Transmigrating to Book 50, others hoard rice, I hoard money

Chapter 302: Once the iron ore is mined, won’t our pond be repaired?

The commune dispatched more than 3000 people to mine in the back mountains of Zhoujiawan.

The trees on the mountain where experts have discovered a small amount of iron ore have been cut down, and the tree stumps and rocks on the surface are currently being cleared.

Zhou Chuanyi walked around with his hands behind his back to prevent anyone from "crossing the line" and destroying the ancestral grave.

Seeing Zhou Chuanjing and Zhou Rong coming over, Zhou Chuanyi greeted them and asked excitedly: "What big event have you predicted? Tell me quickly!"

Zhou Chuanyi felt that Zhou Rong had a unique vision and accurate judgment, even better than those fortune-tellers.

It was because he listened to Zhou Rong's advice and did not cut down several nearby forests to plant fruit trees that he was able to preserve a large number of fruit seedlings.

Otherwise, if the policy is implemented now, all the planted trees will be destroyed!

He also processed Zhou Rong's previous predictions and suggestions and told them to Zhou Chuanyu at the appropriate time, or raised them at a commune meeting, for which he received a lot of praise.

Moreover, Zhou Chuanyi discovered a pattern: unless something big happened, Zhou Rong would not return to Zhoujiawan. He would only communicate through letters. If he came back in person, there must be something important to discuss.

Zhou Rong did not rush to answer Zhou Chuanyi's question, but asked him to take him around the "mine".

After looking around, Zhou Rong signaled Zhou Chuanjing to tell the experts' "predictions".

After hearing this, Zhou Chuanyi sighed and said, "Floods and droughts are both here. God is not giving us a way out!"

Zhou Rong: "Natural disasters occur every few years. In our area, the weather has been good in the past two years. God will not always favor us. In the next few years, we estimate that there will be extremely bad weather. If we want to minimize the losses, we should take precautions as soon as possible."

Zhou Chuanyi: "What suggestions do you have?"

Zhou Rong pointed at the "mine" and whispered to Zhou Chuanyi and Zhou Chuanjing: "Uncles, how about we dig a pond here?"

Zhou Chuanyi asked in confusion: "How can we build a pond here if we are going to mine iron ore?"

Zhou Chuanjing thought about what Zhou Rong had said before about the possibility of drought next year and asked, "Are you trying to store water to avoid a severe drought?"

Zhou Rong: "Yes, we will dig the pond bigger and deeper. When there is more rain next spring, it will be filled with water quickly. When there is drought, the farmland behind the village will not have to worry about irrigation.

Don’t throw away the stones cleared from the mountain. Use them all to build the pond. We need to build the pond stronger to avoid it being washed away by heavy rain.

After the pond is put into use, fish and ducks can be raised, which will increase the income of the villagers and achieve multiple goals at one stroke.”

Zhou Chuanyi: "It sounds feasible, but aren't we going to mine now? Will the municipality agree to let us build a pond?"

Zhou Rong smiled and said, "Good iron ore is buried deep. When digging, let's have everyone dig deeper and expand the area a little bit. When the iron ore is dug out, won't our pond be repaired?"

Zhou Chuanyi and Zhou Chuanjing: "......"

Zhou Chuanjing suddenly thought of a question: "Next to the mine is the ancestral grave mountain. If we dig a pond, will it affect the feng shui?"

Zhou Chuanyi became nervous when he heard this: "There are some old people in our village who are very conservative. If this pond destroys the feng shui of the village, they will definitely lead the way in causing trouble. Should we reconsider this matter?"

Zhou Rong: "I heard that there is a saying in Feng Shui that goes 'there is light in front and support behind', which means that the place where the cemetery is located has mountains behind it and water in front of it, which is a Feng Shui treasure land. If the ancestors are buried here, their descendants will have a bright future and continuous blessings and fortune.

You see, our ancestral grave mountain is located at a relatively high terrain, and there is a big mountain behind it for support. If we build a water area near it, it will completely conform to the saying "there is light in front and support behind".

Because the pond is located at a low altitude, there will be no leakage, which would disturb the "peace" of our ancestors.

Feng Shui aside, let's get back to reality. When everyone digs away the iron ore, there will only be an abandoned pit here. Will the two uncles organize the villagers to carry soil to fill it up?"

Zhou Chuanyi: "...Of course not. Uncle Chuan Yu wants to build a few roads from the commune to the brigades. Currently, only half of it has been built. It has been suspended recently due to the steelmaking task. After the steelmaking task is completed, the road construction will be put on the agenda again.

You told Uncle Yu to take all the soil dug out from the mountains to low-lying areas for road construction in the future. Now that the soil is gone, what are we going to use to fill the gap?"

Zhou Rong: "Since we can't backfill it, we will try our best to change the worst outcome and let the abandoned pit play its due role and benefit the people."

Zhou Chuanyi: "It has come to this point, and this is the only way. I hope this pond can really change the feng shui of our Zhoujiawan and make our descendants have a promising future."

Zhou Chuanjing: "I went to the county to do some work a few years ago and met a Feng Shui master in a small restaurant. We sat at the same table and chatted for a while. What he said was similar to the Feng Shui treasure land of Dayong.

We have no other choice now, so let’s encourage everyone to dig the mine into a pond.”

Zhou Chuanyi: “Okay!”

In the village's public canteen, the lunch dish was stir-fried winter melon and cabbage. In order to thank Zhou Rong for always informing him when he had problems, Zhou Chuanyi went home to get a few eggs and asked Cao Dayun to fry them for Zhou Rong as a snack.

The members who come to Zhoujiawan to mine are currently eating in the public canteen in Zhoujiawan.

They all brought their own rations according to the standard of three bowls of rice per meal, but only rice, while oil, salt, vegetables, etc. were provided by the public canteen. Fortunately, Zhou Chuanyu allocated a sum of money, so Zhoujiawan did not lose money.

Seeing that some people looked hungry after eating three bowls of rice, Zhou Rong whispered to Zhou Chuanyi, "Uncle, I took a ride back today and saw countless steel furnaces along the way.

Everyone was working hard to make steel, and a lot of grain was left in the fields with no one to take care of it, including in our Qingping County, where grain was not even confiscated in some places.

I also heard a folk song, which goes like this: Grain is scattered on the ground, wheat leaves are withered, the young and strong go to make steel, and the boys and girls collect wheat.

It won’t be long before the weather turns colder, and the steelmaking task won’t be completed until the end of the year. The grain that has not been harvested will probably rot in the fields.”

Zhou Chuanyi shook his head and sighed, "What a sin! If this continues, those places will definitely be short of food by the beginning of next spring."

Zhou Rong: "Yes, we are a country of solidarity and mutual assistance. If there is a food shortage in those places, the organization will not just sit there and do nothing, but will definitely go to other places to collect food.

It is our fine tradition to offer support to those areas in need. It is our responsibility to help those areas that are short of food. However, we are afraid that it may be a drop in the bucket as the affected area is large and the relief food collected is limited.

I will meet Uncle Chuanyu some other day and tell him about this matter. I'll see if he can use his connections to help those places in Qingping County that haven't harvested the grain yet to quickly harvest it."

Zhou Chuanyi: "No problem, but this matter needs to be handled with great care. You know the situation outside. Anyone who dares to hinder steelmaking will be criticized and fired.

After all, Uncle Yu is just a president. He is under pressure from the Party Secretary, so he cannot do whatever he wants. Moreover, people's hearts are hidden. It is hard to say how the county leaders will react when they find out about this.

I will find an opportunity to tell him about it, and it's up to him to decide how to handle it."

Zhou Rong: "Okay."