My reborn husband and son are thinking about how to kill me every day.

The merchants chosen by Ji Yunshuang were also extremely excited.

Ji Yunshuang selects talent based solely on ability and character, regardless of background.

Among these merchants were those from prominent families who had received substantial training, as well as those from impoverished farming backgrounds who, through their own abilities, had gradually built their businesses step by step.

There was also the owner of a large merchant guild who originally possessed immense wealth but suffered heavy losses and lost his family when the monsters attacked the city.

Among these people were elderly men with gray hair, handsome young men, and women who used to have to disguise themselves as men to go out and do business.

Although they were of different backgrounds, they were all honored to be chosen by Ji Yunshuang.

Although Ji Yunshuang has not yet handed over the pharmaceutical and cement processing workshops to private individuals for operation.

It is said that this belongs to the state, and under certain conditions, a portion of the profits needs to be handed over to the state for various national construction and public expenditures.

However, no one can say for sure whether things will change in the future.

Moreover, judging from Ji Yunshuang's current expression, state-owned workshops mainly deal with core technologies that cannot be shared with outsiders.

In areas such as agricultural products and handicrafts, she strongly supports businesses leveraging their strengths and engaging in healthy competition.

Now that they can go out and gain experience with government officials, they can not only broaden their horizons and improve their abilities, but they may also be able to expand their businesses overseas in the future.

Moreover, being chosen by His Majesty to go out on business with court officials would add considerable prestige to their resumes, enough for them to boast about for the rest of their lives.

It should be noted that their status was not high in the past, and many people even looked down on them.

But now, His Majesty has personally selected them to accompany the court officials on their mission. This is not only an honor, but also an affirmation.

Whether from a public or private perspective, this is a win-win situation for them.

How could they not be excited?

Everyone put in their best effort, secretly vowing to do a good job and not let Ji Yunshuang down.

Everyone was focused on the same goal, and none of them were incompetent. In addition, Ji Yunshuang provided them with the strongest support for their trip.

In addition to sending highly skilled martial arts experts to protect them during their journey, they also provided each of them with water bottles, good horses, and lightweight tents for camping in the wild. They were also very efficient this time, arriving at their destination several days ahead of schedule.

Ji Yunshuang appointed Pei Zhengqing, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, as the main person in charge of purchasing grain this time.

Pei Zhengqing led a group of people to infiltrate Canglan Kingdom to try to contact Cui Yang, while the rest of the people disguised themselves as merchants to buy grain from several small countries neighboring Canglan.

*

Before returning to Zhou, Ji Yunshuang went to Yumu Mountain.

Last time, she was in a hurry to return to Qiongdu and didn't wait for all the barren hills of Yumu Mountain to be cleared. She only planted fruit trees in the cleared area.

There are still many fruit trees in the space that have not been transplanted.

During her recent trip to Yumu Mountain, she noticed significant changes. Several hilltops that hadn't been cleared before had now been cleared.

In addition, several brick and tile kilns were built on the mountain.

According to Wan Shi Tong's report, the output of these brick and tile kilns is quite good.

As more and more refugees came to Yumu Mountain, the shacks that Ji Yunshuang had built were no longer enough for them.

Not only were there not enough sheds to live in, but the cotton quilts left by Ji Yunshuang were also far from enough.

Fortunately, Ji Yunshuang had considered this problem beforehand, so she taught them how to build a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) before leaving.

When Wan Shitong saw that the number of refugees pouring in was increasing and there was a complete shortage of quilts, he immediately organized people to build new shacks and set up heated brick beds.

These shacks were mainly built to temporarily solve the accommodation problem for refugees, so they were rather crudely constructed, and the rooms only had heated brick beds to meet the basic living needs of the refugees.

Despite the poor living conditions, the refugees had no complaints. On the contrary, they were full of hope for the future.

They had already heard that these shacks were only temporary. New houses would be built later to provide dormitories for the employees.

Residents who wish to stay can apply to the administrator for a homestead and build houses on it.

Of course, only those who perform well can stay as employees, and many people are actively trying to perform well.

They witnessed firsthand how many refugees were promoted because of their good performance.

I heard that if these promoted employees continue to demonstrate outstanding abilities, they will have the opportunity to serve as officials in the imperial court in the future.

The patrol officer in charge of them was originally from humble origins, but because he followed His Majesty early on and was exceptionally capable, he was highly valued by His Majesty.

It was said that not only scholars had a chance to become officials in the imperial court, and many people felt that they had seen hope, so they worked even harder to perform well.

Elm Mountain is thriving. Not only have all the barren mountains been cleared, but even the foundation of the manor has been dug out.

With a large population, the construction of Yumu Mountain progressed very quickly, but at the same time, the consumption of food was also very high.

The food that Ji Yunshuang had left behind was almost all used up.

This time, in addition to planting fruit trees on all the open spaces on the mountain, she also gave Wan Shitong a batch of grain.

Upon seeing the grain provided by Ji Yunshuang, Wan Shitong was overjoyed. "Your Majesty, this has truly relieved our immediate crisis."

Seeing that the grain was being consumed more and more quickly, I was afraid that the grain you left behind wouldn't be enough, so I sent people back to Zhou to procure more. However, it's been so long since those people returned, and we haven't received any news yet.

He originally did not want to trouble His Majesty with everything, but if there was really no other way, he had no choice but to ask him for help again.

Unexpectedly, His Majesty arrived at this time.

Ji Yunshuang said, "The harvest from the estates you manage is not bad, but Zhou State has suffered many disasters before, and grain was transferred from those estates several times. Now the estates probably don't have much grain left. As for other places in Zhou State, we can't count on them."

Food is scarce everywhere, and she has been using the food stored in her spatial storage to keep it running low.

Now that all the trees in the space have been transplanted, it's time to consider planting crops in the space.

In order to quickly stockpile some food, Ji Yunshuang decided to plant a batch of sweet potatoes first.

She thought for a moment and said, "Who can operate an excavator quickly and well these days?"

Wan Shitong hadn't expected Ji Yunshuang to suddenly switch the topic to excavators, but he honestly replied, "There's a young man among the refugees named Peng Yimeng who learns things exceptionally quickly. I selected dozens of people to learn excavator operation from me, and he was the fastest learner."

Besides the excavator, he mastered all the other amazing tools His Majesty gave him at a glance. He's smart, reliable, and a promising talent.

Ji Yunshuang said, "Call him over. I have something to tell him to do."