……

Wang Shouzhe’s father-in-law, Liu Gaowang, gave him a meaningful glance.

Although you have a good relationship with the people from the academy, how can our Ping’an Town digest forty thousand people all at once?

Chen Dewei of the Chen’s Clan in Donggang also looked at Wang Shouzhe with some worry. The total population of Ping’an Town is only forty thousand, right?

Fang You’an looked deeply at Wang Shouzhe, a touch of emotion in his eyes. “Shouzhe, I see your determination to solve the problem. But these forty thousand people are too many. We can think of other ways.”

Fang You’an had come this time to undertake a large-scale task. As the inspector general, if he failed to provide effective disaster relief this time, it would affect his future development. How could he not be moved by Wang Shouzhe’s cooperation?

“You’an, since there is a problem, we must solve it,” Wang Shouzhe said seriously. “In the past two years, our Wang’s Clan has stored some grain. If we buy more from other places, we can barely support forty thousand refugees for a year or two. During this time, Ping’an Town needs to dredge the river and reinforce the river embankment. We are short of manpower.”

“Good. Since you are determined, Shouzhe,” Fang You’an said, “I will strive to exempt Ping’an Town from taxes for three years. You can collect the usual taxes and keep them for your own use.” He must have been confident to say this, and it was a way of returning the favor.

“Thank you, Brother You’an,” Wang Shouzhe bowed in gratitude.

“Good spirit, good strategy,” Lei Qiuwei of the Lei’s Clan praised. “Since Brother Shouzhe can be so bold, our Lei’s Clan can’t fall behind. We will take in another five thousand people.”

The other clans also expressed their willingness to take in more refugees.

Among them, the Gongsun’s Clan of Shanyang, the Liu’s Clan of Shanyin, and the Chen’s Clan of Donggang. They all received Wang Shouzhe’s hint and finally gritted their teeth and agreed to take in an additional ten thousand people.

Under Wang Shouzhe’s leadership, the refugee problem, which was originally very tricky, was easily solved.

Fang You’an’s mood suddenly improved. He raised his glass and said, “In the face of disaster, we in Changning Wei can unite like this. On behalf of the refugees, I thank you all for standing up and taking responsibility.”

After that, everyone was happy.

After this welcoming banquet.

The whole Changning Wei entered into disaster relief mode.

And the Wang’s Clan of Ping’an, under Wang Shouzhe’s decision, fully entered into the big plan.

Clan members, family generals, and outstanding members of the side branches.

All threw themselves into work.

Expanding temporary refugee camps, transferring food, organizing the reception of refugees, registering them, and making various follow-up arrangements.

Of course.

Once the refugees were somewhat settled, the Wang’s Clan would organize them. Those who were supposed to build river embankments would build river embankments, and those who were supposed to dredge rivers would dredge rivers.

Even in Wang Shouzhe’s grand plan for Ping’an Town, the future waterways would crisscross in all directions, and some new rivers would need to be dug or expanded.

His plan was to gradually turn the entire Ping’an Town into a granary with countless good fields.

As the head of the clan, he naturally only needed to focus on the big picture and make overall arrangements.

……

Xingsheng Farm is one of the main bases of the Wang’s Clan.

After continuous development, the arable land of Xingsheng Farm has reached seven thousand mu, nearly double the less than four thousand mu ten years ago.

But at this time, Xingsheng Farm has entered a bottleneck period for reclamation and it is difficult to expand rapidly.

The reason is simple, it is surrounded by hills and mountains. The terrain suitable for irrigation has been fully developed.

The remaining areas are highlands with very high terrain. It is a struggle to expand them into farmland, and irrigation is the biggest problem. If water resources are transported by manpower, the final cost of output is so high that even the Wang’s Clan can’t bear it.

Similar problems of reclamation bottleneck period are widespread throughout Ping’an Town.

After a long period of reclamation and Wang Shouzhe’s incentives for reclamation.

Now in the whole Ping’an Town.

The total number of clan fields owned by the Wang’s Clan has reached more than sixty thousand mu, with a total of thirteen large and small farms. The number of fields owned by other civilians has reached more than one hundred thousand mu.

The total is one hundred and seventy thousand mu of good fields, ranking in the top three in the whole Changning Wei region.

If they want to develop further, they can only make those terrains that are not suitable for farming suitable for farming.

Ping’an Town is surrounded by mountains, and most of the land inside is hilly. In an area of only about four thousand square kilometers, more than seventy to eighty percent is hilly and mountainous land that is not suitable for farming.

