Volume 8: The Sword Points to the Far East Chapter 264 Risk Resistance
The vegetable fields that were originally located in the south of the tribe and were reclaimed at the same time as the first batch of farmlands in the delta, the earliest half-meter-wide circular irrigation canals, four water storage ponds, and the large tracts of farmland in the triangle across the river have all disappeared without a trace.
The Caogen tribe leader and the Ali tribe leader who rushed back from the MSG factory stood in the knee-deep water, facing the empty turbid water surface, each with an ugly look on their face.
Needless to say, the grassroots chief and chief Li also shed a lot of sweat on this hot land after coming to the Fire Tribe. But at this moment, the two of them could not tell where the fields where they had shed their sweat were - the widespread flood connected the original vegetable fields with the nearby river, the farther delta, the canal, the orchard, and the entire swamp. Looking around, all they could see was a vast expanse of endless sewage swamp.
His character was as tough as that of a grassroots patriarch, and tears gradually seeped out of his wide-open tiger eyes.
Chief Ali looked a little dazed. He suddenly turned around and walked back. When he was some distance away from the grassroots chief who was standing still, a slight humming sound came out of his throat, but he quickly held it back.
"Ali." The grassroots chief turned around suddenly.
"Why do you have such sharp ears?" Chief Li was anxious. "Shouldn't you pretend not to hear at this time?"
"..."The grassroots chief's tears were forced back by this guy.
After a day and a night of impact, the flood began to subside, and more than two clan leaders bravely came out to check the disaster situation.
Balke did not step in the mud. He floated in the air about two meters above the ground, flying slowly and hesitantly towards the south of the vegetable field, in the direction of the former site of Balke's flour mill. His eyes were confused and at a loss.
Auston flapped his wings and flew beside him. Seeing Balk so disappointed, he felt sorry for him and whispered, "At least the machines are saved, son... Besides, your mill is old and the mud bricks used to build the factory are very poor - you can build a new one~!"
Austin was not wrong. The factory buildings of the four factories were indeed old. In addition, the level of cement brick firing and house-building technology at that time were relatively low. The brick walls had already started to leak when it rained heavily (after all, the factory buildings were larger, and the errors in construction would be larger than those in residential buildings).
The factory buildings could not be saved, but the machines had to be saved. Evelyn hurried back to Ananas to borrow the space bracelet from the Elders' Council, and with the space rings contributed by Austin and his son, she moved the machines of the four factories away two days before the flood.
"Even if it's old, it's still my factory!" Balk roared at the old dragon angrily, and a vortex of wind appeared under his feet, and he flew towards the old site of the flour mill.
The dragon clan had a pretty good sense of direction. Although the flour mill, like the earliest cement factory, brick factory, and woolen mill built at the same time, disappeared in the boundless swamp, Balk still flew accurately over the flour mill.
The accumulated water in this area is still about three meters deep. Under the turbid water surface, only the broken walls and ruins of the destroyed factory buildings can be vaguely seen.
Balk was stunned for a moment, and before the old dragon caught up with him, he took the opportunity to secretly wipe the sweat from his eyes...
He is a male dragon who can supply staple food to millions of mouths every year. How can he admit defeat!
The old dragon, who was flapping his wings and flying over, didn't see his son crying. He knew that his son was upset, so he said in a flattering way, "How about I give you my flour mill, son? My flour mill is relatively new, and the tiled roof of the factory is intact!"
Balk glared at the old dragon with disdain, but did not roar. He turned around and flew towards the tribe in silence.
When the factory was first built, due to staff shortages and technical limitations, there was no condition to build a sewer system outside the tribe, so it was built near the swamp for the convenience of sewage discharge. Austin was lucky to have come at a good time, as the tribe had mature technology for laying underground drainage pipes, and the factory was built in the former industrial area which was not lower than the tribe, thus avoiding this disaster.
Chief Fire Chief walked out of the tribe alone. He walked two steps, stopped, then walked three steps, stopped. His stern square face was tense and there was no difference from when he was in the meeting.
