Chapter 1021: Contract responsibility system

Military expansion is not a trivial matter. Ren Xiaosu explained to P5092, It still needs to go through a formal approval process by Commander Zhang.

However, the Great Hoodwinker said from nearby, Commander Zhang has said that youll be in charge of things in Stronghold 144 and its territories. He wont interfere with your decisions. Even if you submit doc.u.ments for approval, theyll be rejected and sent right back. Right now, you basically have the power to act as you please.

Does Stronghold 144 have the budget for military expansion? Ren Xiaosu looked at Zhang Xiaoman.

Of course. After the trade routes opened, although the tax rates were very low, Stronghold 144 has become the richest stronghold in the Northwest, Zhang Xiaoman replied. In terms of our local regional finances, we have more money than we can spend.

More than we can spend or do you just not know what to spend it on? Otherwise, the food shortage issue shouldve been resolved already. Ive walked around the market recently and noticed that the food prices are increasing almost daily. This is a very bad sign. P5092, you can just take charge of the military expansion plans. The rest of us still have to resolve the major problem of the food shortage first, Ren Xiaosu said calmly.

Feeling wronged, Zhang Xiaoman complained, Its not that we didnt try, but we faced way too many difficulties. If the w.a.n.g Consortium were willing to export food to us, we wouldnt have so many problems. Ive already sent people to the Qing Consortium to see if they can help us in any way.

Even if theres difficulties, we still have to handle them. Ren Xiaosu said, Be it the Qing Consortium or the w.a.n.g Consortium, theyre all outsiders. Food is everyones lifeline, and thats true for the Northwest as well. How can we rely on outsiders for something like that? Zhou Yingxue, Im a.s.signing you to grow potatoes starting tomorrow. We have to resolve the food shortage first so that no one will panic.

Zhou Yingxues expression immediately turned bitter. She knew she would definitely be asked to grow potatoes if the food shortage needed to be resolved.

If Zhou Yingxue were the one who planted the Potato Shooter, not only would the potatoes be bigger, but the Potato Shooter could also produce up to a 100 potatoes per day. With this crop, it could at least a.s.sure that the people in the Northwest would not have to starve to death.

However, we cant just rely on potatoes to resolve the food shortage. We cant possibly make everyone eat potatoes all the time. Ren Xiaosu said, Tell me, whatre the difficulties youve encountered regarding the food crisis?

Zhang Xiaoman said, We took over the Zong Consortiums strongholds not long ago. But we realized that we have to start from scratch just to survey the new land.

Whats so difficult about drawing a map? Ren Xiaosu frowned. Theres so many skilled people within the troops who can do that. Send your 6th Combat Brigade to survey the terrain. We have to get this done quickly. w.a.n.g Yun, youll lead the team for this purpose. I want to see results within half a month.

Alright, Future Commander, w.a.n.g Yun said with a nod.

What other difficulties were there? Ren Xiaosu asked again.

Zhang Xiaoman said, We also have issues with the irrigation infrastructure and the terrain. As the soil erosion here is quite severe, a lot of places are unsuitable for farming. Of course, theres also some good plots of land. But itll be quite difficult to construct irrigation ca.n.a.ls through them since itll require too much manpower and resources.

When will Ji Ziang get here? Ren Xiaosu said, Dont post him to the inspection board for now. Have him lead a team to improve the irrigation works first. Great Hoodwinker, did you encounter any other earth-type supernatural beings when you were in the Central Plains? Poach them for our Prosperous Northwest.

No, there arent any left in the Central Plains, but theres still one here in the Northwest. The Great Hoodwinker said, Its just that hes unwilling to join the Northwest Army, so we cant force him.

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. When did you become easy to talk to?

Ahem, its not that Im easy to talk to but this is our Northwests policy. We dont force others to join us, the Great Hoodwinker said.

The moment he said that, w.a.n.g Yun and the others looked at the Great Hoodwinker in silence. They thought to themselves, Thats what youve been doing all this while in the Central Plains, so why would you deny it now that youve returned to the Northwest?

Ren Xiaosu thought for a while and said, Can we get the people of Stronghold 144 to partic.i.p.ate in the land recultivation efforts as well?

No one here has any enthusiasm for that. Zhang Xiaoman said, Its not just our Northwest that has this problem; all the consortiums face the same issue. Although we can hire refugees and stronghold residents for farming, they actually arent very enthusiastic about it. In fact, this is the main cause of the food crisis. Now that the trade routes have opened, everyone is running their own business. But farming is different. As they dont own the land, the crops they grow dont belong to them either. So theyre only drawing a salary. Thats why so many refugees went to the uninhabited land in the valley to cultivate the land by themselves. If we want to encourage them, we must enact land reform first. However, we cant sell the land and let the people privatize it either. If that happens, it can also become a potential problem if people start buying and selling their property privately and not use it for farming.

Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and suddenly asked, Have yall ever heard of the contract responsibility system[1]? This solution is somewhat suitable for the problem were facing in our vision of the Prosperous Northwest.

Actually, Ren Xiaosu also did not know anything about managing a stronghold, and Zhang Xiaoman and the others were suddenly forced to start learning as well. As such, they could only take things one step at a time and learn on the job.

After agreeing on the meeting time tomorrow, Ren Xiaosu walked them to the door.

Very quickly, all the vehicles that had suddenly rushed here to see Ren Xiaosu drove off, and the old military neighborhood on Anning East Road returned to its usual calm.

But after the convoy of vehicles left, all the residents in the old military neighborhood came out of their houses and looked curiously at Ren Xiaosu. They wanted to see just what the legendary future commander looked like.

Hu Xiaobai and w.a.n.g Yuexi stood at the entrance of their house and hesitated about whether to go up to talk to Ren Xiaosu. However, Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, Mr. w.a.n.g, Mrs. Hu, is there anything I can help you with?

Hu Xiaobai said in embarra.s.sment, Erm Future Commander, Im sorry. Ive misunderstood you recently

Its alright. Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, After all, Ive really been a little lazy these days.

How could that be? Hu Xiaobai quickly corrected him, Future Commander, you were just traveling incognito to get the lay of the land and find out what the peoples concerns are. I understand, I totally understand!

Ren Xiaosu did not know whether to laugh or cry. As expected, the way everyone looked at you would depend on your status.

Honestly, he had really come here to lead a peaceful life and do nothing at all. But in the end, everyone misunderstood that he was here to find out about the peoples concerns.

Then Ren Xiaosu said to w.a.n.g Yuexi, Well be holding a meeting regarding the food crisis tomorrow. You should represent the Policy Research Office and attend it.

w.a.n.g Yuexi was stunned. Then he hurriedly nodded in excitement. OK, OK! No problem!

After that, Ren Xiaosu returned to his house. Hu Xiaobai wondered, What did Future Commander mean by that? Is he going to place you in an important role?

w.a.n.g Yuexi thought to himself that maybe the future commander was very satisfied with the comprehensive services he had set up in the administrative center?

But he still had to restrain himself. I doubt Im good enough to be placed in an important role, so dont go around talking to others yet. Who knows how that might sound by the time it reaches the future commanders ears?

Back in the house, Ren Xiaosu smiled at Yang Xiaojin and said, Sorry, it looks like we cant continue living this quiet life anymore.

News of the future commander living in seclusion on Anning East Road had already spread throughout Stronghold 144.

Their neighbors, as well as the stall owners at the market, were all extremely excited. They went about telling all their relatives and friends about the story of the future commanders incognito travels with great enthusiasm.

[1] A practice in China, first adopted in agriculture in 1979 and officially established in 1982, by which households are held responsible for the profits and losses of an enterprise. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_responsibility_system