The most difficult season in the deserted land is actually June.
In Suldak's memory, June is the season when all things grow and prosper.
For people in barren lands, hardship continues before the rainy season arrives. Even cassava is more expensive this year than in previous years.
There are nearly 7,000 people in the nineteen natural villages in the deserted land. Only half of them can fill their stomachs. The remaining half of the people who can afford to go out to make a living have also left the deserted land to make a living outside.
There are some old people and children left. The women cannot leave the barren and desolate land, and there is no one to help them. Their family members who are seeking a living outside cannot bring back food in time, or there are no such family members at all, and some people will starve.
At this time in previous years, some people in Wall Village would go to Oak Ridge to dig wild vegetables for food.
Wall Village has changed a lot this year. All the villagers who are willing to work have made some money. Although the wheat produced by themselves is not enough to eat, as long as they live a more careful life and mix it with some chestnuts, pumpkins, multigrain beans, etc., they can survive the long
There will still be some surplus food left after winter.
Even if some families have eaten up all their grain reserves, as long as they are not lazy and are willing to work on the reservoir construction site, they can still get something to eat.
Suldak, Luke and some respected old people in the village gathered at the home of the old village chief Bright. Aunt Bright made lemon tea for everyone. The room was full of people. Luke and several young people in the village crowded in
In the corner of the living room, everyone was busy making tea for everyone and chewing roasted pumpkin seeds.
Life is not so hard, the wheat in the fields does not grow poorly due to lack of water, the villagers all have confident smiles on their faces, and even when they chat, they become much more humorous.
Surdak sat next to the old village chief, and almost everyone looked at Surdak and the old village chief.
Seeing that the people had almost arrived, the old village chief knocked the pipe in his hand hard.
‘Tuk Tuk Tuk’
The oak pipe hit the edge of the wooden bench, making a series of muffled sounds, and the living room immediately became quiet.
The village chief Bright looked around the living room, and then said: "Nearly all of you here are parents of various families in the village. It was Xiao Dak's initiative to invite all of you here today. From now on, Wall Village
No matter what matters are discussed inside, this method will continue, and everyone can gather here to discuss anything."
One of the young people leaning in the corner stood up and bravely asked:
"Uncle Brett, you mean that if you don't care whether something is fair or not, right? We can object to the decision?"
Chief Bright's eyes widened and he shouted angrily: "How dare you?"
The young man was so frightened that he immediately retreated into the crowd, not really daring to stand out again.
There was a burst of laughter in the living room.
"It was my idea to invite everyone here today!" Suldak said, and the living room suddenly became quiet, and everyone turned their attention to him.
Surdak leaned on his chair and said to everyone: "I plan to build a children's home in the village to take care of children. It will provide three meals a day for free. In addition, I will teach the children some Imperial language, basic combat skills, and life skills.
Common sense, etc., children who cannot be taken care of in the village can be sent to the children's home. This can also free up the women who take care of the children at home and participate in the production and construction of the village."
Hearing what Surdak said, the surrounding villagers began to talk about it.
Surdak raised his voice and said: "Whether it is the reservoir construction site, artificial drainage canal, tidal flat land reclamation, carpentry workshop, village fleet, or starch workshop, we need to add more manpower, and as long as they are willing to come out to work, they can
I can earn a living."
An old man sitting next to Bright Village Chief opened his eyes, looked at Suldak and asked:
"Little Duck, are you telling the truth? Anyone's child can be sent to this children's home? Not only will he help take care of it, but he will also give him a stutter every day?"
Suldak glanced at Uncle Bright. When he first mentioned this matter to him, Uncle Bright was opposed to it.
Although he frowned this time, he did not object.
Suldak nodded and said: "That's exactly it!"
A middle-aged man stood up. He was one of the only hunters in the village who was good at hunting gray rock iguanas. His best thing was finding the hiding places of gray rock iguanas.
At this time, he seemed a little excited and asked Surdak:
"Can we also teach them Imperial language and combat skills?"
