Chapter 457 - 209: Changes

Chapter 457: Chapter 209: Changes

New Year’s Day arrived, marking the beginning of 2027.

There were still 37 days until the Spring Festival.

Within Hailufeng Company, thanks to Jiang Miao’s motivational video, many employees were either working with peace of mind or preparing for the upcoming holiday.

As for the domestic economic situation in 2026, the overall trend was one of steady improvement.

Boosted by Egyptian Catfish Meal early in the year and Immortal Soybeans in September, the country’s aquaculture and livestock industry reversed the decline of the past few years.

Although the retail price of meat products fell by an average of 10-20%, producers and farmers didn’t suffer losses. In fact, they made a considerable profit.

The core factor was the drop in feed costs. Moreover, the country had secured control over the raw material supply, freeing it from foreign dependence. This greatly boosted the confidence of those in the farming industry.

The drop in meat prices was reflected in people’s livelihoods. Even though most people’s wages hadn’t increased—and had even decreased in some industries—household food consumption rose.

At the same Engel’s coefficient level, the same amount of money could now buy a larger quantity of meat products.

This was especially true as the New Year approached. Fueled by strong consumer sentiment, meat sales soared across the country.

To develop the desert regions, companies like Hailufeng Company, COFCO Group, Beidahuang Group, United Mining Company, and Monan State-owned Assets Operation Company, along with over a dozen construction firms, had established branches and industrial bases on the edges of various deserts this year.

This greatly alleviated the unemployment problem among construction workers caused by the slowdown in infrastructure projects.

For example, the Sixth Bureau of China Railway had already established an industrial base in the Wulanbuhe Desert and hired an additional 2,400 people before the end of the year. All of them were stationed at the Wulanbuhe Desert transformation base.

According to the plans of these state-owned enterprises, after completing the desert transformation work, these construction workers would be resettled locally, transitioning into roles as large-scale farm workers or agricultural support staff.

Jiang Miao had access to a great deal of information through United Mining Company. He knew that in the last three months of the year alone, 27 transformation bases had been established along the desert fringes of the entire Northwest Region.

These bases employed anywhere from two or three thousand to seven or eight thousand people each.

Combined with Hailufeng Company, this directly created 147,000 jobs.

This agricultural revolution also brought enormous opportunities for domestic agricultural machinery manufacturers. A series of companies, including Zoomlion Heavy Industry, Sany Heavy Industry, Xugong Group, Shantuo Group, Liugong Group, YTO Group, Weichai Power, World Electromechanical, and Changfa Industries, received a massive influx of orders for agricultural machinery.

To secure these orders, the agricultural machinery manufacturers all invested heavily in researching and developing larger, more advanced equipment.

If they didn’t invest heavily in R&D now, they would surely be replaced by their competitors.

Previously, the country’s major plains weren’t extensive. The core Huaihai Plain, due to its dense population, had a low degree of mechanization, with very little large-scale mechanization. Only regions like the Northeast Plain, Eastern Monan, and the Western Regions utilized large-scale mechanized production.

Under these circumstances, coupled with the superiority of foreign large-scale agricultural equipment, not many machinery manufacturers were willing to invest in developing even larger machines.

However, times had changed.

The era had shifted in an instant.

The country suddenly had hundreds of millions of new mu of "potential farmland" suitable for large-scale mechanized production. Additionally, the key agricultural enterprises supported by the government had all received notices requiring that at least 80% of the agricultural machinery in these new large-scale farms be domestically produced.

For instance, the main suppliers of engineering and agricultural equipment for Hailufeng Company and United Mining Company were Sany Heavy Industry and Zoomlion Heavy Industry. To secure the orders, both companies dispatched professional maintenance and R&D teams to be stationed long-term in the Monan Region.

Meanwhile, domestic feed companies, dairy farms, and pig farms were also showing their prowess, subcontracting large tracts of desert land from the major state-owned enterprises.

As for why these farming and feed companies didn’t develop other deserts...

The reason, of course, was that the crafty United Mining Company had claimed all the easily developable desert lands in the country right from the start. The local authorities wouldn’t let the remaining small patches go so cheaply, and the deserts in the Western Regions were too far from the interior.

Moreover, in areas like the Taklamakan Desert and the Zhun Ga’er Basin, the Western Regions Corps was also claiming land, leaving very few opportunities for private enterprises.

As for Hailufeng Company, which had secured 30 million mu of land, other companies could only watch with envy. But they were all perfectly clear that this land belonged to Hailufeng—or more accurately, it was what Jiang Miao deserved. No other person or company could even think of touching it.

Hailufeng Company also subcontracted a large plot of land in the Tengger Desert to COFCO Group. They had reached a preliminary cooperation agreement for an area of 2 million mu, located around the end of the Shiyang River.

Currently, Hailufeng Company had entrusted COFCO Group with managing the land and planting Immortal Soybeans. In the future, once the Silk Soybeans are successfully developed, this land will be used directly as a production base.

In fact, the research and development of Silk Soybeans was progressing very smoothly. Using gene-editing technology on the foundation of Immortal Soybeans, Jiang Miao had already cultivated 20 varieties of Silk Soybeans, which were currently in the internal experimental planting phase.

To be precise, of these 20 varieties, only 10 used gene sequences extracted from silkworms. The other 10 were edited using gene sequences from various spiders.

