The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 157 11 Villages

In order to boost morale and inspire the troops, Li Jingxiao had previously rewarded them with silver and land.

They recruited a large number of refugees from Goryeo and impoverished people from the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Taking advantage of the spring planting season, they cultivated the land while simultaneously clearing wasteland.

However, even though it's called land reclamation, the actual amount of new arable land that can be reclaimed using only manpower is still very small.

But as long as they are given food, there are plenty of those Korean refugees.

As long as they didn't starve, these Goryeo people were not only very enthusiastic, but also hoped to stay and become farm laborers for the important figure, Lee Kyung-hyo.

His identity immediately changed from a Korean to a citizen of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he became a farm laborer in a hereditary marquis's family.

Even if it meant selling oneself to a marquis's mansion, it wouldn't be a problem.

So Li Jingxiao simply instructed Jia Rong to do the work, and this kid, along with the people from Ningguo Mansion, was indeed within a range of more than a hundred miles around Zhenjiang Fort.

Fourteen farms have been built.

Each farm has roughly two to three hundred acres of arable land. After this year's autumn harvest, before the snowfall, each farm is expected to be able to cultivate several dozen acres of land.

However, Li Jingxiao did not take all of these lands into his own hands.

Furthermore, to incentivize his cavalrymen, he offered one mu of land for each Jurchen head, plus five taels of silver.

Although the land near Zhenjiang Fort is not valuable, with 5 taels of silver in cash, there are still 7 or 8 taels of silver per person.

Those who die in battle will be given 20 mu of land and 10 taels of silver.

They divided up three estates, more than 600 mu of land, and more than 3,000 taels of silver.

He himself was left with 11 villages and more than 3,000 mu of farmland.

That's why three thousand cavalry and three hundred Goryeo warriors were so enthusiastic when they were clearing out the Jurchens.

The Goryeo warriors were more fearless of death than three thousand cavalrymen in their pursuit of land.

Now that there was no more fighting, Li Jingxiao simply took all three hundred Goryeo warriors as his servants.

They were called servants, but in reality they were all slaves.

More than 3,000 mu of land were also directly distributed to these people for cultivation.

From now on, each mu of land will yield 45% of the grain, which is 50% less than other landlords.

Compared to the landowners in Goryeo, they received 15% less in taxes, which moved the Goryeo warriors to kneel on the ground in gratitude.

As for whether these Goryeo people would still side with Goryeo, Lee Kyung-hyo was not worried at all.

To put it bluntly, in this era, the Great Zhou Dynasty was the true Celestial Empire.

The kings and ministers of the surrounding vassal states all admired the Great Zhou.

Needless to say, the plight of ordinary people at the bottom of society is even worse.

The land rent was only 4%, and the houses left by the Jurchens, although very simple, were warm enough.

These Goryeo cavalrymen, selected from among the refugees, suddenly transformed from proletarians into propertied persons.

Having land and houses, many people received land and silver as a result of their merits.

Li Jingxiao even left the Jurchens' horses, weapons, bows and arrows, and armor to them.

They truly rose from the bottom to the middle class.

Let alone betrayal, even if Li Jingxiao ordered them to gather and attack Goryeo, these people would not hesitate for a moment.

They might even be more aggressive and ruthless than the soldiers of the Great Zhou.

Zhou Yanfu, a man of integrity in the inner court, didn't care at all after learning about this.

This area was originally a border region, and the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty often had no jurisdiction over it.

Those villages were located in the mountains, which were no-man's-land.

Not only did the Great Zhou not send anyone to collect rent, but the Goryeo people were also unwilling to pay attention to the Jurchens who had previously been there.

Therefore, if Li Jingxiao is willing to reclaim the wasteland, and gradually gather a population to turn it into a village, it will be beneficial for the Great Zhou to occupy this land.

In the event of war, these people will surely fight desperately for their homes.

Therefore, Zhou Yanfu not only allowed Li Jingxiao to send people to manage those estates.

They even gave him advice: given Li Jingxiao's rank, he couldn't have more than one hundred personal guards, nor would he dare to have more.

However, it was already an open and tacitly accepted practice for each personal guard, especially the cavalry, to be accompanied by three or five servants.

These people farm during the week and cultivate wasteland and train during the off-season.

In wartime, they can be assembled and deployed to form three to five hundred usable soldiers.

Taking advantage of the large number of Korean refugees around Zhenjiangbao, located on the western border of Liaodong and close to Goryeo, there were enough of them.

We could recruit more farm laborers to continuously reclaim wasteland.

Over four or five years, the 3400 mu of land in the 11 farms could easily double in value.

Over the course of more than a decade, acquiring 20,000 to 30,000 mu of land is not difficult

If managed well, these estates can bring in tens of thousands of taels of silver every year.

Every year, we also receive a large amount of local specialties from Liaodong.

For example, the Ning and Rong prefectures relied on farmland, livestock, and wild game sent by estates outside the pass before the Lunar New Year every year.

It not only provided enough meat for the Ning and Rong mansions to celebrate the New Year, but also yielded a harvest of ten to twenty thousand taels of silver.

