Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

Although Liangshan burned their tenant contracts with Li Baozheng,

But in the eyes of the government, these people will always be landless tenants!

However, the villagers of Xixi Village learned from the soldiers of Liangshan that...

Every household in Liangshan can be allocated ten to twenty mu of land!

This is why they were willing to give up everything and join the Liangshan bandits!

For farmers who toil in the fields, nothing is more alluring than owning their own land!

The entire Xixi Village, with over 120 households and more than 400 people, mostly wanted to join the Liangshan bandits.

As for the soldiers of the Jizhou Garrison under Huang An's command...

Although nearly a hundred people were punished for rape and abduction, more than nine hundred remained.

Zhao Yuan naturally couldn't let these people go back and attack Liangshan again.

They were all taken back to Liangshan first, and their fate would be dealt with there.

Although this military expedition defeated Huang An,

But for Liangshan, the only real gains were the five or six hundred military horses and Chao Gai's forty thousand strings of cash.

Although Huang An plundered a lot of things in Xixi Village, they were all the hard-earned money of the villagers, so Zhao Yuan naturally wouldn't keep them and had already returned them all to their rightful owners.

......

Because of the goodwill of the people in Liangtian Village, Xixi Village

Chao Gai and Wu Yong had no choice but to personally see Zhao Yuan off.

Watching the Liangshan army depart into the distance, Wu Yong sighed and lamented, "The rise and fall of Liangshan was already destined. I wonder if it will be a blessing or a curse for Dongxi Village!"

Once you join Liangshan, you'll be allocated your own land.

It has already spread by word of mouth among the villagers of Xixi Village.

Although a household has ten to twenty mu of land, it can barely feed itself.

But most tenant farmers, even after a year of hard work, can't even fill their stomachs.

Not to mention Wu Yong, even Chao Gai could have imagined it.

In the future, those tenants in Yunzhou and Jizhou who have been exploited and bullied by landlords and have nowhere else to turn will probably all turn to Liangshan!

But this is not something they should be worrying about.

After sighing for a while, the two couldn't wait to go to Xixi Village to see Li Baozheng's three thousand mu of fertile land.

The other two, Zhu Tong and Lei Heng, had already returned to Yuncheng to report Huang An's matter to Magistrate Shi.

When Wenbin heard that Huang Anquan's entire army had been wiped out, and that he himself had been beheaded by Liangshan, he was completely stunned.

Although four imperial guards were still stationed in Jeju Prefecture, they were imperial troops and could not be easily mobilized by the Jeju prefect.

Without these imperial guards, the entire Jeju Island would have no more local troops to fight against Liangshan.

Looking at Zhu Tong and Lei Heng kneeling below, begging for forgiveness,

Shi Wenbin waved his hand listlessly.

"Get up! Huang An lost his own life, how can you blame him for this!"

"But Yuncheng is going to have a tough time from now on! Those Liangshan bandits might attack and seize the city at any time!"

Chapter 147 Wheat Seeds and Pearl Farming

Actually, Shi Wenbin was worrying for nothing.

At this time, Zhao Yuan on Liangshan was already so busy that he had no time to pay attention to Yuncheng.

After leading the villagers of Xixi Village and the captured soldiers of the Xiang Army up the mountain,

The former immediately categorized the households and registered them.

Those who joined the army became soldiers, those who became craftsmen became craftsmen, and the rest were all ordinary people who could be allocated land.

Although the latter were not as heinous as those who were executed, they still inevitably committed acts of robbing people of their money and food in Xixi Village.

Zhao Yuan then simply punished them by making them work as laborers for Liangshan for a year.

Only then can they receive the same treatment as ordinary citizens.

The news of Liangshan upholding justice for Xixi Village and killing the local militia leader has spread throughout Shandong.

Besides the constant stream of tenant farmers who couldn't make ends meet coming up the mountain to seek refuge,

Some villagers, unable to appeal their grievances, mustered their courage and went to the marshland to plead with Liangshan to uphold justice for them!

Zhao Yuan was worried about the growing population on the mountain and the lack of money and food, so naturally he wouldn't refuse.

He went down the mountain several times, upholding justice for the villagers and tenants.

Not only did they establish Liangshan's reputation for "acting on behalf of Heaven, punishing evil gentry, and convicting corrupt officials,"

They also plundered a large amount of money and grain from those landlords and gentry.

In just two months, the Liangshan troops descended the mountain six times.

Zhao Yuan personally intervened on the first two occasions, but on the next four,

Then other generals stepped forward and brought Pei Xuan along.

They followed suit and stood up for the people, seeking justice for them.

This not only enhanced Liangshan's reputation, but also brought them nearly 100,000 strings of cash and more than 50,000 shi of grain!

......

That day, Bian Xiang had just returned from his campaign and was about to go to Zhao Yuan to report his gains.

Only after asking Hu Sanniang did she learn that Zhao Yuan had gone to Little Yellow Mountain again.

"I don't know what my brother is thinking. What's so precious about that one acre of land! He insists on going to see it every day!"

Bian Xiang sighed, but Hu Sanniang shook her head.

"Didn't my brother say that the wheat planted in that acre isn't ordinary? It's said that just that one acre can produce over a thousand catties of grain!"

“A yield of over a thousand catties per mu? I think you’ve been tricked by some swindler!” Bianxiang said, shaking his head.

