Fragrant willow catkins

Villager: "Try it! Try it!"

Lord Xu accepted his fate, stood up and walked out of the ancestral hall, and wrote a letter to report the matter of building the river.

It would take some time for the letters to be reported to the capital city layer by layer and for the Southern Emperor to review and reply to them. Xiang Liu and Ye Chenshang then stayed leisurely at the village chief's house, feeling very relaxed both physically and mentally.

While waiting for a reply, Ye Chenshang thought about the fact that Ningdian Village was responsible for the food problem of the surrounding towns. He wondered what else he could do for the villagers, whether he could increase the harvest or make planting more convenient, so he wanted to go out and investigate the village.

After Xiang Liu found out, she went out with Ye Chenshang.

The two men investigated around the village and found that the fertile fields were all in the relatively flat areas of the village. Any flat area that could be reclaimed was used by the villagers.

However, the soil on some slopes is very good, but the location may not be large enough to be turned into fields, so it is a pity that they are not utilized.

Ye Chenshang recorded them one by one.

Standing on the top of the slope and looking down, one can see the villagers working in the fields, racing against time to clear away the dead crops and plant new ones.

However, there is almost no irrigation technology in the fields, and there are no canals to avoid wasting water. Watering is done manually. Watering the endless fields is a very strenuous job.

Ye Chenshang: "This watering job is very time-consuming."

Xiang Liu: "What do you want to do?"

Ye Chenshang took out the blueprint of the river he had tried to draw and handed it to Xiang Liu. "We can divert a branch here and design some canals to divert water to the fields for automatic irrigation, which will save manpower."

Xiang Liu: "Before there were no canals, it was probably because they were afraid of wasting water. After all, water resources are limited."

"Well, everything will be convenient with the river. And it would be nice to use those slopes over there to plant some fruit trees." Ye Chenshang's face was full of anticipation.

Xiangliu would support him no matter what. "Then let's go discuss it with the village chief?"

"it is good!"

When I returned to the village chief's house, I told him about the idea of ​​growing fruit trees. The village chief saw that the idea was novel, but he looked a little conflicted. "But Lord Chen, everyone in our village grows crops, and no one knows how to grow fruit trees."

Ye Chenshang thought that this was indeed the case, and after thinking for a while, he said, "I have a good friend who is proficient in fruit tree planting. I can ask him to teach me some skills."

The village chief was delighted. "That's fine! I'll call some people who know how to farm to listen to the plan. Please wait a moment, sir!"

Ye Chenshang: “Yeah.”

The village chief ran out to call people, and Ye Chenshang took the opportunity to come to the desk and write a letter. Xiang Liu sat beside him and joined in the fun.

After writing the letter, Ye Chenshang went to the door and handed it to a guard, sending him to deliver the letter to his friend.

This fruit farmer was an old brother he met when he was wandering around the world. He learned some planting techniques from him, so he became so good at growing peach trees.

Xiangliu was curious, "Do you really have a friend who knows how to plant?"

Ye Chenshang: "Yes, Xiang'er, these are all my connections!~"

Xiang Liu: "I thought you were talking about yourself."

The village chief called several important representatives, both men and women, and they sat around the table for a meeting, with Xiangliu sitting aside.

Ye Chenshang handed the drawings to the village chief, who took them, read them, and passed them around.

Ye Chenshang: "This is the blueprint of the farmland canal designed by the king. It connects to the river to automatically irrigate the fields. This is the range of fruit trees that the king and the princess determined after inspecting the village. This is also the range of trees that can be planted. A variety of trees are used to improve the soil conditions of the sandy land and better lock in moisture when groundwater flows back."

The villagers listened carefully, and combined with the three drawings, the village chief had a strong understanding and praised it repeatedly.

"That's great! That's great. Your Excellency is so knowledgeable. We didn't know it was possible!"

The villagers agreed, "Indeed, but won't the fruit trees also require a lot of water?"

Ye Chenshang explained patiently, "You can plant some fruit trees like pears and pomegranates that don't need too much water. You can discuss the details with my friends."

"That's good, that's good." The villagers were delighted and looked at the drawings for a long time.

Afterwards, they prepared for the arrival of the fruit farmers. According to the area divided by Ye Chenshang's drawings, they first fenced off the orchard and loosened the soil.

Some people were also digging canals in advance, and everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

But looking at Lord Xu, compared with the leisurely and orderly state of the villagers, Lord Xu was very worried about whether the Southern Emperor would reply.

The construction of the river is of great importance and must be approved by the Southern Emperor. Lord Chen gave up because it was time-consuming and laborious and had to be reported. Logically, the Southern Emperor has sent a prince to deal with the drought, and he should also pay attention to the news of the disaster area. I hope there won't be too many obstacles in the reporting process.

So Lord Xu stood at the entrance of the village every day waiting for a reply from the capital.

On the fifth day, the letter was indeed replied, and it brought back an acquaintance.

Mr. Chen.

Yes, it’s the one that failed to control the disaster.

This time, he brought a large number of manpower, supplies and money, and was ordered to repair the river.

"The Holy Spirit oracles!"

Lord Chen dismounted, walked forward and stood still, and Lord Xu knelt down to receive the order.

"I am the chief person in charge of river construction in Ningdian Village, and Mr. Xu, a local official, is my assistant. Let's build the river!"

"I obey your order!" Lord Xu thanked you and stood up, with neither worry nor joy on his face.

Lord Xu doesn't have a good impression of Lord Chen. It was this man who dug up all the holes in the village. Why wasn't the Prince of Chen in charge? Lord Prince of Chen is capable and careful, but he sent this idiot...

Hearing that help had been sent, the villagers went to the entrance of the village in groups, Xiang Liu and Ye Chen Shang followed behind them. They were all very happy at first, but when they saw someone coming, they froze.

Why is this guy here again? What is he doing here?

"Master Chen." Ye Chenshang recognized him.

Lord Chen was looking at the villagers arrogantly at first, but when he saw Ye Chenshang, he immediately smiled and walked towards Ye Chenshang. "My Lord, are you well?"

Xiang Liu stood beside Ye Chenshang and looked at Lord Chen in confusion. Behind her, she heard the villagers whispering their dissatisfaction with Lord Chen. Xiang Liu then realized that this was the waste from last time, and she looked unhappy.

Lord Chen knew that he had taken away Ye Chenshang's credit, and was enjoying the benefits but was afraid that Ye Chenshang would blame him.

Ye Chenshang looked at him with such dignity as he led people and supplies, and guessed something, "Did the emperor send you to build the river?"

"Uh... yes, yes..."

Hearing the affirmative answer, the villagers couldn't help but complain louder, "Why him?!"

"This is the plan proposed by the King of Chen, and the route map was also drawn by the King of Chen!"

"That's right! The drought was quelled by Princess Chen, why should he get the benefits?!"

Lord Xu felt happy to hear this, but he didn't stop them. The village chief was afraid that things would get out of hand, so he told them to keep their voices down, saying that Prince Chen would definitely find a way.

Ye Chenshang was also used to it, so he handed the drawings and other relevant plans to Lord Chen, who took them with shaking hands.

"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Chen." After saying this with a smile, Ye Chenshang turned around and took Xiang Liu away.

Lord Chen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "Yes... yes..."

Seeing this, the village chief angrily chased after Ye Chenshang, and the villagers left unhappily.