Pre-Qin Mythology: Starting with the River God

"……oh."

Spirituality is just like this.

Feng Hua, however, could not see the problem between Dao Tian and the national treasury; he only understood why Dao Tian wanted these 30,000 millet as a sacrifice.

However, he still scratched his head, somewhat worried about Quan Ming.

"My lord, you don't take a single bit, you bestow it all as blessings, what are we going to do with our Water Palace? You also need to improve your own strength... I have a feeling that something is different lately... This time, Chu Kingdom is preparing for war, and even some immortals and gods have started recruiting the spirits under their jurisdiction, as if they are all preparing for something... Shouldn't we also...?"

Feng Hua looked at Quan Ming cautiously.

He knew he shouldn't question his lord's thoughts, as this contradicted his initial intention to curry favor with Quan Ming and become his underling. However, as a capable underling, he also wanted to advise Quan Ming to consider the future of their own power...

"Hehe." Quan Ming smiled gently, without blaming Feng Hua.

Even with the surrounding spirits listening intently, Quan Ming wasn't annoyed by the question. He simply said, "Isn't Quan Di part of my territory?"

Ah!

Land rights?

For a moment, Feng Hua fell silent, his eyes filled with reverence... He hadn't expected Quan Ming to be so ambitious, wanting to take over the entire Quan territory!

The other spirits were also extremely surprised, for Quan Ming was merely a water spirit.

But land rights are not just about water rights...

But the thought of Quan Ming's prestige in Quan Di, and that even the downstream Zhi Shui River belonged to Quan Shui... made these little-known spirits feel excited.

……

They ignored the group of delusional spirits.

Quan Ming opened his eyes and looked at the cartloads of millet piled up on the banks of the Quan River, his smile never fading... These offerings were sacrificed to Dao Tian, ​​who received the spiritual essence, not the whole millet. The remaining millet would sink into the Quan River.

Although millet that sinks into water loses its spiritual essence, tastes worse, and is no longer nourishing, it can still fill one's stomach.

He would naturally not regard these unsustainable grains as the rations of those in power.

They won't be used for brewing.

In fact, he had a plan in his heart, a plan to seize power on the Luo River, located in the Luo Kingdom, in the Luo River basin... If the war between the Chu Kingdom and the Zhou King's alliance began, then the Luo Kingdom would inevitably become the battlefield, and the country would urgently need to mobilize its grain, and even levy taxes on its people... The Luo people would have no choice but to go into the mountains to find food, and at that time, these 30,000 shi of grain would be their life-saving food.

Perhaps he can make some plans regarding this matter...

"throw!"

Just as Quan Ming was pondering how to make the most of the 30,000 bushels of millet, Qu Wan had already begun to order the Chu soldiers to start throwing the millet into the Quan River!

"What are you doing? That's our rice!"

The powerful people who were working were shocked when they saw this and were about to shout angrily, but soon a Chu official came to inform them that this was a sacrifice offered to Dao Tian in exchange for a bountiful harvest and blessings. At the same time, this was also an agreement reached between the powerful immortals and Dao Tian. If it was not fulfilled, the powerful immortals would be punished by Dao Tian...

Upon hearing this, the powerful figures remained astonished.

"Quickly, let's gather 30,000 shi of grain as soon as possible, lest Daotian make trouble for Gongzi Quan!"

"quick!"

"..."

In an instant, the sound of sickles being wielded and the thuds of straw being beaten grew louder as the entire Quandi region was engaged in a frantic harvest. For the sake of the grain and Quanming's safety, no one cared about anything else!

As night fell, the last bushel of millet fell into the water!

The spiritual energy gathered from the 30,000 bushels of millet slowly dissipated, the luster of the millet dimmed, the offerings were handed over to the Dao Heaven, and the sacrifice was officially completed.

Quan Ming exhaled, the water rippled, and the millet grains drifted away with the current in an unknown direction...

"Magistrate, the sacrificial ceremony is now complete, and I should depart."

Quan Ming raised his hand and returned the autumn harvest plan that Qu Wan had handed him. In front of countless pairs of weary but expectant eyes in the darkness, he specifically pointed out: "Don't forget, of the autumn harvest, the state takes one-third as a tax, another one-third as a corvée tax, another one-third to purchase salt, another one-third to purchase money, and another one-third to purchase winter planting... The remaining 50% is distributed among the 30,000 Quan people, with 70% of this 50% distributed equally according to their labor, and the remaining 30% is used to provide relief to the injured, deceased, and impoverished families... This will be used to get through the winter and for the next year's food supply."

Of all the policies regarding the autumn harvest, Quan Ming only cared about this one.

As for the claim in historical records that one-tenth of the taxes were paid...

Oh……

If it were truly a 1/10 tax rate, how could so many people have starved to death?

Of these ten taxes, one was the standard tax, which allowed the people of the state to cultivate the land. The rest included corvée labor tax, taxes on the purchase of salt and money (bronze cowrie shells, essential for daily transactions), and winter seeds, which were seeds suitable for winter cultivation... These had to be purchased, as using one's own saved seeds would violate the laws of Chu...

All of this means that even 50% of the Chinese people were left behind, which is already a result of Quan Ming and Qu Wan's reasoned arguments and provocation.

Only when the people of this country are prosperous can this place develop.

If the previous autumn harvest policy were followed, the rights holders would only be able to keep 20% of their food rations, making it difficult to even survive, let alone develop their land rights.

Let's calculate this...

This harvest will yield approximately 210,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), and after deducting 30,000 shi for sacrificial purposes, there will be 180,000 shi remaining.

Eighteen thousand, if you take five and keep five, you'll still have ninety thousand bushels left.

Ninety thousand shi was an astronomical figure for the thirty thousand Quan people. In fact, they had never been allocated such a large amount of grain when their homeland was still intact. Of course, this was partly due to Quan Ming's bestowal of land and the resulting increase in grain production.

But the grain they received was real.

Quan Ming's achievements are genuine.

Chu's will +6321

People eat for food.

Even though Quan Ming didn't enrich himself from the blessings during the autumn harvest, he still earned the respect and trust of the Quan family through his sincere and earnest actions in thinking about their interests and seeking their benefit... The Quan family desperately needed Quan Ming.

The will of Chu also continuously flowed towards Quan Ming because of this need.

"Respectfully bidding farewell to the Immortal Quan!"

Quan Ming waved goodbye to the powerful figures and rode his covered carriage down the river. The powerful figures bowed to see him off on the shore, and not one of them was negligent. As for the soldiers of Chu... for some reason, they also raised their long spears as a sign of respect.

Qu Wan's eyes were as blue as waves.

He knew that once this grain distribution was made, the powerful people would compare it to their time in Quan State, when they would have had far less resistance to Chu State's allegiance. And this achievement... would mostly be attributed to Quan Ming, the Water Immortal, while he, Qu Wan, could only bask in the glory...

But it is not important.

Qu Wan valued the stability of the people after they returned to Chu, and the opportunity he could use the grain to make sweeping changes to the land.

"Uncle... Mo Ao... Qu Wan believes he can 'listen to the Immortal Quan on small matters,' but he doesn't want to 'ask Mo Ao on big matters.' In this Quan territory, Qu Wan also wants to earn his own merits."

As he spoke in a low voice, Qu Wan watched Quan Ming's departing figure.

Envy couldn't help but show in his eyes.

And a hint of unconscious respect.

……

……