Ji Chenghe nodded, "Of course, he's Old Ye from Tianshui Town, who has dug wells his whole life and is very experienced. I and Prince Yu have already hired him."
He Zhoumu nodded approvingly, then scanned his surroundings with piercing eyes before turning to Ji Chenghe with an apologetic smile, "Young Ji, forgive my ignorance earlier. Count me in for your and Prince Yu's endeavors. I believe that with the efforts of the three of us, Bianzhou will undergo earth-shattering changes."
Ji Chenghe cupped his hands, "Lord He, there's no need to blame yourself. It's indeed hard to believe without seeing it firsthand. From now on, with Lord He's participation, we will surely be like a tiger with wings. Next, we will start from Tianshui Town. The top priority is to find underground water sources, dig wells first, and then plant trees."
"Is… is the money enough?" He Zhoumu dared to ask the most crucial question.
Ji Chenghe sighed, "The imperial court has not allocated a single cent. Although Prince Yu has raised some money so far, if we are to govern the entire Bianzhou, that amount is merely a drop in the bucket.
However, let's take it one step at a time. We'll raise money gradually. We'll do as much as we can with the money we have. As long as we find a way, no difficulty is insurmountable."
He Zhoumu sighed, "I am also a poor official, as you should know."
Ji Chenghe glanced at him and smiled, "Prince Yu and I both know that Lord He is poor, so we never expected you to provide money. We need you to use your authority as Zhoumu and contribute in other ways, to help us with what is within your capabilities."
Lord He was slightly relieved, as he was the poorest Zhoumu in the Great Xia Kingdom and truly could not afford to contribute money.
However, governing Bianzhou required more than just money; it also needed manpower, resources, and security. Lord He suddenly thought of a way he could help, which was to provide manpower.
He planned to gather all the refugees in Bianzhou so that they could be deployed at any time.
After having lunch at Lu Ye's house, the two of them immediately returned to the county town.
Upon his return, Lord He knelt before Prince Yu.
He first proactively admitted his mistake of being ignorant and then expressed his utmost loyalty, vowing that He Zhishi would henceforth be Prince Yu's man and would obey Prince Yu's commands at all times.
Prince Yu was quite satisfied with He Zhishi's attitude of admitting his mistake and did not make him kneel for too long.
In the days that followed, the three of them planned the desertification control project in Tianshui Town, creating a detailed and feasible plan, which was officially implemented five days later.
Kyoto, Yuhua Lane.
When not refining medicine, Bai Sheng spent most of her time practicing martial arts on the training grounds.
Lu Ye watched her exhausted appearance, and although his heart ached, he did not go easy on her.
The first skill she practiced diligently was qinggong, which was a skill for escaping danger, and Bai Sheng practiced it with particular effort.
On the plum blossom stakes in the training grounds, she jumped from half a person's height to over a person's height, then to several people's height, and finally, she flew onto the roof, and eventually, onto Qingyun Peak on the outskirts of the city.
After jumping with bare feet, she then tied stones to both her ankles and continued to jump repeatedly until she was as light as a swallow and moved like the wind.
While practicing qinggong, Bai Sheng didn't know how many times she had fallen from the plum blossom stakes or even the roof. If Lu Ye hadn't been there to catch her, she would have been shattered to pieces long ago.
After all, she was not like Lu Ye, who possessed a strangely astonishing talent for martial arts. For her, any improvement in martial arts required arduous effort.
Her ankles, because of the stones tied to them, were rubbed raw.
As Lu Ye applied medicine to her ankles, his eyes welled up with tears of heartache.
Fortunately, there was spirit spring water, which helped the wounds heal very quickly and left little scarring.
Besides qinggong, there were also fist techniques and sword forms.
Practicing fist techniques required good flexibility, an area where Bai Sheng had a great advantage. However, the repetitive practice of daily movements left her body aching, making her legs tremble when she walked, bending like a "door."
To help her practice swordsmanship, Lu Ye traveled all over Kyoto and scoured the martial arts world, finally buying her an excellent precious sword. It was said to have been used by a grandmaster of the Lingjian Sect from Boruo Mountain in the previous dynasty, capable of cutting through iron like mud.
To not disappoint Lu Ye's painstaking efforts, Bai Sheng practiced swordsmanship with exceptional diligence.
During the academy's holiday, Lu Yun and the other children, seeing that their sister-in-law also had her own weapon, took out their own weapons and sparred with her.
Bai Sheng heard that her spirit sword could cut through iron like mud, so she dared not swing it at Lu Yun and the others' weapons. If she chopped their broadswords into pieces, it would greatly hurt their self-esteem.
Every day, Bai Sheng was occupied with the practice of these three martial arts.
In the evenings, she would sit on the bed and practice internal energy cultivation techniques.
Lu Ye, seeing her so tired that she could fall asleep while sitting, was reluctant to make any advances on her.
His precious darling was truly a resilient woman.
In just over a month, Bai Sheng's progress was rapid. She felt as if she could walk at a brisk pace and could scale rooftops to remove tiles at any moment.
However, this kind of training would need to continue for one to two years until all her martial arts could be stabilized with internal energy.
One day, Wen Zhimuo returned, sighing repeatedly, saying that the three-courtyard house closest to their residence had already been bought. He had wanted to buy it, but due to his tight budget, he had never dared to make a move.
Bai Sheng found it a little strange. She had heard that several large houses nearby had been vacant for years, so why had someone bought one so quickly?
"Husband, do you know about this?" Bai Sheng turned and asked Lu Ye.
Lu Ye's eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled, "What a coincidence, my dear. I was just about to tell you about this. That residence was bought by some friends of mine from Tashajun. They brothers wanted to do business in Kyoto and asked me where they could buy a large house in a secluded environment, so I introduced them here. Oh, by the way, my dear, you have met them before."
Bai Sheng suddenly realized, "So it was them." However, at that time, those friends didn't seem like people who could afford a large house.
Alas, fortunes change. Perhaps they had become rich. After all, last year their family was so poor they couldn't even afford to eat.
When Wen Zhimuo heard that the family was Lu Ye's friend, he stopped complaining. Brother Lu's friends were his friends. At worst, he would buy the house on the right. Although it was farther away, it was still adjacent, with no other residences in between.
As if sensing Bai Sheng's doubts, Lu Ye gently explained, "Those friends of mine were distant relatives from the main family. Their main family ran a镖局 (security escort agency) in the prefectural city. During one of their escorts, their sons were ambushed, and the main family had no heirs, so they adopted these brothers.
Six months ago, the main family passed away, and they sold all their businesses in the prefectural city, intending to try their luck in Kyoto.
I thought that since they had all practiced martial arts since childhood and were skilled, I wanted them to live next door to us. That way, if anything happened, we could look out for each other."
Bai Sheng nodded, "My husband is indeed thoughtful. Let's invite them over for a meal in a few days. Neighbors are better than distant relatives; we'll inevitably need to trouble them in the future."
Lu Ye initially wanted to say no, but seeing Bai Sheng's sincere expression, he couldn't refuse and smiled, "Alright, we'll do as my dear arranges."