An hour later, as Yuan Tiangang had said, the heavy rain stopped.
Fang Er walked out of his house. The cement road in the manor was fine.
But when he reached the fields, he was wading through mud, sinking deep with each step.
The furrows of the sweet potato fields were filled with standing water.
The same was true for the cotton fields.
Old Man Ma, along with the young and strong men from the manor, a vast crowd, rushed over.
He cared even more about the sweet potatoes and cotton than Fang Er did.
He waved his hand expansively at the people behind him.
"Get moving! Dig ditches and drain the water! If the crops are waterlogged, I'll deal with you all!"
After the shipyard was completed, the farmhands had been idle at home, and now they were all mobilized.
Thousands of strong young men spread out across the sweet potato fields, digging drainage ditches to channel the standing water into the irrigation canals at the field's edge.
Watching them work, Fang Er walked towards the schoolhouse with his hands behind his back. The iron frame used to attract lightning still stood there.
The ox tied to the frame was unrecognizable.
A dark, lumpy mass.
Alright, Fang Er was resigned.
He felt the Sichuan peppercorns, salt, and dried chilies in his upper pocket. The grand feast had gone to waste.
Looking at the lingering dark clouds overhead, Fang Er felt a trace of heaviness in his heart.
If it rained continuously for half a month, there would be big trouble.
He lit a cigarette casually and walked towards the Taoist temple.
He had to talk to Yuan Tiangang in person.
In the thatched sheds surrounding the Taoist temple, Yuan Tiangang's disciples and grand-disciples, each holding a printed chemistry textbook, bent over to shield the book from dripping rain from the leaky roof, reading with great interest.
Yuan Tiangang sat cross-legged in the main hall of the Taoist temple, also reading.
However, next to him was a set of experimental equipment.
From time to time, he added something to a beaker.
Hearing Fang Er's footsteps, he asked without looking up, "Why does the Marquis of Liaodong have the leisure to visit this old Taoist?"
Fang Er sat down on the doorstep.
"Old man, is it true that the rain will last for half a month?"
Yuan Tiangang continued with his actions and replied casually, "Didn't His Highness the Prince of Wei already ask? He didn't tell you?"
"In the first autumn of the Zhenguan era, heavy rain fell continuously. For half a month, a flood was inevitable! This is what this old Taoist observed from the heavens."
"Marquis of Liaodong, you should try to find a way to resolve the disaster. This old Taoist is about to witness a miracle, so please excuse my lack of farewell."
With that, he continued to look down, carrying out his experiment.
How could Fang Er leave? If the rain situation couldn't be resolved, all the cotton would be ruined.
A thousand mu, and the seeds hadn't even fully formed yet. Who knew when he would get cotton seeds again.
"Old man, do you have a way to dispel the rain?"
Yuan Tiangang froze.
After a while, he replied, "This old Taoist only knows how to pray for rain, not dispel it!"
Alright, Fang Er was very disappointed. It seemed he could only rely on manpower to solve this flood problem.
After leaving the Taoist temple, he took out the walkie-talkie.
"Dong Si, Dong Si, this is Dong Yi, please respond if you hear me."
After a burst of static from the walkie-talkie, Zhao Gang's voice came through.
"Dong Yi, Dong Yi, this is Dong Si, please give your orders."
"Dong Si, Dong Si, I order you to stop all current work and focus all efforts on manufacturing shovels, buckets, and other flood drainage tools!"
"Dong Si acknowledges. Repeating: Stop all work and focus all efforts on manufacturing flood drainage tools."
Zhao Gang, having received the order, halted all work in the blacksmith's workshop.
They were firing on all cylinders to produce these items.
The woodworking shop was the same, starting to mass-produce shovel handles, carrying poles, and the like.
Similarly, Fang Er ordered the glass workshop to cease all operations and focus entirely on producing flat glass.
Since there was no way to dispel it!
Then they would block the rain from getting in!
Fang Family Manor had no shortage of manpower.
At all costs, they had to protect this cotton and sweet potatoes.
The next morning, just after Chen Shi (7-9 AM), it started to drizzle again.
Although not as heavy as yesterday, it continued until the afternoon before stopping.
Old Man Ma, early in the morning, led the manor's people around the fields and ditches. Wherever they found standing water, they immediately dug ditches to lead it away.
For over a thousand mu of land, more than four thousand people were mobilized, all available labor in Fang Family Manor was deployed.
Even then, it was still not enough. Only four people were allocated per mu.
When Fang Er came to inspect, there was still standing water in many places that hadn't been drained in time.
He ordered the Heavenly Fire Army to halt all training and assist with drainage.
Furthermore, the Yan Yun Cavalry split up and went to nearby villages and towns to recruit laborers.
Because Fang Family Manor was known for its generosity and prompt payment, laborers came from nearby continuously that day.
Fang Er had to spend hundreds of guan on wages for just one day's work!
Such a huge cost, all to protect that thousand mu of cotton.
Loads of glass were delivered to the fields.
Even the timber for building ships was mobilized!
Li Shun was going crazy. The framework for the Wuzuan Warship was already built, just waiting for the planking, but this rain had interrupted it.
He ran to Fang Er with a wronged expression and complained tearfully.
Fang Er could only point to the cotton fields where sheds were being erected.
"Do you see that area? If this patch of crops is saved, in three years, everyone in the Great Tang will be able to afford new clothes."
Then he pointed to the sweet potato field.
"If these sweet potatoes can be harvested successfully, in two to three years, there will be no more famine in the Great Tang."
"It's just a few days' delay in building the large ship. Do you think it's worth it?"
Li Shun was dumbfounded.
He only knew that the crops grown here were very valuable, and those old men in the manor spent their days pacing in the fields with their hands behind their backs.
They would immediately remove any insects or weeds they found.
But he never expected them to be so incredibly valuable!
With a determined expression, he bowed deeply to Fang Er.
"My lord, rest assured! I will call over the shipwrights. We shipwrights are much better at this kind of carpentry work than these farmers!"
With that, he immediately returned to the shipyard to call for his men.
After Li Shun left, Fang Er picked up a shovel and joined the construction army.
Pillars were being buried one by one. To save most of the crops, some cotton plants in certain positions had to be dug up and replanted elsewhere.
Whether they would survive or not depended on their fate.
Unbeknownst to Fang Er, who was working hard in the fields, covered in sweat and rain, the old Confucian scholars led by Kong Yingda in the imperial court were once again requesting Li Shimin to allow Li Chengqian to return to the palace to study.
Kong Yingda stood before the imperial desk and said righteously, "Your Majesty, the lightning yesterday must have been because that ox did something evil, thus summoning the divine lightning to punish it."
"Therefore, I request Your Majesty to issue an imperial decree to recall the Crown Prince!"
Li Er's expression soured. If it weren't for his status, he would have wanted to go down and slap that old fellow.
This old man had sworn yesterday that he could draw down lightning, and if he couldn't, he would resign and return home to re-study the classics.
But just a day later, he had changed his tune. Truly thick-skinned like a city wall!
And he even attributed the reason to that calf, which was only half a month old!
What, did that little heifer drink your milk?