HPDBC Chapter 56
Chapter 56
A few days after the Awakening of Insects, the ice on Baiyang Lake completely melted.
The water level in Nanwan began to rise slowly, and the reed roots that had been frozen in winter sprouted new shoots from the mud.
Tender green and purplish-red, they pierced the water's surface one by one.
The wild ducks were the first to get the news.
They flew back from the south in pairs, landing in the reeds and chirping incessantly.
Chen Zheng squatted on the bank of the newly dug No. 2 fishpond, taking a thermometer into the water to measure the water temperature.
Nine and a half degrees.
It is more than one degree higher than the same period last year.
He wrote the number down in his notebook and added another point to the graph.
Since the beginning of January, the water temperature curve has consistently been half a degree to one degree higher than last year.
Spring did come early this year.
Three fishponds lie side by side in the low-lying fields at the east end of the village, descending step by step from east to west.
The easternmost pond is No. 1, which is 3.2 mu (approximately 0.33 hectare
The batch of fish fry released last August has already spent the winter in deep water and has started feeding again after the spring.
In the middle is Pond No. 2, which was newly dug, covering two acres. It was just filled with water in early spring and is currently being fertilized.
The westernmost pond is number three, measuring 1.8 mu (approximately 0.2 hectares), which has also been filled with water. The adjacent circular seedling nursery has already been built.
The water pump is installed, and we're just waiting for the water temperature to rise in April to conduct experiments on inducing spawning in mandarin fish.
The six acres of water surface are connected together, with the water inlet all located in the southeast corner and the overflow outlet in the northwest corner.
The water from Baiyang Lake flows into Pond No. 1 through the inlet canal, circles around in the pond, and then flows out from the overflow outlet into Pond No. 2.
After spinning around once more, it fell into Pond No. 3.
Finally, the water flows back into the canal from the outlet of Pond No. 3 and flows back into the lake.
This design was the result of many years of experiments conducted by Ma Yuanchao in Danjiangkou.
When the water is active, the dissolved oxygen level is high. With a drop in elevation, gravity-fed irrigation is possible, eliminating the need for electric pumps.
The water flows down level by level, and the water in each pond is fresh, making it difficult for germs to grow.
As I was gazing intently at the water, I heard a few barks from the village road.
Chen Zheng looked up and saw a green sidecar motorcycle chugging towards him.
Zhou Haiming sat in the back of the truck, holding a stack of cardboard boxes in his arms. The driver was Lao Fang, a driver from the county's aquatic products company.
"Teacher Ma asked me to bring you something."
Zhou Haiming jumped off the motorcycle and placed the cardboard box on the embankment.
"The Provincial Fisheries Research Institute has just published a set of freshwater aquaculture technology manuals, which consist of four volumes."
One book each on water quality, fish diseases, feed, and breed selection.
Teacher Ma said your fishpond has good conditions, so he'll let you learn there first. He'll come next month to check on the preparations for raising mandarin fish fry.
Chen Zheng took the manual and flipped through it.
The paper is much thicker than the training course handouts, and the printing is clearer. Each chapter is followed by a case study.
In rural areas in 1985, this set of books was not something that every farmer, let alone aquaculture farmers, could have, or even every technician at the county aquatic products company could have.
"And this too."
Zhou Haiming pulled a kraft paper envelope from his pocket. "Project funds approved by the county."
The demonstration site for the tiered fishpond technology, costing 2,000 yuan, has already been transferred to your account by the Agricultural Bank of China.
Two thousand yuan.
Adding the remaining 800+ from the previous demonstration loan, the available funds in the account are close to 3,000.
In Qingshui County in 1985, this amount of money would have been enough for an ordinary farmer to live on for several years.
"Spring is here, how many fish do you plan to harvest from your three ponds this year?"
Zhou Haiming squatted down, picked up a handful of water, brought it close to his nose, and then dipped his finger in the water to taste it.
This was his habit as a technician; whenever he arrived at a fishpond, he would first use the most basic method to determine the water quality.
"Pond No. 1 is an old pond. After the 1,200 fish fry overwintered, there are still more than 1,100 left. It is estimated that about 2,000 catties will be harvested from the pond."
Pond No. 2 and Pond No. 3 are new ponds, with 4,000 fish fry just released. By the end of the year, they are expected to yield 6,000 to 7,000 catties.
"Including the No. 1 pond, the total is eight or nine thousand catties," Chen Zheng said.
