Chapter 337 - 166: Heading North

Chapter 337: Chapter 166: Heading North

"Two harvests a year?" The researcher with glasses adjusted them before it dawned on him. "It’s certainly possible."

"Yes, the short-season variety of Immortal Soybeans has a growth cycle of 95 to 110 days, and that’s just when grown from seed. If it resprouts from the perennial root, the cycle will certainly be shorter the following year."

"But we have to consider the dry spring weather in the Monan Region. The yield for the first harvest might only be around two hundred kilograms per mu."

"You should be happy with that!"

"Exactly! Two hundred kilograms from the first harvest plus three hundred from the second adds up to five hundred kilograms. That’s a higher yield per mu than rice or wheat!"

The group of researchers all started talking at once.

Although they didn’t yet know the actual test results for Immortal Soybeans in the Monan Region, Professor Wang and the others were filled with anticipation.

If the Immortal Bean series could truly survive the winter as a perennial, the desert regions in the North would be transformed into vast soybean fields.

For instance, the Tengger Desert, spanning 42,000 square kilometers, and the Badan Jiling Desert, which covers 52,000 square kilometers.

Together, these two deserts total 94,000 square kilometers. Including other smaller deserts in the vicinity, like the Wulanbuhe Desert, the total area comes to roughly 100,000 square kilometers.

If this entire area were converted into soybean fields, it would amount to 150 million mu.

Even with an annual rainfall of only about one hundred millimeters in the Tengger, Badan Jiling, and Wulanbuhe Deserts, the unique properties of Immortal Soybeans would still allow for an annual yield of around 400 kilograms per mu.

One hundred fifty million mu, at 400 kilograms per mu.

That would be 60 million tons of soybeans.

And that’s not even counting other areas like the Kerchin Desert.

The Monan Region alone could produce 100 million tons of soybeans annually.

As this thought crossed his mind, Professor Wang’s excitement suddenly gave way to a sobering realization. He turned to Jiang Miao with a grave expression and warned, "General Manager Jiang, you must be careful about your safety from now on, especially when traveling. If it isn’t absolutely necessary, try to avoid going abroad."

Hearing this, Xiao Jieshi’s expression also grew heavy. "He’s right, General Manager Jiang. You truly need to be careful. Western powers are watching us like hawks. If this project succeeds, it will completely change the global agricultural landscape. You must be extremely cautious, especially of the big four grain traders—the ABCD companies. They will certainly try to come after Hailufeng Company and you personally."

The PhD students, who had been buzzing with excitement just moments before, also sensed the sudden, heavy atmosphere.

Professor Wang looked at them and gave a stern order. "Until the results of the Immortal Bean project are officially confirmed in the Monan Region, you are all to keep this confidential. Do not mention this to anyone."

"We understand."

Professor Wang, on the other hand, wasn’t worried about what would happen after the Immortal Bean series’ results were officially announced. He knew just how enormous the impact of this achievement would be. Once it was public, the government would take the initiative to assign the relevant departments to provide Jiang Miao with comprehensive protection.

The nation had learned this lesson the hard way before. Since then, security for many important scientists had been significantly strengthened, especially for those involved in strategic technologies, who were given complete, all-around protection. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Jiang Miao smiled and expressed his gratitude. "Thank you all for your concern. My company has actually already made considerable security arrangements, and I rarely go out as it is."

The mention of going out reminded Jiang Miao that he had a trip to the Capital City in a few days.

However, he didn’t tell Professor Wang or the others.

It wasn’t a matter of distrust, but there was no need to take unnecessary risks.

After all, Jiang Miao had observed Professor Wang and the others through his appraisal panel and found nothing unusual. But just because they were clean didn’t mean the people around them were.

If one of them were to let it slip unintentionally, and someone with ulterior motives happened to overhear, Jiang Miao’s travel plans would be exposed.

Although his upcoming trip to the North was for an awards ceremony, Jiang Miao didn’t plan on waiting until the last minute. He intended to go early to throw off any speculation about his itinerary.

The ceremony for the National First-Class Award for Science and Technology Progress was already scheduled for June 21st.

That meant Jiang Miao would definitely be in the Capital City on that date.

Anyone determined to gather information could use this fact to predict his recent movements and travel routes.

To be on the safe side, Jiang Miao planned to travel in secret.

「Three nights after Professor Wang and his team left.」

Jiang Miao led his own team, traveling overnight by high-speed rail to the Gannan Region in secret. It was late on the night of June 5th.

「Meanwhile, as he headed north.」

Locally in Shanmei, the 30,000 mu of soybeans had yielded a total of 6,300 tons of Immortal Soybeans, as well as enough Immortal Soybean rootstocks to plant 300,000 mu of desert land.

Aside from a small portion kept in the warehouses at the Shanmei Headquarters, the rest of these soybeans and rootstocks were scheduled for transport to the Monan Branch.

The transport convoy had departed at almost the same time as Jiang Miao.

The soybean seed convoy, specifically, had already started making trips on June 1st, with a plan to transport a total of 6,000 tons of seeds.

Six thousand tons of soybean seeds was enough to plant 1.2 million mu of farmland.

The rootstocks, in turn, could plant another 300,000 mu.

In total, that was enough for roughly 1.5 million mu.

This might seem like more than the Monan Branch’s 350,000 mu of desert could accommodate.

In reality, however, there was also the United Mining Company in Monan. After more than two months of preparatory work, United Mining had already contracted nearly 7.5 million mu of desert, sandy terrain, and saline-alkali land throughout the Monan Region.

Therefore, even this supply of soybean seeds and rootstocks was not enough.

Furthermore, United Mining Company was currently negotiating contracts for several large desert areas in Western Monan. If these negotiations were successful, the total contracted area would soar to nearly 100 million mu.

This development had already attracted significant local attention, and even officials in the Capital City were making inquiries.

After all, the sheer size of the contracted area was staggering.

Hailufeng Company’s plan to plant soybeans in the Monan Region had also drawn attention, but the various domestic factions had yet to make a move, choosing instead to quietly observe how the situation developed.

Hailufeng Company was a private enterprise. It was investing its own money into vast stretches of desert without engaging in any questionable behavior like subsidy fraud. Furthermore, this was all based on a preliminary plan; not a single concrete result had been produced yet.

As a result, the domestic factions adopted a wait-and-see approach, offering neither support nor opposition.