Chapter 129: A Den of Thieves? This Is a Peach-Blossom Spring!

"Boom—!"

It was already early summer, and at last a good, satisfying rain had come.

Fei Rulan lay against Zhao Han's chest, gazing dreamily at the heavy rain outside the window. She finally understood what it meant to be inseparable as lacquer and glue — she always wanted to cling to the man beside her. Xiyue had already called them twice, and she still had no desire to get up and eat.

"Husband, what are you thinking about?" Fei Rulan shifted her body, resting her head on Zhao Han's arm.

Zhao Han sighed. "This rain, it's really... damn hard to put into words."

Fei Rulan asked curiously, "Wasn't it a spring drought all along? Isn't rain a good thing?"

Zhao Han explained, "Last year we suffered a military disaster, and much of the winter wheat was replanted. Right now it's in the flowering and pollination stage — rain at this time will definitely reduce the yield. And the wheat that was sown on time should be harvested in a few more days. This wind and heavy rain will easily flatten the ripe grain. Let's hope it doesn't rain for days on end, or this year's summer harvest will be down by at least thirty or forty percent."

"Being a rebel really is exhausting for you — worried when it's dry, worried when it rains," Fei Rulan sighed.

Zhao Han said helplessly, "Before, one man fed himself and the whole household went hungry. Now I have tens of thousands of people under me, and I have to think about filling their bellies."

Wheat was grown in the south too, and Zhao Han's territory in particular had plenty of dry fields, making wheat the main summer grain crop.

Seeing Zhao Han lying restlessly in bed, Fei Rulan sat up and said, "Hurry up and get up to eat."

"Give me a kiss and I'll get up," Zhao Han said, suddenly grinning cheekily.

"No kiss." Fei Rulan lay back down, turning away from Zhao Han, her eyes smiling into crescent moons.

Zhao Han pounced over and nuzzled her for quite a while. Finally, all sticky and sweet, they got up and walked out hand in hand to eat.

It rained for three days straight. The water level in the river, which had dropped, rose all the way back up and even spilled over onto the banks.

The following days were all overcast and drizzly.

The rain wasn't heavy, but it kept sprinkling down, worrying Zhao Han until his hair started falling out.

He summoned all the high-level personnel. After a round of discussion, Zhao Han issued an order: "The wheat that villagers returned home to replant will certainly suffer large-scale crop failure this year. Mr. Li, Fei Chun, the grain bureau must make preparations. Loans of grain to struggling villagers may be temporarily exempted from repayment. From the sixth month until the autumn harvest, all grain loans in these months will be interest-free! As for the landlords, pay them the interest on their stored grain as usual — we'd rather take the loss ourselves."

"Understood!" Li Banghua and Fei Chun responded at once.

Zhao Han continued, "Maosheng's propaganda corps, and Dashan's peasant association — once the weather clears, begin propaganda and organizing immediately. First, rush to harvest the wheat that's been flattened by wind and rain. Salvage whatever you can!"

Ancient wheat varieties had no lodging-resistant strains. Once ripe, if they met strong wind and heavy rain, they would likely fall in swaths and cause crop failure.

Zuo Xiaoliang said, "Rest assured, Regional Commander, the peasant association has long been in motion. These past days, we've already mobilized the people of every village and town to help each other prop up the fallen wheat. Everyone has driven in bamboo poles and woven simple fences from bamboo strips. Whenever lodging is spotted, they immediately prop the wheat up and tie it in place."

"Well done — credit the peasant association with a merit!" Zhao Han was very pleased.

Ouyang Zheng raised his hand and said, "After the spring plowing, I organized the villagers to dig four water-storage ponds. The roads over there are hard to travel, especially the mountain paths. I'd like to organize the villagers to repair the roads as well."

Zhao Han said, "Wait until the busy farming season is over, and have the peasant association assist you in the work."

Once the agricultural and infrastructure matters were finished, Xiao Huan suddenly spoke: "According to reports from scouts left in the prefectural seat, the Prefect of Ji'an and the County Magistrate of Luling have successively arrived at their posts in the past few days."

