The Three Kingdoms: The Oath of the Peach Garden, the Rise of the Han Dynasty

In the past two years, there has been no major war in the North, and the six states have focused on developing their economies.

Ditches spread out along the river network, and field ridges stretched from the foot of the Taihang Mountains to the shore of the Bohai Sea. Students from the Jixia Academy were sent to counties and prefectures in batches, and new farming tools and new farming methods were gradually promoted.

The granaries in the government treasury were filled one after another, and the number of registered households increased month by month.

The military camps along the Yellow River conducted daily drills, with the sounds of drums and horns reverberating across both banks, their military might drawing the attention of the entire world.

In stark contrast to the booming development of Hebei, Yanzhou was shrouded in gloom and despair!

First, an unexpected plague broke out in early spring. This had nothing to do with Li Changzhen; it was the prefects and powerful families who failed to properly handle the bodies of the people who died in the disaster.

This is unexpected, so unexpected!

The disease spread from south to north, causing shortages of medical care and medicine in counties and prefectures, leading to mass illnesses among the population and further exacerbating the spread.

The powerful families in the prefecture were already envious of the peaceful lives in Jizhou and Qingzhou, and they also heard the war drums beating loudly from the other side of the Yellow River every day.

Every now and then, you can see fierce Han generals practicing martial arts on the shore!

Guan Yu stood with his sword drawn, Lü Bu brandished his halberd, and Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun galloped back and forth. Their imposing presence was so overwhelming that it made it hard to breathe, even across the Yellow River!

If they really attack, the remnants and weak generals of Yanzhou are no match for them!

Internally, there was plague and displaced people; externally, there was a fierce and treacherous army.

The governors of several counties north of Jiyin and Chenliu in Yanzhou, after discussing with the powerful families, simply sent envoys across the Yellow River to offer their surrender!

"We are willing to submit the entire prefecture to the King of Jin, and we beg you to send troops to pacify the people and cure the plague."

When the news spread, Zang Ba of Taishan County could no longer sit still.

He felt he hadn't had a good opportunity! If it weren't for Liu Bei, he could have maintained his separatist rule for several more years!

But now Liu Bei in the north is powerful and the people under his rule are at peace. On the other hand, Yuan Shu's side imposes heavy taxes and levies, and Yanzhou is plagued by a plague. If we continue to occupy the mountain stronghold, we will be affected by the plague sooner or later and starve to death!

After hesitating for half a month, Zang Ba led his men out of the mountains and went to the Han army camp in the southern border of Qingzhou to surrender.

The news that they had gained several counties without a fight, and also recruited the fierce general Zang Ba, brought joy to the entire court when it reached Luoyang!

Liu Bei immediately ordered Zhang Zhongjing to lead the physicians and apprentices from the Imperial Medical Academy to Yanzhou to treat the epidemic, set up isolation points along the way, and administer medicine to control the spread of the plague.

Zhang Zhongjing had just solved the plague in his hometown, and was finally able to break free from the shackles of his family and pursue his own dreams, so he took the initiative to join Liu Bei's Jixia Academy!

They were people from completely different directions than Hua Tuo.

After arranging the epidemic control measures, Liu Bei ordered Zao Zhi to lead the agricultural officials to implement agricultural settlements in the newly attached counties of Yanzhou, resettle displaced people, and restore production.

When Zhang Zhongjing arrived in Yanzhou, he led his men to diagnose and treat the sick day and night, isolate the patients, and dispose of the corpses. In just over a month, the plague was gradually brought under control.

Zao Zhi then plunged headlong into the barren fields of Yanzhou.

From the uninhabited Dongjun to Jiyin, along the Yellow River floodplains.

He led the agricultural officials and soldiers to reclaim wasteland, repair ditches, and improve the fields. They ate and slept in thatched huts by the field ridges, just like the old farmers.

By April of 197, the wheat was heading.

That morning, Zao Zhi stood on the ridge of a field in Jiyin County, with rows of green wheat growing beneath his feet, the ears of wheat larger than usual.

His face was tanned dark, his hands were covered in cracks and calluses, and his trousers were rolled up to his knees, his legs covered in mud.

