How can one cultivate immortality without learning modern knowledge?

Zhou Wenju left the river and embarked on the official road back to the county town.

Walk a hundred or two meters, turn a corner, and you'll no longer see the river.

Tap tap tap behind me...

It was the familiar sound of Qi's footsteps from my memory.

The kind that sounds like metal clashing.

Zhou Wenju turned around and saw Lao Qi.

Old Qi held a small package in his hand, which he handed over. Inside were three flatbreads: "Second Young Master, this is what Master asked me to deliver. Although Master scolded you harshly, he still cares about your journey."

Zhou Wenju didn't stand on ceremony, took one card, took a bite, and said, "I'll just eat one, you can go back!"

Old Qi shook his head: "I don't need to go back. The master is working on the river, surrounded by thousands of people, so there's no danger. I'll go back to the county office with the second young master."

His job role was to be his cheap old man's personal bodyguard.

As he said, his cheap father was cleaning up the river at that time, and thousands of people around him were doing a great thing that benefited the country and the people. Indeed, he did not need any guards.

"Alright then, let's take a walk and chat..." Zhou Wenju said, "Old Qi, Qishan County looks like it has beautiful mountains and rivers and fertile land, but why do the people seem so poor to me?"

"What do you mean by 'seemingly poor'? To be honest, Second Young Master, I, Old Qi, have traveled all over the country and seen many places, but I have never seen a dead end like Qishan County. It is understandable that the people born in such a place are extremely poor."

"A dead end?"

"Yes, you'll understand how difficult things are for the master once I tell you..."

He then completely lost control...

Zhou Wenju finally learned the complete story of Qishan...

Qishan County is located at the southernmost tip of Lingnan.

The climate is mild and the land is fertile.

Although literature and morality are not flourishing, ordinary people, who are neither particularly connected to literature and morality, can theoretically live a decent life.

However, the situation here is truly exceptional.

Of all the arable land, mountains, and shops in the county, 40% are controlled by the He family, 40% by the Cangshan Sect, and only 20% remain.

Of these two-tenths, there are still many small landowners.

What can 300,000 people possibly have?

There is not a single tile on the roof, nor an inch of land on the ground!

No matter how hard they work, where can they exert their efforts?

The only option is to sell oneself into slavery!

This is the harsh reality.

Therefore, the first thing every county magistrate did upon taking office in Qishan was to adopt the correct attitude, visit the He family and pay respects at the Cangshan Temple; otherwise, they would find it difficult to move an inch.

But the master was originally a third-rank official in the capital, a great scholar with a proud and arrogant heart. How could he be this kind of person?

He didn't pay homage to the mountain peak of Cangshan, nor did he take the initiative to visit the He family; he started by struggling to survive in the cracks.

The county's land structure is already established, so we should seek fertile land from the mountains, forests, and rivers.

Why is he so concerned about river management?

The reason is that the banks of this river used to be ten miles of mudflats, which were unclaimed land due to annual floods. Once the riverbanks are repaired, tens of thousands of acres of fertile land can be obtained, which can support at least 100,000 people...

Zhou Wenju frowned slightly: "Within this county, 80% of the fertile land and forests belong to two families. How did this situation come about?"

"It's all the fault of the predecessor!" Old Qi sighed deeply. "Take the most recent predecessor, for example... Former magistrate Chen Zhang was a lackey of these two families! When he first took office, these two families only owned half of the fertile land in the county. By the end of his five-year term, they owned eighty percent! And yet, based on such great achievements, he was appointed as the prefect of Lingnan. Tell me, is there any justice in this world?"

"The He family, the Cangshan Sect... do they have connections in the court?" Zhou Wenju immediately noticed the clues.

"Exactly!" Old Qi said, "He Fang, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is a direct descendant of the He family, while Li Yuancang, the sect leader of the Cangshan Sect, is the elder brother of Li Zhongze, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War."

"Two high-ranking officials, one superior, and countless servants of these officials attacking from all sides..." Zhou Wenju sighed, looking up at the sky, "My father is doomed."

Old Qi glared at him fiercely: "Second Young Master, it's not good for you to say that. Master is a great scholar with a profound understanding of literature, and he has always been fair and just. Since the court has placed him in this position, he will surely be able to set things right."

"Alright, alright, he's trying to set things right? How is he going to set things right?" Zhou Wenju said, "Just by building a river, he managed to seize thousands of acres of fertile land from the cracks?"

"Isn't this what 300,000 people have been hoping for?" Old Qi said.

