In the era of large-scale construction, is agriculture useless?

Chapter 81 In the era of large-scale construction, is agriculture useless?

In the white space, Jiang Fan stood still, looking at the date numbers leading to 1949, which clearly displayed "July 5, 1949".

"Hold!"

Jiang Fan couldn't help but curse out loud. Eight days again, the same time flow as last time.

Wouldn't that mean I disappeared in the middle of the night and became a midnight missing person case?

How am I supposed to explain this to Director He?

Once the idea came to mind, Jiang Fan paced back and forth, his mind in turmoil.

Should we go back or not?

He has to go back and explain why he disappeared for eight days and then suddenly reappeared.

If we don't go back, what will happen to the tractor project? What about the seamless steel pipe project?

He raised his wrist in frustration, wanting to see if there were any new functions on the broken watch.

However, upon closer inspection, he discovered something unusual.

Where the countdown on the dial should have been, two timestamps now appeared side by side.

The one on the left displays: [June 1, 1949]

The one on the right displays: [June 11, 1949]

There is also an arrow symbol between the two dates, which seems to indicate that you can choose between them.

Jiang Fan raised an eyebrow and tentatively extended his index finger, clicking the arrow symbol on the right.

Immediately afterwards, the date on the portal in front of them began to reverse, the numbers jumping backward one by one, finally stopping at June 11, 1949.

Jiang Fan stared wide-eyed at the scene before him in disbelief.

It's amazing that we were able to go back to the time stamp of our second trip!

He immediately tried again, setting the date back to June 1st. The shutter flickered, so he set it back.

He made three round trips, and the dial responded accurately to his input each time.

"This is great!"

Since we can adjust the time, there's no need to worry.

Jiang Fan naturally chose the June 11th timestamp, even though it would take more than ten days to do the things he had already done again.

But that's still better than suddenly disappearing and then suddenly reappearing.

As for June 1st, that's too far in the future.

Without hesitation, Jiang Fan immediately set the timestamp to June 11th, then reached out and turned the light doorknob, stepping inside.

It was still the same storage room in that workshop, everything was exactly the same as when I last appeared.

The workers were working enthusiastically, but a few of them still noticed him, still grumbling and cursing.

Jiang Fan left the place with ease, having learned from the previous round, he was completely unfazed.

I climbed onto the train, returned to the factory area, entered the small white building, met the factory manager, and reported on my work.

Nothing unusual.

During this time, Jiang Fan also subtly mentioned his ideas about industrial upgrading to He Xiying several times.

He hand-copied some projects that didn't require sophisticated equipment from his phone, wrote them down, and submitted them as several reports under the guise of his overseas observations.

He Xiying watched very carefully and took detailed notes.

But in the end, he only said to Jiang Fan, "Comrade Jiang, you've worked hard. These ideas are good, but the factory's conditions are not good enough. Let's save them for future reference."

Jiang Fan understood the factory director's perspective; the current problems were real, and a few drawings and words alone wouldn't be enough to solve them.

It even seems a bit pretentious and empty.

He had no choice but to turn off his phone completely and temporarily put the idea aside.

Once we buy new equipment from the Soviet Union, we will have the strength to fight a war.

只是蒋凡在空余的时间发现，那【1949年6月11日】的时间戳消失不见，只有6月1日的还在錶盘上面。

However, Jiang Fan didn't think too much about it; he figured he might be able to see it in the watch's storage space.

The next ten days or so were busy and fulfilling.

With Jiang Fan's constant presence and guidance, the gas cylinder and tractor improvement projects progressed much more smoothly.

He and Zhou Chunsheng spent their days and nights in the West Factory area, repeatedly surveying data and calculating modification plans.

However, the process of modifying a diesel engine is far more difficult than imagined.

The first prototype cylinder developed visible cracks after cooling. The second one was barely usable, but extremely unstable.

This prompted Zhou Chunsheng to ask, "Engineer Jiang, will this thing actually work?"

"Don't rush, Engineer Jiang, take your time. It's okay if it's a little rough. As long as it can turn, it's better than nothing."

Even so, Jiang Fan was secretly anxious.

The reliability of this hand-made engine is still too poor.

If this were placed in a proper factory, it wouldn't even pass inspection.

But in today's world, it's already quite remarkable that it can even spin.

Of course, there is also good news.

After receiving He Xiying's call, the Northeast Bureau acted much faster than expected.

In just three days, four more scrapped Type 94 ultralight tanks were brought in.

It is said to have been dug out from the ruins of a Japanese military factory.

Jiang Fan could only sigh: This efficiency is all driven by money.

After all, 20% of the gold still needs to be handed over.

However, on the very night the second batch of tanks arrived, the engine malfunctioned again. Zhou Chunsheng became inexplicably frustrated and pulled Jiang Fan to the workshop, saying hesitantly, "Engineer Jiang, I have a question I'd like to ask you."

"Hmm? You mean Engineer Zhou?"

"Was it really the right thing for us to get into tractors?"

"These past few days, I've had some free time and chatted with a few experienced workers, and they weren't very optimistic about it."

"Everyone says there's not much land left to cultivate, so there's no need for this stuff."

"I've looked into it too. It seems that people in China haven't been allocated much land yet, and the land reform hasn't been completed. This shows that people aren't very enthusiastic about farming, and no one can afford to buy a tractor."

"Moreover, the country is currently undertaking large-scale construction projects everywhere, building roads, factories, and railways."

"Our Ansteel is the largest steel base in the country. Isn't it a bit redundant to invest manpower and resources in a tractor that nobody can afford..."

After saying this, Zhou Chunsheng lowered his head; he didn't want to question it either.

However, the rumors circulating these past few days have made him think too much.

Jiang Fan didn't blame him for anything; on the contrary, he was somewhat surprised.

This engineer, who usually seemed rather simple and unassuming, had actually come up with such profound social issues, which was quite unexpected by Jiang Fan.

However, Zhou Chunsheng's concerns also exposed a blind spot in his knowledge.

Land reform.

In 1946, the first "Instructions on the Land Question" was issued, also known as the "May 4th Instructions," which officially kicked off the land reform in the liberated areas.

But those were just some regulations and rules specifically targeting landlords and wealthy people.

A truly comprehensive and thorough reform would not be rolled out on a large scale across the country until the second half of 1949 and 1950.

At that time, hundreds of millions of farmers will own their own land for the first time.

Once a person owns land, their enthusiasm for farming and their need for agricultural machinery will change from optional to necessities.

Jiang Fan organized his thoughts and said, "Engineer Zhou, what you said is not wrong."

"It's true that not everyone owns land right now, but you have to think about it: the war will end soon, and once the country is completely stable..."

"Then development will inevitably involve people's livelihood issues, and the redistribution of land is a necessary thing."

"By then, hundreds of millions of farmers will have their own land, and they will need efficiency."

"Our tractors are much faster than normal farming and sowing."

"Moreover, I remember that our Ansteel plant area has several dozen acres of factory land."

"Even if the tractors don't sell, we can use them ourselves first, test them, get the data, understand the process thoroughly, and then promote them to our sister factories."

2

"This is what Ansteel should be doing."

After listening to Jiang Fan's educational words, Zhou Chunsheng remained silent for a long time.

"But even if you're right, can this thing really fetch a good price?"

"How much would a 'steel bull' like this cost? If you calculate the labor hours, materials, manpower, and equipment costs over the past few days, I don't think anyone in China could afford it."

Jiang Fan laughed as he listened to Zhou Chunsheng's complaints.

"Zhou, that's a narrow-minded view. Who said we only sell domestically?"

Ok?