. We all rely on the sky for food. If the year is good, we can harvest hundreds of catties. If the year is bad, we may not harvest anything!"
"In other words, if wheat is grown on these slopes as in previous years, not only will the yield be low, but the income will be unstable!"
"Yes, battalion commander!" Peng Chang replied.
Li Hao continued to ask: "What if we grow sweet potatoes?"
Peng Chang did not hesitate for too long this time: "Sweet potatoes have high yields and are drought-resistant, so the weather has little impact on them."
"If the year is good, the harvest from one acre of land can easily amount to one thousand catties; if the year is bad, the harvest can be seven to eight hundred catties!"
Having said this, Li Hao quickly made a decision: "Then we will calculate the yield of one thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes per mu for the common people!"
"Comrade Peng Chang, please go down and spread the word more. In order to encourage everyone to plant sweet potatoes on slopes, our Eighth Route Army has decided to harvest sweet potatoes after the autumn harvest!"
"Just buy it at the price of ten pounds of sweet potatoes and one pound of grain. You can buy it from a large ocean, or you can choose to buy grain. In this way, the sweet potatoes harvested from one acre of sloping land can be exchanged for seventy or eighty kilograms of grain. If done well, one acre of land can be exchanged for one pound of grain.
One hundred thirty or forty kilograms of grain is possible!"
Peng Chang's eyes lit up and he replied: "In this case, the people will definitely be willing to grow sweet potatoes!"
Li Hao then added: "There is another thing. In order to prevent people from growing sweet potatoes in fertile land, we must set a rule. We only harvest sweet potatoes grown on dry land. We still have to grow wheat in fertile land. After all, our main food ration is
It’s still flour, and it’s sold at a reasonable price!”
Peng Chang immediately promised: "Please don't worry, battalion commander, I will make arrangements when I get back!"
Wang Hong's face was not that pretty. He took a deep breath and asked: "Batalion Commander, you have to think about this matter!"
"The base area has 10,000 acres of sloping land, and the prison camp has cultivated more than 2,000 acres. If we plant all the sweet potatoes, we can harvest at least 12 million jins. Isn't that too much?"
"Also, if we harvest all the 10 million jins of sweet potatoes from the base area, we will have to use at least 1 million jins of grain!"
"We did the math just now. More than three million kilograms of grain seems like a lot, but it is not enough in actual use."
"If we rashly exchange one million catties of grain for sweet potatoes, wouldn't we have even less grain?"
Li Hao smiled and replied: "But we will get back 10 million kilograms of sweet potatoes!"
"Although sweet potatoes are not valuable and taste bad, when there is no food, no one will care about how they taste, as long as they can fill their stomachs!"
Wang Hong asked with a thoughtful look on his face: "Battal Commander, you mean these sweet potatoes are very likely to become our life-saving food!"
Li Hao did not deny it: "No one can guarantee that the year will continue to be so good!"
"If we encounter a bad year and a drought lasts for two or three years, we will eat even worse cereals, not to mention sweet potatoes, as long as we can fill our stomachs!"
Having said this, very tragic pictures slowly appeared in Li Hao's mind.
In the history of the Anti-Japanese War, due to the drought in North China for many years, the people were starved of food. The Eighth Route Army had to streamline its troops and streamline administration, mobilize the military and civilians to be self-sufficient, and reduce the pressure on the base areas. In the most difficult times, it was common for the troops to reduce their rations and eat black beans to satisfy their hunger.
.
If you can eat sweet potatoes every day, you will definitely be very lucky.
If Li Hao remembered correctly, in those years the Eighth Route Army not only suffered a serious reduction in personnel, but also suffered huge losses among the people in the base area.
Since God has given me the opportunity to become a member of this period of history, although I cannot change the overall situation, I can still prepare for a rainy day and prevent such a tragic situation from happening in the area I control.
Wang Hong obviously had not thought about this, nor did he expect that North China would start a severe drought that would last for three years a year later.
So after Li Hao finished speaking, although Wang Hong agreed with this approach, he still felt that stocking more than 10 million kilograms of sweet potatoes at one time was too much!
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