Chapter 370: Binzhou War, People's Hardships

"Yun Ran, take good care of yourself!"

"sister in law···"

"lady···"

Zhao Yuping and the people from the Yan family all chased after them unconsciously for a few steps, shouting instructions at the carriage. Although Shen Xiangwan did not move, his mood was not very high either.

"Mom, let's go back."

Wei Chengyi stepped forward and hugged his mother's shoulders. The latter wiped her tears and nodded, letting him hug her and turned to walk home. On the other side, Shen Xiangwan also said to the people of the Yan family: "Don't worry, Uncle Yan and Jun Ling are both in the capital city, they will take good care of Yun Ran."

"Ah."

Looking up at her, everyone nodded in unison, and the sadness of parting was much alleviated.

As long as Mu Yunran and the others taught those people surgical skills, there would be no need to worry about the military medical care. After they left, Wei Chengyi and his wife focused their attention on the busy farming season.

Among the three high-yield crops, potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes, only potatoes have the shortest growth cycle. In addition, all the ones Shen Xiangwan took out were excellent varieties that had been improved in later generations. If the conditions are right, the harvest can be done in more than two months instead of three months.

Therefore, except for Datong County, all other counties chose to grow potatoes, while the military fields grew sweet potatoes and corn.

On the other hand, Yuan Yue Yuan Ying spread the news about what Zhang Sheng and his wife had done, and the fact that the Wei family would no longer cooperate with the kiln factory. As expected, all the people who worked for them came to their house and forced them to pay their wages. In order to raise money, they looked for Shen Xiangwan several times in a row, but each time they were thrown out before entering the village.

When Yuan Yue approached them, they wanted to ask her for a price, but she did not indulge their habits and directly quoted them a price that was not even enough to cover the cost. If they were willing, it would be a deal, otherwise forget it. At first, Zhang Sheng and his wife refused to agree, but under the pressure of the workers, they agreed to sell it within a few days. The money they got was barely enough to settle the bills with the raw material suppliers and pay the workers.

"Defeated again?"

At the end of June, the Binzhou battle report came again. The rebels lost another city. Currently, only one city is left to hold on. "Well, this time, the Binzhou army suffered heavy casualties. The rebels are made up of suffering people. After hearing that the court still did not provide relief for the drought, they burst out with unprecedented fighting power. It is obviously impossible for the Binzhou army to continue to work hard and take them down in one fell swoop."

What Wei Chengyi didn't say was that the heavy casualties of the Binzhou army were also related to their unstable morale. Soldiers were also made up of civilians. Their families must have been affected by the nationwide drought, but the court didn't care. How could they fight without distraction? If it weren't for the outstanding leadership ability of Wanqishan and his son, the victory or defeat of this battle would be uncertain.

"Ugh···"

Shen Xiangwan sighed deeply. The whole country was suffering from a drought. The court would rather spend money to send troops to suppress the rebellion than to provide relief to the victims. Isn't this a kind of sadness? In the end, the people are the ones who suffer.

"Don't worry. As early as next year or the year after, we will fight back and overthrow the emperor's rule."

Reaching out and holding her hand, Wei Chengyi said firmly that he knew his wife was worried about the people.

"Well, don't rush into anything, be sure to proceed step by step."

Not wanting him to act rashly because of her little bit of kindness, Shen Xiangwan looked him in the eyes and said in a serious tone that any normal person would feel pity when seeing the people in such misery, but she would not lose her mind because of this. At present, they could not save all the people in the world, and being able to protect the people of Chenzhou was already the most they could do.

"I know."

Wei Chengyi tightened his hand and nodded with a smile. He would not joke with people's lives. If they decided to start a rebellion, it must be because they were ready. "Let's not talk about that. Have the people planted their food?"

The topic of war was too heavy, so Shen Xiangwan waved her hand to change the subject. Recently, she had not forgotten to study drugs that promote the healing of bones and meridians and blood vessels, so it was inevitable that she paid less attention to other things.

"Well, almost all of them have been planted."

In order to ensure that all the people grow high-yield grain seeds, the county magistrate of each county went to the fields in person. Yan Junling even ran around the counties, teaching the people how to plant and fully deploying all the seeds. He has not been home for a long time.

“Now we just have to wait for the food to be harvested.”

After the harvest, they will no longer be short of food.

"What do you think about this?"

Wei Chengyi picked up a memorial and handed it to her. Shen Xiangwan took it and looked at it: "Sure, we are not short of food for the time being anyway. As for handing it over to the court, let's forget about it. I would rather feed the food to dogs than give it to the dog emperor!"

The content of the memorial was to request the exemption of the people's taxes this season. Although the Chenzhou area was not like other places where there was almost no harvest, the people in other counties still harvested about 20% less. If the taxes could be exempted, they should all be able to survive until the second season's grain harvest. Currently, the Chenzhou political power is almost in their hands, and whether to exempt or not is just a matter of their words.

"Well, that's what I thought too."

Taking the memorial again, Wei Chengyi wrote the word "approved" with a brush. As for the copy to be submitted to the court, he could just make up a reason that the drought caused the crops to fail. It didn't matter whether the emperor believed it or not. What mattered was that the emperor was far away and he couldn't interfere even if he wanted to.

“I heard that many wells in some villages have no water left?”

With one hand supporting his head on the table, Shen Xiangwan asked casually, "As the weather gets hotter, the water supply becomes more and more scarce, and the price of food outside is getting higher day by day. The people who have land to farm are still okay, as they have more or less harvested some crops. However, those city dwellers who have no land to farm have a really hard life."

"I have sent people to search for water sources wherever possible and dig deep wells."

At this point, Wei Chengyi couldn't help but sigh deeply. Even if they had people with water abilities, they couldn't guarantee that every village would have abundant groundwater.

"Is it not raining this year? Do you have any memory of this?"

Shen Xiangwan couldn't help but frown. It was only the end of June and the hot weather would continue for at least two or three months. If it didn't rain, they might not be able to survive just by digging deep wells. You know, they still had to ensure the needs of the crops in the fields. Only in this way could they truly overcome this drought.

"It was so long ago that I can't quite remember."

Facing her expectant gaze, Wei Chengyi shook his head helplessly. In his previous life, he had always been in a ghost state and was not affected by these things at all. It was really difficult for him to recall.

"Ugh···"

Shen Xiangwan sighed and lay on the table. They had done everything they could. They only hoped that God would not be so cruel and send down the rain sooner to give the people some hope.

【End of this chapter】