Chapter 220: We Need to Cultivate New Land
Zhao Sheng gasped for air, his chest heaving like a bellows. This frail scholar had run a considerable distance, utterly exhausted, his head spinning. It took him a good while to catch his breath, finally regaining a steady rhythm. "Phew... Saintess," he managed, "I've come to you because there's something I wish to report to the Heavenly Lord."
Gao Yiye tilted her head. "Oh? Speak your mind, then. The Heavenly Lord is right above us, listening."
Zhao Sheng looked up, his gaze sweeping the low-hanging cloud in the sky, then quickly offered a profound bow. He had been in Gao Family Village for several days now, and he finally understood: if that small, low-hanging cloud was visible at an altitude of sixty to seventy *zhang*, it meant the Heavenly Lord was present. No cloud, no Heavenly Lord.
Addressing the low-hanging cloud, Zhao Sheng continued, "Heavenly Lord, I've spent the past few days wandering the hillsides outside the Valley of Exiles, constantly pondering the future of my three thousand fellow villagers. While you have graciously provided them with various tasks and livelihoods, our village now numbers four thousand souls, and the amount of food required daily is truly immense."
"All this grain, for now, is provided by the Heavenly Lord," Zhao Sheng continued, performing another profound bow. "We are profoundly grateful for your benevolence, but I've also been wondering: what if, one day, you become preoccupied with other matters and have no time to look after Gao Family Village? What would these four thousand-plus people eat then? The current farmlands of Gao Family Village alone, even if we add the fields of neighboring Zhengjia Village and Wangjia Village, would be far from enough."
Li Daoxuan gave him a mental thumbs-up. *Excellent! His concerns are very sound, or rather, they show remarkable foresight.*
Zhao Sheng continued, "Please, Heavenly Lord, allow us to cultivate new land, to open up new farmlands. We must secure enough acreage to feed over four thousand people. This is a crucial preparation for everyone's future. With more farmland, you could also reduce, or even cease, sending us 'divine rice,' saving yourself some effort."
Li Daoxuan was just about to declare, *Granted!* when he heard Gao Yiye remark with curiosity, "Mr. Zhao, I imagine the Heavenly Lord will surely grant your request to cultivate new land, but... our Chengcheng County doesn't have much land suitable for farming, does it?"
Zhao Sheng's expression turned awkward. "Yes, that's true," he admitted. "The land around the Valley of Exiles is indeed somewhat barren. It's fine for growing wildflowers and weeds, but planting proper crops there would be a challenge... However... my fellow villagers are all incredibly diligent. As long as there's land, no matter how poor the soil, everyone will surely find a way to make it work, seeking out suitable crops to plant."
Trying to grow crops on such land was truly back-breaking work, a task that would drain the life out of any farmer.
Finding a few plots suitable for crops in Chengcheng County was incredibly difficult. All the truly arable land had long since been cultivated by previous generations. For example, the wheat fields of Gao Family Village were considered the very best land in the area. How could it be easy to find even more suitable plots now?
However!
Li Daoxuan had long since discovered that in later generations, Chengcheng County boasted a crucial staple crop: corn. In modern times, corn cultivation in Chengcheng County spanned an impressive 310,000 *mu*. No matter how barren the loess soil, he mused, one simply had to plant a corn seed without hesitation, ensure a good supply of "celestial fertilizer," and watch it grow in a magnificent rush.
Li Daoxuan couldn't simply provide modern corn seeds to the miniature people in the box. Any "living thing" would be instantly obliterated by a mysterious force the moment it passed into or out of the diorama box. Plant seeds, unfortunately, fell under the category of "living things," making it impossible to introduce them directly.
But.
By the late Ming Dynasty, corn had already been introduced to the Celestial Empire; if one was willing to search, it could certainly be found. Since Zhao Sheng harbored the ambition to cultivate the loess tablelands, Li Daoxuan realized it was the perfect opportunity to promote corn. "Yiye," he communicated, "isn't Xing Honglang preparing to leave the village again for another trip to Xi'an?"