"Who is the Prefect of Ji'an?" Zhao Han asked.

Xiao Huan answered, "Yang Zhaosheng, a third-rank jinshi of the second year of Tianqi. What sort of man he is remains unknown for now."

Zhao Han asked Li Banghua, "Does Mr. Li know of this man?"

Li Banghua shook his head. "Never heard of him."

Since no one had heard of him, he was certainly a minor figure, and no one gave him a second thought.

Xiao Huan added, "The new County Magistrate is called Wang Tiaoding, apparently a jinshi of the fourth year of Chongzhen. His character is also unclear."

The new Prefect was a time-server.

The new County Magistrate, however, was a truly good official.

Wang Tiaoding had previously served as County Magistrate of Xian County. Not only did he take no bribes, he actually donated money to build city walls. He donated not only his salary but also silver he had brought from his own family.

At the time, Xian County was destitute and overrun with bandits. In just three years, Wang Tiaoding made the bandits vanish and allowed the common people to live and thrive.

At this very moment, Wang Tiaoding was out surveying the conditions of the people.

Since Zhao Han had slaughtered the county yamen officials clean, Wang Tiaoding had no need to overhaul the clerks and underlings, nor did he have to fear being undercut by his own subordinates.

He brought a few attendants and made a tour of every township, finally arriving at the banks of the Lu River.

"The opposite shore is the territory the rebels have seized?" Wang Tiaoding asked.

A yamen runner answered, "Exactly."

Wang Tiaoding paced toward the ferry crossing, saying as he walked, "Let us cross the river and take a look."

"Your Honor, absolutely not!"

"Your Honor, that rebel Zhao kills without blinking. We might go and never return!"

"Has Your Honor forgotten that the rebel Zhao slaughtered all the prefectural and county officials last year?"

"..."

The attendants hurriedly caught up, grabbing his arms and tugging at his legs, physically holding Wang Tiaoding back.

Wang Tiaoding laughed. "The rebel Zhao held the prefectural seat yet did not plunder the markets, and he voluntarily returned the city and withdrew. He surely has no wish to clash with the government again. So long as I do not raise troops to suppress the rebels, Zhao will certainly not kill a county magistrate without cause. Gentlemen, release me, and accompany me to scout the enemy's situation."

The attendants could not stop him and could only steel themselves to follow the County Magistrate across the river.

They were traveling incognito, wearing no official livery, looking more like men out for a countryside excursion.

Wang Tiaoding stepped onto the ridge between fields. As he walked, he suddenly crouched down to examine the rice ears and said with admiration, "This rice is growing splendidly. Did the rebel territory not suffer the spring drought?"

"No idea," the attendants all said, shaking their heads.

They walked on for a while and at last saw a peasant carrying firewood.

Wang Tiaoding cupped his hands and said, "Brother, I am a traveling merchant. Your rice here is growing most promisingly — did you not encounter the spring drought?"

The peasant said, very proudly, "We had drought, but the peasant association took the lead — you help me, I help you. Mr. Zhao said, so long as there's still water in the river, the fields needn't fear going dry."

"And what is this peasant association?" Wang Tiaoding asked.

The peasant said, "The peasant association is the folks of the village and countryside — you help me, I help you. Great Unity under Heaven."

"Great Unity under Heaven?" Wang Tiaoding was inwardly shaken. Jiangxi truly had a flourishing literary culture — even a peasant knew of Great Unity under Heaven.

The peasant said cheerfully, "Great Unity under Heaven means everyone has fields to till, everyone has food to eat, everyone has clothes to wear. Mr. Zhao said, if you want Great Unity under Heaven, you must set up peasant associations — you help me, I help you."

Something about this felt off, yet somehow it seemed to make perfect sense.

Wang Tiaoding pressed on: "How exactly does the peasant association help?"

"It's you help me, I help you — how can a young fellow like you not understand?" The peasant's tone dripped with contempt.

Wang Tiaoding was indeed a young fellow. He had been County Magistrate for three years and was still very young.

He had come up through the child prodigy track, not only earning the xiucai degree but also qualifying as a stipend student.

