Xie Nanxiao shook his head. “Around ten thousand will arrive tomorrow. We don’t know how many will come after that, but there should be several tens of thousands in total. Should we settle them all in Ze’a Commandery?”
Yao Ji thought for a moment. “Several tens of thousands isn’t too many. Put them in Ze’a Commandery for now.”
The aristocratic clans had fought over Ze’a Commandery until only around thirty thousand commoners remained. At present, they were all in Feng’an County; nearly all the other counties had been emptied of people.
“We have to put the farmland to use as soon as possible. We have more than two hundred thousand people now. Last year’s grain definitely won’t be enough.”
Fortunately, they had crops such as radishes and potatoes, which had relatively short growing cycles and could fill people’s stomachs. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to last until the autumn harvest.
Xie Nanxiao gave a quiet “Mm.” “Don’t worry. Lady Mu has already arrived. As soon as we have enough hands, we can begin plowing and planting.”
Mu Wanbai had truly been busy lately. She had just finished arranging the farmland in Donghu Commandery when Ze’a Commandery was conquered, forcing her to hurry over.
At that moment, she was inspecting the farmland, water sources, and other conditions throughout Ze’a Commandery, making plans and preparing various seeds.
The farmland in Liuxiang Commandery was being handled by Mu Qing. He was getting old, and his body could no longer endure constantly traveling from place to place.
Xie Nanxiao sighed. “It’s a pity Lady Mu says it’s too late to raise rice seedlings now. We can only plant potatoes and sweet potatoes—oh, and corn, soybeans, and all kinds of vegetables.”
Hua Ruo thought potatoes were pretty good. “I think potatoes are quite delicious. Sweet potatoes can also be made into starch noodles. They taste good and can be stored for a long time.”
Xie Nanxiao smiled. “I heard corn can be ground into cornmeal and made into corn cakes or something similar. It can all serve as staple food. Corn has a high yield, and apparently even the stalks are sweet enough to feed livestock.”
Yao Ji reminded them, “We also need to keep fishing for sea fish. We’re seriously short on meat.”
Once Jiang Jin’s population had grown, vegetables were manageable. Crops with short growing cycles could quickly make up the shortage, but meat was another matter.
Although she had expanded the scope of animal husbandry and built livestock farms in every district—especially in Shantong County, where she had established a massive breeding area—livestock were not vegetables. They could not grow to maturity in a short time. They needed time.
Putting the commoners aside, Jiang Jin had to ensure that her soldiers could eat meat. Only then could she maintain their robust physical condition.
Thus, sea fish had become the best source of meat for the time being.
The naval forces had now become an all-purpose unit responsible for fishing, transporting people and supplies, and fighting battles.
Thinking of the countless tasks ahead, Yao Ji felt a headache coming on. “Construction here has to keep pace as well—urban development, barracks, horse ranches, roads, and so on. Has the planning department arrived?”
Xie Nanxiao nodded. “They have. But once the plans are finished, we’ll need the chief to review them before proceeding.”
“Lady Luo will arrive in a few days. There are still some matters in Donghu Commandery that she hasn’t finished handling. We can leave these things to her once she gets here.”
They were still accustomed to addressing Luo Qingci as Lady Luo.
Jiang Jin was also discussing the farmland with Mu Qing.
“We should plant more soybeans and sugar beets. We also need to plant some medicinal herbs that can be cultivated. Set aside a plot of land for the medical workshop.”
Soybeans had countless uses: pressing oil, feeding horses, making tofu, growing bean sprouts, and more. Most importantly, they were easy to store.
Mu Qing nodded in agreement. “I examined the soil. The land in Qinghuai County is well suited for growing medicinal herbs.”
“Fortunately, most of the farmland between the three villages is already planted with rice and wheat. Otherwise, we really wouldn’t have enough food.”
Jiang Jin had anticipated these circumstances, which was why she had instructed him to prioritize rice and wheat.
The farmland between the three villages amounted to seventy or eighty thousand mu planted solely with rice and wheat. As long as this year’s yields remained stable, the rice and wheat alone would be enough to feed several hundred thousand people.
Donghu Commandery had also planted quite a lot of rice and wheat.
On top of that, there were staple crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn, all of which yielded far more than rice.
By this calculation, even if the crops grown across the three commanderies were not enough to feed two million people, they could at least support more than a million.
And at present, Jiang Jin had fewer than three hundred thousand people in total, including both civilians and soldiers.
Mu Qing was startled when he did the math. He suddenly felt incredibly wealthy.
