The best of both worlds

"It's been found, and it should be arriving soon."

Upon hearing this, Yunxi immediately replied.

After she finished speaking, Yunxi's gaze towards Fang Weiyan became slightly strange. "Although the Mountain Spirit hasn't arrived yet, I've heard that Mountain Spirit's extremely beautiful."

Yunxi glanced at Fang Weiyan as she finished speaking, and the meaning behind her words was quite clear.

Fang Weiyan was taken aback upon hearing this, then shook his head, "I have heard about it, but I'm more curious about her prayer."

I heard a long time ago that Mountain Spirit have the ability to bring blessings.

However, Fang Weiyan still doesn't quite understand the specifics of how to pray for blessings.

If possible, Fang Weiyan still wanted to know how the other person prayed for blessings.

Furthermore, what abilities can one gain after praying for blessings?

This was quite important to Fang Weiyan, and he was eager to know the specifics.

Hearing Fang Weiyan's tone, Yunxi immediately felt a slight sense of relief.

She could tell that Fang Weiyan genuinely didn't have much feeling for this Mountain Spirit.

That's great! She was initially worried that Fang Weiyan might have some thoughts about that Mountain Spirit.

Now it seems she was overthinking things.

While chatting with Yunxi about the Mountain Spirit, Fang Weiyan picked up a memorial from the side.

I had already instructed the Ministry of Revenue to take the new money away, but I haven't been back much lately, so I don't know how things are going.

When Fang Weiyan picked up the memorial and read it carefully, he gained a general understanding of the circulation of Kaiping Treasure Currency.

At this point, the Kaiping Treasure Currency was circulating quite well among the people.

Before the Kaiping Treasure Currency were distributed, the Ministry of Ministry of Rites had already helped by posting notices in various places.

Then, with the help of officials from various places, the people already knew about the precious coins even before they arrived.

Furthermore, the notice included illustrations of precious coins, which significantly increased public acceptance of them.

At the very least, this way, the people would first have an impression of this precious coin. Only after everyone recognized the new coin could the money begin to circulate, which would make things much simpler.

The notice also specified the exchange rate between the new and new currencies.

Prices were basically reset at this point.

Fang Weiyan nodded repeatedly as he read the contents of the memorial.

As things stand, new money is already in circulation, while old money is being collected and stored in warehouses.

If the Jiang Kingdom's treasury is empty right now, they can simply print some coins to tide them over.

As long as the manufacturing industry catches up and more money is printed, the currency won't depreciate too drastically.

Fang Weiyan nodded repeatedly as he read the contents of the memorial, feeling quite pleased.

"The people are now able to ensure they don't suffer from food shortages; the next step is to look at things like clothing, transportation, and housing."

Fang Weiyan put down the memorials from the Ministry of Revenue and then looked at the memorials submitted by the prefects from various regions.

Basically, Fang Weiyan wanted to understand was the current living standards of ordinary people.

As long as the living standards of the people are improved, the country's strength will naturally increase.

Then we can start arming the soldiers.

As the national strength of the Jiang Kingdom increases, Fang Weiyan's strength will also increase accordingly.

Fang Weiyan understood this, so he took it very seriously.

"As for shelter, if we could use cement, it would be quite easy to build some sturdy houses that are not afraid of wind and rain."

Upon hearing Fang Weiyan mention this, Yunxi immediately replied.

She is very concerned about the Jiang Kingdom's current development and has learned a lot by secretly studying it.

Fang Weiyan smiled slightly upon hearing this, "Yes, but the current production capacity of cement is insufficient. We have more than 30 million people. If every household needed it, how much cement would we need?"

"Moreover, the priority right now is to build up the roads in all areas. As the saying goes, 'If you want good fortune, build roads first.'"

Fang Weiyan smacked his lips as he mentioned this.

Convenient transportation can greatly improve the flow of goods and reduce losses along the way.

This will boost the local economy.

