Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 183 A Flame of Freedom

"I am now called Huo Youming, or you can call me Youming Huo. As long as you are willing to help me take revenge, I can give you the Fire Clan's entire treasury."

Although Huo Liao wanted to calm himself down, the thought of the family feud he carried made it difficult for him to remain calm. His tone became increasingly agitated and even somewhat aggressive.

Seeing Huo Liao becoming increasingly agitated, the flame of hope in Yun Ce's eyes slowly died out. Ever since he heard that this guy had escaped from Cao Kun, Yun Ce, as an observer, had felt somewhat fortunate for him.

I always felt that this protagonist, following the template of a standard revenge protagonist, should have some skills, especially after learning that a Fire Clan member had come to his camp, which greatly increased my expectations.

Now it seems that this guy was just an idiot.

The man is here, and the location of the Fire Clan's treasury is in his head... How can this guy be so confident that Yun Ce, as the lord of this region, can't pry open his mouth?

Yun Linchuan once said that, theoretically speaking, there is no one in this world who would rather die than submit. Dying for a noble ideal is not difficult; what is difficult is the experience before death. Since the body and mind are two independent entities, there are countless examples of people whose minds are strong but whose bodies do not obey their commands. Unless, of course, the degree of integration between a person's body and ideal is highly unified, they can disregard all the trials of the world.

Such a person is one in ten thousand.

Generally speaking, as individuals, people have limited cognition. They tend to stubbornly believe that those below them are ignorant and those above them are corrupt and decadent, and that only they themselves are clear-headed and wise.

Currently, Huo Liao is approaching Yun Ce with this very idea in mind.

He believed that the Fire Clan's treasury was incredibly tempting to Yun Ce, who was only eating half a pound of grain a day. He thought that Yun Ce would give everything for the Fire Clan's treasury and even help him take revenge on Cao Kun.

He didn't expect, or rather, he didn't even think about it, that what Yun Ce truly cared about were the people here; these people were his real treasures.

As long as he can get through this tough winter, Yun Ce believes his camp will definitely prosper.

The Fire Clan's armor forging, iron smelting, and weapon crafting might be priceless in the eyes of others, but to Yun Ce they were utterly useless, or even worse.

If you want these things, just ask the dog. What it has in its head is more advanced, convenient, and mature than the Fire Clan's so-called secrets.

Judging from Huo Liao's physical appearance, you can tell that their technology still relies on a powerful body, and probably also on a hammer. Otherwise, only a crazy person would evolve their body into such a grotesque form.

If Yun Ce were to act in a more unscrupulous manner right now, he could use the fire to trade with Cao Kun for a lot of things, and he would definitely be able to get a lot more in return.

Unfortunately, Yun Ce needs this hardship now, he needs this famine, and he needs to use this famine and hardship to build a group of people who can share hardships.

For Cao Kun, food was not that important.

Now we share hardships, and soon Yun Ce will continue to build this group into one that can share prosperity, from collective poverty to collective well-being, to collective prosperity, and finally to collective wealth, ultimately achieving communism.

No process can be omitted, no order can be disrupted, and no step can be forcibly skipped. Thinking about his own country on Earth, it took eighty years from its founding to achieving a moderately prosperous society. Yun Ce felt that this time was not long, and given his current physical condition, he could afford to wait.

Lifespan is a big issue. If lifespan were longer, many things on Earth wouldn't be necessary... We could live a more stable and peaceful life... (Deleted and rewritten)

This is what Yun Ce came to this world to do. Compared with achieving this great goal, becoming emperor is a trivial matter.

Huo Liao watched as Yun Ce finished his grass and shellfish porridge, then watched Yun Ce wipe his mouth, and then watched Yun Ce turn and leave.

He couldn't help but shout, "I can get you out of poverty right away, and I can feed you to your heart's content."

Yun Ce stopped and turned to look at Huo Liao, saying, "If I give you to Cao Kun, I can recover from this famine more quickly. Cao Kun is a very generous person."

Huo Liao then said, "Then why don't you send me to Cao Kun? Isn't it because you want to monopolize the Fire Clan's treasury?"

Yun Ce laughed and said, "The Fire Clan's treasury belongs to your Fire Clan. If you can use the Fire Clan's treasury to feed yourself, then hurry up and do it. That way, I can reduce the amount of food subsidies I give you."

Now that you've eaten your fill, hurry up and go find some food in the wilderness. Otherwise, tomorrow's meager rations won't give you enough energy to continue arguing with me.

"If you want to run, you can leave now. Nobody will stop you. Just whatever you do, don't try to create a diversion or sabotage my camp while you're trying to escape, or I'll skin you alive."

