Chapter 130: 128【Or Else, Why Don't You Just Turn Bandit】(For the Alliance Leader

In ancient Jiangxi, they really did grow wheat.

As the Jianchang Prefecture Gazetteer records: "Wheat, sown in the tenth month, harvested in the fourth month."

By the mid-to-late Qing dynasty, double-cropping and triple-cropping rice had been successfully introduced to southern and northeastern Jiangxi.

But in other parts of Jiangxi, insufficient water and heat meant they could only practice multi-cropping — winter wheat followed by late rice, or buckwheat, rapeseed, or beans followed by late rice.

Zhao Han was at this moment receiving a Confucian merchant, who had been passing through Yongyang Town on business and, seeing that the rebels here placed great importance on agriculture, had come forward on his own initiative to offer advice and proposals.

This man was named Li Fenglai. Though a xiucai by background, he spoke with great expertise on farming: "The rice can be planted late — wait until the wheat is harvested, then plant the late rice. The same field yields two staple grain harvests in a single year."

"Apart from planting time, what other differences are there between early rice and late rice?" Zhao Han asked.

Li Fenglai explained: "Early rice matures in three or four months; late rice takes longer to mature. The later you sow it, the slower it grows — as little as four or five months, as long as half a year."

"Commandant!"

A secretary suddenly knocked at the door.

Zhao Han frowned and said, "Speak."

The secretary answered: "The County Magistrate of Luling seeks an audience."

Hm?

Zhao Han thought he had misheard, then nearly laughed aloud, and said, "Show him in."

Wang Tiaoding was ushered into the office and cupped his hands: "I am Wang Tiaoding, County Magistrate of Luling. I pay my respects to Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Han returned the gesture and said, "Please sit. One moment."

Li Fenglai also rose and saluted: "Li Fenglai, xiucai of Nanchang Prefecture. I pay my respects to Magistrate Wang."

And then Wang Tiaoding was left sitting there, ignored.

Li Fenglai continued: "If you want to plant late rice, ordinary seed won't do — you must use 'foreign japonica' as your seed. Farmers tend late rice much the same as early rice, but there are some subtle differences. I can write down the distinctions; Mr. Zhao need only have someone try planting it."

"Is Luling County suited to growing late rice?" Zhao Han asked, puzzled.

Li Fenglai said: "I cannot say for certain, but late rice is widely grown across southern Jiangxi, and also in large parts of Nankang and Raozhou prefectures. You can follow wheat with rice, buckwheat with rice, beans with rice, or oilseed with rice — two harvests a year, doubling the grain yield."

Zhao Han cupped his hands: "In that case, I must ask Mr. Li to send us some foreign japonica seed. I will have it trial-planted on our own fields."

"Leave it to me," Li Fenglai said, smiling.

As a merchant, he naturally was not offering help for nothing.

Li Fenglai's advice and proposals were simply aimed at buying Zhao Han's grain. Not even at a discount — buying at market price would do — mainly to ship and sell in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region.

This was a long-term bulk trade; if he built a good relationship with Zhao Han, he could come here to buy grain every year thereafter.

Li Fenglai added: "On those hills and slopes, after the wheat is harvested, you can just plant maize. Maize can also be intercropped with sweet potatoes — that will boost yields even further."

Zhao Han said: "I have already bought maize seed. We are just waiting to harvest the wheat before planting it."

Li Fenglai smiled: "You should be raising seedlings right now. Direct sowing gives lower yields. You can start the seedlings in manure-earth balls, plant the sweet potatoes using the ridge-and-furrow method, then plant the maize in the furrows. That way each crop gets its own advantage, and both maize and sweet potato yields will increase."

Zhao Han immediately rose, cupped his hands, and bowed: "Sir, you are truly a man of great talent!"

Li Fenglai returned the courtesy: "I hardly deserve such praise. I am a grain merchant, so naturally I am familiar with farming matters."

Zhao Han said: "So long as you impart your grain-growing techniques, henceforth on my territory, grain sales will certainly go to you first."

"Very good, very good," Li Fenglai said, greatly pleased, then glanced at Wang Tiaoding. "Since Mr. Zhao has an honored guest, I shall not disturb you further!"

"I will see you out." Zhao Han escorted Li Fenglai all the way to the door.

