Chapter 113: Setback
Editor: Atlas Studios
This was the first time Mu Yangling came to the camp to look for Qi Haoran. Not only did Qi Haoran run out, but Fan Zijin also followed behind him.
“What happened?” Qi Haoran hurriedly asked.
“Nothing happened. I just thought of a good idea and came to tell you that.” Mu Yangling looked at him with bright eyes. “What do you think about building a reservoir while you dig for mud to build the houses?”
Qi Haoran was stunned for a moment before he was overjoyed. “You mean to build a reservoir at the place where we dig for mud? That’s right. Since we have to build civilian houses and barracks, we need a lot of mud. This can save a lot of effort.”
Fan Zijin, who was standing at the side, could not help but dampen their spirits. “You’re dreaming too much. Are you sure there’ll be yellow mud suitable for building houses in the place where you build the reservoir? Vice versa?”
Qi Haoran and Mu Yangling were both optimistic. He waved his hand and said, “I’m sure we’ll find somewhere suitable for both. I’ll send some men to take a look now.”
Fan Zijin looked at the enthusiastic duo and swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth. Forget it, he would just accompany them.
As Mu Yangling walked, she said, “The reservoir can’t be built just like that. Why don’t we go to the county and ask the registrar? Since they’re in charge of agriculture, they might be able to introduce a few talents to us.”
“Alright, we know nothing about farming. I also want to ask Song Zhi for more people who know how to farm.”
Mu Yangling nodded repeatedly. “Yes, certainly. You can also find those old men who are very good at farming in the fields. They know a lot. When you bring them over, you must introduce them to me.”
Mu Yangling had only seen farming before. At most, she had learned a little about it from books and television in her previous life, but there were too many modern factors mixed in. She was not sure if what she knew could be applied to the present. More importantly, understanding did not equate to practice. She had never farmed before.
“No problem. I’ll get someone to call you later.”
Looking at the two extremely confident people, Fan Zijin felt a little defeated for no reason. The two of them were people who did whatever they wanted without thinking about the consequences. One Qi Haoran was already tiring enough for him. Now, there was also Mu Yangling. When would the days of cleaning up their mess end?
When Song Zhi heard that Qi Haoran wanted to build a reservoir, he naturally agreed to help. Even though most of Mingshui County had become under the control of the army, it was still under Mingshui County’s jurisdiction. Of course, he would be glad to see Mingshui County do well. Therefore, Song Zhi expressed that apart from manpower and material resources, he would support Qi Haoran on a technical level.
Qi Haoran had manpower; as for logistics, he could ask his brother for it. The only thing he lacked was technical support.
When he heard that they were going to build the reservoir and dig out mud to build houses at the same time, two drops of cold sweat slid down Song Zhi’s forehead. After some deliberation, he persuaded, “Erm… the place where the reservoir is built might not have the yellow mud that’s suitable for building houses.”
Qi Haoran nodded and said, “I know. That’s why I came to look for Magistrate Song. I want to find a place that’s suitable for building a reservoir which also has mud suitable for building houses.”
Song Zhi: “… I’ll get someone to take a look.”
When the soldiers under Qi Haoran heard that he wanted to build a reservoir, they objected agitatedly.
In the past ten days, they had already been exhausted from training and work. Most importantly, they could only eat until they were 70% full. If they were to build a reservoir in addition to all that, they suspected they would die from exhaustion. When several of them went home and saw that their brothers were still the same while they had grown as thin as bamboo poles, they immediately felt unbalanced.
The commotion in the military camp became even more serious.
Qi Haoran’s face darkened. He did not expect the greatest resistance to come from his subordinates.
Fan Zijin said, “We have to give them benefits. Otherwise, we will suffer if they slack off.”
Frowning hard, Qi Haoran said aggrievedly, “Haven’t I given them enough? I’ve already compressed the four hours of training every day to two hours. What can I accomplish in two hours a day? I can’t even line them up properly.”
Seated beside him, Mu Yangling supported her chin with her hand. “We have to let them eat their fill and rest enough. It’s best if we can let them have meat. This way, they’ll be willing to work. There’s still at least two months before the snow melts. It’s enough time for us to dig the reservoir.”
“You make it sound so nice. We don’t have enough grains to feed them. Meat? If there’s enough vegetables, they should be thanking the heavens already.” Fan Zijin said unhappily, “The army is very poor. It’s only because Cousin takes care of them that they can eat until they’re 70% full. You don’t know how dissatisfied the generals of the other divisions are.”
This was because in their opinion, the possibility of the people from the 5th Division going to the battlefield was very low, but the treatment they received was better than theirs.
In the army, good things were reserved for elite soldiers.
Mu Yangling’s shoulders slumped. “Then what should we do? Conscript the able-bodied soldiers from the military households? Then everyone will definitely have greater objections.”
Qi Haoran snorted and stood up. “If anyone dares to have any objections, just tell them to come at me.”
Qi Haoran left angrily, leaving Mu Yangling and Fan Zijin looking at each other.
Fan Zijin blamed Mu Yangling. “It’s all your fault for coming up with this rotten idea.”
“You won’t say that when these reservoirs start working.”
Fan Zijin snorted. Mu Yangling slapped her butt and left to go back and plow the soil.
At this time, Mu Shi was already in the field. He was acting as the ox pulling the iron plow at the front while Madam Ma-Liu was holding the iron plow at the back. They had finished plowing 80-90% of the land after a morning’s work.
After Mu Yangling ran back, she took a hoe and started plowing from another direction.
Xiuhong brought Xiulan and Bowen to pick up the grass stalks at the back. After piling them up, she took them to the edge of the field to discard them.
Mu Shi took a break halfway and came to look for his daughter. “How is it? What did Little General say? Are we going to build the reservoir?”
Because he had to find a suitable place and because of the commotion caused by the soldiers below, Mu Shi had already rested at home for three days.
Mu Yangling shook her head in frustration. “We have to wait for him to think of a solution.”
Mu Shi squatted beside his daughter and patted her shoulder. “Then let’s fix our land first.”
Mu Yangling nodded.
Although the construction of the houses and the reservoir had been put on hold for the time being, everything else was progressing very smoothly. In the past three days, Mu Yangling had taught them how to go about setting fire to the fields. All the families had started to set fire to the grass. Now, one-third of the grass in the fields had been burned.
Qi Haoran even sent people to guard the fields every morning. Once the fire went out of control, they would immediately go and salvage the situation. He also strictly stipulated that no more fires were allowed after the sun came out.
Qi Haoran had the power to order for someone to be killed in the military, so no one dared to violate his ban.
Mu Yangling stood up and pulled up the iron plow. “Father, you can plow the land. I’ll pull it.”
She still felt that pulling the iron plow was the easiest. It was similar to carrying Little Bowen on her back. Compared to plowing the ground, at least now she didn’t have to bend down.
Knowing that his daughter was strong, Mu Shi knew that pulling the iron plow was not considered hard work for her, so he waved his hand and let her go.
As she pulled the iron plow, Mu Yangling moved along quickly and steadily. Madam Ma-Liu was focused on holding the iron plow from behind. Seeing the deep and wide plowed land, she took the time to look up at Mu Yangling and felt that she was more useful than a cow.