Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 257 Black Sun
On this day, the sun did not rise, white dust fell from the sky, the temperature dropped significantly, and mouths and throats were filled with choking dust.

At Shenwu Palace, several rotating commanders and ministers quickly entered the palace.

At this point, many people realized that trouble was brewing. The outside world seemed terrifying, and it looked like something big was about to happen.

As everyone entered the Divine Martial Palace, they found that Beiji Wu was dealing with something.

Xue Chonghu and the others sat on chairs five meters away, waiting, with a newly printed photocopy of the newspaper on the table in front of them.

As he watched, Xue Chonghu couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

A global catastrophe has arrived, and if orders are not followed, it is estimated that at least 90 percent of the world's population will die in this disaster.

After Xue Chonghu finished reading the newspaper, he found that the area was already crowded with people, many of whom were standing and reading the newspaper with very serious expressions on their faces.

"Your Majesty, everyone has arrived."

Teng He whispered a reminder. Now a teenager, Teng He had gained some power in the Embroidered Uniform Guard and was managing the palace of the Northern Martial Army with a group of brothers and sisters.

Arctic Wu is like a father to these people, teaching them how to do things over the years and playing football and hunting with them.

After finishing writing the memorial in his hand, Beiji Wu looked up at everyone more than ten seconds later.

"I've written down the general situation in the newspaper. Now, go home and prepare. After the train arrives this afternoon, immediately go to the areas under your responsibility to check the grain reserves. Make a list of all edible grains, vegetables, and meats. I need the most accurate report!"

"Although there have been many droughts and floods in various places in recent years, the overall harvest has been good, and Luoyang's grain reserves are enough to last for ten years. However, I still need the most accurate data."

"From now on, we will implement a grain rationing system. I will give priority to supplying food to the mountain farmers, but they must also pick up the virtue of diligence and thrift! We will reinstate the communal dining system. They should take only what they can eat, and those who can't finish their food will be starved to teach them a lesson!"

"The main crop is potatoes, and we store new grains to eat old grains."

"Wheat and rice are mainly grown in a few places in the south, depending on the situation this spring."

“The reservoir I asked you to build should have a lot of fish. We’ll eat the big fish and release the small ones, and make smoked and dried fish to supplement our food supply. We’ll also catch fish from the coastal areas to support other regions.”

"Continue building railways and housing. Use surplus manpower to mine coal and use trains to distribute coal to various places for storage and winter protection."

"Let Gui Nong Province slaughter some old and weak cattle, sheep and horses to make leather clothes and fur hats to keep warm, and let people from the Northeast gather in Jizhou and Tiezhou to mine for money."

"I have already sent people on horseback to deliver intelligence to various places. Everyone will receive a copy of today's Mountain Farm Daily. You should also take a hundred copies back to your units to stabilize morale and prevent panic and disarray."

"This time, the people in the south are also on our side."

Beijiwu then looked at Wan Dai and his son Wan Qizhen.

"This year, potatoes will be planted in Sichuan. Xue Chonghu, you should personally go to Yizhou to promote agriculture. Sichuan's unique terrain can solve part of the agricultural output problem and ensure part of the grain supply. This year, only 10,000 mu of public land will be planted with wheat. Concentrate the fertilizer there to see the effect and reserve seeds."

"King of Shu, you must immediately return to Shu to stabilize the people's hearts. At the same time, you must call on officials and the people to conserve food. You must firmly believe that under the leadership of the Mountain Farmers, the disaster will surely pass. If anyone causes trouble, kill them immediately!"

When Wan Shi arrived, he sensed the seriousness of the situation from the dim sky outside. At that moment, he stood up and bowed with a solemn expression.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will certainly live up to Your Majesty's expectations!"

Beijiwu nodded and quickly gave instructions to the others.

"Sang Yang'an, after you assign the production team's affairs to your deputy, take five hundred people to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and gather all of us for collective refuge. Prioritize going to low-altitude areas and concentrate in places with good transportation to prevent being isolated by snowfall."

“If necessary, abandon Tibet.” Beijiwu paused for a moment. “Abandon it now! Pass on my order for all officials and herders there to evacuate. Abandon any areas that are too far away and relocate our people to lower altitudes first!”

Sang Yang'an immediately replied, "Yes!"

Arctic Wu's decision to abandon the land was decisive, without any psychological burden or constraints.

"Yan Boyan, go to Annam and Lingnan. After four years of development, their grain production can now supply the needs of 20 million people. The railway is about to reach Jiaozhi County. Go to the south to gather people to go there to cultivate the land, continuing to focus on rice cultivation. At the same time, work with Zhang Weicang to develop urban sewage treatment, medical care, and education to prevent the spread of plague due to overpopulation."