"Eight or nine thousand catties."
Zhou Haiming stood up, patted the water off his hands, and asked, "Do you know what the total aquaculture output of the entire county was last year?"
Chen Zheng shook his head.
"180,000 jin. More than 30 villages and hundreds of livestock farmers in the county have raised a total of 180,000 jin."
On average, each household gets only a few hundred kilograms.
If you can produce eight or nine thousand catties this year, you'll account for one-twentieth of the county's total.
He added, "Deputy County Head Xu specifically mentioned you at a meeting a few days ago."
There's a young man in his early twenties from Lutang Village who, in his first year of fish farming, achieved a fish production that ranked among the top ten in the county.
He wants you to attend a symposium for large-scale livestock farmers in the county in May and prepare a speech.
Chen Zheng flipped through the table of contents of each book and noted down the chapters and page numbers related to his fishpond.
Just as I was about to express my gratitude, Zhou Haiming spoke again.
"There's one more thing. The head of the Baiyang Town Aquatic Technology Extension Station has been chosen."
Chen Zheng raised his head.
"you."
Zhou Haiming took out an official document from his briefcase and handed it over.
The document bears the official seals of the county aquatic products company and the Baiyang Town government.
The title is "Notice on the Establishment of Baiyang Town Aquatic Technology Extension Station and the Appointment of Station Director".
The name Chen Zheng was prominently displayed in the text.
"This matter was brought up last year."
Teacher Zhao submitted a letter of recommendation for you, and Teacher Ma Yuanchao also spoke on your behalf.
The town government agreed, and the county aquatic products company also had no problem with it.
The official employment letter has been issued, with a monthly subsidy of twenty yuan.
The promotion station does not have its own office space for the time being, but we have set aside an office for you in the town government compound.
Your main task is to guide aquaculture techniques in six villages surrounding Baiyang Lake.
The subsidy of 20 yuan a month is four times that of the 5 yuan that the technical promoter used to receive.
More importantly, I now have the title of station manager.
He could then legitimately convene training sessions for surrounding farmers.
Promote new technologies and coordinate the supply of fish fry and feed.
This has a much greater impact than someone quietly raising fish.
"I'll do it." Chen Zheng folded the document, put it in his pocket, and asked, "When will I take office?"
"Next Monday. People from the town will come then, and we'll hold a simple plaque-hanging ceremony in the town government compound."
Deputy County Head Xu might come.
After Zhou Haiming finished speaking, he pulled out an iron box from under the cardboard box and handed it to Chen Zheng.
Upon opening it, I found a box full of stainless steel fishhooks of various sizes, the largest of which was thicker than my thumb.
"These are a batch of new fishhooks that the county aquatic products company brought in from the provincial capital. They are rust-resistant."
"I knew you still fish, so I saved you a box." After saying that, Zhou Haiming got on his motorcycle and drove away.
Back home, Chen Zheng told Chen Laosan about the fishhook.
Old Chen was sharpening his old fishing spear in the yard when he heard the sound of a stainless steel fishhook. He pushed the whetstone aside.
He took the metal box, examined it from all angles, clicked his tongue twice, and remarked that fishhooks have become so sophisticated these days.
He picked out the largest fishhooks and weighed them in his palm.
It is said that hooks of this size can be used to catch mandarin fish in Baiyang Lake.
As long as the line is thick enough, even a large mandarin fish weighing over ten kilograms cannot be broken.
He also said that around the Qingming Festival, when the mandarin fish migrate to the shallow waters, he would take Chen Zheng to Nanwan to test the quality of these new hooks.
This was the first time Chen Laosan had offered to take Chen Zheng fishing.
He never mentioned this before.
Firstly, the old injury on his leg would hurt on rainy days, and secondly, he had a mental block against it.
I had an accident while catching mandarin fish in Nanwan years ago, and I haven't touched big fish much since then.
But now, when he looks at that box of fishhooks, his eyes light up.
Over the next few days, Chen Zheng adjusted the inlet and outlet water systems of the three fish ponds.
The fertilization of ponds No. 2 and No. 3 has also been completed.
The water in Xintang changed from clear to light green, then to dark green, with its transparency stabilizing at around 32 centimeters.
He followed the method described in the manual given to him by Ma Yuanchao.
A batch of rotifers and cladocerans were released into the new pond so that the fish fry would have live food to eat as soon as they entered the pond.
