Chinese New Year

Chapter 1502 Mid-Spring in March
In the fifth year of the Longhua era (346), in the middle of spring.

The Luo River flows gently, nourishing the farmland, orchards, and grasslands on both banks.

Shao Xun sat on the drying ground in front of Jinmenwu, showing no airs of an emperor, and spoke to everyone in a gentle tone.

“Your Majesty, he says he has seen you,” the villagers said, pushing forward an honest-looking farmer.

The farmer lowered his head, looking to be in his fifties or sixties, but probably not even fifty yet. He mumbled a few words and said, "Years ago, when I was in my parents' arms, I saw His Majesty from afar and even ate the dried meat His Majesty gave me."

Shao Xun said happily, "Yiyang Sanwu has had two relocations, and your family hasn't moved?"

"I haven't left," the farmer said. "There are fields right below the fort, which I can see from home, so I feel at ease and won't leave."

"That's fine too. Over time, feelings will develop," Shao Xun said with a smile.

The farmer hummed in response, then lowered his head and remained silent, his eyes darting around as if he were deep in thought.

Shao Xun smiled wryly, then had Shao Zhen fetch two bolts of white linen and handed them to the farmer, saying, "Take these and go home to get yourself a couple of sets of clothes."

The farmer accepted it with great joy, thanked him profusely, and left.

After walking a dozen steps, he couldn't help but stop and turn back to look.

The emperor sat back on the folding chair, his eyes seemingly closed, his right hand rhythmically tapping the table beside him, as if he were savoring something.

The farmer was somewhat puzzled.

I've lived in Jinmenwu for decades. The most common things here are noise, the earthy smell, and the smoke from burning charcoal and making ink. If the timing isn't right, there's also a strong stench when the villagers stir up piles of manure that have been sitting for a long time.

Is it better than the imperial palaces in Luoyang and Bianliang?

Seeing that his personal guards were all looking in his direction, the farmer quickened his pace and carried the hemp cloth away.

The remaining villagers gradually dispersed, and the area fell silent for a moment.

"My success is all thanks to the three fortresses of Yiyang," Shao Xun said softly with his eyes closed.

Shao Zhen stood by his side, unsure how to respond.

Shao Xun didn't take it seriously.

He recalled the process of building the fortified village by hand, and the hardships of gathering refugees and leveling fields here—Zhang Shuo, who is now famous all over the world, lived here for a long time when he was a child.

The five households of the fortified village supported one Silver Spear soldier, squeezing out almost all their resources, which eventually gave them the opportunity to rise to power.

Everything has a traceable origin, and everything has a reason.

The mid-spring sunshine was incredibly warm, and the spring breeze felt incredibly gentle on my face.

The sound of sheep bleating could be heard. Could it be that the ditch next to the fortified village hadn't been filled in yet? In the past, every winter, one could see dirty sheep rummaging through the snow in the ditch for grass roots.

Two more wool spinning machines have been added to Kinmen Dock; hopefully, that wool will finally be put to use...

In the distance, the faint sound of trees being felled could be heard.

Pine trees are felled and used to make high-quality ink, an essential material for woodblock printing. Previously a specialty of Jinmenwu, this practice has now spread to Yiyang Sanwu and even more areas.

Smelling the smoke drifting in the wind, Shao Xun felt strangely at ease, because it meant that Kinmen Village had more income and the people's lives would be better.

The boatmen's loud chants seemed to echo across the Luo River.

Once upon a time, this great river dried up, leaving the valley barren and the people starving. But today, in the fifth year of the Longhua era, the spring floods have brought a flood of rafts and small boats, making life much easier for the people along the hundreds of miles of riverbanks—through this river, they are now directly connected to Luoyang.

The prosperity of commerce is a sign of the improvement of the rural economy; it turns out that everyone's life is getting better.

Further away, one could hear the sound of students reciting their lessons.

As the place where Shao Xun started his career, each fortified village was managed by an official—for example, the one who managed Jinmen Village was Lieutenant Yun, equivalent to a county lieutenant—and the Liang County Martial Arts Academy regularly sent students to teach children to read and write, which was considered a benefit.

The villagers of the fortified village were initially somewhat reluctant.

Even a child can help with tasks like herding sheep, cutting grass, collecting branches, watering the vegetable garden, picking mulberry leaves, and so on. They can do a lot of chores and help the family. Once they go to school, there is no one to do the chores at home.

However, the fortified village was a militarized management system, and people gradually got used to it after it was enforced.

After the first person entered the martial arts school and became an official, the last obstacle disappeared.

As Shao Xun listened to the sounds of everyday life, his mood became increasingly calm, and drowsiness gradually crept in.

For many years, he dreamed of lying quietly by the fields or under the trees on a warm afternoon, feeling all the familiar things connected to his memories, and the day would pass by in a leisurely way.

He once thought it would be simple and easy, after all, he was already the emperor. But to his surprise, his seemingly simple wish was full of various real-world obstacles, and it was not until today that it was finally fulfilled.

That's enough, I'm satisfied.

******
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." came a few soft calls in my ear.

Shao Xun woke up, opened his eyes, and looked at the blanket covering him.

"Your Majesty, the sun is about to set," Shao Zhen reminded him. Shao Xun smiled and said, "He actually slept for an hour and a half. Alas, this has never happened before."

