After traveling through time, I led the whole village to become rich!

Wu Deyong nodded. "That's no problem. I'll arrange for yamen runners to manage this area. I'll make sure your village has enough water first."

Zhao Guoliang bowed, "Thank you for your understanding, sir."

Wu Deyong waved his hand gently, "This is the water you worked so hard to bring down, so naturally you should use it first."

Wu Deyong looked at Zhang Hulan again and said, "Zhang Hulan, if you know of other edible things, could you teach the villagers from other villages to recognize them?"

"This kudzu root shouldn't be found everywhere, right? Even if it is, it shouldn't be very abundant."

"A larger village has 1,000 to 2,000 people, and a smaller village has several hundred people. There's simply not enough to go around."

"We don't know when the imperial relief grain will arrive. Before that, we have to find a way to solve the food problem ourselves."

"Also..."

Wu Deyong paused before continuing, "Even if the relief grain arrives, it won't be much. This year's disaster affected not only Ding'an Prefecture, but also several surrounding prefectures. Some areas are even more severely affected than Ding'an Prefecture. The court must first address the hardest-hit areas. I estimate that each person can only receive a few kilograms of grain at most."

Zhang Hulan said, "Sir, as the saying goes, 'You live on the mountain, you can eat the mountain.' There are indeed many things to eat in the mountains. I know a few of them, but what I say may not be known to the villagers."

Wu Deyong said, "Well, I'll assign you a yamen runner to go with you to each village and teach the villagers to identify which foods are edible."

"I won't let you work for nothing. I'll pay you one or two ounces of silver per day. If you can find food to feed the people and help them get through this period, I'll give you another reward."

One tael of silver a day?

Zhao Guoliang wanted to say: Sir, do you think I can do it?

Zhang Hulan was also tempted. One tael of silver a day could buy a lot of food.

Zhang Hulan said, "Sir, you may go, but I have something to say. Every mountain here grows something different."

For example, just because we have kudzu root on our mountain doesn't mean it's available on other mountains. I can only try my best to find something edible, but I can't guarantee I'll find it.

"No problem." Wu Deyong said, "As long as you look for it diligently, whether you find it or not, you will get one ounce of silver a day."

Zhang Hulan thought for a moment, then said, "Sir, I have a suggestion. Would you mind listening to it?"

"You said."

Zhang Hulan said, "There are more than a hundred villages in the county. If I were to walk through them all by myself, I wouldn't know how long it would take. It would be too slow.

I think we can find a few more people to join us. If we hike up a few more mountains, they should all know what's edible. Then we can spread everyone out, and that will be much more efficient."

Wu Deyong nodded. "That's true. Then find more people. You can find as many people as you think are needed from your village. Don't let them work for nothing. Climbing the mountain is very tiring. Pay each person... one hundred coins a day."

Wu Deyong stood up and said, "Pick ten people yourself. The yamen runners will come to find you tomorrow morning."

Wu Deyong walked over to the villagers digging for kudzu roots and said, "I'm going to try digging a few too. I'm going to take what I dig away later. Is that okay with you guys?"

Zhao Guoliang said hurriedly: "No problem, no problem, sir, take as much as you want."

Wu Deyong took a hoe from a villager, raised it high, and dug hard...

"Ouch..." Wu Deyong screamed and quickly let go of his hand. He kept shaking his hands and rubbed them on his legs a few times.

Tian Wu and Zhao Guoliang both stepped forward and asked with concern, "Sir, what's wrong with you?"

Wu Deyong shook his hands again and said, "I used too much force and it shook my hand."

"It's okay, it's okay. I can do it."

Wu Deyong imitated the villagers, spit into his palms, rubbed his hands twice, and then swung the hoe to dig again.

Wu Deyong dug up the kudzu root with all his might before stopping. After just a few tries, he was already gasping for breath from exhaustion.

He was holding a few kudzu roots, with a smile on his face, looking very happy.

"I'll take this back to my wife. She'll be happy."

Tian Wu echoed from the side, "Yes, this was dug by the master himself. The lady will be very happy to know about this."

Zhang Hulan looked at Wu Deyong. Why did she feel that this fat county magistrate seemed a little afraid of his wife?

Wu Deyong walked around the forest, rested for a while, and then went down the mountain. Before leaving, he told Zhao Guoliang to count the population of the village so that the relief food could be distributed according to the actual population.

After Wu Deyong left, Zhang Hulan asked Zhao Guoliang, "Uncle Village Chief, who do you think would be suitable to go with me?"

Zhao Guoliang said, "The county magistrate asked you to choose someone, so you decide."

Zhao Guoliang wanted to go very much. Even if he could earn a hundred wen a day, even if he could replace Zhang Hulan's one liang of silver a day, that would be great. With brown rice in the city going for thirty or forty wen a dou now, he could buy about three dou of brown rice in a day.

But Wu Deyong asked Zhang Hulan to choose the person, so he didn't dare to speak up.

Zhang Hulan said, "Uncle Village Head, you definitely can't leave. You still need to look after the village. Please let Brother Zhao Cheng come with me."

A smile immediately appeared in Zhao Guoliang's eyes, "Okay!"

Zhang Hulan then added, "Shanzi counts as one."

Zhao Guoliang was surprised, "Shanzi is still a child, let him go?"

"Uncle Village Head, he should be able to do this job. It's not something that requires heavy lifting. Children are better at climbing mountains than adults. Shanzi's family is in such a difficult situation. If we don't help them out, how are they going to survive?"

Zhao Guoliang sighed and nodded, "Then count him as one, but just remind him to be careful. Who else do you plan to send?"

Zhang Hulan said, "You can choose from the others."

"The county magistrate asked you to choose someone, so you choose."

"Uncle Lizheng, you are more familiar with the villagers, so you can choose."

Seeing that Zhang Hulan really wanted him to choose someone, Zhao Guoliang didn't refuse anymore, "Then your eldest brother is one."

Zhang Hulan hurriedly said, "Forget about my brother."

Zhao Guoliang exclaimed in surprise, "You won't let your eldest brother go?"

"No. My father's legs are not good, and my sister-in-law is pregnant, so it's better for my brother to stay at home."

"Besides, if I go to our house, I won't take up any more spots. Let others have them."

When Zhao Guoliang heard what Zhang Hulan said, he felt a little ashamed and felt that he was not as generous as a woman.

He had been planning to arrange for a few close family members to go, but after hearing Zhang Hulan's words, he backed off. Finally, Zhao Guoliang named eight people, all of whom came from relatively poor families and were honest individuals. Liu Yongquan was also on the list.

Zhao Guoliang and Zhang Hulan didn't tell anyone about this yet, and would talk to them privately after returning home in the evening.