When the economy improves and people have more money in their pockets, the country's strength naturally increases as well.

Therefore, cement cannot be widely adopted at present.

The cement plant is already under construction.

With Huaxia as a foundation, building a cement plant is actually quite easy. All you need to do is find the source of some raw materials and bring the equipment over.

Teaching some people how to operate it is basically enough.

The only problem is probably with the electricity.

The sunlight here feels too weak, so solar power generation isn't feasible.

If solar power doesn't work, then it's basically either thermal power or hydropower.

Thermal or hydroelectric power generation...

Fang Weiyan finished speaking, he suddenly raised an eyebrow, and then, as if he had thought of something, he quickly picked up the map next to him and flipped it open to take a look.

Fang Weiyan then found his target on the map.

"I think I understand now why this particular river was chosen!"

Fang Weiyan at this moment.

In Huaxia, thermal power generation still accounts for the majority of electricity generation.

Meanwhile, Fang Weiyan hadn't figured out what to use to generate electricity.

Water conservancy and firepower, wind power?

These are all possible, but I haven't found a suitable place yet.

But at that moment Fang Weiyan suddenly thought of the river he had just acquired.

If placed in a good location, this hydroelectric power source can definitely be used for electricity generation!

Although it's not entirely clear how much electricity this river can generate, Fang Weiyan felt it shouldn't be too far off.

Moreover, there is such a place on the map of the Jiang Kingdom that could be used for hydroelectric power generation.

However, the construction of power facilities...

Fang Weiyan frowned slightly as he thought of this.

Setting up the power supply is a real challenge.

Thinking about this, Fang Weiyan suddenly felt a headache coming on; building a power grid wasn't going to be easy.

If they wanted to bring up the power grid to the Jiang Kingdom, it would be even more difficult.

"However, if we build a power plant to temporarily supply electricity to the factory and construct the factory next to the power plant, then the power grid won't need to be laid too far."

Fang Weiyan thought about it and felt that directly laying out a power grid across the entire area was basically impossible.

However, if the factories are concentrated in this area, then there shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Fang Weiyan thought about it and felt that the problem wasn't particularly serious.

With that thought in mind, Fang Weiyan's gaze immediately fell on a spot on the map of the Jiang Kingdom.

There is a place in the Jiang Kingdom where, perhaps due to the collision of tectonic plates or the influence of terrain, the elevation difference is quite large.

Judging from the terrain, Fang Weiyan felt it was particularly suitable for building a power plant.

Moreover, Fang Weiyan could build the power plant first, and then release the water into the river.

This significantly reduced the difficulty of construction.

Fang Weiyan looked at the map and felt that there shouldn't be any major problems.

We'll purchase some more equipment later and then focus on building the factory in this area.

This way, the goods produced in the factory can be transported by water, which will be much more convenient.

Energy is secured, transportation is secured—it's a win-win situation.

Fang Weiyan couldn't help but think that this plan was excellent.

"Yunxi, there have been far fewer demonic attacks lately, haven't there?"

Fang Weiyan asked while looking at the map.

He thought the place was rather desolate and wondered if there might be any demons or monsters there.

"Yes, there have been far fewer cases lately. Previously, there were several places where people were kept in captivity by demons and were hidden very well, but they have all been eradicated one by one."

Yunxi had left once before, and even made a special trip to inspect other places.

All those hidden threats have been eliminated.

Fang Weiyan nodded upon hearing this, continuing to trace the names on the map with his head down.

He was thinking about where it would be best to direct the rivers.

This newly built canal will definitely boost the economy of any county or prefecture it passes through.

It's all because of the convenience brought by this river.

"By the way, instruct the prefects and magistrates in various regions that although this year's planting is over, they should still make preparations for next year's planting in advance."

"When the previous inspector left, how were things going? How much farmland had been recovered?"

The main purpose of dispatching inspectors is to eradicate those malignant tumors and reclaim farmland.

