<h4>Chapter 346: Land Distribution (2)</h4>
Kim Chun’s eyes were bloodshot.
Dividing the farnd of the autonomous state must not have been so simple.
Most of the people wanted thend near the residential ce, not thend farther away from the city. To satisfy everyone, Kim Chun needed to convince the farmers and meet their needs too at the same time.
The farmers did not have financial abilities to own private vehicles or farming equipment yet, so having their farnd far away from where they lived was not desirable. But, it would not be wise to assignnd randomly since the physical status of the farmers and their ages should be considered in the decision too. If they were young farmers, they would be able to endure longmutes to theirnd daily, but most of them were middle-aged.
“What should I do? It feels like I had poked a beehive. Everyone wantsnd near the city and it’s hard to decide.”
People also wanted thend that was known to produce a good crop in the previous years.
“It’s understandable since the repair shop is located in the city.”
“Boss, so I came up with an idea. Hear me out and tell me if this makes sense. How about we only divide and distribute thend near the city for now? The farnd will be smaller than we nned but that’d be the fairest way to distributend.”
“Well, I don’t know. The size of thend is too small. People won’t be able to sustain their lives by selling such a small yield.”
ording to Kim Chun’s idea, farmers would get only about 40 acres ofnd each but they would not be able to feed their household for farming such a smallnd.
Youngho did not think Kim Chun’s idea was usible since he thought that the autonomous state should havepetitiveness in farming at least. Since farming would be the state’s primary industry. Food source could be a weapon in difficult times, so the state should produce more than enough food for its sake.
As the two could note to a conclusion, they decided to take it to the state’s leadership meeting. Distribution of farnd could not have trials and errors since it could lead to a serious division between people in the state. They had to find a fair means that could convince everyone without aint. Youngho wondered if there was such a perfect way.
With Chief Niksic at thest, the conference room was finally filled with every member of the leadership group.
The map of the autonomous state, which the follower couple had prepared, was projected at the screen.
Kim Chun, with his eloquent speech, got everyone’s attention to the matter ofnd distribution. Most of the members seemed to understand the importance ofnd distribution as they nodded to his speech. Now all there was left to do was to decide which means to carry on the task, and the whole room also turned into chaos just like a beehive that had been poked.
Everyone had their own opinion about who was going to get which site of farnd.
Niksic insisted with his prating voice to draw a lot.
“Prince consort, I don’t think people willin about whatnd they’d be getting. They should be thankful that you’re giving away farnd. Drawing a lot is actually a fair way to distributend. If they make a problem out of this, tell them that you’re not distributing it anymore.”
“Chief Niksic, I already announced that the state will be distributing thend. People will be disappointed badly if I change my word but I appreciate your opinion. Is there anyone else who wants to contribute an idea?”
“Commissioner, what are you talking about? Who does thisnd belong to anyway? It’s all bought with prince consort’s own money. This would be his territory and he would be our lord if it was in the past. Who’s going to tell him what to do?”
Niksic was getting carried away with anger.
Now that he mentioned the lordship of Youngho, Jong-il would be making fun of him for a while.
Then, Kim Chun, who was quick-witted, quicklyforted Niksic and continued on talking.
“If younger farmers are assigned tond near the city area, older farmers might find it unfair. If we can talk to younger farmers and convince them, they won’t mind giving older farmers a chance first.”
Then, someone else suggested another idea.
“Commissioner, I think it’d be better to distribute farnd near the city equally and divide the rest of thend ording to farmers’ age and ability.”
There were more other opinions but they were narrowed down to three ideas.
“Okay, the result of our vote indicates that we should draw a lot fornd distribution. But, we’ll have to pay incentives for people who’d get farnd distant from the city area. What do you think?”
“Since they’d have tomute, we should assign them vehicles as a priority, and since their yields should be less, we should deduct their tax.”
It was Park Young-sun who suggested this idea.
“How about adding one or two farming towns to the state? If new towns are formed, they won’t have to drive so long tomute. It’d be great if we have another town area at the distance of an hour from the city area. If we utilize the ranch sites, it won’t be so difficult to form a town.”
Old Kim Sung-chan was the one who voiced himselfst.
It was great for the bnced development of the autonomous state.
The original city would be the center of administration and economy of the state. Having several farming towns as satellites would speed up the development of the autonomous state.
The problem was the education of kids, but small schools could be also formed ording to the size of each town. As for older kids, they could usemuting bus or dormitory. If roads were established, they might be able tomute within the range of 30 minutes.
Everything was centered around the original city, and it was a reason that the autonomous state’s development was slowing down. Thus, the establishment of satellite towns was all agreed upon by the leadership group.