Faced with so many hilly terrains in Ping’an Town, the best solution Wang Shouzhe can think of is the terraced field model.

In this world, agriculture has also developed for a long time. Developing terraced fields in such hilly areas is not Wang Shouzhe’s original idea, and there are many similar records in the academy.

But in this world, terraced fields are not mainstream, and they can’t even be considered niche.The reason is simple. The cost of reclaiming each acre of terraced fields is several times that of ordinary grain fields. The difficulty of farming is also higher, coupled with the difficulties in transportation and irrigation, and so on.

This has resulted in the production cost per unit acre being far higher than the purchase price of grain.

Under such circumstances, which noble family would develop terraced fields?

One day, Wang Shouzhe arrived at the thriving farm.

The current person in charge of the thriving farm is a female collateral clan member named Wang Juan. She has been very smart since she was a child, and she has studied in the clan school of the Wang’s main house. Since then, she has been developing in the thriving farm.

Relying on her serious responsibility and long-term accumulation, her performance has become more and more outstanding. From being a manager to a decision-maker, and then to a major decision-maker, she is also a leader among the collateral clan members.

“Wang Juan, pay homage to the clan leader.” Wang Juan, along with some decision-makers from the farm, greeted Wang Shouzhe’s arrival.

She is only about twenty-six or seven years old now, but she is calm and capable. Even Ancestor Xie Han has always praised her.

“No need for formalities.” Wang Shouzhe waved his hand lightly, “I came here this time mainly to check the development and technological progress of the terraced fields. Wang Juan, you take me to see it first.”

In his original plan, the large-scale development of terraced fields would take place in the next one or two years. However, this flood has caused a large number of refugees to be displaced.

Therefore, it is urgent to establish a terraced field farm. Otherwise, just dredging the river and building river embankments, where would so many people be needed? Even if the Wang’s Clan is wealthy, they can’t afford too many idle people.

“Yes, clan leader.” Wang Juan didn’t waste words, and directly led Wang Shouzhe to the experimental terraced field.

This large experimental terraced field is built on the north slope of the thriving farm.

The north slope faces the south with plenty of sunlight, the slope is small, and there is a lot of space for development.

There are already large terraced fields built on the north slope. It is now the time for wheat to fill the ears. Wang Shouzhe looked at it and saw a sea of green. The layers are staggered, quite spectacular.

“Reporting to the clan leader.” Wang Juan led Wang Shouzhe over to report, “This experimental terraced field is about three hundred acres, and the wheat planted is our Wang’s No. 19 variety. Because it is easier to control the irrigation water, it can work more finely. Therefore, the growth momentum is very good, and the wheat produced may be of better quality.”

“Farming terraced fields is not easy, mainly reflected in the difficulties in development, irrigation, and transportation.” Wang Juan said succinctly, “Let’s talk about the difficulty in transportation first. Because the terraced fields are staggered in height, the various transportation costs are very high, often requiring human labor. In response to this, I built a ribbon-shaped cement road between the terraced fields according to the clan leader’s instructions. In this way, we can transport by ox cart, horse cart, or rickshaw. Although the initial investment is large, it can save long-term transportation labor.”

Wang Shouzhe saw a winding cement road winding up among the terraced fields of varying heights, all the way to the top of the terraced fields.

“In addition, I also built a monorail transport car for the experiment as the clan leader requested.” Wang Juan said, “There is a winch at the highest point of the terraced field, which can drive the winch gear with ox power and pull the monorail transport car to the highest point. After being filled with grain, the monorail transport car can slide down by its own power. The speed of harvest is faster than that of ordinary farmland.”

While speaking, Wang Juan also showed Wang Shouzhe admiring eyes. It is indeed the clan leader, full of ingenious ideas everywhere.

The monorail transport car is a product that Wang Shouzhe has asked craftsmen to build for experiments over the years. It is not suitable for flat ground, but suitable for high-altitude areas. Some mountain orchards on Earth use this.

The only problem is that the demand for iron is extremely high. Even just building a monorail is extremely iron-consuming.

Because of this.

In recent years, Ping’an Town has been purchasing a large amount of crude iron from the outside, even at a premium.

The demand for crude iron in Ping’an Town is too great, and iron is needed everywhere.

“What about irrigation?” Wang Shouzhe asked further.