Spider silk possesses excellent strength and toughness. Its strength is very high, five to six times that of a steel wire of the same thickness. Its toughness is also exceptional, able to stretch 20-30% of its original length and return to its original state without breaking. This makes textiles made from spider silk incredibly strong and durable.

At the same time, spider silk is light, soft, and comfortable. This is mainly because the fibers are very fine, with a single strand having a diameter of about 5-10 micrometers. Fabrics made from it are therefore soft and comfortable to wear against the skin. Its excellent flexibility also gives textiles a beautiful drape.

Its other advantages are largely similar to those of silk.

However, producing natural spider silk is extremely difficult. The main reason is that spiders are not as easy to farm as silkworms; managing them is a major headache. Moreover, most spiders are carnivorous, making them harder to care for than leaf-eating silkworms, and they produce far less silk.

Although scientists have long known about the excellent properties of spider silk, considering it a natural carbon nanotube, few companies have been willing to invest in its research and development.

The fundamental reason is that the stuff simply can’t be mass-produced.

The various spider silk products made by workshops that farm spiders can only appeal to the novelty-seeking curiosity of the wealthy through various gimmicks. Ordinary people simply cannot afford such products.

When Jiang Miao was gene-editing the Immortal Soybeans, he had already thought of spider silk.

’If soy protein can be turned into silk protein, then why can’t it be turned into spider silk protein?’

After all, the technical difficulty was the same for both.

So, Jiang Miao went ahead and created 10 varieties of "spider-silk soybeans" as well.

The current experimental planting is mainly to see if any secondary mutations or trait failures occur. It’s also to check whether the protein nanostructures of the harvested Silk Soybeans and spider-silk soybeans can achieve effects similar to natural silk and natural spider silk.

The results will be known this April, when these soybeans mature.

Biotechnology holds infinite possibilities.

Moreover, for macromolecular organic compounds with more complex structures, the production cost of biotechnology completely crushes that of traditional chemical synthesis.

Take artificial silk or synthetic rubber, for example. The reason they can’t compare to their natural counterparts is that the macromolecular organic compounds are too complex for humans to imitate at a low cost.

...

「Just one day after New Year’s.」

The team from Southern Power Group, which had previously inspected the biofuel base in Gongping Town, paid another visit.

Jiang Miao, who rarely had free time, met with the Southern Power Group team leaders alongside Jiang Haibo and Zhang Haitao.

In addition to Wang Shanhe, the General Manager of the Lingnan Branch who had come last time, there was also a higher-ranking executive: Zhou Yadong, the Deputy General Manager from Southern Power Group’s headquarters.

Inside the conference room.

After a few pleasantries, Zhou Yadong got straight to the point. "General Manager Jiang, our group has a few questions about your company’s technology. We hope you can clear them up for us."

"Please, General Manager Zhou, go ahead." Jiang Miao understood their perspective. State-owned enterprises often needed formal justification to move forward with a project; otherwise, it would be difficult to get approval.

"First question. Our group has studied Professor Lin’s paper and your company’s patents. The raw materials for the battery fluid in this technology are things like animal waste and plant stalks. So, my question is, can it still generate power efficiently if it’s a complex organic solution?"

Jiang Miao answered with great confidence, "No problem. We’ve conducted related experiments in our lab. Even organic matter from household waste, or even plastic particles, can be efficiently utilized by the power-generating bacteria."

Zhou Yadong listened while taking notes.

He then asked, "Second question. If we use it for peak-shaving power generation, what is the impact on the battery solution’s lifespan and overall power output?"

"The overall impact isn’t significant. The lifespan won’t be much different. With frequent regulation, the power output might decrease by 5-10%. After all, even in a semi-dormant state, the bacteria need to consume some organic matter to sustain themselves."

"I see. A 5-10% loss in power? That’s acceptable." Zhou Yadong nodded, jotted down the details, and then continued asking:

"Third question. How is the battery fluid treated after power generation? Are there any high-risk pollutants?"

Jiang Miao answered his question directly. "If it’s animal waste or plant stalks, after being broken down by the power-generating bacteria, it becomes an organic solution high in sugars, lipids, and aromatic hydrocarbons, along with some residual cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose. This solution and the solid residue can be used as raw materials for biogas fermentation, producing a large amount of biogas. After the biogas fermentation process, the remaining solids can be used as organic fertilizer."

"What about urban household waste?"

"For urban household waste, my recommendation is to sort it first. Organic waste and plastics can be crushed to serve as raw material for the battery fluid. Anything containing heavy metals must be sorted out, like dry-cell batteries and circuit boards. They definitely can’t be mixed in, or they will contaminate the final organic fertilizer and render it worthless."

"Is that so?"

Jiang Miao saw the doubt in his eyes and shook his head with a smile. "Actually, General Manager Zhou, there’s no need to consider urban household waste."

"Why is that?"

"Currently, the nation’s waste-to-energy incineration plants process about 1.07 million tons per day, while the country generates around 400 million tons of urban waste annually. Many of these plants can’t operate at full capacity because there isn’t enough garbage to burn."

"Huh?" Zhou Yadong recalled this fact, and his brow furrowed. "General Manager Jiang, if that’s the case, doesn’t it mean your microbial fuel cell technology can only use waste from farms and rural areas? That’s a major limitation!"

Jiang Miao replied just as directly, "There’s no way around it. That’s an inherent characteristic of microbial fuel cell technology."

Zhou Yadong and his team, who had been planning to use this microbial fuel cell technology to build peak-shaving power plants, were now deeply disappointed.