While Shen Tianshu was staying with Mrs. Shen at Dongquan Temple, Shen Zhonglei was leading a team of people to inspect the farmland according to the established route.
After leaving Yongzhou Mansion, the group walked all the way south.
The sun is scorching the earth, and it has not rained for dozens of days.
Fortunately, there are not many water systems in Huguang, and people in most places can still divert or pump water for irrigation. However, if the drought continues like this, this year's harvest may be in danger.
Walking south along the official road, you can often see large areas of farmland on both sides of the road, and Shen Zhonglei often stops to check it out.
The drought reports reported from various places below are indeed true. The ground in the fields is dry and cracked, and the crops are wilted by the sun and look lifeless.
With the support of his guards, Shen Zhonglei walked down the field and reached out to grab a handful of soil on the ridge.
The clods of soil crumbled into powder with a gentle squeeze and floated far away with the wind. It can be seen that there is no moisture in the soil.
Shen Zhonglei dug down a few more times with his hands, and found that the land below was also dry, without a trace of moisture.
He knelt on the ground with a frown on his face, looking up at the field with worry.
Before he could get up, he heard someone shouting from the other side of the field: "Who are you doing in my field?"
Shen Zhonglei stood up with the help of the guards, and soon saw an old man in khaki brown walking over quickly.
The old man came closer and saw Shen Zhonglei and the people behind him clearly. The original angry look immediately disappeared, replaced by a look of panic.
Although Shen Zhonglei was not wearing official uniform, the guard with a knife on his waist directly revealed his identity as an official.
"You're rude, I hope you will forgive me!" The old man's knees softened and he knelt down on the ground.
"Old man, please get up quickly."
Shen Zhonglei signaled the guards to help the old man up, but he just sat on the ground and talked to the old man.
"It hasn't rained in so many days. Isn't the ground very dry? How many days has it been since we watered it?"
The old man didn't expect the official to be so approachable, but he still said cautiously: "Sir, I just watered it the day before yesterday, but the grassland's field is neither next to the river nor the lake. The watering depends on the family. It’s really hard to pour water on a person’s shoulder and in a handheld bag!
"A bucket of water poured close to the roots of crops can only barely protect the crops from being burned to death. If the drought continues like this, I am afraid that this year's work will be in vain..."
The old man became more and more sad as he spoke, and he couldn't help but choke up his voice afterward.
Farmers like them who rely on farming for a living rarely have any savings at home. The harvest from the fields each year, excluding taxes and selling money, must be enough to last until the next autumn harvest, otherwise the whole family may go hungry. .
Such low-income families have almost no ability to withstand risks.
If the harvest is not good in a certain year, the family will go hungry. If there is no harvest in the field, the children will be sold or they will starve to death.
Shen Zhonglei frowned when he heard this. If this continues, there will be no harvests and less food this year.
And according to past experience, droughts are often accompanied by locust plagues and epidemics, which are the most dangerous.
If it's not done right, it will turn into a catastrophic disaster that will cause starvation and death everywhere.
Shen Zhonglei returned to the car with a heavy heart, and then hurried to see a river flowing nearby.
Although the river has not stopped flowing, the exposed riverbed on both sides makes it clear at a glance how much the water level has dropped compared to before.
Fortunately, it has not yet reached the point where all the ponds and ponds have dried up. If it rains within the next ten days, there may be some hope of salvation.
Otherwise, we must hurry up and make preparations to resist locust plagues and epidemics.
The more Shen Zhonglei thought about it, the heavier his heart became. He looked at the clear sky through the car window, wishing he could transform into a dragon and fly up to the sky to make clouds and rain.
The group left Lingling County and continued southward.
The magistrate of Ningyuan County also reported a drought, but Ningyuan County is shaped like a boat-shaped basin and has abundant waterways. Although there has been no rainfall for more than a month, the overall situation is slightly better than Lingling County.
But after Shen Zhonglei spent two days checking the farmland and water conservancy conditions in Ningyuan County, his face became even gloomier than when he was in Lingling County.
He did not reveal his identity all the way, and it was only then that he changed into official uniform and led his men to the Ningyuan County Government Office.
When the magistrate of Ningyuan County received the news, he quickly put on his official uniform and crawled from the back house to the front office to greet him.
"Xiaoguan Yao Yanlin has met Mr. Shen."
"Get up." Shen Zhonglei was not in the mood for polite greetings and asked immediately, "Did you report the drought in the county and the damage to the fields?"
Yao Yanlin sweated on his forehead and stuttered: "Yes, there has been no rain in the county for more than a month, the fields are dry, and the seedlings are withered..."
"Then what did you do?" Shen Zhonglei was too lazy to listen to what he said, so he interrupted him and asked, "You just stayed in the county office and waited for God to send you rain?"
"Master Shen, I'm the official..." Yao Yanlin trembled and raised his hand to wipe the sweat. It took him a long time to hold back an excuse and said, "The official is taking a bath and fasting in the mansion to prepare for praying for rain..."
Shen Zhonglei almost laughed out loud at Yao Yanlin.
"It's just that you didn't actively build water conservancy projects when you were in office. You didn't even maintain the original water conservancy projects. I've seen several places in the past two days. The canals dug in the past few years are now blocked in many places and cannot be used at all.
"You don't actively organize people to dredge canals and divert water to irrigate farmland, so you just expect to pray for rain?"
"Your Excellency has taught you a very good lesson. I'll let you down now and arrange for manpower to dredge the canals and divert water to irrigate the farmland." Yao Yanlin changed his words in a good-humored way, and even did not forget to flatter him, which was not very clever. "Your Excellency, you will know it as soon as you see it.
What is the problem? I am ashamed of myself, I am ashamed of myself!"
Shen Zhonglei really wanted to slap him, but he still had to use him to do things, so he could only grit his teeth and endure it.
The previous magistrate of Ningyuan County was a pragmatist. During his tenure, he built bridges and paved roads, developed water conservancy projects, and did many practical things.
It's a pity that the successor Yao Yanlin is a mess. Instead of making the county better and better, he even squandered the original advantages.
If the drought in Lingling County is a natural disaster, then the drought in Ningyuan County is more of a man-made disaster.
God, Shen Zhonglei can't control whether it rains or not, but Shen Zhonglei can still control whether Yao Yanlin does business or not.
Shen Zhonglei simply stayed in the county government office and urged Yao Yanlin to send people to dredge and repair canals everywhere.
Within a few days, nearly 60% of the farmland in the county was irrigated by river water.
Other farmland that is far away from the river and has no canals passing through it can also be irrigated with water nearby, which is at least many times closer than fetching water from the river.
After going to the field to check it out in person, Shen Zhonglei's frown that had been furrowed for many days finally relaxed a little.
Seeing that his mood finally improved, Ping Niang took a shower and changed clothes early that night, took a pill that Shen Tianshu gave her before going out, went into the room and blew out the candles, and took the initiative to undress and undress Shen Zhonglei...