The hardest season in the Badlands is June.

In Surdak's memory, June was the season when everything grew and everything flourished.

But for people in the middle of nowhere, life continues before the rainy season arrives, and even cassava is more expensive this year than usual.

The 19 natural villages in the barren land have a population of nearly 7,000, only half of them can fill their stomachs, and the remaining half of the people who can afford to go out to earn a living have also left the barren land and gone outside to earn a living.

There are some old people, children, and women who cannot leave the barren and barren land, and there is no one to help, and their family members who are begging for a living outside cannot bring back food in time, or there are no such families at all, and some people will starve.

At this time of the year, there were also people in the village of Wall who wanted to go to Oak Ridge to dig wild vegetables for their stomachs.

This year, the village has changed a lot, all the villagers who are willing to work have earned a little money, although the wheat produced by themselves is not enough to eat, but as long as they live a little finer, with some chestnut rice, pumpkin, multigrain beans or something, there is still some surplus grain after surviving the long winter.

Even if some people eat up their food stockpiles, as long as they are not lazy and willing to work on the reservoir construction site, they can eat a bite.

Surdak, Luke, and some of the village's respected elders gathered at the house of the old village chief Bright, and Aunt Bright made lemon tea for everyone, and the room was full of people, and Luke and several young people in the village crowded in the corner of the living room, making tea for everyone while chewing fragrant pumpkin seeds.

Life is not so hard, the wheat in the fields does not grow badly due to lack of water, and the villagers have a confident smile on their faces, and even when they chat, they become much more witty.

Surdak sat next to the old village chief, and almost everyone looked at Surdak and the old village chief.

Seeing that the people were almost there, the old village chief knocked the pipe in his hand vigorously.

'Tuk Tuk'

The oak pipe slammed against the edge of the wooden bench with a series of muffled noises, and the living room immediately became silent.

Village Chief Brett looked around in the living room before he said: "Almost everyone here is the head of every family in the village, and it is the attention of Little Dake who invited everyone here today. ”

One of the young men leaning against the corner stood up and asked boldly:

"Uncle Bright, do you mean that if you have something that is unfair or not, we can object to the decision?"

Village Chief Bright glared at him and scolded angrily, "You dare? ”

Frightened, the young man immediately retreated into the crowd, and really didn't dare to make his head.

There was a burst of laughter in the living room.

"It was my idea to invite everyone here today!" Surdak said, and the living room fell silent as all eyes fell on him.

Surdak leaned back in his chair and said to everyone: "I plan to build a children's home in the village to take care of children, provide three meals a day for free, and teach children some imperial Chinese, basic combat skills, common sense of life, etc., children who cannot be taken care of in the village can be sent to the children's home, so that the women who take care of the children in the family can also be liberated and can participate in the production and construction of the village." ”

Hearing Surdak say this, the surrounding villagers began to talk about it.

Surdak raised his voice and said: "Whether it is the construction site of the cistern, the artificial drainage canal, the clearing of tidal flats, the carpenter's workshop, the village convoy, the starch factory, there is a need for additional manpower, and as long as you are willing to come out and work, you can earn a wage." ”

An old man sitting next to the village chief of Bright opened his eyes, looked at Surdak and asked:

"Little Dark, are you telling the truth? Whose children can be sent to this children's home? Not only do you help take care of it, but you can also stutter every day? ”

Surdak glanced at Uncle Bright, who was opposed when he first mentioned the matter to him.

This time, although he frowned, he did not object.

Surdak nodded and said, "Exactly! ”

A middle-aged man, one of the few hunters in the village who excelled at hunting limestone iguanas, was best at finding limestone iguana hiding places.

At this time, he seemed a little excited, and asked Surdak:

"Can you also teach them the imperial Chinese language and combat skills?"

Surdak nodded and said, "Imperial Chinese can be taught by Selena, and I will arrange for the members of the security team to take turns to teach the combat skills." ”

The villagers looked a little excited and asked, "How old do you have to be to send a child to the village children's home?" ”

Surdak thought for a moment and said, "Children under the age of eight can come and stutter." ”

As soon as Surdak finished speaking, the living room exploded all of a sudden, and everyone didn't expect such a good thing, and they discussed whose children were eligible to enter the children's home.

The old village chief Bright frowned, turned to Surdak and said:

"A seven- or eight-year-old boy is about to catch up with an adult in one meal, Duck, this is too much of a burden on our village, is it not possible to lower the age limit?"

Many of the seven or eight-year-old children in the village can help the adults pull weeds in the wheat fields, and they are at least half a laborer at home.

Surdak was also worried that the children's home would be too big at once, and that there would be some mistakes, so he said, "Then under six years old!" ”

Seeing that everyone was talking enthusiastically, Luke, who was huddled in the crowd of young people, stood up at once and said to Surdak:

"Duck, I haven't had time to say anything about coming back this time......"

The living room was quiet again, and everyone in the village knew that Luke and Charley were the heads of the brimstone mines, and that he and Charley were the most powerful among the young people in the village.

Luke hesitated for a moment and said: "The open-pit sulfur mine in the rocky area of Pubao Mountain is almost mined, Charlie is going to explore the area outside the rocky area when Charlie goes over there this time, and sees if there are similar open-pit sulfur mines around, once the open-pit sulfur mine is exhausted, we can't sustain the huge expenses we have now." ”

The villagers in the living room couldn't help but look at each other, but they didn't expect that the duck that was about to reach its beak was about to fly.

After all, the current situation in Wall Village, in addition to Surdak's own pocket, this open-pit sulfur mine is also another economic pillar, and now the sulfur in the mine is about to be exhausted, and the big family is really a little unacceptable.

