Chapter 991
The Shennong Project: A Revolutionary Force in Modern Agriculture
At the end of February 2020, the ginkgo trees in Tangdu had not yet sprouted.
In the underground laboratory of the Yinhe Agriculture Tangdu R&D Center, Zhao Xing'an squatted by the experimental field, holding a soybean plant that had just been pulled up. Its root system was as developed as an open umbrella, with dense root nodules hanging on the fibrous roots, each about the size of a mung bean.
He turned the plant over, counted the pods, counted them again, then stood up, patted the dirt off his knees, and grinned at the team members behind him.
The smile bloomed on his tired face, like a rare ray of sunshine in February.
"The number of pods per plant has increased by 20% compared to the previous generation, and the root biomass has doubled and 1.5 times. The rhizobium symbiosis scheme that the boss proposed last time has completely opened up the metabolic pathways for yield and disease resistance. In the past, it was like two big eaters competing for one production line. Now, each has its own kitchen. The carbon skeleton synthesized by the rhizobium feeds the disease resistance module, and the carbon skeleton produced by the photosynthesis of the leaves is dedicated to the yield module. No one is competing with the other."
Xiao Liu, who was squatting on the ground next to him, was measuring the length of the bean pods with calipers. Without looking up, he added, "Teacher Zhao, the oil content has also stabilized, and it's even a fraction of a percentage point higher than the previous generation. Based on this data, a yield of 2,000 jin per mu with an oil content of 30% is a sure thing."
In the rice laboratory next door, Qian Lin was checking the latest round of simulation data item by item.
His notebook was filled with numbers: number of tillers, number of grains per ear, thousand-grain weight, lodging resistance index, and disease resistance score.
Each item is marked with a comparison value with the previous generation. Most indicators show positive growth, a few remain the same, and none have declined.
He closed his notebook, took off his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.
He's done this for most of his life, and every time he gets good data, but it's not time to relax yet.
"Teacher Qian, the extraction rate of the special ingredients has also stabilized."
A girl wearing black-rimmed glasses handed over a biochemical analysis report and said, "0.4 grams were extracted per kilogram of rice, the same as the previous generation. The parameters for ultrasonic-assisted aqueous extraction were run according to the plan given by the boss, and the extraction efficiency was even improved compared to the organic solvent method used before. The by-products can be used directly as feed, and the protein structure is intact."
Qian Lin took the report and flipped through it page by page, stopping when he reached the page on the nutritional analysis of by-products.
The crude protein content, amino acid composition, and digestibility are all labeled as "qualified" or "superior to conventional feed".
He stared at those lines of numbers for a long time, then let out a soft breath.
"Okay."
The last day of February.
After finishing his company business, Wang Donglai rushed over immediately.
Zhao Xing'an stood at the edge of the soybean experimental field, with his team members lined up behind him, each holding a tablet computer with densely packed data scrolling across the screen.
Qian Lin and his rice team stood on the other side. The atmosphere on both sides was subtly different. The soybean team was like soldiers who had just fought a tough battle, tired but excited; the rice team was more like a group of students waiting for their final results, nervous but restrained.
"The situation with soybeans is stable now."
Zhao Xing'an spoke first, his voice brimming with barely concealed excitement: "The rhizobium symbiosis scheme is working perfectly. The yield module and the disease resistance module no longer compete for carbon skeletons. The carbon skeletons synthesized by the rhizobium are dedicated to the disease resistance module, while the carbon skeletons produced by leaf photosynthesis are dedicated to the yield module. The two metabolic pathways each go their own way, and neither holds the other back."
He pulled up a set of comparative data, projected it on the screen, and excitedly said: "The yield per mu is stable at over 2,000 jin, the oil content is stable at 30%, the disease resistance score is much higher than the best varieties on the market, and the lodging rate is close to zero in the simulation."
Wang Donglai took the tablet and flipped through the pages one by one.
I stopped when I turned to the page about oil content.
"30% oil content, export grade standard."
Zhao Xing'an added from the side, "Generally, soybeans contain about 20% oil, but ours is a full 50% higher. Moreover, the fatty acid composition is ideal, with the ratio of linoleic acid to oleic acid just within the optimal range for healthy edible oil. The remaining 70% of soybean meal also has a protein content far exceeding that of conventional soybeans, making it a top-quality raw material whether used for animal feed or plant protein."
Wang Donglai returned the tablet to Zhao Xing'an without saying "very good" or "thank you for your hard work," but simply nodded before turning to Qian Lin.
"As for rice, the yield and disease resistance have also stabilized, with the yield per mu remaining stable at 2,000 kilograms, and the lodging resistance and disease resistance scores all exceeding the design targets."
Qian Lin opened his tablet and brought up the biochemical analysis report.
His tone was much calmer than Zhao Xing'an's, but his fingers still trembled slightly when he turned to the page on the extraction rate of special ingredients.