However, the investment required for land reclamation that lasts for several years or even more than a decade is not small.

Li Jingxiao thought about it for a moment and then decided to do as Zhou Yanfu said.

At worst, for the first few years, all the output from the 11 estates can be used to hire people and reclaim wasteland.

After entertaining Jia Zheng, Zhou Yanfu, and others, Li Jingxiao instructed people to prepare for their return to the capital.

However, before leaving, Li Jingxiao took Hu Xian'er and Liu Cuitong with him.

They headed north out of the city and met the tiger demon, Jin Yangjun, on a mountain ridge in Changbai Mountain.

Upon meeting, Li Jingxiao almost couldn't resist striking the tiger demon with a thunder talisman.

In fact, only twenty-odd days later, the tiger demon was once again filled with dense ghostly energy.

Needless to say, this tiger demon has harmed many people during this period, imprisoning human souls and refining them into wretched ghosts.

Jin Yangjun was startled by Li Jingxiao's expression and knelt down on the ground to beg for mercy without thinking.

Li Jingxiao took a deep breath, mindful of Hu Xian'er and Liu Cuitong's presence beside him.

Punishing someone without teaching them will scatter the people's hearts.

He could only snort coldly and ask, "You're shrouded in ghostly aura; you'd better remember what I said."

Jin Yangjun finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He hurriedly explained, "Master, a few days ago, I encountered a group of more than ten 'Uriyangkhai' tribal cavalrymen, and followed them to find a small tribe."

Under the cover of night, they wiped out the Uriyangkhai tribe and then refined dozens of ghosts.

As for your orders, sir, not to harm the people of Great Zhou, I dare not forget them, much less disobey them.

After hearing this, Hu Xian'er and Liu Cuitong couldn't help but purse their lips, thinking to themselves that this tiger demon really couldn't change his ways.

If he continues to eat people like this, even if the Marquis still needs him in the future, he will grow to hate this guy more and more.

He felt disgusted with Li Jingxiao the moment they met, and even wanted to kill the tiger demon, so he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

When Li Jingxiao heard that there were only a few dozen cougars, not enough for him to level up, he didn't rush to teach the tiger demon a lesson.

But then I thought about it again, and I don't know how long it will be before I return to the capital.

Dozens of ghostly companions—that's experience too.

Moreover, this tiger demon must be allowed to enter the pass and meet with him every few months.

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly said, "From now on, every three months, you will go to the Yunmo Cave on Jiuding Mountain outside Jizhou City."

At that time, someone will send you 90 catties of spirit wine, enough for three months' supply.

He had previously promised the tiger demon that he would receive 30 catties of spirit wine every month, just like Hu Xian'er and Liu Cuitong. So, when Jin Yangjun heard this, there was no reason for him to refuse.

He had even worried that since he was far away in Changbai Mountain, he might not get a share of the spirit wine.

When he was happy, the smile on his face became even brighter.

But when Li Jingxiao said that he had recently made progress in cultivating thunder magic and asked him to release his cougars to test the power of thunder magic, he was about to give up.

The smile on his face immediately turned into a frown.

Not only did Jin Yangjun mistakenly believe that Li Jingxiao was warning him.

Hu Xian'er and Liu Cuitong also believed that he was giving a warning before returning to the capital, to prevent the tiger demon from causing trouble.

While waiting for a reply from the capital, Li Jingxiao practiced the Lightning Thunder Fist.

After a surge in physique, physical constitution, and comprehension, the Lightning Thunder Fist's proficiency increases by 5.3 per hour during meditation.

The Longevity Technique and Sword Control Technique also grant 4.7 points per hour.

With the addition of Monkey Spirit Wine, the Lightning Thunder Fist had already been upgraded from Proficient (675/4000) to Mastery (15/10000).

Incidentally, his mastery and understanding of lightning magic became increasingly profound.

He also easily upgraded his Palm Thunder skill to Mastery (1/2000).

Although the power of the Palm Thunder is much weaker than that of the Lightning Thunder Fist.

But Li Jingxiao discovered that this skill was not only secretive, but also faster.

When encountering an enemy, one raises their palm, and a bolt of lightning is unleashed from it.

Therefore, when resorting to underhanded tactics or dirty tricks, such as striking someone with a palm strike and suddenly unleashing a bolt of lightning from the palm, it can catch the opponent completely off guard.

So he takes this skill quite seriously.

When Jin Yangjun saw Li Jingxiao raise his hand, with wisps of lightning already emerging from his palm, he knew that if he didn't agree, he would be the one to test the power of the lightning magic.

He shook his body, and a dozen or so vengeful spirits immediately flew out of his body.

Li Jingxiao's eyes lit up, and he unleashed a palm strike of lightning.

In an instant, the electric shock caused the ghost to crackle all over its body, and within a breath, its soul was scattered and vanished into the world.

Lightning magic is inherently very effective against the bizarre.

Li Jingxiao also mastered the Lightning Thunder Fist.

Their understanding and mastery of the power of thunder are naturally deeper.

Therefore, the power of the palm lightning he unleashed exceeded that of spells of the same level.

