Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2241 Appearance ([-])

Stanley recently returned to serve in the country.As the grandson of the agricultural veteran Shi Qinjie, Stanley started his career in politics as a member of the Ministry of Agriculture. After working for a few years, he took the initiative to apply for a post in Xinhua Island.He did a good job during his tenure, at least he made the agricultural work in the area under his jurisdiction (Shangdang County) sound and colorful. Not only did the area of ​​farmland reclaimed increase, but the yield per mu also increased to a certain extent, which was praised by the superiors.

After the term of the county magistrate expired, Stanley had no further opportunities for a while, so he returned to his hometown and served as the deputy director of the Hexi Regional Bureau of the State Development Bureau, focusing on increasing farmers' income.

To be honest, being in charge of agricultural work is definitely a thankless job in today's East Coast.Now that the industry and commerce on the east coast are booming, and government and social funds are pouring in, all sub-sectors are showing a thriving scene. The real income of the working class has increased significantly, and their sense of happiness has greatly increased.

In contrast, the life of the peasant class who used to earn money across the country was very difficult.After decades of loss, they now have a clear gap with the living standards of the working class. The poor medical conditions and educational conditions in rural areas, relatively few commodity choices, and pitifully few entertainment activities, etc. Everything makes them complain.Of course, the more important thing is that the real money you get is much less, which is even more unbearable!

If the first generation of farmers can endure it, then when their children and grandchildren grow up and see the prosperity of the city, it is really difficult to return to the relatively closed, boring and monotonous rural life.Maybe some people will continue to live in the countryside under the insistence of their parents, but there are always people who don’t want to continue to suffer in the countryside and turn to the city to find a job—the people who rent houses in the old city are proof—the only thing that can stop them The reason for rural youths to go to the city is probably whether they can find a job in the city that is sufficient to support them. This is the crux of the problem.

In fact, according to the logic of a normal government, when the industry is developing, farmers should be encouraged to move to cities in order to obtain sufficient sources of labor, just like the land enclosure movement that is in full swing in Britain today.It’s just that the east bank government is really not a normal government. The east bank has special national conditions. There are large uninhabited virgin land in the country that needs to be developed urgently. The government is also very willing to develop these areas, and then use one settlement after another. Get real control.To this end, they allocate an astronomical amount of funds from the state treasury every year for the resettlement of immigrants, the construction of new settlements, and so on.

And considering that the newly controlled land is barren and has no foundation, the best way is to open up wasteland through agriculture, that is, to absorb and resettle the past immigrants through agriculture, let them find employment, and then manage the land bit by bit. , gradually became prosperous and rich.It can be said that most areas on the east coast have come here today, even including some so-called economically developed areas, which were also grasslands, forests, and swamps a few decades ago. It comes from struggle, not from the beginning.

So, you can now understand why many policies of the East Coast government look schizophrenic.That is to say, it is necessary to develop industry and commerce, let agriculture become a foil, and be exploited by industry and commerce. On the one hand, it must try its best to increase farmers’ income. For this reason, it has given a lot of policy, institutional and financial support. The state finance also allocates funds every year to help them improve water conservancy. Irrigation, rural roads and other infrastructure—unlike a later oriental country that did not allocate much money for rural water conservancy for 30 years—is completely contrary to the spirit of developing industry and commerce.After all, the industry on the east coast is not strong enough to feed back agriculture in a big way!

The Hexi area where Stanley works now is not a wild place to be honest.Although the land reclamation here is still in progress, some towns have been built one after another, and a few immature industries have also sprouted, which is much stronger than those empty areas deep in the Pampa Plain.

Stanley is also a man of action, not one of those bureaucrats who like to sit in an office and listen to reports from their subordinates.He prefers to go to the countryside to take a look and listen to what the local grassroots officials and even farmers have to say.Today is April 1694, 4. In the second week of taking office, he couldn't sit still in the office in Hexi County, and then brought his secretary and several department officials to visit the rural areas in the suburbs.

