Martial Arts: Start by Obtaining the Wild World

Chapter 149 0148: Bargain hunting opportunity; drought ends!

One is unaware of the passage of time in the mountains, and of the vicissitudes of life in the outside world.

In the 459th year of Emperor Han's reign, at the beginning of February.

In the small village hidden in the inner mountain pass, spring is gradually coming into being as winter fades away.

The mountains and forests that were once covered in black have now been replaced with new green clothes. It seems that overnight, the earth shook off the traces of the destruction of life and put on the vibrant green clothes bestowed by the new year.

At the first light of dawn, a thin mist lingered in the mountains, gently covering the village like a veil.

Smoke from cooking fires rises from the riverside area, interweaving with the mist from the mountains and forests, outlining a hazy and peaceful picture. On both sides of the still dry river, in the long stretch of cultivated land to the north, villagers are swinging their hoes to prepare for the first spring ploughing of the year.

The land was loosened again, and as it was covered with rotten soil, it exuded a fertile smell, which was a guarantee of a good harvest in the future.

The children were helping to weed or chasing and playing on the ridges of the fields. The adults either continued to work and turn the soil and ignored them, or shouted to stop them with hoes in their hands, or changed to using rattan sticks to chase and beat them.

The laughter and crying of children, the scolding and laughter of adults, filled every corner of the village.

In Hanoi, at the entrance of the newly built hunting hall, five hunting teams led by warriors are checking their equipment and supplies, preparing for another day of hunting in the mountains.

The Hunting Hall now has ten teams, totaling fifty people. Every day, five teams take turns to go into the mountains to hunt.

Below the Hunting Hall is a large house with various exercise equipment, swords, guns, sticks, etc. placed on both sides of the door. This is where the martial arts hall is located.

At the entrance of the martial arts hall, there was a team of fifteen teenagers, who, under the guidance of their team leader Zhang Guangwen, had started their physical training early. They had not yet entered the martial arts realm, so it was time to lay the foundation.

These people all exchanged their earned contribution points for the qualification to practice martial arts. According to the rules, there are no other restrictions on the qualification to practice martial arts. Anyone with 1,000 contribution points can sign up, and the cost of the medicinal bath is included.

But if one wants to practice martial arts or go further after entering the realm of martial arts, one must either earn a large amount of contribution points to exchange for medicinal materials needed for medicinal baths or body-tempering powder to assist in cultivation, or sign a contract to receive free training.

Currently, there are eight foreign warriors in Chengjia Village. All of them have signed the contract and each has his own position.

Cheng Guanghai and Zhou Hansong walked slowly on the clean and smooth village road paved with large and small stones. The former listened while the latter spoke slowly:

"...The Household Registration Hall that Zongyang proposed before he left has been built. It is responsible for the new identity and household registration system and conducts two-way registration. It can ensure that identities will not be misused. He said that this can enhance the villagers' sense of belonging, which is of course good. But there will be marriage registration and reward systems and rewards later. Are these rewards a bit too high?"

After listening to this, Cheng Guanghai smiled:
"Brother, as long as the marriage is consensual, we will register it and only reward each of them 100 contribution points, and 500 points for each child. This is not much. The village has only a relatively sufficient number of people now, and we will have to increase the number of people later."

“But Yanger mentioned to me before he left that only by encouraging people to have more children can we enhance the new generation’s sense of belonging to Chengjia Village.

In ten years, the children today will grow up, have families and have children, and the population will increase. He said that with a larger population base, development will be faster. When I found many single men and women, I also planned to promote marriage.

The resources in the village are good now, and we can afford to raise more children. In the next few days, the rotten soil will be mixed and we can start farming.

If the harvest is as good as that rice ear, the harvest in four months will be enough to fill every household's granary. By then, the contribution system will have to be revised again."

At this point, Cheng Guanghai stopped and asked with concern: "Because of farming, the old man is busy every day. Can your body bear it?"

Zhou Hansong smiled bitterly and said, "He refused to listen to my advice. He said that this was all he could do, so he helped us keep an eye on it. However, the rice seedlings are ready. Once the rotten soil is mixed in the next few days, we can start spring ploughing.

But these 313 acres of arable land were all reclaimed in the direction of the salt mine. This also reached the planning limit set by Zongyang at the beginning, and it could not be expanded any further.

According to the results of the previous meeting, this year these farmlands are free for villagers to plant and manage by themselves. Half of the harvest is handed over after the harvest, and the rest belongs to the villagers. This is also to motivate the villagers and let them see the rice harvest with their own eyes.

In addition, the weather has been gloomy during this period, and I am afraid it will rain. Light rain is fine, but heavy rain may delay spring ploughing."

Since the beginning of the year, Cheng Zongyang sent back 700 kilograms of wild rice, and Cheng Guangshan began to cultivate it with the prepared growth solution, and it began to take root and sprout in just one day.