“Shouli County can grow medicinal herbs as well.”
He felt they should grow more medicinal herbs. After all, they had been at war recently, and the demand for medicine was considerable.
Jiang Jin had no objections. “Go ahead.”
Mu Qing said worriedly, “We didn’t build any water-storage projects in Donghu or Ze’a Commanderies. It’s already June, and it still hasn’t rained. The rivers in some areas are beginning to dry up.”
Jiang Jin waved her hand. “There’s no need to worry. I’ve already had the carpenters build waterwheels. Once they’re ready, we can draw water from the main river.”
Mu Qing’s face lit up. He had known for some time that Jiang Jin had a plan, but he had not expected her to put it into action so soon.
Was he about to witness another turning point in history?!
Seeing his expression, Jiang Jin couldn’t help smiling. “If you have time, you can visit the Gofeng Industrial Zone. They’ve already begun making them.”
She pointed to the map. “Liuxiang and Donghu Commanderies can both draw water from the Liu River. You can arrange for people to start digging canals from here to here, and then here…”
“As for Ze’a Commandery, I’ll ask Yao Ji later whether there are any sizable rivers nearby. If there aren’t, we’ll have no choice but to draw water from the Liu River. It’s just quite a long distance.”
The Liu River stretched across nearly the whole of Fengzhou and was the largest river in the region.
“All right.” Mu Qing nodded excitedly. “The distance isn’t a problem. I think Ze’a Commandery needs canals. The project may be large, but once it’s finished, we won’t have to worry about droughts again.”
Ze’a Commandery was situated on relatively low ground, so if canals were dug, they would hardly need to use waterwheels.
The only issue was the great distance and the enormous scale of the project.
In the long run, however, the undertaking would be well worth it.
Jiang Jin understood this as well and nodded. “We must also make proper preparations for drainage and flood control. It’s a drought now, but who knows whether there might be floods in the future? We can’t bring in water only to end up submerging the farmland.”
The two of them continued discussing matters until noon, finally settling the canal projects for each area.
In the afternoon, Zhou Sui hurried back.
“My lord, I’ve finished arranging the defenses in Liuxiang Commandery.”
Jiang Jin nodded, then asked as she remembered something, “How many people did you send to guard Pingwan County?”
There were two passes from Fengzhou into Quzhao: one at Gofeng, and the other at Pingwan County.
She wasn’t worried about Gofeng. It was as secure as an iron barrel.
Zhou Sui replied, “I sent more than a thousand soldiers. I also dispatched two teams to patrol back and forth between Chunrong County and Pingwan County. If anything happens, they’ll be able to spot it in time.”
A thousand or so soldiers was indeed not much for guarding a pass.
However, Jiang Jin was waging wars on every front, and her forces were already stretched thin. He did not want to waste troops on a small city.
Besides, the main forces of Quzhao were concentrated in Fengzhou, while the Quzhao tribes beyond the pass did not have many soldiers.
He offered a suggestion. “Couldn’t we build a main gate and a barbican at the pass in Pingwan County, just as we did at Gofeng?”
Jiang Jin thought for a moment. “We can.”
Xia Chanyi asked, “My lord, shall we attack Shu County next?”
Jiang Jin shook her head. “Our soldiers need time to rest as well.”
Although she badly wanted to seize all of Fengzhou in one uninterrupted push, her soldiers had been fighting at high intensity for so long that even men of iron would have been unable to endure it.
Moreover, she had quite a number of wounded soldiers now. They needed time to recover.
The newly conquered commanderies, counties, and cities also needed their defenses properly arranged. She could not fight desperately on the front line only to have someone sneak in and seize her rear.
Of course, that was merely one of the reasons.
More importantly, Zhou Leng had only just set out, and it was still uncertain how the negotiations would go. If she moved too aggressively now, both the Ji Army and the Jiao Army might make a move.
No matter how capable she believed herself to be, she did not think she could withstand a three-pronged encirclement by the barbarian armies at this point. She had to drive a wedge between them.
It was not that she had been unwilling to negotiate before. It was simply that the old Zhou Leng had been weak—at least, that was how others saw her.
The weak—their people, their forces, their nations—had no place at the negotiating table. That was reality.
The law of the jungle had remained unchanged since time immemorial.
But now, in just over a month, she had conquered three commanderies and proven her strength.
She now had the power to take her place at the table—or overturn it entirely. If the Ji Army and the Jiao Army wanted a share of the spoils, they would have to think carefully.
Only then would negotiations be possible.