This year's arable land is actually less, but with the deployment of the inspectors and the killing of many officials and gentry, the arable land will naturally return.

"These should all be over there. Yunxi, would you like to show them to my husband?"

Yunxi wasn't so clear about this matter; it should have been submitted by the inspector alone, so how could she possibly know about it?

"Take a look."

Fang Weiyan was still planning the route of the river on the map, and upon hearing this, he immediately agreed.

Upon seeing this, Yunxi immediately became blunt, stepped forward, found the memorial submitted by the inspector, and began to read it aloud to Fang Weiyan.

The inspector actually submitted quite a few memorials, stacks upon stacks. Fang Weiyan hadn't looked at them much before, assuming the inspector would handle them well.

Furthermore, if none of his spies impeached the other party, then the other party should be able to get away with anything.

The reason for asking now is simply to see how much farmland has been recovered, so that Fang Weiyan can estimate the approximate grain harvest next year.

The people this year had just experienced hunger.

Most people were starving, and after the price of food dropped, every household stockpiled a lot of food.

Fang Weiyan originally wanted to build some granaries for storing grain, but that plan has been temporarily abandoned.

However, Fang Weiyan didn't seem to care much about this.

Anyway, the largest food reserve has always been on Earth.

It's okay if his grain reserves are built a little later.

However, once this year's situation passes and people regain confidence in their lives, the situation should be better next year, especially with the increase in arable land.

The grain harvest will definitely be much greater then.

In this way, we can start building granaries this year, and once the grain harvest is complete, we can take out a portion of it for reserve purposes.

Yunxi spoke to Fang Weiyan about how much farmland had been confiscated and how many people had been killed.

Fang Weiyan listened from the side and nodded repeatedly.

This inspector is quite capable.

By the time Yunxi finished reading, Fang Weiyan had roughly formed a plan.

Regarding the planning of the rivers, however specifics, the Ministry of Ministry of Works still needs to conduct on-site investigations of these areas before construction can begin.

When construction began, the first thing to do was to build the bridges, and then the power station.

The power plant is quite difficult to set up; hopefully things will go smoothly.

Okay, that's enough for now.

Fang Weiyan placed the completed draft aside.

He then got up, feeling a little tired. Thinking about what he had to do next, Fang Weiyan couldn't help but feel a bit of pressure.

After getting up, Fang Weiyan picked up the farming record from the side.

The document records the arable land area in various regions.

Previously, these farmlands were mostly in the hands of the people, but now much of them have been returned to the people.

Aside from those who hadn't committed any crimes, they still controlled a considerable amount of farmland, Fang Weiyan simply had someone buy back.

The approach is relatively gentle. If the other party sells directly, it's fine; but if they don't, there could be a big problem.

The person who did this was Fang Weiyan's trusted confidants, and the matter was handled quite well.

Just now, as Yunxi recounted the situation regarding the return of farmland, Fang Weiyan looked at the map in front of him and felt that almost all the farmland had been returned.

In that case, he also needs to start planning the planting situation for tomorrow.

We definitely need to grow grain, but we also need to grow some other things, such as cotton.

These things also need to be taken into account.

If there's any spare land, we can plant some fruit trees or something similar.

Fang Weiyan looked at the farmland map in front of him, wrote down the farmland area figures, and then prepared to start the allocation.

We've never planted cotton before, so we don't know how much a mu (unit of land area) would yield.

Not knowing the exact numbers makes it difficult to allocate them, which is indeed giving Fang Weiyan a headache.

After thinking it over and making simple arrangements for land cultivation, Fang Weiyan returned to Earth to buy enough seeds.

Although it's not time to plow the land yet, it's still necessary to prepare in advance.

After all, it takes time to transport the seeds to various places, and it's also good to let the local officials know in advance what their tasks are for next year.

Fang Weiyan acted extremely quickly, purchasing all the seeds and grains in no time, followed by a batch of fertilizer, before returning to the Jiang Kingdom.