After a month of intensive cultivation, the rice has reached knee height and is waiting to be mixed with humus soil and tilled. It can then be transplanted into the field at any time.

Cheng Guanghai couldn't help but look up at the sky. The sky was getting darker and darker. He said, "It's good to have rain. It hasn't rained for several months since the fire. Maybe it's a good thing this time because the sky outside the mountain is the same."

As he spoke, he continued to walk towards the pharmacy.

Zhou Hansong also followed suit and sighed, "It is said that a major disaster or epidemic will never last more than three years. It has been three years, and the drought should be over by then."

Soon, the two of them arrived at a house in the northwest corner of Hanoi.

This is where the pharmacy is located. There are many medicinal herbs drying in front of the house, and six or seven acres of medicinal herbs planted behind and on the sides of the house. The entire area is surrounded by fences.

Cheng Guangshan was asking five or six medical students to sort out the dried herbs to prevent them from getting wet in the rain. He was fiddling with something on the wooden table at the door.

"Guangshan." Cheng Guanghai shouted.

Hearing the sound, Cheng Guangshan looked up and outside.

When he saw that it was his eldest brother and Zhou Hansong, he smiled and stood up to greet them: "Brother, Brother Song."

But the two did not go in, but just asked at the door: "Nothing else, just want to ask about the matter that Zong Yang proposed before he left, what do you think about it?"

Hearing this, Cheng Guangshan nodded and said, "I think it's possible. It can reduce the pressure on our farming here. But the problem is that we have too few warriors. If we arrange them out in the future, the Hunting Hall will be stretched to the limit."

Cheng Guanghai said: "Don't worry about that. It is estimated that among the second batch of fifteen people, someone will be qualified in half a month. They can be used. The old will lead the young and train them slowly. Besides, they are not outside every day, just patrolling occasionally."

Cheng Guangshan nodded slightly: "Then there will be no problem. It will only take a few days to cultivate the cuttings. If it can be done, the problem of medicinal materials will be completely solved. It depends on how Zong Yang arranges it when he goes to the county."

"Just try it. If it doesn't work, just withdraw it." Cheng Guanghai said with a smile.

At the same time, in Yufeng County, in Nantang Sixth Lane, south of the city, in Cheng Zongyang’s house.

The newly renovated house had four or five more maids, servants and a housekeeper.

In the living room of the front yard, Cheng Zongyang was talking with Li Lu.

He had been in the county town for three days and learned from Li Lu that the county town had changed a lot since he had last visited it for a few months.

His original plan of only coming for one day was delayed, so Zhao Laoqi could send a few experienced servants.

This time he planned to finish all the things before going back.

Today, Yufeng County has no government, and is only temporarily governed by gangs.

After Zhao Laoqi inquired from many sources and learned about the governance methods of the thirteen royal families, Cheng Zongyang realized that the opportunity to buy Yufeng County at a bargain price had come.

Although the war is still going on, the four prefectures of Xiangyang, Linchuan, Xichuan and Haining have almost fallen into the hands of the thirteen royal families, but the Jin State in the north has been successfully resisted at the border.

Daliang is still holding on, and seems to be waiting for something.

Similarly, the attacks of the Thirteen Royal Clans became more and more intense, as if they were racing against time. This also led to the fact that Yufeng County had been secretly controlled by Li Lu for two or three months since it was captured.

Without the government, the four gangs under Li Lu each governed an area to ensure the stability of the county, while also trying their best to obtain resources. However, due to the lack of supplies, more and more people fled the county.

These things are somewhat difficult for Cheng Zongyang to deal with at the moment.

Even though it only takes four months for the village to harvest no less than 800,000 kilograms of rice, except for the half-year food needs of the villagers, the rest can be sold. When the winter harvest comes, there will be another amazing harvest.

But this is just an idea, not really implemented. The harvest of grain has many uses, not only can it be used to make wine, but also to make various rice and flour by-products.

The only thing that can slightly solve the current problem is the 30,000 to 40,000 kilograms of dried fish in the wilderness world. Although there are still many that have not been dried.

As for other resources, they are just a drop in the bucket and cannot solve the problems of the county.

Li Lu came today not only to get the money, but also to discuss the follow-up with Cheng Zongyang.

"...We have managed to stabilize quite a few people, and this is all the money we have collected. Brother, the amount of dried fish you have is amazing. Talk to your master later and see if he can send us some food." Li Lu smiled and said, "Although everyone in the county is poor nowadays, it still makes some money."

Cheng Zongyang picked up the teacup and gently sipped the high mountain tea with a general tea taste. After putting down the teacup, he slowly said:
"My master wants silver and gold. As for these big coins and copper coins, my master and his people can't just take a lot of copper coins back, right?"

"Although we sold 8,000 kilograms of dried fish, we only made 120,000 copper coins. It sounds impressive, but it's only 12 taels of gold. After deducting the cost, there is not much profit."

