Chapter 82 Qingtu LakeGuo Yang didn't have to wait long before the people sent by Alfalfa Agriculture and Animal Husbandry arrived. The organizational structure of Alfalfa Agriculture and Animal Husbandry is slightly different from that of Tianhe Seed Industry. It has General Affairs Department, Production Department, Engineering Department, Finance Department, as well as the newly established Bidding and Procurement Department and General Engineering Office. The leaders are Vice President Xiang Tianshan and General Manager Guo Yang. A total of three people came from Muhe this time. The leader was Zhuang Zheng, the manager of the General Affairs Department, Lu Hanbin came from the Engineering Department, and Zhang Jing came from the Chief Engineering Office. Zhuang Zheng has a slightly round face, but is not fat. He is a little short, with a short flat head, and his eyes reveal a cunning look. Guo Yang knew something about him. He liked to meddle in all the big and small matters in the company, and especially liked to catch employees being lazy. New employees had to go through his tiring training, so ordinary employees in Muhe Company didn't like him very much. But at the same time, Zhuang Zheng likes to show off in the boss's face. He takes on all the big and small things and never shirks the dirty and tiring work that may offend people. Especially when working with farmers, he was extremely patient. He could sit in someone's yard and chat for an entire afternoon without stopping, which made the employees who went with him to do the work admire him very much. Lu Hanbin from the Engineering Department was one of the three people that Lao Xiang brought over from Huihuang. He was an educated young man and occasionally a bit of a hipster.
The General Engineering Office is a newly established department, mainly responsible for publicity and marketing planning. Apart from these three people, the rest of the legal affairs, planning and design will be outsourced in the future. Zhuang Zheng and the other two will not be stationed in Minqin permanently. They will return to Jiuquan after the branch company here is established. In the following days, several people had further communication with the county. …… The Minqin Lake area is located at the lower reaches of the Shiyang River Basin, surrounded by the Tengger Desert and the Badain Jaran Desert to the east, west and north. In recent years, surface water has decreased sharply, soil salinization and desertification have become serious, arable land has been compressed, and the average grain yield is only 180 kilograms. Led by their eldest brother Guo Shan, Guo Yang and his companions led camels to the yellow sand beach in the heart of the desert. The faintly visible wind vent was blowing straight towards them, the wind was so strong that the hats on people's heads were rustling, and the raging sand that covered the sky was constantly eroding the villages and farmlands. In fact, there are many sandstorms in Jiuquan, and Zhuang Zheng and his companions are already accustomed to it, but they are still a little frightened when facing the sand blowing everywhere. If the wind and sand in Jiuquan are fallen soil, then what is this? Guo Shan stared into the depths of the desert with a solemn look in his eyes. Occasionally, he could see a small branch of a desert plant lingering in the sand. "Little brother, this is the closest wind outlet to our village. The old people in the village used to call this place Qingtu Lake. I remember there was a village there when I was a child, but it has long been deserted." Guo Shan pointed in a certain direction. Through the wind and sand, Guo Yang could vaguely see the shape of the house. Zhuang Zheng was wrapped up tightly, revealing only a pair of cunning eyes. He said admiringly, "Brother, the environment here is really bad. I really admire you for persisting in planting trees for so many years." Lu Hanbin stared at the desert silently and wondered, is this the working environment I will face in the future? "Qingtu Lake? Was this a lake before?" The camera in Zhang Jing's hand never stopped. Through the lens, most of the time, all he saw was a yellow haze. The Qingtu Lake really looked like a lake filled with soil. Guo Shan smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"I can't remember either. My father said that when I was very young, there was still water in Qingtu Lake. Around 57, Qingtu Lake completely dried up. Since then, the two deserts have gradually merged. The old people often joked that the two deserts are about to shake hands." “This… this is truly an ecological disaster.” Several people were stunned when they heard this. The two major deserts had merged into one here. Lu Hanbin speculated: "That was the period when the domestic population was growing