There were reservoirs all over the autonomous state and ranches were formed nearby them. Since most of them werepleted including stone walls, building towns there did not seem to be a huge problem.
***
“Making farming towns will resolve our issue of theck of housing in the city.”
“Do you think they’d want to leave their old houses?”
“We should give them some incentives, of course. Wouldn’t farming equipment the best gift for farmers?”
The farnd that would be distributed to each farmer’s household was about 200 acres. It seemed to be a huge area, but it was not a lotpared to what rich farmers had in Kazakhstan.
In advanced countries, 320 tons of wheat was produced from and of 200 acres on average but the state was expecting only about 250 tons of wheat from each farnd for now due to thend’s low fertility level.
250 tons of wheat was sold at about 74,000 dors these days, and for a small scale farming family, it was quite a lot. If the amount of yield would increase in the future, their ie would increase even more. Of course, they would have to pay for farming equipment and other expenses but roughly they could even earn a billion Korean won a year. It would be a dream ie in Central Asia.
“We will purchase all of the wheat produced in the state but other crops could be sold individually using local retailers in Kazakhstan.”
“Sure. It’ll be beneficial for the people to follow the market economy rather than beingpletely controlled by the administration of the state. When the ie of the farmers and area of farnd increase, we’ll be able to have a room for a hundred more households to join farming.”
“I heard that we’re already getting calls from the residents wishing to be farmers.”
“Well, we can’t take anyone as farmers. They’d have to be equipped with the skill, passion, and endurance. Most of them are only being greedy for farnd.”
There were 152 farming households in the Arirang Autonomous State and 30,000 acres ofnd would need to be distributed to them but the developed farnd was only about 20,000 acres so far.
The farmers who would be moving to new towns would need to develop farnd on their own. Even after developing it, the fertility of thend would gradually increase, and they would only be able to have a decent amount of yield after a few years of working hard on the newnd.
Because of this reason, Youngho was going to give exclusive treats for the ones moving to the new towns. New towns were not going to be equipped with convenient facilities as the city area where the administration was located. They would be only an hour away from the city but the psychological distance would be even farther than that. It would be only fair if there was a great incentive for the farmers who would have to move away to new towns.
Also, he would allow farmers to exchange theirnd once and for all after thend was distributed ording to the result of the drawing.
The drawing day had finallye.
The staffs of the administration numbered each area of the autonomous state on a huge map and put the numbers on little balls. They put all of the balls randomly in a box so that each farming household could draw a ball from it.
This could be done through aputer program but the state intentionally held an official drawing at the state’s underground gym. It was to make it an official event of the state and to convince everyone that it was a fair game to all farming households.
Every time a ball with a number was picked, farmers would go to the map to check the location of their farnd. Peopleughed, eximed, and sighed together as they watched the event.
The farmers who got thend near the city were relieved that they received good, established farnd. The farmers who got newnd were disappointed but they did notin since they were hopeful for what kind of incentive they would be getting from the state.
After the drawing waspleted, people were busy chatting about newly assigned farnd. Since the farmers had not registered the number of theirnd yet, they still could exchange theirnd with each other. Even after registering theirnd, they would be allowed to exchangend for once.
Distribution of farnd of the autonomous state ended as a great sess.
All of the residents were full of excitement for the uing new change of the autonomous state.
***
The distribution of farnd surely had positive effects on the autonomous state.
It was rumored that the annual ie of state’s residents was estimated starting from the farmers, and then each factory’s production rate had started to go up.
“What’s happening now? The drone factory’s output was increasedpared tost week and it’s the same with the bearing factory.”
“The slow work pace at the shipyard has gotten a lot faster now. People are hopeful that they will make six-figure yearly ie in several years.”
“Wow, I’m quite afraid that the word will spread to outside. We can’t stop people froming to the autonomous state to settle down.”
“Phew, what are you worried about? The autonomous state should have at least 50,000 people in order to be a decent state. We barely have about 7,000 people including infants. With the next group of Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan moving in the spring, we’ll barely have about 10,000 people.”
“People who’d be moving in the spring used to be farmers unlike people from the big city, Osh, most of them would want farnd of their own. We’ll be able to make new towns in the state.”
“That’s what I mean Boss. Would you please get us some lumber from Siberia? I just think we’re paying too much for lumbers for home furniture.”
Kim Chunined.
It was because the cost of building materials and lumbers for home furniture was quite a lot.
“That’s a little premature since we have only exchanged the memorandum of understanding so far. There is a ce where we could buy them at a cheaper price.”
“Where is it? I’ll go ahead at once and negotiate it.”
“It’s Kyrgyzstan.”
“What? From Kyrgyzstan?”