Traveling through ancient times, storing supplies and not fleeing famine

"The old general sent a letter asking us to go back. The young master will stay in Kaoshan Village for the time being."

"Aren't you going to leave a few people to protect the young master?"

“The old general said that the only way to be safe now is for the young master to be an ordinary citizen.

Follow orders, everyone retreat!"

The old general they were talking about was Ye Chao’s grandfather.

Ye Chao's original name was Yuwen Yue. His father was a first-rank official of the dynasty, and his mother was the daughter of the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

My grandfather was an ever-victorious general, and was later granted the title of first-rank military marquis.

He commanded an army of 10 and was stationed in the northwest.

The current emperor is very wary of the Yuwen family.

He tried every possible means to get General Yuwen to surrender his military power.

However, it was opposed by all the civil and military officials in the court.

In a fit of rage, he even teamed up with the prime minister of the time to frame the Yuwen family for treason.

And when the evidence was unclear, all members of the Yuwen family were executed on the spot in the Yuwen Mansion.

Hundreds of people in Lord Yuwen's family were all killed by the emperor.

Yuwen Yue was saved at the risk of his life by the warriors loyal to the Yuwen family.

After several twists and turns, he finally arrived at the back mountain of Kaoshan Village, and was rescued by Xia Shengsheng.

At this moment, General Yuwen was having a life-and-death struggle with the current emperor.

It is enough to know that the only grandson is still alive and well in this world. Knowing that he has lost his memory, the best arrangement for him at this time is to let him stay in Kaoshan Village and be an ordinary citizen.

This way he won't be in any fatal danger.

If the Yuwen family continues to send people to secretly protect Yuwen Yue, it is inevitable that someone will find clues.

It would be better to just pretend that Yu Wen Yue doesn't exist.

This is the only way to ensure his safety.

……

The New Year passed quickly and almost everyone went their separate ways after the New Year.

Tao Wuji and his son went back after the fifth day of the New Year.

Before going back, I want to take Sicheng with me.

He said that he felt Sicheng had a talent for business and could take him out to gain some experience.

But Xia Shengsheng did not agree.

First, she felt that her relationship with Tao Wuji was not that deep.

Although he saved his life, Tao Wuji also repaid him with money.

What followed was a simple business partnership relationship.

How could Xia Shengsheng send Sicheng, who was only five years old, to Tao Wuji!

Secondly, I feel that Sicheng is indeed too young. If he were as old as Ercheng, maybe I could consider him.

Although Sicheng felt a little bit sorry, he was not willing to leave with Tao Wuji when he thought about being away from his mother for a long time.

Seeing that both the mother and the son were unwilling, Tao Wuji gave up.

Xia Shengsheng asked Tao Wuji to help find an embroidery master, preferably someone who could live in her house and teach Shanshan.

After all, she only knows a limited number of people.

She would also feel uneasy if she sent Shanshan to the embroidery workshop in the capital city.

Tao Wuji agreed.

Han the Hunter also left Kaoshan Village again after the eighth day of the first lunar month.

Xia Shengsheng didn't know what he was going to do, nor did she want to know.

It's like others know about her changes but never ask her why she changed.

The factory also resumed operation on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year.

Instant noodles and vermicelli are as popular as ever.

Tao Wuji did not ask Xia Shengsheng to reduce the dosage, but he also did not ask Xia Shengsheng to increase the dosage.

If there are too many of them on the market, then what he sells will not be valuable.

It’s just right now, so that it is always in short supply and everyone will want to buy it.

Yiyi returned to the provincial capital to continue her studies after she turned 15.

Ye Chao and Er Cheng also started school. They still got up early every day and ran to school.

But at night, because it got dark too early, Xia Shengsheng was worried about the two children walking alone.

So Wang Si went to pick him up.

After more than 20 days of recuperation, Wang Si has completely recovered and is no different from a normal person.

During his convalescence, he made several sets of exquisite wood carvings for Xia Shengsheng.

Xia Shengsheng sold them all to Qiqi at a high price.

Qiqi also gave Xia Shengsheng some drawings, saying that they were custom-made and the price would be higher.

Xia Shengsheng also handed them over to Wang Si, asking him to carve some when he was free, but not to rush. Xia Shengsheng was really afraid that Wang Si would carve the wood carvings day and night in order to finish the work as soon as possible, which would definitely tire him out.

After the beginning of spring, everyone started to work in the fields again.

Just as they had originally thought, the villagers planted almost half of their land with corn and the other half with peppers.

Of course, the purpose of planting peppers is to sell them for more money.

However, Xia Shengsheng also told them clearly.

After the peppers are harvested this year, it is not certain whether she will harvest them. If she does, the specific price per pound will depend on the market price.

Don't have too much hope.

It is better to plant more drought-resistant crops as much as possible.

You can also plant more potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Last winter, there was only a little snow at the beginning of winter.

There was almost no snow all winter.

Anyone who has grown crops knows that there will definitely be drought this year.

So everyone was unanimous and did not grow crops such as rice and wheat that require a lot of water to mature.

But no one can say for sure whether the drought-resistant seeds sown this year will eventually grow.

That day, Xia Shengsheng finished his work in the fields and came to see Village Chief Ma again.

"Village chief, as you can see, this year will definitely be a drought. The crops in the fields can still be irrigated by the small river near our village, but as for drinking water, we have to think of a way.

The well in our village is too shallow. There was little rain last year and there was little snow all winter.

I wonder if you have noticed that the water level in that well has dropped?

If it continues to descend, I'm afraid that by then we might even have trouble getting water."

While listening to Xia Shengsheng's words, Village Chief Ma was thinking and looking at the sky outside, as if the weather outside would change and it would rain in the next second.

In the end, I could only sigh silently.

"Xiao Xia! You are smart, tell me what we should do?"

Xia Shengsheng's brain wasn't that smart, at least when it came to dealing with the drought, she didn't have any particularly good ideas.

"There are so many people in our village, and we must dig two more deep wells for future drinking water problems.

You can go and have a look at the four wells in my two yards. Although the water levels are also showing a downward trend, the wells are deeper and can store more water.

If there really comes a point where there is no water available in the future, deep wells will at least last longer than shallow wells.

As for the rest, I haven’t come up with any particularly good solutions.

We can gather everyone together to brainstorm, and whoever has a good idea can speak out.

It’s all about dealing with this drought.”

"Deep wells? Two deep wells would cost nearly 20 taels of silver! If it is shared among the families, each family would have to pay at least 500 wen. It's just the beginning of spring, and it's not certain whether it will rain in the summer. Are you willing to pay this much money?"

"If it were the same as before, 500 coins would be a huge sum for any family and they would probably not be able to come up with it.

But last year I collected a lot of peppers from everyone. The lowest earner must have been 20 or 30 taels of silver, right?

So now, in order to cope with the drought and water shortage, is it not too much to ask them to pay 500 coins?"

Village chief Ma thought about it and realized that this was the truth. Now that every household has a better life, digging two deep wells is not a difficult task for everyone now.

And this matter must be initiated by him.

In addition, whether there will be drought this year or in the future, we all need to work together to come up with countermeasures.

"Okay, I'll go gather the villagers."

Xia Shengsheng nodded. As for the future, everyone should pay for their own future.

So, even if she had money, she couldn't support an entire village and help everyone in the village survive the drought for free.

Letting them grow peppers and corn, opening factories and recruiting them as workers is paving the way for them.

If they didn't want to continue on the road ahead, why would Xia Shengsheng help them for no reason?