Chapter 129, Food Crisis
After the urban reconstruction work was somewhat on the right track, the second problem that Oceana had to solve non-stop was the food crisis.
Not enough to eat.
Fuxing City is a commercial hub and a center of light industry. Now that there is the Wastedong District in Weixing City, heavy industry is also developing rapidly.
But Fuxing City does not produce food.
Although there is a small farm like Floodplain Valley Manor around the city, the output of that farm's crops in one season is not bad, and the output for a whole year is enough to feed the entire city for ten days.
From Fuxing City to Weixing City, if considered as one, this is a city with a population of one million people. According to the lower-level grain quota, the daily food consumption must reach 500 tons; the food demand for a whole year is at least 180,000 tons, and it is not an exaggeration to prepare 200,000 tons.
When Gu Hang first captured the city, the entire city's food reserves could only last for about fifteen days.
And now, a total of twelve days have passed, and the remaining food reserves are only about nine days.
The main reason why this is so is that during this period, it is not just a matter of idleness.
On the one hand, after the initial end of the war, the end of the blockade of the city, and the end of the storm disaster, the grain trade recovered to some extent. The grain caravan that was originally on the way finally had the courage to go into the city, unload its cargo, pull some industrial products and leave.
On the other hand, it is the assistance from Wei Xingcheng.
The two synthetic starch production lines in Weixingcheng are operating at full capacity, day and night, and their combined daily output can reach one hundred tons. Except for the two districts that are retained locally to supply Weixing City, the rest are all being shipped to Fuxing City.
However, despite these two supplements, it is still difficult to make ends meet.
This is definitely not possible.
The synthetic starch production line is not yet available. Wu Jiarong's research and development and mass production tasks are a bit heavy, and the local deployment and development of the synthetic starch production line is progressing slowly.
Even if she devotes all her energy to this aspect, I'm afraid she won't be able to solve the urgent need.
Then you have to rely on the old methods.
Fuxing City does not produce food to begin with. It has been able to exist for such a long time only because of its reliance on foreign trade.
Of course, if we rely solely on foreign trade, the supply of food will definitely be very unstable.
It didn't matter that Fuxing City used to be like this. If an unstable situation arises, then let it happen. Anyway, if the people in the inner city can't starve to death, a bunch of people from the outer city will starve to death. It's no big deal.
Anyway, after a period of time, there will always be many refugees wandering over from nowhere, who will make up for the missing population.
But the current Fuxing City cannot do this.
Oceana knew that the current high morale of city residents was based on Governor Gu's political declaration. People now began to believe that the Governor-General could bring them a better life, which made them support the Governor-General's regime and burst out with great enthusiasm for production.
But if there is a situation of starvation and Gu Hang's political declaration goes bankrupt not long after it is released, it will be a huge blow to the prestige of the new government.
Oceana would never allow this to happen.
In the long term, finding ways to ensure that food is self-sufficient within the sphere of influence of the new alliance regime is the fundamental way to solve the food security problem. But until then, the only short-term solution to the problem is foreign trade.
This job originally belonged to Wo Han, the first alliance member to die at the hands of Gu Hang. He was the largest grain trader in Fuxing City in the past.
After his death, his grain trade channels were quickly divided up, and the one who took the largest share was none other than Bradford.
He was originally a big businessman, but in the past, in order to avoid internal competition with Wohan, he did not get involved in the grain business. After Wohan's death, that was no longer a concern.
At that time, he cursed the governor's tyranny in the Alliance Council and shed tears for Wohan's death; on the other hand, he hurriedly ate up the property, fearing that if he was slow, he would lose a bite.
After the war failed and he became a prisoner, he thought that all the food he ate at that time was lost, but he didn't expect that he could still use it now.
Of course, in fact, even without him, it does not mean that it is completely impossible to do it. After all, it’s not like all the employees of the trading houses were dead.
However, with the help of people like him who know many people and have business channels in various places outside Fuxing City, things will be much easier.
