Chapter 312: Northern Lingbao Faith

Due to proper governance and favorable weather, the two counties of Yushan and Dexing, as well as the surrounding areas of Poyang, and indeed the entire Nanchang Prefecture, all saw a bumper summer harvest.

It was not Xu Jia who was happiest, but the common people; the people reclaiming land around Poyang had already begun harvesting grain, braving the scorching sunlight.

A production brigade leader personally went into the fields to harvest; the steel sickles sent from the Salt and Iron Bureau were powerful tools that guaranteed the summer harvest.

On the ridge of the field sat a wooden bucket of cooling tea for heatstroke; they would harvest from the moment the sky just brightened until the sun became too scorching to bear, at which point they would return to rest. Then, before sunset, they would continue harvesting until the sky grew dim.

His thick soles stepped onto the soft soil, frogs hopped about in panic, and the sound of the sickles cutting the rice stalks was like scissors cutting through a bolt of cloth.

The old man held a winnowing basket, carefully picking up grains of rice in the fields they had finished harvesting; their eyes were dim, and they were practically lying on the ground, crawling on this soft mud to pick up these fallen grains.

The drooping rice ears and the plump grains filled him with joy and anticipation; he wanted to shout something, but could not make a sound.

Once all the grain was harvested, the brigade leader in charge of this area began organizing people to thresh it overnight.

The original foot-pedaled roller threshing machines had already been built; they threshed one dou after another, filling large baskets woven from bamboo and willow strips, then counting them: one basket, two baskets, three baskets...

Their brigade was composed of ten refugee households, responsible for taking care of one ox and farming one hundred mu of land.

The ox did not die of exhaustion simply because it was a Great Demon; besides eating grass, it would also absorb the essence of the sun and moon. This batch of ox demons had been granted the Lingbao Daoist Citizen Register, and the most common vow they made was to plow and sow diligently, reclaiming land and breaking soil. The disaster victims knew of these ox demons' supernatural powers and called him the "Dali Bull King," or the "Great Strength King Bodhisattva."

Some even practiced the "Old Farmer Technique" taught by Xu Jia. Beyond farming skills, someone had a flash of inspiration and, combining it with the ox demons' method of exerting force while plowing, created the "Great Strength Bull King Technique." In reality, it was just a method for watching oxen plow and exerting force from the hind legs; it was a lower-body technique that made one's feet feel as if they had taken root in the earth. After practicing it, one's legs became as thick as ox legs and one's feet struck like ox hooves, capable of tempering tendons, bones, skin, and flesh.

These strong farming households were the "seeds" for future selection as Daoist soldiers.

"We're out of baskets!"

"How is that possible? We prepared three hundred large baskets!"

"How many are left?"

"At least forty or fifty more baskets can be filled!" the farmer said happily. "Once they are dried and put into the granary, the granary won't even be able to hold them all."

"The spring rains were terrifyingly heavy, and then not a single drop of rain fell once summer arrived, yet we still managed a bumper year!"

Xu Zhiyuan personally oversaw the autumn harvest work in Poyang, while Yushan and Dexing were managed by Jin Chan. He had purchased much land and distributed it to farmers to cultivate, covering their rations (eating in the canteen), as well as agricultural taxes and some wages; this was a different model, completely unlike the one here in Poyang.

Xu Zhiyuan was also moved by this atmosphere of a bumper harvest. He had always paid close attention to the refugees here in Poyang. He felt he had wasted the first half of his life, and his studies had been in vain; only after his enlightenment did he realize that the solution to problems was not in books.

These refugees, seven or eight gathered together were hooligans and bandits, dozens gathered together were sworn gangs, and hundreds gathered together meant occupying a mountain and declaring themselves kings.

Try talking to them about: "The Master says," or "The ancients say."

The next moment would be white blades going in and red blades coming out.

Never mind respecting scholars; when they were starving, the best thing to eat was a scholar.

There were far more than just a few hundred displaced people and disaster victims here; there were those who had fled from everywhere, and even those who could not bear the oppression of landlords and had voluntarily abandoned their official status, willing to become refugees...

To govern them and work together to reclaim land, besides Xu Jia having the minor demons select people to establish Immortal Halls and spread faith and spells, someone had to solve their problems. Violent resolution was the backup, material resolution was the foundation, but to truly understand their inner needs and win the hearts of the people, one had to rely on policy.

Xu Jia had already told him about "Equal Field." Xu Zhiyuan understood clearly: Equal Field meant "rebellion."

Why did the Yue Family Army have such high combat effectiveness back then? It was because of Equal Field. Those who implement Equal Field win the hearts of the people, and the next step—donning the yellow robe—is very easy.

In rural areas, Xu Jia had the final say. Many Immortal Halls were basically in the countryside; a few were in the county, but there were no small temples—they were family immortals being worshipped. If someone asked for something or made a vow, they would offer incense and invite them home to worship, not following the "public route." Strictly speaking, it was the path of licentious sacrifice and wild worship.

It seemed this was merely sacrifice and faith, not political power.