The tribe is about 1,200 meters away from the small canal at its closest point, with a height difference of about five meters. This five-meter height is the life-and-death line between safety and destruction.
Chief Huoyan walked slowly, looking around slowly. The wheat fields near the tribe were devastated by the heavy rains in recent days, and many of them fell down, but at least they were not a total loss.
The farther away from the tribe, the worse the wheat fields looked. After walking about 300 meters, the originally neat fields no longer looked like they did before.
The Fire Tribe leader stopped and in front of him, beside a broken ridge, squatted a man with his balls soaked in sewage but he was unaware of it.
"Leader of the Fire Clan." Dashui, with a haggard face, turned around, called out casually, and turned away again.
The Fire Clan leader walked forward silently, stood beside Dashui, and looked firmly - although he looked more like a dullard - at the disappearing large field.
Originally, the river and the canal were more than 800 meters apart, but now, the river and the canal are connected and indistinguishable from each other.
The river water is no longer as clear as it used to be. It is filled with countless debris such as mud, grass leaves, broken wood, and vines. Occasionally, the corpses of wild animals can be seen floating in the water among the rolling waves.
Dashui was squatting and Chief Huoyan was standing. The two of them just stared at the flowing dirty water in silence for a long, long time.
"Seven years ago... Yu brought the Grassroots tribe to our Fire Flame tribe. We only had a small piece of land." The Fire Flame tribe leader spoke, "At that time, there was no small canal, no triangle land, and no cement factory... We worked very hard from morning to night that year. We didn't even have time to spare when it snowed because we were busy looking for fertilizer for the next year... Until the Grassroots tribe came to become one family with our Fire Flame tribe, all we had was this piece of land under our feet."
"Later, we built river dams, dug canals, dug water channels, built ponds, and built water wheels... Only then did we have triangular lands and more farmland."
"You were still a shy boy at that time. Ayun said your name conflicted with Ayue's brother Ashui, so he changed your name to Dashui. You were reluctant, but after Ayun called you Dashui a few times, you had no choice but to accept it."
"Ayun arranged for you to join the work team. You and Lan Guo worked together and you opened up a triangular area..."
"Four years ago, you wanted to grow beets on the sand, but you failed. It wasn't because you didn't do it well. It was because the summer here in the tribe wasn't long enough to grow beets and produce enough sugar. So Ayun decided to plant the beets in the Snake Vine Valley..."
The Fire Chief slowly squatted down and put his arm around Dashui's shoulders. "At that time, Ayun asked you if you wanted to go to Sheteng Valley with Lan Guo to grow beets, and you said you wanted to stay in the tribe... Later, Ayun told me that Dashui is a person who values and loves his homeland. If Dashui recognizes a place as his 'roots' and his homeland, he will do his best for it. Although he won't say anything nice on the surface, he will work harder than anyone else..."
Dashui hunched his shoulders, covered his face with his hands, lowered his head, and water droplets kept seeping out from between his fingers.
The Fire Tribe leader looked straight ahead, not looking at him. He still had a stern face and spoke slowly in his unique slow tone: "We have many more people than before, and our lives are better than before. We still have enough food to last us for several years. Even if the flood washed away nearly half of our fields, we can only start over again... reclaim our fields, dig canals, and build our homes again."
Dashui covered his face and listened quietly for a long time before he uttered a dull "hmm".
The Fire Clan leader smiled on his stern face and patted Dashui's shoulder gently.
Due to limited intelligence and ability, Chief Huoyan cannot stand on his own like Chief Caogen, A Li, and Chief Arthur. However, within the tribe, Chief Huoyan is still respected. The reason is that Chief Huoyan has the mind worthy of the position of "chief". His tolerance and magnanimity are not obscured by his stupidity.
The Fire Clan leader never minded the rising youngster Ayun using various means to seize his power - even the dumbest person would be extremely shrewd with the power in his hands, and even if he was fooled for a while, after so many years, he would have realized it long ago.
The Fire Clan leader never minded the fact that more and more tribes of the same and different races joined him, and more and more clan leaders appeared in his world.