"Corn beef is still the most dominant meat product on the market, and its total sales are more than lamb, pork, ostrich, horsemeat combined. However, it is still profitable to raise pigs and ostriches, and farmers are working hard in this direction Now roads, railways and water transportation are quite developed. On the well-organized transportation routes, the transportation costs of all food products have been greatly reduced. In fact, there is not much difference between inter-county transportation and inter-regional transportation. The mass production of frozen meat is also gradually reducing the cost of long-distance transportation, of course, this requires additional costs, and cured meat is still the mainstream." The secretary followed Stanley step by step, explaining to him softly.

"Breeding pigs, ostriches, rabbits, crocodiles, etc., now seems to be a way to increase income. If it proves to be effective in the long run, it is worth promoting in the whole region. Of course, this needs to be coordinated with the regional administrative office and county government to increase farmers' income. We shouldn’t worry about the issue of our Development Bureau, as parents, they should do more.” Stanley held a pipe in his right hand, swinging it vigorously from side to side, and said: “By the way, the area around Hexi County is relatively fertile. , whether it is planting grain or pasture, the harvest will not be bad. But in the inland area to the west, it may not be so simple, right?"

"Yes, Director, you are really astute." The secretary said, "Compared with grains, inland areas grow more corn and potatoes. The range of pastures there is also very large, so it provides great support for animal husbandry. .According to my research, farmers in the inland areas generally herd more cows. They get fresh milk from the cows, and then process them into various cheeses, and sell them for profit.”

"Can it be sold? Is the impact of market fluctuations great? I remember that our country does not have any protection for the purchase price of dairy products. This is a highly market-oriented commodity." Stanley grasped the key point keenly, asked.

"Generally speaking, it's not a big problem." The secretary explained: "If fresh milk is more easily affected by transportation and market fluctuations, then cheese, milk powder and other commodities that can be stored for a longer period of time are much less affected in this respect. Moreover, as far as self-employed farmers and small rural workshops make cheese, there are short-term price fluctuations, but in the long run, any force that pushes prices down will be offset by the growing consumption demand of urban residents, and the population It's growing, and consumption is growing."

"Yeah." Stanley nodded, then asked randomly, "How's the potato market?"

"It's okay." The secretary replied: "In the early days of the founding of the country, potatoes were once used as a staple food, but in the 90s today, this crop is increasingly regarded as a vegetable. Potato stew is a favorite of most urban residents. In addition, people have developed many other potato dishes. Generally speaking, the market demand is still very large, as long as the transportation cost can be reduced. In addition, derivative foods such as French fries, potato chips, and potato vermicelli are also available. It is becoming more and more popular among urban residents, and the total market is expanding year by year, which is good news for potato farmers."

"It seems that the improvement of rural transportation conditions is an important factor to increase farmers' income. Good roads will lower freight costs, agricultural products can be sold farther, and prices are more acceptable. Well, building rural roads And the water terminal, it seems that we have to take on greater responsibilities, after all, a lot of these infrastructure funds fall into our hands." Stanley asked the secretary to write this down, and then ran forward along the country dirt road.

On both sides of the road are large grasslands, where some cows are roaming, chewing the fresh pasture leisurely.Stanley looked at it, then suddenly turned his head and asked, "If the livestock gets sick, what should I do?"

"This can only be done by the animal husbandry stations in each township, where there is a full-time veterinarian. Generally speaking, livestock diseases mainly rely on prevention, that is, they will be culled as soon as they are found to be wrong, and at the same time, the import of foreign livestock should be minimized, or even If they are imported, they have to go through strict quarantine procedures." The secretary quickly replied: "Of course, in order to protect the interests of farmers, the local government still encourages them to use insurance in the name of cooperatives. This is the best solution, although A lot of farmers refuse to join the system because they can't afford the insurance premiums."

Stanley continued to walk forward while nodding, and now they had reached the farmland area where a large amount of wheat was planted.Stanley went deep into the farmland along the field ridge, observed carefully for a long time, and then sighed: "In fact, these wheat fields have not been well taken care of, as if only simple farming and field management have been carried out. Planting grains now, isn't it? Has it really become a burden for farmers in our country?"

The secretary was not very good at answering this question. After thinking for a while, he said, "Perhaps the farmers feel that it is not worth spending too much energy and energy on grain planting. But this is a wheat planting area. In fact, it is in the oat planting area." In the field, farmers are still very worried. Although the yield of oats is not high enough, the market price is high enough, and farmers are more motivated to take good care of this crop."

