Chapter 466
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Chapter 466: Food Reserves
Time flew, and more than 2 months had passed in Myriad World Civilization.
This winter arrived 2 months earlier than usual, but it clearly had no intention of leaving 2 months early as well.
Although the blizzard had stopped, the temperature became even colder.
By this time, it was actually the normal start of winter.
Luo Ji’s face was filled with melancholy as he realized this.
However, thankfully, once the snow stopped, many workplaces could, to some extent, resume their work efficiency.
When a blizzard was raging, outdoor work was completely impossible.
The first task was undoubtedly snow removal. All the snow in various parts of the city had to be cleared.
Additionally, the roads between the cities also needed to be cleared.
For this, Luo Ji came up with a good idea.
He had the Forging Department rush to produce ten giant snow shovels.
Then, he had the mammoth Hak and the Elephantmen of the Elephantman Tribe push or drag these giant snow shovels to clear the roads.
Like snowplows, wherever they went, most of the accumulated snow could be easily cleared.
And because this snow-clearing work was considered civilian work and carried no risk of going to war, not only could the 4 Elephantmen soldiers participate, but the entire Elephantmen Tribe could as well.
This greatly increased the available labor.
However, in this matter, the Elephantmen’s work efficiency was somewhat inferior to the mammoth Hak’s.
They were surprisingly sensitive to the cold.
To counter this, the Textile Department put in considerable effort and finally made a set of animal-skin clothes for the Elephantmen to help them withstand the cold and simultaneously increase their work efficiency.
Within Myriad World Civilization, the work of clearing snow from the roads progressed smoothly.
As for the snow outside the border cities, Luo Ji certainly wouldn’t clear it.
He wasn’t foolish; snow deep enough to bury half a person was practically a natural barrier. Why clear it? Let that snow remain, for as long as possible.
Such opportunities to directly ignore external threats didn’t come every year.
And while the blizzard was raging, Luo Ji, who had been rampaging through other players’ territories with his siege forces, now had to face a series of headache-inducing problems.
“Your Majesty, this is the damage report sent this morning from various cities.”
As he spoke, Lu Yang quickly presented a report to Luo Ji.
After a quick glance, Luo Ji’s expression was grim.
The previous blizzard had lasted too long. With relatively limited manpower, it was very difficult to clear the snow from rooftops in time.
Over time, it was inevitable for accidents like building collapses to occur.
The most severe, perhaps, was the granary in Songhe City. Its collapse resulted in severe losses.
Out of an entire warehouse of grain, only half was ultimately salvaged. This also caused over twenty casualties.
Besides Songhe City, other cities within Myriad World Civilization also experienced similar situations, more or less, leading to a considerable number of injured and sick.
The final accumulated numbers were enough to make Luo Ji’s eyelids twitch.
“Tell the Architectural Engineering Department to put the Azure Water City project on hold for now and assist in repairing the buildings that collapsed in the snow disaster.”
Luo Ji commanded.
“As for the injured and sick patients, transfer all of them to the infirmaries in each city for recovery. Remember to separate the injured from the sick to prevent the spread of illness.”
Infirmaries were part of the hospitals within each city, much like modern-day inpatient wards.
Transferring patients to infirmaries for recuperation would provide them with a better environment for recovery.
With doctors attending to them, their recovery speed would also be considerably faster.
Of course, another reason was to isolate them to prevent the spread of illness to more people.
Luo Ji, having experienced the pressure of epidemics during severe cold in the past, had clearly made thorough preparations in this area.
Lu Yang, Luo Ji’s adjutant, flipped through the report in his hand.
While noting down Luo Ji’s instructed solutions, he continued with his regular report.
“Your Majesty, according to statistics, the crops in the fields of various cities that couldn’t be harvested in time have mostly frozen to death.”
“Furthermore, due to the severe cold, every field needs to be re-plowed. Agricultural production will likely struggle to recover within 1 or 2 months. Moreover, this winter is too cold. If another heavy snow falls, the situation could be even worse.”
“Because of this, many people’s homes no longer have surplus grain, and the stock in the grain shops in all cities has been completely bought out.”
Leaning back in his office chair, Luo Ji nodded slightly as he listened to the report. This situation was clearly within his expectations.
“Open the granaries to replenish the stock in the grain shops, then set up porridge stalls outside the restaurants in each city to distribute hot porridge. Afterwards, have someone calculate how long the grain stockpiled in each city’s granaries can last.”
“Yes, your humble servant will attend to it immediately.”
Lu Yang’s efficiency was high. Before long, a calculation result was presented to Luo Ji.
“1 month?”
Seeing this number, Luo Ji’s heart sank.
He had indeed emptied many players’ granaries before. But unfortunately, his entire Myriad World Civilization had a larger population!
Grain sufficient for a 1,000 for a month, how long could it last in front of 10,000, or even a 100,000 people?
Of course, the accurate figure should be a bit longer than one month.
After all, this calculation only accounted for the grain stored in the granaries. It didn’t factor in the production efficiency of the hunting and fishing teams after the snow stopped.
Furthermore, Myriad World Civilization also had livestock farming on its farms.
However, agriculture remained the primary producer of food.
In comparison, the production efficiency of hunting and fishing teams was merely a drop in the bucket.
His gaze subconsciously swept over Ye Qingxuan’s name in his friends list.
Luo Ji had originally thought his Myriad World Civilization had basically bid farewell to food crises.
He hadn’t expected a blizzard to set him back to square one.
However, he currently had no intention of asking Ye Qingxuan for grain.
A civilization’s self-sufficiency was its greatest guarantee.
He could still manage the current situation.
Anyway, he had originally planned to continue his unrestrained actions for a while longer while the snow blocked the roads.
Just as Luo Ji was contemplating letting his soldiers rest for a few more days before continuing to plunder grain and supplies, Liu Ye’s head peeked in from outside the Hall of Political Affairs.
“Your Majesty, it’s time for lunch.”
“Understood.”
Quickly finishing the document in his hand, Luo Ji stretched his limbs, then turned to look at Lu Yang, who was still processing documents below.
“Lu Yang, you come eat with me too. It’ll save you the trouble of running back and forth.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. Your humble servant will come over after finishing this document.”