Surdak nodded and said, "I can let Selina teach me Imperial Language. I will arrange for members of the security team to take turns teaching me combat skills."
The villagers seemed a little excited and asked one after another: "How old do you have to be before a child can be sent to the children's home in the village?"
Suldak thought for a moment and said, "Children under eight years old can come here to stutter."
As soon as Suldak finished speaking, the living room exploded. Everyone did not expect such a good thing, and they all discussed whose children were qualified to enter the children's home.
The old village chief Bright frowned, turned to Suldak and said:
"A seven- or eight-year-old boy can almost eat as much as an adult at one meal. Duck, this is too much of a burden on our village. Should we lower the age limit?"
Many seven- and eight-year-old children in the village can help adults pull weeds in the wheat fields, which is at least half a labor force at home.
Suldak was also worried that if the children's home was made too big at once, there might be some flaws, so he said: "Then it will only be for those under six years old!"
Seeing that everyone was talking lively, Luke, who was huddled among the young people, suddenly stood up and said to Suldak:
"Dak, I haven't had time to say anything since I came back this time..."
The living room became quiet again. Everyone in the village knew that Luke and Charlie were the directors of the sulfur mine. He and Charlie had the most say among the young people in the village.
Luke hesitated for a moment and said: "The open-pit sulfur mine in the Pudong Mountain rock area has almost been mined. Charlie went there this time and planned to explore the area outside the rock area. He saw that there were
There is no such thing as an open-pit sulfur mine. Once the open-pit sulfur mines are mined out, we simply cannot sustain the current huge expenditure."
The villagers in the living room couldn't help but look at each other. They didn't expect that the duck that was about to reach its mouth would fly away soon.
After all, the current situation in Wall Village is like this. In addition to Surdak paying for it out of his own pocket, this open-pit sulfur mine is also another economic pillar. Now that the sulfur in the mine is about to be exhausted, everyone really can't accept it.
Surdak waved his hand to Luke, indicating that he didn't have to worry, and then said: "In a few days, I will go to Pussy Mountain to conduct field exploration in person. How can such a huge volcano only have a land of sulfur?
The good news is, when I went there last month to erect boundary markers, I found that there were still several stone remains left by the lava river. Although the sulfur mines there are not as concentrated as the rocky area, the entire lava river is full of sulfur deposits.
Rivers are everywhere.”
Hearing what Suldak said, the tense atmosphere in the living room suddenly relaxed again.
Seeing that everyone accepted the proposal, Surdak continued: "This is what I think. Now is the time when there is no business, and people in other villages are not having a good time either. I can't control adults, but as a Pa
The Sheriff of the Badlands of Gros Pass..."
Speaking of this, Suldak's voice became louder.
"I don't want any children in my jurisdiction to starve to death because they don't have enough food to eat. If there is no milk and oatmeal porridge, it's okay to have a sip of multigrain porridge."
Having said this, Suldak tapped the knight's medal of the Guard Battalion on his chest with his hand, and several villagers who wanted to express their objections immediately swallowed their words.
Aunt Bright and Charlie's wife ran over again and refilled the water for everyone.
Suldak paused for a moment and then said:
"So... I think that this children's home in our village can recruit children from the nineteen natural villages in the entire deserted land, especially those who are young and cannot eat!"
The villagers in the living room immediately started shouting:
"How many children will we have to take in? Our village will be destroyed!"
"That's right, little Dak, you can't do this. Wouldn't it be a drag on all of us..."
"I just had a few hearty meals and forgot about everything. How many people are starving in the deserted land? Can we all handle it?"
The old village chief Bright wiped his face vigorously. When he heard everyone saying this, he didn't even think about cursing.
'What a bunch of short-sighted fools!'
The old village chief sighed and thought in his heart.
Suldak did not expect that so many people would raise objections.
The reason for everyone's opposition is not wrong. They are worried that the starving children in other villages will usurp everyone's vested interests.
