Chapter 937 Just Want to Pick Peaches

Seeing the emperor’s kind face, Yu Dafu felt relieved and spoke quickly.

“The farm mobilized its workers to actively sell rice. Not only that, we also actively purchased high-quality wheat flour from other brother farm reclamation bureaus in Henan, Hebei and other places at preferential prices, and resold it to farm workers after adding the freight, so that they would not be worried.”

“That’s right. Only when you have food in your hands can you be at ease.”

“Your Majesty, we have actively mobilized our workers to purchase rice and sell it to grain merchants in Jinan. Last year we purchased 4,000 tons of rice.

Last year, the price of rice in Jinan was 12 yuan per ton, and 5,000 tons of rice were sold for 40,000 yuan.”

Twelve silver yuan per ton was roughly equivalent to six cents per 100 jin of rice, which was equivalent to 0.4 taels of silver per 100 jin. During the Jiajing reign, the cheapest rice in Jiangnan was 1.2 taels of silver per stone, which was equivalent to 1 tael of silver per 100 jin*.

During the Longqing period, the price of rice dropped to 0.8 taels of silver per 100 jin. By the beginning of the Wanli period, it had dropped to 0.6 taels of silver per 100 jin. Now it has dropped to 0.4 taels of silver per 100 jin.

The main reason was that Zhang Juzheng surveyed a lot of land, and a lot of land was confiscated from the royal families, powerful families, landlords and gentry. They were either distributed to landless farmers or used to establish agricultural reclamation bureaus and farms.

Farmers’ enthusiasm for production has greatly increased.

Water conservancy facilities in various provinces have been continuously improved, gradually solving old problems such as drought or waterlogging.

Agricultural science institutes in various provinces continue to develop new and improved varieties, and the yield per mu continues to increase.

Several measures combined have driven rice and wheat production higher year by year.

In addition, rice that is harvested three times a year from Jinghai, Rinnan, Zhenla, Siam, Yanzhou and other places continues to flow into the local market, gradually pushing down food prices.

In the first few years, there were still scholars and students who were shouting, “Cheap grain prices hurt farmers!”

However, suppressing grain prices has been an important national policy of the imperial court in recent years.

First, it suppressed the power of the landlord gentry group by suppressing the price of grain. Second, it lowered the price of agricultural products and thus reduced the cost of industrial construction.

One of the important costs of industrial construction is food for people and horses. If the price of grain is reduced, the court will spend less in this area and can invest more funds in other areas.

Besides, the biggest losers of the fall in grain prices are the landlords who have surplus grain to sell. The more land a landlord owns, the more surplus grain he has, and the greater his losses.

Low grain prices hurt farmers, and these farmers are not real farmers, but large and medium-sized landlords who have made their fortunes from farmland.

Four thousand tons of rice were sold for 40,000 yen, and the difference was the profit of the grain dealer.

The wholesale price of rice in Jinan is 12 yuan per ton, and the retail price is between 1.5 cents per ton and 1 cent per ton.

This price difference is also the profit of grain traders.

You see that they are making money, but you don’t see that they have to bear the costs of transportation, warehousing, grain staleness and depreciation, as well as the risks of getting wet and moldy, and rice price fluctuations.

You can’t just see people eating meat and not see people being beaten.

Ministers such as Xu Zhenming were aware of these circumstances. Together with Zhu Yijun, they listened quietly to what Yu Dafu had to say.

“Last year, we planted 21,000 mu of rapeseed, which was the Cabbage No. 4 cultivated by the Beijing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, with an output of 280 kilograms per mu. A total of 2,940 tons of rapeseed were harvested.

Our farm has its own oil mill, which uses a steam oil press. Last year, we produced 2,000 tons of rapeseed and squeezed out 600 tons of high-quality rapeseed oil.

The supply and marketing cooperative bought rapeseed oil at 120 yuan per ton, and this item brought in 72,000 yuan in revenue.

Hearing this number, Wang Zongzai and Chen Dake’s eyes lit up and they leaned forward towards Yu Dafu involuntarily.

“Last year, we sold 940 tons of rapeseed to the supply and marketing cooperative. This was the unified marketing task undertaken by our farm, and we earned 23,500 yuan.