But one must know: the great affairs of a state are only sacrifice and war.

During the Zhou Dynasty, the Son of Heaven sacrificed to Heaven, the feudal lords sacrificed to Earth, the scholar-officials sacrificed to famous mountains and great rivers, and ordinary commoners sacrificed to ancestors or various household gods like the Earth Deity.

At the very beginning, commoners did not have the right to sacrifice to Heaven, Earth, or the gods of mountains and rivers; they only had the right to "sacrifice to ghosts."

The hierarchy of faith was also a class hierarchy, and for a very long time, this was the case. The Fengshan sacrifice to Heaven at Mount Tai was the highest standard of sacrifice.

Who was the first to reform the right to sacrifice? It was the earliest Celestial Master Dao, also known by the derogatory term "Five Pecks of Rice Sect."

From that time on, it was considered a revolution of faith, re-conferring divinity, incorporating Heaven, Earth, mountains, and rivers into the Daoist pantheon, and Daoist citizens gained the right to sacrifice to Heaven, Earth, mountains, and rivers.

It even spread further, and ordinary people gained the right to sacrifice to Heaven and Earth.

This was the Earth Deity among the great gods of the state; originally, the god's status was noble, but it gradually evolved into the Earth God scattered across villages and towns. The Earth God is the Earth Deity; in some places, they are called the Earth Duke, and the fire held during sacrifices is called Social Fire.

If one speaks of true faith, many people might worship the Wealth God, but in rural areas, more people worship the Earth God—the County Official is not as effective as the one in charge right here.

The various Immortals managed healing, exorcism, dream interpretation, date selection, finding lost items, breaking ground, repairing stoves, building houses, blacksmithing, irrigation, carpentry...

The main focus was being practical.

What remained was building an armed force. It had already been built, but they were still a boy scout troop—all Daoist children. The first batch had been sent to Luzon, and the second batch was still being trained in Shanju Guan. These were the core Daoist soldiers; they had to know martial arts and spells, the material for dual cultivation of magic and martial arts.

For the non-core ones, they still had to select young men from the refugees.

Armament, seizing power, and land reform—these three things were linked and could not be separated, but the time was not yet ripe. Now was still the time to "farm hard," store grain widely, and delay declaring oneself king.

First, carry out land reform in Dexing and Yushan, then use armed force to seize Hongzhou Prefecture. It was a place where a dragon rises; Hongzhou Prefecture was the provincial capital of the Jiangnan West Circuit. Seizing this place would allow control over the north, south, east, and west, Jiangzhou, Gannan, and the strategy for the Xiang-E lands. The entire Southeast Great Plain, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, completing the Golden Triangle—first farm crazily, then seize the entire South, including the Nansheng lands, eradicate the Longevity Sect, and restore the coastal economy. With this, not only would there be grain, but money would also come. With both money and grain prepared, one could lead an army on a northern expedition.

This was the plan Xu Jia had formulated.

Historically, there seemed to be few successful attempts to conquer the North from the South.

Xu Zhiyuan also wanted to see what that so-called "Great Harmony of the World" governance was like.

……

A bumper harvest here did not mean a bumper harvest elsewhere. The Jiangnan West Circuit was still okay; often when other places suffered great disasters, people here could still eat a bit of pork every half month. Since ancient times, they had valued agriculture and sericulture, being pragmatic and focusing on the fundamentals, not engaging in empty, flashy things.

The North was miserable. First, there was the great cold of last year; frost and snow lasted for nearly five months. It began snowing in the tenth month of last year, and there was still a late spring cold in the third month of spring. April had a few days of spring, but May entered the height of summer. They planted crops, but then a great drought hit. Except for places with irrigation, most places relied on digging wells for water, and even then, they could barely water some of the land.

Just before the harvest, a storm came from nowhere and soaked the summer grain that was about to be harvested. In such weather, both damp and hot, the wheat still in the fields would sprout in a single night...

Subsequently, large numbers of refugees appeared, chanting things like "Lingbao saves the world, saving people without measure," saying that a Celestial Master had appeared in the South, a savior sent by the Heavenly Court. His Talisman Water could cure plagues, he had the ability to turn stones into gold, and he had a bowl that could produce an endless supply of grain, capable of saving the living from suffering and helping the dead ascend to heaven.

This was exactly the work of the Mirage Dragon. This water Qi was also released by him. He was a thousand-year-old Great Demon in the God Immortal Realm; although the Mirage Dragon was not a true dragon, he had the ability to raise clouds and fog. He caused trouble in secret, using illusions to brainwash a portion of the people and incite them everywhere.

……

Xu Jia was aware of the sudden emergence of a "Lingbao Faith" in the North, and some people even classified them as "fanatics" according to the type of faith.

Xu Jia was curious at first, but after calculating, although it had been obscured by the Mirage Dragon, he could see it was "a disaster, not a blessing."

Although the imperial court was corrupt, it had not yet reached the point of completely dying out. A centipede dies but does not fall over. If they labeled Xu Jia a "Yellow Turban Bandit" and issued an edict ordering heroes everywhere to organize their own troops and armies to suppress him, most people would be willing.

