Spring Thunder Chapter 0236 Want to fight a food war
“It may be difficult for you to understand what Eisenhower did, so let me give you an example.
In 1931, the world economy was in depression, Chile's copper exports dropped sharply, the economy collapsed, and people's lives fell into turmoil. It was in such a turbulent society that a large number of students marched and boycotted classes to resist Carlos' dictatorship, including the future Chilean President Allende.
Allende was successfully elected as the President of Chile in 1970. After taking office, Allende carried out large-scale reforms in Chile, but the reforms were fiercely resisted by the large landowners.
A year after taking office, Allende began large-scale land expropriation, and in a short period of time, the ownership of a large amount of land changed.
The change in production relations did not promote changes in productivity, nor did the utilization rate of land increase. Instead, grain production continued to decline.
Chile's grain production was 1.36 million tons in 1971, but only 700,000 tons remained in 1972.
Allende had no choice but to buy food from the international community. At first, he could buy food from the Soviet revisionists, but later, the Soviet revisionists themselves were unable to take care of themselves.
In 1972, two consecutive years of abnormal weather caused the Soviet revisionists to suffer serious grain harvest failures.
However, while the Soviet revisionists were making a big fuss about the bumper harvest, they secretly bought 30% of wheat from China. Although this wave of grain robbery made the Soviet revisionists seem to have gained an advantage, it also increased their dependence on China for grain.
Long before Allende came to power, Chile was already facing a food crisis, and the United States was an important source of its food imports.
Pursuant to Public Law No. 480, the United States provided aid to Chile.
Aid is mainly divided into three aspects: loans, donations, and barter, that is, barter.
The result of the aid was that Chile became highly dependent on China for food. In 1973, Chile spent 37% of its foreign exchange reserves on purchasing food alone.
Under the aid plan of the United States, the Chilean people bought food from the United States and used the Chilean market to sell food. However, this low-priced food squeezed the local food manufacturers in Chile, and eventually led to Chile's food being completely controlled by the United States.
Let me explain to you China's aid method. For example, in 1972, Chile's food deficit was 2 million tons, and China provided food aid to Chile. These foods were not given directly for free, but China brought its own food to Chile and sold it on the market at Chile's normal price.
After the sale, 25% of the revenue will be used to pay for the transportation and marketing of the grain, and the other 75% will be given to the Chilean government . Does that sound okay?" Nan Yi asked, looking at Liuzhi and Grasshopper.
Both of them nodded.
"If you think this is okay, then you are wrong. When this plan is implemented, the Chinese government will do two things:
First, if Chile’s food gap is 2 million tons, China will not only send 2 million tons of food to Chile, but 3 million tons or even 4 million tons.
Second, the income from these food aids is subject to the supervision of the United States. If Chile wants to use this money, it must get the consent of the United States. If the United States tells you to use it to buy wine, Chile has to buy wine. If the United States tells you to use it to buy cigarettes, Chile has to buy cigarettes. They have no freedom at all.
It's similar to a IOU. You can see the amount of money written on it, but you can't spend it.
This is equivalent to the United States using the Chilean market to digest its own grain, and then using the revenue from the grain to hold Chile hostage.
Chile's local food producers quickly went bankrupt under the impact of China's low-priced food, further deepening Chile's dependence . It was not until its own agriculture was fully controlled by China that Chile realized that this food aid program was a piece of sugar-coated dog shit.
This is someone else's business and has little to do with us. Let me talk about something that is closely related to us.
In November 1974, the first World Food Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was held, at which the International Undertaking on World Food Security was adopted. At the conference, a Western expert also made a conclusion: our country cannot feed 1 billion people.
Since we have a gap, there is interest here, and the four major international grain traders have set their sights on our country.
But now eight years have almost passed, and they haven't found the so-called opportunity. Do you know why they haven't found it?
It’s very simple…”
Nan Yi took out a food coupon from his pocket and shook it, "We rely on this. The amount of food provided to the city's old, middle-aged, young and children every month is fixed, and we can't eat as much as we want.
