binnovel Chapter 149 Harvest
Chapter 149 Harvest
On October 10th, Li Chenglong was busy early in the morning. He first made breakfast, then called out to Han Xiaoling, Chen Xiaoke, and Li Xue to eat. Chen Xiaoke, who was now working in the central computer room, had moved in with Han Xiaoling. After the five of them ate breakfast, Yun Lan went to the central computer room. After saying goodbye to Wang Xiao, Li Chenglong also left with Li Xue and Han Xiaoling. As soon as they went downstairs, Yang Liu, Zhao Liying, and 23 other special forces members were already waiting there with sickles and shovels. Li Chenglong smiled and said, "Not bad, not bad, you're getting the hang of it. Zhao Liying, you don't need to go today. Li Xue and Han Xiaoling both have to go, so Yun Lan will be alone in the central computer room now. She might not be able to handle everything. Go and help her out." Although Zhao Liying felt a little regretful, she obeyed the order.
Then they headed to the logistics department, where Yun Qian and her subordinates were already distributing farm tools. Seeing Li Chenglong arrive, Yun Qian smiled and said, "Brother Li, why did you come in person? We can do these tasks." Li Chenglong replied, "Many members of the special forces were born and raised in the city and have never worked in the fields, so I wanted to let them experience the hardship of labor and the joy of harvest. Yesterday, I also issued a proposal advocating that all managers in Shuguang City participate in at least one day of labor during the autumn harvest. Even in high positions, we must never forget the people and always stand with the working class. This will also allow many people to appreciate the hard-won nature of food."
Yun Qian nodded: "That's for the best. Our logistics department's material search team has recently cooperated with the Dawn Army and collected a lot of supplies during the autumn harvest season." Then she took out a ledger that recorded the area reclaimed, which Li Chenglong took and looked at. Yun Qian's assistant, Xiao Ya, said: "Because the land to the west and north of our area is very fertile and flat, our Dawn Army and the logistics department, together with many people, have reclaimed more than 4000 mu of land."
Yang Liu asked excitedly, "How's the yield?" Xiao Ya replied, "The yield varies greatly depending on the crop. Corn yields only about 1,000 jin per mu, but potatoes or sweet potatoes yield much more. There are also soybeans, mung beans, cabbage, radishes, and other different crops. However, with the addition of people at the Huaxing base, our population has reached 55,000, which greatly increases our food consumption. Fortunately, we moved grain depots and port supplies from the surrounding areas, so we estimate that we'll have enough to last until June next year."
Yun Qian added, "Once the autumn harvest is over, we'll prepare to plant winter wheat. 4000 mu of winter wheat will yield a very high harvest. Our supply scavenging team has also acquired a large amount of fertilizer." Li Chenglong said, "That's right, we still need to plant more grains. My psionic space has changed again after my upgrade. I always thought it would double in size with each level, but after reaching level 8, my psionic space is now the size of 20 football fields, which is about 0.14 square kilometers. Currently, my psionic space is only level 7; I wonder how big it will be at the maximum level of 10. Even if it's just a natural area that occupies half the area of my psionic space, it's not particularly small. Although it's indeed not large compared to the land we've cultivated, the crops in my natural area mature very quickly, providing us with a large amount of vegetables."
Han Xiaoling also said, "I used to think that football fields were quite big, but after watching a game with my mother, I found that they weren't that big. After calculating, I found that they were only about 7000 square meters. One square kilometer is about 100 million square meters."
Li Chenglong checked the time; it was almost 8 o'clock. He then called for everyone to prepare to depart. They boarded trucks carrying corn, followed by many residents of Dawn City who had been hired to help with the harvest. Dozens of trucks drove westward in a grand procession. In fact, it wasn't just Dawn City that was reclaiming land; Langley Base and Flying Cloud Base were also actively engaged in land reclamation. After all, the apocalypse had lasted for more than 10 months, and the resources that could be collected were not much anymore, making land reclamation particularly important.
On the way, Li Chenglong inquired about yesterday's battle. Yesterday, Li Xue, Wu Gang, Yang Liu, and Zhao Liying went to the east of Linhai City to fight an 8th-level zombie. This was the same zombie Li Chenglong had found at the hospital a long time ago, but it disappeared after the Dawn Army's cleanup. Recently, it suddenly attacked a battalion of the Dawn Army's First Combat Regiment east of Linhai City, killing dozens of soldiers. Wu Gang borrowed Li Xue, Yang Liu, and Zhao Liying from the special forces team from Li Chenglong, and they finally killed the 8th-level zombie. Yang Liu said, "Commander Wu Gang probably hasn't finished writing the battle report yet, but it should be submitted by noon. That zombie was really powerful; if it weren't for Li Xue and Wu Gang, two relatively strong 7th-level zombies, the four of us really wouldn't have been able to defeat it."