“We plant a large number of water storage trees at high places to maintain a certain amount of water. In addition, we have also excavated and repaired a water storage sky pond with cement. The water storage sky pond can effectively irrigate the entire terraced field, and the excess water will also enter the canal and flow into the river.” Wang Juan said, “I also want to ask the clan leader for instructions. At the top of the Luoying Gorge cliff, using its original recessed sky groove, build a large water storage sky pond, and build an aerial canal to connect all the water storage sky ponds of the terraced fields. Once there is a shortage of water in the dry season, we can build a water dragon array at the bottom of Luoying Gorge to pump water to the top of Luoying Gorge.”

This plan?

Wang Shouzhe was also surprised by her. It seems that the handwriting is a bit big, right? This girl’s brain hole seems to be bigger than his.

But this girl has always been very smart, very hardworking, and has a deep cultural foundation.

When she was helping Wang Lici study, Wang Shouzhe had already experienced it.

Obviously, she worked hard when she was young in the clan school.

It was also that time that she entered Wang Shouzhe’s vision.”Patriarch,” Wang Juan said, “I have surveyed a large amount of terrain and drawn up preliminary blueprints. Although the initial investment is huge, once successful, we can transform all the hilly slopes around the prosperous farm into terraced fields and solve the irrigation problem during the dry season.”

His last sentence convinced Wang Shouzhe: “Just organize a detailed plan and a preliminary budget and come to me.”

“Yes, Patriarch.” Wang Juan’s eyes shone brightly, she was very excited. She felt lucky to have met a patriarch who could fully utilize her abilities.

“Also, organize a plan for large-scale development of terraced fields,” Wang Shouzhe instructed.

The biggest problem with terraced fields is the cost. If ordinary grains are planted, they could plant until the Wang’s Clan goes bankrupt. However, if they plant the Wang’s Clan’s No. 19 wheat, it would be profitable in the long run.

“Yes, Patriarch.”

……

At night, inside the estuary of the East Sea.

A large sea freighter, after a journey of wind and waves, arrived at the relatively calm estuary.

Inside the cabin.

Wang Zongchang finished the last bit of accounting, and after a careful check, there were no problems. He then stretched lazily, feeling somewhat relaxed.

They were about to arrive at the East Port, and he had completed more than half of this mission. He got up and left the cabin to get some fresh air at the bow of the ship.

The moon was bright tonight, and the sky was full of stars.

Suddenly, a shout came from the cabin: “Xiao Zheng, are you crazy? You dare to touch this.”

“Get out of my way, or die!” A voice roared with extreme ferocity.

“Clang, clang, clang.”

A series of sounds of swords clashing rang out.

“You dare, aren’t you afraid of the young master… Ah~” A scream sounded.

“I need power, I need revenge. Boss, I’m sorry!”

“I said, get out of my way or die.” The voice continued to roar.

Several workers from the Chen’s Clan instinctively rushed over.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

They had just reached the cabin door when they were thrown back and fell on the deck, their necks cut open, and they were dead.

A bloodied young man rushed out of the cabin, holding a steel knife in his hand, his face was ferocious, and his eyes were even more blood-red.

Without hesitation, he rushed towards the side of the deck, ready to jump into the sea.

“Father, sister! I have gained power!” The young man’s eyes were flashing red, and he seemed somewhat delirious as he shouted, “Wait, wait! I will definitely avenge you.”

They were already close to the port here, as long as he could escape into the sea, he could go anywhere in the world.

Suddenly!

A white sword light cut through the night sky and slashed towards the young man.

Although the young man was in a strange state, his reaction was very fast, and he swung his knife to block.

“Clang!”

A heavy sound of metal clashing rang out.

The young man seemed to have hit an invisible wall, and he retreated four or five steps. His blood-red eyes looked at the newcomer with some fear and roared, “Who are you? How dare you block my way.”

A heroic young man dressed in Xuanwu attire, holding a broad-bladed sword, his face as cold as water said, “You scoundrel, you killed someone and still want to run? Surrender now and come with me to East Port to face your punishment.”

This heroic young man was naturally Wang Zongchang, who had come to the bow of the ship for some fresh air, but he didn’t expect to encounter this scene.

As an ally of the Chen’s Clan in East Port, he naturally wouldn’t stand by.

“Get out of my way or die!” The blood-red young man roared madly and charged at Wang Zongchang.

“You dare to resist.” Wang Zongchang’s face was as cold as water, his figure slightly swayed, and he drifted in the night like a willow catkin in the wind.

The Wang’s Clan’s unique skill, “Willow Catkin Body Technique”, had been practiced by him to perfection.

He flicked his wrist, and the sword light flashed away. It was the Wang’s Clan’s Xuan Yuan Sword Technique, which was upright and pure, and extraordinarily powerful.

……