He himself came from a farming background, so he naturally knew exactly how much the harvest from the fields should be.

With top-quality fertile land and excellent wheat seeds, a yield of two shi (a unit of dry measure) per mu (a unit of land area) is considered high-yield!

How could there possibly be a yield of over a thousand catties per mu!

Thinking of this, Bianxiang couldn't help but say, "If I had known, I should have dug up the wheat when it was sown, so that I wouldn't have to worry about the fields day and night now!"

"You may say that, but don't do anything foolish!"

Hu Sanniang warned, "That piece of land is my brother's treasure. My garrison has specially left two squads of soldiers there to guard it day and night!"

As the two spoke, they arrived at Little Yellow Mountain.

There is a small valley here, now considered a forbidden area of ​​Liangshan. Apart from the leaders, other civilians are not allowed to approach it easily.

The reason for all of this is the newly reclaimed acre of fertile land in this valley.

Zhao Yuan was standing on the edge of the field, looking at the wheat seedlings with a happy expression.

The wheat seeds in this field were specially exchanged from the system.

According to the system's introduction, it is a high-yield variety that can produce 1,600 jin per mu!

However, the level of agriculture at that time was incomparable to that of later generations.

Zhao Yuan didn't expect the final output to be the same as the system's description.

If only half of them are harvested, the yield can reach over 1,000 jin per mu.

He was satisfied.

"Brother, Brother Bianxiang is back!"

Hu Sanniang announced the news.

Zhao Yuan then came to his senses, walked back to the edge of the field, looked at Bian Xiang and smiled.

"Look at the joy on your face, brother. You must have had a very fruitful trip down the mountain this time!"

"Brother guessed correctly,"

Bian Xiang said gleefully, "That Zhang Yuanwai who plotted to kill for money was beheaded by me according to Pei Kongmu's judgment. We found a full 20,000 shi of grain and tens of thousands of guan of cash in his house!"

"Now all this money and grain is piled up on the shore of the marsh, just waiting for the Ruan brothers to take a boat and transport it back to the mountain stronghold!"

"Did you leave the portion for the common people?" Zhao Yuan asked.

"Don't worry, brother, I won't forget something like this,"

Bian Xiang hurriedly said, "We'll stick to the old rules. Each person will be given two shi of grain and two guan of copper coins."

"By the way, brother, what have the Ruan brothers been busy with these days? Why are they so rarely seen?"

Bianxiang wondered, "In the past, when we came back from the mountain, they would have already sailed their boats to the lake shore to wait for us. I didn't see them today, and I thought something had happened in the mountain village!"

"The Ruan brothers also have their own things to do; you'll find out later,"

Zhao Yuan smiled slightly.

The Liangshan Marshland, spanning eight hundred li in circumference, should not be wasted.

He redeemed a pearl cultivation method from the system and just gave it to the three Ruan brothers a couple of days ago.

The three of them are currently busy choosing a location for clam farming.

There's an interesting story behind pearl farming.

It turns out that Zhao Yuan saw that the wheat seedlings on Xiaohuang Mountain had caused a lot of discussion on Liangshan Mountain, and many people did not believe that it was possible to produce a thousand catties per mu!

Therefore, when they obtained the pearl farming method, they handed it over to the three Ruan brothers.

Zhao Yuan spent a lot of time explaining to the three brothers that regardless of whether they believed it or not, they had to follow the breeding methods!

He was worried that the three Ruan brothers wouldn't believe in pearl farming and would therefore slack off in their daily work.

Unexpectedly, the Ruan brothers' faces only showed surprise upon hearing this.

Not only did they not doubt Zhao Yuan's words, they were also eager for him to teach them the methods of pearl cultivation. 063

Zhao Yuan was puzzled and quickly asked,

Only then did I realize that the Northern Song Dynasty already had pearl farming technology!

Thirty or forty years ago, Pang Yuanying's "Wenchang Miscellaneous Records" contained a detailed account of the originator and methods of artificial pearl cultivation.

"The Vice Minister of Rites, Xie Gongyan, has a method for cultivating pearls... Take a slightly larger clam, soak it in clean water, and wait for it to open its mouth. Quickly drop a pearl into it, and change the water frequently... After two autumns, it will become a real pearl!"

Pang Yuanying was Pang Ji's son.

Although this Pang Ji shared the same surname as the Grand Tutor Pang of later legends, some people consider him to be the prototype of the Grand Tutor Pang.

However, according to research, the two were actually not related.

Pang Ji was a famous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty. He fought against the Western Xia, promoted Yan Qing, and was known for his integrity in government.

The prototype of Grand Tutor Pang should be Zhang Yaozuo, a relative of the emperor during the reign of Emperor Renzong!

As the son of a prime minister, Pang Yuanying was naturally knowledgeable and experienced, which is why he recorded the founder and methods of pearl farming.

Although the story had spread among the people, the "Wenchang Miscellaneous Records" was hard to find.

Even those who are fortunate enough to have seen it often cherish it dearly.

The general public only knows that pearls can be obtained by cultivating clams, but they have never seen the detailed method.

The three Ruan brothers were fishermen for generations, so they had naturally heard of this story.

Little did they expect that Zhao Yuan would possess such detailed methods for pearl cultivation!

Chapter 148 A Surprise for Lin Chong

Pearl farming was a way for Zhao Yuan to create a source of wealth for Liangshan.

He didn't mean to hide it.