Chapter 1157 The Proper Meaning of Science

Hearing the request of his minister, Sergei Edmond felt his eyes go dark.

The trade of agricultural products is subject to the difficult-to-shorten production cycle and the relatively instorable characteristics of the products. Even physical transactions basically have to place orders one year or more in advance.

In other words, the batch of crops that will be harvested in September and October this year were actually ordered last year.

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

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

The most perfect way to unfold the plan should be that China's downstream companies, because of concerns about further increases in futures prices, will enter the market at a high level before next summer, preferably in early spring, and grab a large number of supplies.

Then they can "just right" announce after spring sowing that the impact of the disaster is not as great as expected, and it will not affect soybean production, and it can even have a good harvest.

Thereby smashing the price of the futures market again.

You know, the prices of feed and oil at the end fluctuate with the futures prices of raw materials.

In this way, the downstream enterprises in China can either use high-priced raw materials to produce low-priced finished products, and the more they produce, the more they lose, or they can only bite the bullet and return the goods in breach of contract, and then pay a huge penalty.

Except for a few large companies or those with strong support behind them, the results of these two options are basically the same.

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

At that time, it's time for grain traders to enter the market and buy at low prices.

This method is not a new way. It has been put into practice in many emerging markets and has been tried and tested.

Almost all of South America's agriculture has been taken over by American companies using the same method.

The only problem is that the control of the time node requires very precise control.

This time, it is obvious that they have encountered a more difficult opponent.

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

In short, the hard work of "directly reclaiming millions of acres of land" really hit the key point of the whole thing.

After all, the land is there, and we can tell at a glance whether we can grow anything next spring. Moreover, such a big show has been made now, with all-round publicity on TV, newspapers and radio. It is definitely not something you can fool with just a few words from a media.

With the production of millions of tons as a foundation, even if those downstream companies still go out to buy goods, they will definitely be more cautious in the number of contracts.

And if the above combo only makes the opponent bleed but cannot kill directly, it is basically equivalent to working in vain.

It's just working for the bankers at the top of the food chain.

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

"Fxxk, what a bunch of termites who only know how to suck blood..."

Of course, he didn't dare to offend the bank boss anyway, so he could only follow the words of Minister Veneman just now:

"Mr. Minister, if we let them reclaim the land, then I'm afraid it will be too late for us to do anything. We have to take advantage of this period of time to deal with it in advance..."

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

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

After a while, she had already prepared a draft:

"I remember that China has been making a big fuss over environmental issues in the past two years, especially the increasingly severe sandstorms faced by large cities in North China... It just so happens that the IPCC is about to start the fourth round of assessments, so we can send a delegation over to put some pressure on them..."

"Also, find a few Chinese media outlets that have received sponsorship from our foundation, and ask them to put some pressure on them at the same time..."

Edmund quickly wrote down all of this.

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

So he asked tentatively:

"Relying solely on environmental issues...even if there is pressure from international organizations, isn't it a little unsafe?"

Faced with the doubts of her staff, Veneman seemed quite at ease.

As the most typical beneficiary of the revolving door mechanism, she had been a senior executive at Monsanto for many years before becoming Secretary of Agriculture.

They are familiar with how to destroy the agricultural production in a region, and can even be said to be path-dependent:

"This is just the first step... The real killer is behind."

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 planned to restore farmland and pastures to grasslands in some areas. One of the focuses is the eastern part of Meng Province. Now they are suddenly reclaiming land in this area for farming... We can take advantage of the potential agricultural and animal husbandry conflicts behind this, and 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, wait until next spring, it would be best to get some of their bean seeds back to see what the situation is..."

"..."

...

It was early in the morning of Eastern Time in the United States, but it was already evening in China.

Chang Haonan also saw Luan Wenjie and his team who came to inspect. He was standing on a high ground with them, and the on-site person in charge of this block introduced the situation.

In just ten days from the start of construction to now, although the degraded sandy land that was originally covered with yellow soil has not yet turned into fertile black soil in one step, it has already had some lush greenery.

It is really full of vitality, and the scene of all things competing is still in front of us.

"It seems that Academician Chang is not only keen on the military industry, but also has made great contributions to people's livelihood..."

Nine out of ten 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 feeling for the land.

Therefore, this sentence is not entirely a courtesy.

Chang Haonan was originally prepared to respond according to the normal routine, but a sentence suddenly popped out of his mind.

So he almost subconsciously said:

"I don't like weapons, I love peace... It's just for peace that we need weapons."

This sentence is certainly not his original.

But no one would dwell on these.

At least Luan Wenjie didn't expect that the casual greeting would develop in the direction of philosophy, and he was stunned for a moment.

After a few seconds, he spoke a little stiffly:

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

Seeing that the topic began to deviate, Chang Haonan took the initiative to return to the main topic:

"Speaking of which, Director Luan... why are you suddenly interested in agriculture?"

Luan Wenjie didn't beat around the bush and waved his hand immediately:

"I'm not interested in agriculture, but in the methods and theoretical basis of your research on geotechnical dynamics and composition..."

As he spoke, he squatted down, grabbed a handful of modified sand from the ground next to him, and looked at it in his palm.

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

That is, it is close to the state of soil.

A few seconds later, 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 weathering layer after the rock is weathered also have the potential for modification?"

Chang Haonan thought for a while and then answered:

"In theory, it depends on the specific situation of the weathering layer... After all, the premise that sand can be turned into soil is that they are relatively similar in chemical properties."

"But considering that some soils on the earth are the product of rock weathering, I personally think that there should be no big problem... As long as it does not contain any outrageous organic or heavy metal components..."

In fact, this is already a very optimistic answer.

It was only out of caution that he did not say it firmly.

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

"What if...the weathering layer is not on the earth?"

"???"

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

He vaguely remembered that when he first started this project, he and Ding Gaoheng had accidentally talked about similar topics.

But because it was too far away, it was just a casual mention.

But Luan Wenjie now looked serious and didn't seem to be joking.

"The moon?"

"No... it's Mars."