“Your Majesty is tired,” Shao Zhen said.

"Oh?" Shao Xun looked at him and said, "I neither fight on the battlefield nor till the fields, so why should I be tired?"

"Your Majesty is preoccupied with something," Shao Zhen said solemnly. "Although there is no physical exertion, your mental energy is being greatly depleted."

“Nothing can be hidden from you.” Shao Xun chuckled, stood up, and looked at the mountains and forests gradually being shrouded in twilight. He said, “What else is there? Just now, in a half-dream state, I heard the sound of horses’ hooves and faint shouts and conversations.”

Shao Zhen had someone bring him a memorial and reported, "The King of Han has returned from Hebei, and the Zhang River and Baigou River have been completely dredged."

“Chunlang, he has indeed worked hard. Over the years, he has taken on one mission after another, always investigating this or supervising that.” Shao Xun walked towards the inside of the Jinmen Fortress wall and said, “I will write a letter later, and you can send it to him. Chunlang should also get some rest.”

“Yes,” Shao Zhen replied.

Shao Xun then said no more.

The fifth prince is a strong-willed person. Over the years, through self-reflection, he has gradually calmed down, reduced internal conflicts, and made peace with himself. He no longer works as hard as before—sleeping in front of the armory with a mosquito net in the middle of summer is something no prince should do.

Now he is thirty-one years old and has achieved a lot. No one secretly laughs at or mocks him anymore. In fact, many people fear him because Lao Wu is notoriously difficult to talk to and ruthless, making people grit their teeth while subconsciously avoiding provoking him.

He has carved out his own niche for himself, and his third brother, Shao Fan, likes him very much. He said that in the future, Chunlang could take over the position of Huangsha Imperial Censor and continue to seek benefits for the Shao Liang Dynasty.

After regaining his composure, Shao Xun arrived at the familiar courtyard, entered the room, and opened the last window.

Unfortunately, because I was worried that Le Lan Ji would be tired from the journey, I didn't bring her here.

The evening breeze blew into the room, and whether it was his imagination or not, Shao Xun actually heard a faint sound of a zither.

The sky had completely darkened, and the starry sky was almost exactly the same as it had been forty years ago.

The Luo River also quieted down, its stillness tinged with the sound of the tide.

Shao Xun gently patted the sturdy windowsill and smiled silently.

He completed an important part of his life here, and looking back, the memories are still vivid.

Some memories are hidden deep within you, and you think you've forgotten them, but once you recall them, they become unexpectedly clear.

Shao Xun left the windowsill and looked inside the room again.

In the dim light, the bow tips and scabbards on the wall stood out conspicuously. In the bookcase against the wall, some documents left over from that time were still displayed.

Shao Xun casually flipped through it; this was an early version of "Essentials of Agriculture," which compiled agricultural techniques that had leaked from various aristocratic families and put them into a book.

Of course, he also contributed his own efforts, such as using riverbed silt to mix manure for composting.

This technology is inconspicuous, and perhaps predecessors have already done it, but it was Shao who carried out the serious and mandatory promotion.

Nowadays, not only in these places, but also in sheep pens, cowsheds, and pigsties, a layer of fine soil is often laid down and cleaned frequently.

The fertile soil was spread layer by layer on the farmland, laying a solid foundation for the three-crop-in-two-years agricultural production system in the north.

So, I did so many things in my early years.

Shao Xun sighed inwardly and put the file back in its original place.

Kinmenwu's farmland maintenance is outstanding and has always been one of the benchmarks. The reason may lie in this: under favorable weather conditions, each acre can yield about six bushels of wheat per season, and most of them are well-maintained and cultivated into high-quality fields.

There are reasons why many people are unwilling to leave this place.

Shao Xun's thoughts continued to wander.

He thought of the rice-wheat rotation system that was being vigorously promoted in Jiangnan. The pace might not be fast, but it was unstoppable because everyone saw the benefits.

If you cultivate seedlings in advance and take advantage of the time difference, you can plant rice after the wheat harvest, harvesting two crops of staple food a year, and four crops in two years, while most areas in the north only have two and a half crops.

This is his gift to the people of Jiangnan. As long as they persevere and keep looking for ways to maintain farmland, they can feed more people with less land. If the soil fertility is really not good enough, then they can leave the land fallow for a year or rotate with other crops.

Agriculture is the foundation of the nation.

The agricultural productivity of the Great Liang Dynasty he established should have been far higher than that of the same period in history. Over a long period of time, this led to significant changes—the groups of children running around in Jinmenwu are proof of this.

Population growth is a happy problem; it all depends on how you handle it.

Crown Prince Shao Jin had already recognized the advantages and disadvantages of the increase in household registration.

He initially learned about this through the situation of the families of soldiers in the Zuolonghuwei Guard. After three years of farming, he saw the situation in some areas where there was a large population and little land – in some villages in Yingchuan, a family had less than 20 mu of land to cultivate.

He called these places "narrow villages" and suggested relocating the people to "wide villages".

Although migration is not an easy thing, and it is somewhat debatable to bring it up rashly, he did recognize the essence of the problem, and that is enough.

On March 19, Shao Xun left Kinmenwu and went directly over the mountain road on the south side to Xiangcheng and Guangchengze.

(End of this chapter)