In mid-March, the second batch of fish fry arrived.
This time the quantity is large, four thousand fish, to be delivered in two trucks.
The truckload of 2,800 silver carp and bighead carp from the provincial capital's fish farm is of better quality and size than last year's batch.
The other truckload contained 1,200 grass carp and silver carp fry transported from Danjiangkou.
It is said to be an improved strain bred with the help of Ma Yuanchao, and its disease resistance is much stronger than that of ordinary varieties.
On the day they received the fish fry, Chen Zheng invited Li Quan and Zhang Jianguo along.
The three of them arrived at Baiyang Town Wharf before dawn, waiting for the county aquatic products company's fish transport boat to dock.
The boat was loaded with six large wooden barrels, all of which were filled with fish fry.
Silver carp, pale blue grass carp, and black and shiny blue carp, each a little over an inch long, dart about in the water.
Chen Zheng selected the seedlings himself.
He learned the selection criteria for seedling strains in the training course.
I also read more detailed seedling selection methods in the "Variety Breeding" book given by Ma Yuanchao.
The four indicators were checked one by one: uniformity of body length, integrity of fin rays, color of gill covers, and swimming posture.
It took nearly two hours to select from 4,000 fish fry. More than 30 were found to be substandard and were replaced with another batch.
After finishing the seedling cultivation, Chen Zheng remembered Wang Laoliu's matter.
It's been more than half a year since we got the land title last autumn.
Director Fang has repeatedly stated that, according to current policies,
Original land title deed, village committee certificate, land administration bureau property survey report,
Once you have all three documents, you can proceed with the property rights clarification process.
The reason it's been dragging on until now is that Wang Laoliu has been making all sorts of excuses to delay signing.
Many of Wang Laoliu's corn crops were blown down by the wind last autumn.
In addition, his pig farm suffered another outbreak of disease before the Lunar New Year, and several piglets did not survive.
Zhang Jianguo's pig was poisoned and died last year.
Although Wang Laoliu denied it, everyone in the village knew that he was the one who did it.
With these two incidents combined, Wang Laoliu's already poor reputation in the village became even worse.
During the Lunar New Year, the village slaughtered pigs and held a feast, but his house remained closed, and few people came to visit.
That's why village officials have been much more assertive lately when they've been doing their work.
First, the production team's old accountant ran into him one December and said in front of several people,
Sixth brother, the land issue can't be delayed any longer.
You know in your heart whether the land deed is real or fake; dragging this out any longer won't be good for anyone.
Later, Director Hu of the village committee also spoke with him.
Ask him directly whether he has any supporting documentation to provide.
If you have it, take it out; if you don't, don't delay.
Wang Laoliu hesitated for a long time, but didn't finish his sentence.
Not long after, Director Fang sent a written notice.
It bears the official seal of the county land administration bureau and contains very simple information.
The disputed land parcel in Lutang Village has entered the property rights clarification process, and the party is required to provide counter-evidence within a specified period; failure to do so will be considered a waiver of rights.
The deadline is the end of the month.
On the day he received the notification, Chen Zheng went to Zhang Jian's house first.
I went over the whole story with Zhang Laohan about the sow that was poisoned last year.
Old Zhang pulled out the poisoned bean cake that had been wrapped in oil paper for half a year from the cabinet.
They also found a certificate issued by the livestock station at the time, proving that the pigs had died from disease.
Putting the two items together at least tells us one thing.
Someone threw poisoned soybean cakes into the Zhang family's pigsty.
Chen Zheng wrapped the two documents in newspaper and tucked them into his pocket.
After leaving Zhang Jian's house, he went to Wang Laoliu's house.
The gate was tightly shut. After knocking a few times without an answer, it opened a crack after a few more knocks.
Wang Laoliu's dark face peeked out from the crack in the door. When he saw it was Chen Zheng, his face turned bright red.
What are you doing here?
"Sixth Uncle, I have the original land deed for this land, stamped with the official seal of the county government during the Guangxu era."
You do not have the original land title deed or any registered documents.
Director Fang explained this to me very clearly: the land deed is in my possession, but the land is in yours. According to policy, we need to go through the property rights clarification process.
"You're trying to blackmail me with the land deed? My father bought that land with his own money!"
Wang Laoliu raised his voice, "Are you trying to drive me out of the fields!"
"Sixth Uncle, I didn't mean to kick you out. I came here today to make things clear."
