As the saying goes,
Winter has passed, will spring be far behind?
Song Qingchao felt it was quite far.
With the food stored for the winter being distributed like this, their own family's supply might not last a few more days.
But if they didn't distribute it, their own family might survive the spring, but those outside would have a difficult time.
If she lost credibility, it would be detrimental to her future development.
Even if all the birds and beasts in the entire mountain were hunted, it might not be enough to feed hundreds of mouths.
During winter, everyone had held back a little.
The purpose was to ensure continuation.
But in spring, with people starving, let alone animals.
The path of hunting was now blocked.
Fortunately, she had stored several cartloads of flatbread in her space back then, which could last for a month or two.
Once the weather warmed up a bit and the seeds were sown, there would be provisions by autumn.
Song Qingchao sighed heavily.
The guards could get anything for her.
But whenever she asked for food, for rice or flour, everyone said no.
Song Qingchao didn't blame them.
There were tens of thousands of refugees in Lingshi Valley, and the guards were only a few pairs of people.
If everyone were to be fed, trouble might arise.
Therefore, they could find books for Song Qingchao, buy paper, and even obtain some hairpins and jewelry, but they could not provide grain.
If she didn't have her space and happened to have the ability of remote retrieval, she wouldn't have been able to develop so quickly in this place.
After all, it was easy to manage one mouth, but difficult to manage thousands.
Moreover, as time passed, her team grew larger.
The northwest valley where she was originally located was vast, and when people spread out, they could barely see anyone.
But now, from one to ten, and then to a hundred, her own family alone numbered over a hundred.
These were only those who had been screened.
If there were no screening, people from half of the northwest valley would flock to her.
Food is the primary need of the people;
Without food, there is no future.
Agriculture must continue.
However, regarding agriculture, she only knew the twenty-four solar terms.
To select seeds suitable for cultivation in Lingshi Valley, she spent a full three to four days researching on the search engine.
The final results were either unsuitable land, unsuitable temperature, or a lack of seeds.
Finally, she managed to select a seed called corn.
Coincidentally, the seeds Xiaoguo gave her also contained corn.
But she didn't understand the planting methods.
Helplessly, Song Qingchao had to turn her attention to her own people again.
She remembered that when distributing books last time, an elder had taken the book on agriculture.
She asked Zhou Yi to find the elder and then ordered him to find several people skilled in farming.
This elder's surname was Tian. He looked energetic, with a dark face, neither tall nor thin. Upon meeting him, one felt a sense of rustic simplicity.
Song Qingchao first asked him some general questions, and then asked if there were any plants suitable for cultivation in Lingshi Valley.
"Millet."
This was easy to procure. If popularized, good harvests would be enough to feed these hundreds of mouths.
Elder Tian gave her another idea, "Master, while studying the contents of the books, I discovered something that could allow the northern regions to cultivate crops in winter. I thought if this technique could be applied, the winter days would be better this year."
"Winter cultivation?"
Song Qingchao sat up in shock.
Elder Tian's words also startled those present.
They all shook their heads in disagreement,
Saying, "All things in heaven and earth have spirits. The soil and water of one region nourish the people of that region. How can the seasons be disrupted?"
Elder Tian, however, was unconcerned, "What if the seasons are violated? It's better than starving to death."
Song Qingchao admitted that Elder Tian had a point.
But she also understood that this was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
What she needed to do was to overcome the current difficulties.
She showed the bag of corn seeds to a few farmers and handed the planting manual in her hand to Elder Tian.
"Let's not discuss that for now. Spring plowing is imminent, so it's better to focus on the present. This is another high-yield, cold-resistant grain crop I discovered, but I don't know much about it. Do you gentlemen think it's feasible?"
The farmers were hesitant to try the seeds at first, but after hearing Song Qingchao's respectful address, they wanted to try. They tentatively asked, "What kind of crop is this?"
Song Qingchao told them what it was and explained the organized planting methods, finally adding with a hint of apology, "All the knowledge I have comes from books. What problems this crop will face during actual planting, and whether it will succeed, is all unknown."
She respectfully stood up and bowed, "This humble girl asks for your help in completing this trial. If there is a bountiful harvest in autumn, I will not forget the efforts of all the elders. I will reward you handsomely."
This bow startled the old farmers, who quickly urged Song Qingchao to rise.
"Master, please don't. We should strive to do what you have instructed."
Song Qingchao, however, shook her head, "This is different. This concerns the lives of hundreds, even thousands, of people. Food is the primary need of the people, and you gentlemen deserve my respect."
Her words made the elders, led by Elder Tian, feel ashamed.
Their faces flushed, "We will not fail to live up to Master's trust."
After this matter was settled, Song Qingchao directly allocated a planned piece of land to Elder Tian.
She hoped to get satisfactory results from this experimental field by autumn.
At the same time, she also comforted Elder Tian, saying that she had noted down the matter of off-season planting and would consider it when they were no longer worried about food and clothing. For now, she asked Elder Tian to focus on the planting and cultivation of corn.
With the seed problem solved, the next issue was the land.
Only after arranging everything could she confidently head to the Northern Barbarians.
The next day,
Song Qingchao gathered all the people in the northwest region who could be of use to her.
She had bigger things to do, so she wouldn't always be in charge of the food.
Only when everyone is fed can other matters be discussed.
Therefore, her goal today was to get everyone to work and be fed.
She strolled over with a book in her hand.
For some reason, everyone called her place "Sifang."
Later, Song Qingchao learned the origin of the name from Aunt Fang.
She was the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Zhennan, located in the northwestern Mobei, and also occupied this northwest area within Lingshi Valley.
The four directions, east, south, west, and north, were all covered.
Thus, it was called Sifang.
Song Qingchao was pleased to see this and directly added the character "Tai" after it, hence Sifangtai.
The crowd below was vast.
Come to think of it, this was the first time she had appeared before these people.
They only knew that she was the master of Sifangtai, but they had never seen her.
Indeed, Song Qingchao usually never left her own territory.
She looked at the excited crowd below with a relatively calm heart.
Song Qingchao stepped onto the platform built by Zhou Si, using Zhou Yi's arm for support. She received a small megaphone from Zhou Ri with her left hand.
"Everyone, please quiet down."
The crowd instantly fell silent, all waiting for this seemingly frail young lady to speak.
They wondered how such a weak-looking woman could command the loyalty of brothers like the Zhou family, and what means she had used.
However, some impudent individuals directly voiced their thoughts.
This immediately ignited Zhou Liu's anger.
He jumped off the platform and twisted the person's hand.
Although the lady was approachable, not everyone could speak to her like that.
"Watch your words!"