Chapter 219: Food is coming

Now, as long as it is beneficial to the disaster, Meng Xiyan is willing to give it a try.

He arranged for Yuan Xiaotou to go back to the city first and keep an eye on the overall situation.

He took Wen Yan for a run along the river.

After packing their bags, they set off.

At the intersection exiting the village, the village chief was waiting there with several other people.

Meng Xiyan stopped the carriage and asked: "Village Chief, what are you doing...?"

The village chief walked past him and came to Wen Yan.

He stuffed a bundle into Wen Yan's hand and said, "Here's some dry food. I wish you a safe journey."

Everyone is having a hard time surviving now, and Wen Yan is determined not to accept it.

The village chief's eyes were red. "These are the gifts prepared by your apprentice. It's a courtesy, you should accept them."

The few people behind the village chief were the young boys who learned charcoal-making skills from Professor Wen Yan.

Due to time constraints, Wen Yan took them to burn a small cellar of charcoal.

However, these children are very smart and can learn it after learning it once.

They nodded and said, "Yes, Master, we have learned a skill. Don't you want to recognize us?"

There was a shy child whose eyes were red and he looked like he was about to cry at the next moment.

Wen Yan had no choice but to accept it.

After giving them some more instructions, he set off with Meng Xiyan and the others.

They followed the river all the way to Jinyang City.

The situation of the riverbank is really not optimistic.

Due to sediment deposition, the riverbed is higher than the flat land on the bank in some places.

In some places, there are already signs of diversion.

The river also divides into small tributaries.

But because the weather was too hot, the water evaporated before it could flow into the fields and irrigate the crops.

Wen Yan observed and recorded the situation.

These were all learned by Wen Yan in his previous life when he followed Huo Yaoxing to take up his post in the local area and humbly learned from the local flood control official.

How to observe the terrain and water flow.

Wen Yan has a lot of experience in how to manage different terrains.

Later, she used these skills to help Huo Yaoxing achieve many achievements.

You can say that.

In his previous life, Huo Yaoxing rose through the ranks in just ten years, thanks in no small part to her contribution.

It took Wen Yan and his companions several more days to return to the provincial capital.

After returning to the rented courtyard, she went to Uncle Lin to ask about Situ Ming's situation.

Uncle Lin said, "The mansion has been very quiet, and there has been no unusual movement.

Their first batch of food has been sold out.

Situ Ming has already arranged for someone to send the silver back to the capital."

"How long has it been since the silver was sent away?"

Uncle Lin said, "It's been five or six days."

Wen Yan silently calculated in her heart: "If nothing unexpected happens, the batch of silver will be delivered to Huo Yaoxing in the next few days.

He is a man who will not release his eagle until he sees the rabbit. As long as he sees the silver, the second batch of grain will be shipped immediately."

She warned, "Uncle Lin, you have to keep a close eye on them during this period. Don't let your guard down for even a moment. Also, have someone keep an eye on the Xu family and the other grain merchants."

Uncle Lin replied, "Don't worry, young lady. With me, Lao Tian, ​​and Shitou here, we will definitely keep a close eye on them."

Wen Yan said, "Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Lin. Once we finish this job, we can take a good rest."

After arranging the household affairs, Wen Yan stayed in his room and wrote something at his desk.

Apart from eating and necessary exercise, she would not even leave her room.

Wen Yan first wrote the plan and program for burning charcoal.

Burning charcoal requires cutting down trees, but cutting down too many trees will cause soil erosion, desertification, and loss of fertility.

There is already little rain in the north, and the wind and sand will probably get worse.

Wen Yan then wrote down a tree-cutting rule, which stipulated that only a certain number of trees could be cut down based on the area.

And they must be replanted and survive after the disaster is over.

In addition, she divided various trees into three grades: high, medium and low.

The price of high-quality goods will naturally be high, and the price of low-quality goods will also be low.

However, in this case, those people will probably only focus on cutting down high and medium quality trees for the sake of profit.

Wen Yan set new rules. They would collect charcoal by village and quantity, and at a ratio of 1:3:6.

Even if they burned more charcoal, they wouldn't be able to sell it.

Moreover, they only collected charcoal from common people.

They will not accept charcoal from the farms of wealthy merchants whose land exceeds 50 mu.

Although this series of coal collection models is complicated, it can bring benefits to the truly poor.

Next is the workshop for making ink smoke.

This is relatively simple.

She asked Xue Yi to help her buy a house in the city to open a workshop.

The rest of the matters, such as logging, transportation and recruiting craftsmen, were all handled by Pearl.

Pei'er is a small person, but she is busy like a top all day long.

Wen Yan gave the charcoal burning notes to Meng Xiyan and Yuan Xiaotouling, and asked them to implement it.

When Chief Yuan saw Wen Yan's darker complexion, with bags under his eyes and dark circles drooping down to his chin, he laughed heartlessly, "Did you go out to steal cattle last night? You have such dark circles under your eyes, you look like a beast of prey."

Wen Yan: “…”

She shoved the note into the hands of the young leader Yuan and said, "I wrote the details of the coal collection. You guys can arrange them."

Chief Yuan curiously flipped through the notebook and was stunned: "So many rules and regulations, it could be as complicated as an imperial examination."

Wen Yan spread his hands: "In order for Jinyang Prefecture to maintain long-term peace and stability, these are indispensable."

Meng Xiyan, however, saw something else in this note: "Are you saying that the strong winds and sandstorms in the north are related to the lack of trees?"

Wen Yan nodded and said, "It's natural. With trees and grass covering it, no matter how strong the wind is, it can't blow away the mud and sand underneath!"

Let's walk along the river. Haven't you noticed that the river is narrower where there are trees on the bank?

This means that when there are trees, even rivers cannot carry away much soil.

And where there are trees, there are more animals and more foliage, and the land becomes more fertile."

These were the experiences Wen Yan learned from some experienced farmers in his previous life.

Meng Xiyan nodded thoughtfully.

If planting trees is useful.

Planting more trees in the north can also reduce wind and sand.

He immediately decided that after returning home, he would write to his father and ask him to put tree planting on the agenda.

Finally, Wen Yan began to write about the methods of river management.

It was already late at night when she sorted out her thoughts.

She stood up and stretched, preparing to make a pot of strong tea to refresh herself.

A figure appeared on the window paper, and Uncle Shitou's voice came from outside: "The carrier pigeon over there has arrived."

Wen Yan immediately walked over and opened the window.

Uncle Shitou was standing outside the window and handed the pigeon to Wen Yan: "Take a good look at it."

Wen Yan held the pigeon but did not take action directly. Instead, he observed it first and determined how it was tied before taking it off.

After Wen Yan read the letter, there was no emotion on her face.

She restored the letter and tied it back to the pigeon's leg.

She then smiled and said to Uncle Shitou, "The second batch of food has finally arrived. Uncle Shitou, do you know how much is there?"

When Uncle Shi Tou saw Yan so happy, he knew that the number was quite a lot.

He suppressed his excitement and asked, "How many are there?"

Wen Yan opened his hand towards him and said, "Not five stones, not fifty stones, but five thousand stones."