Chief Huoyan believes that what Xiao Yun did is right for the tribe. Even if he is unable to understand due to his limited ability, he will support Xiao Yun in his own way and will never hold Xiao Yun back due to conservatism, prejudice, or lack of vision.
He knew that he was slow and not smart enough, and he always needed to spend several times longer than others to understand some of Xiao Yun's actions. Therefore, he never spoke or expressed his opinions easily, and put his greatest energy into things that he could understand and do.
When Dahe made the choice, the Fire Clan leader, who had been silently observing everyone for several years, saw that Dashui, whose opposition was not as obvious as the others, was the saddest one. So he had been thinking about how to comfort and encourage Dashui several days in advance.
The Fire Clan leader always spares no effort in what he believes he can accomplish.
“It’s a huge loss.”
Evelyn flew the flying bird around in the air and landed in the tribal square. She smiled bitterly and shook her head at Snowflake, Green Grass and Red Leaf who were waiting for her.
"As expected." Xuehua moaned weakly, her shoulders slumped. "What should I do when Ayun comes back... How should I explain this to Ayun?"
"The rain has been getting heavier in recent years. Ayun said long ago that floods are inevitable sooner or later. We were careful enough and didn't lose anyone in the flood, which is already very good... When we lived in the central part before, every tribe would lose a bunch of people in every flood." Hongye, who had rushed back with the dwarves from the new hilly district to help, rubbed his forehead with a headache and had to cheer himself up to comfort the tribe's chief financial officer.
"Yes, this time the flood was so heavy, but no one was washed away, and the important machinery and food were saved. This is already very good." Qingcao also said.
The Snake Tribe is far away from the flood site, and next to it is the Grand Canyon, the lowest natural flood discharge channel, so it is not threatened by the flood. However, the slippery (uh) snakes can't help much in transportation and relocation...so Qingcao came back by himself.
"Speaking of which, was Lan Guo transferred in time?" Hongye invited a few people to go back to the mobile home to rest. Since Ayun was not there, staying where he lived would make people feel a little more at ease.
"The beet planting base only needs to move the farm machinery. When I came back from borrowing the space bracelet, Lan Guo and the others had already taken refuge in our forest. But..." Evelyn smiled bitterly again, "All the beets are gone."
Xuehua raised her hand to support her forehead and groaned weakly again. No one knew better than her, the chief financial officer of the tribe, how much Xiao Yun valued the beet planting base. Although the natural disaster was not her fault, it was inevitable that she felt ashamed to see Xiao Yun.
Back in the activity room, several people immediately discussed how to repair the damage caused by the flood.
The tribe does not have to worry about survival supplies. The stored food can easily feed 10,000 or 20,000 mouths (any group with political demands must be aware of storing food for war preparedness, not to mention the Huoyan Tribe led by Xiao Yun). The four destroyed factories can be rebuilt in time after the water recedes, and the foundation of the Huoyan Tribe cannot be shaken.
However, as the saying goes, with a big family comes a lot of work - the engineering team of more than 3,000 people is still out there! Every month, they have to arrange manpower to transport a large amount of materials, which is the main point of Xuehua's anxiety~!
"Fortunately, the hilly new district was not greatly affected. It would be tragic if the steel could not be delivered in time next month." After painfully calculating the accounts for a while, Xuehua collapsed in the chair .
Qingcao frowned and thought for a long time, feeling that something was wrong: "Forty percent of our fields are destroyed. Alfalfa is okay, we can plant another crop to provide fodder, but the other things... vermicelli, sauces, soy sauce, etc. will have to be reduced by at least half. Will the money we earn this year be enough for the construction team to use next year?"
Xuehua raised her hand and waved it, saying weakly, "Ayun has a crisis reserve fund. If the income decreases this year, we can still hold on."
“…” Qingcao looked at Hongye on the left, and then at Evelin on the right.
So, except for me, you all guessed that Ayun had kept a trump card, right?
"Green grass, the most important thing is the sugar beets." Snow Flower struggled to sit up straight. "Next year, Ayun will need a lot of sugar. The production of our planting base this year is completely destroyed. The sugar produced next year will definitely not be enough for Ayun. Can you let the Snake Tribe plant more sugar beets next year?"
