Chapter 658: Destroying the dike and drowning the farmland

Translator: Atlas Studios    Editor: Atlas Studios

The sweet potatoes had to be cut before and after the Dragon Boat Festival. As soon as Nanny Yue returned to the manor, she immediately spread the news.

In other areas, pigeons were also used to send messages. Every time a pigeon arrived at a manor, the manor would send a pigeon to the manor closest to it.

The best pigeons could fly for about eight hours a day, and could fly for almost a hundred kilometers every two hours.

Basically, within five days, Yu Youyao’s message would be sent to manors everywhere in the country, and it would not delay the insertion of the vines.

Of course, pigeons could only send some simple information to a fixed location. Some important information could not be sent by pigeons.

Little Zhouzhuang also received the news.

Back then, Zhou Yongniu had exposed Zhou Yongchang for deceiving and hiding information from the higher-ups, embezzling the main family’s money, and fooling them. Later on, after Yu Youyao’s kindness and authority, he became loyal to her.

After Zhou Yonghe became a manager, he brought him along to work.

Later on, when Zhou Yonghe wanted to join the escort business, he recommended Zhou Yongniu to be the manager of Little Zhouzhuang.

Zhou Yongniu was very convinced by Eldest Miss, so he immediately looked for Eldest Miss Zhuang to discuss this matter. “Eldest Miss’s manor is going to distribute sweet potato vines and let us plant them ourselves. I plan to arrange for the people in the manor to plant sweet potato vines on all the land that they have left at home. If there’s no land for themselves, I’ll let them develop a piece of land to plant them themselves. The steward in Eldest Miss’s manor said that sweet potatoes are resistant to droughts. I made a trip to the

Rogue Manor today and Steward Li from the manor brought me to take a look.

Some of the sand has also been planted with sweet potatoes. After the wasteland is carefully arranged, perhaps it can be used to plant sweet potatoes too.”

Elder Zhuang had already lost his teeth. As soon as he sat down, he felt sleepy and wanted to doze off. “This sweet potato isn’t a crop of our Great Zhou Dynasty. No one has planted it in the past. The Imperial Court distributes new seeds every year, but there aren’t many that have really succeeded in planting them. They can barely be planted and aren’t very useful…”

Zhou Yongniu interrupted him. “Eldest Miss won’t fool us. If she said that it can be planted, it must be true. You also know that Eldest Miss has a Bodhisattva’s heart. The north has suffered a drought, and every family’s life isn’t easy. Many families have long run out of food. The Li family in front starved to death last year. Our Little Zhouzhuang was only able to survive because of Eldest Miss’s care.’

Elder Zhuang was speechless for a moment. He thought for a moment and said, “Although that’s the case, everyone doesn’t have much private s.p.a.ce. They’ve all planted drought-resistant beans long ago.”

Zhou Yongniu gritted his teeth. “Plough off all the beans and plant sweet potatoes. Those who have strong men at home, go to the mountains to explore and try your best to plant more sweet potatoes.” Worried that Elder Zhuang would not agree, he continued, “There’s only so much land left for us. It’s not enough for a family to survive on even if we plant a whole field of sweet potatoes. Do you see that there’s a piece of the vine every time it’s planted? It’s edible. When they are planted, the sweet potato vines can grow in June and July.”

Elder Zhuang wanted to object. “What if it doesn’t work?”

Zhou Yongniu also had a bad temper and only knew how to be stubborn. “Eldest Miss said that if it can be planted, it can be planted.”

Elder Zhuang felt that it was inappropriate. “What if?”

Zhou Yongniu frowned. “Eldest Miss asked us to plant them because she had grown them herself. The steward of Little Li Manor partic.i.p.ated in the planting test. He said that Eldest Miss was a living Bodhisattva, so we would definitely be able to plant the sweet potatoes.”

This was a clash between scholars and soldiers, so he couldn’t explain himself. Old Master Zhuang had a headache. “Tomorrow, bring a few prestigious people from the village to the Rogue Manor.”

Zhou Yongniu was not careless. The next day, before dawn, he brought more than 30 people to the Rogue Manor.

When the group arrived at the Rogue Manor, it was already noon.

When Steward Li of the Little Li Residence received the news, he personally brought them to the manor to see the cutting of the sweet potatoes. He even told them about the situation with the vines. Then, he brought them to the

Little Li Residence and realized that every family in the Little Li Residence was also preparing to cut the sweet potatoes. There were also villagers who were exploring the mountains to plant sweet potatoes.

Butler Li said, “As long as you loosen the soil and make a ridge, the sweet potato vines can grow without needing to be cared about. This thing doesn’t need much resources. After being cut, it can live on its own. I’ve farmed for most of my life, but this is the first time I’ve encountered such a good living crop. Our Little Li Manor doesn’t plant anything but sweet potatoes.” Zhou Yongniu and the others asked many questions at once.

Steward Li had partic.i.p.ated in the plant testing and knew about the sweet potatoes very well. The insiders had heard everything. Everyone was a farmer, so how could they not tell if he was telling the truth? Gradually, they dispelled the doubts and concerns in their hearts.

The same thing happened in Yu Youyao’s manors all over the country.

Yu Youyao did not know that her small actions would saved countless commoners in the future.

In the blink of an eye, it was the fourth of May. The family was preparing for the Dragon Boat Festival tomorrow.

Yu Youyao was no exception. She carried the basket to the bamboo forest and picked a lot of bamboo leaves.

After returning to the Jade Courtyard and changing her clothes, Xia Tao rushed over. “Young Miss, bad news. An emergency report from Zhejiang has entered the capital. It’s said that there’s a Dragon Boat Festival in Zhejiang. It rained for three days and three nights in a row. The rain rose to the riverbank and broke down the dams in six counties. Countless villages and rice fields were flooded.’

The teacup in Yu Youyao’s hand fell to the ground and shattered.

Xia Tao was shocked and knelt on the ground.

Yu Youyao’s face was pale. Her hand was still holding the teacup, but her hand was trembling badly. She gritted her teeth and asked, “All six counties were flooded?!”

Xia Tao said, “The emergency report was shouted all the way into the capital.

Many commoners heard it. They seem to have drowned.”

“All six counties are flooded! Yu Youyao suddenly raised her voice, and even her voice was trembling. “Zhejiang is a rich place in Jiangnan. It’s densely populated. The number of people in the six counties combined is unknown, and the number of fields is unknown.” Her trembling hands suddenly clenched into fists, and even her voice was squeezed out from between her teeth. “The rice seeds in the south are inserted into the fields. They haven’t turned green yet. It’s all over if the heavy rain washes them away.” Her eyes suddenly turned red, and her face was terrifyingly pale. “There’s a drought in the north. In the second half of the year, there will ve a famine. Be it the Imperial Court or the commoners, they’re all counting on the food harvest in the south to survive.’

Six counties’ dams had been destroyed, so it was far from possible that only six counties had been affected.

At least half of the farmland in Zhejiang would be empty this year.

If Zhejiang lost everything, what about the taxes of the Imperial Court?

Without food from the south, what would happen to the drought in the north?

Xia Tao had never seen Young Miss lose control of her emotions like this and was very worried.

“Six counties. It’s not six villages or six towns. It’s six counties and millions of people.” Yu Youyao’s lips trembled. She couldn’t imagine how many people would die from the flood in the south and what the consequences would be if their fields were flooded. After the natural disaster, they would have to face the epidemic.. How many families would be destroyed!