At this moment, he was telling Oceana the specific situation of the food trade in Fuxing City:
"...Fuxing City's food imports can be summarized as two major arteries and a bunch of capillaries." Bradford was carefully telling Oceana his experience and understanding.
"There are two main arteries, one to the west and one to the south. The south one leads to the Qinggu area. I heard that Ms. Oceana was born there. You should be familiar with that area."
"Yeah." Oceana nodded slightly.
She was indeed familiar with it. She was the daughter of the owner of a plantation with tens of thousands of people. She had been helping her father manage the estate and settle accounts since a few years ago.
The Qinggu area is south of Fuxing City, more than 400 kilometers away. There is no clear dividing line, but the climate gets better and better as you go south.
It is also one of the few places on the Raging Owl planet with a good climate. The frequency of waste energy storms is very low, and there is a large area of arable land. If you want to see the scene of fertile fields thousands of miles away on the angry owl, you can only see it in the Qinggu area.
Plantation after plantation is spread across that land.
"And the one to the west leads to the desert. You may not be familiar with it. Although the yellow sand is everywhere, there are dots of oases. Many people who live in the Western Desert area have found underground in the oases from before the war. The restored factory can carry out high-density three-dimensional cultivation and achieve very high yields without requiring a large area.”
"These two arteries support Fuxing City's main food consumption. Last year, Wohan mentioned in the work report of the Alliance Parliament that Fuxing City imported a total of 400,000 tons of food from these two places throughout the year."
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"The so-called capillaries refer to various small and medium-sized settlements with food production capacity in an area of 500 kilometers radiating from Fuxing City as the center. Within this range, there is some land that can be planted, although It is not as large and concentrated as the Qinggu area, but there are some, such as the floodplain valley manor; there are also some caves with special environments where some fungi can be grown intensively; there are breeding farms in some places... there are many types and output No. They mainly feed almost all the gathering places within this range, and the rich production will be sold in Fuxing City.”
"Take last year as an example. Through these capillaries, Fuxing City purchased a total of 100,000 tons of various foods."
"The total estimated quantity is half a million tons. In fact, Fuxing City does not consume that much. 70% of the food is distributed to places outside Fuxing City. After all, Fuxing City is the largest trade hub on the entire planet. .”
Oceana's expression was solemn: "In other words, what we have to do is not only ensure our own food security, but we also need to try our best to allow food to circulate throughout the wasteland using Fuxing City as a hub again."
"Yes." Bradford sighed, "If this is not possible, perhaps people in Fuxing City will not starve to death, but many settlements in the entire wasteland that do not have food production capacity may suffer disaster."< br>
Oceana said: "Moreover, something happened in the Qinggu area this year. A wave of monsters that was much larger than in previous years destroyed many plantations; many people were displaced, and many of them became plunderers, and further Let the situation become chaotic..."
"Yes." Bradford said, "The chaos in the Qinggu area has caused our food imports there to drop by more than 30% this year, and if the situation is not alleviated, this import volume may Decreased collapse potential.” All discussions about the Qinggu area have been personally experienced by Oceana.
It has been several months since I fled the Qinggu area, but according to the latest intelligence, the situation there has not improved. There is still a steady stream of refugees from the Qinggu area, spanning hundreds of kilometers and wandering to Fuxing City.
For every refugee who made it to Fuxing City alive, there might be two or three others who fell on the road.
Thinking of this, Oceana almost felt that she couldn't bear it anymore.
But she just had to endure it.
She knew that they did not yet have the ability to cross hundreds of kilometers southward and save those who were suffering along the way.
She could only take care of Fuxing City first.
Gathering her thoughts, she said: "We must resume grain trade imports as soon as possible. Next, I will establish a Grain Trade Bureau under the structure of the Ministry of Commerce and Trade. I have sent people to take inventory of all those who worked in the grain trading industry in the past. , they will be immediately transferred to the Grain Trading Bureau.”
