Link signs a ranch transfer contract with the black-faced owner of the Oskeola ranch. Link asked Bella, who had come with him, to go with the former farmer to make a land deal. And he went to take over the five farms.

The five former farmers were waiting for him on the farm. Except for the house and some machinery, everything else that could be removed has been removed.

George Baker even fired all the workers at Baker's Ranch. Even the campground in Baker Valley has been suspended.

Watching George Baker's plane fly farther and farther in the eastern sky, John turned back to Link and said, "This is your fourth ranch." He still thinks Link bought the farm to be a farm. Still, he wondered why Link didn't want the herds, and asked George Baker to fire the workers.

The cattle at Oskeola's ranch are still there, and the workers have been retained by Link, and an old cowboy has been appointed as a temporary manager.

Link knew his doubts, but he didn't intend to explain. Now his plans are as secret as possible if they can be kept secret. At least not until the dust settles on that military base.

He just smiled and said, "I'm still thinking about how to use the land." ”

In Snake Valley, he owns more than 220,000 acres of land. This land can also be cultivated with a lot of farmland. If the rest of the area can produce pasture, he can also harvest some hay every year, which can also be sold for some money. However, if you want to build a wind farm, how to build it still needs to be determined by experts. So it's still a question of whether the farmland in Baker's Ranch can still be used. If wind turbines are suitable there, the central irrigation system will not work.

Baker's Farm was the last place he took over. The farm's agricultural machinery was driven into the garage. Those things are worth about four or five hundred thousand. One of the tractors, which is said to be able to plough 400 acres of land a day, cost $330,000 when it was newly purchased.

They waited until Bella, who had completed the formalities, returned, and then left the Snake Valley together.

On the night back at Hans's farm, Link received a call from Charlie while looking at the latest wine news: "Link, I sent you an email. About that land. You can take a look!"

Link thanked him and hung up the phone, then opened his email and found a new email from Charlie.

That's what Charlie said the state government was going to auction for the land to be auctioned publicly. In this auction, the state government is ready to carry out the auction in the form of a secret bid. Buyers who are interested in participating in the purchase of the land can register and download the tender form at the designated website, fill it out in accordance with the regulations and bid within two days after the end of the seven-day public notice. The reserve price given by the state government is 42 million.

The state government gave a map of the boundaries of the land, and the total amount of land auctioned was 273,000 acres. As the map shows, the area does include the entire basin and the surrounding highlands. However, it also shows that the county-level road in the basin is no longer within 20 meters of each other.

At this rate, the unit price per acre is already more than $150. This price has even exceeded Link's psychological floor price.

You know, he's just thinking about trying it out for a hundred and twenty dollars per acre. Now the floor price alone is 25% higher than his psychological floor price.

After he finished reading it, he dialed back Charlie's number and said, "Charlie, I've read the email." But I want to talk to Mr. Senator. Can you help me?" it's not easy to make an appointment for a senator to meet.

Charlie thought about it for a moment and said, "I'll ask him." ”

After a while, he called again and said, "Senator can find time to meet with you tomorrow afternoon." You can contact him to determine the exact time. I'll send you his number. ”

Link received the phone number and contacted Paul Brown directly to confirm a time to meet tomorrow. The next day at noon he flew to Renault. Showed up at Paul Brown's office on time in the afternoon.

The senator, who was in his seventies, didn't say hello to Link: "Sorry, Link. I can only give you twenty minutes. I heard Charlie say you want to see me. Is it about the land that was auctioned?"

Link nodded and said, "Yes." As far as I know, the groundwater in that land is polluted, and it is not impossible to develop agriculture there. But the cost of using the groundwater there is very high. I feel that the reserve price of the state government is too high. ”

"Link, you know, the value of land can no longer be assessed in terms of agricultural value alone. Old Brown said without a smile on his face. "In fact, I think the reserve price of that piece of land is too low. If it weren't for the management of a certain company, I wouldn't even approve of the land being auctioned. ”

When Link heard this, he asked, "Can you tell me that the company wants to get that piece of land?"

"General Electric. They had offered to rent the land for a wind farm. The rent was very small, even less than the property tax they should have paid to buy the land. Old Brown said in a deep voice. "That land is land that we share with the Federation. They convinced the Confederation that that put a lot of pressure on us. ”

"That's why you decided to go for the auction?"