"Of course, it's the hope of 300,000 people, but it's also probably the hope of the He and Li families!" Zhou Wenju said. "Once the river is completed and he has tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, the He and Li families could easily cause some trouble and seize those fertile land again. The fertile land occupied by those two families could probably exceed 90%!"

Old Qi's face suddenly darkened...

Zhou Wenju's words were not entirely unexpected...

"To solve a problem, you have to be good at pinpointing the crux of the issue!" Zhou Wenju glanced at him. "If you're going in the wrong direction, no matter how much you do, it'll be in vain!"

Is Qishan County not rich enough in fertile land?

No!

It was the He and Li families who brazenly seized the land!

Simply trying to find a new path and avoiding these two companies will never truly solve the problem.

You organize thousands of laborers to work day and night, painstakingly cultivating fertile land, only to have it snatched away by someone with a mere reach.

In the end, you'll still be doing all the work for someone else.

Old Qi let out a soft sigh: "What brilliant plan does the Second Young Master have?"

Whenever this question is asked, there is generally a general consensus that he acknowledges the validity of Zhou Wenju's statement.

Zhou Wenju looked Qi up and down and said, "Old Qi, there's a question I've wanted to ask you for a long time. I wonder if you can answer it honestly."

Old Qi said, "Second Young Master, please ask."

"Just how high is your cultivation level?"

"This old man... this old man's cultivation is still quite high..." Old Qi scratched his head lightly, "Not to brag, but I can take on eight of the county yamen runners by myself!"

cut!

Zhou Wenju rolled his eyes.

One county yamen bailiff can take on eight?

This young master can take on eighty of them by himself!

You think I'm better than you?

Fine, your identity is too sensitive. You dare not reveal your true cultivation level. I won't ask, okay?

We quickened our pace and entered Qishan County.

Qishan County town looks quite prosperous.

There were restaurants, shops, music halls, and even a few brothels.

If it weren't for Lao Qi's initial words, Zhou Wenju would have almost thought that he, as the son of the county magistrate, could now indulge in unrestrained debauchery in the county town where his father was in charge.

However, with that footnote, he knew that his status as the second son of the county magistrate was probably not even as high as that of a direct descendant of the He family.

He was very honest and followed Lao Qi into the county government office.

At the entrance of the county government office, there were three tall, white horses with extremely luxurious saddles, which were fundamentally different from the short-legged horses commonly seen in Lingnan.

Seeing Old Qi approach, the constables inside quickly ran over: "Officer Qi, has the master returned yet?"

"No, what happened?" Old Qi asked.

"The seventh young master of the He family has arrived! Report the incident!" the constable announced.

"Report a crime?" Old Qi grinned. "That's strange. In this area, aren't all the people reporting the He family's misdeeds? Why is it the He family's turn to report a crime?"

The constable has not yet answered.

Three young men walked out of the yamen.

The person in the very center, dressed in a snow-white long robe with silver trim, exuded an air of wealth and refinement. As he gently opened his folding fan, a single word, "elegant," flashed across Zhou Wenju's eyes...

The man said, "Officer Qi, yesterday in Hexi Valley, my He family's servants were farming in the valley when they were ambushed by bandits. Arrows were fired from the forest, resulting in one servant dead and seven wounded. This is a shocking and extremely heinous case. Therefore, I have come here specifically to pay my respects to the magistrate and request that he immediately mobilize his constables to pacify Hexi Valley!"

Old Qi frowned: "Young Master He, when did your He family start cultivating the Hexi Valley? That's not your territory."

"This isn't my He family's territory?" The young master He stretched out his hand: "Show this Constable Qi the land deed!"

A person next to him reached out and took out a land deed.

Above the land deed was the county magistrate's seal, bright red.

The paper is also very new.

Old Qi's eyes were full of helplessness; it was another mess left behind by the former magistrate!

Before leaving, the magistrate hastily issued a large number of land deeds, each of which would trigger a mass incident.

For example, the Hexi Valley was originally a barren valley. Qishan County had no shortage of land, and no one developed it for a long time. It was only because the He and Li families occupied too much land in the county that tens of thousands of people were left homeless and squeezed into this barren valley, which led to its development.

That place is right next to Wudao Mountain. It was originally unclaimed land. After it was cleared, according to the laws of the Great Yu Dynasty, it should belong to the cleared landowners.

The villagers had also asked the county government for land deeds, but the county government refused to approve them.

It remained uncertain for several years.

Now, a land deed has suddenly appeared.

And it even had the county magistrate's seal on it!

This seal is unlikely to be fake; there's too much evidence to prove it...