Li Chenglong nodded: "That's right. We have more and more advanced ability users now, and it's definitely a good thing that our combat strength is increasing." Yang Liu then asked: "Captain Li, we still have a lot of land in Dawn City that we can use. Why don't we plant there, but instead come out to cultivate it, and we even have to send people to guard it regularly?" Li Chenglong replied: "Because I want to build Dawn City into a multi-functional, modern base. Right now, there seems to be so much space, but as the number of people increases, we will need to build many more facilities. Moreover, Dawn City can now be upgraded, and its area will become even larger."
Liu Fang asked in surprise, "Can it be upgraded now? How big will the area be after the upgrade?" Li Chenglong nodded, "Yes, we have enough levels and crystals for the upgrade. A level 2 Dawn City requires an Awakened to reach level 8, as well as 10 blue crystals and 30 cyan crystals. After so many battles, we finally have enough. After the upgrade, the city walls will become thicker and stronger, and the area will be larger. However, the shape will change, from a circular city with a radius of 7.5 kilometers to a square city with a side length of 16 kilometers. The area has increased considerably. The best part is that this square city will not require us to move. It can directly encompass the current Dawn City; only the city walls will move."
As the group chatted, the truck arrived at the farmland of Dawn City. Yang Liu and the others rarely came here, and they saw thousands of acres of farmland stretching as far as the eye could see, growing various crops. Li Chenglong gestured for everyone to get off the truck, and the staff in the following vehicles also disembarked in order. Li Chenglong looked happily at the bountiful harvest and couldn't help but imagine the future of Dawn City. Just as he was about to go into the cornfield to harvest corn with a bag, Li Qingwan hurriedly said, "Lord Li, there's no need to be so busy. Look." Following the direction Li Qingwan pointed, Li Chenglong saw a row of corn harvesters drive over.
A corn harvester drove directly into the cornfield, with a truck following alongside it. Countless golden ears of corn were fed directly into the truck through the harvester's feed inlet. The harvester also performed simple crushing and shallow tilling of the corn stalks. After the harvester passed, a tiller went into the field to till and submerge the soil, automatically spreading fertilizer as it worked. Li Qingwan said, "We have to thank the city lord for bringing in so much diesel fuel; otherwise, we would have had the machinery but couldn't use it. After spreading the fertilizer, we can plant more in a few days."
Li Chenglong scratched his head, awkwardly waving his sickle a few times, and said, "Then I'll take some people to dig peanuts or sweet potatoes." Li Qingwan smiled and said, "No need, no need. There are machines to harvest peanuts and sweet potatoes, and soybean fields are also harvested mechanically. We brought people here today mainly to help out. With mechanized operations nowadays, we don't really need manpower. However, we don't have cotton harvesters yet, so cotton still needs to be picked manually, and sunflowers also need to have their heads cut off and loaded onto trucks manually."
Li Chenglong affirmed, "Great! A bountiful harvest is truly in sight. Minister Li, you've worked hard." Li Qingwan was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources at this meeting, a testament to the immense recognition she received from the people of Shuguang City. Li Qingwan said, "It's not hard work. I really enjoy being with the fields; it feels like home here. I feel uneasy if I'm not here every day." Li Chenglong had originally wanted to work alongside the special forces soldiers, but the implementation of mechanization meant they didn't have much to do. However, they still spent several hours loading the trucks, putting bags of sunflower heads and cotton onto the trucks. Although it was tiring, the special forces soldiers enjoyed it all.
At 6 p.m., Li Chenglong and his special forces soldiers rode back in a truck. He drank the warm water in his bottle in one gulp, took out a towel to wipe his sweat, and then asked, "Are you tired?" Yang Liu and the special forces soldiers replied in unison, "No, we're not tired." Li Chenglong nodded: "Always remember the hard work of the laboring people and the difficulty of obtaining food, and carry on the tradition of diligence and thrift. Never become detached from the masses. If you become detached from the masses, you will make wrong decisions that do not meet the needs of the people, and ultimately you will be abandoned by the people."
After returning to the city, Li Chenglong first praised the special forces members, then let them rest before rushing back to his office. He had just entered the assistant's office when he saw Wang Xiao still there. Li Chenglong exclaimed in surprise, "Sister Wang, it's already 19 PM! Why aren't you home yet?" Wang Xiao replied, "I told my mom the city lord went to work in the fields today, and the office might be busy, so I'll be home a little late." Li Chenglong was somewhat moved: "If every manager in Dawn City were like Sister Wang, Dawn City could quickly become powerful." He then took out two spirit-powered persimmons and put them in Wang Xiao's bag: "Sister Wang, take these home and eat them. These don't take up any of my allotted share; they're mine, but I've already reached my limit, so eating them won't do me any good. Just take them home."
Wang Xiao accepted the documents with surprise, thanked him profusely, handed some files and reports to Li Chenglong, and reported who had visited that day before leaving. Li Chenglong smiled and shook his head, then picked up the files, intending to go home to cook dinner before dealing with work.