It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

Chapter 249

After May, the water levels of the two streams flowing through Dongshan Village dropped significantly.

Jiang Yan got up early and watered the crops in the field, then went into the water with a net bag to catch fish.

After resting for over half a year in the stream, the fish fry had grown. Although due to environmental and species restrictions, the largest ones were only about a palm and a half long, they were still enough to make a good dish.

Jiang Yan picked out the ones in the net bag, threw the ones that were not even as long as a finger back into the water, and took the dying ones home to feed the hens.

In April, Uncle Jiang Fu found an opportunity to return to the village to see her and brought her a laying hen as a gift. It was the most energetic hen raised by the elders in the village.

After Jiang Yan took over, she built a wooden nest for it in the backyard. She let it eat whatever chickens ate. Fortunately, it has not become sick and has not been taken away by a weasel or an eagle.

In the past half month, she has been able to eat a bowl of steamed eggs every two or three days to supplement her nutrition.

……

Jiang Yan handed a bamboo basket of wild mushrooms and two smoked fish to Manager Hao.

Because of the lamp oil and soy milk powder that were given by the master, Hao Guanshi and Jiang Yan had formed a business relationship. Whenever Jiang Yan came to the city to sell things, Hao Guanshi would come to see if she needed anything.

However, this time, it was Steward Hao who took the initiative to place the order. His master, the master of the Hao Mansion, wanted to eat wild mushrooms, but he had sent people to the market for several days to find few people selling them.

Manager Hao glanced at the basket, which was only three-quarters full, and asked, "Is this all?"

Jiang Yan stuffed a newly acquired string of copper coins into his sleeve and replied, "Well, I've searched everywhere I could. It hasn't rained for more than half a month, so there's not much growing on the mountain."

Jiang Yan narrowed his eyes at the scorching sun, feeling a bit worried. "Manager Hao, you're quite knowledgeable. Do you think we'll have a severe drought this year?"

Because Rongcheng County is close to the Qinshan Mountain Range, it can usually survive severe droughts. The only hardship is the reduction in grain production and water supply, but if the drought is as severe as a thousand miles of barren land... she is afraid that her life will be shorter than this court's.

Even after several months of delay, news from outside the prefecture finally reached this remote region. Northern Jin's one capital and eleven prefectures were all embroiled in the flames of war.

Manager Hao couldn't answer. Although he couldn't understand the celestial phenomena, he knew that the drought was beginning to appear, and a look of worry appeared on his face.

……

This time Jiang Yan did not rush back to Dongshan Village. She went to the vegetable market to ask the old farmers who were setting up stalls, and then ran to Hezhou Village to find Jiang Lu to ask about ways to deal with the drought.

The crops in the fields have just bloomed and have not yet grown into ears and pods. Jiang Yan hopes to find some ways to minimize the impact of the drought and preserve most of the yield.

At the end of May, the flow of the two small streams in Dongshan Village was reduced by half, revealing large areas of the riverbed that had begun to crack.

Although the water flow from Jiang Yan's backyard did not decrease, she went up the mountain to see that the water depth of the pool and waterway had been halved. It was just because the water pipes were buried low, so the impact was not visible for the time being.

In order to store water during this period, Jiang Yan first made bamboo tubes with lids, sterilized them, filled them with boiled water, sealed them, and then hid them in the cellar. However, he found that the water had deteriorated within a week.

Later, many more earthenware jars were burned and sealed with boiled water, but the shelf life could only be extended by a week.

Jiang Yan had no other choice but to reduce the amount of water slightly. He would find a way to purify it for drinking when the situation became critical. Besides, the water in the current container could be changed once every one or two weeks.

But the demand for water for irrigation is huge. If streams and wells are on the verge of drying up, where will the water come from?

Jiang Yan thought about it and finally came up with a stupid method that consumed a lot of time and energy - covering all exposed water bodies such as ponds, wells, and waterways.