"Yeah, everything is economically oriented." Stanley smiled self-deprecatingly, and said, "Actually, I don't need to be so surprised. Isn't our purpose just to increase farmers' income? They chose to treat them the most We have no way to say anything about economically valuable crops, anyway, there is a surplus of grains in China, and they can’t eat them all. Potatoes, alfalfa, oats, vegetables, sesame, peanuts, and beans are their favorites.”

In fact, as Stanley sees, the rural areas on the east coast are undergoing profound changes.Even in half-baked places like Hexi, the cultivation of rural crops close to the county town is undergoing tremendous changes.Plantings of wheat, rice, and even hard-to-harvest root crops have been largely abandoned as farmers are unsure whether they will be able to hire enough non-national laborers to help during the harvest season.They are replaced by vegetable planting, nursery horticulture and special breeding, as well as the rural handicrafts derived from them, such as dairy industry and shoe industry (using livestock leather as raw materials), etc. These business activities can provide them with more More income makes their labor more valuable, so the wheat and rice fields are not well taken care of, and even the sown area has decreased, which is justifiable.

No wonder local governments are complaining that the land finance cannot be maintained, farmers are not motivated to buy land, and there is really no need for so much land.What about the grass on the land?Anyway, it is public land, and it can be used for grazing, and there is no need to pay taxes, which is simply the best thing for farmers.Nowadays, basically only Eastern immigrants and non-national laborers who have become regulars have a very strong tendency to buy land. They have always rented and planted other people’s land in the old continent, and have suffered a lot, so there is a sense of land in their hearts. Thirst and obsession, a considerable part of the land sales income of local governments comes from them.

Therefore, immigration really cannot be stopped!After all, the second generation born in their own country are not very motivated to buy land!

After wandering around the countryside on the outskirts of the city for three full days, Stanley returned to the county with his entourage.He has now deeply realized that, unlike the situation in which grain is more precious in New China, the situation in the local area with a large surplus of grain is another situation. Overall planning and reasonable arrangements are required so that farmers can better increase their income and maximize their income. It is possible to keep them in the countryside, so that the countryside will not be ruined in large numbers, and the already controlled land will once again become a paradise for wild animals and indigenous people.

Stanley tried to analyze it, and felt that in such a rapidly developing industrial country on the east coast, in order to protect the interests of the peasantry to a certain extent, the following should be done: [-]. Encourage the expansion of cooperatives and develop intensive agriculture , reduce farmers' operating costs and enhance their bargaining power; second, guide farmers to plant marketable commodities, and provide them with improved seeds and planting guidance to ensure that they can obtain stable harvests; third, strengthen infrastructure such as roads and docks construction, reduce the transportation cost of agricultural products, and expand the scope of its radiated market; [-]. Do a good job in the prevention and control of livestock diseases, and develop rural handicraft industries that use livestock as raw materials, such as the manufacture of cheese, milk powder, shoes, dried fruits and other commodities; [-]. Produce a large number of high-quality agricultural tools and machinery at low cost, improve farmers' production efficiency and reduce costs; [-]. Promote new agricultural technologies, such as the cultivation of greenhouse vegetables and fruits that are currently popular in small areas; [-]. Encourage the development of rural forestry , Fishing, stone processing, etc., farmers can work nearby, which helps them obtain stable cash income; [-]. Strengthen rural financial services, continue to provide low-interest or even interest-free loans, and encourage farmers to carry out diversified operations; [-]. [-]. Raise import tariffs on foreign agricultural products and keep them out of the country as much as possible; [-]. Reduce taxes on farmers.

Stanley believes that if these ten principles can be well implemented, the rural areas on the east coast can still continue.Even in a country on the east coast where the industry is so booming that it has a strangling effect on the countryside, these ten policies can play a considerable role!

To extend it further, he even thinks that experts can be organized to study how to maintain agriculture in an industrial country without dilapidation, which is also a very deep knowledge, involving all aspects of society.If this can be refined and summarized into a theory, and then compiled into a book and published, it will be one of his dazzling achievements for Stanley!

(End of this chapter)