Chapter 206, exclusively published on Jinjiang Literature City: The shocked officials of the prefectural city...
Lu Xuan belatedly realized that there were indeed military garrisons around ancient prefectural cities.
Lu Xuan asked about the exact number of troops stationed there.
Liu Zimo said, "Originally there were 10,000 people, but more than 1,000 were injured or killed in the earthquake. When the beasts attacked, hundreds of people were bitten or poisoned by snakes, insects and rodents and died because they did not receive timely treatment. Some people even cut off their poisoned arms or legs to save their lives, leaving them disabled."
Liu Ziming said with a pained expression, "Now there are less than seven thousand intact garrison soldiers left."
Lu Xuan: Seven thousand men is not a small number; it's at least ten times more than the Huo family army led by Huo Tiankuo.
Lu Xuan: "Are the garrison currently in the city, or in their camp outside the city?"
Liu Wenchi explained, "The garrison camp was destroyed during the major earthquake, and the location of the camp was in a low-lying area. Before the rainy season, the garrison moved into the city. However, there were less than two thousand soldiers in the city at this time, and the rest were dispersed to the surrounding towns that still existed to maintain order."
The earthquake did not destroy all the surrounding towns, leaving only the prefectural city, nor did all the residents and officials of the surviving towns come to the prefectural city.
Or perhaps, some individuals come and then leave with others.
With no one coming from above and so many underground fissures outside the city, it's easy to guess that even if they wanted to come, they were powerless to do so.
After being cut off from the capital for a long time, it's inevitable that some people will have thoughts of becoming 'local emperors'.
Rather than staying in the prefectural city and being under his control, it's better to return to the county town that was originally under his jurisdiction.
Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix.
Liu Wenchi had already done his best to manage the tens of thousands of people in the prefectural city, and he really couldn't manage the remaining areas. He could only turn a blind eye to things, and if they went too far, he would send the garrison to help deter them.
This serves both as a warning to those officials and as a way to prevent evil forces from running rampant and oppressing the people.
Liu Wenchi sighed, "Because of the distance, the presence of the garrison cannot completely curb the bad practices in the area, but at least it won't drive the disaster victims to the brink of despair. That's all we can do now."
Zhang Tongzhi comforted him, saying, "Your Excellency the Prefect has done a very good job."
Another advisor, surnamed Sun, also said, "The disaster victims in other surrounding towns may not even be able to get their daily relief food. The people in the prefectural city are already very lucky."
Lu Xuan was a little surprised.
If we're talking about wanting to become a local tyrant, aren't military generals with military power the most likely to hold onto their troops and become "kings of the mountains"?
This is not the pre-apocalyptic China he originally lived in, where the soldiers are all loyal to the country and the people are one family. You have to know that soldiers in ancient times would often carry out massacres of entire cities.
Liu Wenchi said, "It is all thanks to General Chu's help. General Chu is indeed worthy of being from the Huo family army. Like General Huo, he is a good son who is dedicated to me and the people."
Lu Xuan understood.
He comes from the Huo family army, so that explains it.
The people under Huo Tiankuo's command are indeed quite trustworthy.
Liu Ziming continued, "After the beast attack ended, the polar day that Young Master Lu mentioned occurred. Suddenly, a strong wind blew through the city, and many people were swept into the sky without any warning, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. Most of the injured that Young Master Lu saw in the clinic were injured because of the strong wind."
Besides being directly blown away and injured by collisions, some people had their house roofs blown off, and were hit on the head or crushed by falling tiles.
The viewers in the live stream sighed:
As expected, without the Covenant's city shields, even the local disaster victims couldn't withstand the gale-force winds.
[Being blown into the air by the wind and then crashing to the ground and shattering into pieces is just too tragic.]
At this point, Liu Wenchi couldn't help but ask Lu Xuan for confirmation, "Is it true that what Young Master Lu said on the street earlier, that the disasters will continue this year?"
Zhang Tongzhi, Zhao Tongpan, and others were greatly alarmed.
Is that true? They didn't receive this message before!
"Are there more disasters this year?"
