Jin Kela shook a soybean plant in her hand, producing a soft rustling sound. Most of the soybean leaves had fallen off, and the stalks had turned yellow. She peeled open a pod and saw that the thin membrane that supplied nutrients between the pod and the beans had disappeared, a clear sign that the soybeans were ripe.
"Hurry up and distribute the sickles." Jin Kela glanced at the sky, worried that it might rain in the coming days. This was also why she had rushed to the Executive Committee that morning, solemnly requesting that all other work be suspended and that soybean harvesting be given top priority for the next few days.
These sickles were all handmade, forged using a water powered hammer. The manufacturing process was somewhat rough, but the quality was reliable. To ensure the smooth completion of the soybean harvest, the Executive Committee temporarily mobilized nearly four hundred men, women, and children to harvest one thousand mu of soybeans.
Ma Qianzu gripped a sickle and threw himself into the work. Due to the shortage of manpower and in order to avoid unnecessary criticism, Executive Committee members and department heads who were not currently occupied also participated in the labor.
The growth of the soybeans was only average. Without chemical fertilizers and with few experienced farmers, the yield per mu was only about fifty to sixty jin. The transmigrators harvested the soybeans above the root system and then transported them to the drying ground for unified threshing. Because of the action of rhizobia, soybean roots can fix atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, which significantly improves soil fertility. Therefore, only the above ground portions of the plants were harvested.
The harvesting work continued until sunset and then came to a temporary halt. Jin Kela walked around the fields and found that roughly one third of the area had been harvested. When she saw Ma Qianzu and several Executive Committee members sitting on the ridge, drinking water and resting, she walked over.
"The food problem can no longer be ignored," Shao Shude said. "Nearly half of the flour and rice we brought have already been consumed. If resettlement continues, the rate of food consumption will increase rapidly. At the same time, the yield of various grains we can harvest over the next year will be very limited due to the scale of our operations. We must find ways to obtain food as soon as possible, and in large quantities."
"What possible sources of food do we have now?" Ma Qianzu asked. This question clearly required serious consideration.
"First, fishing," Shao Shude replied. "The fishery resources of Dayu Lake in the upper reaches of the Dayu River are extremely rich. We can establish a base there to fish and even process the catch on site. This would allow us to obtain large amounts of protein and reduce our dependence on grain. Second, trade. This option is much more difficult. We currently have very few trading partners. Kuait's next visit will not be until October, and his ship will not be able to carry much grain. More importantly, Europe itself is suffering from severe grain shortages, so purchasing grain on a large scale will be extremely difficult."
"Buying grain is not realistic, so we can only rely on ourselves," Ma Qianzu said. "This harvest will yield about fifty thousand jin of soybeans. We cannot depend on wheat, and although potatoes can be harvested several times, their yield will not be very high. These alone cannot sustain large scale immigration in the short term. We still have to take control of Dayu Lake. Since its resources are so abundant, we cannot afford to ignore it. We will discuss this further when we return, come up with a plan, and submit it for a vote. Lao Jin, you arrived at the right time. Tomorrow, organize people to thresh, dry, and store the soybeans harvested today. Work quickly."
"No problem," Jin Kela said, sitting down and taking a sip of water. "The warehouses are already ready. We will store them as soon as they are dried."
"By the way, Lao Jin, how are you planning to thresh them? By hand?" Shao Shude asked suddenly.
"What, can you make me a threshing machine?" Jin Kela's eyes lit up.
"I do not have that ability," Shao Shude said with a chuckle. "But you can go to Ma Jia and ask him to arrange for someone to build a water powered threshing machine. It is not complicated. Even a blacksmith could make one."
"Alright, I will go find him later," Jin Kela said with a grin.
The soybean harvest lasted three days. By the evening of May fifteenth, all one thousand mu of soybeans had been harvested. The weather cooperated well during these days. Aside from the first cloudy day, the next two days were sunny, allowing Jin Kela, who had been worried about rain, to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
After the harvest, the Executive Committee gave everyone a few days off before resuming various construction projects. At the same time, discussions and preliminary preparations began for the establishment of a permanent base on the shores of Dayu Lake.
On May twenty sixth, after the construction team worked overtime in shifts, the rotary kiln was finally completed. In theory, it could produce fifteen million bricks and tiles per year. However, due to labor constraints, the actual output was limited to around ten million per year. Even so, this greatly alleviated the shortage of construction materials and allowed many long delayed projects to begin.
The completion of the rotary kiln also freed up a large number of workers, enabling the development of Big Fish Lake, which had previously taken shape only in Executive Committee discussions, to enter the implementation stage.
According to the resolution passed by the Executive Committee, a stronghold would be established near the confluence of the Dayu River and the southeastern shore of Dayu Lake. The stronghold would be a small fortress surrounded by walls, with dormitories capable of accommodating two hundred people. It would include two wells producing slightly saline groundwater suitable for daily use and emergency drinking, a rainwater collection pond, a sedimentation pond, and a filtration pond. Additional facilities would include public toilets, a canteen, a bathhouse, a supply depot with an armory, and a watchtower. A fishing wharf would also be built along the lakeshore, and the road connecting the wharf to the stronghold would be repaired.
The most important facility within the stronghold would be the fish processing plant. Due to transportation and logistical constraints, aside from a small amount of fresh fish and shrimp being transported downstream to supply the transmigrators, most of the catch would be processed on site into salted fish, fish floss, fish sauce, fish bone powder, and other products.
This would become the transmigrators' first truly significant outpost. The Executive Committee solicited names for the stronghold and, after ranking the suggestions, officially named it Dingyuan Fort. To facilitate its construction and the development of the fishing industry, the Dingyuan Fort Development Team was established.
The initial composition of the team included a construction unit of one hundred people, to be withdrawn upon completion, a newly established fishing bureau with twenty members, a fish processing plant directly under the Executive Committee with sixty workers, a Dingyuan Fort guard team of twenty five members, three cooks, one doctor, one shipwright, one apprentice blacksmith, one fishing net repairman, and five general laborers, for a total of two hundred and seventeen people.
The transmigrators showed great interest in the Dingyuan Fort Development Team. Many volunteered at the Executive Committee, hoping to take up positions within the team, much to the annoyance of Xiao Mingli, who was responsible for personnel selection.
On June thirtieth, sixteen thirty one, after a month of intensive preparations, the fleet carrying personnel and supplies finally set sail.
The initial group consisted of more than one hundred members from the construction and guard teams. The remaining personnel would follow after the fortress was completed. In addition to building materials, food, and drinking water, the ships carried two four pound cannons, two eight pound cannons, fifty hunting crossbows, and thirty matchlock guns