"Huh? Is this necessary?" Qingcao asked in surprise.
"Yes, if it weren't inconvenient to put the cat farm too far away from the tribe, Ayun would have planned to let the cats grow beets a long time ago." Xuehua said immediately, "Ayun said that the coastline is actually very suitable for growing beets, but we don't have the conditions to do so now."
Hongye has been busy managing the Hilly New District in recent years, and her intimacy with Xiao Yun is not as good as that of the housekeeper Xuehua. However, she has always supported Xiao Yun, and immediately helped persuade Qingcao: "The cat tribe can provide sweet potatoes and sweet potatoes. The snake tribe is warmer than here, and is more suitable for growing beets. In addition, the economic value of beets is indeed higher than that of sweet potatoes and potatoes."
"Alright." Qingcao nodded, "Then I'll go back and have a meeting with the elders of the snake tribe."
Qingcao herself didn't feel that her words were so domineering at all, as if it was not surprising that she could influence the planting direction of the snake tribe... and the other three people present didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said.
The reason for this strange phenomenon is, of course, that after several years of operation, it has become completely impossible for the Snake Division to break away from the Fire Division and work independently... ahem!
"Even so, it's still not enough... Well, let's do it this way for now." Xuehua thought about it again, shook her head in pain, put it aside for the time being, and discussed with Evelin the supply of vermicelli for the second half of this year and the first half of tomorrow.
Ananas has made a fortune in the past few years just by reselling soy sauce, vinegar and vermicelli. Elder Merry, who is much more generous than Gwendolyn, did not keep all the money for herself. While the Elder Council made huge profits, it also did not forget to let others share the benefits. If the flood had not come too suddenly, Evelyn would have no problem borrowing a few hundred elven warriors to help with disaster relief, let alone going back to borrow the space bracelet!
Qingcao was impatient to listen to these business talks, so he pulled Hongye out to find Chief Huoyan. As soon as they went out, they ran into Daha, Caogen and Chief Ali.
"Eh? Aren't you at the cat farm? Has the water receded there?" Qingcao & Hongye asked in surprise.
Da He was soaked, no one knew if it was water or sweat. He wiped the area above his eyes with the back of his hand and said, "It's still flooded. I remembered something important. Please ask the snow elves to help us look after the farm. Come back first."
As he said this, he signaled Qingcao Hongye to go back into the house, and then pulled the Caogen tribe leader and the Ali tribe leader into the house and closed the door.
"What are you doing so mysteriously?" the grassroots chief asked curiously.
Dahe took off his shirt and wiped his face roughly, nodded to Evelin, sat down on a chair, and looked around at everyone seriously: "Five days ago, the day before the No. 1 cat farm was flooded, a team of snow elves came to us to report that the Elf King thought there would be a flood and asked us to prepare to move. It happened that the farm was short of manpower, so I kept them here."
Chief Caogen and Hongye were relatively calm, Chief Ali had a blank expression, and Xuehua and Qingcao had their mouths twitching slightly... They came to report the news at this time... The child was ready to be buried, so they borrowed the wet nurse.
Evelin looked like she was in pain without any balls.
She knew that before the flood, a Snow Elf general arrived at the Queen's City to remind Ananas, who was opening the port, to be careful (in fact, the Elf Port is safer than the Snake Tribe, after all, the Elf King has never been to the southwest coast in person), but that Snow Elf general went there through a portal and arrived a long time ago...
Da He added, "At first I thought the snow elves came to inform us on purpose, but later I heard from Lieutenant Dana that the Elf King also sent people to inform the Minotaur, and the team that notified the Minotaur was several times larger than the team that came to find us."
Hongye's expression changed. Snow elf Dana? Why does she look so familiar?
"So?" Qingcao frowned. "Don't keep it a secret like Ayun. Just tell it all at once!"
Dahe laughed evilly: "Stupid Qingcao, can't you hear it? The Tauren don't live in our area. The nearest Hall tribe is hundreds of kilometers away from us!"