"Ah, one more thing," Li Fenglai stopped at the gate and took out an object. "These are tobacco stems. Pound them into powder and scatter it beside the roots when transplanting the rice seedlings — it will drive off and kill pests."

Pollution-free pesticide?

Delighted, Zhao Han said: "Please procure tobacco stems for me, sir. When transplanting season comes next year, I will want to buy in large quantities."

"Very good, very good," Li Fenglai said, smiling.

Zhao Han's mood grew even brighter. He not only saw Li Fenglai out to the front courtyard but escorted the man all the way out of the Regional Commander's residence.

Maize and sweet potatoes could be planted on a large scale this very year.

Do not assume that without improved strains these two crops gave low yields — the natives of the Americas grew them for over a thousand years; did they never learn to select seed?

By the late Ming and early Qing, sweet potatoes had already outstripped all other coarse grains to become the staple of farmers in southern Jiangxi. By the mid-Qing, sweet potatoes had spread throughout Jiangxi and become the staple of farmers in every mountain region — farmers vote with their stomachs; they know perfectly well whether a crop yields high or not.

At this moment, Wang Tiaoding sat in the room, his mind still somewhat dazed.

He had rushed here on impulse to see the rebel, never expecting to be left sitting ignored for half the day. What was more curious, he had not even felt anger, but instead had listened intently to the conversation between Zhao Han and the grain merchant.

Zhao Han returned to the office and said with a smile: "Magistrate Wang, you have great nerve. Aren't you afraid I might cut you down with one stroke?"

Wang Tiaoding countered: "What benefit would cutting me down bring Mr. Zhao?"

"Ha, you are an amusing official," Zhao Han said, laughing. "What business brings you to me? Speak plainly."

Wang Tiaoding actually stood up, straightened his robes, and bowed formally: "I beg Mr. Zhao not to stint his instruction — how does one achieve a unity of purpose among the entire people?"

Zhao Han said: "It comes down to four words: moral transformation and benevolent governance."

Wang Tiaoding asked further: "How does one morally transform the people?"

Zhao Han explained: "I seek Great Unity under Heaven, so I find men who share this aspiration and have them preach the principles of Great Unity under Heaven. These principles must not be too abstruse — the common people must be able to understand them. Words alone are not enough; you must give the people land, and abolish harsh and miscellaneous taxes. In this way, you achieve unity of purpose among the masses. You are an official. What I can do, you cannot."

"Indeed, I cannot," Wang Tiaoding said, dejected. He truly had no way to give the people land.

Of course, Wang Tiaoding had done it before. Xian County had been swarming with bandits, and many landlords had been killed. After he suppressed the bandits, he had distributed land to the refugees.

But in the very first year after it was given to the farmers, because the harsh and miscellaneous taxes were so crushing, the great landlords swallowed up countless plots all over again.

Wang Tiaoding asked another question: "How does one achieve unity of purpose between officials and people?"

Zhao Han smiled: "The common people are not fools. If an official is good, they will naturally support him. How to turn all officials into good ones? First, you must give officials a sense of purpose — make them understand that holding office is not for parading status before others, nor for fame and profit, but for bringing relief to the age and saving the people. Second, you must select the worthy and appoint the capable, and make rewards and punishments clear. The capable rise, the incapable fall; those with outstanding achievements should be promoted."

"Is it that simple?" Wang Tiaoding asked, puzzled.

Zhao Han said: "In this world, many principles are very simple. The real difficulty is whether you can carry them out. Can the court select the worthy and appoint the capable? Can the court make rewards and punishments clear?"

Wang Tiaoding fell silent.

Take Wang Tiaoding himself: in Xian County he had suppressed bandits, built city walls, and resettled refugees — any one of those achievements should have earned him promotion. And what happened? After serving his full three-year term, simply because he had not sent gifts to the Bureau of Appointments, he was laterally transferred to Luling County — a post no one dared accept, for everyone knew that officials at both the prefectural and county levels there had already been slaughtered by the rebels.

Sighing inwardly, Wang Tiaoding cupped his hands and asked, "With such great talent, Mr. Zhao, may I ask which renowned Confucian master you studied under?"

This was a question he could not answer. Zhao Han, full of mischief, lowered his voice and said, "I've been passing myself off as a xiucai, but in truth I'm only a child student. It's terribly embarrassing — don't go around telling everyone."

