Chapter 2274 - 2274

Liu Zhizhong, having downshifted to the grassroots, quickly got familiar with the situation after arriving at the Shunping Meteorological Bureau, and then began planning matters for himself and his teacher, Zhang Qidong.

He told the director of the Shunping Meteorological Bureau that downshifting to the grassroots truly requires diving deep, sinking to the front lines. Staying in the bureau every day probably isn't sufficient.

Therefore, he requested to go to the meteorological observation station.

And the largest meteorological observation station in Shunping County is the Changqing River Meteorological Observation Station.

Changqing River?

Of course, it's the same river where Liu Zhizhong used to catch wide-bodied bream.

Based on his past experience fishing with the old director of the welfare house, he knew which spots along the Changqing River were less crowded and yielded wide-bodied bream, especially during this early winter season.

Coincidentally, near the Changqing River Meteorological Observation Station, there is a segment of the river that is quite secluded and also quite abundant in fish!

It's just that he hadn't been to that place in several years and didn't know if it had gone into disrepair. If so, the road would need some clearing.

When Liu Zhizhong arrived at the Changqing River Meteorological Observation Station, it took him less than half a day to acquaint himself with the staff there, and he soon joined them in working and chatting in good form.

Of course, the meteorological observation station had its own cafeteria, making eating and lodging convenient.

However, the observation station mainly required only rotational shifts for duty. With a total of six people, they worked in three shifts, ensuring 24-hour coverage.

Meteorological work, to say it's unimportant would be false; to say it's important, it runs on government funding without creating economic value, ha ha... It's always considered a cold, clean gate, but it can still use some funds here and there. We won't discuss those now.

Liu Zhizhong, upon arriving here, naturally lived, ate, and worked with the staff, contributing together to the meteorological cause.

During leisure time, naturally, there was some chatting, ah!

And Liu Zhizhong, this Director Liu, was really good at chatting!

He quickly inquired and found that indeed, among the staff here, there were a few Fishing Men, but each one said that fish were hard to catch now, mainly because there were too many net and electric workers.

The Changqing River in Shunping County, being remote, saw fishing authorities colluding with illegal fishers, leading to minor benefit transfers, thus leaving the Changqing River unattended.

Yet, at this time, Liu Zhizhong mentioned a place, saying, "Have you ever tried fishing around Ghost Gate?"

Hearing this question, the meteorological station staff member named Yu, who was chatting with him at the time, was taken aback.

"Hey, Director Liu, you know Ghost Gate, huh?"

Liu Zhizhong smiled and said, "Yu, it's not like you're unaware, I'm practically a Shunping local, you see, Changqing River and Ghost Gate, I'm familiar with them."

Yu nodded, saying, "That's true, but Ghost Gate is not feasible now, people just can't go there anymore. That place used to be great for winter fishing, what a pity."

"Oh? What's the matter?"

Although Liu Zhizhong already knew, he asked deliberately.

"Ghost Gate, you know, has always been treacherous, so fishermen can't really get there. Boats can't navigate past it, nets aren't easy to cast, and using electricity doesn't work either, the fish can't be caught. Just a couple years back, someone tried agricultural development..."

Once Yu began, he went into detail, explaining everything clearly.

These days, there are many agricultural development projects. Large tracts of land are often contracted for planting or farming, and whether they're profitable or not doesn't matter as long as they can secure government subsidies. That's the real profit, ha ha...

Districts, counties, towns, and townships all scheme to initially lure in investors, establish projects, and claim political achievements first.

In this process, many locals who have toiled for years elsewhere have been drawn back by promises of starting hometown businesses and building home wealth, investing their hard-earned savings, sometimes to no avail, leading to failure and collapse.

They often have to leave again for distant places to work and provide for their families or pay off debts.

In such agricultural ventures, only the minority, often those connected with the government, end up profiting substantially by receiving full subsidies, making enough money, while those who don't profit and make losses leave, abandoning rural land to become a mess. Many don't even pay farmers' land rent anymore, withholding and defaulting indefinitely.

The local government then figures out ways to deceive the next wave of investors to take over.

The Ghost Gate region specifically, became a victim of such agriculture solicitation projects, ha ha...

To explain, just three years ago, in the year Liu Zhizhong was becoming a plant person, someone contracted 500 acres of land around the Ghost Gate area, along both riverbanks, including dry land and paddy fields, basic farmlands or terrace fields, all at a uniform price of 800 yuan per acre per year.

Oh my gosh...

That price isn't seen in that town, not even in Shunping County, or across Dongnan City, not at that rate!

The local people were of course happy, after all these years, they'd given up farming long ago, opting to work outside for better earnings. It felt lighter than tilling the fields, more lucrative too!

The old folks left behind in the countryside don't have the energy for large-scale farming; those fields, unless leased collectively for development with fixed rent, were left fallow, so why not lease them?

All 500 acres were mechanically sorted out; of course, this part of the cost was borne by the government. To attract capital and pursue high-quality collectivized agriculture, the government was willing to pay for the mechanization costs.

Back then, the landowner's choice of crops was medicinal herbs!

Medicinal herbs, back then, received high state subsidies, making them very profitable.

The herbs grown were special climbing vines with medicinal properties, backed by substantial government subsidies, and promising market potential.

As a result, in the first year, the government subsidies were aplenty, bringing joy and satisfaction.

But in the second year, the state suddenly announced that these medicinal herbs naturally contained banned substances and couldn't be grown on a large scale, and no subsidies would be provided for them either.

What a surprise!

The land contractor then simply upped and left!

Leftover herbs, which could have been harvested for their vines, were neglected, worker salaries for management went unpaid to the tune of over a hundred thousand yuan!

Five hundred full acres, in under two years, grew wildly, sealing hilltops and valleys, rendering roads untraceable. If you wanted to clear the roads, well, those vine thorns were tough, thick, and long with sharp thorns — oh boy...

The Ghost Gate area was especially rampant with growth. Drones could see the river surface, but getting down to the river was impossible.

But in that area, the fish were indeed secreted away. Over recent years, without disturbance, the wide-bodied bream became abundantly plenty!