Last year, our twelve production teams slaughtered a total of 4,400 pigs, all of which were bred by the Henan Agricultural Science Institute, the famous Nanyang No. 3 pigs in the north, with an average weight of 150 kilograms per head.

The live pigs on the market were all 80 jin each, only half the weight of ours. Previously, the price of a live pig was one liang of silver per pig, equivalent to one six-cent silver dollar per pig.

In recent years, as grain prices have continued to fall, the price of live pigs has also fallen, and is roughly one silver dollar per pig. But the live pigs at our Baiyun Lake Farm weigh 150 kilograms per pig, so it is impossible to charge this price.

After several negotiations with us, the Jinan Supply and Marketing Cooperative, which purchased the live pigs, agreed to a price of two triangular silver dollars per pig.

Last year we earned 10,120 yuan from live pigs.”

Yu Dafu memorized these numbers over and over again in his mind until he knew them by heart, and when he recited them today, he could recite them fluently.

“Our farm is large, with many low-lying lawns. Any circle is two to three thousand acres. We have fenced off six areas in total and set up six chicken farms.

Last year, a total of 75,000 live chickens were sold and 1.5 million eggs were produced.

At present, the price of live chickens in Jinan is 5 cents each, and the purchase price is about 3 cents. The supply and marketing cooperative purchases eggs at 2 cents each.
Last year we earned 2,250 yuan from selling live chickens and 4,500 yuan from selling eggs.

The three production teams specialize in fishing. Last year, they caught 200 tons of various fish, mainly crucian carp, bream, and whitefish. The supply and marketing cooperatives bought them at an average price of 140 yuan per ton. Last year, we earned 28,000 yuan from the fishing industry.

The other slightly larger items include harvesting reeds and selling them to Jinan Paper Mill, earning 1,500 yuan; raising ducks, geese, sheep and rabbits, earning 1,700 yuan; and the farm has a straw mat factory, which uses local materials and weaves straw mats with reeds.

Generally, the factory processes the reeds and distributes them to the workers who are willing to do the work. They take them home to weave and hand them in. The supply and marketing cooperatives come to inspect and accept them. The money is calculated by the number of pieces.

Our Baiyun Lake brand straw mats sell quite well in Shandong, Henan, northern Jiangsu, and northern Anhui, with a total revenue of 2,100 yuan last year.

The rest comes from various incomes such as lotus roots and miscellaneous grains.

Most of the crops such as grains were cultivated by the workers in the newly reclaimed land. Lotus roots were collected from the lake by the workers in the off-season, and the income went directly into their own pockets or into the accounts of the production team, so it was difficult for the farm to keep statistics.
Miscellaneous items totaled 2,000 yuan, and the final income of our Baiyun Lake Farm in the tenth year of Wanli was 187,670 yuan.

Yu Dafu finished speaking in one breath, picked up the teacup in front of him and drank it all in one gulp.

Yang Jinshui, who was standing behind Zhu Yijun, gave a wink and a eunuch came forward to fill Yu Dafu’s cup with water.

Zhu Yijun turned around and said to Wang Zongzai and Chen Dake, “You two, what do you feel after listening to Director Yu’s account?”

Wang Zongzai and Chen Dake were both shocked. After looking at each other, Wang Zongzai answered first.

“In reply to the emperor, I was greatly shocked after listening to Director Yu’s introduction. I often heard people in and outside Jinan say, ‘Marry your daughter to Baiyun Lake, the fairy family on Baiyun Lake’.

Your Majesty is wise. You said before that ‘the eyes of the masses are sharp’. Now I understand it deeply. The people have a deep understanding of what is good and what is bad, and they can naturally empathize with it.

Baiyun Lake is highly respected in Jinan and even in Shandong. Previously, I was confused and did not know the truth.

That’s right, the report of Baiyun Lake Farm was submitted to its immediate superior, Shandong Agricultural Reclamation Bureau.

The Shandong Agricultural Reclamation Bureau is directly under the North China Agricultural Reclamation Bureau Group, and the North China Agricultural Reclamation Bureau is one of the eight great agricultural bureaus of the Shaofujian.

Like the Shandong Supply and Marketing Cooperative, a group company of supply and marketing cooperatives, it is independent of the Shandong Provincial Administration and is vertically managed by the personnel, finance and auditing departments of the Shaofujian.