"They will perform their respective duties and divide into three working groups according to the three general directions we talked about today. They will try their best to contact sellers and buyers who have had experience in grain trade with Fuxing City and restore the situation as much as possible. The scale of grain trade ”
"Mr. Bradford, I need your help."
Bradford was happy in his heart, but kept a serious face: "This is exactly what I came for."
"Well, I can appoint you as a special adviser to the Grain Trade Bureau. I need you to be specifically responsible for the recovery of the two trade routes, the 'Capillary' and the 'Western Desert Artery'. I hope that within two weeks, our The blood supply of the 'capillaries' can be restored to a large extent; within a month, our 'Western Desert Artery' can start blood transfusion again. Is this possible? ”
Bradford was slightly disappointed to hear that it was just a special adviser.
Being a consultant is probably not a formal position.
When he heard the term 'Grain Trade Bureau' before, he had also looked forward to whether he would have the opportunity to become a director, even if it was just a temporary acting one.
Having a formal position seems to mean that he can initially integrate into the new government system. The rest is nothing more than speaking with ability and performance.
Grain trade is of course the most important part of the many business categories in Fuxing City. If he does a good job and solves the food crisis, will he really have a chance to hold the position of Minister of Commerce in the future?
After all, Ms. Oceana cannot always bear the workload of multiple departments.
But now, just because the position of consultant is dispensable and can be canceled at any time, he still feels a little disappointed.
But he quickly picked himself up again.
If you have the opportunity to serve your sinful body and wash away your sins, you should try to cherish it and go all out.
Putting aside these thoughts, he began to think carefully and did not speak for a while.
Oceana also waited patiently.
Bradford finally spoke: "I will do my best to fulfill your request. I will work hard to restore the relevant trade routes. However, this whole thing cannot only be achieved with my efforts." Completed. After the trade channel is established, we will need to eat such a large amount of food and also need enough commodities to trade.”
He paused. There was a topic he didn't really want to mention, but in the end he decided not to mention it: "Alliance Coin..."
Oceana raised her hand to stop him from continuing.
"There is no need to talk about that. But in fact, you can rest assured that we are not going to completely abolish the alliance currency. In foreign trade, we will recognize the value of the alliance currency for a long time to come. In foreign trade, we can still accept it Trade settlement in alliance currency ”
"With your words, I feel much more at ease."
It's normal for him to have such worries.
If the alliance currency is completely abolished, the objects of 'plunder' will not only be the residents of the inner city, but also all the external forces that used to trade with Fuxing City. In the past, for the convenience of trade, many forces reserved a certain amount of alliance coins.
If they are all abolished at once, it means that all the money they used to sell in grain or other commodities will be worthless.
This is unacceptable to many forces.
If Fuxing City could completely achieve internal circulation and not need to rely on the outside, then forget it. But now, even basic food needs depend on foreign trade, so this obviously cannot be done.
That would destroy Fuxing City's trade credibility and offend other settlements that were highly independent.
"Don't worry, go ahead." Oceana said, "I will do my best to prepare other trading commodities."
……
Oceana is actually not worried about the issues Bradford mentioned.
Let’s not talk about the currency, just continue to recognize the alliance currency in foreign trade.
Of course, it is impossible to buy food purely with alliance coins without paying anything else. When people take alliance coins, they also want to buy things.
Regarding the relevant trading items, Oceana is confident.
There are quite a lot of things that can be sold in Fuxing City.
Fuxing City has considerable industrial production capabilities, not to mention textiles, electrical appliances, some metal tools, and even generator sets using hot limestone.
In addition, there are a large number of various commodities in the warehouses of Fuxing City.
The trade center does not only deal with grain trade.
After those powerful people were wiped out, many channel merchants like Bradford and their goods fell into the hands of the current government.
These are all goods that can be traded.
What's more, Fuxing City now has two particularly valuable products for sale:
Arms and medicines.
(End of chapter)