Bright Sword: Follow Kong's fun and build the strongest military industry

After unloading the goods here, Factory Manager Ma warmly invited the transport team to lunch before they went back.

"Captain Yu, for lunch today we'll have stir-fried cured pork with dried tofu and stewed fish with tofu. Let's treat the comrades to a good meal."

Captain Yu was initially pleased to hear about the meal, since they had been eating mostly dry rations to speed up their journey.

Now, hearing that there's hot food to eat makes me very happy.

But when the transport team members heard the name of the dish, their faces fell again, and some even pouted in disgust.

Because their location was in the heart of the base area, various supplies brought back from the coast would be piled up nearby, especially soybeans imported from abroad.

With more soybeans available, the price will definitely be cheaper, even cheaper than rice and flour in the market.

Moreover, beans are more filling than grains, and they are also high in protein and rich in nutrients. An adult can probably eat a pound of rice in one meal, but definitely not a pound of soybeans.

Under the call of the leaders, the residents of the base area were instructed to eat more legumes and less staple grains, meat, and eggs.

As a result, people's daily diet became more diverse, including dried tofu, soft tofu, soaked tofu, fermented tofu, tofu pudding, soy milk, soy milk, bean sprouts, and so on.

Soy products are involved in all three meals a day. At first, everyone found it very novel, since soybeans can be pressed for oil, but the yield per acre is low, and they are rarely grown in coastal areas.

In the past, if people wanted to eat these things, they had to have them transported from Northeast China, which naturally kept the price high. Ordinary people could only afford to eat them a few times a month, so the taste was naturally better.

But now you can eat as much as you want, and even the oil used for cooking is soybean oil.

Even the most delicious food will become tiresome after a while if you eat too much of it.

Just like delicious tofu pudding, if you eat it three times a day for a month, even the most enthusiastic person would probably get tired of it.

Chili peppers are currently the most popular food in coastal areas. This is mainly because even the most unpalatable food can be made to eat by adding a little chili pepper.

When Kong Hao heard about this situation, he specially brought back hundreds of tons of ghost peppers from abroad so that people could eat more soybeans to supplement their protein intake.

He has devoted himself to the prosperity of the country and the nation.

The lunch was quite plentiful, especially with lots of dried chili peppers, which the transport team members thoroughly enjoyed.

After finishing their meal, Captain Yu loaded the pressed oil onto the truck and left. They were a long-distance transport team with very heavy daily tasks.

The pressed soybean oil will be stored in a special warehouse and then distributed through other channels, either to the military or directly to the market.

Then soybeans would be loaded from other warehouses and transported to other oil mills, and the cycle would repeat itself.

Although the process was extremely tedious, the comrades in the transport team all worked with great enthusiasm, working tirelessly and enjoying themselves immensely.

Because they are very clear in their hearts that what they are doing is meaningful and of great benefit to the entire nation.

It's not a big deal to endure hardship and live a rough life. At least it ensures that your family has enough to eat and wear, is protected from the humiliation of the Japanese devils, and won't be suddenly shot dead by bullets from who-knows-where.

Compared to the miserable lives of the people in the occupied areas, the base area was like a paradise.

In the afternoon, Factory Director Ma received a call from his superiors, informing him that a batch of machinery and equipment would be transported to Kaoshan Village the next day, and that the oil pressing factory should give them a proper welcome.

These machines and equipment were specially customized from the base area in Shanxi Province, with the aim of taking advantage of the water resources of Kaoshan Village to improve the production efficiency of the oil pressing plant.

The oil pressing equipment here is made of wood, which makes it easy to wear out and is not very efficient.

In response to this situation, the logistics personnel here specially ordered a large number of metal oil pressing equipment from the Eighth Route Army, mainly because they did not yet have the ability to develop and produce such machinery.

The best option is to store soybeans as soybean oil, which is also convenient for transporting them to other places. Otherwise, how much can be consumed by everyone just by eating them?

The soybean oil extracted from the base area, in addition to meeting local demand, was also transported to enemy-occupied and Kuomintang-controlled areas through various channels. By selling it at low prices, it allowed the people there to eat several tons more oily and juicy food.

"If you are poor, you should take care of yourself; if you are rich, you should help the world."

We used to be poor and didn't even have enough to eat. Now that we have more food, we can definitely take care of our fellow countrymen.

They even established contact with their base in Shanxi Province, enabling them to exchange information and resources.

The base here produces various machinery, equipment, and industrial products, while the coastal areas process food. Through transportation channels, goods circulate, which improves the economy of each region and rapidly enhances its overall strength.

Moreover, Director Ma had heard that after using the new equipment, the efficiency of their oil pressing plant could be increased by three times, which made him extremely happy.

More soybean oil produced meant that the soldiers fighting the Japanese invaders on the front lines could eat more oily food, giving them more strength to fight the invaders and protect the safety of all the people in the base area.

These people were able to eat and dress well in Kaoshan Village, the children could go to school, and the elderly were cared for. At least they didn't have to worry about food and drink. All of this was thanks to the bloody battles fought by all the soldiers of the New Fourth Army on the front lines.

This peaceful life is the most precious thing in this war-torn era. If the invaders want to break it, everyone must take up their weapons and fight the enemy to the end.

In the afternoon, a convoy of thirty modified tricycles arrived at Kaoshan Village. With the assistance of the oil mill's logistics staff, they transported the soybean meal, a byproduct of the oil pressing over the past two days, to Dawan Town, which is about 20 miles away from Kaoshan Village.

There is a feed processing plant in the town that is responsible for processing the soybean meal left over from the oil pressing of six oil presses in the surrounding villages into feed for various poultry.

Soybean meal is a really good thing; its plant protein content can reach about 40%, which is similar to beef jerky.

In the past, when people were so poor that they couldn't afford meat, many poor families would buy soybean meal after pressing oil, soak it repeatedly in water for several days to reduce the bitterness and astringency, then add water and cook it into a paste, and then add cornmeal or sweet potato to make cornbread.

Although the food made in this way doesn't taste very good, it can fill you up and provide protein, which is much better than wild vegetable porridge. Most people wouldn't dare to eat it.

During those turbulent years of war, the Chinese people made the most of everything they could eat, leaving absolutely nothing to waste.