Chapter 1068: The Scent of Food Self-Sufficiency

“Dou Wuxing is skilled in meteorology and agriculture. For any farming-related issues, you should consult him often.”

The master’s plans and requirements came one after another, at least twenty-seven or twenty-eight of them, without any hesitation. Everyone scrambled to jot notes with their pens and small notebooks, not even having time to ask questions.

He Lingchuan had not been so spirited for a long time, directing the sand table as if commanding the entire land.

Previously, he was dirt poor, and no matter how many ideas he had, he could only suppress them. Today, he finally got to express them all.

This kind of lavish spending, this decisive command, this unreserved joy—this is how a great lord should feel!

Midway, Leini looked up and saw a sharp glint in her lord’s eyes, quickly lowering her head in fright.

Once this man had money to back him, his entire demeanor changed.

“Min Tianxi, construction must begin on watchtowers, signal fires, barracks, and armories on these reefs,” He Lingchuan said, pointing to seventeen or eighteen small reef islands. These islands were uninhabited and uncultivated, but strategically located on the outer perimeter of the archipelago, holding significant military value.

Min Tianxi quickly agreed.

“Qiu Hu,” He Lingchuan turned to him, “Recruit people, lots of people. Before late spring, the guard team must expand to over 3,500 members, and then a full army drill will be conducted. If there are any weapon and armor needs, coordinate with Songyang Prefecture.”

Maintaining an army is the most expensive endeavor. Food, salaries, weapons, medicine, and various supplies—even a gluttonous taotie couldn't consume that much. Thus, the Yangshan guard team was originally limited to maintaining a size of 1,400 to 1,500 people.

Spending money doesn't guarantee a victorious army, but a victorious army is utterly impossible without money.

Now, He Lingchuan had the confidence to expand his army.

“Yes, sir.”

He Lingchuan rubbed his hands and smiled at his subordinates, saying, “The tasks have been assigned. I have only one requirement for all of you—”

“Work hard and fast!”

In the blink of an eye, late spring transitioned into early summer.

Six months had passed, and the Yangshan Archipelago had undergone a complete transformation.

The Yangshan Archipelago entered its busy farming season once again.

From Bailie to the Yangshan Archipelago, the main activity in late spring was palm oil harvesting. Palm trees yielded two harvests a year, in spring and autumn.

In previous years, within half a month of the palm groves being adorned with red silks and the 'knife-opening' ceremony held, merchant caravans and large ships would arrive to collect oil, lining up to dock at Knife Edge Port.

However, circumstances changed this year. Some merchant ships chose to dock directly at the Yangshan Archipelago instead of Knife Edge Port, making direct purchases on site.

The archipelago offered berthing discounts to palm oil buyers. Due to offshore tax avoidance, bypassing customs at Knife Edge Port, merchant teams enjoyed lower prices for various local products purchased in the Yangshan Archipelago.

Knife Edge Port was naturally displeased but could do nothing about it.

This year, the palm oil harvest was still bountiful.

Compared to the chaotic first palm harvest last autumn, this spring’s operations in the Yangshan Archipelago were much more orderly, from personnel organization and tool allocation to logistics and transportation.

After several months, the archipelago had built seven medium-sized cargo ships on its own, and additionally purchased five more medium ships and twenty-seven small ones to alleviate the shortage of transport capacity.

As for large cargo ships, due to the lengthy construction time and complex labor involved, they could only be built gradually.

After the palm harvest concluded, it was immediately followed by the winter wheat harvest in early summer!

Thus, the harvest season in this region was continuous, with April and May being non-stop, ensuring everyone had work.

Last autumn, the Yangshan Archipelago sowed wheat for the first time. Although the planting methods were crude and the fields lacked planning—what Dou Wuxing called “wasting land potential”—the soil was indeed fertile, yielding nearly 350 jin per mu.

The heavens were favorable, with good weather lasting for half a month straight.

Under the sun, the islands glittered, with golden wheat fields and drying grounds everywhere. Farmers toiled in the fields, and hired raptors drove away thieving birds from the threshing grounds.

Yellow dogs and small weasels dug holes and hunted mice all along the field ridges.

When the first sack of wheat was brought before He Lingchuan, and the first handful of grains flowed through his fingers, he looked up, closed his eyes, and let out a deep breath.

His island was finally producing grain!

Since He Lingchuan purchased the Yangshan Archipelago, for nine long months, almost all grain consumed on the island had been purchased externally. It was bought from Knife Edge Port, from foreign merchants, from every available channel within the Yangshan Archipelago, and even Fang Canran had helped him connect with major grain merchants.

To ensure enough food for so many mouths on the island every day, the Yangshan Archipelago had fought countless battles against unscrupulous merchants who hoarded and inflated grain prices, and endlessly contended with Knife Edge Port and Bailie, who resorted to backstabbing and underhanded tactics.

All of this took place against the backdrop of the ongoing war between Beijia and Mou, with grain prices remaining high in Mou’s vast hinterland.

He Lingchuan knew precisely how much silver and how great a cost had been incurred.

The hardships involved were truly not something to be fully recounted to outsiders.

After enduring so much, the Yangshan Archipelago was finally producing its own grain!

Everyone picked up the husked wheat kernels, brought them to their noses, and inhaled deeply, their faces showing an intoxicated expression.

It smelled so good.

This was the scent of satisfaction, the scent of a bountiful harvest.

This was the scent of self-sufficiency in grain!

He Lingchuan almost burst into wild laughter, looking up at the sky:

From today onward, the Yangshan Archipelago would also join the ranks of unscrupulous merchants!

However, before He Lingchuan could finish laughing, Dou Wuxing came over to remind him: “Your wheat fields were planted haphazardly, yet they still yield over 300 jin per mu, mostly because of several occurrences of the Emperor’s Dew. The spiritual energy between heaven and earth is abundant, and plants are the first to be affected. It's not just the Yangshan Archipelago; other places are also seeing increased yields.”

Indeed, in the past year alone, the Emperor’s Dew had descended three times; in the two years prior to that, it had occurred twice as well.

When the Emperor’s Dew permeated the soil, agriculture was the first to benefit, followed by the recovery of spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

Cultivators like He Lingchuan could clearly feel the increase in the surrounding spiritual energy concentration.

“We can’t continue with extensive farming methods later on, to avoid squandering nature’s gifts!” Dou Wuxing continued. “We must expedite the wheat harvest; good weather will only last for a month at most, then we’ll enter the flood season. We also need to re-plan the fields, dig irrigation ditches, fill the soil with wheat straw, and prepare to switch to planting rice. Time is precious; don’t waste a single moment!”

The intensive cultivation of the Yangshan Archipelago would begin with summer rice, and Dou Wuxing had been eager for this for a long time.

“...You decide,” He Lingchuan conceded. With abundant manpower now available, He Lingchuan had also assigned a team to Dou Wuxing to monitor and guide the Yangshan Archipelago’s astronomy, water conservancy, and agricultural affairs.

After the Yangshan Archipelago gained prominence, it also attracted many notable individuals seeking to join.

Cultivating talent was crucial, and this was also a key insight for He Lingchuan.

After the full development of the Yangshan Archipelago, the farmland area expanded, and Leini alone could not manage it all. He Lingchuan reclaimed the organizational and production rights for agriculture from her, dividing the island’s farming into several zones, with specialists assigned to each area.

The Yangshan Archipelago was like a machine with an increasingly intricate structure; after its last expansion, it had operated somewhat roughly, but now it was finally running more smoothly day by day.