"Yes!" Gao Yiye replied, looking up. "Sister Xing is setting off tomorrow."
"Excellent. First, inform Zhao Sheng that they are permitted to cultivate new land. The areas surrounding the Valley of Exiles should be extensively developed into farmlands. Then, go find Xing Honglang and instruct her to search for 'corn'—that particular crop—on her next trip to Xi'an. If she can buy it, acquire it in large quantities. She needs to act quickly, because it won't be long until this item becomes unavailable."
Gao Yiye nodded in agreement. "Mr. Zhao, the Heavenly Lord has graciously granted his approval. You may cultivate the barren land around the Valley of Exiles to the fullest extent possible."
Zhao Sheng was overjoyed, letting out a whoop of delight as he sprinted away. "I'll go inform the villagers!"
"Slow down!" Gao Yiye called out loudly, a smile playing on her lips. "Don't run yourself breathless again!"
Zhao Sheng called back, "I can do it, I'm fine! My body is very strong... *gasp*... very robust... *pant, pant*... Oh dear... such good news needs to be delivered quickly... *gasp*..."
After running barely two hundred meters, he stopped, hands on his knees, huffing and puffing. "Oh my heavens, I can't go on," he wheezed. "I need... to catch... catch my breath... Even if it's good news... I'll just... inform them slowly... slowly..."
Gao Yiye let out a snort, then burst into laughter. "Hahaha!"
Li Daoxuan couldn't help but smile wryly. *With this fellow's physical condition, running off to join a rebellion? Who would ever believe it if you told them?*
That evening, after the villagers from Qingjian County finished their day labor and returned home, they received monumental news: the Heavenly Lord had graciously permitted them to cultivate new land.
Although the Valley of Exiles was entirely surrounded by barren loess tablelands, the villagers were still inexplicably thrilled. They were currently "exiles" who, by all traditional standards, were undeserving of land. They had never imagined they would receive the Heavenly Lord's permission to open up wasteland.
This was nothing short of a monumental gift, a blessing of immense proportions!
Some of the most diligent villagers immediately grabbed their hoes and streamed out of the valley. Though they had toiled all day, the moment they heard about cultivating new land, their spirits surged anew. The sooner they cleared a plot, the sooner that land would become their own, wouldn't it?
Driven by such thoughts, it was clearly a case of 'the early bird catches the worm,' a matter of seizing the initiative.
However, there were also some villagers who were good at calculations, particularly those with artisan skills. They began to tally the figures on their fingers: "If I devote all my time to wage labor, for the work I'm doing now, Administrator San provides wages worth roughly three *liang* of silver per month. That's thirty-six *liang* of silver a year."
"But if I spend my time farming on this barren loess tableland," they reasoned, "I'd harvest at most one or two *shi* of grain a year. Even if grain prices are high during a famine year, that's only a few *liang* of silver in income."
"Earning money through wage labor is clearly more profitable than farming," they concluded. "I have a skill, so there's no need for me to cultivate new land. Let those who enjoy farming do it. From now on, I'll work for wages my entire life."
Thus, those with artisan skills and those with agricultural skills adopted distinctly different attitudes toward this matter.
Everyone, starting from a common point, began to move in different directions, like branching tree limbs, extending into distinct life paths.
Early the next morning, Xing Honglang gathered her small caravan and set off for Xi'an once more.
This time, she wouldn't be selling salt. With the diligent and responsible Inspector Fang Wushang overseeing things, her salt smuggling operations had become significantly more difficult. She might as well sell something legitimate. Wasn't it better to sell "celestial sugar"? It earned far more money than smuggling salt.
Gao Yiye saw Xing Honglang off at the village entrance. "Be sure to buy as much corn as possible," she instructed. "Also, bring back any rare and unusual items that Gao Family Village doesn't have. The village is quite prosperous now, so rare items will definitely sell very well. Most importantly: artisans, teachers, and all kinds of talented people—lure them here if you can, no matter the cost. Those are the Heavenly Lord's exact words."
Xing Honglang burst into hearty laughter. "Don't worry, leave this matter to me!"
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