rapidly. Economic development and disorderly reclamation of farmland led to a heavy burden on water resources." Guo Shan's face was filled with frustration, and he felt helpless and guilty. "For generations, the people of Minqin have never stopped fighting the sandstorms from the two deserts. For decades, the county has organized the masses to voluntarily compact the sand, bury wheat straw grids, and plant Haloxylon ammodendron every year." "But the sandstorm is still frightening. Sandstorms occur from time to time. Once a serious sandstorm occurs, all the crops in the village will be destroyed." Guo Yang looked at his elder brother's melancholy expression and told him what he had learned. "Population growth is only part of the story." Several people looked at Guo Yang. "Qingtu Lake was originally named Zhuye Lake and Baiting Lake. Ancient documents recorded that 'the blue waves are endless, and the water and sky are one color'. There is also a legend that Dayu completed his flood control work only after reaching Zhuye Lake. During the Western Han Dynasty, the maximum water depth exceeded 60 meters, and the water area was second only to Qinghai Lake." "Over the next thousand years, the lake gradually shrank due to reduced water inflow from upstream, large-scale immigration, land reclamation, wars, and agricultural development." Guo Yang paused and looked at his elder brother Guo Shan. "But the main reason is the construction of the Hongyashan Reservoir in the 50s, as well as the Xiying, Nanying, Huangyang, Zamu and other reservoirs further upstream, which completely cut off the flow of the lower reaches of the Shiyang River and led to the current situation." Lu Hanbin quickly understood and sighed, "Constructing the Hongyashan Reservoir will really cause endless troubles." "Minqin is surrounded by vast deserts to the east and west, with countless sand pits in the middle, so floods are out of the question. As long as the rivers and canals are cleared, no matter how much water there is, it will not cause a disaster. Instead, the oasis will become greener, the pastures will be more lush, and the livestock will be fatter and stronger." "Minqin has been combining agriculture and animal husbandry since ancient times. When agriculture was hit by disasters, the vast pastoral areas had vast and fertile pastures, camels, cattle and sheep to compensate." “There is absolutely no need to build a reservoir.” As he was talking, Lu Hanbin realized something and fell silent. He likes to study history, and considering the background at that time, it is not difficult for him to guess the reason for building the reservoir. Lu Hanbin guessed that there must have been many knowledgeable people who opposed the construction of the reservoir at that time. After untold hardships, the reservoir was finally built. With reservoirs, people who control water can expand arable land according to their own wishes and ensure high and stable production without worrying about drought or flood. But after the short-term profits, there are long-term consequences. Rivers dried up, groundwater was overexploited, vegetation died, grasslands degraded, and quicksand was everywhere. Even the "Chaiwan" that the people of Minqin have carefully maintained for hundreds of years has died and degraded, and the farmland is directly exposed to the sandstorm mouth, connecting to the sea of sand covered with quicksand. Looking at the desert just around the corner, Lu Hanbin couldn't imagine the scene of Su Wu herding sheep thousands of years ago. Guo Yang looked at Lu Hanbin deeply. With his quick mind, majoring in agriculture and being a native of Northwest China, it is no wonder that he could quickly figure out the disadvantages of building a reservoir.
He nodded in appreciation, then turned to look at his eldest brother Guo Shan. "Some things are not the fault of ordinary people. You don't have to feel guilty, brother." Guo Shan had also been standing there in a daze. In fact, he was not very concerned about how Qingtu Lake disappeared. But when he heard that this place used to be a place with endless blue waters, water and sky merging into one, and grass growing with cattle and sheep, he tried his best to imagine it, but what always appeared in his mind was the lingering yellow sand. Tears couldn't help but well up in my eyes. "I can't imagine it." Guo Yang hugged his elder brother's shoulders. "It's alright, big brother. Let's make him return to his former state of boundless blue waters and one blue sky!" Zhuang Zheng loosened his hands that were covering his hat and nodded repeatedly. "Yes, brother. We can communicate with the government and divert water from the Hongyashan Reservoir." Lu Hanbin said leisurely: "The Hongyashan Reservoir is also about to be filled with sand and dust." (End of this chapter)
