A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Grandpa Wei sighed, then immediately squatted down, burying his face in his hands. His practiced movements made Wang Kui's eyelids twitch.

"Old Jiang, you two big leaders. I lied to you, it's all my fault, I'll accept whatever punishment you give me."

"I'd even be willing to be shot!"

"But could you also provide a hand pump well for our production team? We people in Qin Family Village are suffering!"

Grandpa Wei squatted down and wiped away his tears.

“Our village is not like Jiangjia Village. There is only one well in the whole village, and we usually rely on Xiaoqing Ditch to irrigate the fields. When Xiaoqing Ditch dries up, we can only draw water from the well to irrigate the fields.”

"But the water level at the wellhead has also dropped. The well is only so big, and even if several strong laborers work themselves to the bone all day, they still can't draw enough water to irrigate just one acre of land!"

"The crops are almost dried up and dying, we have no other choice!"

These words brought tears to the eyes of Minister Yang, who was deeply concerned about rural areas.

The country's vigorous development of industry has indeed drained the resources of rural areas, both in terms of labor and food.

During the bumper harvests of the past two years, it wasn't noticeable.

Now, on one hand, there's the older brother pressing for payment, and on the other hand, there's years of drought. This has created a situation where they're caught in a dilemma.

Especially in Russia, they even use a mold to inspect eggs; they don't want the big ones, and the small ones are unacceptable.

Straight thief!

Fortunately, the instructors had anticipated this situation and issued instructions two years ago: industry and agriculture must develop in tandem; neither can be neglected!

The policy of converting agricultural land to non-agricultural land at this time is a concrete manifestation of this instruction.

The industrial sector is relatively straightforward; if everyone puts in their best effort and works hard, improvements can always be made.

Agriculture is different; how to increase yields has always been a century-old problem. It's important to understand that improving crop varieties takes time.

An experiment can easily take two or three years to complete; how can one improve in that time?

Based on advanced international experience, to rapidly increase grain production, one must either adopt large-scale mechanized planting or use chemical fertilizers.

Regarding fertilizers, the Ministry of Agriculture has recently invested significant resources in preparing to import a urea production line from Xiao Rizi. Currently, negotiations with Xiao Rizi are progressing smoothly.

The situation was dire for mechanized farming. With the departure of the Russian experts, the tractor factory that had been built with their assistance was abandoned halfway through construction.

After finally managing to build up the production line through our own efforts, the Russians cut off our engine import quotas.

It's tough; China is really struggling these days.

Therefore, as the Minister of Agriculture, Yang always felt he had let down his country and people. If he weren't so thin, he would have loved to cut off his own flesh to feed the eagles.

Minister Yang stepped past Wang Kui, repeatedly saying "It's alright, it's alright," and tried to help Grandpa Wei up.

At that moment, an aged voice came from outside the crowd: "Death may be spared, but punishment is inevitable!"

"Milk!"

Jiangxia turned back.

The old lady was in good spirits, with a Mauser pistol hanging from her waist, a red ribbon tied to the handle, fluttering slowly in the breeze.

Grandma Jiang glanced coldly at Old Man Wei, then looked at the two big shots.

"I don't know which high-ranking officials you are, but this guy can't be let off easily. Don't let his pitiful act fool you into letting him off the hook!"

By this time, a group of villagers had already gathered at the village entrance, all listening quietly to the old lady's speech.

"Speaking of pitiful, whose family is doing well? Which farmer doesn't work from dawn till dusk!"

"Your village is short of water, but our village isn't much better off! Even so, our village hasn't gone to anyone's house to steal anything!"

"To put it bluntly, this hand pump well is a pilot project used by the steel mill in our village. It's public property. You, Old Wei, instigated the group members to forcibly seize it, which is tantamount to robbing state property! My wife sent you to your death with a peanut last night, you deserve it!"

"To put it simply, my grandson Jiang Xia was assigned by the steel rolling mill. If you take away that water pump well and the factory investigates, have you thought about what will happen to my precious grandson?"

"As for your feigned ignorance, well, I'm not going to say anything more. There are few fools these days, so you deserve to be fooled!"

"Two leaders, do you agree with what this old woman said?"

The scene was silent.

Minister Yang was somewhat stunned. He was only thinking about how pitiful Old Man Wei was, but he didn't consider how much trouble Old Man Wei would bring to Jiangxia if he succeeded.

These days, anything involving state assets can be deadly!

Minister Yang was sweating profusely at the thought that his momentary act of kindness would have such serious consequences for the inventor of the "pump well".

Minister Xia was also shocked. He only felt that Old Wei's behavior was somewhat inappropriate. He hadn't thought about the state assets involved.

I never expected this old woman from the countryside to be able to see so far!

There are extraordinary people in the countryside, truly heroines!

"Yes! Absolutely right! You are the elder!" Yang Youning gave a thumbs up.

He didn't think that much about it. He just felt great that someone was going up against his uncle in a reasonable and well-founded way, leaving him speechless!

Another reason is that I felt this old man dared to bully the people at the steel mill and even wanted to seize the steel mill's property, so I made him unhappy.

It's especially infuriating that this person bullied Jiang Xia.

Displeased, Yang Youning stared at Old Man Wei, pondering how to vent Jiang Xia's anger.

Wang Kui was a little flustered. Looking at the old lady's Mauser pistol, he instinctively wanted to stand in front of his leader.

But looking at the old lady's stern face, and sensing that unique aura of her grandfather's generation,

But he also felt that acting rashly would offend the person in front of him.

Not knowing what to do for a moment, he simply stood behind Yang Youning, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Jiang Xia just felt that this world was so dangerous, but luckily he had a powerful backer to rely on.

Li Changfu works at the factory, and his grandmother lives outside the factory.

I am so happy!

Jiang Xia, feeling happy, shrank behind her grandmother. The red silk ribbon around her grandmother's waist gently brushed against Jiang Xia, feeling soft and warm.

Minister Yang was stunned for a moment, his face turning pale and then red. Yang Youning stared at him, afraid he might get too angry. A dignified Minister of Agriculture being used as a pawn by a country bumpkin—Yang Youning admitted that if it were him, he'd probably be furious.

After all, he's my uncle, and he might become a major client in the future, so I can't afford to have any problems.

Minister Yang closed his eyes to calm himself down.

First, they helped Old Man Wei up, and then thanked Grandma Jiang.

Then he looked at Jiang Xia and said, "Xia, I'm really sorry about this. I didn't expect to almost cause you a lot of trouble."

"Brother Wei, although you may have your own selfish motives, it's really my incompetence that's to blame!"

"Comrades, fellow villagers! I am Yang Wenbo, Minister of Agriculture of China!"

"I apologize to all my fellow villagers!"

As he spoke, Minister Yang bowed to the crowd.

Minister Yang's self-disclosure of his family background immediately sparked a flurry of discussion among the crowd.

"Minister? Minister of Agriculture? Does he govern us farmers?"

"Is a minister a very high-ranking official?"

"I don't know, but it should be bigger than a steel rolling mill."

"Wow, that's incredible! Such a high-ranking official apologized to us?"