Chen Zheng took a step forward.
"First, I have no say in matters concerning the land, nor do you."
The policy prevails. You've received Director Fang's letter; if it's not signed by the end of the month,
"That's not something we can discuss between us; the Land Administration Bureau will issue a ruling directly."
Wang Laoliu's expression changed.
If the land dispute escalates to the point where the Land Authority issues a ruling, it will be difficult for the party without a land title to gain any advantage.
"Secondly, there was the incident last year when Uncle Zhang's sow was poisoned."
Wang Laoliu's hand trembled slightly.
"The livestock station issued a certificate, and the poisoned soybean cakes were kept."
I won't say who did it. If this has nothing to do with you, just pretend you didn't hear about it.
If this concerns you, I advise you not to do this kind of thing again.
Doing something immoral and against morality will not do you any good.
Last year, Jian Guo was so worried about those few pigs that he almost caused a mess. Do you know what the villagers said?
They say there's a pig-poisoning person in Lutang Village, even worse than a wild boar.
Wang Laoliu's hand loosened from the door frame.
He lowered his head and remained silent for a long time.
Chen Zheng pulled a piece of paper from his pocket; it was a statement of the situation attached to the notice by the Agriculture Bureau.
The above lists the procedures and possible outcomes for clarifying property rights.
Every step is written out clearly.
He placed the paper on the stone block in front of Wang Laoliu's house.
"I don't intend to fight this to the death."
Last autumn before the harvest, four rows of your corn fell, and I felt bad about it too.
Land is the lifeblood of farmers, for everyone. But since the land deed is in my hands, legally speaking, this land belongs to me.
If you're willing to talk, we can find a solution that benefits both sides.
If you're not willing, then wait for the ruling at the end of the month.
He finished speaking, turned around, and left.
As I reached the corner of the village road, I heard the sound of a door latch being pulled open behind me.
Wang Laoliu chased after him, clutching the paper in his hand. His lips trembled several times, and in the end, he only managed to say one sentence:
"Do you keep your word?"
"You keep your word."
Wang Laoliu squatted on the threshold, his hands covering his head.
After a while, he stood up and said, "Then tomorrow."
He said his family had some freshly ground cornmeal from last year, and asked Chen Zheng to take it home and try it.
With this, the ownership of the land in Lutang Village has been settled.
The biggest weight on Chen Zheng's heart finally lifted.
In early April, Ma Yuanchao arrived in an old jeep belonging to the county's aquatic products company.
The vehicle was loaded with experimental equipment.
Two constant-temperature water tanks, a simple incubation device, a box of oxytocin injection, and a box of rotifer culture medium.
There are also a bunch of bottles and jars.
Qin Shulan followed behind him and unloaded several cardboard boxes from the car.
The box contained rotifer algae strains cultivated by the Provincial Fisheries Research Institute, packaged in a transparent plastic bucket.
It has a faint green tint under the light.
These four algal species are Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus obliqueensis, Chaetoceros muelleri, and Platycodon grandiflorus.
They are all good feed for rotifers and artichokes.
Rotifers eat algae, and fish fry eat rotifers; this is called a live bait chain.
Keep a close eye on these tanks of algae, make sure they don't get contaminated with other bacteria, and change the nutrient solution every few days.
If you keep the temperature around 22 degrees Celsius, they won't die.
Chen Zheng wrote these words down in his notebook.
Ma Yuanchao then asked a few more questions about the layout details, such as the flow rate during the trial run of the circular pool.
He went over all the shading facilities around the seedling pond one by one before nodding in approval.
They said the preparations were good, and now all that's left is to wait for the water temperature to rise.
Then Ma Yuanchao pulled out another document from the folder and handed it over.
It was an official notice from the Provincial Fisheries Research Institute, with two large characters written on the first page.
Decide.
"The province supports the county in carrying out a pilot program for the grassroots extension system, and all six townships around Baiyang Lake have been included in the pilot program."
As the head of the town's promotion station.
Your task is to organize technical training for everyone, collect hydrological data, and report on aquaculture conditions.
The promotion station will be staffed with one station manager, one technician, and one information officer. You can find the right people yourself.
The town provided office space and equipment, and the county aquatic products company allocated subsidies per capita.
Chen Zheng felt a surge of emotion upon hearing this.
The authority to recruit was delegated to him, and the subsidies were directly distributed by the county.
This shows that the promotion site is actually going to be operational.