Chapter 70

At the end of December, the provincial government made a decision, appointing the director of the provincial office, Gongben Yan, as the leader of the inspection team. He would lead a group of provincial officials, scholars, and industrial workers to examine the economic achievements of several Western European countries.

After reviewing the materials on Western European countries, Old Yang and several members of the Standing Committee were particularly impressed by West Germany and Denmark.

West Germany, of course, was due to its economic prosperity and advanced industrial technology. After World War II, West Germany received substantial investment from Western societies, and with its own industrial and talent base, it developed rapidly over the past few decades, showing signs of becoming the leading economy in Europe. Denmark's farm economy, especially, left a deep impression on the committee members!

Denmark is one of the European countries with a higher per capita arable land area, but there is almost no 'useless' land in the entire country. To this day, 97% of Danish farmers are owner-operators, and only 3% of the land is leased.

This is similar to the ratio of urban residents to rural farmers in China. China also has more than 90% of its farmers, and they are about to leave the communes and become owner-operators. Moreover, at this stage, Chinese owner-operators are still in the early stages of agricultural development, which desperately needs to draw on foreign experience.

Denmark's agriculture, however, points us in the right direction! In the early 20th century, grain from North America and Russia continuously flowed into Western Europe, and cheap grain impacted the European market, forcing Denmark to make significant adjustments to its agricultural structure. Denmark used its surplus grain and cheap imported grain to vigorously develop animal husbandry, thereby capturing the British market.

This is also very similar to China's situation in the 1970s and 1980s, where agricultural products were extremely cheap, and the low prices of agricultural products forced most farmers into poverty. It wasn't until the early 21st century that people began to call for the Chinese farmers to be less poor, and the state allowed the prices of agricultural products to rise and abolished the agricultural tax. Therefore, the provincial leaders believed that to make China prosperous, they must first make the farmers prosperous. Without agricultural reform, it would be impossible for farmers to become wealthy! This was a thought that several leaders dared to think but not to say out loud. However, how to make farmers wealthy and how to solve the many issues in agriculture were still under debate, with two main schools of thought: decentralization and centralization. The provincial leaders were still undecided and decided to first learn from Denmark's agricultural experience.

Moreover, developing animal husbandry is also one of the future directions for the province. Since the founding of New China, animal husbandry in H Province has been given attention and has achieved some success. Efforts have been made in breeding black and white dairy cows and pigs, and new breeds have been introduced from abroad, forming a certain foundation. However, the current situation of animal husbandry in the province still has issues such as low technology, small breeding scale, and limited production.

Denmark's agriculture has very distinct characteristics. In Western developed countries, Denmark is a small country in terms of area but a strong agricultural power. Danish agriculture is highly competitive in the international market and can be described as a 'high-quality industry.'

1. Denmark has the highest per capita meat consumption in the world, and it is the world's largest exporter of pork! China is also a major pork-producing country or will become one in the future. It should be able to draw on Denmark's rich pig farming experience and learn advanced pig farming techniques from Denmark.

2. Denmark has the highest per capita grain consumption in the world and is one of the largest grain-producing countries in Europe. H Province is also a major grain-producing province, but it earns little from grain sales and is becoming increasingly impoverished. Grain is often sold at low prices, and there are frequent cases of other provinces defaulting on grain payments. In the next phase, the focus will be on vigorously developing animal husbandry, using valuable grain to feed pigs and cattle, and developing exports to make farmers prosperous! Danish farmers have effectively combined agricultural planting and animal husbandry, with an average monthly income of over $1,700, proving that farming can indeed make people wealthy!

3. Agricultural labor productivity is among the world's best, with one Danish farm capable of supporting 135 people. Currently, agricultural labor productivity in China is still very low, with farmers relying on manual labor for planting and harvesting, truly a struggle against nature! Under such production efficiency, how can agricultural production advance! The young people have given agricultural production a catchy nickname: 'repairing the earth!' This shows that agricultural production in China is still at a relatively backward stage.

4. Denmark is the world's largest exporter of forage seed. Danish agriculture is renowned globally for its advanced seed industry, especially for forage seed. Seed production in Denmark has a history of over a hundred years. Forage seed accounts for 3.3% of arable land and 6-7% of the value of crop production. Denmark is now one of the world's largest producers and exporters of forage seed, enjoying a high reputation in the international market. Denmark has the largest hay powder factory in Europe and also exports a large amount.

