After returning to the Fireship spacecraft, he played with the children for a while. After they fell asleep, Zhao Changxing hurriedly fell asleep. The next day, Zhao Changxing was busy in the rice workshop. When he returned, he suddenly thought of a question.
The rice workshop is expected to take more than ten days, and the construction of wheat, corn, vegetable workshops, etc. will take at least a year. But this is not possible, because during this process, the earliest soybean workshops built may have already been sown for three or four rounds. Where are the harvested beans?
Several buildings in the first phase of the project were about to be demolished, and it was obvious that food could not be stored there.
If improper storage conditions cause the beans to go bad, it's a waste.
"It seems like we have to build the warehouse first. I've been so busy during this period that I actually forgot about this."
"Xiao Xi, bring up the schedule."
"Okay Captain."
Xiao Xi cooperated and called up the schedule. Zhao Changxing frowned and began to modify it.
The construction of a warehouse is not just about building an empty house. Different crops require different storage environments, different temperatures, humidity, and even different light requirements.
Just like the storage environments of soybeans and lettuce are obviously different. This means that almost every kind of crop requires a separate storage space. The warehouses built in the future must be divided into at least dozens of different areas. Each area needs to be equipped with a separate temperature control system and gas circulation system. wait.
This is again a lot of work. In particular, the frame structure of the warehouse has not yet been built, and everything is almost starting from scratch. It will probably take less than a year to build it all.
"Or... build the framework and life-support system first, and then build the storage area for soybeans first. Well, no, there are not many staple food reserves left. The planting of rice and wheat must be improved. Schedules and their corresponding storage areas must also be built first.”
After much thought, Zhao Changxing decided to complete the rice and wheat planting workshops first, and then start the construction of the warehouse. Before the warehouse is built, the worst thing you can do is transport these things to the Spark spacecraft and store them temporarily.
A month later, the rice seeds and wheat seeds were finally sown and could be handed over to Xiao Xi for management. Zhao Changxing then invested in the construction of the warehouse.
The floors, wall panels, trusses, beams, pipes, wiring, etc. were all put into place one by one. Like magic, Zhao Changxing gradually pieced together the appearance of the house.
The total area of the warehouse area is about 500 square meters, and the total volume reaches about 1,600 cubic meters. Many areas are planned, including meat storage areas, staple grain storage areas, vegetable storage areas, oil crops, cotton, fruits, etc. Each major category can be further subdivided into smaller categories, and the areas of different categories can be adjusted more conveniently according to later needs.
At this time, one round of soybeans had been harvested. About 700 kilograms of soybeans were brought to the Fire spacecraft and turned into about 150 kilograms of soybean oil. The remaining soybean meal is temporarily stored and will be used as livestock feed in the future.
At the stage of its realization, Zhao Changxing had no shortage of soybean oil. The reason why soybean oil is made is purely because oil and soybean meal are easier to store.
This is the disadvantage of not having a warehouse.
Because during the construction process of the soilless cultivation workshop and the livestock and aquaculture workshop, the various pipes and cables extending from the living area have already reserved interfaces, after the warehouse frame is built, it can be directly Internal wiring is laid. Zhao Changxing estimated the future output of various crops and decided to reserve 20 square meters of storage space for soybeans and a volume of about 70 cubic meters. Under extreme conditions, about 50 tons of soybeans can be stored. Based on the current conditions, the annual output is 2.5 tons, which is enough for 20 years of storage.
The rice storage area is a bit larger, with an area of about 30 square meters and a volume of 90 cubic meters. Under extreme conditions, it can store 65 tons of rice, which is almost 20 years of production.
The situation with wheat is similar.
Looking at the thick stack of drawings and various building materials piled messily on the ground, Zhao Changxing sighed: "Stop saying anything and get to work."
After that, I plunged into work.
The construction of the three storage areas for soybeans, rice, and wheat took another two months, almost just in time for the harvest of rice and wheat. So the empty warehouse welcomed their first batch of residents. About 3 tons of rice and 1.5 tons of wheat were stored.
Thanks to the latest technology, these crops can be stored for at least ten years and still have a taste that is not much different from new crops. Even if the taste is bad after ten years, it can still be used to make feed, and it will not be wasted.
Time passed slowly, and more than a year later, the soilless cultivation workshop, livestock and aquaculture workshop, and warehouse were finally built. But right now, they can't all be put into operation. Because the new automated nutrient solution preparation workshop has not yet been built.