Wang Tiaoding was amused into a laugh. "Mr. Zhao, you withdrew from the prefectural seat of your own accord — is it because you intend to accept an amnesty later on?"

"Why would I want amnesty?" Zhao Han countered.

Wang Tiaoding said, "With only half a county's territory, can you really withstand the imperial court's great army? Right now, Governor Li is campaigning against the rebels in Duchang. Once he succeeds in suppressing them, he'll have forged a strong force. When that time comes, Mr. Zhao, how will you manage?"

Bang!

Zhao Han slammed the table. "With eight hundred soldiers, I dared to seize the prefectural seat. Now I have several thousand crack troops. If you push me too far, I'll go take Nanchang itself. How many troops can that Governor Li of yours train? At present, the population under my rule — counting all persons aged twelve and above — already exceeds sixty thousand! If I were to forcibly conscript, I could raise a force of fifteen thousand!"

"It's not as if I've never fought a war," Wang Tiaoding said, unconvinced. "Out of sixty-odd thousand persons, the males aged fifteen and above can number thirty thousand at most. You'd draft half of them to fight? Would you even have enough provisions and fodder?"

Zhao Han bared his teeth in a grin. "Believe it or not, with a single order from me, the peasants' association would bring their own grain and follow me into battle."

Wang Tiaoding connected this to what he had seen and heard that day — and in his heart, he actually believed it. A wave of inexplicable dread washed over him.

"Even if I can't win, I can still flee into the mountains," Zhao Han pressed. "Guess how many troops the court would have to send to completely exterminate me."

Wang Tiaoding made an estimate. "It would take a grand army of fifty thousand."

Zhao Han held up two fingers. "Nothing less than two hundred thousand! Push me into a corner, and I can not only take to the mountains, I can also sweep up the populace as I go. When that happens, even if I'm destroyed, the whole of Jiangxi will go down with me."

Wang Tiaoding's mood grew heavy. He could picture that scene.

With Zhao Han's terrifying organizational ability, if he swept up the populace along his path and relied on the countless great mountains as his base, then even two hundred thousand troops might struggle to root him out.

Never mind two hundred thousand — even a hundred thousand troops would require several provinces to mobilize simultaneously. For one thing, the court has no troops to spare; for another, even if it could send them, Jiangxi would be reduced to a wasteland in the process.

"Do you intend to change the dynasty?" Wang Tiaoding asked.

Zhao Han did not answer directly. "I only wish for a Great Unity under Heaven."

Wang Tiaoding fell silent again, lost in thoughts no one could guess.

Zhao Han suddenly said, "How about it — why not turn bandit yourself?"

Wang Tiaoding replied, "I'll consider it."

The dialogue between these two grew more and more absurd — it was impossible to tell which was the official and which was the outlaw.

Zhao Han did not press him, only asking, "If I were to expand the peasant associations across the whole of Luling County, would you raise local militia to campaign against me?"

Wang Tiaoding sidestepped the question and countered, "Would you treat the landlords the same way everywhere?"

Zhao Han explained, "In territory that isn't mine, the methods can be gentler. Only establish peasant associations in each township, unite the tenant farmers to resist rent and interest, and unite the small landlords and freeholding peasants to resist taxes."

Wang Tiaoding carefully considered that scenario, then shook his head with a bitter smile. "Then I'd have no way to serve as County Magistrate."

Zhao Han asked further, "And if I expand the peasant associations across the entire Ji'an Prefecture?"

Wang Tiaoding sighed. "When it reaches that point, Mr. Zhao, with one rallying cry, the whole of Ji'an would be yours."

Zhao Han continued, "And if I expand the peasant associations across all of Jiangxi, across the Two Capitals and Thirteen Provinces?"

"I take my leave!"

Wang Tiaoding abruptly rose to his feet. He dared not continue this conversation.

Zhao Han did not see him out personally, only calling after Wang Tiaoding's retreating figure, "Should you ever think it through one day, Magistrate Wang, you may come turn bandit at any time!"

Wang Tiaoding walked out of the Regional Commander's residence and looked up at the sky, feeling as though heaven and earth had been turned upside down.

(Thanks to Yiren Dudiao Yijiang Qiu for the alliance-leader reward, and thanks to all readers for your rewards and subscriptions. The routine monthly ticket request.)

(End of chapter)