In this regard, H Province can also learn and draw on Denmark's experience. The province has several excellent pastures and is an important source of milk for the country. Although the provincial leaders have not seen hay powder, they can certainly learn and introduce it.

5. Denmark is also a famous mink farming country.

H Province is also a major mink farming province. However, the province's mink fur is not well-known nationally and has no reputation. The mink farming industry in the province should be vigorously developed, with the goal of making mink fur coats available to all the people of the country! The province's mink fur should go nationwide and even globally! Let every man, woman, and child in China have a mink fur coat! When they meet people from Guangdong, they can say, "Hey? How about a mink fur coat?"

After reviewing the materials on Western European countries and considering them comprehensively, it must be said that these countries have strong similarities and complementarities with H Province's industry and agriculture!

Originally, the director of the provincial office, Gongben Yan, insisted on going to Japan, but he no longer insisted and instead strongly supported the inspection trip to Western Europe.

Linqiangsheng, of course, submitted his and his mother's application materials along with his father's, applying for a passport to go abroad. Members of the inspection team could bring one family member. With tacit approval, Lixiangrong allowed one slot, but Linqiangsheng had to pay for himself, and the provincial foreign trade officials had no objections, as everything would be at his own expense.

At this time, it took more than a month to get a passport approved. Lixiangrong's slot was confirmed, but the slots for others were not. Therefore, people from various departments within the province, including some leaders, began to jump around, trying to use this opportunity to go abroad with the inspection team.

Leaders from factories that had business relations with the automobile factory, such as the casting factory and the gear factory, came to Lixiangrong to inquire about the trip, all hoping to go abroad and see the world.

There were even shameless leaders who directly asked Lixiangrong for a slot for their family members. Lixiangrong directly refused, and he didn't care whether the leaders were happy or not.

Linqiangsheng, of course, went along with his father's inspection, and all the procedures went smoothly. However, for others to go abroad, it was not so easy. First, getting a passport was not easy; in this era, going abroad required a review, a letter of introduction from the unit, a signature from a leader, a stamp from the neighborhood committee, and questions from the police about the purpose of the trip. It was very troublesome.

Lixiangrong's mother, Xu Hongmei, was naturally very happy and said at the dinner table, "Oh! At our age, we can still go abroad! Lixiangrong, what's it like abroad?"

Lixiangrong laughed and said, "What's it like? Of course, there are people and houses! What else could it be?"

The whole family was immersed in joy. No matter what, being able to go abroad in this era was a huge psychological impact for ordinary people, and the family still couldn't believe they would be going abroad for an inspection in a month!

Linqiangsheng didn't stay happy for long and soon received a shocking piece of bad news. Of course, it was for himself and perhaps the automobile modification factory.

At the end of the year, the state began to rectify the situation on a large scale. Yu Mingquan from the Special Materials Research Institute, through an appeal, had his reputation restored after an investigation. He also received some economic compensation, including nearly 8 years of back wages. The higher authorities reappointed him to a teaching position at the university, as a professor of special materials.

"Old Yu, what about the research work?" Linqiangsheng rushed to the Special Materials Research Institute and asked Yu Mingquan.

Yu Mingquan smiled and said, "Qiangsheng, don't worry! Although I will be a teacher at the university, I can still do research in my spare time!"

Linqiangsheng sighed and said, "Experts in this country are like one person per position! It's hard to come by! I heard that Yang Wanli will also return to teaching at the university. Now is the critical period for the KKK turbocharger research, and if you both go to teach at the university, the research will likely be put on hold."

Yu Mingquan advised, "Xiao Lin, the central government has just restarted over 140 universities, and there is a severe shortage of university teachers. Please understand."

"Currently, the material research for the turbocharger has been paused. We have found alternative materials for many components, and now it depends on the skills of the old technicians. However, I still want to say that our machining capabilities are weak, and relying solely on the manual skills of the old technicians may not allow for mass production. Don't have high expectations in this area!"

Linqiangsheng nodded and said, "I understand! I didn't expect to achieve everything at once; the main goal is to meet the needs of the military."

As the state was about to take serious action against Vietnam, this could be felt in various aspects, and the military comrades were also becoming anxious.