What evidence do you have to prove this?!
Lu Xuan didn't rush to prove himself, but simply said, "I'll say it again: I have no reason to come all this way just to play tricks on you all. Believe it or not, it's up to you. If you don't believe me, I won't be the one paying the price."
The others' expressions immediately turned sour.
Although what he said was indeed the truth, it was a truly painful truth.
Liu Wenchi took a deep breath.
He really didn't want to believe the disaster would continue, yet he dared not disbelieve it.
In the past six months, the number of casualties among disaster victims from the prefectural city and surrounding areas has reached over 100,000. It's unknown how many years it will take for such a large population to recover; we really can't afford to die anymore.
The granaries in the prefectural city and the food on their faces and in their hands were almost gone.
Although many edible wild vegetables have grown outside the city after the start of spring, they are not enough to supply the needs of hundreds of thousands of people picking them.
Most importantly, in order to prevent more people from starving to death, much of the high-quality seeds in the granaries were also eaten.
Even without paying taxes, the remaining seeds would not be enough to feed everyone.
Moreover, the disaster victims cannot wait four or five months for the harvest.
Liu Wenchi looked at Lu Xuan, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions and anticipation: "Young Master Lu said you've come for a trade. Could you tell me what kinds of goods are available for trade, and what the trading methods are?"
Gold and silver are mostly impractical nowadays; an ounce of gold might not even buy a pound of rice. He didn't think Lu Xuan was after those things.
If so, then it's actually simpler.
Lu Xuan said, "Whatever supplies the prefecture city lacks, I can provide them. Except for most supplies, I have as much as you need."
Others: "..."
"How much do you want? That's a bit too much of an arrogance."
Judge Zhao's lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but remembering that he had just eaten a delicious meal from the other party, he held back in the end.
Magistrate Zhang asked expectantly, "Is there any food? Food enough to feed the hundreds of thousands of people in the city?"
Lu Xuan nodded: "Yes."
Liu Ziming probed, "Do you have any superior seeds?"
Lu Xuan: "Yes." The output is also very high.
Li Jingli also asked, "If the disaster happens again, can you guarantee that the improved varieties will not be affected?"
Lu Xuan: "No problem."
Others: "..."
Lu Xuan spoke with such certainty that it only made them more suspicious.
After all, anyone can talk big.
Haha, you can tell they don't believe the streamer at all.
If it were me, I wouldn't believe it either, that the Star Alliance and the live streaming system didn't exist.
[If you don't believe it, that's fine too. It's time for the streamer to show off again. It's time to give these ancient natives another taste of the awe-inspiring power of high technology! Tremble, natives!]
Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, Lu Xuan said, "No matter how much I say, it's better to show you the real thing. Let's see for ourselves."
Lu Xuan didn't rush to take out the physical object from his spatial storage. Instead, he opened the communicator and dialed the village chief's number.
Li Tie was quite surprised when he received the call.
"Ah Xuan? What's wrong? Did you run into some trouble outside?"
Liu Wenchi and the others in the side hall were startled when they suddenly saw something that looked like a human head emerge from Lu Xuan's wrist, causing them to gasp and gasp several times.
Zhao Tongpan almost spat out the word "sorcery" again.
At the critical moment, he remembered the immortal technique that Lu Xuan had mentioned before, and he was able to barely suppress it. However, when he looked at Li Tie's somewhat translucent half-body image, his eyes were still filled with fear and horror.
The others didn't react much better either; even the oldest, Zhang Tongzhi, pressed his chest, somewhat agitated.
Li Tie, who had just finished dinner and was digesting his food, heard the sound and curiously craned his neck. "Is someone over there?"
Lu Xuan was afraid that Li Tie would feel uncomfortable meeting the officials, so he did not shift the focus to Liu Wenchi and the others. He simply said, "I am in the prefectural city of Yunjiang Prefecture, and I am preparing to make a deal with the forces here. However, words are not enough. We need to show them our strength, right? So I would like to trouble you to take a look around the greenhouse and the orchard so that they can see for themselves."
Zhao Tongpan and others: "..."