As for the banknotes, they had become waste paper and he had not used them for a long time.

Li Lu smiled and said, "There's nothing I can do. You sell it at a high price, and the people don't have the money to buy it. I got this gold from some small families. But..."

"Boom~!"

Suddenly, a bolt of thunder exploded from the sky, instantly scaring both Li Lu and Cheng Zongyang.

Li Lu was stunned for a long time, and then his eyes slowly revealed a look of incredible excitement. Without saying anything else, he immediately stood up and ran out of the living room.

Seeing this, Cheng Zongyang also stood up and walked out, sighing with a complicated expression:

“It’s finally raining!”

The drought that lasted for three years and the gloomy sky for five or six days have finally come to an end.

In the yard, Li Lu opened his arms and looked up at the sky which was getting darker and darker, with thunder roaring continuously.

It seemed as if at this moment, the water-blocking dam that had been in place for nearly three years had been blown up, awakening countless numb lives!

"tick~tick~"

The raindrops fell on Li Lu's face like beans, which hurt slightly, but made Li Lu laugh happily. He opened his hands to catch the raindrops falling from the sky, and then held them in his hands.

The rain is gradually getting heavier!

It gradually turned into a downpour!

“Hahahaha! Hahahaha! It’s finally raining! Damn God! You finally opened your eyes!!”

Li Lu was extremely excited. He scooped up the rain water with both hands and poured it into his mouth, savoring the taste that he had not tasted for three years!

Only those who have experienced drought can understand this feeling.

Countless people know what this rain means.

At the same time, screams, cries, and cheers were heard one after another outside the room.

The rain in the sky seemed to sense the emotions of countless people who were staring at the clouds during a drought, and began to grow crazy.

Heavy rain poured down, infecting every inch of the thirsty land in the four prefectures, filling up countless cracks in the ground that had been formed into thousands of gullies due to dryness; the rain continued to seep downwards, and the earth seemed to want to take back the water that had been lost in the past three years!

The seeds sleeping in the ground take root, and the moment they feel the water, they are also filled with desire for the source of life. They seem to be afraid that the hard-earned water source will be lost again, so they frantically absorb it to fill their bodies.

Even the plants that were scorched by last year's fires and whose underground roots fell dormant began to break some of the laws of life in order to absorb more water, and quickly took root and sprouted, growing new green.

Everything is for survival!

So are plants, animals, and humans!

"Brother Cheng! Did you see that? It's raining! The drought is over! Everything will start over again!"

Li Lu, who was soaking wet, walked into the eaves, not caring about his own situation. He said to Cheng Zongyang excitedly: "The people will not leave again, and the county town will not become an empty city! We still have hope!"

Cheng Zongyang looked at the heavy rain under the dim sky. In his mind, the plan of sending people from his family to settle in the county, the plan of acquiring real estate in the county, the plan of cultivating medicinal herbs in exchange for food, the plan of grain seeds, etc., could finally be carried out one by one!
"After all the hard work, I'll leave the plans for some shops in the county to you, brother." Cheng Zongyang nodded slightly. Now the relationship between the two of them is no longer so formal, and they directly address each other as if they were close friends regardless of age.

Li Lu knew part of these plans, but Cheng Zongyang had already planned them, but they had been delayed because of water and resources.

Now, with a heavy rain, the problem has been completely solved!
What we need to do now is to get food! We need to get the county through the first four months!
"Don't worry, I have the final say in everything in the county. We can get some good shops and real estate. But regarding the cultivation of medicinal herbs in exchange for food, I will let Zhao Laoqi, Li Xian and the other four to cooperate with you. You can make the arrangements yourself.

But I am worried that if the Thirteen Royal Families evacuate in the future and this place is taken over by the government again, all your subsequent plans will probably go down the drain.”

Cheng Zongyang smiled and said, "Brother, this is also a gamble. Many of my previous plans could not keep up with the changes, resulting in a lot of useless work. I couldn't afford the loss before, but it doesn't matter now.

If I lose the bet, I will just lose something. At worst, I can just come back to my place and continue to run the business in a low-key manner.

If we win the bet, with the Thirteen Royal Clans' governance method, that's when we'll make a lot of money, and we'll have a place in the county! Brother, you have to prepare more too."

Li Lu smiled and said, "Don't worry. I will arrange everything."

This heavy rain, which is still continuing and pouring, fills the entire county with hope.

Li Lu didn't care about the heavy rain, instead he felt more relaxed.

However, Cheng Zongyang couldn't help but feel worried when he saw the heavy rain that would not stop in the short term.

Too much too!

When rain falls on the ground, it takes time for it to penetrate the earth. If the rain is too heavy, it will easily cause floods.

Everything might be fine outside, but it's a different story inside the mountain.

It's only outside that there's a water shortage, not inside the mountains!
"Fortunately, the river channel has been cleaned. I hope it will not affect the village." Cheng Zongyang said to himself.

(End of this chapter)