Standing next to an old farmer, no one would recognize him as the dignified Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the chief official in charge of agricultural affairs in six prefectures.

"It's done!" He gently touched the wheat ears, tired but smiling, and said to his deputy beside him:

"The task entrusted to us by the Grand Commander has been accomplished!"

He remembered Li Chang's suggestions to him about "improving grain varieties and increasing production and income" and various other potentially useful methods for nearly ten years!

Starting from the tuntianying (military agricultural settlements) in Jinyang, generation after generation selected, bred, and hybridized seeds, and wheat, beans, and millet were planted one after another!

If you fail, try again; if you have a good harvest, save the seeds. Keep trying, one step at a time!

"Now, the wheat and other grains are being produced at a rate that is nearly 10% higher than before!"

If this program is expanded further, the grain from the six prefectures can feed hundreds of thousands more people!

The jujube tree stands tall, as if it could see the autumn harvest and the smiling faces of the people.

"Okay...okay."

The Grand Commander once told me in the fields of Jinyang that we should select high-yield grain varieties so that the people could have more food to eat.

This task... is finally complete.

I, Zao Zhi, am not ashamed of this…”

Just as the deputy was about to reply, he saw Zao Zhi sway, his hand still holding onto the wheat ears, but he fell straight into the field.

"Minister Zao! Minister Zao!"

Those around him rushed to help, but their hands were ice-cold and he had stopped breathing!

He collapsed in the green wheat field, a smile on his face, gazing at the crops, and never woke up again.

He had touched the wheat ears for ten years, his hands were covered in cracks, and now the high-yield wheat had finally sprouted ears, but he would never be able to touch the wheat waves of the next season.

He never saw the golden wheat fields again, nor the smiling faces of the people after the harvest.

The wind rustled through the wheat fields, as if expressing gratitude on behalf of millions of people.

……

When the news reached Luoyang, Li Changgang had just finished his studies at the School of Mathematics of Jixia Academy.

After hearing the report, he was stunned for a long time.

"Zao Zhi? Dean Zao? No, Mr. Zao!"

He's so young... how could he...?

Over the years, Lu Zhi has passed away, Zhuge Gui has passed away, and so many old friends have left.

Even Liu Yu and Xi Zhicai are still alive!

But Zao Zhi is still so young!

"That's so unexpected! He's not even forty yet!"

Back when he was stationed in Jinyang to cultivate the land, he was a spirited young man who spent every day in the fields, saying that he wanted to make sure everyone in the world had enough to eat.

Why did you leave?

That very day, Li Chang ordered that a special volume be dedicated to publishing the full story of Zao Zhi in the Jixia Journal, from his time cultivating land in Jinyang to his ten years of breeding and seed selection, and finally to his death in Yanzhou!

He died from overwork for the people!

Tell future generations of students that there was such a person who worked himself to death on the edge of a field so that all the people in the world could have enough to eat.

His merits benefit the present and future generations; he deserves to be remembered in history!

Upon learning the news, Liu Bei remained silent for an entire day.

The imperial decree arrived the next day: Zao Zhi was posthumously granted the title of Marquis of Ji! His fief was three thousand households, and his son inherited the title; he was posthumously awarded the title of Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and the honorary title of Minister of Revenue, and was buried with the rites due to a county marquis.

On the day of the burial, the official road outside the city was filled with people.

There were refugees from that time, farmers from Jizhou, and disaster victims who had just been rescued from Yanzhou. They all came spontaneously to send off this "field official" on his final journey!

No one was shouting slogans, only low sobs!

They all knew that their ability to have enough to eat and a stable life was inseparable from this official who spent every day in the fields.

The wheat seeds that increased yield by 10% were quickly promoted to the fields of the six prefectures.

People in various prefectures and counties spontaneously built ancestral halls for Zao Gong, and worshipped him alongside the God of Agriculture, offering sacrifices every year.

Across the six states, the wind blows, and the wheat fields ripple and rustle.

Zao Zhi didn't live to see the harvest, but the seeds he left behind will grow year after year on this land, feeding generation after generation.

What Zaoqi did not see, his temple, his descendants, and all the people of the world will witness for him.