Seeing this, Zhao the Seventh dared not say anything more. In any case, his people wouldn’t be going hungry.

He immediately cupped his hands. "Yes, sir! I will take my leave, then."

Cheng Zongyang then added, "Also, once the rain stops, gather your men. You will be responsible for supervising the work from now on. If you find anyone slacking, remove them immediately."

"Yes, sir!"

After Zhao the Seventh departed, Li Lu spoke up. "What if you successfully grow all this grain, but then the Government Office or the Thirteen Royal Families show up? Won’t all your hard work be for their benefit?"

Cheng Zongyang shook his head. "And what if they don’t? This four-month harvest will be enough for everyone in the entire County Town to make it through the year. After that, things will only get better. So, we have to take this gamble.

Besides, based on our analysis this morning, Da Liang is unlikely to compromise. The Thirteen Royal Families haven’t passed through here again, which means the route north isn’t in our territory. The force that captured Jade Peak County Town came from the direction of Linchuan.

Furthermore, the land I’m reclaiming for farming isn’t right next to the County Town; it’s out in the countryside. Even if they do come, they probably won’t bother entering the villages to inspect, will they?

There’s so much land in the villages right now, all of it ready. After the rain, the soil will be soft, and we can plant after just a little tilling. I need to head back today and have my people send the supplies over so we can make it in time for the spring planting.

As long as we can get through these next four months without any trouble, we’ll have won. The people of the County Town will be able to survive. It’s nothing but beneficial for our future development. It’s a risk worth taking!"

With that, Cheng Zongyang began to lay out the specific details.

"Also, I’ll be gone for the next few days. I need to contact my master and my kinsmen to have them deliver the crops. It will take some time.

The County Town is your domain now. You arrange the manpower. You must gather all the farmers with cultivation experience within seven days. Have them take groups of people and start clearing the land, beginning with Xu Family Village, west of the city. Don’t wait for everyone to be assembled to start working. Send however many you can get, and we can add more later.

If there isn’t enough land in Xu Family Village, then move south to Ping’an Village. We need at least a thousand mu of land.

Xu Family Village is relatively close to the County Town. It’s only about half an hour away on foot if you’re quick.

So the sooner, the better. Have every mu of arable land tilled and ready. When I return, we can begin planting immediately.

These farmers are experienced, so let them handle the arrangements. I will be back as soon as I can."

Li Lu listened carefully and felt there was merit to the plan. He said no more, preparing to inform the people from the other three districts to cooperate with Zhao the Seventh.

Cheng Zongyang also left the County Town and returned to the mountains, preparing to bring back the Medicinal Material seedlings that had been cultivated from cuttings.

Thanks to the Growth Liquid, Cheng Guangshan had used cuttings to cultivate a large number of Medicinal Material seedlings. They had all developed very well and were ready to be transplanted into new medicinal fields at any time.

Likewise, Li Xingyun and Emperor Ye had also used the Growth Liquid to propagate all sorts of melons, fruits, and native produce from the Wilderness World via cuttings, increasing their numbers for planting.

They had also experimented with Wilderness Rice.

Cheng Zongyang had originally thought it would be impossible for a sexually reproducing crop like rice, especially since its xylem was different.

However, after some experimentation, Li Xingyun and Emperor Ye discovered that the nodes on the stalk could sprout roots normally after being soaked and cultivated in the Growth Liquid. And since Wilderness Rice was quite tall, each stalk had seven nodes, which meant it could be propagated into seven separate plants!

Though they didn’t know what the final result would be, they continued their experiments.

When they later found that the nodes were rooting, sprouting, and growing leaves normally, they began a proper cultivation experiment. They also tested whether they could plant them more densely per mu.

As a result, 3,000 seedlings that had been cultivated on one mu of land for over a month were propagated via cuttings, producing 21,000 new plants! These were then planted across seven mu of land!

After a month of growth, the new plants were already calf-high and ready to be transplanted into larger fields at a moment’s notice.

But these seven mu were just an experiment. He couldn’t transplant them outside, lest environmental factors prevent them from producing grain.

This time, he would first return to the Wilderness World. He planned to have Li Xingyun set aside a few kilograms of rice seed, then soak and cultivate the rest. After a few days, once they’d grown a bit, he would pack their roots in mud and prepare to take them to the County Town.

Events in Jade Peak County unfolded quickly, and the residents of the County Town had mixed reactions.

However, under the pressure of the food shortage, almost everyone who could walk and work signed up.

With so many people, registering them one by one became impossible. After much consideration, Zhao the Seventh made a decisive call: each household could only send two people. No more. Furthermore, they had to bring their own farming tools.

The people in the County Town had few farming tools and could only search for them in the surrounding villages.

All they had to do was wait for the rain to stop.

As it turned out, the heavy rain poured for three straight days and nights.

Fortunately, it only rained for three days. The runoff, unable to soak into the saturated ground, flowed along the natural contours of the land into the surrounding dry riverbeds. This reduced the risk of flooding and also replenished the depleted groundwater.

On the fourth day, as the skies cleared, countless people surged out of the County Town and rushed toward the surrounding villages, searching for farming tools.

The lucky ones found tools in abandoned residences, which saved them some trouble.

Zhao the Seventh’s restriction of two people per household not only reduced food expenses but also boosted the residents’ motivation, as it was all for the sake of getting food. A two-person team meant a two-tael steamed bun each, plus all the dried fish soup they could drink.

A food shortage was inevitable, but the one small comfort was the free supply of dried fish soup. Even if they couldn’t get so much as a flake of fish, the soup was salted, flavorful, and they could drink as much as they wanted. Each person could even take one portion of soup home with them.