In the past, the nutrient solution required for the cultivation of soybeans, rice, and wheat still came from the small automated nutrient solution preparation workshop in the first phase of the project. In order to support its operation, Zhao Changxing had to pull a temporary cable from the life-support area of Humanity Base No. 1.
But its output is ultimately limited. Supporting the growth of these three crops is already the limit, and no more will be enough.
The construction of a nutrient solution preparation workshop with higher output and more automation must begin.
It took about four months to build its frame and lay internal lines. After that, it took more than a month to transfer and connect various lines and connect them from the temporary workshop of the first phase of the project to the current formal workshop. months time.
This process has some impact on crop growth, but not significantly.
After all this is completed, the soilless cultivation workshop can finally produce crops at full power. After they have been produced for a certain period of time and there are sufficient reserves of fruits or plants of various crops, the livestock and aquaculture workshop will also start production.
At this time, the children were all seven years old. They were all smart and cute. They had long lost the red, wrinkled and ugly appearance when they were born. It has been eight years since Zhao Changxing came to Sedna.
When he first arrived, Zhao Changxing was 27 years old. Already 35 years old this year.
At this moment, Zhao Changxing has not changed much compared to eight years ago. It is just that he has become leaner and stronger due to working all year round.
Among Humanity Base No. 1, the completion of five buildings including the life support area, warehouse area, soilless cultivation workshop, livestock breeding workshop, and large-scale automated nutrient solution preparation workshop is a milestone in the entire base construction process.
Because this means that since arriving on Sedna, mankind finally has the strongest backing and conditions to expand its population. Calculating from ideal conditions, these five buildings can produce 2.5 tons of soybeans, 3 tons of rice, 1.5 tons of wheat, 0.7 tons of corn, 2 tons of potatoes, and even more miscellaneous vegetables, meat, chickens, ducks and geese annually. The annual output of pigs, cattle, sheep, fish, etc. is also on the order of several tons.
Based on the calculation that an adult needs to eat about 0.5 kilograms of staple food every day if various non-staple foods - such as fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, etc. - are relatively sufficient, which is about 180 kilograms of staple food in a year. At this moment, the amount of food produced by Humanity Base No. 1 The amount of food can completely supply 50 adults for long-term survival. Of course, children and minors will make up the majority of Humanity Base No. 1 for a long time. This number can be larger, and 100 people will be no problem.
However, children and minors will always grow up, and then it will be necessary to expand food production again. But there is at least a buffer of more than ten to several decades, and Zhao Changxing has time to slowly solve this problem. If that doesn't work, Zhao Changxing also has the magic weapon of the starch reactor, which can be scaled up and directly synthesize starch from carbon dioxide and water. Anyway, there is still a lot of surplus energy produced by the fusion reactor, so just synthesize it. Even if it is not a long-term solution, it is still possible. The gap can always be temporarily filled.
Looking at the fruits of his labor, Zhao Changxing started planning again.
At the current population level, that is, for one adult and ten children, the food output is obviously inexhaustible, and there is a lot of surplus. My original plan was to wait until the first batch of children reached adulthood before reproducing the second batch of humans, but now it seems that my plan has to be changed.
Maybe... when the first batch of children are a little older, when they are about twelve or thirteen years old, the second batch of humans will begin to reproduce? You can completely adjust the education curriculum, teach them some knowledge about taking care of young children in advance, and then arrange classes in batches. In this way, no matter when, there will always be some children who are in after school time and can take care of the new children on your behalf. The children that are reproduced.
Although the age of twelve or thirteen is a bit young, now is the extreme moment of human civilization, and it is completely feasible for them to take care of babies. You know, just a few hundred years ago, children on the earth, even if they were less than twelve or thirteen years old, were already half of the labor force. They could weed and water the fields, cut grass and herd sheep and cattle, and they could do anything.
Besides, I am not letting my children fully shoulder the responsibility of raising the next generation. They just need to cooperate with Xiao Xi to complete some routine things. If there is an emergency, such as a child getting sick or injured, they can return to the Spark spacecraft from Sedna at any time to deal with it.
After thinking about it for a few days, thinking about every detail of these things, and confirming that this matter was feasible, Zhao Changxing made up his mind.
"It is estimated that it will take several years to complete the completion of Humanity Base No. 1. Then let's wait until it is completely completed. At that time, the reproduction of the second batch of humans will begin. Well... the number can be set at 40, no, still Be prudent and set it at 30."
Thinking of the scene of 30 children crying together in an incubator, Zhao Changxing subconsciously felt a little headache, but for some reason, he felt some yearning and expectation in his heart.