"The extraction rate of special components has also stabilized, with 0.4 grams extracted per kilogram of rice. The ultrasound-assisted aqueous phase extraction scheme is fully operational, and the nutritional analysis of the by-products meets the standards. The crude protein content, amino acid composition, and digestibility are all superior to conventional feed. In other words, the rice left over after extracting the special components can be used to feed pigs and chickens as is, without wasting a single grain of rice."
"What about the pharmacological data for the special ingredients?"
Qian Lin pulled up an encrypted file: "Wa ran a complete simulation using a quantum computing platform. This component can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, inhibit chronic inflammatory responses in the hippocampus, and simultaneously promote neuronal synaptic plasticity."
"In layman's terms, it alleviates Alzheimer's disease, enhances cognitive function, and is not addictive or neurotoxic. Simulation data also shows that long-term use can significantly improve attention and reaction speed, with effects similar to 'smart drugs,' but without the neurostimulant side effects of smart drugs."
He paused, then added, "Boss, if this product is successfully developed, it will be the world's first truly neuroprotective functional ingredient. It's not a drug, it's an ingredient that can be added to food, health supplements, and special medical foods. The market potential is limitless."
Wang Donglai flipped through the report from beginning to end, lingering on each page for a sufficient amount of time to imprint the numbers and charts into his mind.
Then he closed the report, looked up, and stared at the two teams in front of him.
These young people are on average under thirty years old, and for a considerable period of time, they have devoted all their energy and time to this project.
Zhao Xing'an had a lot more white hair than when he first arrived, Qian Lin's dark circles were so deep they looked like they were etched into his eye sockets, Xiao Liu's glasses had a broken arm wrapped with tape, and the girl wearing black-rimmed glasses had a band-aid on her finger; she had accidentally cut herself on a glass rod while doing an ultrasonic extraction experiment.
"I've reviewed the data for soybeans and rice."
He placed the report on the table, his voice low but clear to everyone: "The work you've done isn't about publishing a few papers in the lab or vying for authorship in academic journals. You're rewriting the food security landscape of this country, securing food for over a billion people."
Zhao Xing'an lowered his head and wiped the corner of his eye with his sleeve.
Qian Lin did not lower his head, but the knuckles of his fingers gripping the tablet turned white.
“But…” Wang Donglai’s tone shifted, becoming serious: “It’s too early to celebrate. Good-looking data is one thing, but growing crops in the ground is another. The next step is to move from the lab to the field, from simulated data to real yields. There will be a whole host of issues you can’t even imagine right now: soil adaptability, growth performance in different climate zones, actual resistance to pests and diseases, post-harvest storage and processing…”
He picked up the report from the table, flipped through it again, then put it back, and continued, "But that's for the next step. Today, all you should do is finish up the remaining work and then go back and get a good night's sleep."
After he finished speaking, he stood up and didn't say anything more. He simply nodded to Zhao Xing'an and Qian Lin, then pushed open the door and walked out of the laboratory.
Baili Xiu was already waiting in the corridor.
This roommate, who started the business with Wang Donglai back then, is now one of the heads of the core business segments of Galaxy Technology.
He oversees Galaxy Bio and Galaxy Agriculture. The former controls two cash cows, Evergreen Liquid and All Things Life, while the latter carries a future even grander than cash cows.
He hadn't attended the meeting, but Wang Donglai had asked him to wait in the corridor, and he knew this wasn't an unintentional arrangement.
"Old Baili, the data for the last two pieces of the Shennong Project, soybeans and rice, have been successfully tested."
Wang Donglai talked as he walked, his footsteps echoing rhythmically in the empty corridor.
"The next step is to turn the data from the lab into yields in the fields, production capacity in the factory, and profits in the market."
Baili Xiu followed behind him without interrupting.
He had followed Wang Donglai for many years and knew the man's speaking style all too well. When Wang Donglai began to assign tasks one by one in such a calm tone, it meant that he had already mentally rehearsed the entire game countless times. And what he could hear was often much more than he had expected.
"The most crucial element is secrecy!"
"If the technical details of super rice and super soybeans are leaked, our first-mover advantage will be rapidly diluted. Seed theft, technology copying, and intellectual property infringement—each of these could cause us to lose everything. Therefore, all seeds undergo genetic anti-cloning treatment: we only provide the first-generation commercial seeds, which can produce good yields, but the offspring seeds they produce will automatically degenerate, with yields halved, disease resistance collapsing, and the content of special components dropping to near zero. It's not that we don't teach others how to farm, but that we don't allow others to take our things."
"All breeding bases, cultivation bases, and planting bases are subject to zoned management, with the core germplasm bank physically, network-wise, and personnel-wise isolated from the commercial planting area."
"Anyone who comes into contact with the core seed must leave a record in the system. Any unauthorized transfer, photographing, recording, or dissemination of the seed will be marked by Wa in real time, permissions will be locked, and a warning will be triggered simultaneously."