"Yes. Four years ago, the federal government put some pressure on us and promised that the auction proceeds of that land would go to us in Nevada. Our parliamentarians agreed. So we organized a auction. ”

Brown Sr. laughed for a moment, then added, "They wanted to buy the land for $100 per acre, but I resisted the pressure and asked for a low price of $300 per acre." As a result, they gave up. ”

Link didn't expect that there would be a story like that. If the last time it was really $300 per acre, it would have been higher. Even now, if the reserve price was still $300 per acre, he would just give it up without even thinking about it.

Old Brown went back to his desk, took a file out of a drawer, and said, "This is the most recent investigation we've organized, and it's for that land." The groundwater there is indeed contaminated. But the contamination of the ground is already negligible. Although there is no way to develop cropping, animal husbandry can. ”

He handed the report to Link, adding, "I still insist that the land can be worth at least three hundred dollars per acre like the surrounding pastures." ”

Link couldn't read the data in the report, but he could read the report's conclusions. It says that after soil sampling at twenty-eight different locations, the radiant energy in the soil has dropped to only slightly stronger than the energy of the Earth's magnetic field. Prolonged exposure to the human body also does not have an effect. He can wait for the results of the survey done by the team he asked to come out, and then make a comparison.

He also saw that the report also pointed out that the radiation dose of groundwater is not very strong, and if it is not suitable for long-term exposure, it will not cause great harm to the human body. However, it is still not suitable for agricultural irrigation.

He already understood the senator's attitude, but he was a little curious about the purpose of GE's purchase of the land: "GE bought it with the intention of building a power station?"

"Yes, they plan to build a wind farm there, and at the same time build a photovoltaic power plant. But they are not willing to bear the corresponding costs. For example, the cost of land. When the request for a lease failed, they persuaded the military and the federal government to put pressure on us. And some of our parliamentarians were impressed by the benefits they offered. This time, they still set the floor price at $100 as they did last time. It was I who insisted on raising the price, and finally the floor price was raised to $150. ”

Old Brown paused, stared into Link's eyes and said, "If I can decide, I don't think that piece of land should be sold." If you're coming to me to lower the floor price, don't say it's impossible. Even if it were possible, I would do my best to stop it!"

Link nodded and said, "I see." But I'm not here to drive down the price, I just want to understand why the price is so high. ”

The old senator said with a little smile on his face: "If you really want that land, you need to know one more thing, that is, it is enough for General Electric to also have an eye on that land." ”

Link suddenly understood why Old Brown was willing to see him this time. The other party just wanted to tell him one thing: maybe that land would not be bought as a farm. But he still has contenders.

Or rather, the old senator hopes that his presence will cause GE to raise its bid, or that he simply wants him to snatch that land away from GE.

Twenty minutes passed quickly, and the meeting between the two ended there.

While waiting in the car and at the airport for permission for the plane to take off, Link used his phone to check how the land had been auctioned off four years ago.

He discovered that it was Reed, another Senator from Nevago at the time, who was pushing for the sale of the land. It was also a respected old senator.

It is worth mentioning that this Reed's family is also the villain boss in the prototype story of the movie Martin Roosevelt wanted to make.

Paul Brown did speak out in the media at the time against the land auction.

So, most of what Paul Brown said to him just now should be true.

And he felt that Paul Brown was suspected of using him as a gunman.

But he did have the idea of getting that land. And he got something from Brown Sr. that he couldn't find: General Electric was his competitor, if he still wanted that land.

GE's main business is the service and production of electric energy. Its business ranges from engines to rockets, from ordinary generators to generator sets for large power stations. GE is the world's second-largest manufacturer of wind turbines. It has also been the largest wind power company in the United States.

Today, GE accounts for 2% of the installed wind power capacity in the United States. That land that GE has been pursuing for several years and has been working tirelessly, and it seems that it should be quite suitable for the development of wind power.

The initiative to buy or not to buy is him. Since that's the case, even if he is used as a gun by old Brown, it seems that he will not have any actual losses.

On the contrary, if he was determined to take the land, the news provided by Old Brown would be of great use to him. At least let him know that there was a contender.

He can't compete with GE in the power generation market, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the right to compete with the other party for that wind farm.

He was considering whether to take the land, and if so, what price would it take.