No Harvest at All

The torrential rain washed over the wooden planks, and the water flowed into the gaps between the planks, forming a waterfall.

Red Mountain stepped onto the wooden plank, bowed his head, entered the boat, and knelt down.

Liang Qu untied the boat ropes and pulled up the anchor. "Remember to tell Song Bao when I get back that he should also come work at the River Conservancy Office! I'm off!"

"I know! Be careful, Water Bro!"

"Bon Voyage!"

The two young men in the Fishing Wharf retracted the long gangplank attached to the boat and waved to the boat as it sailed into the rain until only a blurry gray shadow remained.

The two hugged the diving board, wiped the water off their faces, and looked around.

Waves crashed against the shore, and fishing boats piled up and squeezed together.

All the teahouses in the surrounding area closed down.

From morning until noon, not a single fisherman set out or returned to his boat on the Great Marsh.

"The waves on the river are so big, I don't think we'll catch any fish today. Let's go back and pack our things in case the flood really comes here."

"What's there to be afraid of? Hua Zhu County is separated from us by Jiangling County. It won't flood into us. At most, it will wipe out the original Chao River County. Besides, we have lakes and we're not afraid of flooding! We have Great Marsh. Even if the entire Black Water River were to pour in, it wouldn't make a sound!"

"That makes sense. You sit down, I'll go talk to Song Bao."

Without saying a word, the young man picked up the plank and went back to the Fishing Wharf, and the other man quickly followed.

"Hey, let's go together! It's been raining heavily for days, and the fields at home are flooded. I have to go back and drain the water."

The two men removed their fishing rods, closed the Fishing Wharf and windows, locked the door, put on their raincoats, and hurriedly disappeared at the end of the Azure Stone Street.

Shang Rao Wharf was completely deserted.

The boat left Yi Xing Town.

Catfish, Giant Crocodile, two River Porpoise King, and eight River Dolphin broke through the waves and surfaced.

Liang Qu stepped onto the edge of the boat and threw down four saddles.

The Fat Catfish, Cannot Move, with its Round Head and Scarhead, aimed at the snare and burrowed into the saddle.

He gripped the rope knot with his Fist to help secure it, then tied another rope around his waist, his eight legs and two claws firmly holding onto the stern.

With the four beasts properly harnessed to the water saddles, they exerted their strength together, pulling the boat through the waves, gradually accelerating, and speeding across the water.

Raindrops hit the bow of the boat and turned into a flurry of water droplets.

Eight adult River Dolphin were scattered like wings on both sides of the boat, rising and falling in a continuous line.

Looking across the entire Pingyang River Conservancy Office, apart from Xu Yuelong and Wei Lin, it's hard to find another official with such underwater power.

Liang Qu sat in the boat, taking inventory of the items.

Weapons, Compass, silver, official robes, Waist Token, water bag, emergency rations, and documents were all present.

Turning to the next page, the tasks were listed in great detail.

There are three key points among them.

First, we need to rescue people and evacuate civilians.

Second, we need to determine the extent of the disaster and create a map.

Third, we need to find out why the hydrological station failed to issue a timely warning and investigate the specific reasons for the breach.

There are many types of floods, including torrential rain floods, snowmelt floods, ice jam floods, and floods caused by engineering failures...

The first three are natural disasters, while the latter is a man-made disaster.

If it is found to be an engineering accident, many people will undoubtedly lose their lives.

Such a significant event would certainly not be decided by Liang Qu alone; Wei Lin must have sent people as well.

As a fast-moving forward, Liang Qu was mainly responsible for collecting clues and presenting them to Xu Yuelong and the others when they arrived.

Having clarified the task details, Liang Qu opened two other books.

"General Treatise on Dyke Construction" and "General Treatise on Dyke Defense".

The spine of the book is not thick, but it is full of essential information.

The content includes how to build temporary dikes, settle disaster victims, carry out disaster Disaster Relief, and harvest rice, etc.

"Harvest..."

Liang Qu thought about the situation in Huaiyin Prefecture, and after calculating the time, he sighed silently.