Surdak had already decided on this matter. He was silent for a moment and then said:
"This money does not come from the village. The sulfur mines in the rocky area are jointly developed by me and the village. However, if the sulfur mines found in my knight territory are my industry, I will draw a portion of the income from these industries.
Money to pay for this part of the expenses!”
Just as the old village chief expected, when Suldak said this, the doubts and objections in the living room disappeared again.
It’s just that they didn’t know that some of the dividends from the mines that belonged to them had also disappeared. Perhaps it was those few words that made Suldak determined to separate the subsequent development of the sulfur mine from the village. After all, the sulfur mines were not even mined.
The miners are all kobold slaves.
Since Suldak paid for it out of his own pocket and it was beneficial to everyone, the villagers naturally no longer objected, but some villagers secretly thought angrily: Why can children from other villages also enjoy this kind of benefit...
Someone questioned: "What to do with those children who live far away from home? Should we still let them live in the village?"
Surdak said casually:
"There are many projects in the village this year. We need manpower everywhere, and we have to take care of our own wheat fields. The artificial ditch on the tidal flat has almost been dug, but the field in the middle has not been cultivated. Those who are willing to send their children to
For the needy households here, we can arrange something for them to do in the village, which can at least give them something to eat. I think we can also build some reed mat work sheds. Although these work sheds cannot stop the heavy rain, they can at least accommodate people.
The rainy season is here, and it’s time for them to return to the village.”
The old village chief sat aside and interjected:
"The wasteland on the tidal flat is not unplanted. The water in the reservoir above has bottomed out. In order to ensure the irrigation needs of the village's wheat fields, the water sources available on the tidal flat are very limited. It is so dry now.
The pits can raise a cloud of dust, and there is no moisture in the ground, making it impossible to grow other crops."
Surdak said casually: "You can choose some drought-resistant crops, and the tidal flats are originally low-lying lands, so the drought should not be that serious. I will solve this matter..."
The old village chief said again: "Dake, there are places that need to spend money now. Should we postpone building a third-level reservoir for a while?"
Surdak shook his head and said firmly: "The project cannot be stopped, and don't think about whether the money bag can sustain it. This time the plane war in the Maca plane has been won, and our advance support troops have gained a lot.
The advantage is that if the third-level reservoir is not built at this time, once the rainy season comes, it may not be possible to restart the expansion project until September at least. It is best to build the fourth-level reservoir this year.
, so that if a fourth-level reservoir is built before winter, it will at least ensure that the tidal flat will be irrigated during the dry season next year.”
The old village chief nodded and said: "The tapioca starch in the village has already opened up a market in the market of Hailansacheng. Although the price is not as good as that of wheat flour, it can still bring us a good profit."
Hearing that there was such an income in the village, the originally resentful villagers suddenly became happy again.
Suldak told the old village chief Bright: "The artificial water channel has been opened to the entrance of the underground river, but before the rainy season comes, I plan to continue to widen and deepen the river channel. The deeper and wider the river channel will be, and when the rainy season comes, it will be able to withstand
Even if there is more rain, those kobold slaves can’t be left idle anyway, we have to find some work for them.”
The villagers quite agree with this.
'Yes, we must not let those kobold slaves idle!'
Surdak continued:
"And I want to dig a large lake at the entrance of the underground river to enhance the water storage capacity. Otherwise, once the rainfall exceeds the discharge capacity of the underground river, waterlogging is likely to occur..."
"This time I bought a batch of tomato, onion, and cabbage seeds from Baixiang Trading Company. We can plant these seeds in advance before the heavy rain comes. It is estimated that it will not take much water to cultivate these seedlings. Once the rainy season arrives, we will
Just transplant these seedlings directly into the fields, which can shorten the growth cycle of crops."
The villagers looked confused. They couldn't understand anything about seedlings or the production cycle...
After discussing so many things, the old village chief Bright rubbed his wrinkled forehead.
As I get older and my memory is bad, I can no longer even remember some of the previous things. I keep thinking in my mind: 'Little Duck, how come you have so many ideas at once?'