"In the Northeast, we will retreat to places like Youzhou to develop industry. That area suffered the most severe disasters, with volcanic ash falling there, rendering agriculture completely ineffective. This year, we will abandon all agriculture, and the surplus people will mainly engage in fishing and hunting. We will prioritize culling old and weak livestock."

"Fish can be raised in the reservoir to solve part of the food problem."

"The Northwest region is mainly composed of the Nine Provinces behind the mountains, and agriculture mainly consists of cold-resistant crops. Wuzhou has some geothermal resources, which can be used to grow vegetables indoors to prevent volcanic ash pollution."

"The Son Ngum and Binh Van provinces are focusing on developing the power and civilian industries, as well as the energy industry. They are ceasing the manufacturing of combined heat and power plants and other agricultural machinery, and instead focusing on engineering and transportation machinery."

"Fast-growing vegetables and crops are grown in the Guanzhong region, and the fishing and aquaculture industries there can sustain themselves for more than ten years."

"The Huanghuai Province is mainly focused on grain storage, so there won't be any problems with me overseeing the situation here."

“The Jiangnan region mainly grows potatoes and fish, and has abandoned rice cultivation. Merchant ships outside can trade grain from the southwestern coastal provinces.”

“After the plains province has planned its grain reserves, it will allocate them to mining and manufacturing industries. The industrial production of goods such as sickles, water-skin iron kettles and iron buckets will be used to transport them to Southeast Asia to develop agriculture. Alternatively, fish can be raised in pits to recover the grain.”

"The two provinces of Hubei and Hunan grow aquatic crops such as water chestnuts and lotus roots, as well as early-maturing rice and vegetables."

"In Guangdong and Guangxi provinces and southeastern provinces, we should plant crops such as potatoes and radishes, develop aquaculture in rivers, lakes and seas, and coastal areas should take precautions against typhoons and make better use of mountain resources."

"In order to alleviate the burden on the north, we request that the Plain Province send 30,000 able-bodied men over the age of 14 to the southern areas with many ethnic minorities to assist in defense and prevent the mountain people who are short of food from attacking the mountain farmers."

“Ten thousand men from Liaodong went to Qiongzhou, ten thousand men from the Ministry of Agriculture went to Lingnan, and ten thousand men from the Turkic tribes went to the Western Regions Province to prevent officials and commanders from being attacked while they were away.”

"100,000 people from Huanghuai Province went to Ryukyu, 100,000 went to Nanzhao, and 100,000 went to Qiongzhou. They were mainly families and were responsible for defending against attacks from foreign tribes and developing agriculture and fisheries."

"The rest of the people in the Mountain Agriculture Province, Plain Province, and Huanghuai Province provide assistance by producing weapons and daily necessities."

"Only by uniting can we survive this natural disaster. We must all take responsibility and not let the people of Shan Nong suffer alone! Everyone who leaves is a member of Shan Nong, and their household registration will be changed to Shan Nong from now on!"

Arctic Martial Arts provides a detailed introduction to various disaster mitigation methods and explains in detail what kind of agriculture each region should develop, giving everyone a direction.

We must guard against low temperatures, prevent premature frost from damaging crop growth, protect ourselves from diseases caused by volcanic ash, guard against instigation by foreign tribes, and prevent officials, civilians, and workers who are away from home from being killed in retaliation.

Beijiwu recounted some of the details, both big and small, while the others added to them.

The day's newspapers were disseminated at top speed, reaching all parts of the country by messengers on horseback and by train.

The nearest northern provinces quickly stabilized, followed by the southern provinces. The people of the Mountain Farming Kingdom have always had the habit of storing grain, especially those in the southern provinces that are frequently affected by disasters, who have a tradition of storing enough food for a year.

Food is cheap in the north, but Arctic military forces have always emphasized the need to stockpile food.

After understanding what had happened and what to do, and with the help of the mountain farmers and local governors and prefects, people everywhere began to act according to the instructions in the newspapers.

Beijiwu has a very high personal prestige and has done a lot of good things for the benefit of the people over the years. In addition, the people of Shannong have not yet degenerated and their organizational strength and discipline are constantly improving.

In response to the call to fight the natural disaster together and share the burden of the mountain farmers, each production team began to draw lots to decide which family would go south to provide reinforcements.

The people of the three tribes also believed that the Arctic Warriors would protect their women and children. After realizing that they could no longer stay in the north, they obeyed orders and moved closer to the place arranged by Kyushu behind the mountains.

The surplus population was like the population depleted during past southward campaigns, leaving their homeland for distant expeditions.

The difference is that this time it is not the Khan who is in command, but the Emperor of the Mountain Farming Kingdom, Beijiwu, who is in command.

Only when the men who eat meat and drink alcohol leave can more resources be left for women and children.

