Bamboo hats and newly modified protective gear were distributed to the camps on both sides.

The light and breathable equipment solves the burden of escorting people out in the hot summer.

Sixty scouts were dressed and ready to go.

They will split into two groups and go to Guangping County and Zhongshan State respectively to gather intelligence.

Wei Xiyin had made every possible preparation for them. In addition to sufficient dry food and water, each person was also equipped with a curling kettle to cool down and saltpeter for making ice. In addition, each person was equipped with ten explosives and dozens of tubes of "Sun True Fire".

"Put your own life first. If there is an emergency, you are allowed to kill first and report later. The lives of others will be ignored."

"yes!"

Mingjingtang sent all the recent information about the clan, under the pretext of giving it to the clan leader for review.

Wei Ji didn't even raise his eyelids. "Put it in the study."

After the scouts are on the road.

Wei Xiyin stayed in the study for several days in a row, checking the data and calculating the fort's grain, water, farmland, and livestock storage one by one.

Arithmetic is one of the six arts, along with rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and mathematics. What is learned is often practical problems encountered in life, with an emphasis on solving the problems themselves.

However, scholars and literati were very disdainful of arithmetic, believing that it was something only businessmen could use.

In the ancient times when classes were clearly defined, merchants were the lowest class.

Under such a literary style, the uncles and aunts only knew some simple arithmetic, so it was still a little difficult for them to calculate the consumption and planning for more than 10,000 people using the existing materials.

Wei Xiyin didn't think about this at first. She seldom took the initiative to learn about the details of Mingjingtang's management affairs. After all, Mingjingtang was managed by her uncles and it would be inappropriate for her to intervene rashly.

Even if her uncles and aunts occasionally mentioned it to her, they usually talked about the process or the plans being implemented, and rarely saw such complicated and trivial data.

She had a clear idea of ​​the grain storage situation, and the calculated data was not much different. Without accepting new survivors, they could last for two years and three months. This was her conclusion after adding the 20,000 stones of grain in the granary.

And in the spring of next year, at least 100,000 dan of grain will need to be grown in the fields to ensure that everyone has enough food and drink in the future.

One hundred thousand shi would require a thousand acres of land, but now there are only more than four hundred acres of land that have been reclaimed and found in the fort, and the gap is extremely large.

In addition to the solution of finding good farmland, the survival of summer crops can also temporarily solve the urgent problem.

The prerequisite is that the Wei family army can successfully find a water source.

The amount of water stored is also very worrying.

There was actually a lot of water stored before, and in order to prevent accidents, Chu Yu also built dozens of more reservoirs. But who could have imagined that the population would double from 9,000 to 18,000, and the daily water consumption of the three public kitchens alone would be astonishing.

What's more, there is no way to save water in the blacksmith shop and Shilin Village.

Wei Xiyin leaned over the desk, summarizing all kinds of data, keeping detailed records of each item of expenditure, calculating the minimum daily usage, total monthly usage, etc., writing them down on paper, and summarizing them together.

In addition, she highlighted the gaps.

Wei Mingze got the account book she had sorted out, and the more he flipped through it, the more shocked he became. Every entry was clear and easy to understand. He couldn't help but sigh to Wei Xiyin, "I don't know what happened to our ancestors, but they gave all their wisdom to you. It would be great if they could share some of it with your unreliable cousins."

It’s okay to give some to Erlang.

Not to mention how smart it can make them, but at least the gap shouldn't be so big.

They could even disappear for months while transporting food.

He then apologized again and again, "Ancestors, please don't blame me. I spoke without thinking."

Wei Xiyin: “…”

All of her uncles have their own personalities.

In the past, the seventh uncle was always harsh in his words to his cousins ​​and was rarely polite. In fact, he cared about them the most, but he managed to resist asking about their whereabouts.

She even suspected that Uncle Nine had come to ask questions on the orders of Uncle Seven.

Wei Mingze lowered his head and continued to look through the account book. He said, "Wu Niang's account is very detailed. The uncles and aunts are ashamed of themselves. From now on, we will implement this minimum daily amount. At least this way, even if we can't find a water source, we can make it to the end of August."

Wei Xiyin shook her head and said, "Everything else is fine, but there's still not enough water. Last year, winter seemed to have arrived after September, a full month's gap. I wonder if the well water level will rise by then."

She doesn't like these unknown things, and she feels at ease only when all resources are in her own hands.

"The Wei family army has gone out to look for water. If that doesn't work, let them go further away to look for it." Wei Mingze was more optimistic. Their current situation was definitely better than other places. It was already very good.

Wei Xiyin agreed, "Indeed, I don't believe that such a large state like Yizhou, with so many mountains, doesn't have one or two deep pools of water."

The two chatted for a while before Wei Mingze said goodbye and left.

Two more days passed.

The outbound teams transporting grain and ore returned.

As usual, the grain was pushed into the underground palace for storage.

The batch of ore that was returned was all transported to the arsenal in the county town and handed over to Wei Ting for arrangement.

But there is a shortage of water right now, so we dare not even forge weapons. You know, all the things in the furnace must be placed in water to cool down. According to the scale of the county, dozens of basins of water are needed every day.

When it comes to survival, it seems that everything else can only be put aside.

And at this time.

The scouts returning from Julu County finally arrived at the fort and brought back news.

It was strange that two waves of scouts returned from Crow Mountain on the same day.

But there were countless people coming in and out of the fort every day, and the return of a few scouts did not attract people's attention.

The scouts came to the old house together to report: "My lady, I ran into Centurion Cheng Xiu and the Zhongshan Army on the road. Erlangjun has found the two young men..."

The scouts recounted everything they had seen and heard in Julu County, including how the men were separated by a wave of zombies.

"My subordinates and others have not found any trace of Commander Qin..."

The two waves of scouts met in front of the fortress gate and had no time to exchange information.

After he finished speaking, another scout stepped forward and saluted: "Miss, I am one of the soldiers who followed the grain transport team. My squad leader is Cao Awang."

"We set out a few days later. Lord Li has already reunited with Lord Er. Upon learning that Captain Yan had sent someone back with a report, Lord Li asked his subordinates to hurry back to report safety, so as to avoid worrying the young lady and the elders at home."

After listening to their report, Wei Xiyin felt even more depressed. So many people had gone out, but there was only news about the three gentlemen.

So what about the rest?

Did Qin Shan find all the missing people?

Also, the county magistrate of Guang'a County is actually raising zombies. What the hell is this?

Maybe he will eventually raise a zombie king...

Thinking of this, she suddenly became restless.

The scout took a look at the girl's face before taking out a letter from his pocket. He didn't know where they found the waste paper from, but the letter was wrinkled and really unsightly.

"Lord Li ordered his subordinates to bring this letter to the young lady."