Chapter 1157 The proper meaning of science


    Upon hearing his minister''s request, Sergei Edmund felt his eyes darken.


    The trade of agricultural products is subject to the difficult-to-shorten production cycle and the relatively short storage characteristics of the products. Even physical transactions basically require orders to be placed a year or more in advance.


    In other words, the orders for the crops that will be harvested soon from September to October this year were actually signed last year.


    If there is a problem with this part of the delivery, the grain dealer will need to pay a huge penalty to Party A who has already paid.


    So what they are currently hyping is actually the market in the next two years.


    The most perfect way to unfold the plan should be that China''s downstream companies are worried about futures prices rising further, and before next summer, preferably in early spring, they enter the market at a precise high level to grab a large amount of supply.


    Then they can announce "just in time" after spring sowing that the impact of the disaster is not as great as expected, will not affect soybean production, and may even lead to a bumper harvest.


    As a result, the price of the futures market will be hit again.


    You must know that the prices of final feeds and oils fluctuate with the futures prices of raw materials.


    As a result, those Chinese downstream companies can either use high-priced raw materials to produce low-priced finished products, and the more they produce, the more they will lose, or they can only bite the bullet and return the goods and pay huge liquidated damages.


    Except for a few companies with big businesses or strong support behind them, the results of these two choices are basically the same.


    It''s nothing more than the difference between jumping from the 30th floor or the 20th floor.


    At that time, it will be the time for grain merchants to enter the market and hunt for low prices.


    This method is not a new one. It has been used in many emerging markets and has proved to be successful.


    Almost all agriculture in South America has been captured by American companies using the same method.


    The only problem is that the time nodes must be controlled very accurately.


    This time, it was obvious that he had encountered a more difficult opponent.


    Maybe he really saw through the key at a glance, or maybe it was just good luck.


    In short, the ruthless work of "directly reclaiming millions of acres of land" really hits the crux of the whole matter.


    After all, you can tell at a glance whether you will be able to grow anything next spring with the shelves on your ground, and there has already been such a big campaign, with all-round publicity on TV, newspapers and radio, it is definitely not something you can just find a media outlet to say. It can be fooled in just two sentences.


    With this million-ton production base, even if those downstream companies will still go out to sea to sweep goods, they will definitely be more cautious in terms of contract quantities.


    And if the above set of combos just makes the opponent bleed but can''t kill him directly, it''s basically a waste of time.


    Just working for a banker at the top of the food chain.


    Thinking of this, Edmund couldn''t help but curse in his heart:


    "Fxxk, what a bunch of worms who only know how to **** blood..."


    Of course, I would not dare to offend the bank boss with my words, so I could only follow what Minister Veneman said just now:


    "Your Excellency, Minister, if we want them to reclaim the land, then we may be too late to do anything. We must take advantage of this period of time and respond in advance..."


    To be honest, Edmund doesn''t have any good ideas now.


    However, Veneman does have something to offer as the first female Secretary of Agriculture in U.S. history.


    After a while, the draft was already drawn up:


    "I remember that China has been having a lot of trouble over environmental protection issues in the past two years, especially the sand and dust weather faced by large cities in North China is getting more and more serious... It just so happens that the IPCC is about to start the fourth round of assessment, and an inspection team can Go over there and put some pressure on them..."


    "Also, you can find a few domestic media in China that have received sponsorship from our foundation, and let them put some pressure on the country at the same time..."


    Edmund quickly wrote down all these contents.


    But after checking it over again, I felt it was a little thin.


    So he tentatively asked:


    "Relying on environmental issues alone...even with pressure from international organizations, isn''t it a bit unreliable?"


    In the face of doubts from his staff, Veneman seemed quite comfortable.


    As the most typical beneficiary of the revolving door mechanism, she had been an executive at Monsanto for many years before serving as Secretary of Agriculture.


