When the City Gate Caught Fire, the Fish in the Moat Suffered

After receiving the large batch of precious medicinal herbs sent by Hao Jiyong, Song Ankang was no longer so worried. He could now devote himself wholeheartedly to cultivation and improvement with peace of mind.

Song Ankang's strength began growing rapidly again, while Chaoyun Manor's medicinal herb processing business improved by the day, earning higher profits every day.

The second batch of apprentices had gradually completed their training. They could process more medicinal herbs, and the work of purchasing herbs was also proceeding smoothly.

Because the purchase prices Song Ankang offered were just a little higher than market prices, they swiftly acquired a large batch of medicinal herbs. These included not only the few basic herbs used for processing, but also many herbs Chaoyun Manor intended to process later on.

Even given Huachun Hall's scale, the amount of those few basic medicinal herbs it could absorb was limited. In around two months, the market should be saturated. Before then, Chaoyun Manor had to open up new sources of income.

Besides that, Song Ankang arranged for people to contact other medicine shops. They could not put all their business on Huachun Hall.

With so many people in Chaoyun Manor, and more and more workers mastering the deep processing of medicinal herbs, they would be able to process increasingly more herbs. Sooner or later, supply would exceed demand.

After all, Huachun Hall had only a limited number of alchemists. They simply could not use so many basic medicinal herbs, and they also had to devote much of their time to refining other pills.

Song Ankang handed these matters over to Wang Yuliang. He himself was mainly responsible for teaching the apprentices in the processing workshop. Every profession had its specialty; Song Ankang was not skilled at management, so it was better left to someone who was.

Of course, this did not rule out the possibility that he was simply being lazy. Fortunately, Wang Yuliang performed outstandingly, and with Hao Jiyong assisting from the side, the processing workshop's business grew better and better.

More than a hundred people from Chaoyun Manor had joined the processing workshop, working exclusively for it. They handled different tasks such as herb processing, herb purchasing, herb transportation, and opening up markets, giving each of them an additional source of income.

To ensure that every Tenant Farmer in Chaoyun Manor could survive this year's hardship, Song Ankang specifically had Wang Yuliang recruit one member from every household into the processing workshop, giving everyone an opportunity.

As the processing workshop expanded, it would recruit more Tenant Farmers in the future. Once it reached a certain scale, it might even recruit workers from outside Chaoyun Manor.

Of course, Chaoyun Manor currently had more than enough manpower. There were even many idle Tenant Farmers hoping to enter the processing workshop, so there was no need for the time being to recruit apprentices and workers from outside.

Song Ankang also gave the Tenant Farmers who entered the processing workshop generous pay—at least, it seemed generous in the eyes of those Tenant Farmers. In truth, over seventy percent of the profits still went into Song Ankang's pocket.

To mobilize everyone's enthusiasm, Song Ankang specifically had Wang Yuliang establish corresponding pay grades, giving greater rewards to those who performed well and worked more earnestly and responsibly.

As soon as this system appeared, it immediately caused a tremendous stir throughout Chaoyun Manor. Every Tenant Farmer who entered the processing workshop began working even harder and more diligently, earning greater rewards.

In barely half a month, nearly every household in Chaoyun Manor was living better. Everyone had regained hope, and the atmosphere in the manor improved with each passing day.

Even so, everyone still set aside some time to gather wild vegetables, wild grasses, and leaves outside, storing them bit by bit as they waited for winter's arrival.

The diligent and honest Tenant Farmers of Chaoyun Manor wasted scarcely a moment or a coin. To prepare for the bitter winter several months away, everyone accumulated as many resources as possible.

"Lord Manor Owner's processing workshop pays far too well. My boy earns dozens of copper coins every day, enough for our whole family to live on for several days, with plenty left to save."

"Exactly, exactly. In all the villages for ten miles around, we've never seen such a generous manor owner. My little daughter is an apprentice at the processing workshop, and she can earn nearly a hundred copper coins a day. We've used it all to buy grain."

"Grain prices are rising more fiercely every day. We should stockpile more grain, or we'll have to spend several times as much to buy it later."

"I think so too. This grain can be stored up. If the manor cannot pay its taxes this year, we can also take some out to help the manor owner in an emergency. The manor owner treats us so well; we should help ease his worries and solve his troubles too."

"That's right. During this time, both apprentices and transport workers have damaged quite a few medicinal herbs, even some that had already been processed. Yet Lord Manor Owner did not make them compensate for it, and even paid them their full wages. He's practically a living Bodhisattva."

Thanks to the flourishing processing workshop, Song Ankang's prestige, status, and reputation in Chaoyun Manor soared. He had faintly become Chaoyun Manor's savior.

As life grew better and better, the many Tenant Farmers became increasingly grateful to and respectful of Song Ankang.

Everything was developing in a positive direction, but that was only within Chaoyun Manor. Outside Chaoyun Manor, more and more villages had fallen into unprecedented panic and unease.

So many days had passed, yet it still had not rained. This year's crops would basically yield very little and were nearly beyond saving. Many villagers likely could not even afford to pay their taxes.

Moreover, news had leaked from the upper ranks of the Imperial Court: not only would taxes not be reduced this year, they might even be increased.

At first, many villagers were dissatisfied, but once the reason spread, all the villagers lowered their banners and silenced their drums.

The reason was simple. This year, not only had the Human Race suffered an unprecedented drought, but the Human Race's greatest enemies—the Angel Race and the Merfolk Race—had suffered even more severely. Their harvests were less than half of last year's.

Under such circumstances, the Angel Race and Merfolk Race could not possibly feed their people with their grain. To survive the crisis, they would certainly wage war against the Human Race and plunder its resources and wealth.

Large numbers of Xia Kingdom troops had already set out for the Heaven-Human War Front and the Merfolk War Front. War with the Angel Race and Merfolk Race could break out at any time. With troubles abroad and troubles at home, all citizens had to tighten their belts and pay more taxes so the war at the front lines could be sustained.

That was why paying more taxes was necessary. They could not possibly let the soldiers at the front fight to the death for them on empty stomachs. It did not matter if they went hungry, but the officers and soldiers at the front could not go hungry.

It was precisely because they understood that they became all the more fearful and uneasy.

Many villages outside Chaoyun Manor desperately gathered wild vegetables, wild grasses, and leaves everywhere. They even ventured at the risk of their lives into places overrun by Demonic Creatures and Ghosts, such as Red Leaf Forest.

Even so, their harvests became scarcer and scarcer, and this triggered an even greater calamity that spread to Chaoyun Manor.