Zhao Xian was very surprised. A young man with such great ambitions and concern for the country and its people could not be a simple refugee. He must have a very complicated background.
At this time, you shouldn't inquire. What you should do is help him, give him the opportunity to do his own thing, and help him realize his dreams.
"Li Guang, I have some land that I mortgaged a few years ago. I plan to redeem it. If you are interested, you can plant the crops you want on these lands and conduct research to realize your wishes."
Zhao Xian's words brought Li Guang a pleasant surprise. Conducting research on food crops to increase yields would benefit the country and its people, and Zhao Xian's willingness to help him deeply moved him.
"Thank you, Brother Zhao. I'm not afraid of hardship. I want to cultivate crop varieties that can increase production and income, benefiting all people." Li Guang bowed deeply to Zhao Xian.
Li Guang was broad-minded and, despite his young age, cared deeply about the world and hoped that he would achieve great things.
"Then it's settled. I'll go find the village head later and ask about the land redemption."
Seeing that the rice paddies had been irrigated, the two left. Zhao Xian, considering that he might need to buy some land in the future, decided to look around.
Zhao Xian has been in this world for more than ten days. Although his knowledge of history is not very good, he can still analyze that the Great Northern Dynasty should be a dynasty after the Jin Dynasty, a dynasty that does not appear in history books.
At that time, many places were wild and undeveloped, with large tracts of wasteland yet to be cultivated.
A little further from the village, there are large areas of abandoned fields. They are abandoned because the land was once cultivated, but due to the terrain, it was frequently affected by disasters, and the harvest could not be guaranteed, so it was eventually abandoned.
The wasteland covers thousands of acres, and in years with heavy rainfall, it is flooded and unsuitable for growing crops.
This year there has been less rainfall, so there is not much water in this barren field. This large area of barren land is covered with barnyard grass.
Barnyard grass is a type of weed that farmers hate. It is extremely resilient and easily grows in rice paddies, competing with crops for nutrients. Once farmers discover barnyard grass in their rice paddies, they immediately remove it.
The barnyard grass stretched as far as the eye could see, like a vast grassland, with several water buffalo leisurely grazing among it.
In some areas of the wasteland, the barnyard grass seeds have matured, and the tiny seeds fall to the ground, taking root and sprouting into new barnyard grass.
In low-lying areas where there is plenty of water, barnyard grass grows more luxuriantly and produces more barnyard grass.
"There's so much barnyard grass here, it's a pity it's inedible. I wish rice could have such a high yield," Li Guang said with a touch of melancholy.
In ancient times, barnyard grass was considered a harmful weed, mainly because it had low economic value and competed with rice for light, water, and fertilizer, thus taking away rice's living space and reducing rice production.
However, in modern times, barnyard grass can not only be made into feed, but is also an important raw material for brewing. Using barnyard grass instead of grain to brew wine can save a lot of grain.
I need to spend some time researching and developing millet wine so I can still make money.
There is indeed a lot of wasteland around the village; once it is reclaimed, crops can be grown there.
Gradually, Zhao Xian's thinking became clearer: first, he would redeem his family's land, and then buy some wasteland to cultivate and turn it into fertile land.
As dusk approached, the two began their journey back. Zhao Youzhu and Zhao Xiaosheng were resting by the river when they saw the two return, so they stood up and prepared to go home.
Just then, two young men walked over. They wore mourning badges on their arms and white cloths on their heads, making it clear that someone in their family had just passed away.
The two are brothers, about the same age as Zhao Xiaosheng, and are called He Lao Er and He Lao San respectively. They are not surnamed in the village.
Upon seeing Zhao Xian, the two smiled at each other as a greeting.
"Uncle Youzhu, could you lend us the waterwheel? Our fields have been dry for two days," He Lao Er said.
"The waterwheel is here, you can use it. What happened at home?" Zhao Youzhu asked with concern.
Their eyes began to redden, and He Laosan was already wiping away tears.
“We’ve been out of food for a long time. My grandmother was already in poor health, and she fell ill after eating wild vegetables for a long time. She passed away a couple of days ago. Right after my grandmother passed away, my father fell ill and vomited a lot of blood.”
The doctor said his stomach was rumbling with hunger and he didn't have much time left. It would be at least twenty more days until the rice was ripe, so it seemed my father wouldn't be able to eat this year's new rice.
Old Master He was also very weak, and his voice was feeble.
Zhao Xian was shocked. He had been busy with other things lately and had no idea that people in the village had already starved to death. The rice was still some time away from ripening, and if he didn't come up with some solutions, more people in the village would starve to death.
Perhaps only he could help the families in the village who had run out of food get through this difficult time. Thinking of this, he said to Li Guang:
"Let's go to the village head's house and ask him to think of a solution. No one else in the village can starve to death."
At this moment, the village head was resting in front of the door, his face full of worry. When he saw Zhao Xian arrive, he got up to greet him.
“Uncle Village Head, I heard that some people in the village have starved to death. Can you think of a way to help those villagers who have run out of food?”
"I was really worried about this. People hadn't starved to death for several years, but I never expected it to happen this year."
During this period, some waterwheels were built for other villages, and the village still has some money in its accounts. Under normal circumstances, this money is mainly used to help the elderly living alone and villagers who have lost their ability to work.
Most families in the village are now out of food, and that little money is simply not enough. Even if we were to provide relief, it would be difficult to find a standard, and mishandling the situation could easily lead to disputes and conflicts.
That's absolutely true. The village only has this much money, and with the recent surge in grain prices, even brown rice is selling for 20 coins a pound. Even if all that money were used to buy rice, it would be a drop in the ocean.
"I also inquired around, and the situation in our village is relatively better. In other villages, people have already starved to death."
In situations like this, the imperial court would not provide relief funds unless there were widespread starvation or a large number of displaced people.
However, I heard that Qing'an Prefecture is preparing to provide relief, but there are too many people in need, and the government's relief is limited. We must find our own way to overcome the current difficulties.
The village head was full of worry; he really couldn't think of any good solutions.
Zhao Xian glanced at Li Guang and noticed that he was anxious and uneasy, with a furrowed brow, seemingly even more worried than the village head.
In fact, Zhao Xian had already come up with a way to help the villagers, just like the time he bought dried mushrooms a few days ago, which was a very good way to help them.
He already had a solution when he looked at the barnyard grass in those thousands of acres of wasteland.
Most of the barnyard grass in the wasteland has matured, and he plans to buy it to make liquor later. He has some empty rooms in his workshop that can be used as warehouses for storing the barnyard grass.
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