Chapter 351 - 171: Return (Part 2)

Chapter 351: Chapter 171: Return (Part 2)

Jiang Miao nodded slightly.

He knew the farm’s current work arrangements weren’t ideal, but it was essential to have a full staff. Many tasks required skilled workers with professional expertise; temporary laborers could only handle the unskilled jobs.

The Tamin Chagan Farm was an integrated agricultural and pastoral farm.

This meant the future workload would be incredibly full. Employees would need to handle observation and recording, fire prevention, keeping cattle and sheep out of certain areas, irrigation, pesticide and fertilizer application, laser weeding, soybean harvesting, regular forage cutting, grazing management, and equipment maintenance.

That’s right, they also had to manage grazing.

It wasn’t practical to use harvesters on the hilly pastures formed by the sand dunes, so it was better to simply let cattle and sheep graze there directly.

This was one of the reasons for setting up the 20 farm workstations. Around each of these 20 workstations, corresponding areas of pastureland and grazing fields were designated. They were also the locations for the apiaries.

For such a massive farm, once the apiary staff was included, the total number of employees would be around 800 to 900 people.

However, this didn’t even include the staff for the breeding base, the agricultural machinery team, or the deep-processing plant.

Jiang Miao climbed down from the roof of the shipping container house.

He got into a pickup truck and drove into the farm’s interior.

The pickup truck slowly headed north along the two-lane main road that had been flattened by a road roller.

The scenery outside the window gradually changed. The farther north they went, the more desolate it became, and the sand and dust grew more noticeable.

After driving for more than five kilometers, they reached the northern edge of the farm.

This area was still a sea of yellow sand. Due to the intermittent rain over the past few days, the farm had merely leveled and compacted the sand here without laying down straw checkerboards before sowing the seeds directly.

This was possible because the rainfall had increased the moisture in the sand. Combined with the weaker summer winds that prevented the desert from shifting, they could quickly sow soybeans after simple leveling and compacting. Once the soybeans grew, they would serve the same purpose as the straw checkerboards.

After getting out of the truck, Jiang Miao squatted beside the machine-tilled path, dug up a handful of sandy soil, and found a few soybean seeds that had been sown nine days ago. By now, the seeds had already taken root and sprouted, but they had yet to grow their first true leaves.

He carefully replanted the soybean seedling.

Brushing the sandy soil from his hands, Jiang Miao saw several employees driving concrete piles and setting up barbed wire fences near the workstation in the distance.

Lü Weibin explained in a low voice, "Boss, there are a few villages a little farther north. To avoid any misunderstandings, I had Zhiben cordon off the farm’s edge with barbed wire."

"Yes, that was very thoughtful of you."

They arrived at the workstation.

Several employees quickly dropped what they were doing and walked over.

"Manager Lü, Manager Liu, Vice Manager Wu."

Liu Zhiben introduced him to the group, "This is the company’s boss."

"Hello, Boss!" Everyone’s expression immediately became tense, and they secretly worried that the big boss would be dissatisfied with their work.

"Hello, everyone! How is life for you all here at the workstation?" Jiang Miao asked as he walked into the shipping container house.

Just then, the station head rushed back. He quickly replied, "Hello, Boss. I’m Li Dafu, the head of North 1 Station. This is our station’s kitchen."

Jiang Miao looked at the facilities inside and shook his head. "It’s too simple."

The entire kitchen consisted of a single gas stove, two canisters of liquefied petroleum gas, and some pots, pans, and other cooking utensils.

"It’s already not bad. At least we get to eat a hot meal," Li Dafu said, somewhat at a loss.

Liu Zhiben cautiously said, "Boss, I’ll arrange for improvements as soon as possible."

But Jiang Miao shook his head. "This workstation is only active for about seven months a year; it sits idle the rest of the time. You should just purchase a batch of food trucks converted from box vans and assign one to each workstation."

"That works too." Lü Weibin immediately understood Jiang Miao’s reasoning.

Equipment deteriorates quickly when left idle for extended periods. Besides, leaving it here over the winter wouldn’t be very secure. If it were stolen, they would have to buy everything again next year. It’s better to use mobile food trucks.

Jiang Miao continued his instructions, "Also, equip them with some solar panels that can be quickly installed and uninstalled. You must ensure that each workstation has, at a minimum, a refrigerator and a water heater. As for the other living facilities, draw up a plan to improve them as soon as possible."

"I’ll arrange it as soon as possible," Liu Zhiben said with a quick nod.

"We also need to fast-track the concrete buildings and road paving for the workstations. After all, the beekeeping teams, cattle, and sheep will be stationed here in the future."

Lü Weibin reported to him, "I’ve already instructed the engineering contractor about this. They will be reassigning some personnel here soon."

"Good."

Jiang Miao inspected the workstation a bit longer and then got back in the truck to tour the rest of the farm.

「A little after four in the afternoon.」

He returned once again to the Tamin Chagan Base.

As soon as he got back, he saw Lin Yonghua, the General Manager of United Mining Company; Lu Mingyuan, the Vice General Manager; and Zhao Shuisheng, the vice manager assigned by the Monan State-owned Assets Operation Company. The trio had heard around noon that Jiang Miao was coming and had rushed over, only to find he wasn’t there. They could only wait for his return.

"Old Lin, are you getting used to the work?"

"Thank you for your concern, Boss. I’m doing well." Lin Yonghua was all smiles. Compared to his apprehension more than two months ago, he now possessed a calm and composed demeanor, because the work at United Mining Company was truly simple.

"Let’s talk inside."

Led by Lü Weibin, the group went to the temporary office that had been reserved for Jiang Miao.

As soon as they sat down, Jiang Miao asked, "How much land has United Mining Company contracted so far?"

Lin Yonghua gave him a brief report: "At present, we’ve contracted a total of about 110 million mu, concentrated in the Wulanbuhe Desert, the Tengger Desert, the Badan Jiling Desert, and the Hunshandake Desert. We’ve only taken the large tracts of sandy land, forgoing the other scattered plots."