Surdak waved his hand at Luke, signaling him not to worry, and then said: "In a few days, I will personally go to Pubao Mountain to explore on the spot, such a large volcano, how can there be only one sulfur land, there will be good news, when I went there to erect boundary monuments over there, I found that there are still a few stone remains left by the lava river, although the sulfur mines over there are not as concentrated as the rocky area, but the entire lava river is everywhere." ”

Hearing Surdak say this, the tense atmosphere in the living room suddenly relaxed again.

Seeing that everyone had accepted the offer, Surdak continued: "I think so, now is the time of the green and yellow, and the people in the other villages are not having a good time, and I can't control the adults, but as the sheriff of the barren land of the Paglos Pass, ......"

Speaking of this, Surdak's voice raised a bit.

"I don't want any children in my jurisdiction to starve to death because they can't eat, and without milk oatmeal, it's okay to drink a mouthful of multigrain porridge."

Speaking of this, Surdak tapped his hand on the knightly medal of the guard battalion on his chest, and several villagers who wanted to speak out against it immediately swallowed the words into their stomachs.

Aunt Bright and Charlie's wife came running over again and refilling the water for everyone.

Surdak paused before adding:

"So...... I thought that the children's home in our village could recruit children from nineteen natural villages in the entire barren land, especially those who were too young to eat! ”

The villagers in the living room immediately shouted:

"How many children do you have to take! We can't destroy our village! ”

"That's it, little Dack, you can't do that, it's not a drag on us all......"

"We just got carried away after a few full meals, how many people are starving in the barren land, can we all manage it?"

The old village chief Bright wiped his face vigorously, and when he heard everyone say this, he didn't even have the heart to open his mouth to curse.

'What a bunch of short-sighted fools!' ’

The old village chief sighed and thought to himself.

Surdak also did not expect so many people to raise objections.

There is nothing wrong with the opposition, which is the fear that hungry children in other villages will encroach on everyone's vested interests.

Surdak had already decided on this matter, and he was silent for a moment before he said:

"This money does not come from the village, and now the sulfur mine in the rocky area is jointly developed by me and the village, but the sulfur mine found in my knight's territory in the future is my industry, and I will take a sum of money from the income of these industries to pay for this part!"

Sure enough, as the old village chief had expected, as soon as Surdak said this, the doubts and objections in the living room disappeared again.

It's just that they don't know that there are some mining dividends that have disappeared that belong to them. Perhaps it was those few words that made Surdak decide to separate the sulfur mine from the village, after all, even the miners who exploited the sulfur mine were a group of kobold slaves.

Since Surdak paid out of his own pocket and it was beneficial to everyone, the villagers naturally no longer objected, but some villagers secretly thought indignantly: Why can children from other villages enjoy this kind of welfare......

Someone questioned: "What about the children who are far away, do they still let them live in the village?" ”

Surdak said casually:

"There are a lot of projects in the village this year, and we need manpower everywhere, and we have to take care of our own wheat fields, and the artificial canal on the tidal flat is almost dug up, but the field in the middle has not been reclaimed, and those difficult households who are willing to send their children here can arrange something for them to do in the village, at least so that they can have something to eat, and I think we can also build some reed mat sheds, although these sheds can't stop the heavy rain, but at least they can live in it, and when the rainy season comes, they should also go back to the village."

The old village chief sat aside at this time and interjected:

"The wasteland on the other side of the tidal flat is not unplanted, the water in the reservoir above has bottomed out, in order to ensure the irrigation needs of the wheat fields in the village, the water source that can be distributed on the tidal flat side is very limited, and now it is so dry that digging a pit can raise a piece of dust, and there is no moisture in the ground, so no other crops can be planted at all."

Surdak said casually: "You can choose some drought-tolerant crops, and the tidal flat is originally low-lying land, and the drought should not be so serious, I will solve this matter......

The old village chief said again: "Dak, there are places everywhere that need to spend money. Is there a pause in the cistern? ”

Surdak shook his head and said firmly: "The project can't be stopped, don't think about whether the money bag can hold up, this time the plane war of the maca plane has been won, our advance support army has gained a lot of benefits, if you don't take advantage of this time to build a third-level reservoir, once the rainy season comes, I'm afraid it will be at least until September to restart the expansion project of the reservoir, this year it is best to build the fourth-level reservoir too, so that there is a fourth-level reservoir before winter, At the very least, irrigation will be available in the dry season on the tidal flats next year. ”

The old village chief nodded and said, "The tapioca starch in the village has opened up a market in the city of Hailanza, and although the price is not as good as wheat flour, it can also bring us a good profit. ”

Hearing that there was such an income in the village, the villagers who were originally resentful suddenly became happy again.

Surdak said to the old village chief, Bright, "The artificial aqueduct has been opened to the entrance to the underground river, but before the rainy season comes, I plan to continue to widen and deepen the river, the deeper and wider the river channel, and when the rainy season comes, it will be able to withstand the greater rains. ”

In this regard, the villagers still agree.

'Yes, those kobold slaves must not be left idle!' ’

Surdak went on to say:

"And I want to dig a big lake in the entrance of the underground river to increase the water storage capacity, otherwise if the rainfall exceeds the discharge of the underground river, it is likely to cause waterlogging......"

"I bought a batch of tomatoes, onions, and cabbage seeds from the White Elephant Trading Company this time, and we can plant these seeds in advance before the heavy rain comes, and it is estimated that it will not take much water to cultivate these seedlings, and once the rainy season comes, we will transplant these seedlings directly into the field, which can shorten the growth cycle of crops."

The villagers were at a loss, what seedlings, what production cycle, they couldn't understand at all......

After discussing so many things, the old village chief Bright rubbed his wrinkled forehead.

I'm old, my memory is not good, and I can't even remember some of the previous things, so I keep thinking in my heart: 'Little Dack, why do you have so many ideas all at once?' ’

……