For a proud person, the greatest hurt is being ignored. Huo Liao felt ignored by Yun Ce. He shouted angrily, but was suppressed by the pitying looks from those around him.

Nowadays, everyone is only thinking about getting more food on top of their meager rations so they can eat their fill. People like Huo Liao who shout and yell without working are really despicable.

Feng An, carrying a basket on his back and holding a book in his hand, lazily walked across the wasteland. He saw Yun Ce sitting on a rock, looking at the crowds covering the mountains and fields. He took out a lotus root as thick as an arm from his basket and handed it to Yun Ce.

"After washing it clean, you can peel it and eat it."

Yun Ce glanced at his heavy basket and saw that it was full of lotus roots. He decisively peeled the lotus roots, took a bite and found them to be crisp and sweet, and asked, "Where did you find these?"

Feng An said, "The muddy pond has just thawed, and it's so cold that no one can get out."

"This thing grows in muddy ground; how could it be dug out without people going down into it?"

"Let me tell you, first, draw the water out of the muddy ground. Next to the muddy ground, use an ox to plow a deep pit. The mud will slowly flow into the pit, thus lowering the mud level and exposing the lotus roots that were originally buried in the mud. At this point, you can use a long hook to hook the lotus roots out."

Of course, doing so would break the lotus root and allow mud to get inside. One clever fellow got a large wooden basin, sat in it, and hung a rope on one end so that another person on the bank could pull it. This way, he could dig out the lotus roots that were not buried very deep by hand, and they would all be intact.

They also threw some broken lotus root segments into the new mud pit, and after a year or two, many lotus roots would grow in the new mud pit.

Yun Ce nodded in admiration. Feng An wasn't describing the process of picking lotus roots, but rather reporting on his work method—discover, acquire, improve, expand, and then close the loop.

This way of working is naturally excellent and has great reference value for the Han Dynasty's political system, which still relies on gathering for a living.

Even for Yun Ce's upcoming large-scale agricultural development, it is of great supporting significance.

A group of children dressed in simple cloth clothes lined up neatly and headed towards the river bend. Yun Ce asked Feng An why he had brought the children out to find food as well.

"Over there they found an even bigger mud pit, which also had many withered lotus leaves. Angie thought it was important for the children to broaden their horizons, so she took them there to see how the farmers harvested lotus roots."

"By the way, that fire tribesman should have been looking for you today, right?"

"Yes, I found him. He wants to use the Fire Clan's treasury to keep me in check and help him get revenge."

Feng An had been with Yun Ce for a long time and was the one in the group who understood Yun Ce the most. He took a bite of the crisp lotus root in his hand and said, "There's no need for that. Our way of fighting has changed. Compared with those armors and weapons, bombs are more suitable for us."

Moreover, I predict that by the next year or the year after at the latest, the operation of the Han Dynasty caravan will definitely not be as smooth as it is now. Each province will beg for its neighbors and delineate its own sphere of influence. At that time, there will be endless taxes to pay, and places like Chang'an and Luoyang, which rely heavily on caravans to survive, will inevitably fall into a great crisis.

Therefore, our agricultural planting this year can only succeed; failure is not an option. If it fails, our plan to build Cloud City will be a complete failure.

Yun Ce nodded. He had naturally considered what Feng An could see. If he wanted this land to produce abundant harvests, favorable weather was essential.

Therefore, the arrangement of Shehuo (a traditional folk performance) has become the most urgent matter. After all, agriculture is very fragile. A rain, a drought, an insect infestation, or even a hailstorm can cause the fields to yield no harvest.

The matter of arranging the Shehuo performance can only be discussed with Gouzi.

Just as Feng An walked away, Gouzi emerged from the Dragon Ball carrying the Shehuo (a traditional folk performance). Seeing Gouzi's tentacles drop the Shehuo on the ground, Yun Ce was terrified.

Just as I was about to reach out to take it, I saw the Shehuo (a type of folk performance) bouncing on a blade of grass. The burning flames did not harm the dry grass at all, and it even jumped from one blade of grass to another, having a great time.

"As you can see, your Shehuo is a free fire. It is unwilling to take root in the ground and would rather follow you east and west."

The dog's lazy voice echoed in Yun Ce's head.

Why did this change occur?

"The two major fires, one at the volcano and the other at Guiwang Mountain, seem to have made it realize the benefits of freedom."

"You know, what I want is a folk fire that can protect the people, not a weapon for setting fires."

"The twilight years are almost over. On the day when early spring arrives, you can try to preside over a spring festival and a folk parade to see if you can deepen the connection between the people and the folk performances."

　I'll revise and publish as I go, and I'll guarantee three chapters before 4 PM. I'm still asking for monthly votes and recommendations. Since there aren't any recommendation slots available, I'll have to fight for them myself.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)