    We are familiar with how to bring down agricultural production in a region, and it can even be said to be path dependent:


    "This is just the first step...the real killer move comes later."


    She shrugged, then picked out two pages from the report in front of her and put them back in front of Edmund:


    “Since around 2000, China has been systematically restoring cultivated land and pastures to grasslands in some areas. One of the focuses is eastern Mongolia Province, and now they are suddenly reclaiming land for farming in this area... We can take advantage of the potential agricultural and animal husbandry behind this Industrial conflicts, or even ethnic issues...Compared with environmental protection, this is a real trouble for China. "In addition, find a way to find someone to investigate on the spot...This matter is not urgent now. We will wait until next spring, and finally." I hope I can get some of their bean seeds back and see what the situation is like..."


    “…”


    …


    It is early in the morning in the Eastern Time of the United States, and it has already entered the evening in China Time.


    Chang Haonan also saw Luan Wenjie and his team who came to investigate. They were standing on a high ground with them, and the on-site person in charge of this area introduced the situation.


    It has only been ten years since the construction started. Although the degraded sandy land that was once full of loess has not turned into fertile black soil in one step, it has already had some fresh greenery.


    It is truly full of vitality, and the scene of all things competing is still before our eyes.


    "It seems that Academician Chang is not only passionate about the military industry, but also makes great contributions to people''s livelihood..."


    Nine-and-a-half out of 10 people of Luan Wenjie''s generation are from farmers. Even if their research direction and jurisdiction have nothing to do with agriculture, they always have a special affection for the land.


    Therefore, this sentence is not entirely polite.


    Chang Haonan was originally going to respond in a normal way, but something suddenly popped out of his mind.


    So he spoke almost subconsciously:


    "I don''t like weapons, I love peace... Just for peace, we need weapons."


    This sentence is certainly not original to him.


    But no one will bother with this.


    At least Luan Wenjie didn''t expect that the original casual greeting would develop in a philosophical direction, and he was immediately stunned.


    After a few seconds, he spoke stiffly:


    "Yes...Science, in the final analysis, should be used to benefit mankind..."


    As the topic began to veer off course, Chang Haonan finally took the initiative to return to the topic:


    "Come to think of it, Director Luan... why are you suddenly interested in agriculture?"


    Luan Wenjie didn''t go around too much and waved his hand immediately:


    "I''m not interested in agriculture, but in your methods and theoretical basis for studying geotechnical dynamics and composition..."


    As he spoke, he squatted down, grabbed a handful of modified sand from the ground next to him, and placed it in his hand for a closer look.


    Although the barrenness can still be seen at a glance, at least it is no longer the discrete state that was almost impossible to grasp in the past, but has formed a rheological state with viscosity and agglomeration.


    That is, close to the state of soil.


    After a few seconds, he threw the sand in his hand back to the ground, and then slapped his palms back and forth a few times:


    "If sand can be turned into soil, then does the regolith after weathered rocks also have the potential to be modified?"


    Chang Haonan thought for a moment and then replied:


    "Theoretically, this depends on the specific conditions of the regolith... After all, the prerequisite for sand to turn into soil is that they have similar chemical properties."


    "But considering that some soils on the earth are themselves the product of rock weathering, I personally guess it shouldn''t be a big problem... as long as it doesn''t contain any outrageous organic or heavy metal components..."


    In fact, this is quite an optimistic answer.


    It was just out of caution that I didn''t say anything solid.


    However, Luan Wenjie''s next question still made Chang Haonan feel lucky for his caution just now:


    "What if...the regolith is not on Earth?"


    "???"


    Chang Haonan turned his head almost subconsciously and glanced at the other party.


    He vaguely remembered that when this project was first launched, he and Ding Gaoheng had accidentally chatted about similar topics.


    But because it was too far away, I just mentioned it casually.


    But Luan Wenjie looked serious now, not joking.


    "Moon?"


    "No...it''s Mars."


    (End of chapter)