jdhmnovel Chapter 31 What are you all looking at me for?
Chapter 31 What are you all looking at me for?
Yang Shaofeng glared at Zhang Liuqi, the head of Jia Yilu, and retorted, "Do I look like Sun Wukong, who can summon wind and rain and command the Thunder God and Lightning Goddess and the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas?"
Zhang Liuqi shrank his neck and said with an awkward smile, "Sir, you are joking. I was just asking, just asking."
Yang Shaofeng ignored Zhang Liuqi and had Liu Sanshier dragged back. He then snorted and said, "If you're talking about how to solve the drought and make the heavens send rain, you really overestimate me. But if you're talking about how to deal with the drought so that there won't be a complete crop failure in the fall, then I do have some ideas."
Zhang Liuqi, Liu Sanshier, and the other village chiefs and commune leaders were overjoyed and bowed to Yang Shaofeng, saying, "Please, Your Excellency, have mercy and save us!"
"Sir, please give us some guidance! If you don't help us, the people of Ningyang County will really have no way to survive!"
"..."
Faced with the pleas of Zhang Liuqi, Liu Sanshier, and other village and community leaders, Yang Shaofeng had no choice but to sigh and say, "I can give you guidance, but I have something to say beforehand: it is impossible to cope with drought without suffering and hardship. You must be prepared for this, and you must explain it clearly to the people of your respective villages and communities."
After Zhang Liuqi, Liu Sanshier, and the others had all agreed in a chaotic manner, Yang Shaofeng coughed again and said, "To deal with the drought, there are three ways: one is to dig wells, two is to dig canals, and three is to build reservoirs. There is no other way."
Unfortunately, all three methods require a lot of physical labor and are also somewhat dangerous.
For example, digging a well.
In later times, as long as a water source is located, two or three people plus a few machines can dig a well in a day.
However, in the Ming Dynasty, digging a well was not so easy.
First of all, the location of underground water sources is not so easy to determine. People who have mastered some exploration techniques often regard exploration techniques as a family skill to be passed down, and there is even a saying that it is passed down to sons but not daughters, and to sons-in-law but not daughters-in-law.
Secondly, there were no convenient machines like those in later times, so digging wells could only be done manually.
Some well-digging methods involve the feng shui master first finding a water source, then the able-bodied men taking turns digging with shovels and hoes, carrying the soil away with a shoulder pole. When the well is dug deeper, they also have to use ropes to pull the soil up. The bottom of the well may collapse at any time, so the risk factor is very high, and if you are not careful, you may be buried in it.
Another method of digging a well involves all the able-bodied men in the village and even nearby villages rushing to dig at the water source determined by the feng shui master. They dig a large pit, and when they are about to reach the groundwater, they first build a slightly higher well with bricks. Then they dig the soil in the well until they reach the groundwater. Finally, they build the well up little by little and backfill all the soil that was dug.
Both well-digging methods have their advantages. The former has the advantage of requiring fewer people but has the disadvantage of higher risk, while the latter requires more people but has the advantage of relatively lower risk.
It is precisely because digging a well is so difficult and extremely risky that there is a saying: "When you drink water, don't forget the well digger."
As for the remaining two methods, such as building irrigation canals and digging reservoirs, although they are not dangerous, like the second method of digging wells, building irrigation canals and digging reservoirs also require a large number of able-bodied men and a long working time, and cannot be completed in a day or two.
Moreover, building irrigation canals and digging reservoirs is not just about doing the work; the most important issue is having water. Since there is not much rain, the reservoirs cannot store water naturally. To store water, people have to rely on carrying water with shoulder poles and hauling water with oxcarts. In short, they have to use all sorts of methods to fill the reservoirs first.
In addition, it is also necessary to ensure that the reservoir can store water. Otherwise, if people carry water into the reservoir while water leaks out, in the end, it will all be for nothing.
In any case, regardless of the approach taken, a large number of able-bodied young people are needed to accomplish this task, and the biggest problem in Ningyang County right now is the shortage of manpower.
Spring plowing and turning the soil requires manpower, weeding requires manpower, sorting and bundling wild vegetables and weeds requires manpower, the workshop still needs manpower, and even the dozens of cattle and horses sent by Chang Yuchun need manpower to take care of them.
What's even more critical is that Ningyang County doesn't have many able-bodied men. Even if you include all the able-bodied men from the eight communities and ten neighborhoods, there are only about 460 people. Building irrigation canals and digging reservoirs is basically just wishful thinking.
The heads of the eight communities and sixteen neighborhoods looked at each other, and finally all stared expectantly at Yang Shaofeng.
Yang Shaofeng sighed slightly and said, "Why are you all looking at me like that? Do you think I can conjure up a lot of wells and reservoirs for you, or a lot of able-bodied men?"
After a long silence, Yang Shaofeng continued, "Alright, I have already written the memorial and will report the recent drought in Ningyang County. The court will not stand by and watch the people starve to death from the drought."
"However, even if the imperial court distributes relief grain, we don't know when it will arrive, so we can't place all our hopes on the imperial court. It's best to find a way to get through this difficult time on our own."
"The task at hand is to organize spring plowing first. After spring plowing is over, we will organize the able-bodied men from each village and community to dig wells. Even if we have to rely on people to carry water to irrigate the fields, we cannot let the crops die of drought. We must preserve some harvest no matter what."
"There's also the matter of grain—once the lighter workshop produces more lighters, I'll have Brother Limpy Fifth and the others deliver the lighters to the army, and then we'll find a way to purchase some grain from Jiangnan and transport it back."
After hearing Yang Shaofeng's arrangements, the village chiefs and community leaders breathed a sigh of relief.
As the saying goes, a family with a thousand members needs only one person to be in charge. As long as the master makes arrangements, everyone will have a pillar of support and won't be in a chaotic mess like headless flies.
While the village chiefs and communes felt confident that the matter was settled, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng fell into deep thought after they left.
For a transmigrator like Yang Shaofeng, a simple drought wouldn't be so bad. There are only a few ways to solve it. He could rely on the good reputation he had built up by treating the people well in the past to get them to work together to dig wells and build irrigation canals. He could also plead poverty with the court and ask for grain, using the profits from selling lighters to buy grain. He could get through the drought.
What Yang Shaofeng truly found challenging was that "a major disaster is inevitably followed by a major epidemic."
Ningyang County doesn't even have a single decent doctor, you bastards!
If a major epidemic were to occur after the drought, Yang Shaofeng would have no way to deal with it and would have to passively rely on the imperial court to solve the problem.
The most painful feeling is when you can't fully control things and your fate is in the hands of others!