Australia 1671

Chapter 14: Agricultural Issues and Publicity Stunts

"…Melbourne was situated at 39° S, and belonged to a climate at the intersection of subtropical and temperate zones, and its winter temperatures did not fall below zero degrees—they were probably a few degrees above zero up to the teens Celsius, and the summer temperatures were comparatively high, ranging from 25 to 35 °C."

"In terms of terrain, Melbourne lay roughly on plains, and there was the Yarra River, over two hundred kilometres long, flowing from north to south into the bay, with a drainage area of several thousand square kilometres, which could address the needs of agricultural irrigation, industrial water, and domestic water."

Old Wu looked like he was teaching students, sitting on the podium, introducing Melbourne’s climate and geography to everyone in the classroom.

"…From the perspective of developing agriculture, the conditions were quite good here, but due to the year‑round low air humidity, it was in fact more suitable for developing animal husbandry rather than grain cultivation, which was somewhat similar to a Mediterranean climate."

"But since we currently lacked grain crops and did not have livestock like horses, cattle, or sheep, we could only temporarily plant grains to get through this difficult period, haha. In the future, the meat on everyone’s table would probably be sea fish and kangaroo meat for a long time."

"Old Wu! Sorry, I’ll interrupt you!" Li Yingchun suddenly raised his hand, and then looked back toward Dong Ruofeng, director of the Materials Bureau, seated in the back right.

"Old Dong! Do we have any live livestock or chickens and ducks left now in our warehouses and canteens?"

Dong Ruofeng shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "Old Wu just asked me about that. Ten days ago I organized people to make an inventory, and really, there were none!"

"There were no live animals in the warehouse area, but there was a batch of frozen meat in the cold storage, which had been prepared as dishes these days to save electricity."

"As for the canteen… it was also all frozen meat, with no live chickens or ducks!"

"That’s really too bad!"

Li Yingchun said regretfully, "…It seems that in order for everyone to have meat to eat, we’ll have to take a trip to the Old World as soon as possible!"

Hearing Li Yingchun’s words, Zhang Jian, who had just become director of the Construction Bureau and who had been a renovation company boss, suddenly lit up, raised his hand and said loudly, "…Wait! There was a pet shop in our residential community that sold kittens, puppies, chicks, ducklings, and other odd pets!"

"Really? What were the names of the pet shop owners? Go notify them to protect these animals!" Li Yingchun immediately said.

"The shop owners were a young couple named Feng Hailiang and Yu Meina, and I’ll go to them right away…"

As Zhang Jian spoke, he instinctively touched his jacket pocket, intending to take out his phone and make a call, but he immediately remembered that the phone no longer worked.

Seeing this, Li Yingchun immediately instructed the young man in a suit sitting near the back door of the classroom—his secretary Qian Xiaojia—"…Xiao Qian, you need to send someone to the pet shop immediately, and make sure the shop owners protect the animals in the store!"

"And… the pets of homeowners in Happy Home residential community must also be registered!"

"Okay!" Xiao Qian responded, stood up immediately, and left the classroom.

Old Wu looked at Li Yingchun and smiled, "…If we could have live chickens and ducks that could reproduce, then our animal husbandry efforts could begin right away."

Li Yingchun shook his head and said, "…Old Wu, the chickens and ducks in the pet shop might not be species for consumption, and they might not even be in breeding pairs… Please continue, sir!"

Wu Fanli nodded, "…Farming was both simple and complex! They just needed to chop down trees, burn the wasteland, level the land, plant the seeds at the proper time, remove weeds, introduce water, apply fertilizer, and finally wait for the harvest."

"Now we had two high‑yield crops—corn and potatoes—and even if the varieties were not suited to this climate and soil, and the yield did not reach the maximum, if we could get half the usual yield under normal conditions, then we would not lack a starch source later."

"As for proteins, fats, and vitamins and other nutrients, we could obtain them through hunting, fishing, and cultivating vegetables."

"The most urgent task was to mobilize at least three hundred people, prepare farming tools, agricultural machinery, and logging equipment, and go to the peninsula to the north for logging and land reclamation."

"The soil there was most fertile, the terrain was flat, and there were several rivers; although the agricultural conditions could not compare with the banks north of the Yarra River in the bay, it was certainly enough to meet our grain needs for the first two years."

"Of course, this reclamation process, even with relatively efficient logging tools and farm equipment, would definitely be very arduous work, so we needed to provide sufficient nutrition and material incentives to the workers."

Li Yingchun pondered for a few seconds and said, "…We could solve the manpower issue first by recruiting volunteers with contribution points, priority housing placement, and land rights."

Then he gritted his teeth and said, "Also… for us committee members and bureau directors and deputy directors—except female colleagues, those over fifty, and those physically unfit—everyone must participate in at least a half‑day of reclamation labor each week!"

"We couldn’t let everyone think we were high‑and‑mighty lords—if there was work to be done, then everyone should do it together!"

When this statement came out, everyone present turned their eyes to this pampered group boss, even Jiang Weiguo, who had been closing his eyes at the back, opened his eyes and looked at him with admiration.

"…That’s a good lad! That was the quality a good helmsman should have!"

Old Jiang broke the silence and said, "I had underestimated you earlier!"

Li Yingchun humbly waved his hand and said, "Old Jiang! Please don’t blame me for being slow to react!"

Everyone in the classroom listened and quickly understood.

Li Yingchun’s move was just a publicity stunt?

But regardless of the motive, the new republic’s decision‑makers and leaders personally taking time to participate in the hardest work would undoubtedly greatly enhance cohesion and centripetal force, which would definitely be very beneficial for future development.

"I support the Prime Minister’s proposal. We currently lacked an inspiring and heart‑touching example!"

Sun Debo, member of the Education, Culture and Science Committee was the first to voice support, and then he put forward a suggestion, "I think not only should we lead by example, we should also increase our publicity efforts; right now, radio broadcasts were the main channel, but newspapers should also be the mainstream means of publicity in the future!"

"At present, we had formed cabinet committees and more than a dozen departments, and now with phones and internet out of commission, information transmission was still obstructed. In this case, an authoritative newspaper was an absolutely critical information medium!"

Li Yingchun glanced at him, reciprocated the gesture, and said, "Commissioner Sun said well. Then let’s leave this matter to you? Does everyone agree?"

Once people understood this stunt and the role of newspapers, the other commissioners naturally did not object, and one after another raised their hands in support.

For the cabinet members, the term of the current cabinet committees was only one year. In a year they would have to convene a national assembly, and even for the sake of support at that time, they had to participate in this stunt and show their humble, people‑centric side!

As for the bureau directors and deputy directors in the classroom, although they were nominated and appointed by cabinet members, who didn’t want to go further and join the cabinet?

At the very least, even if they didn’t want to go into the cabinet and just stay as directors, they still had to manage their reputations, because under the current system, in the future no cabinet member would risk nominating someone with a bad reputation as department head.