These people were the various Submerged Dragons who had obtained the "qualification to contend for the dragon," the feudal lords of a chaotic era.

Furthermore, with large numbers of disaster victims being coerced and propaganda spreading incorrect ideas, causing more people to approve, once they saw Xu Jia and realized it was not as the propaganda said, they would set up their own factions, leading to disputes between "true and false Lingbao." As long as there were people with ulterior motives, there would certainly be many using Xu Jia's name to do evil.

Third, a massive surge of Incense Fire thoughts came rushing in, but very few were capable of producing Wish Power Copper Coins; they had an impact on the mythological belief structure of Xu Jia.

Although Xu Jia is Xu Jia today, Xu Jidi has replaced Xu Jia in the divine title of "Master Xu," receiving Incense Fire and handling such matters as the Heart General Marshal, yet these claims all point directly to the Heavenly Master of Lingbao, which Xu Jia himself must bear.

This kind of belief is chaotic and disorderly; it is merely a surge of hot-bloodedness and wishful thinking, wanting others to take charge for oneself, but it lacks methodology and is completely different from Xu Jia's "taking charge of oneself."

This is the type of peasant uprising, completely different from his own approach of sitting in place and expanding.

The only benefit is that there is a large population, and Xu Jia can take the opportunity to borrow their strength to complete land reform and complete the revolution, but he will inevitably be used as the spearhead, having to clash head-on with the imperial court and the various armies sent to suppress the rebellion.

It is true that it will be grand and spectacular, and the possibility of being the pioneer for a king is also great.

Xu Jia pondered slightly and felt he could catch this wave; to tell the truth, he was not really worried about the matter of food, as long as America kept sacrificing to him continuously and sending over some food, Xu Jia could then distribute it in public.

Corn, potatoes, and Sweet Potato can all be called Immortal grain, and then large batches can be taken overseas to reclaim wasteland; overseas can completely accommodate these unstable populations.

One only needs to promise that of the reclaimed land, they keep one mu for every ten, and most people will choose to go overseas to farm.

In addition, conscription also requires these people; to say nothing else, as long as the pay is full, one is invincible—Equal Field, arranging marriages for single people, criticizing local tyrants and landlords, and singing a few acts of the Furry Woman.

Xu Jia felt these experiences were truly a treasure; now there is only one problem, which is the food problem, but land reform is exactly for solving the food problem; calculating it this way, he gains and does not lose, eating and taking it all.

But he could not just leave it alone; Xu Jia immediately summoned Ao Jin, as this boy secretary was used to his satisfaction: "There is a bumper harvest of grain this year, but many people will be surging up next, and we need to continue reclaiming wasteland. Can your Rao Pearl expand its range, or can you refine a few more?"

"The Rao Pearl is a strange treasure, condensed after I cultivated for several hundred years, formed by gathering the Quanshen of abundance. To expand the range, it requires a large-scale harvest festival, preferably once every year. With the help of the power of the festival ritual, the Rao Pearl can be amplified ten or a hundred times, just like when you, Master, perform Altar Opening rituals, only it consumes the power of the Earth Vein. Bestowing blessings once every three years is the limit; it is best to do it during the New Year, combining the festival with the ritual, so everyone can be happy together."

"As for refining new ones, that is troublesome; it also requires someone to cultivate for several hundred years to refine a single one."

"Then hold a sacrificial ritual," Xu Jia said. "Once every three years is too long; it would be better if it were once a year."

"That would consume too much of the Earth Vein's power. Unless it is a Blessed Land with naturally born Earth Deities to comb through the Earth Veins, I fear that not only will the effect get worse and worse, but it will also cause land desertification, turning it into a dead and silent land that would need ten or eight years to slowly recover."

"The land of Poyang, however, is not afraid; one can dig up silt to fertilize it. Bestowing blessings every year, there is no fear of exhaustion. The traditional five-grain cycle model is already very good; Water Fire Earth, sun, moon, and yin/yang are all in operation."

"Still need to research chemical fertilizers and click on the chemical engineering skill," Xu Jia thought to himself. It would be good to produce fertilizer; fertilizer is confirmed to be equivalent to the power of the Earth Vein.

Education has already been spread among the Daoist acolytes, but it is a pity that the time is too short, and there are few direct scientific research talents. He still needs to recruit more high-level Daoists—those who can refine pills should go research chemistry, those who can refine artifacts should go engage in industry, and those who can do both should go engage in military industry.

Cultivating Immortals + technology is the path of the future.

"Go give the order now to hold a harvest celebration, and by the way, also perform the ritual for transcending the souls of the dead—celebrating life and death together!"

The Buddhist assembly on Xu Mu's side is also about to be held, so it can be done along the way.

This is also a Merit, and he can also take the opportunity to refine a part of Small Naihe.

The most important thing is to boost morale; when the common people join the festival, there will be cultural identity and belief identity, which is a very important matter.

(End of this chapter)