They've seen it all, why are you saying they're opening their eyes? Their tone is getting more and more arrogant.
Li Tie, however, perked up and became interested, quickly standing up and saying, "No problem, I'll be right there!"
As Li Tie explained the situation to the rest of his family and prepared to leave, Liu Wenchi asked Lu Xuan in a low voice, "Young Master Lu, what is this object in your hand? How can it reflect faces and allow you to hear voices?"
The others silently pricked up their ears.
Lu Xuan said, "It is a device used by immortals to transmit messages over long distances, but it is more advanced than the carrier pigeons you used in the past."
Others thought that this was no small step forward.
They could hear human voices and see human faces from an unknown distance, and they almost thought it was some kind of soul-capturing sorcery.
On the other side, Li Tie quickly went out the door.
By this time, it was completely dark outside, but the mushroom-shaped lights in Yunlu Village were still providing light for the village.
When the officials of the prefecture saw the light on the other side of the screen, which was different from that of lanterns and oil lamps, the fear on their faces gradually faded, and curiosity began to emerge in their eyes.
"Those are mushrooms? And they even glow?"
"You said you're from Yunlu Village, but the houses in your village look much more exquisite than those in the capital."
Those present couldn't help but ask the questions that had been on their minds.
Lu Xuan did not answer immediately. It wasn't until Li Tie arrived at the greenhouse and turned on the lights that everyone saw the huge greenhouse made of glass under the bright lights, and the seedlings already sprouting in the fields inside. They were speechless for a moment.
Lu Xuan then spoke slowly and deliberately: "This is the greenhouse in Yunlu Village. The crops in the fields were harvested three days ago, and the seedlings that are growing now are a new batch planted yesterday."
"How is this possible?!" Judge Zhao exclaimed in shock.
Although he wasn't very familiar with farming, he knew that seeds take at least five to seven days to germinate after being planted. Planting yesterday and sprouting today? That's ridiculous!
Besides, this is the wrong season to harvest grain!
Others not only noticed the discrepancy between the germination and harvest times, but were also stunned by the incredibly large greenhouse, which was entirely made of glass.
They were especially astonished when Lu Xuan said that Yunlu Village had a total of 200 mu of greenhouses.
Two hundred acres of glass greenhouses! Even royal villas couldn't be this luxurious!
At this moment, they finally began to speculate whether Lu Xuan was truly an envoy sent by a deity and not an ordinary person.
They even suspected that what was shown in the picture was not Yunlu Village at all, but a fairyland in the heavens.
With this in mind, everyone's gaze towards the screen became even more intense, fearing that if they missed a single look, they would never have the chance to see it again.
After showing everyone the greenhouse, Li Tie specifically explained that the air conditioner could control the temperature, ensuring that crops could grow regardless of whether it was hot or cold outside.
This explanation perfectly answers the question they asked earlier: "Can we guarantee that the improved varieties will not be affected if the catastrophe continues?"
Afterwards, Li Tie went to the neighboring vegetable garden, mushroom house, lotus pond, and livestock shed.
Vegetables are growing vigorously everywhere, rows of half-grown mushrooms are neatly arranged, lotus flowers are in full bloom, and cattle, sheep and chickens are plump and healthy, eating soybean residue feed that many people in the city cannot afford...
Finally, there was a large orchard.
Li Tie found a lone apple on a tree that had already been plucked. After telling Lu Xuan, he picked it, took out a basin of water from his spatial storage, washed it briefly, and ate it with relish.
As Liu Wenchi and the others listened to the crisp 'crunch' sound that seemed so close and the occasional slurping sounds of juice, their stomachs were still full, yet they couldn't help but swallow their saliva, as if they could smell the aroma of apples from afar.
Glug.
A moment later, Liu Wenchi suddenly realized that this village chief seemed to be able to conjure things out of thin air!
As expected, this person wasn't a village chief at all, but an immortal!
Others may not have thought the same way as Liu Wenchi, but regardless of whether the other party is an immortal, a mortal, or a monster, everyone has only one thought in mind at this moment.
This group has so many good things! I want them! I want them like crazy!
