Natural disasters in books: I stockpiled goods to escape famine in ancient times

Zhou Huai didn't say anything. He wrote the letter and put it in the envelope before speaking: "Even if the Li family is no longer what it used to be, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. They still have some cards up their sleeves. Instead of pushing them into a corner and ignoring them, it's better to give them some sweet treats. As for whether others will think too much, so what."

Putting the letter into the drawer, Zhou Huai stood up and walked to the low couch under the window sill and sat down: "Have you found all the people to build the house? How are the locations of other villages arranged?"

"There are many people looking for work in the city, and there are also many people looking for a living in each village. There is no shortage of manpower. I have arranged the positions of other villages, and I have also agreed with the village chiefs of those villages. The bricks and tiles will arrive tomorrow, and we can start construction the day after tomorrow. With more manpower, we think it will be completed soon."

At this point, Li An paused and said, "Even though each village has a lot of land, the houses to be built are not too big. Two-story buildings are acceptable, but three-story buildings are a bit difficult."

Zhou Huai didn't mind and nodded slightly: "It's just a temporary place to stay, it's fine as long as it's enough for living."

"The master thinks so, but the other families may not be happy about it." Li An's heart skipped a beat when he saw Zhou Huai's cold eyes. He continued, "But with the young master here, they will have to be happy even if they are not happy."

"If someone is causing trouble, there is no need to stay."

"Yes."

Zhou Huai placed his slender white fingers on the low table, tapping them again and again, frowning slightly as he thought.

Ang Lee stood quietly aside.

"By the way, we need to find a way to send more people out to get food, especially those going to Jiangnan. You will lead the team yourself and must leave Jiangnan within a month. The government should also continue to stockpile firewood. There is no need to buy ice this year. Tell the Liu family not to store it. It is useless to store it."

Li An said solemnly: "Yes, I will make arrangements for it."

"Go and make arrangements."

After Li An left, Zhou Huai pinched his brows, thinking about what else he had not prepared.

Before long, all the major families received secret letters from the Zhou Mansion. Before it caused much stir in the outside world, each family sent out servants and guards, ready to go to the south of the Yangtze River to purchase food and other supplies.

After arranging things, Li An also set out to lead the team to the difficult place. Shen Qianxue followed them in disguise as a man, just to use the space to bring back more food.

Only seven days after the group of people heading south left the city, rumors about the rainy season began to spread in the city.

Zhou Huai was worried that the sudden news of a flood would cause panic, so he planned to proceed step by step.

On the second day after Li An left, dozens of villages around the city began to build houses.

The houses in Damo Village are also built at the foot of the mountain, about a hundred meters away from Song Shiwei's home.

A group of people poured into the Damu Village, which scared the villagers. They thought something had happened. It was not until Wei Cai came out that everyone knew that a noble man from the city was coming to the village to build a house. Now everyone in the village had something to talk about.

After watching the excitement for half a day, the foreman went to find Wei Cai and asked if there was anyone in the village willing to build a house, providing meals and paying wages according to the market price.

This was great news for the men who had nothing to do at home. What was even better was that they had to ask the women in the village to help with the cooking and they had to pay them for it.

How could Wei Cai not be happy about such a good thing? He immediately organized people to do the work and gave them some instructions.

The general meaning is to ask them to work hard and not be lazy so as not to annoy the important person.

Zhang Wu and Feng Ru now have Huang Ying to join them, and they are drawing water from the well in the backyard. As for collecting the water, Song Shiwei will naturally do it, but since Huang Ying is around, they certainly can't do it in front of her.

Huang Ying, on the other hand, showed no intention of asking about these things, and it was unclear whether Zhang Wu had said anything to her.

In just half a month, the houses built over there were almost completed. As there were many people working, the progress was quite fast. People in the village who liked to watch the fun went to see it half a month later. They saw houses standing one after another, each ten meters apart. All of them were made of high-quality fabrics, which made people feel grand just by looking at them.

All three mansions were built with two courtyards. There was a door at the back of each courtyard, and several small houses were built behind the door. According to Zhang Wu's speculation, they should be for the servants to live in.

"Master, if we had known earlier, we would have built a house like that. I went to see it and it's really nice and spacious. But if we give it to those noble families, they might think it's too small."

Song Shiwei chuckled after hearing this: "When it comes to their own safety, they will rush to live in even a straw hut."

Zhang Wu also laughed: "Master is still clear-headed, but there will be some noise in the early stage, after all, they used to live in houses with four or five entrances."

(PS: The historical background in this article is fictitious. The third and fourth courtyards were only required for officials of the same rank in Beijing to live in. There was no such requirement in other places.)

As soon as Zhang Wu finished speaking, they heard a rustling sound outside, and they both looked outside the house at the same time.

Zhang Wu stared blankly at the rain outside: "It's raining."

But after a while, the drizzle turned into heavy rain, and there was no sign of stopping.

Song Shiwei's eyes moved slightly.

Zhang Wu retracted his gaze and looked at Song Shiwei. He opened his mouth but finally spoke with difficulty: "Master... the rumor has come true again. Do you think there is anyone in this world who can predict it?"

"Maybe. The world is so big, it's normal for people to have certain experiences."

"Fortunately, we made preparations in advance, otherwise I would have been very panicked."

Song Shiwei shrugged.

Seeing that it was almost the 9th hour, Huang Ying went to the Huang family again today. Zhang Wu said something to Song Shiwei and prepared to rush to the stable.

"Wait a moment," Song Shiwei took out the raincoat from the space, "Wear this before you go out. Don't get wet in the rain. If you get sick later, who will cook for me?"

Zhang Wu let out a loud "hmm", put on his raincoat with a silly smile, and soon disappeared in the rain.

Ever since rumors of the rainy season spread from the capital city, and with the previous example of extreme cold, most people in the North began to make preparations, especially for food. The major families released the remaining food stored in the extreme cold to encourage people to buy it, and later sent people to various places to buy food and bring it back. Only a small batch has been known so far, and most of the food is still on the way back.

Xiahuang Village and Damu Village had naturally also made preparations, but there was not much food to buy, and families with large populations had already started to eat one meal a day. There was no need to worry about firewood, as there were many mountains and trees in the north, and people cut trees in the mountains all year round, and every household had a firewood room piled with firewood.

Although the Huang family did not buy much food, with Song Shiwei there, he took out several hundred kilograms of food from the space at the market price and sold it to them. Zhang Wu delivered it in the evening and did not attract any attention from others.

It was already noon when Zhang Wu and Huang Ying came back. Feng Ru couldn't wait and cooked lunch directly on her small stove.

Huang Ying pinched Feng Ru's chubby little face and said, "You've worked hard today, Ru'er."

Feng Ru smiled and said, "It's not hard. Brother Zhang Wu is going to pick up sister-in-law. I can cook, too. Sister Song said that my cooking is delicious."