On the day An Jing asked Meng Zhuqing to hire people for irrigation, she and Xiao Changyi exclaimed, "It would be good to have a waterwheel. There’s no need for manual labor, just use the waterwheel to transfer water from the river to the channels and then to the fields. It’s not only convenient but also easier on the people."
"Yes, a waterwheel. I remember my grandfather’s house had a hand-cranked Dragon Bone Waterwheel. The structure isn’t complicated. I didn’t expect the heat to last this long. If I had known, I would have drawn the Dragon Bone Waterwheel earlier and had a carpenter make one. It’s too late to irrigate the fields today, but when Meng Zhuqing comes back, we’ll have him take the design to a carpenter to make one."
After pausing, An Jing continued, "Actually, it doesn’t matter right now that we don’t have a waterwheel since we currently hire people to irrigate the fields, and you don’t have to do it. I’m thinking of making a waterwheel mainly to facilitate our future. Our days ahead are still long, and we may encounter droughts again. Having a waterwheel ready wouldn’t hurt at all."
"Hmm," Changyi paused, then asked, "Jing Er, ’extreme drought leads to locusts.’ Do you have any strategies?"
In the history of Xiyun Kingdom, there had been three locust plagues, each causing devastating losses, eventually leading to famines, during which many people died.
Even though so many people died each time, they were still helpless against the swarms of locusts.
The locusts would leave ’a thousand miles of barren land’ in their wake.
However, An Jing was amused by Xiao Changyi’s words and teased, "My husband, are you directly asking me for solutions now? Am I too transparent in your eyes?"
Xiao Changyi said, "Not transparent... don’t tell me you still want to keep secrets from me?"
An Jing immediately responded with a smile, "I won’t keep secrets from you, but I might keep some from others."
He valued her more than his life; even if she were a demon or monster, he would protect her rather than harm her. This, she was very clear about.
Upon hearing An Jing’s words, Xiao Changyi’s cool lips curved slightly. In truth, the transparency between him and his wife was as if they were One Person already. He simply enjoyed hearing his wife speak this way.
After laughing softly, An Jing returned to the matter at hand, "In my original world, I actually didn’t understand much about how to get rid of locusts, but I once read an extracurricular book—Xu Guangqi’s ’Complete Treatise on Agriculture,’ which seemed to mention that if you sieve straw ash or lime evenly over the grain, the locusts will not feed on it."
Changyi solemnly said, "Jing Er, I thank you on behalf of the people of Xiyun."
"Silly, what’s there to thank? I’m living here with you now, and we also wouldn’t have it easy during a famine." She paused, "You’d better hurry and send someone to report this to my foster father. If we wait until the locusts come, it’ll be too late."
’Extreme drought leads to locusts, extreme drought leads to locusts.’ With the current drought, locusts will definitely pass through. If we don’t take preventive measures in advance, the crops will surely suffer terrible losses.
Xiao Changyi said, "Informing the old man would take several days, so I’ll have the government notify the villages to sieve ash or lime over the grain to prevent the locust plague."
An Jing laughed, "You’re acting as if my foster father doesn’t exist, always taking matters into your own hands. Is that really okay?"
"I’m solving problems for him."
An Jing laughed even more, "Only you dare to solve problems for my foster father in such a way." Who wouldn’t report the matter and wait for the Emperor of Xiyun’s approval before taking action?