After receiving a +300 experience point notification in Li Jingxiao's mind...

看了眼等级，已经从34级（31710/3.8万），涨到了34级（32010/3.8万）
For the past twenty days or so, he has insisted on playing chess with Hu Xian'er and Liu Cuitong every day.

Liu Cuitong is alright; she hasn't improved as much as ever.

Hu Xian'er has a stubborn personality and tries hard to win a few more rounds against Li Jingxiao.

But after a few days, the vixen slowly realized that Li Jingxiao's chess skills seemed to have increased somewhat excessively.

Since his three-dimensional attributes skyrocketed, Li Jingxiao has indeed found that his understanding of chess has become increasingly profound.

I quickly guessed that it was probably related to the sudden increase in my physical strength.

Therefore, in order to gain experience, Li Jingxiao actually spent some time studying chess every day, in addition to practicing.

This made Hu Xian'er uncomfortable.

After finding it increasingly difficult to beat Li Jingxiao, the more he lost, the less willing he was to play chess with Li Jingxiao anymore.

Then look at Liu Cuitong, who plays 10 games of chess every day, which only takes the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

He, however, often wastes an hour, or even two hours, playing chess.
As a result, the odds of winning or losing gradually changed from 50/50 to 70/30 or 80/20.

I suddenly felt incredibly stupid.

Why waste time playing chess?
Therefore, Hu Xian'er's chess skills quickly and precipitously declined.

In just one day, Li Jingxiao realized that this woman was giving in to him.

But this is also a good thing for him.

And regardless of whether Hu Xian'er was perfunctory or not, she still got the experience points.

So, apart from the first few days, I could easily gain 2000 experience points every day for the remaining ten days or so.

The level also increased from 33 to 34.

The newly acquired attribute point was added to Constitution after only a moment's hesitation.

At this point, the constitution level is already 30.

In the future, when Li Jingxiao levels up, he will allocate attribute points to his comprehension.

Try to get your constitution, physical attributes, and comprehension all to 30 points as soon as possible.
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After killing one of the ghouls, the lightning in Li Jingxiao's palm suddenly increased in size from the thickness of a finger.

They transformed into spears shaped like lightning bolts.

With a flick of his hidden weapon, Li Jingxiao sent eleven ghosts flying, instantly striking them with electric snakes.

In his mind, a notification popped up saying "+300 +300 experience points".

Level 34 (35310/3.8)
With only 2,700 experience points left to level up, Li Jingxiao stared at Jin Yangjun and said.

"Release all the remaining vengeful spirits, and I'll reward you with a jar of spirit wine."

After saying that, he took out the Demon-Subduing Mace.

When this bronze mace was in Jin Yangjun's hands, there were still many cracks on the mace.

Although there were flashes of light, the mace was not only intact, but also looked radiant. It was clear that this weapon was more powerful than before.

Not only was Jin Yangjun astonished, but Hu Xian'er and Liu Cuitong were also so surprised that they couldn't close their mouths.

The look in Li Jingxiao's eyes shifted again.

Moreover, as soon as the Demon-Subduing Mace appeared, the three great demons could clearly feel a powerful pressure emanating from it, and they immediately felt a strong sense of threat.

Li Jingxiao chuckled and didn't offer any further explanation.

Jin Yangjun said, "Hurry up, this Demon-Subduing Mace is specifically designed to subdue demons and evil spirits. Now that it has reappeared in the world, it's a good opportunity to use your newly refined cougar to refine this treasure."

Jin Yangjun subconsciously took a step back, because the closer he got, the stronger the suppression and influence of the enchanted mace became.

Seeing his hesitation, Li Jingxiao's hand holding the Demon-Subduing Mace suddenly crackled with lightning.

When the lightning struck the Demon-Subduing Mace, the bronze mace immediately shone with divine light, so bright that it stung Jin Yangjun's eyes.

He knew that if he disobeyed again, his master might strike him with a mace.

Without further hesitation, he quickly released the remaining thirty-odd evil spirits from his body.

Li Jingxiao was overjoyed. He brandished the Demon-Subduing Mace in his hand a few times and then slashed it down at the tiger demon.

In an instant, dozens of bolts of lightning, imbued with the power to subdue demons and vanquish evil, easily pierced through the thirty-five vengeful spirits.

The ghost that was previously struck dead by the palm lightning could still hold on for a breath, about a second or two.

But now, it's a matter of instant death if you touch it, or death if you just brush against it.

A series of notification sounds echoed in my mind once again.

Then, with a 'ding-dong' sound, I leveled up to level 35 (7810/4).
I added the newly acquired attribute point to my Comprehension.

Li Jingxiao put away the Demon-Subduing Mace, took out a 5-jin bottle of Monkey Spirit Wine from his inventory, and casually tossed it to Jin Yangjun.

This finally put the tiger demon at ease.

He hurriedly opened the wine jar and took several large gulps to calm his nerves.

Hu Xian'er and Liu Cuitong couldn't help but feel envious.

Although Li Jingxiao didn't say it explicitly, even a fool could see that what he said before about testing the power of thunder magic was just an excuse.

(End of this chapter)