Chapter 585 Disagreement on Welfare
Professor Qiu Ying couldn't help but let out a bitter smile and said, "Dean, drought, what is a drought? If it lasts for one or two years, it will at most affect the water sources on the ground. The water sources in many places will dry up. But if it lasts for three years, the groundwater level will also drop a lot!"
"Even if we have a well drilling machine, there is nothing we can do if we can't get water out!"
The reason a drought is a drought is that if it were so easy to get through, it wouldn’t be a drought at all.
“What if artificial rainfall is used to intervene?”
Zhou Tian couldn't help but ask with a tingling scalp.
"Dean, artificial rainfall can indeed be intervened, but the problem is that if drought occurs throughout northern my country, the cost will be huge! And it is not realistic!"
Professor Qiu Ying is also very clear about artificial rainfall, but he does not think that artificial rainfall can really solve the drought.
In particular, artificial rainfall itself is an interference with nature, which is not a good thing for the geological climate of some areas. Even after artificial rainfall, it will change the humidity and temperature conditions of farmland, creating a favorable environment for the breeding and spread of pests and diseases.
If artificial rainfall is carried out during the critical period of crop growth, it may cause high field humidity for a long time, increase the incidence of crop diseases and pests, and affect crop yield and quality.
If the situation is serious, there may be a locust plague, which is not impossible.
Professor Qiu Ying then explained to Zhou Tian the dangers of artificial rainfall. Unless it is absolutely necessary, artificial rainfall should generally not be used, let alone in the entire north of China.
The more he listened, the heavier Zhou Tian's heart felt. In his previous life, he was a college student who graduated with a degree in computer software. Although he knew about artificial rainfall, he had never expected that it would cause such serious consequences.
"Is there no other way?"
Zhou Tian asked unwillingly.
"Dean, no more. Of course, this is based on the dean's guess that the disaster year will last for more than three years, but I don't think the disaster year will last that long!"
Qiu Ying shook her head at first, then smiled to comfort herself.
But Zhou Tian did not laugh along. After all, he knew very well that the drought had actually lasted for more than three years. If you were to count seriously, from the time the signs appeared in 1958 until the end of 1962, it was more than three years. It was just that the most severe drought was from 1959 to 1961.
After leaving the farm, Zhou Tian was heavy-hearted all the way. He even now regretted knowing the history in advance. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to suffer so much. Sometimes he also thought, it would be great if his space was bigger, so that he could continue to grow food in the space to help the country overcome this difficulty.
Unfortunately, there was only a space of more than 20 acres. Even if he planted food in all of it in the next few years, compared with the whole country, this amount of food was simply a drop in the bucket.
After returning to the research institute, Zhou Tian wanted to continue reporting to his superiors, but he also knew that many things were not that simple. The first point was how he knew the drought would last so long. He couldn't explain this point clearly.
However, considering the country's development over the years, perhaps when the disaster becomes really serious, the country will use foreign exchange to import large quantities of food from abroad.
This is the only way he can comfort himself now. As for the matter of the farm, he has put it behind him. Even if the situation on the farm is bad, it is backed by the research institute. At most the grain output will be a little lower, but a total harvest is unlikely.
Since things cannot be changed, he can only force himself not to think too much and start thinking again about the workers' New Year benefits this year. In the past few years, the benefits that the institute has been distributing are actually similar to those of other factories, except that the institute distributes more.
But this year, Zhou Tian wanted to change things up. After all, if every year was the same old thing, it would really make people numb.
However, if you want to change the pattern, it is not as simple as you think. First of all, the various branches of the research institute have eliminated the possibility of their products becoming workers' welfare, and these things need to be exchanged for foreign exchange.
The research institute has no say on this at all. Even if it is an unplanned product, it is more porridge than meat, and it is unrealistic to release it.
After thinking for a long time, he still didn't know what to do, so he could only order Liu Yuan to call Zhang Mingzhi over.
"Dean! You're looking for me?"
Zhang Mingzhi walked in and looked at Zhou Tian.
"Well, Lao Zhang, sit down!"
Zhou Tian first motioned Zhang Mingzhi to sit down, then he said, "Old Zhang, you know that in previous years, our institute gave workers some meat, rice, cloth or fruit as welfare during the New Year, but this year I want to change it up. What do you think I should do? What should I change?"
Zhang Mingzhi initially thought that the dean wanted him to come over because he had something important to tell him, but he didn't expect it was about distributing benefits to the workers, which made him confused at first.
But he quickly reacted and said, "Dean, in fact, everyone's welfare issues are similar. I don't think there is any need to change, right?"
After all, the welfare benefits of all factories are similar, so why does the research institute have to be the first to take action?
"Mr. Zhang, I also know that the benefits everyone receives are pretty much the same, but that's why I think we can make some changes this year. Every year, it's the same old three things. Even if the workers don't feel numb, don't you feel numb too?"
"this!"
Zhang Mingzhi thought about it. Although he didn't want to admit it, he felt that what the dean said made sense. But the problem was that he didn't know what to change for the moment. He just threw the question to Zhou Tian again.
"Okay, but Dean, what benefits do you think we should get in exchange?"
This made Zhou Tian feel a little amused. He couldn't help but point at Zhang Mingzhi and said with a smile: "Old Zhang, I came to you to discuss it because I didn't know what to change. Who would have thought that you would outwit me again!"
Zhang Mingzhi couldn't help but laugh awkwardly, but who could blame him for not having any idea?
In desperation, the two could only start discussing, starting with what the workers needed most. First of all, wages would definitely not be considered, and they certainly had no right to modify this.
Then only daily necessities were left. Every household had pots, pans, and utensils, so they wouldn't talk about that. But the two had disagreements on bedding, candies, canned food, clothes, or milk powder, malted milk, cigarettes, and alcohol.
In Zhou Tian's opinion, bedding, milk powder, clothes and malted milk can be considered, but Zhang Mingzhi disagrees. After all, in addition to bedding and clothes, milk powder and malted milk are too expensive. Instead of exchanging these things, it would be better to distribute some rice, flour and oil as before.