We only imported a large amount of grain during the most difficult period in the early 1960s, and after that we mainly exported. In the past, we used the production team model, and except for private plots, what to plant on the land of the production team was determined by the higher authorities.
This has both advantages and disadvantages, which is why we have the current system of distributing land to each household.
Now people can decide what to plant. In addition to staple crops such as rice, wheat, and sweet potatoes, which are planted by every household, other supplementary foods and cash crops, such as cotton and rapeseed, are also popular.
Especially in the south, the planting time of these two crops can be staggered with that of double-season rice, so farmers are particularly fond of planting them. Cotton can be exchanged for money and rapeseed can be exchanged for oil.
A few years ago, farmers would cook by dipping a piece of rag in the oil can and then wiping it in the pot. Now, wow, they even dare to use a spoon to scoop oil into the pot, and well-off families dare to eat fried food.
Generally speaking, people grow rice, wheat, rapeseed, cotton, sweet potatoes, etc., and they also grow vegetables in vegetable gardens. The only exception is soybeans. Farmers do not plant them in the fields, but only on the ridges of the fields. And they just plant them and do not take care of them at all.
Why not cook?
It's very simple, because it's not cost-effective. Soybeans are not valuable. You can plant some on the ridges of the fields and keep them for yourself. You can harvest as much as you can. If you have the energy, you can spend more time on the paddy fields.
What can soybeans be used for?
I exchange tofu with the tofu seller, make my own tofu during the Chinese New Year, and the rest of the time I make bean paste, fermented black beans, etc.
By the way, you can also cook vegetarian meals.
Few people cook and eat soybeans directly. Eating too much soybeans will make you fart, and it is not tasty without oil. It is okay to cook it occasionally to change the taste, but eating too much will make your face turn blue.
It is not valuable and does not taste good, so it is naturally not valued. Except for the Northeast, the soybean production in other places is not very high.
For the time being, the role of soybeans is very limited, and it doesn’t matter whether the yield is higher or lower. If tofu is available, eat it, and if not, the same goes for other things.
But in the long run, no.
As people's lives get better, their intake of oil and water is getting higher and higher. Gradually, rapeseed oil and homemade lard can no longer keep up with our consumption.
Moreover, the better life is, the more abundant the supply of non-staple foods will be. The production process of many non-staple foods cannot be separated from edible oil. What should we do if rapeseed oil is not enough?
Then we can only choose one or several crops that can produce oil and plant them on a large scale. I won’t keep you in suspense and tell you directly that among the crops that can produce oil, the oil extraction rate of soybeans is not high. Both peanuts and rapeseed have higher oil extraction rate than soybeans.
But in terms of input-output ratio, using soybeans to extract oil is the most cost-effective.
In the near future, the demand for soybeans in our country will reach a very high level. It should be said that not only us, but most countries in the world will have a great demand for soybean oil.
Precisely because I have foreseen this, I want you to go to Africa to plant soybeans on a large scale.
It is very dangerous to grow soybeans in Africa. First, Africa is not peaceful and has been at war for many years, so you may be easily affected. Second, growing soybeans will infringe on the interests of the four major grain traders, who are backed by the United States and the French.
Given the nature of capital in these two countries, it is normal for them to send people to kill you.
If they can't get rid of you in private, they will find ways to put labels on you. I won't ."
"Boss, you said that the dangerous thing is to let us grow soybeans?" Grasshopper said disapprovingly: "I thought you wanted me to bomb..."
"Grasshopper, stop talking nonsense." Six Fingers interrupted what Grasshopper was about to say.
"Yes, it's soybeans. Don't take it lightly. Soybeans are not easy to grow. I'll tell you why they're difficult to grow later. You can prepare first, go home to see your family, and then you can find a way to go to Israel for training."
"yes."
"clear."
Nan Yi actually has a deeper plan regarding soybeans, but there is not much point in telling Liuzhi and Grasshopper now. The two of them are just there to scout the front, and he still wants to let Zuo Can be in charge of the soybean matter.
However, now that Zuo Can has become a father, let him enjoy family life first.