The viewers in the live stream felt refreshed when they saw how naive the boys were.
Now you know how amazing the streamer is!
Lu Xuan said, "As long as you make a deal with me, you can have both greenhouses and mushroom houses in the prefecture."
The hearts of everyone present quickened, and their faces clearly showed interest.
After making his way around and confirming that Lu Xuan had nothing else to see, Li Tie returned to the Li family.
When Liu Wenchi and the others saw the other members of the Li family appear on the communication screen, they noticed that these people had rosy complexions and relaxed expressions, and it was obvious that they had not been hungry.
Although they were called villagers, their clothes were brand new and without any patches, looking even better than those of the people in the prefectural city.
The call ended, and the side room fell silent.
The officials, who were shocked by the many things that shattered their worldviews, were stunned and unable to recover for a long time.
Lu Xuan gave them some time to process what he had learned. After a while, he took things out of his spatial storage one by one and placed them on the table.
The person, still in a daze, quickly snapped back to reality, their gaze fixed on the many unfamiliar items on the table.
Zhang Tongzhi asked, "What are these?"
Lu Xuan introduced them one by one, "Nutritional supplements, they have a strong feeling of fullness, one tube can keep a person from starving for three days; cooling patches and bio-clothing, the former can cool or keep warm when applied, the latter can automatically regulate the outside temperature when worn, keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer; the medicines, Your Excellency has seen them, antipyretics, pain relievers, heatstroke remedies, antidiarrheals, detoxifiers, everything is available, with excellent effects, commonly used medicines are inexpensive, while special drugs that can treat terminal illnesses are more expensive."
"There are also various cold weapons that the garrison can use. By the way, if the garrison is too slow in its efforts to deter others in the surrounding areas, it can also purchase hoverboards that allow people to fly in the air, making travel more convenient and law enforcement faster and more effective."
"Furthermore, my ability to conjure objects out of thin air is not due to any magic, but rather to a celestial artifact, a personal space. It is much more expensive than other consumables, but fresh food remains exactly the same when it is put in and taken out. Tonight's meal is a case in point."
"Personalized storage space cannot guarantee that everyone will have a share. People can use more affordable vacuum packaging machines to preserve perishable food, which can also keep it from spoiling for two or three years."
"The communication device I use to contact the village chief is a magical artifact that supports long-distance communication. Even after I leave here, you can still send me messages at any time. In the future, when I reach more disaster relief settlements, I will trade communication devices with other settlements and provide you with the communication numbers of other forces. Perhaps you will be able to re-establish contact with other towns."
"Wait, wait a minute," Liu Wenchi couldn't help but call out.
Lu Xuan mentioned that these items were so shocking that he couldn't quite process it all at once.
The other people also looked dazed.
Lu Xuan glanced at them but didn't stop, continuing, "There are no restrictions on the quantity of the above items as long as you can afford the price. There are also some non-essential small items; I can make a detailed list later."
"The goods subject to quantity restrictions include ordinary grains, improved varieties, seafood, fresh fruits, mushrooms, various dried meats, salted fish, sweet potato starch, sauerkraut and other by-products."
Liu Wenchi asked, "What does 'mutated superior breed' mean?"
Lu Xuan said, "The yield of the mutated improved variety can reach thousands of catties per mu, and it only takes less than two months to harvest."
Everyone: "!!!"
Lu Xuan: "These goods, though not cheap when accumulated, are the most expensive. However, you need not worry about not being able to afford them. You can buy them on credit and use part of the grain harvest to pay off the debt. As long as you cultivate enough land and build enough greenhouses, the debt will definitely be paid off in less than six months at most."
The population of the prefectural city is two to three times that of Yangshan County, so the scale of its farmland must be at least double, right? If it were even more, that would be even better.
All the officials present were speechless.
They were completely dumbfounded.
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Author's Note: Today's thank-you list:
"Changyushan", irrigated with nutrient solution +40 2025-05-13 ~ 05-16 23:18:54
Thank you to "吉利布丁", "文文", "时梦梦", "花落", and "晨曦微光" for the nutrient solution!
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