This year has been relatively good for the other counties, but it has truly been a year of natural disasters for Hua Zhu County.

The Ghost Mother Sect caused trouble, resulting in either death or escape, leaving the culprits with most of their able-bodied men. Then, at the end of August and beginning of September, a flood struck...

The rice planting time was roughly the same throughout Huaiyin Prefecture.

The only problem is that double-cropping rice is not common in Huaiyin Prefecture!

Rice yields are higher than wheat yields.

Even if the fields are full of wild oats and barnyard grass, the harvest from rice is still greater than that from wheat.

However, it has a drawback: double-cropping rice consumes a lot of soil fertility!

The Jianghuai region is neither entirely south nor entirely north, but rather situated in the middle, and its soil fertility is not as exceptionally high as that of the south.

After planting double-cropping rice for several years, only weeds grow in the fields.

With plenty of food at every meal, the local people aren't fools, so naturally they mostly choose to rotate rice and wheat crops.

In order to prevent the land from being left idle and abandoned, the rice and wheat planting season will be shifted back by two to three months compared to planting double-cropping rice!

It wouldn't matter normally, but it's extremely dangerous nowadays.

Double-cropping rice is a common practice. Early rice is harvested in July, and late rice in October. Now in August, double-cropping rice can still provide an emergency harvest, especially after a disaster, as it is a crucial lifeline! Rice-wheat rotation requires summer planting and autumn harvest! June to November is the rice growing season. After the rice is harvested, wheat or rapeseed is planted to overwinter, and some vegetables are planted in the spring.

Mid-to-late August falls right in the middle of the rice planting season.

The first crop yielded nothing; the rice hadn't even flowered.

Once the floods are over, planting wheat won't be a problem. However, no matter what crop it is, it takes time from planting to harvest!

That's not something you can get through in a few days or half a month, or by just enduring a few days of hunger. It's something you have to endure for four or five months, even six months! This year, Hua Zhu County will have no harvest at all, and they will have to wait until next year to harvest a round of wheat.

The surrounding counties had already provided support once before in the Ghost Mother Sect incident, and they certainly wouldn't be happy to do it again.

"Not necessarily..."

Liang Qu then thought about it again.

Mid to late August is the transitional period from the rice development stage to the booting stage, a time when the above-ground parts grow most vigorously and have the highest physiological water requirements.

Being submerged for a short period of time is not a big problem. Those that grow fast and have entered the gestation stage can survive for a day, while those that grow slower and are in the development stage can survive for six to seven days.

Those in the seedling stage are basically beyond saving. Liang Qu is now Wu Zhiqi, and it's too late to drive it all away by the flood. But those that grow slowly and are still in the development stage can be saved if you're lucky.

It's just... difficult.

Floods rarely recede naturally in less than ten days to half a month.

Liang Qu was lost in thought. As a lowly Dushui Official, he didn't know how to resolve the current situation.

He closed the book and spoke with Ze Cauldron.

[Cauldron Master: Liang Qu]

[Refine Marsh Spirit: Marsh Ape (Azure) (Fusion Rate: 38.6%)]

[Marsh Spirit's Favor: Martial Dao Divinity Second Level (River Master Emperor); Ying Long Mark: Level 1; Tian Wu: Level 1]

[Innate Skills: Water Leap, Water Breathing, Water Prison, Soaring Water Riding Waves, Intimidation, Vortex Aperture]

[Water Essence: 3465 points]

River's Favor: 1.0001

The Galloping Horse five acupoints of strength, the Marsh Ape has nearly 40% refinement level, and its Favorability is sufficient.

The Liang Qu can control a water volume of over 16,000 tons, an increase from the previous 12,000 tons.

However, this is still a drop in the ocean compared to the overall situation of the Black Water River.

Liang Qu was no saint, but seeing the people of a county suffering from hunger, he wanted to do what he could to help.

"Wu Zhiqi, Wu Zhiqi, how could you be trapped by the flood?"

Liang Qu closed the book, and with a thought, he poured the remaining 3,400-plus points of Marsh Essence into himself.