Qingcao took a deep breath and was about to hit someone.
Dahe said quickly, "The Elf King believes that this time the Earth River will not only flood the upper reaches, nor will it be just our area that will be flooded."
"When Ayun's mother was still alive, we lived in the central region and also encountered a major flood, right? I remember that the scale of the flood was much smaller than what we encountered this time. Only some sheep were washed away, and no sikags were lost. The accumulated water where we lived didn't even flood our tent."
"But this time, the flood caused us to lose enough soybeans to last for a while. We were in dire straits for a long time, and the cat tribe next door lost a lot of people."
Evelin's eyelids jumped and she gasped.
The Red Leaf & Grassroots Chief's facial features are distorted, his mouth is crooked and his eyes are slanted, as if his mood is so complicated that he doesn't know how to express it.
Chief A Li's eyes lit up and he slammed the table: "Yes, this is an opportunity!"
Qingcao had already stood up and rolled up his sleeves, ready to beat up Dahe, but when he saw everyone's different expressions, he immediately felt guilty: "Uh... am I the only one who didn't understand?"
Xuehua had a gloomy look on her face... Qingcao, that pighead, had said everything himself, and she wanted to help him save face but she didn't know where to start.
Dahe and Qingcao grew up together, so they naturally wouldn't laugh at their childhood friend for lowering the IQ of everyone present. They explained honestly, "Last time Maomao and his friends went to collect cats, they brought a lot of food and the help of the minotaurs, but they only brought back a dozen cat tribes. After all, the cats are not willing to take the risk of migrating when life is still passable, but what if there is a flood?"
“The flood situation in the central region will not be more serious than here, but the tribes in the central region are definitely not as resilient as we are. Even if our houses are washed away and our fields are destroyed, the food we have stored is enough for us to get through the winter and even eat throughout the next year.”
After a pause, Dahe said with emotion: "Think about us in the past. If we encountered a disaster ten times smaller than this one, and we only lost our tents, beans, and pastures for grazing cattle and sheep, could we still survive the winter without any deaths?"
Now, Qingcao understood completely.
So her expression was the same as Hongye and Caogen before, she couldn't help but crooked her mouth and squinted her eyes...
"Then shall we go to the central region before winter?" Chief Ali said in high spirits.
"No, we will send people there as soon as the water recedes and we finish the cleanup work." Dahe said seriously, "If Ah Yun comes back and finds that we are just fighting the disaster in a dull manner, he will definitely be angry and will definitely find ways to vent his anger on everyone. He will also vent his anger on everyone so that no one can see it and everyone will suffer together. But if we think of turning crises into opportunities while fighting the disaster and boldly implement them, then he will not have the right to vent his anger on us, and everyone's life will be much better in the second half of the year and next year."
Snow Wolves: “…”
Evelyn: “…”
So, this is the golden rule you learned from your time under Ayun (teacher)...
But no matter how upset everyone was, they had to admit that what Dahao said was correct - Ayun had done a lot of things like making trouble for others with a smile on his face!
So that night, the grassroots chief called a meeting of the tribal managers.
The next day, Hongye divided the dwarves brought from the Hilly New District into two groups, one group of 500 people, and loaned them to the No. 1 Cat Farm and the beet planting base for post-disaster cleanup...
A few days later, when the various agricultural production teams were busy disinfecting the cleared fields and planting alfalfa, vegetables and other crops, a team of 100 people consisting of snow wolves and big cats rushed to the central part with food on their backs...
Although both the Snow Wolf Tribe and the Cat Tribe were devastated by the flood, no one had the idea of giving up the southwest region and moving to the central region for development.
The reason is still the water problem - it is true that once a flood occurs, the southwest region will be affected, but compared with the central region, the southwest region does have more abundant water resources.
Agriculture cannot do without abundant water resources, and it needs to continue to expand agricultural production to incubate the fire department of industry, and naturally it cannot do without the southwest region. The ancient Chinese suffered from the flooding of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, but the two river basins were still the most densely populated areas. This is the reason.