A stipend student at eleven!

Precisely because his path through the examinations was unobstructed, and his family had money enough to spare him worries over food and clothing, he had kept a childlike heart. Taking office at a young age, full of ardent zeal, he actually took no bribes and even donated silver brought from home to build city walls.

Here was a young official with ideals and aspirations.

After repeated questioning, the peasants still could not explain it clearly, so Wang Tiaoding had no choice but to continue onward.

All along the way, the common people were content and at ease; the rice and wheat grew thick and abundant.

Wang Tiaoding stared in astonishment. "This place is actually a rebel den?"

One of his attendants said, "Magistrate, this is indeed a rebel den. Luling County has eight townships, and the four western townships are all rebel dens."

Wang Tiaoding gave a rueful, self-mocking laugh. "If this is a rebel den, then the villages and towns I inspected before, the townships under my own jurisdiction, are far, far worse than a rebel den. This rebel Zhao here — truly a remarkable man!"

The party continued forward and at last reached the hilly country.

Here there were very few paddy fields; eighty percent of the land was dry fields, mostly planted with wheat, with a small amount of other coarse grains.

In one wheat field, over twenty people were harvesting, and there were even a few children gleaning fallen ears of wheat.

On the hillside a banner was planted — ordinary indigo cotton cloth, identical to the military banner of the Great Unity Army, except this one had the character "Peasant" embroidered on it.

Someone came carrying tea, distributing it to the harvesters to quench their thirst, and took the chance to say: "Folks, put in a bit more effort! Harvest the lodged wheat first, then the standing wheat. Let's try to get it all dried and into the granary before the next rain!"

"Don't worry, Mr. Liu, we'll get it done for sure."

"With over twenty people on one plot, we'll finish in no time."

"Once this plot's done, whose place are we going to tomorrow?"

"……"

The peasants talked as they drank tea to quench their thirst.

After drinking, without anyone urging them, they immediately went back to cutting wheat.

Some peasants bundled up the wheat stalks and carried them downhill toward the threshing ground. Wang Tiaoding promptly followed.

The threshing ground was even livelier, and orderly amid the bustle.

It was divided into several areas: the men were threshing with flails, and the women were turning and sunning the wheat with wooden rakes.

After a spell of labor, a propaganda officer called a break, and everyone gathered in the shade of the trees to drink tea and chat.

It was all cheap tea dust steeped until it had long gone pale, no different from drinking plain boiled water. Yet everyone drank with gusto. There was even a rather comely woman who took the break as a chance to sing ditties for the crowd.

"Bravo!"

"Another one!"

When the song ended, cheers and applause rose in unison.

The woman singing ditties had originally been a prostitute in the prefectural seat who had willingly followed the rebels here.

She too had been allotted three mu of land, but she had no means to farm it, so she had to rent it to a farming household with spare capacity. Usually she followed the propaganda corps, drawing a wage and singing to lift the atmosphere.

Wang Tiaoding remained silent and walked on toward the next village, only to find it was much the same everywhere.

Gazing at the common folk joyfully bustling to harvest wheat, his eyes suddenly grew moist. "How is this a rebel den? This is plainly a paradise."

Wang Tiaoding turned and asked his attendants: "Is this a rebel den?"

None of them spoke; they dared not say anything rash.

At last, one runner boldly ventured, "They've all been given land, and I hear the taxes aren't heavy. Harvesting grain for themselves — how could they not be happy?"

"You don't understand. You don't understand!" Wang Tiaoding shook his head again and again.

How could this be explained by land distribution alone? So many peasants, as close as one family, helping each other harvest and dry wheat. Not only had he seen no disputes, but the scene was one of perfect harmony. This kind of organizational power was terrifying.

They could even be organized directly into an army!

Asking his way as he went, Wang Tiaoding headed straight for the Regional Commander's residence. Cupping his hands toward the gate guard, he said, "I must trouble you to inform Mr. Zhao that Wang Tiaoding, County Magistrate of Luling, requests an audience."

(Begging for monthly tickets.)

(End of chapter)