Chapter 101 Zhou Yimin's Plan Zhou Yimin also has his own plan, which is to turn Zhoujiazhuang into a place where people can have no worries about food and clothing, and to serve as his base for settling down during the next ten years. It is not reliable to rely on this riverbed alone. In two or three years, when the drought is over, this river will become a river again, and Zhoujiazhuang will lose this piece of land. Therefore, barren mountains must be utilized. Starch is important at all times. Both humans and livestock cannot do without starch intake. The sources of starch are rice, wheat, corn, sweet potatoes and other grains. The yields of rice and wheat are not high, at least not good enough now. Moreover, these two crops have high requirements for soil, and cannot adapt to mountainous areas. Corn and sweet potatoes can be grown on mountain land. However, this raises another issue. Once the land is cleared, it is difficult for the crops to stay in the village. It is difficult for the village to develop other things, such as raising chickens, ducks, pigs, etc. Zhou Yimin thought a lot about how to avoid this problem.
Without reclaiming the land, "crops" are planted on the barren hills, and they are starch crops. Sweet potatoes are not bad, but they are best grown in loose soil. The soil in the mountains is hard, the yield is limited, and it may even be counterproductive. There are other options too, like yam, cassava, konjac, and more. These crops all have one characteristic, that is, they are poisonous and need special treatment, especially cassava and konjac. Yams are actually OK, just peel them and cook them and you can eat them, just like taro. But cassava and konjac are not the same, they can even poison animals such as cows. Cassava contains a toxic substance called linseed glycoside. The general method of processing it is to soak it for a few days. Peeling it will make the effect faster. The whole plant of konjac is poisonous, especially the tuber, and cannot be eaten raw. It must be ground, steamed, rinsed and detoxified before consumption. These two crops have extremely low soil requirements and amazing yields. Cassava, in particular, has a high starch content and is known as the king of starch. It is grown in large quantities in the south. It can not only be fed to pigs and chickens, but also eaten by humans. Although cassava is originally a tropical crop, it is not impossible to grow it in the north. The only difference is that the yield is not as high as in the south. Therefore, not only can mushrooms be cultivated in the mountains, but also cassava and other plants can be grown, just as if they were wild, and the yield is not important. With free-range planting, the harvest depends on fate. Zhou Yimin saw that the riverbed was on the right track and it was time to consider the mountains. It's already a difficult time, and if you don't know how to make use of the idle resources, then you really can't blame God for not giving you a chance to make ends meet. However, whether it is cassava or konjac, the best time to plant them has passed. If it is in places like Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, it is not very picky about the season and can be planted all year round. It doesn't work in the north. People will freeze to death in the winter, not to mention the crops. So, for now, I can only deal with things like mushrooms that have a short growth period. The old Party secretary was still there sighing: "It's a pity that melons and vegetables can't be the staple food." Otherwise, they would not have to worry about starving since they had grown so much.
You can eat more vegetables, but they cannot be your staple food. Zhou Yimin nodded: "It's easy to get edema and gain weight." It is not uncommon to use vegetables as staple food. In the past two years, there has been a shortage of food, so the government has taken emergency measures: replacing grain with fruits and vegetables, and replacing staple food with side dishes. For example, high-yield sweet potatoes, carrots, and white radishes are used instead of grains as staple food, and in some places corn stalks are ground into powder and used as staple food. This practice is called "using vegetables instead of the main dish", also known as "using the secondary dish instead of the main dish", and became a slogan popular throughout the country after 1959. "Yes! Last year, someone in our village had edema. At first, I thought it was because he was fat." The old secretary smiled bitterly. "So! We have to find a way to get more food, even coarse grains. I think it's time to develop the mountains behind us." Zhou Yimin said. Forget about the deep mountains and old forests, we have to find ways to utilize the several mountains outside Zhoujiazhuang. "Anyway, there is no need to open up the land specially. We can just plant it and leave it alone. We can harvest it when it's ready. We can harvest as much as we can. Besides eating it ourselves, we can raise some chickens, ducks and the like in the future..." Zhou Yimin expressed his thoughts. The old branch secretary listened very carefully. Doing so does allow for some room for maneuver and can be considered taking advantage of a loophole. But it didn't violate the regulations. But the harvest cannot be guaranteed. Free-range planting not only does not lead to good growth, but also causes disturbances by animals in the mountains. But as Zhou Yimin said, no matter how small a mosquito leg is, it is still meat, so we should collect as much as we can. “At that time, we can even fence off the mountain to raise chickens and let them find food on the mountain by themselves.” Zhou Yimin also brought out the method of raising free-range chickens in later generations. The chickens raised in this way are not fat, but you don’t have to invest so much effort and cost. These ideas constantly impact the traditional thinking of the old branch secretary. Suddenly I found that the pattern seemed to have opened up. Of course, the prerequisite is to have seeds and chicks, etc. Otherwise, everything is in vain. "Secretary, please find some people to rent the mountain and use it to test the waters this year. I will find a way to get the chicks back. The chickens we raise are eaten by our village, and the rest are purchased by me and sold to the steel plant," Zhou Yimin continued. Upon hearing that Zhou Yimin could get chicks, the old branch secretary no longer hesitated. He nodded and said, "Okay, I'll find someone to do it later." The mountain Zhou Yimin was referring to was a small hill. It was not a big project to enclose it. It could be completed in eight or ten days with twenty or thirty people working on it. We used local materials, such as branches from the mountain, to make fencing materials. "I'll figure out mushroom cultivation first and teach you when the time comes." The old branch secretary was looking forward to it. He already regarded Zhou Yimin as the decision maker of Zhoujiazhuang, and he was the executor, and he didn't mind at all. As long as Zhoujiazhuang was good, what was wrong with listening to Zhou Yimin? It was also good for him to be a deputy or something.
Once Zhou Yimin's ideas are realized, not only will everyone in their village have enough food to eat, but they will even become rich. This is also the most important reason why he is willing to be Zhou Yimin's "deputy". Just at this moment, someone patrolling in the distance brought news that an outsider had entered the village. "Who is it?" asked the old branch secretary. "One is Dapeng, and I don't know the other one." The messenger replied. "That's okay, it should be me." Zhou Yimin said. He knew Dapeng's character. Dapeng would not bring anyone who was not good to him or had bad intentions to Zhoujiazhuang. "I gonna go see." When he went over, he found that it was Zhao Zhenguo. Zhou Yimin probably guessed the purpose of his visit, but why were they so anxious? They had already found their way here. Sincerely thank my brother Yuanqiyuanmieyuanziyuan for the reward of 9500! What a surprise! I had a stomachache this morning, so the update was a little late. Sorry! (End of this chapter)