Some people also went on expeditions with the mountain farmers, and a large number of people began to migrate westward to the grasslands of West Asia to graze their livestock.

The north is no longer safe to stay in. Volcanic eruptions have injected large amounts of sulfur dioxide gas into the stratosphere, forming mirror-like acid droplets. These aerosol ash particles reflect and refract sunlight, causing global temperatures to drop significantly by several degrees Celsius.

It is now confirmed that not only is Mount Fusang erupting, but there are also volcanic eruptions in the south.

The chain reaction of supervolcanic eruptions is a catastrophe of genocide, and evacuation is necessary at this point.

The more centralized a country is, the more vulnerable it is to disasters. If a city with a population of one million cannot stabilize, it will fight among itself and collapse rapidly.

On the contrary, nomadic peoples are more adapted to such extreme disasters.

The advantage of nomadic peoples is their ability to migrate at any time and escape dangerous areas.

This strategy of being able to move around is more adaptable in the face of major disasters, and the discipline of nomadic peoples also ensures that everyone obeys the orders of a leader.

Faced with this world-class disaster, the Mountain Farming Kingdom proactively chose a relatively equitable approach to resource allocation, ensuring that more people could survive.

We must demonstrate a greater capacity for mobilization and adaptability than nomadic peoples.

Just like how modern society deals with disasters, the larger the territory, the stronger the resistance.

The failure of one region does not affect the inventory of other regions. The feudal system and the manor system are based on the principle that each region manages its own affairs. As long as one place can survive, humanity can survive.

The advantage of a unified system is that it can concentrate major tasks, while it can disperse when major tasks are not needed.

Today, the Arctic military must centralize power to accomplish major tasks, but it must also distribute power to lower levels, retaining command authority while giving them maximum room to maneuver.

The Shan Nong Kingdom acted swiftly, taking effective measures to control the situation and avoid panic on the very first day of the volcanic eruption.

The massive migration of tens of millions of people can be carried out without needing to hold meetings or discuss it, and there is no concern about being held accountable for mistakes.

Hundreds of millions of people began to mobilize through tens of thousands of newspapers and train messengers.

This kind of mobilization ability is basically impossible even in future societies; only founding emperors possessed such prestige, courage, and appeal.

On the third day of the volcanic eruption, Beijiwu stood in front of the Wanshang Temple, looking at the distant sky.

It was around noon, the sky was dark red, the sun's outline was blurry like a blood moon, and people and tall buildings on the ground could not cast shadows.

People carried torches as they marched forward, illuminating their way. The city of Luoyang seemed to have entered a dark age, eerily quiet.

Temperatures dropped, and the nights became even colder.

"Master, how long will this situation last?"

Xianglan stopped selling newspapers and stayed by Beijiwu's side, enduring hardship.

Beijiwu sighed, "It will probably take a year or two. I have already had people researching cheaper light bulbs for lighting. Now candles are being prioritized for use by various factories. In the future, I will have the palace eunuchs and maids come to Wanxiang Divine Palace once every three days to relieve their boredom."

“The people in the city can also make some musical instruments to sing and dance, or go out hunting.”

This is no longer just ordinary extreme weather; it's an extreme low-light environment lasting 1-2 years or even longer, with far more severe impacts than ordinary natural disasters.

Agriculture throughout the north was ruined.

If no sunlight gets in for a month, the potatoes will be much less nutritious.

Arctic Army has adjusted its production, canceling all wheat production in Huanghuai Province and mobilizing more people to seek refuge in the south.

Luoyang City is very quiet. Now, only the workers' and peasants' collectives remain, and they are mostly members of the Arctic Martial Party.

"If I had known this would happen, I would have definitely taken a good look at the daytime the day before the Lunar New Year!"

Li Bing sighed, regretting that he hadn't cherished his last good day.

Beijiwu didn't laugh at her, because he thought the same thing.

You only realize how precious something is when you lose it.

If he had known that day was the last good day, Beijiwu would never have wasted his time on women, but would have instead sat in a deckchair enjoying his last warm winter afternoon nap.

The group walked down together, and the only place in the entire city of Luoyang where the Wanxiang Divine Palace was still brightly lit.

This is a necessary expense; for a long time to come, faith will be the driving force that sustains humanity's survival.

The Arctic Warrior is the faith of the entire city of Luoyang and even the Shan Nong Kingdom. Because of the Arctic Warrior's existence, many cities, including Luoyang, only need a small number of soldiers to stand guard and maintain order, allowing more people to go out hunting, catching insects and rats, and collecting as much food as possible during the daytime, which is as dark as night.

During this period, humans no longer needed to distinguish between day and night; they only needed to worry about when hunger and cold would arrive.

(End of this chapter)