Therefore, Chen Dake and Wang Zongzai were not very clear about the specific situation of Baiyun Lake Farm.

“After listening to what Director Yu said today, I finally understood where its strengths and wealth lie. I was deeply educated.”

Chen Dake continued Wang Zongzai’s words and said, “In reply to the emperor, I have visited the four farms of Baiyun Lake, Jingyang Lake, Guangping Lake and Nanwang Lake, and have a general understanding of their business models. I am deeply inspired, but I feel constrained.”

“I am so bound, please tell me in detail.”

“Your Majesty, these farms are strong both internally and externally, and they are all in the form of a whole. Every year, the Shandong Agricultural Reclamation Bureau will cooperate with the Xinming News Agency to collect and sort out the prices of agricultural products in Shandong, Central Plains and the capital area, and distribute them to each farm.

Farms will decide what cash crops to grow based on these prices.

For example, the specialty cash crop of Baiyun Lake Farm is rapeseed, and that of Jingyang Lake and Guangping Lake is sugar beet.”

Beet is native to the Mediterranean region. It was widely cultivated by Arabs in the third century and was also introduced to the northwest and the Yellow River basin, but was used for both food and medicine.

After Zhu Yijun came to power, he established the Agricultural Science Institute, and sugar beets were an important direction for cultivation and research and development. After nearly ten years, sugar beets with a high sugar content were cultivated and then widely promoted in North China and Northeast China, becoming an important raw material for machine-squeezed sugar and dyes in North China.

“Nanwang Lake is tobacco.

The profits are considerable every year.

Uniformly acquire high-quality seeds and agricultural science and technology support; uniformly cultivate crops to form large-scale industries; and then uniformly sell them at affordable prices.

This model should be the scale economy in the new economic theory. However, it is difficult for agriculture in Shandong to form such a scale economy.

Let’s not talk about anything else. Even if there are two or three surnames in a village, it will be difficult to form a unified one because each surname is different.

Therefore, I think that the model of developing agriculture with scale economy like farms is difficult to implement in Shandong.”

Zhu Yijun remained silent, and the meeting room was in complete silence.

After a minute or so, Zhu Yijun spoke, “I have received many petitions and reports from local officials, many of whom requested that the agricultural reclamation bureaus and farms be allocated to the various provincial governments.

Chen Dake, don’t say you don’t have such an idea!”

Chen Dake smiled awkwardly, “Your Majesty, if the four farms of Baiyun Lake, Jingyang Lake, Guangping Lake and Nanwang Lake could be allocated to the Shandong Provincial Government, I would be more than happy to do so.”

“Let me ask you a question. Why did you get the money? The Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation and the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau have worked hard to plant the seedlings, water them, and remove pests for ten years. Now that the fruits are plentiful, you just want to pick them with your mouth and hands.

Is there such a good thing?
I can also imagine what will happen after farms like Baiyun Lake, Jingyang Lake, Guangping Lake and Nanwang Lake are allocated to your Governorate.

Honest and upright officials would stuff all the poor and needy people in the area into farms and use the farms as relief stations and poorhouses.

Officials with evil intentions and relatives were sent to the farm to serve as officials of all ranks, controlling the power of purchasing and sales and enriching themselves at the expense of public interests.

In a few years, these peach-like farms will all become rotten. Then you will shout, “It’s no good, these farms have become money-losing goods, Your Majesty, quickly ask the Shaofu Supervisor to take back these money-losing goods, we can’t afford to support them anymore.”

Is that so, my ministers? “

Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Zongzai and Chen Dake with a joking smile, and his words were very harsh.

The two Shandong officials looked at each other with embarrassed expressions.

The emperor knows the moral character of local officials too well.

After half a minute of silence, Xu Zhenming spoke and rescued the two men.

“Your Majesty, please tell me and others to vigorously promote new agriculture. In addition to using science and technology to promote agriculture, adopting a new agricultural industry model is also an important development direction.

Baiyun Lake and other farms have explored a new path. How to apply it locally is the top priority. I hope Your Majesty can help me clear the fog.”

Wang Zongzai and Chen Dake immediately echoed: “We respectfully ask the emperor to give us some instructions to clear up the confusion for us.”

(End of this chapter)