"At the same time, you also need to release some smokescreens. Our super soybean and high-yield rice data are so impressive that they will definitely attract the attention of our peers. We can release some vague information through public channels, such as exaggerating the weight of climate adaptability improvement and underestimating the core role of gene editing, so that the outside world thinks that we have only achieved high yields by using better planting density, better water and fertilizer management, and better planting programs. The core technology is hidden inside. What the outside world sees is an 'advanced planting system', not 'revolutionary seeds'."
Baili Xiu quickly took notes in her notebook.
Wang Donglai stopped and turned to look at him, his tone even more serious than before.
"There's also land transfer, which is more complicated than R&D itself. You have to talk to local governments, village collectives, and farmers one by one and acquire land acre by acre."
"The first phase of planting targets 200,000 mu, half rice and half soybeans, and this must be negotiated before spring sowing. 200,000 mu is just the beginning. The second phase is 1 million mu. After the yield data comes out and the effects are publicized, the global demand may be so high that even tens of millions of mu may not be enough, but not now."
"What we need to do now is to take over the first phase of 200,000 mu, plant the crops, and generate real data."
He patted Baili Xiu on the shoulder and said seriously, "These two matters, the secrecy system and the transfer of paddy fields, are entrusted to you."
Baili Xiu closed his notebook, his voice deeper and more steady than usual: "Boss, I've been digesting these data the whole way here: soybeans contain 30% oil, rice yields 2,000 kilograms per mu, and we can extract special components. I know this matter is bigger than Wanwusheng, and bigger than Changqingye. The confidentiality system will be done as you said, and the framework plan will be ready tomorrow."
"But there's one question I need to confirm in advance: can the extraction of the special components from rice be carried out simultaneously with the construction of the extraction plant? Or, to put it more directly, if we can't build the extraction plant before the approval is granted, to what extent can we actually produce this special component?"
Wang Donglai looked at Baili Xiu and nodded slightly.
He didn't answer immediately, but continued walking down the corridor. Baili Xiu followed behind him, and the two of them passed through the airlock at the end of the corridor, which required dual authentication, and entered a small, confidential conference room.
The meeting room had no windows, the walls were made of sound-absorbing material, and there was only a metal table and a few chairs. On the table was an encrypted terminal that was not connected to the external network.
Wang Donglai sat down, pulled up a document and projected it onto the screen. His tone returned to its usual calmness, but it was more decisive than before.
"The extraction plant for the special ingredients is planned in parallel. Drug approval does have a certain time cycle, which is an objective process that cannot be skipped just because it is Galaxy Technology. But before the approval is issued, the rice will continue to be planted, the ingredients will continue to be extracted, and the products will continue to be made. The extracted special ingredients will first be produced and stored under the name of 'food-grade raw materials'. Once the drug approval is issued, the label will be directly switched, and the product will be seamlessly converted into a drug product."
"This isn't skirting the rules. This ingredient itself is non-toxic, harmless, and non-addictive. We've already run a complete toxicological simulation using a quantum computing platform, and the results are all within the safe range. Its storage as a food ingredient is completely compliant. At the same time, we'll arrange for you to initiate the registration application for 'cognitive function improvement-type special medical food' as a transitional product line during the drug approval process, and simultaneously prepare functional and safety certification materials. This is equivalent to going through two channels. Drug approval has a long cycle, while special medical food approval will be faster. The extraction line for the special ingredient should be designed and laid out now. There's only one principle for production line planning: it's better for the production line to wait for the approval than for the approval to wait for the production line."
Baili Xiu's pupils contracted slightly.
He certainly understood what Wang Donglai meant by those words: treating the special ingredient as a strategic product with even greater long-term monopoly power than Changqing Liquid.
When Alzheimer's patients, students, and those engaged in intensive mental work around the world start using this product, even if later entrants develop similar competing products, they will never be able to catch up with Galaxy Technology's first-mover advantage due to outdated production lines, lack of brand awareness, and blocked distribution channels.
He took a deep breath, his voice a few decibels lower than before, but he emphasized every word.
"I'll arrange it when I get back. I'll personally oversee the production line. There's another issue: how do I explain the gene-level anti-cloning treatment to the team?"
"Don't say too much to them."
Wang Donglai stood up, straightened his shirt cuffs, and said, "Just tell them: all seeds distributed externally must undergo a 'seed treatment' process. I'll have Wa directly hand over the specific treatment plan to you. The team only needs to know that this is part of the confidentiality requirements; they don't need to know the specific details of gene editing. In addition, everyone in the lab who has access to the core germplasm must sign an additional confidentiality agreement. You decide on the list."
"We need a plan by tomorrow!"
Wang Donglai nodded, pushed open the door, and walked out of the confidential conference room.
At the end of the corridor, the night view of Tangdu High-tech Zone unfolds outside the window in the darkness. In the distance, the Xuanwu Battery Industrial Park is brightly lit, and in the nearby Galaxy R&D Center, many windows are still lit.
This city is growing and changing at a visible pace.
In the city's underground laboratory, the genetic maps of a soybean and a rice plant have been rewritten. Their seeds will be sown in the soil in the spring and yield fruits that will astound the world in the fall. (End of Chapter)