novelaction Chapter 262: Those Years in the Great Northern Wilderness (98)
Chapter 262: Those Years in the Great Northern Wilderness (98)
Song Jinhan certainly didn't want her to take risks, so he brought up the issue of Corps housing during the Corps leadership meeting.
This was a problem that existed from the beginning of the establishment of the independent regiment. For the newly incorporated personnel, cadres at the deputy battalion level and above had family housing, but the others had to squeeze into single dormitories.
It has been more than half a year, and there are at least eighty people in the group who have applied for marriage and housing.
This is also the problem that has been bothering Xu Jianmin and his colleagues. The regiment's original plan was to build a family building after the autumn harvest, but now that they have encountered a famine, the plan has been shelved.
They understood what Zheng Sheng meant. Using work-for-relief, letting the refugees help build houses and they would provide food, could both save lives and solve the group's housing problem.
But the question remains, where does the food come from?
If the food in the granary was given to the disaster victims, what would the people in the independent regiment eat? This was the crux of the matter, otherwise no one would really have the heart to watch them die without helping them.
Furthermore, it is impossible for the various building materials divisions to approve it. There are so many communes destroyed by floods and waiting to be rebuilt. Naturally, various materials should be supplied to them first, and other things have to be put aside.
Song Jinhan said slowly, "There is a place that has it."
Where? The black market.
Everyone knows that no matter what time, there will always be someone who can get food and make a fortune in times of national disaster.
The group does have a certain amount of money on its books, but the funds have already been allocated for specific purposes and cannot be easily changed or transferred. The amount of funds that can be flexibly withdrawn is very limited.
Nowadays, food is precious due to famine. The price of food has been raised three times. The price that could buy ten kilograms of rice before can now buy ten kilograms of sweet potatoes.
The doors of all the grain stores in the city are closed. Even if you have money and grain coupons, you cannot buy grain with your grain book.
Song Jinhan wrote the word "Zhang" on the table.
Yes, Zhang An was sentenced to death, Zhang Danhong and others were demoted, national treasures were handed over, and Wu Yong and his men also seized 40 gold bars from Zhang An’s old house. They were the kind of large yellow croaker, each weighing about grams.
All the jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings mentioned by Sun Zhuzi were given away by Zhang An. Even if the relevant departments recovered them, they would be put into the county government's treasury.
They should stop thinking about it.
Xu Jianmin and his companions tacitly left these two boxes of gold in the regiment out of selfish motives. Now they can be used in emergencies.
Going to the black market is too risky, and the amount of food that needs to be purchased is too huge. If the news leaks out accidentally, the consequences will be disastrous.
Then the task fell into the hands of Song Jinhan, who had an "acquaintance".
When the people came back, Yun Tinglan happily hugged him and kissed him, praising him: "This is a great job! We provided food and earned gold bars. We not only provided life-saving food to the refugees, but also helped the group solve the housing problem."
Six large yellow croakers were exchanged for 6,000 kilograms of corn, more than 4,000 kilograms of potatoes and sweet potatoes, more than 1,000 kilograms of pumpkin and winter melon, and more than 1,000 kilograms of radishes and cabbages, plus several hundred kilograms of bundled radish tops and sweet potato seedlings, totaling 14,000 kilograms of food.
It's not that the couple are evil-hearted. Anyone can find out the price of food on the black market. They really bought too much food at a low price. Who wouldn't be suspicious?
Besides, there is famine everywhere now. Apart from the government, who can come up with thousands or tens of thousands of kilograms of rice and wheat at once?
I’m afraid that when Xu Jianmin and his men see so much fine grain, their first reaction will be that some corps or grain station has had big termites. How can they not investigate it to the end?
But whole grains are different.
The neighboring city to the north was not affected by the disaster. People there had a bumper harvest of grain, and it was possible to exchange some old corn for money. It makes sense that the people behind the black market could get several thousand kilograms of corn. It would be more realistic if it was paired with potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables, and fruits.
I dare not transport it back all at once.
Song Jinhan went out at night under the banner of the Revolutionary Committee Patrol Team and divided into three teams. Two teams actually conducted surprise inspections and cracked down on the secret black markets nearby to divert everyone's attention.
What the hell, we actually seized over 100 kilograms of corn cobs.
The other team, composed of Song Jinhan's direct descendants, led by Ren Jinxue, followed Song Jinhan to pick up food.
Ling Xi's appearance was changed back to a big man in his forties. As a black market contact, Yun Tinglan entered the space after taking out the food.
They changed three places in three nights and completed the transaction three times. Ling Xi also changed three faces and three identities. Song Jinhan and his team spent several nights tossing and turning. Every time, they would quietly transport the grain back to the granary in the second half of the night after everyone fell asleep.
Seeing so much food, Wu Yong and his friends all breathed a sigh of relief.
With these life-saving food, the family housing will be rebuilt, everyone will be able to fill their stomachs, and most importantly, the refugees will be resettled.
As a result, when the news that the regiment was going to build a house came out, there was an uproar below.
Why? It's all about housing.
Some people said, "What's there to argue about? It's based on seniority and position."
Some people objected, "Since we are solving the housing problem, we should naturally give priority to those in need, according to the population."
Some people are also dissatisfied, shouting about how much they have contributed to the group and how they are advanced model workers. They have no place to live after getting married, so they should be given priority.
Anyway, the husband says he is right and the wife says she is right, and the quarrel is getting out of hand.
What to do if there is a disagreement? Have a meeting.
Four meetings were held in the square in front of the headquarters, each lasting until eleven or twelve at night. Someone always had an opinion or an idea, and there was always someone who was dissatisfied.
Yun Tinglan was so tired that she kept yawning. She thought to herself, the house is not even built yet, why are they making such a fuss? Why not wait until the house is built before discussing how to divide it? What's the point of making such a fuss now? Aren't you afraid that the house construction will be ruined?
Wu Yong also complained to Song Jinhan, "It would be fine if this building was not built, but as soon as it is mentioned, there are only troubles!" There have been so many quarrels over the house, "Can you tell me the bottom line, what is the layout of this house and how big is the area? Many people who already have houses are also clamoring to live in a building." Isn't this just adding to the chaos.
Song Jinhan has been running around these days to get steel and cement. When the factory leaders heard that their group was willing to exchange food for building materials, they were very happy to do so. The two sides were arguing about which food to exchange and how much.
The haggling was effective. More steel was replaced than expected, and the original four-story building could be expanded to five stories.
Song Jinhan took out the previous blueprint. The internal structure remained the same, but there was only one more floor. He pointed at the blueprint and said, "The foundation needs to be reinforced. The building materials we bring back can add up to five floors. Red bricks... Find Hongyan Commune. They have a brick kiln. I'm a consultant there. If we go there, we don't need to buy tickets. We can exchange food for red bricks."
It can also provide the people of Hongyan Commune with another way to make a living.
Xu Jianmin clapped his thigh happily. What a great relationship! One more floor means sixteen more households, but it is still not enough. There are too many monks and too little meat.
He asked Song Jinhan, "Do you have any rules for the housing allocation standards?" These days, no matter what standards are set, there are always people who are dissatisfied, and the people below are about to make a big fuss.
Even the dirty tricks of reporting and writing negative materials were used, but when he checked, he found that they were all groundless, which made him very angry.
Song Jinhan really thought it was no big deal, "Hand over the grain!"
Delivering grain? What does that mean?